that's what landis said (deux) -

In the end it is not the object,
but the edit,
that makes one stylish.

i know that i will have friends who disagree with me on this one, but here's the gist of the idea: money does not equal taste. you can learn about style, but you can only be born with an "eye". beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but we all get drunk every once in awhile and wake up with something that makes us cringe a little inside.

you know, like a gift card to mervyn's. eeeerrrrgggghhh.

in other words, it's how you put it together that makes it work.

so no matter the trend, the "it" factor, the color du jour, resist. think. personalize. and i'm learning, it's all about joy.

when tim and i met, our decorating styles were very different. he was very "blade runner" (white walls, pale wood. single green apple on the mantle.). i, on the other hand, was completely "dangerous liaisons" (colored walls, velvet sofas, gilt frames.)

i know, picture of bliss, right?

over time, we started buying things together. after i got over the freak out of the fact that HIS cd's were touching MY cd's. (true story. charming.) and we only bought:

1) art that was signed. (no posters from the corner store. nothing that might come from a dorm room. no nagel.)

2) furniture that we BOTH loved. that became mid century french modern. california fifties design. fornasetti plates. chicago at that time was an amazing time for these finds, and as he opened up to color and objects, i learned about lines and less.

and while we didn't mind what matched or didn't, in the end, that joy allowed it all to work together.

what i think i'm saying, my little cyan and marigold this season friends, is only follow what you love. not what you're told to love. because if it makes your eye tingle and your heart beat a little faster, isn't that what really makes the globe a little more liveable.

so. dont object. be stylish. by being choosy.

what EBAY says about you. or me. well, really just me.

tim thinks that what we save on our ebay "wish lists" is actually a better sketch of our personalities than any psych exam.

at first i was irritated.

then i had to agree.

you can click on the image to see my "profile".

suffice to say i am "bright" (lots of lighting),
"comfortable" (furniture of style and function),
and "timely" (two, count them two watches)

oh, and "superficial".

to the left, to the light -

some sunday sunshine
in the same room as always
is a welcome way to come home.

the nation's evolution -

it's an election year. let's hope the nation wakes up from it's long slumber, as well.

a tone poem to new york, in the spring -

the skies seem to have opened up on the east coast this year, first :


and the buildings of the greatest city began to shed their winter skins,
to rummage for their true grandeur and alert their guardians that yes,
this was spring, at last:


flowers are appearing:


thankfully, not all of them are printed, some are real:


art makes its seasonal reappearance:


and everyone starts to open their eyes:


the grafitti changes it's colors (how considerate!):


and shoes shed their winter husks at louboutin,
to better tempt their prey:


but, maybe, i'm just seeing things through rose colored glasses:

that's what landis said (une) -

Life is too short to resist.

so if you've ever gotten an email from me, you've seen this is my sign-off.
i tend to mumble to myself randomly alot, and much like a room full of monkeys typing until they write the full works of shakespeare by chance, sometimes i come up with something that means something to me.

let's face it. at some point, we'd all like to say "if i died tomorrow, i'd have lived a full life." personally, i can say "if i die tomorrow, i've lived more than most people will in their full lifetime.", and i think it's because, in some ways, i was raised with the above phrase in mind.

when i was four in amsterdam (true story), i ordered escargot at a restaurant. which apparently stunned the waiter, who sought confirmation from my mother. she approved, explaining that i had been taught that i was not allowed to decide that i DIDN'T like something until i actually TRIED it. and upon trying escargot, i had loved them, and she had been having trouble stopping me from ordering them everywhere we went.

it was a family rule around food that seems to have seeped into my entire life. i HATE people who say they don't like things without some form of exposure to it. there is SO much love in life (the use of CAPITAL LETTTERS, for example), why would anyone restrist their options, their taste buds, their options?

baffles the mind.

i'm not necessarily endorsing anarchy here, loves. just a healthy dose of curiousity and a willingness to taste things a little.

so i do believe that, no matter how your life unfolds, it's almost your duty to fill it to the top.

and maybe let a little spill over the rim.