People in Order (correct version)

People watching is one of my favorite things to do.

I'm inspired

I adore Tricia Guild's eye for vibrancy. I love looking through her books on grey days. I strive to be like her and see the beauty and color in Every Day. Inspiration is available at booksellers and I even spotted it on the shelf at Anthropologie last summer. You can also get a taste of her style at Designers Guild.

Love her!

Sometimes you just need to listen to silly-raunchy-angry tunes to distract from this oh-so-serious life. I'm addicted to Lily Allen's saucy attitude set to great music.

To my Valentine...

It's late, I know.

Thank you for knowing me even before I knew myself.

Thank you for being a man of gentle strength and loving me unconditionally.

Thank you for loving my quirks, my strangeness, my rage and for riding out the silliness on (at least) a weekly basis.

Thank you for reading books out loud to me at night (and for doing the characters' voices).

Thank you for walking the dogs everyday, twice a day.

Thank you for building me a rainbow-colored harlequin garden shed so I do not have to see one of those fabricated red barns every day.

Thank you for making me happy and being who you are.

I love you, Valentine.

The Perfect Six

I have been on the hunt for vintage Moller rope chairs for some time. These represent the beautifully simple designs of mid-century Danish furniture. Sadly, these are out of my budget, so I will just keep on dreaming and hunting.

Mark Morford: Ranter Extraordinaire

Mark Murford's column this week is great. Check it out. When does that "stimulus" check get here anyway?

Great American Classics, Part 1

This year, I'm making an effort to read a few classics in addition to regular contemporary fiction and work-related literature. I've just finished J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. I really liked this book. It gave me some much-needed perspective on the everyday challenges I face as an adult. The story provides a trip back to adolescence, where I relived the confusion and frustration of not being able to identify and/or process typical human emotional needs. My heart goes out to Holden and every other teenager making this transition in the real world. I love that he yearns to be different and wants to belong at the same time. I'm with you, Holden.

I'm exhausted

I feel a bit like Simon, my Corgi, at the end of this very trying week. I wish people would behave more like dogs sometimes (loyal, authentic, open).

A dragonfly for Lucas

Baby Lucas will be here soon, I can't wait to meet him! His nursery is decorated with dragonflies. I made him this little one to hang on his door.

Missing the Whole West Coast Taco Experience

It's weird how you get stuck on some simple thing and your mind spirals out of control with memories, yearning and obsession. I miss real tacos!!! Here in my little 'burg, I'm reduced to Taco Bell and three "mexican" restaurants that appear to be adjusting Authentic to please the Gringos (I'm not kidding: bland brown gravy is used with abandon!).

I miss everything about beautiful, flavorful, fresh, real Mexican cuisine. I'm dreaming about the perfect little bundle of tortilla (made on the premises), grilled fish, crema, pico and avocado preferably delivered by a Taco Truck that announces it's arrival with a glaring and crackled recording of La Cucaracha!

(photo from San Francisco Chronicle)

Art project and some poetry

I just finished this project today. I purchased the convex frame last week at a vintage store. I painted the brass out black. For the collage, I stained French newspaper in a light plum and added the butterfly wings and poetry. The words are from poet Pablo Neruda:

I Like For You to be Still

I like for you to be still: it is as though you were absent,
and you hear me from far away and my voice does not touch you.
It seems as though your eyes had flown away
and it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth.
As all things are filled with my soul
you emerge from the things, filled with my soul.
You are like my soul, a butterfly of dream,
and you are like the word Melancholy.
I like for you to be still, and you seem far away.
It sounds as though you were lamenting, a butterfly cooing like a dove.
And you hear me from far away, and my voice does not reach you:
Let me come to be still in your silence.
And let me talk to you with your silence
that is bright as a lamp, simple as a ring.
You are like the night, with its stillness and constellations.
Your silence is that of a star, as remote and candid.
I like for you to be still: it is as though you were absent,
distant and full of sorrow as though you had died.
One word then, one smile, is enough.
And I am happy, happy that it's not true.

I want...

...these shoes from Anthropologie!

Clearly, I have the winter blahs and continue to wish for everything Spring.

Polka Dots are Fun!

The forecast today is sunny and near-60 degrees. While that certainly isn't Spring, it's pretty darn close and a nice treat for February. Today I will wear my new polka-dot sneakers. They put a smile on my face and it's kind of hard to be grouchy when I am wearing them. I'm off to take photos for a Valentine's Day card project.