M Dash

Adieu

2012-01-27T08:47:00.000+07:00

Sweetly retro styling in Cœur de pirate's Adieu.

Cheap thrills

2012-01-13T22:19:00.002+07:00

Like pretty much everyone with an iPhone, I've been enjoying Instagram. Nothing special, but fun. These are from the holidays, when I visited my sister in Shanghai. Highlights: meeting my sister's fantastic friends and co-workers, visiting flea markets (those red glasses were sadly too expensive), a bourbon-cherry brown sugar pavlova (based on this recipe), homemade eggnog (we used forty-eight egg yolks!), wandering around the French concession, getting my Granddad's Nikon FE2 fixed, eating out, dinner at Miss Mary Ching's incredible warehouse apartment, wearing all of my sister's clothing (the scalloped white New Year's dress is hers), going crazy shopping on Tao Bao, and the very easy 80-minute direct flight.

Kelly's Favourite Dress

2012-01-08T21:51:00.002+07:00

So pleased to start off the new year with a lovely and to-the-point favourite dress post from Kelly of Halcyon Days (which, it goes without saying, is always a great read). Thank you for the beautiful illustration, Kelly!

Previously:

Nicole

Theodora

Katie

Bedroom Eyes

2011-12-17T21:12:00.000+07:00

Always have time for the Dum Dum Girls.

Tipping Barrels

2011-12-11T19:10:00.001+07:00

My brother sent me this incredibly beautiful surf/environmental journalism short by Ben Gulliver.
Required viewing for Canadians (British Columbians especially).
Pacific Wild

Tipping Barrels from Sitka on Vimeo

Phuket Guide

2011-12-04T13:18:00.001+07:00

Everyone I know is going to Phuket! Rightfully so, it is pretty great. Here are my picks (favourites marked with an asterisk):

Eat

- A perfect Phuket Town night out starts with dinner at La Gaetana* (eat whatever Gianni suggests, and share your mains), moves to drinks and dancing on tables at Ka Jok See*, then continues with live music and a bit more dancing at Timber Hut (nothing too special, but there's usually a good mix of people). La Gaetana is small, so it's best to make a reservation, especially on weekends: 076 250 523.

- Raya has Royal Thai food in an authentic Southern Thai house; some nights there’s a market on the opposite side of the street.

- Lemongrass and Natural are long-standing local Thai-food favourites.

- If deep-fried soft-shell crab interests you, I can direct you to the crab-eating monkey restaurant (it's out of the way—next to a mangrove forest, hence the crab-eating monkeys—and we don't know its real name).

- Phuket expats are obsessed with over-the-top Sunday brunches: my choice is Indigo Pearl's*. Book as far ahead as you can, because it does sell out; bring your swimsuit and spend the rest of the day hanging out in their pools. 076 327 006. Second place goes to Trisara's champagne brunch, where my 87-year-old grandpa jams on the piano—the views are incredible but it's close to double the price.

- Have lunch at Ko Ta Khao Man Gai* (pictured above; it's a few restaurants down the linked list) is possibly the cheapest and best meal you’ll have in Thailand—if nothing else, go here. Get the number one and also try the Thai ice tea or sugar cane juice.

- For a mid-morning or afternoon coffee break in Phuket Town, try Kaffe.

- Favourite foods to look out for: fried chicken from Muslim lady street vendors, som tam, phad siew (phad thai's underrated wide-noodle cousin), roti pancakes with condensed milk and sugar, rambutan, mangosteen, starfruit, pomelo, tamarind, little brown lychee-things, sour mango with chili sauce, Penang curry, and kanom krok (little coconut pancakes cooked in special griddles with round holes).

- The sea canoe day trip* is one of the best Phuket experiences around—I've gone at least five times (that's a photo of one of the stops above), and always love it.

- Beach-wise, I like Laem Singh (tiny and tucked away)*, Surin (pictured below—get a beachside massage, have sundowners at Catch), Bang Tao (less crowded; the Reggae bar is popular) and and Nai Harn (crowded but beautiful for sunset—you could then have great seafood at Kan Eng @Pier).

- Go on a walking tour of Phuket Town* (use this map): check out the market, Sino-Portuguese architecture, Soi Romanee (pictured below), Dibuk Road, and Chinese temples. The Governor's mansion has been beautifully restored as a restaurant, and its staff are happy to let you wander around inside.

- Elephant trekking with Siam Safari. Wat Chalong is also nearby.

- Spa package at Cannaceae Spa: you can mix and match—I like the sauna, salt scrub and traditional Thai massage*. Make an appointment the day before. 076 524 608.

- Splash jungle is expensive, but worth it if you're into water slides.

- My friend Mikey manages Flying Hanuman, a brand-new jungle zipline.

- For scuba diving, I like shark point and the King Cruiser wreck, and did my courses with Dive Asia and Scuba Cat. If you have the time and money, a liveaboard to the Similans is stunning.

- Drop in for a class with Tomasz at Hot Yoga Evolution.

- Get some food and beer (I'm a Leo fan), go to Rawai beach, rent a longtail boat, and go island hopping for the day.

- Patong is a mess (Travelfish accurately calls it a "an ugly tapestry of the surreal, debauched, and truly desperate" and "everything that tourism in Thailand should not have become"), but if you must: Scruffy Murphy’s on Soi Bangla has decent live music, the Ice Bar is a good place to do shots and cool down, and most people end up dancing at Seduction. On either side of the hill, there's Opus One and Stereolab, and Skylar bar in Kamala is kind of charming; if it's high tide you'll have to wade through the ocean to get there.

Shop

- The Talad Tai Rot weekend market* on Chao Fa West Road, near Central Festival mall, has tons of food vendors (try the classic mango/coconut/sticky rice), inexpensive everything and a nice atmosphere.

- I still haven't eaten at Siam Indigo, but the shop next door is cute.

- The little shop opposite Ko Ta Khao Man Gai sells lovely leather accessories.
- The second-hand shoe store next to La Gaetana has a strange and wonderful selection of footwear.

Sleep

It seems counterintuitive to visit a tropical island and not stay at the beach, but Phuket Town has more culture, interesting restaurants and markets, better prices and fewer touts. Public open-air buses (songthaews) leave from here, so visiting any beach for a day is easy and inexpensive. I like the look of 99 Old Town guesthouse and Chinotel.

If you do want to stay beachside, I'd look into Bang Tao, as it's less developed than other areas. Travel fish has some nice-looking recommendations (and it's a solid guide to use overall). Surin might be a more convenient location for going to Laem Singh, Patong and the like.

No logo

2011-12-03T12:18:00.001+07:00

Very sharp scissors work best.

Inventory

2011-12-01T10:27:00.001+07:00

Document everything you own,

and then destroy it.

'One of the last objects to be destroyed was his father's sheepskin coat. "The things I valued the most I left till last." The coat became a testament to his new value system as it circulated through those two weeks to its destruction. "One girl came up to me and wanted to swap it for what she had in her duffle bag. I said I couldn't give it to her, but she could try and steal it. I wanted someone to take it away but they didn't."'
–The Guardian

1. Everything I Have, 2008 by Simon Evans, via Sho & Tell
2. Break Down, 2001, Michael Landy

Two of a kind

2011-12-01T08:56:00.001+07:00

Truman Capote's bedroom and Lily Donaldson by Jak & Jil.

Long Weekend

2011-11-27T17:58:00.001+07:00

Creams and blues from our four-day almost-circumnavigation of Jeju's coast by bike. We stopped at a café/carpentry shop where Tim literally sang for our tea and coffee, climbed four hundred metres up a mountain road, ate truck-stop ramen with gifted oranges, saw a few woman divers, drank soju, local beers and a godawful imported wine, devoured entire mackerel, found the mysterious contents of two peoples' wallets in our sea chalet (the only way to describe it), went on a night bike ride around Udo, warmed up with hot chocolate and black pork in the city, and finished with a one-meter long pizza (33.3 cm each!). I'm running out of synonyms for "wonderful."

Vegetable Flowers

2011-11-19T21:42:00.001+07:00

Another afternoon at the botanical gardens—no cabbage patch kids sightings yet.

And the terrible twosome (my not-so-little brothers) turn 24 today!

Say yes to the dress

2011-11-13T21:07:00.001+07:00

"...This is cream on cream. A woman's film! I feel ready to reject the film like a wrongly transplanted organ. But what was it I wanted? With a state of mind as my starting point, I desired to dive headlong into the abyss of German romanticism. Wagner in spades. That much I know. But is that not just another way of expressing defeat? Defeat to the lowest of cinematic common denominators? Romance is abused in all sorts of endlessly dull ways in mainstream products. ... I cling to the hope that there may be a bone splinter amid all the cream that may, after all, crack a fragile tooth..."

–Lars von Trier's director's statement on Melancholia

Hallim

2011-11-12T15:15:00.001+07:00

A nice afternoon here; watched Miss Representation.

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Art of the Menu
Pear season
Clouds of scissors and dandelions

Bodies of Water

2011-11-06T19:17:00.001+07:00

Went for a long bike ride along the coastline this afternoon. The water is beautiful, the air is warm and smells like salt and tangerines.

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Soviet-era bus stops
Totem (read this one aloud)
Sasha's blog

Photos 1, 2, 3, 4 by Randy P. Martin

Nicole's Favourite Dress

2011-11-03T11:51:00.003+07:00

Some sunshine and well-loved colour from Nicole, an interior styling assistant living in Australia.

"My favourite dress was found at a thrift store in Vancouver last (last) summer for 6 dollars. It's an incredible embroidered Mexican folk dress. I just love the vibrancy of it. It reminds me of Frida Kahlo; it is hand-dyed, the material is thick and the shape is quite boxy—something I would imagine her to have worn. I wore it on my birthday last year with a crown of flowers and felt like a bouquet of poppies :) The best part about this dress is it reminds me of being home with my family in Canada, moving my sister into her new apartment in Vancouver, and doing what my mom and I do best—hunting for treasure at the op shops!"

Thanks for sharing, Nicole!

Also: Nicole's dream dress
Previously: Theodora, Katie

P.S. Jessica and Nunor got it right, I've moved to Jeju—the carved stone was a red herring—so please send your addresses to michellegow at gmail dot com to receive the tackiest Grandfather postcard I can find!

Tangerine Dream

2011-10-30T18:13:00.000+07:00

Giving my point-and-shoot a workout while settling into a new island home.
Walking this evening, I pilfered a mandarin orange—delicious.
Free postcard for whoever can guess where I am...
Two hints: volcanoes and grandfathers.

Style, Substance

2011-10-17T21:48:00.001+07:00

"The goal of this photostream is simply to educate. To entice others to want to do their own research. To introduce a group of people, places and events that many have never heard of or know very little about."

So much to see in Kicha's collection of vintage photos, posted with thoughtful details and historical contexts.

1. Winners (names unknown) of the Jitterbug contest held in NYC
2. African American Vernacular Photography; selections from the Daniel Cowin Collection
3. Two Friends, 1930s, photographed by Charles 'Teenie' Harris
4. Ms. Lois Harris, photographed by Addison N Scurlock
5. 4 Ways of Smiles, photographed by John W. Mosley for 'Posing Beauty' by Deborah Willis
6. Josephine Baker (1928)
7. Portrait of Mamie Luella Williams, Kansas Historical Society

Travel Diaries

2011-10-16T18:02:00.000+07:00

Here's a feature I wrote and photographed for LOHAS China on sustainable travel in South Africa. You might recognise some of these good-looking people and places; it was pretty exciting to see my photos perfect bound and set in tip-top layouts. Thank you again to Sofia, my editor and translator for the piece! And one last favourite from Tsitsikamma:

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- Good Heavens now has an Etsy shop! Buy them for your boytjies (or meisies, I've been eyeing the Clovelly or Roffey for myself), Katrin and Matthew are the loveliest tie-makers I know.
- In case you missed it a million years ago, the photos from Other People's Houses are up.
- Portraits of Retail.
- Jon Rafman's 9 eyes series is really something [via a mirror with memory].
- Unique, just like everybody else: Exactitudes.
- Love the hairy pits club.

The Last Sweet Bite

2011-10-08T12:18:00.001+07:00

"Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying,
eating of the last sweet bite."

–Perhaps the World Ends Here, Joy Harjo
Photo by Luis Valdizon of Marché St. George, my dream café.

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Then too there is this
Scumble
Space gold

Der Natur

2011-10-08T11:30:00.000+07:00

Ernst Haeckel, Kunstformen Der Natur, 1904.

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For William, For Kate

Video Phone

2011-10-07T12:56:00.000+07:00

Live the language in my native province with hockey, skiing, cycling and salmon.
Live The Language - Vancouver from Gustav Johansson [via otis & frank]

"I started baking when I was a child. My eyesight was so bad ... and then the first day that I got glasses, my mom took me to this pastry shop. The first thing I ever really saw was clearly was this pastry case."
Miette: A Video from San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop from 4SP Films [via Kinfolk]

"In 1974, Elizabeth 'Connie' Converse wrote goodbye notes to her friends and family, packed her belongings into a Volkswagen and simply drove away. No one has seen or heard from her since. Throughout the 1950s, Connie filled tape after tape with the kinds of songs that, years later, would take hold of the New York scene - haunting, plaintive, and incredibly literary. As it was, the tapes were relegated to a filing cabinet in her brother’s garage."
Help release the recordings at Kickstart [via Unpretentious Bouquet of Parentheses].

Square Format

2011-09-03T20:00:00.000+07:00

Lovely sixties kitsch details in Buck 65's Paper Airplane, shot on location in Paris with Roxane Mesquita and directed by Sophie Levy.

Buck 65 - Paper Airplane from Franck Annese on Vimeo.

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Karen Elson kills it in Lanvin's Fall 2011 Campaign video.

Listening

2011-09-03T11:42:00.000+07:00

Best Coast - Boyfriend, Our Deal (watch it for the hair)
Buck 65 - Superstars don't love (typography!), Stop
Zeus - Marching Through Your Head, Kindergarten
Passenger - What You're Thinking (the whole album was funded by busking sessions)
Sin Fang Bous - Clangour and Flutes (see also: Sea Bear)
Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance

Therefore, cake

2011-09-03T10:44:00.001+07:00

An iced two-tier banana cake for my Auntie Daint's birthday.
(It took fifteen minutes and several glued-together fingers to attach that mint leaf to the cherry stem.)

On Community and Creativity

2011-09-03T10:32:00.001+07:00

Christiana Söderberg interviewed by Charlotte Rey for Acne Paper

Charlotte: But how do we as individuals relate to something of this scale [global environmental problems]? Since these are changes we barely experience in a lifetime.
Christiana: We have grown up in a culture where we are not taught how to take responsibility for our circumstances, we have not been encouraged to create our own realities or become aware of the power we dispose over as individuals — we fear our individual actions are insignificant. This is where the idea of a local community comes in — a neutral forum outside of the home and work place, which would meet us halfway, since it allows us to hold on to our structures of society, family and social networks, but introduces new perspectives through dialogue ... Our system and the expectations that come with it — education, family, career — is a very tough box to climb out of to find whatever truth you are looking for. Here, a community provides a bridge. A local community can provide people with neutral spaces to have conversations and introduce new perspectives.

Dr David Napier interviewed by Ariella Wolens for Acne Paper

Ariella: How can youths be encouraged in their creative thinking?
David: Give people more free time. They need some time in nice places, to be in environments that are good for them. They need to understand that experiencing what we call repetitive noxious stimulants — like phones beeping — is potentially desensitising and not good for us ... The point is that people need to be liberated productively, that is to say, they need good examples. And we need to understand that many failures can be the basis for a single creative idea. We need to learn how to respect the failed attempts of others, which is something we're very bad at ... Unless we are able to acknowledge and respect the dangers and the high costs to society of supporting creative thinking, we will do very little to enhance creativity.

Worth Every Penny

2011-08-26T15:14:00.000+07:00

Stunning large format, texture, layouts, typography, photography—I couldn't resist, even at S$26.
Acne Paper Issue No. 12

Cute Overload

2011-08-26T12:11:00.005+07:00

While running a few days ago, I came across these guys on the side of the road. I'd seen their mom—a sad, skinny stray—five or six hundred metres back with a third puppy, so I picked them up and tried to find her. You can guess how that went...

Since our house is already a four-dog two-cat petting zoo, we're looking for new homes for Jackson and Frankie (Ol' Blue Eyes).

Seeing so many stray animals in Phuket is difficult, but some private organisations are working very hard to improve the situation. The Soi Dog Foundation is hoping to purchase some land to build a proper shelter and has a benefactor who will match all donations up to $66 000. They still need to raise $30 500 by October, so if you have a little extra you can send their way, please do!

Theodora's Favourite Dress

2011-08-11T23:25:00.005+07:00

Do Impossible Things is one of my great favourites; Theodora's words and photos always resonate with me in a very natural and personal way (like this and this, and with luck this too). She also posts more outfits on her tumblr. Now let's skip right along to the good stuff—

"I like it when clothes have some sort of sentimental value attached to them. Environmental and sustainability issues have a big influence on what I do, so whatever I wear basically is shaped by these two factors—sense and sensibility, if you like. That is the reason why I've mostly stopped buying new clothes. Most days, I wear something that used to belong to someone else—my brothers, my parents or a friend. Like a snail, I take my house, my home with me wherever I go.

Having said this, it is perhaps not surprising that my favourite dress has a story to tell. It goes like this: One day, my grandmother showed me some fabric. It was black and white, pleated, quite odd. She asked me if I liked it, and hinted she might make it into something nice for me. When I visited her the next time, she and my aunt took my measurements. I had no idea what would happen. A month later, they gave me this dress. My grandmother said that she thought about the 20s and the 60s, both decades that I found inspiring back then.

So there you have it, lots of sentimental value. My grandmother had a great eye and everything that reminds me of her is a good thing. But more than that I like this dress for what it is: It fits me like a glove, and it doesn't look like something you can buy in a shop. It's too simple. The fabric moves when I walk, it's comfortable when I ride my bike, I can wear it on formal occasions or when I walk round the city with my best friend. It makes me feel like myself, it was made for me and not for some kind of abstract, theoretical woman. This is what clothes should feel like."

Thank you, Theodora, for the thoughtful contribution!
Previously: Katie

Embrace entropy, mindfulness and experimentation

2011-07-16T07:56:00.002+07:00

Simpatico readings (I love when this happens):

'I began to notice and be taken with my own physicality: the crook of my arm holding the shovel, my thighs tightening as I pedaled, my hands strong and stained by the day. These were common moments when function was unexpectedly beautiful. This, I determined, was a form of beauty I needed to capture and express. So I began to make things, with metal, with wood, and eventually with fabric.'

–Emily Christensen, Filly Designs. Read the rest at Royal Quiet Deluxe.

'One absolute truth about the universe is that things fall apart. Worrying about this is a Bourgeois trait and distracts from pursuits of real value. Learn to enjoy the dust and dirt. Learn to find beauty in imperfect or malfunctioning things. Allow your beard or leg hair to grow. Allow your bare feet to touch the grass or the dust today. Spend less precious time and energy trying to tame nature. [...]

The Bohemian life is, by necessity, cheap. It costs very little to engage in truly Bohemian pursuits. You don't need to save up lots of money to become Bohemian and you don't even need to have regular income. You can begin today by turning down the volume on the Bourgeois command system in your brain. By living cheaply—by lowering your overheads to the absolute minimum—you can probably afford to work part-time instead of full-time or put less stress on your own small business.'

–In Praise of Bohemia by Robert Wingham [via So Much to Tell You]

Better Together

2011-06-28T18:15:00.008+07:00

Maisie Cousins' photography (1, 3)

Raquel Fialho's chocolate peppermint whoopie pies with homemade marshmallow and cream cheese filling (!)

France Gall's 'Le temps de la rentrée'

A Capacity for Astonishment

2011-06-28T01:50:00.000+07:00

We eliminate the word art and replace it with work and develop the following descriptions:
1. Work that goes beyond its functional intention and moves us in deep and mysterious ways we call great work.
2. Work that is conceived and executed with elegance and rigor we call good work.
3. Work that meets it intended need honestly and without pretense we call simply work.
4. Everything else, the sad and shoddy stuff of daily life, can come under the heading of bad work.

—Milton Glaser, Art is Work

And now watch this. I like his reference to Lewis Hyde on art as a 'device to prevent people from killing one another'.

1. Satan Watching the Endearments of Adam and Eve (1808), from William Blake's illustrated Paradise Lost.

Freeway Fugitives

2011-06-26T13:33:00.012+07:00

All you need to pack for The Great American Road Trip is a "friend-making shirt" (or two);
Jacq and Mal also have the antidote to all those kawaii what's-in-your-bag posts.

1. Freeway Fugitives

I love Kelly

2011-06-23T16:12:00.007+07:00

It was my BFF's birthday in May, so I got Mia Nolting [via] to write this for her.

For one dollar, she'll write your name in chalk too.

Ling Ling

2011-06-21T11:04:00.004+07:00

Spot the cat (we're testing different fabrics for the couch).

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Looking forward the the July launch of Kinfolk and already enjoying the journal (particularly this post).

Their manifesto:

"We recognize that there is something about a table shared by friends [...] that anchors our relationships and energizes us. Every element of Kinfolk – the features, photography, and general aesthetics – are consistent with the way we feel entertaining should be: simple, uncomplicated, and less contrived."

Yes! I hope some more dots from Asia, Africa and South America will appear on their nice contributors map.

More excellent floor-side eating

Still and Open

2011-06-19T14:29:00.006+07:00

1. Portrait of Julia Butterfly Hill by Chloe Aftel

Hill lived on two six-by-six-foot platforms for 738 days. Luna's trunk was her sidewalk and exercise treadmill. Hill learned many survival skills while living in Luna, such as "seldom washing the soles of her feet, because the sap helped her feet stick to the branches better." [...] To keep warm, Hill wrapped herself tight in a sleeping bag, leaving only a small hole for breathing. For meals, Hill used a single-burner propane stove. Throughout her ordeal, Hill weathered freezing rains and 40 mph (64 km/h). winds from El Niño, helicopter harassment, a ten-day siege by company security guards, and intimidation by angry loggers. [Wiki]

"One of the important things I learned is that it is vital to take the time to be still and open. We live in a world which is always trying to tell us to do it bigger, better, faster, now—regardless of how it effects the planet, our bodies, or future generations. We live in a society that also tries to shame and bully us into only believing what politicians, consumer advertisers, or religious leaders tell us to do, think, buy, and believe [...]

I also learned that it is absolutely vital that we have our feelings, including our anger. We should be very very angry at what the government and the corporations are doing to our world. It is our shared planet. It's not only for a group of selected rich people. It is our children, and their children, whose lives are being devastated by the choices that are being made today. So we should absolutely be outraged at what's happening. At the same time we shouldn't do what we do out of anger. We should do what we do out of our love." [Julia Butterfly Hill interview here]

Osuitok Ipeelee & Ittorchiak

2011-06-19T14:19:00.008+07:00

2. Mother and Child. Carved in stone by Osuitok Ipeelee—Cape Dorset, Baffin Island
3. Bear with Seal. Carved in ivory by Ittorchiak—Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island

N.B. The term 'Eskimo' is considered pejorative by many; 'Inuit' is now widely used in Canada.

An exhibition guide from the parents' boxes, c.1960s; you can buy a copy here. Works collected by James A. Houston and photographed by Bert Beaver and Wilfred Doucette.

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More here
Owl, Fox and Hare Legend

Katie's Favourite Dress

2011-06-16T20:05:00.000+07:00

We’ve got a closet pretty full-up with dresses from my grandmother, mother, sisters and me. There’s the vintage, the recent-but-very-well-worn (we keep those for our seamstress Ree to make over and over) and the never-worn (generally expensive mistakes—a silver sequinned tube mini, really?). I love them all: the altered hand-me-downs, copies from friends and travel buys bring some continuity to every new home.

So I’m asking some other people to share that one favourite dress, and Katie of Thank You, OK is up first! I was really delighted when I came across She said she said a while back because of Katie’s perspective on living in Asia and appreciation for Seoul’s creative cafés, shops and daily life. Now she’s doing the same thing for Toronto, and it’s looking better and better all the time. Thank you to Katie for playing along and to Carlos for the picture-taking!

About the dress (and accessories):

"I bought it when I went to Paris from COS. I liked it because I love to wear baggy/tent-like silhouettes and I liked that it was very basic so it would feel right for multiple occasions. I dressed it up with my new neon Cambridge Satchel and a necklace by Toronto designer Jules Power. The shoes are Dieppa Restrepo loafers which I wear pretty much daily."

Also: Katie's dream dress (top left)

Pasticceria

2011-06-16T19:48:00.006+07:00

I always like the softness and warmth of Brian’s evening shots and have been trying to work better with lower light. Elaine and I enjoyed the coffee/four mini-pastries special at Cova, an Italian bakery located—un-charmingly, but not unusually for Singapore—in the bottom of a mall.

Below are is a view from E’s thirteenth-floor apartment and a shot from that Simple Plan concert we stumbled onto at Clark Quay. (Could it please be a Robyn concert next time?)

Then and Now

2011-06-07T20:05:00.004+07:00

It's my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary today! We celebrated with a long lunch at Paresa (and 60 roses—30 pink ones for her, 30 yellow ones for him).

We've just moved house and haven't got the internet set up yet, but I have something very nice to share with you soon.

South East Asian Perspective

2011-05-31T13:05:00.004+07:00

1. Andwhatelseisthere, sort of a Thai So Much to Tell You. Authors Ami and Vivien, interviewed at Way of Women:

How did it start out?
We wanted to start something fun and inspirational as a small project for international audience to observe what young minds like us have to offer from this country. We noticed that there was no proper blog from Thailand that could relate at an international stage that creativity is booming in our hometown [...]

What does the word “style” mean to you?
Real, truthful, grounded, down-to-earth, and a bit of sloppiness will always be okay. Don’t fake it to be fashionable. No one really gives a damn.

They also keep a shop (hello, Isawan Hunk bag); so lovely to see a happy model having fun. Photos from Andwhatelseisthere.

2. Andwhatelseisthere led me to the incredibly lovely clothing for children and women at Tutti & Tutti Frutti, a Bangkok-based line designed by Tutti Wongpuapan, a Central St Martin's grad. The opening looked like the best mix of stylish kids, parents and grandparents. Photos from Tutti & Tutti Frutti.

3. When did inflight magazines get so good? Tiger Tales (oh dear) had a nice feature on L'Usine, a Vietnamese boutique/café/art gallery housed in a French 19th century colonial building. Photos from l'Usine.

4. I recently came across Boudoir by Disaya. Beautiful fit and quality, not too frou-frou and decent prices; made in Bangkok and designed by Disaya Sorakraikitikul (another Central St Martin's grad) and Romrujee Pansin. Photos from Boudoir by Disaya.

The Good Stuff

2011-05-31T00:59:00.002+07:00

Wind tangling your hair/fur, Louis Khehela Maqhubela, mocktails and pancakes on abandoned tea plantations, arm's length self-portraits (on film, Em's camera), Cocoa Puff and Ghost chairs, dessert plates and oysters at Sunday brunch with Grandad on the piano, old family polaroids, sleeping pets, Limpopo sunsets, ice cream girls. Not pictured: coconut tofu curry, the local laundry, tacky red 'I love U' parcels from Africa, Singaporean ladies to the nines, straight girl-talk and rosé, Jägerbombs (the bad stuff), owl waltzes, candy, dynamite, Dory Previn and Skeeter Davis.

That's all for now... back to the deadlines.

Diary Mash-up

2011-05-30T22:13:00.004+07:00

Still liking neon, as perfected by Tracey Emin. The first photo is mine (from the Iziko South African National Gallery as part of In Context—it flashed in different combinations, a smart use of the medium); the second is Miss Emin's, I think, at I Love Saturdays (the whole post is eye-popping); the third is a photo of Katie's.

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Just had four days of visa run fun in Singapore with a girlfriend from high school. Wonderful to have some one-on-one time and look through her shoeboxes of film photos... lots and lots of us misbehaving on various islands and in the boarding house. Coincidentally ran into another friend I hadn't seen in nine years! To top off the 2002 time machine vibes, we accidentally walked into a Simple Plan concert on Clark Quay; I destroyed my indie cred by immediately recognising the lead singer, though he was nowhere near a guitar or microphone at the time (it's every Canadian's duty to know all our celebrities from the C-List up, right?).

All this to say: if you're ever in Singapore on a Thursday or Friday, go to Morton's Bar at the Mandarin Oriental for half-price chocolate/lychee/apple martinis and free steak sandwiches (this write-up tells you everything you need to know, and yes, that chandelier is pretty incredible in person).

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Diane Kruger at Cannes—a celebrity shot with that something extra (like this one)

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I get tired of reading about Paris, too... but if I go again, I'll be referring to Katie's posts (that's her delicious cake photo below) and this guide
The world's most beautiful bookstores (thanks, Nat!)
A good-looking café
A lovely, real beauty guru

Fifteen minutes

2011-05-22T22:44:00.007+07:00

'This is the start of my journey to learn how to see again. I find images around the internet and give myself 15 minutes for each painting.'
– Neville Trickett (one of the first links former roomie K sent me when we started e-mailing each other)

There's an enormous, pretty unflattering painting of my sisters and I hiding somewhere in the garage. I like the idea of portraits but would rather have something in the vein of Mr. Trickett's 15-minute paintings.

1, 2. Neville Trickett at the Saint Verde Digest

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There's been a lot of unsettling imagery involving First Nations/Native Americans on lifestyle blogs lately (same goes for 'exotic' 'tribal' trends). If you're ever tempted to post a picture of a girl in a headdress or something with Wild West vibes, have a look at the following links first... it's not always cut-and-dry but a bit of extra information can't hurt.

Appropriation vs appreciation
My culture is not a trend
The critical fashion lover's guide to (basic) cultural appropriation and an update
The safari that never stops

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The response to this is interesting. I like the idea myself as it seems like a more immediate and meaningful alternative to advertising on personal websites; in any case Sandra deserves credit for trying something different.

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Nice and new to me: Darling I Said and The Velvet Bird
And I Should Know
The Icecream People and I Made A Mistake

Midori

2011-05-14T19:44:00.000+07:00

Greens from a recent camp I worked on. These kids were lovely.

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Green Flickr favourites: one, two, three
All the real girls (merci Wiggles)
Greenery is a good life
Bus portraits

Styling

2011-05-05T10:03:00.004+07:00

'I hate everything that is driven by fashion. From the beginning it was hating the sixties American way of styling. Especially the cars. They changed their styling every two years to sell new ones. Which has nothing to do with good design.'

–Dieter Rams

The state of today's cars is an aesthetic nightmare (don't mention those Chryslers).

Won't someone please make a safe, beautiful and fuel-efficient model along these lines?

Ten principles for good design

OPH opens tonight!

For those of you in Jozi, Good Heavens will be participating in Twenty Two's Fashion Friday tomorrow.

To the Drawing Board

2011-04-30T22:47:00.001+07:00

The first foray into black and white film didn't work out (too grainy, half the frames blown out completely)—these, of my biff Kiks, were the best of the lot. Big learning curve ahead...

Short and Sweet

2011-04-30T21:46:00.000+07:00

Closet Visit No. 1 (Stella Berkofsky), by Jeana Sohn and Claire Cottrell

Chance shorts, via Ursa Major

Keen for Scenes from the Suburbs, stills from here

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This kitchen and this one too
A Tuesday wedding and sweater people
Embroidered book covers

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Shipping container/dumpster pools
Funny one, two
The red ball project
A lovely photo project on human touch
Flower heads

Imperatritsa

2011-04-30T21:31:00.000+07:00

If you feel a little more Catherine the Great than Kate.

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Mosaic magic
This exhibition impressed me, especially the coronation carriage

1, 2. Dita Von Teese photographed by Marcin Tyszka for Russian Harper's Bazaar here, via Yumenko

L'antidote

2011-04-30T20:44:00.000+07:00

'Si vous pensez que la déconsommation est votre salut...'
What did you not buy today? [via L + E / Notebook]

Quels sont vos blogs francophones préférés?

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Petite Frida and petits pois

Covers, Part Two

2011-04-27T20:29:00.003+07:00

Also perfect—I love having my mind changed (or bent).

Appreciating the real photographs, too.

1, 2. Pop Magazine.

Plus ça change

2011-04-27T08:05:00.002+07:00

1. Glen Luchford, Kate Moss, 1994.
2. Vivian Maier, January 9, 1957, Florida.

The Kate Moss Portfolio and Other Stories at Danziger Projects.
The new Vivian Maier site is worth a long browse.

Rude Boy

2011-04-24T13:45:00.004+07:00

Pop art exuberance from Melina Matsoukas and Rihanna.
Stills from here. More MM here.

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A favourite book: Widow Basquiat

Andy Warhol athlete polaroids

Covers

2011-04-24T00:13:00.002+07:00

Perfect magazine covers.
You can read several issues of Cape Etc. for free here.

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For Canadian voters (thanks, Nathan!)
At the museum
The edible schoolyard

Satis

2011-04-23T22:11:00.011+07:00

"The place will stand as idle as it is, till it falls ... Its other name was Satis; which is Greek, or Latin, or Hebrew, or all three—or all one to me—for enough."

"Enough House," said I; "that's a curious name, miss."

"Yes," she replied; "but it meant more than it said. It meant, when it was given, that whoever had this house, could want nothing else. They must have been easily satisfied in those days, I should think. But don't loiter, boy."

—Great Expectations

The amount of new construction on Phuket is pretty dismal, since so many abandoned houses, half-finished developments and gashed hillsides litter the island. The house above isn't abandoned, but looks like Miss Havisham's Sino-Portuguese vacation home. A dream restoration waiting to happen—smack in the middle of town, with two surprisingly aggressive guard dogs.

Surprised by Pink

2011-04-18T16:39:00.006+07:00

What a difference a good scan makes.

Death by Absinthe

2011-04-18T16:28:00.004+07:00

Alternate and early drafts from Joanna Neborsky's Illustrated Three-Line Novels: Félix Fénéon.

50 Watts continues to astonish (thank you, Ingrid).

"Death by absinthe, kerosene, and sneeze: French men and women meet ample varieties of doom in Fénéon's nouvelles en trois lignes, 1,220 brief, grisly news items the author—a Parisian editor, critic, and anarchist—wrote in 1906 for the newspaper Le Matin."

Illustrations by Joanna Neborsky, via 50 Watts.

Good Heavens!

2011-04-17T22:34:00.005+07:00

My pal Mattie, who kindly shared his house with me for a few months, has made a website for his incredibly lovely handmade ties—all cotton, everything from Shweshwe to Liberty Lawn. He's working on an online shop, but for now Good HEAVENS is available in a couple special places around the Mother City and Jozi. You can send him a nice e-mail for more details.

He also took this photo of K on his sweet Mamiya. It's a big favourite of mine.

Other People's Houses

2011-04-08T20:53:00.004+07:00

We live in other people’s houses. Some of us in homes, cities and countries distant from where we were born. Others live close, safe in the comfort of places we know.

What do our homes say about us?

In this revealing group show, participants of last year’s 1010 project reunite to explore feelings of displacement, intimacy and voyeurism through photographs of the places they choose to live.

I'm really excited to be in good company for this photo exhibition—I won't be able to visit in person but some of my U.K.-based friends and family should be at the opening. Please stop by the City Arts & Music Project if you're in London between 5 - 18 May!

Notes from Phuket

2011-04-07T11:00:00.003+07:00

A week of rain culminating in a fallen fan palm. Spot the guest-star dog.

A new post on Bluestockings (Em's in Shanghai now).

Lunch at my favourite cheap cheap Phuket Town restaurant, Ko Ta Khao Man Gai. I covet that tiger poster a little.

A new cat (Ling Ling) to terrorise the dogs, in between bookshelf naps.

A motivational Polish claw-pen poster for thesis-writing. Un-motivational cat on keyboard.

When your younger brother asks you to show up on the dock to meet his boat, what he really means is 'Please print out little flags that have my face on one side and spell out my name on the other, and embarrass me horribly in front of my sixteen co-workers.' Done and done.

Both of these finally landed up where they were supposed to. Tea towels from Skinny Laminx and Oh Little Rabbit.

A few green favourites: one, two, three

Green green midori on a new favourite blog

Two great illustrators: Mia Christopher and Laura Carlin

This seems like a genius way to travel

And a pair of fifties pillow mint heels, why not

Swimmers

2011-03-30T11:42:00.004+07:00

Not just my favourite Broken Social Scene song. Up top—more baby pool love from the last day.
Below—Carla Liesching's stranded swimmers. Her exhibition opens today at iArt Gallery in Cape Town.

1. Mine.
2, 3, 4. Ann, Musa and Dylan by Carla Liesching.

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Danse Russe (merci Wiggles)
Slow travel Berlin
Let's go to Siglufjörður and Hitarnes and Sauðárkrókur
A kiss
Love lost
I just turned 25, so thank you to Jessica for this
Have you subscribed to Cabane K. yet?
Scupture in motion (watch the video)

Caminando

2011-03-25T09:18:00.006+07:00

“There’s a stereotype of ‘radicals’ as unnuanced, or absolutist. The kind of politics I’m asserting, individually and collectively within the groups I organize with, aren’t absolutist in that sense; they need to be grounded in principles, and it’s a problem if we don’t assert collective principles of what we’re for and against. I’m guided by the Zapatista phrase ‘Caminando, nos preguntamos’ — ‘Walking, we ask questions.’ We’re all continually discussing and debating effective struggle, effective ways of making change, and our core principles. We don’t have fixed answers, but in struggle, in walking, we engage in a process to answer them.”

- Jaggi Singh in The Question Remains, an excellent read on this year's G20 protests in Toronto, by Pasha Malla for The Walrus

No one is Illegal

Flora Capensis

2011-03-24T11:04:00.005+07:00

'The status of indigenous Cape flowers today is in some ways emblematic of the history of the Khoekhoe. Although there are more kinds of plants in the Cape Floristic Kingdom than there are in the whole of the northern hemisphere, many of these plants are now extinct, endangered or rarely seen [...] the importance of remembering the atrocities of the Dutch against the Khoekhoe is unquestionable. But to accept these occurrences as the only possible historical relation between the Khoekhoe and the Dutch is to blind ourselves to alternative stories of connection and hope that might exist in the archives of the period. Even if very few such stories are found, using all our creative faculties to reimagine the past might, today, suggest unexpected strategies for building more compassionate, considerate bonds with people whose cultures differ radically from our own.'

- Andrew Putter, Hottentots Holland: Flora Capensis

1, 2. Hottentots Holland, Flora Capensis 4 & 1, 2008
All works by Andrew Putter
Photography and compositing by Tony Meintjies
Flower arranging by Christopher Peter
Images courtesy of the Michael Stevenson Gallery

What do you think of this and African Hospitality?

Radio Radio

2011-03-24T10:20:00.010+07:00

Radio Radio—the Acadian answer to Die Antwoord?

I love the way Afrikaans-speakers roll English Rs (NSFW)

Tattoos and Sunshine

1, 2. Screen shots from Guess what

The last day

2011-03-23T16:40:00.005+07:00

In South Africa: a little packing, breakfast at the organic farmer's market, swimming with Jess and her waterbaby cousins, a family braai and send-off with friends (skipped the Wimpy burger). At the airport everyone was watching a big soccer game, so we got to enjoy some bafana-style fever.

Thank you, thank you to all the South Africans who made my just-over-a-year wonderful. Ek mis vir julle!

Mishmash

2011-03-14T15:58:00.010+07:00

No solitaire or internet on my computer at the moment, so when I need to shut off for a few minutes I like to fiddle with some digital doodles. It's great to be back in Thailand but of course I'm missing the beautiful people back in Suid-Afrika.

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My favourite Nick Bantock book

Side two

2011-02-13T00:23:00.005+07:00

Wood and white.

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- This one, too
- Omhu is Danish for 'with great care'
- More airport libraries, please

1. Coco pendant by Coco Flip 2. Here. 3. Ronron, by OD. 4, 5. The Ten Broeck Cottage, here.

Side one

2011-02-12T23:50:00.004+07:00

Still think Sofia Coppola nailed it.
Marie Antoinette, more here.

So much to tell you

2011-02-11T20:57:00.004+07:00

A trip to Pretoria and Tzaneen ended with this sunrise.
Leaving South Africa (for good, for a while) in a few short weeks...

Involving Food

2011-01-30T18:53:00.009+07:00

'The still life genre is unavoidably a commentary on society’s material-mindedness and the way images promote a kind of promise of attainability. I am not interested though in the allure of the meal that awaits an unseen viewer’s consumption. Instead, I photograph the remains of meals and its refuse so as to investigate the relationships between ripeness and decay, delicacy and awkwardness, control and haphazardness, waste and plenitude, pleasure and sustenance.'
– Laura Letinksy

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You should be reading Cabane K and Women in Photography

Photos by Laura Letinsky
1. Untitled, #54, Hardly More Than Ever series, 2002
2. Untitled, #1, The Dog and The Wolf series, 2006

Green

2011-01-30T18:35:00.006+07:00

The words 'want' and 'need' seem badly overused: sites like this should really make you want less. Rather make different objects, ideas and aesthetics a part of what you already know and have.

1. Indoor garden wall designed by Patrick Blanc; details and before/after on Yellowtrace [via 16 House]
2. Abalone by Arian Behzadi [via Where the Lovely Things Are]

The last two

2011-01-29T21:09:00.003+07:00

First—a little kid who was grooving at the top of a hill, as one does.
Second—my BFF who came all the way down from the Youkay. She's great like that.

BFF and I had lunch at Eight, and the waiter said I looked like 'the girl from that dance movie'.
Save the Last Dance?
Yeah.
(I really, really don't.) Oh, well thanks, but I'm terrible at dancing.
Maybe this will be the year that you dance!

Make it work with two colours

2011-01-25T22:15:00.005+07:00

Or don't make it at all.
Mahala means 'free'.

Update: Miss Moss has the English version of the book, illustrated in 1959 by Roman Waher, and has posted many beautiful scans.

Trainspotting

2011-01-25T22:09:00.001+07:00

Bulungula

2011-01-24T01:48:00.002+07:00

We got rained out and left early, but it was still beautiful. Goats broke into our hut at midnight. We got soaked walking along the beach. The locals saved us when our car got stuck in the mud. We'll go back.

Daniel Naudé

2011-01-23T01:50:00.020+07:00

Two of my favourites from Daniel's newest exhibition.
20 January - 26 February 2011 in Cape Town.
Remember his Africanis series?

1. Nguni cow with suckling calf. Kei River Mouth, Eastern Cape, 19 October 2009
2. Ben Fyfer, an Nguni cattle farmer, at his desk. Louwna, North West Province, 2 March 2010

Tsitsikamma Two

2011-01-11T23:27:00.002+07:00

Days two and three: damp walks through indigenous forest, mist and smoke, river crossings. Fire-cooked food—we showed some Gauteng carnivores how to camp vegan-like. I'm not sure they bought it.

Days four and five: sunshine at last, swimming in that wonderful black-red Tsitsikamma water.
Undulating (so said the trail map) hills, baboon barks, crowns and cabins.
A few bruises, and a Canadian sunburn—red shoulders and a white neck.

New resolution: more holidays without electricity.
Thanks to lovely friends for making this one happen. You're the best.

P.S. Those replies. They'll have to wait for an at-home internet connection, in a few months. Thank you as always for saying hi!

Tsitsikamma

2011-01-10T23:10:00.005+07:00

Day one: a three-thirty a.m. start, the grey tee shirt team, lightning, beach river crossings, rainbows, sunsets and a near-full moon.

See you in the new year

2010-12-17T22:44:00.004+07:00

My family's all scattered this year: there's me in South Africa, the parents are heading to Hanoi to meet Shanghai sister, eldest sister's at home in jolly England, older brother's surfing in Sri Lanka with twin number one, and twin number two is somewhere in America. Good thing I have a lot of family photos to help feel the love; back in the day we eight spent plenty of snowy Christmases together, as Canadian as they come. That's my grandma up top, with Shanghai sister and me down below.

In celebration of Canadiana, here are my favourite Canuck songs of the moment, all lovingly culled from the CBC Radio 3 podcast with Grant Lawrence. You should listen to it even if you don't know what a toque is. All links go to the songs on the Radio 3 website, where you can listen to them and make playlists for free.

quiet winter nights.
Mike Clark – Threes and Fours
Patrick Watson – The Great Escape
Jane Vain & The Dark Matter – C’mon baby say bang bang
Bedouin Soundclash – 12:59 lullaby

trimming the tree.
Gigi – Won’t someone tell me?
Maplewood lane – Canadian Winters
Reverie Sound Revue – You don’t exist if I don’t see you
Hannah Georgas – Bang Bang You’re Dead
Gentleman Reg – The Boyfriend Song
Vancouger – Obvious
Julie Doiron – Consolation Prize

New Year's parties.
You say Party! We Say Die! – There is XXXX (in my heart)
Teenage Head – Picture my Face
The Pack A.D. – Crazy
Said the Whale – Camilo (The Magician)
Yukon Blonde – Bride's Song
The Ghost is Dancing – Battles On

Small events

2010-12-16T22:03:00.002+07:00

Other letters simply relate the small events that punctuate the passage of time: roses picked at dusk, the laziness of a rainy Sunday, a child crying himself to sleep. Capturing the moment, these small slices of life, these small gusts of happiness, move me more deeply than all the rest. A couple of lines or eight pages, a Middle Eastern stamp or a suburban postmark … I hoard all these letters like treasure. One day I hope to fasten them end to end in a half-mile streamer, to float in the wind like a banner raised to the glory of friendship.

– The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Settling in. Learning new light. Making soft goat's cheese (wrap goat's yogurt in a linen towl, hang and allow to drip, maybe a day or so). Getting up early. Friends for dinner. Preparing for a five-day hike, and a very special guest soon after that. Sending out Christmas cards. Piles and piles of organic citrus from the Ethical Co-op. Hot days and mint lemonade. No internet, lots of academic reading. Decorating with rosemary and a favourite little tin soldier, found on a lawn in Montreal. Running late in the evening.

In other words: a slow, relaxed southern hemisphere holiday time. Small gusts of happiness. How are you spending your days? I'm also looking forward to a German Christmas with K and her family on the twenty-fourth.

On the subject of disco balls

2010-12-13T17:44:00.001+07:00

I think it's 2 or 3 who says that good design starts with a well-stocked woodpile.

1. Elle Deco ZA October/November 2010.

Fulani

2010-12-09T18:19:00.002+07:00

Remember those Fulani earrings at the Gold of Africa Museum?
K bought a 1975 National Geographic because this photo was on the cover. She's tops.

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Negative space.
Galettes on my mind: one, two.
Some blue photos: one, two, three, four.
'Some kind of ideological convergence'.
Have a bad day.
Early 90s Juergen Teller.

1. Photo of Fulani woman in Niger by Georg Gersten for National Geographic.

Sneak Peek

2010-11-26T23:44:00.011+07:00

Em and I played dress-up as a sort of goodbye-for-now.
Only film. She has the best jewelry box a girl could ask for.

I don't normally tamper with film—beyond straightening, because I can't take a level photo—but this one asked to be in black and white.

Replies.

Cat - So glad to hear it! Thanks for stopping by.

Felicity - I agree... but after eight successive weeks of CSA bags with huge bunches of spinach, I'm spinach-ed out.

Ingrid - Oh yes.
Jude - Thanks for the well-wishes, I think I'll be washing up onshore sometime in January... (Also: work or bonfires? Is that even a question?)

Kym - Do it! It's worth the sleepiness. And yes, slow is rich. Very much so.

Mandy - No problem! Yours is a favourite.

Marinka, Fran Amenábar Ch., Sami - Agreed!
Mikey - Ha! Don't die on me yet. Glad you really really like it though.

Rachel - Not so much of a dream! You look like you are well on your way to good things as well :)

Siubhan - Me too. Stellenbosch is only fifteen minutes away from the sea, but somehow it doesn't seem near at all; moving to Cape Town will be a nice change.

Steph, Ange de l'amour, Lady Day, Christine, Eleanor, Fran - Thank you!

Excesses + essentials

2010-11-26T22:55:00.002+07:00

[Click on the image to view a larger version.]

A Fiat ad in National Geographic, 1974.
It's been 36 years. Why has so little changed?

Friday, Saturday, Sunday

2010-11-22T19:57:00.002+07:00

- Start with a going-away dance party in a pear orchard: all you need is a bonfire, almost-full moon and killer sound system. A disco ball doesn't hurt. Go to bed at three and wake up with woodsmoke in your hair.

- Go to a dear friend's twenty-first birthday. Wear your sister's blue dress, drink champagne and admire the company. Meet her family, tear up at the speeches and dance again.

- Wear pyjamas well into the afternoon. Call up another friend and arrange a last-minute dinner. Go for a walk and cook together. Go home and watch some trash television with a live-in friend. Sleep.

#18

2010-11-16T15:57:00.002+07:00

Moving at the end of this month—the eighteenth place in twenty-four years, and the eighth in the past six years (!). For the first time, I'm kind of thrilled that it's furnished.

The last place I really put some solid effort into, décor-wise, was a shoebox in Montreal. I still love that shade of blue, and it killed me to leave behind our Danish modern couch and armchair (gifts from the Craigslist gods). It was also good luck to have a roommate who tolerated me switching things up every week or so... what can I say, it's genetic.

So after selling and leaving and smiling sweetly at airline check-in counters, this NYC flat is looking really great. Isabel Asha Penzlien has the right idea.

It's what I'll aim for next time: rough, simple, functional, good, wood, white. If you don’t follow 16 House, she’s got this sort of aesthetic down to a T.

1, 2. Mine.
3, 4. Design*sponge [via 16 House].

Swallowed by a fish

2010-11-11T16:02:00.009+07:00

Feeling a bit like Jonah these days—or Gepetto, swallowed up by the terrible [academic] dogfish.
Jonathan Goldstein has read a few very entertaining chapters from 'Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible' on his show; you should be able to find them free in Wiretap's iTunes archives.

And I've been meaning to thank you for all the kind comments. It's so nice to hear from you. Until Google designs a nifty feature, I'll do as Anabela does and reply below...

This was last Saturday's sunrise at Smitswinkelbaie. Worth a 5:20 wake-up.

Hello.
Ana b.: Thank you! Spring has been a bit on-and-off around here but the markets have made up for it.

Anabelle Merg: I read one of Neil Gaiman's books ('The Graveyard Book') pretty recently. I loved it up until about 3/4 of the way through—the ending felt a bit rushed. And 'The Giver'! Elementary school classic.

Bawkbawk: Good to know I'm not the only one :)

Ingrid: Deb! She's amazing!

Ginta: You're right, it's one of the best connections there is.

Jessica: Hello you too! Have you seen my shared items? I'm pretty sure that they're 90% via Something Changed. I really enjoy your posts about social media/identity, and nice new header! Also: how could I forget 'Anne of Green Gables'? 'Little Women' should be up there too.

Jude: You're such a commenting superstar. I am pretty lucky with our farmer's markets.

Mikey: 'The Jungle Book' definitely counts! I have to admit that I only know the Disney version. Shame; I did read 'Kim' while traveling in India, though.

Ringo, have a banana!: I completely agree. On a semi-related note, this poem is worth a read.

Lightning heart, Marinka, Vic, May: Thank you! I feel like film is taking me good places these days.

To Market

2010-11-08T13:36:00.005+07:00

I know: Enough, girl-bloggers, with the markets and food!

But it's my big luxury, along with travel and film. And I like the way a market makes you feel good about grocery shopping. You take your time. Talk to people and smile more. People run after you when you forget your change. It's nice, you know?

Bird's Café

2010-11-08T13:15:00.003+07:00

What I like best is that they've taken birds, porcelain and cake, and the effect isn't precious, but still a little rough around the edges. Everything has a use. Anri went back for the soup the next day.

Bird's Café
021 426 2534
127 Bree Street, Cape Town

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Put a bird on it

Belated Halloween

2010-11-08T12:56:00.003+07:00

I used raisins for their eyes and misshapen mouths. They were a hit.
Recipe here. (Heidi is one of my great online cooking gurus. Yours?)

James Mayhew

2010-10-28T14:38:00.003+07:00

My first interview - for Pan books - was typical. I was told my work was "too small, too dark and rather suicidal".
—James Mayhew, 'How it all began'

1, 2. Dummies from James Mayhew's blog

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Katie's Picture Show
Linnea in Monet's Garden
The Daring Game [I still have an unreasonable love for this cover]
A Handful of Time
The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales
Matilda
Forever... ('Judy Blume considers this book to have had one "odd and lasting side-effect of its popularity"; the decline in the popularity of the name Ralph')

Tell me your favourites?

10/10/10

2010-10-19T14:51:00.003+07:00

10 photographers. 10 photos each. All taken on 10/10/10.

A single day represented in 100 photographs.
No special occasion, no big event, just the essence of daily life captured through ten lenses.

The 1010 project was devised as an antidote to everything in modern life always having to be bigger, better, louder and brighter than what’s been before.

It’s an opportunity to slow down and appreciate the simple, everyday things that make life beautiful.

That's from the 10/10/10 website, which I'm so happy to be a part of. Thank you to Vic for organising this! It was a little terrifying to rely only on film; the best kind of fun.

1. Mine.
2. Anabela Carneiro.
3. Jacinta Moore.
4. Victoria Hannan.
5. Kris Atomic.
6. Brian W. Ferry.
7. Hilda Grahnat.
8. Ebony Bizys.
9. Pia Jane Bijkerk.
10. Kate Miss.

On my walls

2010-10-18T18:32:00.004+07:00

It's getting dangerously twee. Time to move, switch it up, pare down.

Clockwise: a tiny model clay polar bear by K, a postcard from the National Gallery, a print by Yu-I, one of my moustache men, my mama and aunt, a print by Eight Hour Day (have you had a look at their one-year road trip blog?), a bear monster gocco by Matte Stephens, and a Wolfmother concert poster by Strawberry Luna.

Thank you for all of your blog suggestions. Love.

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Listen to Flip Grater
How to dress for a Vietnamese moto trip [via 2 or 3 things]
BAT SLEEPOVER
I bought a Valhalla Brooklyn bag a few years ago and it's still a favourite... I like this one
For those of you in the Stellenbosch area, I popped up a little post here

This week is a big one. As they say in Afrikaans, sterkte! (Strength!)

Rocked by the Daisies

2010-10-17T16:56:00.007+07:00

A few snaps from a weekend in Darling for the Rocking the Daisies music festival. My favourite was Zebra Giraffe, who got into their set after a slow start.

HIGHLIGHTS.
Directions from a man with a green guitar
Vegan brownies from Portobello Café
Eating ice cream just before Ice Cream
Admiring New Young Pony Club's drummer
Jess' hardcore camping gear
Classy wine in a box (no glass allowed)
Boy-baked banana bread
The event website: "You can collect lost children at the information stand. They will be rounded up and herded into a corral for safekeeping. Please take your own child and not one that is prettier or looks more intelligent."

Proteas

2010-10-17T16:38:00.011+07:00

If you only learn one thing before going to South Africa: The genus Protea was named in 1735 after the Greek god Proteus (who could change his form at will), because proteas have so many different forms.

It's a handy fact. More proteas here, and a few other rainy day snaps...

Vuvu

2010-10-13T15:37:00.002+07:00

Design moves things from an existing condition to a preferred one.
—Milton Glaser, Art is Work

Possibly the most perfect South African memento ever:
this lovely incarnation of the vuvuzela by John Edwards.

I photographed his very stylish art director twin a while ago, here.

Alice Ghendrih

2010-10-13T01:42:00.002+07:00

Alice Gendrih is a make up artist. She lives in Paris.
The editorials she's worked on blow my little mind.

1, 2, 3. Photos for M Le Monde by Michelangelo di Battista.

Wanna do bad things with you

2010-10-03T18:23:00.002+07:00

Newsweek calls these opening credits "the perfect amuse-bouche". I think they're fantastic, even after going on a True Blood bender with my roommate this weekend and having to watch them ten or eleven times.

"The sequence's transitions were ... made with a Polaroid transfer technique. The last frame of one shot and the first frame of another were taken as a single Polaroid photo, which was then divided between emulsion and backing. The emulsion was then filmed being further separated by chemicals and those shots of this separation were placed back into the final edit. Eight different typefaces, inspired by Southern road signage, were also created manually by Camm Rowland for cast and crew credits, as well as the show's title card." [Here.]

THE MAKING OF.

Lunch

2010-10-02T15:49:00.001+07:00

I love hot sandwiches, and this is a relatively lazy one.
I'm working up to trying one of Nicole's recipes, but in the meantime—

PORTOBELLO SANDWICH FOR ONE.
More or less from Nigel Slater's superb Real Food, which has an entire sandwich section.

2 - 3 portobello mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
some softened butter
fresh parsley or thyme, chopped
a nice fresh bap, or slice of baguette
hot dijon mustard
some pepperish greens, like rocket
a lemon wedge
salt and pepper

Mash up the butter with the garlic and herbs, then spread liberally on top of the mushrooms. Grill the mushrooms at 200C for ten minutes or so, until they're soft and juicy, then slice into thick pieces. Slice open the bread and smear one side with mustard, the other with the juices from the mushroom pan. Layer with greens and mushroom slices. Give a squeeze of lemon and a good grind of salt and pepper.

Cape Colours

2010-10-01T19:17:00.004+07:00

Photos from a weekend or two ago, when I visited family friends in the Mother City.
We wandered around the Cape Quarter and ate ice cream on the V&A Waterfront;
then went to Kalk Bay hoping for whales, but settled for a seal and Olympia's croissants.

Exam style, spotted as I sit in the library:
A boy wearing a giant afghan square blanket over pyjama pants and crocks, with an orange flower tucked in his ear. I should know better than to leave the house without my camera.

Many, many cows

2010-09-30T21:14:00.003+07:00

I made this orange cardamom syrup to go with pistachio pavlovas topped with orange slices, for a gluten-free friend's Morroccan-themed dinner party. No photo of the finished product, but I was told that I would fetch "many, many cows" for my bride price. Nice.