clothed from head to foot in song.

The Truly Great

I think continually of those who were truly great.

Who, from the womb, remembered the soul's history

Through corridors of light where the hours are suns,

Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambition

Was that their lips, still untouched with fire,

Should tell of the Spirit, clothed from the head to foot in song.

And who hoarded from the Spring branches

The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms.

What is precious, is never to forget

The essential delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs

Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth.

Never to deny its pleasure in the morning simple light

Nor its grave evening demand for love.

Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother

With noise and fog, the flowering of the Spirit.

Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields,

See how these names are fêted by the waving grass

And by the streamers of white cloud

And whispers of wind in the listening sky.

The names of those who in their lives fought for life,

Who wore at their hearts the fire's centre.

Born of the sun, they travelled a short while toward the sun

And left the vivid air signed with their honour.

--- Stephen Spender

we listened to it twice, 'cause the dj was alseep.

No, this is how it works:
you peer inside yourself,
you take the things you like
& try to love the things you took.

And then you take that love you made
& stick it into some- someone else's heart,
pumping someone else's blood.



And walking arm in arm,
you hope it don't get harmed.
But even if it does
you'll just do it all again.

ciao, bella. salute, mon cher.

Let's all dress like Europeans tomorrow. Tousle your hair, iron your clothes, wear sunglasses no matter the weather and shoes that make strangers stare.

[More at Sartorialist, whose book you should already have on pre-order.]

happy birthday to a country once called a "magnificent spectacle of human happiness."

There is no better place in the world than Washington, D.C. on the 4th of July. Crowds push toward the metro stations, families pour into parks armed with lawn chairs and waterbottles, yuppies head to their office buildings to see the view from the rooftop, and when dusk begins to fall, the air is think with anticipation and humidity.

And then pop BOOM fizzle! Fireworks shoot up, spread their lightening arms out wide, and dive back down to rain over the monuments. This year I watched the display from the Iwo Jima Memorial in Rosslyn, and even though the fireworks always feels too short, it was beautiful while it lasted.

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore."

--- John Adams to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776.

[He was off on the date, but right where it counted.]

Hope your holiday was wonderful.

to catch a thief.

Tomorrow I am leaving to spend Easter weekend in the French Riviera. I am expecting picnics, sunny beaches, and even a little jewelry stealing, just to complete the Hitchcockian experience. Bon voyage!

blue skies & mimosa blossoms.

Spring is coming. This week it feels right around the corner, & the promise of a world in bloom has me craving color.


My spring wishlist:
+ a green watch
+ a yellow trench
+ navy skinny trousers
+ a turquoise necklace
+ pink tennis shoes
+ a white bag
+ light blue sunglasses

the speckled sky is dim with snow.

Back in Georgia, March roared in like a lion in winter. My mother took these pictures so I could share the rare sight of snow in our yard, despite being a hemisphere away. To you, it's just a generic suburbia, barely dusted in white. But to me, this is home & that thought fills my heart.

be my rock of refuge.

Praise be to the LORD,
for he showed his wonderful love to me
when I was in a besieged city.

In my alarm I said,
"I am cut off from your sight!"
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
when I called to you for help.

Love the LORD, all his saints!
The LORD preserves the faithful,
but the proud he pays back in full.

Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the LORD.

Psalm 31:21-24

when i die, i want to go to vogue.

I am currently obsessed with Tim Walker's photography. Words can contribute little to photography that already speak volumes, so I'll just say this: these pictures look like love.

abundance.

This is how I feel right now.

It's wonderful.

from a room with a view.

Greetings from Florence.

the opportunity's on.

Suggested double feature: Harold & Maude, followed by Charlie Bartlett.



"well, if you want to sing out, sing out
& if you want to be free, be free.
'cause there's a million things to be,
you know that there are."

i will drink life to the lees.

'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.

-- Ulysses, Alfred Tennyson

ring out the old, ring in the new.

This is going to be a spectacular year.

Get ready.

current obsessions.

1) Mad Men
2) Coco Mademoiselle

3) this coat from J. Crew

4) the Vera tote in Yellow Bird

5) Caudalie's "Beauty Elixer"

6) Ella Fitzgerald's version of "Sleigh Ride"

7) BB&W's "Tree" scented room spray

8) paper snowflakes
9) shiny cocktail dresses

more reasons to love charlotte.

always one foot on the ground.

"Love makes the world go round: Love is the principle force behind human life. In medieval theology, it was held that love literally set the universe in motion."

--- from The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy

+++

I am currently contemplating. . .
+ love v. adoration
+ devotion v. decorum
+ impulse v. propriety
+ romanticism v. realism
+ sense v. sentimentality

And coming to little conclusion.

What is your life philosophy? Is life too short to collect regrets or is life too short to make mistakes?


P.S. - An update for inquiring minds. I chose impulse, in my own small way. It will look discrete & nonchalant, I think, to anyone else. But in my heart it was fueled by the most ardent devotion.

plaid shirts & pretty harmonies.

I am instantly enamored with these teenage sisters from Sweden who go by First Aid Kit.

Listen & fall in love.

this week's style icons in black & white:

1. Natalie Wood.

2. Emily Post.

3. Anne Sexton.

4. Alice in Wonderland.

5. Charlotte Gainsbourg

someday somebody's gonna ask you a question that you should say yes to.

From PostSecret.