Butterfly Kitty-Cat

British Vogue December 2013

The advertisement is for VERTU, handmade in England. It took several looks in different magazines before I realized that the head of the butterfly dress was of a cat. And what a cute puss it is. I have several imaginings of what the stylist or photographer may have had intended for the meaning of this photograph.  Instantly to mind are the idea of the beauty of the butterfly being captured and pinned for display in a Victorian house a century ago. Of course, the woman would not have a bare arm or shoulders; rather, it would be for the admired to imagine the silk of her skin as it lie under her satin and corset.

But the puss face? No, I won't go there ... not tonight. I'll revel in the glory of nature and the beauty of color. It is enough.

Merry Christmas

I am blessed to have a wonderful family who likes to spend time together just ... being. During dinner, after grace, we realized that we are lucky bunch to be all together. My brother-in-law brought up, of all things, Marge Simpson. He said that he watched an episode of the Simpsons where Marge said that if 'your family is together every decision you have made was correct.' Truer words were never said ... for our family, certainly. After dinner, my niece asked to see my laptop so that she could write a few words on this Christmas night. Here it is ... including the nod to Marge. Merry Christmas!

                                                                That Christmas night

That cold breeze in my face in the morning when I wake up and realize what day it was running to see what was under that tree before I looked there was a note bye the cookies we left out and it wasn’t pretty writing but I could read it wide and clearly and it said:

            It was a good night you must have been very tired.

                                                                                    Love Santa xo

Then I finally looked up and saw all the presents my mom came in the room and said, go back to bed it is 4:00 am in the morning so I sleep silently for two hours straight and my big brother Hector was out side the door getting cozy by the fire but after about 2 minutes.   Everyone was awake but my sister said don’t touch the presents you woke me up with your noise! I got many gifts but I realized that if your family is together every decision you have made was correct.

Zosia Mamet

Elle December 2013

Two, two, two trends in one ... scouse brows and a painterly blouse.

Mamet's eyebrows are spectacular. They captured me as soon as I turned the page ... two centepieds of lushness brushed across her brow.  They are so big and so meticulously groomed. Mine feel an equal to them ... of course, my are blond and so not quiet so on my face as hers. And the shirt she wears below is one of my favorites of the fall fashion season that I've written about on these pages previously.

I'm excited for Girls to come back on in January. I don't have HBO, won't get it, but I think that I can find it. It's been too long since the second season ended. I'm jones-ing for some Adam and to find out what the girls are up too. I have nothing in common with any of the four, but somehow, however, it is that Lena Durnham sees girls in her own particularly quirky way and gets it.

I wish that I could say that I remember something of the interview of Zosia. I don't. I wonder what that says about her? Apparently, she's just a familiar face in a great spread that caught my eye ... who cares what she has to say, right? She is like 20. I don't know if that is even the point of this.

Let Me Roll It

Father and daughter ripping through one of my favorite Paul McCartney and Wings' songs. My brother sent this YouTube video to me, and I didn't believe that this man and daughter were kin, nor did I know what the heck either of them are. I did a quick search to find that he is Ralph Covert, a former member of the the Chicago-based band,The Bad Examples; and more recently, he is making his living singing children's songs. I can see in him the children's entertainer's delivery as he sings. This is no kid's song though, and I hope that for their sake, they get more than 502 hits cause they are pretty rockin'. And what about that guitar player ... wow. Did I say, wow?!

Katy Perry

I was finishing up the Christmas tree and didn't think to change the TV channel as the iHeart Radio extravaganza featuring Katy Perry came on, and I have to say, I got sucked in.

I am not a "Katy-kitten" or whatever it is that her fans are called, but I did see her movie whenever that was in the recent past because my niece loves Katy. And I will admit, I shed a few tears during the telling of her story and watching the rigorous schedule that she keeps on tour.

Her new album, 'Prism,' is meant to be a departure from her blue-hair'd cotton candy self. She's ... grown-up. And her album, as she explained to Mario Lopez, is a very personal one. She went to a dark place, but she's found the light. She's empowered. And running on full strength. Oh, everything out of her mouth was cotton candy... big fluffy pink sticky sweet sugary cotton candy. At first, I was sucked in because I'm Miss Gullible, but then I got to thinking ... is she for real? Can you really walk away from an exhausting world tour, learn that you're husband is divorcing you via text, and be Katy Perry then go inside and find ... the light of a prism. The eye of the tiger. The best of everything tied up in big fluffy pink sticky sweet sugary cotton candy?

I've been on and off thinking of this all day. I need to find the prism of light. And I've looked. Really hard. Really not. And some days, the light is there. Others, no. I don't think that I could go on to TV and say that it was dark and now it is light. Sometimes, it's gray.

jake bugg

I've been listening to the new Jake Bugg record for a couple of days now, and it is really a great album. Is it the best album ever? Of course not. But for a 19 year old who looks like a razor hasn't even touched a cheek yet, he has more heart than most. "What Doesn't Kill You" and "Slumville Sunrise" are driving anthems. My brother insists that if he had been around back in the day, he could've been a Stone, but I think that he's more Clash than anything. The songs pulse through me to grab all of the garbage that's been collected for the day and rids me of it. Everything's alright.

And then there's the ballads. I expected to wince, and wonder at the decision to have him go there. But he surprised me. He reigns in that big howl of his to deliver tenderness. He doesn't lose all of the broad accent, but it softens. It isn't trite or trivial or ... let me think of another 't' word ... timid. There's a reckless abandon, yes, but I think Jake knows what he's doing and the songs are very direct, which shows that he may not have the years, but he has the soul. In one such ballad, "Song About Love," Jake sings, "Is that what you wanted?/Songs about love/Is that what you hoped you would find/Well it's burning inside/But a song about love's not enough." 

How many 19 year olds get that? Apparently, our Jake does.