Needed: a dress by Duskin. Via Royal Quiet Deluxe.
light the yule log and kick back
Last year I had to work on Christmas Eve. My office was as still as tombs, and it was a long one.
If you happen to be stuck at work today, here are some things to help pass the time:
- something funny (I read this every year)
- something thought-provoking
- something melancholy (another annual seasonal read)
- my favorite discussion of Useful and Useless presents (also Uncles)
- Venn diagrams
- tetris
- the year in photographs
- a little bit of joyful holiday craziness (in case you need some more in your life): Rufus Wainwright and his mother cooking on Martha Stewart
christmases of cleveland yore (part 2)
A native Clevelander sent me these images from the Life archives last night - more shots of the city in years gone by decked out for the holidays.
When I was a little kid, you still could go downtown and see the holiday window displays at Higbee's. Pure magic. But the people weren't nearly as turned out as these shoppers:
(Thank you, Michael.)
christmases of cleveland yore (part 1)
Higbee's Santa, 1955. Photographer: Bob Tomsic.
Higbee's 50 foot Christmas tree in the lobby of the Terminal Tower, 1968. Photographer: Herman Seid.
Exterior shot of the Cleveland Trust Company, 1970. Photographer: Larry Nightswander.
And the best one last - a child admiring the toys in Higbee's window display in downtown Cleveland, 1934, taken by Margaret Bourke-White. I love it his galoshes.
All found at Cleveland Memory.
jumping jacks
An inspired idea : handmade jumping paper dolls. I'm planning on making these of me and Sean for next year.
Learn how at ribouldingue (via Ribambelles & Ribambins).
this weekend
Avoid the mall.
Instead:
- get into the holiday spirit with an otter
- stock up on last minute hostess gifts
- take a spin around the rink or a run down the chute
- see me and buy nice things
Photo: Frenzied women grab at dresses during a Christmas bargain sale, December 1955. Taken by Ralph Morse.
al
My creation will reflect rain, wind, and other weather phenomena, as well as the movement of the sun, color of the sky, and other quiet changes in the environment. By reflecting the surfaces and shapes of the landscape, the artwork amplifies and transforms nature and makes it visual. It is an artificial structure with a complex and ambiguous geometry ...
Kimihiko Okada, Aluminum Landscape 2008
Via MocoLoco.
shards
He went about dragging some sharp flat pieces of ice, which he placed in all sorts of patterns, trying to make something out of them ...
In his eyes, they were excellent and of the greatest importance: this was because of the grain of glass still in his eye. He made many patterns forming words, but he could never find the right way to place them for one particular word, a word he was most anxious to make. It was 'eternity.' The Snow Queen had said to him that if he could find this word he should be his own master, and she would give him the whole world and a new pair of skates.
Hans Christian Anderson, 'The Snow Queen'
Image: Robert Smithson's Map of Broken Glass (Atlantis), 1969. Installation view at Dia: Beacon. Photo: Florian Holzherr.
working on: macaroni snowflakes
I love doing little kid crafts, and this is one of my favorites. I made my first macaroni snowflake when I was seven - it was silver and had red glitter. It twinkled merrily from my parents' tree for the next twenty Christmases until an unfortunate encounter with a wagging tail sent it flying to the floor. My mother was disconsolate. To cheer her up, I offered to make her a new, better macaroni snowflake ornament ... and I did. I actually made 80. I gave most of them away as hostess gifts. This year, I decided it was time for another batch.
It's pretty fun. I came up with nine different shapes using just three types of macaroni - fiori, small shells, and wagon wheels. The best part is that you can have the unused materials for lunch.
and eat peppermint patties
I might have to make some of these. They could be Sean's all-time favorite.
re-sorted
I like to think that Rugg is changing the world, if only in her imagination, alchemically blasting the news out of existence by snipping it up into a million little pieces.
Emma Gray
Kim Rugg cuts apart the front pages of newspapers and reassembles them in alphabetical order. These manifestations of obsessive focus fascinate me.
From Things To Look At via NotCot.
match/mismatch
Typography work from George Lewin:
match / mismatch. two typefaces based on communication and miscommunication.in match (pictured), each letterform comprises of two shapes that fit inside each other, whilst in mismatch the shapes deliberately do not.I love the illegible quote in mismatch:
It reads: 'If a lion could talk, we could not understand him.' - Ludwig Wittgenstein.Via Ffffound.
linked
'Chains of gold are stronger than chains of iron.' - Thomas Fuller
9k Yellow gold thick chain ring by Jen Tozer. To bind your love to you.
glitz
Marmo raw marble + gilt 'Rock Star' tiles. From Salvini Tile via Apartment Therapy.
For those in need of extreme swank.
gold speaks
Mensaje, Decoracion Mural, by Mathias Goeritz. Gold paint on stainless steel, mounted on wood, 110 by 178 inches, 1970.
gasp
This is the best holiday craft project/product I have seen.
Studio Violet Clothespeg Church at Bloesem.
doing my best to
I always work a little harder at it in December - I like a strong end to the year.
Delightful cookies spied at Bloesem.
i'd like a new pair of skates
1941 Leather ice skates. If only new ones were half as beautiful. Found here.
delineated movements
Figure skater Carol Lynne, photographed in 1945 by Gjon Mili. Flashlights were embedded in each skate to illuminate the moves.
Found on the new Life archive.
skaters
On that day of the week and at that hour people belonging to the same set and all acquainted with one another used to meet on the ice. There were crack skaters, parading their skill, and beginners clinging to chairs and making timid, awkward movements, boys, and elderly people skating for their health; and they all seemed to Levin to be fortune's favorites because they were there near her.Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenin.
Photo: Vienna's Eislauf-Verein, 1908.
winter white
I am making hasty revisions to my Christmas list to include these lovely things hand made by Tannis Hegan, and all available at Lark.
Photos via Lark.
how i plan to get around
From 1932 (although I saw Rick Steves' family riding around on these in Austria, so they must still be out there).
Via Modern Mechanix.
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