furniture futures

i promise to be back in blogging action soon--but i needed a little family & sun, backyards & grill food, visits to friends who i haven't seen in a year. in the meantime, Z is still in london finishing things up in his program & packing up the rest of our lives there. so, if you want furniture, mirrors, fun things with which to furnish a flat, leave a comment here or email. everything has to go before wednesday!

crash years

the new pornographers put me in mind of ithaca--: of the greenery & gorges of a central new york spring (closely followed by the heatwaving lushness of summer). of bars in may & meeting Z for the first time. of rocking out in my car along cayuga lake. of making garland after coffee filter garland for our wedding. so last week, in celebration of our third anniversary, i gifted Z the crash years. & we've been listening on repeat (across continents) to its guitarshine sweetness. i have to say: what a kicking goodbye soundtrack. what a welcoming hello hello.

(p.s. we finally got our wedding photos. & oh my!)

between

today i am flying back, after almost a year of london-ness. it's been too wild a week--mostly postless (sorry!) & without much room for seeing the city before leave-taking (damn you food-poisoning!). so this morning i am hoping to pull out the polaroid & wander around in the neighborhood for a few last snapshots. to take a little bit of time to say my goodbyes at least to the small radius of where we have been living. Z will be here for a little longer, finishing up his work & packaging the rest of our year into luggage & boxes & brain spaces. i'm caught between a feeling of exhilaration at seeing my family after so long & terrible sadness at finding myself at the end of this city year. there's still a lot of posts ahead & london things to unpack & process. so as long as you all will keep reading, this blog isn't going anywhere.

birthdays, bicycles, oysters

i'm still in recovery mode (& hopefully giving a reading tomorrow, then flying off into the sunset thursday). so i thought i'd give you a tiny photo recap of the birthday seaside amazingness. Z swept me off on an almost-surprise trip to whitsable (in kent) for the turning of 29 (the need to buy tickets home bit made it easier if he shared in advance). it was everything one could want out of realizing they are closer to 30: the sea (!), adventure, oysters, wild boar statue kissing, bicycles, delicious seafood, shell collecting, & a little pint-induced silliness. there might have also been some ice-cream, and some hotel-ness, & some general we love england swooning. Z knows i hate birthdays, & his pre-planned whisking off was just the thing to cheer a slightly melancholy me. considering last year at this time i still hadn't left north america, it was quite the way to kick off a new year!

food poisoning

a little under the weather over here. hoping to be back to normal soon. (i had forgotten how hard fevers actually are--& oh, the delirious conversations!)

{image via marshallart's}

england vs. america

today i am off to teach/take part in a panel discussion on the differences between american vs. british contemporary poetry. considering the rest of the panel is composed of much more established writers, i'm a bit nervous. in any case, i'm sure it will be quite the experience. wish me luck! (p.s. tomorrow i will be getting just a little older, a handful of days closer to thirty, & 366 earth revolutions away from twenty-eight).

{image via cambria}

london: well curated

there is nothing sexier than finding yourself in a store with incredible design & a well-curated selection. & while most people don't think about books as things that need to be well sorted or selected, there is a lot to be said for a good eye & a little specialization. i love the feeling of finding myself in a place where i want to read everything on the shelves. i was lured to lutyens & rubinstein by my friend j* while she was visiting (a famous author friend of hers had suggested it). & it was staggering! half bookstore, half literary agency, specializing in fiction & children's books.** i practically fainted. their organization was drool-worthy--how many places separate short story collections from novels?! they also sold a perfect selection of cb i hate perfumes (library & poetry scented perfume in a bookstore? genius.). there were book-page fans on the ceiling & a giant scroll of calligraphied/screen printed quotes swept across the front window. marvelous to marvel at the whole place! i can't wait to take Z there before we head off. the shop, just off portobello road, is a must.

*for the record of records, i have two friends whose names begin with J that i talk about on here. i realize that many of you probably think i am always talking of the same one.

**now if they would just add some good poetry!

furniture

any of you london readers in need of some furniture? sadly, Z & i are having to wind down our year here a few weeks early (unexpectedly) so we'll be needing to get rid of our furniture lickety-split! despite our best efforts to keep our place pretty spare we still have quite a bit. there's a beautiful georgian dining table (with foldable wings) & two chairs, three metal book shelves, a small modern love-seat that pulls out into a bed, a vintage style clothing rack, two danish modern chairs (Z is eating a donut on one above), a long mirror, and the thing i am saddest to let go of--a vintage school desk with two opening sides (perfect for storage or to turn into a vanity with a mirror inside). if you are interested i'll send pics via email.

wet sandwiches

today was not a good day. tomorrow does not look promising either. in the midst of my decidedly un-violet melancholy, i need to prep for teaching. meet deadlines. remember how to sleep. i'm trying to keep a stiff upper lip, drink lots of tea, distract myself in a mizzle of words. but nothing is really helping. any suggestions? in the meantime, i've been listening to a lot of this. why do sad songs always make me feel happier?!

on a sillier note: i'm in love with a slang term i learned for someone whose a bit overly sad all the time--a wet sandwich. isn't it so fitting?! today i am a total wet sandwich.

do not be scared of being eaten

there's something so ridiculous & charming about these little shadow-boxes of animals. so much so that despite a rather dreary morning their cheeky slogans have cheered me right up. can you tell i'm supposed to be working on a deadline?!

the real thing

did i mention that while J was here we went to see the phenomenal tom stoppard play the real thing? we sat in the second row, practically in the room with these lovers as their lives whirlwinded & lusted & crumbled. seeing this piece as my first non-college/high school theater was a spectacular fizz. not in the least for its meta-ness concerning writers & their lives as people, as writers, as lovers. i can't wait to sit down and read the script--to roll back over some of the intensity in detail. there is a lot to be said for the live, electric word. i'm trying to catch as much of the glittery ephemeral aspects of london before we leave, so this afternoon i have tickets to this (i can't decide if i'm more excited for the actual pieces or the idea of feeling like i am in a secret section of the V&A).

buildings of brighton

i have a thing for buying art that marks a specific time in my life. when we visited brighton a few months back, i was really taken by the ghosted seaside town--its intriguing history & vintage postcard looks. since then i've been keeping an eye out for related prints. these ones by robin101 hit the spot with their clean lines & bright color contrast. i'd love to put two or three of these up in our next space.

pop couplets

here's a sugar-poppy tune for you this sunny bank holiday (in england)--i've been listening to it quite a bit since reading this article. who knew lily allen & poetry would end up in the same space?!