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.

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).

sexy covers

a sexy (& sinister) clash cover for you this brilliant monday.

volcanic ash over london

grounded planes. abandoned runways. ash alchemized to glass. ice the size of small houses. flash floods. paralyzed skies. smoke plumes. it is a rather strange time to be in europe. it's quieter. sharper. anxious. volcanoes are usually such shy & slumbering disasters. then with a literal bang, we seem to have found ourselves in a serious flight crisis. of course, my best friend J is scheduled to arrive on satuday. i haven't seen her since the wedding. & there's so much of a city to unfold! so please cross your fingers (especially for all these stranded & stressed-out people--the stories of people out of money, sleeping in airports on issued crackers makes my stomach ache). dream of clear skies, of this pesky volcano settling itself back into blackout.

libraries of inspiration

this morning i am off to see: the jaw-dropping size of the british library, some famously halved caryatids, & the literary sector of london. i need a bit of a catalyst & these places feel like they will fire solid starting pistols. i'll also take a classic can of inspiration, please.

{via automatism}

small perfections, or a kind of self indulgence

my first impulse after any kind of sadness or loss is to find unexpected sparks, tiny things which fill me up with fizz. an example--having lived here for 8 months now, i have perfected the ability, without measuring, to pour the exact right amount of milk into the pan for morning hot chocolate. and by exact, i mean milk that when poured hot hits right at the lip of any of our (three) mugs. there's something to be said for elegance on a small scale. not too mention that i actually look forward to the sound of the gas igniting--a tiny parachute bursting open in the kitchen.

p.s. the above heart chocolate was consumed at the flower market on valentines day. heart petals in the milk bubbles of my beverage are not quite my style. also, i am slide-showing it up for the italy pictures. soon to be posted!

london sundays: borough market

friday afternoon Z & headed out to the borough market for some delicious grubbing, people-watching, & general anti-stressing. located near london bridge in a train-station-like building made of metal & light, the market is full-up with food & wonders! in the threaded-through stalls there were fishes & curries & stews, kangaroo burgers (which Z tried) & lamburgers & ostrich steaks. pasteis de nata & fresh crepes & turkish delight by the basket. freshmade cider, crazy imported beer & lavender lemonade in fancy stopped bottles. the whole market, with its old-school vibes & signage, felt a bit like being in movie. it was also quite the scent-sensory experience! we ate our selves silly on burgers & small sweets, toasted with champagne cider, and then spent some time just wandering around, thinking of places different smells reminded us of, & of people we would love to be meeting at the market. it was a delectable way to celebrate a long week & to see a new corner of london. next trip we are decidedly going to try on a weekday to avoid some of the rush & elbows, but even wall-to-wall with people it was pretty much a dreamboat.

it's over!

it's finally becoming spring here & i swear the whole of this rain-soaked city is dying to burst into blossom. to celebrate the end of an intense few days, yesterday we headed for a long coatless (!) walk along the thames & then out & about for an afternoon of city-seeing. after more sun than the whole last month combined, we found our way to gordon's wine bar. what a divine way to wind down after a long week. the wine list is drool-worthy but the ambiance is key--the bar is underground & you drink in the dark, candle-lit tunnels! while i was a bit sad to head inside while there was still sun outside (down there it's like instant-evening) we were thrilled to be relaxing amidst tables of people laughing & having a good chat (no loud music or wild pub-goers here). we tried two fantastic cheeses, four kinds of olives, hummus, & three delicious wines. & we left more than a bit tipsy on everything. if that isn't enough to convince you, it turns out that gordon's was originally the home of samuel pepys in the the 1680s! you have to love a city where you can drink amidst history.

sorry for being barely-here this week. i promise more posts & london sundays coming up!

{images via gordons}

wordless somnambulist

sorry folks. i seem to be having a sort of slow, dream-state kind of day. Z & i are both zonked after a long week. we have some fun plans for the weekend, which may just include a victorian-style fair. but for now, i'm too scattered for words.

{image via tenderletters}

they'll name a city after us

does anyone know any old/new nicknames for london besides the smoke or the old smoke? i'm not looking for something as famous or kitschy as the big apple, here. something a little more slang (though not slapstick) & from any time period. it has to be a nickname that solely belongs to london/would be able to place a non-englander in london (meaning generic things like the city won't work). any thoughts amazing-ones?!

under ground beauty

as most londoners do, i spend an inordinate amount of time waiting around in tube tunnels brimming with people & pushing & impatience. but today i happened into a station which was quiet, filled with something close to a stillness--like a scene from a western with newspaper-tumbleweeds. this bought me a few more minutes to actually see something. usually the walls of the tube are plastered with advertisements or videos. but this station's signs were in-between states of the previous and the to-be: exquisite, ripped down. a little haunting. a little beautiful.

tonight we are off to see this at the screen on the green. Z may have reserved us a couch. and a bottle of wine.

bowled over

due to logging some serious hours in front of the computer (it's never a good sign when a grant application lists the average completion time at 12 hours!) i'm having a real urge to get out of the flat and do something silly. like get my bowl on. complete with hotdogs/hamburgs, pints, & maybe some bad music thrown into the mix. have any of you londoners gone to all star lanes? is it cheesed-up in a good way? or filled with birthday parties where it's inappropriate to be a little ridiculous? because seriously folks, i could use some neon lights at the end of these endless paperwork tunnels.

help your shelf to a crocodile

i don't know why, but this morning these crocodiles are making me grin. there's something to be said for a well-crafted wooden toy. i mean, just check out that description--such intricacy, thought & detail! it's worth taking a look around at the rest of shelf too--they offer a sweet selection of small goods & prints. perfect for a gifting. Z & i plan to visit the brick & mortar soon (it's near an infamous warehouse-size vintage clothing store, yikes!). here's hoping a few of these snappers are hanging around (i swear, i only want to hold one).

{via happycavalier}

london sundays, scenes from the city

scenes or see-ings from the city this weekend: ancient bones in great halls, the breakfast club, bright busts, wrinkly latex & ribbons, sugar-sparks, stunning greens.

cheeky underground announcements

these made my morning. rock on for transport humor! (i wish some people would heed the makeup advice--eyelash curlers on the tube make me nervous).

{via tubediary}

deadlines/sneaking

the first wave of crushing deadlines have been met!! this morning i am heading off to brick lane & spitalfields for a mini-reward & a little research (i've started a new series of pieces which are london-based, making most jaunts out & about justifiable as work-related. i am a sneaky rabbit). don't you love the sort of sexy-stealthy feel of a laced-mask?

{image via weheartit}

home is whenever i'm with you

this week has been hard. dark. busy. the city swallowing me a little in its bustle & dust. in its mad-dash in post offices. its water bills & broken heaters (again). let's face it: deadlines are heavy-making. stress-filled. craze-inducing. i'm more than glad that this week of balled-up nerves is over (even if deadlines aren't over yet). tomorrow there will be photography exhibits. snowless cities. umbrellas & soup. & sunday there will be flowers. but in the meantime, on this drizzling, car-whooshing friday, i am glad for all this wildness. the struggle to make it across the waves, away from all things safe & expected. i am glad for the poetics of being here. and Z: home is whenever i'm with you.

london sundays, stillness

this morning the clouds are stitched over the city-sky in a sheet. it already looks like evening and the day has just started! Z is off at columbia road flower market (if in london on a sunday, go!) while i work on an important deadline (feel free to cross your fingers). i'm a bit jealous--we've made a ritual of going every week to grab some flowers to spring-ify the flat & i know i'm missing out on: color-pops, criss-cross yells of two for a fiver! any two flowers for a fiver!, delicious pain au chocolat, the round smell of dirt, the rush of a small crowd, the lure of spools & fabrics & french buttons. on the other hand--the flat is fizzing, like radio static, in a type of morning stillness which i also love. and finishing life-important deadlines? pretty sweet.

{shots from last weekend's market}