My castle, my books.

Mardi Gras revelers in costume, circa 1937-40, photo by Eudora Welty

Nearly done with The Optimist's Daughter, by Eudora Welty, Pulitzer prize winning writer, and accomplished photographer.

“Making pictures of people in all sorts of situations, I learned that every feeling waits upon its gesture, and I had to be prepared to recognize this moment when I saw it. These were things a story writer needed to know.” One Writer’s Beginnings, Eudora Welty

Jezebel giveaway vol. 5: Bittersweets gold twig band!

I've been terrible, cabbages. Gone on Thursday and Friday and nary a Christmas greeting for those of you who are Christmas-inclined. I'm back, and I'd like to make it up to you with the chance to win a Bittersweets NY gold twig band, courtesy of the sweetest jeweler in town. She (or he) who is chosen will get to choose between white, rose, or yellow gold. Please note that though the giveaway ring will not have the diamond pictured above, it is clearly fit for a fairy queen.

To enter: visit Bittersweets NY's site, between now and Sunday the 3rd (of 2010!), then leave a comment here, at this very post. Do make sure that I'll be able to find you, as I'm most certain you will be the winner. And, don't despair if I am wrong and you are not the winner- capitalism is not dead.

Norwegians say

luxirare's rings + felix and irina yussupov frm le portillon

Cabbages, the internet is slow, and I'm even slower. I need a nice long chat with you, but there's work to be done, so goodbye, until tomorrow.

Good night gorgeous

daddy don't know + 19th Century Brass, Bronze, and Glass frm erie basin

Yesterday didn't happen entirely how I told you - substitute The Ace Hotel for Lupa, and subtract the Neue. My favorite part of the Ace was Stumptown, and the baked cheese sandwich at the Breslin was a very naughty thing. I spotted Lynn Yaeger at Rizzoli (where I went looking for Davey's book and some Tintins for my little brother) right after I dissuaded my boyfriend from buying some Diptyque for our home. Because really, despite all the lavishness exhibited in this forum, I am a true penny-pincher. And don't even try telling me that one day I won't have pennies left to pinch. Rubbish.

Play, away, following the centaurs today

Bergdorf Goodman holiday '09 window frm (In)Decorous Taste +
alternating current table fan, Peter Behrens, Neue Galerie collection, 1908

Happily playing vacation today: we're off to the Neue to look and have a coffee at Café Sabarsky, Bergdorf's to dream and scour the 7th floor for a little treasure, and finally, we'll happily howl at Lupa, the she-wolf.

Geraniums and gold-leafed laurel

Charlie's by Space Queen

I've got Teepee snuggled in the crook of my typing arm, so please blame any typos on her. I feel a holiday-vacuum this year, and it's making me blue. But! This weekend our dear Brooklyn will be crowded with out-of-town guests, and I'm counting on them to have tinsel bursting from all pockets. Before they arrive, I must tidy- a neat apartment makes me feel all together more together.

Medusa

Catherine Baba frm Jak & Jil

When it's time, let's let the new decade tumble in, with individualism and imagination blasting great shiny horns.

Rococo murmurings, powdered walks

Marcello in Cannes, 1963 + prune and pansy, kittens in a pistachio dressing room, $3.50 at www.ilovejezebel.com

On the precipice of such a dawn, and I am sad to say "NO" to My Blueberry Nights.

In February, I will go to the ballet

sunrise, 4 a.m., Sweden frm HannahAlexander

The cupboards are bursting and I watched another Bergman film. We are growing up, growing strong, and My Blueberry Nights is waiting on my bedside table.

Jezebel giveaway vol. 4: She who is chosen

Random.org has worked it's dark magic and chosen LISEFIFE as the winner of L'Oeuvre de Georges Méliès. HOORAY say les squelette et fantômes. Lisefife, when you return to earth from your interplanetary time and space travels, please let me know (by Thursday the 17th) to where I ought post your bounty.

Goodbye Gloria

our laundromat window, photo frm my sweet neighbor, an apple a day

I rummaged through the bowl of change on his bedside table this morning, as the store was in need of quarters. "Today's Thursday," I thought, "which means laundry on Saturday and we'll be out of quarters, but she will change our bills for us just like she always does on Saturdays."

After dinner with one so dear and clear, who inspires better thought and more mindful conversation, a girl was standing in front of the battered metal gate of our laundromat, where a few notes and cards were taped slap-dash, and two bodega bouquets lay crossed on the sidewalk. I thought instantly of our dingy block, and the park behind us, and misfits and mischief and something gone awry. As I stood beside the girl, I knew what she knew: not this Saturday. Gloria was killed the other day. The sign said she died peacefully, on vacation, happy, in Aruba. She was young and unbelievably kind and I loved to listen to her mindful, intelligent conversations as I folded laundry. She was sweet to the grubby gaggle of children I try to avoid as they spill down the street.

I've added my slip of paper to the gate: I hope that her family, including the two small, quiet children I believe belonged to her, know that this rundown block treasured her. I am ashamed that I only tonight learned her name.

"which made me very happy and I blushed"

Cédric Bihr via {tig} + Italy, early 20th century, after Antonio Canova (1757-1822), Verona Italy

The magic of it is, there will always be lions at the gate, old houses in Paris all covered in vines, our swan selves, classical guitars, lace dresses and rock candy rings, kimono riots, the future of the past, sleds we're not scared of, queen-sized beds, lost gardens, marble benches, moments with pop stars gone. Because it's all there, in the messy files.

HOURGLASS

1880s paste lyre brooch frm erie basin +
the magpie with her dinosaurs and pearl, $5 at www.ilovejezebel.com

They had already reached the outskirts of Tokyo. The night sky had turned to a vivid dark blue. The dawn showed the clouds spread low over the roofs of the houses. Though he wanted to get her home as soon as possible, he still felt regret that the morning light would put an end to what was probably the most extraordinary night of his life. Behind him he heard the sound - so faint that he thought he must be imagining it at first - of Satoko pouring the sand from the shoe she had taken off. To Honda, it sounded like the most enchanting hourglass in the world. - Spring Snow

It just doesn't look right sitting on his shoulders like that

I'm repeating myself, but this is worth saying again: TAKE ME THERE.

L'Oeuvre de Georges Méliès: Jezebel giveaway vol. 4!

Courtesy of a messenger from the West, I find myself with 2 copies of the unbelievable L'Oeuvre de Georges Méliès, a monograph (in French) devoted to the French filmmaker. For a chance to win, please leave a comment at this post by Sunday, December 13. If you, like me, are a child at best in your command over French, despite many, many, many years of French classes, do not be dissuaded from entering. The marvelous images make up for the shame one might feel at gazing upon strings of letters and accent marks where words ought to be.

Little ghost came to call

Manderlay + Silvana Mangano

Shaking off last night's dreams, home, packing orders, cooking, quiet.

Everybody knows the wisdom of Athena in red

Strix Tender Wurm, the giant swallow-tailed owl who haunts Maggie and Sally -

and imprisons Yount

by Deborah A. Mills

"The Girls of Egon and Leonard"

diamond, 18k, and carved jade drop earrings from Doyle & Doyle + Schiele from Le Portillon

Last night, at the Doyle & Doyle holiday party, the real life beauty of their stupendous offerings was only amplified by the presence of sisters & children, and the feeling, as my nose was pressed against the glass, that a ghost's jewel box had been rediscovered.

Asleep in Canada

The Corpse Bride

Muggy and 60F is inappropriate for December in New York. Tonight is the 1st holiday party of the season and I think I'll be doing battle with my normally very pacific closet. Bare wrists and bare ankles are an unexpected possibility, and the lack of a butterfly nimbus presents an acute challenge.

I'll leave a trail of inky black

My gift guide is up at The Shiny Squirrel.
Caveat Emptor.

Safe space

Grotto at the pavilion for Prince Golitsyn, 1896 +
Alexis & Trevor Traina's San Francisco dining room, 2009

Trevor proposed in the handbag rotunda of Bergdorf Goodman. At his behest this was transformed after-hours by Linda Fargo into a softly lit bower, echoing to birdsong and filled with ornamental lovebirds and white peacocks, orchids, chandeliers, and silvered Venetian grotto furniture (some of which has made its way into their airy dining room). - Vogue, December 2009

Not too shabby. I'd like to spend some time with Linda Fargo. And Jane Stubbs. In Bergdorf's, or a flea market in San Telmo.

In the event you are a billionaire's baby, born in December

18k gold, diamond, & turquoise brooch, 1940s, $1600

brooch by Tony Duquette, $23,000

18k gold and turquoise scarab earrings, 1970s

Tony Duquette bracelet, $51,000

I've picked out some jewels for you from 1st Dibs, featuring your birthstone, the blue topaz, and your alternate birthstone (seems like your Billionaire Pops already bought your gifts, as they were nearly out of topazes), turquoise. Let me know which one you get (and what your Billionaire Pops bought for you, too).