Weekend...

Well, I got sick almost immediately after my return from Seattle, so I did very close to nothing this weekend (except see the new David Wain movie). Next weekend I'm headed to Sweden (!!) and then Austin for SXSW, and this week is all booked up with lectures, lunches, bookkeeping, and work, work, work. So I'll see you all in a couple of weeks!

Weekend, Etc.!

i look very mean in this picture, but it was the best group shot we got
Last weekend I went up to Seattle to visit some very good friends. We went wine tasting in Woodinville, got sucked into Sherlock, shopped, and got ridiculously dolled up for the annual Seattle Red Dress Party, and as usual, we ate some amazing meals at Sitka & Spruce, Paseo, Anchovies & Olives, Cafe Presse, and Skillet, and Chris made his famous homemade pasta that put everything else to shame.


albacore, potatoes, leeks and horseradish creme fraiche at sitka & spruce


croque madame at presse


poutine at skillet

Before I left town, I attended a beer and butchery themed dinner (part of SF Beer Week), where I got to see a wonderful butchery demonstration by Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats, and sample the newest seasonal offering from Almanac Beer with an assortment of foods made from the pig we saw disassembled. (Best corn dogs I've ever had!) I also saw The Artist, hosted a successful dinner party, another RuPaul's Drag Race screening, and went to see the latest Denzel action flick with my girlfriends on Valentine's Day.




Since I got back from Seattle, I've attended a fascinating screening of Lost Landscapes of Detroit from the Prelinger Archive, got to see much-missed out of town friends, and brought home a new car (a big, big change for me, since I've been driving a 1969 P1800 since I was 16!).

Pretty Things: Valentine's Edition

oakland sidewalks
Some love-ly items that have caught my eye lately...



mary and matt


yellow button studio via poppytalk


just bento


antique via bird and banner


crate and barrel


mental floss via pink shirts and carwrecks


cookie boy


"many are the stars i see but in my eye no star but thee"
british museum via pinterest


something's hiding in here


elisabeth messina via 100 layer cake


geronimo balloons via oh joy


frolic


amass blog


cecilia paredes via design for mankind


inflatedeflated



knot and bow

The Great White Silence

Last night I saw a screening of The Great White Silence, Herbert Ponting's 1924 silent film shot on Captain Robert Falcon Scott's second (and last) voyage to Antarctica in 1910-1912. The imagery was hauntingly beautiful and remarkable for its time, and even though I knew what would become of Scott and his expedition, I still found myself hoping for a happy ending. It really has to be one of the most tragic stories: his party made it to the South Pole just 34 days after their Norwegian competitors, and then starved/froze to death on the return not 11 miles from the supplies they needed to survive. The determination and patriotism that comes across in Scott's journal entries- quoted considerably in the title cards- is heartbreaking. I'm really looking forward to seeing some of these journals and documentation in person this summer at the National History Museum in London.



from the exhibition at the national history museum, naturalist dr. wilson's drawings, and shoes worn on the expedition
What is it about arctic exploration that is so fascinating? A while back, I read Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris (a collection of essays about books and reading), and was struck by her collection of books related to this subject. And there is no shortage of iceberg imagery to be found on design blogs these days; I myself have posted many of them, which I've gathered here.



frederick edwin church via ill seen, ill said




from my own collection




best made co, via all the mountains


philipp schaerer, via dear ada


the bs report via bonnie tsang



rojan via 50 watts


francois delfosse via junk culture


shackleton's ship via teenangster


jeremy miranda via the jealous curator

Weekend!/ Notes From the Point: February, 2012

This weekend was a great end to another busy week. Friday night I went to see Maira Kalman and Daniel Handler speak at City Arts & Lectures, and they were as charming as always. They signed my copy of Why We Broke Up with a delightfully snarky message about my recent breakup, but I was sad to have lost out in the competition to win a piece of Maira's collection of onion rings (awarded to the most romantic attendees, based on a quiz).

Saturday I co-hosted a crab dinner with two other friends, and Sunday was the Alameda Point antiques fair, where I scored on a nightstand, an amazing German educational chart (pictures forthcoming), and a couple of other miscellaneous items. Here's what I didn't buy.


don't these guys look dapper?