pair of aces: robert mapplethorpe & patti smith

I was thinking about all my loved ones in my hometown New York City who are homebound due to the current hurricane sweeping the East Coast. After reading news update after update, I found myself scrolling through the www looking at pictures of the Big Apple and I stumbled across these photos of Patti Smith & Robert Mapplethorpe. 

They remind me of my magical childhood in 1970's NYC, where even as a wee youngster, I too had a few pants suits that I paired with silver and feather necklaces. Mini mapplethorpe at the age of 4. I see a worn tee, blazer and wild child necklace in my near future. You can never go back but you can dig through your storage boxes and break out your feather and leather jewelry.

slim pickens

Style with a bang, not a whimper.

What can we say? Slim Keith always held her own, combined grace with elegance and could consider amongst bangles and baubles worth their weight in pretty pennies, a shotgun as an accessory. I'm not a fan of violence, but there's something about this picture that captures the hallmark of California style, a true pioneer spirit.

joy to the world

I am not a focused blogger. The posts in this blog have absolutely no relation to one another, other than they happened to drift through my mind on some day and I decided to write them down. Which is why I guess, you'll find posts on Amiri Baraka or Nudists or Basquiat or the Chelsea Hotel.

That said, I would say I have a bent for digging into the golden age of California, considering that I named my blog after a book by Ed Dorn that reminds of pushing towards the eroded cliffs of PCH and of course, the azure surfaced ocean spotted with kelp's brown slimmered pods. I suppose this blog is my collected field notes.

And as for this post, it has nothing to do with California or pretty much anything else. I just happen to like Jean Patou's ad for his sportswear store, Le Coin des Sports. And the font Patou used is bangin'. For real. Of course, if you can't unearth a piece of vintage Patou, you could always pick up a bottle of his infamous perfume, Joy.

cheap thrills

free to be you and me . . .

st. joan

A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image.

-Joan Didion

How can anyone not fall completely in love with Joan Didion at any age, any decade, any time, any place, any piece?

I want to spend the rest of this week curled up in a hammock with The White Album and Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

locally grown and true blue: britt browne

*all images courtesy of www.brittbrowne.com

Sorry for the lack of way more west posts ... I've been moving and as always, packing all my stuff into 7,000 boxes only to unpack the same 7,000 boxes has taken way more time and energy that I expected.

So, after a grueling day of unloading say a library of books, or my beloved's tattoo supplies, I've been stoking the flames of my mind by imagining the garden at my new place. Succulents! Grey Water System! Indigo Plants! Oh yes, Indigo plants.

Inspired by some lovely fauna and foliage I spied at my friend Kristin Dickson's Iko Iko, local L.A. artist Britt Browne is bringing plants plus knowledge to the people with her workshops on growing and harvesting Indigo plants for dye and pigment purposes. Inspired by the Bauhaus philosophy that modern art can be a functional as well aesthetic exercise, Browne is often spotted about town teaching Angeleno's all the how-to's on this prehistoric pigment, in addition to crafting prints for Stampa and crafting her own fine art paintings and pieces.

Next up: Macramé plant holders for all my new blue plants ...

dashing

I miss these New York moments . . .

photo courtesy of style.com

dance antics

Dance, dance, dance. Lights out. Uh-huh.

sweet!

 

Chocolate lovers, take note. The Mast Brother's offerings are, bar none, the best ever. And those gorgeous wrappers? Designed by friends and family. Personally, I've got a hankering for the Serrano Bar. Peppers + chocolate = delicious. Talk about a sweet, spice and everything nice enterprise.


The Mast Brothers from The Scout on Vimeo.

mas mariel

 

I'm having a major Mariel Hemingway moment. I want a Mariel movire marathon: Manhattan, Personal Best, and Star 80. I'll make the popcorn. You bring the soda and the JuJubes.

isabel marant is a treehugger

Isabel Marant is my kind of girl. Usually, when a famous says they're heading back to the land, it only means they are staying in a hotel bangalo with 2 nannies to take care of the kids and perhaps the cook. Not so for Isabel Marant. T Magazine just featured a spead on Marant's weekend abode and the su-pere-cool french fashion designer literally heads into the woods for a little R&R.

Marant's country cabin in Fountainebleu on the banks of the Loing River has things like pristine air for amenities; the cabin itself is a) is modestly sizde b) has no address or visably marked road and c) doesn't come with running water or electricity. How does she flush? The old fashioned way. With buckets of water hand-pumped from a spring and a lack of squemishness. Which is su-pere-cool.

By the way, after reading the piece, my husband may need to fashion me a treehouse and from now on, we only use candles and kerosene lanterns at night. We're definitely building that greywater system we've been talking about in the new place. I think oui.

dream a little dream

*all images courtesy of Apartment Therapy

So, we're moving from our little Venice beach shack back to Echo Park at the end of the month. We found an amazing bungalo in EP (complete with peeling paint / doll-skin exterior shell) and of course, I'm itching to decorate. So I decided to hit the design sites for inspiration. Well, while scrolling through the interwebs, I saw my friends Kathryn Bentley & David Scheid's EP abode profiled on Apartment Therapy.

Their home makes me want to:
a) paint my new place asap
b) take a trip to the desert to thrift
c) sign-up for a pottery class
d) make throw pillows out of my collection of vintage textiles
e) frame and hang all of our artwork
f) learn ikebana

Do you lovedy-dove KB's style? Then you want to get your mitts on her jewels asap. She designs two lines, Kathryn Bentley Jewelry and Dream Collective.

Live in LA? Visit KB's store that she shares with handbag designer Claire Vivier: Vivier and Bentley. Bring your wallet. You will want to leave adorned with bags and baubles, for sure.

bathing au natural

*image courtesy of The Selby

Growing up, my family and I spent the weekends at our small country house on Long Island's east end. The house itself is to date, my favorite home ever. Crafted with whitewashed triangular ceilings, no walls and the best back deck ever, my favorite ammenity so to speak was the outdoor shower my father built for us. I still remember carving my name in the grey conrete just after he poured the floor when I was about five years old.

Needless to say, showering outside is the jam. There's nothing like feeling a warm breeze on your bum after coming home from a day at the beach, sandy bathing suit in tow. We're in the middle of moving and there is room outside for a small outdoor shower. Hmmm . . .