So far I’m at about 130 pages. At this point, I’m done adding to it and just want to make what I have is good, tangible and fleshed out. And I’m still a little unclear about the ending. I wish I knew exactly what the ending was but it’s still a little bit in the air, only a little though. Being a tragedy, it’s probably just that, but I guess I’m holding out a little longer to be sure.
As for the title, I can’t help but want to steal “Smoke” by Turgenev so maybe I’ll just call it “dust” “steam” “vapor” or something like that lol, just something that underlines the ephemeral and disappearing quality of a relation that does not take the reigns and assert itself in the singular earthly realm we all have no choice but to live and die in, and how inconsequential and meaningless it really is when it is not rooted in concrete reality. It’s just smoke.
Since age 9, I’ve kept track of movies watched in a notebook w/ other info such as view date & my rating (the maximum 4 stars reserved for movies I found flawless & that usually spoke to me on some kind of personal level). To conquer my 19 page list, I try to not rewatch movies (even though, like rereading a fav book, much can be gained from repeat viewings) so once the NB reached ~75 pages, I typed out the seen films (not quite up to date atm), so as to easily command f to check if I already saw it, rather than flipping through pages. Even though giving up the NB entirely and sticking to the computer doc would expedite that process, keeping up the notebook is more fun.
As for top movies, mine are probably Godfather I, Clueless, David Copperfield (1935), Metropolitan and The Shining. Though upon glancing across this NB, there are lots of other 4 star movies that would probably be in the list if I expanded it.
I have to give my bike a shoutout. I hit the jackpot with this one. I bought it new in 2012 – I believe November, for the memorable good price of $420 at the bike shop on Knickerbocker and Flushing Av. in Brooklyn (which, last time I checked not super recently, is still a bike shop but a different one). The brand is Solé, from Venice Beach, CA.
I have put so many miles on this bike and, I feel almost guilty to admit, have given it I think only 2 tuneups in its whole life. Because it always feels great to ride and never gives me issues and makes me think: “what’s your issue bike, whaddya need?” I’ve suffered very few flat tires and the chain always feels smooth and silky to ride even though I only oil it like once a year.
I don’t know how it rides so well and doesn’t get sick ever. It also goes very fast.
A couple years ago, I stopped riding long distances in rain and snow, but until then this bike endured all types of weather too.
From 2011-2014, I lived in Flushing and would bike at least once a week all the way into the city via Roosevelt Av., and at least 1-2x a week to Brooklyn, usually Bushwick for band practices, shows, etc. Then I moved back home to Park Slope for the next 6 years and biked probably just as often, but not quite as far distances usually. 2020-2022 whilst in Flatbush didn’t see a ton of riding being pandemic years, but since moving to Queens late 2022, I use it pretty much every day for the short ride to work. I needn’t ever pack a lock for my day to day because my school has a handy storage room locked via keypad. And my building lets me store it in the basement parking lot for free.
Here’s to you, bike:
I will buy this brand again when it bites the dust, but at this point, it looks like they made too good a product and this might just be my bike for life.
If you’ve stumbled upon this page and been pleased to find the best collection of George Harrison photos to exist on the internet, then you might be asking yourself: what other beautiful things is she gonna post? After all, that’s the name of the blog. I mean, really, just George, and some high fashion men’s sneakers, and that’s it? Kinda weird…
Well, ya that really is about it.
However, there’s ONE more thing in the same vein.
A long time ago, there existed something called man. Nowadays, you have to read books or watch older movies to know what I’m talking about. I kid, I kid. (But the drop in testosterone and scientific findings do NOT kid).
But seriously, I do have a collection called “Hello There” – what I consider to be the finest, most attractive collection of…. Men.
It is an extremely exclusive list. It’s not enough to be devilishly handsome. No, a certain je ne sais crois must be present. Sometimes, people on the list might surprise you, but what is made up in the je ne sais crois, sometimes trumps what are their “natural good looks.” It’s definitely not all about that.
I encourage you to submit to this list, but be aware, there are only 35 people on it. I started this list around 2015, when I was at the National Portrait Gallery, bored, then I turned a corner and caught eyes with Franklin Pierce’s arresting portrait, at which point, I said, in my head “helllooo there.”
And thus, the hello there series was born.
So far, a few relatives of mine and a friend have submitted their candidates on who should be accepted into the Hello There Hall of Fame. About 7 submissions total, and only one of them made the cut: Alain Delon, who I admit was just an oversight on my part – I should’ve included him from the get go. Other people just didn’t make it. Everyone else besides Delon was chosen by me.
You might be saying: what makes you the authority?
Just look at the list and I think it will cause you to respect my authority:
I have seen a lot of paintings, sculptures, etc., am lucky to have visited all the most famous stuff in every major city, but ever since a kid, and to this day, this is my fav ever painting and I’m glad I can see it whenever I want at the good ol’ BK Museum:
1/10/21:
If you want to feel better, watch George drink and talk in this interview.
And then watch 1938’s A Christmas Carol.
Dickens and Dostoyevsky have to do with their shared loved for children, and ability to make a child, whether a minor or major character, the fulcrum of all emotional intensity in any story.
Here’s a good article by someone who took the time to write about this more seriously:
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/gredina.html
I’ve been listening to this album since I was 17 and it doesn’t get old:
https://youtu.be/7mrI2xtkEMA
I love the way he starts and ends on the same note from the verse-chorus at 1:03 and 2:03 and the melody that follows
11/12/20:
Joyce Grenfell:
Joyce Grenfell – “Nursery School”
Joyce Grenfell – Lumpy Latimer
Joyce Grenfell “Eng Lit”
Joyce Grenfell : Nursery School – Free Activity Period
11/11/20:
Organizing things and creating lists makes me happy – here’s a list of the Physical Music I own, most of which I should finally throw away after I get around to backing everything up
9/16/20:
#1. My favorite merch page on the internet: https://www.vgmerchandise.com/store/home.php (but I think his fee for personal services is a little high for his age) [2024 update: yeah yeah, he’s “cancelled” but this merch page contains merit as do some of his films and music].
#2. Maybe because he’s so famous, but I sort of overlooked Yo-Yo Ma and didn’t own any of his recordings. Last month, however, I rented the three volumes of Inspired By Bach and determined he’s without a doubt the best cellist I’ve ever heard, at least playing Bach. I think his cello suites are better than Pablo Casals, despite all the latter’s historical significance, WWII story etc. Also, leave it to Canada to pick up the pieces and leave it for Boston to screw up what would have been one of their best moves.
8/2/20:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6niPO-wKYQ
7/6/20:
#1. The inimitable and magnetic Lennox Pawle in one of my all time favorite movies, David Copperfield (1935):
#2. If you have a fascination with rural and Appalachian America (especially from the 1970s-early 2000s), states including Kentucky and Idaho, and most of all, potbelly pigs, as I do, you may find this documentary fascinating:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/countryboys/
I found it really touching watching it when it came out when I was 12. One of the first things I did when the pandemic hit was sit down and properly organize my scattered internet bookmarks. I found this there and rewatched it, still captivated.
It deserves viewing for the scene involving a drunk potbelly pig alone.
#3. While if I had to pick one single greatest movie of all time, I’d probably have to say The Godfather I, I would have to also add that, despite this fact, it is my sincere opinion that no one has been more perfectly cast and inhabited a role more naturally and phenomenally than Alicia Silverstone did in playing Cher in the 1995 classic Clueless.
#4. I am unable to track down a certain recording I heard in Glenn Gould: Extasis (it sounded Bach-like but still can’t find it among all his Bach recordings), but this is also very good and in the vein of what I’m looking for:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhvNn8W-6Po
6/27/20:
Revisiting this article was fun; insights on Dowland and “classical rhetoric” pertaining to this Nocturnal analysis:
https://www.scribd.com/document/396023997/Britten-s-Nocturnal-Article-pdf
6/1/20:
I nominate this for best punk song of all time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1b0NO_Gtck
5/29/20:
And before that, it was this tearjerker. Besides it being a great song, I think I like it so much because I was exposed to it from seeing Paul cry.
Before I go any further down the Beatles rabbit hole I’ve been in since April ’19, I will spare too many posts and have put all my Beatles observations into ONE BIG POST and then I’ll probably never mention them again on here. We’ll see.
READ BIG BEATLES POST HERE. And leave any replies in the comments.
5/19/20:
The song I can’t stop listening to every day for the past few months:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1b0NO_Gtck
5/18/20:
4/10/20:
I finished my Turgenev Notes at last. Check it.
4/7/20:
Oh, hello. Didn’t see you there. I hope you enjoy my blog of beautiful things.
George Harrison & Berluti are the pinnacle of beauty. If there were only documentation of George wearing Berluti the world would really be complete. Unfortunately, I don’t believe he knew of the brand.
*Please do let me know if you know of any documentation of George wearing Berluti*
You may be wondering why there is nothing but George here and beautiful shoes.
Well, if looking at these images doesn’t give you a sense of warmth and satisfaction and “wow,” then frankly I just don’t know what can.
Bringing me to my topic of discussion. #19 (from bottom) is repeated because it is proof that all men peak at 19.
I’d like to ask you, the reader, assuming we can all agree that humans, as all things in nature, have a natural peak, what age do you think men, on the whole, peak?
I could provide great detail on why my number is 19, but I would love to hear yours first.
A more complicated question is, what age do women peak?
Maybe it’s just because I’m a woman but I feel like there’s a peak pre having a child if one does, and around the child phase. Or maybe I’d just like to think my peak is not passed.
