the system is a joke

Lauryn Hill, I love you with all my heart.

ps. if you've never listened to her live MTV unplugged album, you must. must. must. it's one of those that i count on.

Small Big Things

I've been thinking today about the Small Big things in my life. Not the Big Big things-- hearbreaks, proposals, plot twists-- but the little details or objects or moments that ever-so-quietly created a shift in my life, like a rock thrown into a small stream. I thought I'd share some.

1. A thick, green, hardback book I pulled at random off my parent's bookshelves when I was 11. Anne of Green Gables. Reading that book was one of the great epiphanies of my life-- all of a sudden I knew who I was, and I knew that I had never really known who I was until then.

2. This shirt, bought when I was 15. It was the first piece of clothing I ever bought that I would still wear now, and for years it was my benchmark-- I compared all clothes to it, and only bought them if they had the same 'feel.'

3. Discovering this blog last winter. It's inspired me to think about what kind of life I want and then make it be that way, and it's been a constant reminder to have Happy Fancy Fun, not just Boring Fun.

4. Going to my first poetry reading at school and feeling so at home.

5. A slim little book called "The Hundred Dresses," by Eleanor Estes. I read it at age 7 all in one sitting at a grown-up party my parents went to, and it rocked my world. It was the first book I ever read that made me think and care and ponder. It changed the way I read. (and, ps, every little girl needs to own this book. it's pretty exceptional; the lesson is wise and timely, and presented so gently and artfully that it feels silly to call it a 'lesson.')

6. Stumbling across my parents' old Michael Feinstein-singing-Gershwin CDs. Oh man. Such a happy day. That was when I fell in love with that kind of music.

7. The day Dr. Rodriguez chewed me out for trying to stay too in control of my voice while I sang. Yeah, it helped my voice, but it also set off a whole chain of realizations about myself that caused me to change in pretty profound ways. I've been happier ever since.

8. The day when I was 16 that I wore red lipstick to the Grace Chapel meeting. I must admit to a certain amount of pride over this-- keep in mind, this was 2005, some of us were still wearing denim skirts, and this look wasn't The Thing at all like it is now. Red lipstick didn't show up on runways for another two or three years at least. A couple of people that day said it was too bright and red, and for the first time I was able to not care and just wear the thing that felt right and made me happy. It was so liberating, and from then on I was willing to look different from other people and develop my own sense of style.

So those are some of mine. Tell me yours?

ephemera

Oh, how I wish one could change wall colors as easily as one changes clothes-- I just had an Inspired Thought. What if our living room was the color of the bathroom (pinkish-tan), and the kitchen was mustard-colored? How beautiful would that be?

. . . but I love my crimson and green ever so much too. Darn.

My concept for the color scheme of our house was that I wanted it to be kind of soft and woodsy, saturated but not bright. Which makes me very happy. But on days like today, springy and bright, I start thinking about a house done in fresh greens and yellows and aquas and creams. However, the Little Yellow House informs me that it prefers the colors it is right now, in the long run. And so do I.

In other style news, I discovered my favorite Japanese subculture last week (seriously not something I say all the time). It's called "mori girl," which means "forest girl," and I. Love. It.--the clothing style and the lifestyle concept that goes with it, both of which you can learn about on this blog. I mean really. Amazing. If I had the money, I'd dress a lot like this.

Pattern Mixing Win!

--courtesy of Fall 2010 New York Fashion Week, though I can't remember which designer. I simply could not adore this look any more (especially the girl on the left).

In Praise of Revlon Matte 006, Really Red

You see the lovelight beaming from my eyes? It's all for that tube of lipstick.

Now, I don't wear makeup most of the time. But I have to fight the urge to wear this stuff every single day. It's bright, true red, and perfectly matte. In other words, it's just like what they wore in the olden days. And I love it. so. much.

Stupid Europeans.

I mean really. When you could wear clothes like this, why look like the rest of the world?









If I was European, I'd totally be the crazy one who still wore ethnic garb. In fact, I may look out for a few pieces of this type to add to my wardrobe and be the crazy American who dresses like a European peasant.

Two Young Spudlings Dress Up

A couple of weeks ago, I arrived at church and discovered that Olde Claire and I had done a twinkumsy thing. Without previous discussion of any kind, we had both put together 'decade' outfits: I was going for neo-50's and Claire for neo-60's. We thought we were pretty cool.

Just in case you don't know, Claire is a Great Favorite of mine.