Spinster Aunt

Dreaming of East: Western Women and the Exotic Allure of the Orient
by Barbara Hodgson

(Same author as “No Place for a Lady: Tales of Adventurous Women Travellers”, which brought Isabella Bird to my attention. A woman who journeyed to the east with revolver and a tea-making set holsters.)

I grabbed this from the library after I got back from travel. Didn't dampen the wanderlust, but then it wasn't designed to.

( Quotes under the cut: )

Following on from the Bullet Point meme going around my flist:

• Happy Birthday cynthdiane! Have a fantastic day.



• My Gruen Transfer ad for Gruen Beauty.
  "Be ugly. On the inside." I could have used an editor, but it was fun to make nonetheless.



• For the Amelia Peabody fangirls (of whom I am one):
  Youtube video of a sword parasol! Or at least a parasol that makes a sound like a sword. That is so cool. Geeky cool.



• From Dylan Moran's standup routine whch I saw on 27 March last year:
  "My wife is a smart and capable woman. The kind of woman it's fun to try to win arguments with."
  Is it any wonder I'm a total fangirl?



• Video: How To Speak
  I have sat through some stultifyingly useless presentations, sermons, lectures and meetings in my time. Speaking skills are vastly underrated.



• From Boundless on DIY & the virtue thereof:
  Science-fiction author Robert A. Heinlein once wrote: "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
  
  I had to look up what "conn a ship" meant, but I am somewhat comforted that I'm in the middle of attaching binding to my corset.



• Knowledge & Information
  "It is possible to know too much. It is possible to care too much. Hunger for information can become gluttony."
  
  A good reminder to myself that my time & attention is limited, so I need to be discerning in what I choose to read/listen to/watch etc. Information clutter is just as much clutter as anything else.



• And more on clutter from the SMH: "Clutter, the persistent curse of the acquiring classes"
  "The alternative to cluttering up our homes is simply to avoid acquiring unwanted or useless items in the first place. Among other things, this requires a more conscious approach to shopping: buying what we really need and will use."



• Unclutterer: Organising work files.
  “This organization was here before you were a member and will continue on after you graduate. If your files are messy, it’s fine for you now, but you’re not thinking of the people who are to serve after you.”
  
  Word. I've recently had a deadline come in late because that tiny extra bit of information that we're sure is in the office somewhere took SIX DAYS to find.



• More from Unclutterer: Confirming my decision to cull and be disciplined about acquisition
  "I used to be the type of person who held onto every object I deemed sentimental. I eventually realized that holding onto so much stuff came with a lot of stress, worry, and financial expense, and that I wanted a different way of life."
  
  That's exactly what happened to me. I'm still rather fond of my "If my house burned down, would I replace this?" evaluation strategy.



• From Dressing in the Dark: Lessons in Men's Style from the Movies by Marion Maneker
  "Do you know that scene in The Thomas Crown Affair," Frank Rostron, a British shirt maker once confided to me, "the one where Steve McQueen's wearing a beautiful Prince of Wales checked suit with a powder blue shirt and a royal blue tie?" Once I'd confirmed that I too appreciated the importance of that moment in film history, the tailor rolled his eyes back slightly, his lids hooding to help him savor the memory. "Seeing that," he went on, "made me want to become a tailor."
  
  Truly, I hear you on that one. ::swoon::



• Wicked! Costume design: A three page article in the SMH on the costume design for the show, opening in Melbourne soon.
  "I love the way clothes are constructed. Dior and Galliano were very much interested in the way clothes are constructed: they are unbelievable engineers."
  
  I'm much the same. Whether it's knitting or sewing or any other kind of textile work, I'm all about the construction.



• And to finish off, a Tip of the day:
  If you're planing on holding up a pub with machetes, you'd best make sure there's not a Bikies meeting going on next door.

( Cut for length )

Consilio non impetu
- By wisdom, not impulse

Sapiens dominabitur astris
- The wise will rule the stars

He said, "Will you marry me?"
She said, "No".
And they both lived happily ever after.
- Not quite sure where I picked this one up.

('executive producer' is an all-encompassing job description whose meaning can range from 'made one telephone call' to 'stopped the whole thing falling apart').
- quoted in Peter Jackson: From prince of splatter to lord of the rings

The Pretty

It's a little bit old, but so what? 

The Simpsons Go To Paris wit Linda Evangelista

And FTW, Karl Largerfeld posing next to a print of Homer...as Karl Largerfeld. 
That, my friends, is how you get street cred. 

This top is sold out, but is very reminiscent of the Gondorian necklines in RotK.  I've always thought they were pretty nifty with the crossover bit, and it's nice to see it done in a modern context.  With a button, no less!  Were I a hoodie kind of girl, I'd be trying to recreate this one. 


The Smart:

Just finished "E=mc^2: A biography of the world's most famous equation" by David Bodanis. 
p239

"Einstein's...study of Hume readied him for seeing how arbitrary the woven definitions thatphysicists used were, and so how far they could someday be stretched;his love of Spinoza was a constant, urgent reminder of the orderedbeauty waiting in our universe.  Goethe, by contrast, was almost alwayspoor at using philosophy in science, and wasted years on a theory ofvision, simply because he was convinced it "should" be true.  As the old saying has it, to do mathematics you need paper, a pen, and awastebasket; to do philosophy, the paper and pen are enough." 

I also read A Brief History Of Time, just so I can say that I have.  I understood about half of it.  That pleases me greatly. 


The Funny (and pretty, and smart, and musical, and Aust. Politics):

I went to see "Keating! The Musical" this week, which was FANTASTIC. 

(For those who don't know who that is, Paul Keating is a former Australian PM from the early-mid '90s.)  My Keating love is all about the suit.  Zegna was his brand of choice.  'Cause I've never had a problem with arogant, intelligent men in suits who have a thing for antique French clocks (see icon). 

( More under the cut )

Everyone, I highly recommend watching Ratatouille and reading Kitchen Confidential at the same time. Both are thoroughly steeped in kitchen cuture, one is sweet and Disneyfied, the other is...not. Really not.

I think I'm the last in my family to get around to reading this one. I loved this bit at the end, as one of the pieces of advice Bourdain gives to aspiring chefs:

**********
9. Assume the worst. About everybody. But don't let this poisoned outlook affect your job performance. Let it all roll off your back. Ignore it. Be amused by what you see and suspect.
**********

I don't think that's necessarily restricted to life in a kitchen, there.

To paraphrase dm_lunsford, "I'd blame this on Michelle, except it was my idea in the first place."



And so this isn't a complete waste of space:

1. Coles is no longer stocking passionfruit gelato. THIS IS NOT RIGHT. Passionfruit gelato is one of my reasons for living, right up there with glorifying God and enjoying him forever. THIS IS A CRIME AGAINST NATURE. It must be reinstated.

2. Projectile Critiquing. Some of you may have already seen this via metaquotes, but it's worth spreading the news of this new physical ranking system for books.

3. From Jane Austen Quote of the Day:

"No--I must keep to my own style & go on in my own Way; And though I may never succeed again in that, I am convinced that I should totally fail in any other."

"Is that true?
Or did you read it in The Telegraph?"

As seen on a bumper sticker on the way home the other day. Mwa ha ha ha ha!

I've had three quotes floating around on my desk for a while, and what is my LJ but a recepticle for things I don't know what else to do with?

If you can't be in Europe with your parents, the next best thing is being in Australia without them.
- wise words from basbleu

I see one anchovy, I'm gonna kill the librarian!
- Why, oh why did no one tell me about 21 Jump Street sooner? This was a particularly hilarious line from a season 1 marathon I did with some friends in lieu of a proper Depp-a-thon.

The lifesavers represent the very highest class. They are the samurais, the oligarchs, the elite. They strut the beaches with superiority that is insolent, yet at the same time, tolerant...of lesser breeds - a gladiator class, envied by all the men, adored by all the women.
- Lone Hand (??), 1 Jan 1910. On the wall of the exhebition on 100 Years of Surf Lifesaving at the National Museum down in Canberra, Between the Flags.