Sweedeedee

by Michael Hurley

First of all, if you're not checking out Cabin Porn, you're missing out! Epic amazingness...


And second, 2011 was the blurriest year of my life -- it just flew on by before I could even properly get acquainted with it! I am so grateful for all the new experiences I had this year in particular. I nabbed a new job (eh.), found myself with the sudden chance to rekindle an old passion (horses) and even randomly became utterly obsessed with something that I previously woulda said was thoroughly inconceivable for me...a baseball team (The Giants)!

All this has taught me that sometimes life really, truly hands us the unexpected and that it can be an awesome thing! Responding to how you feel deep in your heart, to what moves you, even if it's inexplicable, silly, or something you're unsure of (and even if it doesn't turn out as you'd hoped), is one large part of what makes life worth living. This year for me included major movement forward, lots of joy and then some frustrations too, but I'm ready for what's coming next and appreciate what I have. Thoughts for 2012:

1. More patience when it comes to life and where it's headed.

2. More listening, less talking. (Didn't I say something similar last year?! Still something to focus on. ;)

3. Find a job that is meaningful and pays the bills. (Isn't this everyone's quandry?)

4. Tidy up more often, continue to get ridda stuff and bring in only the essential.

5. Get my money outta that big, bad bank and into a proper credit union asap. One tiny way to give the govt the middle finger and I'm all for it!

6. As much horsemanship as the year will allow!

Happy 2012! Looking forward to all the astonishing, unexpected things that it will bring.

You Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley

Aside from mooning over Inuit art lately, I also HAD to have this sweater from the lovely Sasha of Astral Boutique. It was too good to pass up...angora, plus all angles, plus harvesty colors, plus triangle buttons!? I mean, come on! A girl can always use another cardigan!

Ain't That Enough

by Teenage Fanclub


Aside from riding, I have become more obsessed with Inuit art lately, especially stone prints from the Cape Dorset area. It's really hard to find prints of any kind from these makers, but there's an amazing one on ebay right now that I wish I had the dough for. I am lost in those owl eyeballs! The above piece is by Lucy Quinnuayuak.

More affordably, Pomegranate Press is offering some cards and ephemera by Cape Dorset artists, so I settled on a little card with this image by Kenojuak Ashevak:


Also into these embossed cards:

Go here to see 'em larger.

Simple, beautiful...this kind of work hits on all levels. I wish I could hang all of it all 'round my apt and be surrounded by sublimely rendered and fantastical birds!

To Live's To Fly

by Townes Van Zandt


Been out riding Reno multiple times a week, and have fallen more and more in love with riding again. Being outside and hanging with such a gentlemanly creature, learning new things, galloping and spinning and climbing ridgelines -- it's all so much fun.


I think I wanna be a cowgirl when I grow up!

On a related note, if you have not seen the documentary Buck yet, about the stellar horseman, I highly recommend it. Natural Horsemanship has totally absorbed my mind the last few months, and Buck is one of its premier statesmen. Learning to foster partnership instead of brutally imposing one's will on a horse is a relatively new philosophy in the equestrian world, one long overdue.

Grinnin' in Your Face

Well, these days that ol' fall fashion bug has bitten me hard and I'm utterly failing in my attempts to hold back from shopping too much...


Had to get this necklace to brighten up my fall colored outfits...

While I'm at it, I also am obsessing over this here necklace...

Oh etsy, you are my downfall tonight and always...

High, Low and In Between

by TVZ


Native American porcupine quill pieces are beyond gorgeous and often complex, but I found these simple quill earrings that are equally fab...Striking, no?

Salvador Sanchez

by Sun Kil Moon




Total omg.

On a more personal note...I've been drawn to pre-Columbian Latin American history and tradition ever since I first learned about it in high school.

Back then, when I was a naive and fully sheltered teenager, I went to the Yucatan to climb Chichen Itza, which itself was a completely magical experience I have never forgotten. I must say though, what struck me most on the trip was the poverty and chaos I witnessed around the area, and it broke my young heart, leaving a deep impact on me. It seems odd to say, but I haven't been back since, despite my only growing interest over the years in Mexican folk art and history. I have felt in the passing years that it's beyond time for me to go back and see the country and all its infinite realities with adult eyes.

Apeman

by The Kinks

My favorite present day artist, Lis Timpone. To see the images larger, visit her website. If I could buy her prints they would cover my walls. Her stuff doesn't appear to be available anywhere for purchase, unfortunately.

I'll Fly Away

(Still in the Gillian Welch mood...)



Saw a coworker wearing this necklace and was immediately obsessed! And look, there's lots of other hidden-knife necklaces too! I dunno, there's something intriguing and pleasing about carrying a clandestine blade around one's neck...

Six White Horses

or, how I spent my summer....

First of all, I saw my heroes Gillian Welch and David Rawlings perform this song in person this weekend at the Bluegrass Festival and it was may-jor.


But anyway, this summer was momentous for me on many levels, chief among them due to the fact that I strapped on my Justin roper boots and started horseback riding again after a 20 (!) year hiatus.

Meet my new besties, Reno and Z. (Dirtier than I've ever seen them thanks to the rain yesterday and their favorite past time...)



Reno is a red dun Quarter Horse and I adore him. Total sweetsie. He is my main guy. I'm just riding for the sheer pleasure of it, starting basically from zero in a western saddle and bitless bridle and hoping to be mainly a trail rider once I am back in tip top shape. So much has changed in the horse world since I was a kid riding, and now there's something wonderful called Natural Horsemanship that I am a rapturous student of.

Life in the saddle is something I hope to never give up again! It's the perfect combination of so many things I love and it's also an unparalleled opportunity to build a relationship with a gorgeous, strong willed creature. Being able to feel to your bones the fact that an animal is giving its all and that you are communicating and moving together is incredible, exhilarating, and simply everything.

Oh! Sweet Nuthin'

by Velvet Underground

omg.omg.omg.

Blame It On the Sun

by Stevie Wonder


Erie Basin consistently has the most beautiful vintage jewelry around...not that I've even been to the Brooklyn shop in person! But I am always impressed and obsessed with the pieces, like this incredible necklace.

Gypsy

Whew! This summer has been absolutely crazy, chock full of great things, some tougher things, lots of life.

Along with much of my free time, shopping and internet time have both gone out the window, for the most part! Though I have to go to a wedding in a little over a week and I had to have this dress:


Fantastical dress for a fantastical summer. Will try to post pics of the finished look once I have it in my hot little hands!

Lion Lair

by Bonnie

I have a strong feeling I will become a clog-gal as I grow older and even find it odd I don't own a pair already. Wooden shoes are the best, are they not? These are particular faves, though I am not convinced they would work on my big feet...

Dia Del Deco

The other night the bf had to go to a fancy event at City Club, an old SF meeting place downtown. I was extremely short on the details, and basically just going along to support him.

Me, with more lipstick than I've ever worn in my life:






















Dress: thrifted
Belt: hand me down from a friend
Shoes: Seychelles
Bracelets: on sale at Cost Plus!





































I had no idea what I was in for. Little did I know, we were stepping back in time into a Deco paradise. Below, an original Diego Rivera mural painted in the stairwell from 1931. It's one of the few on the West Coast and his first American mural, representing California.






















Notice that the staircase is made up of little worker dudes...


























































Then there were these incredible stone carvings in the walls.




























































Each of the three elevators had different copper etchings. I only managed to photograph one set of doors, but each was spectacular!






















And my favorite piece, the fireplace. One side is unfortunately covered for a screen used at the event, but the animals going down the right side are an eagle, foxes and a jaguar. Unbelievably gorgeous in person and so elegant. I know it doesn't look as incredible here, what with my super amateur photography skills, but such care was taken to decorate this place.

Needless to say, my jaw was open the whole time and I could not have been more wow-ed. I'm so glad places like this still exist in San Francisco! I gaped throughout the entire evening...

Cigarettes and Coffee

by Otis Redding

Heavy case of the Mondays today, and you? Major insomnia last night. Was up 'near all night thinking about all the things you think about all through the night. But in the light of day, aside from exhaustion, all's well. One thing that did NOT keep me awake...

I must admit I broke all my rules to buy a pair of shoes yesterday that are gonna bring me through summer and fall:















I justified this purchase by telling myself I can wear these with dang near everything I got. A good pair of shoes for this gal is hard to find!

[Shoes spotted via the oddly and amazingly simpatico Compai...]

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Werner Herzog has a new film out called Cave of Forgotten Dreams and I can't recommend it enough. It's a documentary about the 35,000 year old paintings in the Chauvet Cave in France, a place so protected only a small group of scientists are allowed to enter once a year for about a week under strict rules.

I went without having seen any of the paintings or reading anything about the cave probably since it was in the news when they were rediscovered in 1994, which made it extra mind bending. Don't watch the preview -- just go and be completely awestruck by what came so long before us. Truly wonder-ful. You can even see it in 3-D! And as per usual in a Herzog doc, there are a few laughs too, and a touch of German- toned hyperbole.

I found the images staggering and couldn't get them out of my head for days after watching the film. Haunting.

Help Me Make It Through the Night

First of all, can we all agree that this performance is so dang sexy? And Rita's outfit?? YES!




































Second, and totally changing the subject, my mom has had one of these little chalet music/jewelry boxes out on her dresser since she was a little girl. I was always fascinated by it when I was a kid. It seemed like it could be magical and I loved the little rocks on the roof. It's kinda funny that I still dream my house someday will look just like this!

Bridges and Balloons

Happy Mother's Day to the mamas!

Yesterday, in celebration of a mom-to-be, I went to a baby shower for my beloved cousin, who is due in late July, and I managed to convince that man o' mine take my first ever outfit shots (in a particularly unphotogenic corner of my apt -- something to work on) before heading to the blessed event...!











































Dress: thrifted from Hot Couture in Santa Rosa years back
Belt: Community Thrift
Locket: vintage, gifted to me by a dear friend
Shoes: Steven by Steve Madden (it can be tough to thrift shoes when you got big ol' clompers like me! :)

















And here's one of me with my exquisitely flat-faced kitty! His non-profile amuses me to no end. He is obsessed with licking faces.

I had forgotten I had this lovely frock, and it was missing a button down the center. My bf is my seamstress, thank goodness, so while I ran around getting ready he whipped up a fix by using a cuff button. Yes, my man is much craftier than me! :)