hôtel de glace

"ah, bleak and chill the wintry wind..."

but no snow. yet.

i sit and wait in the dim light, in my warm house, where the air smells like freshly baked sugar cookies and the singers unlimited sing to me (my favorite 1970's a capella german quartet. look them up. the essential hanson family christmas album.)

in browsing old unread e-mails i came across a offer for a weekend stay at the hôtel de glace in quebec:























everything is made of snow and ice, even the chandeliers, the beds, the chairs, the glasses and plates in the dragon bar. everything but the blazing fire stoves and (what looks like) the caribou skins to wrap up in. breathtaking! i think i need to learn french.

...and he sings.

aimee mann + john krasinSKAY

faithful friends...

This just may be the best card you receive all season. HO HO HA!!

hahaheehaheh.

i had to laugh this morning because the first thing i saw when i looked in the mirror was this:















...which immediately reminded me of this:


















beth ellen hansen, aka "mouse". or, harriet m. welsch's best friend in the summer months, according to louise fitzhugh's the long summer (sequel to harriet the spy.) this book still makes me laugh out loud. zeeney and wallace. jessie mae the preacher's daughter. bunny, the hotel piano player. hee!


















it's another rainy day and for me it will be a reading day. and then tonight, venturing out to see my favorite singer-songwriter in fremont. quietness and solitude do contain their own kind of fun.

my perfect rainy day song

"these days"
written by jackson browne
covered by many artists, including nico for the royal tenenbaums soundtrack (surprise!)
it plays when margot gets off the green line bus to greet richie for the first time in three years.
if you think it's somewhat melancholy, you're quite right.

i've been out walking,

i don't do too much talking these days.

these days...

these days i seem to think a lot

about the things that i forgot to do.

and all the time i had the chance to...

i've stopped my rambling.

i don't do too much gambling these days.

these days...

these days i seem to think about

how all the changes came about my ways...

and i wonder if i'll see another highway.

i had a lover,

i don't think i'll risk another these days.

these days...

and if i seem to be afraid

to live the life that i have made in song...

it's just that i've been losing so long.

i've stopped my dreaming,

i won't do too much scheming these days.

these days...

these days i sit on cornerstones

and count the time in quarter tones to ten.

please don't confront me with my failures,

i have not forgotten them.

an historic day

president elect barack obama, future first lady michelle obama, and modern american princesses sasha and malia obama.

jesus.

The first time I heard this Sufjan Stevens song it was on one of the OC soundtracks. It was a Seth + Summer love song. Ridiculous! But I love it. So simple. So glad to serve a God who knows the pain of being human.

i'd swim across lake michigan
i'd sell my shoes
i'd give my body to be back again
in the rest of the room

to be alone with you

you gave your body to the lonely
they took your clothes
you gave up a wife and a family
you gave your ghost

to be alone with me

you went upon a tree
to be alone with me
you went upon a tree

i've never known a man who loved me...

spooktacular!

at the home of andy warhol and edna mode,

hosted by nancy drew,

halloween revelers included margot tenenbaum, the goddess cleo, red riding hood, juno macguff and paulie bleeker, a mummy and a cowboy, nerds, dragons, a golf pro, the corpse bride, hot rod, a vampire, a pirate, gangsters, buttercup and wesley, (free) willy, bovines, a cluster of grapes, an eagle, a rockstar ballerina, a frauline, the king of hearts, a pretty fish, pippi longstocking, the scooby doo gang, and more.

there are a LOT of pictures.