If the Gas Shortage continues much longer...

I may have to rig up something like this to get to work!



Surely,Miss Ophelia wouldn't mind.



All Great Dane owners are all too familiar with statements like "you need a saddle for that thing!" or the ever popular "who's walking who?!", so we might not even raise an eyebrow.

I'm kidding of course, but the gas situation here in Atlanta is pretty serious, and it's not looking like it's going to get resolved quickly. The latest word is that the shortage will continue for a few more weeks. People are freaking out, gas stations are literally out of gas, and I read that in the midst or all this, our governor is traveling in Europe today!

While the idea of a dog cart isn't likely to be a realistic mode of modern day green transportation, I did do a quick search on 'dog carts'. There is a historic tradition of dogs being used as draft animals to pull small carts - either as recreation for children, or used by tradespeople to transport goods. There's really interesting info and pictures here at this site.

And there's a modern spin on dog carts as well. See this site and this site for a sport and exercise options related to carting.

Beautiful Visuals

Over the weekend, Smithy and I had an 'accidental' Lee Pace mini film festival. That means that I picked out two movies, without realizing that he was in both of them. Lucky me!

Anyway, even though not all critics were kind, I highly recommend The Fall. Lee Pace (of TV's Pushing Daisies) is hospitalized in 1920's California after an accident. He befriends an immigrant girl who is also a patient at the hospital, and he weaves and elaborate story about 5 epic heroes for her. As often happens in movies, reality and fiction begin to blur - that's all I'll say.

Pace and the girl, a Romanian newcomer, both do a great job, but if nothing else appeals to you, see it for the visuals alone. They're amazing, and the location scenes were shot over a 4 year period in something like 18 different countries. For example, the Taj Majal and the Alhambra, and maybe Hagia Sofia were among just a few of the settings for the film. The following are just a few of the production photos from the movie.

Movie number two was Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, of which much has already been written. Frances McDormand plays the title character, and she is fantastic - funny and full of dignity at the same time. I rented the movie as much for the Art Deco scenery as for Miss McDormand. It was an added bonus that handsome Lee Pace has a smaller role as one of Amy Adams' suitors. Please see this one too, if you haven't already. Seriously, it has a fantastic Art Deco apartment and night club, beautiful 1930's outfits, Frances McDormand, Amy Adams as a perfectly delightful ditzy blond, Lee Pace in a tux and playing piano, and the craggy-but-handsome Ciaran Hinds (who will always be Ceasar from HBO's Rome to me.) Not a heavy hitter, but pure fun.

Armchair traveler

Sorry posting has been so non-existent lately; Smithy came down with some kind of cold or flu first, and now it's my turn. Nasty stuff, I tell ya. Last night, even my hair hurt.

Since I have pretty much nothing to say, here's something much cooler to read about: Himalayan expedition. Claudia Lopez is a friend of a friend of mine. She's a very talented professional photographer and a mountain climber. And the woman is stunning on top of all that talent!

Anyway, Claudia doesn't just climb any piddly little mountains, she does the big ones. She is currently part of a team doing a climb in the Himalayas, see the link above, and they are updating a site with photos and notes via sat phone. You can read all about her on her own website HERE, and view her portfolios HERE.

Please check out the site and live vicariously.

(Photos shown here are from the Himalay expedition site, linked above.)

Lighten Up

For our tiny second bathroom, I'm thinking about installing something like this

or this on the ceiling

And then adding a trio of framed prints by my favorite vintage pinup artist, Gil Elvgren. He was very prolific, so there's tons to choose from, but in keeping with the 'Hiya, Sailor!' theme:

What do you think?
It's an otherwise bland, small, beige and white striped bath with a low ceiling. In a 1917 era cottage.

So, vintage, slightly-naughty-sailor-girl-themed bathroom = Campy good?
Or= campy bad?

Cheesecake ahoy!

This and That

Random tidbits for the day....

During a stop at my local bookstore this evening, I stumbled across a magazine that I haven't seen before, BlackBook. Not something that I would normally pay all that much attention to, however, this month one of my favorite actresses is the cover girl: Emerald-eyed Scottish iconoclast Tilda Swinton! Love her!
And I'm off in just a minute to pick up Smithy from the airport. He's been off on a bohemian revel in Nevada, where this

and this

were part of the scenery.
(While I've been ogling chandeliers and lighting of an electric variety, he's been playing around with firelight and fireworks.) It's looking like a late night with a few too many stories of just how crazy the whole Burning Man experience is. Oy.

Hope to be back with more happy, pretty design items soon....