winter birds

 this song reminds me of stanford...

It's the widow now that owns that angry plow  

The spartan mule and the crippled cow  

The fallow field that will yield no more  

As the fox lay sleeping beneath her kitchen floor

The stream can't contain such the withering rain  

And from the pasture the fence it is leaning away 

The clouds crack and growl like some great cat on the prowl 

Crying out I am, I am over and over again

The days grow short as the nights grow long  

The kettle sings its tortured songs  

A many petaled kiss I place upon her brow  

Oh my lady, lady I am loving you now

The winter birds have gone back again 

Here the sprightly chickadee, gone now is the willow wren  

In passing greet each other as if old, old friends  

And to the voiceless trees it is their own they will lend

The days grow short as the nights grow long  

The kettle sings its tortured songs 

A many petaled kiss I place upon her brow 

Oh my lady, lady I am loving you now

Though all these things will change the memories will remain  

As green to gold and gold to brown  

The leaves will fall to feed the ground 

And in their falling make no sound  

Oh my lady, lady, I am loving you now

I've gathered all my money, I'm going to town  

To buy my lady a long and flowing gown  

'Cause come tomorrow morning we're off to the county fair 

I'll find a yellow flower and I will lace it in her hair

The days grow short as the nights grow long  

The kettle sings its tortured songs  

A many petaled kiss I place upon her brow  

Oh my lady, lady I am loving you now  

Oh my lady, lady I am loving you now

- Ray Lamontagne

extraordinary beauty

one of the most beautiful women ever to have graced the earth, emmanuelle seigner was at the top of her game in the film 'bitter moon' which you should buy immediately, because it's one of those unforgettable films you need to have in your collection. she married director roman polanski as a result of the film and they're still together twenty years on.

what a muse.

we all fall in love sometimes

 from another time, and gone far too soon, the inimitable jeff buckley...

Wise men say
It looks like rain today
It crackled on the speakers
And trickled down the sleepy subway trains
For heavy eyes could hardly hold us
Aching legs that often told us
It's all worth it
We all fall in love sometimes

The full moon's bright
And starlight filled the evening
We wrote it and I played it
But something happened it's so strange this feeling
Naive notions that were childish
Simple tunes that tried to hide it
But when it comes
We all fall in love sometimes

Didn't we? did we? should we? could we?
I'm not sure but sometimes we're so blind
Struggling through the day
When even your best friends say
Don't you find?
We all fall in love sometimes

hmmm...

Oh, yeah..
And only passing time
Could kill the boredom we acquired
Running with the losers for a while
And our empty sky was filled with laughter
Just before the flood
Painting worried faces with a smile

Wise men say
It looks like rain today
It crackled on the speakers
And trickled down the sleepy subway trains
For heavy eyes could hardly hold us
Aching legs that often told us
It's all worth it
We all fall in love sometimes

oh oh oh...

We all fall in love some times...

- Jeff Buckley (video)

1960's hair and makeup

patti boyd

marilyn

brigitte bardot

rita hayworth

twiggy

 joan vohs

 marianne faithful

jean shrimpton

images from here, here, here and villainously vintage

classic film stars in love

lauren bacall and humphrey bogart

marilyn monroe and arthur miller

images from here

best horror and thriller masterpieces

those of you who have known me since i was a child will know that i have ALWAYS been obsessed with horror and thriller films. it has been a lifelong dream of mine to write a screenplay for one myself, therefore all the 21 age restricted films i took out without my parent's consent from the age of nine, should be considered as research. here's a list of a few of my favourites: masterpieces i would recommend to any lovers of delicious cinema (the original versions, of course):

rosemary's baby

the exorcist

psycho

nosferatu

carrie
jacob's ladder
the omen

angel heart

the serpent and the rainbow

the shining

blue velvet
pet cemetary

little shop of horrors

rashômon (1950)

chinatown
dracula (1931 version)

m (1931)

a clockwork orange

the birds

vertigo

When you walk through the garden

you gotta watch your back
well I beg your pardon
walk the straight and narrow track
if you walk with Jesus
he's gonna save your soul
you gotta keep the devil
way down in the hole
he's got the fire and the fury
at his command
well you don't have to worry
if you hold on to Jesus hand
we'll all be safe from Satan
when the thunder rolls
just gotta help me keep the devil
way down in the hole
All the angels sing about Jesus' mighty sword
and they'll shield you with their wings
and keep you close to the lord
don't pay heed to temptation
for his hands are so cold
you gotta help me keep the devil
way down in the hole

-Tom Waits

beast of burden

 

I'll never be your beast of burden
My back is broad but it's a hurting
All I want is for you to make love to me

I'll never be your beast of burden
I've walked for miles my feet are hurting
All I want is for you to make love to me

Am I hard enough
Am I rough enough
Am I rich enough
I'm not too blind to see

I'll never be your beast of burden
So let's go home and draw the curtains
Music on the radio
Come on baby make sweet love to me

Am I hard enough
Am I rough enough
Am I rich enough
I'm not too blind to see

Oh little sister
Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, girl
Pretty, pretty
Such a pretty, pretty, pretty girl
Come on baby please, please, please

I'll tell you you can put me out on the street
Put me out with no shoes on my feet
But, put me out, put me out
Put me out of misery

Yeah, all your sickness I can suck it up
Throw it all at me I can shrug it off
There's one thing baby that I don't understand
You keep on telling me I ain't your kind of man

Ain't I rough enough, oh honey
Ain't I tough enough
Ain't I rich enough in love enough
Oh please

I'll never be your beast of burden
I'll never be your beast of burden
Never, never, never, never, never, never, never be

I'll never be your beast of burden
I've walked for miles my feet are hurting

- Rolling Stones

consol solar jars

consol contacted me and sent me a few of their new solar jars last week, and i'm only beginning to discover how many uses these little guys have - you could say they've 'illuminated' me heh heh. my shot of all of us sitting in my fairy garden on saturday night, with the jars lighting up our little spot, didn't come out very well, but i'm sure i'll have many more photo ops. the kids spent the night running around the garden with the jars, and it reminded me of tinkerbell lighting up the way, when she was captured inside a jar. they waded through the neck-high fennel flowers in my garden carrying the jars, and i reflected on how perfect they'd be for guests at an evening wedding. we used one of the jars to shine a light on our braai, which would have been all kinds of wrong if it hadn't been illuminated.

here are a few clever uses below, including the decor idea from elle deco and the tree lighting idea from elizabeth anne designs. order some of your own here, for only R120 each.

plantominium

the lovely new york based designer of the 'plantominium' plant holders contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if he could send me one of these ingenious decor items, especially suited to small spaces. what's not to love? the folded plastic plant holder arrives in an envelope and holds six heavy plant pots, guaranteed for a year. i want them everywhere! i'm inspired to create an entire wall feature of different plants hanging alongside each other. contact them directly here to order for only $8 each (mine arrived within 10 days) or ask about south african stockists.

when i look and you're not there

How can I tell you

That I love you,
I love you
But I can't think of right words to say

I long to tell you
That I'm always thinking of you...
I'm always thinking of you,
But my words just blow away,
Just blow away

It always ends up to one thing, honey
And I can't think of right words to say

Wherever I am girl,
I'm always walking with you
I'm always walking with you,
But I look and you're not there

Whoever I'm with,
I'm always, always talking to you
I'm always talking to you,
And I'm sad that you can't hear,
Sad that you can't hear

It always ends up to one thing, honey,
When I look and you're not there

I need to know you,
Need to feel my arms around you
Feel my arms around you,
Like a sea around a shore

Each night and day I pray,
In hope that I might find you,
In hope that I might find you,
Because heart's can do no more
Can do no more

It always ends up to one thing, honey,
Still I kneel upon the floor

How can I tell you
That I love you,
I love you
But I can't think of right words to say

I long to tell you
That I'm always thinking of you
I'm always thinking of you....

It always ends up to one thing, honey
And I can't think of right words to say

- Cat Stevens