A planetary disturbance

I haven't started tagging, I swear. Although I must say, the genius who tagged this on the Upper West side somewhere (thanks for noticing and sending me the pic, Wolf) does inspire me to get in the game. I like this "Jocelyn World" concept.

Seasonz Greetingz

Was there ever, or has there been since, a better urban photographer than Berenice Abbott? I don't think so.

Fa la la la la

I read two great books one after the other recently: The Three of Us by Julia Blackburn and While They Slept by Kathryn Harrison. Yes, I suppose it's obvious, these are both very dark tales and shouldn't be snapped up without a warning. It actually makes me a little sad to realize I've wised up and can't try to convince everyone I know to read them simply because I think they're so great. But if you're in the mood...it's the holiday season, after all! What better time to make an "inquiry into the murder of a family?!"

Perhaps you're already familiar with Julia Blackburn's book, from when you noticed the arresting image on its cover somewhere.

Well, this cover annoys the bejesus out of me. One of the many excellent aspects of The Three of Us is how Blackburn included photos from her life throughout the book with no explanation other that what you pick up from reading the text (none of the pictures have captions). It gives the reading experience an extra-added intimacy. But it also becomes immediately obvious that the cover photo isn't the author or anyone she knows. Not that it has to be...but for consistency's sake, wouldn't it make sense if they'd used a "real" photo on the cover, too? You end up wondering who the heck the half-submerged lady is and why she's on the cover of someone else's book. Or, you do if you're a persnickety realist, like I am!

This earlier version of the book cover from how it was published in London is accurate. I know, it's not as visually captivating as the above cover. But at least these are photos of the actual people in the book!



Hm. Now that I've written this all down I wonder if it's just my own odd take on it. I guess I should just get over it. And wrap some presents!

Crazy long lashes

The illustration I did for this year's Pet Beauty Contest! Here's last year's and one from the year before.

A heavy head

Robert, Social Tees owner and animal rescuer extraordinaire, had the brilliant idea last month or so to turn his shop window into a kind of kittens-and-cats-up-for-adoption display. As a result, there are always heart meltingly cute scenarios going on: heaps of sleeping cats, a kitten hanging off a ledge by one tiny paw and batting at other kittens with its free paw, etc. Lately, a little grey cat grabbed my attention because she/he seemed to be really hanging its head over her/his current situation. Hyuk, hyuk.



There's always someone or several someones admiring the cats of the day, and when I took the above picture a concerned woman asked me to knock on the window and make sure the kitten was OK. I did, and the kitten woke up, looked around, and then went right back to sleep. You can see her/his little ear in the pic below, evidence she/he moved!



A few days later, the grey kitten seemed to be hanging out a lot with a calico kitten, and then, a few days after that, all the kittens were gone and currently, a bunch of solemn full-grown cats are occupying the space. If you're in the market for a pet, stop by! There are tons of basement rooms in the back of this place, housing all sorts of homeless creatures, including lizards abandoned by wannabe lizard-owning East villagers and snakes dropped off by mothers of snake-loving sons who had second thoughts.



I hope the grey kitten found a good home and a new comfortable place to hang her/his head.

The drawing bug

I took two random yet similar pics of Henry and Hazy when they were in town this past week for Thanksgiving. These kids really like to draw. Not surprising considering how their Mom is a super superb artiste. It's in the blood, yo!



The picture below makes me laugh. Not because heart head was looking on (that's P., who still insists on remaining anonymous on this blog). Because H and H had just taken their baths and were supposed to jump into bed for stories but instead they went over to the table and Hazy began drawing in her Nintendo thingamabob and Henry got lost in a puzzle book. "They just don't want to go to bed," explained my sis, and it was so funny to me how quiet and focused they were being in their sleep avoidance.



Oh, and that little dog's name is Coconut. Aw. I miss you guys!