The Lake of One's Being

27 July 2009

dialogue #1

A: I want to take a train by myself and gaze out at the ever-changing landscape. And be able to get off when I see somewhere pretty and back on when I want to move on.

B: So what's stopping you?

A: That I'll be alone.

B: But why do you want to do it so badly then?

A: You'll think it sounds stupid but I want to find inner peace.

B: I think that's a very brave endeavour but I don't think you'll find it.

A: Why not? You can come along and help me find it.

B: You don't really want my company. It's only so you wouldn't be lonely.

A: I am always lonely. It's just that when I'm with you, that's when I'm least lonely.

B: You can't find inner peace because you're always searching for the next place, somewhere better. I can see why this train thing appeals to you. The scenery outside blurs continuously into each other and everyday, every moment, is in a persistent state of flux.

A: Everyday that I'm in this place, my soul dies a little. I'm not always searching for somewhere better. It's just that because I still haven't been able to get to somewhere better, that's why you're under the impression that it's an endless search.

4:25 PM;

23 July 2009

I cannot wait to get this book. Scott's pictures will no doubt go down on record as some of the best, and most brilliant in fashion photography. They have made me stare agape at my laptop screen on so many occasions. Not only does he make every one he captures look exceptionally good, he goes one up and actually captures their spirit. That, dear sir, takes extraordinary talent. So, to celebrate his soon-to-be-released book, let me post a couple of my all-time faves not previously posted.

12:22 AM;

19 July 2009

I swooned over this picture in the email J.Crew recently sent with news of its latest fall collection. All the elements in it - the light pink typewriter, the stack of hardcovers in the corner, the upturned stripe-lined cuffs, even the way she seems to be absent-mindedly chewing on her pencil. It's sheer elegance.

This article about J.Crew's creative director, Jenna Lyons, and this other one on her workspace, are great reads.

4:47 PM;

10 July 2009

A happy day involves...

tea, raisin scones and jam in impossibly cute mini jars,

a rustic sketchpad mine for only 40 cents,

newly-bought linen hung out to dry (they look orange but are actually a beauteous shade of lemon yellow)

10:35 PM;

I love the atmosphere in these stills from Vanessa Bruno's film starring Lou Doillon, whom I also have a huge girl crush on. It will only be released on her website on 9th September though.

[via fashionologie]

6:53 PM;

07 July 2009

An outdoor acoustic performance of one of my all-time favourites. Sung on the streets of Vienna, it is particularly sweet and poignant, isn't it?

human skin can be hard to live in
you'll feel better in the morning

1:53 PM;

05 July 2009

It has probably been more than a month since I took this picture with my film camera. Since then, I've had many a cup of tea, on the rainy days which have not been infrequent. I've also been busy working on various diy projects for the room (which has undergone a massive makeover) and generally tidying things up. A roundup of the clothes scattered in boxes and drawers all around my room produced 60 skirts. I do find that quite alarming. Additionally, the first of my dressmaking class was yesterday and I got started on making myself a blouse. I absolutely love the fabric I've bought! And I found the perfect buttons for it after poring through the rows and rows of samples in a little shop in Chinatown.
So...you can say I'm quite happily occupied for now.

6:13 PM;

01 July 2009

A few thought-provoking excerpts from an excellent interview with Philippe Starck in the May/June '09 issue of Vogue Living Australia -

You have to be dumb because that allows you to have an extreme naivety - to believe that we can remake the world, to believe that people are kind, that science is going to save the world, that a utopia can still exist, that we can still invent political parties based on sharing, that capitalism is going to collapse. Simply, it's the naivety of being able to believe things which can often appear idiotic. Then, the second point of stupidity is to hang on obstinately to those beliefs. I am un-teachable. People can't teach me anything.

...

The use of plastics is already an anti-religious act because it's a material invented by man and not by nature, which believers generally mix up with God. For believers, God created nature, the trees, stone, iron, things like that. Plastic originates from a rottenness which is mastered by man's intelligence. So, that's already an act of non-belief. Then, there's an act of faith, of admiration for human intelligence, which is the most beautiful thing that exists because, amongst other things, it also invented the concept of love. That this poor little animal species, which we still are by the way, one day decided, as Jerome Monot would say, for reasons of luck and necessity, to take control of the pace and the character of its evolutionary movement. And that's what makes us special; our difference, our beauty, our poetry and our romanticism.

...

There's a term in bullfighting, 'the temple'. People can tell you about the temple, but you can't understand it until the moment you see it. It's clear once you've seen it. It lasts for a thousandth of a second. There's the right amount of light. There's the right smell. There's the right noise. There's a certain amount of dust. There's a gesture, a proportion, and that's called beauty and through that you can understand what happiness might be. That's it. It's simply a flash, a snapshot of material and immaterial things which move around in space, in time, in decibels and degrees and, in a moment, it comes together.

2:50 PM;