Have you seen the new movie Florence Foster Jenkins? It's a nice film about true-life soprano wannabe Florence Jenkins whose onstage gumption almost makes up for her mewing like a cornered tomcat. But what interested me more about the film was the underlying story of Jenkin's syphilis, which she unknowingly contracted on her wedding night. She was eighteen. The film's director, Stephen Frears, sprinkles gentle references to the disease throughout -- we see a doctor's bedside visit, a hairless head, a scarred hand. The film is mostly a sentimental feel-good vehicle for Streep, and honestly, what a waste. She would have relished the chance to go a little deeper into the story of an ugly disease that forced Florence into a shameful and frustrated celibacy and that wrecked her musical ear, her heart, and her psyche. Now that would have been dramatic.
Read moreEleven Women in Green
This photo appeared in Glamour Magazine on April 1, 1952. The eleven models clothed in varying shades of green strike poses of unstudied relaxation. Each woman is a separate entity but together, they create an impression of arrested action, like they are caught in a New York moment. In some ways, the set resembles a pre-war grande dame Upper East Side apartment stoop, complete with pigeons.
Before kids, I worked in fashion and we only ever shot one or two models at a time. It was never easy. So this photo floored me. Eleven models! Imagine trying to take test shots. And what about the complexity of the lighting? Every face is beautifully lit. And the details in the set amaze me. Look at the moss affixed to the door molding!
Read moreThat Adorable Late Bloomer, Julia Child
Julia Child wrote her first cookbook at the age of 49. She introduced America to the concept of a television cooking show, "The French Chef" at the age of 51. By the time she died at 92, she had authored numerous books, cooked on camera for hundreds of television episodes, been dubbed "Our Lady of the Ladle" by Time Magazine, won the French Legion of Honor, three Emmys and a Peabody, and perhaps in her opinion best of all, she was the subject of parodies on Second City, Saturday Night Live, and The Cosby Show.
Read moreAlt Summit Gal Pals
I am back from Alt Summit, a conference for bloggers and creative entrepreneurs that takes place annually in Salt Lake City. In the photo above, I'm on the right, dancing in the dark with three new friends, who, you can see, could hardly take their eyes off of my Elaine Benes dance moves.
As business conferences go, this one rocks.
Read moreAmy Sedaris as Muse
Today’s post is about Amy Sedaris. Some of you may ask: who is Amy Sedaris? Well, pardon me as I aerate my lungs so I can scream, “SHE IS A LIVING LEGEND!” If this is the first time you are hearing about her, I am sad at your circumstance but glad to enlighten you.
Anyway, the fabulous Miss Amy Sedaris is a comic. Maybe you know her from Comedy Central’s Strangers with Candy. Maybe you know her big brother, David. He’s almost as funny. But his face isn't quite as elastic as hers. She's got play-doh features and eyebrows wired with fishline that enable her to transform herself into characters we recognize from that one time we went to Ho-Chunk Casino.
Read moreTwo Artists You Must Know: Amy Sheppard Morose and Stephanie Barenz
I remember the first time I purchased a piece of art. I was walking home through the park where an art fair was taking place. The booth of a watercolorist caught my eye. He painted animals in a fairytale way. I asked how much for the one of the lions marching off to war with their teddybears. When he told me the price, I hurried home, counted out the necessary sum, and raced back to the fair to buy the watercolor. I was ten.
Buying art should always be that instinctive and straightforward. But mixing art and business is like asking a horse to dance. It is possible but it takes discipline, training and finesse.
Read moreFlowers Follow Fire: Carolyne Roehm's Bloom After Disaster
Collage by Nicholas Ballesteros
When I was in college dreaming of New York and a job in fashion, I followed the career of a young woman who seemed to burst onto the couture stage like a fleet-footed ibex. This was the 1980s of banking deregulation, Arnold Scaasi's red dresses for Nancy Reagan, Ivan Boesky, Malcolm Forbes 70th birthday party in Morocco, Leona Helmsley, The Bonfire of the Vanities, and more cocaine than Jonah Hill ever imagined. The particular young woman I admired, Carolyne Roehm, came from Kirksville, Missouri, and in the fashion pages, her face looked midwestern fresh. She worked for years for Oscar de la Renta, and both were purported to have beautiful manners.
Read moreLeland Gal
Photo of Maggie Revel Mielczarek by John A. Gessner.
I would like to introduce you to Maggie Revel Mielczarek. She lives across the lake from me, in Michigan, and our paths crossed in Utah at Alt Summit. Maggie is the founder of Leland Gal, a line of textiles, wallpapers, and accessories. When I saw her design work, my heart skipped a beat.
Read moreCount Time by Heart Throbs
This Sunday, I say good-bye to a dear friend whose too-short life is being celebrated at a memorial service. She lived up the street from me and though our children attended different schools, we became instant friends in our exercise class. I loved her sense of humor, her quiet but unshakeable convictions, and her grit, which was evident in our workouts but grew to gargantuan levels in her short but intense fight with that evil of all evils, cancer.
When I launched my shop, my first order came from her. She placed it from her hospital bed. Not just because she loved the plates I was selling, but because she loved me. She believed in my idea. And for that, there are no words.
Read moreWhy Martha Stewart Kicks A*&
I am attending a conference for bloggers called Alt Summit, and the organizers just announced that Martha Stewart will give the keynote address. Is there anyone more fascinating than M Diddy, The Queen of Clean, or Pumpkin, as Jennifer Garner dubbed her? Here are a few reasons why I plan to sit in the front row of that auditorium.
Read moreCassandra Smith, Warrior Artist
You know when you get a crush on someone on the internet, and it is all abstract and detached until you find out that OMG! she lives in your backyard and then you can't help but inbox her? Luckily, because your backyard is Milwaukee where everyone is decent and well-mannered, your crush actually inboxes back and agrees to talk with you.
(That really is how it works in Wisconsin. Really, the only drawback is on the highway, where people don't wish to hurt the feelings of other drivers by passing them.)
My crush is on Cassandra Smith.
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