Inspiration

Perhaps it comes with the beginnings of June, but suddenly inspiration abounds. Last weekend, the Salvation Army was selling classical vinyls for ten cents a pop, and my time at home (while cleaning and reading and drinking red wine in the evenings) is now set to Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's Bach compositions. Kate Moss is on the cover of Harper's Bazaar wearing brick red nail polish, so I recently ran to Rite Aid for the L'Oreal version. I have been stealing flowers from my neighbor's trees and putting them in little vases. I have been reading Harold Brodkey's final work, This Wild Darkness, and while the book is a memoir covering the story of his death, the heightened awareness of every breath and motion documented in the account of his last days has quickened my own pulse. My husband has been making Amazon orders and ripping through books faster than anything I have ever seen. We saw a show at Western (the college campus) two weeks ago, and everyone in attendance was a good decade younger than us and our eyes could hardly handle the rushes of color and brave fashion choices made by these kids (not all good, but certainly brave) and the throwing of caution to the wind in their loud dress reminded me that there is something to the power of expression and I don't have to fit any mold (ever).

My best friend was in my living room last week and saw my copy of Life Magazine, 1967 with Mia Farrow on the cover (shortly after her marriage to Frank Sinatra) and said, "Can I cut your hair like that right now?" Of course you can.

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of (my favorite) Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom (come on Bellingham, get with the program), where I am sure to find more visual inspiration than I can contain, but until then, it's important to note that there are still ugly things happening in the world, which must be avoided at all costs, Lord help us all: