Down From Dover

I know this dress I'm wearing doesn't hide the secret I have tried concealing
When he left he promised me that he'd be back by the time it was revealing
The sun behind a cloud just casts the crawling shadow o'er the fields of clover
And time is running out for me I wish that he would hurry down from Dover

He's been gone so long when he left the snow was deep upon the ground
And I have seen a spring and summer pass and now the leaves are turning brown
And any time a tiny face will show itself 'cause waiting's almost over
But I won't have a name to give it if he doesn't hurry down from Dover

My folks weren't understanding when they found out they sent me from the home place
My daddy said if folks found out he'd be ashamed to ever show his face
My mamma said I was a fool and she did not believe it when I told her
That everything would be all right 'cause soon he would be coming down from Dover

I loved him more than anything and I could not refuse him when he needed me
He was the only one I'd loved and I just can't believe that he was using me
He couldn't leave me here like this I know it can't be so, it can't be over
He wouldn't make me go through this so long, oh he'll be coming down from Dover

My body aches the time is here it's lonely in this place where I'm lyin'
Our baby has been born but something's wrong it's much too still I hear no cryin'
I guess in some strange way she knew she'd never have a father's arms to hold her
And dying was her way of telling me he wasn't coming down from Dover

(Thanks to Blaine AKA Cerpts for introducing me to this beautifully tragic song.)

Green Porno

Yesterday I got the chance to watch this hilarious, endearing, adorable, and educational documentary based on the short films and stage works by Isabella Rossellini. Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno Live! is a marriage of Ms. Rossellini's love of art, film, theatre, and expression with her love of biology. Essentially Green Porno explores the differences in sexuality, sexual function, and sexual life in animals and insects. It was seriously fun and fascinating. I have such an affinity for beautiful women with short hair, since it feels like they are following their own path in regards to their beauty and how their beauty is perceived (men are obsessed with women having long hair), so for that one reason I have always admired and liked Ms. Rossellini. But to see a beautiful woman who did not fall back on her looks and just cruise through life, but who is interesting, intelligent, erudite, funny, kind and willing to look silly is a rare and remarkable thing. I truly appreciate her work as an artist and am already trolling Amazon for the Green Porno book!

(photo kidnapped from brunchnews)

Weirdness is Inherited, Apparently...

Jackson was all smiles today when he visited and giggled with pure glee while he helped make a Joe Cross Mean Green juice. Then his father came to retrieve him, delivering hugs and laughter, as always. I love these two looney tunes...

One of Two Busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese

Saw this at, you guessed it - The Borghese Gallery in Rome - and am still amazed at Bernini's detailed work. He is simply the best there ever was.

 

 

(I'm pretty sure this is the second version of the Two Busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese)

Wait for Me

I have had this Malcolm Vaughan track playing over and over and over for the past four days. The lyrics are completely rapturous and the melody calls out for the listener to find a suitable dance partner so as to move the way the song was intended, in a soft, sweet, warm embrace.

Wait for me
I love you only
Wait for me
And when you're lonely
In your dreams I'll walk beside you
You have my prayers to guide you
Just say you will wait for me

Wait for me
Through all the grey days
Soon they'll be just far-away days
Til the lonely hours are ending
My love to you I'm sending
Just say you will wait for me

I'm lonely now without you
How I long to put my arms around you
I'm thinking now about you
Every day for sure, I just love you more and more

Wait for me
I'll be returning
Then the world will soon be learning
We were born to be together
Love like ours will last forever
If you say you will wait for me

I'm lonely now without you
Every day for sure, I love you more and more
Wait for me
I'll be returning
And the world will soon be learning
We were born to be together
Love like ours will last forever
If you say you will wait for me

Depth

Ram Jam - Black Betty
Rolling Stones - Miss You
Placido Domingo - He Couldn't Love You More
Tom Waits - Johnsburg, Illinois
Frank Sinatra - The Real McCoy
Redbone - Come and Get Your Love
Pat Benatar - Love Is A Battlefield
Chris Isaak - Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing
Natalie Cole - Everlasting Love
Billie Holiday - Pennies From Heaven
Vanessa Paradis - Que Fait la Vie?
Bon Jovi - You Give Love a Bad Name
Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out
Bob Dylan - It Ain't Me, Babe
Captain & Tenille - Love Will Keep Us Together
The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
The Beatles - Come Together

- August 11, 2003

Sizzling

I know I've mentioned my love of Call the Midwife time and time again, but I really do adore that show. All of the characters are so unique and believable. In re-watching seasons three and four, I have come to the conclusion that Reverend Tom and Nurse Trixie are the most gorgeous onscreen couple of all time. They are electric. Alas, they were not to be...

(ps - In season 4 and definitely season 5, Trixie went from one of my faves to one of my least. She has it all and seems to forever whine or hide her true feelings. It's totes annoys. Hopefully she will soon see the light and find true happiness, both inner and outer.)

BatJax

Got a chance to hang out with m'nephew the other day. He and his Nana went for a walk and saw the fuzzy lil' grey pig out on the neighbour's lawn. When Jackson told me about it I said, "What say you and I plot out a way to pignap him?" The laugh I got was the best ever. If a four year old thinks you are funny, well then brother, you got it made.

 

 

Prince

I was stunned yesterday afternoon by the text from Bishop that simply read Prince died. What a shame, honestly. I mean, fifty-seven years old? Just unbelievable.

I was reading a piece on the New York Times online and I thought this was beautifully put:

On Prince’s biggest hits, he sang passionately, affectionately and playfully about sex and seduction. With deep bedroom eyes and a sly, knowing smile, he was one of pop’s ultimate flirts: a sex symbol devoted to romance and pleasure, not power or machismo.

I especially love that last line, "a sex symbol devoted to romance and pleasure, not power or machismo" because that is such a rare thing in this world. A man who comes across as powerful and in control, yet stands at what? Five foot five-ish? Someone that could be intimidating but never feared. He always seemed to not be at all concerned with others' perception of who he was. That is why I admired Prince. Well, that and the fact that Scandalous is one of the sexiest and most gorgeous songs of all time.

As a side note, this post from The Onion on Thursday night made me weep with laughter:

Ash + Star + Bailey = True Love

 

 

 

 

The Salt of the Earth

Sebastião Salgado has the remarkable ability to make a still photograph become suddenly alive with exquisite movement. His photos are absolutely extraordinary in how they capture the essence of the subject and make you feel (even just a little bit) like you know their pain, their sadness, their joy, and the thing that separates them from all other human beings. It takes a true artist and a beautifully compassionate soul to accomplish this. Sebastião Salgado seems to do so with effortless ease. The Salt of the Earth blew me away with frame after frame of spectacularly moving images. A film not to be missed.

(photos kidnapped from - flicks.co.nz - quotesgram - vogue.it - artnet - pinterest)

Daddy Ben

Years ago, at least seventeen years back, I worked with a stunningly regal and elegant woman named Marla Wilmore. She was tall and what the fellas back home would call "really put together." Marla was sophisticated and always looked runway-ready with flawless hair, makeup, jewelry and dressed to the nines. She told me about her beloved grandfather one time. They called him Daddy Ben. His name was Benjamin Davis and he lived in Burleston, Texas with his loving and devoted wife, Louella, whom the children all called Big Mama.

Marla talked about her time spent with her grandparents in Texas and of how Daddy Ben enjoyed hunting and fishing. She would recall images of him dressed in wadding boots when he would fish and it painted such a vivid picture of him in my mind. He kept hounds, beagles, and drove a 1957 Mango coloured Caddy with leather interior. When I asked her the colour of the interior Marla said, "It's colour slips my memory...black perhaps..." Daddy Ben rarely smoked cigarettes, but when he did, Marla remembered that he rolled his cigarettes.

I asked her what he looked like; could she describe him in detail and Marla said that Daddy Ben had light brown skin with light brown eyes. His hair was curly and kept short. It was a salt and pepper grey that was slightly balding in places. Daddy Ben was always clean shaven and usually dressed in coveralls, worn-in coveralls that were soft and aged. For a shirt, he would wear a plaid long sleeved button down, done to the second button. Marla spoke of his sweet disposition, of how he was born in Travis County, Texas and had a brother named Lornell, Jr.

I asked Marla about her grandmother. She told me that Big Mama loved Daddy Ben dearly and that after he passed away she never sought the company of another man. Marla told me, "She possessed that true frame of thought that 'til death do us part' continued on until her own death, not just his." Sometimes the grandchildren would take a train ride and Big Mama would pack huge lunches with chicken and cookies and homemade tea cakes. Another time, Daddy Ben took Marla and her cousins to the drive-in theatre in Austin to see The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. I loved hearing Marla talk about her grandparents because her face lit up from the inside out as she clearly relived the stories she told. I am so glad that I made a photocopy of the picture she brought in for me to see. There they are, Ben and Louella. Just a random moment in their lives captured forever.

The Nanny

I never watched this series when it was on the air, but whilst doing laundry and writing in Antwerp I caught a couple episodes. Oh my gosh, it's really very funny! So I bought season one and two and laughed my head off at every barb that Niles threw at Miss Babcock. Too stinkin' funny for words! Oh, and everything that Fran Drescher wears is utterly divine. Over-the-top and totally fabulous.

(photo kidnapped from alicelazarus)

Escargots à la Napoli

Spotted this outside the train station in Naples and am still a bit baffled...kinda cool tho...

Roman Street Art

Local Artists at M HKA

Desert Island Discs

After spending several days listening to the archived recordings of celebrities such as Chris Reeve, Betty Bacall, Nigella Lawson, & Alan Alda speak of their musical choices on the BBC program Desert Island Discs, I gave some thought to my picks. The rules are that I must choose eight albums, actually eight songs, one luxury item, and one book to bring on the island. Oh, and to add to the torment, you must select just one of the eight that will not be washed away in the surf. Yikes.

I think I could be quite happy alone on an island. Dare I say, I believe I would flourish alone on this deserted island. To be without the confines of who I should be and the fears of disappointing everyone would be freeing in a beautiful way.

I specifically wanted to bring more male voices than female because I adore men and if I'm all alone, I would want a male voice to be my companion. Oh, and I don't need sad songs or angry songs, so The Smiths and Rage Against the Machine will not be joining me. 

Tom Waits - Alice
John Barry - Somewhere in Time
M83 - Midnight City
Nat King Cole - The Very Thought of You
John Waters - Role Models (audiobook)
Barbra Streisand - Piece of Sky
Fleetwood Mac - Bleed to Love Her
Luciano Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma

The one song/album that I could not do without is the soundtrack to Somewhere in Time. As for my luxury, I would like to ask for a fully equipped kitchen stocked with an endless array of vegan supplies, because I would so love to learn how to properly cook. However, I feel like this is probably a no-no. I guess a back up would be a crazy-super comfy futon with a Tempur-Pedic mattress complete with plush pillows and a fluffy blanket so I can cuddle up and read Sterling Hayden's Voyage: A Novel of 1896. I want to bring this book because I want something that romanticises the sea, something written in a male voice, a book that transports me from my daily life on the island, yet the sounds around me on said island will move me to further escape into the novel.

Adventure Book

Anyone who has seen Up knows what a perfect film it is and how sweet the love story was between Carl and Ellie. Whilst wandering around on etsy, I found not My Adventure Book, but a nice spin on the Up book that Ellie had made, this one called Our Adventure Book. It's crazy pricey, but I really do love it.

(photo of Ellie kidnapped from pixar.wikia)

Seen In Roma

'Til Death Do Us Part

Oh my gosh, this series is a riot! John Waters never ever disappoints me and he was so stinkin' funny. So sad that it was only a single season...

(photo kidnapped from iconsoffright)

I Heart Barbara

It's feedback like this that makes me want to keep traveling and meeting lovely people like Barbara.

“Lisa is probably best described as the perfect guest, great at communicating, lovely to meet, fun to chat with, and very respectful of our house. She's so considerate and does everything she can to save work for me. Needless to say all was clean and tidy and the delicious box of Belgian chocolates very much appreciated. I hope she comes to stay again soon!”  

Next Go Around...

I can think of no other time in my life that went by as quickly as these last three weeks. I am extremely disappointed that I once again was too afraid to rent a car and drive to Wicklow National Park. I kept thinking "What if I turn down the wrong side of the street and kill someone? What if I cause a terrible accident? What if I get lost?" and so on. Fear has a strangle hold on my life like nothing else.

It seems as soon as one trip is ending, I already start thinking of the next one. I need to get my finances in order and dig my way out of debt. If I really focus, I think I may be able to go back to Dublin in September for a little more than a week. If I do, then come hell or high water, I will go to Wicklow. It's too beautiful to pass up. Oh, and you can bet your arse I'll be staying at Barbara's again.

Vacay Selfies!

 

 

 

 

Retro

In September, Natalia and I came upon a little shop that sold fabulous sweaters and fun rockabilly dresses. I had it in my mind that the shop was on Grafton and when I returned in December with Paul we walked up and down Grafton Street but couldn't find it. Well, today I went back for more goodies at Blazing Salads then pulled over just outside to see if there was a decent chip shop nearby. As I looked up and across the street, there it was! George's Street Arcade. I dashed right over and purchased thee cutest sweater ever. Then, since Barbara's place has a DVD player, I stopped at Tower Records (how 90s does that sound?!) and picked up the latest season of Call the Midwife (which I haven't seen), Sherlock seasons 1 through 3 and season 4 of Episodes. What a successful afternoon!

Springtime in Bloom

In December Babara had a wee lil' Christmas tree up in the living room. This time, there was a lovely pot of flowers at the front door, letting me know that Spring has arrived at last.

The Harlequin

Just around the corner from my favourite take-away joint in Dublin is a fabulous second hand shop called The Harlequin. I managed to pick up two jumpers and a scarf for just thirty Euros. I'm such a thrifty lil' shopper...