“‘November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year,’ said Margaret, standing at the window one dull afternoon, looking out at the frostbitten garden.”
— Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
Reading: Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch
Video: Mr. TC and I have been watching old Inspector Morse episodes on Netflix
Art: “The Armory Show at 100” at the New-York Historical Society
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness…
— John Keats, “Ode to Autumn”
Reading: I just finished The Bling Ring, borrowed from a friend. I still need to see Sofia Coppola’s film adaptation of this true-crime story.
Video: The mini-series The Paradise on PBS.
Art: “Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul,” at The Morgan Library.
Better late than never! What have I been doing and thinking lately?
Reading: Alice McDermott’s Someone, her newest novel (and her best).
Art: “Hopper Drawing,” an exhibition of Edward Hopper’s drawings (most of which I’d never seen before!) at the Whitney.
Video: The final episodes of “Breaking Bad.”
Eats & Treats: Apples (and cider doughnuts!) that we picked on a recent outing to an orchard in Westchester.
August already?! Yes. Late August. Here are some of my recent and current fascinations…
Reading: Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies.
Art: The exhibition “Swing Time: Reginald Marsh and Thirties New York,” at the New-York Historical Society.
Eats and Treats: A summer salad of tomatoes and peaches from the farmers market, with basil from our yard.
Drinks: Cocktails at Little Branch with my old friend Joe when he was in NYC last week. My favorite was a Water Lily (gin, crème de violette, lemon, and Cointreau). Perfection.
Beauty Products: Lipsticks in brighter rose shades, from higher-end (Lancôme’s Roses in Love) to drugstore (Maybelline’s Rose of Attraction).
Garb: Classic espadrilles in black.
Video: Breaking Bad. We can talk of nothing else these days.
Milestone: My first pair of eyeglasses, for reading. I’m getting old!
Image: August (Août) by Eugène Grasset (1896), via Wikipaintings.
What can I say? It’s been a hot month. How have you been coping, if you’re dealing with this heat wave, too? This is what I’ve been doing…
Reading: I’m nearly finished with Edward St. Aubyn’s Patrick Melrose novels, the first four titles published in one volume. I’ve had to take short breaks between the individual novels; as much as I’ve enjoyed them, their darker plot elements make them a bit draining for me.
Eats and Treats: Fruit from our local farmer’s market, especially peaches.
TINSEL CREATION 