how to read nancy.

when i was little, one of my favorite things to read were these memo notebooks that my grandfather had pasted into brother juniper and nancy comic strips. i recently discovered the nancy panels tumblr and i'm smitten with this authentically profound and purposefully lame comic strip all over again! although i love this quote from ernie bushmiller, creator of nancy..."i am doing extremely well with my children’s strip nancy. it runs in over 880 papers and has no social message." i am looking forward to headstrong, curious, and self-assured nancy coming back as a feminist cultural icon. read a brilliant deconstruction of the seemingly simple nancy strip here.

faffy.

today is my mom's birthday!!! my mom is smart and nice and amazing and everyone should wish her happy birthday!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

ornament.

these belonged to my grandmother.

filled to the top,

with christmas spirit.

{image via woolgathering & misc.}

lost & found.

the vivian maier story has inspired me to begin to scan the some one hundred 23/4" x 23/4" glass slides that i have of an unknown family. the only information that i can figure is that they seem to be from florida and they range from 1951 to 1953. many of them are of vacations to cuba and miami and others are of various family members on front yards, in swimming pools and beautiful gardens. i got them about 5 years ago at a stoop sale in philadelphia. finally scanning them, and actually having them scan fairly well, is very exciting to me. i've always wanted to utilize them somehow, but they've always felt 'off-limits' and too precious. maybe scanning and sharing will be a good start.

non-required reading.

my sister got me this book and it's great. i mean with an introduction by judy blume, edited by dave eggers and a cover designed by barry mcgee, it's pretty hard to go wrong.

small wonder.

flying kites with my dad and sister, 1984.

screen test.

twenty-twenty.


sheldon.

happy father's day.

i'm pretty certain that all dads love trains. my dad definitely does. growing up we went to countless train museums and so it's no surprise that o. winston link is my dad's favorite photographer. he is best known for his photographs of steam {and later diesel} trains, as shown in the top photograph - and his innovations in flash photography - as evidenced in the second.

road trip.

this weekend i'm heading out on the road! i'll be visiting my family and friends up north for two weeks and i am so so so excited. posting might be sporatic, but it will include thrilling updates and photographs from philadelphia, new york city and buffalo!

{image via square america}

mermaids, whales, hot air ballons & ships.

my sister was watching antiques roadshow and saw a painting by ralph cahoon and thought that i would like his work. boy was she right.

adler and doonan.

today is going to be a good day because i'm going to see both of these handsome men speak, one after the other. and then tomorrow....i'm going back to philly! i'm sooooo excited for a weekend family, friends, fun and food!

p.s. this was GREAT! they were both really funny and said "groovy" a lot and it was really inspiring and their dog licked my hand. :D

a brief history of time.

On a visit to Grandpa in 1968, my mother took a photo of my sisters and me in front of the old-folks home where he lived. Four years later, on another visit, we decided, on a lark, to recreate the earlier shot. We got the lineup wrong, and my sisters botched their poses slightly. But we were working from memory, and in that light the outcome is faithful, if not exact. Eight years later we lined up for another recreation, and this time we used a previous photo as a guide. Stupidly, we used the 1972 shot as our pose template rather than the original 1968 shot. In 1983, we recreated the "wrong" pose again. For a 1986 shot, we finally got our act together and lined up just as we had the very first time. We've kept on track ever since, taking a new picture whenever we happen to be together. Since both my sisters live in California, our opportunities to update the series are infrequent.- joey harrison

this is such a wonderful series!

andy wyeth.

andy wyeth died today. the entire wyeth family's work has surrounded me throughout my life. my great grand uncle is howard pyle, teacher to andy's father n.c. and owner to the boots used in this painting. my mother grew up in chadds ford right down the street from n.c. wyeth's house and studio. jamie wyeth hung out with my uncle and his friend taught my mom how to swear. my grandmother used to work at the brandywine river museum and knows more about the paintings there than she was allowed to tell. i associate the wyeth's with my mother's side of the family and with my grandmother especially, this just reminds me that she's in her 90's as well. rest in peace, andrew newell wyeth. sigh.

{if i had to narrow it down
i would say that
garret room [above]
is my favorite
andy wyeth painting.
if you get a chance
to visit the brm
and see it
in person
i highly recommend
that you do.
it is stunning.}

teddy & jack.

i spent most of christmas eve reading the last twilight book scanning in tons and tons of old family photos. here is one of my grandfather {the baby} with president theodore roosevelt {in the hat and awesome boots} in arizona, c. 1915

no ticket to ride.

my flight back to savannah was cancelled on account of massive fog, so i'm at home for one more night. i spent it watching help! with my parents. although george {and his crooked teeth} is number one, every time i watch a beatles movie ringo moves up higher on my favorite beatles list.

moveable family feast.

add young ernest hemingway to the long list of people that look like my dad.

{picture of hemingway
and his new bride
martha gellhorn
on their honeymoon
in honolulu, 1940.
found at exit lines}

for your fancy sister...

and her fancy new house,

tord boontje's garland light. this new classic is created from a continuous metal strand that is wrapped around a light bulb and casts the most magical floral shadows all over the room. if it's good enough for the moma and the v&a it's good enough for family.

for your work-at-home dad...

for a night out on the town with mom.

a fedora from new york's oldest hat shop, j.j. hat center, will keep him looking dapper no matter how many sunless hours he spends in his basement office.

for your [not] so little brother...

who's still a kid at heart.

although the hishou airplane is only made of balsa wood and and propelled by rubber-bands, the design dates back to 1911 when similar models successfully crossed the sumida river in a flight contest. if it can cross a river in japan it can definitely make it across the living room, through the kitchen and into that plate of christmas morning waffles. fun!