Up There

Above is a sculpture by Tage Andersen on the grounds of the Gunillaberg estate outside Bottnaryd, Småland, Sweden.* Below is a photograph by Dillon Marsh of the nests built by the Sociable Weaver Bird on telephone poles in the Kalahari Desert. I stumbled upon both these images in the past few days (the first via The House That Lars Built, the second via Honestly WTF). And as with this grouping, or this one, or this recent pair, I find that chance may have thrown them together in my view, but, once it did, they seem to me absolutely right and wonderful together.

*photo by Brittany Watson Jepsen

The Poem Series About the Long Ago Winter of 2006 Continues With This Installment

February 6, 2006
Over the weekend

we went with my parents
to see Swan Lake
for my father’s birthday

I have serious doubts
that I can describe
how incredible it was

yes all the dancers
and the sets
and the costumes

and all that good fun
rah rah
yay

But the real thrill
was on
a completely different plane

Papa’s favorite dancer
Yuan Yuan Tan
as Odette and Odeil

simply impossibly good
She makes you want to
throw around words

like Brilliant
Amazing
Virtuosic 

Odette with a kind of slow wild joy
always moving
so sinuous it was as if she had no bones

Odeil sharp
crackling and sneering
and always only human


image source is here

The Color of Fiction

Am utterly enamored with artist Jaz Parkinson's "color charts"--visual representations of the colors mentioned in various novels. I ask you, could anything be more perfectly tailored to the tastes of a book-lover and color-lover such as myself? Seriously, I think these fit neatly into some sort of special receptors in my brain. Not to mention they'd make great book covers. Anyhow, enjoy!

Vintage Photo Fun Time

Between it being Mother's Day and then my happening to spend a recent Throwback Thursday at my mom's house I've been recapturing a bunch of old photos lately. Something about having a girl of my own makes me especially like these shots of my own wee self, especially with my own Mama. And then the photo at the bottom is from my senior year in high school, just for kicks and hilarity.

Kisses from Daddy and Nooe

Last month Mabel was super excited to receive a week-long visit from her paternal grandmother, known in our affectionate family lexicon as her Nooe. In this week's Polaroid the three generations snuggle and smooch on the sofa in a sunbeam.

Brief Hiatus

Here's something I like to do, though I'm not sure why: when for this or that reason I need to put the Cabinet on a short break (which I don't love doing), I find it encouraging to leave you with a good old Abstract Expressionist painting. In this case "Elegy to the Spanish Republic, 54" painted in 1957-61 by our pal Robert Motherwell. Image source is here. See you next week! xoxo b

The Poem Series About the Winter of 2006 Continues (Though Spring is Approaching)

February 3, 2006
Last night I had just about entirely convinced myself

to take the bus home
(bad)

when I stepped outside
and was seduced
once again
by the sky
into walking

A big soft pink spring sky
and soft spring air too
impossible to resist

And on the way home
I saw a small brown paper lunch bag
that someone had put over the top of a fire hydrant
with a frowny face drawn on neatly
in black magic marker
the effect was comical

And the workers seen through the window of a restaurant
bustling around in their sweatshirts
getting ready for the dinner service
reminded me of actors backstage before a play


image source is here