Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

I finally succumbed to Pandora. I know why they called it that - once you open the box, you can't close it again. Right now I'm listening to Mark Ronson Radio, and I'm lovin' the funk! I've been so behind on new music, and I still can't stand certain "artists" who are more manufactured diva than musician. But I just came from a hip little cafe that was playing some cool funk, so I had to hear more when I got home.

Off The Waffle

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy waffle with bacon and egg, and a cappuccino

It was such a beautiful day.

Clematis in the morning

We rode our bikes into town - it was sunny but brisk, with a north wind. I'm not one to do the Lycra bike suits, or anything that comes from a sporting goods shop, so this is what I wore.

These thrifted jeans are perfect for biking because they're soft and don't fight me when I'm pedalling, and the pegged pants don't get caught in the chain. I layered a camisole and long-sleeved T-shirt under my Target "Little Wing" shirt and Christopher & Banks jacket. The brooch is a wire chaos concoction I made.

No reason you can't look classy when you're riding a bike, right?

The boots are new to me, and the first wearable item I've bought in months. They were half-price at the thrift store, and with my senior discount they were only $6.25!

New boots, and it's time for Shoe Shine at Sheila's! Sheila is getting into the menswear look, too - come and take a look.

As I'm typing this, I'm listening to Amy Winehouse sing "Valerie." I'm digging Pandora!

Val-erie

Where do you stand on the End Times?

Remember when this was sort of a personal style blog? Remember when I sort of had some personal style? Well, I don’t get out much anymore, and I just like to be comfortable, and I love having bare legs while the weather is good.

Things have been kind of weird around here lately. It seems like we just got back on course after the Mercury Retrograde situation, and we’re having a sort of apocalypse-lite. Partly it’s the weather – thunderstorms and colored skies like this.

The trees were red!

The evening these were taken, we were out for a walk when frogs jumped across our feet on the path. A couple minutes later there was a snake wriggling by at high speed as if the devil was chasing him. I expected to see flying monkeys next, and sky writing that said “Surrender, Dorothy.”

Last night I was reading when I saw a hint of movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked down at the brownish carpet and didn’t see anything – except a little shadow. Was it just the nap, or was it...? I looked closer and saw a spider with a leg-span of at least three inches! It tried to get away (and my husband would have preferred if I had got a jar to catch it put it outside), but I grabbed a slipper and whomped the spider. It bounced a bit, and I whomped it again just to make sure. I’m sorry, but it had to be done. I felt kind of bad, but mostly I'm scared of a spider ghost coming to haunt me.

THEN - the phone rang in the middle of the night, which can’t be good news. It was a recording telling us to turn ourselves in to the police! It was obviously urgent, and probably had to do with tearing the tag off a mattress in 1997. We were given a phone number to call, an officer’s name, and told that this was the District of Columbia State Police. (The District of Columbia is not even a state, so WTF?) The call ended with, “Have a blessed day.”  Again, I say, WTF?!

So, what have we learned about frogs, snakes, spiders and scam phone calls? To always put your best foot forward. Okay, a bit of a non sequitur, but it’ll do.

I’ve been wearing these shoes a lot lately for walks and bike rides. They’re suede, they’re by Born, and I got them on sale last year (previously seen here). What’s not to love? They may not be shiny, but they’re going to Sheila’s Shoe Shine!

fresh tomatoes and basil!

 Are you still enjoying your summer, or has it reached its End Time?

Val

Red, Blue, Pompidou!

In my last post I told you about my first trip to Europe, fifty years ago. Well, twenty-five years ago I went to Europe for the second time. I spent three months studying in Rome, then traveled to Greece with a friend, spent some time with an Italian man in Firenze (that's all I'm sayin'), and eventually went to Paris on my own before flying home.

In Paris I took a really cool picture of the Centre Pompidou and made a necklace with it.

This set my color scheme for a recent outfit.

top - JCP; skirt - Docker's, thrifted; tights - Target; shoes - Dexter

I took more photos in this outfit, but I'm bored with my own backyard and too self-conscious to go out in public to take pictures. Sooooo, I decided to revisit Paris in 1989.

It was the centennial of the Eiffel Tower, so they had lights on it spelling out "100 ans." It was also the bicentennial of the French Revolution.

 The Louvre - so much to see, it would take more than one day and you'd still be overwhelmed.

Luxembourg Gardens - I stayed near here in the Latin Quarter. My little room and lumpy bed were under the eaves, up six flights of stairs, with the toilet and showers down the hall. I loved it!

And then we're back where we started, at the Pompidou Centre.

All these photos were printed on paper - I cut out paper dolls of me and glued them to the printed photos, then photographed them. Thanks again to Melanie for this idea!

It's time to get together for Visible Monday, so don't forget to head on over to Patti's on Sunday evening or Monday. Or Tuesday. And there's a Shoe Shine at Bella's, so here's the money shot for that.

 

A bientot, mes cheries!

Val

Black and white and red all over

It occurred to me this year that I've had major things happen in my life in years that end in 4 – it's been 50 years since my first big overseas trip, 40 years since I graduated from high school, 20 years since I met my husband.

So, of course I'm going to mark these anniversaries here on Muse Fondue. I'm kind of excited about this, and I've been getting ahead of myself writing posts and scanning pictures for these future dates (I can get away with a little skiving at work). But I had nothing ready for this post - no theme, no cute little story. I'm just winging it.

I did take some photos of a recent outfit that I really liked. It was so simple I don't know why I hadn't worn this before.

The skirt (Fresh Produce, resale) has one large pleat on the side to give it a little swing and fullness. I didn't wear tights or boots because we've actually had some nice weather lately! It feels like a trick, but I'm hoping it's Spring.

Snow leopard cardi - retail; belt - thrifted; snooty face - I was born with it.

The shoes are Cliff's White Mountain. I think I bought them at TJ Maxx a few years ago. They were plain black, but they were too boring - so I blinged them up. Another shoe transformation!

with veins

I painted the cross strap thingy and added some sparkles on the large buttons.

without veins

I won a prize from Bella at The Citizen Rosebud! I didn't even know it was a contest - I just commented as usual and she pulled my name out of one of her amazing hats, and sent me this package of red delight!

Just what a post-menopausal woman needs - my very own Vinnie's Giant Roller Coaster Period Chart & Journal Sticker Book, and Tampon Case!

Um, yeah, I won't go so far as to say that I wish I was still having periods, but you might as well make them fun. The cool gingham bag is mine, but I'll find another home for Vinnie and his helpful journal ("Really works!") and tampon case.

Visible Monday is on this week, so you know I'll be there with Patti and the gang.

Tuesday it will be time for a Shoe Shine at The Citizen Rosebud, so I'll be hoofing it over there, too.

Have a great week!

Val

TED Talks to Me

Have you watched any TED Talks online? Or have you even heard about TED? It all sounds too good to be true, but it is true! This is from their website:

TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference and TEDGlobal -- TED includes the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.

I've seen a few TED Talks, and recently watched one that I want to share with you - Art that Craves Your Attention. Blogger only lets you add video from YouTube, but you can use this link to see the video on the TED website.

That led me to this one about another artist.

 

So when I was looking around the website, I read more about their conferences. The next one is in Vancouver, BC, in March, and some of the speakers include Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly, and Sting! There will also be tech experts, a font designer, activists, writers, jugglers, a magician, a model, scientists, and a cruciverbalist – and more! It's sold out, but if I'd known about this sooner and had a spare $4,000, I would love to go.

But if I can't go to the TED conference, I can link up to 52 Pick-me-up at Spy Girl.

The theme this week is In the Pink, so here I am trying out an old hot pink cotton shirt with my new-to-me purple jacket (also seen in my last post). Yes, pink and purple together, and I'm not apologizing.

This shirt had no shape, so I added a couple of vertical darts in the front. 

And I'm throwing in a gratuitous shot of the Tom's that were in my last post (but taken on a different day) so I can link up with Shoe Shine at The Citizen Rosebud.

Shirt – Walmart

Jacket – Harve Benard, thrifted

Jeans in first picture - Levi's, thrifted, second and third pictures - Lee's

Have you heard of TED? Have you heard of Spy Girl and Citizen Rosebud? Go check them out!

Val