I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for the 1979 version of Dracula. ( I even have asouvenirprogram from the movie.) It's so overstuffed with bats, cobwebs, ruffle shirts, and smoke machine atmosphere, it's like a romance novel version of the tale. Plus, you get Frank Langella and Laurence Olivier chewing the scenery together! But I really wish I could have seen the Broadway stage version with Frank Langella, mostly because Edward Gorey designed the entire production. Talk about atmosphere!
Perhaps Art and Life mingle a little too much in my mind, but when I see this fantastic old photo of my mom, I imagine her in Sterling Cooper's offices, typing at a steel secretary desk, or whispering in the break room about another potential takeover.
There's something about photography that, for me, inspires strong wanderlust. WimWenders had it when he said that "the known or the familiar virtually rules out photography, which is a means of exploration, a journey." That's what my friend Nannette's photographs do to me. Her shots of signage around Washington and Idaho make me want to jump in my car and see the world as she does: like WimWenders on psychadelics. See more of her Technicolor vision here.
The Screamapillar and Alexa looked at each other in silence. At last the Screamapillar took the Soothie out of her mouth and addressed Alexa in a languid, sleepy voice.
"Who are you?" said the Screamapillar.
"I hardly know," said Alexa.
"What do you mean by that?" said the Screamapillar sternly. "Explain yourself."
"I cannot explain myself, I'm afraid, ma'am," said Alexa, "because I'm not myself, you see."
For some minutes, the Screamapillar sucked away without speaking; but at last she pushed the Soothie out of her mouth again, and said, "So you think you're changed, do you?"
"I'm afraid I am," said Alexa; "I can't remember things as I used to. I'm in afog."
I have a special love for Carole Lombard. (That's her on my blog banner.) Whenever things get too serious, I try to channel her as Irene in My Man Godfrey. I also cuss like a sailor, and it makes me feel better to know that she did too. In honor of her birthday today, I'm sharing this recent ebay score of mine, a British magazine from 1934 that features Carole in a "smart grey suit" she designed herself. The rest of the issue doesn't disappoint, featuring the pattern for the dress on the cover (if only I could sew!), snappy pajamas, and an outfit that inspires me to wear a beret.
