Category Archives: General

Though they be the bane of many a manicured lawn, my heart still reserves space for the unassuming violet, in flower now across bedeviled lawns throughout the Northeast. We had stretches of the whit and purple variety at our childhood home, and they always provided a lovely segue from the volatile spring weather to something softer and sweeter. 

We’ve mostly eradicated them from our lawn, but a few pop up now and then, and I leave them be until they finish flowering. At that point I’ll pull them up, rhizomes and all, because there will still be more to come next year. Sweetness and resilience, prettiness and power – do not underestimate the little violet. 

As I approach my 50th birthday, and perhaps quite a bit before that, I have felt the repeating patterns of the years as they pass. Mostly it’s the gardens that reveal these patterns. They may shift from year to year – sometimes the cherries and lilacs are drooping and heavy with blooms, sometimes they are scant and precious – but patterns are patterns for a reason. 

Some years repeat the exact same bloom patterns almost to the day. 

There is comfort there, in the way the world repeats itself. 

As it feels like things grow more and more unstable when it comes to people, nature maintains its sanity, its consistency. 

And so I embrace the arrival of the sweet woodruff blooms – little clouds of white blossoms floating above pretty foliage. A carpet of beauty, one that will stay fresh right into the fall. 

Mom and I have just returned from our traditional Mother’s Day weekend on Broadway (lots to tell about that when I get around to it). For now, here’s a recap of the week that led into the happy day. 

Sorry not sorry.

Mad about the Met Gala.

Do it for the plot.

The musical Judas tree.

Imagination by Louis Vuitton. 

Our 15th wedding anniversary: Part One and Part Two.

Pretty pink high descending.

Our lone Dazzler of the Day was Cole Escola.

When the cherry petals fall.

This is Dutch country.

The Fed.

Swan lake fantasia.

The Swan Prince.

The Swan Avenger.

The swan’s sacrifice.

A little lilac.

Happy Mother’s Day.

The unexpected plot twist is one of the happier experiences of life, and I love giving myself over to a story to the point where I’m entirely flabbergasted when a twist arrives. In this age of social media, it gets harder and harder to have such surprises, but they are one of the most enjoyable aspects of entertainment. To a certain extent, I suppose that’s why I like to surprise people – by wearing something people never thought I’d wear, or doing something they’d never think I’d do, or surprising them in some other unexpected way. 

The plot twists of life. 

Little jolts that spark some semblance of notice in even the most jaded world. 

We are on autopilot more often than not, going through the motions, rushing through the days, and only the most adventurous among us take the time and effort to give striking difference to the differing dates. 

There’s been a project in the planning stages in my head for the past five years or so – a behemoth, multi-pronged mess of a project that has been evolving, eroding, and rebuilding itself in my mind. I haven’t quite decided if I’m going to do it, and it’s unclear whether that’s laziness or fear. 

If it’s laziness, I simply won’t do it. 

If it’s fear, I’ll do it harder than I’ve fucking done anything in my life. 

May is here, and living has taken precedence over documenting life here. I’m behind on it too – behind in the garden, behind in the yard, behind in the plans for summer – but right on time in the living, and that rarely happens. On with the weekly blog recap…

Troye Sivan in a jockstrap, as apparently we missed out on International Jockstrap Day. 

Get a peep at this.

Can former altar boys be chosen as the Pope?

As Boston beckons…

… and spring has softly spung.

May we begin.

Weep not for the weeping larch.

A May cherry day.

Spring is here.

A rushed spring.

You and the night and the music.

A peacock in everything but beauty.

A fine-feathered fairy’s tale.

Deeper meaning in the tail of a peacock.

The softness of a Sunday.

Growing gains.

Purple intensity.

Dazzlers of the Day included Jean Smart and Jeff Urbanczyk.

In my much younger years, this sort of flower would have appealed to my love of the gaudy, bold and audacious. 

To be honest, it still speaks to the part of me that loves super-saturated color and striking contrast, but it’s not for our yard. Fine from afar – in distance and time – but up close and at length, it’s just too much.

Mellowing happens to the most drama-loving among us. 

Pastels are as cliched a sign of spring as florals are, and I love them in spite of their ubiquity. I’ve never been one to deny myself an indulgence, and I’m puzzled by those who do. These spring blooms will be gone and forgotten much too soon enough. Pansies are especially fleeting – their preference for cool weather means they struggle in the heat of our summers. Their glory happens now. 

In the air, the perfume of the Korean spice viburnum ignites the excitement of the nose – the flowers are not as flashy but the fragrance is exquisitely potent. 

“The fairy tale offers the child hope that someday the kingdom will be his. Since the child cannot settle for less, but does not believe that he can achieve this kingdom on his own, the fairy tale tells him that magic forces will come to his aid. This rekindles hope, which without such fantasy would be extinguished by harsh reality. Since the fairy tale promises the type of triumph the child wishes for, it is psychologically convincing as no “realistic” tale can be. And because it pledges that the kingdom will be his, the child is willing to believe the rest of what the fairy story teaches: that one must leave home to find one’s kingdom; that it cannot be gained immediately; that risks must be taken, trials submitted to; that it cannot be done all by oneself, but that one needs helpers; and that to secure their aid, one must meet some of their demands. Just because the ultimate promise coincides with the child’s wishes for revenge and a glorious existence, the fairy tale enriches the child’s fantasy beyond compare.” ~ Bruno Bettelheim

“The child, so much more insecure than an adult, needs assurance that his need to engage in fantasy, or his inability to stop doing so, is not a deficiency.” ~ Bruno Bettelheim

“Just as people behave to me, so do I behave to them. When I see that a person despises me and treats me with contempt, I can be as proud as any peacock.” ~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

“A child who has learned from fairy stories to believe that what at first seemed a repulsive, threatening figure can magically change into a most helpful friend is ready to believe that a strange child whom he meets and fears may also be changed from a menace into a desirable companion.” ~ Bruno Bettelheim

“Far from making demands, the fairy tale reassures, gives hope for the future, and hold out the promise of a Happy Ending.” ~ Bruno Bettelheim

~ The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale ~

1. Pink Frilly Fairy: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three
2. Homage to Herb: Part One, Part Two and Part Three
3. A Purple-Hued Interlude
4. Style & Panache: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.
5. Purple Puff Confection: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.
6. A Blue-Hued Interlude
7. Fuchsia Fabulousness: Part One. Part Two and Part Three.
8. Bad Boy Bangs: Part One, Part Two. and Part Three.
9. Vanity Under Where: Part One, Part Two. and Part Three.
10. Sugar Plum Ballerina: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.
11. A Pool Frolic: Part One, Part Two. and Part Three.
12. A Cemetery Interlude: Part One and Part Two.
13. Powder Blue Fur Doll: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.
14. A Milky Interlude 
15. Rock Out, Cock Out/ Hang Out, Wang Out: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.
16. Cocktail Cocktale: Part One and Part Two.
17. A Fairy’s Interlude: Part One and Part Two.
18. Willy Wonkers: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.
19. A Peacock In Everything But Beauty: Part One.

When spring is late, everything happens at once. 

All the flowers bloom in quickly succession.

All the trees leaf out and turn the world chartreuse. 

All the animals and insects fill the air with bug and bird song. 

All the earth lets out a glorious sigh of beauty and release. 

Unpredictable, tumultuous, moody and sometimes unnecessarily dramatic, spring has a way of taking us on a rollercoaster, filled with twists and turns, corkscrews and drops, and pure, intense exhilaration. The best method of making your way through it is to relax, let it take you where it wants to go, and  embrace the moment. Sometimes those moments are stormy and messy, sometimes they are beautiful and tender, and sometimes they are everything all at once. We want to make sense of such a jumble, but spring doesn’t always want us to make sense of it. 

Let us have a little song then, nothing too heavy, nothing too dark – just enough to lift the spirits and set spring on whichever way it chooses to go. 

The coral bark maple reaches its chartreuse hands upward to the sky, emerging from its slumber, radiantly reflecting and welcoming the sun. 

One of the more charming shrubs in the garden – the weeping larch – has sprouted its gorgeous whorls of leaves, radiating sun-like bursts of varying shades of green. 

This is what May means – a freshness, a beginning, a chance at something new. 

The green shifts delicately in the changing slant of the sun, growing warmer as the daylight gradually depletes.

Andy got me this box of Peeps cereal as an Easter joke, but I actually ended up enjoying it.

It’s like a more colorful amped-up version of Lucky Charms (also not as awful as I used to think they were). 

The real Peeps candy is nightmarishly sweet and awful, and I don’t really get a Peeps taste from the cereal, so perhaps that’s why it works a little better. 

That said, once a year is more than enough, so let’s keep this Limited Edition. 

Most daffodils begin their blooming period in bashful form, especially when the weather is so changeable. They only unfurl their full splendor if they can be sure of some sun and warmth and stillness. I do not blame them in the least, and my natural state in times of uncertainty is certainly within the realm of all that is bashful. 

This little blossom is at the early stage of its bloom, still looking groundward and holding its outer petals close to its corona. A shy first step that is full of hope and trepidation. 

I often like this stage better than the fullest bloom, the same way I enjoy the night before a dinner or a party more than the actual event itself. It’s a happy way of prolonging the experience and making every moment matter. 

And so is anyone who still supports this moron.

The world is laughing at him, and US. 

#FAFO