musings

some sunshine on a cloudy day – scout & catalogue by breanna musgrove

what does one do when they are an overworked and overstressed creative professional? why, they move to the estados unidos mexicanos. usually people sleep, read, tan and possibly sip some tequila, but when you can’t help but start your own product line during your escape you know it’s in your blood. although it’s always too few and far between crossing paths, the creator of scout & catalogue is one of my favorite people, and here you can see why. you can find these hand crafted products of love at on etsy.com. by kl

CATEGORIES: fashion, musings, perfect gift

the big blue: Wittelsbach-Graff blue Diamond

not a fan of jewelry in any way, especially the the overtly expensive ones, but i can see the desire of owning the rarest in any thing… it surely gives you the illusion of being special, perhaps even when you aren’t.

laurence graff paid more than $25,000,000 for this gem attaching his name to the original: “i’ve been privileged over the years to own some of the world’s most important and famous diamonds, but i would say that the wittelsbach diamond is the most valuable and the most beautiful. i had the opportunity to examine and value it in my own offices, and i came to the conclusion it was one of the rarest stones i’d ever seen. i knew it was a stone we had to have,”

initially valued at around $15,000,000, graff paid more than $25,000,000. in a controversial move he had it re-cut and polished, reducing it from 35.5 carats to little over 31 carats. critics say the act compromised the historical integrity of the stone, but mr. graff disagrees.

“every diamond that was ever mined, every diamond that was ever polished and cut, is still with us. who knows the story that this stone will tell in a thousand years time.” got a point the buddy. but 25 million dollars is a lot to make a point. by dd

CATEGORIES: musings, objects, perfect gift

hapinesss is a warm… pipe

above: our old neighborhood bicycle repair man with his pipecigarettes are just a bad habit, built for fast pleasure, pipes are a slow ritual
for those who can afford time… and hell they are just as bad


cleaning up is just part of the pleasureand you though pipe smokers were harmless!

in an effort to quit smoking… cigarettes… i have polished up my old beloved pipes (boy am i going down the wrong path).  half of my collection is new, and the other half has been passed down from my dad. hopefully i am old enough now to pull it off… it somehow didn’t look right back in the 80’s. by uh

CATEGORIES: musings

holiday hibernation

hope you are enjoying a time to sleep and feast, and reconnect for the new year. just trying not to gain too much ‘holiday spirit’ even though swedish meatballs and shortbread cookies are irresistible. by kl

CATEGORIES: musings

sankt luciadag – happy belated Santa Lucia

happy belated santa lucia to all you scandi’s out there! i can’t believe december 13th flew right by. i’m balancing candles on my head, and putting on my white gown and red sash as we speak!

above is swedish painter carl larsson‘s depiction of the tradition where candles symbolize the fire that refused to take st. lucia’s life when she was sentenced to be burned. traditionally the oldest daughter leads a procession of the girls of the family, serving saffron buns and tea, and singing a lucia song while entering the room. the song is actually to the melody of the traditional neapolitan song santa lucia; the italian lyrics describe the view from santa lucia in naples ( i still don’t know how this song was adopted by the northern countries for their celebration), the various scandinavian lyrics are fashioned for the occasion, describing the light with which lucia overcomes the darkness.

natten går tunga fjät (the night walks with heavy steps)
or santa lucia, ljusklara hägring (saint lucy, bright mirage).

st. lucia is one of few saints celebrated by the overwhelmingly lutheran scandinavian peoples (swedes, norwegians, danes, finns). st. lucia’s day celebrations retain many indigenous germanic pagan, pre-christian midwinter elements, and the practices associated with the day, predates the adoption of christianity in scandinavia, and is like much of scandinavian folklore, and even religiosity today, based on the annual struggle between light and darkness. by kl

CATEGORIES: musings

the catorialist: one of the top 100 influencers


o.k. this has to be the funniest take on the self-obsessed poser of the century, hilarious. the only thing this blog lacks is perfectly composed/cropped/edited pictures of the owner plastered around in seemingly “unaware moments” pondering life in general and his gargantuan tasks ahead of him, otherwise dead on. one of the posts on the catorialist reads:

“you may remember the first shot I did of burnie a couple of months ago. at the time, i did not know her name nor anything else about her but i was taken by her overall look (little did i know of that which she was capable!) i found her this time enjoying the sun on a warm los angeles morning walking seemingly without a care in the world.” by zz

CATEGORIES: musings, read

long live new jersey

gotta love a blondie from jersey who survives manhattan’s max’s kansas city, dunkin’ donuts, dancing at union city and playboy bunny before starting her stint as the coolest chic ever. by kl

CATEGORIES: musings