Friday bits

Attila after a thorough flower inspection:



And my b-day gift:




Meanwhile, The Fashion Show is down to the final four: Anna, James-Paul, Daniella and Reco. By all rights Anna should win this, but I worry a little that since selecting the winner is left to the voters. James-Paul probably doesn't have a chance because he's so idiosyncratic.

Daniella surprised me this week -- a beautifully designed dress. And Anna's pattern choice was a little disappointing for me. I mean, I dig a floral. Giant cabbage roses bigger than the model's head -- not so much. Also, Reco's purple-and-pink chiffon number was NOT better than James-Paul's.

So, James-Paul. He was roundly criticized for his dress, but I liked it. I liked the skirt and the stiff structured bits lined with champaign silk. Black velvet I wasn't crazy about, and the neckline of that dress would've been so much better if he made it a V instead of round, with some pleats or gathers at the bust or shoulder.

Finally, Johnny who was kicked off for basically ripping off someone else's design (and then blaming his helper for not stopping him -- classy!) The only time he won a challenge was when they were paying homage and he created a convincing Versace tribute. I'm surprised that he lasted this long, given lack of a singular vision. I mean, I may not normally like Reco's designs, but the man has an identifiable style. Johnny doesn't. Daniella didn't before, but she is starting to develop into something interesting -- I'm actually looking forward to her final collection.

So yeah, The Fashion Show is certainly a lot less flamboyant than Project Runway, but I've grown attached to it. Mizrahi remains awesome.

Meet my mom, the risk-taker

My mom just vacationed in Indonesia, together with my sister. Apparently, awesome time was had by all (with a possible exception of one lizard and one elephant.)

Here's mom and a giant lizard, making an uneasy but sweet acquaintance:



My mom trusts my sister, even to the point of tottering elephants, flimsy-looking footholds, and water of unknown depth. What can possibly go wrong?



Then several birds tried to carry her off:




While other birds looked on:




Notice the red eye on that last one.

Apparently, best vacation ever!

Lyudmila Ulitskaya -- some thoughts

(from squirrel-monkey.livejournal.com)

Last time my parents visited, they brought me Lyudmila Ulitskaya's DANIEL STEIN, INTERPRETER. I finally got around to reading it, and, eighty pages in, I have to say that it's a wonderfully dense and chewy book. There's a number of things about it that got me thinking very intently.

One, the structure. It's a fractured book that leaps from 1942 Poland to the modern day US, Israel, France…. And it is told in letters, diaries, graduation addresses, memoirs, audiotape transcripts etc. It weaves back and forth, from one narrator to the next, and this is an interesting thing: the protagonist of the book is almost always in the background, present in other people's stories as a figment of their memories, a footnote, a "and there was this strange little man on the train, he showed us some small icons". Very rarely he speaks directly or someone (usually a family member) speaks directly OF him. And this is what makes it work: people are not telling Daniel's story, they are telling their own. He's only relevant as perceived by them, as seen out of the corner of one's eye.

Two, this is a book that largely deals with Jewish identity. And there are quite interesting things there too. When Western writers and filmmakers speak of the Holocaust (much in the same way as what happens when they speak of any other injustice), Jewish survivors tend to be painted as meek victims, either bearing and surviving with quiet resignation or cowering somewhere in hiding. Basically, passive, surviving or being prosecuted. Ulitskaya actually writes abut Jewish guerillas in Russian and Polish forests, living in shelters dug in the ground. One of the protagonists is born in one such guerilla camp and spends the first month of her life in a sleeve cut off her mother's winter coat. Her mother, a fanatical communist, goes from prison to guerillas to war to labor camp with the same possessed dedication – and she is anything but a victim.

I think there's a temptation to take any persecuted group and construe them as completely helpless, as someone whose salvation can only be expected from without (Schindler's List etc). This is a mistake I see done again with (more recently) Muslim women, when those would-be saviors forget that those who they are saving might be in possession of some agency as well. Helpers, yes, I can get behind that. Saviors, however, have to be careful.

Anyway, Jewish identity. One of the characters talks about Jews as ethnicity vs Jews as a religious entity, practitioners of Judaism. Throughout European history, Jewish persecution was framed as a religious issue – even in the terrible late 19th-early 20th century in Russia, they were pressured to convert to Christianity to avoid persecution. And yet, during Pogroms it seems that sufficiently Jewish-looking individuals were persecuted all the same, whether they were wearing a cross or not. And of course during WWII the religious aspect became irrelevant – it was the ethnicity that became the final liability.

So Ulitskaya talks about it, about how "Jewishness" has always been defined from outside, either as a religious or an ethnic construct. "Jews are those who non-Jews THINK are Jews," says one of her characters. And it struck me that this is the core of all persecution and discrimination – the inability to define oneself. If you're defined by others, you are by that definition are not free. And it dovetailed nicely with things I've been babbling about at Wiscon, about multiculturalism being possible only when a minority is given a voice in the mainstream culture – ie, when a minority can add its self-perception to the outside, majority, construct of them. When they get to construct the consensus reality, so to speak.

Then there's religion. The protagonist is a Polish Jew who becomes a Catholic priest. Who is then denied citizenship in Israel because of his Catholicism and despite his ethnicity. Who is scorned because he worked for Gestapo during the war even though he became an interpreter there to help other Jews and was responsible for saving hundreds of lives. Who converted from atheism to Catholicism, thus annoying his secular and religious friends and relatives. So in addition to everything else, there's this complex interplay between religion and ethnicity and family obligations and all that dense dense stuff. As I said, I'm only 80 pages in, but I'm thinking about the things she's saying pretty much non-stop. Expect further updates and natterings.

Cats and their fetishes

Cats are weird. Aja, for example, has a shoe fetish. Yesterday, she started her day by guarding these:



And then spent about fifteen minutes rubbing her face in these:




Meanwhile, her sister Attila was stealthy:



Here's the closeup:



Oh, animals.

Well, this is a first

Apparently, THE ALCHEMY OF STONE just inspired its first piece of art:



Look how pretty! It made me incredibly happy, to have something I wrote to be a catalyst for another person's art.

More fashion!

I am so impressed with Victoria's Secret Fall preview. I love their clothing -- they make a ton of work-appropriate affordable separates and good quality blouses, but this collection just blew me away. Here is the whole thing.

I especially like this trench coat:















And I am definitely lusting after this jacket:








Even the harem pants, the trend I have despised from the very beginning, are made somehow tolerable:

















If I ever had to wander a post-apocalyptic desert, I would definitely wear those pants.

There are also several well-made tops and a beautifully cut shirt dress, but these are my favorites. Well done, VS! I definitely approve the continued transition towards more structured, well cut and well made clothes.

It's a TV kind of morning

Well, I've been working out every day pretty much since I got back from Wiscon. That means a lot of elliptical time ( at 1 hour/day), and since this is when I watch TV, I got to watch a lot of TV lately. Which prompted this note: Dear TV, please stop sucking. Also, since when are Jon and Kate cultural icons? Too many J&K references. And Speidi references. And I miss the days when you had to do something to become famous. Like, juggle or something.

And then there's The Fashion Show. Last night was hilarious: the Tarot reading (and the journey to the site of said reading) exposed our remaining designers as a naive, sheltered, and ultimately sweet lot. Isaac Mizrahi continued to be entertaining. I like how he manages to be simultaneously affected and sincere.

James-Paul continues to be uncomfortable about human body, you know, existing. He complained about his model having a curvature to her spine, which made it difficult for him to dress. You'd think he was talking about a Quasimodo-level hump. But no, a perfectly normal girl, who probably never lived in a belfry. She just had a spine that failed to be razor straight. I really feel that James-Paul would be a lot more at ease with the world if people were geometric planes. Poor kid. Also: what's with the droopy shoulder airbags?

So they designed outfits inspired by their Tarot readings. Reco took a welcome departure from stripperwear, and designed something quite nice (black pantsuit with white piping, jacket with ruffles. You know how I feel about ruffles.) But it was Anna all the way, with a very architectural floral dress in gorgeous white and red. She also won the mini challenge, which placed her little cami-and-shorts combo into Saks. Team Anna!

Merlin was kicked off this time. I suppose I would feel bad since his design was not the worst if he hasn't been so unpleasant throughout. Also, note to self: when kicked off a reality show, make sure to not dis the remaining competitors by implying that they are sellouts catering to the judges, and self is the only uncompromizing artist. Esp. after self designed something generic.

Daniella and Johnny were their usual blah. I think either of them should've went before Merlin, for lack of being in any way interesting. At this point, I'm fairly confident that Reco, Anna and James-Paul will be in the final four. The last slot is between Daniella and Johnny, and I really don't care which one of them it is. Oh, how I wish it was Angel.

Random stuff

(From squirrel-monkey.livejournal.com)

This is yet another reason why I love Painfully Hip: circus!
Just look at it! It makes me so happy.

This blog is an amazing confluence of vintage fashion, thrifting, gorgeous photography, links to other places with gorgeous photography (such as wardrobe remix, discount codes, and other random things. Just great great stuff.

Working on a new short story, after selling another one last week (cannot divulge details yet). Also, just finished dealing with difficulties of mail-ordering stuff from the US to be shipped to Russia (it's my mom's birthday tomorrow). Lessons learned: Lush offers AMAZING customer service, and all problems can be solved by a phone call to England.

The gift will be late, but my dad just informed me that that's ok: mom went to Indonesia for two weeks. With my sister. On one day's notice. Sounds like an awesome birthday, doesn't it?

Pretty new cover!

Second printing of THE ALCHEMY OF STONE will be available in November, with a great new cover. Cover here