Picture post -- Tsaritsino 2 (Interiors)

Fun fact: Tsaritsino used to be a village called Black Mud. It was renamed by an imperial decree, because Catherine the Great sure as hell wasn't putting that on her return address labels. ("Tsaritsino" is derived from "tsaritsa", the female form of "tsar").

Here we have a few interiors of the palace. The first photo shows some of the original brickwork, and the rest are various staircases and halls. It's a diverse and beautiful space; sadly, we couldn't go to the Golden Hall (the main ballroom of the palace) because they were hosting a children's New Year-themed matinee there. Well, can't begrudge them that.








In addition to all the historical fun, there was also an exhibit of Roman Antonov's paintings. The exhibit was themed around kindness. I adore his cats and rabbits. Well, see for yourself:

Picture post -- Tsaritsino 1

And here's another park/museum, located in the former residence of Catherine the Great. Who, by the way, being an empress and all, had a military title and had a dress modeled after an officers' uniform.



As well as a few other dresses. Here's an especially awesome one -- just for Genevieve.





So here are a few exteriors:













As you can see, it was snowing today.



Interiors are coming in the next post!

Picture post - Kolomenskoe

Some pictures from today's trip to Kolomenskoe with my dad -- it's a large historic park/museum. Incidentally, it was a significant place in The Secret History of Moscow -- for example, the small wooden building (my dad is next to it) is Peter's the Great house. Also, crows and jackdaws are numerous. Enjoy!

Picture post

My mom grows all sorts of amazing plants on her balcony and windowsill -- despite it being December in Moscow. Right now she has a lemon in fruit Here're a few pictures of her bounty:







She also collects frogs:

Things I've learned while traveling in the snow

1. No one will mind that the flight is delayed if it's because the maintenance crew is reattaching some plane part that fell off. Sure, delay away!

2. One inch of snow is enough to incapacitate the Amsterdam airpot. To be fair, there was also poor visibility -- maybe this is why half of people on my flight had their luggage lost.

3. Yes, mine is missing too. They promise to get it to me tomorow night or the day after tomorrow morning.

4. Two delayed flight make for not missing connections. It is possible to sprint from teminal G to terminal D in Schiphol in under five minutes. Just to sit at the gate for two hours.

5. Where the cars fail, very small fathers succeed. There was a snow storm in Moscow too, with traffic at the standstill. Public transportation worked.

6. Taking a train, subway, and a bus to get home from the airport is much easier if the airline has thoughtfully lost your luggage.

7. After being awake for 31 hours, jetlag will ensure that you will wake up at 3 am after three hours of sleep. Humans have not yet evolved to deal with air travel.

8. Moscow is the most beautiful city in the world, snow storms or not.

Tomorrow

Weather permitting, I'm leaving tomorrow. I haven't been home for the holidays in way too long, and even though I'm sad to abandon the better half and the cats, I can hardly contain my excitement. I'm bearing gifts, I cannot wait to see my parents and sister, and to just sir in the kitchen and talk late into the night (once the jetlag subsides, that is.) There might be a small artificial tree involved. And cake -- oh, cake and chocolate... you have no idea how much I miss good chocolate.

I also want to see how much the city has changed in the past four years -- it's always a little sad to realize how quickly it moves on without me, and becomes a fractured mosaic of things familiar and new. I want to take pictures of snow and stray dogs, of street fashions and architecture; instead, I'm most likely to hang out with the family and work on my golden age of Hollywood novel (tentative title: The Story of Billy Wong, an Actor). I always feel more inclined to write about places that are far away -- it's the melancholy and the absence that drive me. Incidentally, both in Moscow and in NJ I live where I can hear the trains; they wake me up every night. I much prefer them to planes (stupid Atlantic).

I also want to get my hands on as many versions of various European Vogues as I can. Who knows? Maybe in their totality they will reveal something profound; barring that, expect cultural and fashion analysis. I expect to have email access and the regular social media channels. I will be back in NJ January 5th, as long as there are no sudden strikes, disasters, upheavals, and bureaucratic obstacles.

Apex Poll

Apex Magazine is running an online poll for the best story they published. Read some free fiction and vote!

20 best SF books

io9 put together the list of what they found to be twenty best SF books of the decade. I'm flabbergasted to be included. Thanks, io9!

LML and a palate cleanser

OK, so Launch My Line is a fascinating train wreck. I won't even talk about clothes -- there was nothing on the runway last night that I really liked. The blue kimono and the orange dress were ok; the wool one-piece bathing suit ("but you can't go swimming in it", according to the creator) was probably the main atrocity committed. Rest easy though -- the architect responsible for it was sent home.

Thankfully, the rest of the show compensates for lack of interesting fashion. Patrick the fashion writer's outfits are more interesting that runway, that's for sure. By gum, that man has style and flair! It remains to be seen how that'll translate into designing women's fashion, especially since his expert is a tad mercurial, to put it mildly.

The experts (aka the actual designers, not "designers" who are trying to launch their line despite their inability to sew on a button) are starting to get testy about the "designers", who carry on about creative process and treat their experts like seamstresses. The experts roll their eyes and point out that this is not a sleeve, this is a neckline. One expert complains that her designer knows nothing about fabrics and how they work. For me, this seemed like the main challenge from the beginning: I sew very little, just enough to realize that I don't know enough about construction to be able to translate a flight of fancy into an actual garment.

Another precious moment from last night: the music mogul who feels that he has an edge in the fashion world because, and I almost quote, he knows what men find attractive. Because all these million dollar runways twice a year? All an attempt to lure straight men, fashion's raison d'etre. Dear music person: you seem like a nice enough guy, but if fashion was about straight men preferences, there would be nothing but short skirts and tight jeans on the runway. Couture labels would cease to exist. Alexander McQueen doesn't do alien shoes because he can't quite grasp what it is the straight guys WANT. Comme des Garcons... well, you get my drift. Believe it or not, women might occasionally get up in the morning and dress to please themselves rather than encourage maximum leering on the subway. Just FYI.

And I leave you with Simon Doonan providing more wit and entertainment in just over two minutes than the entire season of any fashion show:

Well, that was a first

Someone recently emailed me asking if I had an Amazon wishlist. While I appreciate the kindness and consideration, I would like to say that I don't need anything. There are, however, people who do -- especially now, since things have been so difficult for many people. Consider this a holiday PSA, but if you have money to spare, donate to charity or to women's and homeless shelters, Habitat for Humanity etc etc. The Hunger Site has a good list of various international charities that accept donations, and where as little as $15 can provide real help to people who need it, while Oxfam focuses on long-term local solutions to poverty and environmental degradation. Please suggest your favorite charities in comments and feel free to repost.

Launch My Line Reactions

I watched the premier of LML, and I can already say that this is going to be a favorite -- I would've called it a guilty pleasure if I felt guilt about TV. Anyway, I like clothes and fashion. Occasionally, I dream what it would be like to design sharply cut little jackets and tiered tanktops that drape like a dream and have wide straps. Then I snap out of it and go about my business -- that is, stuff I know something about.

Apparently, other people also have those daydreams, and some never snap out -- the whole concept of LML is to take ten aspiring fashion "designers" (who are in reality CEOs, DJs, event organizers, architects, fashion writers and critics etc etc) and, since they are not REALLY designers, pair them with someone who can make clothes ("experts"). The whole delightful mess is hosted by Dan and Dean Caten of Dsquared (whose clothes I deeply approve of)-- a rare case of what appears to be TWO (pleasantly) evil twins.

Hilarity started when the "designers" tried to conceptualize their lines. Most targeted the late teens-early twenties demographic, which always strikes me as counterintuitive. I mean, if one wants to sell clothes, wouldn't one go after the demographics with jobs and steady incomes? Really, how many eighteen-year-olds with trust funds are there? (A lot, apparently.) Some decided to target women "between late teens and early thirties". I hope they'll make both hot pants and knee-length skirts.

Then the episode offered some drama. My favorite was the CEO Marilyn who was very goal-oriented and upset when her 'expert' Coco who left the studio because she was tired. So Marilyn swore to work all night all by herself, but since she cannot actually, you know, sew or otherwise make clothes, she just redesigned the outfit (that is, doodled balloon sleeves on a cylinder), so that Coco had to make an entire new outfit when she came back in the morning.

And then there was the obligatory runway show and the final results, where both twins channeled Heidi (they are more amusing though). The choreographer who designed a little military jacket with the world's smallest and saddest coattails was booted off. I myself would've supported that decision, if it wasn't for the mid-calf jumpsuit, with its ill fitted bodice that resembled a giant foil heart. That thing was worse.

And the winner was a lovely asymmetrical silver charmeuse dress, nicely draped and classic. Good call there.

Another bit of the show I enjoyed a lot was when the "designers" started actually believing themselves to be designers and carried on about creativity and artistic vision. I'm amazed how little eye-rolling there was from the "experts" (the actual designers). I'm expecting an increase in snide remarks from them as the show progresses. Oh, I can't wait for episode 2!

Launch My Line

Yes yes, I know, yet another fashion show; of course I'll blog it. It starts tonight at 11 pm, and as teh name suggests it's about people launching their own clothing labels. Unlike The Fashion Show and Project Runway, however, this one promises to be hilariously awesome or hilariously horrifying or both. I base this judgment on the pictures from the show's premiere (via Jezebel)

First, SEQUINS!



And then there's gloves matching the boots:



And then there's this:



Lots more images at Jezebel. I can't wait!

Between Books

The reading at Between Books was lovely -- Greg (the owner of the bookstore) and Jeanne were wonderful hosts who fed us a delicious dinner before the reading. It was fantastic to see Jeff VanderMeer again and to hear him read and tell stories. The crowd was nice and friendly, and the bookstore is just awesome.



Also, there was a book cake!



How awesome is that thing???

And a few more pictures:



(Jeff and I signing)



(with our gracious hosts, Greg and Jeanne)



(Greg at the counter)



(Jeff, my husband Chris, and I -- with an amazing background of books.)

Readings this week

Jeff VanderMeer and myself will be reading tomorrow (Dec 1st) at Between Books, in Claymont DE at 7 pm -- details here.

On Thursday, December 3rd, Jeff Ford and I will be reading at the Eagle Theatre in Hammonton at 7:30 pm.