attention, attention, attention

While cleaning my desk today I found this old freeway map of LA. What was to me as a child an intimidating mass of confusing lines has now become a clear navigable guideline to traversing the city. By no means is it perfect, not by a long shot, as it is a simultaneously predictable and unpredictable system, but I finally have this map in my head, the way "the grownups" did back when I could barely see outside the window of a moving car, or when I could only provide directions home saying, 'left/right/straight ahead.'

A simple pleasure - this roll of green twine I got at the Home Depot. I am totally enamored by it.

For a while I had given up on finding a sturdy industrial-type trash can for the kitchen, but the old adage of finding something when you least expect it/aren't searching for it is SO true, especially when it comes to thrifting! Hello Mister Sani-Can, how are you? So gleaming-white clean and it even has a fluid foot lever in perfect working condition. I love objects of beauty and function. Thank you, Goodwill.

One of my biggest vices though...are old glass bottles/containers. And today I made off with several beautiful specimens - the old chemistry bottle with the 'acid line' mark especially made my heart flutter. The vendor gave that to me along with the two other clear bottles for $5. The blue bottle came with a cork, and I got that with an old Atlas Mason jar from a different gentleman for $5 as well.

Yes or no to indoor fairy lights? I was fearful of the college-dorm effect with stringing neutral Christmas lights up by the windows/around the entry door, but I love the outcome. The space feels cozier, more inviting, and makes me always want to curl up on the couch to read, knit, and snooze under twinkly lights. I turned them on earlier than usual this evening, and enjoyed how they looked with the blinds open to the setting sun.

 

My friend M concluded a lengthy phone conversation by reading aloud this excerpt to me from a foreword to a book of poetry by Antonio Machado, translated by Robert Bly. Food for thought, thoughts before sleep.

estate sale finds

Two Saturdays ago I went out at 7 am to walk the dogs with my mom. Innocently enough towards the end of the walk, we rounded a corner and saw a sign that read: "Estate Sale --- house #, street, Saturday 8AM." We could already see people lined up in the driveway of said house, so when we got back home I grabbed my wallet, hopped into the car and went back to the house. My mom had to stay behind to supervise the trimming (read: maiming) of our kumquat/orange tree as some friends were coming over at 8 with a chainsaw to get the job done, but she sent me a text saying "Buy something because you want it, not because it is cheap... and be aggressive!" I arrived at the house and got in line and then, stifling a yawn looked up and saw a coworker, the sign artist at my store as she smiled at me and said 'Hey!' Funniest thing ever because only two days before we had been talking about estate sales and thrifting and she had told me all about selling vintage wares at her Etsy shop and her favorite 'secret' secondhand stores. Running into her therefore wasn't really a surprise, but it was still an 'oh!' moment and that's what made the whole experience fun right off the bat. The former owner of the house had been a teacher, so there were tons of amazing old things to go through...

1 & 2 - Gift wrapping paper! I got the whole lot for a dollar. I am particularly attached to the astronauts in outer space graphics, but when I look at all of them they pretty much all take my breath away.
3 - Card stock coins I think for learning how to count money. Fun! Not quite vintage but they came in an old box that I was happy to tuck away.
4 - Super sturdy steel box that now houses important documents.
5 - Hand-cut letters with felt backing - a spelling implement I guess. All of which came in handy for setting up my new blog header!
6 - Woven leather slip-on flats. $5. A new favorite that I think I'll wear out in no time.
7 - Southwestern bandanna. I gave this to my sister but forgot to actually give it to her, so it has been hanging up in my window until I do get it to her. I like how the light streams in through it.
8 - A bunch of children's books - Frog and Toad, Rumpelstiltskin illustrated by Edward Gorey, a book about a Scottie, a first edition of Where the Wild Things Are.

I also got a boxed ream of typewriter paper, a sweet little dragon stuffie, and six Pyrex containers for my mom. I will show the dragon another time! It was a very exciting Saturday, and the best part is that it was all spontaneous. I love when that happens...!

recent thrifting finds...!

These were from two weeks ago and in my stress leading up to the beginning of this week neglected to show. I got the ceramic Scottie dog at the PCC flea market. It's marked at $14, but when I picked it up the hilarious vendor said "Oh! You just picked that up so now it's $12." I smiled and put it down then picked it back up after saying something to my mom, and he said "Every time you pick it up the price goes down!" So for $10 it was mine, I couldn't resist his charms. Later on I fretted a little about impulsively buying it (even though as of late I've been fascinated with 1960s/70s kitschy American ceramics) but after hearing my aunt, my mom and sister note how the scottie resembles our girl dog BB when she was a pup made me not regret the decision anymore.

I found a copy of Meditations at a Goodwill for only $3! When I suffered a glare from the librarian at the local library at home for renewing Meditations 3 times (we're only allowed 2 renewals, which I forgot) I was saddened at realizing I could no longer read as quickly as I did when I was younger. But Greek philosophy versus Greek myths? Obviously a discrepancy there...