Clara Bow-Wings-circa 1927

“How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who  insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being.”
–Oscar Wilde

ha, Exactly. In other words don’t treat her like everyone else. She is special.. durp. Here is another gem:

“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the  most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of  what it is to be a human being.”
-Oscar  Wilde

and…

“I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single  word of what I am saying.”
–Oscar  Wilde

——> More Quotes Here <———

I seriously nearly forgot how much I love Oscar Wilde, even though sometimes I find him arrogant he also has some great one liners. Today I found myself having a bit of the blues so….I decided to wander the Village (Greenwich) in search of ghosts. Perhaps if I looked hard enough a little of old New York would find me through an old relic or perhaps while sitting in a Cafe the ghosts of days gone by would send a little of their sweet energy my way. Cafe Wha? Being an everlasting monument to the days of yore. I could imagine the people who once filled the sidewalks late at night and wandered as I did, contemplating what it all means or just having a rip-roaring good time.

In a way, perhaps it was the combination of the damp chilly weather, nostalgia and reading semi-depressing literature that made me want to find these ghosts to extract some sort of feeling, of total self-expression, rock n’ roll, freedom and dark-eyed brooding. I wanted to time warp to when New York was something people still wrote about in books. The musical legends, the poets, the writers, the artists. That is the New York I fell in love with. So today I went searching for a little bit of it, if only whats left are cobble stones and pictures, whispers that drift in the wind.

I was reminded of my not too far off youth spent smoking clove cigarettes (they were black after all) and spending time in little indie cafe’s trying to decode what the hell James Joyce was talking about and/or day dreaming of being a heavy handed kohl eyed literary genius or simply Audrey Hepburn in her Beatnik garb in Paris dancing a perfectly choreographed piece “spontaneously.”  Then again I was supposed to start a garage band too….

This was the mood I was in so I was especially fond of this pop up shop I discovered in the Village that had a nice little array of somewhat dark material, I managed to grab a business card, worth a look-see below:

http://www.evolvinghabitat.com

Nature, little skeletons, splash dyed shoes, and light boxes of ships, wolves and owls… what’s not to love ?! There was also a little stand full of spooky necklaces that a couple had made with found objects and things from archeological digs, dating back to the 1800’s ! They were also sourced locally, Brooklyn, Manhattan, etc.. It was old and very much the type of relic I sought after.. I imagined by having it around my neck I could physically melt a little bit of history into my skin and carry it with me, some substance of an old city. I’ll have to go back for that one… Amongst the little gems I came across I also found a tiny store front painted in neon that was all Lebowski themed! Yes. It does exist and you can order online.

In my search for all things past and surprises present I was reminded of how much I love collecting old photographs of strangers and postcards too, especially ones written in beautiful penmanship no longer taught in school, to their family members or lovers. Love Letters and war-time letters are my favorites. They’re endearing, sometimes funny, sometimes sad.  You can find piles of these discarded memories and people in antique shops, leftovers from photography studios or someones attic. I enjoyed making up stories about what they might have been like and what their lives consisted of. I’ve always found it interesting how people can be fooled by illusions. A pretty face can obscure something ugly and vica versa… as cliché’ as it may sound beauty really is only skin deep so you better like whats inside the package as well.Unless you only care about pomp and circumstance. I like to skim more than just the surface.

Being a woman of 28, sadly I realize we exist in a world that increasingly seems to equate beauty with only youth in women …it goes backwards away from you as time lurches forward (Turns out you can apply moisturizer excessively but cannot stop the hands of Father time from creeping forward, I digress) I’d like to think somewhere there is an island, a society possibly *gasp* (or a Dove Beauty Campaign lol) that still values and celebrates us (and fantasizes! duh.) after we are no longer teenagers for christs sake. In a seemingly hyper sexualized environment that makes youth the ruler by which we all have to measure … Sometimes the immaturity of it all is disconcerting…..A flower is beautiful in full bloom but… I mean c’mon…. Is there any left…Guys? Robots?!? Aliens from Mars??.. Anyone?!!?… in this world that still find 20 somethings (and 30ish lol) more fuckable and interesting over youngins’ ?… ugh. alas. pardon my french, mon amis. I’ll just be over here in a cafe plotting world take over in frustration with the other (might I add…smokin’ hot ! Yowza ! haha..) “Grandmas” …  haha..Meh. I’m moving to another planet. And now…For your viewing pleasure ….a pile of wrinkles ! Nooooo ! ….on an adorable little creature… see below 🙂  Almost fooled ya! It was totally almost a picture of the Queen of England. wah wah.

While I didn’t fully accomplish my goal of finding a hookah bar and sipping tea whilst contemplating the universe, the point of it all?? and reading this current book I have … a tragedy so far.. (the heroine is just so heavy.. perhaps I should construct my own novel, or novella with a main character full of lightness …. yes? ) I did however indulge in some peppermint tea and vegan tacos at a small eatery and people watched. (Delicious in case you were wondering..)

Before my walk back to the train I briefly stopped in front of a palm readers shop and contemplated going in… I wanted the woman inside to reveal some hidden secret, or amazing future predictions or at least just tell me that I was okay. That somewhere in this shallow pond, deep thinkers and wise Men still existed en masse. I decided against it though and crammed the $10 back into the pocket of my faded black jeans. I’ll save it for another chilly damp New York City day.

I leave you with this parting gift:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxXW6tfl2Y0]

AND..

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKkp8R35l2g]

Even in the centuries which appear to us to be the most  monstrous and foolish, the immortal appetite for beauty has always found satisfaction.
-Charles  Baudelaire

It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them.
-Epictetus

******CHEERS !******