Back to New Hampshire after a sunny week on Cape Cod--below are some notes from the holiday:
*After reading six months of back issues of Country Living, Country Home, Better Homes & Gardens, et al, a definite design change can be noted. Many of the featured homes have a Modernist design core that would not be out of place in Wallpaper*. Except the homes are then covered with painted hydrangreas, ugly baskets, and miniature chairs.
*Charlie Chaplin's film City Lights holds up very well after seventy years. Is it time for a Chaplin revival? I do have a fondness for pinstripes.
*My mother asked if I knew about New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey. Not sure if she meant I knew that he was going to announce his resignation or that he is a "gay American". I'll just say that I always thought he had very sparkly eyes.
*The new David Sedaris book made me feel slightly uncomfortable. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way, but I am not sure exactly what that is yet.
*My sister invited me to a folk art/craft painting class. It is easy to scoff at but those hydrangeas (again!) with the scruffy brush do require a certain amount of talent. My favorite project was something I dashed off in ten minutes after of an excess of grey paint. One day, with much practice, I will master the OneStroke!
*When on Cape Cod I like to watch people try to have family-oriented time. Usually this involves parents and children slowly ripping each other apart. My favorite was the father who chewed out his daughter for not placing her feet in the correct golfing position during miniature golf. She sat down on a bench and cried. Later she asked to sit in the van but her father exclaimed that he had to get his thirty-five dollars out of his game. The mother who "accidentally" knocked her son in the head was priceless too.
*My happier family pictures from Cape Cod are here.
