How The Other Half Lives

 

Let's see. It's grey and rainy. We've stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts.

That can only mean one thing.

It is Springtime in the Northeastern Half of these United States. 

 

Forsythia Everywhere!

We left the Western half of the States to attend a family wedding in Connecticut.

It was lovely.

 I availed myself of the open bar and endless trays of hors d'oeuvres and generally carried on like someone who doesn't get out enough....because I DON'T. And because I like you, I will not subject you to those photos.

But this is a smattering of what we did see. 

 

We were in Edward Hopper territory.

A pit stop at a diner is required.

Sailboats on Long Island Sound. 

Now we're in Fitzgerald territory. 

The trees at Caramoor are just starting to blossom.

Ohhhhhhh!!! 

 

I can just imagine Jay Gatsby and Jordan Baker strolling down this hallway at

 the Westchester County Club.

We even got to escape into New York City to visit our old neighborhood.

Our apartment was the brown one.

Did you ever see the film "You've Got Mail"?

That was our neighborhood.

And when I lived there I looked EXACTLY like Meg Ryan. Yeah, that's right.

 

Tulips Everywhere!

We took in Facades, the Bill Cunningham exhibit at the New-York Historical Society.

I love Bill Cunningham soooooooo much.

The restored Jose Maria Sert murals at  Rockefeller Center are insanely wonderful.

Cocktails at the Algonquin Hotel where we celebrated OUR marriage 25 years ago.

Cheers!!!

A mural of the Algonquin Round Table by Natalie Ascencios hangs in the bar.

That's Dorothy Parker in the hat. I do love Dorothy Parker. Check out these Dorothy Parker quotes HERE and you'll understand why I'm such a fan.

And it was STILL raining as we sloshed our way to the airport.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



The Great Gatsby

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

                     F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby  

 

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Do you have a favorite era? The 1950's? The 1890's? Ancient Rome? The PRESENT???

           My favorite era is the Jazz Age. I have been enamoured of the 1920's since I was a little girl. When I was about 7 years old I found a beautiful pair of 1920's Mary Jane shoes while playing dress-up at my Nana's house and I was hooked. With me things are often about shoes.

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Just like Owen Wilson's character in "Midnight in Paris" I love the literature, the art, the style, the music, the spirit of the 1920's.

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It is only blogging, antibiotics and modern dentistry that keep me firmly planted in the Here and Now.
That doesn't prevent me from rocking a Lulu bob and a drop-waist shift.*
*Photos of me in this look when I fully recover. I Promise!

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So of course I LOVE The Great Gatsby. It is one of my very favorite books! A quintessential American tale. A romantic author. My favorite era. Sigh...

"In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars."



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I liked the 1974 film version in spite of Mia Farrow's wimpy portrayal of  Daisy. Oh, those Ralph Lauren costumes!

"It makes me sad because I've never seen such--such beautiful shirts before."

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Even the 1949 film version was pretty interesting with Shelly Winters as a whacked out Myrtle Wilson. Costumes by Edith Head for you fellow costume nerds.

"Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry."

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 So now there is a new film version coming out in May with Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby and Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan. It looks like it will be pretty in a rather Biba-esque way. But the use of current music instead of tunes from the period may ruin it for me. Jay Z? Florence and the Machine? Seriously???

The original 1926 film version of The Great Gatsby has been sadly lost. Only this trailer remains.



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Apparently F. Scott Fitzgerald walked out on this film in a huff.

Here's the trailer for the 2013 film version:

What do you think Scott would have thought of this one? Yikes!

 

"There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired."

What do YOU think?

See more of my 1920's Love HERE.