Johann Christian Schoeller, "Sonnenfinsternis, 8. Juli 1842." Wien Museum. * John Parker Davis, "Looking at the Eclipse (After Winslow Homer)," 1865. Clark Art Institute. * Ted Meuhling's phases of gilded horn. * Joseph Cornell, "Portrait of Emily Brontë," 1962. The Hudson River Museum. * Emily Dickinson archive, Amherst manuscript #256. * Crescent-shaped shadows on the snow in the mountains in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, caused by a solar eclipse, photographed by Lee Russell in 1940. New York Public Library Digital Collections. * G ..read more

Last week, desperate to escape the glum relentless invariable Februarieness of February (though bedecked with hearts, candy, three-day weekends, and friends' birthdays, the shortest month is always the hardest one for me), we hightailed it to Washington, D.C., to catch some mid-Atlantic sun and the Mark Rothko exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. I know it is time to leave town when I start researching yet again just how many days of sun northeastern Ohio gets in a year: a measly 168, and of those, only 66 are truly sunny (and it's been cloudier than usual this year). We needed col ..read more

Edvard Munch, "Winter Landscape, Thüringen," 1906. Kunstmuseum Bergen. * Garnet and rose quartz necklaces by Marie-Hélène de Taillac, via Twist. *  Calligraphy by Evan McGraw for The Perfect Nothing Catalog. * Guglielmo Veronesi, “Perla” chair, ca. 1952. Via Commune Design. * Calendar watch made in 1650 by Thomas Alcock that indicates "the time of tides (presumably at London bridge), mean solar time, the age of the moon in its monthly cycle, and the day of the month." Alcock lost a similar watch in 1661 and advertised for it in the Februa ..read more

For the past six weeks, I've been on the mend after having an errant clump of mysterious cells roughly the size and shape of a sweet potato extracted from my midsection. After navigating a season of increasingly unsettling spells of testing and waiting, the definitiveness of surgery was a relief. A plan! Something would be done, something would be known. In the end, I lucked out—an "easy" surgery, with small incisions, that removed the best kind of benign tumor to have. (That pathology report, when it turned up a week or so later, was the most effective painkiller I have experienced.) It was ..read more

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Gislebertus, "Dream of the Magi," circa 1120-30 , Cathedral of Saint-Lazare,  Autun, France. Via Stephen Ellcock. * Mary Delany, "Ilex Aquifolium (Tetandria tetragynia)," from an album (Vol.V, 60); Holly with berries. 1775. Collage of colored papers, with bodycolor and watercolor, on black ink background. The British Museum. * George Brecht, "A Christmas Play for Joseph Cornell," 1963. * Olivier Dassault, "Untitled/Christmas card," 1987. MFA Boston. * Tacuinum Sanitatis, Milan or Pavia, ca. 1390-1400. Via The Fortnight Institute. * Schreiber pop ..read more

December 24th, and time again for my favorite Icelandic tradition—the Christmas Book Flood. So here I am, swaddling myself in knits and plaids and plonking down on the small grey sofa by the fireplace. (Though it is small and upright, it is peculiarly suited to extravagant lolling.) There, in the glow of the Christmas lights and the ambient red heat of the electric fire, with a sharp, salty snack and something to drink to hand, knowing that, finally, everything is wrapped and ready for tomorrow, I'll pick up something to read. My imaginary to-read shelf is well-stocked. On it, I've finally ..read more

Me, checking my list and panic-buying books as holiday presents? Nah, it's Parker Posey in "Party Girl." Last-minute holiday shoppers tend to have a go-to spot. For my dad, it is an Ace Hardware, where he tends to find the most unexpected things, like "magic chickadee hand-feeding gloves" (one-size-fits-all gloves and a bag of birdseed). Me, I head to a bookstore.  If you are dealing with specific readers, persnickety readers, the type of person with definite notions about what they will or will not want to read (someone, perhaps, ahem, like me), here are some tailored recommendation ..read more

Polspotten's brass candelabra, as twisted as an old apple tree. Bridie Hall's intaglio soaps, for getting into a (classical) lather. A golden gown by Simone Rocha, for sitting for your official portrait. Delectable almond cookies, packed in a keep-forever tin. Weiner Time's exuberant cushion, for decadent lounging. Buly matches, scented with violet and rose. A diamond-shaped tin of marzipan sweets, because marzipan always feels fancy. Lelet's bobby pins decked with chain bows (best worn by the dozen). A POJ Studio kintsugui kit, for making repair ..read more

A set of three Gustavsberg ceramic owls, to wink knowingly. A Couperier Coursolle rabbit pocket-knife. Jim Nollman's experiments in interspecies communication, featuring "300 turkeys, 12 wolves, [and] 20 orca whales." A deck of cards adorned with a menagerie of extinct animals. A stainless steel fish flask, for drinks to go. House of Hackney's tigerish loveseat (or, somewhat less grandly but still extravagantly, a tasseled tiger pillow). A swan pencil-sharpener, for serene sharpening. Winona Irene's black kitty, to claw back stray tres ..read more