Serendipity

deux.

I tidied up my room today - wiped everything, bought holders for my files and magazines, rearranged the flowers. It is nice to find peace in everyday entropy.

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Serendipity

*Inspired by Christine and thought it would be a fun project to embark on - I will go on to list one thing that makes me really happy starting from today, every day.

un.

Decided to pop by the National Portrait Gallery and looked at the exhibition 'An Englishman in New York' by Jason Bell. The portraits are good themselves but the stories behind the English expats are infinitely more interesting. Here is one of my favourite.

Simon Doonan, creative director, Barneys

"There’s a tremendous sense of freedom living in Manhattan. I remember when we were opening a small Barney’s outpost in Soho; in a cavalier way I told everyone that I would get a Queen Elizabeth II lookalike to come and cut the ribbon. We didn’t have a huge budget and I couldn’t find one so I decided to do it myself. I dressed up with butt pads, crown, sash, gloves, purse and jewels. I braced myself for the catcalls and the insults, and as I exited the lift into the lobby of my building the doorman said, “Mr Doonan, do you want your mail now or when you come back?” I often think what would I be doing if I’d stayed in England? I’m sure I’d still be on the scarf counter at John Lewis where I started. I failed the eleven plus in England and I always thought of myself as really stupid. Nobody knows that here, so I’ve written four books and a column for the New York Observer."

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Girl of my dreams VIII

Cara Delevingne is an 18 year-old model and actress from London. In her own words, she's a 'drama queen, chiller and first class biller', describing her style as 'cool, calm and comfortable' - i-D

I know her as the girl to watch in 2011, and who makes asos clothes look ever so good.

Stella

Stella McCartney's beautiful country estate - an Eden reborn.

“I grew up with gardens, but not like these,” remembers Stella, whose family also has a farm in bucolic Sussex. “You can’t plant a pea in Scotland!” she says, laughing. “In Sussex we had a beautiful garden—but it was very different. Ours is a quite traditional English garden. People don’t build gardens like this anymore,” she adds, “and I can see why! They are ridiculously expensive. It’s insane. It’s literally like building a house. But a garden becomes another room, an escape. Being out in a beautiful garden is nicer than sitting in a beautiful room, in my opinion. They bring you so much joy. We recharge our batteries in that environment. You have to feel extremely privileged to have a garden—I don’t take it for granted.

*Read the full article here.

To-do 2011

1. go to New York, picnic in Central Park, stroll in Brooklyn, party in Williamsburg.

2. wear simple jumpers and read difficult books.

3. go to Paris and eat at Montmartre - in the cat restaurant.

4. Learn to play a few tunes on the uke.

5. Do great, surprising things, spread love, make myself breathless.

Film Review 2011, in 6 words

Black Swan: Alpha ballerina turns lesbian and psycho

Touching the Void: Rising from the Abyss when Abseiling

American Psycho: Why did I even watch this?

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I want to watch Sleep Furiously - I long for the countryside, in Wales and Ireland.

Nietzsche: A Letter to His Sister

'Is that more difficult than to strike new paths, fighting the habitual, experiencing the insecurity of independence and the frequent waverings of one's feelings and even one's conscience, proceeding often without any consolation, but ever with the eternal goal of the true, the beautiful, and the good? Is it decisive after all that we arrive at the view of God, world and reconciliation which makes us most comfortable? Rather, is not the result of his inquiries something wholly indifferent to the true inquirer? Do we after all seek rest, peace, and pleasure in our inquiries? No, only truth -- even if it be the most abhorrent and ugly.... Here the ways of man part: if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire.'

For the new year: Read lots, wear little.