flea market finds

For the first time in weeks I actually had a couple of good oppy finds. A little teak bust and a cool 1970's plastic globe that will replace the one the kids destroyed last week. Wooden sculpture, mid century primitive art and globes are some of my favourite things to hunt for when I'm scouring op shops or markets. I admit that the demand for globes adds to the excitement. Their scarcity and desirability adds to the appeal, you feel a bit like you've struck vintage gold when you snag a good one.

For more flea market finds pop over and visit Sophie at Her Library Adventures.

Raining on the Festival of Lights

Image from here

Image from here

Image from here

Image from here

 Image from here
 

We were meant to head into Federation Square with some friends of Mr Curbside to join in on the Diwali festivities today. Food, music, dancing and lots of childrens entertainment had us all pumped for a really exciting family day out, but alas the rain came down and with it our chance to celebrate the Hindu new year with some Indian friends. So, in lieu of all the fabulous photos I'm sure I would have taken to share with you today, here are a bunch of Diwali pic's from Flickr. 

animation friday....

I'm running a bit late today, thankfully I had some coloured card stock and paper doily's on hand or I would have been without subject matter or indeed a blog post.

For more animation Friday fun and a quick and easy tutorial, pop on over the the My Poppet blog.

Le vagabond

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, author of The Vagabond

I'm on a bit of a book bender this week. Our order of books has arrived from the Book Depository and I'm sinking my teeth into The Vagabond by Colette. Celebrating it's hundredth year, this classic novel is so rich in period detail it's like jumping in a time machine and finding yourself in Paris with a glass of absinthe in one hand and a Gitane (Frenchy cigarette) in the other, smack bang in the middle of les Années Folles or 'The Crazy Years'. Loosely based on the experiences of the author, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.The Vagabond tells the story of 33 year old Renee Nere - a once renowned author who divorces her wealthy, philandering husband and makes her own way as a vaudeville performer in the Dance Halls of Paris circa 1910.

"Beneath the greenish gas, my street at this hour is a creamy mess of burnt almond, mocha brown, and caramel yellow, a desert that has caved in and melted, with the nougat of the building stones floating on top."

yummy.........

Now imagine what her apartment might have looked like? 

I came across this story a couple of months ago. A Paris apartment lays untouched for more than 70 years. Originally owned by actress Marthe de Florian and later lived in by her granddaughter, the apartment is closed up just before the start of the second world war when the owner moved to the south of France. The apartment remained unopened until her death in June this year. When the estate auctioneers were brought in to catalog the place, this is what they found.

Louis Chairs, oriental rugs, gilt mirrors, hand screened wallpapers.....gasp

Look at all those paintings and the tableware

Micky Mouse, Embroidered Silk and a taxidermy Ostrich, brilliant!

and the painting of Marthe de Florian by Giovani Boldini that originally caused all the fuss. This painting recently sold for $2.9 million.

I hope that they don't sell this apartment or doing anything to it. I would love to be able to go and see it for myself. I wonder if the French have a National Trust? For now though, I will have to let Colette guide my imagination.

Sing it Sister......

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Didn't It Rain

five books I wish I had never read and five books I wish I had read instead.

image from here

Sometimes spring cleaning forces you to have a good hard look at yourself, or in this case, my reading material. In preparation for a wave of new books due to arrive from The Book Depository in the UK (Mr Curbside has been on a bit of a bender) we've been cleaning out the bookshelves and doing a bit of 'library editing'. Deciding what stays and what goes is usually quite difficult, but this time the job was made much simpler because some truly awful crap had made it's way into my personal collection. Now I must point out that not all of these books were purchased by me and that not all were read in their entirety, this is important because I don't want their inclusion to be considered a reflection of my personal taste, ehem.......

so here goes, the FIVE worst books I have read or almost read and five books I wish I had read instead.

Number 1, The Bride Striped Bare by 'Anonymous', I'll admit to getting caught up in the hype of this book. Described as "telling shocking truths about love and sex" and being "so deeply private" that "I did not want my name attached to it". This book was supposed to be a very personal account of a relationship, but turned out to be a brilliantly marketed, poorly written, gratuitous 'diary' of a very sad woman with poor impulse control. Not worth the $24.95 I paid for it and definitely not worth the time spent reading it.
Book I should have read instead, Perfume, The Story of a Murder by Patrick Suskind

Number 2, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. This book started off well enough, I'll even admit to enjoying it and getting caught up in the whole conspiracy theory thing but somewhere in the middle it just degenerated into an Indiana Jones type farce and I lost interest. Disappointing because it started off so well and thus the let down was all the greater.
Book I should have read instead, The Road by Cormac McCarthy


Number 3, The Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer, I'm Including all four books as one entry because they are barley distinguishable and frankly would have taken up 4 of the five entries because I truly regret reading them all. I could probably write a very long winded thesis about the many ways that this series of books corrodes the very fabric of society. A series that parades itself as a big, juicy, forbidden love apple is actually a reeking pile of submissiveness, self destruction and apathy. Never have I met a central character I have loathed more than the insipid 'Bella'. Also any author who calls a character 'Renesmee' should have their pen license removed.
Book I should have read instead, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel by Susanna Clark

Number 4, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, (I did not buy this, it was a gift and I have not read it all).  I am an atheist so I was never going open this book with an un-biased mind. I was however incredibly curious about the philosophy this book was selling. The power of positive thought is a nice and harmless idea, but the idea that you can have everything you want just by thinking positively is dangerous, idiotic and un-true. Rhonda Byrne would have more credibility if she sold snake oil as a cure for cancer in-front of a children's hospital.
Book I should have read instead, Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Number 5, Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. This one just didn't do it for me. I got about half way through, put it down and couldn't spare the energy to pick it up again.
Book I should have read instead, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

What do you think of my 'list o' regret'? Do you have any books you really wish you had never picked up?

and the winner is............

comment number 33!

Congratulations Bek of Beards Foxes Fires I hope you enjoy your new blanket, bag and bees wax candle. Bek if you can email me with your address I will shoot your parcel off asap. 

Thanks to everyone who entered, it was lovely to get such a great response, I'm really enjoying all the new comments on the blog.