Actor, singer and songwriter Sean Doherty is more than a triple threat – his talents reach into the multitudes well beyond the number three, and his latest exercise in catchy ear candy is the delicious ‘boys in the backseat’. Today he earns the Dazzler of the Day for all the promise and excitement that his career looks to hold. Check out his intoxicating website here for further details.
The last person I ever expected to dovetail with my meditation practice was Tom Ford, and yet that is precisely the sort of happy alchemy that is happening with his forthcoming new fragrance. Advance word is that this marks a return to his smoky, deeper frags after lighter and sugary forays such as ‘Lost Cherry’ and ‘Bitter Peach’ – neither of which impressed me much. This one sounds more promising:
Tom Ford unveils a new fragrance from the Private Blend collection, called Ébène Fumé or “smoked ebony”. The scent represents the mystical ancient essence of the Palo Santo wood whose scent and smoke are believed to cleanse from negative energy. There is also ebony that stands for calm and enlightened luxury.
Mindfulness meeting opulence, Ébène Fumé promises a fragrance of transcendental aura and spiritual peace, focused on warm woody notes, fresh herbs, resins and sumptuous flowers. Palo Santo wood releases pufyfing mystical aromas that mix earthy, woody and floral aromas, as well as pine needles and incense.
My current meditation practice involves lighting a stick of Palo Santo incense and allowing its tendrils of smoke to surround and purify the space, so the fact that ‘Ébène Fumé’ revolves around this is pretty amazing. It’s said that the scent of the Palo Santo smoke will be bitter and acrid for most people at first, and then as you purify your thoughts over time the scent transforms into something more enjoyable. I’m at the point – whether real or imagined or born out of desperate hope – I enjoy the scent of it as it burns, so I’m extremely interested to see what Ford does with the idea of it. He’s gone resinous and incense-like before with the gorgeous green incense of ‘Vert D’Encens‘, the desert smokiness of ‘Sahara Noir‘ and the incendiary majesty of ‘Amber Absolute‘ – and it’s the ideal place for his olfactory expertise.
The anticipation is killing me, even if it’s only been a hot minute since my last Tom Ford experience (the exquisite ‘Soleil Brulant’) but that was in May and feels a lifetime ago. I’m ready for the next one…
Madonna is no stranger to ageist vitriol – she’s been on the receiving end of ageism, largely a by-product of sexism, since she turned 40, which was back in 1998. She’s 63 years young now, and still acting with the defiance and cheeky naughtiness of her 20’s – and why the fuck not? Who, if not Madonna, has earned the right to flounce in the face of silly social constructs and foolish antiquated mores? She forged that path herself, and looks to be continuing on her journey unabated, and undeterred by wimps and wannabes who can’t fathom a mature woman still exercising her sexuality, still wielding her power, still being unabashedly herself.
The response to her recent almost-butt-baring opening salvo of the MTV Video Music Awards (at which she first flashed her ass in 1984) has once again put her in the spotlight, garnering hate and adoration in equal doses, which she’s done for most of the past four decades. It is a living testimony to how much she matters, even when she does little more than pose and walk off stage. Is that the effect someone of no significance has? Hardly. It’s a big deal because Madonna is still big deal. Her mere existence and relevance in our youth-obsessed culture says infinitely more than anything the powerless naysayers could speak about, and they can’t stand it.
And so I offer another photo of her daring derriere, posed brilliantly before a men’s urinal, proving that nobody does it better than Madonna, and nobody ever will. Her reign continues…
He paved the way for the male models on ‘The Price is Right’ and for that reason alone Robert Scott Wilson more than justifies his selection as Dazzler of the Day. Add his popular work on ‘Days of Our Lives‘ and you have a daytime double-header that just might bring me back to Salem after all these years. It’s been way too long since we’ve had a male model as Dazzler of the Day, so let’s make a concerted effort to return to such frivolous innocence.
Sandra Lee certainly had the right idea with her semi-homemade concept – an idea that inspired this almost-fall bouquet fashioned from store-bought roses and some papyrus and sweet potato vine from the garden. The former adds some vertical architectural interest, and deep green color, while the latter is a bright beacon to remind us that summer is not quite over yet.
Our sweet potato vines have done spectacularly this year – and I’m not sure why since all we’ve had is rain, but they are flowing down from their canopy perch in the backyard and trailing all the way to the ground. They make an excellent cut stem for bouquets as well, adding this exquisite chartreuse and turning themselves upright after a few hours. I made the mistake of ignoring them for years because the angles of their stems were difficult to use – it turns out I just needed to be patient and allow them to right themselves – one of the many lessons of gardening that bleeds beautifully into other pockets of life.
These ornamental peppers are everywhere right now, heralding the steamy crux of summer and fall, when the days could me mild or wild, naughty or nice, and the uncertainty in the air lends drama to every moment. The pretty color combo you see here is going to inspire this website’s segue into fall and the holiday season – bright, dramatic, super-saturated fun. I’ve kept things rather beige and bland of late, but we will be breathing some new life into this 18-year-old website. Some old chestnuts just need some burnishing to shine again.
My latest obsession is ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ on Amazon Prime Video, and the magnificence that is Rachel Brosnahan as the title character is what propels this show into greatness. From her very first brisket, she has been inspiring me on days when I feel down, and, even better, on days when I don’t feel particularly anything, especially like getting up. Credit Brosnahan’s deft portrayal of all Mrs. Maisel’s faults and foibles and fabulousness laid out in all their emotional complexity, and she niftily earns this Dazzler of the Day honor. The indefatigable and indomitable spirit, the sheer force of her life-energy, and all those exquisite outfits to lift the most downtrodden, have collectively raised my outlook on this otherwise-bleak world. Todah rabah rabah!!!
Suzie brought us back a doormat that says ‘HYGGE’ on it from her last trip to Ikea, and apparently it’s a tasty treat to this particular rabbit. It hopped right up to the front door and nibbled on the bristly thing for a moment, before pausing for a photo then hopping away. We’ve had a few strange visitors to the front door this summer – I’ve noticed a chipmunk favors a mid-day stop on the step to hastily devour a treat, and there’s been a skinny squirrel that likes to stand on its hind legs and test the air above while peering around the yard. This bunny seems to be getting little bolder, as it’s always stayed on the front walkway until now.
It was not an unhappy sight to see, and beats the parade of delivery people with their intrusive parting paparazzi shots confirming delivery of the latest package.
PS – Don’t mind my hose.
With her penchant for questionable social media output over the last couple of years, and the unfortunate ‘Madame X‘ touring experience (no real fault of her own), the sparkle and shine of Madonna, once unassailable, seemed like they might be losing some of their luster. And then she opened last night’s Video Music Awards with a surprise appearance, reminding us all that for forty years she’s been hand in hand with MTV (more or less) and giving us what we wanted and needed and desired – and that little spark that she had when she first arrived on the scene was once again in full-effect.
She filmed the Times Square intro a week or so ago, and there was electricity in the air – and as she walked out in her Madame X trench-coat, the magic was back. In fact, I don’t think it ever left – some of us have always been just a little slower to realize the genius and the power. She removed the coat in one swift move, and turned to show off her ample assets.
This was the Madonna we met four decades ago – just as fun, just as cheeky, just as challenging – and it’s the Madonna I’ve always loved. With everything we have ever known, or thought we knew, in full fucked-up flux, she’s still Madonna – and thank God for that.
“The little space within the heart is as great as the vast universe.
The heavens and the earth are there, and the sun and the moon and the stars. Fire and lightening and winds are there, and all that now is and all that is not.”~ Swami Prabhavananda
With the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and my Dad’s 91st birthday all arriving on the same day this weekend, it feels like a good time to celebrate kindness and compassion, and to take stock of all that we are lucky to have this year. Here’s a recap of the past week:
A season bookended by fallen flowers.
Entering the second half of my 40’s – Part 1.
Entering the second half of my 40’s – Part 2.
Masked, vaxxed, and somewhat relaxed.
Golden worries brought back to life.
Further adventures in babysitting, when they’re not babies anymore.
A rosemary, gin and grapefruit mocktail.
An early birthday wish for my Dad, who turned 91.
This site always goes dark on 9/11.
The splendor of a cider doughnut on a Sunday morning.
Scenes from a 91st birthday dinner.
I love a suit/dress combo, and when you add lavender to it, you got me for life. Here is Lil Was X marching into this year’s Video Music Awards ceremony and absolutely slaying everything and everyone in his path. Having aged out of MTV literally decades ago, I still check in at VMA time to see what the youth of the world is watching, and in this case I may stay for more of the show.
As for Lil Nas X, he’s been both a Dazzler of the Day here, and a naked album cover of the day here. No doubt there will be more to come…
Every birthday after 80 or so feels like a big deal, so when Dad turned 91 on September 11 we celebrated with a dinner of Filipino food and looking through a photo album of Mom and Dad’s trip to the Philippines. We served pancit, adobo, and embutido as the main entree, with some rice and veggies for the side. Mom made Dad’s favorite lemon pie, and we loaded him up with some minor gifts and a major load of scratch offs. All in all, it was not a bad day to turn 91, and now I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
‘Tis almost the season for cider doughnuts, and on certain Sundays when there’s already been a chill in the air, I’ve gone ahead and indulged at this early stage of fall glory. Sometimes a cider doughnut is the only thing that stands between me and the abyss. These bad boys are fried up fresh at George’s Landscaping, and on the particular morning I picked them up I happened to catch a batch just as they were coming out of their cinnamon-sugar bath. The scent instantly filled my car as I started the drive home, and it’s a testament to my discipline and strength that 11 out of 12 made it back fully intact. (There was decidedly less disciplined behavior as the day wore on…)
The cider doughnut, and its accompanying coziness in scent and taste, is definitely a hygge-inspired moment. The sweet crunch of the sugar coating, the warm dough still spongy beneath the slightly firm exterior, and the notion of apple cider working its magic in the batter all contribute to the heartwarming comfort of it all.
Since the inception of this website in 2003, it’s always gone dark on 9/11 – which also happens to be my Dad’s birthday, so I’m posting an early Happy Birthday to him now. He turns 91 this year, and while he’s begun to show his age, we’ve come to appreciate each day he’s here. There were some worrisome stretches last fall, but for 91 years he’s doing pretty well, and I’m extremely grateful he’s got my Mom to help keep him on track. Any birthday appreciation for him must include an equal amount of gratitude for her.
I’ve taken to heart the messages from friends who have lost loved ones, imploring me to make the most of the time we have with our parents, and in that spirit have spent as much time as possible with them. COVID actually impelled us closer, with weekly check-ins and more text communication, and once we got vaccinated we started making weekly visits for dinner. I also got to spend a few overnights with Dad earlier this summer, when Mom went to Boston – all a welcome embrace of the man who raised me. Tomorrow, I’m having him and the family over for a Filipino dinner so today is all about cooking – the same way he used to cook for us as kids.
Happy birthday, Dad! I love you.
