On beauty

[constance]

Most people who've known me will know that one of my great guilty pleasures in life is the Pottery Barn aesthetic. The stuff's nice enough, and when I go to PB stores, I always enjoy poking around, but in the end, it's the catalogs that really send me. The whole of the catalog is infinitely more than the sum of its parts: the tidy, color-coordinated rooms carefully strewn with thematic knickknacks, the "quirky" mass-produced odds and ends, everything mix-and-match, everything pretty and put together. When I look at the catalogs, I have to admit, it's not the sofa or the behooked magnetic board I want--I want to take the whole room, including the floors and windows, and transplant it. I gather, from a little informal research over the years, that this is all anyone wants from Pottery Barn.





It's a shot from the Holiday catalog, and isn't it all so nice and clean-looking? Mmmm, it looks like a peppermint candy you can sleep in. Here's the thing, though. The person who decided that the sensible aesthetic thing to do for this shot would be to turn all the books on the shelves spine-in? GENIUS, man. Forget Barcelona chairs and everything Raymond Loewy designed. Forget streamlined stereo equipment. Forget, even, inflatable furniture. I think we're looking at the wave of the future, here, when it comes to beautiful, comfortable, practical design. I'm going straight home to fix all my books, right now, and I hope you do the same.

Comments

[leestone.livejournal.com]

Dolly Does Dylan

you're kidding.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh, excellent icon, man. :D

I only wish there were such a record. DP was on The Daily Show on Monday night, and on it she claimed that the only person who turned her down for her latest collaborative CD was Bob Dylan, which prompted much >:O from Jon Stewart. DP went on to say that she'd once had an idea for a Dylan cover album--Dolly Does Dylan, of course--but that she figured that was a no-go now.

Actually, it was a terrific interview. You should catch it if you can!

[somniesperus.livejournal.com]

Didn't he have O'Reilly last night? Was it awesome? Was it the smackdown of which I dream? *runs off to check the show's site*

[tofty.livejournal.com]

He did have O'Reilly on last night, and though it was a good interview and JS did ask some great questions, I'm sorry to say that Bill O'Reilly was in no way smacked down. I think he is too shameless and loudmouthed to be smacked properly.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

The audience did boo him, though. Loudly.

[somniesperus.livejournal.com]

I saw! True, no smackdown. But he did get laughed at and mocked, and I think--no, I know--that's what he would hate more than anything else. He would have loved for Jon to get all worked up in a righteous froth. I think he haaaated that Jon just sat there and laughed at everything he said--especially because it was the "what you are saying is so patently stupid it doesn't even deserve a response" laugh.

I would do Jon Stewart in a heartbeat. I have to admit this. ("Just make the joke about 'freedom lies'...say it! Say it!")

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I like to think that what you say is true! I would find this really satisfying.

Also, hahahaha I think Jon Stewart could get laid by about 95% of the women I know! He is just that fabulous. I'd do him for his dirty little GWB snigger alone.

[somniesperus.livejournal.com]

O'Reilly feeds off anger. He loves to work people up and piss them off. This makes him feel important. To be laughed at, I'm thinking, is anathema to him--he's a little man, and little men need to feel they're being taken seriously. I loved it when he called Jon a pinhead and Jon just cracked up because it was so lame.

"Henh henh henh henh henh!"

[tofty.livejournal.com]

*faints with lust*