POV: In Hiding.

POV ("point of view") is a series that addresses many of the same themes covered in my Equals Record column: growing up, saying yes to adventure, learning to embrace a quarter-life crisis. Each POV entry will include a photograph and a short reflection based on what’s pictured. While my previous column focused largely on ideas, POV focuses on moments - glimpses, glances, tiny stories. 

When I was little, one of my favorite games involved planning for impending disaster. I’d imagine that a blizzard was coming, or a tornado, or some other weather-related catastrophe that I’d only heard about in books. I imagined hunkering down in some sort of candlelit cellar, with crates of food and a wool blanket and an oil lamp, the wind howling through the wooden trap door overhead. I always made it just in time. Within seconds, the house above would be torn from the ground or buried beneath feet of snow. But I’d be safe. I saw it coming.

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas: For You.

In keeping with what's become tradition on this blog, a few ideas for treating yourself on Valentine's Day. Instead of diamonds, why not wings? Instead of wine, tea?  In place of flowers, how about stained glass feathers or a perfume that smells like ghosts and roses? In lieu of lace, painted cotton?  (I obviously can't get enough of these.)

A personal favorite among this set: a little gray book called Dangerous Women, which features found photography commemorating mischievous girls. I like it as an alternative to a love poem.

Clockwise, from top left: Stained glass feather, $120; Wing earrings, $61.98; Striped britches, $36; Brushstroke mug, $26; Ghost Rose solid perfume, $34; Dangerous Women, $18.

Other ideas, no wallet necessary: write, paint, cook, wander. Plant a tree, make a fort, eat cookies for breakfast. Dance. Sing. Play hide-and-seek. Whatever you do, have a happy one.

Hammocks & Candle Wax.

Overjoyed to share photos this morning from the newest Rue Magazine cover story, which I had the pleasure of writing and which features Emily in her lovely home. Emily's East Village apartment is barely 400 square feet, but she's managed to fit a hammock in her bedroom, and a world's worth of travel souvenirs in its nooks and crannies. 

"I had a non-stop year last year," she told me. "I was working more than ever and it was difficult to find time to unplug. I got the hammock as a sort of escape. It's its own little world, where I can sit and look out my window."

Other stand-out details: the photo collage on her front door, and a hardened pool of melted candle wax, which is the result of a spill in a former apartment. "I like physical expressions of the passage of time," she says. 

Emily's also just launched a new print shop called Terra Incognita, featuring iPhone photos from her many travels. Lily, Jamie, and I are considering this one for our living room.

Photos by Emily Johnston and Nicole Franzen for Rue Magazine. See the latest issue, here.

Lookouts.

These photos, part of a series called Miradors by Erwan Fichou, are striking and surprising and exceptionally strange. Taken in Mexico City, the images feature passersby perched on carefully manicured treetops. What it all means, I'm not sure, but I like it. Reminds me of the beautiful, brilliant Eyes as Big as Plates.

Further foliage-related reading: the handwriting of trees, headwear inspired by "the texture of earth and forests," and my article on Swedish treehouses for VICE. Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Photographs by Erwan Fichou. Thanks, Thisispaper.

Rothko Nails/Pollock Britches.

For a snowy Monday, modern art for your fingernails, and cotton britches inspired by Jackson Pollock. You know, just some basics.

See also:
1) Sweet Valley High in miniature
2) Not a Rothko.