Tears

chen ping, Abandoned Girl (museum collection),
2008, oil on canvas, 180 x 150 cm


Staring out the window, all that she could feel was sadness, the feeling overwhelmed her, grabbed her roughly overpowering her until she had no choice but to succumb to its strength. A single tear rolled down her cheek, followed by a dozen more. Smudging her mascara, tears filled with coiling black smoke, leaving a trail of charcoal down her face.

A Vogue Idea.

Behold the global covers of Vogue Magazine for 2010 digitally spliced over each other. It seems to me that the collective image of beauty is somewhat spectacularly spooky and oddly enigmatic.

I just cannot stop staring at it.

Quintessentially Cape Town.

It was a seriously beautiful day in Cape Town today, the day just brimmed with sunshine. My mom couldn't have chosen a more perfect day to come and visit; a nice change from the unpleasantness that is Jo'burg at the moment.

Anyhow, she was insistent that I take her to some of the quintessentially Cape Town places that I've been fussing over. So naturally I took her down long street. And oh the the things we saw! (I'm salivating over a pair of boots that were just calling to me through the shop window- *SIGH*)

We landed up in the Antiques Arcade, MeMeME, Mungo & Jemima and that little vintage flea market on the corner of Long and Church- here's what I came back with:



Ok, I admit, I judge books by their covers (this tidbit is particularly embarrassing considering I'm doing my Masters in English but nonetheless...) This title "Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh" is the most glorious title ever! The lady threw in a set of silver wear with ivory handles, not too sure what I'm going to do with them yet, perhaps there's a frame in their future? And a glorious little mother-of-pearl Japanese fish broach. All for R50!



This beauty is from Mungo & Jemima, a gift from my mom! It's so dainty a little bird on a single red thread- what a treasure!



A close up of the Japanese fish broach...



This little shop (in the same road as the market) is so sweet and they sell the most amazing herbal teas!



Vetkoek and salmon? What an odd combo!



Here is one of their teas (Rooibos, blue mallow and grape) isn't the packaging adorable?



Finally I thought I'd start a few outfit snaps- this was my shopping on Long look.
Dress: Mr Price. Cardi: Woolies

My favorite things...

1) Vintage Jewelry!

I just love scouring flea markets and antique stores (particularly the Antiques Arcade in Long street) for beautiful jewelry. There's something alluring about vintage jewelry, it's almost as if the jewelry has an independent life that has kind of collided with yours when you buy it. Who owned it before me? Did they treasure it with all their hearts, or did it collect dust in a jewelry box waiting patiently for it's time to shine? It's this mystery that I find most intriguing.
Here are a couple of my favorite antique pieces...



My wishbone necklace! A present from dad!



I'm crazy about this margazite ring that my mom bought me- I wear it when I feel fancy.



I bought this beauty for next to nothing at the mini market on the corner of Long and Church.



I am a broach-a-holic, I really like my silver cast spider.



This ring makes me feel like Marie Antoinette- it's french, from the 1930's and the teeny tiny blue stone in the middle is a Sapphire!



I bought this awesome whistle-necklace in a set of 10- working out to R2 each! So now I give one to anyone that touches my life.



This gorgeous necklace was a present from my boyfriend (Pi), I particularly love the seed pearls and wear it only on special occasions.



I'm mad about my tea cup and spoon necklace, which I'm ashamed to say I bought as a gift for someone else, but then couldn't bring myself to part with it...

I lost the plot a little…(my pen too!)

First thing's first; I’d like to apologise for my bout of melancholy before, I attribute this miniature breakdown/ existential crisis (lets not put a label on it ;p ) to the Philosophy of David Hume- David, if you’re reading this, take a bow why don’t ya. No really, I insist.

Nonsense aside, lets give the limelight to whimsy shall we…

Ode to my Lost Pen.

My spindly friend;
So forgetful,
Yet so necessary.

Lost when I needed you most,
Or perhaps most needed when lost.

Now what am I to do?
But borrow another you.

All that isn’t.

I can feel it. I’m starting to slip away. Again. I made the mistake of actually getting comfortable, settling in, making a little Carmen area.

Never underestimate the precariousness of human beings.

What is true today, I guarantee you, is false tomorrow. What we think is true, is nothing but a shared perception in a certain space and time. Two people share that belief in that moment and that creates a ‘truth’. This means that everything is based on nothing. A bunch of he said/she said/we said. We can never build up a trust. It’s all fleeting, only as good as the now, which is essentially no longer.

Nothing is. Nothing was. Nothing will be.

My only love sprung from my only hate?

I’ve been thinking about binary opposites a lot lately, it’s strange the thoughts that occur to one whist tying shoelaces or waiting for a kettle to boil. Anyway, there is that old cliché ‘opposites attract’ like magnetic fields that find one another amongst a cacophony of others, two uniquely opposite fields gravitate toward each other, and hopefully meet at some point. The irony in this exponential…
Let me try to explain: I know that I’m a woman because of the existence of men, if men did not exist, then I would not need to define myself differentially because I would be the norm. Therefore, it’s easy assume that one is defined by one’s other, and yet, we cannot look at ourselves in such limited terms… I am not only a woman, I am a writer, a thinker, a person who loves tomatoes, books and listening to running water, I’m more than an opposite. But if opposites attract, then does that mean that my opposite is uniquely opposite to my every trait?
It’s a bleak thought, a needle in a haystack of 5 billion…

LOST - Brown-eyed girl.

I am lost.

Just when I thought I had finally found myself, I slipped away from my own tight grasp.

If you know where I might be, or if you see me wondering around an antique shop, please contact me immediately.

I usually travel alone, and have an affinity for art galleries, libraries, shoe shops and indie cinemas.

I answer to the name Carmen, and usually wear bright colours.

I can’t offer you a reward, but you’ll certainly get an invite to my next cocktail evening.
Thank you.

Pictures I heart.

Sometimes a beautiful picture is the best source of inspiration...
I don't have most of the credits to these lovely images, so if you know any of them, please give me a digi-shout and I'll credit away!

Carlota Santamaria

New Article in Chew!

Please give this one a read, if you have some spare time... "designer babies"
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