Reflections of the way life used to be...

A house just sold 5 houses down the road and this Motorola record player cabinet was on the curb with an empty Styrofoam coffee cup tossed inside.  All it took was one look and I fell in love.  I ran back to the house asking Danny to help me carry it assuring him it was not heavy that is was "hollow and light."  In fact, it was the exact opposite of that.  I have never carried something this heavy in my life.  Oh, and we were going up a hill.  I almost died, twice.  We hauled it into the sun porch and plugged it in...nothing.  Dan said, "Let's haul this back to the curb."  My heart sank, "make it work" I pleaded.  I was so disappointed then he turned a few knobs and the record started spinning!  Glass tube lights lit up it was a thing of beauty. I just love the crackling sound of old speakers coming to life. 

The wood is in incredible condition there are virtually no scratches. I think I am going to put this in the dining room with the hutch and set up a little Mad Men style bar on top with silver trays and glass decanters. It has 4 cabinets for records or other various things such as liquors for the bar. Behind the middle doors is a big old speaker with a textured tweed cover.

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I found this very last minute at the Salvation Army on Erie Boulevard in Syracuse on the 50% annual sale. I almost didn't pounce on this one. It was marked for $10 I got it for $5. I had to have it. The aluminum legs and despite the worn appearance this is probably the most comfortable swivel chair I have ever had the pleasure of taking a seat in.

The entire chair is made of solid aluminum. You can even recline in it and the back pillow moves as well right along with your body. It is ridiculously heavy!

I knew this had to be pre-WWII since most metals were melted down and used towards the war efforts.  Indeed it was, I searched The General Fireproofing Company and found the original ad for the chair manufactured in 1932.  During my research I found a genuine copy from a magazine published in the 1930's with the ad on it.  It was only $1.00 so I had to purchase it immediately. Wherever I set up my little office it's hanging above my desk and chair.  

Good Form Aluminum chairs! A cute little advertisement from 1932. Apparently this particular model was their most popular office chair.

 Here is one somebody else has on display in their home. It looks like it is in the same condition as mine. A little bit of rust underneath, honestly I think it just ads to the character knowing it is 80 years old and doesn't even squeak.

 

Another bold example of this chair inside the home instead of the office with matching tank desk. It is a great feeling finding out the history behind all these artifact I find, give you a first hand look at the past. People come and go but their possessions remain to be re-discovered and cherished again. 

Movement never lies.

I am absolutely breath taken by this man's movement.  I first learned of him a couple years ago watching The Legend of Leigh Bowery but just recently I found myself picking my brain trying to remember the young fellow who was choreographing the dances while Leigh designed their costumes.  


 
It was Michael Clark. In 1984 I believe he began to collaborate with Leigh to create something truly unique.

I started dance classes at age 4 and continued until I was 13 years old because I choose to focus on school and soccer.  That was a big regret for me looking back now.  But I never stopped dancing, ever.  Often I'd find my self doing an arabesque upon entering a room in my home like some prima ballerina I wish I was.

Michael sparked my imagination so I did a little research on him and I thought, this guy gets it.  Not just dance but everything; like understanding people and how this twisted world works.  Not to mention his submerged passion for honest underground music, which he expresses through dance with incredible grace. 

 

This is my favorite dance of all though choreographed to The Fall's "Copped it"

How gorgeous are these shoes?  This was a costume created by Leigh Bowery for a Michael Clark production.  Platform shoes like this weren't being mass produced so they had to construct them by hand.

Here are the classic Leigh Bowery polka-dots and blonde wig combination we all know and love.  Always duplicated never replicated.

I highly recommend watching Hail the new Puritan it is a nice little documentary that follows Michael and his dancers as they rehearse and perform their routines.  It must have been an incredible experience dancing in this group.  I wish I could hop in a time machine and go back to be a part of this I would've been right behind him like hey I need some more polka dots please *high kick* hahaha

He still continues with his own dance company The Michael Clark Company that is about to perform at the Tate Modern in June.  I would adore seeing a dance created by him in person.  Too bad I don't live in London.

I love at the end where he falls along the wall then into a perfectly discombobulated pile. 

"Nothing so clearly and inevitably reveals the inner man than movement and gesture. It is quite possible, if one chooses, to conceal and dissimulate behind words or paintings or statues or other forms of human expression, but the moment you move you stand revealed, for good or ill, for what you are." 

  

I hope you always have a shell in your pocket...and sand in your shoes...

 WELCOME!  Freshly painted red stairs.  They were a dark hunter green before.

 Close up...I love this bright colonial red.  I put a couple little pots going up the steps, now all I need are some flowers!

 The town crier ushers in his guests.

Pugsley enjoys our new bench.  I got this last weekend at a garage sale for $4!!!  It is absolutely perfect.  I was picturing a church pew originally but this is even better.

 New sheer white curtains from IKEA hung along a homemade bamboo curtain rod.  They completely change the look of this room from dark and yellow to light and crisp.  Besides they look so romantic at night when you have the windows open with that cool summer breeze blowing.

 These were the old curtains before.  Oh my.

 New blue polka dot storage bins inside the shoe cubby.  They were only $1 a piece!

 On top of the cubby I put an elegant little mirror on a plate holder that say's "dream."  I placed candles through out the room and little sea shells so it feels like you are walking into a shabby chic little beach house.

 Here is a wide view of the room just so you get the idea of where I put everything.  Excuse the power tools and paint please, this is a work in progress haha. 

 Old metal wire crate re purposed for a shoe crate to hold Danny's converse!

 My seashell owl sits proud upon some beautiful old books I just picked up at a local thrift store.  Next to my homemade wine cork lamp.  All the corks were saved by me and my fellow bar tenders when I worked at Ruby Tuesday after we would sell off a bottle of wine.

 I found this lovely statue of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy at a thrift store for $1.99  she has a broken thumb but it is not visible nor did it matter to me, I was going to purchase her.  Out of curiosity I searched for the vase on ebay and to my surprise in good condition she is going for $500-$700!!!  I am sure without her thumb she is worth much less however value does not matter.  I am very excited to ad her to my collection.

 The Grey Gardens corner.  Danny even hung up Edie's little American flag.  I am not sure if I like the mirrors there on the wall.  1970's plastic owl clock.

Nothing is better than a picture collage...I finally gathered all my artworks and bought some frames!  Danny is the master of hanging artwork so I let him handle the placement.  I love how it turned out.

Pugs not Drugs!  An ode to my little Pug.  A watercolor painting with some illustrations out of old books.  The shelf is from a 50's diner I found on the side of the road I cleaned it up and painted the underneath black.

 A select few of my old book collection.   Golden antique telephone and a gramophone music box for book ends.

 The artworks on the left are actually lithographs from engravings done by J.Rogers who was a well known illustrator.  The bottom left picture is of Union Square New York City in 1860.  A metal cast of a violin and the teenie-tiny picture is of a little fairy playing the cello.

 Danny and I go to these movie conventions and they always have bugs and butterflies for sale.  Sometimes even bats or birds.  But he bought me the big blue and black butterfly and I found the round glass framed moths at a thrift store.

 Cutie Hooties...1970's Syroco-esque owls with a big red lone star.

 More candles on my round Victorian side table surrounded by some river rocks.

 This is the color I am planning on painting this room to really give it that east coast beach house look. 

stay tuned...