Freezing? Looking ahead as cold winds blow over a frosty future? Hoping to get a little fall foliage viewing in before the icy age? Well today I combed Etsy for all things autumnal.

This adorable two liter thermos, available from Be My Elf (which has to be my favorite Etsy name, and makes me want to sing All by My Elf) is very reasonably priced at $9.50 and is certain to keep you warm, and even cheer you up. And these acorn earrings are pretty jaunty too.

And how about a new Interest? Interests are what make life worth living. Now I prefer useless Interests, like learning Esperanto, or playing the banjolele. While Butoh dance and flamenco cante also keep me out of trouble, they involve a lot of practicing by myself. I desperately want to take up the musical saw, though it seems unfair to the ears of Akhenaton, my young Egyptian lover with whom I live, since it takes quite some time to play it without sounding like a cat in heat. Every now and again I think it would be grand to have an Interest that yielded more tangible results. Something riveting yet practical that could be done indoors. Why not take up bread sculpture? This book, available from Big Dream Supply (also on Etsy) grabbed me by the lapels. Why not make art that you can eat?























This is one of those priceless 70s books. It's hand written, and assumes that the reader is intelligent enough to figure out the basics. And contains personal anecdotes and short stories. This book also has projects to use stale bread, which is utterly charming. I have the feeling this book is a great treasure and should be reprinted. It's here all by its lonesome waiting to lead you to great loafs.

And finally, a snuggle.


















Available here this 70s afghan. Why they are called afghans, I don't know. Though I wish I had spent the 70s on the India to Afghanistan hippie buses. My sister made me one of these in blue in 1979. And I gotta tell you, there is nothing warmer than acrylic.

Cheery polyester version of Renoir's 1880-1881 painting Luncheon of the Boating Party. This blouse is for sale from Cloud Nine Vintage. You can buy it here. It looks like it will fit a medium or a small.

This is one for the Polyester Museum of Fine Arts, to be sure. If I didn't already have a polyester evening gown with a Renoir photo print, I'd snap this one up. I love how this brightly colored rendering of Renoir's painting is centered on the shirt giving way to brushstrokes before fading cinematically into black. But I really love how the print is used on the sleeves. The print rolls across the sleeves, stretching the image and creating the illusion of cinemascope. The pieces of the painting that resurface on the cuffs and collar are jaunty as well.

My favorite character in the Renoir painting is the woman in the middle with the drinking glass almost obscuring her face. I suspect that is because this painting is reproduced over and over again by a kooky neighbor in the 2001 film Amelie. The woman with the glass is the favorite of the neighbor, played by Serge Merlin. Sometimes my memory is so good it scares me. And reminds me of how derivative I can be.

At any rate, goslings, Happy New Year. I think 5770 should be a good year. (And here I am still writing 5769 on all my checks.)