For some lovely short articles on a wide variety of subjects, visit Toast Travels by Toast. If you don't receive their catalogues, you might like to order one or all of the latest. Giulia pines for these socks but purchasing two pair for four legs, c'est impossible (for now).
Cade Martin's justly celebrated photographs of The Washington Ballet have been published in a book, Wonderland. (You can order it on the Washington Ballet website. While you're there, take a refresher course in Ballet 101 (or pass it on to someone who feels intimidated by ballet).
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. - Albert Camus
The trees outside our windows are still green but today there's a noticeable increase in yellow; in the near distance a red tinge is wider, longer every morning. Thanks to Olga for this beautiful photograph. She used the Orton imagery method & you can use it, as well. Here's a step-by-step article from Creative Nature Photography.
Happy holiday weekend to those in the States, happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends. Hallooo to everyone else. Bit frazzled today but Giulia is asleep (of course) so that makes one less thing to worry about. For now. We're researching & writing. Some fall-out coming your way later this week & next.
For now, here's the link to our Pinterest boards. You can request an invite, if you like, on the site. We've neglected it of late, until this weekend when *window* shopping became of great interest. If you have responsibility for keeping the peace today, here's a link to autumn crafts for children from Martha Stewart.
ciao-meow/GGCM
(lovely photographs by liivia s - it inspires us to seek out some late season cosmos)
Visit Karen at The Graphics Fairy. Right now. Too bossy? You'll thank us later. Karen is amazingly generous in a world of generous bloggers. She posts lovely images every day & you can print them. And use them. For free. Yep.
Right now, though, attention should be paid to her Instant Art series. Karen posts downloadable PDFs of a variety of flora & fauna. We just printed out a rooster, some geraniums (yay), pears, & onions. So fire up the printer, check the cartridges & go for it. (Note: the rooster is quite clear in person...the image here is via our crummy scanner.)
Yes, we're pushing it, the season. It's close but not quite here. We know, we've searched. Dashing off to the farmers market near the White House & to check in on marchers downtown & see what's up. Reports back on Twitter.
You're a hero. Everyone keeps telling you, but you don't feel much like a hero. Mostly, you feel frustrated, and angry, and scared. Frustrated at how tasks which used to be effortless now seem like climbing Mt. Everest. Angry, sometimes at the people you love and the very people who are trying to help you, because you hate feeling so dependent on them. This is not the future you had planned. And this - THIS? This 65 pound wagging yellow fool with the floppy ears and the tongue hanging out of his mouth - this is supposed to make any of that okay again? --read on, Hero Dogs
On Sunday, at the Takoma Park Street festival, GG's editor met an adorable (what other kind is there?) 10-week old yellow Labrador puppy who was to begin his training as a hero dog on Monday. The only thing that kept us warm in the cold rain was the puppy, the story of Lady Liberty & learning about the Hero Dog organization in the metropolitan Washington, DC-area. The people of Hero Dogs are new heroes to us. Check out their website, appearances at events in the area, & how you can help.
Singaporean photographer Fong Qi Wei went deeper than just taking photos of flowers and created an amazing series of Exploded Flowers – images that show the radial symmetry of flowers.--from DeMilked (via Illusion)
A lovely & clever art project. See the entire series, here.
Just 3,000 tigers live in the wild today. These majestic animals face grave threats to their survival, including poaching and habitat destruction. It is our work to ensure the protection of the 1,000 remaining breeding females, so that they may live to produce the next generation. Help us give tigers room to grow: Support our efforts to conserve these great cats and their homes. --Wildlife Conservation Society
This is a full-blown emergency, people. Please visit Wildlife Conservation Society's Tiger Tools page & take action. Also, GG Central purchased these Vanishing Species stamps that will help raise money to fight tiger poaching.
For children of all ages, visit National Geographic Kids Creature Feature/Tiger page. There are coloring pages, e-cards, & all sorts of cool features. Giulia is paw-painting right now. With spilled coffee on a tiger page. Seriously. We have to go!
Giulia sends her regards. She's asleep in a pile of blankets retrieved from the linen closet in the middle of the night. Yes, it has turned brisk. We're off to the farmers market & hope to have rosy cheeks half-way there. It will be a super-successful day if we can find some beautiful tights & also smell woodsmoke on the way home.
If you're in the DC-area, the Takoma Park Street festival is tomorrow. Stop by the Amnesty International table to say hello & GG's editor will give you a button in the color of your choice if you say you read this post. Have a great weekend!
It is not that difficult to knit a scarf. Stop sassing back; it is not. GG's editor just finished watching a few videos & clicking through The Basics of Knitting. We know basic knitting but wanted to see if we could recommend them. Yes, yes, yes. If you don't like these links, just do a search for 'teach yourself to knit.' Gazillion hits.
The weather is finally turning cooler & crisp (goodbye evil humidity...Giulia's fuzzy forehead was about to sprout funghi) & the urge to knit has hit.
There are lots of sales on yarns & patterns online & in stores. Warning: Don't invest in much beyond basic needles & some pretty yarn to test your interest. The larger the needles, the faster a scarf appears. Now go to it!
Do you like Instagram photos but don't have an iPhone? No problem, kids. Just click over to Pixlr-o-matic & slap pretty vintage effects on to your photographs. For free. You can run the app on your laptop, smartphones, & yes, iPads. Here's their blog link.
It's already Wednesday afternoon & we've not posted since Saturday. We're very busy here, but playing with Pixlr-o-matic haseaten up a not inconsiderable piece of time. Eek.
Funny, funny scenes using everyday objects by Ian Thomas called "Stuff That Comes Alive When I Go to Sleep." You must see the whole story. Made us laugh which is no small thing lately. (Scenes above: 1) "Date Night"; 2) Salute to Digital Photography; 3) Dr. Banana's Diagnosis: Patient a Little Nuts")
“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.”Albert Schweitzer
We're beyond rushed this week, but here is a terrific site filled with music education resources for children. There are games, music theory instruction, all about instruments, & more. We'll do more investigating this autumn & winter about programs for public school students.
MILK+BOOKIES is a non-profit organization that exposes young children to how great it feels to give back while celebrating the love of a good book. At Milk + BookiesTM events, boys and girls are provided the opportunity to select, purchase and inscribe books that are then donated to their peers who do not have access to books of their own. The fun-filled events feature music, story time and, of course, milk and cookies. --Milk + Bookies
It's Meatless Monday, peeps. What? You haven't signed upyet? You don't have to sign up. Just do it!
Eggplants are still heaped atop farmers market tables & GG's editor is making these baked eggplant (aubergine) sticks for an inexpensive snack today. Visit our new favorite food blog Skinnytaste. If you are familiar with Weight Watchers, guess what? We're back at it (not Giulia, non. She lurves her curves.). This recipe has only 1 point per serving. Repeat: 1 point. Skinnytaste has a gazillion great recipes whether you're following a program or not.
Rookie, the new online magazine edited by Tavi Gevinson (who, if you didn't already know, is 15 years old) is not only about style & fashion; there are 15 category labels. The site is updated 3 times a day, 5 days a week with a monthly theme. This is not a place to be mean & rant or to talk only about what-to-buy. (Comments are moderated for content.) Here is Tavi's letter of introduction to Rookie.
Rookie invites teenagers to submit material, too; this would be an excellent way to take a step up from commenting online to creating original content. Go for it!
Even GG's ancient editor had fun clicking through the September issue of Rookie. (Giulia looks forward to features on cats & their girls.)
ciao-meow/GG Sunday Central
PS: If you're in the States, the Emmy Awards are on tonight. We hope that Mad Men cleans up! (Darling Selina with her cat by 13-year old Paula)
Share Our Strength's Dine Out For No Kid Hungry® (formerly Great American Dine Out) is a national event that brings together thousands of restaurants and millions of diners to help make sure no child in America grows up hungry. From September 18-24, 2011, participating restaurants will raise funds through a variety of ways to support No Kid Hungry, Share Our Strength's national campaign to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. Dine at a supporting OpenTable restaurant and help end childhood hunger in America! (via Share Our Strength)
The Wings of Fancy exhibit in suburban Washington, DC is open through September 18th. Eek, we haven't been yet, have you? Now that it has stopped raining, make plans to go. If you're not in the Washington, DC-area, check the Butterfly Website's exhibit guide; perhaps there is an exhibit near you. If that doesn't work out, we are sorry; but you can read all about butterflies on the site & plan for next year.
For children of all ages, here are butterfly coloring pages. Giulia is going to get out her crayons & go to town. (She has secret thumbs.)
GG Central is crazy wild behind schedule. Shriek! To top it off, the U.S. Open final men's match is being held today (at 4pm EDT). You can watch online, here.
GG Central could use a mental health break this evening & maybe you need one, as well. For fashion week in London, we recommend Liberty London Girl & London Fashion Week. For New York, check in with New York magazine. The round-up is exhaustive.
To commemorate the tenth anniversary of September 11, the National Museum of American History is providing visitors with a close-up view of more than 50 objects recovered from the three sites attacked that fateful day—New York, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pa.—as well as recent acquisitions that relate to how American lives have changed since then. The Museum's presentation will be an unusual blend of a public program and a simple display of artifacts—a display, not a full exhibition. For nine days only, the objects will be shown on open tables, without cases. The intent is to give visitors an intimate experience that will help make this historic day more real in their memories and stimulate them to reflect on its significance. --National Museum of American History.
The exhibit is soon to close but there is still time to see it if you are in the Washington, DC-area. The website is worth a visit even if you are not. Here is a link to educational resources about September 11, 2011.
It is a dark & stormy evening here in the nation's capital. We will be delayed in posting tomorrow but leave you with Russian artist and photographer Irina Istratova who is having a lot of fun with her camera & Photoshop lately. See more photographs, here.
For 32 of the most famous Russian fairy tales (in English), click here.
Giulia is still asleep - OK, she did get up for snacks & dinner but now she's asleep again. We hope you are not floating away wherever you are.
Giulia is asleep (of course) but her editor is writing. And when she is writing, she must take a break now & again, bien sûr. An early autumn rainy day reminds her of university in Strasbourg. Playing in the background is Yves Montand's Les Feuilles Mortes. It's all very cozy, yes, but to be in France would be lovely.
Alas, the closest we'll get to France this month is thanks to Carol of Paris Breakfasts & her introduction to My Little Paris. There are also editions for Marseille & Lyon. Very well. But where is the Strasbourg edition, eh? We must speak with someone about this glaring omission; meanwhile, sign up for the weekly newsletter that will make you as chic as a Parisienne (for whom this newsletter was originally intended).
ciao-meow/GG's editor
* Literal: It's pouring ropes. It's like the English 'raining cats & dogs.' See the BBC's French language page to brush up on your French.
Kim of Everything Etsy must not sleep. She put together a list of links to 101 free downloads: from crafts to thank-you cards to labels to posters & many things in between. As she said, "Make sure your printer has color ink...". We downloaded these terrific fox bookmarks last night.
“Our chestnut tree is in full blossom. It is covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year...” - Anne Frank, 13 May 1944
Anne Frank often looked from the attic window at the chestnut tree behind the secret annex. She wrote about it in her diary. Now, the more than 150 year old tree is diseased, but online it will live on. Leave your leaf in the virtual chestnut tree, forward it and keep Anne Frank’s ideals alive. (via Anne Frank House) As autumn returns to the northern hemisphere, the leaves will color & fall. Sadly, Anne's chestnut tree has not begun its annual cycle as it completely fell last August (2010). It's more important than ever, then, to keep the idea of the tree alive.
The Anne Frank website is wonderful for adults & children. There are several extraordinary sub-sites; you can take a virtual tour of the award-winning secret annex site & go back in time to where Anne wrote her famous diary. For students, a link for inspiration & information for school projects; for teachers, a link for you. The site (& subsites) is available in six languages.
ciao-meow/GG's editor
(chestnut tree by Powi; screenshot of interactive tree via Anne Frank)
Life is hectic chez GG, so our posting is late & less frequent than usual. We'll be back after the long weekend. As for Giulia, life is not hectic for her. Oh no. She is lounging in her little house, listening to her editor's iPod. The playlist? French Pop, bien sûr. (This is not a joke. We'll take a photograph over the weekend.)
We are running very late indeed, today. Here is little post run originally on bricolage last month.
When GG's editor saw the second photograph (& more on Nonesuch via swissmiss), she thought of a line in a Leonard Cohen poem: /because your eyelashes/are the spines of tiny fragile animals.
Hop over to the link & see the other lashes. Very cool. If you're in the market for faux lashes, but can't imagine wearing these, here are some pretty pairs.
GG's editor has found relief & amusement from tweetingShakespearean phrases out into the ether. While they were rude & often filthy to Elizabethans, they are funny to modern ears. Sometimes, one really does want to let someone have it online; but GG Central finds the world harsh enough without adding to it with modern vulgarity. So let fly with the old vulgarity & consult the Shakespearean Insult Kit.
A little tip: GG's editor found it helpful to visit every link to see the patterns & supplementary drawings. You might not fancy the fabric or the colors & embellishments used on a dress or skirt but will like the pattern.
Voting is open until September 11th; the winner will be announced on September 15. Good luck to the finalists!
We're feeling rather down here at GG Central because Giulia is not feeling well (again). So funny bunnies just seem right. GG's editor just laughed out loud at the latest (& last in the series) drawing tutorial on the Guardian'schildren's books website.
Visit talented illustrator & comic book writer Simone Lia's website. And then get to those bunnies! It's too late to send in your creations, but you can visit the slideshow of entries. GG's editor is particularly fond of the meta-bunny by Pete.
Hallooo from GG Central! Our home internetz have been restored just in time for Hurricane Irene. Yeesh. We will resume posting as soon as our electricity is restored or as soon as we arrive at a friend's house.
For some lovely short articles on a wide variety of subjects, visit Toast Travels by Toast. If you don't receive their catalogues, you might like to order one or all of the latest. Giulia pines for these socks but purchasing two pair for four legs, c'est impossible (for now). 
Cade Martin's justly celebrated photographs of The Washington Ballet have been published in a book, Wonderland. (You can order it on the Washington Ballet website. While you're there, take a refresher course in Ballet 101 (or pass it on to someone who feels intimidated by ballet).
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. - Albert Camus 
Happy holiday weekend to those in the States, happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends. Hallooo to everyone else. Bit frazzled today but Giulia is asleep (of course) so that makes one less thing to worry about. For now. We're researching & writing. Some fall-out coming your way later this week & next.
Visit Karen at The Graphics Fairy. Right now. Too bossy? You'll thank us later. Karen is amazingly generous in a world of generous bloggers. She posts lovely images every day & you can print them. And use them. For free. Yep.
Yes, we're pushing it, the season. It's close but not quite here. We know, we've searched. Dashing off to the farmers market near the White House & to check in on marchers downtown & see what's up. Reports back on Twitter.
You're a hero. Everyone keeps telling you, but you don't feel much like a hero. Mostly, you feel frustrated, and angry, and scared. Frustrated at how tasks which used to be effortless now seem like climbing Mt. Everest. Angry, sometimes at the people you love and the very people who are trying to help you, because you hate feeling so dependent on them. This is not the future you had planned. And this - THIS? This 65 pound wagging yellow fool with the floppy ears and the tongue hanging out of his mouth - this is supposed to make any of that okay again? --read on, Hero Dogs 
Singaporean photographer Fong Qi Wei went deeper than just taking photos of flowers and created an amazing series of Exploded Flowers – images that show the radial symmetry of flowers.--from DeMilked (via Illusion) 
Just 3,000 tigers live in the wild today. These majestic animals face grave threats to their survival, including poaching and habitat destruction. It is our work to ensure the protection of the 1,000 remaining breeding females, so that they may live to produce the next generation. Help us give tigers room to grow: Support our efforts to conserve these great cats and their homes. --Wildlife Conservation Society
Giulia sends her regards. She's asleep in a pile of blankets retrieved from the linen closet in the middle of the night. Yes, it has turned brisk. We're off to the farmers market & hope to have rosy cheeks half-way there. It will be a super-successful day if we can find some beautiful tights & also smell woodsmoke on the way home.
It is not that difficult to knit a scarf. Stop sassing back; it is not. GG's editor just finished watching a few videos & clicking through The Basics of Knitting. We know basic knitting but wanted to see if we could recommend them. Yes, yes, yes. If you don't like these links, just do a search for 'teach yourself to knit.' Gazillion hits. 
Do you like Instagram photos but don't have an iPhone? No problem, kids. Just click over to Pixlr-o-matic & slap pretty vintage effects on to your photographs. For free. You can run the app on your laptop, smartphones, & yes, iPads. Here's their blog link. 
Heavens to Murgatroyd! (Remember Snagglepuss?) We're running late...have a wonderful weekend & we'll be back next week. 
Funny, funny scenes using everyday objects by Ian Thomas called "Stuff That Comes Alive When I Go to Sleep." You must see the whole story. Made us laugh which is no small thing lately. (Scenes above: 1) "Date Night"; 2) Salute to Digital Photography; 3) Dr. Banana's Diagnosis: Patient a Little Nuts")
“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.”Albert Schweitzer 
It's Meatless Monday, peeps. What? You haven't signed up yet? You don't have to sign up. Just do it!
Rookie, the new online magazine edited by Tavi Gevinson (who, if you didn't already know, is 15 years old) is not only about style & fashion; there are 15 category labels. The site is updated 3 times a day, 5 days a week with a monthly theme. This is not a place to be mean & rant or to talk only about what-to-buy. (Comments are moderated for content.) Here is Tavi's letter of introduction to Rookie.
Share Our Strength's Dine Out For No Kid Hungry® (formerly Great American Dine Out) is a national event that brings together thousands of restaurants and millions of diners to help make sure no child in America grows up hungry. From September 18-24, 2011, participating restaurants will raise funds through a variety of ways to support No Kid Hungry, Share Our Strength's national campaign to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. Dine at a supporting OpenTable restaurant and help end childhood hunger in America! (via Share Our Strength)
Attention, attention!
The Wings of Fancy exhibit in suburban Washington, DC is open through September 18th. Eek, we haven't been yet, have you? Now that it has stopped raining, make plans to go. If you're not in the Washington, DC-area, check the Butterfly Website's exhibit guide; perhaps there is an exhibit near you. If that doesn't work out, we are sorry; but you can read all about butterflies on the site & plan for next year. 
GG Central is crazy wild behind schedule. Shriek! To top it off, the U.S. Open final men's match is being held today (at 4pm EDT). You can watch online, here.
GG Central could use a mental health break this evening & maybe you need one, as well. For fashion week in London, we recommend Liberty London Girl & London Fashion Week. For New York, check in with New York magazine. The round-up is exhaustive. 
To commemorate the tenth anniversary of September 11, the National Museum of American History is providing visitors with a close-up view of more than 50 objects recovered from the three sites attacked that fateful day—New York, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pa.—as well as recent acquisitions that relate to how American lives have changed since then. The Museum's presentation will be an unusual blend of a public program and a simple display of artifacts—a display, not a full exhibition. For nine days only, the objects will be shown on open tables, without cases. The intent is to give visitors an intimate experience that will help make this historic day more real in their memories and stimulate them to reflect on its significance. --National Museum of American History.
It is a dark & stormy evening here in the nation's capital. We will be delayed in posting tomorrow but leave you with Russian artist and photographer Irina Istratova who is having a lot of fun with her camera & Photoshop lately. See more photographs, here. 
Il pleut des cordes.* 
Kim of Everything Etsy must not sleep. She put together a list of links to 101 free downloads: from crafts to thank-you cards to labels to posters & many things in between. As she said, "Make sure your printer has color ink...". We downloaded these terrific fox bookmarks last night.
“Our chestnut tree is in full blossom. It is covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year...” - Anne Frank, 13 May 1944 
Life is hectic chez GG, so our posting is late & less frequent than usual. We'll be back after the long weekend. As for Giulia, life is not hectic for her. Oh no. She is lounging in her little house, listening to her editor's iPod. The playlist? French Pop, bien sûr. (This is not a joke. We'll take a photograph over the weekend.)
We are running very late indeed, today. Here is little post run originally on bricolage last month. 
Thou vain sheep-biting malt-worm!
It's that time of year. Vote for your favorite in the Shabby Apple Dare to Design Challenge. This year there are fifteen finalists, 13 dresses & two skirts. Visit the SA Apple a Day blog & choose.
We're feeling rather down here at GG Central because Giulia is not feeling well (again). So funny bunnies just seem right. GG's editor just laughed out loud at the latest (& last in the series) drawing tutorial on the Guardian's children's books website.
Hallooo from GG Central! Our home internetz have been restored just in time for Hurricane Irene. Yeesh. We will resume posting as soon as our electricity is restored or as soon as we arrive at a friend's house.