This week we’ll look for some writing inspiration from that incessant ticking tool that is constantly stressing us out: the clock. Let’s turn it to our advantage and write about it, shall we?
(Speaking of clocks, we’ve got one ticking on submitting applications for joining the Hazel & Wren team: send it in by the end of today for consideration!)
Christian Marclay, Video still from The Clock. 2010. Single-channel video with sound, 24 hours.
Film still from Safety Last, 1923, featuring Harold Lloyd. Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor. Pathé Exchange.
John Tenniel, illustration for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, 1865.
Three Things: Winter Wear Edition
This winter has been a strange one. At least, it has been for us Minnesotans; I can’t speak for the rest of you outside of the Midwest. One week it’s bitterly cold, the next it’s a balmy 40ºF. This temperature roller coaster has forced me to pay more attention to winter wear: it’s no longer as simple as pulling out the winter coat in November and wearing it until March. No, this winter one needs two or more coats of varying weights within easy reach. And then there are the mittens and hats and scarves to carry around, even on warmer days, because you never know when it’ll turn frigid again.
This week let’s immortalize our winter wear on the page, shall we? Ear muffs and mukluks and long johns, oh my!
Hendrick Avercamp, Colf players on the ice, circa 1625. Oil on panel. Edward and Sally Speelman Collection, on loan to Houston Museum of Fine Arts.
“Costume Sportswear,” 1913. Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection at the New York Public Library.
Tamara de Lempicka, St. Moritz, 1929. Oil on wood. Musée d’Orléans, France.
And here’s a bonus, because I can’t think of bundling up for winter without thinking about this scene.
Three Things: The Bishop’s Caper Edition
A few weeks ago at a book sale, I picked up an old book rather absently, titled In the Bishop’s Carriage, not particularly interested until I turned to the title page illustration (see below). Well now, a saucy visit to the bishop’s carriage! My interest sufficiently piqued, I continued to the first page, and read the first few lines:
When the thing was at its hottest, I bolted. Tom, like the darling he is— (Yes, you are, old fellow, you’re as precious to me as—as you are to the police—if they could only get their hands on you)—well, Tom drew off the crowd, having passed the old gentleman’s watch to me, and I made for the women’s rooms.
HOLYCOW, don’t you want to know what happens next? That’s how I felt, anyway. Naturally, I purchased it immediately.
The book, by Miriam Michelson, was published in 1904. I haven’t had time to sit down and finish it, so I can’t yet vouch for the rest of the story, but judging by the already lively character narration, I have a feeling I am going to enjoy it immensely. (If you can’t get your hands on a copy for yourself, you can read it online here, or listen to someone read it aloud to you here.)
In the meantime, let’s write our own turn-of-the-century caper. We’ve already got our heroine. Where? In the bishop’s carriage, of course! Add some loot, and how about a 1903 New York street (complete with policeman) to set the scene? Ready, set, go!
Michelson, Miriam. In the Bishop’s Carriage. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1904. Print. Illustration by Harrison Fisher.
Hinged Ring. Greek, Hellenistic, 2nd–1st Century B.C. Gold with garnet. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Pushcarts market in Manhattan, 1903. Video found here on YouTube.
