List 74

Love: 1970s station wagons - big wood-paneled land boats with a third seat that flips up in the way back, facing out the back.  A pristine, beautiful black Ford Country Squire made an appearance in the parking garage by my office, and I couldn't resist taking its photograph, and then looking for more images online.  I kind of wish I had one of these babies to take out for weekend trips to Sonoma, complete with a Pendleton blanket in back.

 

Like:  This recipe for salmon burgers with a bright accent of tarragon, from Epicurious. If you make it with a lower fat mayonnaise and whole-wheat bread crumbs, it's as healthy as it is delicious.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fresh-Salmon-Burgers-with-Tarragon-Mayonnaise-1542


Discovery: It's super Portlandia, but this French press cozy actually works surprisingly well to keep your coffee warm.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/quiltymcquilterson?section_id=7646512


Obsession: The trailer for Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom has me longing for May 25th.





Complaint: The announcement of this year's Oscar nominations this morning drove home that I could not be more behind on award season movie viewing.  There are so many I need to fit in before February 26th.  Number one for me, without a doubt, is Hugo.

List 44

Love: Listening to my old records on our new record player. It brings back a lot of memories of a time when pretty much 90% of the music I loved was from the U.K.

Like: Never Let Me Go. Last week I read the book, by Kazuo Ishiguro, and then watched the film. I guess the story would be characterized as literary science fiction, although it's very much a quietly observed character piece. It's set in the recent past (the 1970s-early 90s), and takes place in England. And while the film adaptation trimmed some of the book's details, both versions are ultimately haunting and touch upon fundamental questions of humanity. One reviewer of the book summed up its affect nicely: "Only after closing the book do you absorb the magnitude of what his characters endure."

Discovery: We recently had the good fortune, courtesy of our friends Gareth and Clare, to experience a proper English Sunday lunch. (Or linner? Drunch? Not sure what to call it when you eat at 4pm.) Apparently, lard is the key to brilliant roasted potatoes. Not pictured but definitely present: the requisite yorkshire puddings.

Obsession: Mr. Darcy. Sigh. Pride & Prejudice is such the boringly obvious girl thing to love, but I cannot help it. The book is an annual read, and both the 1995 BBC series and the more recent film bring the story (and the man) to life in very satisfying ways.

Complaint: My impatience for my Mini Countryman to arrive. It's currently on a boat crossing the Atlantic. Three more weeks to go. Bollocks.

List 20

Love: Sixteen Candles. Jake Ryan. Sigh. Happily, the basic premise - having your birthday blown off by pretty much everyone - has been rendered null and void by Facebook and all those very nice Happy Birthday wall posts.

Like: A Red Velvet Cupcake is my birthday treat of choice. Love at First Bite in Berkeley makes a great one.

Discovery: Yo Gabba Gabba is the kids' show for adults. They got the Ting Tings to cover "Happy Birthday" - the song from, yes, Sixteen Candles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veN2gyCEj8s

Obsession: I want a Mini Countryman. Bad. First, it has to make it to the States. But by my next birthday, I'm hoping that this will be my ride.

Complaint: None so far today. Oh, except aging.

List 7

Love: My childhood memories of the 1970s. How epic is the wall-to-wall zebra carpeting in our living room? It was a great time to be a kid, not to mention a much less stressful time to be an adult - all the working parents on our block were home by 5:30 for dinner and never had to get back on email. When I want to ache with nostalgia, listening to The Virgin Suicides soundtrack, or even MGMT's '70s-sounding "Someone's Missing" and "Congratulations," helps set the mood.

Like: The early '70s Mercedes 350SL. One day...

Discovery: Rainbows always seem very '70s to me. Erich got me these cool glasses at Paul Smith for our anniversary - they feel at once modern and vintage.

Obsession: Movies from - and about - the 1970s. So many great ones, from Three Days of the Condor, The Parallax View and All the President's Men to The Godfather 1&2, from Saturday Night Fever (which aside from the whole disco thing is a fascinating portrait of class and the American Dream) to Star Wars. In the "about" category, The Virgin Suicides was pretty darn wonderful and stands up to repeat viewings. The scene where the girls and guys play songs for each other through the phone? Perfection.

Complaint: Much as I appreciate the digital-enabled instant gratification world we live in, it makes me sad that kids today will never know the exquisite anticipation of sitting by the boombox for hours, radio on, cassette tape ready, play-record-pause all pushed, just hoping your favorite song comes on so you can capture it.

List 2

Love: Le Fumoir in Paris is just about my most favorite place to hang out in the world. I love the interior design and the overall vibe. It's dark and moody and men's clubby. If I ever had my own ad agency (or could design one), it would look and feel like this.

http://www.time.com/time/travel/cityguide/article/0,31489,1937013_1936990_1936848,00.html

Like: The "January" (as in Jones, as in Betty Draper) retro red nail polish from Julep.

http://myjulepshopping.com/catalog/january.html

Discovery: etsy is a love for sure, and one of my favorite sellers is girlscantell. She does these really cool diagrams of things - turntables, bicycles, holga cameras - and puts them on felt coasters, napkins, placemats and other housewares.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/girlscantell?ref=seller_info

Obsessions: I covet the Jean Luc Godard poster that's in Bar Jules' bathroom.

Complaint: Volkswagen, why haven't you reintroduced the Karmann Ghia?