Semantics Won't Do

Excuse the lack of posts. Real life has been a bit more.... real.... than usual lately.



I've been thinking a lot about words. Not in the Big Deep Way that say Wittgenstein, Kosuth or Barthes would. Just in my own little way.



I'm struck by the fact that two different people can say exactly the same words and the meaning will be entirely different.

It troubles me. I tend to like absolutes. Shifting meanings make me uneasy, like I can't get a fix on things in my world.



Barthes said, "Language is a skin: I rub my language against the other. It is as if I had words instead of fingers, or fingers at the tip of my words. My language trembles with desire.”



And then he was hit by a laundry van.

Nikk looks both ways in:

Dress: Kunglers Couture Serina Origami Vine
Hair: WAKA and YUKI, Hair 68
Ring: Paper Couture Water Over Wine
Necklace: Paper Couture Gossamer Bead Necklace
Earrings: Paper Couture Gilded Pearl Fruit Earrings
Bracelet: ~*Fresh Baked Goods*~ Jujubeads bracelet (scripted)
Skin: T U L I Audrey Tone 1 makeup 08 with dark lipgloss 8

Dreams Feel Real While We're in Them. It's Only When We Wake Up That We Realize Something Was Actually Strange.

You're waiting for a train.



A train that will take you far away.



You know where you hope this train will take you, but you can't be sure.



Yet it doesn't matter. Now, tell me why?

Nikk looks to see if the top is still spinning in:

Top: Maitreya Part of Crushed Sweater Dress in Eggplant
Skirt: LeLutka Devon mini
Stockings: Zaara Nishar socks in burnt olive
Shoes: Maitreya Bloom boots in violet
Bag: Baiastice Flowers Bustina bag
Necklace: Zaara Parnini necklace in amber
Bracelets: Zaara Ramya wood bangles
Earrings: Zaara Sarayi wood hoops
Ring: Caroline's Natural gold bead ring
Hair: Maitreya Nimue in Pitch
Skin:T U L I Jade tone 2 makeup 8c
Poses: Olive Juice
Inspired by the movie Inception.

As I Went Down In the River To Pray

As I went down in the river to pray, studyin' about that good ole way.



And who shall wear that starry crown? Good Lord, show me the way!



Oh, sisters, let's go down. Let's go down. Come on down.



Oh, sisters, let's go down.



Down in the river to pray.

Nikk wants to wash her sins away in:

Dress: Nomine Sookie Gown
Necklace: Dark Mouse Stacie's Necklace in silver
Hair: TRUTH Marissa in snow
Skin:T U L I Jade tone 2 makeup 5c
Poses: Olive Juice

Lyrics from "Down In The River" (Author unknown)

La Tricoteuse

One of my favorite characters in literature is Madame Defarge in Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Based on les tricoteuses, the women of the French Revolution who sat calmly knitting while watching the blood of the executions flow, Madame Defarge is one bad-ass knitter.



Into her knitting, she weaves the names of those who are damned in the approaching days of madness.



In Chapter 16, she speaks of the coming storm: "I tell thee," said madame, extending her right hand, for emphasis, "that although it is a long time on the road, it is on the road and coming. I tell thee it never retreats, and never stops. I tell thee it is always advancing. Look around and consider the Eves of all the world that we know, consider the faces of all the world that we know, consider the rage and discontent to which the Jacquerie addresses itself with more and more of certainty every hour."



Although in many ways, she is the villain of the book, I admire her. She is determined. She is smart. She is watchful. She is passionate and she is patient.



And until the time is right, she is waiting and knitting. Knitting with her terrible code.

Nikk might be knitting your name in:

Outfit: Le Grenier du Chateau Patriot dress
Shoes: Bax Ankle Boots (Le Look group gift)
Hair: ETD Tiana in snow
Skin: T U L I Audrey Tone 1 makeup 01
Scripted Knitting Needles: Knit This Ivory Knitting Needles with Lace (animated)

When You Cut the Lights Out

Nikk says when you cut the lights out think of me in:

Lingerie: Zaara Sumana Lingerie set in blue
Shoes: Maitreya Chi Chi's in pastel blue
Earrings: /artilleri/ Glitter Love in silver
Bracelet: Fresh Baked Goods Sculputred Sugar silver gem
Necklace: Dark Mouse '50's Necklace in silver
Hair: TRUTH Chelsea in silver
Skin: T U L I Audrey Tone 1 makeup 07 with dark lipgloss 5
Poses: Olive Juice, Just a Pose, Long Awkward Pose

It's Not the Falling, It's the Landing

Nietzsche famously said, "...if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." But sometimes I don't think the abyss just looks back at us, sometimes I think it calls us, beckoning us to the edge.



Taking the abyss as something literal, that void opening below us, who has not felt that urge? That little voice whispering in our ear as we stand on the edge of the canyon, on the top rung of the ladder, against the railing of an observation deck. That voice saying, "Go ahead. Take that step. Feel what it would be like to fly, just for a moment."



I tell people I'm a little afraid of heights, but that's not quite true. I'm afraid that I'll listen to that voice. Not out of some kind of death wish, but from a desire for that thrill. That same feeling you get as the roller coaster tips over the top of the hill, or as you leap off the high diving board.



That moment when time seems to stop, when you are suspended in the air, flying for one moment before gravity notices you again.



Nikk feels the pull of the edge in:

Dress: LeeZu Mirelle (Platinum hut item)
Shoes: Maitreya Chi Chi's in white
Jewelry: Dark Mouse Abstract Extravagance in Mercury
Hair: TRUTH Lillian in snow
Skin: T U L I Audrey Tone 1 makeup 04 with dark lipgloss 4

I Can't Decide

I can't decide whether you should live or die. Oh, you'll probably go to heaven. Please don't hang your head and cry.



Oh, I could throw you in the lake.



Or feed you poisoned birthday cake. I won't deny I'm gonna miss you when you're gone.



Oh, I could bury you alive, but you might crawl out with a knife and kill me when I'm sleeping.



That's why I can't decide.

Nikk is really only homicidal if you mess with her before she's had coffee in:

Earrings and Necklace: Dark Mouse Vintage Victorian Earrings and Locket
Watch: Caroline's Rock Candy Watch
Hair: Tiny Bird Nantes in White
Skin: T U L I Audrey Tone 1 makeup 09 with dark lipgloss 2
Shoes: [Gos] Espadrilles in Meadow
Dress: Ivalde/ -L'Abel-, Lilani dress (8/18 69L Humpday item at L'Abel)

Lyrics from Scissor Sisters "I Can't Decide" which you should probably not listen to at full volume in your office or in front of children.

Windswept

Nikk can see nothing in:

Coat: Digit Darkes Determined Coat in plum
Lingerie: INSOLENCE, Leslie Lavander Ensemble
Stockings: GrueLing Designs- Misfit Fishnets
Bracelets: Dark Mouse Vintage Nouveau bangle
Necklace: Zaara Vanisri in onyx
Shoes: Pixel Mode Kavika Sheen
Ring: Paper Couture Water Over Wine ring
Hair: T U L I
Skin: T U L I Audrey Tone 1 makeup 08 with dark lipgloss 5

Cinema Italiano

I love Italian movies. Granted, my introduction to cinema italiano was via the newer generation of great Italian films: Cinema Paradisio, Mediterranio, Il Postino...



But I've now come to appreciate the "pink neorealism" and the commedia all'italiana styles of the 1950's and 1960's as well.



These films, with stars like Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, are filled with style and passion.



And really, who couldn't use a little bit more of la dolce vita in their life?



Nikk says ciao, bella in:

Earrings: Burroughs iMix3 DDee Hoops
Bracelet: Eclectica Jazz Chinoiserie bangles
Watch: Caroline's Rock Candy Watch
Sunglasses: /artilleri/ Marla sunglasses in pink
Dress: DPSerendipity Audrey Dress in brown
Shoes: Magnifico Le Plateau in green/ white
Hair: TRUTH Kami streaked snow
Skin:T U L I Jade tone 2 makeup 2c
Poses: Olive Juice, Striking Poses
Location: Cinecitta

A Tale of Two Edies

There's a woman I visit almost every time I go to New York City. Most people know her as Mrs. I. N. Phelps Stokes and she hangs on the wall at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In her 1897 portrait by John Singer Sargent, Edith Minturn Phelps Stokes stands confidently, returning the viewer's gaze with a lifted chin and an inviting smile. With her fashion-forward attire and her strong demeanor, she is every inch the new independent woman of her age.






While most people are probably not familiar with Edith Minturn Phelps Stokes, the name of her great-niece may ring a bell-- Edith Minturn Sedgwick, Edie for short.



In the 1960's Edie Sedgwick became a fixture at Andy Warhol's Factory. Appearing in several Warhol films, she soon became the "It" girl of the art and fashion scene. Her signature style-- short hair, dramatic make-up, large earrings, and a sweater combined with tights-- was quickly copied by avant garde fashionistas. On film, she exudes a nervous energy and vulnerability that perhaps hints at her troubled mental state. Sedgwick died of an overdose in 1971 at the age of 28.



On Edith Minturn Phelps Stokes:

Shirt: Le Grenier du Chateau Bicycle Suit
Skirt: ~~Ivalde~~ Arielle White Dress
Shoes: Bax Ankle Boots (Le Look group gift)
Hat: Le Grenier du Chateau Straw Boater Hat
Hair: ETD Tiana in Black
Skin:T U L I Jade tone 2 makeup 5c

On Edith Minturn Sedgwick:

Shirt: Emery Stripped Tee
Tights: GLAM Tintable Metallic Lycra Tights
Shoes: Periquita Funny Girl Flats in Black
Earrings: {JUNK} onyx inlay
Bracelets: Dark Mouse Vintage Nouveau bangle
Hair: TRUTH Peta in Snow
Lashes: [Glow] studio Innocent eyelashes in intensive (for The Dressing Room)
Skin: Curio Gala Petal Winter Coal 2

John Singer Sargent's portrait:
Edie Sedgwick in Warhol's Poor Little Rich Girl:

This Is Just To Say... Will, You Suck!

Mmm, I've really been looking forward to those plums I bought at the Farmers' Market yester.... hey, wait! Where are they?



Hmmm. What's this note say?



"This is just to say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold"



Dammit, Will! If you knew I was saving them for breakfast, why the hot hell would you eat all of them?! What on earth is wrong with you, you selfish bastard?



This is sooooo typical. Last week, you drank all the O. J. and put the empty container back in the fridge. The week before, you drove my car all day and left it with no gas in the tank. Well, this is it, Will! Why don't you go move in with your buddies Pound and Joyce? I bet they're a real bucket of laughs! They wouldn't put up with any of your produce-stealing bullsh*t, that's for sure! Son of a bitch- now I'm going to have to have a Pop Tart or something. Thanks for that, Will. Thanks a lot!



Nikk thinks maybe she saw some cherries in the fridge in:

Shirt: Shiki Kimono dress halter top
Pants: Zaara Jeans {classic} blue
Shoes: Periquita Silly Wedges
Earrings: Zaara Sarayi wood hoops
Bracelets: Zaara Ramya wood bangles in gold
Hair: TRUTH Kami in snow
Skin:T U L I Jade tone 2 makeup 8c
Poses: Poses: PDA, Olive Juice
Kitchen furniture by Blonde*.

This post very much inspired by this. And apologies to William Carlos Willams, who I'm sure, despite his fruitnapping proclivities, was a lovely person.