Astronaut Mae Jemison, M.D.

Dr. Jemison at left with her suit tech. Sharon Caples McDougle at right (via)

Floating in space during STS-47 (via)

Dr. Mae Jemison, MD.
First black woman in space.

There are about a hundred thousand things I want to say about how awesome this woman is. I love these two photos of her. At top, Mae and her suit tech Sharon Caples McDougle (awesome interview with Sharon here) seem to radiate pure brilliance. It is very obvious that they have a special relationship and that they both love what they do. Space suits! - absolutely utilitarian - totally freaking cool.

Dr. Mae Jemison is an avid Star Trek fan and especially fond of the character Lieutenant Nyota Uhura. When opening her communications with NASA Mission Control at the beginning of her shifts, Mae would proclaim Uhura's standard line: "Hailing frequencies open". Famously portrayed by Nichelle Nichols, the role of Uhura was one of television's first significant feature roles for a black actor. Spanning from 1966-1969, Nichols' contribution to television came at a significant time during America's Civil Rights Movement - and when Nichols was considering leaving the show, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made a personal plea for her to stay. Nichelle Nichols is also credited to have shared in the very first on-screen interracial kiss on television with co-star William Shatner. As the story goes, Nichols and Shatner purposely messed up every take in which the studio wanted to film versions of the scene that omitted the kiss.

Dr. Jemison did herself appear on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as Lieutenant Junior-Grade Palmer and is the only real-life astronaut to have ever appeared on the show.

Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhara as (via)

Dr. Mae Jemison as Liutenant J-G Palmer (via)

"Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations...If you adopt their attitudes, then the possibility won't exist because you'll have already shut it out ... You can hear other people's wisdom, but you've got to re-evaluate the world for yourself." 

– Dr. Jemison at the Annual Biomedical Research
Conference for Minority Students, November 2009

Cheese Table Flowers

Photographs by Erika Flynn

Emily Henry of Chickadee Hill Flowers making some final on-site adjustments her large cheese-table urn arrangement, 2015.

"Drinking cup (kylix) with erotic scene"

Taken at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston USA

I spent a few hours exploring the Boston Museum of Fine Art's Greek pottery collections this past weekend. I particularly liked this piece. It's crazy how old these objects are and how useful they were in their time. My companion was able to weave the ancient stories for me as we investigated the pieces. Fascinating and beautiful on so may levels.

"A bearded man bends over a woman with short hair (which may indicate her status as a slave). She braces herself on the stool in front of her which has lion-paw feet and various things piled on top of it, including her clothes. To the left is a couch (kline) which has an elaborately carved post with ionic volutes. An overstuffed striped cushion tops the kline."

Inscription:
"the girl is pretty" (HE PAIS KALE) (above their heads), and "Hold still!" (HEXE HESUXOS) (issuing from the man's mouth) ΗΕΠΑΙΣΚΑΛΕ ΗΕΧΕΗΣΥΧΟΣ (via)

Haircut

Photographs by Peter Lindbergh (via)

Julien Dys cuts Linda Evangelista’s hair, photographed by Peter Lindbergh, 1989.

I love how this amazing haircut was documented.

Home Garden

Photographs by Erika Flynn

I love the time of year when the lilacs leave thick mats of fallen blossoms on the ground. This spring carpet is a fine luxury. I leave the irises to spend their blooms away. Their stalks and molting brown petals are so enchanting. On the night I took these photos the air was damp and heavy. It was low tide and I could smell the wet seaweed on the beach all the way down the block.

Drug Busts

Lewiston, Maine Drug Bust / MDEA (via)

Brunswick, Maine Drug Bust / MDEA (via)

East Madison, Maine Drug Bust / Somerset County Sheriff's Office (via)

It occurred to me this morning as I flipped through my local paper that I love drug bust contraband photos.

First of all, how much thought goes into setting up the photo? Do police stations have special studio areas set aside for these pictures? Does some dummy try to set the shot up in a dim corner when another officer intervenes "The light is much better there over by the coffee maker."? Does the task default to an officer with artistic prowess like the waiter whose knack for drawing lands him the task of scribbling the daily specials on the patio blackboard? Were any of these pictures taken with a cellphone? I especially like the second photo because you can see the photographer's shoes.

Kriss Kross Girls

"Jump, Jump! Kriss Kross Girls." Photographed by Jeff Hahn for MTV UK

This editorial is so badass. I am so sick of fashion trying to sell stuff using dead fish and a deeply exclusive sense of self-importance. I want to experience stories and ideas told by people who are using fashions as a medium. Even when I am in a state of 'fashion disgust'. I will never stop exploring. Discovering something that feels original, passionate, and honest is like hitting a way-point when I thought I was hopelessly lost. Maybe, because fashion magazines were my most accessible window into culture growing up, I am still deeply interested in the work within their pages. I revered the presentations that spoke the loudest and felt the realest. This particular one would be a good example. Nowadays I appreciate fashion advertising and editorials as cultural compasses. I like to see how the interests of designers trickle their way into society. All things start somewhere, and the process of wearing things starts with a designer. So, whether you like it or not, sometimes flared pants will be the freshest thing in the supermarket.

OK

Models:  Sienna King Tiara Young Photographer:  Jeff Hahn Styling:   Madeleine Østlie Hair: Nicole Kahlani Makeup:  Danielle Kahlani

CAT workboots, for example, are being showcased in this shoot. I recognize them as Timberlands at first. I don't see this as an advertisement for these boots, even if whoever was culling these pieces for this story had them placed in their hands. Timberland boots are one of your few options for footwear if you are in prison. Since their design, these work boots have now acquired the power of a million stories. (Interestingly, Timberland boots used to carry a lifetime warranty for any consumer, though the offer has recently been revoked to incarcerated peoples.) These boots are being applied to this project like a texture; they were picked to tell, not sell. This texture shows me two girls owning a massive male street swagger. The fashion in this shoot is acting as a foil to highlight both the status of black men and the flex of women.

If you ever do see an advertisement for Timberland they will show you either 1) a proud and massive workman with a jackhammer or 2) Nordic guy with a rugged leather satchel full of important documents and ice-climbing gear walking briskly along a cobbled city street.

Paper glossies are obsolete now, I am grown up. It's time to get real.
Fashion is made by gigantic threshing machines threaded by the commonwealth as their uber wealthy and self-absorbed multi-national overseers Instagram pictures of manicured fingers clutching pastel-colored French macroons #tru. I am not interested in fashion that sounds like a little klipp of heels in an alley.

I haven't outgrown fashion, not in the slightest! The clothes are finally starting to fit. If I want things done my way, maybe I should just start doing them myself.

Lemaire, Pre-Fall 2015

Designed by Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran for Lemaire
The weights and shapes. I can't stop looking at these coats!

This is such a great presentation. I love the lighting in this shoot. The sun is strong and fracturing through the ocean mist. The cold and salty sea helps put me right between the seams. I really appreciate the juxtaposition of these clothes and the elements. This entire collection is great!

Goblin Gloaming

"Goblin Gloaming" by Erika Flynn, 2014

Blue gloaming pushes at the yellow light melting in from the next room. Fall brings a chill when the sharpest colds are still distant enough to feel romantic.
Red silk Wren turtleneck.

Ama 海女

Photograph by Fosco Maraini (via)

Photograph by Eishin Osaki (via)

Photograph by Yoshiyuki Iwase (via)

The ideas and fishing practices of the Ama pearl divers are so different from the ones used in the community where I live. These ladies are so legendary to me. They have such a strong faith in nature and the ocean. The picture above gives me a great feeling of summer and what is like to be a human.

"Ama – The Pearl Diving Mermaids of Japan"

One of the lesser-known but fascinating parts of Japanese culture is that of the Ama pearl divers. Ama (海女 in Japanese), literally means ‘woman of the sea’ and is recorded as early as 750 in the oldest Japanese anthology of poetry, the Man’yoshu. These women specialised in freediving some 30 feet down into cold water wearing nothing more than a loincloth. Utilising special techniques to hold their breath for up to 2 minutes at a time, they would work for up to 4 hours a day in order to gather abalone, seaweed and other shellfish. ...

- Michael Gakuran (via)

This is an awesome short documentary on the Ama and features a great interview with a real live woman of the sea!


I highly recommend checking out this article ("Ama – The Pearl Diving Mermaids of Japan") by Michael Gakuran if you'd like to learn more!

Gouro Zaouli Dance

As far as seduction dances go, I say this is a pret-ty good one. 

Onfim

"This is my Dad! He is a warrior. When I

grow up, I want to be a warrior just like him!" 

This is a little birchbark drawing by a boy named Onfim. He lived in Novgorod, Russia sometime during the 11th - 15th century. I wish my dad had rakes for hands. For more on Onfim and his drawings check The Art of Onfim.