You may have noticed that I quite like bright colours, so I was always going to like Mexico wasn’t I?
More on my Flickr here.
United Colors of Mexico
Britain v America – Book Covers
Here’s our next look at British v. American design sensibilities.
Last time round we hugely preferred the uncluttered British approach to magazine cover design, though we did stop to note the American fondness for glitz and glamour, as exemplified by Gwyneth Paltrow in a ballgown on the cover. Immaculately groomed movie stars and celebrities are everywhere here, all over the TV and on the covers of every magazine.
The British on the other hand are notoriously bad at glamour and polish. We can very rarely pull it off and so regard deliberate attempts at glamour with suspicion, resorting instead to cheerful eccentricity which often tips over into untidiness or even dowdiness. Brits like to call this ‘reality’.
Compare if you will the UK and US covers for the book Petite Anglaise.
I got hooked on ‘petite’s’ blog a couple of years back, just as she was leaving her live-in partner and father of her child for someone she’d met in her comments box. The blog is hugely well-written and for a while was as suspenseful as a daily soap-opera. Petite (Catherine Sanderson) became globally notorious last year when she was ‘dooced’ for blogging at work – the first high-profile European blogger to whom that had happened. As a result though she managed to snag a big book deal for global publication of her story.
Until I came to live in the US I didn’t realise to what extent books etc. are repackaged for different geographic markets. Sanderson writes amusingly here about how much the text has to be ‘translated’ from English to American. The covers are also COMPLETELY different.
Sanderson’s book is half about her dissatisfaction with her day-to-day ‘metro, boulot, dodo’ routine, her unsatisfactory relationship and the difficulties and sometimes loneliness of bringing up a young child.
This is the half of the story which the British cover very clearly focuses on. Have you ever seen anything more mumsy and dowdy? You just know that there’s going to be dog poo/poop (see how good I’m getting at this English/American translation business!) somewhere in that picture. Note the flat shoes and huge nappy/diaper bag. And I bet her nail varnish is chipped and her legs are hairy. And yes I know that’s how most mothers dress, but do you really want to see that on a book cover? And no sign of the various menfolk in the book. Indeed it’s unlikely, despite appearances, that the woman on the cover has ever had sex.
The dowdy, old-fashioned, feel carries through into the design. Note all the sugary pink, serif fonts and pretty pretty flowers. Though maybe the layout, aside from the fussy illustration, is, in true British style, a little cleaner.
UK cover art for Petite Anglaise
The other half of Sanderson’s story on the other hand is about the illicit thrill of flirting on the Internet via blog comments and emails, meeting this stranger in real life and her subsequent mad affair. Her blog at the time this was happening fairly crackled with sexual excitement. And guess which half of the story the American cover focuses on?
US cover art for Petite Anglaise
Look at those heels! Is she even wearing any clothes? Note the cinema posterish layout. On this cover Petite has been turned into Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt is lurking behind the Eiffel Tower. This woman has sex all the time, NEVER has chipped nail polish and probably doesn’t know one end of a stroller from another.
And yes, I know real life is not like this, but really, if you’re feeling mumsy and badly put together, do you need to be reminded of it in a book cover? The only thing I don’t like about this cover is the actual title where the curly font and fiddly border reminds us of the American love of excessive ornamentation.
So,
Which cover would you buy?
UPDATE: I’m intrigued that people seem to be preferring the UK cover – would love to hear your reasons in the comments.
Viva Mexico!
I LOVED Mexico. I can’t tell you how much.
The places in the world I love best are in Southern Europe – the South of France, Italy and Greece – and Mexico is as close as you can get to being there while being on a different continent.
While my relationship with the US is sometimes strange and ambiguous, I felt utterly, completely, at home in Mexico – the colours; the light; the delightful, crazy people; the margaritas; the food, the interiors.
Things I learned in Mexico
– It is possible for a hotel to be too pink
– If you teach a small blonde girl a bit of basic Spanish you get amazing service in restaurants
– Heidi Klum has thread veins on the back of her left knee
– Heidi Klum had a nanny and her mother hanging around all the time and didn’t seem to know how to interact with her kids
– Heidi Klum is still far too pretty to meet by the side of a pool, though not as luminously pretty as Kate Moss
– Parasailing is as terrifying as it looks
– It was lovely to see churches with spires and domes and things dotting the landscape.
– It is not possible for a margarita to be too large
– Guacamole is not entirely devoid of calories
– I hadn’t realised how much I miss football. It was great to walk into a bar and see PROPER football on the telly, and kids playing football in the street and PROPER goalposts in the school playgrounds. It was like rejoining the rest of the world again.
– Air travel into and out of the the US is a total nightmare
– A very large part of me still wants to give everything up and go and live on a beach somewhere
– I urgently need a friend with a large and expensive yacht
Back properly soon. The house is currently covered in piles of washing, the garden has turned into a jungle (apparently Seattle had summer while we were away) I have a shop which requires rather a lot of TLC and I somehow managed to take 901 photos on our travels. It is possible you may see more Mexico photos anon.
An Interlude
Huge apologies for lack of bloggery in recent days. We’re on vacation and I was so busy in the days leading up to our departure that I didn’t quite get round to mentioning it.
Anyway, after a few days here (the Husband was conferencing again), we are now having a fabulous time here in Mexico, having scored another great deal via LuxuryLink.com.
Don’t miss me too much. I will be back next week, with loads of holiday pics to bore you with and HOT CELEBRITY GOSSIP (guess which A-list stars had booked out the Mexican hotel for a party for their wedding anniversary?)
Calling All Font Nerds
Since we ascertained that there are a few of you round these parts, why not give your inner geek a treat with the ‘Rather Difficult Font Game’ from ILoveTypography.com?
You have a not-so-stellar 21 out of 34 to beat.
Art for art’s sake?
Image from Domino April 2008
Apart from the fact that Drew Barrymore’s much hyped production offices were brown and old-fashioned and fugly as hell, I was somewhat saddened to see this wall of thrift shop finds was proudly emblazoned as having been ‘scored in one day’.
Leaving aside the fact that it is one of the ugliest walls of art I’ve ever encountered, aren’t art walls supposed to be full of precious treasures tracked down over years, each with its own memories attached and story to tell – winning a nailbiting Ebay auction; discovering an unknown artist on Etsy,; saving up for a piece by your favourite artist that you can’t really afford and yes, tracking down something genuinely delightful in a thrift shop or flea market?
Or is it just me?
Come Into My Garden – April
This month the garden is all about blossom and tulips and the colour scheme has become more subdued again as the bright yellow early daffs and lipstick pink tulips fade away.
The cherry tree was in her full splendour earlier on in the month but now a confetti of tiny white blossoms cascades down over the garden every time there is a slight breeze, leaving a dusting of ‘snow’ all over the flower beds. It is all very lovely.
The espaliered apples are also looking stunning. I had forgotten how beautiful pink-tinged apple blossom can be.
This is the view looking across to our neighbours’ house and over towards Lake Union.
I have been talking sternly to the squirrel to make sure he doesn’t get all our apples this year.
Some gorgeous new tulips have arrived which I like much better than the rather gaudy lipstick red ones we had last month. I wish I could remember their names though.
Somewhat foolishly though I planted these in the bed on the side of the garden where they can’t be admired easily from the patio.
Close to the patio I appear to have inadvertently created a ‘black’ garden where the black violas I planted last autumn are still going strong, mixed with the dark new leaves of the berberis and the velvety black of ‘Queen of the Night’, one of my favourite tulips. I love how it’s completely not ‘springlike’, though I wish I’d planted a few pink or orange tulips here to liven it up a bit, and it is really difficult to photograph.
The back of the garden in contrast is now a white garden full of white daffodils, counterpointed by the lime green of the fading hellebores and the sprinkling of tiny white flowers on the daphne. I’m loving the way that bluebells are growing up naturally through the woodland garden at the back.
We’ve been working to spruce up the patio a bit as well. The pansy which I planted last autumn is now enormous, so I moved it to the pot where the gaudy tulips were, awaiting further instructions.
I’ve also given up on my dream of growing dwarf chamomile in between the flagstones (I couldn’t find the ‘lawn’ variety anywhere) and have been putting in this pretty little thyme.
All the sprucing is in honour of the newly painted Adirondack chairs, now complete with little table from Target.
Cirque du Soleil – Corteo
or a lesson in customer service.
“We live in an often sad and baffling world. I remember my grandmother used to tell me never to look at the floor, only look up. Corteo is a show that looks up.”
Daniele Finzi Pasca, Creator and Director
So yesterday we had tickets to the circus.
The Minx was extremely excited and all dressed up in her posh red velvet frock, though she had no idea what a circus was. We had been keen to take her to see it because, since the beginning of the year, she has been attending Seattle’s famous and fabulous ‘circus school’ where even at the age of three she has been learning basic acrobatics, trampolining, trapeze work, tightrope walking, juggling and balancing on balls.
We were very excited because we had already seen two Cirque du Soleil productions (Saltimbanco and Alegria) in London and knew that we were in for the most amazing treat.
I printed off our emailed tickets, and we were all ready to jump in the car, when I happened to glance down at said (very expensive) tickets and realised that they were for Saturday’s performance, not Sunday’s. I suspect you can imagine how I felt, particularly when I looked down at my terribly excited little girl.
On the off-chance, we phoned up their customer service helpline to see if there was anything they could do. They were able to ascertain, using their extremely high-tech ticketing and barcoding system, that we had indeed not attended the day before and then said, ‘I’m afraid we have to remind you that tickets are non-refundable’. Oh well. ‘But we’re going to let you have some comp tickets for this evening’s performance.’ If they hadn’t been on the other end of a phone line we would have kissed them then and there.
As it is we are even bigger fans than we were before and I feel I owe it to them to blog about it at least. GO RIGHT THIS MINUTE AND BUY TICKETS FOR CIRQUE DU SOLEIL.
So what do you get for your money? Firstly, as I mentioned, the tickets are expensive, but they also represent the most incredible value for money. Everything about the experience is perfect, from the ticketing and customer service helpline, to the carparking arrangements and huge Dr Seuss coloured big top.
As we took our seats, clowns were performing in the aisles and huge ghostly chandeliers could be seen through the semi-sheer scrim. The Minx was both mesmerised and overwhelmed by the noise and spectacle.
And then lights went on behind the scrim and we could see a clown on his deathbed with angels flying up above and a crowd forming his ‘corteo’ or cortege. And then began a celebration of the clown’s life.
We saw ladies of the night spinning and swinging from sparkly chandeliers (which delighted the interior design obsessed part of my soul); kids bouncing on beds; clowns riding bikes in the sky; upside down tight rope walkers; and little people flying round the big top carried by helium balloons. I love how Cirque du Soleil both represents the very best in modern circus technology, but also carries on the old circus traditions with nods to commedia dell’arte, gypsy folklore and vaudeville.
The music is all original and fabulously sung and performed, including symphonic whistling from the ringmaster and a woman who plays the gypsy violin behind her back. The costumes and lighting were sensational, the set and props amazing and the attention to detail is extraordinary. Every single member of the large cast is a master of his or her art.
After being initially somewhat nonplussed the Minx got right into the swing of things and kept shouting ‘wow’ very loudly, and was so inspired that during the intermission she treated a small crowd gathered outside to an exhibition of fantastical dance moves and many views of her undergarments. (I have realised that I am so not a stage mother, as I find such exhibitionism cringingly embarrassing). Very cutely though, she cried when it was over because she didn’t want the circus to end.
And so closed an evening that was not only a hugely inspiring feast for all the senses, but also hugely inspiring from a business perspective. Cirque du Soleil is as close as it gets to a perfect customer experience.
GO RIGHT THIS MINUTE AND BUY TICKETS FOR CIRQUE DU SOLEIL.
All images scanned in from the programme. I so wished I could have taken my camera.
Sock yarn – not sure
So I’m working on my next pair of socks – since I’m still in the throes of my obsession. I got another yarn from Violet Green which looked like this when it was in the skein.
I was assuming, based on my previous experience, that it would come out softly variegated, or perhaps in some nice stripes.
Instead I seem to be creating splodges of colour which make them look a bit as if I’ve been treading grapes in turquoise socks, which I’m not entirely convinced is the look I’m after.
The good news is that I’m absolutely adoring the Jaywalker sock pattern I found online – complex enough to be interesting and easy enough not to be a complete and utter PITA. It’s a shame that the yarn doesn’t show off the intriguing zigzags though. But definitely a pattern I will try again.
Here is a gratuitous pic of my knitting on our new bedroom chair – a bit of a bargain from Urban Outfitters – of which more later when the bedroom is tidier. 
Now I know my ABCs
Just loving these ABC prints from Etsy shop Lucky Paperie
I think it’s the two colourways I like mostly. (Found via black.white.bliss, one of my favourite design blogs)