Wear + Here

March 17, 2014

Suspension please

Treehouse at Swallowtail Studios in Petaluma, CA (rent on airbnb).

Tumalo Camp Shirt in Navy Check, part of Pendleton’s The Portland Collection, Spring 2014

It’s been years since I climbed a tree – a confession that, once made, must be remedied. This NoCal treehouse – wedged within a mighty eucalyptus tree – beckons the all-too grounded (me). Weathered stairs lead three stories up to a bi-level cabin bracketed by bark. Neighbors include horses, a barn beloved by the Grateful Dead, and a cozy wine-country town. But I would leave all that below and nest – wrapped in flannel, with a book or New Yorkers, falling in and out of naps, writing some, sans cellular. Suspended.

March 16, 2014

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Temple skyscape

“Gathered Sky” by James Turrell at Temple Hotel in Beijing. Photo by Ben McMillan, article from the Wall Street Journal.

Somewhere in the Indian Ocean necklace by Holst + Lee. Handmade with nylon rope, turquoise stones, brass fixtures and woven chain.

Somewhere in the Indian Ocean handmade necklace by Holst + Lee, nylon rope, turquoise stones, brass fixtures and woven chain.

It’s dusk in Beijing. I lie on the floor of an ancient Buddhist temple, exposed sky above. The last colors of the day melt over me. Bats dash across the ceiling cutout. A star blinks. James Turrell, a reclusive genius with light, traveled to China to fine-tune “Gathered Sky” at the new Temple Hotel. I imagine his astonishment at the calm achieved within the restored grounds, within the cacophonous capital – a site symbolic of the city itself. Built in the mid-18th century, the temple became a factory after the Cultural Revolution, churning out bicycles, medical supplies and black-and-white TVs (the latter: a stunning foil for Turrell’s profound palette). I shall visit, wearing Holst + Lee’s Somewhere in the Indian Ocean necklace, a handmade collar echoing the fans of color inside the temple.

March 14, 2014

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A beginning

Ontological Road Map 081811 (detail) by Robert Walden, ink on paper, 2011.

Chambray Machinist Jumpsuit by Madewell, Spring 2014.

Maybe it’s because I live in winter, awash in white and ash. Maybe it’s because I miss the brocade of Brooklyn. Or because I still think in Vietnamese and imagine an alternate life abroad. Or the way my writerly mind works, constantly crafting characters and scenes. For these reasons and a myriad more, I’m always scheming where to go next, and what to wear when I’m there. So to exer(or)cise my sartorial wanderlust, I present Wear + Here.