Present Joys

A few weeks ago, I started a new job at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, joining the in-house creative team as a graphic designer. Here’s a picture of me on the job, in the studio where we work. Well, I’m taking a break on the job in this picture. (We had sparklers left over from a July 4 photoshoot, so we made good use of them during leisure time.)

I always have difficulty acclimating myself to new things—the first few weeks at Jeni’s were no different. But I’m now starting to settle into things there and I am really enjoying it. I’m working in a relaxed, visually-stimulating office with a bunch of very fascinating, charming people. I’m very thankful for how things have played out.

“The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.”

My great-grandmother Louise is 101 years old today. A few years ago, I asked her to write down her recipe for cheese straws. This is what she sent me. Happy birthday, Louise—keep doing your thing.

We’ve been thoroughly conditioned to aspire in all things stylistic to the young, sexy, reckless, and raw. But these are virtues that most of us don’t actually embody—at least for very long. At a certain age it behooves most of us to take the long view and dial in a look that gets better with time.

Good words from Will Boehlke on high-waisted trousers, sex appeal, and enduring elegance.

YES

lesliehowards:

Claude Rains by Al Moldvay, 1955.

Peter Lorre recalled Rains’s perfectionism and his “constantly studying” the script. At one point Lorre saw the chance for a prank that might break what the cast regarded as Rains’s overly serious demeanour. A scene having nothing whatsoever to do with Casablanca was concocted and memorized by Lorre and others. “When he came in the next day and saw us rehearsing the scene,” recalled Lorre, “he was frantic. He called me aside and said, ‘Peter, something terrible has happened to me. I can’t remember a single line.’ We all broke up and he wasn’t even mad—just relieved that his memory wasn’t failing.”

Reblogging this in honor of Claude Rains’ frames, which are completely amazing.