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During the 10th century, a Japanese court woman wrote a collection of lists of her daily preoccupations entitled The Pillow book.
Here is her most famous entry :
Things That Make One’s Heart Beat Faster
Sparrows feeding their young.
To pass a place where babies are playing.
To sleep in a room where some fine incense has been burnt.
To notice that one’s elegant Chinese mirror has become a little cloudy.
To see a gentleman stop his carriage before one’s gate and instruct his attendants to announce his arrival.
To wash one’s hair, make one’s toilet, and put on scented robes; even if not a soul sees one, these preparations still produce an inner pleasure.
It is night and one is expecting a visitor.
Suddenly one is startled by the sound of raindrops, which the wind blows against the shutters.
Don't you feel like Perfectly Imperfect is like a giant, modern-age Pillow Book ?
Dec 28, 2024
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it’s great when I’m able to romanticize my daily life when things seem mundane. to be able to be grateful for what I have rather than focusing on what I don’t. that’s not to say that I think you shouldn’t question your situation and to be complicit, but sometimes for the time being you don’t have a choice. so it’s better to look on the bright side of things. I’ve heard the quote that the grass is greener where you water it and I believe that to be true to an extent. I’m also reminded of a poem that’s stuck with me for a while. it’s title is Aimless Love by Billy Collins and it goes like this:
This morning as I walked along the lake shore,
I fell in love with a wren
and later on in the day, a mouse
the cat had dropped under the dining room table.
In the shadows of an autumn evening,
I fell for a seamstress
still at her machine in the tailor’s window,
and later for a bowl of broth,
steam rising like smoke from a naval battle.
This is the best kind of love, I thought,
without recompense, without gifts,
or unkind words, without suspicion,
or silence on the telephone.
The love of the chestnut,
the jazz cap and one hand on the wheel.
No lust, no slam of the door—
the love of the miniature orange tree,
the clean white shirt, the hot evening shower,
the highway that cuts across Florida.
No waiting, no huffiness, or rancor—
just a twinge every now and then
for the wren who had built her nest on a low branch overhanging the water
and for the dead mouse,
still dressed in its light brown suit.
But my heart is always standing on its tripod,
ready for the next arrow.
After I carried the mouse by its tail to a pile of leaves in the woods,
I found myself standing at the bathroom sink gazing down affectionately at the soap,
so patient and soluble,
so at home in its pale green soap dish.
I could feel myself falling again as I felt its turning in my wet hands and caught the scent of the lavender and stone.
May 17, 2025
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Candle when the power goes out
Cross stitch pattern that smooths out from far away
Taking off leggings
Hot water on back of neck
Cold water on back of neck
Subtle perfume
Smell of a person when they only get close
Large, slightly cold body of water
Thank you, I’m sorry, continue, etc…
Furniture low to the ground
Back cold, face and front of thighs warm at the outdoor fire
Cooking on wood stove
Perfect onion julienne
Finishing the ball-point study pen
Cashmere skin feeling
Lavender
Cardamom
Bright orange sun-with bright orange leaves
Ocean cold
Crab trap on the side of the dock
Oyster crackers
Leaf looks like animal walking down the sidewalk
When car window reflection layers over whatever’s on the other side
Damp paper smell
Old watercolor smell
Tingling from staying up late
Love-heart-swell
Heart-swell from biggest music sound
Warm bed
Sparkling ride cymbal
Well timed splash cymbal that lines up with a melodic accent
Wet rain smell
Large crowd in Philadelphia, flags as if they were fireflies
Many layers of sweaters
Putting clean hair in braids after washing
One chiming bell, one chiming bell
Right outside the party
Cycle of dipping in river and sunning on the rock
Finger on embossment
6 song playlist
Porter’s moms house
Smell of the sweater I brought to Canada
Head against the bus window
Hem of dress moves quickly when walking fast
Nothing to do tomorrow
Nothing to do the day after
May 9, 2025
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this recommendation may include:
countless pages of journal entries, playlists unfinished, messages unsent because you don’t want to be annoying, wishing on stars that you can’t see from your window that faces an alleyway, the chill in your bones when the wrong (or right) word is uttered from across the street by strangers who could never even attempt to know what it means to you, the feeling of the mind overtaking the heart overtaking the mind, looking at the crystals on your nightstand and telling them to do their thing, whatever that thing is, wanting to throw a ball of yarn into the sky and hoping it unravels at the right doorstep with your own heart and soul tied to it by a simple boy scout knot
and begging the universe to give you an easy work day so you can relive this feeling again tomorrow
Mar 12, 2024
Top Recs from @louise_the_robin
Feb 22, 2025
Not at all like a lot of « sensationalist » documentaries about space exploration, this is on the slower side, but it’s SO worth it !! It gets almost trippy at times, and some of the shots are so beautiful…
Being an astronaut in the 70s looks so fun !!
Also the Brian Eno soundtrack in this is INCREDIBLE.
Just watch it, it’s really good, AND it’s free on youtube (linked here)
Feb 5, 2025
This is one of my childhood films, it’s known in France and I don’t know if it’s been exported a lot but I love it !
It’s by Jacques Demy, THE French musical film director, and tells the story of donkey skin (based on a Grimm story I believe).
The costumes ! The Colors ! The songs ! Catherine Deneuve ! Random people with blue skin ! It’s all good
It all really creates a very whimsical fairy tale atmosphere that’s PERFECT
Anyway watch it with subtitles, I’m guessing dubbed musicals are really bad
Here is the trailer
Feb 9, 2025