REIGN Takes on Mary Queen of Scots

Let's just say that the mixture of excitement and extreme skepticism I feel about CW's Reign, the quote unquote untold story of Mary Queen of Scots rise to power, mirrors my feelings when I found out they were turning Gone with the Wind into a musical. (And I don't just mean annoyance that I'm not the one writing it!)

As you know, it's tough to say which I love more: musicals or Gone with the Wind. Costume dramas or Scotland (and esp. the problematic Mary Stuart). HOWEVER. To use the comparison I used back in the day for GWTW musical, it's like introducing your childhood best friend to your best friend from college. You love them both. They're both AMAZING. And yet, you have the nagging suspicion that they are NOT going to get along. (Spoiler alert: GWTW as a musical was about as bad as it gets.)

So, I mean, listen. Almost everything about this show is historically inaccurate. Like, everything. To the point that it's not even worth detailing all the many and egregious inaccuracies. And while, I'm mostly ok with that, I'm not thrilled about the casting. I like Adelaide Kane kind of, ya know, in general. But I just am not digging her as Mary (wrong coloring entirely!). I'm really not thrilled about the men. I don't mind making Francis kind of hot. But just... I dunno. Maybe they'll grow on me. And, I know it's not the history channel. It's the CW. That's fine. 

And OBVS, despite my misgivings, I'm still going to watch the shit out of this show. 

The most appealing factor, based on the below extended preview is Mary's relationship with the very historically accurate 4 Marys (Beaton, Seton, Fleming & Livingston, though in Reign, they're condensed to 3 and given insane names like Kenna and Greer) which lasted throughout her life. I like the idea of these 5 (4) women navigating the waters together. 

The least appealing things I can surmise from the below is 
1. Please get someone else doing your copywriting for those text tags in the promos. They are ominous, but do not even make sense.
2. Why do all the French people sound just plain old British? I mean, I guess really they're all speaking French including her, because that's her first language,  in which case British is just the standard, okay. It's murky territory, but it bugs me. I'll elaborate further once I see how they handle some things re: using French at all. 

Reign premieres Oct. 17 at 9 p.m. on the CW.

Haviland Sings "Release Me" From Nicholas & Alexandra

So... I'm not quite sure I realized how personal these lyrics were when I wrote them. Sure, I don't have a sick child-- I don't know what that's like. But at its core, this is a song about anxiety. The way life feels under the oppression of it; the threat of it... as compared to how it feels to be free of it; not afraid of it. 

Haviland is one of my friends who is most privy to my struggles with anxiety and so in addition to being a beautiful singer of this tune, she has a super insight into whatever deep well I pulled these lyrics from. I remember when I finally emailed these off to Steven, he wrote back soon after, "Where the hell did that come from!?"

I wasn't conscious of it then, but I am now. 

Not only did Haviland lay the smack down on this song, she put that concert on lock down. One of her best vocal performances I've ever heard. More of night like those please, Miss Stillwell, thankyouverymuch. 

And even though this is Alix's song in Nic & Alix, I sure wouldn't mind seeing Hav as Tatiana... a regal and enchanting Grand Duchess she shares a striking resemblance to. Not to mention, I can hear her all over Livadia. Until the next step... 

Legacy - Some Thoughts on Boston

It was strange and poignant to be in our reading yesterday when we all received the news about the Boston marathon bombings. I had just been saying to Steven the day before that even though Nicholas & Alexandra is a period piece about historical figures, I think its issues are contemporary to today. Most of Nicholas & Alexandra's actions were rooted in a deep sense of fear that they had felt since childhood-- the fear of living under constant threat of physical violence. 

One of the saddest things about terrorist activities-- and why violent methods are used to make a point-- is the cloud of fear they attempt to create in large groups of people. But no one makes their best decisions out of fear. It's encouraging to hear so much light-based rhetoric after yesterday. The messages going viral are largely about looking for the helpers in terrible situations, and how as many people who try to do harm in the world, there are more of us who want to do healing, creating, and loving. So look for those people. And decide that it's those people, that idea, those messages that will remain when we're gone and serve as our legacy. 

Haviland's HOT new dance track - MKE Maximum Energy

Friend/Performer/Mover/Shaker-Extraordinaire Haviland Stillwell has been working on a new dance album since I got to LA. I remember listening to some early tracks in her prius my first week here and loving  the super different direction she was going in. I mean, afterall, she's a legit soprano, not to mention the first person to ever sing VOTE! besides yours truly.

Well, this is nothing like musical theatre, but it has drama and theatricality to spare! Not to mention, enlightened ideas and a beat that made me instantly download and add to my hiking/running/cardio onslaught playlist. 

Also, I've heard the concept for the impending video and I cannot wait to see it fully realized. I'm even thinking about lobbying for a cameo. Maybe not. I don't know about my intergalactic dance moves...

Get your very own copy right here on itunes! 

Learn how to place music on itunes at ReverbNation.com

Hav is supported by a whole bunch of other cool people I love too. So let's give them their due for some stellar (see what I did there, intergalactic friends) work on this!

written by Haviland Stillwell

produced by Mike Schlosser

mastered by Sonic House Post

cover design by Heather J. Weiss

photo by Sabrina Bringuier

Skyfall & Bond 50

Were you as disappointed with the 50 years of Bond "Tribute" as I was? I mean, I heard they had something better planned... with all the Bonds and more of a music montage... that fell about at the last minute thanks to some butt hurt egotism from Pierce Brosnan or something. But still. 

I wish the video montage below had been in place of that sad one they clearly threw together at the last minute. 

For the record, I think Skyfall is one of the best, if not the best of the modern Bonds. I'm not even just saying that because of the Scotland/Glen Etive/Glencoe connection. (About time they went back to Bond's Scottish roots! Huzzah for Scotland on Film!) Or because of Ben Whishaw as Q. (Though that definitely helps too.) I think Skyfall was robbed of Best Cinematography on Sunday night. I'm all in support of the VFX battle that's going on right now. Which is why I think it's great that Life of Pi won for VFX. But Skyfall should have taken cinematography. 

And I hope that one day, Bond will get a tribute-- at the Oscars or somewhere else-- worthy of its champion status. 

Downton Abbey Christmas Special...in Scotland!

While The Hour has been thirst-quenching for basic British television watching needs, nothing can fill the gaping hole that is always left by Downton Abbey when it goes. Luckily, it's almost time for the Christmas special! 

Smartly, Julian Fellowes finally decided there needed to be an episode in Scotland. So this year, we see the Crawleys packing up and heading north to what is actually Inverary Castle (or In-a-ray-ra as you apparently pronounce it.) , seat of Clan Campbell and home to the Duke of Argyll. It is also my favorite castle-- one of the top 3 most beautiful places I've ever seen. 

Who knows what Inverary will be standing in for according to the Downton world. My guess is its to do with the parents of libertine cousin Lady Rose. For those of you Americans who haven't yet watched season 3, you'll find out who she is soon enough. 

I also loved this great article in the Scotsman recalling Scotland's place as the swank vacation destination of the day. I'm only sad this was not written by my pal Sandy or any one of his various pseudonyms-- Tibby Redfern, et al. 

The special is feature length, too. So two whole hours of Lady Edith embracing her new freedom as a lady journalist, Branson getting a little somethin-somethin, and whatever dramatic miscommunication they've (surely) drummed up for Lady Mary and Matthew. I just hope no one dies. :)

Click here for an extended preview. Thanks as always to Period Movies for the head's up!

Please Don't Ruin Anna Karenina, Keira Knightley

Keira Knightley, though only in her mid-twenties, has already gotten to play a substantial chunk of literatures greatest heroines: Lizzy Bennet, Lara from Dr. Zhivago, Ruth from Never Let Me Go (though she's more the villain of that story) and now Anna Karenina. Personally, I've never been a fan. I think she holds all her emotion in her nose. And I don't think anyone ever plays a Vivien Leigh role better than Vivien Leigh.  And I think she's too young to play Anna Karenina.

But I'm intrigued. For the texture of the time period (which I write about constantly in Nicholas & Alexandra) And largely by the drug that is ANY new adaptation of classic literature, Anna Karenina being a favorite. But also by the uber uber young Aaron Johnson (sorry I refuse to call him Aaron Taylor-Johnson) as Vronsky (he's 22! He was born in the 90's!), Matthew Macfadyn as Oblonsky (he is never ever not good) and Jude Law as Karenin. Jude Law has turned himself into a bit of joke in recent years, but I like to remember back to a time when he wasn't a leading man, but a magnificent character actor and villain. Or even more recently than that, when he was able to bring leading man focus and character actor complexity to Hamlet on Broadway and the West End. My gut says his performance as Karenin (where he lets his natural hair line free!) is the performance of this film. 

But of course, it won't be all art-- not all the time. There will have to be some Hollywood cross promotions like the Anna Karenina line at Banana Republic and whathaveyou. 

McC stagged us free advance screening tickets, and if my shit were here from London yet (sigh) I'd bust out my fake fur and rock it out down to the theatre. Opens everywhere November 16th.

Martyred Queens For the Modern Audience

You didn't think I'd forgotten about Scotland, did you? I definitely haven't. I'm still looking for Scotland everywhere I go. Including here in Hollywood. So today, let's talk about two Mary Queen of Scots projects that are in the pipeline. 

The first, I'm quite excited about, if only because it marks a drastic upgrade in casting-- IMO. Working Title is putting together a biopic of Mary in younger days with Saoirse Ronan. I'm a big fan of the gal and am just so so so thankful we won't have to watch Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Johansson her way through it. I find her clunky and I just can't deal with her in period pieces. I find her insufferable. And every time I think about her being Natalie Portman's sister in The Other Boleyn Girl, I throw up a little in my mouth. So kudos, Working Title, for moving away from her and onto Saoirse. 

The second is either going to be brilliant or an utter disaster: a teen show for CW, also about Mary's younger days in France called Reign. The network describes the show as Game of Thrones meets Marie Antoinette. But that's not all! The description goes on... "...if Marie Antoinette had a girl posse and was coming of age as a Warrior Queen..." So, take that as you will. No word on casting yet. 

While she's been played by many great actresses-- Katharine Hepburn, Vanessa Redgraves, Samantha Morton (though that Scottish brogue was a bit misleading)-- probably the best recent film portrayal is by French actress Clemence Poesy. Best overall portrayal: The AMAZING Janet McTeer in the superbly crafted Schiller play, Mary Stuart. 

My obsession with MQoS virtually guarantees that I will watch/own/write about both of these projects. I never get sick of takes on her story. But I hope they're handled well. Or I'll be mad I didn't get a crack at the story myself. One day, Steven and I are gonna get to that martyred queen song cycle we always talked about doing. But what do you think? Over the top fabulous? Ghetto Camp Fabulous? Horrific?

Sunday So Dreamy

What is it about Scandanavians and that dark fairy tale tone? They just tap into that like nobody else. Hans Christian Andersen, anyone? I came across these fabulous pieces by Norwegian artist, Rune Guneriussen, via Honestly WTF and haven't been able to get them out of my head, so I'm passing them on to you. Haunting. Lovely. Woodsy. And as CS Lewis once said, "It begins, as a good story should, with a young man [or woman!] lost in a forest."

Hope you're having a dreamy Sunday!

More. 

Time Traveling - Hollywood Tower

Radio people have always been my people. Makes me think of a time before television. Before I moved to NYC, I used to spend hours in the studio laughing maniacally with DJs from Mix 94.1, most especially, my darling Kade. We talked about Buddhism and life and had funny alter egos I'm sure no one found as funny as we did. I'm so happy to be reunited with him here in Los Angeles. His radio station, 98.7, permanently occupies the rooftop penthouse at the Hollywood Tower, and last night, we partook of its splendor for some Saint Motel and The Walking Dead. All of that was fun (minus the blase LA crowd-- whatelseisnew?) but I was mostly just happy to be surrounded by art decor on all sides. 

Hollywood Tower was built in 1929 with an eye towards entertainment type inhabitants. Or, as the plaque on the door says, "Sophisticated Living for film luminaries during the Golden Era of Hollywood." The bathrooms, the elevators alone... le sigh. I'd live there, that's for sure. 

One day, I want to make a coffee table book consisting of nothing other than dreamy photos of me draped with the ennui of the aristocracy on fabulous couches all over the world. You'd be amazed at how many I already have....

Reclaiming the Birthright Friday Links

One week from today, I'll be leaving on a jetplane for Los Angeles and whatever my new life will be there. I'm a bit more excited about it than I feel is prudent-- especially considering my track record with moves panning out the way I envisioned them. A part of me feels like I can't spaz out; I just have to keep my head down in solemn gratitude that I have the freedom to reconfigure the way I do. 

Although, it was really just the one move that feels... tender. And even though this was not the time for me and London, I don't regret it at all. (Much.) And some of those other whimsical, determined, seeking or free-spirited moves turned out better than I envisioned, so perhaps I'm even.  

Ah, but California. California is different. Los Angeles, with all its many peccadillos, is different. A promise is made to you by the city you're born in. It says, no matter your opinion of it, or how far you may wander, you can always come back there and feel brand new. Here is where you came into this world. And where I came into the world is a major artery on an oceanside highway that never ends. A place where the sun shines almost all the time and a place that respects itself enough to never take itself too seriously-- or care if anyone else takes it seriously either. California, in one week, I'm coming for my birthright. I hope you're ready for me. 

And I hope you, dear readers, are ready for your links:

- The Stranger shows us our Country. California. Mascot: Tom Hanks. Motto: "You're Fat!"
- My friend Dave Elzer's new musical opens in LA. Justin Love!
- You guys, I think the Les Miz movie is gonna be amazing-- whole-heartedly approve of the approach. 
- The Top 50 Most Romantic photos of all time

It's International Book Week, in honor of that, check out Give A Book charity. A very cool organization that gets books to the people who need them. You get to pick the books though. Check it out. I'm a big fan! Like them on facebook too!

Some Mitt Shit:
- Amy Davidson in New Yorker
- Fine. David Brooks. 
- A Buddhist perspective on Romney's gaff.

- A West Wing Reunion for a cause
- The Soul of Scotland in pictures
- A beautiful essay on traveling
- Women speak 75% less when surrounded by dudes...

- NYC vs. LA and the winner is.... 

A throwback for you all.

Your Local 5 Star Gas Station - Saxapahaw General Store

Since my return from abroad, I've been working a lot on retaining that British/European sensibility I genuinely identify with now that I'm back in the States (for now). But I also recognized that it's important to be where you are and love where you are. So I've been on a bit of a mission to fall in love with America again. I got a little answer to my prayers on a five day road trip through some of my favorite parts of the South (largely the hippie parts) with my family. 

Some of the best time I ever spend I spend with my Godmother Lucie-- wherever we are, but especially in North Carolina. Saxpahaw is close enough to university towns to have that feel, but out of the way enough to have small Southern town charm with a hippie soft edge. 

Saxapahaw might be the middle of nowhere, but it is the nexus of all things to love about small hippie Southern artists' towns. Our first stop was the SXPHW General Store where we feasted on brisket sandwiches and local grown vegetables, local cheeses and beers. If I had been travelling with anything more than a small backback, I would have taken a whole lot of that home (Home? Where?) with me. 

We sat in the sunshine while the vegetable garden grew all around us. There, Lucie and I plotted the artist colony in repurposed mill condos we'll start next summer... To Be Continued...

Happy Labor Day!

Even though it's a holiday, I'm working. Now that Nicholas & Alexandra is done, (did I mention that? Finished! For now.) it's time to crack into finishing those grant applications Steven and I are applying for and get my pilot in shape to take to LA at the end of the month. 

I have a lot of feelings about unions, but I feel like it's important to never lose sight of the purpose  of unions-- what we have that we once didn't have because of the Labor movement-- and to remember that who needs the protection of unions may always be changing. I'm working today by choice. So, thanks, Labor movement, for weekends, 8 hour work days, (at least in theory) child labor laws and sick pay. 

Positively Fourth Street, Always.

Fourth Street. Start on Avenue C. Losaida. Walk all the way from Avenue C to West 4th. Recalling every in and out, every short cut through a garden. Past my first apartment with no lock where I made my best friends, and Perbacco--  the best Italian restaurant in New York. Past the housing project where we watched that man look up at the sun and then die. Watching a group of friends help each other move a mattress. Remembering when my friends helped me carry my things west from 4th & B to 4th & 2nd, which burned down, but has now been rebuilt. 

Some things, I remember the old: the new bar, Dorian Gray, that once used to be the tribal jewelry store (no surprise that disappeared) and others, I only remember used to be something else. Some place else I never frequented. 

The same guys still work in the bodega. Belcourt looks exactly the same and I bet still serves amazing Bloody Marys, but it's called Caliope now. Past what was once Cuppa Cuppa, where a mean middle aged New York lady named Jenny eventually became my friend after about a year of me wearing her down with smiles when I bought my iced-coffee everyday. (Just proving every hardened New Yorker still wants a friend.) I wonder if the FAB center bought her out, or if she had to close anyhow. I hope she's happy and retired somewhere and not lonely. 

Past all the places along 4th and Washington Square Park where Steven and I dumped pieces of our set after VOTE! at Minetta Lane closed. We were so stealth. We didn't want to get arrested. We were high on margaritas. We had crowbars. It was one of the funnest nights ever. Who doesn't like being in league with someone? Being part of a low-stakes conspiracy? 

I'm in league with New York City. She's like my big sister who keeps my secrets from our parents. 

New York, in many ways,  is like that older sister. She taught you everything you know, She's cooler than you, She often pretends to be indifferent to you, or even annoyed by your presence, but actually, she loves you. And you love her. I may not always choose to live here in New York City, choose to live my life the way she does, but I'll always love her, conspire with her and look up to her best. 

Downton Abbey Enters The Roaring Twenties

Vanity Fair decided to indulge our fantasies and speculate on some of the roaring twenties styles we'll have to look forward to on Season Three of Downton Abbey. Not least of these trends, Vanity Fair looks at wedding dress standards of the day, speculating on what Lady Mary's wedding dress might look like. 

Earlier this month, before the premiere of BBC's "Downton Rival," Parade's End, (which I've seen the first episode of, and will elaborate on my thoughts in a future post) Benedict Cumberbatch said of Downton that it was "sentimental, cliched, atrocious." (He later said the whole thing was a joke. PS- I love how that's the constant defense of saying anything that's rude or terrible. Ugh.)

I hate to quote the Daily Mail (always) but so far, I can't help but agree a bit that "I don't want to rain on the Beeb's Parade, but this is no Downton." While I loved Ford Madox Ford's original book, even then I don't know that it inspired any particular attachment to characters. I didn't go giddy at the thought of what any of them might wear to their wedding. Let's just put it that way. 

Anyhow, I loved these photos from Vanity Fair. How adorable is Flobelle Fairbanks (and what a  bitchin' name! I feel like it's the name of a character from a novel.) the niece of Douglas Fairbanks. I'm sort of intrigued by her, but can't seem to find much info. Anyone know anything good about her? I love a good twenties heroine. 

A New Yorker is Someone Who Longs For New York

A lot has come and gone in New York since when I last lived here two years ago. H & H Bagels is gone. On the flip side, we have an Experimental Cocktail Club. And last week, we learned that Broadway/Times Square Main stay, Colony Music would close its doors. 

This disappearing act and others are all being documented by Jeremiah Moss on his blog, Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, aka the Book of Lamentations: A Bitterly Nostalgic Look at a City in the Process of Going Extinct. 

It is a melancholy blog that you can't help but feel achey scrolling through-- memory after memory of places lost to New York's escalating rents, corporate buy-outs, and fickle tastes. He says goodbye to all kinds of things I didn't even know we'd lost: the Les Desirs bakeries and the  Partners & Crime Mystery Bookshops. 

Justin Davidson of New York Magazine called Moss, "the defender of all the undistinguished hunks of masonry that lend the streets their rhythm and give people a place to live and earn a living: bodegas, curio stores, a metalworking shop in Soho, diners, and dingy bars."

He's expanded into an additional blog: Dreams of a Vanishing New York, where he posts his dreams and those of other New Yorkers. He started this side project after he noticed he'd be having dreams about the vanishing aspects of New York's character. 

Though, he's also quick to point out that it's not just what's going away, but what's replacing it. I don't know that I agree with him on the High Line, but I see his point. And cities built on tourism are kind of a common thread in my lifetime. 

I always think of the monologue in the wonderful You've Got Mail, on the night when Kathleen Kelly is closing her bookstore. 

People are always saying that change is a good thing. But all they're really saying is that something you didn't want to happen at all... has happened. My store is closing this week. I own a store, did I ever tell you that? It's a lovely store, and in a week it'll be something really depressing, like a Baby Gap. Soon, it'll be just a memory. In fact, someone, some foolish person, will probably think it's a tribute to this city, the way it keeps changing on you, the way you can never count on it, or something. I know because that's the sort of thing I'm always saying. But the truth is... I'm heartbroken. I feel as if a part of me has died, and my mother has died all over again, and no one can ever make it right. 

Which is all to say, I think this is indicative of an even bigger problem-- in our spheres of employment and occupation and our interests. A massive consolidation of value controlled by "the market." Cannibalizing the specialties to feed the consolidated giants. There's a lot we choose not to concern ourselves with. There's a lot of world out there, but we seem to be sticking to our comfort zones. Even I'm at Starbucks right now because I know what I'm going to get and they have free internet. But it depresses me. 

This is an American Soul question to me. (And a human soul question.) One we're not going to immediately get to the bottom of, for sure. But I think it's important for us to not breeze past it on the way to whatever we're going to do next. I think Jeremiah Ross's blog is that moment before movement. We have to at least sit with it for a while, roll it around in our thoughts and then proceed.  At least then we'll be able to say wherever we end up, it wasn't by accident, because we were too busy to pay attention. Wherever we end up, we'll be able to say we did it deliberately. 

“There is this sense of powerlessness as the city is being radically changed around them and the things they love about it are being taken away,” Mr. Moss said. “There’s this anxiety about being discarded. A lot of the dreams have to do with destruction and the fear of destruction, but there’s also a wish for destruction. I think underneath the anxiety, is the thought that if the thing you fear happens, then you don’t fear it anymore.” 

And the Readers Said 'Amen'

For a long time now, I've been fascinated with the repurposing of some of the world's most beautiful buildings-- churches. New York is full of elegant old churches, many of which no longer have congregations and have adopted new uses in order to avoid being torn down. 

There's the one on 6th Ave and 19th (20th?) that was a nightclub when I moved here and now fronts as a boutique mall. (I went to the opening.) That sort of makes me sad, actually. But then there's the amazing Novare condos of West 4th, formerly the Methodist "Peace" Church for helping Vietnam protestors in the 60s. This 1860 building is kind of my New York dream building and the living spaces in there are nothing short of heavenly. 

But now, it seems as though the Netherlands has honed in on the exact right repurpose for a once and still grand cathedral. A bookstore. Seleyx hired architects Merkx + Girod to give this Dominican structure in Maastrich, which fell into disuse after Napoleon, a major makeover. Give me 8,000 square feet of books and coffee bar and I'm a happy camper. I could browse in here for daaaaays. Old + New... always my favorite. 

Halifax Harbo(u)r - Natal Day Fireworks

Saturday night before Aly & Dion's wedding, the city of Halifax decided to celebrate them with a fireworks extravaganza. Okay, actually the fireworks were for Halifax's birthday, the uncomfortably named Natal Day. 

Though, apparently, Halifax isn't a city. It was dissolved in 1996 and made a municipality along with a few other former cities. There are no longer cities in Nova Scotia. I have no idea what that actually means, but I'm intrigued by what appears to be a lot of semantics and bureaucratic rigmarole. 

City, Municipality, unincorporated provincial metropolitan area, potato, po-tah-to, I have to give it to Halifax Harbo(u)r. Daytime, Sunset, Night time... it is gorgeous 24/7. 

Reflecting in St Peter's Basilica

After the communication onslaught of yesterday (connecting with everyone over Ben has been really moving) I've been kind of quiet today. Packing, thinking, and realizing that what I did when I woke up the next morning after finding out that news was go to the capital of Catholicism: The Vatican and St Peter's Basilica, where the apostle Peter was crucified upside down. I think Ben would have had a chuckle about me heading to the Vatican in a way, in his honor. Many of our discussions were about Buddhism and Catholicism. Though he was pretty cool with Buddhism too. 

Everyone keeps asking if we went to the top of St Peter's and the answer is no, actually. I'll explain more later, but let's just say I had reached my limits of standing in line and sharing stank air in confined spaces with strangers. 

Even without journeying to the top, St Peter's is breathtaking. From the square with its outstretched arms that hug inward-- welcoming you into the fold-- to every golden overlapping angle. Crepuscular rays for days. A scientific word far too ugly for the thing it's describing. 

I love being in churches, cathedrals and chapels-- of any religion even more than I like cemeteries. It easier to hear the stories of what came before in places like that. It's easier to feel still enough to listen. 

There was a mass happening while we were there and singers. It was just a glowing, golden feeling bouncing off every one of those angles. Music. Light. Breeze. I was grateful. 

London Hidden Treasures - Tredegar Square

Never would I have believed, tucked away in London's rough East End, would there be a perfectly preserved Georgian Square like Tredegar Square. It's one of the most intriguing things about London-- how a neighborhood isn't made entirely of one element, and how what did and did not escape the bombings during World War II can create heart-pulling, nostalgic dynamics. 


One of the more interesting lessons that came from living in the UK for the past years has been what the two World Wars meant to Europe as opposed to the US. The way they're discussed, what they have come to symbolize. For the US, WWII, it's "Greatest Generation" and the time in its aftermath, is often thought of the American idea coming into its full glory. America at its best. It was certainly the the golden era that we've clung to in some of our rhetoric now. I think it's easier for us to think about what we gained and not what we lost. It doesn't haunt the cities like it does here. 


Thinking about Coventry, and London during the blitz, as I've done before... just really does it to me, man. So I was glad that with just a week and half left, my friend Alina let me in on this little secret. From there, I started researching. It's been a prime location in the novel, The Somnambulist, and there was even a murderer of Tredegar Square. 


Don't let its proximity to the Mile End tube station fool you though. Not only are there houses that look more like Belgravia and Kensington, but the prices reflect the square's hip uniqueness and backstory and beauty. 


I've always felt a kind of kindred spirit with anything that narrowly escaped demolition. Even more than my soft-spot for secret gardens and other hidden jewels. (Not to mention, anything Georgian!) Hope you're all having a fabulous Sunday.