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I still use the
marbled portfolio book
my parents brought back
from Paris when
I was 14 or so.

it was the most
beautiful & elegant
object i had ever seen
so I carried it everyday,
to school, under my arm.

there is something
about tying 3 bows that
makes everything inside
feel a bit more precious.

proud of my work

which is quite
a triumph as I'm
very self-conscious
about the things
I create.


when you were
young did you have
a special object that felt
different from the rest?

one that made
you imagine things,
romanticize another time,
another life, or enlivened
the everyday.

Posted by Cerré at 6:02 PM minor keys said...

The marbled pattern also reminds me of childhood. I even made them myself with paint and a fine tooth comb.
I think, when I was young, everything made me imagine. Now..

February 28, 2011 at 10:48 PM timju said...

I had a pen. The one I used at school, for homeworks and for stuff i used to write. Still got it, it very simple, and as powerful as your notebook.

March 1, 2011 at 5:42 AM Aether-art said...

That marbled pattern always seemed to imply preciousness, great beauty and "Europe-ness" to my Aussie child brain. A sense of a beautiful, different, world outside of my own.

March 1, 2011 at 11:07 AM 
When I was about nine or so, I received a round, gold-leafed box from a dear grown-up that I loved. It was, and still is, my treasure box. I think I probably cleaned my whole room for it when I first brought it home; and even now, some twenty years later, I still keep it in a special place. I always recall how I felt when she gave it to me -- in awe that she would part with such a special thing, and give it to ME of all people. It was one of those affirming moments that leaves an indelible mark.

March 2, 2011 at 7:29 AM 
I started to write a comment but then it came too long... So I made it a post on my blog :) thanks.


March 2, 2011 at 8:18 AM 
a simple cotton blouse embroidered with colorful flowers that my mother bought in mexico during a college spring break, some 30 years ago. after having been a dress-up item during my childhood, it became a wardrobe staple during middle school. it felt so different, so bold, and so crucial to the development of my interest in the unique (even unfashionable) object. it made me feel set apart from my peers and is still one of the most colorful and beloved items in my closet.

March 6, 2011 at 1:54 PM 
I had two things: the fountain pen I brought to the US from my French school days, and a square-necked, darted blouse (button at the side of the waist), made of a dark supple, fairly weighted, vaguely Asian-looking cotton that I found in a consignment shop. The first slows down the act of writing, rendering it both more sensual and more thought out. The latter married my otherwise awkward teenage body so gracefully you'd have thought I'd been fitted for it.

March 22, 2011 at 3:32 PM