Monday, April 27, 2009

Derby Week Already?

At the Twin Spires, even the hats have names. The Queen Has Arrived...Not this queen and certainly NOT in this hat! The only way you'd ever catch me in a hat like this is if you rammed it onto my cold dead head.

Time certainly flies and here's hoping whichever horses I bet on do too. Yes, this year I have had such consistently bad luck with few exceptions that I have decided the odds are good that I may actually pick a winner. Sooner or later something has to give, right? I hope.

My plan this year is to totally avoid any information on the race. It has not been easy to turn away from the stories in the paper and on the internets, but I have. I feel like going with a numbers only strategy but most likely, I will go to the track early on Saturday and pick up a racing form and see if I can divine clues that will mean something only to me. It's all about significance and hidden deeper meanings. Then again, I should go with my first choice and pick by number. Oh crap! I'm already boned by indecision. I could get so addicted to gambling.

Therefore I will now change my focus to fashion and one of the more campy aspects of the first Saturday in May. The hats. It's all about the hats...Gotta keep that nasty old sun off of our peaches and cream complexions.

This one is called Emma and is the bargain of the bunch at three hundred dollars.

Steppin' Out is gonna cost you a grand.

This one is called Spunky and prompts me to ask the age old question "Are we not men?"

Organized? In what way? Perhaps they are referring to crime because this one is over a thousand dollars.

I might actually be seen in this one at my next croquet match, even though I think Mary Jane is a stupid name for a hat.

Queen Liz and her consort at the Derby two years ago. I loved seeing the odds posted on what color hat she would wear. It was the one thing I was right about that year.

Our own inimitable Hat Sisters. A Boston P-towne institution. Wonder what they'll be wearing on Saturday?

Monday, April 20, 2009

Kenmore Square Neon Citgo Sign


Remember when the Citgo sign was a distant second place in the neon contest along the Charles? Oh the Coca-Cola sign in Allston was truly breathtaking. And the White Fuel sign was no slouch either. Now the Citgo sign seems much the worse for wear, yet it still manages to retain much of its majesty. I love the look of it now, a little down on its luck maybe, but so gracefully combining the many mismatched colors of replacement tubes. It's like a quilt made of light. Humble folk art that evokes some of the most precious and sacred memories of us all. In miniature it would make a great headstone. For the love of God, would someone send me guitar part for this bass line?