budablog

[budablog]

Tribute

Just found out that pioneering ski filmmaker Warren Miller has died at 93. I thank Mr. Miller for my enduring love of skiing throughout my life. Any time I happened to come across one of his films of amazing skiers making death-defying and awe-inspiring runs in the world's most remote and gorgeous places, I was hooked: Put a fork in me, I was watching until the end. I may only ski a tiny fraction of the places and way he filmed, but often in my head he is narrating my runs, and I feel like an epic adventurer. Thank you for showing us these incredible places and people.

[budablog]

This is the sign of kind people. My friends Allison and Shane don't have a dog, but their landlord next does, so they keep their side door open and treat bowl filled.

[budablog]

My friend told me a story he hadn’t told anyone for years. When he used to tell it years ago people would laugh and say, ‘Who’d believe that? How can that be true? That’s daft.’ So he didn’t tell it again for ages. But for some reason, last night, he knew it would be just the kind of story I would love.   When he was a kid, he said, they didn’t use the word autism, they just said ‘shy’, or ‘isn’t very good at being around strangers or lots of people.’ But that’s what he was, and is, and he doesn’t mind telling anyone. It’s just a matter of fact with him, and sometimes it makes him sound a little and act different, but that’s okay.   Anyway, when he was a kid it was the middle of the 1980s and they were still saying ‘shy’ or ‘withdrawn’ rather than ‘autistic’. He went to London with his mother to see a special screening of a new film he really loved. He must have won a competition or something, I think. Some of the details he can’t quite remember, but he thinks it must have been London they went to, and the film…! Well, the film is one of my all-time favourites, too. It’s a dark, mysterious fantasy movie. Every single frame is crammed with puppets and goblins. There are silly songs and a goblin king who wears clingy silver tights and who kidnaps a baby and this is what kickstarts the whole adventure.   It was ‘Labyrinth’, of course, and the star was David Bowie, and he was there to meet the children who had come to see this special screening.   ‘I met David Bowie once,’ was the thing that my friend said, that caught my attention.   ‘You did? When was this?’ I was amazed, and surprised, too, at the casual way he brought this revelation out. Almost anyone else I know would have told the tale a million times already.   He seemed surprised I would want to know, and he told me the whole thing, all out of order, and I eked the details out of him.   He told the story as if it was he’d been on an adventure back then, and he wasn’t quite allowed to tell the story. Like there was a pact, or a magic spell surrounding it. As if something profound and peculiar would occur if he broke the confidence.   It was thirty years ago and all us kids who’d loved Labyrinth then, and who still love it now, are all middle-aged. Saddest of all, the Goblin King is dead. Does the magic still exist?   I asked him what happened on his adventure.   ‘I was withdrawn, more withdrawn than the other kids. We all got a signed poster. Because I was so shy, they put me in a separate room, to one side, and so I got to meet him alone. He’d heard I was shy and it was his idea. He spent thirty minutes with me.   ‘He gave me this mask. This one. Look.   ‘He said: ‘This is an invisible mask, you see?   ‘He took it off his own face and looked around like he was scared and uncomfortable all of a sudden. He passed me his invisible mask. ‘Put it on,’ he told me. ‘It’s magic.’   ‘And so I did.   ‘Then he told me, ‘I always feel afraid, just the same as you. But I wear this mask every single day. And it doesn’t take the fear away, but it makes it feel a bit better. I feel brave enough then to face the whole world and all the people. And now you will, too.   ‘I sat there in his magic mask, looking through the eyes at David Bowie and it was true, I did feel better.   ‘Then I watched as he made another magic mask. He spun it out of thin air, out of nothing at all. He finished it and smiled and then he put it on. And he looked so relieved and pleased. He smiled at me.   ‘'Now we’ve both got invisible masks. We can both see through them perfectly well and no one would know we’re even wearing them,’ he said.   ‘So, I felt incredibly comfortable. It was the first time I felt safe in my whole life.   ‘It was magic. He was a wizard. He was a goblin king, grinning at me.   ‘I still keep the mask, of course. This is it, now. Look.’   I kept asking my friend questions, amazed by his story. I loved it and wanted all the details. How many other kids? Did they have puppets from the film there, as well? What was David Bowie wearing? I imagined him in his lilac suit from Live Aid. Or maybe he was dressed as the Goblin King in lacy ruffles and cobwebs and glitter.   What was the last thing he said to you, when you had to say goodbye?   ‘David Bowie said, ‘I’m always afraid as well. But this is how you can feel brave in the world.’ And then it was over. I’ve never forgotten it. And years later I cried when I heard he had passed.’   My friend was surprised I was delighted by this tale.   ‘The normal reaction is: that’s just a stupid story. Fancy believing in an invisible mask.’   But I do. I really believe in it.   And it’s the best story I’ve heard all year.

Paul Magrs (via yourfluffiestnightmare)

[budablog]

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Big Sur, California. Taken October 3, 2015.

[budablog]

Summer in one bite.

[budablog]

I was trying to text the sentence "What a goofy family" as a comment to my brother in some of our antics, but it kept auto-corrected to "gift" and it occurred to me me that it is.

[budablog]

Big Little Lies Life Lesson #1

If he calls you a completely creepy pet name, like, say, "Sparkles"... RUN.

[budablog]

My Horoscope

Totally made up horoscopes are the best horoscopes possible. (Although, really, aren’t they all just made up?) I like that The Rumblr is just honest about it. I am going to carry this with me as a mantra for 2015:

Capricorn: The hard times and the strange times and the wild times you’ve been through can start to pay off, this year. Everything you’ve done and everything you’ve felt has been worth something, has added warmth to your heart or color to your dreams or bright power to your body. Something might shift in the earth and something might change in the water and you can find some kind of rare hope, some kind of bright energy, some kind of electric love for yourself and for your world, something that will be enough to help you keep living.

[Found this in my "drafts" folder from I don't know when. Still great.]

[budablog]

Just beautiful.

Bessie Stringfield (1911-1993): The Motorcycle Queen of Miami

She was a great woman. Full entry here. Book here. Art notes after the cut.

Keep reading

[budablog]

My mom's an active talker.

Chloe, about Madeline on Big Little Lies

[budablog]

Ina Garten's lasagne is my superpower.

[budablog]

Monday Mother/Daughter deep thoughts over the New York Times crossword puzzle.

[budablog]

My thoughts exactly.

[budablog]

I don't know why I find this so funny, but it really just cracks me up. 2 pages full color photo in the NYT Sunday Magazine on a recipe that involves no cooking whatsoever. I mean, I love radishes, butter, and salt as much as the next fille, but this is ridiculous.

[budablog]

Wow.

[budablog]

at Gray Whale Cove State Beach

[budablog]

My first understanding of being Hungarian was being so in awe of this lady. So gorgeous.