Category: ephemera

What are you doing New Year’s Eve…

Kimberli SimonLeave a comment
From the Frank Buttolph Menu Collection (updated for 2022)

I’ve been enjoying a nice, long break and taking it a bit slower than I usually do.  Eating lots of great food, watching ‘must see’ movies [Being the Ricardo’s, Don’t Look Up, Nobody, The Last Duel and in a few days, MacBeth], and spending time with those I love are the best presents of all, and the perfect way to end 2021.

I’m not a resolution kind of gal, but I am a BIG list maker.  On my list for 2022; travel to San Diego, Denver, Charleston, and Apalachicola, reading, painting [the art kind] and lightening up. By that I mean getting rid of some of the clutter and excess I seem to collect.  I’ve spent the morning cleaning out my internet ‘Other Bookmarks’ folder (aka: links to things I will get around to reading eventually). Here are a few things which made the cut that you might enjoy…

Happy New Year! Wishing you all the best for 2022!

*What Are You Doing on New Year’s Eve? – Ella Fitzgerald

Handbags and gladrags…

Kimberli SimonLeave a comment
So many bags

Coke bag  |  Lipstick bag  |  V&A Bags Inside Out Poster  |  Moschino Pizza Box Bag  | Palette Bag  | Queen of Hearts Bag  |  Slurpie Bag 
Titanic Ship Bag  |  Monopoly Bag  |  Lip Bag  |   Lighter Bag  |  Heart Bag

What is it about a handbag?  Women go nuts over certain brands and styles, many of which have become iconic over time.  The Louis Vuitton Keepall Bag, the Chanel Quilted Bag, and the Hermes Birkin Bag are coveted by collectors the world over, routinely selling, and re-selling, for thousands of dollars.  There are bag collector groups, blogs, websites, and even virtual galleries like The Vintage Purse Museum devoted to all things ‘handbag’. You can even take a quiz (or two) to see which handbag you are.  

Turns out I am either a backpack (simple, compact, and practical with a touch of whimsy) or a hobo bag (free as the wind, live by different set of guidelines, value autonomy, exploration, art and personal expression, and prefer things that are unique and last a lifetime). Laugh if you will but both bags, and personality descriptions, are quite accurate assessments of me AND my bag styles.

I love those ‘What’s IN my Bag’ spreads in the tabloids.  Peek inside my bag and you will always find my Ray Bans, Mac, Nikon, sketchbook, pencils and pens, lipstick, Aleve and my wallet, all carried in a big tote or backpack. I’ve been relying on these choices (almost always in black leather or pleather) since I was a teen.  Both styles are arguably the workhorses of the bag world, designed for maximum content and minimal fuss.  

Are you a bag lover? Do you have a favorite style? I do, and it is definately not a backpack or hobo.  Hands down, my vote goes to a special occasion bag (see whimsical above).  Going out for a night on the town in which a great outfit and attendant bag are required always gets me thinking of how to assemble the pieces of the fashion puzzle to make sartorial magic happen. There was a time when my lifestyle saw me routinely dressing up for one glitzy event or another but those days are long gone, leaving me with an awesome fashion archive and nowhere to wear it to. 

Even if I don’t have any actual plans, for the past few weeks I’ve been trying to figure out how I might manage a special, spontaneous and quick jump across the pond to see the Victoria & Albert Bags: Inside Out show.  I could travel light, with my trusty hobo (for a few outfits) and backpack (for my passport, plastic, and sunnies) holding everything I’d need to to get me from here so I could tour the V&A in a rocking outfit and carrying by a great bag the entire time. While odds of this fantasy becoming a reality appear slim a girl can still dream, about travel and a great bag (or two)!

*Handbags and Gladrags – Rod Stewart

Rock around the clock….

Kimberli Simon1 Comment

One o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock rock…

12 o’clock – Keith Richards Gibson Flying V Prototype Guitar
1 o clock – Elvis Presley  Harmony H165 Mahogany Acoustic Guitar
2 o clock – Jimi Hendrix  1967 Electric Guild Starfire V Cherry Guitar
3 o clock – David Gilmour 1984 Fender solid-body 57v Stratocaster
4 o clock – David Gilmour 1955 Gibson Les Paul Solid Body
5 o clock – Jerry Garcia Martin D-28 Acoustic Guitar
6 o clock – David Gilmour 1954 White Fender Stratocaster #001
7 o clock – Jerry Garcia D’Angelico Style A Archtop Acoustic Guitar
8 o clock – Duane Allman Fender Coronado II Guitar
9 o clock – David Gilmour 1957 Ex-Homer Haynes Solid Body Stratocaster
10 o clock – Eric Clapton 2006 Custom Taylor T5 Thinline Honey Sunburst Acoustic-Electric Guitar
11 o clock – Lindsay Buckingham Rick Turner Custom made Renaissance Electric Guitar


I have always been enamored by guitars (and guitar players).  No one appreciates the irony of this more than me, since I am someone who can barely keep rhythm with a tambourine. And while I have been blessed with many artistic talents the ability to dream of music and turn that vision into a reality is definitively not one of them.

My favorite musicians all belong to the blues and rock worlds. Their bands still provide me with endless listening pleasure decades later but it’s the pickers themselves I really love. Robert Johnson. T-Bone Walker. Buddy Holly. Dick Dale. Duane Eddy. Scotty Moore. Les Paul. Johnny Winter. Peter Green. Eric Clapton. Muddy Waters. Jimmy Page. John Lennon. Hubert Sumlin. Robert Fripp. Duane Allman. Jimmy Hendrix. Steve Cropper. Mick Taylor. Frank Zappa. Buddy Guy. Billy Gibbons. Jerry Garcia. David Gilmour. Keith Richards.  These cats are responsible for some of the greatest formative rock ever recorded and they couldn’t have done it without a Lucille, Blackie, or Flying V at their fingertips.

As a woodworker’s daughter I appreciate the workmanship that goes into creating a guitar and view custom guitars as true works of art. Maybe that’s why when I stumble upon an instrument auction I always get pulled in.  Clapton’s 2011 auction to benefit his Crossroads Centre in Antigua, Guernsey’s 2017 treasure trove of rock instruments, and David Gilmour’s 2019 epic sale benefitting the Climate Earth initiative have all left me wondering if I should place a bid to own a piece of rock history.  Taking a look at the prices most of these beauties sold for probably means the answer is probably ‘no’, but hey, a guitar girl can dream…AND listen.

12 o’clock – The Rolling Stones Out of Our Heads
1 o clock –  Elvis Presley Girls! Girls! Girls!
2 o clock – Jimi Hendrix Axis Bold as Love
3 o clock – Pink Floyd Smoking Blues
4 o clock – Pink Floyd Atom Heart Mother
5 o clock – Grateful Dead Workingman’s Dead
6 o clock – Pink Floyd The Wall
7 o clock – Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band Almost Acoustic
8 o clock – Allman Brothers Idlewild South
9 o clock – David Gilmour About Face
10 o clock – Cream Disreali Gears
11 o clock – Fleetwood Mac Rumours

3-29-20 Ephemera (The Covid-19 Edition)

Kimberli SimonLeave a comment

Portrait of Constance-Gabrielle-Magdeleine Bonnier de la Mosson as Diana by Jean-Marc Nattier (1685 – 1766) from The Getty

I am 3+ weeks into this isolation thing and pretty sure at this point I am corona free.  Week 1 of social distancing saw me driving 2000 miles for a work trip where I was essentially alone except for a few food, gas, and restroom breaks.  Made record time getting to my various destinations too, since the highways weren’t crowded at all.  And while I feel very fortunate to be able to work remotely week 2 & 3 have convinced me I am less busy when I work from my office then when I work from home.

If I put aside the fears, disappointments, and uncertainty that accompany this pandemic I am actually enjoying having more time to garden, cook, read, and spend time with my family.  I have also been spending a LOT of time on the web (which I am grateful has enough bandwidth to support what seems like the entire country watching ‘Tiger King’ at the same time). Here are a few things that have kept me from going a stir-crazy over the last week.  Here’s hoping one or two will do the same for you…

…hoping you and yours are keeping healthy!

Death don’t have no mercy…

Kimberli Simon2 Comments
Blue skies & yellow fields

I spent the past couple of months curating and installing The Form of Reform show, which features art and writing from Tennessee’s Riverbend Maximum Security Institution death row population… Continue reading “Death don’t have no mercy…” →

What are you doing New Years Eve?

Kimberli SimonLeave a comment
Happy New Year Baby!

If you know me at all you know I no longer make resolutions based on the calendar. Over the years I’ve resolved to lose weight, starts a business, pay off debt, stop smoking, travel more – you name it and I’ve probably resolved to do it. My good intentions rarely worked out however, leaving me feeling blue by February since I could never make my ‘new’ habits a reality for long.

I’ve adopted the mentality that I don’t need to wait until January 1st make changes to my life, which is quite freeing since I have the power to make changes big and small any day, hour, or minute that I am alive. So do you.

Happy New Year to you and yours and here’s hoping your own resolutions – made tonight or throughout the year – become your new reality!

What Are you Doing New Year’s Eve – Kacey Musgraves

11-30-19 Ephemera (Gift Guide Burnout Edition)

Kimberli SimonLeave a comment
You really CAN find these [questionable] gifts online

Can you believe the holidays are upon us?  I feel like I’ve received a billion emails and insta posts over the last week identifying the ‘best’ gifts to buy NOW for that [insert the identifier for the person you need to get a gift for here] and frankly none of it looks that special to me.  While I am trying hard to get into a gift giving frame of mind I am always down for my favorite holiday of all, Thanksgiving.

For me, it’s a four-day whirlwind of cooking (this sweet potato gratin was a winner!), catching upon some TV and movie time with my favorite culture vultures (including 5-star worthy The Righteous Gemstones, The Irishman, and Knives Out), and catching up on all-things web. Here are a few stories which helped me recover from my tryptophan-induced lethargy……

…here’s hoping you are having a lovely – and long – weekend full of family, friends, and fun!

 

Remember a day before today…

Kimberli SimonLeave a comment
In memory of…

Since the WWI battles in the poppy fields of Belgium these little red flowers have become a symbol of remembrance for soldiers around the world who have died during wartime. When I was little you could buy little cloth versions to wear as a show of thanks. We had the day off from school to attend our local parade honoring the WWII, Korean, and Viet Nam vets for their courage, bravery and sacrifice. Nowadays, it’s hard to find a community or city Veteran’s Day parade and even rarer to see anyone selling, or wearing, these cloth remembrances.

This year I won’t be attending a parade but I will have the honor of sharing breakfast with a group of veterans as part of Vanderbilt University’s Veteran’s Day Celebration. I’ll get to tour a Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter, which is used to care for wounded personnel by the Army’s forward surgical teams. Finally, I’ll get to attend a special screening and discussion of war journalist Morton Dean’s documentary American Medevac, which follows his efforts to reunite Vietnam War U.S. Army medevac pilots and crew members with the soldiers they rescued in 1971.

I’m really looking forward to meeting the vets, hearing their stories, and sharing a meal in their honor. If you’re reading this and you have served our country, supported a family member or friend during their war or peace time enlistment, or have a loved one who has given all, please accept my genuine and heartfelt thanks. This poppy is for all of you!

*Remember A Day – Pink Floyd

10-31-19 Ephemera (The Road of Life Edition)

Kimberli SimonLeave a comment
The [Sketchbook] Road

The road we call life can take unexpected and inexplicable turns without warning.  Sometimes those turns are fortunate, sometimes they require a fight, and sometimes they end in chaos and tragedy. Here are a few stories from around the web with twists and turns of their own…

…here’s hoping the twists and turns of your own personal road see you arriving at the destination of your dreams!

7-23-19 Ephemera (The Cooks and Crooks Edition)

Kimberli SimonLeave a comment

bread
Farmer’s Market Breads

I haven’t assembled an ephemera post for quite some time, mainly because I am at turns feeling uninspired by, overwhelmed with, and/or suspicious of the internet. There are only so many ‘best of’, ‘you need’, and ‘cute [insert here] animals/kids/ kindness’ articles a person can take (or believe). That said, I still get lost down the rabbit-hold of the web with one click leading to another, and realized I am just a little bit consumed by anything having to do with cooks and crooks. In no particular order, here are a few of the articles I’ve enjoyed…

If you are surfing the web because it’s too hot to do anything else here’s hoping you find a good rabbit hole (or three) to fritter away the day with.  Stay cool…