Who's Cooler Than..

Bill Cunningham.  I've been a fan of his charming videos on nytimes.com for years.  Mr. Cunningham bikes around Manhattan and takes wonderfully candid street fashion photos, then edits them into short themed videos with the most passionate and whimsical narration you've ever heard.  It's hard not to adore this man.

Image from the nytimes.com

When we first moved to San Francisco I wouldn't let myself watch his videos because they made me too home sick!!  While I still don't live in New York, they're the perfect touch of the streets of a city near to my heart.  If you've never watched his stuff, check some of them out.

 Image from Peachy Cool Wow

I'm clearly a fan, though I really don't know much about Bill Cunningham's story, so I was very excited to hear there's been a documentary made about his life.  Can't wait to see it!  Fashion is aarmor.  Love it.

Who's Cooler Than..

Charles and Ray Eames.

If you ask me this photograph of the two of them is enough to prove my point, but just incase you were wondering why else I think they're the bee's knees check out their..

Innovative, fun and inspiring molded fiberglass chairs.

Practically perfect plywood chairs,

and tables.

My favorite of their plywood creations, the child size elephant.

Beautifully carved walnut spinning tops,

and stools.

Series of short educational films,

the most famous being Power of Ten.

Give it a watch, what else are you doing?

The home they shared in California

Case Study House #8

The pair lived and worked side by side for over forty years

until Charles' death in 1978,

Ray followed exactly ten years later to the day.

John and I try very hard to be like them.

photo taken by Gigi Gatewood

Who's Cooler Than..

Joan Didion I ask you? This particular post is a digression for me, but I was at my computer listening to itunes when one of my audio books, The Year Of Magical Thinking, came on. I sort of unintentionally listened for a couple of minutes, still absorbed in my desk work, but eventually her words drew me in and before long I was googling insanely cool black and whites like these.

It's a heavy read but she opens an extremely personal window into the life she shared with her husband John in New York City and California and the pain and grief she experienced after his death in 2003.