Bow-tie Harvey

The holiday shopping report continues; this time I've been hunting for gifts for my husband!  Since I'm confident he won't be reading this, I got him: 

--Vintage flannel shirts from Hoof and Antler (representative of some very recent plans we're excitedly brewing!) Their selection of vintage flannel is impressive, and they came perfectly tended and smelling great!

-- This amazing saltwater soap, scented with Rosemary and Patchouli (i got myself the Winter citrus). Saipua (Finnish for 'soap') has more deliciously scented soaps and candles. I can't wait to try them all. More I'm looking forward to, as much for their names as their scents? Vetiver, Cedarmoss, Basil,  and Gardner. A handmade, natural, pretty soap tied to both Finnish and nature names? Yes, please!

--And somewhat opposite the woodsman theme I'm crafting, I got my husband some bow ties. 

 Noticing that my seller (ebay) was auctioning off a ton of vintage bow ties, I just had to pry into their history after I purchased them. As it turns out, the seller teaches a computer course to senior citizens in Queens, and his dear student, Harvey, wanted to see if there was any interest in his beloved collection of bow ties (yes, Harvey, there is!) The dapper ties are apparently pretty precious to Harvey, but his wife was threatening to dump them all out in the trash if he didn't find them a new home.  I must say, it's a scene I've imagined several times with a bit of a chuckle. I can kind of relate to poor Harvey's wife from time to time. Harvey was so tickled that his collection sold and that they're all going to one home together; don't you love that? 

And I love the name I found alongside this gift; I can certainly see this one coming back in a big way!  I don't know about my husband, but I'll sure think of Harvey (and his wife) each time I see the ties on their way to the office. Perhaps I'll be reminded to take a more humorous look at my own husband's hoarded collected-but-long-unworn t shirts.  

After wrapping our ties (the box with the bow tie on it),  I found a few more I'd like to add to the bunch, from shop Her and I (second image, above).  These ties are handmade and ever so lovely. And just when I thought the shopping was finished! Thankfully, husband has a January birthday and an endless love of bow ties. 

From today:

Harvey (means 'primed for battle', though clearly our Harvey was not!) 

Herve (the French version)

Antler

Rosemary

Patchouli (I can't help but think this could be too much of a hippie cliche as a name, but with a polished first name, it might just work.)

Winter

Vetiver

Basil

Gardener

Cedarmoss (a smoosh that could work for a boy!)

I think my first choice for today's name combo (using only the names above) is likely already pretty obvious:

Harvey Cedarmoss

p.s.-- Is anyone else having trouble with blogger's fonts? My usual blog title font is available for selection, but then it reverts to a different font on the actual page. I used the closest substitute I could find, in the mean time, but I'm eager to go back. Anyone have any recommendations? Maybe it's time to look outside blogger for a pretty font. 

(images: 1-mine, 2-saipua, 3-her and i)

Hurricane Irene and tropical storm names

What do the amazing jewelry shop Odette New York (more on this in another post!),

this neato fabric and print shop, June craft,

Florence Welch, of Florence and the Machine,

this iconic portrayal of Ophelia by Waterhouse,

and this Greek statue of Irene have in common...other than loveliness?

                                                              

Odette, June, Florence, Ophelia and Irene are fantastic names! So fantastic, in fact, that they have been chosen to name some of the most powerful forces of nature, tropical storms. These are strong, striking, beautiful names for powerful forces of nature, art, myth and  us. 

 I find myself thinking about storm names after heading to the store to stock up for Irene (I know.) Irene is the goddess of peace! Let's hope she stays fairly peaceful.  

There is  the whole association with the damage done by storms, and I want to be reverent about that, but here's the thing: these names have a vast history prior to being names of storms. My entire household and many relatives are represented here, as are yours, I imagine.  I really think it's interesting how many amazingly stylish names have been used on these storms

So here they are from this year and years past (they recycle), and from all parts of the globe (aside from the current Irene):

Rina

Beryl

Agnes 

Cleo

Ione

Iris

Isadore

Opal 

Ophelia

Odette 

 Dolly

Florence

Hermine

 Eloise

 Fifi

Flora

Hattie

Fernanda

Norma

Selma 

Zelda

Xina

Aletta

Miriam

Willa

Jova

Cosme

Dalila

Flossie

Ivo

Nona 

Kiko 

Octave

Priscilla

Winifred

Orlene

Isis

Georgette

Estelle

Darby

Celia

Agatha

Velma

Elida

Iselle

Karina

Odile

Hilda

Jimena

Nora

Vivian

Trudy

Winnie

Akoni

Iona

Lala

Olana

Pena

Ulana

Pama

Ekeka

Kika

Neki

Omeka

Unala

Niala

Eillie

Kirrily

Olga

Zelia

Fina

Heidi

Lua

Edna

Hadi

Uriah

Yvette

Blanche

Frances

Penny

Ruby

Gretel

Esther

Claudia

Dovi

Heta

Ivy

Lola

Rae

Daphne

Fanny

Koko

Louise

Ogni

Priya

Zita

Funa

Innis

Atu

Freda

Helene

June 

Lusi

Osea

Ume

Epi

Ursula

Veli 

Yali

Gita

Iris

Rita

Mona

Violeta

Zosimo

Isko

Venus

Oma

Uka

Zoe

Velo

Usta

Wilby

Yuri

Xangy

Zanele

Wiley

Clovis

Xylo

Irwin

Otis

Abe

Frederic

Gilbert

 Hugo

Oscar

Cristobal

Hector

Iggy

Oswald

Koji

Rowe

Igo

Vincente

Tico

Keoni

Wallis

Leo

Amos

Luis

Bune

Chris

York

Waldo

Frank

Howard

Lino

Igme

Rolly

Mele

Huko

Wali

Loke

Oho

Walaka

Javier

Newton

Seymour

Virgil

Xavier

Zeke

Boris

Hernan

Simon

Vance

Nolo

Freddie

Hamish

Jasper

Neville

Ferdinand

Harold

Ernie

Lucas

Arthur

Beni

Tomas

Zuman

Walter

Hagar

Reuben

Winston

Oli

Lin

Seriously, what a savy set of names! I can scarcely find one that I don't really like. Is a name nerd selecting these names for storms that they revere and respect, that they put so much of their time into studying, or do the namers of storms find these to be unusable for people,so they're kind of toss aways? I find the latter extremely hard to believe. Not a bad name in this pack. 

yoshimi battles the pink robots

What do these beautifully Zakka mugs,

This craft/sewing book, 

                                                           

and this  country house  have in common?   (image1, image2 is mine,  image3)                                                 

I think they all illustrate elements of a beautiful style, one that is perfectly echoed by the sounds of the names from the same country - Japan!

 I am going to try really hard not to blab too much on this post. But it's going to be hard for me. very hard (being pithy is not a talent of mine on any issue, much less one surrounded by such love and excitement).


Suffice it to say, I love many things Japanese. Our second daughter could have so easily ended up being called Umi Luelle, had it been as fitting for her. I often went by Kiko, myself, as a child.  

You guys, I love Japanese names!

Lullatone's music

was listened to often in my hawaiian mountain home while pregnant with Nona and name dreaming - all windows open, white curtains a blowin', the smell of flowers and rain pouring in.  They also have a lovely, personal, family-life sort of  blog. I love how their family life and their art each inspire the other. 

I have a soft spot for Yoshitomo Nara. The very first time I went to a museum in Hawaii was to see his exhibit.

Hawaii is absolutely filled with Japanese culture, particularly in my old neighborhood - it's one of the things I miss so terribly much about living there. image

 I first really got into Katsushika Hokusai's art in Hawaii, as well, because it was just all over the place.

  

But I took the time to really dig into it during a trip with my husband to Maui (we lived on Oahu) while staying in a beautiful guest house. The home was peppered with his stuff throughout -  prints on the walls, on the coasters, and a book on the coffee table. After snorkeling and eating, I'd take my sushi-stuffed, salty bod on the sun porch, pop my headphones in and stare at the images until I fell asleep (pre-children, of course.) (images)

Do you like Japanese sewing and craft books?

How fantastic is this kid's style? It can all be made right at home, too. 

I'm a Japanese craft book nut, as apparently are many others. There's this podcast about it. and this flickr group dedicated to it.

How about this art from Childlike Wisdom of Osaka, Japan!

isn't it lovely?

One of our absolute favorite movies around here is Akira Kurosawa's Dreams:

The photo above is from my favorite segment of the film. Beyond being stunning to behold, Dreams is made up of harmonizing shorts, about 15 min each, which I enjoy sharing with my kids sometimes.  Admittedly, there are some that aren't child appropriate, but I love that I get to read the translations and give them something soft, slow and beautiful that sparks their interest in travel and art. I think children really appreciate beauty and quality. I mean, of course they do!  and on that note...

This morning I woke up to June sitting quietly on our bed, staring up and pointing at this photo on our wall

It's by this student at University in Kyoto. I put it up in our room last year for June's birth and first weeks, so up it goes each summer now, somewhere where she can reconnect with it.  

I don't exactly remember how I found Terunobu Fujimori's work, as I found it during the insanely sleep-deprived era of Nona's first 18 months,  but I remember how it made me feel when I first saw it: elated, dreamy, and totally inspired.

(images1courtesy Dwell, image3 )

This song by Shonen Knife,

is one I used to sing to my kitty cat, Cassius,'Cas'. 

Mushishi is my new favorite nap-time pleasure on Netflix Instawatch. Each episode is about 24 min long. Sometimes I watch just to hear the song at the beginning (nerd!)

Some more of our favorite movies?  Hayao Miyazaki's - Nona was Kiki last Halloween. And I love this scene from My Neighbor Totoro. 

The ever lovely Miho Hatori with her ever lovely name!

Like Brazilian music? Check out this collaboration of hers with Smokey Hormel. (image)

 this lovely lady in Japan writes this pretty blog, called Life in the Slow Line, with super photos and links:

and to end beautifully before our list, check out Osamu Yokonami's photography (ahh, I adore it):

The name of this last photo is Kiki.

And on to the name list - because this post could easily be ten pages long. Perhaps this will become series here on Marginamia.

One of my favorite things about these names, beyond their admirable sounds, is that they all mean something beautiful, signifying the important role of meaning in names. I plan to talk more about their meanings in subsequent posts. I love the idea of setting beautiful intentions for your child in the picking of her name - gifting her with a beautiful quality you hope she enjoys on her journey.  

So from today's inspirations and musings, as well as some additional favorites of mine:

Sakura (cherry blossom)


Ume (pronounced Oo-may, means plum)


Umeko (plum blossom child)


Umi


Kiko 


Kiki


Kioko 


Kiku


Suzu ('bell')


Yoko


Niko


Koemi


Maemi


Mei


Satsuki 


Yoshimi


Sumi


Suki


Nara


Osaka


Reiko


Sachi


Yuki 


Yumi 


Yuri


Nui


Miho


Amaya


Rika


Ritsuko


Emi


Atsuko


Mana


Etsuko


Michie


Yuna




Midori (green)


Moe


Rin


Ren


Naoko


Sora


Nao


Riku


Ryo


Yoshi


Osamu


Yoshitomo


Katsushika


Terunobo


Akira 


Akeno


Maro


Tomeo


Torio


Toru


Hiroshi


Hiro


Isao


Yuto


Hiraku


Kaito


Kenzo


Noboru


Yori


Ginko

Don't you love Japanese names?  Did I leave out a favorite of yours? 

I won't do this hardly ever here on Marginamia, but lastly, if you want to help the people of Japan in continued efforts to recover from the tsunami, along with several of the links already provided which offer relief options, there are also these relief  options.  Those are lot of options - thank you Huffington Post!

and one last song for a happy summer weekend, because how can we not end with Yoko!