Take Your Marks...

Courtesy Boston Review

So I don't know about you guys, but I think that NBC did a terrible job in covering the Olympics. I know... strong language - but I'll stand by it. Anytime you concern yourself with maintaining a monopoly, you have to expect that folks will be unhappy. Should anyone at NBC (or its affiliates) be interested in my reasoning - holler. I'm also still on a quest to get (give?) some Neilson input. By which I mean "stop cancelling quality tv in favor of reality tv".

Next time I'm watching the Irish version.

Warning: This is really funny... unless you like competitive sailing. Then you might take offense.

PB & Jokes...

Pottery Barn online catalogue :: lamps

Faced with a long holiday weekend and a week off from school (!!!), I did what anyone unaccustomed to bucketfuls (buckets full?) of free time would do: rearranged my living space. I've moved my bed and really love the new set up of my bedroom - but my penchant for late night book reading times is now is serious need of a bedside lamp.

Hence my perusal of the Pottery Barn catalogue for "inspirational" ideas... like for a Friday morning chuckle.

Repitition On A Theme...

Ellie Saab

I've been really into green lately: shoes, kitchens, lifestyles... and this dress. Holy cow, dear friends! You know how I feel about Ellie Saab - but this is just stunning!

All thanks to the lovely Laily of Fleur - and contributer to {this is glamorous} ::love.

Weekend Whimsy...

Courtesy my 'go to' awesome picture source.

Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, "you owe me."

Look what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky.

- Hafiz

I Think I'm In Love...?

So last summer my beach book of choice was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Basically, some guy - Seth Grahame-Smith, specifically - thought to himself... what could make this book better? A zombie sub-plot! Voila! a book was born.

It goes without saying that zombies do wonders for a persons street cred (there was a poll, I was there).

So you can well imagine my delight (!!!) when I found this little bog (literally 2.5 seconds ago) called If Zombies Were Supermodels, We'd Be Them. Amazing. Glorious. ...about time!

[Gasp...!]

The first weekend of spring... and I'm that excited!

Image via mackin ink

Propositional Phrase...

I largely suspect that there are some things that can only happen to me.... Take Friday, for example. My sherut (a minivan-like cab) driver literally propositioned me. I was coming back from getting my hair done for the wedding (remember that? good...) and was running late because of shabat but mostly because I'm aimee piper…. Anyhow, so the guy seriously asked me – once we were alone in the sherut – if Bahá’ís could date. *I knew he was really asking if I could him* So I told him no. He said – “oh, so you just marry?” Yes.
Then he asks how old I am. At this point I decide to be truthful and I tell him that I'm 31. He doesn’t believe me (I was only kind of flattered as he's 24). But then he asks if I'm a virgin.

The record literally skipped, friends.

I was like “uhhhhh… I don’t see how that’s any of your business”. It gets better: “my wife needs to be a virgin”.
Naturally I reply – “well, are you a virgin?” [Sidenote: I have zero time for double standards]
HAHAHAHA. Then he got frustrated and asked why I didn’t answer his first question. THEN he tells me “in my village (of course he’s a dahotti – bechareh) I have to marry a virgin”.
But he didn’t want to discuss things anymore when I asked if he was a virgin. Good thing – we were at my stop! Hahahahaha.
Conjunction Junction, it most certainly was not. But it takes 'FANBOYS' to a whole new level, huh?

An Ode to My Favorite Month...

Images courtesy {This Is Glamorous}

I love fall (or autumn) - but I love October the best. Such beautiful color everywhere you look, crispy weather but not too cold... There's a softness and a grace present in this month that I think everyone should tap in to.

And with that, dear friends, I bid you happy weekend!

Beautiful Collaboration...

In case you're out of the loop, the Sartorialist has finally (!!!) put together a book. Okay, yes... I'm excited - not least because this finally qualifies Sir Scott as an entry in 'celebrity'. *hey, Jared!*

Anyhow, Garance Dore - in promoting his first book signing: in Paris, naturally - has this to say: "Scott has a great gift. He knows how to see beauty in every walk of life. He doesn’t focus necessarily on context. He knows how to recognize a detail, the little thing that makes magic. The complexity of an adolescent, the vulnerability of a man, the strength of a child. The fragility in the determined stride of a woman."

And it's so true. His work is truly exceptional.

Check it out.

While I'm On the Weekend Tip...

Here are some pictures of my adventures from this weekend:

I present to you one of the many highlights from

Nava's birthday party:

Mango & Pineapple monogrammed pie

courtesy of Lauren Rutstein Anvari!

Uri Buri Restaurant in Akka.

This place is amazing!

*As you can see, I thought that our feet would be cut out in this photo - I promise I don't typically stand around with a clutch foot warmer...*

Dinner at Duzan

Aimee, Yasmin, Saloomeh, Delaram

*I borrowed the glasses - sometimes I need to feel that I look smart, too*

Luncheon party at Abi's. Nava caught me chewing - my love of cookies coupled with the fact that I eat extreeeeemly slowly sort of made this shot inevitable....

Yes. I know - I'm still eating - and Nava is (ahem) still making fun of me.
"why I aughta"... she seemed to say.

So yeah - all that, plus a move (!!! more on that later, though), plus a great presentation from Universal House of Justice Member, Mr. Paul Lample on his new book Revelation & Social Reality: Learning to Translate What Is Written into Reality.

36 little hours - 1 busy little aimee piper.

And now - literally and figuratively - back to work!

Three's Company...

I finished my first roll of film today!
...finally.
Updates soon. *which is code for when I get it developed and if I like anything I took....*

Tan Cerca Y Tan Lejos...

But I'm coming! ...or, for those of you not in Europe - I'm going!

Parisian store front - um, yes please!?

Found via Black*Eiffel
This blog, Copenhagen Cycle Chic, is like my new virtual homeboy.
So dang fun.
So dang cute.

ps. I like bikes so well, I don't even care that it looks like I'm late to the party - but my 'back-in-the-day' friends know....

Curious and Curiouser...

So last night on our walk (yay for walking again!) I was trying to explain to Nazy the 'consumerist mall culture' that is my home town. ...about how I used to regularly swing by the mall (most usually the Spectrum) on my way home from work and just generally check things out. I likened it to the way you may check out the blogs/sites you favor daily.
You may swing to Barnes for a coffee and a read - but on the way you window shop the new trends, people watch (almost my favorite sport), and eventually check the headlines on the Times, Harpers, VF (etc.) - all before popping upstairs to the New Release section to see if there's anything you can't live without.
With me?
Well... in my tour of all things I like virtually (or do I virtually like them?), I found this site! His name is Christopher David Ryan - and I quite like what I see.... Now I have all kinds of new pictures to make up stories to!

...Looking forward to this day.
These 2 are just so completely rad!

Thanks for indulging me in my excitement....

One Coin: Two Sides

Full (okay, only partial) disclosure: I spent my formative years swimming, running, jumping, climbing, playing in the mud with trucks (and reading...). In fact, I didn't wear a "non event" dress until I was 20. Of course I've made up for that in exponential leaps and bounds (if such a thing is even possible) with my fairly recent and voracious appetite for fashion.
So I saw this picture yesterday & I had a moment of "real world envy". I realize that I'm in the real world - albeit a world sans Target, Chinatown, and pretty much everything I can think of to assist in the replication of this picture. Sigh. Different countries, different conveniences, different aesthetics....
But then (!) at work this morning - okay, so it was like 15 minutes ago - I saw a mongoose in the garden in front of my desk! And then there were more and more until there were 5 mongooses (5 mongeeses?) HA.HA.HA. That, my friends, was the signifier of the start to a fantastic day - a reminder of the little girl aimee piper: the one who would throw herself bodily on the ground and try to figure out what was before her. And I'm still that girl - except now I like to host dinner parties where we can all talk about what new and cool things we did that day!

A Love Letter In Photos...

Dear Fall,
Welcome back - you have been sorely missed, but this makes reunion (if we ever get out of this Indian Summer...) that much sweeter, right?

There's a rumor of rain in H-Town this weekend, and while I'm minorly concerned that my tea party on the balcony guests might not love it - I mostly don't care. Because I.love.the.rain.


Ps. If you decide to rock up on the tea party - all unexpected style... note the dress code. This might be the only exception Yasmin & I will accept to fancy dress....

...such a fan of irony - and of pretty fridays. Enjoy!

...Si, Solo los Domingos

Some friends (the K's) and I went to Tel Aviv this weekend. Excepting the airport, I'd never been there before - and I really loved 'adventuring' around the city. Such a fantastic atmosphere. (Hopefully, I'll be able to post pictures from it soon)
I felt that we were in perfect harmony with summer that day.... Like we weren't quite ready for summer to be gone - and summer wasn't quite ready to loose it's hold on the world.

... in fair New York, where we lay our scene, my friend Amy of Montague fame (I told you about my nerd factor, yes?) took this picture at the Coney Island boardwalk. I actually saw this picture earlier last week - and I was totally won over by the beauty in it. But I had no idea how completely it would capture the feeling of my experience with the beauty of summer's end. Enjoy!

A Brief Introduction...

This week's "thoughts on all things I think are pretty" surprises even me. ...okay, so I'm not so surprised as I am impressed with myself - but you'll see what I mean.
As you can probably tell, I err on the side of obsessed when it comes to fashion and art and etc. But lest you get the wrong (ahem. right) idea - I read a lot, too. A lot. And the things I found to be most beautiful and inspiring this week were things that I read.... The piece I've chosen to share with you all (or you 5 - I mean, let's not be dramatic, right?) is from the writings of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The picture is one that I took during the Bahá'í International Convention of the Shrine of the Báb.

To learn more about the Bahá'í Faith... click here.
I hope you enjoy this Friday's post and find it to be as beautiful and inspiring as I do.

"By night, by day, at morning tide and sunset, when darkness draweth on, and at earlly light I remember, and have ever remembered, in the realms of my mind and heart, the loved ones of the Lord. I beg of Him to bestow His confirmations upon those loved ones, dwellers in that pure and holy land, and to grant them successful outcomes in all things; that in their character, their behavior, their words, their way of life, in all they are and do; He will make them achieve distinction among men; that He will gather them into the world community, their hearts filled with ecstasy and fervor and yearning love, with knowledge and certitude, with steadfastness and unity, their faces beauteous and bright.
- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Looking At Me, Looking At You...

I suppose I should preface this week's Friday Post by telling you that I love all of these pictures for very different reasons - but the reason I've put them together on the same post is very specific. It's about their distinct attitudes to the camera and audience that I find so striking...

The subject in this photo, seemingly unaware of her audience, has - specifically with her body language - nonetheless invited her audience into the role of voyer.
Here we have Einstein completely aware of the camera/audience, and therefore completely in control of his actions in relation to the shot. The possession of this picture does not lend a possession of the subject - in sharp contrast to the model above.
This last photo may yet be my favorite in this series. This woman, a Dalit from India, is likewise completely unaware of her audience. But there is nothing in her posture to denote that she is either a simple bystander waiting to be chanced upon by a voyeristic audience, nor is she somehow complicit in her own objectification....

Just some random and hasty thoughts for what is shaping up to be a fine September friday!