Sunday 7 February 2010

Mio and me

I am coughing like a sick donkey, croaking like a frog, and sighing deeply about working on a Sunday while feeling under the weather (trying to finish a piece for Harper's Bazaar). My head is fuddled, my chest is wheezing but I have been fortified by a kind friend who has cooked me sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes, with lots of tea and toast -- so I'm clearly not that sick, given that I ate the lot -- but before I return to my task for Harper's, I just wanted to post today's illustration (above) from my Sunday Telegraph column. I always like Mio Matsumoto's work, and you can see more of it here; it's a privilege to be on the same page as her...

16 comments:

Lilacs said...

Beautiful - the drawing, not the sick donkey cough.

kairu said...

Beautiful drawing, and wonderful column, as always!

I am extremely short-sighted and wore glasses from age 7 to 13, when contact lenses replaced eyeglasses, thinking I looked better without them. Now and again I go out in eyeglasses (a pair of dark purple, angular, lightweight metal frames has replaced the thick black ovals of the previous decade) and everyone comments on how much better I look.

I think eyeglasses can be glamorous, sexy, intellectual, all of the above. They give shape, definition, interest to a face, like a good haircut or expertly applied makeup. My mom has several pairs, all different styles, and she uses them as both a necessity and an accessory, like shoes or a chic handbag. But unlike a shoe or a handbag, glasses have one difference - they are (hopefully, assuming people look at your face first) - the first thing people see when they look at you.

Reading glasses are a different matter, I suppose, given that they need to be compact, portable, easily stored (and lost). My dad has several pairs, and still spends much of his time hunting down an errant pair.

I hope you are feeling better soon.

Justine Picardie said...

Your glasses sound very cool, Kairu, but I'm still searching for a good pair. In fact, I'm sitting here in the Luton pair, coughing over the keyboard. Just as well that germs don't spread through the internet (though we all know about computer viruses).
Sarah -- I really like the illustration on your profile picture. Is there a story attached to the pink coat and white hat?

Lilacs said...

Hello Justine, There is a story attached! It is from a beautiful drawing on the dust jacket of a book called Mistress of Myself by Mrs Robert Henrey. It is a totally fabulous book, now sadly out of print - as are all of her others. I love her writing style. I hope you don't mind my mentioning that the book is for sale on my Etsy site, if you check it out you can read excerpts, there's a funny piece about female writers you might appreciate.

http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_type=vintage&search_query=mistress+of+myself

Hope the donkey cough is subsiding. I smelt spring outside this morning this morning.

enid said...

Love tihe Mio drawing but not the sound of your cough . As a child I longed to wear glasses just like my cousin who had red and blue checked frames. I told my mom I couldn't see but the eye specialist said I could see so sadly no glasses for me. I do have a friend who is known for his glasses - large with bright red frames and a diamante in each corner !!!!!!!!!!!

Justine Picardie said...

Very Elton John (do you remember Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, or are you too young?). Sarah -- glad to have the link to your site. It's always good to bring books back to life.

GlassCurls said...

After hacking away like a consumptive for the past three weeks, I now have a huge cold, complete with blocked ears and sore throat, which makes the coughing worse. I feel your pain, and hope you get much better very soon!

I love the drawing - I've just changed my glasses, and now have quite thin frames, with a touch of lime green in them. I still think I should've gone with the bright purple frames!

jaywalker said...

I'm another wearer of glasses. Unfortunately, I have a very complex prescription as a result of childhood measles plus longsightedness and astigmatism so my glasses, with decent frames, cost at least 500 pounds (A$1000) which means I can't afford several pairs or even new ones each year. Even with a good health scheme they only rebate about 125 pounds.
However, next time I will change the colour from the current black and grey mottled. I went to a "Colour Me" seminar (only because my friend wanted company) and was told I should be wearing turquoise frames.

Justine Picardie said...

I've never quite understood those colour-me rules. My mother is a red-head, and I remember her looking glorious in a purple and pink striped dress from Biba in the late 1960s; which was probably breaking all the rules.
Meanwhile, anyone got any good remedies for a cough that won't go away? Have done echinaecea, etc.

GlassCurls said...

My grandmother swears by black treacle toffee ... of course this does mean you have to make the toffee!

Justine Picardie said...

Sounds excellent. Now I need a kindly disposed grandmother to make some black treacle toffee for me...

enid said...

Grapes are one of the most effective home remedies for the treatment of a cough. Grapes tone up the lungs and act as an expectorant, relieving a simple cold and cough in a couple of days. A cup of grape juice mixed with a teaspoon of honey is advised for cough relief

Lilacs said...

I don't have a kindly disposed granny any more either, but mine did advise a good steam in a hot eucalyptus bath, a honey and lemon drink and an early night.

Or was it a bottle of Jack and a late night?!

My Grandmother was a bit of a goer...

Justine Picardie said...

Have just eaten a lot of grapes, as it happens. Now for that bottle of Jack Daniels...

GlassCurls said...

Right, I've come home early from work, and have a bowl of grapes and a cup of hot ribena and honey. If this doesn't work I'm making an attack on my Father's whiskey stocks!

Justine Picardie said...

OK, I've done everything imaginable, and was feeling better this morning, but now coughing again. And I have spots, for the first time in years. This is not a good look...