In order to indulge my love of scent and poetry in one fell swoop, my new blog project is to attempt to match each of Shakespeare’s sonnets with a perfume. Hopefully once a week, or more or less frequently as my muse will allow. So without further ado,…
Sonnet I and Dior
July 5th, 2008 — , Fragrance from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Happy Fourth!!!
July 4th, 2008 — from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
WWI Poster Have a listen to Aimee Duffy (she’s known as simply Duffy) , a young Welsh singer with a great new album called Rockferry. Shades of Dusty Springfield, no?
Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume 2008-06-29 21:53:00
June 29th, 2008 — from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
I saw a photo of myself three weeks ago. I was 22. I’m 5′8″ and I weighed 118 pounds. Alas, the march of time.I’ve been dieting. Quietly and without fanfare. I’ve discovered that I’m just not the type to need support groups or partners or message boar…
Continue reading → Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume 2008-06-29 21:53:00
Alice
June 27th, 2008 — from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
The patron saint of Strange Girls must be Alice.
I think there are many reasons why she holds a special place in the hearts of women. Her hair is messy. She does things she really shouldn’t do, and goes places she really shouldn’t go. She talks to str…
Carlin
June 27th, 2008 — , People from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume 2008-06-20 10:30:00
June 20th, 2008 — , Personal from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
The Hosting of the SidtheThe host is riding from KnocknareaAnd over the grave of Clooth-na-Bare;Caoilte tossing his burning hair,And Niamh calling Away, come away:Empty your heart of its mortal dream.The winds awaken, the leaves whirl round,Our cheeks …
Continue reading → Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume 2008-06-20 10:30:00
Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume 2008-06-15 13:18:00
June 15th, 2008 — , Indulgences from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
A couple of nice summer wines for people who think they don’t like wine. So you’re all invited, my house, 3 PM, spicy cold shrimp and crabcakes. Bring a dish and wear something colorful!Saracco Moscato d’Asti. Very low alcohol, sweet little mouthfuls o…
Continue reading → Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume 2008-06-15 13:18:00
Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume 2008-06-13 10:28:00
June 13th, 2008 — , Personal from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
“Oh Goddess, Source of Gods and Mortals,All-Fertile, All-Destroying Gaia,Mother of All, Who brings forth the bounteous fruits and flowers,All variety, Maiden who anchors the eternal world in our own,Immortal, Blessed, crowned with every grace,Deep boso…
Continue reading → Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume 2008-06-13 10:28:00
June 9th, 2008 — , People from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Depp’s 45 today.45 and gorgeous.
June 8th, 2008 — , Personal from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
The heat here in Virginia (the entire U.S. east coast actually) is pretty brutal right now. It was 99 degrees yesterday and the forecast calls for 101 today. The humidity is oppressive, and to add to the fun the wildfires burning in North Carolina are …
June 6th, 2008 — , Places from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Here are some photos of Rosaline and Bill Glazer’s gorgeous cottage on Martha’s Vineyard, from this month’s issue of Architectural Digest. Don’t you wish you could step into these photos and spend the rest of the summer here? I’m slightly obsessed wi…
June 2nd, 2008 — , Personal from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
I haven’t been able to post much text lately. My carpal/ulnar tunnel pain has been kicking up and I’ve had to reduce my keyboarding. I’ve been pain-free for the past couple of days (sans drugs) so hopefully I’m on the mend!Yesterday Phil and I went to …
June 1st, 2008 — from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
I bought a new bag today. It’s the Coach Soho leather hobo.
June 1st, 2008 — from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Rejoice; it’s June and we’re under Mercury’s protection. Mercury, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1744)
It’s Barbie time…
May 30th, 2008 — , Barbie from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
May 23rd, 2008 — , Art from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Today’s art post is the next installment in my Strange Girls series. Hope you enjoy!’The Sibyl, with frenzied mouth uttering things not to be laughed at, unadorned and unperfumed, yet reaches to a thousand years with her voice by aid of the god.’ (Hera…
May 21st, 2008 — from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
My handwriting anaysis says:Mary uses judgment to make decisions. She is ruled by her head, not her heart. She is a cool, collected person who is usually unexpressive emotionally. Some may see her as unemotional. She does have emotions but has no need …
May 19th, 2008 — , Places from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
My current obsession; click here: Eagle Cam
Slutbucks
May 17th, 2008 — , Food from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Maybe you’ve heard. Starbucks is testing an update of their logo, which portrays a mermaid with a double tail. The current, regular logo mainly features her face and upper torso.A fundamentalist Christian group in San Diego is apparantly outraged by th…
May 16th, 2008 — , Places from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Click Me
May 12th, 2008 — , Poetry from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Medusa RedeemedHair in slithering copper coilsSlides down back, over shouldersAs coupling in the temple shadows she toilsAnd draws from him life in glorious thievery.The Goddess, in bright righteous rageMakes snakes of her hairAnd a beast of her face s…
May 11th, 2008 — from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Yesterday Phil and I made a necessary little road trip to pick up some furniture. So we’re rolling down I-95 and listening to our favorite station on Sirius satellite radio (First Wave, all 80’s, all new wave!), and I’m looking at the other cars and d…
Inspiration
May 9th, 2008 — , Art from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Illustration for the fairy tale The Fisherman and His Soul by Jessie M. King (Scottish, 1875-1949)
Blogs I Like
May 3rd, 2008 — , People from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
For no other reason than laziness, I haven’t added links to any of the following blogs here on my site, but I’ll get around to it. Really. Here are some places I like to visit:Post Secret: http://postsecret.blogspot.com/It’s voyeuristically fun to s…
May 2nd, 2008 — , Fragrance from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
One of the few Lush products I’ve tried that I can give an unreserved recommendation for is Silky Underwear dusting powder. The listed ingredients are: Cornstarch, Kaolin, Fair Trade Cocoa Butter, Magnesium Carbonate, Perfume, Jasmine Absolute, Vetiver…
A Picture, A Poem, and a Witch
May 1st, 2008 — , Poetry from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
I’ve been drying the beautiful white roses that Phil gave me for Valentine’s Day. Today I used them to make a Faery Crown for the May Queen.Here’s a fanciful little poem I wrote this morning for all of you gorgeous, beauty-loving, supportive and fantas…
Happy Beltane
April 30th, 2008 — from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
The fair maid who, the first of MayGoes to the fields at break of dayAnd washes in dew from the hawthorn treeWill ever after handsome be.- Nursery Rhyme The May Queen, Margaret MacDonald MacIntosh (1900)
April 26th, 2008 — from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Signboard, unknown artist, c. late 1600’s, early 1700’s Shakespeare was born (or baptised, they’re not quite sure) today in 1564.To gild refined gold, to paint the lilyTo throw a perfume on the violet,To smoot…
April 25th, 2008 — , Art from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Mick and the boys on Sullivan in May 1965 with the late Brian Jones on rhythm guitar and possibly the last time Keith Richard actually looked young.43 years ago, huh!
Incense Rose
April 23rd, 2008 — , Fragrance from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
The fabulous Dawn made this review possible. After testing Incense Rose’ by Andy Tauer for a couple of days, I have to say that my reaction to this scent is one of hate/love. It’s a really wonderful rosy incense, but I have to endure the top to get the…
April 20th, 2008 — , Fragrance from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Once upon a time, in an enchanted land far, far away, a beautiful unicorn pranced and pawed in a shimmering meadow on a carpet of violets. His silver hooves flashed and his milk-white flanks gleamed under the light of the full moon. His tail flowed beh…
April 19th, 2008 — , Fragrance from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Miller Harris Fleurs de Sel EDPTop: Red Thyme, Coriander, Angelica, Rosemary, SageMiddle: Iris, Narcissus, RoseBase: Ambrette, Bark, Vetiver, Moss, LeatherThis perfume was inspired by the town of Batz sur Mer on the coast of Brittany, famous for its sa…
April 13th, 2008 — , Fragrance from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Okay, I guess it’s official, I like perfumes that smell like cardboard.Last night and again today I’m wearing Iris Taizo EDT by Parfumerie Generale (the French perfumer Pierre Guillaume’s house). I dug this little gem out of my sample box in a fit of c…
Diet and Dogwood
April 12th, 2008 — , Personal from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
I’ve been unbelievably remiss in updating my blog. I’m a bad blogger. If I had to do this for a living, I guess I’d be living in a dumpster.Laziness is somewhat acceptable, I suppose, when it comes to blogging but when it comes to the size of one’s thi…
April 4th, 2008 — , Barbie from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
I’ve been so lazy about updating my blog! “Oh fiddle dee dee, I’ll think about it tomorrow.”
March 29th, 2008 — , Film from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
If you have HBO, and you’re not watching the miniseries John Adams with the fabulous Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney, you should be.If you don’t…make sure to rent it when it hits video.
Ophelia
March 28th, 2008 — , Art from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Of all the Strange Girls that Shakespeare created, I think none is stranger than Ophelia. Left mad and brokenhearted by the death of her father and rejection by the angst-filled, melancholy Hamlet, she dies under very mysterious circumstances.How coul…
March 23rd, 2008 — , Personal from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Other than randomly futzing around with my title art, I haven’t had much time lately to post anything substantial. Seems like every time I turn around, there’s a load of laundry waiting to be folded, a trip to the grocery store to be made, or the dishw…
March 22nd, 2008 — from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
I’m continuing to fool around with my blog title image. Don’t get too comfortable, it will likely change again a few times before I settle on something. 
March 21st, 2008 — , Art from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Le Printemps (The Return of Spring), 1866, William BouguereauMusa venit carminedulci modulamine:pariter cantemus,ecce virent omnia,prata, rus et nemus.Mane garrit alaudula,lupilulat cornicula,iubente natura,philom…
March 19th, 2008 — , Politics from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
“The world is better, and the US is safer” because of the war in Iraq.Dubya, Idiot-in-Chief of the United StatesHijacked from today’s Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/19/iraq-casualties-iraq-cos_n_92303.htmlBelow Is a detailed lis…
Circe
March 9th, 2008 — , Art from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Today I’m beginning an art series on my blog that I’m calling Strange Girls. I’ll be periodically sharing with you art on this theme, and I hope you’ll enjoy it.Today it’s all about Circe.Circe was a sorceress who lived in a beautiful house by the sea …
March 8th, 2008 — , Barbie from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
I command you to turn your clocks forward tonight!
Isis
March 5th, 2008 — , Places from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
“Devote to my worship the day born of this night…for at this season, the storms of winter lose their force, the leaping waves subside and the sea becomes navigable once more.”ApuleiusMarch 5th marks Isidis Navigatum when the Romans celebrated the…
March 2nd, 2008 — , Places from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Phil and I have chosen our cruise to the Aegean onboard the new Cunard liner, Queen Victoria. It’s fun to dream….Departs from Rome1 day in Capri2 days cruising the Med2 days in Santorini2 days in Ephesus2 days in Istanbul1 day in Samos1 day in Athens…
February 29th, 2008 — , People from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
“Ladies have a full and absolute license to propose marriage to single gentlemen on February the 29th; and if the gentleman is so rude as to refuse, he is infallibly bound to give the spurned lady a present, which is usually a pair of new gloves on Eas…
February 26th, 2008 — Fragrance from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
I’ve so enjoyed my week with Neil Morris. Ida, thank you for introducing me to these lovely fragrances! I hope my reviews have done at least a tiny bit of justice to your generosity.And Neil, your perfumes are a Muse…so beautiful as to inspire any wo…
February 23rd, 2008 — Fragrance from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Intimate LilyThe note of lily in fragrance never seems to work for me unless the perfumer really commits to it wholeheartedly. I don’t care for washed out wimpiness (ahem, Vera Wang) or, worse, boring disappointment (Passage d’Enfer). If the name say…
February 22nd, 2008 — Fragrance from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Dark SeasonThere seem to be certain types of fragrances upon which it seems easy and natural to project romantic, even poetic, sensibilities. (My friend Bittergrace aptly equates Dark Season with the memory of a walk in the winter woods.) You apply a f…
February 21st, 2008 — Fragrance from Mary @ Tea, Sympathy, and Perfume
Still Life With Coffee Pot, (1937) Joan MiroNeil Morris Cafe’I confess that I have very little experience with the note of coffee in fragrance…probably because my gothic little soul do…