RenoVous

  First and foremost, today is the anniversary of her first solo album, 1981. As a kid I had a single on vinyl, and I still love this song. The B side. "Kind of woman that'll haunt you," I think speaks to her own enigmatic presence. She's mystical, witchy, bohemian, ethereal.... This was the third single from the album, and is considered her "signature solo anthem." Now let's go back to 1973, when she and her then boyfriend, Lindsey Buckingham released their first album as a duo, to little success.  In 1975, they joined Fleetwood Mac - which had started in 1967, with drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, as a British blues band. The self-titled 10th album was a global pop-rock hit. Her look, her sound, and her songwriting helped transform the band. Their next record, Rumours, would become one of the best-selling albums of all time.

 Harriet Tubman Day honors the day of her death, 1913. She was born into slavery as Araminta Ross in 1822, but married a free man, John Tubman, in 1844.  Any children they would have would be enslaved though, and by 1849 she was in the process of being sold, so she decided to escape. She returned from Philadelphia to Maryland to help free her family.  One group at a time, she got them out of the state, guiding others as well.  They called her Moses. After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, she had to travel farther north into Canada. In 1858, she met John Brown and helped him plan and recruit supporters for the raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859. During the Civil War, she was a cook and a nurse before becoming an armed scout and spy.  She guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated 700 enslaved people.  She is thus credited as the first woman to lead an armed military operation in the United States. After the war, she helped establish an elderly home for Af...

  Born on this day in 1928, Maurice Sendak revolutionized children's picture books. His parents were Jewish Polish immigrants, and his childhood was affected by the deaths of many family members in the Holocaust. He was 12 when he decided to become an illustrator, inspired by Fantasia.   In 1947, he was published in Atomics for the Millions,  a textbook written by his high school Physics teacher.  He would continue to illustrate for other authors throughout the 50's. In 1963, Where the Wild Things Are  was released and praised as, "the most distinguished American picture book for children."  Even in 2012 it was voted number one picture book. The book was the first in a trilogy, followed by In the Night Kitchen and Outside Over There,  the latter of which came out in 1981.  The series is meant to represent psychological development from toddler to pre-school to pre-adolescent. In 1996, Sendak received the National Medal of Arts.

  Her birthday is coming up next week, but today is Animal Crackers Day, so there's this. This was on some sing-a-long cassette we had, so it's long been in my life.   I told my mom I wanted to dance like Shirley, but I only lasted a few intro classes. And surely you've had a Shirley Temple. Grenadine with ginger ale and/or lemon-lime soda. Add some vodka to make it dirty.  ;-) Top with maraschino cherries!

  On this day in 1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald had his first book published, This Side of Paradise. He started the novel while at Princeton.  After three years in college, he left to join the military.  While stationed in Alabama, he met Zelda Sayre, daughter of a Supreme Court justice.  At the time, she rejected him, afraid he wouldn't be able to support her.   He moved back to New York and finished his work, becoming the youngest author ever published by Scribner's.  Now with fame and fortune, he convinced Zelda to marry him. In 1922, he completed his second novel, The Beautiful and Damned. While in Europe (1925), he wrote The Great Gatsby, which was then followed by Tender is the Night .  During this time, Zelda's mental health deteriorated, a theme seen in the book.  It was published in 1934. Fitzgerald passed away in 1940, leaving behind a fifth unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon, which was released posthumously. He wrote 178 short stories in...

  Stieg Larsson, author of the Millennium Trilogy, died on this day in 2004. The collection includes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire, and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  He had turned in the manuscripts just months before his passing. He therefore missed all the acclaim for his work - the novels as well as the adaptations in film and comics.  By 2019, the series had sold more than 100M copies worldwide. Born in Skelleftehamm in Northern Sweden, Stieg moved to Stockholm in the 60's with his parents, where he began working as a graphic designer for a news agency.  He later became an investigative journalist, exposing right-wing extremist groups. In the series, Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist as well, initially hired to prove the story he's being accused of libel over.  Lisbeth Salander is the gifted private investigator and a skilled computer hacker.  In the first, they take down a CEO who has been abusing and murdering...

 W.E.B. Du Bois was born on this day in 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. In 1884 he became the first African American graduate of the town's racially integrated high school, and went on to enroll at Harvard in 1888.  He received his BA in 1890, MA in 1891, and PhD in 1895. Influenced by history and philosophy, he devoted most of his life's work to studying Black Americans from a sociological point of view.  His doctoral thesis was titled, "The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870," published in 1896. Du Bois was then invited to conduct a study of the Seventh Ward in Philadelphia, which produced The Philadelphia Negro  in 1899.  During his time there, he also delivered an address, "The Study of the Negro Problem."  He was advancing the purpose and methods for scholarly examination of the condition of black people, and he was passionate about the conservation of the African American culture and identity. Mo...

  The Royal Family has released official portraits of Kate Middleton for her 40th birthday. And Vogue has put together her 10 most "Unforgettable Outfits" 2011 2018 2020 2016 2019 2016 2020 2019 I'm disagreeing with the last two and turning over to TLO. 2017 2020 And a couple more coats. 2019 2019 Do you have any favorites not included here?

 In honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day, I found a Black-Owned brand to spotlight. Grass Fields aims to "show what Africa is all about, and educate others on how on point our style is."  All the African prints in their collections are sourced from Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, and sometimes the Ivory Coast.  The brand is owned by sisters Christelle and Michelle Nganhou.  Their workshop is in the UK, but they hope to open one in Cameroon, where they are from. Site MLK Jr Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.

There's no best dressed this week as there have been no events to attend.  We looked at Christian Siriano once before, following New York Fashion Week, which was his Fall 2020 collection.  Today we'll look at Spring/Summer 2020. Sketches are selling quick! Shop Collection