Learning to love you more






Learning To Love You More is the brainchild of Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher. It’s a website comprising work made by the public in response to creative assignments set by July and Fletcher such as “Take a flash photo under your bed” and “Write your life story in less than a day”.

Here is the one I’m going to do: “Make an encouraging banner”

Think of something encouraging you often tell yourself. For example: Everything will be ok. Or: Don’t listen to them. Or: It’ll blow over. Now make a banner, making sure to follow these instructions:

1. Draw each letter of the sentence on a large piece of colored construction paper or big squares of fabric. One letter per piece. Draw them blocky so you can cut them out.
2. Cut them out.
3. Glue each one onto a piece of construction paper or fabric that is a contrasting color.
4. Then glue the edges of all the pieces of paper or fabric together to make a banner.
5. Hang the banner in a place where you or someone else might need some encouragement, for example, across your bathroom. Or between two trees so that you and your neighbors can receive encouragement from it. Or in a gas station.
6. Photograph the banner and upload it onto the site.

You can see examples of other people’s banners on the website here. UPDATE: You can see mine here.

The Co-operative Building in Middlesbrough is curating an exhibition of completed assignments which opens on 25th July. If you want to take part (have a go, it’s fun!) you’ll need to submit your assignment by 20th June.



Oh Mickey you’re so fine




Sometimes I really do feel like the luckiest girl in the world. How else can I explain my reaction when I came home to find this friendly fellow striding across my desk? Dear D has gone to a wedding in Wales for the weekend (I don’t do weddings) so has left Mickey in charge. Does life get any better than this?



A Polly Mellen film?



I could have sworn I read somewhere last week that Douglas Keeve (Unzipped) is making a movie about esteemed fashion legend Polly Mellen. But can I find any reference to it online? No I bloody can’t! Either I have false memory syndrome or I am just too ahead of the curve. Anyone able to shed light on this for me?

Update 31/5/08
Ah! I fially found the article in The FT here (go to page 2) by Bronwyn Cosgrave. Of course, spelling Polly Mellen as ‘Polly Mellon’ didn’t help with matters of a Google nature:

“Meanwhile, Douglas Keeve, the documentarist behind Unzipped, the hit 1995 portrait of designer Isaac Mizrahi, as well as Hotel Gramercy Park, which just debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival, is now turning his attention to the “Polly Mellon project.” For two years, Keeve filmed the exuberant former Allure magazine creative director and one-time Diana Vreeland protégé and recorded her phone calls.”