vivian maier

Vivian Maier worked as a nanny in Chicago in the early 1950s. in her spare time, she walked the city streets with her camera, quietly documenting her surroundings. Maier's work went virtually unnoticed until 2007, when John Maloof, a street photographer himself, purchased a lot of 30,000+ negatives that had been seized from an unpaid storage locker at a small Chicago auction house . Maloof has since become a champion of the late photographer's work, which includes more than 100,000 photographs as well as documentary film and audio recordings. Vivan's work is truly astounding, and the quiet modesty of it all could just about drive me to weep. i had so much trouble choosing but a handful of photos to post here, and in the end i decided to post some of Vivian's self portraits, but not to visit the link above and see the rest of her work would be a disservice to yourself.

time for action

i saw a photo of myself from behind on a friend's blog this morning and was absolutely mortified. i have been overly indulgent in food and drink for many moons now and the resulting pudge is worse than i had imagined. no more excuses for me. i'm gettin off the fat train this instant! buyin me a ticket to Health Town. who's comin?

bob's your uncle

Uncle Bob wants to tell you how to love a woman. let him, he knows what he's talkin 'bout.

“You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect – you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking
about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break - her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.”

- Bob Marley

yoshiko fukushima

i'm quite fond of Yoshiko Fukushima's pencil drawings. see more of these and some interesting paintings, too here .

i must have a vintage/retro bathing cap!

smoother than a gentle breeze #1 - marcello mastroianni

in the tradition of you can't say Bombshell on an airplane, i'm starting a new series featuring photos of smooth, lady-loving sons-o-bitches from back in the day. lets begin with Marcello Mastroianni, who may well have been the smoothest sonofabitch that ever lived :)

neon bike project

toronto blogger Caroline MacFarlane recently transformed a rusty old bike, long abandoned on our city streets, into a cheerful thing of beauty. you can read all about her process and the idea behind it here. the truly sh*tty thing is that just two days after the bike (which had been locked in the same spot for years) had been transformed, the city slapped a notice on it demanding that it be removed within seven days. that makes me sad. if you live in toronto, visit the good to see how you may be able to help, and if you don't, visit it anyway 'cause it's a cool blog.

video vendredi on mardi

The Radio Dept. - Never Follow Suit from Jens Henricson on Vimeo.

it kinda feels like friday today even though it's only tuesday. maybe cause it's beautiful outside and i'm sleepin over at my friend's house tonight :) regardless, since it feels like friday, i don't see why we can't pretend it is. so here's some friday tunes! i saw Radio Dept. play at the Horseshoe here in Toronto last Sunday. great show.

The Radio Dept. - Heaven's On Fire from Thal on Vimeo.

R.I.P. Jeff Conaway (October 5, 1950 – May 27, 2011)

vintage nails

these i936 manicures are flippin awesome, don't you think? found them here, where they've a link to instructions for the modern version.

ciorania

stumbled upon flickr user 'Ciorania's beautiful portrait work this morning. these photos make my heart speed up a bit. see more here.

you can't say 'Bombshell' on an airplane #10 - tina louise

what's your damage? #2 - blog name

2. explain the meaning behind your blog name.

when i wrote my very first post back in 2008, i don't even remember what i had called this blog thingy. i think it may have just been Heidi's Blog. clearly a working title.

then one day, i was reading about Amelia Earhart.

if you've read any posts from the genesis of this blog, you'l likely surmise that i wasn't in the greatest head space at the time, but something Amelia had said was resonating in my muddled mind, and from her words arose the name: Loose Leaf Tigers. you can find the quote in question at the top right corner of this page where it remains -though it may have little to do with what i write here- to remind me that i am bigger than my fears. and hey, guess what? so are you. xo

i ked you not

i think i might pick me up some keds this summer. i've always liked the way they look with a sweet little summer dress or a pair of turned up jeans. my favourite is classic red, pictured perfectly above by the Snail and the Cyclops . below are some other favourites from href="http://www.keds.com/store/SiteController/keds/home">the keds site. you can also design your own online if you're so inclined. hurry up summer dagnammit!