The Notebooks of Honora Gorman

Not a love story, and yet a story of love

Behind the grit and grime, behind the crunch and crime,

lies the magic and beauty of New York City — at least there once was for a would-be writer named Honora Gorman.

True, she was never published and her life tended to meander about well into old age. True, her notebooks gathered dust as she grew older, though she continued to buy new ones and fill them.

And true, the sparkling dream-like wonder of her first encounter with the city lost some of its luster over the years.

And yet — and yet, between the pen and the paper lay the the stubborn insistence that what she saw and felt was somehow essential, worthy of being recorded, and utterly beautiful in a strife-filled, struggling sort of way.

Nora (character): Give it up Honora.

Honey (character): Oh, let her dream…

The Notebooks of Honora Gorman: Fairytales, Whimsy, and Wonder https://a.co/d/03R5khXL

(all images are from my Pinterest boards)

Books and Flowers

flowers and books

The grouping of books with flowers is a poetic one — whether it’s a studied composition, an impromptu arrangement, or simply a flower used as a bookmark. Both books and flowers serve as portals to worlds of beauty, meaning, and pleasure. The pairing is made more poignant by the contrast of one being ephemeral, the other ever-lasting.

“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?” – Oscar Wilde

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“With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy.” – Lope de Vega

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“Flowers lead to books, which leads to thinking and not thinking, which leads to more flowers and music, music. Then many more flowers and more books.” – Maira Kalman

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“Here’s to fresh coffee, sunshine, morning walks, blooming flowers, good books and all the other simple but glorious pleasures of life.” – (I’m not sure who said this, but I couldn’t agree more.)