Jonathan Adler Isn't Miesian. And That's Okay

The simple excuse for not getting myself until last weekend to the Jonathan Adler store in Old City is that I am new to town.  Just ignore that I moved here more than six months ago.

You would think someone like me who loves Bauhaus minimalism, midcentury design and pines for a Barcelona Chair wouldn't be into all of Jonathan's colors.  Oh no!  I am!  I am!  I am!

Everything that I have read about Jonathan's great style is true from the looks of this fabulous shop.  Jonathan is a design sweetheart.  Sure, he speaks to the current zeitgeist of reclaiming trendy stuff from the 70s (like needlepoint pillows), but I know he will continue to wow the design world when tastes change.  Stango, who is my husband and sometimes a pessimist, said it is all too obvious and wasn't as impressed as me.

Like, when I showed him this awesome wall from the back of the shop, he wasn't too psyched:

I love that quotation!

You know what, Stango?  Take two happy chic pills and get back to me in the morning.

I loved the wallpaper in the junior section downstairs which caters to the younger set.   It reminded me of the wallpaper from my own 1970s room as a baby, but after texting her the image of it from the store, my mom disagreed.  Hopefully I will upload a photo of it here one day and you will see where I was going with that.  At least nice women in the shop gave me a sample.  What was I gonna do with the sample?

With glue and a blank book, in an instant I made a cute notebook.   Yay for utilitarianism!

Finally, at the entrance of the shop, they were selling Simon Doonan's book.  In case you didn't get the memo, Jonathan and Simon are married.  Simon is also a design guy.  He is a big guy at Barney's.  Haven't I already told you somewhere on my blog that I love W Magazine and that's where I get a lot of good info?  But remember to read the articles more than study the fashion.  Don't focus too much on the photos, other than for art's sake.  I'm not joking, BTW.  There's a lot of narishkeit (nonsense) there.

if you go to his website www.simondoonan.net/home you can buy it there!

I guess if it is your own store, you can sell your husband's stuff up front and center.

Greenberg, the Movie

Everyone knows that Jews have come so far in Hollywood.  Judd Apatow's films attest to that.  Jews are out.  So only in 2010 could a movie with such an obvious Jewish name as its title even think of hitting the box office.  Check out the trailer for Noah Baumbach's upcoming film Greenberg and note how it is about a Jewish guy through and through.

Noah Baumbach and Jennifer Jason Leigh, along with Ben Stiller, will pull it off.

Stiller's father, Jerry, is Jewish.  Leigh was born Jennifer Morrow to Jewish parents.  Baumbach , creator of the award-winning The Squid and the Whale, and one of the most erudite writer-filmmakers of our day, we are just guessing, is Jewish.  Perhaps Baumbach was the original name at Ellis Island.  They're all originally from the alter heim, the Yiddish term for old home, or Eastern European communities where Jews lived for hundreds of years

We love how the opening scene of the trailer takes place in a classic, albeit treif (not Kosher), LA deli  (Canter's? Langer's?  Factor's?)  How appropriate that in our last post we were talking about happy deli experiences.

And, are those Eames Molded Plastic Sidechairs we see in one of the 1st scenes?  Keeping with the trend of everything Midcentury modern these days, they fit right into the current zeitgeist.  Though Charles and Ray Eames weren't Jewish, they surely are party of the Whole Phamily, as they have had such an influence over every-day American life.  That's a discussion for another time.

If you're a Greenberg, your family name is defined as "Green Mountain."  No, silly, not the awesome Vermont-based coffee company.  You could be Suzy Greenberg by Phish or Yitz Greenberg, the Modern Orthodox rabbi Jewish-American scholar and author.  Or just plain old Jason Greenberg.  Did you say Brad Greenberg?  No, you must have meant Karen Greenberg.

No, your last name is actually Green, Greenstein, Gruenberg, Grunstein, Greenfield.

Check out some of your family geneology starting at JewishGen.

Or just watch the trailer again, cuz it's looking pretty funny!