there's this guy who walks down our street and up through 'dog poop lane' nearly everyday on his way to and from the port—seems it's his favorite shortcut. i've seen him hundreds of times, heard him greet someone in english once–i think he may even be american. but he's been here long enough to adopt that french-style frozen face—no american-style smile and greet on the street with him.
which is a shame. because this guy. is. yum-my.
but wait a minute! two days ago i popped out the front door and there he was again. and i got a relaxed face and a mumbled bonjour! what a development!
and this morning, when i reached out to open the shutters, there he was again, just below. i ducked in of course—no one needs to see me before i've had my shower and coffee. i'm a natural disaster area in the morning.
-
-
i wreally wreally love this weeHouse. modern, simple, arranged and fitted out to your liking by them or you, then or later. stackable like shoeboxes with endless arrangements—and all designed with STANDARD (ie: less expensive, readily available) PARTS. a studio version, built in-factory and trucked complete to your site for $45k, a two bedroom version for only $65K!
now that is the way to build a house. and these guys are in Minnesota!
i am having visions of a cluster of three studio/one bedroom 'pods'–"The Siblings"–one for each of us, on some beachfront or in the Big Woods. don't worry, i've started a file. now, where did i put my label maker…… -
mom's discovered the joy of package tracking via the internet. she's waiting for a GPS-thingy for the boat. amazing how quickly she masters technologies when it involves shopping.
-
i finally caught up with my hair girl at her new salon location for an appointment today and pointed out my most recent concern—gray hairs, quite alot around my temples—they've sprouted overnight it seems. she said no worries, they aren't spread all over and next visit a little touch of color should do the trick (though not all over, after years of dye-ing a rainbow of hues i'm now prefering au natural). curiously though, i noted that the word she used was 'blonde'….i listened closely to make certain i wasn't mistaken –but no, she referred to gray or white hairs as 'blonde' a number of times.
i had to ask. in my awkward french i inquired—"surely you mean GRAY hair, right?"
in a low tone of voice she replied: "No, no"–meaningful look—"Here it is BLONDE hair." -
Balcony, acrylic and pastel on canvas, 32" x 39.5"
this is my beloved little balcony in Savannah–according to Bob, a death-trap waiting to happen. it's slated for complete replacement in a few weeks. shame, after i went to all that trouble matching the cement-floor paint to the table color. (i do realize i have a problem). i'm hoping to be able to enjoy sitting out there with a bottle of wine and Miss Dawn and Miss Sony (and who ever else is still living there?!? where is everyone going? oh, right, California) again someday. -
it's six months down the road, but now is the time to start thinking about it and planning ahead—the big move back to regular work, back to the States. working on my pros and cons sheet now for possible locations. i'd love to return to Savannah for the warm weather and friends, the familiarity, but it's time to move on and the job possibilities in what i want to do are nil there.
Chicago has jobs in the field (did i mention i want to get into the Buying department for a modern furniture/housewares retailer? time to get out from behind the counter and into the headquarters. or, failing that, i'd manage a larger, established, PAYING retail studio). but those long, cold, dark, MISERABLE winters?-no way.
my research is leading me time and again to California. either Los Angeles or San Francisco areas—my concerns are the drawbacks of depending on a car all the time (that traffic and smog!!!) and the exorbanantly high cost of living. but, there's that warm, sunny climate i'm insisting on and the job market is very strong in the area i want to work in, especially considering the 'recession' attitude so many seem to have. is there really a huge recession? is it really that bad? or is it just that we had such an extraordinary fairy tale boom before it leveled out?
and then there are all the people i know in California–Aunt Anna, Affable Dan, Miss Kristan, my brother Thomas and even The Custard are all living out with the fruits and nuts and botox-addicts. am i next? -
Martha Stewart has been found guilty and might even be going to jail!! the jokes are running rampant even here—mom says "Bend over Martha!" oh, that's just too much—the big, bad, perfect MS getting cavity-searched for visitors hours!
-
the news has just hit that there have been serious bomb threats made against the French train system since December. the authorities have already found and MacGyver-ed one real and surprisingly sophisticated bomb on the tracks. i was wondering why the security agents and large, vicious guard dogs were out on force and random delays were more frequent lately.
the bomb-threateners (is that a word?) are demanding 4 million euros, about 5 million dollars.
i can't help thinking—only a lousy 5 million? is that all they want? can't even get a decent villa around here for that, much less staff it. -
charcoal and graphite live figure study drawings on paper, each approx. 20" x 25.5"
