New Purse

Scored a sweet looking purse earlier today while with Jenalyn. 

A definite must-have! The color, size and shape is perfect that it will really compliment my outfits. I can stuff things inside during the day and take only the essentials during a night out on the town making it a great evening bag as well. And, it was the last one on the shelves! 

Mind the crappy phone pics, but my phone doesn't have a flash. 

Cute striped lining!
Jenalyn bored as usual while waiting for me. I'm actually considering going back to buy the olive green ottoman she's sitting on.

Oh L'Amour + Nature = E. E. Cummings

FYI - The former of my blog title does not mean the song Oh L'Amour by Erasure. 

I honestly think I am sometimes alone in things I find amusing such as cheesy songs/videos like this. Also, thong alert on guy at 1:23 for your viewing pleasure.

Anyway...

Its 2:15 AM and my ode to my missing basic black cami got me into the poem mood. Since I am taking a break from writing my paper, what better way to take another mental break, but to have my mind drift off into something completely unrelated to what I need to write about?

When I wrote the ode, I was thinking about Pablo Neruda's collection which subsequently triggered my thoughts on another favorite of mine, E. E. Cummings. He sparked my interest in my English classes many, many years back because of his unconventional take on poetry writing. It was part avant-garde style with free verse yet traditional in that he wrote sonnets. Often, words and punctuation marks were randomly arranged in the poem making no sense until at the very end depending on the reader's interpretation. When I think of E. E. Cummings, one particular poem of his always comes to mind:

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond

by e.e. cummings

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look will easily unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

A few years after learning about E. E. Cummings, I started getting into Woody Allen films and one film, 'Hannah and Her Sisters' (1986) has a lovely scene about this particular poem. It's a great movie and very enjoyable especially the way the poem - complimented by the soundtrack (that I proudly treasure and own on LP!) - is played out in the film. Well, that is, if you are into Woody Allen movies. The opening song is I've Heard That Song Before by Harry James in the video clip. The piano instrumental in the bookstore and towards the end is Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered by Lloyd N. 

Back to my paper... yawn...

Ode To My Basic Black Cami

Oh my dearest black basic cami,

Oh how I have missed thee.

For a week now you have been gone,

But in my drawer and with me do you belong.

I ponder of where I have last seen you,

but I have been left perplexed without a clue.

I remedy your loss by continually trying to find you,

Even though I could just always buy another that is new.

I have cleaned closets and drawers,

And searched under the bed and in dusty corners.

But I cling on to the hope that you will be found,

And the anxiousness and activity of the brain will finally reach its ground.

How I miss your comfort and look for layering,

You were the perfect cami, so essential, so fitting.

You were made up of the perfect material content and length,

Your delicate satin straps were able to hold up when laundered with strength.

You cannot be replaced by similar others in my closet that lay rest,

For it was you that would compliment my tops and tunics at best.

I hope one day when I am not looking you will find a way back to me,

So my lamenting and yearning will be only a distant memory. 

Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger Trinity

It's almost 5:30 AM and I just got up from a 2 hour nap to finish writing my damn paper.

I can't think and I have writer's block but I do know I was in the mood to listen to some Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger Trinity.

I love Julie Driscoll's soulful and haunting voice. And I really dig the sounds of the hammond organ coming from Brian Auger. One of my fave songs is 'Let the Sunshine In'. I have the song on a 45 RPM 7" EP but I'm too lazy to play it on the record player so yotube will do.



And here is another song by them called 'Save Me':



Back to the paper followed by another quick nap. My sleeping schedule sucks bad.

Birthday Celebrations

A few random photos from the following:

1) Cousin Vanessa's b-day weekend in Lake Tahoe. 

2) Nina's b-day at Mountain Bar in Chinatown for Club Minijupe and Transistor.

3) More family stuff with cousins celebrating Ana Daysi's 21st b-day at Bang! (yes - at Bang!). Had to wait for her to turn 21 before heading over to the Echo for Funky Soul. 

L-R: Chanel, Dorian, Karel, Matt, b-day girl Nina, Viktor and me.

After hours food at Full House restaurant. Check out Nina's b-day orange platter!
Gettin' down on the good foot.
Viktor's turn on the turntable.
Christian giving us the "eye".
Break time from Mountain Bar over at Transistor with Cheryl, Karel and Chanel.
Ana Daysi taking the obligatory tequila shot after turning 21 on midnight sharp.Jessica, Mauro and I cheering her on. 
L-R: Cousins Vanessa (Birthday girl!) and Arielle, me, sis Rachel and Ricardo.
In front of the Tim's sweet cabin.  


Christian and I on a private dock with a gorgeous view in back.

Vintage 9 West

Scored these really cute vintage 9 West caged blue wedges. I love good deals.



The style of these shoes remind me of a similar pair I had when I was in elementary school.
During the 80s the jelly caged heels/flats were all the rage and I used to own a pair and wear them to school like every day. I even had the matching caged bag I would sport around. They were just so comfortable and weightless wearing them around as a kid. I also scored some jelly huaraches while I was in Hawaii last year in November and l have been wearing them all the time .

Anyway, I've seen jelly shoes everywhere since 80s fashion has again hit mainstream, whether for the good or bad. But I always a have a preference for vintage items so here is a pair of vintage jelly flats I quickly came across:



And here is a newer pair that was selling in Target stores:

Sonia

Sonia is driving up from San Diego this weekend and I'm excited to see her. The last time I saw her was September last year for Karel's b-day. A happy reunion it will be indeed with a weekend of festivities planned by Karel to ensue.

Here is an old picture from Karel's 2007 Christmas party with the girls (Sonia, Karel and Nina) and me looking terribly bloated for some reason. Probably had too much of Karel's cooking and holiday desserts.



And here is an older photo probably dating back to 2005 of Karel and I with Sonia at Little Joy Bar in Echo Park. It was the days when trucker and Fidel Castro hats were all the rage - yuck to trucker hats! I remember like half of the hipster guys there were sporting it.



Back to the hats. I think the Fidel Castro hats only looked good on Fidel Castro. Let's see, Fidel Castro hats look good only if:

1) You led a 1959 coup to establish a Marxist socialist state and you have a beard.
2) You are a dictator.

So PLEASE - take it off if you are still sporting this. It won't look good on you no matter what unless you are Fidel Castro. Enough please.



Can't wait to see Sonia and have the girls together again!
OK, back to writing up a paper.

The CatGenie

"Your cat self-wash, now so does their cat box."

Attention to cat lovers who are not aware of this product.

Appears to be a must-have.

You can set this baby up in the bathroom or laundry room so you and your cat(s) can spend more time together during duties that require those rooms. And the best part is never having to scoop up after them again!





Bengal cat Macduff intrigued by the CatGenie in action.

Just Sweet Makeover

J.Lo's clothing line, Just Sweet not only got a web site makeover but changed their name to Sweet Face.

I already have my eye on this sweet dress that's being added to my wishlist:

Sweet Face Collection

Songs of the weekend

Most overplayed Suede songs of the weekend.

1) 'Everything Will Flow' by Suede.



2) 'Beautiful Ones' by Suede



More to come as I have been studying nonstop this weekend so I need blinks of moments that allow my mind to zone out for a much-needed mental break.

Boober's Birthday

Happy Birthday to Boo Boo!

Half Moon Pose - Ardha Chandrasana

Half Moon Pose - Ardha Chandrasana

In Sanskrit ardha means "half," and chandra means "moon," thus, this is the "half moon" posture. 

One of my favorite poses that tests/improves balance and lengthens the spine.
I have noticed I am improving because I am able to maintain proper form and stabilize the pose enough to really feel the overall stretch of the pose. Oh yeahhhh!

Benefits:
Basic stretching and balancing pose that mainly benefits the lower back, abdomen and chest. This asana makes the rib cage supple and flexible. It massages, loosens and strengthens the waist and brings balance in the body posture.

Niccolò Machiavelli

In honor of Niccolò Machiavelli's birthday today (May 3, 1469 - June 21, 1527), I would like to share a quote taken from The Prince:

"And it will always happen that he who is not your friend will request your neutrality and he who is your friend will ask you to declare yourself by taking up arms. And irresolute princes, in order to avoid present dangers, follow the neutral road most of the time, and most of the time they are ruined." -- Niccolo Machiavelli

Hugo and Humpty

I came across reading a headline about Venezuelan prez, Hugo Chavez and as I stared at his photo in all his angered glory, I thought to myself that he reminded of me of someone. Anyway, that someone is Humpty Dumpty! So I googled the famous ovoidal nursery rhyme character and sure enough, there was a resemblance (well, to me anyway!).

Marcel Proust

I came across a modest collection of quotes I put together in 2002 or 2003 and I was quite impressed at the organization of how I compiled them. I completely forgot about it and it was amusing and heartfelt to read at the same time. Perhaps if I'm in the mood I'll post a few quotes of what I had written in my collection to share with you.

Since I am in the mood today and completely awake, I have to start with my favorite novelist (and essayist), Marcel Proust. He is known for writing Remembrance of Things Past (In Search of Lost Time), which was considered his masterpiece and quite a very moving piece in my opinion.

A little info on Marcel Proust:

Born July 10, 1871 in Auteuil, France, Proust was born to wealthy bourgeois parents. While making rounds as a young man in Parisian society, it was then that he began his writing. Proust was homosexual. After the death of his parents, he became a recluse and started writing his masterpiece novel roughly after 1907. He died in 1922. He is considered one of the great literary figures of modern times.

"It is wasted effort to seek to evoke our past. All efforts of our intelligence are useless. It is hidden beyond the intellect's domain and reach, in some material object we do not suspect."
Marcel Proust, Remembrance of Things Past

Miss Jenalyn trying to pick Edie Sedgewick's nose.



At Lake Tahoe for my cousin, Vanessa's B-day. Fun times. Ricardo, Rachel, me, Arielle and Vanessa. More pics to follow.



With Karel, Nina and Cheryl hanging out in Silver Lake for Matt's birthday.