happy new year!

new years resolutions

consistent health

shower more frequently

create more art

cook elaborate meals or dishes

proactively find ways to deal with anxiety

read more than last year 

finally make a physical scrapbook

pay off debt

take more photographs

purchase fresh cut flowers every once in a while

make cleaning my kitchen fun (drink wine, listen to music)

see friends more frequently

find ways to be better at my job

save money

write regular blog posts for my food blog

interview selma about her life

finally read middlesex

pick an author and read all his/her books 

spend more time on things instead of rushing

smile often

"Nothing happened today.

And if anything did, I’d rather not talk about it, because I didn’t understand it."
— Roberto Bolaño (The Savage Detectives) 

photos: iguazu, argentina. two thousand and eleven. 

summer is almost here

fleece for playing!

 what was i saying again?

photos: san francisco. two thousand and eleven

Drinking Wine from Juice Glasses

and not having to go far for a decent espresso. That's the dream, isn't it?

"With a little ingenuity, my dear, you can find a way to do just about anything." -- Roberto Bolano, Distant Star

it's a sad thing, finishing a book.

"Often, on the way to the hotel, or even in the middle of the lesson, or when I awoke, or instead of sleeping, I wondered what Vanda was doing at that time in London. I knew she was the kind of woman who got up early to go sightseeing, made friends, filmed statues, ate lunch standing up, waited in queues, climbed stairs; when we traveled together we usually only met up at dinnertime. I can't really criticize her; I myself have seen so many cities superficially that now I might easily confuse them all. It took me a long time to learn that to know a city it is better to shut yourself away in a room within it than ride around it in a double-decker bus." -- from Chico Buarque's Budapest

photograph: buenos aires, argentina. two thousand and eleven.

clouds.

the road to san martin de los andes, argentina. two thousand and eleven.

the fall

On this beautiful and sunny Saturday, I talked myself out of going to the park to roll around in the grass, and instead into finally reading Albert Camus’ The Fall. It has been sitting on my bookshelf for nine years. Nine years. Zut alors! Talk about procrastination. C’est tres honteux et embarrassent! Interesting, horrifying, and a honest piece of existentialist philosophy. To be sure, we can all connect with the guilt and shame our tormented hero, Jean-Baptiste Clamence, carries with him like a heavy chain around his ankle; and, are sadistically grateful to witness someone more tormented than ourselves. When a young woman jumps off a bridge and into the Seine, Clamence stands still in fear. He could save her, but he does nothing. He will then continue to be burdened by the heaviness of his inaction, of which he deems a crime deserving punishment. And, further, he will craft himself into the monster he feels he truly is, allowing his guilt to rule his life. The goal: to make insecure all humankind, for none of us are guilt-free. The novel, although more complicated and complex, is at its core, a confession of the inescapable heaviness and burden of guilt accumulated in a lifetime as rendered by a very defensive, insecure, and persuasive judge-penitent. Hurrah for depressing yet thought-provoking literature!

love.

"Again and again, however we know the landscape of love

and the little churchyard there, with its sorrowing names,
and the frighteningly silent abyss into which the others
fall: again and again the two of us walk out together
under the ancient trees, lie down again and again
among the flowers, face to face with the sky." - Rilke

photograph: fatty's, eagle rock. two thousand and ten.

downtown los angeles.

it's easy to get swallowed up here.

chicago.

i see chicago in black and white. june 2010.

do you ever feel

like you were meant for another time?
photograph: pasadena, two thousand and ten.

if i knew then what i know now...

i wouldn't feel so old. the year has aged me; i hope it was worth it.
photograph: prague, two thousand and five.

ces petits chaton sont tres adorable!

Overheard at Gelato Bar...

mother: You should do it.
daughter: I don't want to.
mother: If I could go back in time and dissect that frog I was too afraid to in school, I would go and do it.
daughter: But mom it's not a frog, it's a CAT!
mom: Well, surgeons dissect humans.
daughter: But I don't wanna be a surgeon!

photograph: fresh pot, portland. two thousand and eight.

Un jour, je ferai les choses que je toujours ai rêvé...

photograph: berkeley, two thousand and nine.

It's Raining

and I wish I felt youthful.

 

Hollywood Farmers' Market

The Hollywood Farmers' Market c'est magnifique! Spent the afternoon exploring it avec Tal, and later with Andrea. It may not be a weekly trip, but definitely one I'll make again dans l'avenir proche.

mon petit chou: a food blog

addalittlelemon.blogspot.com...Post Script: I've gone digital, finally.

Tal

My heart is so overwhelmingly filled with love.

It has stretch marks.