Wild Thing You Make My Heart Sing.

It's time to get out and go a little crazy. Have a drink. Dance 'til your feet want to saw themselves off and leave you, and then keep dancing until you can't even feel them anymore. Meet a group of strangers. Eat a hot dog from a street vendor. Bar hop. Crash a hotel party. Hot and sweaty from a packed smoke-filled bar. Irish Car Bombs. Have a conversation consisting of Immanuel Kant, The Cosby Show and fake tattoos. Cram six or more people into a photo booth. Belt it out at karaoke. Eat a dangerously chocolate dessert late at night. Leave your car and take a cab home arriving with the sun...

Le Mépris.

I just watched one of my favorite films again. I hadn't seen it for a couple of years, since graduating film school. It's a french film by Jean-Luc Godard,"Le Mepris" is the french title, and "Contempt" is the english title. Not only is this film absolutely gorgeous to watch, it is full of layers and layers of meaning.

One of my all time favorite scenes is the scene in the apartment, the dialogue, the way it's shot, everything( I won't say more, I don't want to ruin it for anybody). It is just so superbly made...

Brigitte Bardot and Michel Piccoli are brilliant!

And of course Brigitte is just breath-taking...

I am always so inspired by this film. Even when I haven't watched it for a while, it still influences me; my writing, my style, the way I view everything...And when I do watch it, I find myself contemplating different things each time...

¡Vayamos!

It's a smoldering Friday afternoon and all I want to do is down an ice cold brew and chow down on some authentic Spanish tapas. On second thought,  let's throw in some Sangria. And some olives, some meats, little pieces of soft, warm bread. Mmm mmm...it makes me long to relive my time in Madrid and Barcelona. I love how you can eat such great food soooo late. And Barcelona is just draped in beauty and art. It's a city adorned by the touch of Antoni Gaudi and Lluis Domenech i Monataner. Filled with dramatic mosaics, gothic architecture and lazy beaches. It's no wonder Dali decided to call it home. My mind is wandering the beaches of Barceloneta, it doesn't want to come back...

 

So Long Summer.

 

The years are just going by faster and faster. The seasons lasting but a blink of an eye. Summer has come, flourished and is now fading. I love the simplicity of summer, I don't need a jacket or socks. Throw on a breezy dress or cut-offs, a quick slip of the sandals, some sunglasses and you're off. I love the salty, sunscreen smell that resides in all of my beach bags. They all have a little sand in the bottom and a few pretty shells, I have found, tucked away in the pockets. I love to sip mojitos and hear the roar of the ocean. Cool down with icy treats, shave ice, smoothies, etc...Summer brings me closer to nature. The sunshine draws me outside I love to be out exploring. I can understand the nomadic life during summer. The days are longer, children aren't in school, the smell of barbecue fills the air. The hot sand between my toes and under my feet. The cool refreshing ocean forcefully pushing me towards the shore as I dive under the waves. But so long summer, until next time...

Eugenics.

This morning, I had to take Nola(my dog) to get a check-up. The vet can be a very daunting place. I just get so focused on what I am doing there, she's going to get her X-ray done, a quick chat with the doctor and we will be out of there. I never anticipate or think about the other people and animals that will be seeking medical care. A month or so ago, we are seated in the waiting area, Nola finally stopped shaking with anxiety and fear of being at the vet, and I opened a Travel + Leisure Magazine to make a quick mental getaway to Tibet. Suddenly the doors flew open, and a hysterical woman caring white limp ball of fur, rushes in screaming about a car. The technician gently took the body from her and tried to revive it. The woman was banging her head into the wall and yelling at herself. The whole room filled with her anguish. Nola even cried softly on the floor. It was nearly unbearable the torment and pain we all could feel. 

Having had that experience recently you would think I would have been prepared this time. Although this time there was no visit from the grim reaper, I was still unprepared. Again, we are seated, I carelessly flipping through magazines, Nola seated, staring down the cat across the room. When a very large, very dirty man enters with his poor, poor dog. Her face was twisted and swollen. Overhearing the technicians, I could tell she had been treated and was back for a check-up, but looking at her I would have thought it was an emergency. It looked like a truck, yes a truck, had slammed into her face. It was contorted, hollow on one side, protruding on the other, a large growth on her snout. I wondered if it was a cancerous growth...Nola just having removed a growth on her chest/belly, I could not imagine looking at my dog with something on her face. 

This really made me go off into my head to analyze dogs, wild dogs, wolves, etc. Dogs don't die of caner out in the wild. Or at least wolves do not. Have humans cursed all of these creatures with inbreeding? What are the real pros and cons of breeding animals like this? Are we giving them good lives or just another form of torment? It has to be better, the cushy pillows, adventures, toys, treats...right???

We All Fall Down.

Even in L.A. the leaves are starting to scatter the ground. I think most of us are anticipating the cooler weather, even wishing it was already here. I am already obsessing over Halloween. It is my favorite holiday. I don't know what I am going to be yet...a Pharaoh, maybe something a bit avant garde like my interpretation of the sea, Hunter S. Thompson would be fun(just watched Where the Buffalo Roam, which I suspect is more true then he would have ever admitted, he wrote it btw)...I just know I want to be unrecognizable as myself, dressed up and beyond, and something where I can be in character all night long...Halloween is on a Saturday this year, which means it is going to be absolutely amazing! 

I just can't wait for this heat to simmer down so I can actually put on a pair of jeans, I miss all of them! Oh all of these dead leaves are teasing me. I can taste autumn, the chill in the breeze, half naked trees, my soft warm scarves around my neck, the even step of my boots, warm tea and soup in my belly. I happily surrender summer. Thank god for the cycle of the seasons. By the time summer gets here we can't wait to run to nearest body of water, trade in your shoes for sandals, gulp down icy treats. And then we have our fill and it's time too cool down, bundle up until we have had enough. Just thank god it doesn't snow here, and I have the option of driving one hour to enjoy it.

Apocalyptic Skies.

So it's fire season again. Living in California my entire life, this is nothing new to me, I've had to evacuate my house before. There's always fires burning here. But the thing is they always affect me. This morning the sky is gray, with a reddish-orange tinge. To me the sanguine color represents all the trees and forest that have lost their lives, making their one last sign for the world to not forget them forever. Their ashes sprinkled over my car, the sidewalk and everywhere. Clinging to the Earth, saying their goodbyes to us left in the world of the living. It reminds me of a time when I woke to find my pool covered in ash, the sky glowing red, I thought it was the apocalypse. Maybe it's just the death in the air, but it reminds me of how this could all be over. The horsemen waiting in the clouds, just out of sight.