N2 Notes from A Broad

Le Film Noir

2012-01-24T00:55:00.000-08:00

Spent Saturday and Sunday evenings at the Castro Theater in San Francisco at the Film Noir Festival. It gets better every year.Made even better by the fact that I'm usually there with my son and daughter-in-law, J & K. I don't even care that much about which particular movie we go to see. The gorgeous Castro Theater is packed with SF film fans, some of them dressed in vintage finery.Festival

Christmas. Passed. Fast.

2012-01-02T20:42:00.000-08:00

I hadn't had a Christmas tree in years, but I couldn't resist getting a little tree for the little guy this year.Most of the time I cut button eucalyptus branches at a friend's house and decorate the mantel piece with that, fairy lights and candles. This year we had a formal hanging of stockings as well, like when "the kids" (now in their mid thirties) were little. But this is what makes

Christmas Corners #2

2011-12-17T12:33:00.001-08:00

My yard is still blessed with a few late roses and I have been gifted with some fuyu persimmons and pomegranates, all adding a simple sweetness to our California holiday season.More soon, sweet kisses for now!N2

Vrooom!

2011-12-13T10:16:00.001-08:00

The Dear Daughter and the Corn Tiger are installed at the apartment down in the City and I am missing the gift of participating in their daily life. He can't quite ride the "scoot bike" I got him for his birthday, but he still likes to take it out. When they were here he would look through the glass panes in my front door before he was even dressed for the day. "Vroom?" He would call to his

Christmas Corners #1

2011-12-10T13:22:00.000-08:00

Early resolution to post more here. I'm going to start with pictures, always a good way to get me going. This one is CA seasonal -- sunshine, pomegranates, the last of the hollyhocks, a tiny advent calendar and a wind up toy from Christmas past who has become a character around the house.More soon, love for now.x0,N2

CCiiff Festival Completed

2011-10-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

Saw the last film in the CCiiff Film Festival tonight up at the Abbatiele theater in the Abbaye Ecole. They presented a great range in an intense three-day program of films. I could feel the festival starting to gain traction, building the audience it needs to find the funding to keep going.There was good dialogue between the directors who traveled here to speak about their films and the

International Film Festival in Soreze?

2011-09-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

El Ambulante – The Peddler, the story of an itinerant movie maker who travels from village to village in Argentina awakening dreams, the first offering of the local CCIF intercultural film festival here in France. A heartwarming small movie that was screened at Chateau Padies this afternoon and was followed up with an al fresco dinner in the courtyard.

Writing on Whidbey

2011-08-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

Just back from Whidbey Writer's Workshop on Whidbey Island, WA, across from Seattle. Formal Name: Northwest Institute of Literary Arts Master of Fine Arts Fall Residency 2011. You can see why we shorten it, sometimes to Writer's Camp or even W3. This was my fourth year attending the summer residency. It is a wonderful community of writers. This summer the classes were headquartered at the

It's About Time

2011-08-03T12:54:00.000-07:00

I know, I've been a Bad Blogger all summer. Bad Blogger! Bad, Bad Blogger!! Sit! Sit, now. Post! That's a Goood Girl. What can I tell you? It's been a bizzzy summer and will go on that way into Fall. Thanks to those who sent a mail to see where the heck I was. So thoughtful and I didn't even get back to you. Too bizzy for that, too. But I hereby send apologies and hugs back at ya'. ~~~ I'm

Mr Busy & His Mom

2011-05-05T06:44:00.000-07:00

The Dear Daughter and I got some time out and about together with the Corn Tiger in the Village here in Manhattan. I took him to a playground while she and the Dad were at an appointment. There wasn't a moment to take pictures of him while the two of us were toodling about the playground alone. He likes to steer his stroller around the play structures in complicated patterns. Still needs a

Stoppin' by New York City

2011-04-30T09:36:00.001-07:00

On the way back home I am getting some time with my Dear Daughter, the Corn Tiger and his Dad here on the East coast. Just can't seem to get enough of that these days.I think you can see why, non? Even though I talk to them at least once a week on the video phone and the Dad is good about posting a picture or video every week on Flickr, there is nothing that can replace the holding, running

Les Derniers Rayons (The Last Rays)

2011-04-12T04:04:00.000-07:00

Often I am in the garrett writing until six. On nice days it is hard to get myself up there and to keep my butt in the chair. When I've put in my self-imposed goal of hours writing, I slip my camera into my pocket and go for a walk around the village or out to the surrounding countryside, chasing the last rays of the sun.There are wonderful old buildings around here and I love the way the gold

Vuelan a Madrid (Flying off to Madrid)

2011-03-30T05:35:00.000-07:00

The Kitchen, an homage to Saint Teresa.Painting by Marina AbramovicPart of the Heroinas (Women Heroes) show at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid I worked and lived in Madrid for a good part of the years 1997-2000. When I first went there, the only Spanish I could speak was numbers, uno hasta veinte, Gracias, Buenos Dias and ¡Hasta Luego! None of these with a Madrileño accent. I worked on a

la Tristesse dans nos Rue

2011-03-14T05:54:00.000-07:00

A woman I admire, Claude Crespy, passed away this morning at the age of eighty. She lived just down from me here on the opposite side of rue Ferlus. We had a rendez-vous for tea last Thursday. I took her the last of the lemon bars I made from the Meyer lemons. I had just come to know her in the quiet of last winter when I came here to hole up and write. K and M, from whom I bought this house,

Citrons Atomique

2011-03-09T12:12:00.000-08:00

I have a Meyer lemon tree at the back of my yard in California. It was a birthday gift over twelve years ago from my friend G, who knew how much I loved Meyer lemons. I got my first taste of this extra-ordinary lemon when I moved into my California bungalow, 25! years ago it was now. (Long before the CA foodies jumped on the bandwagon.) My neighbor Gladys, who lived alone in her house after

Départ et Arrivée

2011-02-18T05:46:00.000-08:00

I took the airport shuttle from Sonoma County Airport at 0945 Wednesday, left SF airport at 1450 flew through Frankfurt to Toulouse and arrived in the village of Soreze at 1900 (GMT, that's +9 hrs to CA time) on Thursday night. It was a very long day and one of the more grueling Lufthansa flights that I have taken to date. I usually fly SF=>Munich=>Toulouse, but I thought I'd try this route

Man Becoming Tree

2011-01-24T00:02:00.001-08:00

We have had sunny, dry weather for the last week -- a good time to get the tree trimming done in the yard, to ask the taller trees to give some air and light to their smaller tree and plant brethren below.A good friend, retired tree trimmer turned chiropractor, offered to lend a hand, a chainsaw and to utilize his pair of tree climbing spurs.Another friend recommended Francisco lo Fantástico and

Christmas & New Year. Passed.

2010-12-29T01:16:00.000-08:00

Started this post some time ago and, though time has moved on, I didn't want to leave this one in the Draft bin. So here's a flash back to the season just past. The California swag. The festive window 'o' teddy bears, round the corner in San Francisco. Decorating at the library for the children's Christmas story. My mom's madonna, out of storage for Christmas. Table and

Corn Tiger Update, Part I

2010-12-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

I am back home in No California and recovered from the cold I picked up along the way. Past time to catch you up and, of course, I must start with the Dear Daughter and the Corn Tiger. One of his favorite toys is the stuffed octopus rocking horse that plays five tunes that his Manny George gave him. It's the type of gift that the Mom and Dad look at and say "Huh...", but that turns out to be

Thanks. Giving.

2010-11-25T09:09:00.000-08:00

The Dear Daughter and the Corn Tiger, Williamsburg Brooklyn, November 2010.

Ancien Combattant Jour (Veteran's Day)

2010-11-12T15:19:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was Veteran's Day here in France as well. It was a schoolholiday and sunny, after a few days of chilly rain, so it had a festive air.Monsieur le Maire, as we all call the mayor of our little village, loves to come to civic and cultural events and he always gives a little speech. I love the fact that he wore a tri-color ribbon across his chest for this one and that he had written a

La Danse des Branches (The Dance of Branches)

2010-10-25T07:35:00.001-07:00

The road to Puylaurens from Soreze. I wrote this poem a couple of years ago, but it kept coming to mind as I drove along the country lanes in today's changeable weather.Les Platanes with thanks to Emily DickinsonThere’s a certain slant of lightfalling through a tunnel of treesthat fills my soul with clear delightas branches

Because everyone needs...

2010-10-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

...a little Corn Tiger in their life!Been missing the boy so I had to consolidate some of the pictures the Dear Daughter sent by mail of our Boy's Life in Brooklyn. Just looking through them makes me ache to hold the boy.Water play with Dad.(She sent a video of him in the sink singing, but he's nekkid, so that one is for Nana's eyes only.)Corn Tiger with his tiger...look at those chub rolls =o)

Virtual JFK: Vietnam if Kennedy Had Lived

2010-10-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

The CCiiff Film Festival ended last night when the final film, Empire of Silver (Bai Yin Di Guo), VO Chinese with English subtitles, screened in Revel. The festival was truly a bringing together of many cultures, with films coming from China, Africa, Europe, South America, USA, ..., with many points of view and in many languages, subtitled in French or English. Of the 13 films which I saw in

C&C Intercultural Film Festival

2010-10-04T16:17:00.000-07:00

The Culture & Cultures Intercultural Film Festival has been making good use of the two theaters at the Abbaye Ecole in Soreze this week. Anne and I have been running around the corner and up the street to help out, selling and punching tickets. Images from The Mountain Thief, the opening movie for the C&CIFF in Soreze. The Mountain Thief is the first feature film by young director Gerry

Cet Homme

2010-10-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

Leonard Cohen jumped me in an internet back alley today and took me "a thousand kisses deep", over and over again.You'll see what I mean at 5:55 in this video when he delivers a version of his poem of that name."I'm Your Man" is a good song, but it was the poem that sealed the deal for me. A Thousand Kisses Deep by Leonard CohenDon’t matter if the road is longDon’t matter if it’s steepDon’t

Reading Aloud

2010-09-23T13:20:00.001-07:00

The other night I was invited, along with Glenda, Anne and John, to Durfort to British Anne and Peter’s house for a “poetry reading”. Hey, I though, I can do that! There are regular poetry readings in Sonoma County back home in California, where I have read at the Lit Cafe and the Literary Guild's readings in the City Council Chambers at City Hall in Healdsburg, and at the Valona Deli in

'Mater Matters

2010-09-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

It took until the end of August and into September for the tomatoes to really start to ripen well this year. But ripen they finally did, I am here to report. 'maters and the purple beans. Grew these beans from seed my neighbor Ren saved. She didn't get many purple beans, but got the purple speckled "neighbor beans" from seed I saved. So we both had neighbor beans. I was picking a basket

Turn Around

2010-09-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

TURN AROUNDWritten by: Harry Belafonte, Alan Greene & Malvina ReynoldsWhere are you goingMy little one, little oneWhere are you goingMy baby, my ownI know, it is past time for some pictures of the Grand Boy. I was talking to a friend this morning about pictures of the boy and the blog and realized what has been keeping me from writing a new post about the boy: talking about him just makes me

Back from Whidbey

2010-08-24T13:49:00.001-07:00

Yeah, I know, I have been MfB (Missing from Blogland) for awhile now, but, you know how it can get. Real Life just takes over sometimes. In a Good Way. This last chapter, which I am going to write about first in order to build the suspense...(you haven't had pictures of the Corn Tiger for awhile...), takes place at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, Washington, where I spent nine days, August 13-

Jr Space Ranger

2010-07-29T00:35:00.000-07:00

Let's see, how do you start this thing?Maybe pressing here and here...OK! Turn this way for Saturn...Uumm...Nana...You're standing right in the middle of my space field...This boy makes me giggle.Keeses.N2

Possibilities

2010-07-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

From Free Will Astrology by Rob BrezsnyLeo astrology reading for this last week for all Leo birthday celebrants out there in which good company I also count myself.According to Hawaiian mythology, the soul leaves the body during the night to seek the adventures known as dreams. The place of departure and re-entry is the "soul pit" (lua’uhane), which is located in the tear duct of the eye. During

Young Love

2010-07-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

Time is a flyin by here. Met up with the Dear Daughter and Corn Tiger a week ago to introduce him to my friend Anne before she flew the coop for France. She left this past Wednesday. See what I mean about time and flyin?! Anne and I have led somewhat parallel lives -- oldest daughters of large families with three boys (hers, 6 kids, mine, 10), still occupying the same apartments we moved

Blue Sunday

2010-07-12T02:00:00.001-07:00

It was such a solitary and quiet Sunday after the busyness of the last holiday weekend.But the flowers kept me company.Big blue kisses.x0N2

First Hickey

2010-07-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

I spent some time in a hotel room this weekend with a younger man and we shared our first hickey. (Mine and his....You have to watch out for those nursing babies, in a pinch they'll latch on to the closest available skin. And, believe it or not, I've never gotten a hickey before.)"Wait! You said there wouldn't be pictures."We have met the paparazzi and they are us.There were chaperones involved

A Bunch of Fireworks

2010-07-05T00:53:00.000-07:00

Kind of looks like a fireworks bouquet, non?!Hope you had a friendly gathering and got to see fireworks light the sky.x0 N2

Silver Moon

2010-06-27T00:51:00.000-07:00

Coming back from LC's last night after a mighty fine dinner and a little rockin' to the Friday Night Live dance band, I took River Road and came across the one lane summer bridge with the full moon high in the sky. I had to go back and stop at the side of the road in the No Parking zone (with flashers on!) and get out to try to capture the silver light on the water using my little camera.

Baby Therapy

2010-06-18T00:06:00.001-07:00

"Suck, little babe, oh suck again! It cools my blood; it cools my brain ... Oh! press me with thy little hand; It loosens something at my chest; About that tight and deadly band I feel thy little fingers prest." William WordsworthA quick trip to see the Dear Daughter and the Corn Tiger this week. Got to receive him fresh out of his shower and "do his morning things", i.e.

Feelin' Blue

2010-06-11T00:33:00.000-07:00

Some time ago (can it be fifteen years already?!) I opened a little place in this Burg of ours called The Blue Rose Cafe. It was in a converted CA bungalow, one of the first coffee houses here in town and designed to be comfortable for all ages. We served coffee, really good black and herbal teas with herbs picked from our garden, italian sodas, grilled focaccia sandwiches, salads with my

Bookin' with the Grand Boy

2010-06-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

I did get to see the Grand Boy last week and here's the proof: It was a quick trip, down and back in a day, but the Boy, the Daughter and I had some relaxation time together around the flat. I got to hold that boy and walk him and give him what he needed and soothe him to sleep. There is something so heart healing about being able to make just the moves needed to get another to let go of their

Memorial of Peace

2010-05-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

There is a long history of commemorating Memorial Day in my family, on my mother's side, at least. Not in the sense that we celebrate it these days in the US, as the holiday weekend that bookends the beginning of the summer season, as Labor Day bookends the ending of that season. More in the old sense of Memorial Day from when it was called Decoration Day.My mother used to tell us stories about

Balance

2010-05-24T00:24:00.000-07:00

“There’s no secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves”Frank Herbert“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.”Thomas Merton“You have weighed the stars in the balance, and grasped the skies in a span"G K Chesterton“A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life.”William Arthur Ward Today I have been reading Will Cather's "Paul's Case" and John Cheever's "The Enormous Radio" in the Norton Anthology (see sidebar). I brought this book over as a writing study tool. It is required reading for

Day 6 of the Picture Dialogues

2010-01-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

Getting out the hand hewn farmer's table to use for cutting out the quilt squares.

Day 5 of the Picture Dialogues

2010-01-11T03:08:00.000-08:00

Breakfast by the fire this morning, reading Netherland by Joseph O'Neill (see sidebar) before starting work in the study.

Day 4 of the Picture Dialogues

2010-01-10T04:40:00.001-08:00

Sunday Brunch at home on Rue Ferlus, pain perdu extraordinaire (literally: extraordinary lost bread) with France Musique on the radio playing Aw-lee-vair (Oliver! the musical =o). 𝄫Who will buy this wonderful morning...𝄫

Day 3 of the Picture Dialogues

2010-01-09T03:40:00.001-08:00

Left was yesterday morning and right is today. And the snow is still sifting down.

Day 2 of the Picture Dialogue

2010-01-08T04:21:00.001-08:00

It is snowing this morning, sticking to the patio table and chairs.

Day 1 of the Picture Dialogue

2010-01-08T04:16:00.001-08:00

Day 1, Jan 7, 2010The first transactions have taken place with the village bakery and the ladies of the Utile.

Bonne Année!

2010-01-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

I was happy to get to see the sweet decorations for Christmas which are still up in the village.Made even prettier by a light dusting of snow that fell later in the day.On Epiphany, or Three Kings day, the French eat gâteau des Rois (a type of pastry made with orange blossom water and butter, and decorated with candied fruit) with friends and family. This breaking of sweet bread together acts as

Troubadors, le Sidobre and the River of Rocks

2009-10-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, M, D and I drove up to le Sidobre, an area east of Castres (22 miles/ 35 km from Soreze). On the way up, we stopped off in Burlats, the site of the court of the fair Adelaide of Béziers from ~1170-1199, a significant center for trobadors (troubadors) -- composers and performers of Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350).BurlatsIn the area of le Sidobre 300

Le coeur vivant de la Cité

2009-09-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

On my past visits to this corner of France, I have never spent much time in the center of Toulouse, the fourth largest city in France, after Paris, Marseille and Lyon, so yesterday my Soreze friend M showed me some of her favorite sights in the "living heart of the city".Though construction on the original building to house the regional government in the center of Toulouse was started in 1190,