Another Tag

I was tagged by both Marie and Hila.

what is your current obsession?
Russian culture and history

what are you wearing now?
a long-sleeved black tee and James Perse skirt, white Dr Scholl slides

do you nap a lot?
I try not to...

who was the last person you hugged?
Benjy!

if you were a tree, what tree would you be?
A cherry tree, because of their divine flowers and exquisite fruit

what's for dinner?
avocado and whole-grain bread, bittersweet chocolate

what was the last thing you bought?
candy!

what are you listening to right now?
I'm obsessed with John Cage's 44 Harmonies.

what is your favourite weather?
balmy spring breeze and sunshine

what time do you usually wake up?
my alarm clock is set for 7.15 every day

what is your most challenging goal right now?
figure out my life

say something to the person who tagged you:
Marie, you're such a talented and sensitive darling!
Hila, I admire your dazzling intelligence.

if you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be?
Malibu, California (pic above)

favorite vacation spot:
I dream of going back to Russia

what movies can you watch over and over?
Clueless, and the only season of the series Action

what is your favourite tea?
Japanese green tea

what are you reading right now?
Magical Chorus, a book about Russian culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn, by Solomon Volkov.

what is your current guilty pleasure?
watching the 2nd season of the series Mad Men, downloaded on iTunes

where is the landscape of your mind?
the garden labyrinth from Alice in Wonderland

you have one wish:
shhhhhhh, wishes must be kept secret...

Style Tag

Gabbi tagged me!

Describe your style
Very sleek and casual, with a quirky detail (ideally punk/Victorian, like my memento mori cuff links)
What are the staples in your wardrobe?
Black American Apparel tees and hoodies, slim April 77 jeans (picture below), Dr Scholls, hats, stripes, black and white cashmere cardigans (2nd pic below), my Yamamoto dress that can be dressed way up or way down, white shirts I buy in London
What's your signature look?
Denim micro-skirt, Dr Scholl slides, a white shirt
What inspires you?
Trying to be myself
Who is your fashion muse?
Audrey Hepburn, 1920's flappers
Favorite purchase of all time?
The Lucien Pellat-Finet cashmere shawl my mum bought for me
Biggest splurge?
Hmmmm... Possibly my (used) Yohji Yamamoto black apron dress
What's your beauty routine?
I wash my face with Cetaphil, use Anthélios SPF 50 sunscreen every day and am still looking for the perfect moisturizer for my dry body. Any recommendations?
What jewelry do you never take off?
The De Beers diamond ring my parents, my sister and my grandma gave me for my 30th birthday.
What are you wishing for?
A huge gray sweatshirt, Atypik's Be Tough tee, this double chain ring, and more
What are your obsessions?
Leotards and warm-up gear for my ballet classes

My Desk

I was just tagged by Charlotte Tollstén, whose sensuous and delicate photographs capture the light of Finland Sweden as well as daily life.
My assignment: to show my desk. So here it is, awash in California sunshine! I always have fresh cut flowers on my desk, as well as a picture of my sister at age 6, and my darling little Mac laptop (Viva Apple!). Since I moved to Los Angeles, I've been reading a lot and using my desk as a bookshelf but I'm running out of space so I need to get bookshelves. Piled up on the right are the books I haven't read yet, including one about the collaboration between Stravinsky and Balanchine, two of my idols.
Ballet lovers, note two must-read works about this art, Noverre's Letters on Dance, and Akim Volynsky's recently published Ballet's Magic Kingdom, which dancer Toni Bentley called "a fantastic book" in her New York Times review. Also check out the Swedish DVD The Dancer, a classic documentary.
Sitting atop the pile of unread tomes is the sublime Leonardo Da Vinci book my friend Spangler gave me last Christmas.
I tag Hila, Chloé and Gabbi.

Hila's Tag

What are the last three things you purchased?
Métro tickets, bread, recordable CD-roms

What are the last three songs you downloaded?
Do NPR podcasts count? Fresh Air, Martini Shot, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me

What were the last three places you visited?
Amsterdam, Los Angeles, South-Western France

What are your three favorite movies?
Singing In The Rain, Happy Together, The Hours

What are your three favorite possessions?
The De Beers diamond ring my family gave me for my 30th birthday (yeah, I'm spoilt), my cashmere throw, my camera

What three things can you not live without?
My books, my laptop, my ballet shoes

What would be your three wishes?
Shhhhh, wishes are supposed to be kept secret...

What are three things you haven't done yet?
Skydive, learn to garden, achieve clean pirouettes in ballet.

What are your three favorite dishes?
Pasta with pesto, my grandma's gnocchi, my mum's chocolate mousse.

What three celebrities do you want to hang out with the most?
JD Salinger, Sofia Coppola, Barack Obama

Name three things that freak you out.
Violence against animals, ideologies, lies.

Name three unusual things you are good at.
Reading really fast, bonding with kids, remembering everything - my dad calls me The Hard Drive.

What are three things that you are coveting?
The DVD of Juno, the new book The Balanchine Variations, an Ancient marble from an art gallery, such as the one above.

Name three bloggers you are tagging
Karina, Chloe and Marie.

On The Thalys - My Playlist

I'm on the Talys (the high speed train between Paris, Belgium and the Netherlands), on my way to Amsterdam... I bought the Wallpaper city guide for the Dutch capital, from Phaidon, a publishing company that always has beautiful graphics and photographs. They list some architectural feats I hope to visit this week.

I cannot travel without my ipod, so I'm taking this opportunity to answer to Everybody Says Don't's tag, on my current Playlist. (Only 7 tracks, that's tough!)

Bach Cantata BWV 8 by the American Bach Soloists
Violente Femmes's Blister in the Sun
Martha Wainwright's BMFA
Sonic Youth's Superstar
Alisha Chinai's Kajra Re
Aretha Franklin's I Say a Little Prayer
Blondie's Heart of Glass

Rina's Tag

I've been tagged by Rina, a maravillosa art-and-literature-loving Argentine who lives in Chile...

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I was teaching and doing research in literature and languages. I spent the crazy summer of 98 in Middlebury, Vermont, in a Japanese immersion program.

2. What are the 5 things on your to-do list today?
Buy fresh fruit, blog, sew ribbons on my pointe shoes, catch up on late emails, take a ballet class.

3. Snacks you enjoy
Anything with chocolate in it, really good bread, summer fruit.

4. Places you have lived
In chronological order: Iran, Kenya, Iraq, China, then-British Hong-Kong, Paris, Cambridge (Massachusetts), Paris again.

5. What are 5 things you would do if you were a Billionaire?
I'd give to charities devoted to animals... fund virtual libraries... get everyone plenty of presents... travel to Russia and Japan... buy a house with horses by the sea in California.

6. People you want to know more about:
Writers Emily Dickinson, Marina Tsvetaeva, Idea Vilariño and JM Coetzee, ballerina Anna Pavlova, choreographer George Balanchine, Ballets Russes master Sergei Diaghilev, politician Jawaharlal Nehru.

I'm a bit too shy to tag 6 people but right now I'd like to tag Chloé and PVE Design. Post rules at the beginning of the post. Answer all of the questions, tag 6 people, go to their blog and leave them a comment to inform them that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog for rules. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answers.

Andrea's Tag

I was tagged by Andrea, whose blog , with its focus on beloved animals and pared-down, meditative art, is like a home away from home. The assignment read : Show me a special something, something that is important or beautiful or meaningful or full of memories for you - or all of that - and tell me about it.
I immediately chose a pair of pointe shoes. Ballet is my passion, my shelter, my discipline, and to dance is like to make love to music. Also pictured is my old all-manual Minolta; though I hardly ever use it anymore, I love its retro look; it also embodies my creative endeavors and the reminds me of the many happy memories once sealed inside its metallic belly.