Cat On A Ladder

Earlier this month, on the occasion of St Francis of Assisi's day, AUREA celebrated dogs; no sooner had I clicked Publish that guilt started gnawing at me - what about my feline friends? I envisioned a forest of revengeful claws looming in the distance. To make up for my oversight, here is a post devoted to Cats.
Above is a witty bowl (yes, a bowl can be witty) created from the wonderful Koide Studio (an Esty boutique). Kitty, kitty on the ladder, what are you looking at with such rapturous attention? Oh, I see, it's delicious goldfish...

And since we are on the subject of cats, I cannot not mention my sister's Petimoo, who lives the life of an Oriental princess at my sister's home in Dubai.
(Photo credit: Joren Scharn)

Art In LA

It's unfortunate that the image most people get of Los Angeles springs from shows such as Baywatch and 90210... Really, LA is a city that is rife with exciting exhibitions when it comes to art. Here are some shows I don't want to miss. UCLA's exotic Fowler Museum currently shows Korean funerary figures, wooden "dolls" that traditionally accompany the dead into their tombs and towards there hereafter. And the show is free! Also at UCLA (top picture), an upcoming dance performance by the Helios Theater.
Meanwhile at LACMA (LA County Museum of Art), the brand new red and white Resnick Pavilion, designed by Renzo Piano, offers Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915; I'm very eager to see those treasures.

Above are 2 irresistible ads for museums: with plenty of wit, the Getty Center parodies nutrition information boxes, while the Natural History Museum presents a toothy Angeleno.

Out Stealing Horses And A Scone

This seems to have become a recurrent type of posts on AUREA - snapshots of a book I'm reading and a scone or other delicious snack. Above, a macchiato and a corn-blueberry scone (at Groundwork, on Rose in Venice) await me together with Per Petterson's Out Stealing Horses. In this novel, an elderly man, who lives with his dog Lyra in a remote cabin in the Norwegian wilderness, remembers his youth. The forests and the fjords are ever present, and if the weather is sometimes described in exquisite details, it is probably because in those parts of the world the climactic conditions mean life or death. Sometimes a couple of sentences stand out like Japanese haikus, terse and expressive - for instance, page 121:
A swan comes in to land. Soon there will be ice on the lake.
But mostly, it is a poignant coming of age story with echoes of Turgenev's splendid First Love - I can't say more without giving it away...

And speaking of harrowing literature, have you heard that a poem about Sylvia Plath's suicide, by Ted Hughes, was just found in his papers? It's extraordinary. Hear Jonathan Pryce read a passage from it.

Hot Chocolate

I usually don't love hot food, the kind that makes you weep and yearn for a fire hydrant while your lips triple in volume under the blaze. But lately I have become addicted to "hot" chocolate - the kind that includes chilis, in keeping with the ancient Mexican tradition.
The easiest one to find is Dagoba's Xocolatl, which leaves a teasing rasp in my throat and my tongue atingling. But my favorites are by Taza (with Guajillo chilis) and ChocoVivo. Both of these are made with stone-ground beans, a process that has been used in Mexico for over 2 millennia (read more about the process here). This makes for a rather grainy texture that takes some getting used to but once you're hooked, you really don't long anymore for the creamy texture of chocolates loaded with added cocoa butter.
Another bar from ChocoVivo that often buy at the Venice Farmers' Market, where these bars are sold, is the one with almonds and sea salt.
And because all these bars are so hot and spicy, I don't even feel like eating pound after pound to satisfy my cravings. A little chili goes a long way.

Let's Celebrate Dogs!

October 4, the feast of St Francis of Assisi, is the ideal day to celebrate animals. Last Sunday in LA and around the world, many churches organized pet blessings and I found this poster, spotted in hip Silverlake, absolutely irresistible.
Of course, some pets don't wait for this special occasion to step into a shrine. I remember with delight the arguments that Colette recreates in one of her masterpieces, La Maison de Claudine, as her very own mother, who adored animals, and the local priest quarrel about whether or not her faithful dog should be allowed to attend mass with her. As the mother has trained the pet to get up and sit down together with the congregation, she cannot see what the grumpy priest could possibly object to. Like most of Colette's writings, it is exquisitely written and amusing while still conveying a fearless sense of love.

Above: a baby dachshund I met in Santa Monica, an animal rescue USPS stamp, a Japanese book from the magical Kinokuniya Bookstore in Little Tokyo (crochet dachshunds? kawaii!)
But how can we celebrate dogs without Benjy, ask you. You have a point. Rejoice, as Benjy will soon be back on AUREA in his Oracle capacity, to answer a question from a fan... Woof!

Happy Colors

At my mechanic's, a giant Winnie The Pooh tests drives a red car.

I've had the same iPod mini for almost 5 years - I just can't let it go because 1) it works fine and 2) it was a present from someone precious. But when I see those new candy-like Nanos...

Pretty cards that landed in my mailbox; even better when they come in an envelope adorned with cool stamps.

On Main Street in Santa Monica, a gate and a building get a fresh coat of paint.

The 30's With A "Provincial Lady"

If you've been following AUREA, you know about my passion for the 1920's and 1930's - not for nothing did I recently gulp up Juliet Gardiner's massive The Thirties, an 800-page exploration of that decade in the UK. So I was delighted when I stumbled upon E.M. Delafield's 1933 Diary Of A Provincial Lady, a best-seller in its time, in a 1982 edition that includes the novel's original illustrations - wasn't it wonderful back in the days when novels were illustrated?

Weekend Gourmand

From top: pure pomegranate juice, snap peas and cherry tomatoes (all from the Venice Farmers' Market), Syrah wine.
What does the word gourmand (see title of my post) mean? It's very difficult, if not impossible to translate into English. Basically, it's used to refer to someone who enjoys eating. But a gourmand is not necessarily a gourmet - a gourmand is not always picky about the quality and complexity of the food. It is more of a simple hedonistic quality; a gourmand always wants more, but there are no negative connotations (a gourmand is not a glouton!).
For instance, yesterday at Stella's in Silverlake when I poured gallons of maple syrup on my lemon ricotta pancakes, I was really being a gourmande...

A couple of fun links:
Models reading books backstage during Fashion Week
and
Gustavo Arellano asks: Frugalistas - what took you so long to become Mexicans?

Earth Tones

Tsuchikara Pottery, is one of my favorite Etsy shops. The pottery offered by Ippuku is both rustic and delicate, and it always comes in such pretty paper that I don't want to unwrap it for a while... I just bought this little pitcher; with its graceful lines, it is a genuine adornment for my kitchen.

As you know, I love vintage hats. I got this original 1930's skullcap at the Green Flea market in New York last month. 100% wool. I find it youthful and sassy.
Isn't it adorable?

Welcome, Lily

My friend Mariame is not only the most intelligent, best read and most articulate person I know, she also has a rare sensitivity, a true gift of empathy that have endeared her to me for over 10 years. A couple of years ago, I blogged about her wedding. And now she is a mother!
On August 26, she gave birth to a little girl, Lily. The uncanny thing is, just a few days ago I was reading a children's book about John Singer Sargent's masterpiece "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" and thinking what an enchanting name Lily was - without know that Mariame and her husband had chosen that very name for their baby! More uncannily yet, the very day Lily was born, I posted a picture of this painting on my blog.
As soon as Lily is old enough, I will buy her Hugh Brewster's magical book about this painting (above)...
Maybe one day Lily will have brother and sisters, echoing other Sargent paintings I adore - I just read Erica Hirshler's fascinating Biography Of Sargent's Daughters, which tells the story of "The Daughters of Edward Boit" (Sargent never had children of his own, bar his works).

In the meantime, I got her the same mouse hat I had chosen for another tiny friend, from ElleGanT's Etsy shop; I hope it keeps her warm in the Parisian winter.

Welcome to life, Lily! In my heart, you are already a treasure, a beloved trasure.

A Postcard From Benjy

Readers! Fans! Bipeds and Quadrupeds (including Feline Ones)!
Over the course of the summer, many of you have inquired about my whereabouts and spirits - thank you for keeping The dachshund in your hearts. I gave my amanuensis/assistant/nanny/owner some time off these past two months and went on adventures of my own.
From my home in California, I flew to Paris in early July; there I was feted as I should be. I then took the train to Normandy, where my warm hostess was one Dame Elizabeth. I roamed gardens and paths in the vicinity of the D-Day beaches, and also worked out an agreement with my hostess's husband: as his appetite waned, I kindly helped him polish off the steaks on his plate and for a while, no one was the wiser. Yum. A few weeks later I headed for Lafitte, the manor in South-Western France where I always spend parts of my summer, ruling over the park while my assistant's mother made apricot preserves in the kitchen.
Finally, I hopped once again into my silver Mercedes, dozing off on my personal backseat checkered blanket as we drove to Belgium for dear Celinoo's wedding; during the cocktail, many prominent, international guests came by the Mercedes to curtsy or bow before me, and during the ceremony, as Mary-Laure walked up to the mike to read her limerick, a song composed and performed by the bride in my honor played in the background ("Benjy Pipi", hopefully soon available on iTunes).
And now?
My assistant is shuttling between Los Angeles and New York for work, so to avoid all those flights that disrupt my activities (meditation, soccer, digestion), I have stayed in Paris. But I will join her again soon, either in our LA home or, if all goes well, in our new home, in a city whose name I will shush for the time being...
Love, Benjy

Flower Market In Nivelles