girl at large

the emac should have a breathalyzer

never, ever write an email to your exboyfriend after spending the better part of a day in a wine bar. duh. how could i make such a classic blunder? um, gee...wouldn't be me if i didn't.

thank goodness it was mostly unintelligable. though i am curious to know..what the hell was i talking about? and when did i start to use the word 'dude'?

in a bad way

never, ever begin a pottery course horrendously hung over. sloppy pots.

it's not like it had anyone's name on it

i just got in trouble for using an egg. one egg. like three days ago.

this is what our lane looks like when you've still got your bathrobe on at 11am and it's rainy out

it's rainy and chilly today, a good day to stay inside with a book. which is exactly what mom and i feel like doing since we've both picked up some kind of flu bug. nothing serious, but not fun.

en famille, en mer

sorry, no other pictures of Peg's visit afterall. though i brought the camera on the boat for our family sail on Friday, i was too frozen with fear to fish it out of my bag. it was actually my first time sailing on La Tishie Mae. once i got over the paralyzing fear of the myriad of possible horrible deaths and maimings..it was kinda nice.

poor Peg got green as a pea. i had taken my Dramamine (thank god, i get motion sick on a dance floor) but Peg, sturdy sailer as she usually is, didn't expect to fall victim. she made it back to the dock without a bucket though-good show!

cross-cultural cotton candy

we went to the Cirque Arlette Gruss Thursday evening...a great show, though none of us could understand the bit with the spangly-leotard-clad girl jumping about in a large plastic bowl of water. something was lost in the translation. and much to Bert's disappointment, no midgets (P.C. Peg: "little people! little people!"). but the boys flying about in those pants..now there's a spectacle!

the shindig at the boat last night was a big success, but we forgot to bring the camera..we've been negligent in the picture taking department all of this week i'm afraid to say, so here are two shots (sorry, sans flash in consideration of the current hung over state of a certain subject) of our exciting night life at home.

did we pay any attention to the actual boat?

Bert is happy as a clam today..loaded down with leftovers from last evening's little shindig at the boat (on the dock). Mom and i are loaded down with a bit of a hangover, quelle surprise. Ruby was the belle of the ball..and is sleeping it off this morning, tail still wagging. i hope Peg doesn't think our life is all canapes and corkscrews..oh, wait a minute..it is!

scentiment

my sister, bless her, slept with her husbands t-shirt last night because it smells like him. awww...ack! isn't there a code of conduct when Married People spend time with Chronicly Single people?!

three buses, three hours

my sister Margaret flew in from London Tuesday afternoon...i now know why our family never does the airport pick up thing.

Cannes is more than slot machines afterall

we had a fantastic dinner at Gavroche in Cannes to celebrate Liz's birthday last night...fabulous food, very friendly proprietors, great company and small charming atmosphere in the hilly streets of the old town. Mom won't stop raving about it, has decided that is where she wants her birthday dinner next month. i think the after-dinner Amaretto may have sealed the deal on that one.

i'm gonna have to wear a sign or something

Ruby and i enjoyed our regular stroll up to Fort Carre this afternoon. the weather is beautiful, the old town is less congested--September has been a big improvement over August. only some people seem to think i'm a lingering tourist: a little french boy saw me with my camera, pointed at me and said to his parents "That tourist brought her dog". thanks alot kid. that's 'artiste', not 'touriste'.

is it a good thing or a bad thing that i'm begining to really understand what the frenchies are saying?

15 minutes or 20 euros, whichever goes first

we hopped the 200 bus to Cannes yesterday for a change of scenery and to pick up a few things at the well-stocked art supply store there..or so i thought..mom will use any ruse to go gambling.

speaking of needing a doctor

as i've promised mom not to "rag" on her anymore about her domestic habits, or 'lifestyle choice" in regards to tidiness, i will vent via blog. because i can't help it, i just have to let it out somehow! and this should spare her having to listen to me grumble, i mean, i do totally understand..it is her house afterall. no problem. but for me, it's like living on a different planet (and i do that enough out there with the frenchies). i have sympathy for her though, for after nine months, i can be certain she suffers from the following disorders (another regretful pun):

clean-upis interuptus, neat-aphobia, non-lid-is put back on-is, post-traumatic mail disorder, lingering laundry syndrome, mop-apnia, and dropping disease

number 17

my little corner of the world/these plants are unbelievably dead/this streetlamp, though charming, is never actually turned on/these are the antennas (anteni?) for just one four story building/this is just a few days worth of empties/the cleaning man comes on Fridays so now the stairs smell good/Ruby, on the other hand, does not smell so good today/this plant is miraculously alive (read:purchased this week)/everyone needs a folding bike/but why do we need the folding ladder in the hallway? for a week?

paging Dr. Do-little-to-nothing

seems everyone has a nightmare emergency room story. i'm reminded of the time i threw a disk in my back (lifting a sofa at work) and went to the e.r. because i suddenly couldn't feel my legs or walk...seriously scary and i was blind with pain. after filling out a dozen forms and waiting for close to an hour in an empty e.r. i was told to stand up (i was prone with pain on the floor, literally) walk down the hall and climb up on a very high x-ray table. um, did you not hear what i just said? i'm here because i CAN'T WALK.

good thing we've got Dr.Bob on call.

e.r. docs can be real pricks

my brother Thomas has GERD. it felt like he was going to die, but at least he would have done so with his shoes on. read the story here. poor kid. thank goodness for our isight, mom was a wreck until she could see his handsome face.

speaking of gale-force winds...

Hurricane Isabel is making her way to the east coast...I have a friend in N. Carolina who expects to be out of power shortly, though should be out of direct danger in her area. i experienced my first and only hurricane, Floyd, in 1999 and though in the end Savannah was spared, it was a scary few days worrying, getting ready and then having to evacuate..once we were safely inland (in Not-Atlanta) things became decidedly more upbeat. it's the flooding that is really worrisome...Savannah floods at the drop of a hat even on a good day, though this time i believe that they are out of the storm path.

according to our satelite news channel, Sky, people in evacuated areas who have chosen to stay behind are being told by local police to write their names in indelible ink on their arms so that their bodies can later be identified. damn! that's one way to convince them to go.

painting dead things

Three Apples and a Nectarine, acrylic on board, 21.5" x 18"

i felt i had to do a still life study to practice or, um, "brush up" (horrendous use of pun) on shadows, etc. turns out it was a much needed break from boats and i might continue with the still life theme for a few more days. the french term for still life is Le Nature Morte...i like that, "dead nature".

ok, so i'm sticking with boats for awhile longer afterall

Two Blue Boats, charcoal, graphite and acrylic on heavy (400g) paper, 22.5" x 30"

how does your garden grow?

my earlier letter-writing challenge brought some folks out of the woodwork. i am still receiving unexpected and delightful letters in the post. yesterday, a bright blue cheerful card from adorably teenager-y cousin Alice. this morning, a very nice legal-pad letter (legible!) from Dad in Wisconsin, complete with photos of his back forty and well-tended garden. now though, where is he in the pictures? he's not actually in any of them, bless him. i kept double checking to make sure he wasn't hiding behind the tomatoes or anything, but no, he's not that small. so let's just say he's represented by that nifty red garden tractor.

i might be getting sick of boats

Masts, acrylic on linen, 18" x 21.5"
ok, so a little more abstracted than usual, but with the title in mind you can see what i saw this morning on our walk above the port, near the fort..masts as far as the eye could see. i think i'm going to start a different subject tomorrow though, but don't panic..i'm sure i'll go back to the boats in no time.

i thought F7 was my french shoe size

Mom, Bert, Liz and I were going to go out on La Tishie Mae out this afternoon when the wind picked up something fierce. all we had really wanted to do was have a few beers in the harbor, so instead of risking our lives in wicked weather (F6-F7 winds, whatever that means), we went up to the parking lot above the gravette to watch those sailboats that were chancing it racing and struggling in the huge unexpected wind. the mountains were crisp, the sea was turquoise, the boats were really moving beautifully, the beer was cold and we were enjoying it all when wham! huge wave slams up over the wall, soaking us all!

note Liz's expert handling of the beer in a crisis. good show.

haven't seen 4am in a long time...not sober anyway....

..woken up by huge thunder and lightning rainstorm..big booms and crashes and pounding rain..gorgeous. Ruby is doing nice job of jogging back and forth to each bedroom, doing her duty to protect Mom and me. am reminded of a dark and stormy November camping trip night with surprisingly fearful Doberman....also had wierd dream about Dom being the captain of a submarine with a dodgie ticker?!?...

never enough boats

More Boats Right, acrylic on linen, 20" x 59"
finished up the companion piece to More Boats today..they could be hung separately of course, but i imagine them side by side for a panoramic-style view of part of the port. i'm really enjoying working on canvas, but i need more room. i think 59" long is the max..any longer and the canvas will stick too far out the window!

you never know what someone else sees in a painting

i was able to see one of my pieces framed (and nearly hung) for the first time last night (aside from grade-school doodles that mom dutifully framed over the years). very exciting. Miss Liz had Heavy Skies framed really nicely, floated in glass. it had surprised me that that was the one she was besotted with, until she pointed out that this particular menacing-looking boat in the scene is so like Jessica, her beloved though often menacing-looking pet cat. i can see it now. can you?

grandpop's prints

another fantastic surprise in the mail this morning..Aunt Anna sent me three of my grandfather's prints! what a very thoughtful thing to do. i've for some reason or another never had any of his work myself and not-so-secretly coveted my sister's, aunts', etc. (two of Peg's can be seen stairway of her London flat here).

now, the only question remains..frame them here? hang them where? i'll probably hang on to them rolled and frame them when i've figured out where i'm going to spend the next year..now, that's another question..what exactly am i going to do next year? i have no earthly idea.

big bad-ass boat picture

More Boats Left, acrylic on linen, 20" x 59"
started working on linen canvas for the first time in ages. i'm enjoying it, aside from the swollen hand from the "big bad-ass-made-in-America" staple gun (those are the french salesman's words, not mine). this is the biggest-ass painting i've ever done as well.

isn't it really just an extra-large bedsheet?

i have a report from Uncle Bert and Skipper Phil (sorry, i know he's a distinguished master yachtsman and capitain, but only one can have that title on this boat) that La Tishie Mae's new main sail is "bee-u-ti-ful!". i never knew a sail could have so many alluring properties: boom-raising, grommets, wind-taking, baffles, and on and on.

i'm not the only one guilty of loving the equipment as much as or even more than the activity.

in search of smiles

it's hard to explain, but french smiles are a rare and unpredictable thing. sometimes i wonder if they exist at all..like the Dodo bird or something. but i got one today! Madame Smokes' shop recently re-opened and i asked if her holiday was good...and got a brief glimpse of the illusive "frenchius smilius" in return for my fearless use of the french subjunctive.

now, if i could only figure out what it was she said in return.

my calendar is getting full...

my sister is coming down here for a visit at the end of the month, a long time girlfriend and her baby are coming to spend a week here with me in early October, some more friends are stopping by in mid November and i have to get myself over to the States for another dear friend's wedding the first week of November. ok..have to lose another 30 pounds, keep the tan and become fluent in french in four weeks. not entirely impossible, huh? ha!

la poste

the letters keep coming! a great long one from Great Aunt Grace today...how does she find ribbons for that old typewriter? she mentions something about traveling in France when she was 30 and "meeting a few French men to remember"?! Aunt Grace..ooh la la!

i'll never skimp on the tip again

i helped out a friend catering a wedding yesterday. set-up, serving and clearing and clean up. i'm exhausted. i'd forgotten about real work! ooh..my aching feet.

it went really well...the guests were friendly, the bride and groom were very reasonable, the food was gorgeous. (there was a totally incompetent wedding co-ordinator, but i won't even get into that). i'd never thought i'd get back into the wedding business...but if she needs help again, i'd seriously consider it. "the team" worked really well together and i can always use the bucks.

what a relief

on September first, it was as if a door was slammed shut..everything here changed. the Mistral winds kicked up and blew away the heat and the tourists as well. i can just imagine it...short-pants wearing, beach-bag toting holiday makers blowing away in the wind! holidays came to a close, school started, and the heatwave ended all in one day. the locals and we long-term residents have our pleasant little town back. Monsieur Fromage, Madame Poulet, Monsieur and Madame Smokes, Mademoiselle Sandwiche and Alex-the-cafe-guy all have their cheerful, rested faces back on. and the chorus across the lane is practicing again..."OH HOPPY DAY!"

ulit-MAIL-tum update, part three

postcards from Athens Georgia / Las Vegas Nevada / Savannah Georgia

(see August 25, 29 and Sept. 4 entries)
the first winner was (see yesterday's entry) Grant NELSON of Savannah, GA, the third winner is NELSON Wells of Athens, GA, AND both those names can be found spelled in the ADDRESS of second winner Kristan Edgar of Las Vegas, NV! hmm..maybe i have too much time on my hands to have figured that one out.

and the first runner up is Sony! i might have to send her out a magazine subscription as well. she's been patiently waiting for the French salt i sent her some six months ago to arrive..i'm afraid it is long lost by now, probably being enjoyed by some guy in Greenland.

much thanks to everyone who has written and those who will continue to..keep 'em coming! i can't tell you how much a little postcard from a friend back home can make my day.

yummy paper

Windows, watercolor, watercolor pencil, graphite and oil pastel, 20.5" x 25.5"
on heavy (600g) deckle edged paper so thick you could use it to shingle a roof.

ulti-MAIL-tum update, part two

Daybreak Moonshine, Grant Nelson 2003 / Deception, Grant Nelson 2001

(see August 25 and 29 entries)
and we have the first WINNER! my good friend Grant, talented painter (partner in Savannah art gallery A.T. Hun) and energetic man-about-town sent me not only a letter but a PACKAGE as well! i adore the original oil painting of his that i bought (on right) last year though i only had a week or so to enjoy it hung before i left for France, so the prints he sent of his new work are going to be very much enjoyed. i love the movement and use of color in his work. now, let's see...what kind of magazine subscription for a young, single guy in his prime? hmm....

ooh..pang of guilt at remembering that i failed to realize at the time that the best home for that Nelson original while i was away would have been Dawn's (framer extraordinaire) rather than the rented storage space...forgive me sparkly?

back to the ol' routine

Uncle Bert sailed La Tishie Mae back into Port Vaubon last night, at least temporarily, so we could go for our habitual dinner out at Da Cito...Liz (who lives just round the corner) joined us for some funny stories of Captaine Pat's sailing adventures, Uncle Bert's solitary survival in Baie des Anges and my cleaning frenzy whilst the three of us were apart these past few weeks. speaking of the cleaning, the house is back to it's usual "post-explosion" state already...Mom was leaving a trail of stuff behind her inside of five minutes of her return. some things never change.

p.s. discussions continue regarding the 'need' now for a bigger boat with a wheel, a proper head, two fullsize berths, roller reefing on the main sail and an inboard motor. hmmm..that studio/gallery seems to be getting further and further away. inheritance? dream on!

oh, yeah, i picked up one of those things by the way...

at about 9:30 tonight, Mom casually mentions that she's got something else in her bag. "what?" "oh, that camera computer thingy" "whaa? the isight?!?!"

jeez...i had it hooked up in a jiffy you betcha! now brother Thomas and i can talk live..and...SEE each other via video chat! this thing is sooo damn cool. sister Margaret (who by the way has pics of her new London flat on that blog link) just has to get one and we will be one mad, audio/video chatting family. without international phone bills.

p.s. i can live audio chat/one way video chat with anyone else who has Apple ichat AV whether or not you have a camera (mic required for audio though). make sure i have your buddy names!

girl at large GALLERY back in action

now that the dear digital camera has returned home, i can post this week's work:

Archway / Barefoot Coffee / Night Boats / Red Figure

more to come...

three batteries, thirteen hours and three inches of sideburns

my brother (see unintentional (?) arty self-portrait above) Thomas and i share another obsession...an endless pit of admiration and patience for the classic VW Beetle. while in the Door with Mom he took over responsibility for Aunt MaryGrace's blue 70's convertible (undriven for how many years? and why? something about stick shift? what?!) no trouble convincing Thomas he had to love it....getting it back down to Chicago was another matter. i think they gave up somewhere near Waukegan, IL. then Thomas had to go back to get it, with yet another battery (alternator problem) later. he had time to get a picture of it though languishing on the side of a back road..note mom in her VW Jetta with the patience of a saint. it's a sickness with her and that boy.

wayback machine: there i am down on the right, behind the wheel back in the day and that's my baby: 1976 VW SuperBeetle, candy apple red (originally Sahara Tan), mint condition, (some expected engine repair required). i still hold a grudge against those responsible for our separation.

this cool old house

my maternal grandfather built this earth-berm concrete dome house in the late 70's, just down the road from the original cottage (a beloved mid-century classic itself) he and the family built some twenty-five years earlier. my brother Thomas and I are both enamored of it (he blogs about it here) and have visions of bringing it back up to snuff (it's been standing vacant for years, no longer in the family) and getting in on some of that Door County goodness. i'd kill to paint up there (the same grandfather was a monumentally talented artist, my favorite works of his were done in that area and era). i'm getting really home sick. must stop thinking about it now.

is this the way to the Kennedy compound?

the family cottage. Grandma Mickey and her pseudo-Riviera sunglasses look (um, i think we might have to do something about those hon) with Uncle WillyBird..has he ever been seen in anything other than khakis and a white shirt?. Aunt Suzanne and Aunt JeanieBird...you look less sweaty Suzannie. Cousin Jack..yes, Ruby does love you and that is why she gave you kisses. Uncle Tom..slouch-master. Cousin Alice..what a cutie! (and i bet grouchy ol' Uncle Mike won't take away HER walkman in a rage against teenagerdom). Aunt Peg enjoying the morning (oh, if only you guys knew what a good thing she's got goin' on in Menton). Tom, Suzanne and Jack's house down across the dunes (look how much the dunes have come back! fantastic).

now THAT'S a beach!

another flight back to Boston, yet another to Chicago for a few days and then a short drive up to the family cottage in Door County, Wisconsin. it's hard to convince folks here that indeed, though the Riviera is lovely, the (crowded) local beaches ain't got nothin' on good ol' Wisconsin! of course, being usable eight months of the year versus three is one concession i must make to the Cote d'Azure.

have credit card, will sail

when she wakes up, i'm sure there will be more details and funny stories to share..there are more pics too-the other crew member is sending hers via email or cd soon..i'll be sure to post for all those interested in the adventures of Madame Capitaine. evidence enough of a good experience=she's already signed up for a two week version of the course in the British Virgin Islands in February.

three flights, seven days and nights, charts, gizmos, blisters and all she gets is this lousy t-shirt?

the boat they were on is some special, highly-desirable design built by blablahblah and blah blah that i'm supposed to know but have forgotten..i'll get the details later and fill you in. note the ever-present cigarette in second pic..the Captain (another Pat) was a smoker too! i suspect Mom knew that before she signed up. enjoying traditional fresh Maine lobster. good thing my brother Thomas wasn't there (who out there remembers the "It has eyes!! It's a monster!" incident from our previous and only family trip to Maine oh so many years back?) the crew was small...Mom was the only client for this trip, but a crew member brought her sister along as well for company..looks like the girls enjoyed the adventure (and those t-shirts) together.

fair weather on the Eastern seaboard

after a jet-lag adjustment in Boston, Mom was off to picturesque Camden, Maine to join captain and crew in her SeaSense women's sailing course. surprisingly good weather...no foul weather gear required. (i think she was secretly disappointed not to have to have donned that intense outfit).

guess who took mom to dinner?

Mom's home! (and Patsy if you're out there..don't you know the first thing she did was hunt for that 5x mirror!) and my first order of business, while she naps..pictures! (and small prayer of thanks for the safe return of beloved digital camera. yes, i did miss you too, Mom). my darling Mike took her out for dinner during her stop over in Boston..those are some pretty big grins..wonder what they were talking about?!