girl at large

i see london, i see france, ...

Bonjour monsieur!.

where to?

now i've got Chicago in mind again ....California, Savannah, Chicago??....there are too many choices and no sure fire way to find out which place is right for me. is rating the replies to singles postings a fair way to judge a city? it's making for some interesting data:

SAVANNAH: these men, no surprise, are either full-fledged rednecks (send picture of pick up truck) or desperately trying to flee the redneck stereotype.

CHICAGO: never before have i seen the phrase "successful man" so much. do you have a willy and balls? there you go, you are successfully a man!

LOS ANGELES: all these guys claim to be tan, buff, tall and athletic. yuck.

SAN FRANCISCO: when did being too busy to have a social (or any) life become sexy? i don't get it. and if everyone really liked the outdoors all that much, we'd all be living in tents.

maybe i'll just enjoy the time i've got left here and throw a dart at a map the week before i leave.

damn fast read

i just finished reading The Da Vinci Code. i know it was a huge hit in the states a while back, but we only just recently got a copy. Mom stayed up until three in the morning yesterday to finish it and i finished it in one very long sitting today, starting at midday and finishing at well past midnight.

it was a good thriller as thriller goes, but is anyone else bothered by the too-perfect, rather simplistic characters? it read kinda like a big budget summer movie script.

may cause drowsiness

views from aboard Tishie Mae--note the long-lingering jetplane condensation trails---Indian Guide Bert says that's a sign that overcast weather is coming. Mom enjoys her well-earned smoke break.

we went sailing yesterday, Mom, Bert, Maria and i, out into the bay and along the finger of land called Cap d'Antibes where we anchored for a lunch of mouth-lacerating baguette sandwiches. after which, i immediately fell dead asleep face down in the forward berth, not to return to consciousness until we were nearly parked, oh correction--'docked'. mental note: next time, take just ONE sea-sickness pill.

kid-o

yep, that's my brother. we are so proud. seriously.

doggy-doppelganger

Derek and Chewy, 7.5" x 7.5" oil on panel by Leslie Enders Lee, 2000
Ryan and Ruby, 2002

my newest copy of Bark magazine arrived today--i'm in doggy heaven. ugh, horrible pun. but look at this! a painting by Leslie Enders Lee so like this snap of Ryan and Ruby napping back in December of 2002.

crashing the party

St. Patrick's Day parade crash caused injuries and mayhem in Savannah yesterday!

luck o' the irish

Savannah, Georgia

Happy St. Patrick's Day! i don't really miss it all that much as i was exposed to such a heavy dose of the green parades and parties (and public urinating) in Savannah, which boasts the largest celebration outside of New York City.

of course, actually having Irish ancestry on my mother's side (the Quinlans, the McMullens) is something else all together. who else in the world but the Irish could be so proud of being so Catholic, so prolific, so driven to drink, and so scattered around the world by famine and destitution? ok, so there are lots of folks like that. but do they have Guinness? i think not!!

on second thought, maybe i will miss all that Guinness, and boozing and carousing with friends afterall. (though certainly not the green vomit and personally, i firmly believe that girls under the age of 30 should not be allowed to flash their tits for beads----the prizes should go to those dragging droopy numbers about and still having the guts to bare them. as if i'd ever go bra-less! ha! i'd put an eye out if i turned 'round too quickly.)

unique job opportunity

my sister Margaret just sent me this interesting posting from the London branch of Craig's List. think i might qualify? ha ha.

multi-tasking

the GPS-thingy for Tishie Mae arrived on Monday morning---you'd have thought Santa himself delivered it the way Mom danced about like a little girl. it's since been installed and the two of 'em, Mom and Bert, are like little kids with a new toy. i can't even keep up with all this thing does---compass, gps, chart plotting, sounder, speedometer, mileage, ---as Mom so eloquantly puts it; "...it does everything but wipe your butt..." nice.

of course, this little bit of hi-tech gadgetry has only added to their newer, bigger, better boat fervor. the computer is occupied most nights with searches for the perfect new boat for that round the world sail.

we are so not getting an inheritance.

nobody's safe

this tragic mess in Madrid is so terribly sad and troubling.

where you goin' sailor?

there's this guy who walks down our street and up through 'dog poop lane' nearly everyday on his way to and from the port---seems it's his favorite shortcut. i've seen him hundreds of times, heard him greet someone in english once--i think he may even be american. but he's been here long enough to adopt that french-style frozen face---no american-style smile and greet on the street with him.

which is a shame. because this guy. is. yum-my.

but wait a minute! two days ago i popped out the front door and there he was again. and i got a relaxed face and a mumbled bonjour! what a development!

and this morning, when i reached out to open the shutters, there he was again, just below. i ducked in of course---no one needs to see me before i've had my shower and coffee. i'm a natural disaster area in the morning.

little prefab on the prairie

i wreally wreally love this weeHouse. modern, simple, arranged and fitted out to your liking by them or you, then or later. stackable like shoeboxes with endless arrangements---and all designed with STANDARD (ie: less expensive, readily available) PARTS. a studio version, built in-factory and trucked complete to your site for $45k, a two bedroom version for only $65K!

now that is the way to build a house. and these guys are in Minnesota!

i am having visions of a cluster of three studio/one bedroom 'pods'--"The Siblings"--one for each of us, on some beachfront or in the Big Woods. don't worry, i've started a file. now, where did i put my label maker......

debutante a la poterie

whenwillitgethere.com

mom's discovered the joy of package tracking via the internet. she's waiting for a GPS-thingy for the boat. amazing how quickly she masters technologies when it involves shopping.

another cultural mystery explained

i finally caught up with my hair girl at her new salon location for an appointment today and pointed out my most recent concern---gray hairs, quite alot around my temples---they've sprouted overnight it seems. she said no worries, they aren't spread all over and next visit a little touch of color should do the trick (though not all over, after years of dye-ing a rainbow of hues i'm now prefering au natural). curiously though, i noted that the word she used was 'blonde'....i listened closely to make certain i wasn't mistaken --but no, she referred to gray or white hairs as 'blonde' a number of times.

i had to ask. in my awkward french i inquired---"surely you mean GRAY hair, right?"

in a low tone of voice she replied: "No, no"--meaningful look---"Here it is BLONDE hair."

i might be a little homesick, do ya think?

Balcony, acrylic and pastel on canvas, 32" x 39.5"

this is my beloved little balcony in Savannah--according to Bob, a death-trap waiting to happen. it's slated for complete replacement in a few weeks. shame, after i went to all that trouble matching the cement-floor paint to the table color. (i do realize i have a problem). i'm hoping to be able to enjoy sitting out there with a bottle of wine and Miss Dawn and Miss Sony (and who ever else is still living there?!? where is everyone going? oh, right, California) again someday.

California dreaming

it's six months down the road, but now is the time to start thinking about it and planning ahead---the big move back to regular work, back to the States. working on my pros and cons sheet now for possible locations. i'd love to return to Savannah for the warm weather and friends, the familiarity, but it's time to move on and the job possibilities in what i want to do are nil there.

Chicago has jobs in the field (did i mention i want to get into the Buying department for a modern furniture/housewares retailer? time to get out from behind the counter and into the headquarters. or, failing that, i'd manage a larger, established, PAYING retail studio). but those long, cold, dark, MISERABLE winters?-no way.

my research is leading me time and again to California. either Los Angeles or San Francisco areas---my concerns are the drawbacks of depending on a car all the time (that traffic and smog!!!) and the exorbanantly high cost of living. but, there's that warm, sunny climate i'm insisting on and the job market is very strong in the area i want to work in, especially considering the 'recession' attitude so many seem to have. is there really a huge recession? is it really that bad? or is it just that we had such an extraordinary fairy tale boom before it leveled out?

and then there are all the people i know in California--Aunt Anna, Affable Dan, Miss Kristan, my brother Thomas and even The Custard are all living out with the fruits and nuts and botox-addicts. am i next?

jail time is a 'Good Thing'

Martha Stewart has been found guilty and might even be going to jail!! the jokes are running rampant even here---mom says "Bend over Martha!" oh, that's just too much---the big, bad, perfect MS getting cavity-searched for visitors hours!

track-nappers

the news has just hit that there have been serious bomb threats made against the French train system since December. the authorities have already found and MacGyver-ed one real and surprisingly sophisticated bomb on the tracks. i was wondering why the security agents and large, vicious guard dogs were out on force and random delays were more frequent lately.

the bomb-threateners (is that a word?) are demanding 4 million euros, about 5 million dollars.

i can't help thinking---only a lousy 5 million? is that all they want? can't even get a decent villa around here for that, much less staff it.

sketchy

charcoal and graphite live figure study drawings on paper, each approx. 20" x 25.5"

beautiful vinyl

i peed myself a little laughing at this collection of bad album art.

pride and prejudice

poor Mom, she's so proud but she can't go around saying too much, can she?
-"Guess what, my son, my pride and joy has the greatest new big important job in Hollywood where he helped produce a film that's on tv this week!"
-"Really?! What's it called?"
-"Porno Valley".
his company is also working on a documentary about the original in porn movies, Deep Throat. imagine her asking someone to tape THAT for her!