Although I've lived in Los Angeles since 1961, and I've visited Paris many times since 1969, it never occurred to me to compare the two cities. Fortunately author Diane Ratican has. In doing so she has created a wonderful book, Why LA? Pourquoi Paris?: An Artistic Pairing of Two Iconic Cities that highlights the features of both cities with short prose pieces and colorful and whimsical illustrations by Eric Giriat and Nick Lu. This is a book to treasure on your coffee table and use as a resource when visiting either city. I've found out about places in LA that I've never visited and must and places in Paris that I can't wait to return to. The information in this book is invaluable. Ms. Ratican has divided her book into seven sections having to do with cityscapes and landmarks, culture, fashion and style, sports and leisure, art and culture, cuisine and dining, and how people get around in each city. For example, in her section called Cityscapes and Landscapes she pairs the LA … [Read more...]
2013 reflections
I like to reflect a bit at the beginning of a new year, so here goes. 2013 for me and my family was a mixed bag. My husband Bob and I traveled a lot I think more than any other year in our lives together (to Denver three times to visit family; to London, Kenya, Tanzania, Dubai and Paris with dear friends; to Oakland to spend a weekend with another friend, and this month to Savannah, Charleston, Miami Beach on our own, and then on a Caribbean cruise again with our family all sixteen of us). We also hosted several rounds of visitors cousins and friends who stayed in the guest room of our home. Bob had two surgeries in 2013 a complete hip replacement in early January (that made the bells and whistles go off every time he went through an airline security check) and carpel tunnel in late November. And even though the timing was very soon before we left on our Africa plus trip, I drove up to Big Sur California on my own to take a poetry workshop at the Esalen Institute. … [Read more...]
Whimsy in Stockholm
I love the whimsy of French sculptor, Niki de Saint Phalle, whose work I first saw in Paris. So it was a great surprise to see her sculptures in front of the Modern Art Museum in Stockholm with the machine-like scuptures of Jean Tinguely. Their exhibit is called Le Paradis Fantastique, and it surely is. Here are a few examples: www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3tXznHsG7I … [Read more...]
