Cactus Rock

Who dared fencing off our walk to Cactus Rock?

I prefer not to think that the sprawl of suburbia is threatening Hill Canyon...

New York

As I am preparing to go back to Europe I still can't believe how lucky we were to be able to go to New-York last month. And how likely were we to be there at the same time as Emily, and as Janet's gallery opening and also to be able to stay with Paul and Morag in the Lower East Side? 

Morag has a particular liking for the F-Train, she jokes "It is so sassy!". It took us from the Lower East Side to Brooklyn where we met up with Emily for her birthday/PhD celebration brunch, then walked to Brooklyn Bridge Park in the rain. Looking across to Manhattan and drinking hot chocolates to warm up and back to the Lower East Side. 

The Lower East Side is quite "Brick Lane-esque", full of History and trendy restaurants and edgy fashion boutiques and on 248 Broome Street, Baby Cakes NYC, the wheat-free, dairy-free place to ha

ve breakfast. The Lower East Side is the place where all the immigrants arrived from Italy, Easter Europe to  start there lives in the New World (check the Tenement Museum Website on Orchard Street).  The Lower East Side is also the home of the incredible Katz's Delicatessen of Houston St, open since 1888, where all things are smoked, pickled or cured, the deli where the waiters are fierce, you have to be ready to fend for what you want, and where was filmed the fake orgasm scene from When Harry met Sally( 1989). 

From there we hopped on the F-train again to Greenwich Village for a walk from Washinton Square, Henry James on one side and New York City University on the other; to Union squar

e, via the Village, the Cherry orchard theatre, Grove Street full of Old-World charm, Bleecker Street, with the cute trendy boutiques. We loved the Village. And we just had to go to Strand,  biggest second-hand bookshop I have ever seen. The following day another trip on the F-train, to Midtown where the Museum of Modern Art is. As we experienced MOMA is closed on Tuesdays!

We did change though to Uptown and spent time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, outstanding art collection! The Guggenheim Museum was under a huge scaffolding but we went in to look at the staircase. We got soaked again in Central Park, I hadn't quite worked out that my plimsoles and jacket weren't waterproof!!! I never thought New York in May would be so wet. It added a certain charm, walking under the umbrella " un petit coin de parapluie contre un coin de paradis" in Central Park.

How lucky we were too to be shown around Little Italy and Chinatown by someone who has lived here and loves the area so much. Chinatown in the rain looks a bit like Blade Runner

 (1982) with little merchants, shoe repairers in the streets. In China Town we went to the most amazing Chinese restaurant, in a big empty room we come in and three old men sit at the back playing Majong; there is no menu, and we are the only customers and Paul orders dimsungs for all of us warning us that pork is the local vegetable! The shop feels like it would have been in the fifties, old New York with the original tin ceiling in case of fire, grim yellow walls. For an amazing $8 we had lunch for three! I wonder what was in those dumplings hidden under the hoisin sauce...

We crossed Canal Street and were in Little Italy, Italian flags everywhere, with restaurants called Benito, how strange! Apparently some immigrants came here during the 30's and were loyalists... Some bars were used as a set for the television series the Sopranos and very proud of it. Paul also knew the stories of shootings between gang members in the 70's...

On our last day we went to the Upper East Side to Janet Amiri's opening, East West Dialogues, Mysticism, Satire and the Legendary Past. The fifty artists exhibited had lived or worked in Iran and show their vision of the Persian identity, including the film maker/artist Abbas Kiarostami.

Best walk: from the Lower east side to the Staten Island Ferry terminal.

Best free ride with a view of the Statue of Liberty: Staten Island Ferry

Most stylish dinner: Café Daniel Boulud on 76th Street

Five days was far too short. I hope I'll be back some day.

My other car is a yoga mat

Has anyone out there ever tried Kundalini yoga?

For the past five years, Down Dogs, Sun Salutations, Warrior poses, Cobras are part of our lives. And I can only recommend learning to lengthen your breath, to open your chakras, to "let go" rather than "try"... Yes, I know, it sounds odd, but in the practice of yoga it is actually happening.

But Kundulini is something else, pretty "out there". Who would have thought so? A little lady sitting on the floor, surrounded by books, candles was instructing that workshop, but believe me, the "serpent yoga" is really an exercise. Instead of stretching, you do repetitive movements, find the rythm, coordinate the breathing, but do the exercise for a few minutes. I can still feel in my shoulders the swim. Is there a pool in a yoga studio? No, you sit there miming swimming movement for a good five minutes, while the little lady is leading; "Imagine you are at sea, you swam far form the shore and a storm is brewing. You lost sight of the shore and you have to find your way. Swim faster, faster, and trust your Inner Voice, your guardian angels to swim in the right direction..." I can still feel that in my shoulders two days later, and believe me after a few minutes, you can actually see the scene...

I would have thought California was Yoga heaven, and yes, stretching out on the beach, looking at the Pacific Ocean, or outdoors, on the grass in the sun is pretty amazing but I still have a thought for Nina, Yves, Rachel, Jane, Peter, my favourite Iyengar instructors. Here we have Janet and Purusha who are very inspiring too. To get inspired by Mr Iyengar himself, who is still teaching today, check this out on YouTube: BKS Iyengar Pranayama

When driving seriously gets on my nerves, and I switch to KUSC "Anti-Road Rage Melody" I think that my yoga mat is my other car and takes me to a better place, flying carpet of the Arabian Nights. 

Cours de sculpture

J'ai enfin fini ma sculpture de Zak, à qui j'ai ajouté une casquette, petit Gavroche de six ans au bord de la Manche. Bien loin d'ici. 

Même ici!

Les Marseillais sont partout!

L'ami Gustav et périgrinations à Satwiwa

L'ami Gustav est un cadeau de Cyn et vit avec nous depuis novembre. Il n'est pas bavard mais est aussi distrayant que la télé. Il a une phobie du rouge, peut-etre parce que c'est un poisson combattant " fighting fish " et que lui même est rouge. Il fait alors sa grosse figure et sort ses ouies!!! Il a vécu une semaine chez les voisins, puis Noel chez Janet. Comme ça Zak pourra voir qu'il est toujours en vie....

Mon animal préféré est quand même le colibri qui vient sur le balcon tous les matins mais il est trop rapide pour que je prenne une photo, et il vole comme une abeille!

Le week-end dernier nous sommes allés à une marche guidée par un botaniste Chumash qui connait les noms des plantes en Chumash, Latin et le nom d'usage. Il apprend avec une "Medecine Woman" les usages des plantes et nous a ravis pendant deux heures avec ses histoires. Saviez-vous que les "Medecine Men" voyageaient déguisés en ours pour qu'on les laissent tranquiles...et pouvoir accéder des terres avec d'autres plantes. Et que la sauge guérit de tout!

Université californienne

Imaginez-vous à nouveau étudiants dans un cadre pareil! Est-ce vraiment propice à l'étude??? C'est pourtant California Lutheran University où se trouve la galerie d'art Kwan Fong.