Full Plate

Salade Niçoise from La Boulange de Cole Valley

Sadly, no time for blogging at this time. My mother broke her femur two weeks ago and my energies are devoted to ensuring her speedy recovery. Hope to be back soon.

Between Posts

Working through some IT problems. Hope to be back soon.

***

In the mean time, please enjoy Tony Bennett's signature song "I Left My Heart in San Francisco", who first sang the song in the Venetian Room of the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill in December 1961 and recorded it the next month. CBS released it as the B-side of the single "Once Upon A Time". DJ's all but ignored the A-side and chose to flip over the record bringing "...San Francisco" to the top of the pop charts. Bennett received the Grammy for Best Male Solo Vocal Performance and the song received Record of the Year. 

I have always adored this song, but now have a Pavlovian response of glee because it is played over the public address system at AT&T Park after every San Francisco Giants home game victory. 

Happy Valentine's Day

 

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness—
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

     Omar Khayyám (1048–1131; Persian: ‏عمر خیام)

from the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, Translated by Edward FitzGerald

Happy Holidays

Wishing you all a happy holiday season. 

I snapped these photos when I had lunch with my mother and sister at the always-elegant Four Seasons Hotel in Palo Alto.

Even though it's not cold here this Christmas day, this duet by Norah Jones and Willie Nelson reflects the spirit of the season perfectly.

Willow Manor Ball 2011 - Isn't It Romantic?

Flickr

I have no doubt that this year's Willow Manor Ball of virtual fantasy will be every bit as fun as last year's. Time sneaked up on me this year and I feel a bit unprepared. I don't even have a date yet because Southern Gentleman Husband is traveling on business. Then there is the perpetual problem of not having a thing to wear. At least I can put on some lipstick while I search for a gown.

DrMacro

As luck would have it, Count Hubert de Givenchy happened to call for a chat. Not only did he offer me one of his vintage gowns, but he agreed to escort me to the ball.

Image from here

Since the ball is Black and White this year, it didn't take long for me to decide to wear the luscious gown he designed for Sabrina. Darling Hubert promptly brought the gown to me and I was pleased how well it fit my tiny figure. He also agreed to take my poodles to his salon for the evening. The boys were hesitant at first but I promised, if they were good, they would get a treat when we got there.

Image from here

I'm so glad that the gown has a black petticoat to protect against the Paris sidewalks. On my way out, I slipped my phone into my Guisseppe Zanotti's clutch. The black Swarovski crystals give just the right amount of sparkle.

Giuseppe Zanotti clutch  

I always love coming to Hubert's elegant salon. We had just enough time for an aperitif while the boys devoured a tray of canine petit fours the chef always has on hand.

Hubert de Givenchy's Salon by Jeffrey Bailey

Now it's time to stroll to the ball.

and join the party...

Image from here

...decorated with black and white anemones at every table...

Image from here

...even the food tables were dotted with anemones.

We were delighted to see our favorite clips of Sabrina while Rod Stewart crooned. 

Thank you, Willow, for hosting another splendid evening!

Birth Mandala

It all began when the ultra-talented Ruth wrote a post about a beautiful stained-glass mandala by Stratoz. I wrote a comment telling her about the ten-centimeter birth mandala I was given when I was pregnant with my first child. I went on to say that I was about to give a birth mandala as a gift and would it not be great if she wrote a companion poem for it? I sent her the image of the mandala I downloaded from Mandala Coloring Pages and colored using PhotoShop, The blues and yellow are a nod to the expecting mother’s Swedish heritage.

***

A handful of e-mails later, Ruth delivered the most gloriously inspired poem I could ever imagine. Ruth used Koan-like questions to frame her poem. A Koan question or riddle is a Buddhist concept that is accessible through intuition. I  learned about this Zen concept here. It is designed to:

 “act as a catalyst to awaken our true, deep, pure nature... Koans are not rational questions with rational answers. Koans are NOT answered; that would engage the mind, which is our problem…A question like “what is the sound of one hand clapping?” can only be answered if you drop mind and body. The aim of a Koan is to free you from the prison of the mind and the five senses...to return to “the original face before you were born.” 

I can not imagine a more apt form to inspire a young woman in labor. Thank you, dear Ruth, for sharing your considerable talents with the world.

Koan-like Questions of a Mother to her Unborn Child

Is there something quieter than sleep?

My whispers circle you like jasmine vine, the way
my arms want to, when my palm will cup your head,
my thumb in the shallow petal of your temple.
Terrace.

Where is the pocket in the nightshirt of early morning?

You didn’t notice just now that I turned over in bed, rolling
first onto my right side, then onto my left.
Leaves everywhere on blue-white cotton.

What shape are you?

In my teardrop body you sleep, sucking your thumb —
puzzle piece in the circle of your mouth.
Paisley baby, paisley thumb,
paisley me, paisley breast. Lace.

What is grace?

I pull myself up, like a camel, into a sitting position,
lean left, push off, grunt, rise, stand, and low into the sway
of this me, your cradle, creaking at my hips.
Caravanserai.

Do you remember it, that hymn from the old church
through the window as we slowly climbed the stair?

Holding the bedpost, carved like an altar,
my eyes closed, up from the organ
in my chest the music — unnamed song
through the vibrating reed of my watery throat.
Repeat.
Stained glass moon. Bosphorus.

Can you see me in the dark?

My hand rests on the olive of your shoulder,
or is that a heel? Hush, keep sleeping, don’t worry
about positions. You are touching everything
in any case.
Mountain magnolia blossom.

2011

Listen to a podcast of this poem here. (You can hear the birds outside Ruth's office window if you listen carefully.)
____________

Poem notes:

Caravanserai: the fortress-like hostelries for sojourners on the Silk Road.

Bosphorus: the body of water between the European and Asian sides of Istanbul; 'bosphorus' means 'throat' in Turkish; Ruth's daughter Lesley went to school on the European side, crossing the Bosphorus every morning and evening from and to her home on the Asian side.

***

I brought the poem and the mandala to the baby shower. MoMo, my book club sister and grandmother of the newborn, was in the labor room coaching all the way. Her e-mails to book club had us rooting for the mother-to-be throughout the difficult 38 hours of labor. Last Saturday we received the long-awaited e-mail:

"He is finally here! And my beautiful daughter is just absolutely amazing. I am in awe of her grace, calmness and determination. She has a warrior spirit and inner strength that helped her deliver a beautiful baby boy. It was truly awesome! I will send a few pics tomorrow but I am exhausted and heading for sleep. Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement for my daughter. We felt the power of this women-spirit!"

He arrived at 4:02 PM , weighing in at 7lbs 13 ounces, 20 inches long and healthy, alert, and absolutely beautiful! Would you not agree?

Welcome to the world!

Now this mandala has come full circle. Ruth made her grand announcement that she too will be joining the ranks of grandparenthood.

Congratulations Ruth!

Who Needs a Smartphone?

REMIND-O-METER, seen in a thrift shop on Whidbey Island. 

Forgetfulness

BY

BILLY COLLINS

The name of the author is the first to go

followed obediently by the title, the plot,

the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel

which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of,

as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor

decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,

to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

Long ago you kissed the names of the nine muses goodbye

and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,

and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,

something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,

the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,

it is not poised on the tip of your tongue

or even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

It has floated away down a dark mythological river

whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall

well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those

who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night

to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.

No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted 

out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

-- Billy Collins

Click here to hear Billy Collins read this poem.

Source:

"Forgetfulness by Billy Collins : Poetry Magazine [poem/magazine]." Poetry Foundation. 

“Forgetfulness” from Questions About Angels.
Copyright © 1999 by Billy Collins.
Reprinted with the permission of University of Pittsburgh Press.

Royal Kiss

Image from here.

Congratulations to Prince William and Princess Kate!

Update: Oops, she was not given the title of Princess because she was not born into the royal  family, nor did she marry the heir to the throne. Prince Charles is next in line.

Congratulations to Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge!

Oh my, they don't even sound married here - not very symmetric.

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!

But we're used to calling him Prince William, and this sounds like a demotion for him. Buckingham Palace stated "If people wanted to call Catherine 'Princess', they were welcome to do so." Well then:

Congratulations to Prince William and Princess Catherine!

I like the sound of that! Read more about their titles here.

Macro Monday - Love One Another

Love One Another

Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone.
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together.
For the pillars of the temple stand apart.
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931)


For other Macro Monday images, visit  Lisa's Macro Monday. 

Happy New Year

Breaking Trail

Wishing you a year of new beginnings.

The Nobel Peace Prize

Photo: Time

The Nobel Prizes hold special meaning in my family because my father worked for Elsevier Publishing when we lived in Amsterdam. For five years he was the science editor for the English-language series of all the science-related Nobel Prize Lectures from 1901 to 1966.

Though my father did not work on the Peace Prize, I was thrilled to see The Nobel Peace Center (Norwegian: Nobels Fredssenter) when we visited Oslo this summer. It is located in an old train station building overlooking the harbor in the Pipervika area.

A temporary exhibit by Kendell Geers was installed in front of the Peace Center. Geers is fascinated by words with double meanings and those that exist in “symbiosis”. 

In Slaughter/laughter, the neon leading “S” flickers on and off. Originally created in response to the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, Geers suggested that Slaughter/Laughter could also reflect the story of Alfred Nobel, whose discovery of dynamite ultimately led to the establishment of the Nobel Peace Prize. 

The Nobel Peace Center is within view of the Oslo City Hall (Oslo rådhus), just across the Vigeland Fountain.

Its distinctive white clock faces the harbor.

On the opposite side of the building is the main entrance with a double swan fountain…

… a beautiful astrological clock…

…and enchanting wood bas relief carvings depicting scenes from Norwegian folk tales.

Every year since 1990, on December 10th, the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony takes place in the grand Central Hall.

Numerous Norwegian artists won commissions to complete the decorations of the hall.

Henrik Sorensens painted the large mural on the south wall between 1938 and 1950. Titled “Administration and Festivity” depicted scenes from Norwegian legends and history, including many from World War II. 

Alf Rolfsen painted the mural along the staircase.  The scene at the bottom of the stairs depicts the legend of St. Hallvard, Oslo’s patron saint. 

OSLO’S PATRON SAINT

The story of St. Hallvard is a constantly recurring theme in the decorative elements of the City Hall. According to legend Hallvard was a highborn youth who in 1043 tried to save a woman from being assaulted. He took her aboard his boat in order to reach safety on the other side of the fjord, but they were pursued and killed, Hallvard being shot by three arrows. His body was weighted down with a millstone and thrown into the sea, but both his body and the stone floated up to the surface. When this became known, the local people saw it as a sign and worshipped him as a saint. Hallvard was originally buried at Lier, southwest of the town, but when the Oslo Cathedral was completed in 1130, his bones were placed in a shrine before the high altar. Two centuries later Oslo took into use a city seal depicting the St. Hallvard legend. The present coat of arms was designed in 1924, when the capital was about to change its name from Christiana back to Oslo. Against a background of stars in the sky, St. Hallvard is shown sitting on a throne of two lions. He holds a millstone in one hand and three arrows in the other. At his feet lies a woman. The surrounding inscription reads Unanimiter et constanter Oslo(united and resolute).

The intricate tessellations look like a beautiful blending of M.C. Escher’s and William Morris’ art.

At the top of the stairs is the Munch Room with the beautifully adorned ceiling...

...Edvard Munch's painting "Life" as the focal point...

Edvard Munch (1863 - 1944) "Life"

...and furniture with the elegant wood frames and upholstered with tapestry in a shade of blue so characteristic in Scandinavia.

Down the hall, through these richly-decorated wooden doors…

…is the grand dining hall, which boasts the painted portraits of the King Harald V and Queen Sonja…

…and a large dining table lined with Scandinavian blue chairs...

...upholstered in a tapestry with a regal flying swan pattern…

...which matches the chairs reserved for the 2010 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, and his wife.

Photo: Reuters

The Nobel Committee recognized his participation in the 1989 demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, where he urged student protestor to remain peaceful, and his continued non-violent struggle for human rights in China. Xiaobo is serving an 11-year sentence in China for subversion and was unable to be present to receive the award. The unclaimed award and document were left in an empty chair meant for Xiaobo. His wife’s chair is also vacant because she was placed under house arrest by the Chinese government. Nobel committee chairman Thorbjoern Jangland spoke at the ceremony: “Liu has only exercised his civil rights. He has not done anything wrong. He must be released.”