one step forward, two steps back...

even as the arab spring struggles to bloom and arabs all over the region awaken and demand change and dignity and freedom, the cold frost between palestine and israel continues into its sixth decade with no sign of bloom and thaw in sight. its the same old stagnant, this land is my land rhetoric.

egypt may have opened its borders with gaza, but the battle on the palestinian front lines rages on along with the show stopping throw-down of obama vs bibi. 

well written and well meaning speeches are great mr. president, but they are no longer enough, and haven't been for years.

(insert poignant overused quote about peace and human rights and freedom for all here).

shouting from a rooftop

i dreamt i was on a city rooftop - shouting into the night, into the silent - no distinguishable words, just shouting. i woke up, reminded of a beautiful, haunting photograph, shot by italian photo journalist pietro masturzo, that won the world press photo of the year award in 2009. 
its an image of women shouting their dissent from a tehran rooftop on june 24, following iran’s disputed presidential election. at night, for weeks following the fraudulent, vote-rigged election, people shouted from their roofs, an echo of protests that took place during the 1979 islamic revolution. a demand for fairness and dignity and justice. 

world press photo of the year - 2009

speed of sound

this is an old, overplayed song, but i heard this re-mixed version while driving on mulholland* a few nights ago, and have since been hooked - haunting, present, liquid. jump right in.
speed of sound -carmen rizzo remix

* all music sounds better while driving on mulholland!

saturday sport fan

i'm not a huge sports fan - i watch the big final matches, yet don't dedicate a whole season of fandom to football or baseball or basketball.  but tennis and soccer - i love. i watch all four tennis grand slams and will plan an entire month around the world cup soccer schedule.
today i get the best of both - an early morning round of french open tennis followed by an early afternoon european champions league soccer final, live from london.
warm sun, blue water, strong coffee, fresh warm bread, papaya with lime, clay court tennis and final world class soccer. vamos nadal, vamos barça and happy saturday!
champions league drama live today!

south of the border

it's the friday before a long weekend and i'm dreaming of packing a weekend bag with these

calypso

calypso

and heading here

 and sitting here

and eating these

 and these

and later these

while sipping on this

have a great long weekend, wherever your destination!

mass murder

ratko mladic, the former bosnian serb general and mastermind behind the 1995 massacre of almost 8,000 bosnian muslim men and boys in srebrenica, was captured in serbia today. he will soon be extradited to the international war crimes tribunal in the hague. 
i remember vividly the news coverage of the mass graves and the screaming, anguished faces of wives, mothers and daughter looking for their loved ones. i remember the news reports and watching the three year siege and destruction of sarajevo and the images of snipers shooting people attempting to go out and fetch water. i remember the images of men and women being separated, and the men being shipped off in pickup trucks covered in wire. 
mladic was an enthusiastic architect to all of this - a leading force behind the muslim massacre at srebrenica, the worst case of ethnic cleansing in europe since world war two.

 *photos courtesy of getty images & the nytimes.

all the news that's fit to print

i had the opportunity to preview a great documentary last week and highly recommend it when it comes to a theatre near you this summer.  page one is a timely and thoughtful behind the scenes look at the current inner state of the new york times.  It depicts not only how the times has been impacted by turmoil but also how it has covered turmoil in its historic and iconic pages. a dream documentary for this news junkie, and another reason why i'll continue with my monthly online subscription and stop complaining about it!

between me and the bread

i heart sandwiches. i believe anything you put in between two pieces of bread is comfort food heaven.
below are a few of my local favorites and a clever site, dedicated to one man's love for his sandwich lunches!
bon appetit!

clementine
roasted asparagus, w/melted ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan &  basil, grilled on olive bread

euro pane
open face egg salad w/sundried tomato pesto on rosemary currant bread

bay cities - godmother
(genoa salami, mortadella, coppacola, ham, prosciutto, provolone & the works)

joan's on third
short rib w/melted jack cheese, arugula & sweet red onions on grilled country white bread

mozza 2 go -  bufala mozzarella w/prosciutto di parma & rucola

hold your breath

i took a breath class last night at the hub.  the class is called breathwork, which according to the class description, is a "simple technique that clears stuck energy and can help you to access your spirit. this easy, rhythmic breath can be learned in a single session. while simple, the results are so profound..."
the class lasted a little over 2 hours, with the first 90 minutes being what i can only describe as a sharing is caring, group therapy session and the last 30 minutes dedicated to actual breathing and meditation. it was not at all what i was expecting a class called breathwork to be.  i went in with a (mostly) open mind and came out conflicted about how i felt about the whole process, which i guess has to be experienced as a whole, but which i wish was more dedicated to actual breathing exercises, not hand holding, hugs and sing alongs. 

the hub

2001 s barrington ave
los angeles, ca 90025
(310) 575-4200

sea

i spent the morning with the dogs, walking by the ocean. it's cold and cloudy and damp and i was wrapped in a quiet sense of the solid ground and the liquid sea.

written in the sky

"the fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between 
happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy is a liquid."

- j.d. salinger

 

wtf

tomorrow is the apocalypse?  um, ok - do we really need to be reporting on this? 

well, for the sake of argument, lets pretend it is which means there is no better time than now to play this song, dance for hours, eat a massive gourmet feast, get on a plane to a sunny warm island (first class), drink fruity gin cocktails and watch my last sunset.... its the end of the world as we know it...and surprisingly, i feel fine!

\

two men and a baby

in today's episode of sex, lies and powerful men and their hotel and house maids, we discuss the gropings of the governator,  the implosion of the imf honcho, the women they (pardon the expression) screwed, the murky laws of sexual harassment and a recap of sordid political sex scandals on both sides of the atlantic. mon dieu!

the art of the game

a friend shard this link on his facebook page last night. the artwork is by zoran lucić, an illustrator and graphic artist from bosnia-herzegovina and i think his series of football posters along with his other music, sports and religious theme illustrations are beautiful and timeless. more to add to the growing ynotj me like, me want list. 

 

 

 

hudson holiday

it's uncharacteristically chilly and rainy outside, not at all feeling like a southern california mid may day.  it feels more like january and so as i was looking at these pictures i couldn't help dreaming i could spend a wet winter wonderland week, cuddled in this hudson valley house owned and designed by messana o'rorke architects.  
so so so peaceful and lovely!

 

blue monday

i am feeling out of sorts today - a one door shuts and another one opens kind of day and so i took my lovely dogs for a long walk in the sun and come home and listened to this song below (please excuse poor quality and dated 1984 video), really really loud and ate excessive amounts of fresh crusty bread with  home made sour cherry jam.

bring it on spring 2011- i'm ready! 

sunday poetry

you ask me about that country whose details now escape me,

i don't remember its geography, nothing of its history.

and should I visit it in memory,

it would be as I would a past lover,

after years, for a night, no longer restless with passion,

with no fear of regret.

i have reached that age when one visits the heart merely as a courtesy.

-Faiz Ahmed Faiz (poem #1442 - let me think)

shirin neshat - women of allah

petit dejeuner

i woke up craving this

and so ended up making this

not exactly a pâtisserie on boulevard st.-germain (or amandine in santa moncia), but so easy, warm, chewy and melt in your mouth yummy. trader joe's to the rescue once again (if you have not tried these, pick a box up at tj's today, let them rise overnight tonight and bake for breakfast tomorrow - a perfect lazy sunday morning treat )! 
c'est parfait, n'est pas?

my nose knows

have you ever come to a sudden stop in your tracks - a scent blowing past or catching you off guard and sending you off into a very particular past moment next to a very specific missing person? i'm thinking about this ever present memory of smell and how we remember exact events and feelings and loved ones from the slightest sudden perfumed moment. the lingering scent on a pillow, a jacket, a sweater or a complete stranger walking by.

i absolutely adore these scents and all the memories they hold keys to.

happy friday!!

nana de bary - green

flower power

the official ynotj flower is under attack! this surely falls under the ridiculous - if not the truly frightening. really, who knew a little fragrant flower wielded so much power?  the ironic thing (okay, not so ironic) is that they are blooming everywhere around town this month and the scent represents, to me, nothing but spring and warmth and peace. not at all the hint of revolt and revolution and resistance that is being unfairly thrust upon my little blooming namesake. 
china vs y(j)asmine