Rainy days and warm blankets

Had a lovely time visiting with my family over Christmas. Once again we all holed up in my grandmother's house for two days of non-stop food, wine and gifts. I swear, I think my family is secretly cultivating an army. Every year there seems to be more and more little ones running around on wobbly legs. I don't even know who belongs to who anymore.

I'm so happy that I was able to spend some time with my brother Christopher. He'll be headed to Hawaii for about 5 years in two week's time. I'm going to miss the hell out of him, but it looks like I'll have at least five trips to Hawaii to look forward to. I hope he's able to make it to Austin for New Year's so that I can send him off proper.

Got a new camera for Christmas!!! That means that I will finally have pictures to go along with these boring 'ole words. Be prepared for cat pictures galore.

Lost in a world of Druids and castles

The grass in the garden is choking the trees

Sunday evening on the couch with the boy and the cats, a glass of red wine, Sam Gopal and a mane soaked in olive oil and rosemary. Life is grand.



Spent the afternoon running all around this sweet little city with Miss Claire discovering new shops tucked into old neighborhoods. The Arabic Bazaar is possibly the best shop I have ever been to. Perfumed room after room filled with treasures from lands like Morocco, Syria and Egypt. I was given free baklava and Arabic coffee to fuel my search for gypsy coin belts and silken tapestries. This girl sure is in need of lottery winnings and/or large monetary donations.

A votre sante!

To the people you've met, the places you've been and the experiences you've had.



May you treasure what has been and welcome what is to come.

PAIX

No better way to welcome the weekend than early morning coffee and the beautifully haunting sounds of Catherine Ribeiro and the Alpes. I can't fully explain the effect her music has on me. It's almost like flying to some land where everything is a swirling mass of black, silver and purple...like being inside of a crystal ball. Incense and open windows.

The first song I ever heard was "Jusqu'à ce que la force de t'aimer me manque" and I literally felt my heart start racing and almost burst into tears. The force behind her voice inspired something in me that I'll never forget. The way that I sang with Electric Desert changed at that moment. I suppose that you could say that I actually started to truly sing with heart and soul. No longer would just opening my mouth and letting sounds come out do. Her voice led me to that place deep inside your gut where your true voice lies.



This woman blows my mind, breaks my heart, makes me forget, lets me see, takes me to other worlds, shakes my soul, etc, etc, etc.

Path Through the Forest

To be at home in the world

Though I may whisper words
You don't understand, understand
Though I'm in need of help
You can't lend a hand, lend a hand

To be at home in the world
To be at home in the world

Though I may come and go
It is not from you that I flow
Wild though the world may be
It's inside of me, inside of me

To be at home in the world
To be at home in the world

This is all that a man can need
Cannot you see
This is all that a man can need
Cannot you see

Though I may act unkind
I don't mean to be, honestly
It's just that it's hard to see
The reality, reality

To be at home in the world
To be at home in the world

This is all that a man can need
Cannot you see
This is all that a man can need
Cannot you see

Don't ask me to move away
I will never go
Don't ask me to hide away
I will never leave

-Spirogyra

Never have I been so happy to see autumn approaching. I forgot how beautiful fall is in Texas. Fall in Chicago meant the approach of almost 5 months of cold and gray and nothing but the inside of radiated rooms and stale buildings. Here it means an art nouveau-esque landscape and the earthy smell of fire and spice. It's like living in a Mucha painting. It also means that I get bit by the travel bug badly. Last November it was Holland and I can't believe that I am quickly approaching the year mark. I'm feeling Sweden this year, or perhaps the Czech Republic. Live in a proper Mucha world.