Cockaigne

Now I know what a lot of you are thinking and no, this is not a champagne cocktail with a you know what in it for a swizzle stick.  Nor does it have any relation to cocaine or places where you could sniff the cocaine.  And it has nothing to with roosters.
Cockaigne \kah-KAYN\, noun: An [...]

The List

The day before my big trip and all I can do is make lists.
1.  Drastic haircut to make me look as if I weigh as much as my driver’s license says I do…check.
2.  Waxing eyebrows for the first time in my life because someone told me it can make you look 10 years younger…check.
3.  Expensive [...]

Paris, the city of love

  48 hours until Paris

The last time I was in Paris was back in 1999.  My mother and I had planned a month long trip before my big move to Hawaii; a week in Rome, a week in Florence, a week in Venice, a week in Paris.  We saved Paris for last.
 
I have fond memories of Paris.  One [...]

Crazy for Crabs

  CrabFest 2008 – Crazy for Crabs (photo courtesy of Jill Sanford)
Yesterday afternoon six of us ventured where few Los Angelenos have ventured before…to a crabfest!  Jill, Francesca, Aaron, Tony, Sam and I put on our bibs and got busy pickin’ Maryland Blue Crabs.  A native Eastern Shore girl, I kept my head down and [...]

Love in the time of handguns and hand-grenades.

  Grrrrrrr…. 

Relationships are hard.  Sometimes you can’t help looking at your partner and thinking, “You are an evil, selfish demon-man who should be thrown into a pit of hungry fire ants.  You should be tied up and smeared with hot bikinni-wax and then introduced to an aesthetician named Helga the Hammer Hands.  If there was a frying [...]

How Much Wood Can A Woodchuck Chuck?

       Two Old Woodchucks

 

Last night Sam and I had dinner with friends at Dominic’s in West Hollywood.  Dominic’s is an atmospheric, Italian restaurant usually frequented by 30-something urbanites who prefer old school charm over trendy glitz.  We got there at about 9PM and the place was packed.  Thursday night and everyone is out and about…who [...]

Common Courtesy

How late is too late?  15minutes?  30?  An hour?
Yesterday I went to get my fantastic new dress tailored for Paris.  I had called a day in advance, set up an appointment, and then shockingly, I kept the appointment.  The tailor on the other hand, strolled in exactly one hour later.  Perhaps 2PM was a more convenient time for her.  Or [...]

Bad Things Come In Threes

      I’m coming out of a set of threes.  My grandmother was the one who told me about bad luck and threes.  I’m forever grateful to her.  Time and time again I’ve prepared myself as soon as thing #1 happens.  Once thing #1 goes wrong you’ve just gotta brace yourself and bear it.
And that is [...]

Another Night in Paradise

Last night I got it…insomnia.  There I was lying in bed, my eyes pressed shut, a cool breeze caressing my face and urging me into slumber, but I knew.  Oh, how I knew.  And with that my eyes flew open.
 
I drank a glass of water; I drank a glass of milk.  I ate a piece [...]

The Butterfly

When I was a child in grade school I used to stay up each night, way past my bedtime, reading under the covers.  My mother would say goodnight and with a pounding heart, I would shimmy down under the blankets and turn on my flashlight.  As quietly as a mouse, I’d begin to read. 
Night after night I’d stay [...]