“Opposites are not contradictory but complementary.” — Niels Bohr
Flora vs. fauna + opposites on the color wheel — Opposites give us visual contrast, and when two objects contrast in a big way, they give your viewer something to think about. Show us opposites this week. #Capture52 #capture52week23 #oppositesattract #floraandfauna #colorwheel
“May! Queen of blossoms and fulfilling flowers, with what pretty music shall we charm the hours?” — Lord Edward Thurlow
READING:
Magazines: Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Real Simple, Outdoor Photographer, Sailing, and Milwaukee Magazine.
Blogs: Some of my favorites include Everyday Parisian, Paris in Four Months, and The Larson House. I use Feedly to curate articles from fashion, education, tech, and French blogs that I enjoy. Each morning, it’s like having my own customized magazine.
I have several books on hold at the library, but until they come in, magazines and blogs are keeping me informed and entertained.
WATCHING:
Hollywood (Netflix) ”The series follows a group of aspiring actors and filmmakers in post-World War II Hollywood as they try to make it in the movie industry — no matter what the cost. Each character offers a unique glimpse behind the gilded curtain of Hollywood's Golden Age, noting entrenched power, challenges to that power, and biases of many kinds that continue to this day. The show is described as exposing and examining decades-old power dynamics, and what the entertainment landscape might look like if they had been dismantled” (IMDb). It’s naughty. It’s controversial. It’s thought provoking. It’s weird to hear Sheldon Cooper’s voice from such a despicable character as Henry Wilson. It’s binge-worthy.
Halt and Catch Fire (Netflix): “Set in the 1980s, this series dramatizes the personal computing boom through the eyes of a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy whose innovations directly confront the corporate behemoths of the time. Their personal and professional partnership will be challenged by greed and ego while charting the changing culture in Texas' Silicon Prairie” (IMDb). We started watching this back in 2014, but because we moved in October 2015 at the beginning of Season 2, we lost track of it. Now that it’s on Netflix, we are geeking out 80’s style once again.
LISTENING TO:
I’m still hooked on The Earful Tower podcast. I’m late to the party, so I have a few seasons left to binge. I feel like Oliver and Lina are far away friends since for ten weeks, I spent a hour or so with them every Saturday playing the pub quiz.
The Paris on Air audio experience read by the author himself with the help of several characters who are featured in the book. The experience is included for Patreon members of the Earful Tower. I especially enjoy reading along in my one of a kind book with Oliver’s personal inscription to me and Lina’s lovely little “Easter egg” illustrations throughout.
Jimmy Buffett’s new album, Life on the Flipside: Despite our disappointing experience at Alpine Valley last summer, Jimmy Buffett music is comfortably familiar, feel-good music that will always remind me of sailing, summer, and boat drinks.
FEELING:
Better: I got my hair cut and colored, my eyebrows groomed, and a mani-pedi — all under very careful, safe, and sanitary conditions.
Cautious: I have gradually started to go a few places — the library, the building center, the garden center, but I have been super careful not to touch things that I don’t intend to buy, to use copious amounts of hand sanitizer, and to wear a mask. Thanks to Eric’s mom and my friend, Lisa, I have four really pretty ones. I just wish everyone else were as careful.
Hopeful: Although we are still primarily at home, I am hoping to enjoy a long weekend in Sturgeon Bay with the Larsons next month.
ENJOYING: My flower gardens — The trillium, hepatica, blood root, and blue bells in my native Wisconsin wildflower garden are already over, but the ferns and lilies of the valley are abundant. The redbud and Tina crab were blooming these past two weeks. The white anemone are gently swaying in the breeze. The sunny daisies and white bleeding hearts are just starting to bloom. The irises and roses are budding as are the hydrangea bushes. The ground covers and vines are prolific and I am eagerly watching the ants working to pry open the tight peonies.
PLANNING: Some outdoor “deckorating” — Eric has been working on remodeling our deck. It’s finally nearing completion and I’m excited to arrange furniture, plant flowers in pots. The wire rope railing makes it so much nicer to look out onto my flower garden. I am eager sit on the deck with my coffee on summer mornings, a good book later in the afternoon, and a glass or wine or a cocktail in the evenings.
« Le virus nous rappelle à notre humanité et à notre condition d'êtres profondément sociaux, inséparables les uns des autres. » — Edgar Morin
Fermé (photo prise en octobre 2019)
Due to outbreak of le virus corona — le Covid-19, France, like many countries around the world, imposed a lockdown to protect citizens and to prevent the virus from continuing to spread at an astonishing pace. Le confinement was initiated on March 16th and lasted until a gradual déconfinement began on May 11th. As the French begin to ease into a new “normal” that includes continued practice of la distanciation sociale, all cafés, restaurants, and terraces remain closed until at least June 2nd. Yet, despite the closure, l’apéro (short for l’apératif) remains an important cultural tradition. During le confinement, l’apéro became a welcomed respite from isolation as friends and family shared un verre via Zoom, Skype, Facetime, or Google Meet. As further proof of the importance of this evening ritual, some French markets are now offering a un panier apéro, a basket containing beer or wine, cheese, hummus, and fruit, available for home delivery within an hour. Now more than ever, we eagerly raise a glass to each other’s health — Santé!
Fermé (photo prise en octobre 2019)
"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face." — Eleanor Roosevelt
Week 22: Phobias #capture52 #capture52week22 #phobias #fearofheights #acrophobia
« J’ai deux amours — mon pays et Paris. Par eux toujours, Mon coeur est ravi. » - Joséphine Baker
This month, more than ever, most (actually, all) of the links that I bookmarked are about travel and Paris. As much as I am so grateful for my health and security at home, I am longing to return to Paris. Today was to be the beginning of “Plan C” — the third iteration of a spring 2020 trip to Paris. Plan A was an extension of the PHS Band Spring Break trip to Prague, Austria, and Venice, followed by a personal long weekend in Paris after the rest of the group returned home on April 9th. Plan B was a solo Spring Break trip to Paris — a glorious week alone to do whatever I’d like. Plan C, when we thought that we might be quarantined for just two weeks, was an extended Memorial Weekend alone in Paris. How true and how ironic to say that hindsight is 20/20 (2020)!
So I remain safely at home with an airline voucher, afflicted only with wanderlust. I know that I will return to my beloved Paris when it is safe to do so. We hope to take our original Spring Break trip over Thanksgiving Break, so I maybe I will be in Paris just in time for Christmas markets and animated department store windows. I may also re-establish my annual February trip. After all, that’s when spring actually begins in Paris. In the meantime, I think it’s time to resurrect my popular French Fridays series that I unceremoniously abandoned exactly one year ago. I’m not sure why I ever stopped, but I, for one, could use a weekly reminder of what I’m missing and what I look forward to experiencing again. What do you think?
Let’s begin with a virtual get-away to Paris via this month’s Links I Love:
There have been so many articles about brining Paris home:
How to Experience Paris From Your Home — apéros, movies, shopping, books and blogs (I have to step up my game!), and planning future trips
How to Pretend You’re in Paris at Home — recipes, playlists (even Parisian street sounds), fashion tips, lifestyle tips (adopting the French pace of the day), virtual museum visits, more apéros, movies, and books
A new way to travel to Paris: Paris in Your Home — still more movies, books, music, and recipes plus flowers and language lessons
From Touring the Louvre to Cooking French Delicacies, Here's How to Take a 'Magnifique' Virtual Trip to France — music, movies, books, and virtual museum tours — by now, you get it! There is a lot of overlap among these articles by “too much of Paris” is not nearly enough.
A Virtual Visit to Paris for the Day — I love the idea of sharing a personally perfect day in Paris and will revisit it in upcoming French Friday posts.
Free Paris Coloring Pages — Who doesn’t like to color? It’s great therapy.
Midnight in Paris Filming Locations in Paris & Beyond — I have been to 15 of the 19 locations, but I still need to visit the Hotel Bristol, Le Grand Véfour and Le Polidor restaurants, the quirky Deyrolle taxidermy shop, and of course, the flea markets of Saint-Ouen.
Photos of Paris During Coronavirus, From Empty Streets to Messages of Hope on the Eiffel Tower
'Christian Dior, Designer of Dreams' at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs — the dresses, the drawings, the architecture…swoon!
The Best Hotel Bars in Paris — I have visited the Ritz four times now. Who can resist a Miss Bond served by the inimitable barman, Colin Fields? Yet, perhaps, next time I should try a new place.
Why Cocktail Hour Is Back — When did it go away?
What to Buy When Starting a French Bar at Home — David Lebovitz’s recommendations
50 Most Beautiful Cities in the World — I have been to 13 of them and I bet you can guess which city is #1 🖤
The Future of Travel: How the industry will change after the pandemic — We shall see…
“Create a buzz. Sip life's sweet moments. Work together, but mind your own beeswax. Stick close to your honey, but bee yourself." - Advice from a honey bee
#Capture52 #capture52week21 #creatures #allcreaturesgreatandsmall #bee #honeybee
