Cheerful white meat nectarines bathed in skyr, turmeric, and cinnamon sit in my hand. My attention is directed towards them, muting the chaos that hatred and politics bring to our lives on our TVs. Meanwhile, a tiny bowl filled with water and a couple of drops of citronella oil is successfully directing mosquitoes out of our living room. The evening is perfect for lighting a couple of candles and re-establishing peace, far away from the media and close to vanilla scented rooibos.
From the wide-open window—the same one that invited the mosquitoes in in the first place—loud music from a lonely Cadillac came. I recognized the melody. From Instagram? From TV? The scene came back to me. Last Sunday at the gym, there was this guy dancing. There was no music, he had no earphones, and the gym was pretty empty. Instead of running on the treadmill, he was using it as a podium—dancing, making insanely fast steps back and forth, left and right, all while moving his body like a meander, singing the same tune coming from the Cadillac. Meanwhile, a few machines away, I walked on a steep incline, concentrating on every step and glancing to the right every now and then. The dancer kept dancing and singing. I left the gym 40 minutes later, and he was still there, moving to the beat of his own drum—in his head, in his heart, and in his feet.
Earlier that week, I was sitting in a park between meetings, and a homeless guy a couple of benches down was talking loudly to someone in his head.
“Look around, people! Stop staring at your screens,” he proclaimed like a tribune.
“Nobody cares about anyone or anything anymore,” he said, now, angrily.
“What is a man without curiosity? It’s like an iPod without music!”
Then he left the park, leaving us with an important reminder: we were in the park. Then. At that very moment.
Some of my favorite things from June and some of my current thoughts:
Last week, we finally had a couple of hot days. Sitting in my studio in my linen summer clothes, I drew a village in the Alps for a big corporate client. It was refreshing and reminded me of the seasonality of my business. I am drawing something that will be used in a couple of months—in the next, or the season after the next season.
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Finding time to enjoy architecture and design magazines: AD and IDEAT.
A friend took me for a massage in a Chinese apothecary up in Belleville. It was exceptional.
Working on a limited map for the Paris Olympics (coming soon to the shop). Meanwhile OG are driving everyone insane. Some of the main metro stops are already closed.
Walks with Birdie in the forest. He still thinks he is a Rottweiler.
TOFU – please send me your favorite recipes.
A great exhibition in MAD in the Louvre building. It’s about the Second Empire and the first department stores, exploring how and why they started existing. It’s colorful and tells the story of the birth of the middle class.
Zola’s "Au Bonheur des Dames." I got it in the museum shop and am excited to read it in French and tell the stories about it on my tours again.
Parisian mosaics in random buildings.
My prints are now being sold in a shop called Cote Nord in Sydney starting this month! They are signed and embossed, and I am so excited!
Rose bushes in bloom everywhere.
I wish you time for yourself—in a park and away from screens, preferably. Be well and thank you for being here!
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