Snippet

Try watching Shakira's latest video, She Wolf, without the sound (not that with the sound it would be much better)... it looks hilarious, in a sad way.
And those gymnastics in the cage - wtf ?!

...

24, Faubourg

I was in my first years as a student at the University of Bucharest when I bought a foreign fashion magazine because it wasn't very expensive (it was a past issue, brought to Romania as, I suppose, it hadn't sold out in the country of origin) and because it came with a small perfume sample. In those days there weren't many perfume shops around and if there were, I didn't dare go in because I felt embarassed knowing I didn't have the money to buy any perfume there. So I was delighted to find this magazine with its small sample and I actually loved the perfume since the first time I smelled it. It was sophisticated and it went perfectly with the autumn air. I used it sparingly, spraying only a little bit now and then on a scarf... but I eventually finished it. I kept the sample phial and the little orange box it came in and I used to smell it from time to time and remember the beautiful autumn days when I wore it.

Some years later, now an employee, my finances were much better, so I started to look for that particular perfume in the now more numerous and rather more accessible (for me) perfume shops. It would still be very expensive, but I could buy it, with some effort. However, I couldn't find it anywhere. None of the shops had Hermès perfumes. Not fair, I thought.

The years passed, the shops still didn't have Hermès perfumes, and even if I did travel abroad on three or four occasions, I somehow managed to come back without the long-sought perfume (either I didn't have the money, or I didn't have the time, or I couldn't find it, or I had other more pressing matters on my mind/hands...).

I finally found and bought it two years ago, while traveling abroad for the job interview that would bring me here. It was a happy moment. I was afraid my tastes had changed and I wouldn't like it anymore, but one sniff was enough to cast that fear away. It was a matter of seconds: I saw it (the warm orange colour, the slightly feminine inner curves of the bottle, the delicate arabesque decoration), I smelled it, I grabbed it, I paid for it, I had it. I finally had it. Other perfumes would come after it, as I could now afford to buy them, but it stayed my favourite so far. And, I don't know why, these days, these autumn days, it is the only one I can wear. Every morning I smell the other two or three perfumes and they're either too sweet, or too sharp, or too impersonal... so I wear 24, Faubourg. Warm, woodsy and bright, it goes perfectly with the cool autumn air.

Technicalities: it was created in 1995 by Maurice Roucel for the house of Hermès.

According to osMoz, it is a chypre-floral perfume and the notes are as follows:

Top notes: bergamot, orange, peach, hyacinth.
Middle notes: Tahitian gardenia, orange blossom, jasmine, iris.
Base notes: sandalwood, patchouli, amber, vanilla.



It is named after the address of the Hermès flagship store in Paris.

(I haven't used much of it so far because for some time I put it on the side and favoured lighter, less... special fragrances - I had some issues to sort out - and also because, as you may see, it is Eau de Parfum, therefore stronger, so only a little bit is more than enough).

ps - I subsequently made an obsession for the beautiful Hermès silk scarves, but that's another story, still to follow. They are very expensive!

Should I go to Dublin?

Yesterday I read a short article of someone who had been for the first time, and only for a couple of days, to Dublin, and had absolutely loved it. The illustration of the article depicted the author reading James Joyce's Ulysses and holding a tray with a big glass of Irish coffee (no mistake, there was written "Irish coffee" on it :p ), a shamrock and the Irish flag. And I found myself dreaming back.

This morning, there was the regular Luxair advertisment on the radio, promoting their reduced-fare flights to Dublin. As I wasn't yet fully awake, I had a short if refreshing dream about going to Dublin for a writing vacation, taking up a room in the Oliver St. John Gogarty hostel & pub, listening to live Irish music every other evening, walking the streets, living the life and generally enjoying myself.

Not a bad idea.

I still have to visit Edinburgh, though. Never been there, but really want to.
Then I'll make up my mind: Ireland or Scotland?

I want my MTV back!

I said it more than ten years ago and I will say it over and over again: I want my old MTV back, with Ray Cokes's MTV's Most Wanted, with Vanessa Warwick's Headbangers Ball and with all the good stuff. Or with something similar.

Those were the days...

Then they cancelled the shows... and then they replaced MTV Europe with the local version and the magic died for good. That was one instance where the localization of a product was the worst idea ever. They ruined it for us.

And I want my old, not dubbed Cartoon Network back. They're not exactly, specifically, cartoons for little kids that can't read. They're for older kids (teenagers and adults included) and those kids are supposed to be able to read. If they cannot, then they damned well should start learning! Dubbing is for little kids and lazy-heads.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough...

DUBBING IS FOR LITTLE KIDS AND LAZY-HEADS

I hate dubbing.

Autumn, art and whatnot

Note to self: if you use a body cream based on grapes, there are high chances you will smell like a wino.

On Saturday, I saw Saint Nicholas and Zwarte Piet, riding an open carriage somewhere in Gasperich... already?! No, I don't have a picture of them, they were moving fast, we were moving faster... you get the picture (sic). Instead, it being an amazingly beautiful and sunny autumn day ("amazingly" because it's Luxembourg, after all), I have some nice photos to share:



That's a cute little duck that I haven't seen last year in the park. It was very curious and, of course, wanted food - it simply jumped out of the water on the edge of the pond and kept coming towards me. I went away, it followed. At some point, it decided I had nothing for it to eat, so jumped back into the water. The other waterbirds in the pond (two types of "common" wild duck, some Mandarin ducks and another species of duck that I don't know, plus some very noisy bald coots) contented themselves to follow me around the pond looking hopeful. Unfortunately for them, I didn't have anything to eat. I intend to come back one of these days with a can of corn.

The rest of the day can be summed up as follows: collected some dried or drying leaves (including of Ginko Biloba, lol), bought some art stuff and then spent several hours needle-sorting beads (some of which very tiny). But what a satisfaction afterwards: now all my beads are properly sorted and ready to use. Yey.

(come on, laugh)

Sunday was more outdoorsy, and it didn't rain at all (youpie!). We did a 2-hour walk in the forest of Larochette, during which I managed not to sprain my ailing ankle again (I was however wearing a pair of sturdy mountain boots, especially for the purpose of protecting said ankle) and gathered lots of interesting stuff that I intend to use for an autumn diorama. As the frame I already bought is quite small, I will only use some of the stuff and then maybe make a second one or maybe not.

Then we got to listen to a concert held in the local church by the local amateur orchestra (it seems every town or village has an amateur symphonic orchestra / marching band, around here :)) ). The programme included Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld" (bits, I suppose? they were just finishing it when we came in, it was the Galop Infernal part, better known to the world (including myself, until I looked it up) as the predilect music for can-can acts :p ). They were ok for amateurs, we stayed for about 10 minutes for Tomaso Albinoni's Adagio and Douglas Court's Fantasy Jubiloso (yes, I have the programme in front of me :)) neither my memory nor my cultural knowledge are that good).

Here's the stuff I gathered from the forest.

In the foreground, you may notice an almost intact bird's nest :) I found it on the forest path. It was getting dark and I almost trod on it... I won't use it for the autumn diorama, I intend to "restore" it with some glue and feathers and add some small eggs (quail eggs, maybe, from the supermarket) for a possible spring diorama :)

ps - how to preserve berries? I found some late raspberries and I'd like to include them in the diorama. Apparently, I could use glycerine, or borax and silica gel. Hm. If I go to the pharmacy and ask for glycerine, I assume no one will give me any strange looks. Right?

Which witch watches which Swatch watch?

I have a very good and lasting relationship with my Swatch watch.

I love it and it never lets me down.

Tea, snowflakes and Donnie (and a little adorable kiwi)

My tea is ready. Lime tree blossom, verbena, marjoram, lavender... zzzzzz
(hopefully)

Today I did a good thing: I collected some snowflakes for the Babies. They need to be ready by mid-December, and the picture book as well, which means I have to get busy and select those pictures, work on them, place the order...

Right. Just not now. Now I'm watching Donnie Darko.

The song reminded me of this wonderful animation below. The first time, I saw it in the "Mad World version" - first under the "related videos". It had me in tears...