She died in 1971 but her influence will live on as long as there are women. Lace and languor, soft tweeds and silk, and, even more, Chanel No. 5 will be her legacy. Since 1983 Karl Lagerfeld has been on the scene at Chanel. The fusion of pre-war Chanel’s gauze and glow with Lagerfeld’s sense of humor, contemporary trends, and eccentric hats is interesting. There was a phrase by Suzy Menkes in the International Herald tribune that seemed to sum it up: “…. this wavering waltz between Karl and Coco.” Now the brand has expanded beyond perfume and ready-to-wear into handbags, key chains, shoes and the like. Now it has the biggest boutique in the world in Tokyo, a ten story affair. Ladies still love it all.

Original appearance Sept 07, 2005, © 2005 / Chanel, Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel, Haute Couture / 29-31 RUE CAMBON, 75001 / 01 42 86 28 00 / CIP 148, OO 23, RD 07, YP 30/11-7

It all started, at least the internet part, 8 years ago today – and to think cowboys think just 8 seconds is a long, long time. It was June 23rd, 1999 – DDBookline was born. Long gone now, but fondly remembered, it was back when the internet was the wonder it promised to be. Back before the behemoths ate the internet. Almost before Bezos. Perhaps that is a little bit of an overstatement – sour grapes maybe. Jeff Bezos actually founded Amazon in 1994, it’s IPO was in 1997, and he was Time Magazine Person of the Year in 1999. Still, if we had been a little faster, saw a little further, been a little more hungry – who knows.

As it was we just had fun. DDBookline.com was the internet arm of our little D-Pit, an independent Bookstore and Sandwich Shop (we actually called it a Bookaurant Reststore) We ran it with pleasure for well over 20 years on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada. Basically DDBookline did personal, old fashioned searches for out of print books with the aid of the internet before it became automated. Back then a little experience with books helped, and a lot of experience was invaluable. We were somewhere in the middle. We had a lot of good times, fantastic customers, and excellent memories.

DDBookline was the mother and the father of Tricolors.com. It was my sweetheart’s and my first project together. From it flowed Categorical Imperative, Tricolors, Common Denominator, She’ll (AKA The Magazine), Cowboy in Paris, Verticalize, the Coaching Quadrant and a host of other minor and medium projects.

602 – DDBookline …. June 23, 1999 © 1999 / Used June 22, 2007 / CIP 3, partial, © 2007 / Better / SHE / GMS

Some words. X is the common denominator.

Xenon, Xray.
Ax, axle, axiom, axis, axion, axon.
Ex, extinct, extraordinary, exponent, express, expand, explode, execute, existence, exit, exact, excellent, extra, exceed, exclude, existential, expound, expatriate, explore, exude, extant, extort, extrovert.
Ox, oxygen, oxidize, oxide, oxbow.
Uxorious.
Box, buxom, coxswain, dexterity, foxy, fax, fix, fixate, hex, juxtapose, lax, luxury, mix, maximum, nix, nexus, next, noxious, pox, sex, tax, tux, toxic, vixen, wax.
Flux, coax, coaxial, epoxy, hoax, jinx, quixotic.
Helix, convex.
Matrix.

Significant or not?

607 – The X Factor … Significant or Not? / Used June 22, 2007 / FF 77 pg 26 / / CIP 3, © 2007 / Best / OAR

11 … Are there the same opposites on the other side?
12 … Is there a stellar stutter at the instant of ultimate entropy?
13 … There may be a reason for the figure 8.
14 … What if God was not crazy and logic ruled the world?
15 … Skip outside the box, thinking inside the circle is more productive.
16 … Is there a correlation between the number of dimensions and universes?
17 … Where does the double helix begin and end?
18 … Does ‘stellar stutter’ crystallize in the formulation that opposites aren’t?
19 … Do all black holes become one, then none, and then one again?
20 … Does the matrix bind?

I’m working harder on the first set of questions (see An Open Letter …./…. The First Ten on April 9th). Still, if I ever get close on one or two, or give up on all of them, I might consider some of these. No matter what matter is, it’s fun to think.

605 – Further Questions … Second Helpings / Used June 22, 2007 / FF 77, pg 12,13,17 2003-2005 / Best / CIP 3, © 2007 / OAR

23 Place Vendome, Paris 75001. The 001 says it all. First Arrondissement, high rent district, high prices and noses too. Still the merchandise is grand, and fine, and even exalted. Louis-François Cartier founded this house in 1847 and ever since it has been synonymous with luxury. First in traditional jewelry then in fine watches and now expanded into fragrance, leather and a broad array of other riches. He was the crown jeweler to 19 royal houses. Still, it was his three grandsons who took the concept global: Louis in Paris, Jacques in London, and Pierre in New York. Yes, there is one on 5th Avenue. There are other names – Boucheron, Chaumet, Mauboussin & Harry Winston – but there is only one Cartier.

Original appearance Sept 4, 2005, © 2005 / Cartier House, Haute Couture / 23 PL VENDÔME, 75001 / 01 44 55 32 20 / CIP 147, OO 22, RD 04, YP 30/11-4

Perhaps it is penance, perhaps it is destiny. Possibly it is pure chance. I would have rather it was a stone but, we have to play the hand we are dealt. In the carefree days in Yosemite relatively early on, we used to say it would be perfect if, in the end, a giant boulder just rolled down Half Dome and fell on us. Splat! Together forever. I would have preferred that scenario. This is a little more difficult, a lot slower, and terribly tentative. Dealing with death, dealing with the Big C – seldom even saying the word – is terribly tentative. Someday, probably not next month, maybe not even next year or the year after, but someday it will come. Of course it will come someday for everyone, but we’re both quite a bit closer. And then we’ll really be together forever.

599 – Penance … Deal With It / Used June 15, 2007 / CIP 3, © 2007 / Mixed / SHE

The Drouot had a monopoly in the field of auction houses in France from 1852 until approximately 2001. Since then it has had to compete with Christies and Sothebys. There is more than one but Drouot-Richelieu is the main one. Also there is Tajan and Artcurial to contend with, but that is not my concern here. It is simply the joy of visiting any of the French auction houses – for the really high end you go to the international houses in London and New York. Below that, the mélange of merchandise is what is captivating, the range of prices, the diversity of objects. Even the condescending Parisian disposition seems a little less haughty, though we don’t quite yet approach civil. It is the variety, and the stories that some of the objects could tell, that is downright fun. Attics unlimited – and some of their attics go back a couple of thousand years.

Original appearance Aug 28, 2005, © 2005 / Drouot, Hôtel des Ventes, Auction House / 9 RUE DROUOT, 75009 / 01 48 00 20 20 / CIP 146, OO 21, RD 28, YP 30/10-28

She had two rules that she repeated ad nauseam – I guess until they stuck. 1) Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. 2) If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. It took years, but finally they stuck. She never taught me, but later I learned that if rule # 1 doesn’t work, then treat them as they treat you – if it’s not at least somewhat reciprocal when you try your best, then make it reverse reciprocal. I think perhaps that that’s all you’ll ever need to know about manners. I lived my life happily and in the end I even used them on my mother.

600 – Two Plus One … Mother Said / Used June 10, 2007 / / CIP 3, © 2007 / Mixed /SHE

His name was Koala. He was 16 when he died. An old man. An uncanny ability to judge human nature was his strongest trait. He was indifferent to most of our kind. His friends, of course, he liked. Occasionally though he would just take an almost instantaneous aversion to a stranger. Usually not overtly hostile, just an air of distaste, a shunning, a watchful eye, or a quiet ignoring. Very occasionally it was a little stronger. Over the years I began to pay closer and closer attention. It sometimes took time, but he always turned out to be right. Personally I am a lousy judge of character. It’s handy when your dog can help with that.

Mostly though he was my best friend. We went for long walks in the Sierra Nevada. We were young and strong and in our prime then. We would run the rivers with nary a misstep. We were free. Freedom is a lost art in most cities, in many jobs, and in almost all lost lives. It is still just barely possible to live relatively unshackled if one simplifies, but that too is becoming a lost art. My friend and I – we simplified. We enjoyed life and we guarded each other for 16 years – that’s about 110 dog years. He was an old man. I buried him simply. I still miss him.

597 – Koala … Another Sketch, Another Name / Used June 10, 2007 / CIP 3, © 2007 / Mixed / SHE

Either opposites are or opposites aren’t, or perhaps it is just the nexus that is the x factor. Consider the statement above, or consider the pairings below. Re-pair if you are of a mind, but use the mind between the earrings. Now think about each and the other. Take your time. I am. Food for thought.

Hot x cold, fast x slow, left x right, love x hate.
Near x far, mass x energy, black x white, rich x poor.
Chaos x order, high x low, happy x sad, finite x infinite.
Time x temperature, micro x macro, up x down, begin x end.
Inflation x deflation, right x wrong, yes x no, mind x matter.
Start x finish, implosion x explosion, electric x magnet, 1 x 0.
Thought x idea, freedom x slavery, nexus x singularity, a x z.
Pro x con, antonym x synonym, letter x number, birth x death.
Force x mass, odd x even, remember x forget, words x symbols.
Light x speed, vortex x nexus, atomic x subatomic, weak x strong.
Weak force x strong force, left brain x right brain, mobius strip x double helix.

A lot of bys by golly. Wide open ranges. Could gravity be the stutter, the waver, the nexus between the macro and the micro – or the music between the flutter of the strings that is the fudge factor of a unifying theory of everything.

604 – The Nexus … Some Pairings for Ear Rings / Used June 10, 2007 / FF 77, pg 25 / Physics / / CIP 3, © 2007 / Best / OAR