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

You start out and end up incredibly alone. In between, if you are lucky, you get comfortable with yourself. Other than your dog, you’re the only one you can always count on. Thank you Koala. Thank you Nikita. And thank you Little One for giving them both to me.

601 – In Between … Thank You / Used June 10, 2007 / / CIP 3, © 2007 / Mixed /SHE

Francesco Procopio, a Sicilian immigrant, opened the prototype in 1686. Starbucks emulated it some years later. Voltaire to Verlaine, Beaumarchais to Balzac and every other French literary figure of any repute were seen at the tables. Polite society, ladies too, graced the establishment. This was a first. Beverages and sherbet drew a crowd. Revamped in 1989 in 18th century style, it is now decorated tastefully, and serves ‘brasserie fare’ the critics sniff. This cowboy loves brasserie fare and the desserts are also great. Embedded in the fascinating Latin Quarter, the oldest restaurant in Paris is well worth a look-see. There is a wide range of prices and unless you know what you are doing it is often best to just order ‘the menu’ (the daily special).

Original appearance Aug 25, 2005, © 2005 / Le Procope, the world’s first Coffeehouse / 13 RUE DE L'ANCIENNE-COMÉDIE, 75006 / 01 40 46 70 00 / CIP 145, OO 20, RD 25, YP 30/9-25

It was a gift from her son on her birthday a couple of months ago – the perfect purple pillow. Just one gift among many. But it was the perfect gift. It scrunched, it moved, it bent, it cradled. Pliable beyond measure, soft beyond comfort and safe in a hard, hard world. Purrrfect perfect. A bridge to and from childhood in a crazy world. A cushion for the cancer raging in her head. It seems a little better now – maybe stabilizing, maybe not. Remission? A hope and a dream, but who knows? Thanks to the radiation? Thanks to the chemotherapy? Thanks to the 1,001 pills, the 2,002 cards, the 3,033 flowers, or the innumerable candies? No, though probably each contributed their iota – but I think it’s thanks to the perfect purple pillow (and her strength, her courage, and her will).

603 – A Son’s Gift … The Perfect Purple Pillow / Used June 7, 2007 / CIP 3, © 2007 / SHE

The New Wave has become old. Very old. Of course, even then, the New Wave was just a new name for an old phenomenon. The last fad, the latest word: the tulip bulb craze, the hula hoop, beanies, dot com, Sudoku, Reality TV, Wikipedia, & Borat. The list is endless, and annual. Some connect the term to the music of the 1970’s – punk rock and semi punk. Others connect it to French films of the 1960’s – Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless) etc. I suppose some even connect it to surfing.

Of course the breadth and length of the term could be debated. Karl Marx and Adolf Hitler were the last rage, both figuratively and literally, for a long time. Bill Gates and Tim Berners-Lee launched sensations that were, and are, a la mode. Albert Einstein and Edward Witten conceived of singularities. Henry Ford and the Beatles were far removed culturally – and yet? To some degree the position on a timeline is instructive. The wheel, the cart, the bike, the automobile, the train and the plane have all at times been the latest in a continuum. Beam me up. But let’s get real, and back in vogue.

Truly you begin to understand cyclical ageing when you go to see a movie – say Casino Royale – and when it is finished all you can say is “I know I’ve seen that movie before, but I can’t remember where or when.” And it is then, that you can be pretty sure, that you, personally, are probably not going to launch the next new wave.

595 – The Next New Wave … Cyclical Ageing / Used June 7, 2007 / CIP 3, © 2007 / SHE