Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus

Been writing about monks today.  There are plenty very cool cloisters still active in this country and albeit antichristian, I am very fond of the romantic aspects of these institutions. Of course the coolest by far is the Charterhouse Pleterje folk, the Carthusians. These little dudes insist in their pristine white robes and pursuit of total contemplation and silence - not unlike pretty much the extremes of most mystical religions, but it’s still impressive to have them so close-by. For a little while I was worried I won’t be able to write anything substantial but their location in the chapter, but they of course have web sites like all earthly mortals everywhere. There are other orders to mention, but inevitably the wiki files led me to once-was my favorite book on the subject, Name of the Rose. I found myself smiling, being able to still fully remember the last line in three separate languages without even thinking about it. I remember it, because it used to haunt me. I read this book long before I became a book zealot, so the fire in which the library burns, haunted me for a long while. It was only with my buddy dDaniel that I realized the difference between us, pagans, burning books and the truth – burning of the shelves. The last line means something like: ‘The once-was rose stands firm in its name, but it's only empty names *we* are (left) holding…’ Yeah, it sucks to be a sentimental historian sometimes :D

Salmon Fishing in Yemen

Finished reading Salmon Fishing in Yemen and of course it depressed me, because the book doesn't end well at all and I am such a sucker for happy endings that I am actually hoping for the movie to come from Hollywood and be a sort of a romantic comedy. I didn’t mind the old sheik dying – Drej warned me about that – but everyone else was a bit unexpected and quite disarming. Like in a proper novel, and this is probably what makes the book so good, you only got a glimpse of a bright, stolen moment, an excellent story, but before and after which the characters return to the murky current of the real life. I suppose the one who got out the least changed was the fuckup Wife. The rest suffered too much of a loss to ever be the same again. I thought in case of Harriet quite utterly pointlessly. Unlike sheik, who died in the best possible moment and possibly quite happy and at peace.

    Funny how I nearly died in a desert flash flood and didn’t even know it at the time :) Then again it was the desert – I probably nearly died of many things and didn’t know it at the time.

So, since movies don’t need to invoke catharsis, they can simply entertain and inspire and show pretty, pretty scenery, I am going to watch it only if someone assures me everyone (except the sheik and Mary) lives happily ever after. It’s just the sort of a dreamy person I am.

PS I came up with a recipe for pancakes last night and actually dreamed about it. General argued with me that they way I did it probably wouldn’t be very good, and in the dream everyone hated it, kept throwing it away, vomiting or having diarrhea, but to me it actually tasted really great – despite the fact it had a lot of fructal acid, which hurts like a bitch if I try to swallow.
    The pancake is called Biblioteca Corvinia and it’s made of five thin pancakes set into a sort of layered cake, first one painted purple and thin with blueberry jam (purple being regal color), second with chestnut mash 8because his eyes were brown), the third with bit of coconut powder, to remind of late march last frost on the fields, fourth with mild saffron jelly (that’s complicated, but trust me) and the last one, the top one, sprinkled with sweet lemon juice – to add that sort of bitterness that makes everything else for the better later on :D

Few more Tamara with bijou pics...

I like the way I did some of these catalogue pages for a draft. I am always so torn between the story, the cool elegance and the sheer impact of the object for sale... :)

Bit of a fashion shoot, since the day was so shiny :))

Tamy with Rosa semi-precious stones bijou :)

PS

We've invented a new color last night. It's called The Unexplained Love. CMYK - wise it's 89 / 61 / 34 / 14 and RGB it's 39 / 90 / 122.

Some things are ‘shoot me now’ and some things make you melt like toffee

I wonder if people realize, when they read things, how they've been written. Written and printed and set. Some of us still have the image of a deep dark room with a small, book-stuffed window and a large dripping candle in the winter evening (Right, Puškin?)… And of Gutenberg, setting his mighty print tiny letter by letter. And then authors mention their learned colleagues, doctors of literary science and other esteemed authors, and you think – this sounds so very far away from the notepad and pen most of us write like, feeling like schoolgirls…

    Well, let me tell you how we roll.
    I have learned colleagues; I have literary doctors of science for friends. We meet in pubs and discuss all the heavy worldly subjects, such as vibrators and crazy small dogs. Just last night the three of us sat down to work on a book cover. It was serious business and we got some very cool work done, see?. But this was in thorough lack of Siberian winters, decadent French pubs and/or fits of epilepsy or pistol duels. There was half a cake and a moment in which I pretended to try and hit people in the head with a pancake pan as she walked through the door, which nearly resulted in half the cake becoming half the coat. General has been napping up until then, but he hastily retreated to his den, saying you never know what three crazy, lusty artists would do to his unconscious body. A day before Drej complained  that our flat is so cold, when she turned on the cushy portable heater, just as it began radiating some warmth, I asked her to turn it off, as it got really hot and stuffy. Now they both came dressed for Siberia, but alas – the room was warm. So warm in fact that when we went to bed, General and I slept far away from one another, unused to such heat and stuffiness :D The dog was a bit uncomfortable also.

    There was lots of laughing, debating, teasing, provoking and puppy YouTube videos, while we watched the graphic design out of one of my old ‘this is the make-up I would like on a model, please’ summer sketches and Drej’s text. The way she does it is slightly annoying, because she just hits three keys and does some clicks and InDesign obeys her COMPLETELY, talking very smart graphic designer talk to which the rest of us usually reply: Ahhhhhh! And try to look wise and learned. Drej had the strenuous challenge of having to capture her novel in just three lines, while I had cake. All in all it was a funky old evening and we created a book cover. It’s one of those things that make you really grateful someone meanwhile invented friends. And posted puppy videos on YouTube.

Drej's book 'Explain love to me' (Pojasni mi Ljubezen) should be out in March. It's about a love triangle from the prespective of all three angles :) 

 And to top that, Drej and I coined our first mutual haiku today (during the doggie walk, wondering if we’ll have any snow this year at all)

Even the winter is in recession
I think to myself
And put on flip-flops.

And this cool things meant for paper are done. :D

If you can believe it, today are collective birthdays of Elvis, Stephen Hawking AND Kim Jong-un...  not to mention Alma-Tadema. My favorite painting is by him :)