Paris Parfait

Risking your life to save it

Contemplating flight, Square des Batignolles, 17th arrondisement, Paris

For the Writers Island prompt "gamble," this poem was inspired by tough choices:

It's a gamble:
Risk a leap of faith
or stay safe,
secure in the nest
lined with bright bits
of cloth and paper
and glittery accents
that sparkle and shine
in the midday sun
and glow
in the moonlight.
A retreat of your own making:
beautiful as it is,
still a virtual prison,
making it impossible
to spread your wings,
fly free
and embrace destiny.

Another reason I love San Francisco

Most of you know I support Sen. Barack Obama for president. A central theme of his campaign is that by working together "Yes we can!" create positive change in America. So when my friend Tangobaby told me about this fence in the Sunset district in my favourite American city, I asked her to take a photo. I admire the bold statement this property owner is making. And I can hardly wait until May when I'll be briefly back "home" in San Francisco!

Best of the brocante

My Swedish friend G. Pettersson - who has an extraordinary eye for beautiful and unusual objects - at his booth at the brocante at Square des Batignolles, Paris. While Monsieur Pettersson lives in the Southwest of France, you can telephone him if you're interested in purchasing anything you see here: (011) 33.6.11.19.89.86. If your French is a bit shaky, not to worry - he speaks excellent English! And if you're in Paris in May, you can check out his wares at the antiquites brocante at Place de Bastille.

Meanwhile, the brocante at Square des Batignolles continues daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. through April 6. Take the Metro Line 13 direction Asniers Gennevilliers to Brochant.

A handsome pair of English Chippendale chairs, recently upholstered in plaid.

Another view of the chairs, as well as a small cabinet, perfect for artist's supplies.

The Napoleon III globe, two petite confits de canard and blue pharmacy jar came home with me. Before I'd even paid for the items, two French women offered to buy the confits de canard from me. I declined, as the small ones are rare and will increase in value.

Monsieur Pettersson shows a hat rack to a customer.

A grouping of unusual frames and objets d'art.

An aqua crystal flower chandelier.

A vitrine filled with beautiful frames and precious decorative objects.

Out and about Paris

News kiosk, Paris, March 29, 2008.

Impromptu performance by an all-girl brass band, Square des Batignolles, 17th arrondissement.

Vintage bicycle hoisted over a wooden fence, alongside paintings and a mirror, antiquites brocante.

Wrought iron baby bed draped with purple tulle and flowers. Check back later for more photos. The brocante continues from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through April 6th at the Square des Batignolles, Metro line 13 direction Asnieres-Genevilliers to Brochant.

Feeding the ducklings, Square des Batignolles park.

A pigeon in the park.

Sign over a doll repair shop, 17th arrondissement.

Strong women and society's dictates

Perhaps this is some French guy's subversive sense of humour or even a political statement - a naked and battered female doll suspended by her shoulders from bungee cords at the recent brocante at Ile de Chatou, France. Whatever impression the seller was trying to make, the rather disturbing doll certainly attracted attention - most of it negative - from passers-by.

Here's Johann Hari's insightful article in The Independent lamenting the demise of strong women as portrayed by both Hollywood and the media. I agree with the premise that society's dictates, particularly in Hollywood (and in politics) often undermine women and their talents and strengths. What do you think?

Spring fever

Have just come home absolutely drenched from a walk in the rain - the pouring-soak-through-your-shoes kind of rain that leaves puddles of water everywhere - but I am smiling, because it's spring, with all its accompanying joy and possibility.

Flowers are blooming, new chapters are being written and leaps of faith taken. The heady delirium of spring fever can't be diminished by a few rainshowers. And listening to this makes me happy. What is making you smile today? Whatever you're doing, hope you have a lovely weekend ahead!

Chantepleure

Vintage French dress forms at the recent brocante at Chatou.

The French word chantepleure means to sing and weep simultaneously - something most women completely understand. What the article doesn't discuss is how French women often adopt an air of bravado to mask deep insecurities, including uncertain situations in their marriages. French inheritance laws provide for the children, not the wife. In the event of divorce, it usually proves difficult for the wife to assert her rights and achieve any sort of financial parity with her husband. So it would seem that French women can never get too "relaxed" when it comes to their assets, physical or otherwise. They typically have more at stake than their British or North American counterparts.

On a completely unrelated note, watch this very clever video!

And here's a scary video about a serious subject that directly or indirectly affects us all.

New York windows

Photos of spring floral window displays at Macy's, New York taken by my daughter Jordana. She was in New York last week buying fabric for her senior collection.

The bliss of unexpected finds

Last week when giving blogging friends a brief tour of Ile Saint Louis, we discovered a little antique shop on a side street. My lucky finds included this 1906 Art Nouveau silver-plated claret jug, made by the German company WMF and an 18th-century French beaded bag in near-mint condition. Above is an illustration of the claret jug from the book Art Nouveau Domestic Metalwork. I have a small collection of six WMF-produced Art Nouveau pieces, all but one found in France.

Presidential leadership qualities

In American politics, there's compassionate vision, trying to stop a gathering storm in its tracks nearly a year before the US government begins to address the problems. There's confronting complicated issues of race and class head on.

For those of you who didn't grow up in the South and have no idea what it's like dealing with racial prejudice on a daily basis, Mike Huckabee - yes a conservative Republican - sums it up pretty well:

"...And one other thing I think we’ve gotta remember. As easy as it is for those of us who are white, to look back and say “That’s a terrible statement!”…I grew up in a very segregated South. And I think that you have to cut some slack — and I’m gonna be probably the only conservative in America who’s gonna say something like this, but I’m just tellin’ you — we’ve gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told “you have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can’t sit out there with everyone else. There’s a separate waiting room in the doctor’s office. Here’s where you sit on the bus…” And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me."

Meanwhile the pastor at the church that Hillary Clinton once attended has expressed public support for Wright. He said it is a "grave injustice" to make a judgment on Wright based off of "two or three sound bites" and criticized those who would "use a few of [Wright's] quotes to polarize."

Last week, Dean Snyder, the senior minister at the Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington D.C. -- which the Clintons attended while in the White House -- released a statement offering a sympathetic defense of the totality of Wright's work.

"The Reverend Jeremiah Wright is an outstanding church leader whom I have heard speak a number of times," Snyder wrote. "He has served for decades as a profound voice for justice and inclusion in our society. To evaluate his dynamic ministry on the basis of two or three sound bites does a grave injustice to Dr. Wright, the members of his congregation and the African-American church which has been the spiritual refuge of a people that has suffered from discrimination, disadvantage and violence. Dr. Wright, a member of an integrated denomination, has been an agent of racial reconciliation while proclaiming perceptions and truths uncomfortable for some white people to hear. Those of us who are white Americans would do well to listen carefully to Dr. Wright rather than to use a few of his quotes to polarize."

Spinning out of control

There's failure to accept responsibility for your actions or your words, then when challenged, flippantly dismissing the impact of false claims made repeatedly. Hillary Clinton told the Philadelphia Daily News: "... you know, I think that, a minor blip, you know, if I said something that, you know, I say a lot of things -- millions of words a day -- so if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement." See related videos here showing the "misstatement" was made on numerous occasions, including in prepared remarks. And then there's trying to get your rich supporters to pay for a re-vote in Michigan. Uh, hello - doesn't that smack of trying to buy an election?

And now Hillary's telling reporters that pledged delegates aren't really pledged - they can switch! Sounds eerily familiar - oh, yeah, remember when Bill Clinton said it depends upon what "is" means?

Grasping the basics

There's not knowing the difference between Sunni and Shite Muslims, yet claiming to be an expert on Iraq. On a taxpayer-funded trip to the Middle East, Sen. John McCain falsely claimed that the predominantly Sunni terrorist organization Al-Qaida was receiving training from the predominantly Shia Iran. He told reporters in Amman that he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."

Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate." Moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain whispered in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then said: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."

McCain made the same false statement, confusing the Shite and Sunni sects on two other occasions, which prompted the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Communications Director Karen Finney to release a statement: "After eight years of the Bush Administration's incompetence in Iraq, McCain's comments don't give the American people a reason to believe that he can be trusted to offer a clear way forward. Not only is Senator McCain wrong on Iraq once again, but he showed he either doesn't understand the challenges facing Iraq and the region or is willing to ignore the facts on the ground."

Breaking the law

Meanwhile, McCain has violated campaign spending limits, breaking the law. And in London, a private fund-raiser was held for McCain, raising eyebrows about the legality of accepting foreign campaign donations.

As for the economy? He can't sort out his own campaign finances, much less the country's recession. McCain proved in a speech today that he's as clueless as his buddies George and Dick.

Bush's War

And then there's complete and utter stupidity, aka rushing headlong into war without a legitimate reason and without a plan. Watch the PBS Frontline series "Bush's War" online.

Which qualities do you want in your next president?

The inimitable city

Vitrines at Galeries Lafayette, Paris.

If you're missing the Paris sunrise, here's a lifeline...

A rare glimpse into Guantanamo proceedings

Aisling Reidy, senior legal advisor at Human Rights Watch, writes a compelling account of witnessing the Bush administration's "legal" proceedings at Guantanamo Bay:

(Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, March 12, 2008) - We sat for almost four hours under the tents erected outside the Military Commissions building at Guantanamo Bay, waiting to hear whether the arraignment of Mohammad Jawad, a young Afghan man, would take place. Jawad was 16 when he was picked up in Afghanistan in December 2002 for allegedly throwing a hand grenade at a US military vehicle in which two soldiers and an interpreter were injured. He faces no charges of terrorism, material support, or any connection to al-Qaeda or the Taliban. He was just a young man in Afghanistan when the US invaded his country. We had heard various rumors that the hearing might not happen, that there was an issue with his lawyers, and that the "detainee was not cooperating," but the military authorities weren't prepared to confirm anything.

Our long wait outside was not unusual. Nor was the fact that we needed a military escort to leave the shade of the tent to walk to the "port-a-potties" 100 feet away (the rationale for which is still a complete mystery to all involved). What was unusual was that when we finally entered the courtroom, having passed three sets of security checks, Jawad was already in the room. He was sitting at the defense table, in his orange jumpsuit so symbolic of Guantanamo, with his legs shackled together, clearly agitated, constantly rubbing his forehead and holding his head in his hands. This was striking, both because normally detainees are not brought into the courtroom first, but only after the parties, security, journalists and other observers are settled and also because detainees are not required to wear their prison uniform when they attend hearings and normally don't.

In Jawad's case, his orange (as opposed to white or blue) jumpsuit marked him out as "uncooperative." Indeed it was his alleged "lack of cooperation" that had delayed the proceedings for some hours. Jawad simply did not want to participate in a proceeding that he believed was illegal. He did not want to play along with this process. So he had indicated earlier in the day that he was refusing to attend. However, while Jawad could refuse to attend his trial and the rules allow the Military Commissions to move forward with his trial in his absence, the chief military judge, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, determined that Jawad was required to be present for his arraignment. So Jawad was forcibly removed from his cell and brought to court. We weren't told exactly how. And there he sat. Judge Kohlmann explained that restraints remained on the detainees ankles because he had been so uncooperative "in terms of his physical movement."

Spring vitrines

This ubiquitous little black dress is part of an exhibition currently underway at Galeries Lafayette, Paris.

Spring fashions at Galeries Lafayette.

Shades of the '60s! Shift mini-dresses from an ongoing exhibition at Galeries Lafayette.

Stars and stripes rule in these Chanel windows at rue Cambon, Paris.

A striped jacket over a starry night sky dress with scalloped hemline at Chanel.

An updated version of the Chanel suit.

If you're dressing in a hurry, this zippered dress at Chanel should speed things along - if one is tall and thin!

Deja vu

An Islamic fabric remnant has survived centuries virtually intact, L'Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris.

This "deja vu" poem for Writers Island is based on the idea of a reunion with a soulmate:

Deja vu - it's you!
That same face that won my heart
nearly a lifetime ago.
All these years later,
I remember the thrill
we felt from that first moment:
exactly the same reaction now,
with an added frisson of fear.
Time has taught us
that overwhelming joy
comes with a high price,
often difficult to bear.
Others don't understand
or care about the magic
that infuses every breath
in each other's presence
or the sense of wholeness
and completion
we feel when we are together.
Friends and family worry only
about convention and appearances
that fit into their pre-conceived notions
of appropriateness;
love simply doesn't enter into the equation.
Yet for us, love has never wavered,
despite too much space and distance
and bad timing and wrong decisions,
made in haste and defiance
when practical choices were limited.
So here we are again:
living proof that one doesn't choose love;
it chooses you.
From the moment our eyes first met,
a flame leapt to life in both our hearts.
And all the intervening years
and oceans of tears
have failed to extinguish that fire.
How can we say goodbye - again?

Easter blessings

Peach stone arches at York Minster Cathedral, York, England.

"Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there." - Clarence W. Hall

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Easter, filled with much joy and renewed hope.

It's a weird world at Galeries Lafayette

"Oooooooh, the world is really weird these days" spelled out in bright orange letters on transparent plastic at Galeries Lafayette, Paris.

A monster-like figure in a mouton coat offers a tray of shoes.

A long mouton coat, reminiscent of the Russian Army, with the reflection of a passer-by.

A strange haystack-like coat made of fur and feathers.

Surreal shadows and reflections in this shot of a vitrine at Galeries Lafayette, Paris. For more department store windows, go here and check back again on Sunday.

Not exactly as claimed

The Washington Post's Fact Checker has a news flash about Hillary Clinton's claims about her Bosnia trip: she lied. Read the facts, see the photo and the video here.

Nor did Clinton help pass the Family and Medical Leave Act, as she has frequently asserted.

Despite her claims to the contrary, Hillary's First Lady records show she actually made a concerted effort to promote the passage of NAFTA. During the presidential campaign, she has repeatedly said, "I have been a critic of NAFTA from the very beginning."

Seems there's a pattern emerging here, in which Mrs. Clinton's claims lack credibility. The facts simply don't support her rhetoric.

Also, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, controversial former pastor of the Chicago church of which Barack Obama is a member, was the Clintons' invited guest at the White House. He sat next to Hillary at a prayer breakfast and was photographed with the president. So whatever any of us may think about Wright's remarks made public in selected soundbites, he was considered a mainstream religious leader and invited to the Clinton White House, along with other prominent ministers.

Flights of fancy at Printemps

As I was shooting this photo of a spring vitrine at Printemps, Paris, a guy walked past at exactly the right moment for his face to appear inside the tutu.

These multicoloured tutus appear to be hovering over the heads of shoppers at Printemps.

Two basic tutus, one in white tulle edged with black; the other in fuschia and salmon.

A frothy cloud-like confection of tulle tutus, suspended from the ceiling in a Printemps window display.

A striped sailor-style ballet frock.

Matching Repetto flat shoes are tied to the satin ribbon edging the tulle skirt.

A leotard and tulle skirt decorated with black-and-white photo images.

The winged feet of Mercury and some snazzy flats, courtesy of the actresses Chiara Mastroianni and Vanessa Paradis, respectively.

March winds and blogging friends

Flowers at the park at Notre Dame, Paris.

It's not feeling much like spring here, with high winds whipping around corners and chilling us to the bone. Have been busy photographing Paris department store windows, then meeting a blogging friend Beth of The Salvage Studio and her husband Raoul for tea and a brief tour of Ile Saint Louis and environs. I took them to a little antique shop - one I'd never noticed before, on a side street on Ile Saint Louis. And who snapped up two remarkable treasures in five minutes flat? Not Beth. More about all that in an upcoming post.

Beth and her husband Raoul at Notre Dame.

And watching this makes me smile. Hope it brings some cheer to your day as well.

No more war!

Vintage military-issue pith helmets at the recent brocante at Chatou, France.

This post is part of the March 19 Blogswarm against the Iraq War - a group of bloggers opposing the war in Iraq and calling for a full withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Five years. Over one million dead. To date, over $522 billion spent, with another $70 billion allocated for 2008 and hidden costs set to skyrocket up to $3 trillion, according to Columbia University economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard lecturer Linda Bilmes.

Perhaps the cruelest tragedy is that all this death, destruction and chaos is based on 935 deliberate lies. Here's my anti-war poem:

NO MORE WAR!

No more war
and senseless bloodshed
for the lies of a feckless government
and their greedy corporate friends.
No more horrific deaths
of soldiers and civilians alike,
innocents
caught up in relentless mayhem
of bombs and explosions.
No more journalists and aid workers
killed or kidnapped
while trying to help
heal the wounded beast:
a country whose complex history
suggests no easy solutions.
Insurgents seek to undermine
every opportunity for peace
while corrupt leaders
squabble like bickering children
and fail to govern,
relying on us.
No more children taught to hate
and trained to kill
to avenge their fathers
brothers and sisters.
No more vicious cycles
of violence and rage
fueled by extremists and fanatics,
who take advantage of the
rich man's thirst for oil
to suppress and stamp out
any semblance of peace and normalcy,
abusing power for their own ends.
No more war.
No more weeping into open graves
or risking life and limb to buy food.
No more no-bid contracts
awarded to Cheney's cronies
who grow fat and wealthy,
yet projects remain on hold
as the danger escalates.
No more tall tales
fed like pablum to the mainstream media,
then duly reported to a gullible public.
No more mothers' tears and fathers' sorrow
for children struck down
while walking home from school.
No more injured soldiers
flying home to no jobs
and post-traumatic stress,
then losing their homes
paying for urgent medical care.

No more lies
No more spin
Tell the truth
STOP THE WAR!

A message that embraces all Americans

An excerpt from Senator Barack Obama's powerful speech "A More Perfect Union" this afternoon at Constitution Center in Philadelphia:

"In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother’s keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister’s keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.

"For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division and conflict and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

"We can do that. But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.

"That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.” This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.

"This time we want to talk about how the lines in the emergency room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don’t have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.

"This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn’t look like you might take your job; it’s that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.

"This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together and fight together and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should have been authorized and never should have been waged, and we want to talk about how we’ll show our patriotism by caring for them and their families and giving them the benefits they have earned.

"I would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation – the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election."

Read the full text of Sen. Obama's speech and watch the video here.