That Prada Lip Skirt

I am TOTALLY obsessed with this Prada lip print skirt!  This skirt was part of Prada's 2000 campaign, but lately, I find myself coming back to staring at it again and again.  What got me started on this current obsession was getting a glimpse of the "Schiaparelli and Prada Impossible Conversations", at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.  I saw the images online and knew I had to have the book (the same name as the exhibit) and this damn skirt!  I have the book and the images are stunningly gorgeous.  Art and fashion have become a perfect marriage.  So for now, I will continue to hunt on ebay  and hope to find this skirt, in my size, for sale. 

Some More Artwork from the Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition Project

I am getting ready to call it a day, but wanted to do a quick post of some of my pages from the 3 books I created for the Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition Project.  It is exciting to know our books are now traveling the world, being exhibited, discussed, and our collective message will continue to spread throughout the world as a result of our efforts and artwork. 

Farewell to a Great Actor, James Gandolfini

For 6 years, I faithfully watched each episode of "The Sopranos".  I was saddened by the news of James Gandolfini's sudden passing last week.  Although I loathed the character, Tony Soprano, each week I was glued to the television.  Mr. Gandolfini was an incredible actor who brought Tony superbly alive.   And although my favorite part of each show was the weekly interactions between Tony and Dr. Melfi, his psychiatrist, I couldn't think of a better moment than this very powerful scene between Tony and his son, Anthony Jr., to showcase Mr. Gandolfini's great talents.  Rest in peace, Mr. Gandolfini.  

Pages from the Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition Project

I CANNOT believe I have blogged 2 days in a row!  I think that is the sum of all of my blogs for this past year!  Of course, I don't want to disappoint my one follower:  Kelly Kilmer, my dear friend!  I was off from work today.  Yesterday, I was supposed to have part 2 of the root canal I had 2 weeks ago.  Unfortunately, things didn't go well: on Friday, I felt something odd and thought I had cracked my temporary filling.  Instead, yesterday while in the dentist's chair, I found out I broke part of my tooth, the dentist had to change the game plan and do a partial extraction, and I have an infection in the area where the root canal was done 2 weeks ago! Needless-to-say, I didn't get any sleep last night.  I had a fever all night and was in a lot of pain.  I have NEVER wanted so badly to have part 2 of a root canal like I do now.  So, back to the blogging and what the hell is the significance of this blog post... while taking it easy today, I surfed the internet and came across our project, "Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition", and the project and our books have landed in the U.K.  I joined the "Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition" last year for several reasons:  1) I abhor censorship, 2) it involved a subject close to my heart, the Middle East and current events occurring in the region, 3) the project included using book arts as the medium, 4) Kelly talked me into it (!), and most importantly, 5)  it involved expressing the themes of social justice and justice through my artwork.  Here is a link to the U.K. show:  http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/mainmut12/754.htm.  And if you go to my blog, I have the "Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition" listed in the section labeled, "Get Involved In Our World".  I posted these specific pages to honor an old friend of mine and his mother, who passed last week.  These pages are dedicated to Mary Samara. 

My Favorite Flowers

I love this time of year!  I especially love the month of May for many reasons, but specifically because this is the season my favorite flower, the peony, blooms.  The peony has a very, very short season.  It blooms in May and into early June (if we are lucky!).  On Monday evening, my husband and I ran several errands together and more importantly, he didn't complain once about us going to several markets in search of those last peonies of the season.  He patiently drove us around and dealt with the evening commuter traffic.  Like the peony, Mike Cazares is a keeper. Until next year, my love...