…that there is not a line a block long at Sprinkles, the cupcake factory that has captured and addicted millions. In spite of the fact that I live a mere five minute walk from there, I never go, because I truly could bake cupcakes in the amount of time it would take to stand in the line. But today after Lablogda, Design Nomad, Sean, the Critter and I lunched at Panini cafe, a few steps to the east of Sprinkles, we noticed that miraculously there was no line. Design Nomad celebrated by trying the confections for the first time.

I know we all are incredibly spoiled by the weather, yet the last few years there have been some unusually high temperatures for a spate of time here and there. My dear Husband goes around like a big bear with a thorn in his paw during these seasons, as we forget too soon once the pleasant temperatures resume that we really must do something about the air conditioning. His birthday was last weekend and I thought a little respite from the heat could be found in Marina del Rey. The Grandmother insisted that she treat us to dinner, so why not brunch? Sometimes it can be ten degrees cooler on the water – it’s amazing what a difference a twenty minute drive can make.

I figured that the Ritz Carlton could provide a nice brunch for the occasion. They have an immense, very artfully arranged champagne brunch on sundays in their fine dining restaurant by the name of Jer-ne (pronounced “journey” – I know, huh?). The food was voluminous – they had everything you would ever dream of eating from a buffet. Some glamourous choices were that a sushi bar, a caviar bar and a custom eggs benedict station. I got a little dizzy from the quantity of choices, frankly. My favorite things I sampled? The bacon, the boiled shrimp, and the chocolate pralines. Some things are just fine wherever you get them.

The Critter fell in love with a beautiful Russian five year old. She was mesmerized by him as well. They held hands and patted one another for a good thirty minutes before her father came to have a talk with us about Critter’s intentions. It was all very pleasant and we eventually explained that Critter hadn’t yet decided on preschool, so he wasn’t yet ready to date. The Husband must’ve been pleased, as he cooled down enough to smile again – he even had a cup of hot coffee with his dessert.

After nosing around the hotel for a bit which included but was not limited to having a look at a nice limited edition of drawings by Picasso rendered as woodblock engravings by Georges Aubert. In addition to viewing of the collection throughout the first floor of the hotel, The folio and wood tools used in the works were exhibited. After absorbing every last design aspect that we wished, we took a leisurely stroll down the Marina Promenade.

We then did hour long Sunday drive and picked our favorite (and least favorite) houses in Beverly Hills before getting home just as the sun went down and the weather became civilized again.

THIS is a glamour shot.

Circa 1989. I got them for my gay friends for Valentine’s Day.

As a child, if I had a one of those nasty coughs little ones get, I can remember my mother occasionally commenting that I sounded like the croup. I never actually had it, I only sounded like it. Now that the critter has experienced this malady twice in the last two months, I state authoritatively that she was wrong. The croup surely sounds worse than Mom ever could have predicted – so now we are fast friends with the staff of the Emergency Room at Cedars. It was much easier the second time because we knew what to expect – once the poor little critter had a couple hours’ (well, six hours including the waiting, 1:00 am until 6:00 to be exact) treatment of nebulizer, a cool mist, and a dose of epinephrine, we were on our way home to sleep in the day like vampires. We got maybe four hours – but who needs sleep? We got plenty of that in college…

Said critter is doing just fine, as he and Louis xiv watch a BH firetruck go by…

…to a font, other than my beloved copperplate gothic and my Engravers MT. It has always pleased me that my my business card could be from a venerable law firm, were it not for the one word design. The two fonts used together are timeless, classic, and promote those ideals in my designs.

Helvetica reminds us that design is everywhere, and that everything you see when you go out was designed by someone. The impact that words have can be designed by their shape and size and thickness of line or point in the same way that a room can be designed.

I must confess that I have styled a room so that the spines of the books were aligned in a way that the titles complemented one another. I know, it’s part of the addiction, getting caught up in the details. I’m sure helvetica adorned quite a few of those books…

I am almost afraid to let the word out, because then she’ll be too busy to take my calls and her day rate will skyrocket. My most fabulous sometimes assistant Rebecca Roberts, who has pursued acting and filmmaking with great fortitude, has made a film! A very funny political satire with actors who, although WAY hotter than the actual candidates, really nail the characters.

Congratulations, Miss Rebecca!

Oh, get out and vote – but not for those guys 🙂

I saw my first live concert when I was in third grade – Elvis at the Jackson Coliseum. Even a third grader knows Elvis is hot. Then in junior high I would become a concert fiend – KISS, James Taylor, Gino Vanelli, Dan Fogelberg, Rush, Yes, Journey(twice), Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffet, Prince, REM, The Gogos, Willie Nelson, and more. Once I was able to drive (at fifteen in Mississippi), in addition to the big arenas, I would hit the road to see artists like B.B. play at a blues festival, Dr. John at a crawfish Festival, or risk my neck going to some old juke joint dive to see a great show band like the Houserockers with Big Daddy, or catch a bootleg performance of REM at W.C. Dons. I have danced on bales of hay, picnic tables and bars to some really awesome music, sometimes holding a cocktail and a cigarette. Post cigarette cessation, living in New Orleans, it was always a party – Tip’s, Bourbon Street, and House of Blues had just opened when I first moved there. I saw shows with the likes of Bob Dylan and N’dea Davenport of the Brand New Heavies, and the ever uplifting Gospel brunch, Dave Matthews at the Jazz Fest.

I love me some live music with a tight band and great songwriting. If there’s a groove – I’m groovin’ to it.

The first time I saw Sean Galuszka play was at a place called Anastasia’s Asylum, a now defunct cafe / coffee house in Santa Monica. It was all you would expect of a Santa Monica coffee house – surly condescending service, uncomfortable busted up Thonet chairs, and was small enough to create a plethora of awkward manuvers to achieve eating and sitting. I can still see Sean in the “loft” that was designated for performers, a sort of bird’s nest about twenty feet up so that you could sit with your neck craned in the awful chairs to watch the show.

But none of that mattered, because he rocked! He wrote his own songs and rearranged others’ works into terrific interpretations. He played his a** off, that guy. It’s been almost a decade since that show, and I’ve remained a big fan. Seeing him live reminds me of seeing REM in the 80’s – great songs that make you want to dance, make you want to get in your car and drive and sing along. He’s come a loooong way since the days of Anastasia – now he plays venerable Hollywood institutions like Hotel Cafe and the Foundation Room at House of Blues. It was there that I danced around with the Critter, still in the belly, and the kid already has rhythm at eleven months.

Check him out – Elvis wants you to…

…before I met my perfect Husband, I did my share of dating via the internet. I realize that the internet exists for things to move faster and that brevity rules. I really could not get with the online acronyms, but who was I to judge millions who were ROFLing all over the place? I did however have a few grammatical deal breakers. I made a little Note to Self when it’s was used where its should have been, and when there was utilized as a possessive. Did I ever edit a man due to his choice of reading material? I don’t think so – but I did try to stay away from guys who loved Cronenberg movies.

When I was expecting the Critter, I was haunted by the voice of Louise Nevelson in a documentary I saw in design school. I can’t quote her, but she was talking about having children when you’re “on this search” for art and that it’s unkind to put children in in the position of coping with your search. Seeing how she is an extremely successful artist, and had achieved levels of success I only hope to achieve, I had to wonder, how will I do this? It was a recurrent theme for me – how will I keep “doing” art and design and prioritize raising a happy healthy child? It truly felt like providence, lying in bed the first night the Critter came home with us, reading these pages of Ellen Gilchrist’s essay from The Writing Life, ironically titled “How Books Still Change Your Life” – I could do it like Mary Jernigan McCormick! This life so beautifully described by an author who is one of my heroines was just the answer. The art will come to you in all sorts of places, and the rest of the time enjoy creating a life and memories for your boy.

A real life artist mom who never ceases to amaze me with her Southern graciousness, and her adept written renderings of colloquial life, love and food is Courtney Taylor – I met Courtney in college when she was performing as the beautiful Helena of Midsummer Night’s Dream. Above is a vintage photo of Court with her son at The Grandmother’s old place in Mississippi. Courtney is a former Queen of Pilgrimage, which is second in the South to, maybe Queen of Mardi Gras. She’s written cookbooks that are now a staple of any serious Southern cook, and her newspaper columns as food editor for The Clarion Ledger were of the best writing of ever read. I recently heard some radio spots she’s done in her hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, and they were fabulous! I can definitely say Miss Courtney has quite graciously lived an artist’s life while raising two gorgeous and talented children. Her son has grown from the baby in the photo to a huge, handsome, smart, and cultured young man who will be attending college soon. Her daughter is a precious ballerina, and quite the character as well. The reason I’m thinking so much about them today is because I got the photos of Mrs. Taylor in her evil Emmeline Randall makeup in a production of “Southern Exposure” The photos are gems for lots of reasons – they’re interesting photos with a rich simple quality, and the subject looks just – wicked!

Thanks for making it look fun, Miss Courtney 🙂

I love reading old school Beverly Hills gossip columns like George Christy in the Beverly Hills Courier. Last week Mr. Christy was recounting how a friend’s path crossed with Carol Bayer Sager . When I was a freshman in college, “Sometimes Late at Night” was definitely in the top five break up albums. We listened to it on cassette and sang along, driving somewhere fast, with the sunroof back.

When you read Ms Bayer Sager’s biography, it’s staggering how many songs she has written, and how many world class performers have recorded her work. Her web site will treat you to a great sampling of some of her songs, and you’ll realize how much talent it takes to write not one but many tunes that America and the world over can hum.