Spices and Synchronicity

syn·chro·nic·i·ty

: the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality

I love when synchronicity happens. Somehow it makes me feel like I am on the right track in life and the universe's plan really is perfect.

Several months ago, when my niece Elizabeth was going to college in London, we were writing back and forth and she expressed the desire to learn how to cook Indian food. I remembered she'd gotten an Indian cookbook for Christmas and I suggested when she came home over the summer, we should cook a big Indian dinner.

Well, it's summer and last Friday I headed to India Sweets and Spices to pick up some fennel powder, whole cumin, garam masala, cloves, mango chutney, spicy pickled mango, and the fabric to drain the paneer. Fortunately, between my sister and I, we pretty much had all the other spices we needed.

Saturday, after my pastel class, I headed to my sister Penny's to start decorating the table and cover the sofas with Indian blankets. Penny brought out her India books and photo albums from her trip years ago. My niece Rachel started putting together an Indian music playlist.

Elizabeth and I, with some help from Rachel and Penny, spent 4 hours in the kitchen preparing the feast! It was so hot in Ojai over the weekend we felt like we were cooking in Calcutta. It was so hot!

We made lamb with coriander and onions, paneer with peas, and dahl (lentils) with spinach, all from her cookbook. Penny made up some raita and of course, we had rice. Rachel made mango lassi with fresh mangos and yogurt for our dessert. (I don't know that it's traditionally a dessert but it was a perfect sweet drink to end our meal!)

My parents came over to join us and Elizabeth's boyfriend (who provided the naan bread and marigolds!) as well. Of course, my nephew and brother-in-law were there too. It was a lot of work but well worth it. They best part was spending time in the kitchen with my nieces.

The lamb with coriander had a yogurt base and was mild and very tasty.

I can't believe Elizabeth actually made home-made paneer. She said it was pretty easy -- except maybe boiling milk over a hot stove, in the middle of summer, while standing over it, to skim off the top.

We figured out a few things we would do differently next time (like preparing some things ahead) but all in all it turned out great and there was very little left over.

On my way back to L.A. on Sunday, I sat in traffic thinking about our amazing family dinner and what a wonderful memory we'd made, when my phone rang.

It was my friend Shea calling.

"What are you doing tonight?"

"Oh," I said, "being mellow and getting ready for work tomorrow."

"You might want to rethink that," she said.

It turned out that her friends had box seats at the Hollywood Bowl that night and the couple they were supposed to go with had to cancel. We were invited to go in their place. What was the music?

It was "Journey to India" night.

Are you kidding?

The traffic opened up and I made it in time to sit in the box, have dinner and see folk musicians, Bollywood step dancers and best of all, A.R. Rahman, the composer of Slumdog Millionaire, Water, 127 hours and many others. It was amazing. It felt like a miracle.

Rahman is a genius. He not only is an amazing composer but when he began to sing from the depths of his soul I could barely contain my emotion. You could feel his sweet spirit come through his smile as he spoke. He pointed out the beautiful moon behind the audience. He talked about going back to the children at his music foundation in India and telling them about performing at the Hollywood Bowl and that it meant anything was possible.

I found these on YouTube ...

His beautiful soundtrack for the film Water ...

And yes, that's me in the middle at the Hollywood Bowl.

In looking for YouTube videos of Rahman's work fort this post today, I found out that he composed the music for Elizabeth: The Golden Age ... which I watched on Monday night.

There is no such thing as chance;

and what seem to us merest accident springs from the deepest source of destiny.

~ Friedrich Schiller 1759-1805

Had any interesting synchronicities lately?

LACMA, Jazz and the Big Mix

The Friday before July 4th I decided to check out LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) to see one of their exhibitions I knew was ending soon. It was called Human Nature. I was also interested in other current exhibitions and checking out the free Jazz concerts they have on Fridays, as well. I was just feeling the need for a big creative "shot in the arm."

The first thing I saw was this amazing piece of art (below) by Jesus Rafael Soto. It was quite entertaining watching all of the kids (and adults) interacting with it. Isn't the little girl in the first photo beautiful?

All photos in this post were taken with my iPhone.

Can you believe I forgot my camera?

J
esus Rafael Soto, 1923-2005

Venezuela, active Caracas andParis

Penetrable, 1990

I did the sketch below in an exhibit called The Mourners. It is an exhibittion of 37 small alabaster sculptures that were originally sculpted for the tomb of John the Fearless, the second duke of Burgundy at the Chartreuse de Champmol in Dijon, France. The tomb is now housed at the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, but because of some restoration work the sculptures are currently traveling.

The funny thing is that a few months ago I wouldn't have known about any of that but it just so happens that we had studied about the Chartreuse de Champmol and the Duchys of Burgundy in my art history class that I had just taken in the spring! Love it when that happens!

Sketch done by me (on my new Ikat print dress!)

The contemporary art exhibit was called Human Nature after the piece below by Bruce Nauman.

Bruce Nauman

Human Nature/Life Death/

Knows Doesn't Know, 1983

The next piece is by one of my favorite artists Do-Ho Suh from South Korea. The piece is from a group of full-scale silk and nylon architectural models of his homes from his childhood in Korea and his apartment in New York. This is an exact replica of one of the gates to his parents' house in Seoul. He is amazing. Click on his name for his gallery link or just Google him and check out his work in Google Images. I love him. Total art crush!

Do-Ho Suh

Gate, 2005

Silk and stainless steel tube

Outside the BCAM Building at LACMA

There is a David Smith exhibition currently on view called Cubes and Anarchy. I love his work, as well. Definitely one of my favorite contemporary sculptors. I saw an exhibition of his work at The Metropolitan Museum of Art years ago on the rooftop garden, while having a glass of champagne with my friend Lynn, on a glorious, sunny day above Central Park. It was unforgettable!

David Smith

Cubi I, 1963

Burnished stainless-steel

Another exhibition (yes, there is lots going on there right now!) currently at the museum is Gifts of the Sultan. This beautiful piece is embroidered with silver and silver-gilt wire on black silk with red and green silk appliques. Gorgeous.

Sitara for the Door of the Ka'ba

Egypt, Cairo, dated AH 1266/1849-50

What you can't see in the photo below were the 1,500 people listening to jazz at the museum. (I asked a guy who worked there for an estimate.) You also can't see me having a glass of Italian red wine at the bar. ;)

There are no days in life so memorable

as those which vibrated to some stroke of imagination.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

As some of you may recall, I had a New Years resolution to make it to at least 1 museum a month. Well, it's July and I have made it to 4. (5 if you include the downtown library, which is really like a museum.) In any case, I have

a bit of catching up to do!

I also have some catching up to do with blogging. I need to do some visiting and I also want to share my amazing story of synchronicity from last weekend!!

Until then ... have a beautiful week!

Blessings and light!

Small Town Parade ~ Ojai, California

My favorite day of the year in Ojai is July 4th and one of main reasons is the Ojai Parade. When I say there is a little of everything, I'm not kidding. Tractors, church floats, floats promoting safe party rides, marching bands, rock bands, schools, vintage cars and 'smart cars' ... and everything from hippies to cowboys. You name it! Anyway, I tried to get a few different things from last year's post.

Many of you know that in the last six years both my sister and her family and my parents have moved up to Ojai. We lived in Ventura (about 20 minutes away from Ojai) for most of my childhood. The amazing thing is that recently my sister's interest in genealogy has produced some surprising results. My great great great (I think it's three greats) grandfather is buried in little cemetery about a 1/2 mile from my sisters house! Then she found out that he had had a little plumbing/hardware shop in the little downtown area. At one point he also had an ice-cream store next to the old theater. AND (I love this) my great great grandmother had a millinery shop downtown! I love hats so maybe it's in my blood!

Anyway, enjoy a little slice of small town America. (It's not just in the middle of the country!)

This poor little thing looked absolutely miserable in the heat. Her expression was definitely "What have they done to me?" ... but she did wave!

Ojai Fitness Float ~

American Vedic Association

Church float ~ Ojai style with tie-dye

Ojai Mardi Gras Float

Danza Alteca Tonalli Community and Family Center

Veterans ...

And of course, my favorite float ... from the left, my brother in law Greg, my niece Rachel, their friend Gabe, my niece Elizabeth and my nephew Benjamin, who was having a grand ol' time! They were all on Ben's school float! (The girls had gone to the same school when they were little.) It was so fun sitting with my Mom, Dad, Penny and my friend Kristi, yelling from the side of the road and screaming as they went by!

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

~Lyrics by Katharine Lee Bates

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend and have been enjoying your week!

I Am a Yankee Doodle Dandeeeeee ...

-Though I wasn't born on the 4th of July (I am a Sagittarius, you know!) I am beyond excited for tomorrow!

Tomorrow my nephew is in the 4th of July parade in Ojai, California. Last year the parade was ... well, rather than trying to describe it in words, you can check it out here. Pretty awesome. :)

I have had this handmade "July Mouse" (below) since I collected mice as a little girl. I think I actually got him at a street fair one year on the 4th of July. Somewhere along the line I gave up all the mice in the collection except this one and my christmas mice. I'm sure you can see why!

A little "Yankee Doodle Dandy" for you!

Happy 4th of July Everyone!!!

Our freedom is not guaranteed by the Constitution;

the only thing that guarantees freedom, ultimately,

is our own commitment to it.

That commitment must include our capacity

to love each other as human beings,

to remember we are brothers and sisters on this planet,

and to surrender to God any thoughts we have to the contrary.

~Marianne Williamson

Blessings and light!

On Caves and Comedy

If haven't yet heard about the Werner Herzog documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams, it's amazing especially in 3D. I am not always a big fan of 3D. It's usually pretty unnecessary but in this case it's a wonderful use of the technology. Since most of us on the planet (unless you are a big-shot archeologist) aren't going to have the opportunity to go in to see the 32,000 year old cave paintings in Chavet, France ... here is your opportunity to do it virtually! You actually get a sense of what it would be like to be in the cave!

I saw it last Thursday and it was definitely worth the drive to Santa Monica to see it. (In LA we generally avoid leaving our neighborhoods for things like movies because of traffic!) Check out the trailer but I am telling you ... 3D is the way to go, if at all possible. If not, it is still worth seeing. Imagine ... 32,000 years ago, these people creating art by torchlight ... who were they? What were they like? What did they believe in? It gets your imagination going!

For lighter fare ... I loved Midnight in Paris! It was so charming. I left with a huge smile on my face, laughing with my friends about different characters and lines in the movie. It was just plain fun!

It's a perfect movie for a summer night!

I am thankful for laughter,

except when milk comes out of my nose.

~Woody Allen

I want to tell you a terrific story about oral contraception.

I asked this girl to sleep with me and she "No."

~Woody Allen

Have an amazing weekend my friends!!!

Blessings and light!