awkward family photos

Dear sisters,

If you promise not to send in those xmas pics, I will post the link to this site.

S1

a picture of pure happiness

Hombres cantandes


This picture was taken just after the moment i stopped some Mexican students in the street in Den Haag (during the April residency) and asked them to surround us and sing for me and my friends. This was before the summer. Such joy. You'll have to imagine the sound, though I think you can see the deeeelight it gave me! The pleasure was even greater, for, unbeknownst to them, it was T.'s last evening. They spontaneously burst into a song about leaving tomorrow....
The heart, it became all warm.
love
S2

The donkey the doorman the dollar the doctor

A funny title for a group but i have recently discovered this finnish band and i like them, they call themselves the do and i hereby send you a little song called
AT LAST
It is best appreciated listened to very loudly and dancing to a little as well.
Oh here is another one just for the fun, named
UNISASSI LAULELET
Have a lovely , spiffing day !
S3

Preparing to fly over the pond

Love
S3

California living or how not to write in the summer

Dear sisters,

S3, while you have been entertaining children in an admirable way, I have been happy this week, to drop mine off with people like you, so I could lounge around in my yoga pants, after Rusty's - "how blessed we are" - yoga class, whilst waiting for our organic farm fresh vegetable box to be delivered to our door. I have started shifting through the piles and piles of papers on my working desk. How can I start writing if there is no space? Yes, indeed. One pile for medical bills, one pile for utilities, one pile for financial stuff more or less, one pile for things I may want to keep, and one pile for the unclassifiable. The desk is now clear, which is a great achievement. Now, what is all that lying on the floor?

This week I also spent many hours at the Department for Motor Vehicles, 3,5 hours to be precise, sitting on a chair, waiting, which means I have progressed in my Joyce Carol Oates novel. I consider this good preparation for writing.

Did I tell you I have registered for the half marathon in October? I keep forgetting myself.

A great way to distract oneself from anything is preparing for Burning Man. I have my costumes all heaped in a pile ready to go: a desert nurse, thanks to your dress S2, a disco themed outfit with a sparkly studded shoulder padded jacket, baggy pants, waistcoats, sparkly headpieces, furry bits, another funny shaped costume. Let's say I have choice. I will ask you to make the final selection when you arrive.

On a positive note, the sun has been managing to burn through the fog more often, I am generally keeping on top of the clothes washing situation, school starts in two weeks and that is when I will be seeing you both. Looking forward.

S1

horses with wings

Dearest siblings,
You might ask yourselves who is this writing now, you might wonder if there is a mystery member added to the sister blog but nooo! It is I ,the third missing member, lost in translation, been to many places and back ,a journey of discovery and adventure, have seen giant mechanical elephants, horses with wings and flying machines, donkeys in Normandy and a loving family , have wrestled with crocodiles and am glad to be alive to tell this tale! In fact my imagination has stretched by two oceans as i have been working with wild monkeys for the last two weeks. Some call them little anarchists, some say the future, others say the gardeners of joy and happiness ( i just invented that )
others call them small humans with very loud and noisy habits who like to ring bicycle bells near your ear and some name them children. The first week was a real shock to my system , a group of 12 wild monkeys ( children ) to deal with and keep entertained !
At first i just let them run loose under the chestnut trees hoping that would tire them out a bit and it indeed worked ( for a short time ) Then a good trick was to start making something and to be completely absorbed in it , then eventually they all came up to me and asked me what i was making with a shoebox and when i replied it was a magic supersonic boat air ship that cleans and makes chocolate cake at the same time, they all wanted to make one too ! ( kids aged 5 to 8 )
Then we made a secret book together where we could each make our drawings and plans for imaginary machines ( that kept them busy for a long time in kids time , atleast a few days, really !)
They made some beautiful monoprints and we painted a large imaginary world on a huge piece of material together, we tie dyed tshirts and made little bags
And i am proud to say that we played a wonderful game called James Bond action where i ask them to find as many toys and bits of rubbish in the playground whereby the one with the most toys and rubbish gets an extra biscuit at lunch ( it works )
they all ran as fast as they could :0)
Anyway, we had lots of fun and this week i am suprised by the wonderful inventions they have created, a machine for making pizzas, a sweeping brush that cleans but creates sweets at the same time whilst sweeping, the machine creator of all machines, the tuba telephone all of them interconnected with a red guitar.
Here is a happy japanese song to celebrate love
S3
See you soon , looking forward !
Lalasalama ( thats swahili for dobrou noc / goodnight )

Listening to BEN

Amidst all the MJ mania, I too have found a song that has a particular resonance, for me. Enjoy it. We live in time only to surpass our former selves and to reconcile ourselves with what we cannot change.
Love to you both.
S2

FLAMING JUNE

Dear Sisters,
Back from a moment by the sea in The Hague where I went for summer singing lessons. 5 days, and lunchtimes free for dipping in the sea, floating facing upwards and singing, and hearing the rush of the waves while the sun dries your clothes because I went swimming in underwear (this being an impulsive thing, the warmth and the waves, it was hard to resist).....then spending the rest of the day with wet underwear in a cold concrete church listening to others sing and even getting up and singing oneself. Many things were seen and heard and I have come home very happy. I have seen some courageous people waylay their boundaries, open up, and even can count myself among them.

One day I went to the Haags Gemeentemuseum to finally meet Flaming June. As you may remember our mother has a picture in sepia-tone of her, and recently the picture has been living in my bedroom. I was eager to see the colours in real. Nothing could have prepared me for it since the painting is so resplendent in colour and texture and so different from any reproduction I have seen. This here is a scan of the postcard I bought. The dark bit to the right is actually an intense deep aqua-blue. Frederic Leighton stands a mile above the rest of the Pre-Raphaelites in this show. And for me this was not only because of the painterly know-how but also because of the proportions (notice how it looks as if it is a squat rectangle but in fact it is a perfect square) and the way the narrative is not overtly present, but inherently so: it practically breathes off the canvas.

It blew me away.
Enjoy it too. She normally lives in Puerto Rico.
S2