the most everything in the world

last night my husband asked me, if you lived on a desert island and could only bring three things, what would you bring, and i said, i’d bring pen and paper and you.  he said if he could bring only three things he’d bring pen and paper and cheese.  i asked him why he wouldn’t bring me, and he said he didn’t think of me as a thing, plus he knew i was already there.  i said, well, i don’t think of you as a thing either, but i wouldn’t want to be on a desert island without you.  anyway, if  you know i have pen and paper already, wouldn’t you bring something else?  he said, good point, and then said he wasn’t so sure about the pen and paper anyway, because he could probably draw in the sand, or on some bark or something.  so i guess i’d bring bread and cheese and wine, he said.  but we don’t drink, i said.  he said, i think if we were on a desert island we might want to start.  i wonder, though, if we couldn’t make cheese and wine on the desert island, i said.  well, we probably wouldn’t know in advance if there were grapes and milk available.  i think i’d like to bring a lot of clothes, i said.  those people on that tv show are only there for thirty-nine days at most and they start looking really grungy by the end of the first week.  yeah, but who cares, my husband said.  we could just go naked always.  i dunno, i’m not that into being naked, i said.  but i’m into you being naked, he said.  what if it gets cold, i said.  i’ll build you a nice hut, he said. okay, maybe i could go naked if we had bug spray.  and sunscreen.  i don’t think i’d look too sexy naked, sunburnt, and covered in bug bites.  if you were sunburnt you might not notice the bug bites, he said.  if i were sunburnt i might get melanoma, i said.  look at it this way, though, if we moved to a desert island, my husband said, we wouldn’t have to worry about health insurance.  no, i said, we’d only have to worry about health.  but we worry about that anyway.  this way there’s one less worry, he said.  okay, but i still don’t want melanoma.  you could sit in the shade.  yes, but what if i got eaten by a wild animal while i was sitting in the shade trying not to get melanoma?  some weird cross between a warthog and a mountain lion, i said.  i don’t think health insurance would do us much good if that happened, he said.  a doctor might, i said.  but there probably wouldn’t be a doctor on the desert island, i guess.  these are the chances we have to take, he said.  so if i have you right, that if some warthog mountain lion eats my legs off and i don’t happen to die, what then?  then that’s what’s meant to be, he said.  we can take comfort in knowing that we are not giving our money to the man.  look, i said, i don’t like giving my money to the man any more than you do, but i’m the one lying here with my legs eaten off.  it’s not like i’d be immune to the warthog mountain lion, my husband said.  or rare diseases that we’ve never even heard of, he added.  you could be lying there with you legs eaten off and i could be unable to help you because my arms are paralyzed from poison mango syndrome.  and this would be better than having health insurance how?  i asked.  we would lead the only truly all-natural lifestyle anywhere on the planet; we would be accepting our fate, he said.  in a lot of pain, i said.  that’s when the wine would come in handy, my husband said.  i don’t think wine is going to do it, i said.  we could bring morphine, he said…

just a sample of the book of short stories i’m currently reading

Recently, an interior decorator friend of mine mentioned that her business is as busy as ever. Apparently, people are spending more time at home, entertaining at home and putting more money into their homes due to the . . . recession? It surprised me at first but it makes a lot of sense, so I thought I’d highlight a few of the fun decorating books in the architecture and decorating section.

Before I start listing all my favorite decorating books I’ll let you in on how I pick ’em… First off the style must be creative! Even if the room is decorated very traditionally give me a little color or a unique piece of furniture. Secondly, I like the books that picture homes in which people actually live. Bunny Williams and Charlotte Moss have published some beautiful books but give me shabby chic any day over a room that isn’t set up for FLOPPIN’!!

The decorating books that I enjoy most are inspiring. I enjoy books that give me fun ideas and show me how to arrange my furniture… by which I mean my life…. more efficiently… so I often mine apartment books. Even though I don’t live in an apartment, these books are generally a bit more casual and they illustrate functional ways to optimize space. One of my favorite books is called Apartment Therapy and also has an awesome website… check it out: apartmenttherapy.com

Another one of my favorites is an oldie but goodie entitled, Old and New. Although I’m usually not wild about miniature books, this book is so well done and practical that I recommend it to everyone. Old and New gives great examples of  how to combine antiques (aka “hand me downs”) with modern furniture. Since most of us inherit our furniture from relatives, marriages and garage sales, it serves us well to refresh our skills in making different style pieces flow together in a room.

Are you looking for Do It Yourself ideas? The Recycled Home offers lots of inspiration for rethinking uses for materials and objects that are all around us. My favorite is an old shipping pallet that has been mounted on a wall and used to display plates… it is very French country chic! Also, if you have a chance to check out The Recycled Home, notice the super cool runner (aka rug) that was created from an assortment of Oriental Rugs stitched together.

Last but not least, my new favorite decorating book is called Downtown Chic, written by a couple, Robert and Cortney Novogratz, who own Sixx Design and have a fabulous flair for renovating old buildings as well as finding awesome sources for artsy, vintage and otherwise fantastic furniture and architectural detail. The first image on this post is from one of their projects and features a great garage door that opens and allows fresh air to come right in the kitchen. They have a website, Sixx Design, and they will have a show on Bravo that airs in January 2010… also, check out this other cool website recommended in  Downtown Chic: Coco + Kelley

Have fun reading and decorating–Caroline

Neil White had a great life!!  He was doing what he loved, publishing magazines, and he had a great beautiful family and lots of friends.  He was the type of guy that if a friend was in trouble and needed help Neil was there to help.  He loaned money to friends and family, was active in the church and invested in his community but then something went wrong.  He realized that his bank accounts couldn’t handle his lifestyle and instead of asking for help himself he just starting moving money from one account to another.   Then one day the phone rang and a friend at the bank asked to him to come in for a meeting.  During an audit, the bank realized what Neil had been doing and the FBI became involved.  Neil went to court was found guilty and a judge sentenced him to serve 18 months in a federal prison.  The prison was located in Carville, Louisiana, and Neil thought–Okay, it is close enough where at least my family can come visit.  His two children were young and he wasn’t sure how to explain all of this to them.  “Daddy is going to camp.  That’s what I told my children.  A child psychologist suggested it. ‘Words like prison and jail conjure up dangerous images for children,” she explained.  But it wasn’t camp…” and Carville was no ordinary prison.

When Neil walked in the prison gate he knew something was different about Carville.  The grounds were beautiful, live oaks lined the driveway and the buildings were all built in Colonial revival style Federal architecture.  Not only did the facility house federal inmates but Carville was home to the last people in the United States disfigured by leprosy.  The “patients,” some who had lived there for decades, had formed their own small community and were protected from the outside world–that is until the state of Louisiana thought it would be a good idea for part of Carville to become a federal prison. Neil realizes–that in this place full of nuns, inmates, and leprosy patients, rich history and where the Mississippi River runs north–he is going to begin a journey that will change his life and the way he looks at things.

*

He befriends eighty-year-old Ella, who has been in Carville since developing leprosy as a child, and other “secret” people and “wacky” inmates and begins to realize the value of simplicity and friendship.  

Infirmary at Carville                                      

Sacred Heart Catholic Chapel

Neil White will be here at Lemuria for a signing at 5:00 p.m. today and a reading will follow around 5:30 p.m.

It’s true, we’re having a lot of fun up here at Lemuria. (no there wasn’t really anything in Big D’s bottle) and there are lots of ways to get in on the fun – browsing the store, attending our great author events, reading our blog and website, but one of the best ways to be plugged in with us is our First Editions Club. The club is really at the core of what we do here – we’re all about the books and the club is the best book we’re working on each month. Every month members of the club get a signed first edition mailed to them or they drop by and pick it up. (more info here) This month is special because we’re picking two books: Elmore Leonard’s Road Dogs and Michael Connelly’s Scarecrow. Why two? Well, we couldn’t pass on using Elmore Leonard again we’ve picked him for the club four times: Riding the Rap in 1995, Pronto in 1993, Be Cool in 1999 and Tishomingo Blues in 2002 and after all he’s widely considered the greatest crime writer alive. We got to know Michael Connelly last year with The Brass Verdict and I’m telling you this guy is 100% pro. I read every book in about 3 months. (haven’t read all of Leonard’s but I think there are 43 as apposed to Connelly’s 20) Martin Amis once said, “Elmore Leonard is a literary genius who writes re-readable thrillers.” I think the same applies for Michael Connelly. And of course both authors are part of our Super Duper Crime Fiction event next Monday night!