Champagne and bijou …Artist Jacqueline Miyata opens her studio again for the holidays. Jacqueline’s work in semi-precious gemstones and metal is unique, organic and inspired by the beauty of the natural world. Her versatile pieces are truly a blend of technique and inspiration. Miyata specializes in hand wrought chain, often creating custom designs in a variety of metals. This is not jewelry for shrinking violets. It’s bold and Continue Reading »
Bonk? Boink? Bang? Call it what you will, it’s arguably the most exciting act in our repertoire. People do it. Politicians legislate against it. Scientists study it. And Mary Roach makes quite a case for it. Roach’s book tells you all you need to know about the “curious coupling of science and sex” … and then some. Pages and pages of research on the topic are totally informative, sometimes funny, sometimes silly, sometimes so painful—think penis implants—you’ll have to laugh.
Masks and Miyata
It’s a month of masks and disguises when secret sides emerge. Our not so secret passion is the work of artist, Jacqueline Miyata. Jacqueline works in semi-precious gemstones and metal. She specializes in unique, organic designs inspired by the beauty of the natural world. Her versatile pieces are truly a blend of technique and inspiration. What we love most, though, is her chain work. We’re not sure how many feet, yards, miles of handcrafted chain she’s produced, but we know all of it is exquisite and we’d happily deck ourselves out in nothing but that! Jacqueline Miyata’s work is available through the artist or at one of her exclusive Open Studios.
Leafy Sea Dragon
Check out the sexy little seahorses at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We could learn a lot about romance from them. Seahorses court with color changes and synchronized swims, often holding tails and slow dancing for hours. When they’re ready to make the big commitment, they release their hold on the sea grasses that anchor them and rise upward, nose-to-nose, in elegant spirals. The courtship doesn’t end with parenthood either. Did you know it’s the male seahorse that carries the eggs in his pouch? The newly slim female swims away, but she returns to visit her guy every day and the romance continues. Colors changing, they whirl around holding tails in their very own version of a Viennese waltz. In 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the species, the male releases the oh-so-fragile fry. They drift away on the current, hopefully to mature and find their own dance partners one day.
Camille Cusumano, Author of TANGO, an Argentine Love Story (Seal Press), The travel memoir of a woman who loved, lost, got mad—and decided to dance shares some of the most memorable pick-up lines she’s heard … in Spanish. Pues, por su entretenimeinto …
Che, churro! Translation: Hey, sweet stuff.
Mamita, que linda que sos! Translation: Little mama, how beautiful you are.
Si Adan se comio una manzana por Eva, yo por vos me comeria una fruteria. Translation: If Adam ate the apple for Eve, for you, I’ll eat the whole produce stand.
Por ti, pequeña! Translation: Here’s lookin at you, kid!
Back by popular demand from Buenos Aires for two weeks, Camille will be appearing at the San Francisco Museum of Performance & Design (September 29)and the Larkspur Library (October 1). Details on both events: www.camillecusumano.com
Chocolate Reveries
We love Bill Keener’s poetry … and he really knows his chocolate. He has a new book out: Gold Leaf on Granite. Sample his work with this:
Taste the Heart of Darkness
In the hall of the mountain chocolatiers,
I saw their creamy magic, stared down at
giant shining paddles dipping in tandem,
churning great vats into a molten brown
Lolo’s Boudoir in connection with Joy of Romance, Inc. is offering a series of Love Lessons this fall: Love Secrets: Archetypes, Chemistry and Passion.
• Reconnecting with your sensual self
• Revealing your full self
• Remaining YOU in relationships
on Thursday evenings from monthly. They culminate in a Sensual Symposium on January 14th.
For dates, cost and to register, check the website.
We have fallen in love with composer/pianist Tiana’s debut CD, Butterfly in the Snow. It is dreamy, romantic, and passionate and it wraps listeners in a kind of magic. Great on a cold gray day; a spring morning; a sultry summer’s eve; a starry, starry night; alone or with favorite companions—you will find it addicting.
“Often, the piano has been my only lover, silently waiting for my touch. The best compositions spring from sources of searing inspiration: lost love, longing, and dreamy romantic musings. These are the songs that most resonate with my listeners, the songs I do not sit down to willingly create, but that come to me unbidden in the night like a phantom lover climbing softly into my bed.
—Tiana Andreas, composer/pianist
“Butterfly In the Snow is a must for lovers of powerfully emotional solo piano that can also be very delicate and fragile. This is a keeper! It is available from www.tianapiano.com, cdbaby.com, amazon.com, and iTunes. Highly recommended!”
—Kathy Parsons, MainlyPiano.com
A stimulant and aphrodisiac perhaps, delicious certainly—chocolate has been pleasing people for thousands of years. The Aztecs and Mayans called it the gift of the gods and served it in a drink called cocoatl made from the beans of the cacao tree which flourished in the Amazon. Aztec emperor Montezuma was reputed to drink 50 golden goblets full a day.
We like our hot chocolate too, but we also love it in bars and truffles laced with things like lavender and liquor and chipotle spice. So we adore Bittersweet on College Avenue in Oakland. Where else can you sit and chat with friends while you see, smell, eat and drink chocolate in a room full of chocolate? The wall of chocolate makes us crazy!
WRITING SEXY STUFF
with Linda Watanabe McFerrin
Sat, August 22, 2009, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Location: James Presho House, Oakland
$120 ($95 for Left Coast Writers or Registration by 8/01)
http://www.hotflashessexystories.com
If you have trouble steaming up the page, this is the workshop for you. Spend a day with poet, travel writer and novelist Linda Watanabe McFerrin loosening up and learning the techniques for adding spicy, sensual, and sometimes funny sizzle to your work. The class is full of quick free-writes and entertaining exercises that will have you moving from comfort to erogenous zones in no time. Linda’s workshops are a starting point for many successful writers. She’s the founder of Left Coast Writers® and co-editor of the Hot Flashes: Sexy Little Stories and Poems series.
The workshop fee includes, champagne, chocolate, a delicious lunch and a sexy potluck.
Linda is the perfect teacher for this class and topic. She treated us with enormous dignity while maintaining her brilliant sense of irreverence.
– A.B.
Great to get the juices flowing. Safe, fun, sassy. I would like to take this class again.
—L.K.
Excellent, quite delicious and informative.
– C.S.
Yummy!
– M.F.