Beth Arnold

Letter From Paris: Crime As Justice

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I can't nail down the reason.  But returning to Paris after the holidays has seemed tougher this year.  Can't seem to get enough sleep.   I am tired and feel confused about this and that.

I have been dazzled by the "energy" predictions for the year coming up, so where is my mojo?  That it's to be a year for transformation definitely rings my bell anytime, but is it more true now?  I don't know.  Yes, I love change, but sometimes I hate it.  Don't we all?  What's wrong with that?

Even letting my inner murderer out by watching Dexter, which is ever so satisfying, hasn't given me the lift that I'd like.  Daughter Bret is thrilled today that actor Michael C. Hall won the Golden Globe for his Robin Hood as serial killer performance.  I can happily go along with that, even though Dex didn't get to a couple of the show's 1st season characters that the Lone Wolf and I thought deserved chopping up.  Crime-As-Justice is a theme that American television seems to be handling very well.  How about you, Life, is that what you're brewing up for the next year?

Can it be that I haven't quite adjusted to my new neighborhood yet? 

Well, yes in fact I think that's part of it.  So along with the gratitude of the day that I'll choose, another of my New Year's plans is to get out more and explore my hood.  What is it like living on the edge of Paris?  I want to find Edith Piaf's trail and discover the artists and artisans who inhabit these hilly spaces.  I will meet more of my neighbors in Pere Lachaise.  I will get more exercise and computer a little less!

But in the meantime...Paris.  Here are some winter images on my return to my favorite city in the world:

 Gallery Vivienne in the 2nd Arrondissement, one of my favorite spots

Letter From Paris: Artist Hunt Slonem's Pleasure Palaces (His Spiritual Path to Painting & More)

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My fab decorator friend Ellen Kennon who lives in St. Francisville, Louisiana, and runs her Full Spectrum Paints business from there has introduced me to many notable things over the years--from books and CDs of spiritual ways and journeys to the best turnips I ever put in my mouth. Ellen is what I call a proper Southern girl, which means she's wild, wonderful, eccentric, a divine cook, tasteful, stylish, and sassy. I met Ellen years ago in New York (introduced by my handsome brother, Brent Arnold), and before that, she lived in Paris, on the chic Place Dauphine.

Ellen's latest gift to me is the artist Hunt Slonem, whose work I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know. But now that I've seen it and him, I love this man!  I want to be his new best friend and be invited to all this artistic bon vivant's plantations and apartments, wherever.  Check him out on CBS Sunday Morning.