LuluLand

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:23:00 +0000

Well, I've been out of touch for awhile. Not unusual for moi... but for the last few months I've been dealing with breast cancer surgery and treatment. The good news is that I'm doing fine. Truly fine. All things considered, I've felt energetic and well, all through the surgery, and so far three bouts of chemo--only minor symptoms so far, absolutely zero barfing.

But I believe that the reason I feel so good is that I've been carried along through it all by the love and care of friends, family, and the amazing community of San Miguel. There really are no words to express the cushion of care that is holding me up.

All this support is now coming together in a big way. Marilo Carral Gallery is hosting a special sale of my photos to help cover the cost of my surgery and treatment.

Friday December 2nd through Sunday December 4th

Everything you need to know is on the web at:
http://www.lulutorbet.com/

It's a unique sale, in that you can choose an image, by number, then the size and framing style. There are also wrought iron tables I've designed that have my photos under glass on top. You can also simply purchase the digital file on a CD, good for one-time use, which you can have framed wherever you live. There will also be framed and unframed images in bins at the gallery.

Marilo Carral Gallery in the Fabrica Aurora Locale 9-A (first gallery on left at end of center hall)

Gallery Hours: Friday 12-9pm (the December ArtWalk is Friday from 6-9)

Saturday and Sunday 11am-6pm

Work by Marilo Carral and MariJose Marin will be on exhibit in front gallery.

PEJU WINERY "CARumba!" Opening May 1 1-4 PM

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 23:46:00 +0000

I'm off to California to visit old friends in Marin County, and for an opening of my photos at Peju Winery in Rutherford, in the Napa wine country. It's the first time back since I moved to California in 2005, so I'm as excited about seeing old friends as I am about the opening.

The exhibtion opens on May 1, from 1-4 PM, at Peju Winery, 8466 St. Helena Highway (Route 29), in Rutherford, just north of Napa, and will be up through June 25th.

I'll be showing large photos from "CARumba!" images of the dented, scratched, much-repainted cars that ply the streets of San Miguel. (Here's a link to the pix). I hope you'll get a chance to stop by, either on May 1st or during the show's run.

New "Palettable" series at Generator Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 06:43:00 +0000

Although I'm still obsessed with taking pictures of the tarpaulins in the markets and the dented, re-painted cars of San Miguel, I have a new distraction. One day as I went to clean off months of cumulative mess on the large glass tabletop in my painting studio, I was caught by the compositions formed by the smeared, dribbled paints, the pastel dust and general detritus, and took a few pictures. At home, on my computer, I noticed that the light slanting through the window cast shadows from the paint onto the table beneath. So I was off and running, putting another layer of glass on top, moving the compositions around on the table, adding writing and spilling water that also cast shadows.

A few photos from this new series, "Palettable," will be part of a group show, "Fotolandia," at Generator Gallery in the Fabrica Aurora through the month of June. These images are kind of a test run for what I can feel is going to be another long, obsessive exploration. Whoopee!

Report from Mexico + All Best Wishes for 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 04:55:00 +0000

OK, here are the two big lies about Mexico:

One, there are no drug traffickers in most of Mexico, and I still walk home alone at night with no sense of danger. Two, it's not manana-land. I'm busier here than ever, though the fun quotient is much higher.

It's been a good year. I've had four photo exhibitions, which has been very gratifying and exciting. I think i'm even starting to make a profit with my photos, though I haven't quit my day job. Links to lots of photos can be found in the posts directly below this one.

The publishing business is pretty much history, and so now I write for private clients. At the moment I am editing a novel about Mexican history of the last century, written by a woman whose husband is part of a prominent Mexican family that figured prominently in the reign of Porfirio Diaz and through the Mexican Revolution.

I feel fortunate to live in this diverse, colorful, festive country, fortunate to have so many supportive and lively friends. In 2011 I'll have a show in Napa Valley, and hope to get back to Marin for the opening on April 28th. On August 19, I'll have a show opening at Bellas Artes, the cultural center here in San Miguel. So I guess it won't be the year of living languorously, as I'd fantasized.

Thinking of you and sending much love and best wishes for a peaceful and pleasurable year for us all.

Lulu (Lolly, Laura)

The Call of Nature: New Photos at Camino Silvestre

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 23:06:00 +0000

I’ve never thought of myself as a nature photographer—or, for that matter, a nature lover. I feel more closely aligned with Woody Allen (“I am at two with nature”) than with John Muir. But when I find myself in the wilds—the Charco, Candelaria, a pond with frogs darting across the lily pads, an artful garden—I succumb to the charms of the natural world.

So I’m leaving photos of battered cars and market tarpaulins behind for the moment, and showing my photos of the botanical garden, the annual plant fair, and a couple of floral paintings, at Camino Silvestre (Wild Road), a beautiful new shop in San Miguel. Here are some images.

In the end, the subject matter doesn’t matter. The myriad visual pleasures of the everyday world we inhabit are what I want the viewer of my photos to see and appreciate.

Camino Silvestre Zacateros 46 Centro, San Miguel Open 7 days, 11-7.

Pozos Party Photos: !NOW REVOLUTION!

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 05:24:00 +0000

NiCk and Manrey at Galeria6 in Pozos know how to throw a party. It was a picture perfect day, the installation was superb, the gardens abloom, the crowd lively, food and drink aplenty from our generous hosts. And I sold two photographs. Whoopee! Here are photos of the opening.
The show is up through January 2, if you want to spend a leisurely day in the country, visiting the old silver mines, the lavender farm, a long lazy lunch...

Galeria6 Plaza Principal 6 Mineral de Pozos

!Now Revolution" exhibition at Galeria 6

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 03:06:00 +0000

Mexico's Bicentennial is being celebrated in many and sundry ways, but perhaps none so wild and wacky as !Now Revolution!, a group showing of five artists at Galeria6 in nearby (to San Miguel) Pozos, a growing new arts community. Lena Bartula's got cross-dressed revolutionary heroes; Anado McLaughlin's installation has ten thousand Buddhas doing something or other; Ezshwan Winding says her torched encaustics are "about the underbelly." Jim Pasant's (who will also do DJ duty at the opening as Notorious J.I.M) is showing photos of Mexican street graffiti. And me? Banners, fireworks, and things that explode (images here).

Doesn't this sound like fun?? One way or another, we're all playing with fire....

!NOW REVOLUTION!

OPENING NOVEMBER 6, 1-6 PM

Galeria6 Jardin Principal 6 Mineral de Pozos

"AUTOreflejo" at ArtPrint Photo Gallery Opening Sept 10

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:12:00 +0000

Well, things are heating up as Mexico's Bicentennial gets underway--parades, fireworks, theater, bullfights, fairs, parties, dancing. It promises to be a long and lively celebration.

I'm adding to the mayhem by having an opening on Friday, September 10, at ArtPrint Photo Gallery, just off the square. It's new work, but more cars (images here)--battered old cars, reflections through closed car windows, the rear-view mirrors of taxis. I have several other series in progress, but I just can't seem to get over these cars. Someday I'll move on, I suppose, but their serendipitous beauty still catches my eye.

Viva Mexico!

Photo Show at Cafe Iberico June and July 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:05:00 +0000

I know you've all missed me terribly in the many months since I last posted (not so much?), but as usual I've been far too busy for someone who moved to Mexico so I would have more free time. Don't believe everything you hear about Mexico--the threat of narco-traffickers, the killer swine flu, or that it's a manana culture. I have to admit I've had more time for photography and painting, which has been wonderful, even though it now contributes substantially to my perpetual whirlwind state. Fortunately, I do spend an inordinate amount of time having fun, seeing friends, and being charmed by this great country I live in.

At the moment I have three photography shows in the works. One is up now, at a great new restaurant in San Miguel, Cafe Iberico, which serves authentic Spanish tapas, very good wines, and dazzling desserts in a beautiful setting. I'm showing more large images of scraped, repainted cars (there are always new battered beauties) that look like paintings; dashboard dolls; and a couple shots from a new series, "Smithereens," of things that explode in San Miguel: Judas figures, fireworks, pinatas. The show is up through the end of July.

In September, I'll have a show of new work at ArtPrint Gallery, which opens on September 10 in time for Mexico's bicentennial celebrations, and will run through October. Next year I'll be having a show at San Miguel's cultural center, Bellas Artes. Details in due course.

I hope you Sanmiguelenses will have a chance to stop in and see the show at Cafe Iberico at Mesones 101. And I hope to find a little more free time to post all the great quotes and funny videos I've been collecting for you.

Opening Night--Queretaro Museum: "CARumba!" and "LONAmiento"

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:04:00 +0000

The opening of my photography show at the Museum of the City of Queretaro on December 16 was a blast. Two busloads of friends came along for the ride. We had wine, popcorn, and chocolates en route. The buses got lost, and we ended up far from the museum. Then we got lost trying to find our way through the streets, so I was almost an hour late to my own opening.

But it was a thrill for me to see such a large show of my work in a museum (a beautiful colonial ex-convent) with so many friends in attendance. There were six openings at the museum that night, so there was a lively crowd. Walking back to bus, we passed through the stunningly decorated squares of the historic center--one with a towering tree, dozens of hand-crafted tin lanterns, and angels; and another that is famous for its devil theme--though the meaning of the flamingos interspersed among the crouching and menacing devils eluded me.

Here are some photos, taken by my pals Roger Brudno and Carol Jackson; and a video of the event shot by the talented alTirado, edited by the ever-patient and savvy Roger Brudno. For me, a night to remember!

Museo de la Ciudad Guerrero 27 Nte Centro Historico Queretaro Tues-Sun 10-6
Show continues through January 31, 2010

"CARumba!" and "LONAmiento" at Museum of the City of Queretaro

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:47:00 +0000

Two exhibitions of my photos will be on view at the The Museum of the City of Queretaro from December 16, 2009 (opening from 8-11 pm) through January 31, 2010.

The first show, "CARumba!," depicts the rusted, scraped, dented and much-repainted cars that ply the streets of San Miguel. Shot close-up, they first look abstract, until you notice the details of the car door handle, or a chrome strip. Shots of the car interiors document the mixed bag of sacred and profane items that typically hang from rear-view mirrors here: images of saints and Guadalupe, rosaries, pine-tree-shaped air fresheners, mininature stuffed animal mascots of every description, parking permits. Taken through closed windows, these shots also overlay multiple reflections from the street outside. I'm also showing four paintings based on the car exteriors as part of this exhibit.

"LONAmiento," in the second gallery, documents another of my ongoing photo obsessions: the colorful tarpaulins (lonas) that hang over the open markets, shape-shifting and overlapping and changing color as the wind moves through them. I photographed these photos the first day I visited San Miguel in 2003, and i'm still at it. These photos, too, seem abstract until you notice the ropes from which they are suspended, the rips and folds. "Sailing Through the Market," a video of the tarpaulins moving in the breeze, with music by Gil & Cartas, is a part of this exhibit. Here is a sampling of photos from the exhibition.

Preparing for the show has been intense, stressful and--finally--exciting. I feel like I've been going non-stop for months, with 70+ pieces to select, print and frame, label, pack and then hang at the wonderful Museo de la Cuidad that was once a convent, in the historic center of Queretaro. Then came the details of postcards and publicity and planning the opening (2 buses, popcorn and wine for 80). Friends, and the director and staff at the museum, have been helpful and supportive, in so many ways, every step of the way. As I write this, the opening is two days away. I can hardly wait...

Museo de la Cuidad Guerrero 27 Norte Centro Historico Queretaro
Open Monday through Sunday 10-6

"Rabbits, Riddles, and Scribbles" Opens October 31

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:40:00 +0000

Another opening, another show. The Day of the Dead festivities are warming up here in San Miguel, and the Fabrica Aurora, with it's many shops and galleries, is throwing a huge fiesta on Saturday night, the 31st, with live music and decorated altars honoring the dead, cocktails and dancing "Catrina" figures--the whole nine yards.

As part of the festivities, I'll be showing a mixed bag of paintings at Generator Gallery's opening. By which I mean a few fingerpaintings; a couple of paintings in which rabbits figure prominently (don't ask; I don't know the answer myself); and a couple of pieces inspired by the old Doo Wop songs I've been listening to while I work.

I've been so busy these last months that I've barely had time to spend in the studio, and I miss it. One more opening to go, in December at the Queretaro Museum, and book deadlines to meet before year's end, but I have high hopes of long, happy hours of painting in the new year.

A Stroll Down Memory Lane: The "Creative Journey"

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:49:00 +0000

On Tuesday, October 13th at 5 p.m., my friend Edward Swift and I will be giving back-to-back presentations about our lives as artists at the Santa Ana Theater here in San Miguel. Our presentations, part of the bi-annual "Creative Journey" series, will be followed by a discussion and question-and-answer session.

It's been quite an eye-opening experience preparing for this show. I've had a roller-coaster career as an artist, hopping from one thing to another, easily distracted by working for a living and general amusement, and had the sense that I really hadn't applied myself as an artist. But in prowling through piles of old material, I've been happily surprised to find that I've been quite productive, despite my lollygagging. Graphic design, painted furniture and floors, an animation film, a macrame jewelry business, lots o' books, intermittent series' of paintings and photographs. I can only show a fraction of this work in my presentation. View album or Play slideshow. The encouraging news for me is that, despite my sense of lost time as an artist, there has been a cumulative effect of doing this work over the years that is serving me well now. Who knew??

"Sailing Through the Market" show opens Sept 4

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Yikes! One minute I'm resting on my tattered laurels, congratulating myself for having pulled together another exhibition. And then, before I get any serious loafing done, I'm running around again, choosing images, getting enlargements made, hauling them to the framer, laying out the show, making inventory sheets and labels, posting images to picasa web albums, preparing an email annoucement, writing this blog post, delivering the work to the gallery, etc etc.

So...the opening is Friday night, September 4th, from 5-8 pm, at Generator Gallery in Fabrica Aurora, the same night as the monthly ArtWalk. I'm so happy to be showing this work (images posted here). I've been obsessed with photographing these market tarpaulins since my first visit to San Miguel in 2003. For this show, I made a 5-minute video of these same images rippling in the wind, like sails, called "Veleando por el Mercado" (Sailing Through the Market"). The story of making this video, novice that I am, is another saga. Thank heaven for patient and helpful pals. Yikes!

Laughing Matters

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:16:00 +0000

It has been said about me that i am easily amused. I beg to disagree, since I cling to the illusion that I have high standards for my sense of humor. But I do like to laugh, and I think humor, in regular doses, is a great antidote to whatever ails you, and simply to getting through life on this mysterious and bedeviled planet. Troubles, sorrows, and sucker punches come along often enough that I can't imagine why we shouldn't be enjoying life to it's fullest when we can.

So in the interest of promoting world peace and joy, I give you Joe Cocker performing "With a Little Help from My Friends" at Woodstock, finally in translation so you can understand what the hell he said. This is the first of what will be an ongoing series of posts to brighten your day and your outlook.

Viva Mexico! Come Visit!

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:01:00 +0000

Mexico has been taking it on the chin lately. The tourist industry has been devastated by the swine flu scare, the reports of narcotrafficking violence, the return of so many workers who were forced to return from the U.S. by anti-immigration pressures. For those of us who live here and love this country, it's been upsetting to watch, because we know how distorted the news reports are, not to mention many people's image of Mexico. Every day, I am reminded of how fortunate I am to be here. I love the kind people, the rich culture. I have never felt unsafe; in fact, I feel protected. I walk home by myself late at night, eat the food and drink the water.

Mexico has an excellent public health care system and, when the aporkalypse struck, put into place the measures that all first-world countries are prepared to deploy in the face of a viral threat. To date there have been 87 swine flu deaths. Not a single case was reported in my home state of Guanajuato. Interesting article on Mexico's economy here.

“I think the whole world should be saying, ‘Gracias, amigos,’ to the Mexicans for the tremendous sacrifice they have made. That may have stopped what otherwise would have been a serious pandemic."
-- Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance ” (Penguin, 1995), NY Times, May 4, 2009

Narcotrafficking is a serious problem here, but like major crime everywhere, it lives underground, and is mostly concentrated in three border towns of Mexico--where the narcotraffickers have just-across-the-border access to the huge selection of guns they can't buy here, and where they can easily ship their contraband to their U.S. clientele. Murders in Mexico are 98% drug related. As in high-crime U.S. cities, most people go about their business barely aware of the shady world beneath the surface.

Meanwhile, the economy is booming. The Mexican stock market gained 130% over the last five years. Mexico has a cash surplus, newly discovered oil fields, an influx of foreign capital building major new manufacturing facilities, a reliable water supply, a burgeoning environmental/organic movement, and exceptional medical and dental care that is far less costly and more efficient than in the States. What's not to like? Mexico is the world's #1 retirement destination. There are over two million U.S and Canadian property owners here. Another six million are expected in the next fifteen years.

So come to Mexico! Relax, enjoy yourself. It's gorgeous, it's festive, it's safe and inexpensive.
Hmmmm....all those deported workers. I wonder who's going to pick the U.S. apple crop next year?

Gringo Haiku II: Meet the Authors

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:00:00 +0000

One day in November of 2004 I got an email from Leah Feldon, a friend I’d known in Manhattan twenty years earlier, just checking in to be sure I had her email address, because she was moving to Mexico. (I’m not filling in the details of husbands and ex-husbands and such). I wrote her back to say that I was planning to leave California in February to spend three months in San Miguel to decide whether I wanted to live there permanently. The phone rang seconds later; it was Leah saying the she had just bought a house in San Miguel. Now, anyone who lives here will not be surprised by this coincidence: it is a classic it-happens-all-the-time San Miguel vortex story. So here we are in this small town, four years later, after decades of occasional visits and email contact, savvy gringos who give you local advice and color in seventeen-syllable doses. See the first Gringo Haiku post here.

Old friends meet again
in San Miguel. No surprise:
Everyday magic….

Hopeful gringo hordes
cross the guarded border to
Seek a better life.

Goats hang from hooks. Piles
Of gizzards, tongue, shanks, hooves. Hey,
where’s the shrink-wrapped meat?

At Bellas Artes
I practice ancient art form.
Not flamenco. Yoga!

Through shafts of morning
light and birdsong I cross the park
to get a facelift.

Hola, amiga!
Great to run into you…for
the third time today.

Riposte III

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:30:00 +0000

I love stories about people who come up with the perfect comeback--or insult--at the very moment it's needed. The story about Frank Zappa in the earlier "Riposte" post is one of my favorites.

I had been trying to remember the famous exchange between Winston Churchill and George Bernard Shaw, between whom there was no love lost, when my friend Michael Sudheer sent me a whole passel o' retorts, including the one I was looking for. Made my day!

Here are a few of them. As my dad used to say (as he laid his winning cards down at the end of a poker hand), "Read 'em and weep..."

The Winston Churchill/Geroge Bernard Shaw exchange:
Shaw: I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of your play. Bring a friend...if you have one.
Churchill's reply: Cannot possible attend first night; will attend second...if there is one.

Groucho Marx struck a similar note: I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it.

An exchange between Churchill and Nancy, Lady Astor:
Astor: If you were my husband, I'd give you poison.
Churchill: If you were my wife, I'd drink it.

A barb from Oscar Wilde: He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.

Then there was the time, long ago, when Dick Cavett introduced the nauseatingly accessible Rod McKuen as America's most understood poet.

And when Ghandi repsonded to the question of what he thought of Western civilization: I think it's a good idea.

"Art in Garden" opening

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:49:00 +0000

Friday, June 3 is the "official" re-opening of the Generator Gallery, during the monthly ArtWalk at Fabrica Aurora here in San Miguel. I'll be showing a series of large photographs of Candelaria, the huge annual plant and flower fair, and a group of small acrylic finger-paintings.

I'm learning that preparing for these shows is a lot of work--framing, enlarging photos, labels, hanging, publicity. At midnight last night I was printing and cutting up wallet-size photos of the work I'm showing and making them into refrigerator magnets--and wondering where I went wrong.

I'm trying to plan ahead, and pretty much know what I'm going to show through the rest of this year. What I want to do next are some BIG finger-paintings, working flat on my worktable with lots of open pots of paint, spray bottles of water, music in the background, a glass of tequila by my side.....Oops, I must be dreaming... I've got a deadline to meet on the book I'm ghostwriting....

Leonore Fleischer

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:35:00 +0000

I often tell people that it was Leonore Fleischer who lured me into the writing trade (vintage hippie era photo of Leonore from my book, Clothing Liberation: Out of the Closets and Into the Streets, circa 1973). She dropped by my stand on 6th Avenue in Greenwich Village one auspicious Saturday in 1970, when I was selling off the inventory of my macramé (yeah, wanna make something of it?) jewelry business, which had become a pain in the butt. Six months later she called me, having seen a write-up about my wares in the annual New Yorker “What to Buy for Christmas” article, wanting me to write a book on macramé. I protested vehemently, but she persisted, and over lunch at the Lion’s Head pub, convinced me that she could give me whatever help I needed (I had a graphic design studio at the time, but I was no writer). Well, the short version is that Leonore became my editor, and a very close friend: we are still in touch. I’ll let her tell you the rest of the story. But I want to brag a little bit—in the hope of hustling up some business—by quoting her response to my delivering that first manuscript:

"I read it, I read it over again, in shock. The manuscript was perfect. Perfect. Not a comma out of place, not an adverb wrongly used, not a work misspelled. More, it was as witty and friendly as it was informative. A witty craft book! I sat stunned. There was nothing for me to do, nothing."

True Tomatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:04:00 +0000

I was born and raised in New Jersey, and spent childhood summers with a pile o’ tomatoes and a salt shaker, eating my fill. I vividly remember being in south Jersey with my first husband, Bruce Torbet, working on a civil rights documentary called “Mississippi Summer,” on the day of the first moon landing. I spent the day up to my ears in a cornfield (unplanned pun), eating the sweet raw corn between takes (I was the sound recordist). I had been an avid follower of the space program, so in anticipation of watching the moon landing, we stopped at a farm stand and bought a humongous bag of tomatoes, and a whole container of Morton’s salt. That night I sat propped up in the motel bed with my tomatoes and salt, happy as could be, although I had a suspicion the landing had been shot in a loft on Greene Street in Soho (remember the flag that was wired to look as though it was flying in the breeze?). What a wonderful day!

First-rate tomatoes have come and gone in my life. In many places where I've traveled they were stupendous, but even in California they didn’t measure up to New Jersey standards, and in winter—forget about it. Here in San Miguel, for all that I love the place, the tomatoes look appealing, but are lacking in taste, as though reconstituted from some combination of sawdust and tomato paste. But lo and behold, thanks to the burgeoning, green/environmental movement here in town, there is a new organic gourmet store in my humble neighborhood, Vía Orgánica, and the tomatoes are wonderful. So again I have bags of fabulous tomatoes and a big salt shaker, and I am as happy as can be…. Viva Vía Orgánica!

Maria Valenzuela

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:30:00 +0000

The amazing and endearing Maria Valenzuela only works two afternoons a week at my house, but she manages to clean, do the laundry, iron (and mend my clothes), shop and prepare food to leave in the fridge, pay the bills, tend the garden, and in general oversee whatever needs tending to. She works for other gringos during the week, and cooks for a local caterer. She is the matriarch of a large family--ten grown children, many grandchildren and an extended family--which means there are always unexpected expenses and crises, even deaths from the diabetes and other maladies that plague the local populace.

Clearly our lives are very different--I live alone, I have no children, I'm not religious. Yet we have become close. I am invited to family gatherings--of which there are many, often connected with religious celebrations. I 'sponsor,' as do other family members--one of the Christmas posadas they do for nine straight nights, providing pinatas and prayer (along with a mini-procession of the family's nativity tableau), punch and tamales, for their neighbors and community. For all her responsibilities, Maria has an abiding sense of humor and fun, and we always manage to laugh, even when we are having a difficult time. And we both enjoy our tequila.

I salute Maria Valenzuela, a bright light in my life and in the life of her family and community.

Everyday Magic

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:13:00 +0000

There are minor mysteries everywhere…the way the full moon shows up each month, perfectly poised in the night sky, in the arched window in front of my desk. The way the blue neon cross at the local parish church two blocks away is simply a straight line, like a sword pointing to the sky, from my studio window. Lately I’m fascinated by a springtime transformation that takes place in my home every day:

In the early morning, light comes in through the triangular window on my stairwell. It casts a sharp triangular shadow on the opposite wall, then migrates down the stairs and becomes a shapeless blob on the floor and kitchen rug, and around midday arranges itself in a perfect circle at the foot of the stairs. Now if that's not magic.... see the whole sequence here.

Day of the Locos

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:03:00 +0000

This is a fiesta-mad town, and yesterday was one of the maddest, and one of my favorites-- El Dia de los Locos--the Day of the Crazies. See photos here. This only-in-San Miguel parade culminates eight days of celebrations, fireworks, and devotions that honor St. Anthony of Padua, the patron of mariners and fishermen, expectant mothers. animals, American Indians, and travelers, among other beneficiaries of his benificence.

Over ten thousand people, organized by neighborhood and community associations, parade through the streets in extravagant, inventive costumes of every description, each group led by a vividly festooned truck with it's own sound system, each group dancing and cavorting to its own rhythms. This year Disney movie characters were a main theme. Lots of men dressed as women. Hmmmm... Tens of thousands of other people line the long parade route (some hang off balconies and rooftops) holding upside-down umbrellas to catch the candy flung by the paraders. Kids ride atop their parents' shoulders. Vendors hawk tamales and corn, cold drinks and balloons. It's kind of like a good-natured Mardi Gras, wild and enthusiastic, but without the booze.

Gringo Haiku

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu Torbet) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:39:00 +0000

My fellow writer friend Leah Feldon and I were desperate to come up with something for the first San Miguel Authors Anthology, but we hadn’t been in San Miguel long enough to have written anything about it. Sitting around over a couple rounds of tequila, we wrote a piece on ‘Gringo Haiku,’ based on the traditional Japanese poem form of 17-syllables, in lines of 5-7-5, about the vagaries of San Miguel gringo life, with a faux-academic introduction. It got great laughs, so we turned it into a little book. Here are some samples:

In San Miguel you
never know for whom the bell
tolls, or why, or when.

Carnelian sun slants
on red tiled roofs. I wonder
what it will sell for.

On Vonage wings and
wireless internet I reach out
to the old country.

On jardín benches
a row of stopped geezers eyes
the brown-eyes chicas.

Rain glistens on the
cobbled streets and the arm slings
of fallen women.

More Gringo Haiku coming soon. Contributions welcome, but juried by our panel of critics....