Dreamgates

I was somewhat vague about leaving Paris to participate in a workshop in the south of France near Montpellier. The course description may sound a little weird to some of you, but I've participated in Robert Moss workshops before and always come away with fresh insights. Anyway, this blog is all about following your intuition (pif) - you never know who or what you'll find. Besides, my drum wanted to go. Moss uses shamanic drumming in his workshops and invited participants to bring along their drums. Mine was lonely hanging on my wall in Paris and wanted to join some friends.


In addition, I've been having some odd dreams lately and knew that I could count on getting some help with dream interpretation. A main tenet of Robert Moss's writing and teaching is about trusting dreams, coincidence, and imagination. There are signs all around us - if we are willing to pay attention.
I was not disappointed.

I woke up Sunday morning after a very vivid dream: I was on the back of a motorcycle with a young handsome fellow with latin features. He takes a drink from a water bottle that has fresh flowers in it and the offers me a drink of the water. I adjust my helmet and we take off.

Now, if you know me at all, you know that I'm not likely to find myself on a motorcycle (or even a motor scooter). Too dangerous. And then . . . can you imagine my surprise upon arriving at the workshop and seeing someone across the table with the exact face of the person in my dream? He also instantly recognized something familiar in me. Neither of us could explain it, but we spent an amazing day (and night) together. His name is Andrea, and the front desk put us in the same room, thinking that "Andrea" was a woman's name. It isn't - at least not in Italy where he's from. He now lives in Barcelona, and speaks Italian, Spanish, French and English. I don't know how old he is, but he is younger than I am (but older than my sons!)

Anyway, maybe that is part of the reason I enjoyed the workshop? Even though we went our separate ways afterwards.
Will I hear from him again?

Oh, and the other messages from the workshop:
- live in the present - carpe diem
- pay attention to your dreams
- look for signs and synchronicities
- trust your intuition

Montpellier

It was raining hard when I arrived in Montpellier on Saturday. It's not much fun exploring a new town in a driving rain, so I decided to go to a movie in the afternoon. I left the movie theater shortly before 6 pm to find that the rain had stopped and the city had been transformed into a fairyland. I wandered the streets for the next two hours, taking in the the lights, the history, and the moonrise.

Le Hameau de l'Etoile

I'll be offline for a few days. I'll be attending a three day workshop in the south of France in St-Martin-de-Londres near Montpellier. I'm leaving my computer behind in Paris - radical! Check back on Wednesday and I'll tell you more.

Sotheby's

I have so much to learn regarding photography.

We barely scratched the surface in our "Words and Images" class, although I got some very helpful feedback regarding both the story (poem) I chose to share along with its accompanying photograph. I intend to take additional classes with the instructor, Meredith Mullins. Even better, I've made some new friends and after class we went to a local cafe on the Ile St. Louis for lunch. After lunch, I tagged along with classmates who wanted to go to Sotheby's to check out the photographs which were slated for auction today.

Wow! I've never been to Sotheby's before and was surprised that just anyone could go in and browse - and take pictures! There were some wonderful photos and some were quite "affordable" - but far beyond my idea of affordable . . .

One of my favorites, a 1923 photo of Notre Dame by Eugène Atget ended up selling for 168,750 euros.

It was fun to look, though.


One of my classmates was interested in bidding on this Karsh portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe. I'm not sure if she got it or not.


Anyway, this is the "Month of the Photo" in Paris, and I hope to visit many more exhibits before the month is over.

Jean Pierre - part II

Jean Pierre is history. Too many phone calls and too much whining about me not returning his calls immediately. OK, to be fair, maybe he is just nervous and/or insecure. After all, this dating business is complicated if you've been out of practice for awhile - for everyone. And perhaps men, or at least French men, feel a greater responsibility for taking the initiative? At any rate, my days lately have been filled with classes, museums, photography exhibits, lunches, films, and conversations with new (women) friends.

I don't like to feel pressured. And I don't like whining.
I think he got the message. And he apologized.
Too late.

I'm on my way to the Cabane a Huitres for my weekly oyster fix - alone. Maybe that good-looking Italian guy will be there again . . . ;-)

Creative writing

Internet dating sites can be quite entertaining. Almost every day offers up a smorgasbord of possibilities. Some sites, such as eHarmony and eDarling, offer earnest descriptions of individuals using real first names and making a best effort to describe what they are looking for: "tired of living alone, a few extra pounds, but a good heart and a good sense of humor".

Photos are a study in contrasts. Some, carefully selected, offer a glimpse of the adventurer, the romantic. Others, sadly, are dreadfully ill-chosen. The caption under Bob's photo in my inbox today was - "worst photo ever . . passport one". And it was awful! Why bother??

Other sites, notably Meetic, offer a selection of individuals using really dumb pseudonyms such as: "beaumek" = beau mec = "good looking guy", or "tatend" = je t'attends = "I'm waiting for you", or "foliqidure" = folie qui dure = "madness (craziness, passion) which lasts". Huh?

Others are simply descriptive: "Michelgolf" is someone who really loves golf and who is looking for a woman who enjoys golf as much as he does.

Some descriptions have me laughing out loud. Here's another one from today's mailbox:
"Je suis trop beau trop gentil trop mignon et trop romantique pour être seul.. je voudrais une femme qui saurait me seduire qui aimerait remplir mon coeur et ma vie" A translation goes something like this: "I'm too handsome, too nice, too cute, and too romantic to be alone .. I'd like a woman who would know how to seduce me, who would love to fill my heart and my life" Gag!

Who writes these things? They can't be serious??

That said, it is easy to laugh; much harder to accurately describe oneself and what one is looking for . . .

Jean-Pierre

Michel has been out of town for a few days. He spent the long holiday weekend in Brittany at his country house.

Therefore, when Jean-Pierre called suggesting we meet on Saturday afternoon, I agreed. A first meeting is always coffee, this time at a cafe near my place. Hmmm, good conversation. Jean-Pierre is just emerging after the sudden death of his wife of 40 years just 14 months ago. He's not looking to replace her, just looking to come out of his shell a bit.

That's fine with me. I'm not interested in replacing a departed wife - either through death or divorce. I'm not interested in being a nurse, cook, or housekeeper for someone who finds himself alone.

However, dinner companion? Sure. Traveling companion? Eventually. Maybe.

So coffee with Jean-Pierre went well. We decided to stay on for dinner. We stayed at the same cafe/bistrot and had oysters followed by tarte au citron. The oysters were pretty good, but of course it wasn't at all the same ambiance as chez Francis at the Cabane à Huitres. Maybe, if he's lucky, I'll take Jean-Pierre to the Cabane à Huitres next time.