What's Been Going Down

Completely politically incorrect "Family Guy" billboards we saw this weekend:

"Homer is a ..."

"I only go to Springfield to take a ..."

Below, it says "Less yellow, but more acidic" which obviously refers to the Simpsons' skin color, but I am not sure whether that has a double meaning, too.

Anyway, kind of shocking.


We went to the Brazilian Embassy for the opening of an art show. This is me in front of a partially cloudy sky rendered on fluorescent bulbs.

This alarming piece was painted coming out of the vents in the foyer. It was interesting how the building allowed the artists to paint directly on the walls. The show was titled something having to do with the Permanent and the Impermanent, so maybe that was part of it.

Yes, I apparently only have one dress.

This piece is entirely scribbles drawn on the wall with a yellow pen. Neil is not a permanent part of the show.

Close up:

As we left, we checked out the very hoity-toity neighborhood, which had rows of beautiful old buildings, antique stores and designer boutiques. This one houses a Ralph Lauren.

This weekend we took a train to Tigre, a city about 45 min. away at the end of the tracks and the mouth of the river.


It's getting cold here (!) so I bought these sweet sheepskin slippers:



The best part is that they're convertible!!!

They only cost $55 pesos -- at $3.70 pesos to $1, that's $15!

Another deal around here is fresh flowers. They sell them on street corners all over the place. This huge bouquet of lilies was one of the more expensive and cost $40 pesos = $10.80. Wait, maybe that's not really a deal after all? Oh well, I like them!


I like to make terrariums. They're easy, a lot of fun to make and very low maintenance. I had to empty all of them when we moved, so I just started to make new ones. Mom, you were asking about these. This is the first one, a tropical environment (that's natural condensation inside!) in a cake stand:

This is the second one, an arid environment in a candy jar:



OH, and I almost forgot!!!!

Neil ordered these interlocking floor mats so he can breakdance in comfort and without disturbing the neighbors. I plan to use them for ballet, yoga and pilates ... if I can ever get my lazy self to exercise again! Yes, that's my ballet barre in front of the sliding glass door. It makes a lovely studio when the sun is shining!

Out and About

Last weekend Neil and I did a few things on our "to-do in Buenos Aires" list: shopping the ferias in La Boca and the Design Center in Recoleta, touring MALBA the art museum and the theatre-turned bookstore El Ateneo.



The highlight of the art museum, besides this bench, were works by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. I didn't have the nerve to photograph them.


I saw this book three times over the weekend and finally bought it at MALBA.

It is a coffee-table photography book called "Grandes Mujeres/Almas Gemelas" ("Great Women/Soul Mates"). The first half is portraits of everyday elderly Argentine women; the second half is portraits of Argentine identical twins of all ages, guys and girls. I love old people. And twins!







The highlight of Mother's Day was breakfast at Nucha. I know, I know, it was Sunday. But we had a great time talking and eating this insane, INSANE spread:
It's on the menu as tea for two, and it was insane: a basket of breakfast breads served with jam, dulce de leche (caramel), and cream (!), medialunas (croissants), your choice of brownie AND a slice of cake from their specialty bakery, assorted chocolates, your choice of teas, toasted HAM AND CHEESE SANDWICHES, fresh-squeezed orange juice, scones ... I think that was it. IS THAT NOT AN INSANE amount of food?!?!?!

These Are Not Miniature Dogs

From the AKC Web page
http://www.akc.org/breeds/non-sporting_group.cfm
I got a good laugh from the disclaimer at the bottom right.


AKC Breeds by Group
Non-Sporting Group

Non-sporting dogs are a diverse group. Here are sturdy animals with as different personalities and appearances as the Chow Chow, Dalmatian, French Bulldog, and Keeshond. Talk about differences in size, coat, and visage! Some, like the Schipperke and Tibetan Spaniel are uncommon sights in the average neighborhood. Others, however, like the Poodle and Lhasa Apso, have quite a large following. The breeds in the Non-Sporting Group are a varied collection in terms of size, coat, personality and overall appearance.

American Eskimo Dog	Bichon Frise	Boston Terrier	Bulldog	Chinese Shar-Pei
Chow Chow	Dalmatian	Finnish Spitz	French Bulldog	Keeshond
Lhasa Apso	Löwchen	Poodle	Schipperke	Shiba Inu
Tibetan Spaniel	Tibetan Terrier

Size of dogs not to scale

I guess they mean size relative to one another, but its funnier to imagine they are assuring us these are not postage-stamp-sized dogs.

Puppy and Kitty

Sorry Neil, I had to -- this pic cracks me up.

Introducing Ellie the kitty and ... well ... after a month, the puppy still doesn't have a name.

We adopted a cat from a feral cat rescue program, and we had to get her surgery on her right eye (this photo was pre-surgery), which looks good now but she can't see out of it.

Since her left eye is her "good eye," we named her L.E. or "Ellie." Yeah, remember Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes from TLC?

Our Ellie likes music, too. It lulls her to sleep.She loves Neil more than me. Neil doesn't love the flat-iron experiment I did on his hair in this photo. But he does love his new mini-guitar.

Anyway, Ellie is sweet, but the as-yet unnamed puppy is the BEST!!! He is so cute and funny. And very smart and good. And little! He is a toy poodle. I know, I know. I never thought I would, and then everyone here has one and I caved, so we are very Argentine, owning a "caniche toy" (Spanish for toy poodle).

The puppy and the kitty LOVE to play with/attack one another. They both love to chase string, and this shoelace is one of their favorite toys. One will drag it and the other one will chase or vice versa. Here, the puppy was chewing on it (he is so cute when he lays on his stomach with his legs splayed like that) and the cat is attacking his face. Fun times! Thanks, Neil, for blocking off the carpeted areas :)

Seriously

Please, please, click and just take a look:

http://www.franciscodenarvaez.com.ar/

Seriously? He's running for Congress here in Buenos Aires. I suppose it doesn't hurt that he's a multi-millionaire ...

Good for him. Only in Argentina does a neck tattoo NOT mean immediate career suicide.