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Madam Butterfly
Scottish writer, blogger, bibliophile, world cinema fan, and overall cyber gadabout. Paradise is a bossa nova, a perfectly written sentence, a beautiful piece of Arabic poetry (in translation), any beautiful piece of poetry, a wonderful photograph, a great film, a great book, a fantastic painting or sculpture, a stunningly designed building.
I wish I could speak French fluently so if you're a Francophone, add me. I wish I could speak lots of languages - too many books in the world, not enough time. I'm falling in love with photography.
"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." ~ Anais Nin
Persona
Blog - see all 23
Update Nov 28
I'm so busy working on my novel that I haven't any time to blog these days. But I've noticed the last couple of times I've been in here than my backend/home page is a mess, with buttons and text superimposed on one another and everything laid out in a much more basic format than originally. Don't know what's going on, but I haven't the time to find out.
A few small book reviews follow: both novels and non-fiction.
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana Aug 5
I've been catching up on some book reading - mostly rereading some of my favourite contemporary books like The Name of the Rose. Read Brideshead Revisited too, which I love, though I can't identify with the religious aspect of the book. Just finished Umberto Eco's The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana which I enjoyed but would not recommend to anyone who just wants a light read. It's not a plot-driven book, and contains philosophy, history, popular culture, as seen from an Italian perspective.
Rebecca Jul 11
Just rereading Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca for the first time in many years. Very atmospheric, though socially somewhat out of date. Still, I suppose few people lived that kind of life to start with.
Otherwise recently saw La Vie en Rose at the cinema (very good biopic of Edith Piaf), and Paris, je t'aime, also very good. And rewatched one of my favourite films of the nineties, Fight Club.
Ten Great Brazilian albums Jun 30
One of the great loves of my life is Brazilian music: classic bossa nova of the sixties, tropicalia, samba funk, electrobossa, electronica, and other modern forms. There are so many wonderful artists: Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Joyce, Elis Regina, Jorge Ben, Carlinhos Brown, Sergio Mendez, to name but a few.
In no particular order, some of my favourite albums are:
West entrance, Glasgow School of Art Jun 29
Architect: Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Digital infrared filter
Movies
Alien, Blade Runner, Gattaca, Breathless (1959), La Belle et La Bete, Orphee, L'Appartement, La Reine Margot, Doberman, Beyond the Clouds, Old Boy, A Tale of Two Sisters, Laura, To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, The Third Man, Arsenic and Old Lace, Notorious, Rebecca, Suspicion, Marnie, North by North West, The Magnificent Ambersons, Citizen Kane, Trainspotting, Pandora's Box, Metropolis, Subway, Downfall, Ring, The Wicker Man, Don't Look Now, Night of the Demon, Run Lola Run, Betty Blue, Henry and June, Sabrina Fair, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Italian Job, Sunset Boulevard, Carry on Screaming, Carry on Cleo, Clueless
Music
Bebel Gilberto, Cibelle, Astrud Gilberto, Caetano Veloso, Celso Fonseca, Zuco 103, Daniela Mercury, Loreena McKennitt, Medieval Babes, Natacha Atlas, Brazilian music, Rhapsody in Blue
Books
The Dumas Club, The Name of the Rose, The Secret History, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, The Great Gatsby, Modern Arab poets in translation, magic realism, modern European fiction, Japanese fiction, Haruki Murakami, Heian dynasty writing, Sei Shonagon, Lady Murasaki, Medieval and Renaissance European writing
Activities
Writing, digital photography, digital art, reading, visiting museums and galleries, surfing the internet, blogging at livejournal
Interests
Art and design, architecture, museums, good food, world cinema, world music, France, Weimar Berlin, history, browsing through photography books, photography, mythology, celtic paganism, fine art tarot decks, taking the ferry to the island of Arran, walking by the sea, visiting my favourite art house cinema, livejournal
Comments - see all 29
Again, thanks for all the new adds. I haven't yet had time to catch up with people. I expect to be snowed under until at least spring but will try and pop in here a few times during that time.
posted Nov 28
"If there's any message to my work, it is ultimately that it's OK to be different, that it's good to be different, that we should question ourselves before we pass judgment on someone who looks different, behaves different, talks different, is a different color." Johnny Depp Thanks for listening...hope to see you around again...OK KiNG
posted Aug 19
There's a video you might like on my profile page. Nice to meet you =)
posted Aug 6
Thanks to everyone who recently added me. I've been busy offline and unable to properly catch up with all the new profiles. Will do so when I have time. Looking forward to reading more about you.
posted Aug 5
posted Aug 3
nice photos
posted Aug 3
hey there! thanx for your quest ! & welcome ! One more butterfly euh!
Hope to hear from you soon ?
R* from Paris.
posted Jul 2
thanks!
posted Jul 1
"We all admire the spangled acrobat with classical grace meticulously walking his tight rope in the talcum light; but how much rarer art there is in the sagging rope expert wearing scarecrow clothes and impersonating a grotesque drunk! I should know." Thank you for your friendship! Musical greetings from Munich/Germany!
posted Jul 1
Thanks for the add. You are swell!
posted Jun 30
Thank You for adding me as a friend !
posted Jun 30
Thank you for the add! Nice to meet you!
posted Jun 30
thank you!
posted Jun 15
1-15 of 29 comments | view more
heshta says:
Thanks for blogging. You certainly sound busy. Good luck with the writing =)
posted Nov 28