Anouchka Talks

Throughout my life, I have had countless occasions to insert the proverbial foot in my ol' gob.  For example, on our second date, I told Habibi that I had no intentions of ever getting married; I once thought vegetarians were silly; I proudly proclaimed that I would never go jogging unless I was running away from something...  You get the idea. You would think that over the course of time, I would learn to keep my mouth shut.  While I have been able to lock it up for the most part, I still occasionally find myself thinking in extremes. One of my biggest pet peeves is hypochondria.  So many hours of time are wasted dealing with hypochondriacs on the exam table - hours that would be better spent dealing with "real" illnesses.  Perhaps I feel this way because my Yahbah (dad) is a physician, and I have heard numerous stories on the over-diagnoses of various ailments including -but not limited to- the following: Fibromyalgia - While a very real disease, this ...

Over the course of the past 11 months that I have been blogging, it has come to my attention that writing a blog post takes much more than just sitting in front of the computer and typing.  (No duh.)  It takes ample consideration, reflection and -as is always the case with Anouchka Talks- infinite wisdom. Instead of writing a typical blog post, I thought it would be somewhat appropriate to take you, step-by-step through my creative(ish) process: STEP 1:  Go for a long run (preferably a 4 mile minimum to get the juices flowing), take a shower or a crap. I typically get my best ideas while doing something mindless:  running, showering, taking a dump....  When ideas come to me, they rarely begin as abstract concepts as I am a rather literal (albeit, insane) person.  The words I use on my blog are almost always the exact words that enter my mind, verbatim .  I think the way I write, even down to the punctuation.  (Whether or not said...

We have a new tenant... Last month, I found a baby praying mantis in my herb farm.  An eensy, weensy little thing, I simply thought "Oh how cool" and moved on with life.  It didn't even dawn on me that this little stinker could be responsible for my then eroding basil.  (Fear not, the basil is fine now.) Yesterday afternoon, I had tea with a very dear friend of mine.  While discussing the upcoming Olympics, the proper way to point your foot (we were both ballerinas) and back sweat -you know, the finer things in life usually mentioned during afternoon tea- we noticed a HUGE praying mantis on the window.   So cool.  I mentioned to her that I had seen a mini one in my herbs earlier in the summer, and we continued our conversation about romance and American Ninja Warrior . In the past couple of weeks, I have noticed that my poor window box is just getting annihilated.  For the most part, I've blamed the scorching summer heat for that, bu...

A Girl With A Watering Can Pierre-Auguste Renoir ca. 1876 oil on canvas National Gallery of Art (USA) A Girl With A Watering Can Anouchka ca. 2012 Crayola on printer paper Living Room Gallery

It seems to me that a post about running is long overdue...especially since it is a significant reason for my neglectful blogging. Summer running this year has proven to be a bit of a challenge.  With the violent winds of June ( mistral , perhaps?) and the unrelenting heat advisories of July, I have felt less than motivated to run outside.  Nevertheless, I have continued busting my butt and recently  signed up for my first half marathon. Between now and September 23, I have a few things to accomplish and hone.  Today I ran my last "long run" of 8 miles.  Next Friday, I get a little break where my distance run dips to 4 miles, before increasing to an even 10 (my current distance record) two weeks from today.  Here are a few of my concerns: Time.  No, I'm not talking about personal records or speed.  I'm talking about something much less important:  how much of my valuable time it takes to do all this running when I could be doing thing...

Stephen King's Dark Tower  series begins in medias res  with The Gunslinger, in which the title character, Roland Deschain of Gilead, begins (or continues?) his quest across the known world in pursuit of the Man in Black.  Over the course of seven books, we follow Roland through Mid-World as he painstakingly makes his way to the Dark Tower, in hopes of saving it from destruction.  As Roland wanders the deserts, towns and widely varied regions of Mid-World, occasionally making stops in numerous versions of 20th century New York, he develops relationships with a diverse group of people, several of whom will become crucial to his mission.  The story culminates in the final book, The Dark Tower. A master of literary "web-weaving," Stephen King creates what is perhaps the most vague world in literature.  Despite this intentional ambiguity, there is a certain order to things that makes complete sense to a Dark Tower  reader.  Nothing is left to chan...

Mona Lisa Anouchka ca. 2012 Crayola on printer paper paper clipped in binder Mona Lisa Leonardo DaVinci ca. 1503 oil on poplar wood Louvre

Salutations, once again, my friends. For those of you who know me personally, you will recall that I have transitioned from my administrative job into exclusively teaching and tutoring.  (Yay me!)  While I had a great experience at my previous place of employment, there really is nothing like being your own boss.  I have to say, it's great working for me and here is why:  I kick ass. Because of this process, I have neglected Anouchka Talks for far too long.  Unfortunately, amidst all the chaos of adjusting, blogging slipped on the priority list. :(  However, I cannot blame my absence solely on this as it is equally the result of a lack of creative juices.  I should simply turn the blog over to Betty (my cat, remember) because she is infinitely more entertaining than I. However, my creativity does not only manifest itself in writing and blogging.  Behold the latest addition to Anouchka Talks:  Anouchka Paints . While most of the works...