Can you tell? (lol sure you can)

Ok, look at the pic below.. does that ring a bell ?

Right, you've guessed now what movie the devils and I have seen for the very first time yesterday, hm?!
We might have been the last 3 French ones who had not seen this movie... lol

I can tell you I expected to be disappointed.
I can tell you I expected the plot to be really common. I expected an overdose of sentimentalism. That's usually what's popular!

I can tell you I'm free from chains, but it's hard to be free from pre-conceived ideas! ;-)

Got caught by the magic of it. Yes some will shrug because they've not been touched and I do understand.

From a simple basis, plot, this movie has developed many ideas and threads with much sensitivity and poetry, that's what I think. I don't know if talent is incompatible with block busters, but I don't think. It requires a LOT of talent to gather sensitivities around a same movie.

Anyway, I was talking of Avatar.

Visually, it reached perfection. And for once, the script behind was not poor. It was highly entertaining. Quality can be reached on several levels.

Oh and I was SO happy to get Ripley back. When I saw Sigourney was part of the crew, I loaded my big machine, ready to fire @the bitch hiding in the ceiling! lol

Later, I watched Tarentino's Inglorious Basterds ... Got some fine icecream and was into the mood. No regreat. Will watch it again! That was so fucking good. Tarentino's one of the very best to me. He's just proved it again.

Waving @Caroline Ingalls (god bless her lil heart)

Martin's away for 2 days. And I am not a Caroline Ingalls you know! As soon as he left I took the devils to the "frozen supermarket", they chose what they wanted and I did the same!

The oven will cook for us. perfect. Hey, wait, life's two short to cook a healthy soup with 15 vegetables that your kids won't even taste!


Honestly, everything was so good. I'll never cook again!

So, who wanna come for dinner tonight, hm??

Holy... sexy beautiful and happy Marie

I've known Marie since about 25 years now! We were not even dating boys when we met for the first time! lol (yeah I know *that* sounds craaaaazy!)


We spent all our school time together, then university. We shared little papers during maths classes, we visited Scotland together, London so many times, got really drunk together, dressed as Beetlejuice and miss Piggy together, loved Depeche Mode together.

A real friendship. Yet... we're hardly in contact anymore. *shrugging* Oh I know she's there for me, I am here for her. But life took us on different paths. I don't find it sad, it's kewl, it's life!

Last week, Marie got married. The most beautiful wedding I've seen I think. because of the intensity there, the love expressed. It was really unique. I know Marie is truly happy.




And then the wedding party was awesome.

On a barge in front of le Louvre, and just near the inspiring pont des arts! The weather was gorgeous, people at the wedding were very open, champagne was perfect and cherry on the cake, there were 2 baby sitters who took care and played with the kids! The devils had the time of their life, trust me!

I made a wish !

yes, but won't tell you or I'd spoil everything!

I celebrated my 36th birthday on Friday. Being 36, that does not bother me at all. Why should it anyway. Oh of course I raise a (happy) eyebrow when someone (very polite) tells me I look sooooo much younger. lol

I think I look my age and 36 rocks pretty much! I feel more happy, free, in tune with what I am deep inside.


I have lots of dreams and don't doubt anymore I can make them come true.

I feel surrounded with love, I am so very lucky

I feel free to tell my mind, free to be what I want to be, free from what people think, free to be just Candy-who-loves-her-shoes .. sometimes ;-)

And I feel that fire in me with work. I will succeed :)

Shoes are not made for walking (shrugging!)

(oh, well, ok, maybe, that may happen!)

I had not realized that my twin-towers shoes got 11cm heels.
When I finally found my lil totally useless bday treat, the saleswoman in the shop kept repeating: "I could never walk with such kind of shoes!" (I thought she had some kind of natural and honest approach about selling technics :P)

I answered, not really realizing the whole absurdity of it ..
"me neither you know, but I will learn"

What's the point buying shoes that you can't use for walking? Don't ask me, I have no idea. That's just the beauDy of the whole concept, I guess. Oh and I am a woman, that may bring some answer. lol

Voilà mes jolies "poupées" d'André

Feeling concerned of course

I am not an ultra feminist asking for quotas and pushing ideas to extreme(ly stupid) concepts as "a man opening the door of the car only tries to prove his superiority". And no I won't burn my bras, they're really to cute ;-)

But I feel concerned with all the battles females have to lead. There shouldn't be any battle at all, but as long as the society give us reasons to do so, we will have to defend ourselves.

I feel concerned when some work is underestimated because of one's gender. Same as with the colour of the skin, the shape of your body, the colour of the eyes, whatever.

I enjoyed the huge poster from the Guerilla girls that I saw in Beaubourg museum the other day...


"...the Public Art Fund rejected their design because they found the shape of the fan held by the woman to be phallic. (The nudity of the woman raised no objections.) The Guerrilla Girls then decided to rent advertising space on New York City buses and run the ad themselves. But the bus company canceled their lease because they also thought the image was too suggestive"

(the text above is an extract from this page)

Loup, petit lord of the ring

Forgive me, when I talk of my babes, I believe the "eyes of love" are talking. I can't be totally objective, you see :)

Loup couldn't start Judo last year because of his broken leg.
But he has just tried again, and I thought he'd be impressed by the older and well-trained other ones.
See, Loup was not impressed, not over confident either. He was calm, concentrated, obeying. And, that was the magic of it, he seemed to be so happy there on the tatami. He loved it!


I was impressed, I did not expect the self-control, seriousness, patience and obvious passion in my lil wolf.

So Loup will officially start with Judo after summer holidays.












Of course later, complaining in a typical male-ish way (= with no obvious and clear reason), the lil athlete asked for a foot massage.
And got it! Naturally! ;-)

New week, cold outside but ...

... on Monday, I won 12€ at the lottery. it's a SIGN, and Mulder would agree with me.

... on Tuesday I realised both of my oldest girl friends were experiencing unique moments right now, one is pregnant and the other one will get married next week :)

... on Wednesday I was looking for an old pullover (fookin cold spring) and discovered Joe's hairs on it. How creepy is that, huh?! I miss my lazy cat.

... on Thursday I decided my new website should be totally different. Typical me.

... on Friday I took the devils to some Parisian fair and did not feel bad when I sent them in that ghost train! The result --> "maman, j'ai eu la peur de ma vie!" yeah yeah that was not Disneyland my son! :P

... on Saturday, I was to fall from my chair when our trainer started his course with "the beginners follow me and the trained ones follow the young lady (me! me! hehe) Well... he was right, I was simply better than him, I actually "knew" my lesson!

... on Sunday, right now, I started to expect Monday to come very quickly. Why not, after all.

Paradise's not for the Weak !

I'm happy religion is an old tale for me... otherwise I would have really worried for my after-life future!

The (not) funny guys tell you the more you resist temptation (not talking for themselves though of course), the better future you'll get when you die. Oh yeah, if you really lead a painful and hard life, if you sacrifice yourself, that will be cool. Later, just much later. When again??

I ermm... do not resist easily temptation. Take an example for instance... (thinking super hard)... shoes!
(-shrugging-... hey why not!)

Soon I'll get much older and thought I could treat myself you know, and in a girlie way. Well, first idea was "boots"... but hey, oh, it's almost summer, we're supposed to suffer from intolerable heat here in Paris... that shoemakers decided only sandals would be necessary.
(shaking head)

No boots available... !


I walked... desperate in the cold Parisian streets when... I found these beauDies!

oh yeah. But The bloody God's working against me, in the 4 shops I visited, there was not my (small) size available anymore! grmmphh!

Oh I'll get them... they're so cute and, as the cherry on the cake, so cheap!

(drooling)

Let's get "artistic" ? No! let's just have fun!

I usually don't answer the blog's games when you're tagged. Not that I'm not interested but usually I've answered all of them, or similar ones, years ago... and I'm a bit too lazy to start again.

But Mahie suggested an interested one! She referred to 9 specific arts and asked what you immediately think about for each of them.

I found it funny (but it took me more than 1 hour to find my vid and images! I knew there was a trick somewhere :P) hehe... kidding, Mahie, I really enjoyed doing it!

So here you go..

1.Architecture

Ephemeral art, architecture made of ice in the wonderful Ice hotel "where snow and ice are transformed into fabulous decors"! If it looks wonderful, it's also because we can see it through the eyes of Etolane,my talentuous monoï sista (we both love monoï oil, now you know everything ;-)
This wonderful and inviting photo besides is hers of course! :)

2.Sculpture

The Kissers by Rodin ... I'm very sensitive to the art of sculpture, I imagine the rage and enegy required to sculpt! I really like it. Here,I love the woman's obvious hunger... and the detail of the feet, her foot on his... so intimate I think.

3.Peinture

Today Bosch would still be considerate like crazy and very non-politically correct.He was from the 15th century! I do love his chaos..

4.musique

Michael Nyman is the talented composer. I wanted to focus on these composers who give to movies all their magic. I'm very sensitive to Soundtracks'jewels. And they're terribly underestimated!

5.Photo

I found this photo on Etolane's blog weeks ago. I loved the contrast, sensuous mouth + a maybe still living fish... A sexy Gollum kind of presentation..lol The colours, composition. Perfect. I love photography, specially when it leads you to unexpected lands.
The photo comes from Flickr, and was made by the talented Mariana Islands

6.Poetry

Poetry is a genre that I simply don't appreciate. I've tried again and again. It does not work on me. So I had to think really hard to remember all these poets I've studied at university... here's a short one by Emily Dickinson:

Faith is a fine invention

"Faith" is a fine invention
When Gentlemen can see --
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency.

Does it make your day?? yeah, mine too :P I'm not even sure I do understand fully what Emily meant, but faith being a fine invention suits me! :D

7.Dance

well, I do love dancing, just not something I love watching. Action! Action! The haka suits me..

8.Cinema

I love movies that really make my mind boiling. I love it when I don't expect anything and when suddenly a movie can shake my deepest feelings.

9.Comics

Juan Gimenez, my most favourit "visual art" reference.

Now... if you ever get inspired by the topic, I'll be the first to enjoy your views about all these different arts!

A surprise with a pleasant taste of garlic

First I gotta thank Nathan for having much more open eyes than I when it comes to the internet (but politics and life in general too! I reckon! :P)... Without Nathan's message, I would have never found that Keith had written a whole post about my blog on his own blog, a Taste of Garlic

Keith has a talent to make other's blogs look fantastic. You read the way he talks of them, you instantly want to discover more about the blogs. How does he succeed in that? Because he really gets interested in what he reads, I think, that's the only way Keith can talk so well of all these blogs!

A journalist's talent me thinks.

I was very surprised and honoured to be part of Keith's blog.
Thank you, Keith!

Some kind of week

.. on Monday night, 4 am, got a shot in the ass (painkillers). Was so sick that I had to get an emergency doctor or I would have called directly for an ambulance. Or I would have died (really! :P). RIP Candy.

..on Tuesday I learnt I had 2 books published. On Tuesday night I realized professional pride is not enough to bring food in one's plate.

..on Wednesday night, I dreamt I successfully participated to some art exhibition in Florida. I think I need something.. sun and heat most certainly!

..on Thursday I was offered by an army pilot to try a Mirage's cockpit. No kidding (okok I tell you the truth, it was not Top Gun! there was simply an exhibition in front of our city all! hehe)

..on Friday, Loup hurt his knee and thought he would die while Lola and I were having the time of our life

..on Saturday (well that's precisely the moment when I wrote this post), I was lying on the grass, in the sun, writting what you're reading

..on Sunday, I got (and still get) that big fantasy about Italian food. Who wanna cook Italian for me???!

Pride (and no prejudice)

2 new books!
I've got 2 new books published! Honestly I'm proud and happy.
Yayyyyyyyyy!

The texts are very good and so I got inspired for the illustrations. Illustrating requires so much time, you would not imagine... First you get a work of analysis, you gotta know which words matter, you gotta feel what you gotta focus on, and then you get the whole work to do.
I'm happy all this time spent working hard is rewarded today.

The first book is about the first year at primary school, and the second book is about (I don't know if my translation is exact), "summer camps". The stress of the "real school", the stress of being separated from one's parents for the first time during holidays. (summer camps are very popular in France).

You can find the books on amazon or here and there.

There is another project to which I've participated, I haven't talked of it yet. But I'm also SOOOO proud of it. I can't wait to present it! :-))

Benoit is back !

oh yes, Benoit and his blog are back for real, and that feels good!
You were deeply missed in the blogsphere!

And I know he's back just to torment me! See, he's just got tickets for next (genius-over talented-crazy-clever) Roger Waters' concert. The Wall! Nothing less!

Welcome back, Benoit! :-))

Le hamburger de Lola

I had promised a really good restaurant to my shrimpette months ago. This week, we were alone for lunch, so I took her out.
I wanted something that will be part of her childhood's souvenirs, something she won't forget. She was very impressed with everything:
"Mom, why do the guys keep coming and peeking at us?"
"Mom can I used the table napkin? It's so white so far"
"Mom can you read the menu again and explain me why they put cabbage in the profiteroles?"
(in French we say "pâte à choux" for "puff pastry", and we use the word "choux" for "cabbage")

"Mom, can I have a hamburger??"

Of course she got it!
They happily served Lola what she wanted, and at the end of the meal she couldn't stop complimenting the chef, telling it was so much better than when she goes to Mac Do' ! I believed her because usually she never finished anything... but this time there was nothing left in her plate! :)

Lola has also been adventurous, she accepted to try the raw mussels I had ordered.

Osyters too, she IS adventurous!

Her lil bro is much more conservative with food, if he does not recongnize what's in his plate, he'll ask for something else! (*shaking head*)

We had a real good time. It was too short though, we had to get back to school quickly. But sometimes we'll do that again, when I sell a painting or two! lol



oh, and here's a wink for the French gang (nobody from abroad can't possibly know "him") ... Can you see the lil "intruder" on the photo, hm? (lol well, ok, you won't have to look for long it's quite obvious!)

Auntie Candy: second round !

Don't ever ask kids to give names to animals (and I'm not kidding with that!)... Princess Fiona has just joined the family ! A new-born lil princess in the kingdom of Bretonie!

On this photo she's only a few hours old, already standing proud on her lil legs!

A tiny hairy miracle of life, with such a cute nose and delicate pair of ears! :)

We had no idea another baby was expected, they can hide their lil "game" better than we human can do, huh.






Junior was born 3 weeks ago, they both have different mothers (which sounds logical, lol), Cesar must be their father.



So here we have a pair of cousins already super inspired with life (hey Junior, you seem slightly more inspired than your young cousin! But pheww, soon she'll learn to run fast! :P)



That's nice that from the 2 first sheep of Ouessant we brought back 2 years ago, now there's a gang of 7 hairy ones!




Just a proof they're happy enough to ermm get intimate there! :-)

* happy sigh *

La Parisienne

Yes or not...
Shall I participate or not? Dunno... not my favorite kind of sport..

La Parisienne is a race, females race. I hate running though! (well, except in the countryside, when it's hot and stormy) lol ... But I can do it, I have some kind of heavy weekly training already.
The race will happen in September, within Paris. And it's a supa short one: 6km!

If I do it, it's to have a really fun time with girl friends. We might register as a team. Killing one of course! hehe... The lil challenge is the cherry on the cake.
I'm still thinking about yes or no, but... I don't resist such kind of opportunities usually! ;-)

If you want to see the (very Parisian) map of the race, it's right here

L'aut' Parisienne

Am I slow at work? I don't know... I think I am. Working at home is disturbing, you work where you live then get distracted by whatever happens around. Wait no that's an excuse, I'm a bit slow at it, and that's it :)

working on my new website is an endless work, creating everything, from the format of the basket to the choice of a tiny button, without talking of the content itself, images, texts, etc and all the options possible...

Working on my paintings is different... sometimes, like right now, I prefer to not count the hours I spend on it, or I would sell it at a price that would make you faint! lol

Next paintings will be quickies for a change.

With less details.
Once in a while I love a full work, with dozens of stories inside. That's what I'm doing right now, I hope I can show you something finish before the end of next week!

Les p'tits Parisiens

get back to school tomorrow!!!

So many holidays for the devils! I already see summer holidays as the big threat! lol! Hopefully this year Loup won't break his leg and I'll get much more time both enjoy these holidays while working at the same time! :)

Well even if I was really busy to make their holidays feel like holidays, I managed to work, and to do something I can almost never do: reading.





Spring feels so good. We're all sucking the sun warmth whenever we can, the winter was a bit too long.

I still haven't won the lottery, can't buy a huge artist' place to have fun and travel all around the world, but that will happen someday. For now, I'm (almost) back to work, I love it (so very lucky me to still be able to make the work I want), and will focus on making a series of dreams come true!

So much in love, so much in war!

my daughter is so much in love with many guys I fear!

You can count among them the Kho-lanta's Freddy, and the Nouvelle-Star's Ramon.




You should see her adorable seven year-old face when she tells me, about once a day, "mom, I think I'm in love with a new boy. When I'm old enough, I marry him", then she blushes and grins!

Loup, as far as he's concerned, is still in love with his mama. And if you ask him if he's in love with a lil girl, he'll simply answer: "hey no!! THAT's totally disgusting"! hehe

He'll stick to his "Make War, not Love!"