“A year of snow, a year of plenty.” French proverb

Well, then, this should be some fantastic next 10 months! We are all hunkered down, just waiting it out, though c'mon it is not like we are the pioneers in North Dakota. That's our front walk, which was completely clear last night. We think this poem sums it up nicely.

images of snow - february 1996 by Rg Gregory

snow is a thousand flowers
the chinese probably said
hundreds and thousands this morning
drop their garlands on my head
last night the festoons started
long before we went to bed

snow is a white-furred rabbit
the chinese probably wrote
hedgerows and fields this morning
wear a similar fluffy coat
last night the winter danced back
with a white fur round its throat

snow is a treacherous fox-face
the chinese probably thought
it lurks in wait this morning
for the weak and overwrought
last night it laughed its head off
loving the fear it's brought

Coolsisters of the Month

''Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure.'' Jane Austen

What (little) we know of Jane Austen’s private life is due to family letters – many written to her only sister, Cassandra Elizabeth (1773–1845), who like Jane, died unmarried. Jane (on the left) and Cassandra were schooled together and among Jane’s earliest work is her parody, The History of England, a manuscript of 34 pages accompanied by 13 water colour miniatures by Cassandra. Jane and Cassandra spent many years together at Chawton cottage where Jane published four novels, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma. Cassandra and Jane frequently visited their brothers and their families, and other relatives, and wrote to each other when apart. Sadly,it is estimated that that only 160 out of Austen's 3,000 letters survive, as Cassandra burned "the greater part" of the ones she kept and censored those she did not destroy (others were destroyed by heirs). Happily, since 1833, when the first collected edition of Austen's works was published, her novels have been continuously in print.

Scents of the Coolsisters

More powerful than a photograph, song or madeleine, scents are what triggers the memories of the Coolsisters. Take this bottle of Lactopine Afterbath, miraculously found on ebay. Smelling it now transports us to shopping at Pogues where we first bought it in the early 1970's when we were most definitely a lot more carefree than we are now. We've been devoted to Jean Nate (we still keep a bottle in fridge for a summer splash, and Canoe (our first taste of wearing a man's scent). We digress, but our husbro (that's husband/brother-in-law) once created a lovely lavender-colored wax egg dipped in Canoe as a courting gift. Our father's mother, much like us, had several scents on her mirrored tray: Cabochard, Ma Griffe, Jessica McClintock - she feels close by if we happen to catch the scent of one of those. One of C-sisters wears Chanel 5 during Christmas week so that every time we come across it, we remember wonderful holiday memories. Then there is the long-gone orange and cedar Bigarde, the one-and-only bottle of Shalimar (that came with 2 George Jensen champagne flutes, and a bottle of Pierre Jouet...probably another story), the Je Reviens worn working at the Florida shore, the heady Bal a Versailles during a magical California summer, the transporting Fracas, Tresor, worn during that time when our dad was so sick and can never be worn again, the Chanel Cristelle worn on that first trip to Paris, the Eau de Rochas we picked up there, the Chanel 19 that we'd prefer to drink, the Issey Miakye, the Guerlain Imperiale, and more recently the incredible Jo Malones. And so many more. We cannot wander by a perfume counter at any store - highbrow or low - without being intensely connected to our past. How cool.

Coolsisters of the Month

Just in case you were thinking that style is something that looks best with youth, we offer you the always fabulous Sozzani sisters. Franca (right) is the editor of Vogue Italia (and has been since 1988) while Carla owns a photography and design gallery, a bookstore, and very well-known boutique for men's and women's clothing, accessories, and luxury goods. These women, well past the blushing stage, are what we all hope to be: smart, successful, stunning, and totally themselves. Our kind of cool.

Coolsisters of the Month

THE PEDIGREE of honey
Does not concern the bee
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy
___________

A WORD is dead
When it is said
Some say,
I say it just
Begins to live
That day

The only reason you know the poetry of Emily Dickinson (and you do know the poetry of Emily Dickinson - the above just being two little gems) is because she had a sister, Lavinia. Emily instructed Lavinia to destroy all of her letters and manuscripts after her death. Lavinia carried out her sister's wish until she came across a cache of more than 1,700 poems hidden in Emily’s home, only a very few of which had been published in Emily's lifetime. While Lavinia may have betrayed her sister, we like to think Emily would have forgiven her. Sometimes a sister knows best.

That's Emily, brother Austin, and Lavinia in the portrait.

Les Paul (1915 -2009) RIP

In case you were wondering, Johnny A, Jan Akkerman, Duane Allman, Billie Joe Armstrong, Chet Atkins, Martin Barre, Jeff Beck, Chuck Berry, Dickey Betts, Marc Bolan, Mick Box, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Jack Bruce, Buckethead, Sam Bush, Larry Carlton, Charlie Christian ,John Cipollina, Eric Clapton, Dennis Coffey, Allen Collins, Stompin' Tom Connors, Sheryl Crow, Dave Davies, Reverend Gary Davis, Buck Dharma, Bob Dylan, Duane Eddy, Elliot Easton, The Edge, John Entwistle,The Everly Brothers, Tal Farlow, Don Felder, Robin Finck, John Fogerty, Peter Frampton, Ace Frehley, Hank Garland, Billy Gibbons, David Gilmour, Freddie Green, Grant Green, Peter Green, Dave Grohl, Arlo Guthrie, Woody Guthrie, Steve Hackett, Kirk Hammett, Emmylou Harris, George Harrison, Warren Haynes, Justin Hayward, Jimi Hendrix, James Hetfield, Steve Howe, Tony Iommi, Matthias Jabs, Joan Jett, Eric Johnson, Robert Johnson, Brian Jones, Mick Jones, Steve Jones, Arthur "Killer" Kane, Jorma Kaukonen, Barney Kessel, Albert King, B. B. King, Freddie King, Paul Kossoff, Lenny Kravitz, Robby Krieger, Albert Lee, Alvin Lee, Alex Lifeson, Lonnie Mack, Frank Marino, Bob Marley, Jeff Martin, Pat Martino, Daron Malakian, Tak Matsumoto, Paul McCartney, John McLaughlin, Ralph McTell, Bill Monroe, Gary Moore, Scotty Moore, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Nolen, Ted Nugent, Mike Oldfield, Roy Orbison, Jimmy Page, Joe Pass, Les Paul, Joe Perry, Carl Perkins, Andy Powell John Prine, Mick Ralphs, Jimmy Raney, Randy Rhoads, Keith Richards, Lee Ritenour, Howard Roberts, Brian Robertson, Rich Robinson, Mick Ronson, Gary Rossington, Carlos Santana, Michael Schenker, Rudolph Schenker, Tom Scholz, Neal Schon, Gene Simmons, Earl Scruggs, Nikki Sixx ,Slash, Johnny Smith, Bill Spooner, Paul Stanley, Hubert Sumlin, John Sykes, Mick Taylor, George Thorogood, Johnny Thunders, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Walsh, Muddy Waters, Snowy White, Angus Young, Neil Young, Frank Zappa all play(ed) Les Paul guitars.

Summertime Blues

We like to think the first time we heard this song was in the summer - just about this time of year, though we could easily be mistaken. But it was clearly our father who brought home an album (or EP) of Eddie and this song was on it (this happened shortly before or after our dad saw Chubby Checker at the Peppermint Twist Lounge in NYC - another story). At the time, this song sounded radical and subversive. The guitar, the beat, the pissed-off sounding lyrics. We were hooked. There have been lots of great covers but it's fun to see the original Eddie, thanks to YouTube. Our brother, an amateur thanatologist, visited Eddie's grave and took this snap for us. Oh, and in case you are wondering, there still ain't no cure.........