Today was a day without...

 

Dear Friends, 

Picture a week without a Monday. 

The French expression says: "Y'a des jours avec, et des jours sans" (there are days with, and days without). 

Today was a day without. Awake at 4am, I had a coffee, a bowl of granola with fresh raspberries, I opened my computer to write this newsletter and I found myself without an idea. But we have an appointment, and I'm obsessed with punctuality. 

So, I started to write a first draft about Oblomov, a fictional character created by Russian novelist Ivan Goncharov in 1859. The novel describes Oblomov as a lazy man who spent most of his time between his bed and his sofa, a man who can't see the changing world, a man without resilience. 

I changed my mind.

Gustav von Aschenbach followed, an old composer without inspiration, traveling to Venice and falling in love for the young and ethereal Tadzio in Visconti's movie inspired by Thomas Mann's novel. But the epidemic of cholera kills him without giving him a chance to talk to the objet of his fascination.

Too sad for a Monday. 

So naturally, my mind looked toward the kitchen, with the hope I will find the right idea in the pantry... Of course I did, this fruit without taste, the moonshine without bubbles, a birthday cake without guests...

Pfff, what about a pun: "Hamlet without breaking eggs".

Ok ok, forget the food.

The right subject finally came;  artists without support and institutions without shame. But Raja Feather Kelly wrote a much better long letter about "what artists really need", to be published very soon, a letter without concession.

"We believe that we cannot live in this world, and then we have a drink, and we hold on" says Oblomov.

There are days with, and days without. It's going to be all right. 

Coronarely yours,
Lucien Zayan
Director

PS. A big thought today for my French friends who are living the first day of without confinement. 


MORE UPDATES

  • Lucien Chef Ambition offers one special class this week in collaboration with FAD Market

    FRENCH MERINGUE
    Saturday, May 16 at 12pm
    Prepare your ingredients, the grocery list is here 
    The previous classes are visible on YouTube

  • Check out the movie Oblomov, directed by Nikita Mikhalkov after the novel by Ivan Goncharov (1980. (YouTube VOST English) 

  • Also Death In Venice, Directed by Luchino Visconti, after the novel by Thomas Mann (1971). (Amazon Prime) 

  • Or listen to Gustav Mahler's Symphonie No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor: IV. Adagietto Berliner Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. (Digital Concert Hall)

  • Stuck in Venice, Italy, Anne Mourier has created a fund for Artists in need and has already raised $15,000, thanks to numerous generous donator, and has supported already 30 artists. You can still donate to her fund (tax deductible).