It is a wonderful ritual at the Villa Aurora, artists residence and former home of Lion and Marta Feuchtwanger: every year they open the door to celebrate German filmmakers nominated for Oscars.

This year we were all hoping to welcome Fatih Akin and his "In The Fade" team to wish them good luck for the Foreign Language Category. But the Academy members did not nominate the German entry. Short disappointment and sadness were followed by the insight, that we still have a lot to celebrate and plenty of German filmmakers to cross our fingers for come Oscar night. ...

Here Comes The Magic:

Hip Hop, Rap, and cotton candy

Bodypaint, accordeon

Moonlight in dark alley puddles

Smiles and hugs and dancing bodies

Tacos, ice cream, sugar cone

This night on Mar Vista sideways

None of us will be alone

LOVE Mar Vista Art Walk. 

{http://soundcloud.com/soundslikerstin/fanny-mendelssohn-in-southern-california}

I would have never thought to ever encounter the music of Fanny Mendelssohn in a Culver City home, but here I was, at Angela Thompson's house listening to the swelling piano notes in her living room with concert pianist Violeta Petrova at the piano and soprano Elif Savas singing Fanny's lieder.  I am a novice regarding classical music, but even I can tell: this woman was a musical genius. And so it is rather upsetting ...

First there is the call: your books have arrived and are ready for pick up. Then there is the walk towards the library's book shelves looking for my name. Sometimes I have forgotten what I ordered. Most of the times, I am really excited because I know what is waiting for me: a poet I want to discover, a first time female novelist I hope to learn from, a self improvement book to finally teach me how to find my real inner voice. And use it.

Today FOUR books were waiting for me! I picked up one more on the way out....

"The coyote is a teacher of hidden wisdom with a sense of humor."

"A trickster and a jokester in Native American folklore, using deception and humor to rebel against social conventions"

"Coyotes Active In This Area" warns a sign at the side of the path close to our neighborhood. I came to stretch my legs and get my blood pumping after too many hours in front of a computer.

Are coyotes cowering behind bushes watching me walk by? Are solitary animals howling from these hills at night? If the traffic noise rising from the streets below would stop, would I hear woofs and growls, huffs, barks, yelps and whines? I look around ...