A new post for the new year. I’m a such a sucker for this new year reflection crap. And it’s easy to think of all the stupid things and bad luck that top the last year. And it’s also easy to think of all the good luck and beauty. But when you want to sum it all neatly it’s hard to think of it all just sort of put together. All of it is messy. And boring too. And then it marches on like that indefinitely.
When i was here in Paris with my grandfather at about 11 or 12 years old, he took me up to Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. There are all these sketch artists who do these drawings for tourists. Some of them are caricatures, some of them are landscapes, fruit, and a lot of parisian cityscapes. At least that is what i remember from it, as i haven’t been back since i’ve been here this time. I remember the whole place depressing me a lot. I liked to draw a lot then, and i thought all these poor artists trying to sell their wares to dull tourists were the saddest lot of humanity ever. Obviously enough i hadn’t yet had a day job. When i think of it now, i don’t think them sad at all anymore. You take what you can get, and a lot of the time it’s pretty damn decent.
New Angeles Monthly, June 2008
Weekend America, March 30, 2008
Los Angeles Times, March 13, 2008
Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2008
Nil by Mouth is written by Neille Ilel. Neille is a writer, reporter and user interface specialist in Los Angeles. If you think that's a lot, she's also got a host of meandering sidelines including improv comedy, tennis, cooking, drawing and thinking about learning to play the guitar.
Nil is her given name. It's a long story.
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