Monday, July 20, 2009

Guestbook Over Run With Spam & A Blossom


We used to be able to afford to have an earlier web master (who we called our Amazon Warrior Princess) who delted the spam and smut entries over morning coffee. Of course she was paid, but it was a boring
irritating and frustrating task.

Because it became so difficult even with the security enabled News/Event board that Rochelle Holt monitored so effortlessly we had to completely stop it. Tonight we found in the endless spam for Chinese herbal products and mean spirited comments like "anais would laugh at you" this
entry from artist Ania.

She asks that you visit her site, of course this is the mythical Anais Nin quote that has become the most sought after quote. Sounds like her, but may be an urban legend, but it certainly is the most asked question over the years. (Commercial projects wanted to know the source so they can make a proper attribution) Even if it's apocryphal, the quote is beautiful presented! And the note cards are lovely!

If anyone finds the original source of this quote in Nin's work or Nin's speeches, let us know
and we'll buy a mug for you from the artist. You can follow her @aniaart.

Here's her post which we're finally adding to the guestbook but are sharing it with you.

Anais Nin quotes have drawn me in...I love useing her quotes with my artwork.

"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the
bud was more painful than to blossom.\\\"
That quote was perfect to describe my \\\"Blossom\\\" stillife, which depicts a life with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
http://www.zazzle.com/aniaart*
My name came before finding Anais Nin quotes!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Simone Lorenz and Bruce Cohen and Rupert Pole

Simone Lorenz and Bruce Cohen, spoke for Rupert Pole in the early
negotiations of the Anais Nin web site.
Here they are in the 1995 at Anais Nin's home in Silver Lake. Rupert Pole is on the right and they are on the left. Sharon Spencer is looking up at Simone who had compiled a beautiful edition of quotes from Anais which was at that time among the Nin fans, expected to be published soon.

Party at Silver Lake House 8/27/95: Bruce J. Cohen,Simone Marie Lorenz,Sharon Spencer, Bebe Barron, Renate Druks, Kazuko Sugisaki, Rupert Pole. (Photo by Simone Marie Lorenz, © 1995. All rights reserved.)

To read Simone's touching piece Remembering Rupert click here.

Recently we sent a couple of postcards from Valerie' Harm's generous offer (which the site has been mailing out) to Simone. we asked if it was okay to post a New Year's greeting that she and Bruce had sent out to friends on New Years. Here it is to inspire everyone today, as every day in a sense begins a new year, from that date! you begin writing your new day, new year message
in your journal.

From Simone" January 1, 2009


In my silent morning meditation, the attached reminder arose. While sharing the writing with Bruce, bright sunlight passed through the crystal hung in the window and then through the water in Bruce's drinking glass, sending dancing light and prisms of color across the page.



Delighted and in gratitude for this spontaneous display of beauty we wanted to share it with you...

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Anais Observed: On DVD At Last!




Anais Observed is On DVD .... although with a different cover than the original video.





"A 60-minute color documentary on Anais Nin. The NY Times said, "All of her fans should be sure to see this movie." And James Leo Herlihy: "Robert Snyder gives us a deeply captivating experience of the 20th Century?s greatest art form..."











You can also order the original book the film was based on and originally published by Swallow by Robert Synder (who passed away in 2004) There can't be many, so order now!






Just after Rupert Pole died, when the Lifestyle editor of the LA Times Janet Eastman was writing a piece in The LA Times on Nin's Home , in Silverlake, "Storied Past, Uncertain Future" the site lent this film (in video form) and the book with the other materials to the writer. In the story Eastman writes:



"Photographs and the 1973 documentary "Anaïs Nin Observed" by the late Robert Snyder show her posing, her hand gracefully holding her chin, at the mosaic-top dining room table alongside a bank of windows. Or sitting on an orange pillow on the coral carpet in the living room next to the glowing fireplace, her hair swept into a loose roll, lipstick perfect on her upturned smile, barefoot and wearing a scooped-neck caftan, her only accessory her diary in her hand. "


It's a Keeper.



Morning Song



On Jewel's 1995 album Pieces of You she wrote a "Morning Song" with the lyrics:

"You can be Henry Miller and I'll be Anais Nin /Except this time it will be even better/we'll stay together in the end."

This morning over morning coffee, I was thinking of this song, and realized
that not everyone knows about it...Years ago the site sent Rupert a copy of
the CD to show him how au courant Anais, ever current was still in the hearts of young artists.
Hard to believe that was almost a decade ago!


Sunday, June 07, 2009

Louveciennes Maison Up For Sale Again






"Louveciennes has always known how to hide its secrets behind thick walls..."



Le Figaro, March 12th, 1996




Nin's former home in Louveciennes is for sale...

Check out the listing link and follow the chatter on

twitter.com/anaisninblog

And from our archives, read about
the amazing young woman
Barbara Sapp's valiant effort to save the the home last century.
Many came to the site and filled out
petitions in French and English.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

We Write To Taste Life Twice

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection."Anais Nin

This is a greeting card from Paper Lantern..design is done and copyrighted @ Lindsay Whiting 1995 available from:

Paper Lantern
PO Box 1871
Boyes Hot Springs, CA 95416
707-996-0302

We are writing the company to see if we can purchase some
sets...thought others might like to know about the card...on the back is this information about Anais:

Anais Nin (1903-1977)
Born in Paris to aristocratic artist parents, Nin's early years were spent in the company of some of the finest artists of the day. In 1914, her father abandoned the family, and Nin emigrated to the U.S. with her mother. On a ship bound for N.Y., Nin began the journal that would evolve into the most acclaimed of her literary career. largely self-taught, she left school at age 15, became a fashion and artist's model and studied Spanish dance. Nin was intensely
interested in unraveling women's inner lives. she underwent psychoanalysis, and even became a lay analyst. Along with other writers, she established Siana Editions to publish her work that was thought to be too controversial for the time. Through her novels, essays and short stories, and love affairs with men and women, Nin gained her reputation as a literary artist and sexual icon. She is best known for her relentlessly introspective diaries, comprised of 11 volumes from 1914-1974.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Kindle Revolution: Hearts A Fire


Here is a photo from Amazon.com's site of someone reading from the new Kindle. The Kindle is an electronic book, which one can tell from the reader reviews (3000 plus!) is really just a slim slate (and this reader swears by hers, although she wasn't able to "buy" books in places like Guatemala, it still allowed me to read samples of the 250,000 titles they have and which I had downloaded maybe twenty samples. and of course any titles I had already purchased,The real power of the Kindle hasn't even been tapped,

like it's name, its a movement that hasn't even begun to "catch fire" but it already gives a lovely light and definitely is a super way to travel with 100 books in one's purse or briefcase!

We see, the power of the Kindle in the deals it now makes with publishers when books are requested to be available on the Kindle. The ability for publishers to put their out of print books as well as their current lists on a Kindle and access readers without incurring massive production costs.
Most Kindle titles are $9.99.

Let's start a Kindle Anais Nin revolution. Sign on to our web site and from the bookstore links, ask that the Diaries be available on a Kindle. Follow this link
to see a sample link. This may take time and dedication, but we need your help! Everyday,(particularly all you wonderful followers!) log on to the bookstore and go down the list and where it says CLICK HERE TO ORDER just click on and when you see this image of a Kindle check the link that says: Tell the Publisher! I’d like to read this book on Kindle. Let's not all start with Fire!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

15 Free Nin Postcards


Valerie Harms has been kind enough to send on a few postcards
from the Celebration weekend.
If you would like a postcard, please send a S.A.S.E. to
Anais Nin Web Site, PO Box 412 Beverly Shores, IN 46301.
Attention: MC Griffin
Or if you are overseas just send us your name and address
on a postcard! We'll send one back even if you are not in the US.
First fifteen responses will benefit from Valerie's generosity.