Jet Set Lara: travel, decadence and the pursuit of pleasure

Completing the circle

No, I didn't forget about you. I've been exploring the world, working hard to complete the circle. Sometimes this means doing more and blogging less :-)

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;-)

You are the World

Completion, Good Reward.

The World is the final card of the Major Arcana, and as such represents saturnian energies, time, and completion.

The World card pictures a dancer in a Yoni (sometimes made of laurel leaves). The Yoni symbolizes the great Mother, the cervix through which everything is born, and also the doorway to the next life after death. It is indicative of a complete circle. Everything is finally coming together, successfully and at last. You will get that Ph.D. you've been working for years to complete, graduate at long last, marry after a long engagement, or finish that huge project. This card is not for little ends, but for big ones, important ones, ones that come with well earned cheers and acknowledgements. Your hard work, knowledge, wisdom, patience, etc, will absolutely pay-off; you've done everything right.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Seduced by Number Six

The people who have met me in real life know I never watch TV. Naturally, there is one exception: Battlestar Galactica. And yes, I admit that if the statuesque blonde Number Six was bi, I would almost certainly be a Cylon collaborator in New Caprica...

The new season starts tonight at 9/8C on the SciFi channel.

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Companion in Space

I became an avid Firefly fan after reading about the canceled TV show on the Business Summit Blog. In that entry, Teresa mentions I remind her of Inara Serra, the sci-fi show's high class courtesan (Thanks Teresa!)

Firefly was a well written, edgy and fun space western. It made it to the big screen with the release of full feature film Serenity. You can still purchase individual episodes on iTunes and Amazon.com

Enjoy the clip! Now I can go back waiting for the new season of Battlestar Galactica :)

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Memories from the desert

Some more pics from Burning Man, as promised... I called Protective Services about the child abuse depicted below ;)

The full photo album is here. Enjoy!

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

How to defeat the latest...

terrorist conspiracy aiming to give air travelers bad breath?

No toothpaste allowed in carry-on luggage? Do they really expect the bi-coastals among us to tolerate a five hour flight without brushing our teeth?

What has the world come to when I am forced to smuggle toothpaste onto a plane? Here's my how-to guide... Enjoy!

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Naughty in London

You thought I went to a meditation retreat to rest my body and spirit... Well, you were wrong!

Stay tuned!

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Perception versus Reality

Recently, a US-based women’s magazine syndicated a year old interview I gave to the UK Sunday Times. I received several dozen emails from women who are attracted to the perceived lifestyle of high-end escorts but approach the whole subject with an incredible naïveté:

(unedited text from emails I received included below)

"Lara, I'd love to learn the art of becoming a courtesan… I'm 42 yrs old, not beautiful and not educated. "

"I would like to know how to get into being a cortesan. If you would like to inform me I would be greatly indebted. Thank you so much."

I am sorry to burst your bubble. There are a handful of well known women providing high end companionship in the US and Europe at very high rates. They worked hard to achieve that status (typically several years) and made a lot of personal sacrifices along the way. The magazines don’t like to focus on the "sacrifice" part. It's not as sexy. Don’t let that fool you.

Today, for every legitimate online "modern day Courtesan", there are several dozen [otherwise smart] women chasing an illusion and setting up web sites hoping to magically attract clients willing to pay their fees. It doesn’t happen. It is sad.

The moral of the story is… Don’t try this at home!

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Reality ;)

Lara's interview in The Independent on Sunday

I recently gave an interview to one of the major British newspapers, The Independent on Sunday. The article focused on the relationship and personal aspects of being a companion. It was based on a phone conversation I had with the journalist and was unedited. I hope it will help dispel some myths about the high-end escort lifestyle.

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Jet Set Lara GQ article by Victoria Gill

The British GQ interview is on the January 2006 issue (the one with Naomi Watts) Here are some excerpts:

"GQ obtains a very private insight into the life of an international courtesan"

She's spent the past week in Mykonos indulging a buxom blonde: "I don't use the term bisexual; it's outmoded. I'm into individuals, that's all." We are preparing for dinner at the Supperclub, famous for its bed-style seating - surely the optimal way to conduct an interview with a courtesan is on her back.

Lara's willowy and kooky. She wears no make-up and dresses like a typical Upper-East-girl-cum-moneyed European.

"Some men seduce by manipulation, while others are more organic, it just flows", she explains as we drift into a blur of champagne.

She draws a combination of the curious and the seasoned playboys. All are experimentalists drawn to a high-concept offer provided by only a handful of girls across the world. "They'll always come a point in the evening when they try to impress me. One guy was, like: 'My friend Jay Leno, my buddy Colin Powell,' but it was completely out of context. Effortlessness is the most attractive demeanor in a man."

"I love intimacy. You've probably noticed, right?" I feel no need to reinforce the comment: she's been asking throughout the evening whether I'll share a bath when we get back.

Interview by Victoria Gill

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Jet Set Blog is part of the Travel Blogs Network at Blogads

Recent network headlines include:

Cockroaches? It must be Christmas! (Travel Blogs)

I, Banana (TravelBlogger.net)

"Papering" and "Dressing the House" (A Guy in New York)

CBGB's final night: Halloween 2006 (NewYorkology)

Portable ignition source roundup (Treknologies)

Halloween costume

I hesitated posting about it since the "costume" is easily recognizable... There is a catch however -- this may be my costume this weekend, or it could have been my costume from a previous year. I won't be any more specific than that ;)

And yes, although I am no golden girl, I briefly became entangled into someone's "web of sin" a while back without even realizing it. Fortunately there was no kiss of death :)

Lyrics

Goldfinger
He's the man, the man with the Midas touch
A spider's touch

Such a cold finger
Beckons you to enter his web of sin
But don't go in

Golden words he will pour in your ear
But his lies can't disguise what you fear
For a golden girl knows when he's kissed her
It's the kiss of death ...

From Mister Goldfinger
Pretty girl, beware of his heart of gold
This heart is cold

Golden words he will pour in your ear
But his lies can't disguise what you fear
For a golden girl knows when he's kissed her
It's the kiss of death ...

From Mister Goldfinger
Pretty girl, beware of his heart of gold
This heart is cold
He loves only gold
Only gold
He loves gold
He loves only gold
Only gold
He loves gold

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Emma's introduction

by Emma herself:

Lara is my closest female friend. I am a techie as well and met her several years ago during the Silicon Valley tech boom. We clicked. We started to bond because we found ourselves navigating a male dominated industry. We discovered our personalities were complementary and grew closer together. She is like a sister to me and I've been her confidante almost since the beginning of her escorting career.

We've joked about having me contribute to her blog but I was always a bit skeptical. For one, although I am attracted to adventure, I don't have Lara's lifestyle and tend to live vicariously through her. However, I decided to accept Lara's invitation to join the blog with one condition: no censorship in situations where I may appear somewhat critical of her choices :-)

I know her more human, sensitive and private side. Her emotional ups and downs. Her real world dating stories, outside of her "Lara" persona. Those are comical at times! Like her dinner date at Cru a few weeks ago with a famous NYC socialite who, unaware of her secret life, found her lacking in "drama". I told her she should interview for the CIA :-) Of course it didn't help she chose to talk about the Santa Fe Institute during their main course! Lara, you should have known better! I swear, she is such a nerd sometimes! But so am I... You can only imagine what happens every time she visits me in San Francisco!

We also do fun stuff together. Like the $250 black tie de Young gala event the other night. Or our trip to the Black Rock desert for the Burning Man festival back in 2004 where Lara tried psychedelic mushrooms for the first time (she didn't tell you that, but she didn't mind me telling you either)

Speaking of Burning Man, I filmed a giant Tesla Coil in action during Decompression, the annual post-BM event in San Francisco the other day. I wonder what happened to Dr MegaVolt. I haven't seen him around in years. His shows were always spectacular. The clip was edited by Lara and is available below as a Quicktime file.

It's kind of exciting contributing here after being a passive reader all this time. I look forward interacting with you all. Just keep in mind I am not an escort :-)

Emma.LD at gmail dot com

Monogamy humor

Believe it or not, I am monogamous when I fall in love. Well, "quasi-monogamous" would be more exact since I tend to enjoy the occasional company of female lovers :)

Anyway, this quasi-monogamous behavior happens naturally on my part, nurtured by a gradual bonding process with my partner. The last time I experienced this was about a year and a half ago.

However, I know that for some of you monogamy is impossible. Hence, I made a list of excuses you can use to justify your behavior to yourself and current or future lovers :)

Enjoy!

• I am not cheating because I always think of you when I come
• I thought monogamy meant having sex with only one person at a time!
• Sex with a condom is not cheating!
• Oral sex is not cheating!

As always, please feel free to contribute your favorites...

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Digital detox

I pretty much removed myself from the online world in the last couple of weeks. I escaped to nature to nurture my mind, body and soul. Alone. Sometimes technology becomes such an integral part of our lives that we forget it's important to take a break. My friend Ray Kurzweil would probably disagree, but more on that later.

I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the sunset!

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Balance

Permanent jet lag

There are times when I think that if my life had a title it would be "Permanent Jet Lag"

After a brief stay in NYC, I am back on the road. I will try to give you an update later this weekend. I am typing using a slow wireless connection on my Treo and it's already a nightmare uploading text, let alone images!

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Love and Sushi

I recently joked about moving to Asia in search of an ideal lover calligrapher. Turns out I’ve had several Asian lovers in my life (and that's not even counting female lovers). I am not sure if this indicates a secret attraction to Asians on my part or if Asian men are simply more persistent in pursuing me. Hmmm, maybe I'll be able to finally make sense of this – or further confuse the situation – on my next trip to Tokyo this fall. I may even attempt a brief visit to Hong Kong, Shanghai and/or Seoul. Stay tuned!

Anyway, I recently dined at Matsuri in Chelsea, on the basement of the Maritime hotel, and very much enjoyed the sushi there. Hiro's, the Japanese themed club, is right across the door if you have a taste for overpriced sake. The "other" room at Hiro's can be quite fun on certain nights btw (but definitely not on the weekends). Lovers of sake would also appreciate the selection at San Francisco's Ozumo.

At Matsuri, the space has a cavernous feel and is decorated with Japanese calligraphy-painted lanterns suspended from the ceiling. I also enjoyed the artistic presentation of the plates (the picture doesn’t do justice because of the low light conditions)

Matsuri

369 W. 16th Street (in the Maritime Hotel), New York
Tel: (212) 243-6400
Open Sunday-Wednesday, 6 PM to midnight; Thursday-Saturday, 6 PM to 1 AM

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Brief update and summer plans

I apologize for the absence. Between my regular career, my companionship activities and this blog, time is becoming an endangered species…

August promises to be exciting as I'll split my time between New York, London, Vienna and Croatia or the Greek islands. My friend Anne Marie, the now retired Educated Escort, suggested we meet in Paris for a few days. We want to visit Hammam Pacha, the Turkish Baths for women in Saint-Denis (sorry guys!)

Make sure to click on the link for pictures and articles on the French press. It looks fun! As a side note, unlike the magazine photos, the women are all naked there…

If any of you are planning trips to the above cities or countries this summer, please leave me a comment and share some of your travel secrets. Who knows, we may even bump into each other :)

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

My search for the ideal lover calligrapher continues…

Perhaps I should move to Asia? The image on the left is from one of my favorite movies, Peter Greenaway’s “The Pillow Book”, with a young, bisexual Ewan McGregor (well endowed guy btw) and Vivian Wu.

Ok, I admit I don’t really have a body calligraphy fetish, but the idea always turned me on. So I recently bought a new ink. A chocolate flavored one to be exact. Haven’t tried it yet, but the weekend is only days away…

What do you think, am I in a position to preach clean living? ;)

Quote: (McGregor) Use my body like the pages of a book. Of your book.

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Happy 4th of July & The Sunday Times interview

It's independence day weekend here in the US and as you can probably imagine I am away... I will be back on Tuesday with several new stories and wanted to wish all of you a happy, and safe, 4th of July.

In the mean time, regular readers of the blog may want to read my recent Sunday Times interview "My life as a Courtesan" (that's if you can tolerate an annoying Times ad that covers part of the page! You can get rid of it by clicking... "Close" towards the ad's upper right corner)

Quoted from the Sunday Times:

"She’s young, smart, attractive, middle class — and a call girl. Jet Set Lara gives her version of why she loves her profession, and why men pay £5,000 a day to be with her"

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Truth is stranger than fiction

Once in a while I find myself in unusual or strange situations… Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction!

I was staying at a (supposedly) trendy NYC hotel the other day, sharing the bed with Emily, a friend from Scandinavia who works as a model in London.

There is a romantic component to our relationship but we only get to see each other about once a month. As you can imagine, our encounters are quite passionate and we tend to stay naked in the room…

The hotel’s CD selection was awful, elevator music meets soft porn soundtrack. I wanted to use my iPod but lacked a base station or appropriate cable to connect to the room’s Bose entertainment system.

My partner suggested I call the front desk. To my surprise, the hotel had Bose iPod stations for use by the hotel’s guests.

Within five minutes someone knocked on our door. I joked I was going to open the door naked. My partner went “Yeah, right!”

Well, I was in a playful mood that evening and much to my own surprise I did exactly what I said I was going to do...

The following is the conversation that ensued between the hotel employee (let’s call him Max), Emily and me, as best as I can recollect it.

Decadence and challenge

Something I recently read elsewhere triggered a memory and I decided to share the following story with the readers of the blog.

A while back, I was offered by a very special someone to accompany him as a couple to an island resort that had a selection of Eastern European girls. The setting was a villa, a pool, and several young, beautiful women. He told me it used to be a popular destination for Wall St. types during the stock market bubble and most of the girls actually enjoyed working there. It was supposed to be a gift to me since he already knew I appreciate other attractive women. Just don't ask me how he knew that ;-)

I didn't go. I was turned off by the whole idea. Not because of some moral or exploitation reason, but because there was no challenge. The notion that girls I knew nothing about, had never seen, or communicated with, were ready and willing to please us in all sorts of ways was a complete turn off to me. The whole thing was just too easy.

It didn't occur to me until much later that most of the individuals I've met through this site actually share a similar "challenge" philosophy and mindset. This incident helped me gain a unique perspective into that mindset.

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure (TM) ;)

"One of these lives has a future, and one of them does not"

Four cities in four days? I must be losing my mind... No wonder I haven't kept up with the blog. And the experiences were rather unique so I can't really talk about them in detail. Having met for the first time ever some porn stars in LA, I flew to an undisclosed location to meet with foreign investors about a venture I am involved in. I then joined a female friend for another decadent evening before returning to reality. Only I am not quite here yet.

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure (TM) ;)

Emergence

At the risk of appearing like a total geek, I admit I've always been fascinated by the concept of emergence:

Emergence refers to the appearance of higher-level properties and behaviors of a system that while obviously originating from the collective dynamics of that system's components -are neither to be found in nor are directly deducable from the lower-level properties of that system. Emergent properties are properties of the "whole" that are not possessed by any of the individual parts making up that whole. An individual line of computer code, for example, cannot calculate a spreadsheet; an air molecule is not a tornado; and a neuron is not conscious. Emergent behaviors are typically novel and unanticipated.

This is precisely where my life is right now. In a permanent state of flux with components that appear simple, like this blog. Yet this is only a transient state, and I don't have a clear idea where it's all leading me. I am questioning everything. What this probably means is that I am on the verge of more exploration and exciting new beginnings. My life has always been a giant experiment anyway. What's next? New relationships? New sexual experiences? A little more (or a lot more!) Jet Set Lara decadence? A renewed focus and dedication on my non-companionship career? A return to my entrepreneurial roots? Some hybrid of the above? These are interesting times indeed.

And I promise I will share them with you...

Until then, the geeks among you can click on the image on the left that shows a system of diverse agents (illustration A), richly connected (illustration B), giving rise to an emergent patern (illustration C), feeding back down to the system (illustration D)

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure (TM) ;)

San Francisco and NYC update

I was back in San Francisco for the weekend and attended the Eco-Chic Fashion Show & closing party for World Environment Day 2005. The event was fun with lots of beautiful people, San Francisco socialites, celebrities and cool young designers. I even saw one of the Google billionaires there, Sergey, who is very grounded despite his achievements btw.

  I am sad I didn't get the chance to visit the Nomadic museum exhibition in NYC. It only goes until the 6th of June and I won't be back to New York for several days...

Nomadic Museum (New York Metro)

Long line for final days at the Nomadic Museum (NewYorkology.com)

Lara

Introducing guest contributors and Sigmund Fuller

As part of the evolution of this blog towards bigger and better things I decided to start opening up Jet Set Blog to a handful of outside contributors. Some of them are friends, others are lovers. Their experiences and backgrounds are radically different: entrepreneurs, journalists, bloggers, authors and international playboys.

Sigmund Fuller, or Sig for short, is a "homeless" entrepreneur who maintains an autobiographical blog on "Opinions and Adventures on Sex and Relationships". Destiny brought us together a while back and although we now live in different continents, I will be publishing some of his posts here (with his permission of course!) as well as some fresh contributions.

Stay tuned!

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;) (TM)

Bad influence

I was on a flight from Los Angeles to New York the other day after stopping to see some friends in Malibu. I was flying coach and was sitting next to a beautiful young woman from Indonesia (let's call her Cyndi, a name as indonesian as grilled cheese.) Turns out she was visiting Columbia University and it was going to be her second time in New York. She was going to stay at a friend's place.

She looked pretty innocent and I enjoyed talking to her. Shortly before we landed, I casually asked her:

"I have a driver waiting at JFK and the cab ride to Manhattan is more than $50 nowadays, why don't you take the limo with me and save some money? Everything is already prepaid anyway"

Causing trouble in New York...

What happens when a 5'9" brunette (Jet Set Lara) and a 5'10" blonde (Fiona) have a girls' night out in NYC?

It was supposed to be a quiet night. We were going to meet for a drink. Or two. An evening to talk, relax and get to know each other. Fiona is a NYC-based companion and although we had talked on the phone extensively, we had never met in person. We are both very private individuals and didn't really know what to expect...

Wow! We were quite a team together... Although we are kind of shy we had this influence on each other that encouraged our wild side.

The "quiet" night started with drinks and appetizers at the Spice Market in the Meatpacking district (403 W 13th St), where we enjoyed the Southeast Asian treats of Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Gray Kunz.

After a few drinks we started hitting all the trendy lounges without having to wait in line or pay for entrance. Drinks and champagne were sent to us from tables on the other side of room...

A phone call from a friend made us head over to Aer Lounge (409 W 13th St) for the Harvard-Yale Polo Cup afterparty. The crowd was clearly several drinks ahead of us due to the (earlier) Charity event in Greenwich, Connecticut.

We then headed to Cain (544 W 27th St), the South Africa inspired nightclub of Jamie Mulholland. I enjoyed the decor and took a couple of pictures for the blog, including the zebra skin under the bar and the stuffed antelope head above the DJ.

The scary thing is we were not even especially wild, and didn't really plan anything in advance, so you have to wonder what a well-planned sequel will look like...

On the other hand, maybe we'll opt for a Chelsea art gallery tour next time :) Or end-up afterhours in the steam room on the basement of the Trump ;)

Lara

Thinking back: fantasies and reality

I have always translated my fantasies into reality although sometimes that's easier said than done. My recent post about the mile-high club induced a memory flashback.

A few years ago, before my "Lara" days, I was on a transatlantic flight from JFK to London. I was seating next to a very handsome young man from Italy (maybe he was 21, but I doubt it). He was traveling with his father heading back to Milan. He only spoke basic english, but we started chatting and I was subtly flirting with him. Transatlantic flights bore me to death and I found our interaction entertaining, at least for a little while. At some point during the flight I observed that the aircraft had an unusually large bathroom, maybe 2-3 times the size of regular airplane bathrooms.

When I returned to my seat, I noticed that the young man's father was temporarily gone. I took the opportunity to write a little note to my Italian friend:

Do you know what the mile-high club is? Would you like to join?

I managed to overcome my shyness and gave him the note. He read it and was clearly confused. Turns out he didn't know what the mile-high club was. I refused to explain. But he kept the note. I've always wondered what he thought once he went back to Italy and discovered its meaning...

Lara

Playing with roses

Regular readers know that this blog does not contain any adult content. The site is safe enough to browse from work and tends to focus on travel, various aspects of epicurean life as well as some autobiographical stories.

Nevertheless, talking about pleasure on last week's "The Homeless clients" post, reminded me of a sensual experience I had not so long ago in a city far, far away... It's a true story, although I've changed some minor details.

I've always loved roses, particularly the dark red ones. I love it when a client orders a bouquet of roses and leaves a nice note inside the limo when the driver comes to pick me up from the airport. However, this is not what this post is about.

The homeless clients

For obvious reasons, I never talk about specific clients on my blog. However, I can share with you general information about the types of men I encounter and travel with. Particularly when their profile defies conventional norms.

It may shock you to discover that about a third of my clients are essentially homeless. That's right! They don't have a stable residence. No girlfriend or wife either. They roam around the country and the globe for business accumulating large amounts of wealth in the process. They are in their 30s to early 40s and are highly intelligent, driven and successful. Women are attracted to them but very few can actually handle their lifestyle. We become lovers and friends, respecting each other's independence in the process.

They keep my cell number handy although most of them are addicted to their Crackberries and Treos. We spend a fair amount of time together. And they are safe to be with. You won't fall in love with them because they'll never fall in love with you!

Occasionally we may plot intricate hedonistic adventures together. A porn fantasy would bore us to death and the mile-high club is clearly overrated. But an incredible evening, with some of the best sushi you ever had, culminating in an intense erotic encounter next to a larger than life shark tank? I don't know if I am the one corrupting my clients or if they are corrupting me... It's probably both :)

Am I a hedonist? Maybe. But only on occasion. That's the beauty of it :) And that's why I never become jaded. This blog may be about the pursuit of pleasure but pleasure and moderation are much more synergistic than you would like to think... You just need to know when to let go and when to come back.

Lara

Interlude

Regular readers know that I don't often talk about myself on this blog. I decided to bend the rules a little bit this time…

While browsing people’s profiles on dating sites, you often come across the question: “Which celebrity do you resemble the most?”

I always found it to be a particularly stupid question. I mean how often do you actually encounter people walking down the street that look like movie stars?

Time to make another confession...

I've been familiar with the work of Andrew Blake for many years and always appreciated it for its high degree of eroticism, shameless hedonism and sensuality. I recently finally ordered one of his DVDs, HardEdge, and although a bit too fetishistic at times for my taste, I loved it... And he always picks amazing locations for his films! Most of HardEdge was filmed at an old mansion in Paris.

I believe sometime in the near future he will be widely accepted to represent for erotic cinematography what Helmut Newton represented for photography.

I have no affiliation with Andrew Blake and do not benefit from his work.

Lara

Lara's update

I apologize for the delay in posting. My life is always in flux as usual!

The short story is that in the coming days and weeks I plan to deemphasize my web site, leaving perhaps only a brief bio for the curious blog fans among you, and focus exclusively on this blog.

Lara

Imported comments from my old livejournal blog:

From: (Anonymous) Date: October 24th, 2004 - 08:27 pm
Flu, Flux, and Fluttering heart

I've enjoyed reading your blog and am glad to hear you are well again. I look forward to continue reading about your travels and adventures even as you omit all the salacious details. They are hardly missed as you are an observant and knowledgeable travel guide. What is your favorite place to stay in Las Vegas? Maybe you can do for our other appetite what M.F.K. Fisher did for cookbooks.

Steve

From: Jet Set Lara;  Date: October 27th, 2004 - 08:32 am
Re: Flu, Flux, and Fluttering heart

Hi Steve,

You can't go wrong with the Venitian and the Bellagio in Vegas. For a more low-key affair there is always the Four Seasons.

From: (Anonymous) Date: October 25th, 2004 - 03:47 pm

Are you saying us farewell? In any case let me thank you for your posts. Mi dispiacerebbe perderti. Ciao Lara.
Carlo

From: Jet Set Lara;  Date: October 25th, 2004 - 06:35 pm

Don't worry Carlo, this blog is not going anywhere! I plan to continue posting 2-3 times a week as usual.

Staying warm in bed...

I managed to catch the flu and have been staying home, drinking lots of fluids, doing some reading and watching DVDs. Besides, with the current weather in San Francisco, you wouldn't want to go out, believe me! I wanted to publicly thank the persons who sent me Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1961) as well as Bunuel's Belle de Jour (1968), which was another movie I always wanted to own.

But maybe this whole flu thing is a product of my imagination since according to our Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson "The flu season is not here" (NYT Oct 19th). Thanks Tommy, now how about a kiss?

Lara

Imported comments from my old livejournal blog:

From: sigmundfuller Date: October 23rd, 2004 - 09:02 am
Get well soon !!!

Extravagant lifestyle vs reality

When I decided to start publishing this online journal of personal adventures, opinions and interests, I did it for purely selfish reasons. Sharing aspects of my life with the blog community helped me maintain my sanity, particularly since I lead somewhat of a double life.

However, I don't want this blog, and consequently my image, to become a caricature so it's time to put some things into perspective. The reality is that despite the occasional decadent experiences, I lead a fairly regular life. I don't drive a fancy car, I don't have a huge walk-in closet filled with Gucci and Missoni, no flashy jewelry, and my place is relatively humble. In fact, I tend to have a somewhat utilitarian approach to shopping. My wardrobe is mostly classical in style and I've never closely followed the seasonal trends in pret-a-porter. But I do have a weakness for high heels and fancy lingerie (this shouldn't come to you as a surprise).

Admittedly, I also like to be spoiled in 5-star hotels, but my preference is for those that are somewhat understated. Less is more. Just like the occasional multi-course fine dinning experience where you don't want to be constantly reminded that a small team of staff is looking over your shoulder.

In New York and London, I've been in situations where I found a private driver very convenient for theater, nightlife, restaurants and shopping, although I requested a car that was low-profile. Paradoxically, I also use the subway.

In most situations, I do not like shamelessly projecting wealth (mine or other people's). Of course sometimes this is not feasible, like when you find yourself cruising on a luxury yacht. Don't get me wrong, occasional decadence can be a lot of fun as long as it's just that: occasional.

Bottom line:

I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy being pampered. But I don't want to necessarily show the world I am being pampered. It's the difference between directly appreciating an experience in its raw form vs deriving pleasure from projecting status. I've never been a fan of the later. I don't know if this makes any sense. I hope it does! I might revisit the subject on a future post.

Lara

A peak into an upcoming film list

I received several emails from film lovers when I posted the Film Festival entry on my blog a couple of weeks ago. As a result, I decided to share some of my favorite movies, as well as the ones I would like to watch in the near future, in the form of an Amazon.com wish list. I will be updating it periodically, but you'll already find titles by Bunuel, Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Wim Wenders and Ridley Scott among others. This is by no means a complete list, but I didn't want to carpet bomb you with 100 titles!

Anyway, time to go to bed since I finally came back from LA and Malibu after a long and adventurous weekend. Maybe I'll write about it on an upcoming post.

Lara

From Lara's mailbox - "How do I get your job?"

I receive several emails from women along the lines of "How do I get your job?", "Can you help me?", etc

While I am flattered that people whom I've never met in real life are asking me for advice, unfortunately I can't be of much help.

There are several reasons for this and they are universal, to a large extent, among many high-end companions, online or offline:

• I am not an agency
• I "created" my own job and followed a very unique path to where I am today
• As much as I would like to think otherwise, luck had a lot to do with it
• I do not want to be held legally liable or morally responsible for anyone else's choices or actions

Some of these issues have already been discussed in other blogs, including Belle's and Olympia's, so I won't bore the readers with further details.

Having said that, I always welcome a friendly note, even though I might not always be able to respond.

Lara

My Asia fetish

I know it's probably not very original, but I admit it, I have an Asia fetish.

Something about the culture, history, the people, architecture and food (sushi being one of my favorites). I can't really remember where or when my fascination started, but unfortunately I don't get to experience the continent as much as I would like to.

Anyway, I was recently reading (on the Wall St Journal of all places) about the Japanese ryokan (traditional inns) that are starting to be a little more open to foreigners nowadays. Some of them even added an English-speaking person or two to help foreign guests navigate the sometimes odd customs. There is a whole communal bath protocol for example.

I was already somewhat familiar with a couple of ryokan in northern Japanese hot springs, but an excellent place to learn everything you need to know is the web site of Jeff Aasgaard, Japanese Guest Houses.

As always, feel free to share your personal experiences by leaving me a comment. I really appreciate it, as do the rest of the readers of the site.

Lara

About this blog

You might have noticed that I never talk about my clients. Neither am I revealing too much about travel specifics. In fact, there are several adventures that never make it into the blog because they are unique enough to be potentially correlated to our real-life identities. I also consider the private portion of our interaction to be somewhat sacred and not appropriate for public disclosure.

There are some basic rules of thumb in regards to clients, my adventures and this blog:

• We respect each other's privacy and I never include details that could endanger it
• I always ask for permission before posting
• Common sense

Finally, I apologize for the occasional typos and mistakes since I don't always have time to proof read my posts. I have a pretty full day as is, struggling to maintain a professional career in spite of all the distractions of a companion's lifestyle. Those of you who have read my bio also know that I am more the geeky type than the literary kind, a girl that preferred math, partly because I was usually too lazy to read entire books (I guess I suffer from somewhat of a short attention span...) Interestingly, when I did read, I often chose non-fiction.

So what am I currently reading? Full Circle: A South American Journey by Luis Sepulveda.

Lara

Imported comments from my old livejournal blog:

From: ck23 Date: September 17th, 2004 - 08:06 pm
to tell or not to tell

sometimes what we don't say makes things more interesting, what we don't reveal. which is why overly open people or groups can be tiresome or annoying. less interesting. and most businesses have some level of confidentiality, it goes with the territory. yours just has more of a spy-level, which is cool. or a swiss banker.

typos shmypos. I just started reading Mann's Dr Faustus again. Great but slows a bit at times. Have you seen the Black Rider? A bunch of us are going in Oct. I think.

From: (Anonymous) Date: September 19th, 2004 - 11:36 pm
Lara: Refined Swiss Banker

Swiss Banker is a most appropriate description of Lara's secrecy.  And it does add to the intrigue.

I myself almost never read fiction. I am currently reading a book on quantum mechanics as I need to perform some calculations regarding the wave function of superpositions which I do not yet know how to perform.

I am also reading The Emotional Life of Nations on recommendation of a friend. It's thesis is fascinating. After watching Pi (the Greek letter) last night I am wondering if the same analysis of assasinations and wars can be applied to the stock market with similar success.

Michael

Fashion and accessories

Agent Provocateur, the now notorious British lingerie line (and I thought the Brits were prudes!). Visit their London store on 6 Broadwick Street if you get the chance...

Coco de Mer, 23 Monmouth St., London, UK. Very exclusive erotic shop with handmade lingerie designs + (44) 207836 8882

Wolford, luxury hosiery company from Austria founded in 1950. Photographed by Helmut Newton in 1997. According to the New York Times, a Newton image for Wolford tights had to be removed from a Times Square billboard in 1998 because of the danger it posed to boggling pedestrians stepping into the street...

Unfortunately, since I posted this, Helmut Newton was killed in a car crash outside Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. If you are interested in his oeuvre, often fetishistic in its representation of women in high heels, you might want to check out Helmut Newton's SUMO.