beyond chairs

in, L.A., stopped at the Eames Gallery.
the three of us are particularly enamored of the Eames'. and one of us wanted to buy a gift for an Eames-obessessed someone.

Ray & Charles Eames are probably most famous, for the Eames chair. But their work in architecture & design influenced an era of design.

Molded plywood. A style light & modular. Or simply modern.
Their influence can be seen by going into EBay and typing in "eames" -- and you will pick up hits described as "eames-style" or "eames-era". From kitchenware to lamps to textile design.















The Gallery had an exhibition of Charles Eames' photos. 100 images. Of the things that inspired him. Took some more pictures-of-pictures. Something I've been having fun with. Because you get to see the photographs, through another lens.

A few more photos over on my Flickr page. Seem especially drawn to images of domesticity.

steve & oscar

the fact that I was in L.A. the same weekend of the Oscars, didn't connect with me, until our drive around Hollywood on Thursday, and K. points out that the red carpet is already set up. I turn, and there, like a huge prop standing on the street corner, is Mr. Oscar.
just like on tv.

that's the thing about L.A. Lots of it is just like TV. It is TV-land, after all. though what you'd never know from watching the Red Carpet pre-Oscar stuff, is that on the other side of the "wall" bulit for the red carpet glamour. is a pizzeria. and a tourist knick-knick shop. and a 24-hour photo. and a quick cash place.




















So we walked around the high-security maze of red carpet set-up chaos. and wandered in front of the Grauman's Chinese theater. checking to see if our feet were bigger or smaller, than the footprints of the famous.















So, as Oscar hovered above. I found Steve's signature & imprints. My hand fit nicely in his. It also fit nicely in Matt Damon's. And my feet were the same size as Henry Fonda's.

colors and bits of other cultures

We took a stroll down Olvera Street in downtown LA.

Also, we missed the Chinese Lantern Festival that afternoon. (Chinatown neighbors Olvera Street). Loved the cross-cultural decorations around the park's bandstand. Red lanterns and papel picado banners.

Papel Picado banners. First, I always want to buy one. But I don't, because, what to do with it? Second, I remember in high school art class, Mrs. O., had us make paper cuts. But I can't remember how mined looked. Or, where it went. Seems fun, to try again.

It was cool & rainy, the sun setting fast. People milled about under umbrellas. We stopped in the Plaza Church, the interior bright white with an altar-wall of gold. Despite the inside shimmer, it seemed especially somber, with dark rain falling outside. People silently praying in pews. The altar outside the church door, lined in lit candles. A serene sight in the evening dark. And busy with kneelers, even in the rain. I wanted to photograph the scene. But, felt, again that internal conflict. Whether or not it is a sign of admiration, or an act of disrespect.















The street's marketplace, lined with little shops, & a middle corridor of stands. It looked like mercados in Mexico. Night fell, and the shops & stands glowed.
















Of course, the colors caught my attention. And I left bearing little bits of Mexican art. Like big red & turquoise cloth flowers. And a pair of silver filigree earrings. With a peacock design.

Hopefully next time, I'll get to visit Chinatown too.

delicatessen & rugelach

something one misses, living in the small midwest, is the option to be able to eat at someplace, like Canter's in Los Angeles. A 24-hour jewish deli, opened in the 1920's.

A. & I spent a Friday afternoon walking about Hollywood.
(while K. was wowing at an interview for new job) we happened to
stop at Canter's. what caught our attention, simultaneously,
was the view from the front door--of a huge pastry case.
sights & smells of pastry goodness drew us in.















the possibility of eating a pink pastry box of rugelach for lunch was upon us,
until we glanced from the pastry case long enough to see that we were inside a deli. A very large one. And popular, it looked. So we sat. And narrowed-down our picks, from a jam-packed menu.
My turkey melt came on fresh-baked rye, crispy from the griddle. With melted velveeta. Caraway seeds crunched under my teeth. Our fries were golden chunks of potato. And an order of the "world-famous" pickles, were too sour for me. A. said they got better, the more of them you ate.
















Above us was a ceiling glass-tiled in fall foliage. All around us were the cafeteria sounds. Bus boys dropping plates into plastic tubs. Water glasses being restocked, clanking around. Muffled kitchen sounds. People asking waiters questions like, How's the Pastrami today?

The longer we were there, and saw the photocopied, framed magazine articles on the walls,
we understood we were sitting someplace...famous. wondered about the movie "deals" that have been made there. or scenes from movies filmed there. famous people. drinking deli coffee, and eating fries.

We ate. And sat out a heavy rain outside.
















Then we went back to the pastry case.
Ordered cinnamon rugelach, an almond horn (filled with marzipan and dipped in chocolate) and some chocolate "rolls". The russian chocolate coffee cake beckoned me, but scared me. As it was only sold by the pound. And it looked like something that might have changed my life. Down a road of dessert indulgence. The chocolate Babka was only sold in whole loaves. And I knew it would kill us with butter, if I took one back to K's apartment. (Babka has been fascinating me for awhile, I keep hoping to have an occasion to make one.)
And really, the options were so plentiful. Buttery, flaky, almond-y, chocolate-y goodness. It was overwhelming. And we left without macaroons, cream cheese rugelach, babka, coffee cake or fresh bagels. But what we left with. Made us swoon, nonetheless.

Our pink box sat on K's kitchen table all weekend. And we'd walk by, open it and pick at the goodies.

A. and I, after a weekend of eating, wondered where all the "california" cuisine was. Because nothing we ate in Los Angeles, would keep us a California-size Zero.

starting next week...

seed starting can begin.
plans for planting, have already begun.

from my notes, first the Gomphrena "Strawberry Fields"
and then, the basils. Genovese & Siam Queen. (so far)
(I'm wondering how fun it would be to also grow cinnamon basil, or lemon basil--might have to try that at mom's, since I've got limited growing space)

I simply can't wait. for the whole process to begin again.

little pots of dirt, soaking in sun on windowsills. sprouting.

butterflies found the blanket

the butterflies are getting attached.

only five-ish weeks left before I give it away.

cold nights

the sunsetting that hit my trees, from over my neighbor's house. seems like the only color nature has to give. lately. and it was so fiery brilliant.

from icy cold rains, to snow and frozen rain. our winter has succeeded in its seasonal duties. and as it lingers, we continue our exhausted wait, to see signs of Spring again.

seems like a good time to take a trip to southern California.

seeds

the seed catalog.
full of promises.
of spring & summer. of the warm sun. and wearing flip-flops. of insects buzzing.

the standard, has been Burpee. probably b/c it was always around Mom's house.

though I've begun to feel lately, that I should be a better citizen/gardener, and begin to focus on the more organic, heritage, exchange seeds. Like Seed Savers.

But a few weeks ago, when the colorful Burpee arrived. On a horridly cold day. And I ordered some of these. And they've already arrived.

("Fordhook" nasturtiums)












("State Fair" zinnias)












So many options. Basil. Rudbeckia. Cosmos. Daisies. Sweetpeas. Moonflowers. Hollyhocks. Need to get a garden plan on paper. And order more seeds.

being winter positive, as a last resort

time to not dwell so much on the dregs of winter.
















as my dear friend Q., up in Montana, has reminded me. there are good things about winter. so I've come up with a little list.
-- having reasons to drink hot chocolate or hot spicy tea
-- baking bread doesn't turn my house into an oven
--wool socks & sweaters, so cozy
--the cute factor of my nephew when all bundled up, stomping around in his little winter boots
--lots of time to read, since there is nothing to do outside
--garden planning & seed ordering
--Spring feels like a big present in the mail, when it finally arrives

Spring photo, last year, March 21 2007. (Almost there!)

more winter fell

i've run out of things to say, about,
snow.

#328

tonight, I went to a caucus. my plan to volunteer & vote, and hoped that our turnout would be good--despite the oncoming snow storm.

tonight, I stood in a room of 600 people, from my little senate district, and watched them count themselves off. starting in one corner, a person said "one" and we went around the room, through the crowd, until every person had a chance to yell the next number. I am #328.
and in the next room, went the count for the other candidates.

they expected no more than 300. They got 846. And the lines were long. And some people complained. But most people joked about how of course, no one expected such a turnout.

I didn't take a picture, I was too busy helping people get registered. But I did stand up on a chair, during the "count," I was standing, because I wanted to see each face as they yelled out a number.

I felt like I was really taking part in a Democratic process. There we all stood, each person with a voice & a vote. And in the end, despite the hours of standing & waiting, we were done, and we all cheered & applauded. Because we did it. Because like Obama says, "ordinary people can still do extraordinary things"

We are ordinary people. Ordinary people who live, and take part in, our democracy. And we did an extraordinary thing tonight. Even right here, in Kansas.

great things list #6, voting

it is a big day for Democracy. this Super Tuesday.

so tonight, I'll be voting. As a Kansan, that
means, I'll be heading to a caucus.
Where I've also volunteered to help with registration
and counting heads.

I'm actually calm today. November 4th, will likely be the day o' emotional moments.
(usually election days give me surges of choked-up emotions. because of pride, fear, thankfulness, community, hope and, the Constitution.)

because, though sometimes a flawed process, a Democracy it is still
a great process.

of the people, by the people, for the people.

february

February is a harsh month.

I think of February as a trial, we have to go through, to deserve Spring.

It feels like the worst month. The weary daylight filtered
by winter air. My skin dry & blotchy & lifelessly pale.

In the middle of it, sits this "holiday" of pink & red & candy hearts,
diamond commercials & the antique idea of romance.

But at the end of it, March shows up. With nights not always below-freezing.
Starting of little green things, to poke up from under frozen layers.

when photos came from film

so, as my friends will think to themselves, "it's about freakin' time"-- but, I finally purchased a backup hard drive. for how long it took me, you'd think I'd been contemplating buying a summer home. so, now, the next time my laptop goes black and loses my hard drive--I'll actually have it backed up.

this leads me to comment, that I've not yet put together my list of things-to-do-2008, but when I do, I think one of them will be to start archiving all of my photos taken before the digital age.

scanning these will be important. but a fun way, is to also, just take a photo of them with my camera. the true integrity of the photo is lost, but also, the photos themselves become...photos. and in a sense, a new art form. as I've been playing around with this technique, I've learned that how I represent the photo in a new photograph, changes the image. I don't suppose I'm explaining this correctly. but I'm having fun with it, regardless. (this is where my "Turkey" photos down below, came from)

the image above include two of my great-aunts, and a bushel of kids. my mother being the cutie, 2nd from the right. it was likely taken on my great-grandparent's front porch, the big old white house in town. I have two memories of that house. the glass doors opening into a living room, with a big old christmas tree. and the bright kitchen, that smelled of almonds & vanilla.

winter snow

this morning woke to a layer of new snow.
after starting a pot of coffee, swept the snow from
my front porch.
and the silence outside was huge.
everything quieted by those few inches of snow.
the snow, drifting in soft mounds. in odd shapes.

the day has long since started, and the sounds of cars
crunching on
the snowy streets, has taken over.

dug into my 1979 Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
and found Emerson's quote from The Snowstorm,
"The frolic architecture of the snow"

great things list #5, faraway places

about ten years ago, I had a trip to Turkey.
I'd gone to visit a best friend, Miss LMR. as she was living there, discovering the world by living all over it.
I arrived by Christmas and stayed through the first days of 1998.

at this point ten years ago, I was frantically writing in my journal about the smells, the colors and the sounds. words like pide, beze, merhaba, ak-deniz, lütfen & kenz-i mahfi, are all over my journal. some of the words are in LMR's handwriting. (isn't it amazing how having another person's handwriting written somewhere can make it seem like you've got a part of them with you?)
















so I've been browsing it. my journal. on my last journal entry in Istanbul I wrote, "It will be frustrating to go home and want to relive this time--with people who can only imagine & not have actually lived. I really am not so sure that I'll be ready to leave. There is so much more to do--this whole world is full of pictures."

it changed my world. that smell of roasted sesame seeds. that language so magically different from mine. the sound of the early morning drums during Ramadan. hot apple tea after a cold boat ride on the sea.

can you believe it LMR? It was ten years ago. I'll visit again. I absolutely, must.

great things list #4, Kansas

"if I went west, I think I would go to Kansas."
(Abe Lincoln, 1860)

Happy Kansas Day.
A list of some things I adore about this place.

1. bluest & biggest sky
2. tallgrass prairie
3. turkey red wheat
4. ad astra per aspera – to the stars, through adversity
5. it has been home to generations of farmers, that I call family
6. the smell of the green air, after a spring rain
7. harvest time
8. fireflies in the summertime
9. the South wind
10. huge backyards
11. Walnut Valley Festival
12. cottonwood trees
13. zwiebach
14. the Kansan spirit.
15. I get to call it my home.

(I do encourage you other Kansans, to contribute to this list)

the thing with feathers

"Hope" is the thing with feathers --
That perches in the soul --
And sings the tune without words --
And never stops - at all --

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard --
And sore must be the storm --
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm --

I've heard it in the chillest land --
And on the strangest Sea --
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of Me.

--Emily Dickinson

information age

The Library of Congress has a pilot project with Flickr. (The project is described, here) The hope is that by placing non-copyrighted images from the Library, up on Flickr, that they can actually learn more about the images. As some are missing information that would be valuable--like name of location etc...

I think it is a very clever and productive way for an "old" picture archive to be utilized by a "new" picture archive.

I did a search of the images for anything labelled Kansas. The above photo is "A church near Junction City, Kansas" -- and of course, now, I want to take a drive and see if I can find more about it.

flour, salt, yeast & honey.

and warm water.
I know that at times a bread machine would be nice. At those times I just wanted fresh bread, without all the effort.
But as I stand in my 100-yr old kitchen, at a place where other women likely stood to do the same, and knead away. Everything is peaceful. No computer, no internet and nothing buzzing or whirring. It is simply, me, making bread.

Honey Whole Wheat, like last time.

my desk is all a-fuffled

(first, may I state, hearing the words "arctic front", can't mean anything good. to anyone, truly? It seems like the whole world is just a still-life in freezing, right now)

kerfuffle (kuhr-FUHF-uhl) noun
A commotion.
[Of uncertain origin, perhaps from Scots curfuffle, from fuffle (to disorder).]

(Mostly, I like this word, because of its origin. And I plan on finding a way to bring back "fuffle")

butterflies for a blanket

snowy

happy to be inside.

happy in 2 months, winter will be gone again.

happy for fleece pullovers, wool scarves and insulated coffee mugs.

great things list #3

visiting friends, in cities I've never seen.

just purchased a ticket for "sunny" LA, in February, a perfect time to get away from the Kansas winter-weather grays.

butterflies on a blanket

fabric for the niece's first present, purchased this weekend.

butterflies in the making.

stacks of fabric. wonderful things. the colors, the prints, the combinations. I get dizzy in fabric stores.

great things list #2

oatmeal for breakfast.

i'm a person raised eating some form of cereal for breakfast. hot or cold. the importance of hot cereal to my dad, has led him to develop his own "blend" of a hot cereal combination. myself am quite happy with either Quaker Oats or McCann Irish Oats.

and though most days, breakfast for me is toast. on frosty mornings, I sometimes cook up some oats. warm, filling and just enough brown sugar for a little sweetness.

and, I hear-tell, that is is pretty good for you, too.

magic words

cat's paw
noun

1. Someone used as a tool by another.
2. A kind of knot used to connect a rope to an object.

3. A breeze that ruffles the surface of the water over a small area.

wordsmith.org

warm

the best (warmest) place in the house. while the cold winds swirl outside the windows.

pink in the drab

the annual surprise. pink blooms. the cactus began blooming right before Christmas. I realise that the plant is called a Christmas cactus, but how did it know, really?
It didn't really, it was luck.
Last year it bloomed at Thanksgiving.

anyway. nice to see some color. cause these days, Kansas is bare, grey, blustery and just plain Winter.

great things list #1

the inter-library loan service at my little hometown library. (or, any library, I suppose)

just about any book, if another library in the State has it, they'll find it, and have it sent to them, and then they call me, to let me know it is ready.

and it is free.

the long days ahead

this morning decided I simply can't get up early, because of the darkness that sticks around so long.

finally, joy of joys, managed to drink some coffee this morning. after almost a week not able to without getting queasy.

last night watched Miss Potter, mostly out of my desire to watch a period-costume-historical-british-drama, of which, I have a weakness. the movies was, only okay. RZ's heavy makeup quite bothered me. was she supposed to be ruddy-faced? I just didn't get it. and had to stop looking at her. long ago, on my trip to the UK. we stopped at her "home". the area really was one of the most lush, beautiful places I'd ever seen.

on the brit-drama note, excited to see PBS devoting four months of Sunday nights to Jane Austen.

last weekend, while ill & bored, pulled from my DVD shelf, an old favorite. Hannah and her Sisters. loved every neurotic, woody-allen, pretentious, 80's NYC, minute of it. after this movie I always want to devote myself to reading my complete e.e.cummings, all 1,000 pgs of it. while listening to jazz.

and am looking forward to one of my favorite photo sites, as though they have ended their year of mornings, they will soon begin, a year of evenings (and yes d., they did get a book deal, as you so cynically predicted)

anyway, before the book deal. a quilt for my soon-to-be-born niece. I'm thinking....butterflies.

xmas.feastival.new year's.

happy 2008.

christmases were had. my dad liked the scarf I knit him.
my nephew learned to "rip and tear", and enjoyed helping all of us do just that.
the "caribbean" colored stockpot I bought my mother, on a spontaneous it's-on-sale whim, was a bit hit.
and the "reuseable" grocery bags, which I made for my stepmother & mother--made from muslin & duckcloth, were enjoyed and I fully trust, will be used. I've grown to be quite a crank, when it comes to all those plastic bags floating around in the world.

and I happily received Last-Minute Patchwork & Quilted, as well as the Italian go-to, The Silver Spoon.

Feastival was excellent. much pumpkin bread was eaten. as well as empanadas. and many bloody marys, whiskey spritzers and coffee w/ liqueur was enjoyed. and once again, the Dutch Blitz came out. causing a lot of cursing, frantic card slapping and fun. The "christmas" holidays would mean very little any more, if it were not for Feastival. and my darling friends, who always make me laugh. and seem to think I'm funny sometimes, too.












By New Year's, I was feeling the holiday exhaustion . But, all dressed up, joined my brother and sis-in-law to go to a New Year's party. where fun was had. drinks were spilled. the new year, rung in.

I woke up the next day, with the stomach flu nastiness. and only today, am finally feeling like I can eat most things, without worry.

now, for 2008. am thinking, new job? or start a new program to get my that master's in library science that has been tempting me for so long? a trip to sunny LA to visit that mysterious city of palm trees. a new addition to the family in March. this summer, a trip up North for a birthday extravaganza. hopefully another visit to the windy City. and most definitely, more wallpaper removal, plastering, painting, & gutter repair on the house.
oh, and the ever so stressful, 2008 election.

new history.

the sugar cookie recipe I've been making since I was a girl (featured below) I'd had believed was my grandmother's. every year my grandma lorene bake these cookies. and we all look forward to snacking on them--as they are practically bite-size covered in colorful sprinkles.

I'd known that my cookies never quiet tasted like hers. but, I reasoned that I just didn't have her touch.

today, while at my mother's snowy farm kitchen, I was going through her folder of loose recipes. and I found Lorene's Sour Cream Christmas Cookies, written in grandma's hand, likely right after mom & dad were married. it is noted on the card, that this recipe came from her mother. it is not the same recipe which I'd been baking all this time.

I asked mom, so, where did this other recipe, that I've been using, come from? and she doesn't remember. but pointed out, it was probably someone's family recipe, maybe just not, ours.

Also, in the folder of recipes, is a picture of me at 11 years. with straight bangs and a few freckles.

annual bake-off

only once a year (mostly) do I take the time to make, roll, cut, bake & decorate cookies. mostly I prefer to make cookies that are easily dropped onto a sheet.

these are the sugar cookies which I've been making since I was little. my grandmother's recipe. (I should really remember to ask her where she got the recipe.) one that I thought, when little, had a bit of secret in them, since they call for a combination of milk & orange juice.

I love these cookies. Though they are now in the freezer, waiting for actual visitors, and holiday celebrations. Of course the temptation is too great, and I do pull one or two out, every day, for buttery-sugary-munching.

A batch of gingerbread cookies, (a recipe clipped out of my 12/95 issue of Sauveur--oh my, so long ago?) also now waits. For the buttery-gingery-sugary munching needs.

wintry week

our ice storm came rather ferociously. then melted away in one day.
as it melted, it sounded like rain on my roof. I stepped outside in the back, and watched in wonder, as the trees shed their ice, in pellets. and the trees simply crackled in relief. it was like watching a downpour of bits of glass. all the while, the sun was shining. glinting light everywhere.

and then, the next day. it snowed. all night long. in a hush.

and today, it will begin to melt away.

iced over

I have only a few days each year, in which I question why I love living in this big/small state.

ice storms. are definitely more pain than pretty.

here's hoping all those around me without power, get it back soon. b/c it is too cold not to have a furnace running, and a hot cup of tea in hand.

baking pumpkin

with the sub-zero temps over the weekend, it was important to warm up the kitchen with some baking. I made several loaves of pumpkin bread. a favorite of some visiting familia around christmas day. This recipe from Everyday Food I find I've relied on quite a bit, since it was first published. (Of course, I half the ginger and add cinnamon. Because I have a hard time imagining pumpkin bread w/o cinnamon.)

in other news. we are expecting a big ice storm to start tonight. here's hoping I keep my power over the next few days. as, it will be mighty cold (and no internet), if it goes.

shorty

went out to the christmas tree farm and cut my tree. the cute, young smiley guy in the Carhardt's overalls wasn't sure I'd be able to cut it on my own. but, I'd done it okay last year.

it was particularly windy. and of course, cold. but I walked around and found one just short & fat enough to fit my wants. and into my trunk for the drive home.

and now she's all dressed up in lights and stuff.

and when I walk into my house, I get a whiff of that christmas pine.

tis the season, in my house.

in my yard

Fall is Yellow.

though I do feel compelled to rake up all the leaves from the Elms, Walnut & Oak tree in my yard (compelled from an idea of "good homeownership"). I think I may skip it this year.

I raked leaves into the flowerbeds as extra winter protection. And that, was quite enough, for me.

old stars

another shot from the hometown photoproject.

am fairly sure the "stars" are functional/practical, maybe bolts of some kind? I don't fully know. But I love how they seem to be scattered about.

fall harvesting

milo waiting for harvest.

november is here.
my nephew turned two last weekend. and he had a fun & sunny Saturday, with a lot of love, attention and presents from his adoring fans.

this is a busy month for birthdays. my brother's. and many friend's--in Lawrence, KC, Portland, L.A. & Istanbul.

am collecting sewing projects for to-do over the winter months. am also trying to convince myself that more trips to the gym would be good for the mind, body & soul.

am considering adding these to the menu for the annual Feastival in December. (this ever-growing menu will definitely have to be pared down, by the time 12/26 rolls around.)

have also become recently obsessed with the idea of having these. and there are so many to choose from, I don't know if I'd ever actually decide on which to have.