forlorn ghosts

i was cruising around with a new-ish friend the other day and flipped a u-turn mid-street and mid-sentence and explained that i needed to pick up chairs off the side of the road. that it was just a thing i needed to do and that these particular chairs looked like philipe starck 'louis ghost' knock-offs and that i loved designer knock-offs in this way that's definitely wrong for someone who is so dedicated to the handmade object to love designer knock-offs, but i just do. so i grabbed the filthy road side chairs, tossed them in the back of the wagon, and he didn't bat an eyelash, bless his little heart, and off we went.

later i got home, dragged said dirty chairs in the house and started to wipe the pond scum off of them, and much to my surprise, there was the 'kartell' stamp. they are the real deal!

my garbage picking luck even amazes me sometimes!

change is in the air

it's true. thick and swampy change, just dangling there off tail ends of the oxygen molecules (although in san francisco, it might very well be tangled up somewhere between the hydrogen and oxygen).

it feels good. nervous and a little frantic, but GOOD.

anyone who spends any time with me at all knows how enthusiastic i am about the coming of the rain. it's time for new growth, winter crops, big steps, hunkering down, brainstorming, making, appreciating what you have, shedding and amending. embracing change. i love this time of year when the rains come. love love love it.

i've already started my new years resolutions, and i am feeling dedicated. i've also started a list of things accomplish by new years and these lists are equally lofty my friends, but i am feeling perseverant and motivated, and well, willing to accept a 50% success rate on both, which i suppose means i'm feeling realistic in my idealism.

ah. well, not to get you all pumped up and then split, but it's my day off and i'm on my second cup of british breakfast, so i've got to be on the move. maybe more later, maybe not. no unsure promises... maybe i should add that to my resolution list?

antics of my soothsaying clock radio

i have this warped idea that the song that i wake up to when my clock radio goes off in the morning has something to say about my life or my day. it's really too much power to give to a clock radio, i admit, but it has been eerily accurate on more than one occasion, so i give it a little credit when it's due.

this morning i woke up to "i still haven't found what I'm looking for" a la U2. i hit the snooze. i woke again to fleetwood mac's 'landslide', and if that wasn't bad enough in general it was the "i'm getting older too" line that fuzzed in as the radio clicked on. It could have only been better if "can i handle the seasons of my life?" was creeping through the static.

geez louise.

the choke cometh

we planted two artichoke plants this summer, but only one made it to flowering (they're slow poke perennials that die back and then gather speed in the second and third year). It did get two flowers, one of which we tried to eat even thought the ants had been aphid farming on it the whole time it was growing. It was totally inedible, so we let the second go all the way to flower, and it's just been opening up this week. bizarre and magnificent!

hi again.

alright. i know the last time i said i'd be here with more regularity, i up and disappeared entirely, but i'm back now. no promises this time for how much or how long, but here i am. thanks in big heaping handfuls to my inspiring friend, chantal, who recently dug up and brushed off her own blog, writerly ways, and my lovely greggie b., who's been holding it down and keeping it real at mr. bartlett this whole time. who knows where i'd be without such brilliant and creative folks swiftly kicking me in the butt at every turn. thanks guys. love love love.

like woah.

i know it's been a million years. and i have no good excuses. or too many good excuses to narrow it down. i'll get back to you. maybe. probably not.

le sigh.

i'll spare you all the lengthy and gritty details and just give you a photo montage update. without further ado:


made mushroom miso dill gravy. ate it all. with toast.


drove down the coast to swanton berry farm (organic and union!) to pick strawberries. made honey sweetened, agar thickened jam. still need to send jam to mom and dad.


made a little cat bed out of a thrift store suitcase which i painted the inside, and popped in a thrift store pillow. i think the whole thing cost $3.69. Usually the cats are resistant to anything that's intended for them, but this was a success. I ended up making a second one out of a wicker picnic basket because pickle is bad at sharing (we're working on it).


made purple potates. nothing special but they sure are pretty.


garden update #1. brussel sprouts, trichogamma wasps, zucchini and artichoke.


flew out to brooklyn to visit an old friend. ate lots of cheese. slept on the roof.


visited another friend who is working at bobolink dairy farm in north jersey. got very dirty. pigs, schleping boots, pistachios and beer on the porch.


more from the farm. some burned up bread from a sourdough starter that my friend made, the picnic table and the milking barn, cheese in the making.


drove down to havre de grace, md to see my good friend jason kalogiros's totally amazing show at harford community college.


headed down to the jersey shore to spend some time with the cutest little muffin baby in the entire world (who just happens to be my niece, but that's purely coincidental) and the most wonderful sleepy head dog. oh right, and the fam was there too (just kidding guys, you know i love you).


had an extra long flight, so some time to regroup and re-evauate. came home to my cat cuddle puddle.


garden update #2. more brussel sprouts, new tomatoes, plums.


started horticulture class at city college. they have an amazing garden that we work in and harvest from, so there are a lot of bonus treats that we get to take home from class. yum.


drove down the coast again to the other swanton berry farm location for olallieberries. put more in my belly then in the box. will probably go back soon because the season is short and the berries are so so so good.

think that's it for now. I'm finished traveling and back on track and will be posting with more regularity, i swear it.

art show catch-up

I've been to a handful of art shows recently and am majorly slacking on posting about it, so I'm going to do a quick and dirty run through of a couple of highlights (although I think most if not all of these shows are over now! Sorry!)

I caught the tail end of the Monica Canilao and Swoon show entitled Feral at The Luggage Store which was totally amazing and quite inspirational. I'll just post the pics and shut my yap because it was SO full of SUCH amazing stuff, I wouldn't even know where to begin to talk about it.













That same day we rode our little bicycles over to get another quick peek at the Ruth Laskey show entitled 7 weavings at Ratio 3. I know, I know, I've already talked about this show but I love Ruth's work and now I have a couple pictures (albeit out of focus) of the actual show and some close-ups of her amazing weavings. Plus, you know I love the floor at Ratio 3.











Then just last week was the CCA graduate exhibition, which I forgot to take pictures at, but I did help my friend Jason Kalogiros hang his photos the night before, so I have a couple (fuzzy) shots of his work being installed, and his sweetheart Maggie Preston's work. The whole show was pretty good although I have my gripes about cramming everyone into that awkward space along with the baccalaureate exhibition. I think they could come up with a better plan and that gives a little bit more respect and breathing room to everyone's hard work. But don't get me started with my griping...


Jason Kalogiros


Jason Kalogiros


Jason Kalogiros


Maggie Preston


Maggie Preston