oakened as she grew

oakened, revisited

2010-05-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

hello there, i have moved. come see me at oakened.tumblr.com

oh yeah,

2010-02-04T18:45:00.000-08:00

hey, guys, i forgot to tell you about something important that happened to me yesterday that will now be known as THE WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME.

joe, clementine and i were on a walk. usually, on our walks, we get to the park near our house that is attached to an elementary school. when we get there, i find a stick, we let the little monster off her leash and we run around and play fetch. so, we get there, and sticking out of this snowbank is a great looking stick. i grab it with my gloved hand and start to pull and it sticks a little bit more than i expect. i pull harder, thinking, for a split second, that it must be part of some roots or something from the looks of it WHEN I REALIZE IT IS A DEAD AND FROZEN SOLID SQUIRREL. then, joe laughed at me.

uh-huh.

you told me again...

2010-01-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

i know, i know, i'm a bit late on the bandwagon. but mad men? in love.

tucker has the second season and with the rate that i'm watching this first season, we'll be starting it next week. can't wait.

this year i...

2009-12-19T08:48:00.000-08:00

.fell in love.
.went to duluth.
.went to st. louis.
.was promoted.
.bought a house.
.watched my sister marry.
.adopted the sweetest of mexican puppies.
.cooked a duck.
.bought my first NEW bike since middle school.
.ruled at ping pong.
.said yes.
.went to mexico.
.cooked a rabbit.
.read 29 books (for shame - must do better).

(inspired by S A M)

swoon

2009-12-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

so, if anyone has a lot of money to throw around and wants to buy me a present, they should visit this woman's site. the plum coat or the normanville in red would do nicely.

xoxo

a bit more -

2009-12-10T07:58:00.000-08:00

joe and i bought a christmas tree - it's aluminum and beautiful and needs to be put up this weekend. does anyone know where one can find awesome vintage ornaments (i'm really only interested in bulbs and an amazing star topper ((maybe midcentury modern))) for a respectable price?

i'm loving this man's photography right now. beautiful (and beautiful subjects).

puny (joe) and zeus jones (sj) have joined forces for a good cause - support it.

the other night i dreamt that i was in an infomercial for mascara and then, the next day, i went out and bought some new stuff - somehow my dreams are marketing to me. the final marketing frontier.

i just finished All the Pretty Horses. loved it. it deserves a blogpost of its own, but i'm busy and lazy all at once right now and can't bring myself to do it. maybe after bookclub next week...

two days ago, we celebrated the birthday of my absolute favorite lady and i made the best cake i've ever made. just saying.

VIII [john dos passos]

2009-12-07T06:31:00.001-08:00

A brown net of branches
quivers above silver trunks of planes.
Here and there
a late leaf flutters
its faint death-rattle in the wind.
Beyond, the sky burns fervid rose
like red wine held against the sun.

Schoolboys are playing in the square
dodging among the silver tree-trunks
collars gleam and white knees
as they romp shrilly.
Lamps bloom out one by one
like jessamine, yellow and small.
At the far end a church's dome
flat deep purple cuts the sky.

Schoolboys are romping in the square
in and out among the silver tree-trunks
out of the smoked rose shadows
through the timid yellow lamplight...
Socks slip down
fingermarks smudge white collars;
they run and tussle in the shadows
kicking the gravel with muddied boots
with cheeks flushed hotter than the sky
eyes brighter than the street-lamps
with fingers tingling and breath fast:
banqueters early drunken
on the fierce cold wine of the dead year.

a platter of figs

2009-11-23T19:36:00.000-08:00

i first ran into david tanis's A Platter of Figs sometime early this past summer at sarah's house. i had shown up characteristically early for book club and we were lazing in her screen porch eating some delicious cheese and drinking our red wine out of chipped tea cups - both of which are oft occurrences at her lovely apartment. i started paging through her copy and was immediately captured by the beautiful photography throughout. i read a page or two and decided i must have it, if not for the actual recipes (which i hadn't yet delved into), then for the lush food photos. it is a foodie's coffee table book.

while i've now owned my own copy for several months and scoured every recipe, i've been intimidated by his beautifully simple menus. i can't really say why - maybe it is the many ingredients i've not worked with before or maybe it is just knowing the skill with which they were carried out the first time and penned into this book. however, i finally got over the hump and made (part of) a menu. both the oven roasted rabbit and the parsnips from were served this past saturday to the fantastic mike and mali. and let me tell you, that rabbit was most certainly the most delicious thing that i have ever made in my entire life. perfectly tender and popping with the herbs and bacon. delicious. i urge you to try it - will even give you the recipe if you ask nicely.

also, in the middle of making some maple butter. have i mentioned that fall foods are my favorite?

updates: or, i'm a bad blogger

2009-11-16T06:35:00.000-08:00

sorry, blogging fell to the end of my to-do list for a moment there.

went to mexico, had wonderful time even though the hurricane missed us after so many days of rain and warnings. coconut ice cream topped with kahlua is a new guilty pleasure.

it's a bit late to invite, but we're reading Lark & Termite this month for book club. next month is already chosen and it is All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. apparently it is "less bleak" than some of his novels. however, if you've read back a ways in my blog, you'll know i like his bleak very much. if you have any interest in joining us for december's book, let me know - i'll get you on our book club email list in which we debate days and next book.

this weekend was a lot of family time. joe and i went to my parents house (with clementine in tow) early on saturday. the boys cut down seven or eight trees and we stacked the firewood. then, my parents, joe and myself (sisters and their men too squeamish), slaughtered our five chickens and rooster. i am seeing pot pies and dumplings in the near future.

i'll leave you with some pretty things from etsy - christmas shopping has begun and i'm going to try and buy homemade whenever possible this year. these are a few of my favorite things.

Bitter Yuck or, Lauren needs to learn to keep things out of her mouth

2009-10-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

so, clementine, when frustrated, has taken to chewing on the corners of things. specifically, my wonderful arm chair and the carpeted stairs. to curb this, we invested in a product called Bitter Yuck.

while spraying it on the chair, i decided that i should probably taste it - just to see if it was actually going to repel a small, crazed puppy. WORST DECISION OF MY LIFE.

now, i don't claim to be the brightest bulb always, but really? i just had to taste something that has both bitter and yuck right in its name? several gulps of milk, cranberry juice, whiskey and a final gargle with listerine and i still dealt with that taste in my mouth for the rest of the night. i'm fairly certain that clementine will not be making the same mistake anytime soon.

also, go to the soap factory's haunted basement. my sister cried and forgot how to read. i'm serious.

awww

2009-10-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

this is me at my absolute happiest thanks to an incredible man that has decided to hold on to me forever.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree [WB Yeats]

2009-09-25T08:02:00.000-07:00

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

wishlist

2009-09-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

a person or two have asked what i'd like for my 26th.

here is a short list:
earrings
plants for tiny to dig up
art
reading material

while this indian summer has been charming, i'm ready for fall. i'm ready for raking leaves, brandy and hot cider, trips to the apple orchard, bonfires, and a hayride.

does anyone know of a good hayride? ideally, one where i can have a thermos of said brandy and cider?

also,

2009-09-04T08:55:00.001-07:00

reading The Dud Avocado by elaine dundy and thoroughly enjoying it.

have any suggestions for september's book club?

oh, the domestication.

2009-09-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

this blog has been obsessing me.

weekend plans:
knit sweater
plant daffodils
make english muffins
patch pants
make jalapeno jelly with mom
state fair
see movie with joe
walk puppy

yes, i'm obsessed with a storage blog and my weekend plans revolve around making food and gardening. the house has me in full domestication mode. doesn't help that the tiny puppy has me/joe up at 3:30 and 6:45 for trips to the backyard/bathroom.

in which i receive plentiful updates from florida

2009-08-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

a few months ago my dad finally, after months of begging, added on unlimited text messaging to my parents' family plan. until this momentous date, my mother could not send or receive text messages. thank goodness he saw the light.

the above is one of the many photos/updates i've received from my mom in her week-long vacation with my dad in disneyworld. AMAZING.

brief book notes

2009-08-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

reading A Moveable Feast has me falling fast and hard for hemingway all over again. the man had style. (you still have time - pick up the new edition and meet with us...)

while i'm surprised by it, it looks like i haven't raved about abebooks.com enough. they have hundreds of independent booksellers looking to sell you the book you want in the edition that you want. if you've never been there, try it. quick shipping, good prices and you don't have to shop at a giant like amazon.

i think i may be intrigued enough by the synopsis that i'll have to pick up a copy of this book. those kooky canadians, they get me every time.

bars and books are reading The Dud Avocado for the coming month - while i'm not a huge fan of the huge crowd, i think i'm going to read along with them. if you're more patient than i and can wait your turn, i recommend you go - it is a great crowd and a book i've been meaning to read for some time.

BSE (best show ever)

2009-08-13T20:10:00.001-07:00

this is it - this show cannot be missed.

tucker is one of the most talented people in this life that i call a friend and it is about damn time we all get to ooh and aah over him.

meet clementine.

2009-08-13T20:05:00.001-07:00

she is the tiniest of puppies and will be moving in with us next weekend.

that makes this coming week the longest of weeks.

what!?

2009-08-07T06:49:00.000-07:00

okay, okay, i don't have many photos from the wedding.

this sums it up pretty well - i felt like cinderella all night in that dress.

for once, not food (drinks)

2009-08-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

so, i'll have some wedding photos soon - not quite yet. i promise i'll post at least a couple. it was an amazing celebration of my sister and her husband. it's wonderful to finally have a brother!

in the meantime, please fall in love with sara - i have. then, make her watermelon lime agua fresca. if you're unsure about this delicious beverage, come over - i have a pitcher in the fridge.

also, i have a new favorite tea.

uh-oh

2009-07-29T10:25:00.001-07:00

sometimes, you have no idea that the thing that you desperately need more than anything else exists until your boyfriend instant messages you a link to it mid-morning.

this would be one of those instances.

in which the server is down, printer jammed, and i cannot work.

2009-07-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

hey there, how are you? i've been scarce, i know. sorry. i'll try and be better about it.

bookclub is meeting next month - the new, revised copy of A Moveable Feast is our fare. should be an interesting conversation. meeting at the new house (!) at a date still tbd, but i'm thinking third week in august tentatively... any requests?

speaking of, the new house is wonderful. leaving everyday to come to work for eight hours is seeming like a strange punishment right now. i have boxes to unpack! books to alphabetize! how dare you make me leave!? please, please come and visit. i have been bad with the invitations and my phone keeps dying because i can't find my charger (packed in some obscure box). give me a call or text me, and know that you're very welcome as long as one of us is home.

my sister's wedding is this weekend - get ready for copious amounts of photos.

in three weekends (mid-august) we're going down to st. louis for a table and piano... want to house-sit/watch kittens?

what is new with you? let's sit in my back porch and discuss over cold drinks.

final saturday

2009-07-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

it just now dawned in me that this is the last lazy saturday afternoon i will spend in front of the boxfan reading in my fourth floor apartment. the last i'll spend in any apartment. it is the last time i have to think about what my landlord will think of this or that paint color. the last time i'll utter the words security deposit or lug my laundry down six flights of stairs. the last time that i need to worry about the music i'm playing late on a tuesday night and whether the neighbor can hear it through my walls. the last time the super will come and replace a light bulb for me.

while i'm fully ready for this next move, i'll miss it. just a little.

(okay, now that i've written that, i'm giggling about it. miss my tiny, cramped kitchen? probably not.)

less than a week. come help us unpack and have a cocktail in the backyard soon.

catch-all

2009-07-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

+joe's friend paul came in on tuesday and i've quite enjoyed getting to know him.

+ dinner at heidi's induced the most delicious food coma i've had in ages - the anise lambshank is to drool for.

+ thursday's bookclub for Ada or Ardor : A Family Chronicle was the finest yet, amazing conversation, food and company. we'll be reading A Moveable Feast [Hemingway] next - new edition out on the 20th.

+ square lake and my mother provide entertaining conversation.

+ got cryphy and may have also gotten my old job back at solera?

today, we're headed to sea salt eatery for some tacos and later in the day, we've actually been invited to barbecue three blocks from our apartment - other people live around here? we close on the house in less than two weeks and i'm starting to think of little else; i cannot wait for this small house to enter my life.

edward is ready to move, please.

2009-06-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

starry, starry night

2009-06-12T06:21:00.000-07:00

who told kimberly baker how much i liked constellations?

ADA or Ardor: A Family Chronicle [excerpt]

2009-06-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

Children of her type contrive the purest philosophies. Ada had worked out her own little system. Hardly a week had elapsed since Van's arrival when he was found worthy of being initiated in her web of wisdom. An individual's life consisted of certain classified things: "real things" which were unfrequent and priceless, simply "things" which formed the routine stuff of life; and "ghost things," also called "fogs," such as fever, toothache, dreadful disappointments, and death. Three of more things occurring at the same time formed a "tower" or, if they came in immediate succession, they made a "bridge." "Real towers" and "real bridges" were the joys of life, and when the towers came in a series, one experienced supreme rapture; it almost never happened, though. In some circumstances, in a certain light, a neutral "thing" might look or even actually become "real" or else, conversely, it might coagulate into a fetid "fog." When the joy and the joyless happened to be intermixed, simultaneously or along the ramp of duration, one was confronted with "ruined towers" and "broken bridges."

The pictorial and architectural details of her metaphysics made her nights easier than Van's, and that morning - as on most mornings - he had the sensation of returning from a much more remote and grim country than she and her sunlight had come from.

Her plump, stickily glistening lips smiled.

our house...

2009-06-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

after much looking (looking at small houses, looking at crazy, giant houses, looking at almost justright houses), we've found the house. our house. and now, i'm in such a place as i can't sleep - moving this or that in my head, repainting that room, planning our first meal there.

you guys, it's perfect. it has a big, beautiful kitchen with a giant gas stove and this counterspace that makes my heart pitter-patter. the kitchen leads directly out onto a big porch for dining and a sunny backyard for a garden. also? a rec room! it's downstairs, with a bar. we're going to get a ping pong table! and, and, and... movies projected on the garage in the back and a craft room upstairs and laundry in the basement instead of that sketchy laundromat over by butter.

we're moving mid-july. then, getting a puppy. you're already invited. it's up on garfield near 29th and johnson in NE.

cherry and orange butter cookies

2009-05-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

i know, i know - i've been a bad blogger as of late. life has been busy, mainly in that good way where you don't realize how much time has past until you look at your blog and realize there are two entries for the month and less than three times that many days left.

this weekend joe and i watched janessa's house and the keisha for her. sitting on her porch and listening to neighborhood sounds made me impatient for the house that we keep coming so close to - only to miss it by a day or a few thousand dollars.

tonight i am a bit too tired for anything real-life oriented, so instead i'm hiding in the kitchen with gatsby (he always seems to be the most affectionate when i'm covered to my elbows in cookie dough or soap suds, unable to really pet him). i bought the biggest bag of cherries they had at the grocery store and i'm now faced with creative ways of eating them. today : cookies (tomorrow : scones). The recipe is from The Sweeter Side of Amy's Breads by Amy Scherber. i made the cookies MUCH smaller (probably about a TBSP and a half) and round and then flattened them out a little by sticking a halved cherry on the top of each.

(there would be a photo here of said cookies if blogger wasn't so much like a turtle)

Orange Butter Cookies

(makes 15 cookies) - i made almost forty smaller cookies

1 3/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

1 2/3 cups cake flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/4 cups sugar, plus extra for topping before baking

1 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened

2 1/2 teaspoons orange zest, finely minced

1 large egg

2 egg yolks

Position one rack in the top third of the oven, one rack in the bottom third of the oven, and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with baking parchment.

In a bowl, add all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, and salt, and whisk together.

In another bowl, using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together sugar, butter, and orange zest on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy, scraping sides and bottom of the bowl frequently. Gradually add eggs and egg yolks, mixing on medium speed until everything is well combined.

With the mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients in stages. Mix only until everything is well combined, scraping sides and bottom of the bowl frequently. There should not be any pockets of dry flour left in the dough.

Using a large soup spoon, a metal ice cream scoop, or your clean hands moistened with water, scoop out big balls of dough, placing six balls on each prepared cookie sheet. Use a scant 1/4 cup to estimate the size. Using three middle fingers of your hand, press firmly on the top of each ball to flatten it to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Allow dough to push up between your fingers so an imprint of valleys and ridges remains. If the dough is sticky, you may have to moisten your fingers slightly with cold water to keep them from sticking to the dough. Sprinkle tops of cookies generously with extra granulated sugar. They will spread a moderate amount during baking. Bake cookies for about 15-16 minutes, rotating cookie sheets halfway through the baking time. The cookies should be pale but baked all the way into the center. They should be soft, but be careful not to underbake them or the centers will be doughy.

Cool cookies on sheets for 5 minutes, then remove them to a rack and cool completely before storing.

i had also planned on posting a very cute picture of edward after he created a small cave out of blankets and only his head stuck out - seeing as how i couldn't even get dumb blogger to upload the picture of a cookie, i didn't try on the edward picture - maybe later.

absolutely delicious

2009-05-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

to admit this probably is more indicative of my lack of technological prowess than i'd like, but joe has finally convinced me to use delicious and damn - if it wasn't made for a cook, i don't know what was (my theory being that is why it is called delicious). up until now, i had a string of emails going with titles like birthday dinner, recipes for the week/end and the next cake i bake. while they started out as great ideas, when these emails got to be 35 message long monologues with unruly links and no real way to find what i was looking for, i knew i needed something new, but didn't know what that would be. joe told me how great delicious was, but i couldn't quite picture how it would work.

he finally got to me by starting an account for the houses we are looking at and holding my hand while i baby-stepped into a new networking site.

i've spent the better part of the night transferring my vast email-log to a delicious account - notice that the top tag is dessert... that is how you know it is mine.

send me your favorite foodblog entries! encourage me to grow this new online cookbook that i may even convince my mother of its use!

also, while writing this entry, i have been sitting in my 400 degree kitchen waiting for the biscuits i'm making to finish rising and turning golden. if you go to the tag for biscuit you'll find the base recipe - then sub fresh ramps for chives, red pepper flakes for cayenne and make sure you use Hook's 10 yr cheddar and you'll have the same finished product that joe just pronounced very good.

we might own a home?!

2009-05-01T08:27:00.001-07:00

seriously. and, the wait?

killing me.

[edit] this, turns out, is not the house for us.

embarrassing,

2009-04-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

but, i could watch the parent trap over and over again and it would be just as entertaining.

bacon monster

2009-04-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

life is picking up speed, gaining momentum with the rising temperatures.

highlights:

+first BLTs of the year and realizing that gatsby will eat any bacon left out on the counter EVEN IF THERE ARE FOUR SLICES LEFT. he is a bacon monster.
-+ i've been promoted to manager at work
+ puny art show/michelle and danell's party
- i hate hate hate a certain company that is causing me financial woes
+ bikerides and casing neighborhoods for a new place/final place

i'm pretty sure that there is nothing better than spring in minneapolis - everything, but everything seems lovely. even the bad seems very fixable.

p.s. please reread my side of the mountain - it is better than you remembered.

p.p.s. the long goodbye is AMAZING and a quick read - hurry up and read it in time for bookclub.

gatsby's lament and resolution

2009-04-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

HALP! i don't fit in my new box!

MUCH BETTER...

a bit more on the book front:

2009-04-07T10:52:00.001-07:00

if you have not read The Graveyard Book by neil gaiman, please, please pick it up. i know many of us scoff at the idea of reading YA fiction, but just because it is meant for a younger age group doesn't mean you'll glean any less from it now. his acknowledgement page made it very necessary to my life that i reread both books of The Jungle Book sometime this summer.

Cops never say goodbye. They're always hoping to see you again in the line-up.

2009-04-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

on may 6th at 7:30 pm, eric, christian and i will be discussing the pulp fiction of raymond chandler, specifically, The Long Goodbye which features PI philip marlowe in a biting social commentary which is also partially autobiographical.

while i was not the one that came up with this read, i'm really excited about it. i've seen a couple of his novels/screenplays (the big sleep, double indemnity, strangers on a train) in film form and very thoroughly enjoyed them.

let me know if you'd like to join us for food, drink and discussion.

A Green Crab's Shell [Mark Doty]

2009-03-30T13:17:00.000-07:00

Not, exactly, green:
closer to bronze
preserved in kind brine,

something retrieved
from a Greco-Roman wreck,
patinated and oddly

muscular. We cannot
know what his fantastic
legs were like--

though evidence
suggests eight
complexly folded

scuttling works
of armament, crowned
by the foreclaws'

gesture of menace
and power. A gull's
gobbled the center,

leaving this chamber
--size of a demitasse--
open to reveal

a shocking, Giotto blue.
Though it smells
of seaweed and ruin,

this little traveling case
comes with such lavish lining!
Imagine breathing

surrounded by
the brilliant rinse
of summer's firmament.

What color is
the underside of skin?
Not so bad, to die,

if we could be opened
into this--
if the smallest chambers

of ourselves,
similarly,
revealed some sky.

oh my,

2009-03-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

i almost wish i had never heard of this designer ... i am now on a wild goose chase for anything i can find from his new collection online - even worse than that, when i find it? i'll be spending money. while i like the whimsy of all of his peices, the rings are what fascinate me the most - not just from this collection, but from BJORG jewellry in general

it got me looking around and here is a list of rings that you should admire:
- while frances wadsworth jones has many beautiful baubles, this ant ring in gold is my favorite.
- jacqueline cullen works with black fossilized wood, swoon.
- this laura berutti ring makes me think of the canary ring my mother used to trick me with...
- i love the entire gentle current series and it has a beautiful stone ring in it
- sometimes, the best rings are the kind with a secret.
- valeria salum's jewelry is interesting and quite versatile.
- for some reason, all i can see when i look at this ring, is alice in wonderland - i like that.

i'll call him slowpoke

2009-03-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

i am buying this sloth from the como zoo. he sleeps all day, occasionally stirring to flare a nostril or half-open an eye. he awakes at night to change trees and only poops once a week. i feel he will get along famously with both edward and gatsby.

foodsnob

2009-03-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

it came up the other night, while eating nachos - the kind with minced jalapeños and cilantro that had been soaked in lime juice, aged pepper cheddar, black beans, and freshly dice tomatoes and purple onion - that i may be a foodsnob. this is because my idea of nachos is the above, where some girls that i know, well, their idea of nachos is chips and cheese and a microwave.

this got me to thinking: where exactly did i get my ideas about food and when? there was a time when i microwaved nachos with the best of them when now the idea wouldn't even cross my mind...

while i'm still not sure, i would like to thank the following for my current foodsnobbiness:

*my mother for baking almost daily and letting me make the fork marks in the peanut butter cookies
*my nutrition teacher for being a babe
*spain for scoffing at store-bought mayo and pasta sauce
*nick for being far food-snobbier than i could ever be
*tastespotting.org for providing me with amazing inspiration until its demise
*louisa for being waaaay more advanced in the chocolate arts
*sunday dinner for making me bake weekly

john uskglass, the raven king

2009-03-03T16:15:00.000-08:00

is finally making more of an appearance in the book! you know you want to come and share your thoughts on this one... the second half - waaaaaaay more interesting then the first, i promise. christian and eric and i had loads to say about the first half and if you ask nicely, maybe we'll enrich your mind with our ideas about mr norell and magic reminding us of medeival clergy and religion...

april first, 7:30 pm, we're meeting at my fourth floor abode to discuss the second half of this not-so-plot-driven novel (i know, i know, it's late - but someone is too cool and going to be at sxsw the week before).

best company ever

2009-02-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

february 26th, 2009 8:00 p.m.

menu:
fried oysters marinated in guiness
split yellow pea fritters
mixed greens with a golden balsamic dressing and tamari pumpkin seeds

orange cinnamon crème brûlée

pinot grigio and riesling provided by mali

guest:
mike davis
mali chansouk

while not completely and not quite officially yet, joe has moved in. last night we had mali and mike over for the first of many dinners that i'm sure will happen (there is already talk of one at their house) - this one as a sort of celebration/housewarming for joe. if you haven't been over recently, you should come - see how the library is turning into a spaceship.

package deal

2009-02-12T20:32:00.001-08:00

i must say that there is nothing quite like getting dolled up two nights in a row to tick two - TWO bars/restaurants of my list with the one, the only lovely louisa. she and i, there really is an art to our banter... like ping-pong, only more graceful.

prohibition must be your next date spot. i promise you'll charm said date's pants/skirt off - dark wood, low lights and jazzy music.

barrio is my next bring-the-parents hotspot - latino-kitsch decor (not the bad kind), good tequila and the best shrimp taco i've had since summer and sea salt.

it is entertaining

2009-02-10T05:48:00.000-08:00

that the second i get a stable internet connection in the apartment, i stop internet-ing.

i breakfasted out twice this weekend, made me feel very decadent. but, that was also the number of nights that i stayed in; i don't think i spent any more than i would have in a regular weekend. i don't know why i hadn't been there before, but the grand cafe is amazing. please go and order the eggs en cocotte - you will be overwhelmed with how savory and rich and wonderful it is. i also want my someday-when-i-have-a-house kitchen to resemble the interior of this lovely, lovely cafe.

jonathan strange & mr norell is coming along nicely and i'll be at the halfway mark in time for bookclub. i also bought myself a new collection of short stories by pam houston which i cannot wait to devour.

speaking of devouring, work has consumed my life lately - i've been a bit stressed - and i'm taking a well-deserved break this weekend with joe in duluth, staying in the nicest place i've stayed on my own (we booked the olcott suite).

with the cancellation of sunday dinner this week i feel like it's been years and years since i've seen any of you. how is everyone?

the magicians of yorkshire

2009-01-30T12:49:00.001-08:00

for february's bookclub, we will be reading susanna clarke's first novel: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell which comes with the praise of one of two faithful bookclubbers, christian and neil gaiman also said it is"Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years." which is saying something since this is the man who wrote both American Gods and Anansi Boys.

we will be meeting at my house on february 25th at 7:30 to discuss the first half of this book (it is long enough that we've decided to spread it out over february and march... please bring something to share and let me know ahead of time if you'll be able to make it.

Requiem [John Updike]

2009-01-29T10:23:00.000-08:00

It came to me the other day:
Were I to die, no one would say,
“Oh, what a shame! So young, so full
Of promise — depths unplumbable!”

Instead, a shrug and tearless eyes
Will greet my overdue demise;
The wide response will be, I know,
“I thought he died a while ago.”

For life’s a shabby subterfuge,
And death is real, and dark, and huge.
The shock of it will register
Nowhere but where it will occur.

by the by,

2009-01-28T09:22:00.001-08:00

the above could prove very, very dangerous if i am not properly supervised...

if only this jacket would go on sale for about 75% off, i'd be so set for spring.

friday, i think that christian and i are going to tackle a new dish off the tried and true foodblog that made me wonder if there is such a thing as too many szechuan peppercorns in a dish (i'm pretty sure the answer is no). i may even bake that satsuma mandarin/vanilla upside-down pound cake that i've been drooling over for ages... now would be the time to try and finagle a seat for dinner friday.

last night,

2009-01-27T06:25:00.000-08:00

last night was girls that i'm just getting to know and chocolate chip cookies with red wine and knitting projects i've been meaning to start. it was walking home in the dark with the snow crunching under my feet and my father's birthday present under my arm. it was sitting on the belgian velvet couch and listening to the beginnings of a remix until it was firmly engraved in my head.

what i'm trying to say is last night was really good, the kind of quiet good that leaves one content for days in its wake.

so proud...

2009-01-20T10:33:00.000-08:00

could someone please borrow obama's suitcoat? i need to sew this inside...

i think the last time that i felt like this about politics i was still in high school and was headed to a rally with my spanish teacher whose father inspired hope in us all.

also, new bloglove? yes, please.

never a truer graph has been made

2009-01-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

can we never talk about the nicknames i've given my cats?

if the fridge is full,

2009-01-15T17:21:00.000-08:00

i recommend the balcony.

j'adore ça

2009-01-15T07:37:00.000-08:00

some of my favorite movies end with the american missing their plane and staying in paris.

eyelashes:frozen

2009-01-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

chase's iphone said it better than i could.

The Quiet World [Jeffrey McDaniel]

2009-01-13T09:28:00.001-08:00

In an effort to get people to look
into each other's eyes more,
and also to appease the mutes,
the government has decided
to allot each person exactly a hundred
and sixty-seven words, per day.

When the phone rings, I put it to my ear
without saying hello. In the restaurant
I point at chicken noodle soup.
I am adjusting well to the new way.

Late at night, I call my long distance lover,
proudly say I only used fifty-nine today.
I saved the rest for you.

When she doesn't respond,
I know she's used up all her words,
so I slowly whisper I love you
thirty-two and a third times.
After that, we just sit on the line
and listen to each other breathe.

entre tú y yo,

2009-01-06T07:39:00.000-08:00

this past week, a pretty amazing little boy named jackson introduced me to this movie. while i had once doubted i'd like neil gaiman, christian completely erased this doubt with american gods and anansi boys. who wants to go see it with me?

i've recently realized that my taste in jewelry is pretty predictable. i like: secrets, bones/hea rts, trees/leaves, owls, and feat hers sss. these themes are also evident in most art that i enjoy - i need to work on my element of surprise...

if you're interested in january's bookclub, i recommend picking up a copy of the book immediately, if not sooner.

also, i may have met my match?

speechless

2009-01-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

darling 2009, i'm glad you've begun.

retrospect

2008-12-31T06:34:00.000-08:00

oh 2008, i barely knew thee.

i don't know if i could come anywhere near summing this past year up with the fanfare it deserves, but maybe i'll try a bit. maybe saying that i've been re-introduced to a certain tucker jaymes speaks the volumes i'd have trouble articulating? i'm pretty sure i have the best friends in the world and this man definitely made them multiply (almost like rabbits, is that weird?).

highlights:
- patriots v. terrorists reredux
- chicago x2
- the purchase of my motobecane mirage
- duluth with some of the vixens
- doittoit and introduction of the above tucker along with the amazing ashley and all of their talented and lovely friends (who i'm pleased to introduce now as my talented and lovely friends)
- sunday dinner
- a visit from jesse/james
- both the stormy red stag block party and the rainy bryant lake bowl block party
- rooftop parties/debauchery
- danell and her talented band putting on rad show after rad show
- bikerides to the beach
- the 5th classy birthday party with nels
- MMAUOHSMP (i think that is the acronym...)

while all of the above was lovely, it kept me away from the two resolutions i made last year, so i'll make them again:
1. write more/every day
2. stick to that damn allowance

torched

2008-12-29T10:27:00.000-08:00

December 26th, 2008 8:00 p.m.

menu:
roasted butternut squash and apple salad
venison steaks with a red wine and leek pan sauce
cheddar, chive and pepper biscuits

vanilla ice cream with a mulled cider and cranberry reduction sauce and ginger snaps

dow's reserve vale do bomfim

guest:
ryan lyle

ryan is not only a really cool guy, but he also has a torch that i have borrowed (for an indefinite period of time) to make crème brûlée and italian meringue. before heading out for the tim rally gold show (and yes, you really blew it if you missed this one), we had dinner at my place. i'm sort of embarrassed about the amount of venison i've eaten lately, but only sort of. and, i realize i should have made a torched dessert for the man, but time was short and i was running around my kitchen like a madman as it was...

I sentiero dei nidi di ragno

2008-12-24T06:54:00.000-08:00

the second bookclub will be meeting on january 21st at 7:30 pm at my house to discuss the book the path to the spiders' nests, written at the unthinkable age of 23 by italo calvino. i don't want to talk about the books i've not written now that i'm two years old than he was and published.

i've called both magers and quinn and booksmart - neither have a copy in and cannot order it, but amazon and related booksellers have a plethora of editions available at low, low prices.

let me know if you'll be coming and bring a bottle of something to share...

i hate perfume

2008-12-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

i don't know a bigger sucker for language than myself. i own this perfume and love it. how did i find it, you ask? read about it and having never smelled it, i ordered it from new york. christopher brosius is an absolute genius. i am almost out, in case you're looking for a last minute gift and want to make me swoon a little.

this wins an honorable mention and i'm using all my self control not to order a bottle...

MMAUOHSMP

2008-12-17T21:30:00.000-08:00

see you there?

this is now the official plan

2008-12-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

louisa says: so,
my plan is to win the lottery tonight.
lauren says: oh man.
louisa says: i have my winning ticket and everything.
lauren says: i'm excited about it.
louisa says: right?!
lauren says: if you win, i'm not coming in to work tomorrow.
louisa says: the first thing we'll do is make sure there are lots of space heaters for the party on saturday night
lauren says: yes.
definitely.
louisa says: then, we'll go to greece,
you and me.
lauren says: woooooooo!
louisa says: we might get a villa out there...
lauren says: i like the sound of it.
our cats will come,
louisa says: i figure we can come back once a month until it's nice out.
yup, they can each have their own room.
lauren: ernest would like greece.
louisa says: then, when it's spring,
we'll get really nice bikes
and come back to minneapolis!
lauren: WOOOOOOOO!
louisa says: we'll buy a 4 plex!
lauren says: yes!
louisa says: and you can run your bookstore/cafe.
we'll be well dressed, but casual.
lauren says: i'm loving this plan.
louisa says: we'll have great hair and personal trainers.
and ricky can rub us all the time in a non-sexual healing kind of way.
lauren says: OH MAN. BEST PLAN EVER.
louisa says: i think i will just hire all of my friends to do what they are good at, just like you said
louisa says: ashley can be my booking agent, tucker can keep my energy up, munzy can give me footrubs.
i might buy kiefer from janessa, think she'd mind?
lauren says: no, i think she'd be cool with it. i'm in love with that cat.
louisa says: or, i'd just genetically alter all cats so that they hugged.
i mean, why not?! i'd be rich!
lauren says: i'm in total agreement.
louisa says: then, we put lorin in our pocket and he comes around with us to all the best restaurants as our personal sommalier. i'm thinking that maybe a hiking trip in glacier national park could be nice in april. and then while we're out that way we could swing through san fran and you could visit jesse.
lauren says: yes! bike through wine country!
louisa says:then it would be just a hop/skip/jump to the alps of switzerland! we could learn to yodel!
lauren says: oh man! do it! do it!
louisa says: we could weave on giant looms! while we yodel!
lauren says: i could see nabokov's last house!
louisa says: yodelling! how do you spell that!
lauren says: no idea! can't stop the exclamation points!
louisa says:it's exciting though!
never!
i think we should probably also have a personal tailor
lauren says: that sounds like so much more fun than work tomorrow that i don't even know how to comprehend it!
oh yeah
louisa says:to make us fancy dresses!
you mean, oh yeah!
lauren says: a personal designer!
louisa says: emily's jewels!
lauren says: aaaaaahhhhhh!
louisa says: i'd hire someone to clean my litter box! well, my cat's litter box!
but, i would continue the vacuum duties! for i like to vacuum!
i would mow peoples' lawns! for free! just cuz it's fun! and they have day jobs and i don't!
lauren says: awesome!
louisa says: i may get a grill!
lauren says: yes! a big one! on the rooftop of the 4-plex!
louisa says: i meant on my teeth! grille?!
lauren says: i almost just peed my pants. no joke.
louisa says: it's okay! when i'm rich we'll have extra pants for you at all times!
also, fancy adult diapers!
lauren says: lifesaver!
louisa says: we'll have those too! i love hard candy!

In absence of starlight [james fowler]

2008-12-12T12:54:00.000-08:00

when small,
mysterious lights form
from around the lake
to break against
the many drops of rain
and stay the darkness
in
a glimmer cast
over an off-white beach's
cold and clinging sands
forgetting a
few hidden leaves
tangled in the breeze
scraping, scurrying lightly
to somewhere maybe
across the fragile shore
as cars curve
around still
stand and stand
of trees revealing
only heavy fog,
chance glances
of you and
of me

but you and your skirt,
when the city sky line hides
in a horizon of
indifferent clouds,
sit
and stay the darkness
f o r a w h i l e

the end of the great leviathan

2008-12-11T15:36:00.000-08:00

good food, wine and conversation accompanied a fine discussion of moby dick. however, when it came down to deciding on a new book, we didn't quite make up our minds...

in the running are:
the savage detectives [roberto bolaño]
italo calvino - not if on a winter's night a traveller
a thousand acres [jane smiley]
the sound and the fury [william faulkner]
in america [susan sontag]
david copperfield [charles dickens]
ada [vladimir nabokov]
dead souls [nikolai gogol]
the executioner's song [norman mailer]
brothers karamazov [fyodor dostoyevsky]
the life and opinions of tristram shandy, gentleman [laurence sterne]
michael chabon - not the yiddish policeman's union

we decided that we wanted to read books that are on our list, but books that we probably wouldn't read on our own - many of the longer or denser books that are easier to get through not on one's own.

VOWELS [christian bok]

2008-12-10T20:49:00.000-08:00

loveless vessels

we vow
solo love

we see
love solve loss

else we see
love sow woe

selves we woo
we lose

losses we levee
we owe

we sell
loose vows

so we love
less well

so low
so level

wolves evolve

i need to re-watch groundhog's day.

2008-12-10T11:13:00.000-08:00

the only good argument for moving to brooklyn that i've ever heard.

the waldorf

2008-12-09T20:50:00.001-08:00

my apartment building does not HAVE character, it IS a character.
EXHIBIT A: the above painting that hangs in the laundry room.

following suit,

2008-12-08T12:26:00.000-08:00

it's funny, i've been thinking about this for a few days and therese beat me to the punch...

for the last several weeks, every sunday when i'm in lund's shopping for sunday dinner, i see these pre-packaged, peeled pomegranates for about $6. this baffles me. why in the world you would pay an extra $4 to let someone else have all the fun of peeling your pomegranate? i may be going overboard here, but part of the appeal of a pomegranate for me has always been the time and labor involved - it is a luxurious fruit and you cannot eat one in a rush. the popping of some seeds and juice-stained fingertips are a very necessary part of the experience for me.

speaking of sunday dinner, yesterday's delicious meal was complimented by something decadent. my first attempt at crème brûlée went quite well...

and, happiest of birthdays to my best of friends. i love you like tucker loves text messaging.

a girl could get used to this...

2008-12-05T06:14:00.000-08:00

December 4th, 2008 7:30 p.m.

menu:
eggs with cream, spinach, brie and prosciutto
yukon gold hashbrowns
grapefruit and pomegranate salad
crusty garlic loaf

chocolate oblivion tartlets with kahlua whipped cream

earl grey gin and lemonade

guest:
aaron fryman

aaron happens to be an incredibly talented masseur and we came up with a deal: i make him delicious food (with a very specifically chocolatecentric dessert) and he gives me a massage. now, don't tell him this, but it is a win-win situation for me. yes, i will be doing dishes for the rest of my natural-born life, but i get to make a decadent meal, a ridiculous dessert and THEN I GET AN OUTSTANDING MASSAGE. seriously, by the end of it i managed to melt onto my couch and fall asleep pretty early.

anyone who may be interested in his services, let me know. his rates are really reasonable and he's open to bartering...

fakelife

2008-12-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

photo care of tucker jaymes.

it will never be the same

2008-12-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

for reasons i do not fully understand, this website fascinates me to no end.

please, take a moment and share my newfound interest - make that obsession.

let the right one in

2008-12-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

this looks so amazing on so many different levels. i've heard/seen very little other than the trailer and a some positive words from friends, but wow.

You Can't Get The Facts Until You Get The Fiction [Richard Jackson]

2008-11-30T10:47:00.001-08:00

The fact is that the Death I put on in the morning is
the same Love I take off each night. The fact is
that my life slips out the back door just as I arrive.
Just now, just as I tell you this, while I am looking
for a little dignity under the open wound of the sky,
I am putting down the story of the two lovers killed
on a bridge outside Mostar. And the fact is love is
as extinct as those animals painted on cave walls
in Spain. The fact is, there is not a place on earth
that needs us. All our immortal themes are sitting
on the porch with woolen blankets over their knees.
But who wants to believe this? Instead, I am looking
for the right words as if they were hidden under
my doormat like keys. I would like to be able to report
that the 9 year old Rwandan girl did not hide under
her dead mother for hours. There are so many things
too horrible to say. And I would like to tell you
the eyes of the soldiers are sad, that despite all
this madness I can still kiss your soul, and yes,
you might say I was angry if it were not for the plain fact,
the indisputable fact, that I am filled with so much love,
so much irrational, foolish love, that I will not take
the pills or step off the bridge because of the single
fact of what you are about to say, some small act
of kindness from our wars, some simple gesture that fools me
into thinking we can still fall, in times like this, in love.

lovebirds

2008-11-28T12:07:00.000-08:00

this is a picture of my mom and dad on their wedding day. five days after they met, my dad proposed and about two weeks later they married. my mom found her dress at the buckle. for a honeymoon, they went camping in northern minnesota.

last summer, at their 25 wedding anniversary, my mom cried and told me that she loved my dad more now than the day they married.

my sister, recently engaged, is currently wedding planning and, cupcake-like bridesmaid dress aside, it is a pretty awe-inspiring act to watch.

i'm going to be fitted for said bridesmaid dress on saturday... photos coming soon?

i'm.in.love.

2008-11-25T06:15:00.000-08:00

one hundred things i love:

2008-11-24T10:32:00.001-08:00

following pbg's lead...

1. chosen family

2. vladimir nabokov

3. the smell of old hardcover books

4. motobecanes

5. nightswimming

6. kitten heels and pencil skirts

7. an apartment made warm by baking

8. rooftop access

9. hayrides

10. white figure skates

11. handknit mittens

12. horseback riding

13. crunching snow while walking

14. grocery shopping

15. minneapolis

16. priorat

17. toboggans

18. lazy saturdays

19. orchestra dates

20. the mississippi river

21. opera-length gloves

22. well-written short stories

23. sunday dinner

24. cat whiskers that gatsby has shed

25. star gazing

26. people like oak trees

27. oak trees

28. chinese lanterns

29. the midwest

30. art openings

31. paintings of ships in harbors

32. poetry

33. alphabetizing

34. champagne diamonds

35. brown eyes

36. apple orchards

37. spanish linguistics

38. blood oranges

39. cookbooks by rose levy berenbaum

40. typography

41. japanese magic realism

42. classy drinking establishments

43. comfortable reading chairs

44. fresh eggs

45. road trips

46. aptly named individuals

47. phonetics

48. reggaeton

49. mason jars

50. libraries

51. engaging conversation

52. big dinner tables

53. gmail chat

54. french new wave

55. men that cook

56. cable patterns

57. laughing until i can’t breathe

58. bengal spice tea

59. old movie theatres

60. peacocks

61. tire swings

62. craigslist missed connections

63. playing hooky from work

64. early morning sunlight

65. cat naps with my kittens

66. crosswords

67. earl grey

68. rose-flavored anything

69. semi colons

70. the smell of freshly cut grass

71. rose gold

72. russian literature

73. woodwink eyeshadow

74. fireflies

75. screen porches

76. hot, humid nights

77. authors of the lost generation

78. anticipation

79. dancing

80. red lipstick

81. station wagons

82. climbing trees

83. building forts of blankets

84. my bed

85. edward’s purr

86. dialogue-heavy plays

87. la belle vie

88. giving presents

89. freckles

90. cuttlefish

91. the madison farmers’ market

92. food blogs

93. saying words that end in –sps (wisps, wasps, crisps…)

94. halloween

95. sailing

96. secret admirers

97. handwritten letters

98. typewriters and the sound they produce

99. fresh lemonade

100. eating out

that elusive whale

2008-11-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

those of you those of you that are taking part in my possibly over-ambitious plan for december should be well on their way into the belly of the beast... this is not a short novel.

speaking of leviathans, i have recently finished (?) a short story and would love a volunteer or two (other than christian and louisa) to take a look at it and do a bit of editing. let me know if you're interested.

the snow late friday night was almost the best surprise of the weekend.

last night, instead of heeding tucker's siren song, i stayed in. while i'm sure i missed an absolutely lovely time, it served to remind me that not every moment must be spent in perpetual motion and that sometimes i am quite happy when still.

if anyone is asking you for advice as to what to buy me for the upcoming holidays, you can really recommend to them that they buy this (link removed as it doesn't function anymore); i am quite smitten. also, emily has some absolute gems up - and i mean that quite literally.

The Secret [Jeffrey McDaniel]

2008-11-20T11:34:00.000-08:00

When you were sleeping on the sofa
I put my ear to your ear and listened
to the echo of your dreams.

That is the ocean I want to dive in,
merge with the bright fish,
plankton and pirate ships.

I walk up to people on the street that kind of look like you
and ask them the questions I would ask you.

Can we sit on a rooftop and watch stars dissolve into smoke
rising from a chimney?
Can I swing like Tarzan in the jungle of your breathing?

I don't wish I was in your arms,
I just wish I was pedaling a bicycle
toward your arms.

boobiebrigade thank-you

2008-11-20T08:06:00.000-08:00

november 19th, 2008 7:30 pm

menu:
jerk venison
carribean potatoes
chili truffle green beans

castell de remei ODA

asstd. berries with chocolate and cacao nibs

guest:
jonathan ackerman

this summer, jonathan was kind enough to help me organize a fundraiser for the 3 day walk for breast cancer - a bake sale at first ave that raised almost $700. embarrassingly, i just finally got around to his thank you. worth the wait? i think so.

Trouble - do not forget the capital T

2008-11-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

this is me with my best friend.

i'm pretty sure i'd perish without her.

last night

2008-11-12T13:09:00.000-08:00

was absolutely lovely.

home from the bar and slightly tipsy, the view of snow falling on the interstate through the double windows in my living room left me breathless. i took a photo, but i doubt it will do justice to the quiet in those snowflakes.

this is what i have been craving: long nights of reading and writing and knitting and creating, not feeling bad about hibernating, walks in the crisp dark with only the sound of crunching footsteps to keep me company.

you heard them,

2008-11-12T06:49:00.000-08:00

now listen to louisa, ashley and tucker.

they know what's best for you. no, really.

Dear Birds [Mark Yakich]

2008-11-11T08:14:00.000-08:00

Much is made of the size of your heart.
Or the way some of you pull an earthworm
To death. Compare for example, this portrait
Of my husband, the artist, three cocktails in:

Fish in the morning, fellatio in the afternoon,
Philosophizing after dinner. Sucking on
A hazelnut in haze and hard rain, he pulls off
It all: pain, politeness, and unemployment.

I admit, it does please me to think of him
Mourning my death. Tissue by tissue, he'll paint
The orange groves and narrow bridle paths.
He'll arrange colors like music that coats the ear.

So is heartache really a mistake? The question is
Realer than any answer can be: One comes upon
The hills and then the pills. But not everyone,
My little sugar skulls, can eat their mistakes.

Call me Ishmael.

2008-11-10T11:34:00.000-08:00

last month, i went to the bryant lake bowl's bars and books for the booklove of my life, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and while I enjoyed certain aspects of it quite a bit, it was too large for me to really enjoy; i've never been one for patiently keeping my hand raised in order to make my point.

in order to get everything i want said said, i've decided to start a book group of my own. it will probably take place in my living room - maybe we'll even get a fire going in that fireplace of mine and there will be a couple bottles of wine involved. Moby Dick will be the first book to read (as i've been meaning to read it forever) and we'll be meeting december 10th at 7:30. so, get on it. you have a month. i'm waiting on your rsvp.

me at work

2008-11-04T13:31:00.000-08:00

christian: i'm going to get some tea
i have a headache
back in a few
me: okay
i'm drinking a beer.
christian: ha
that's right
you're not at work
me: no, i am.
working!
drinking beer!
i'm here 'til five.

also, voting this morning? made me a very, very happy girl. all the optimism in me cannot be contained by my cubicle walls and has something to do with the beautiful mash of english/arabic/spanish all over at my polling place. what was the only word in common in all three languages? OBAMA!

i'm not the kind to tell you you've been blind

2008-11-01T14:37:00.001-07:00

sugar skull does halloween

2008-11-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

but you're so little, sam.

i had no idea you were so tall, tom.

even though it was taken prior going anywhere, this photo is worth all of the words there are to describe last night.

little sister.

tammy faye: devil spawn

"don't make me turn this car around."

killing it.

i like to laugh so long and hard that i can't breathe/pull a muscle.

calavera

dear tucker, i'm sorry i drunkenly wiped my face on your towel. p.s. your flats are hot.

juripalooza preparty

2008-10-31T14:40:00.000-07:00

I feel now that gastronomical perfection can be reached in these combinations: one person dining alone, usually upon a couch or a hill side; two people, of no matter what sex or age, dining in a good restaurant; six people, of no matter what sex or age, dining in a good home.

An Alphabet for Gourmets [MFK Fisher]

October 30th, 2008 8:30 p.m.

menu:
chicken and dumplings
steamed broccoli
whole wheat boule

cranberry apple tartlets with a vanilla glaze

gin and tonics

guests:
juri sorso
louisa marion
tucker gerrick
peter b.g.
ashley ryan
mike munzenrider
(with a late appearance by one sam cassidy)

so, we may have been one or two more than six and it was probably slightly drunker than MFK would have imagined (not by much), but last night is the kind of night that i would like to have more of in my life..

happy halloween

2008-10-31T14:15:00.000-07:00

"I'm a book-a-decade kind of motherfucker, yo."

2008-10-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

this man. i may be in love with this man.

last night i had the immense pleasure of seeing junot diaz speak. and, let me tell you, the pleasure was IMMENSE. sometimes, when you watch someone closely, you can see their thoughts forming and morphing into what finally spills out of their mouth. with mr. diaz, the closer i watched, the more suprised i became as he listened to the questions posed with such nonchalance that it was hard to believe he was even listening, yet he answered with such intensity and clarity that there was no doubt that has a filing cabinet for a mind.

his love of space - both real and imagined, combined with his firm grasp of both the spanish and english languages leaves one (me) swooning. his ongoing discussion with the crowd and himself of the idea of an artist was inspiring and left me wishing that a certain someone (christian) could have attended.

instead, i will paraphrase for him here the part that most interested me of his advice: a good piece of art is a particular piece of art - its generality is found in its particularity and one is left vacillating (sometimes within the same sentence) between feeling that the book is speaking directly to the reader and as though the reader is eavesdropping on the most private of conversations, yeah?

while fearing redundancy, i must again urge you to pick up this man's literary wonder.

ducktacos.pumpkinpie.sunrise

2008-10-28T15:52:00.000-07:00

blackberry mojitos mean class,

as do peacock feathers and earl grey gin. cafe maude is my new favorite place to drop large sums of hard-earned money.

my pumpkin pie: first pie i've made and first pumpkin pie i've eaten. mmmhmmm.

sam and samophile.

pumpkins and their adorable carvers.

and (!), the sunrise i wake up to every morning out my apartment window.

This is what the good guys do.

2008-10-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

Do you think that your fathers are watching? That they weigh you in
their ledgerbook? Against what? There is no book and your fathers are dead in
the ground.

this book, oh, this book. last night was one of those nights that had me setting arbitrary restraints: i'll stop reading when i get to page 175. no, when i get to 200... i'll be done at 1:45 a.m.

everything in it is so gruesome and redemptive all at once. mccarthy is an amazing storyteller. all the gore and all the sick in this book boils down to the idea that no matter how bleak life becomes you must live your life as though it has meaning.

a bit sentimental/cheesy? yes. a masterpiece? yes.

also, internet has been elusive lately. look for pictures of the weekend later tonight...

"The world needs honest men today more than it needs presidents."

2008-10-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

this felt like a very poignant film to watch last night. i'm in love with both ms. hepburn and mr. tracy in pretty much everything they've ever done and this film is no exception.

also, angela lansbury makes an absolutely amazing villainess.

When Death Comes [Mary Oliver]

2008-10-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measles-pox;

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth
tending as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

When its over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it is over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

a friend recently returned this volume of poetry - i'm embarrassed to say that i had almost forgottten how much this poem speaks to me (along with so many of her poems).

again, sunday dinner: best start to any week.

also,
let's combine beautiful metalwork with woodgrain - can you say love?

tucker: "i'm half happy, half retarded about this gin."

2008-10-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

autumnal activities, $2

2008-10-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

cranberry scones (rose levy berenbaum is my hero) and mulled cider for breakfast.

my backyard - best backyard ever.

lying with a beautiful girl in between two rows of spartan apples.

what i'm trying to tell you is that it has been a lovely, lovely day. i want several more fall days like this, days that seem longer than twenty-four hours and involve some of the best people that live in this fine city.

if you've not read after the quake by murakami, consider it required reading.

grey days, gray eyes

2008-10-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

damn, sam (i love a woman that rains) [ryan adams]
portions for foxes [rilo kiley]
glad you're here with me [papa m]
these days [nico]
pond love [mayday]
twin human highway flares [the mountain goats]
i felt your shape [the microphones]
california [low]
the songwriter [julie doiron]
she sends kisses [the wrens]
call it off [tegan and sara]
i can't stand the rain [ann peebles]
left & leaving [the weakerthans]
communication [the cardigans]
el mar [ely guerra]
heartbeats [jose gonzalez]
metal heart [cat power]
golden star [my brightest diamond]
lover's spit [broken social scene]

i've been listening to this, reading, and drinking earl grey on my couch with two kitlets on my lap.

if someone knows of a typewriter in working order that could somehow end up in my library, i think i'd love them forever.

sam cassidy played a wonderful set last night; rocket man made my night.

Black Box [Amos Oz]

2008-10-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

With all due respect to Tolstoy I'm telling you the opposite is true:
Unhappy people are mainly plunged in conventional suffering, living out in
sterile routine one of five or six threadbare clichés of misery. Whereas
happiness is a rare, fine vessel, a sort of Chinese vase, and the few people who
have reached it have shaped and formed it line by line over the course of years,
each in his own image and likeness, each in his own character, so that no two
happinesses are alike.

not only does mr. oz write astoundingly beautiful gems like the above, but he speaks truths while doing it.

last night was bars and books. i enjoyed myself, but more than anything it has planted the idea of beginning my own book group that is maybe possibly smaller... anyone interested?

Y Dios me hizó mujer [Giaconda Belli]

2008-10-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

Y Dios me hizó mujer,
de pelo largo,
ojos,
nariz y boca de mujer.
Con curvas
y pliegues
y suaves hondonadas
y me cavó por dentro,
me hizó un taller de seres humanos.
Tejió delicádamente mis nervios
y balanceó con cuidado
el número de mis hormonas.
Compuso mi sangre
y me inyectó con ella
para que arrigara
todo mi cuerpo;
nacieron así las ideas,
los sueños,
el instinto.
Todo lo que creó suavamente
a martillazos de soplidos
y taladrazos de amor,
las mil y una cosas que me hacen mujer todos los días
por las que me levanto orgullosa
todas las mañanas
y bendigo mi sexo.