Month: March 2011

Love it

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No time to shop? Visit Velvet da Vinci, a San Francisco gallery that features contemporary art jewelry from artists in and out of the US.

These earrings are plastic cutlery covered with swarovski crystals. (Wait a minute, what are swarovski crystals, anyway? Well, glass. Precisely cut glass to reflect light with techniques developed by the Swarovski family.)

The artist is Lynn Christiansen who obviously has a healthy sense of humor. And if you like these, you’ll probably want to take a look at her bracelet. It’s very big.

 

Just remembered I have a pair of three-inch cloisonné lizard earrings. I wear them when I want to meet new people.

Hammerpress

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One of the best presents I ever opened was custom designed monogrammed stationery. The paper was a rich sand color and my initials were embossed in gold. There were several sizes of cards along with single sheets for those times when a card wouldn’t hold all the news. I used it all.

So now I can get more!

I am in luck. Hammerpress is a KC design and letterpress outfit that has a growing fan base. They do relief printing with lead and wood type; images are then pressed into the surface of the paper. The craftsmanship of the process make their products stand out.

A Savor-ite

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I bought lemon tea cookies from Costco called Sweet Williams. They are bite-size balls of crumbly, buttery pastry coated liberally with powder sugar. I ripped open the box and threw one in my mouth.

I’m telling you, this is a cookie worth searching out and stocking Up. They are reminiscent of the Lemon Coolers that you can find in most grocery store’s cookie aisle but a Master Baker has said, “Let’s ramp that recipe up a notch or two.” 

Careful, if you just throw one in your mouth without chewing, the dough goes straight to the roof of your mouth. You will then experience the same sensation that a dog has when given a spoonful of peanut butter. All and all there are worst experiences in life, I’d say.

Thanks 4 Sharing

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 OMG, OMG, OMG. Who are these people? 

Awkward Family Photos is where people send in photographs that are, for the most part, laugh out-loud hilarious. The site was born when two guys just hanging out started laughing at a dorky family vacation photo. After they stopped laughing, they thought to themselves — photos like this are rampant across the land!

Bravo to people who can laugh at themselves; I think they should inherit the earth.     

Inspiration

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The Journey is from Dream Work by Mary Oliver. The New York Times has described her as “far and away this country’s [America] best-selling poet.” She has won both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award.

This poem captures a time of transformation that resonates with anyone facing a difficult choice.  The photograph by Casey Boudreau, Kansas City, serves as counterpoint.

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice —
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
 
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do —
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Thumbs Up

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Oh sure, I appreciate an intelligent well-made documentary. But I do need to suit up for the experience since I can’t shake the feeling that right after the credits there’s going to be a pop quiz.

“Want to go to Waste Land? It’s playing at the Tivoli at 4:00, movie candy is still on sale at Apple Mart, 10 for $10.”

“Yeah, but do they have Junior Mints and Milk Duds?”

“I think so.”

So here I am on my way to see an academy award nominated documentary that took three years to make about an artist who created portraits of people whose daily jobs were to find, sort and haul reusable trash from the world’s largest garbage dump. “Hmmm, really?” 

Vik Muniz is an internationally known artist who photographs images he creates from unusual art materials: diamonds, string, chocolate syrup, sugar and garbage of all sorts. A native of Brazil, he knows about the huge landfill near Rio and wants to tell the story of the squatter community who depend upon it.  

A core part of the Waste Land project is to involve the subjects in making their own portraits; proceeds from the finished work go back to the community. 

The results are staggering.

Six people are chosen from the thousands of catadores, a self-designated term that means pickers of recyclable materials. The team sets up a workshop in an empty warehouse. As the artwork emerges, each of the characters emerge as well. 

Their combined stories are a powerful testimonial for humanity. Before the movie ends, you’ll want to stand up, raise your fists in the air and yell, Yeah! Go for it! Go for it! as if they are old friends.

Hallelujah

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Sig insists on putting peanut butter in the refrigerator. And I really hate that. It is some kind of germ-phobe thing as if peanuts are salmonella carriers. (If they are, fine — just don’t share it with me. Please.) 

My point, thank you very much, is that peanut butter is born to be spreadable. Yes, spreadability is an intrinsic positive attribute of even the least expensive brand.   

Lower the knife to the jar and with one deft motion dip-and-swipe into the peanut butter. There is no resistance, no struggle, no hefty lifting. The loaded knife comes up triumphantly headed toward the bread. 

Once there it hovers as long as you like until a singular swoop-and-swipe motion completes the exchange.  In quick order, lunch is made and I am out the door.

I bought two jars of peanut butter today, only one went in the refrigerator. Free at last.

Zebra Cake

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In case you haven’t noticed, the end of the Mardi Gras season is coming up. I plan to throw on half a dozen strings of beads, crank up the music and let the good times roll.  I just spent some time looking at recipes for the traditional King’s Cake to have for Fat Tuesday next week.

They all seem like too much work for too little pay-out. That’s when I happened upon this Zebra cake at The Whimsical Cupcake. I loved the name, but it was the photo that sold me.

My music needs to be Cajun and few do it better than Doug Kershaw. I saw him in concert in a Seattle tavern years ago and it was absolutely frenetic. This clip is from a recent live performance — he still is the Ragin’ Cajun.