Coming soon…

Posted on July 29, 2010
Filed Under Blather | Leave a Comment

I haven’t been posting lately, and I really should.  There’s been so much going on!  Rainer turned one on July 17th, my parents moved out of their home in State College at the end of June, and I’ve been to four Interpol concerts in the last month or so where I’ve seen a bunch of friends (old and new) and had lots of adventures.  So… updates (and photos!) coming soon.  Stay tuned!


Mondrian

Posted on May 25, 2010
Filed Under art | Leave a Comment






Why haven’t I seen Ruby Keeler in more films?

Posted on March 24, 2010
Filed Under films, nostalgia | 3 Comments

It surprises me that I haven’t seen more of Ruby Keeler. Then again, she wasn’t in that many films.

Ruby Keeler

Ruby Keeler

She stars in one of our latest TCM discoveries, Gold Diggers of 1933.

Ruby Keeler, aglow

Ruby Keeler, aglow

Her bio’s pretty interesting:  Born to an Irish family in Halifax, Nova Scotia… Married Al Jolson in 1928… Got into films herself in 1933… She retired after they divorced and stayed retired for 30 years until her comeback as star of “No No Nanette” on Broadway under Busby Berkeley’s direction in 1971.  I’ll have to keep my eyes open for the next airing of 42nd Street–her first picture.


My new baby

Posted on February 8, 2010
Filed Under me and my brain, nostalgia, the written word | 1 Comment

I’d like to introduce you to my new baby–not THAT baby, not the one mentioned in my previous entry. This baby is new to me, but it’s actually older than I am. And it’s probably a little older than I thought it was when I bought it.

Here’s a 1967 ad for my new baby.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4342637910_35c1f65c04_o.jpg

And here’s a picture from the adoption agency:
ADOPTION PHOTO

It works great so far… came with a correction ribbon, the manual, and the case. I suspect that between Rainey and this new (as yet unnamed) baby, I will be spending less time doddering around on facebook and more time writing useful things for myself and other people. Maybe that will even inspire me to write more here. These are all good possible outcomes, I’m thinkin’.


And the number one thing brightening our spirits in these cold months?

Posted on February 8, 2010
Filed Under christmas, das kiddo, family | 1 Comment

Rainey, of course!!

He’s still a long, skinny bundle of snuggly cuteness and charm. His head is pretty big for his age, and I think when people see him in his car seat they see his head first and think he’s really big for his age. He is long and he does have a big head, but he’s very light.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2697/4309535809_29934db07c.jpg

He yells a lot, and in addition to a lot of ah-uhing and gooing and hahing he has made a few other consonant sounds–fa and muh come to mind. He’s eating some solid food now, and with that has come a new understanding of the fact that he has a tongue and that when he sticks it out it’s kind of fun. He’s willingly eaten sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, bananas, pears, rice cereal, and baby oatmeal so far.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2725/4309225627_96f6d1d849.jpg

He pushes himself up pretty high on his arms and can rotate around from that position, though he’s not yet crawling. Now and then he seems to move backward from that position, but not forward (well, Ez said he saw him make forward progress the other morning, in honor of the Super Bowl, I’m guessing). When he really wants to cover a lot of ground, he rolls.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2579/4309961344_b8feb97dd8.jpg

He got a lot of nice toys and gifts for Christmas. Family and friends were very generous with him. He’s been really into playing with his plastic Playskool blocks lately. They come in a pail, and he likes to remove the lid and dump them out, chew on them, etc. etc. He’s also a fan of his car keys, and he still loves the mobile in his crib (thanks Flemings!).

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4309536229_0c61782b7c.jpg

He’s such a bright shiny charming little guy. We love him to pieces.


Ezra’s Birthday

Posted on February 3, 2010
Filed Under Literary, art, daytripping, dining, music | 4 Comments

Yesterday was Ezra’s extra-fantastic birthday. He took the day off and we (Ez, Rainey, and me) all had such a nice time. We had yummalicious brunch at the S&S–haven’t been there in ages. (I had a boursin omelet and wheat toast, because I know you’re wondering!) There were at least four babies there besides Rainey, and overall it was pretty busy. It gave me a cozy feeling to see that they’re still packin’ ‘em in after 90 years. A woman sat down next to us and ordered borscht and chopped liver.

Then we hopped in the car. Well, we shimmied into the car. The S&S parking lot is a bit snug–all side mirrors had to be tucked in. We headed northward and did a little light birthday shopping in Kittery. Ez got a sweater, a cute hat, and funky shoes; Rainey got a few goodies, including a Steelers shirt for next season; and I even found something.

A trip northward is never complete without a stop in Portsmouth. Some years back–I think it was 2007–we wandered into Nahcotta Gallery on one such stop in Portsmouth and found ourselves surrounded by lots of the most wonderful little pieces of artwork. We had stumbled upon the very first Enormous Tiny Art Show. We wandered the pieces for a long time–probably more than an hour–and picked a piece or two that we hoped to buy. Alas, we were very much novices at the whole art buying thing, and all the pieces that interested us were already sold. The Enormous Tiny Art Show has become a biannual event at Nahcotta, and it’s even expanded to their sister gallery, Three Graces, as The Teeny Tiny Art Show. The Enormous Tiny Art Show 7 and The Teeny Tiny Art Show VI open this Friday, February 5th. It so happens that the folks at Nahcotta were busy hanging the art for ETA 7 yesterday, so we got near first pick of all the glorious goods. And, as it was Ezra’s birthday, we couldn’t say no. May I introduce…

tiny village

Tiny Village
8×8
Gouache on panel
Laura Berger

and…
Her Past was Never Far Behind

Her Past was Never Far Behind
4×7
Encaustic and mixed media diptych on panel
Beth Billups

Happiness!

Our trip to Portsmouth also included visits to River Run Books and BullMoose Music. Add American Rust by Philipp Meyer to my to-read list. Musically, I’ve recently been most interested in picking up jazz albums. In the last couple of weeks, those have included Giants Three: Nat Cole, Lester Young, and Buddy Rich (Verve, Recorded in Los Angeles in December 1945, vinyl), RCA Victor Vintage Series: Dizzy Gillespie (Recorded in the 30s and 40s, this collection released in 1966, vinyl), The Amazing Bud Powell (Blue Note, Recorded between 1949 and 1953, vinyl, some tracks feature Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Sonny Rollins), Atmosphere for Lovers and Thieves by Ben Webster (On Black Lion, 1965, vinyl), and Dizzy on the French Riviera (Dizzy Gillespie, Recorded 1962, Verve CD).

Giants 3 Bud Powellben websterdizzy

(I couldn’t find a good picture of the RCA Victor Dizzy record.)

Actually, I found the first two of those last Sunday at Twisted Village in Cambridge. I wasn’t sure if they were still kicking, but they ARE, thank goodness.

Ezra’s birthday was appropriately rounded off by dinner at The Portsmouth Brewery (where I had delicious smoked tofu and polenta) and caffeine at Breaking New Grounds. It happened to be game night at Breaking New Grounds, so we got in a round of Bananagrams before heading home.

Here’s to another year of Ezra!!


A slice of January

Posted on February 3, 2010
Filed Under christmas, collections, family, friends, me and my brain | 1 Comment

Most people probably agree that the cold months following Christmas and New Year’s can be a little bit of a letdown. But there are always good little moments. Here are some of mine so far in 2010.

One long weekend I finished up the Santa puzzle my mom gave me for Christmas in 2008. It was a lot of fun… a really good cozy winter activity. I think it looked better put together than it did in the picture on the box.

During our holiday visit to the farm, Ezra’s sister Abby introduced us to Bananagrams. It’s so completely up my alley–a word game, sort of like Scrabble and Boggle put together, but better (well, definitely better than Scrabble anyway). So on that long weekend I mentioned we gave Bananagrams to Amy and Doug for Christmas. Of course, we played several rounds.

Bananagrams
Amy’s fabulous creation with the Bananagrams tiles… not a part of the actual game

And, of course, we had to get it for ourselves shortly after that.

I’m still going through my Christmas postcards. I promise to share more about them soon (take that as a “coming attractions” or a warning, as you wish).


And… we’re back!

Posted on January 22, 2010
Filed Under the interweb | 2 Comments

I’m told ze comments are back in action. Sorry for the delay.


Phooey… Blog comments aren’t working

Posted on January 22, 2010
Filed Under the interweb | Leave a Comment

If you’ve tried to comment on my blog lately, your comment probably hasn’t gone through. Something seems to be amiss. We’re working on it!!


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The Knitting Turnip

On My Needles

Rhapsody in Tweed cabled pullover for Ezra! using Tahki Donegal Tweed in Forest, from Fall 2004 Interweave Knits. I've just picked this one up again, so it's moving up in the queue!

Sweater with Cable Patterns pullover using Araucania Nature Wool Chunky in Mauve, from Rebecca Magazine Number 28

Heather Pullover using Classic Elite Wings in Larkspur, from Rowan’s A Season’s Tale... This needs the knit doctor. I'm going to have to frog back a little bit and redo the shoulder area. Long story.

Hush Pullover using Jo Sharp DK wool in Wine, from Rowan’s Calmer Collection

More scoop on my knitting endeavors can be found at my home on Ravelry (clicky here).

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