The Essex Green-Sorry River

Posted on February 15, 2010
Filed Under Song of the Day, music | Leave a Comment

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!!

Thank God It’s Friday

Posted on August 28, 2009
Filed Under Blather, Red Sox, das kiddo, dining, family, knitting, music | 2 Comments

I’m tired. It’s been a long day. Rainey’s been fine, but today has been one of those days when he fights a nap. It makes me tired just thinking about it. He would only sleep on my lap, which, while kind of nice, made it hard to do much.

So what HAVE I been able to do? Well, I made my little gift to the Jimmy Fund. I imagine they’ll be hard-pressed to make their 5 million dollar goal for this year’s telethon. I started Rainer’s Christmas stocking. I’m using the same kind of yarn I used for Ezra’s stocking–probably 10 years ago. I’m listening to The Kinks. One of my many ideas for calming Rainey (this is after exhausting all of the usual techniques) was to put on a CD he’s never heard before. I’m not sure the CD helped at all, but I’m enjoying it.

I’m also waiting on pizza and salad delivery. Ah… it’s here. Excuse me.

…

That was good.

The Sox are playing the Blue Jays in the rain. Tomorrow I am getting my eyebrows waxed. I’m excited. I still feel pretty dumpy since having Rainey, and this is one of my first steps toward feeling a bit more myself again physically. I’m also hoping to go to the gym this weekend for the first time in an embarrassingly long time.

I love the weekend now even more than I did before.

Cocteau Twins-Musette and Drums

Posted on July 15, 2009
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Bauhaus-Dark Entries

Posted on May 29, 2009
Filed Under Song of the Day, me and my brain, music, nostalgia | Leave a Comment

Song of the Day… again…

Catching Up

Posted on May 29, 2009
Filed Under Blather, das kiddo, daytripping, family, friends, music, this old house | 2 Comments

Time marches on, and progress continues.

Over the last couple of weekends, Ez and I ran about a million errands, and at the end of it all we had an assembled crib with mattress and crib skirt in place, nursery curtains hung, fully-stocked kitchen cabinets, and cheerful new plants to add to the new-life vibe we’re cultivating. We also found time to go to the beach on Memorial Day.

May 19 we went to see St. Vincent at the Somerville Theater. Opening act Pattern as Movement was… well… hideous in my opinion. My attempt to describe them: Opera jazz rock with ethnic yodels and sea lions. Ezra’s attempt, perhaps more on the nose: Catholic liturgical prog mass. I’m sure they’re lovely people, but… no. St. Vincent is always good stuff, and the new album sounds like another solid effort, but the show felt too short. After seeing her from the front row at the Middle East last year, the whole thing felt much less intimate to me. The Somerville Theater isn’t a bad venue for her, but really small venues are often best. Tuesday’s show was the first of her current tour, so perhaps later shows will feel a tad more spontaneous.

Recently, I also got to visit with dear friend Heather and meet her adorable doggie, Mischa. No joke, I’d say at least 15 groups of people stopped on the street to admire the pup and chat with us. That Mischa is a charming pooch.

We went to our first childbirth class this week. Seems good so far. Ez made me giggle–probably without even trying–during the relaxation exercise.

Ooo–we are finally getting a new dryer. Whooppee! Dry clothes.

Okay, so this post is pretty boring, with no fun pictures. I plan to follow it up with a silly post, less relevant to anything at all, but with pictures (not mine). Prepare for visual stimulation! Ish!

The Left Banke-Goodbye Holly

Posted on March 30, 2009
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Crystal Stilts-Departure

Posted on February 6, 2009
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Nino Rota’s score for La Dolce Vita

Posted on January 18, 2009
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A Public Service Announcement

Posted on November 19, 2008
Filed Under Blather, music | Leave a Comment

For anyone who appreciates bands like Ida, Of Montreal, Mates of State, Headlights, matt pond PA, Architecture in Helsinki, or any of the other fine Polyvinyl artists, you may be interested to know that they’re having a big sale!

keep looking »

Song of the Day

The Essex Green-Sorry River 

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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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