gus & other things

gus

2012-01-29T15:51:00.002-05:00

transformation

2012-01-10T09:51:00.000-05:00

I was out to lunch with friends and their 4 year old son was playing with his Star Wars action figures at the table. He showed them to me one by one and when he got to this one I practically yelled, "What the hell happened to Princess Leia?" (Awesome, Abigail. Swear at the kid.)

But seriously, "Help me Obi-Wan, you're my only hope. And if you don't I'll crush you like a walnut."???

(forgive the terrible photo.)

It's been a long, long time

2012-01-09T09:19:00.000-05:00

I've move on from terrible 80's music to wonderful 40's music. I'm not sure my neighbors are relieved...

Dino-mite!

2011-12-31T10:00:00.000-05:00

In addition to celebrating my mom's Christmas birthday when we're all together for the holidays, we also celebrate my nephew Declan's January birthday, and for his cake I go a little nuts. (you can witness the crazy by looking at last year's cake, and the year before's.)

This year he's turning 6 and wanted a dinosaur on top of a blue cake, and since I am in the business of being the best aunt ever that's exactly what he got.

Chocolate cake, buttercream frosting and a T-Rex cake topper made from some left over gingerbread dough.

It was so easy! I found an image online, cut the parts out and baked them. Then I "glued" them together with royal icing, added a couple of bamboo skewers to the feet, gave him some teeth, sprinkles and licorice claws and I was done!

Speaking of gingerbread.... We were making gingerbread houses at the same time I was making Declan's cake.

I got a little slap happy from eating much too much candy and pretty soon T-Rex became Godzilla threatening to take out the town.

But the town was spared because the gingerbread houses were pretty great this year. (and because I am not in the business of making my nephews and niece cry.)

The weird marshmallow "milk catchers" that both my nephews have crack me up (no idea what that was about). And for some reason the giant marshmallow on the front of my niece's and her flattened trees make me laugh out loud.

The clock tower is always set at 9am ("because that's what time school starts") and my sister in law's shingles and gold fish pond are great.

The one on stilts, with the dock and sailboat is mine. I'm thinking of running away to a tropical island never to be seen or heard from again... or I would be if I weren't afraid of fish.

happy dog

2011-12-27T21:58:00.001-05:00

Want to make a cairn terrier happier than any creature has ever been? Take him on a 2 hour walk on a 100 foot leash.

fox in the snow, where did you go?

2011-12-26T18:50:00.003-05:00

I read somewhere that a visit from a fox is good luck.

Is that still true if it seems like he wants to come in your house?

I'm on fire

2011-12-25T21:39:00.000-05:00

My mom's birthday is Christmas day, and it's pretty great that more often than not we're all together on her birthday. When we are, I make cake.

This year I even set that baby on fire (kind of) and my nephew Colin was very impressed. (recipe here.)

Happy Birthday Mom! You're the best.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T10:33:00.004-05:00

honor and folly

2011-12-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

My friend Meghan and I met when we ended up in the same cooking club (which I will tell you about one day because those ladies can COOK!). She's an amazing writer, blogger and now bed and breakfast owner! She just opened the loveliest space in Detroit.

It's beautiful and comfortable, just like we all wish our homes to be, the perfect mix of vintage thrift store finds and handmade objects by local designers and makers. Honestly, I don't really think I can do it justice so you should really check out the photos and read what Meghan herself had to say in the sneak peak on Design Sponge and on Honor and Folly's website. (Also check out her blog Designtripper, just be warned, it will give you wanderlust like you won't believe.)

I'm so honored to be a small part of it. I made dinnerware especially for the Honor and Folly, and it is available for purchase on Meghan's website along with a number of other handmade things she has selected. (Amy Bem's apron is a favorite, and I would give my eye teeth for one of The Brush Factory's Buster bags.)

If you have any plans to come to Detroit (and you should) stay at Honor and Folly. You'll feel as if you're staying at your dear friend's house.

two front teeth

2011-12-21T23:39:00.004-05:00

When I was in second grade Patrick Murphy sat in the desk behind mine in Mrs Robinson’s class. He had red hair, freckles, and a number of brothers and sisters. He spent a lot of time trying to convince me that we were meant to be because my initials were AM and his were PM and together we’d make a whole day.

I was not convinced, but he was not deterred.

Until one day, in an effort to show his affection, he pushed me off the jungle gym at school and I chipped my two front teeth. Poor guy refused to go inside the rest of the day because he was looking for the pieces, and never really spoke to me again.

I thought of that yesterday when I went to the dentist. I love that story, hate the dentist.

(I think this blog post is officially the most random one ever.)

image here

Ice Castles

2011-12-20T10:47:00.000-05:00

For reasons passing understanding, the song "Through the Eyes of Love" got stuck in my head the other day. It was pretty much torture (honestly, it's like my own brain is trying to kill me with terrible music) and when I complained about it to Lisa she confessed that not only had she never heard the song, she had never seen the movie Ice Castles!

How did she escape it? I feel like it was Saturday night movie on tv every single time my parents went out during the 80's. I wasn't even allowed to watch tv and I'm pretty sure I've seen it a thousand times.

Anyway, I love it. It's so awesomely awful. And now I really want to go ice skating.

who's bad

2011-12-18T08:28:00.001-05:00

this made my day, until I started to worry that someone has a video camera in my studio...

gifted

2011-12-09T17:00:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for some gift ideas, you should check out my friend Keith's online shop at his lovely, newly redesigned website, Kreeger Pottery.

Keith had a studio and gallery on Cape Cod for years but recently moved his family down to Austin, Texas and it has been interesting to see how the move has changed his work. Check it out!

Stuffed

2011-12-09T15:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the Second Annual Detroit Holiday Food Bazaar and I can't wait, especially because my dear friend Sarah will be there! Her food making venture is called Stuffed, and she'll be selling empanadas with magic green sauce (seriously, you can just eat the sauce with a spoon, or your finger if you have to. It's so good.)

There will be lots of other great vendors and Noelle has been working like crazy getting it all together. If you're in town come check it out!

party

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Remember when I said that Chiara had opened an etsy shop? Yeah, I totally jumped the gun on that one, but it's up and running now and it's delightful.

I got a garland for my nephew Declan's upcoming birthday celebration. He wants a dinosaur cake this year (I've already got plans).

Isn't it adorable? (5 year olds don't read blogs do they?)

2011-12-07T22:50:00.001-05:00

"The Eames... This is going green 1949 style, bitch, believe that..."

pots

2011-11-28T20:46:00.001-05:00

Miss me? Well, too bad ; ) I've been so happily busy working, for the first time in way too long.

A while ago I was talking to a artist/curator friend that I respect very much at a party. Truthfully, I was whining about how for the past couple years I’ve been reading too much about politics and poverty, money and economics, and how it depresses me and makes it difficult for me to make work. I told her that lately it’s gotten worse and everything I start to make just feels stupid and shallow and pointless. (and it’s not even really winter yet. oh god. winter.)

She asked if I felt that way about art in general and I almost fainted. Oh dear god, no. Other people’s work is endlessly fascinating, it's just mine that's not so much.

She suggested I try writing about other people’s work (she’s always trying to get people to write) but, well, I don’t want to (too shy), and I started whining again. Eventually, I ended up saying that I just wanted to make pots and hock them cheap because, “the world is going to hell in a handcart and I just want to make things that are useful and beautiful, that people I like might want and could afford to buy.”

She said that was very noble, which, as a person with a whole lot of Catholic guilt, made me happy, but, as a person who reads way too much about poverty and politics etc, also made me a little sad. (that’s what passes for noble these days? ugh. The world is going to hell in a handcart, I tell you.)

But I loved the idea, and kept thinking about it, even obsessing about it, so, I’m doing it. I’m making cups, bowls, and plates etc, and slipcasting because I haven't made functional pots since high school (and I don't remember how) and so I can make them fast and sell them cheap. (I originally wanted to price them like they were from IKEA, but then I went to Ikea and saw how things were priced... speaking of IKEA, read this book.)

anyway, I love them almost as much as I love making them and pretty soon they'll be on sale. I will keep you posted.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T21:42:00.000-05:00

Poor turkey....

48

2011-11-22T22:06:00.001-05:00

phil collins

2011-11-17T02:30:00.001-05:00

No, I'm not still listening to terrible music (ok, ok, I am. Don't judge.) but at a friend's reccommendation I just listened to this amazing This American Life episode. My favorite part was Act One:

"In the wake of a break-up, writer Starlee Kine finds so much comfort in break-up songs that she decides to try and write one herself-- even though she has no musical ability whatsoever. For some help, she goes to a rather surprising expert on the subject: Phil Collins."

The whole thing is pretty great.

Prof or Hobo

2011-11-15T00:30:00.001-05:00

take the quiz, it's so funny! Especially if, like me, you live in a college town.

beautiful day

2011-11-02T17:31:00.003-04:00

My dear, sweet, Sunny and 65º November Day,

You have not yet gone, but I already miss you terribly and I cannot imagine how I will ever go on without you.

Please come back. I will do anything.

Yours forever,
Abigail

"Your boos are not scaring me. I know most of you are not ghosts."

2011-10-31T08:22:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween!

broccoli

2011-10-28T08:22:00.002-04:00

brocolli vimeo from Matthew Moore on Vimeo.

It's freezing this morning and I miss my garden.

turek

2011-10-27T09:16:00.000-04:00

Turek & the Tall Stool from Derek Schultz on Vimeo.

Recent grad, Bob Turek, played at the event at Cranbrook I went to a couple weeks ago and it was great. Check it out.

mound

2011-10-26T16:57:00.000-04:00

Mound by Allison Schulnik from garaco taco on Vimeo.

an old friend posted this on facebook and I like it. a lot.

have a good weekend!

2011-10-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

I don't seem to care to write about anything, but I like posting links so here you go.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

My Generation (this really is best thing ever. well, this week.)

Presidential Pick Up Lines (dirty, nerdy, and so very funny. I think, "Like Sinclair, I think it's about time for a federal meat inspection act." is my favorite, but it was difficult to choose.)

no wonder there were so many hot First Ladies

oldest art studio (amazing.)

Apollo 11 customs forms (it was not a requirement, they were just goofing. which makes it even better.)

Everything they own

image here.

slick

2011-10-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

Charlie Slick at Woodruff's in Ypsi tonight.

Can't wait.

(see, I still like good music! although, I did spend much of the morning listening to Olivia Newton John. which leads me to ask two questions: why do I admit these things? and what the hell is wrong with me?)

angel

2011-10-17T22:14:00.004-04:00

Lisa, my friend, this one is for you.

I think there might be an inverse relationship between the quality of a song and my desire to listen to it these days.

I apologize to anyone within earshot of my house or studio. This too shall pass.

Eventually.

Some day.

Maybe.

good weekend

2011-10-16T12:01:00.000-04:00

This weekend I had a wonderful time at an event celebrating the reopening of the remodeled Cranbrook Art Museum with a bunch of my favorite ladies. (remind me to wear less stupid shoes next time I go dancing, ok?)

hope your weekend was as fun as mine!

All the Single Ladies

"Just cut through the corn"

mind blowing sex, literally (completely safe for work)

Letters of Note (addictive blog of "correspondence deserving of a wider audience". Check it out, you won't be sorry, unless you have something else to do for the next hour or so.)

The cuteness, it burns

best

2011-10-14T23:46:00.001-04:00

32 Wittiest Combebacks in History. Churchill and Lincoln are obvious stars, but Dorothy Parker's is my favorite.

parsnip porn

2011-10-14T20:42:00.002-04:00

2011-10-13T10:09:00.000-04:00

Remember this list? Well, how about 14 More Wonderful Words with no English Equivalent.

# 9, Koi No Yokan (the sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love), and # 5, Zeg (the day after tomorrow), are my two favorites.

(Paul Newman has nothing to do with this post, but I couldn't think of an image that would and watched the last 10 minutes of Cool Hand Luke on tv last night, so there he is.)

Autumn

2011-10-11T18:54:00.000-04:00

Albert Camus said, "Autumn is a second spring when ever leaf is a flower."

I don't know who said, "It was autumn, the springtime of death," but I like it better.

Can you get seasonal affective disorder from thinking about winter?

carved

2011-10-10T10:06:00.000-04:00

Hey Chiara, let's add pumpkin carving to the list of things we're going to do when I visit!

Catholic guilt

2011-10-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I'm back. My mom made me feel guilty.

She likes to know what I’m up to and since I "never call", this is a good way for her to find out. (can you feel the guilt? gets you right in the gut, doesn't it?)

I think I'm a bit more susceptible to it than usual because I went to my high school reunion this past weekend and, as a part of it, to church for the first time in a very, very, very long time. (I went to all girls Catholic school... pleated plaid skirts, monthly mass, this statue right as you walk in the front door and all).

During mass I felt like I was going to get struck by lightning and couldn't stop laughing... being back in that chapel made me nervous and gave me flashbacks!

I remembered the time during senior year when a bunch of us snuck out of the boarding school by tying sheets together and climbing out of the choir loft. I can't remember what we did when we snuck out, and I'm not sure I want to...

And I remembered going to confession in that chapel. They made us go a few times a year and I was such a good kid (the first few years, anyway) that I didn't really have anything to confess. But the priest didn't seem to believe me and that made me feel guilty (wtf?). So, I started making shit up and tacking lying on at the end of my list of sins to get absolved for that too. (seriously, wtf??) I wish I could remember what I said...

The whole reunion was hilarious. So many old friends, so many unbelievable stories that I hadn't thought about in years. Sophomore year my friend called the stars of Degrassi Junior High and pretended to be a casting agent. She was so good that they completely bought it and communicated with her for weeks about the movie she was working on!! (it was so mean but also so funny!) It got to the point where they were making travel arrangements to come for an audition and she finally told them the movie had lost it's funding. Keep in mind, no one had a cell phone then, all this was done via the pay phone at school!

But the best part was that we did all this reminiscing, and much more, with our freshman history teacher and principal (who is a nun) without censoring. Our history teacher even came out drinking with us after dinner. I'm sure they've heard crazier things over their long careers, but they sure didn't act like it.

I like high school so much better now than I did when I was in it.

Anyway, back to the point... I’m going to keep posting things, but probably not as often.

the end

2011-09-27T22:00:00.000-04:00

I think I’m done with blogging. My heart is not in it and I'm not saying anything interesting.
I feel a little too naked in the world and like I have a hermit phase coming on... just in time for winter.

home sweet home

2011-09-26T18:37:00.000-04:00

Anybody want to move to Detroit and share a mansion with me?

If I wasn't sure I'd go broke maintaining it and get terribly lonely living in it, I'd totally buy it.

have a good weekend

2011-09-23T10:44:00.002-04:00

I'm going to see the Alloy Orchestra perform at the Detroit Film Theater. They are going to acompany the silent version of Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail. It was described to me as one of the most perfect films ever made and I was told that everything I'll ever need to know about cinema is contained in it. Who could say no to that?

By the way, the lecture yesterday was delightful... absolutely full of delight. Incredible, giant wood and steel machines, wonderful public performances. If you are in town and sorry you missed it, don't worry, François Delarozière will be speaking at MoCAD tonight.

And if you're not in town and want to see more there's a great slide show here.

creative motion

2011-09-22T13:00:00.000-04:00

Tonight I am going to see Francois Delaroziere's lecture at the Michigan Theater and if you're in town you should too.

"The artistic director of La Machine, a French theater company that creates living architectures that use movement as a language and source of emotion. Radio France says, '[Delaroziere] creates a world both real and dreamlike which invades cities for beautiful, moving and crazy celebrations.'"

I just wish he was bringing the 35 foot tall elephant...

gross anatomy

2011-09-20T13:51:00.000-04:00

My friend Sarah is just about the most delightfully inappropriate person I know. She named her cat Merkin and will gleefully explain the meaning and etymology of the word, complete with a Shakespearean quote and 30 Rock reference, to anyone who asks.

I will not. If you don't know, well, JFGI. (btw, this image will make sense in a minute.)

Half the time we hang out I just sit there and laugh until my cheeks and stomach hurt as she tells one absurd and hilarious story after another. This makes her a good friend to spend time with, so we hung out the other night.

She's quite a scrounger (just this side of a hoarder, really, but in a good way), so she also has a whole bunch of cool shit. Including a collection of amazing early 20th century anatomy books and sex encyclopedias.

The most amazing thing about them, aside from the advice they offer on how to conceive a child the sex of your choice (homemade roofies and exercise), opinions on what a woman is "supposed" to enjoy in bed, and what causes "frigidity" and lesbianism (Our Bodies, Ourselves, they ain't), is the illustrations.

Not sure if Edward Tufte would approve, but I love them.

Women as flowers is a big theme... the sad/happy flowers in the corners of these 4 crack me up.

But I think the menstrual cycle as constellation/space ship is my favorite.

top three illustrations are from the 1901 Home Encyclopedia of Health, and the others are from the 1950 edition of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Sex. (sorry the photos are kinda crappy. I only had my phone.)

easier than pie

2011-09-19T10:40:00.003-04:00

Want to know what the easiest dessert in the world to make is? chocolate elcairs.

Seriously, I don't know why people don't make them all the time.

Recipe here.

have a good weekend

2011-09-16T22:23:00.002-04:00

Muppets are cool and some other things are too.

HELPING OWEGO!! (the flooding is unbelievable. please help if you can.)

THANKING TEACHERS!!

fully functioning LEGO greenhouses

making a chair a week

swinging on a swing

haiku trivia

Marseilles

2011-09-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hope you're not bored of them because here's another batch of photos from our trip to France, this time from Marseilles. We had a wonderful day there, just walking around...

We ate boullibaise and drank rose in the port. I know it looks like he was, but that crab was not alive, crawling out the primordial soup to kick my ass. He was delicious though. (or so Steven said. I couldn't bring myself to eat him. too cute.)

(btw, I made Julie Child's bouibaise recipe for a dinner party the other night... more on that later.)

Maybe it was because we'd seen so many austere restored ancient churches and modern Corbusier buildings earlier in the trip, but I loved the cathedral with all its excessive everything.

double happiness

2011-09-14T10:22:00.002-04:00

Architect Didier Fiuza Faustino converted a billboard into swing set.

happy ending

2011-09-13T08:30:00.000-04:00

Orson Welles said, “If you want a happyending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.”

I kept reading Eero and Aline Saarinen’s correspondence and eventually got to Aline’s letters to Eero after they hadbeen married for about 7 years. I was a little obsessed for a couple days... I've been thinking about marriage...

Eero and Aline married later in life by 50's standards, she was in her late 30's, he in his early 40's. They both had been married and had children before (Eero was still married to his first wife when they met), but they went on to have a wonderful professional partnership, an intimate, loving marriage, and a son of their own.

They often traveledseparately doing their own work and promoting his. Aline was a journalist, author and architecture critic with an impressive career in any era, but even more so as a woman in the 1950's and 60's. And his fame is, in large part, due to her work on his behalf both before and after his death.

But after they'd been married for awhile, according to Aline, Eero didn’t writeletters (or postcards, or even cables) anymore...

But Aline wrote. In one letter she told him about their young son and the goings on at their practice. She let him knowof the sudden passing of a 56 year old friend and begged him to take care ofhimself. She wondered how his work was being received and whether or not he'd gotten the runs on his trip. And she ended that lettersaying that she missed him and loved him even if he had forgotten her.

And here’s the part that killed me… 3months after she sent him that sweet ordinary letter teasing, not complaining, about being taken for granted, at the age of 51, Eero died.

Holy hell, that's depressing. Tomorrow, much cheerier things.

love letters

2011-09-12T10:40:00.000-04:00

After seeing Abbey's post about Eero Saarinen's list of his wife Aline's best attributes, I remembered that much of their correspondence is available on the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art website, and I started reading.

And I have to say that Eero Saarinen wrote one hell of a love letter...

Not sure I want to know what he was gonna do with that razor blade.... but dayum! I think I'm in love with him.

have a good weekend

2011-09-09T09:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, apparently I thought pretty much every new thing I saw this week was the best thing ever. I'm not entirely sure if I stumbled on some unusually great stuff or if I am suffering from rain induced mania, but either way here are few more examples:

30 Harshest Artist-on-Artist Insults in History (this really is the best thing ever. I'm completely sure this time.)

Best Onion Special Feature EVER

grossest headline ever.

My Little Pop Icons

Dictionary of the Near Future (Instant Reincarnation is my favorite.)

Best use of tomatoes ever

famous photographs as instagrams (I got a shoe catalog from Bergdorf's or something this week and it looked like it was printed from Instagram, which did not make me want to buy their $800 shoes, it made me want to throw out my phone.)

pop or soda? soda or pop?

Hope you're weekend is the best ever!

Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume

2011-09-08T15:38:00.000-04:00

During our trip to France we went to Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, a cathedral dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene.

Despite what you may have heard, Mary Magdalene was not a whore. She was a close friend of Jesus, hung around him a lot, tended to him while he was on the cross, cleaned his body after he died and was the first to see him after he rose from the dead.

At least that's what I think I learned at Catholic school... I can't quite remember. I'm sure about the "not a whore" and "first to see Jesus" parts. They really drilled those parts home.

The cathedral holds 2 relics of Mary, her skull and a hunk of her skin that Jesus supposedly touched after the resurrection. In case you didn't go to Catholic school, or take art history in college, relics are body parts of holy people kept as objects of reverence.

I love relics, in all their glorious grossness. And I love reliquaries too, especially this one since they made Mary a wig of golden hair.

2nd best thing ever

2011-09-07T08:57:00.000-04:00

3PO grabs Leia's ass.

best thing ever

2011-09-06T10:34:00.000-04:00

Bunny Dressage. That's all I have to say. Read the article, behold the photos, watch the video. It will make your day. I promise.

(more photos of my trip to France soon. I'm trying to cull the herd.)

Happy Labor Day

2011-09-05T09:38:00.001-04:00

"Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital and deserves much the higher consideration." Abraham Lincoln

image here

Abbaye du Thoronet

2011-09-04T14:45:00.002-04:00

Ok, I took a million photos and I'm having a hard time editing... bear with me. The Abbey at Thoronet is a former Cistercian abbey built in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century and it is beautiful.

vive la france

2011-09-01T09:56:00.000-04:00

We just got back from spending a lovely 10 days visiting Steven's parents in the south of France. (view from their front door.)

We had a lovely time, traveling around the small towns, seeing the sights, eating the food, chatting with family. (garden I want to go to when I die)

Much more about it in coming days. I hope you all don't get bored of all my travel photos. (Steven's parents, the year they got married)

break

2011-08-21T12:41:00.001-04:00

I know it seems like I've been on a break for months, but now I'm taking a real one. I'll be back on September first with much to share, and, hopefully, more in a mood to share it.

Have good couple weeks!

91st

2011-08-18T12:02:00.006-04:00

It's the 91st anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

And this article about Harry Burn, the 24 year old member of the Tennessee State House who cast that deciding vote because his mother told him to, is still awesome.

“I know that a mother’s advice is always the safest for a boy to follow.”

Party

2011-08-18T07:30:00.002-04:00

59 adults + 16 kids + 2 dogs + a pinata + water balloons + food + wine = awesomeness on a Wednesday night.

seriously, I'm going to have a pinata at all my parties from now on.

Elvis has left the building

2011-08-16T11:26:00.000-04:00

34 years ago today....

space oddity

2011-08-15T07:18:00.003-04:00

In commemoration of the end of the Space Shuttle program, check out this amazing series of photographs, Astronaut Suicides.

hello

2011-08-11T08:31:00.002-04:00

Mother Jones has a really interesting photo essay by Phillip Toledano about phone sex operators and their funniest, saddest, or oddest stories. Here's a funny and not too scandalous example:

"Gary was watching a “World's Strongest Women" show and saw a woman pick up a motorcycle. 'Oh, I could do that,' I said. 'Could you?' he responded, breathless. 'Oh my god...I'd like to see you lift up my girlfriend's car.' 'What kind of car does she have?' 'A Mazda Miata.' A part of me may miss getting paid for this when I move on."

What Work Is

2011-08-10T23:52:00.000-04:00

I'm not all that familiar with his work, but I think I am a little bit in love with our new poet laureate.

sad puppy

2011-08-09T08:44:00.000-04:00

I've got a new favorite tumblr, Sad Etsy Dogs: Betrayal, Commerce Woe.
Hilarious!

here's to your health

2011-08-08T10:38:00.002-04:00

Last night I watched the 2011 version of Jane Eyre. It was beautiful and haunting but I was a little disturbed remembering how romantic I thought the book was when I read it in high school since it's kind of a tale of successful sexual harassment...

Maybe the book is different, or maybe all girls Catholic school really does mess a person up.

Luckily, my favorite part of the book was still perfect. It's when a young Jane has the following conversation with the headmaster of her new school:

“No sight so sad as that of a naughty child,” he began, “especially a naughty little girl. Do you know where the wicked go after death?”

“They go to hell,” was my ready and orthodox answer.

“And what is hell? Can you tell me that?”

“A pit full of fire.”

“And should you like to fall into that pit, and to be burning there forever?”

“No, sir.”

“What must you do to avoid it?”

I deliberated a moment; my answer, when it did come, was objectionable: “I must keep in good health and not die.”

can't remember

2011-08-06T23:18:00.006-04:00

I read that heat waves make people insane, and recent experience suggests it's true. Luckily, it's going to cool off this week, and, even better, Chiara is coming to visit!
While I wait I'm listening to sad songs on repeat. Don't judge.

just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water

2011-08-01T13:54:00.002-04:00

Ichthyophobia is the word for fish phobia. I have it and I've never been so happy to be landlocked...

(no one gets attacked in this video!)

via even cleveland

$2590 pajamas?

2011-08-01T09:45:00.000-04:00

And no, they do not sleep for you.

This world is seriously fucked up.

word

2011-07-28T17:34:00.000-04:00

15 Wonderful Words that have no English equivalent.

#5 and #15 are my favorites.

1. Zhaghzhagh (Persian)
The chattering of teeth from the cold or from rage.

2. Yuputka (Ulwa)
A word made for walking in the woods at night, it’s the phantom sensation of something crawling on your skin.

3. Lampadato (Italian)
Addicted to the infra-red glow of tanning salons? This word describes you.

4. Luftmensch (Yiddish)
The Yiddish have scores of words to describe social misfits. This one is for an impractical dreamer with no business sense. Literally, air person.

5. Iktsuarpok (Inuit)
You know that feeling of anticipation when you’re waiting for someone to show up at your house and you keep going outside to see if they’re there yet? This is the word for it.

6. Cotisuelto (Caribbean Spanish)
A word that would aptly describe the prevailing fashion trend among American men under 40, it means one who wears the shirt tail outside of his trousers.

7. Pana Po’o (Hawaiian)
“Hmm, now where did I leave those keys?” he said, pana po’oing. It means to scratch your head in order to help you remember something you’ve forgotten.

8. Gumusservi (Turkish)
Meteorologists can be poets in Turkey with words like this at their disposal. It means moonlight shining on water.

9. Vybafnout (Czech)
A word tailor-made for annoying older brothers—it means to jump out and say boo.

10. Mencolek (Indonesian)
You know that old trick where you tap someone lightly on the opposite shoulder from behind to fool them? The Indonesians have a word for it.

11. Faamiti (Samoan)
To make a squeaking sound by sucking air past the lips in order to gain the attention of a dog or child.

12. Glas wen (Welsh)
A smile that is insincere or mocking. Literally, a blue smile.

13. Bakku-shan (Japanese)
The experience of seeing a woman who appears pretty from behind but not from the front.

14. Boketto (Japanese)
It’s nice to know that the Japanese think enough of the act of gazing vacantly into the distance without thinking to give it a name.

15. Kummerspeck (German)
Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, grief bacon.

only memories remain

2011-07-26T22:59:00.002-04:00

I think I posted this before, but I still love it and it fits my mood perfectly.

teach me tonight

2011-07-25T07:12:00.000-04:00

hipsters

2011-07-18T08:28:00.010-04:00

You know that hilarious tumblr, Dad's are the Original Hipsters?

Well, looking through some old photos, I decided that babies in the 70's could give Dads one heck of a run for their money.

I rest my case.

(babies in the photos are me, my brother and me, and me. I wish I still had that red jacket.)

talking to myself and feeling old

2011-07-11T10:14:00.000-04:00

actually, I'm really glad it's raining, and Mondays don't bother me a bit, but I woke up a little blue and sometimes it's nice to wallow a bit.

charted

2011-07-07T17:38:00.000-04:00

charts for movie quotes. hilarious.

independence day

2011-07-04T13:21:00.000-04:00

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Catholic School

2011-06-30T10:11:00.000-04:00

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Any of you go to Catholic school? I did and this cracked me up.

early and often

2011-06-25T20:54:00.001-04:00

if you're in Ann Arbor, or Michigan, or just on Facebook and wanna, vote for Pot and Box as the best florist in Ann Arbor! Lisa is amazing, and really is the best so it's only fair she wins!!

Take the cake, please

2011-06-22T23:55:00.001-04:00

I baked a cake for a party yesterday, but it turned out the party wasn't yesterday it's NEXT Tuesday.
I am a moron. A moron with a lot of extra cake.

Please come get it! And bring me a calendar when you do.

(Tartine's chiffon cake, with homemade strawberry rhubarb jam and swiss meringue butter cream. It's really fricken good, but my favorite part is how the pink plate is part of the pink scale.)

strawberry

2011-06-21T05:39:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I picked 25 pounds of strawberries and made some strawberry, strawberry/rhubarb, and strawberry lavender jam. I still have about 15 pounds of strawberries left (help) and I smell like a Strawberry Shortcake doll.

Speaking of Strawberry Shortcake, did you know they redesigned her a few years ago? Care Bears too. Ew. Is nothing sacred?

happy fathers day

2011-06-19T10:05:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure my dad doesn't really know what a blog is, but Happy Father's day!

And since I'm a dope and didn't post a photo on Mother's Day, even though my mom does know what a blog is, here's one of me and my mom. (awesome collar!)

good day

2011-06-17T05:34:00.007-04:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Yesterday, we went to the rally to save Catherine Ferguson Academy, the truly wonderful school for pregnant and parenting teens in Detroit that I have mentioned before. And it worked!

Ok, it wasn't the rally that worked, but because of all the letter writing, phone calling, protesting, and persistence of the students, faculty, graduates, community, friends and fans of the school it will be staying open! They're even having summer school.

It all seemed too good to be true. Even as we watched students and faculty abandon their prepared speeches about why they need their school to stay open and cry tears of joy knowing that it would, I couldn't quite believe it.

But it is true! And even though the deal isn't perfect, after listening to the principal, Asenath Andrews, speak about it on the news tonight I feel even better than I did earlier in the day.

Sometimes, people work together and make good things happen. And this is just a really good thing.

how I became 100 artists

2011-06-15T09:35:00.002-04:00

Shea Hembrey wanted to put on an international art show of a hundred artists, but the more he thought about it the more figuring out how to pull that off seemed too complicated and difficult. So, he found an easier way.

He wrote bios and back stories for all 100 artists and created all the work himself.

Awesome.

happy flag day

2011-06-14T08:09:00.000-04:00

Jasper Johns: White Flag, 1955

rainbow in a cloud

2011-06-12T10:10:00.003-04:00

Jackson wanted a rainbow themed party for his 4th birthday, so, inspired by these beautiful cakes, Chiara and I made him a rainbow cake!

The pans we used were all different sizes and once it was all together (with considerable structural support) it looked, um, well, lumpy. So, I decided to make it look like a cloud on the outside, keeping with the rainbow theme.

It was a little janky, but it's the imperfections that make it fun. The best part was when Chiara cut the cake revealing the rainbow inside!

and when Jackson ate it.

Happy Birthday little guy!

new neighbors

2011-06-11T21:19:00.000-04:00

Robins moved into the magnolia tree outside the dining room window, and I love them.

how about them apples

2011-06-10T10:41:00.002-04:00

The crazy weather this spring has not been kind to the vegetable garden, but our fruits are doing fine! Baby apples on the espalier apple trees,

and strawberries (and weeds) galore!

hammock

2011-05-31T11:28:00.000-04:00

memorial day

2011-05-30T23:08:00.000-04:00

I love a good bbq and pool opening as much as the next girl, but I find it hard to be cheery on this day.

Charles Eames & Eero Saarinen at Cranbrook circa 1941

2011-05-27T00:11:00.002-04:00

no one at Cranbrook looked like this when I went there.

via my new favorite blog: awesome people hanging out together

love her

2011-05-26T15:03:00.002-04:00

in bloom

2011-05-24T20:45:00.000-04:00

Really, it's spring.

breakfast of champions

2011-05-22T11:35:00.000-04:00

Morel mushrooms, asparagus, poached egg.

Yup, it's spring.

married

2011-05-11T10:49:00.000-04:00

9 years today!

the dogs of war

2011-05-05T19:48:00.000-04:00

This slide show of the dogs of the military completely stunned me. I had no idea.

Check it out.

paper basket

2011-05-03T08:26:00.000-04:00

I love these. L-O-V-E, love them.

more info here.

chick

2011-04-22T20:59:00.000-04:00

break

2011-04-21T00:46:00.002-04:00

I am sure it's just the change in seasons (or lack there of) but I'm feeling sad, mopey, weird and confused and don't feel much like blogging, so I'm taking a break.

Back in a week or so with amazing baked things. Seriously, I've out done myself.

bad start

2011-04-18T07:49:00.001-04:00

Remember this?

Yeah, well, look at it this morning.

If you're looking for me, I'll be throwing myself off the nearest bridge.

take flight

2011-04-13T22:03:00.003-04:00

SF to Paris in Two Minutes from Beep Show on Vimeo.

take the cake

2011-04-12T15:59:00.000-04:00

I made a cake just because I was in the mood to bake. But now I need someone to come take it out of my house.

Pasqueflower

2011-04-11T17:30:00.000-04:00

Look what's blooming in the backyard!

America the beautiful

2011-04-07T10:53:00.001-04:00

Fashion Bloggers in the Carolinas is a little weird, and I think that Michigan should be 'Cars and Drunk Lake People', but other than that, cute!

buy the print here.