Crafty Aspirations

Another reminder

2009-04-28T07:02:00.002-04:00

Another reminder! I'm posting at my fresh new blog now. The Perfect Binge. Come see me there!

Reminder

2009-04-05T18:58:00.001-04:00

I promise it wasn't an April Fools joke! I am no longer posting here. Come join me over at The Perfect Binge.

Gone away

2009-04-01T17:51:00.000-04:00

My new nest may not be totally complete, but you can still follow me to The Perfect Binge. A fresh new start seemed just the thing!

Artwork above by handmadeonpeconicbay. Isn't it lovely and tempting?

Don't be alarmed

2009-03-24T21:54:00.001-04:00

I am merely feathering a fresh new nest for my blog. Updates to come!

AHH! SNAKE!

2009-03-22T16:58:00.001-04:00

AHH! SNAKE! - FGR Guerilla Art
Originally uploaded by KCrawfish03

I love this kinda silliness! A good reason to keep chalk on you at all times.

Inspiring look

2009-03-19T18:07:00.001-04:00

miss vu • 03.19.09
Originally uploaded by miss vu

Been a while since I've posted one of these, no? Love love love this look!

Strong strong women

2009-03-19T11:24:00.001-04:00

Antonia's Line is a charming Dutch film about Antonia and her family and friends. It starts with the day she decides to die "because she knows when enough is enough" and then goes back to tell her tale. The story is a great one - full of the intricacies of small town life where everyone's business is known.

I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil the tiniest bit of it. I give it a 9.

All message-y

2009-03-18T13:13:00.000-04:00

The Cat Returns features the very cool and imaginative Kingdom of Cats. Unfortunately, it also features a message that it attempts to sledge hammer into you.

It's all about a girl who feels out of place. She does a good deed for a cat in trouble and ends up the unwilling recipient of lots of attention from the Kingdom of Cats. And through all her adventures, she's forced to learn how to have confidence in herself. They mention it so goddamn often that its impossible not to get the message.

For that reason - and that reason only, it only gets a 4 from me.

Yes yes

2009-03-17T11:01:00.000-04:00

I have watched a whole ton of movies lately. I've had some days off and spare time. Other things were accomplished too, I promise. Craftiness, candle-making, house tidying, thrift shopping and whatnot.

Rachel Getting Married had me worried at first. I was sure it was going to be scene after scene of Kim, the troubled recovering alcoholic / attention seeking daughter, ruining the wedding of her sister Rachel.

At first, there was a lot of those moments, but as things went along the family dynamic got a lot more complex and subtle. I felt like I was watching a real family unit - full of affection and pain and conflict.

I also loved the wedding itself. The music of this film bowled me over. This one rates an 8.

Just wondering

2009-03-17T07:07:00.001-04:00

Sunflowers!
Originally uploaded by ilina s

Is anyone else dreaming of flowers? Its that tme of year in Ohio when only the crocus are blooming. I can feel the promise of spring and I know that in a short time flowers will be just about everywhere, but I cannot wait.

I've been buying flowers every time I grocery shop. Sunday I lucked into a free bouquet from my husband's coworkers. Flowers make everything better.

French fluff

2009-03-16T10:43:00.000-04:00

Priceless is a bit of fluffy French comedy featuring Audrey Tautou as a gold digger who inadvertently charms a common hotel employee. The story is cute and silly. Tautou is charming as always. This film more than any other though, made me a bit concerned for how insanely think she is though. Maybe its a French thing, but if she were one of my friends, I'd be keeping an eye on her.

I give it a 5. The two leads are pretty adorable.

2009-03-15T22:31:00.002-04:00

Netflix suggests a lot of movies to me, but it rarely gets it as right as Sweet Land. The story of a mail order bride from Germany who moves to a Minnesota community at a time when mistrust for Germans is riding high.

The story is a romance told so sweetly and gently. I can recommend it enough. (And Lisa, if you don't add this to your queue immediately, you just don't know what's good for you).

The filming is beautiful. Every last character is well thought out. Watch it and thank me later.

A 9.5 out of 10 in my book.

Regrets

2009-03-12T23:12:00.003-04:00

Inspired by this post over on The Bluestocking Society, I started contemplating books I'm a little embarassed to admit Ihave not read yet. We all have them, right? My biggies?

- Catcher in the Rye
- Anna Karenina

And that got me pondering movies that I'm sad to say I haven't watched. Those neglected films are:

- The Godfather (any of them)
- Gone With the Wind

So now that I've spilled my dirty secrets, what books or films have you missed that you are ashamed to admit?

Oh please

2009-03-11T10:45:00.000-04:00

Dead Until Dark sucked it - and not just in a vampirey way. Its all about a waitress in Louisiana who gets tangled up with a vampire and has to deal with lots of people she knows being murdered. In this world vampires have recently come out to the world since the invention of synthetic blood makes them more socially acceptable. And there's a whol culture of "fangbangers" - vampire groupies. Sounds a bit interesting, right? Well dash those hopes right now.

The main character is dumb. The relationships are dull. The set-ups are frequently unbelievable. (Cause of course, I would drop my kids off to be babysat by a woman whose had a recent attempt on her life and is still obviously been marked to be killed. Sure!) Stupid stupid book! Only a 1 on my scale.

Inspiration

2009-03-10T10:34:00.001-04:00

After watching You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, the documentary about Howard Zinn, I am just thrumming with inspiration. The man as such a powerful message.

I love what he says about how no one is neutral. If you aren't participating and working for what's right, then you've sided with the wrong. Inertia is its own evil. We're all responsible for doing something.

Mr. Zinn is an amazing person, and this documentary was a nice push. I give it an 8.

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

Shake Loose

2009-03-09T22:29:00.001-04:00

I picked up Shake Loose My Skin for a dose of poetry long overdue this winter. Unfortunately, this dosage must be someone else's. I didn't like it much. It all felt dated and just not it. I did enoy "The Blues" and "Set No. 1" from "Wounded in the House of a Friend", but the rest just didn't resonate with me. I only give this one a 2.

Again and again and again and again

2009-03-08T22:41:00.003-04:00

How many times can a person make the same point in one book? Apparently over and over again until you want to scream. I already have an annoying acquaintance from work who does this sort of thing - I don't need a book to do it.

Nudge takes an interesting and valid point and drives it until the ground. I gave up halfway through it. Only a two in my book.

Update on Amy

2009-03-08T22:27:00.001-04:00

I do believe we've found our pretty foster pup a terrific home. I'll know for sure this week, but she was smitten and the potential adopter equally so.

Aggravating

2009-03-08T22:14:00.004-04:00

The boy and I watched the BBC film Tipping the Velvet over the weekend. Based on the Sarah Waters novel, I had high hopes for this after having watched their wonderful rendition of Fingersmith. They really fell down on the job on this one.

This movie is about a girl in the 1890's who leaves the safe world of her family's oyster house to the world of the stage and male impersonators and the dangerous world of London. It, of course, features Sarah Waters' usual lesbian romances. The story is a good one - or at least it was when I read it.

BBC films are usually done so lovely. This one was down by some ADD director who felt the need to use an insane number of camera tricks - flashbacks, lots of super fast cuts, and even more idiot effects. The narration annoyed me. The use of patently obvious visual queues was even worse. (Its easy to tell when one of the characters is feeling trapped, do we really need her to pose next to a bird in a cage?). They even changed the ending - same results but with an entirely different way of getting there. I felt misused by this film.

The one highlight was the costumes. They were fantastic. The rest of it was crap. I only give it a 2. (The book however is very very good).

Meet Amy

2009-03-04T19:59:00.002-04:00

I've been wanting to be a foster home for pets for a long while now, and we finally did it. Meet Amy.

Amy is a five month old Jack Russell mix. She's a bit shy around people, but getting more confident by the day. She loves dogs and is practicing her manners around kitties. She's the snuggliest little pup - loves to be as close as possible. If you know anyone in Ohio looking for a fantastic little dog, send them my way!

Absolute terrification

2009-03-04T18:28:00.003-04:00

Blindness is one hell of a nightmare inducer. Imagine if everyone went blind in an inexplicable epidemic. It would be one ugly scarey ride. Much like The Road but with no seeing.

I have terrible terrible vision and have nightmares about losing my contacts and glasses and having to muddle along, not recognizing people at a distance, not seeing the hole I'm about to stumble into. basically living a helpless helpless life.

In this book, everyone but one person loses their vision and can only see a bright whiteness. They first victims are stuffed inside an asylum to be quarantined and things get really really really bad in there. And the one lady isn't someone we envy cause when folks think you can't see them, they do some really awful things.

This is not a book for those with weak constitutions. There is unimaginable violence and serious filth. And grammar enthusiasts beware. The story runs along with little punctuation and no quotation marks. Normally I would hate that so much, but in this case it works. It seems to heighten the terror for me.

Its a really good book. I give it an 8.

(Apparently there's a movie version of this. Anyone seen it?)

Wedding Dress

2009-03-04T10:28:00.002-04:00

Wedding Dress
Originally uploaded by Dailyville

Oh my. This is so lovely.

2009-03-03T22:04:00.003-04:00

We watched Hellboy the other night. It's a super hero-ish movie, and super hero-ish movies have been on a sucky run in my book. Here's my breakdown of this one.

What was good:

- The Hellboy character kind of rocked. I liked all his kitties.

- The fish guy was different.

- The strong influence of the supernatural. This isn't a bunch of people made weird by toxic fumes or mad scientists. These creatures have history - demons and relics and such.

- The director. Del Toro is pretty damn good. He gets wickedly dark very well.

What wasn't good.

- Selma Blair. Her acting stunk to high heaven.

- The sword guy. I laughed a few times at his too perfect comic-y book skills.

- The Nazi angle seemed a bit pointless. Actually none of the villains were very memorable.

I give this on a 5. I'm sure I'll check out the sequel.

Chilling

2009-03-01T18:03:00.000-04:00

You may wonder how anyone can make a film as dark as No Country for Old Men. I think if you check out the chilling movie Blood Simple, you can see the beginnings of some smart and creepy as hell film making. The hitman is nowhere near as pee-in-you-pants scary as Anton Chigurh, but that laugh freaked me the hell out. Frances McDormand is just a baby in this one. Its very very good. I give it 8 stars.

Pretty dishwater

2009-03-01T12:37:00.001-04:00

I took this shot yesterday while washing up my mess from making a rainbow colored cake. Inspiration via The Morale Agency. More pictures soon!

Simply gorgeous

2009-02-28T19:08:00.000-04:00

Another stunner of a short story on Selected Shorts - "Football" by Elizabeth Crane. Listen here. (Its the first story. The second one is good; the first is art.)

Maisie

2009-02-28T17:49:00.006-04:00

Maisie Dobbs is one I picked up after realizing that everyone in the world had read it except me. Its about a lady detective in Britain who was a nurse in the war.

I admit that the history of how Maisie came up through the ranks bored me a bit. It was so slooooow. However, the investigation was very intriguing and the romance part so sweet. The book often put me in mind of the BBC series Foyle's War which I adore. I've already reserved book number two and can't wait to see what happens next. Six stars from me.

Tale of an amazing pub

2009-02-27T18:59:00.000-04:00

Another amazing podcast - but this one is hysterical. Joe Jackson's tale about the Admiral Drake on The Moth. Do yourself a favor and give it a listen.

The complexity of mothers

2009-02-26T18:49:00.003-04:00

I listened to Hell-Heaven on Selected Shorts. At the end, my mouth was hanging open.

Jhumpa Lahiri is an amazing writer. Hear it here. If you aren't into listening, read it here.

Milton

2009-02-25T22:29:00.002-04:00

Total Eclipse of the Soul
Originally uploaded by Time Grabber

"I waked, she fled, and day brought back my night." - Milton

Criticker

2009-02-25T21:05:00.002-04:00

After doing a search for "Goodreads for movies" on google (cause lord knows how much I lurve Goodreads), I discovered Criticker. It's good. Find me here if you get hooked as well.

Kiki

2009-02-25T20:57:00.002-04:00

I watched Kiki's Delivery Service last night. I've decided that I must watch all of Miyazaki's films after being so delighted with My Neighbor Totoro.

Kiki's Delivery Service is the tale of a witch who has to leave her home at 13 and spend a year away in training. But this is no Hogwart's knock-off. Instead, a thirteen-year old witch is expected to just find some new city and direct her own training. And in this world, witches are known but rare so Kiki's arrival at the city by the sea meets with a mix of amazement and misunderstandings with the locals.

Its rather adorable. Particularly her cat Jiji. I give it a 6.5.

Now Long Ago

2009-02-24T08:34:00.002-04:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amstersam/517386614/
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/amstersam/

"Now Long Ago" by Maya Angelou

One innocent spring
your voice meant to me
less than tires turning
on a distant street.

Your name, perhaps spoken,
led no chorus of batons
unrehearsed
to crush against my
empty chest.

That cool spring was shortened by
your summer, bold impatient
and all forgotten
except when silence
turns the key
into my midnight bedroom
and comes to sleep upon your
pillow.

Exactly

2009-02-23T18:39:00.002-04:00

our destinies passed each other like strangers
Originally uploaded by clinton grobler

"Sometimes what you need is the company of strangers." - Amy Ray

Forthcoming

2009-02-23T18:21:00.004-04:00

Instead of the Oscars (cause really I generally just watch those for the clothes and those pictures can be found via the internet), the hubs and I watched Religulous last night. Now I'll admit to some fear cause Bill Maher is a smart guy but he can come off like an ass at times. Religulous was a nice surprise though.

In this documentary, Maher goes around interviewing folks about religion - all kinds of religion. For the most part, he manages to straddle a line and keeps it respectful if skeptical. I did cringe at a few too easy potshots though.

I did like his point about how atheists are a silent party and we need to speak up. I often times will allow people to assume I'm Christian in order to avoid either a philosophical argument or a crusade to save my soul. Those situations can really suck, and I've gotten a bit gunshy over them. Instead, I just smile and uncommittedly change the subject. That seems to be the cowards way out. I'm going to be better about stating my beliefs when someone unthinkingly makes some wrong assumption about my religious views. I won't be argumentative cause that's just obnoxious. Instead of uncommittedly changing the subject, I think from now on I'll just politely and gentley correct any wrong assumptions and THEN change the subject.

Then possibly that person will think twice about assuming anything about anyone the next time. Was that rambly enough for you? 7 stars.

Snippets of dreams

2009-02-22T15:58:00.002-04:00

After reading The Girl in the Flammable Skirt I keep wondering why Aimee Bender is so successful. I get that her stories are wildly imaginative and I highly appreciate that. However, there's no real substance to her work. Its like snippets of dreams that really could be turned into something great if someone worked on them. I find them all very dissatisfying - mostly cause they do have promise that is never fulfilled.

There is one amazingly good story in there though called "Quiet Please." Its about a librarian who reacts to her father's death by having sex with every man in the library that day. A bit racy I know, but there's a scene towards the end of it that is so vivid and wonderful. It really is something.

Recent etsy purchases

2009-02-22T10:52:00.002-04:00

I've had a spate of etsy purchases lately and thought I'd share.

This print was perfect for my sister's 36th birthday. She frequently can use some cheering up, and this can't hurt. Pls its as pretty as can be! Its called Dot to Dot Blossoms with Bird by HadleyHutton.

Another friend of mine had me and the husband over for dinner not to long ago. This lady has the prettiest coziest house ever. Throughout she has grogeous little trinkets inspired by the natural world. I couldn't resist sending her these darling felted acorns by truLuxe.

I'm co-hosting a baby shower in April for a friend of mine. We've decided on a sweet lil tea party and these invites by Cheerupcherup were perfect.

Notice I haven't indulged in a darn thing for myself. Hmmmm....maybe next time.

Laid poor jesse in his grave

2009-02-20T20:50:00.000-04:00

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a breathtaking film. I expected it to be full of gun slinging and train robbing and horses, and it has a bit of that. But even more so, it is so thoughtful and gorgeous. Casey Affleck is so talented. Brad Pitt does a good job portraying a character who is both charismatic and paranoid. I was shocked to see Mary Louise Parker playing such a minor role, but the pieces she is in leave you aching.

The characters are richly thought out, the filmmaking is beautiful, and the whole thing is utterly wonderful. I give this a 9.5.

Lost

2009-02-19T20:50:00.002-04:00

Goodmorning Amsterdam
Originally uploaded by Bеn

"Most people think of life as a puzzle to which pieces are constantly being added. My life started as a completes puzzle, but I've lost too many pieces along the way for it ever to be that way again." - Carolin Yawn

Bearded ladies and imps

2009-02-19T20:34:00.003-04:00

Castle Waiting is a marvelous fairy tale that begins with a very familiar fairy tale and then goes way off track. Even if graphic novels aren't your cup of tea, give this a try and I think you'll change your mind. The stories of this pack of misfits living in an old abandoned castle are so imaginative. It's full of bearded ladies and caged hearts and imps and demons. The whole thing is a merry yarn. I give it a 9.

Fantastic

2009-02-19T19:40:00.000-04:00

old favorite

2009-02-17T22:36:00.000-04:00

it's a long long road
it's a big big world
we are wise wise women
we are giggling girls
we both carry a smile
to show when we're pleased
both carry a switchblade
in our sleeves.
- Ani Difranco

Who knew!

2009-02-17T13:56:00.000-04:00

Chicken Cheeks is pretty darn cute and has fueled my irrational longing for a guinea pig. More on that later. I give this a 7. Also, its by Michael Ian Black. Who knew!

Clever

2009-02-16T22:35:00.002-04:00

Devil's Dyke Crows
Originally uploaded by tommy martin

"If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows." - Rev. Henry Ward Beecher

Daydream fuel?

2009-02-16T22:22:00.002-04:00

Generally i hot the library with my stack of books already reserved and waiting for me. Sometimes, I peak at the new book shelf. However, I do not ramble the library enough, and rambles are essential for adding soem unpredicatability into my to read list.

A ramble resulted in Gardening at Ginger by James Raimes. Its ugly ol' February in Ohio, and I'm pooring over seed catalogs and dreaming of crocus buds and more sunshine and all the glories of spring. A gardening book seemed like the perfect sort of escape.

What I found out was that a well-written gardening book would have been the perfect escape. This fell short.

Raimes is passionate for his subject and I'm betting he's a pretty fair gardener. However, this book finds him repeating himself a lot and rambling on quite a bit. His descriptions of flower beds are pretty un-picturable - and in a fluffy gardening book, its all about the mental picture. What else could fuel those day dreams. I did like a description of a line of iris he saw at a neighboring garden and the vision of a sleepy bat bedding down in their patio umbrella. However, too much of this just wasn't that entertaining at all. Only 2 stars - it did have a gorgeous cover.

Demons

2009-02-15T23:40:00.000-04:00

100! Demons! is a graphic novel by Lynda Barry. I liked it even better than What It Is. In this book she names her demons - things like "Common Scents" and "Dogs." She doesn't go into all 100, but the one's she explores are always a mixture of humorous and touching and heartbreaking.

She makes me want to draw more which is something I always appreciate. I give this an 8.

I am an ass

2009-02-14T13:30:00.000-04:00

I watched Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring tonight. I should have known better. It's a Buddhist fairytale about a monk in the middle of a drop dead gorgeous lake raising a boy. When a teenage girl is dropped off by her mother to be cured of her illness, boy and girl get together and badness ensues.

Here's why I should know better - my favorite magazine - The Sun - posts all sorts of short stories and interviews and poetry. I consistently do not see eye to eye with the pieces with a Buddhist slant. This movie's story annoyed me.

However, it took place in a seriously gorgeous place, and I did love the quietness of the tale. That bumps this up to a 4 on my scale.

Hurrah!

2009-02-13T11:20:00.003-04:00

Tired of bitching about the idiotness of Twilight and looking for a teen read that doesn't make teen girls look like stupid, actionless dummies? Then you must pick up the Bloody Jack series!

I just read the second book in the series - Curse of the Blue Tattoo and it was a whole lotta fun! You see, Jacky isn't the type to let some dumb dude control her life. Jacky is more the type to go have a great time and deal with the trouble she got into later.

In this second installment of Bloody Jacky's story, she's been forced to enroll in a boarding school for ladies and learn about etiquette and embroidery and the like. However, her harsh past on the streets isn't likely to just disappear. She gets in loads of scrapes.

I will admit to hating one stupid story line about a horse race. I could see the end of that coming from a fricking mile away. (Authors - please start assuming your readers have watched some movies or read some books before reading your novel. That way you can avoid the asinine cliche's).

Other than that one (major!) annoyance, I loved this book. And I can't wait to see what adventures await in the next! Jacky's story so far is a solid 8.

soon-choked

2009-02-13T00:10:00.000-04:00

"But each day brings its petty dust our soon-choked souls to fill, and we forget because we must, and not because we will." Matthew Arnold

I am

2009-02-12T23:10:00.000-04:00

I watched Whose Afraid of Virginia Wolf? while home sick the other day. The story of a party gone all sorts of wrong. It involves two couples - an older couple always at eachother throats and a younger more bright-eyed couple. No one comes out of this unscathed.

What impressed me?

- Elizabeth Taylor's performance. She put on 30 pounds to play this role, and her portrayal of a bitterly angry woman is spot on. It gave me chills at times.

- The amount of booze. These people really put it away. The drinking that goes on in this film is insane. It's a marathon of drunkenness.

This film is a harsh look at relationships gone bad. It's so awfully and beautifully well done that you can't look away. I give it an 8.5.

Poor disillusioned, Vincent

2009-02-12T08:55:00.000-04:00

"Parrots, tortoises and redwoods live a longer life than men do; Men a longer life than dogs do; Dogs a longer life than love does." - Edna St. Vincent Millay

A while back, I read and reviewed her biography - Savage Beauty. Her tale is quite remarkable.

Advice for your inner writer

2009-02-12T00:06:00.000-04:00

"Here, write it, or it will be erased by the wind." - Isabel Allende

Familiar

2009-02-11T22:37:00.004-04:00

I read The City of Ember in one evening. Its the tale of a city in the dark that lives in fear of the lights going out. The protagonists are two 12-year old kids Lina & Doon. (Can I just say that I love the name Doon?)

What I liked? My absolute terror of absolute dark that I shared with the residents. On a tour of Mammoth Caves when I was 18, the tour guide shut the lights. I've had a life long issue with claustrophobia (likely resulting from my oldest brother's love of locking me in small dark spaces). The kind of blackness you get in a cave makes you feel like the most trapped creature ever. Even thinking about it makes my skin crawl. So whenever those lights flickered in Ember. I was petrified.

What I didn't like? The story is oh-so predictable. Maybe not all the details, but from the very beginning you know where everything is leading. I have so little patience with predictability anymore. Surprise me, dammit!

This story reminded me a lot of Lois Lowry's The Giver. I wouldn't rank it above or below that story. I'm giving this a 5. I'll likely read the next book in this series, but I won't be in a hurry to do so.

Hold on

2009-02-11T16:52:00.000-04:00

A Pueblo Indian Prayer

Hold on to what is good,
even if it's a handful of earth.

Hold on to what you believe,
even if it's a tree that stands by itself.

Hold on to what you must do,
even if it's a long way from here.

Hold on to your life,
even if it's easier to let go.

Hold on to my hand,
even if I've gone away from you.

the only meaning

2009-02-10T18:47:00.000-04:00

"And we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten, but the love will have been enough, all those impulses of love return to the love that made them, even memory is not necessary for love, there is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning." - Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Living in the dark

2009-02-10T04:38:00.000-04:00

Dark Days is a documentary about people living in the subway tunnels of NYC. Filmed entirely in black and white, the movie has an otherworldly feel to it. I can't imagine living in darkness among the rats as these folks do. Sunlight is so essential to my mental health; the idea of 24 hour darkness sends shivers down my spine. I give this a 6.5.

each hurt swallowed

2009-02-09T13:13:00.001-04:00

"Promises" by Rita Dove

"Each hurt swallowed
is a stone." Last words
whispered to his daughter
as he placed her fingertips
lightly into the palm
of her groom.

She smiled upwards
to Jesus, then Thomas,
turning her back as
politely as possible.
If that were the case
he was a mountain of shame.

Poised on the stone
steps of the church,
she tried to forget
his hulk on the vestibule,
clumsy in blue serge,
his fingers worrying the
lucky bead in his pocket.

Beneath the airborne bouquet
was a meadow of virgins
urging "Be water, be light."
A deep breath, and she plunged
through the sunbeams and kisses,
rice drumming
the both of them blind.

Zack & Miri

2009-02-09T13:03:00.003-04:00

We watched Zack & Miri Make a Porno last night. Kevin Smith is so clever! The dialogue in this had me howling. Craig Robinson (Darryl from The Office) is awesome. Jason Mewes is hysterical. There were only two not-so-great bits for me. The minor one is a serious gross-out bit that my husband loved, but I thought was just too disgusting to take. The second is that as funny as the movie is, the romantic part of this made me yawn. I just didn't find them that interesting as a couple. Maybe I'm heartless.

Anyway, this gets a 7 in my book.

I don't owe them anything

2009-02-08T00:08:00.000-04:00

"Thank-you Note" - Wislawa Szymborska

There is much I owe
to those I do not love.

The relief in accepting
they are closer to another.
Joy that I am not
the wolf to their sheep.

My peace be with them
for with them I am free,
and this, love can neither give,
nor know how to take.

I don't wait for them
from window to door.
Almost as patient
as a sun dial,

I understand
what love does not understand.
I forgive
what love would never have forgiven.

Between rendezvous and letter
no eternity passes,
only a few days or weeks.

My trips with them always turn out well.
Concerts are heard.
Cathedrals are toured.
Landscapes are distinct.

And when seven rivers and mountains
come between us,
they are rivers and mountains
well known from any map.

It is thanks to them
that I live in three dimensions,
in a non-lyrical and non-rhetorical space,
with a shifting, thus real, horizon.

They don't even know
how much they carry in their empty hands.

"I don't owe them anything",
love would have said
on this open topic.

A beer brewed from anger

2009-02-07T23:49:00.006-04:00

Why so quiet lately? My nose has been buried in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, on of my own damn books. Can you believe it?!

This tome of a book has sat on my bookshelf for years, passed by again and again by shiny library books. I like to tote my books around with me and read them everywhere. At 781 pages, this book is hefty and special provisions needed to be made to take it to work or read it in bed.

I'll admit that the first bit was a slog. There is a long beginning before you meet Jonathan Strange. Then the story becomes engaging. Its the story of the only two magicians in England right around the Battle of Waterloo. The story is deliberate and well-paced. I didn't race through this novel; I savored it.

Particularly wonderful is the interesting little bits of tales you get when a few people under an enchantment try to speak of their enchantment. Instead of saying what they mean, they open their mouths and stories come out - about bird herders or beer brewed from anger. I would love a book of nothing but these oddities.

I also loved the many footnotes throughout the story, and the complicated relationship between the two magicians. They are rather at odds with eachother in temperment, but, being the only practising magicians, there's also an interesting comradeship.

This really is a treat of a book, and I give it an 8.5.

Bouncing

2009-02-05T21:54:00.003-04:00

We watched The Lucky Ones last night. Its a movie about 3 soldiers home from Iraq - 2 on 30 day leaves and one done for good. They end up sharing a rental car to get to their destinations.

I spent the whole movie veering between delight in expected soldier cliches that were avoided and absolute eye-rolling at the immense number of movie cliches. Only giving this one a 4.5, and that's mainly 'cause Colee was pretty adorable at times (although super annoying at others). Sigh...

I'd love to see a good movie done about both sides - the soldier away from family and his family struggling to get along with him or her away. If done well, that would be a good story.

2009-02-03T23:18:00.001-04:00

"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. From the Interstate, America is all steel guardrails and plastic signs, and every place looks and feels and sounds and smells like every other place. We stick to the back roads, where Kansas still looks like Kansas and Georgia still looks like Georgia, where there is room for diversity and for the occurrence of small miracles." - Charles Kuralt, On the Road

it won't last

2009-02-02T18:02:00.000-04:00

"There is Only One of Everything" by Margaret Atwood

Not a tree but the tree
we saw, it will never exist, split by the wind and bending down
like that again. What will push out of the earth

later, making it summer, will not be
grass, leaves, repetition, there will
have to be other words. When my

eyes close language vanishes. The cat
with the divided face, half black half orange
nests in my scruffy fur coat, I drink tea,

fingers curved around the cup, impossible
to duplicate these flavours. The table
and freak plates glow softly, consuming themselves,

I look out at you and you occur
in this winter kitchen, random as trees or sentences,
entering me, fading like them, in time you will disappear

but the way you dance by yourself
on the tile floor to a worn song, flat and mournful,
so delighted, spoon waved in one hand, wisps of roughened hair

sticking up from your head, it's your surprised
body, pleasure I like. I can even say it,
though only once and it won't

last: I want this. I want
this.

(This poem makes me ache. Don't you love poems like that?)

God I love them

2009-02-02T10:42:00.001-04:00

More than I can ever explain

This one is my very fave.

Haven't we all felt like this at some point?

2009-02-01T22:40:00.002-04:00

Luckily its been a few years for me.

Ache

2009-02-01T18:05:00.002-04:00

We watched the documentary Man on Wire this afternoon. The film is beautifully done. Its a bout a man who dreams of walking a tightwire between the World Trade Towers in 1974. Philippe Petit tells a great story and the footage and pictures are breathtaking. The picture is so well done. The recreated bits (of which there are few) blend in to the feel of the film.

I was taken with how so many people caught on to his dream and helped it happen. But at the end we learn of how some friendships ended, and it broke my heart. I think it'll take me a few days to get over my glumness.

Giving this one an 8.

A narrow room, and tall,

2009-02-01T17:59:00.000-04:00

"Interior" by Dorothy Parker

Her mind lives in a quiet room,
A narrow room, and tall,
With pretty lamps to quench the gloom
And mottoes on the wall.

There all the things are waxen neat
And set in decorous lines;
And there are posies, round and sweet,
And little, straightened vines.

Her mind lives tidily, apart
From cold and noise and pain,
And bolts the door against her heart,
Out wailing in the rain.

beautiful and brave

2009-01-31T17:22:00.000-04:00

How should we be able to forget those ancient myths
that are at the beginning of all peoples,
the myths about dragons that at the
last moment turn into princesses;
perhaps all the dragons
of our lives are princesses,
who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave.
Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being,
something helpless that wants help from us.
- Rainer Maria Rilke

Very cool

2009-01-30T21:06:00.001-04:00

I posted earlier on my love for a particular J Crew kids outfit. Then I emailed it to EmilyStyle, and she came up with a grown up version. The internet is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

2009-01-30T20:59:00.000-04:00

Via Magpie & Cake.

Summons

2009-01-30T07:13:00.000-04:00

"Summons" by Robert Francis

Keep me from going to sleep too soon
Or if I go to sleep too soon
Come wake me up. Come any hour
Of night. Come whistling up the road.
Stomp on the porch. Bang on the door.
Make me get out of bed and come
And let you in and light a light.
Tell me the northern lights are on
And make me look. Or tell me clouds
Are doing something to the moon
They never did before, and show me.
See that I see. Talk to me till
I'm half as wide awake as you
And start to dress wondering why
I ever went to bed at all.
Tell me the walking is superb.
Not only tell me but persuade me.
You know I'm not too hard persuaded.

One of my very favorite poems ever.

Blog O' the Day - Behind the Curtain

2009-01-30T07:12:00.000-04:00

Behind the Curtain is just the right mix of lovely pictures and thoughtful posts.

Blog O' the Day - Bake and Shake

2009-01-29T19:09:00.000-04:00

Bake and Shake - cause she cracks me up.

Give a listen

2009-01-29T09:43:00.000-04:00

For my friend whose going through her wild girl phase

2009-01-29T07:02:00.000-04:00

"I wrote the story myself. It's all about a girl who lost her reputation but never missed it." - Mae West

There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak

2009-01-29T05:24:00.001-04:00

Wow.
In the Bedroom is bleak. I seem to be on a roll with the bleak actually. After this and this, you'd think I'd be done with it. Apparently not so much.

This movie is gorgeously shot. Every scene seems so deliberate and well thought out. Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek are marvelous. The scene of their fight is so painful it made my chest hurt. And that look on her face!

One complaint though - there's an early scene that gives away exactly where this movie is going. I liked it, but it just left me dreading the outcome that was so obviously on its way.

This one is getting a 7.5 in my book.

2009-01-28T19:36:00.002-04:00

What I'm reading: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (with a little Curse of the Blue Tattoo snuck in here and there).

What I'm listening to: K'Naan - a recent discovery.

What I'm wishing for: This print (thank to La Dolce Vita)

What I'm working on: Ideas for an upcoming baby shower I'm co-hosting

What's up next: More newspaper poof ideas.

Blog of the Day - Alpineberry

2009-01-28T19:04:00.001-04:00

Alpineberry has rather inspirational foodie posts and recipes. And who doesn't love a person whose resolution is to eat more pie?

Vocabulary

2009-01-28T18:58:00.001-04:00

"Ex Machina" by Lisel Mueller

My word processor does not know Shakespeare.
It balks at ripeness, stops me at Othello
and Desdemona. They are not
in its vocabulary. On the other hand
it does not question arrogance and power,
accepts betrayal, jealousy and grief,
uncomprehending. They are on the list.

I am reminded of the face
of the young killer on the screen
the other night. He knew the words
gun and crime and prison.
He even knew the word guilty,
but when he said it, his eyes were blank.

I like to get my news from flowers

2009-01-28T15:25:00.001-04:00

Fear not! I have been doing some crafting. This latest news flower creation is going up in my Bandit Queen shop today.

Snow day

2009-01-28T11:35:00.001-04:00

Mystical Snow Flickrman
Originally uploaded by Elsa Prinsessa

Yay for early morning calls informing me that work has been cancelled due to snow. Its piling up out there, but I'm cozy and warm in my sweet lil house.

The Courtyard Hound

2009-01-28T11:32:00.000-04:00

Do yourself a favor and go check out City of Thieves from you local library right now. Its the story of two young Russian guys sent on an impossible mission to find a dozen eggs during WWII. Almost all of my reading about WWII focuses on the Holocaust so it was really different for me to read about the tale of a city under siege.

The story bounces back and forth between humor and friendship to absolute horrors and tragedy. I think that as a reader I couldn't have handled all the horrors of war in this story without the friendship of the two as a buffer. This is a genuine laughing and crying book, and I gotta say that any book that can do both always ranks high with me.

This book is going to stay with me for a long long time. I'm giving it a 9.

Track your goals

2009-01-27T08:13:00.001-04:00

Just a quick note to share with you a recent find. Joe's Goals is a neat little goal tracking tool. Perfect for daily tracking of resolutions and blog postings and such.

Suburbia

2009-01-27T07:28:00.001-04:00

Netflix kept insisting we'd adore the tv show Weeds so I finally listened to it and had it mailed. It's cute. I'm not in love with it at the moment, but I like a lot of the characters and its got some promise. And the little boy is a doll. I liked it enough to go ahead and get season two and to give it 6 stars.

Oh my

2009-01-26T20:22:00.002-04:00

Does everyone have that one friend who seems capable of everything? My friend Kristen who co-owns our vintage shop Miriam and Eleanor and writes sporadically with me over at So Sweet & So Cold, just launched her very own music page on Myspace. The girl has talent to spare. Go listen.

So bleak

2009-01-26T19:22:00.004-04:00

I read Carmac McCarthy's novel The Road in a single day. The story about a father and son just trying to survive a desolate hopeless world was completely engrossing. I loved the writing style. The way he created the world - whole and never explaining more than need be. This book could have easily fallen into annoying preachy territory, but it never did.

It also avoided filling me with dread. The world is a hopeless one, but I loved that there was never an "uh-oh" mistake moment when the character does something that the reader knows will end in doom.

This is a strong strong book, and highly recommended by me. I give it an eight. But make sure to have something uplifting to pick up immediately after finishing this one. So dark!

Only half worth it

2009-01-24T07:23:00.001-04:00

Hotel World is made up of six interconnected tales about women. A dead girl, a street person, a sick woman, a liar, a lost girl, and a chance encounter. I wish the second through the fourth stories had been cut. I loved the opening piece told by the ghost. It felt like a good whimsical modern day Our Town. However, the next three women's stories don't add anything great.

Then comes the sister's piece, and it is touching. The last story is wonderful in so many ways. I loved the snippets of people's lives in the end piece. Had we given those three in-between stories a miss, this would easily be a 9. The three women feel like small parts made big for filler, and pissed me off so well that I can only rate this one a 5.

As it is, this is a Booker finalist and short stories so I'm counting it towards 100 Shots of Short and my 101 list.

Full of amazement

2009-01-23T07:16:00.000-04:00

The miste and I watched The Fall last night, and it left me chock full of wonder and amazement. This movie is gorgeous and perfect. The movie is about a stuntman for the silent movies who is injured and in a hospital. He tells a fantastic adventurous tale to a little girl in the hospital.

The story jumps back and forth from the hospital to the tale he is telling. It is beautiful. The costumes, the creativity, the humor and the anguish. All of it.

Also, it has whirling dervishes. Whirling dervishes!

And the little girl is the cutest thing i've ever seen. I'd take her home and adopt her lil chubby cheeked self in a heartbeat.

This one is a solid ten in my book.

Distracted

2009-01-22T07:06:00.001-04:00

I watched Reign Over Me the other day while crafting. Don Cheadle is always a pleasure to watch. I wish I could say the same for anyone else in this film. The absolute worst is the crazy tall chick. Her story is astoundingly unbelievable. Liv Tyler appears to only be in here for something pretty to look at, and Adam Sandler's Bob Dylan look is distracting.

Maybe they should have let Don act out all the parts. He could have handled it better than this. Giving it a 3.

I will admit to coveting the dress Liv is wearing above though. The dress gets an 8. :)

What I should have said was nothing

2009-01-21T14:14:00.000-04:00

After hearing him on This American Life and The Moth podcasts, we had to check out Mike Birbiglia's comic dvd. This man is wonderfully absurd. It made me laugh til I hurt. Giving this a 9.

Mediocre

2009-01-20T15:07:00.000-04:00

Simply gorgeous.

Requiem for demonic Dexter

2009-01-20T13:56:00.001-04:00

The second season of Dexter was even better than the first. Dark and funny and smart, I strongly suggest you check it out. I really adore the brother and sister dynamic on here.

Hurrah!

2009-01-20T08:17:00.000-04:00

I feel the exact same way. Here's to our future!

What It Is

2009-01-19T13:14:00.004-04:00

An artist friend of mine recommended What It Is to me, and I rarely can resist a book recommendation (ermmm... unless its 1,000 pages of Ulysses S. Grant! A dilemma that has yet to be solved).

This book is a lot of things - a work of art, an autobiography, a workbook for creative impulses, and a graphic novel. It's a treasure trove.

My favorite bit was the following:

There are certain children who are told they are too sensitive, and there are certain adults who believe sensitivity is a problem that can be fixed in the way that crooked teeth can be fixed and made straight. And when these two come together you get a fairytale, a kind of story with hopelessness in it.

I believe there is something in these old stories that does what singing does to words. They have transformational capabilities, in the way melody can transform mood.

They can't transform your actual situation, but they can transform your experience of it. We don't create a fantasy world to escape reality, we create it to be able to stay. I believe we have always done this, used images to stand and understand what otherwise would be intolerable.

This is a book you could open a thousand times and still find something new each time. I'm giving it an 8, and declare it well worth a read especially for all you dreamers and artists.

Sometimes I just like to say "edamame"

2009-01-19T09:05:00.001-04:00

We made lentil-edamame stew last night and it was delicious.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)
Ingredients
1 cup dried lentils
3/4 cup frozen shelled edamame (green soybeans)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups minced red onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of ground cloves

Preparation

1. Place lentils in a large saucepan; cover with water to 2 inches above lentils. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well, and set aside.

2. Place edamame in a small saucepan; cover with water to 2 inches above edamame. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until edamame are tender. Remove from heat; drain well.

3. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and tomatoes to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until onion is translucent, stirring often. Stir in lentils, edamame, juice, and remaining ingredients. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring often.

Beautiful toxic jungles

2009-01-18T18:17:00.000-04:00

I watched Nausicaa on a slow afternoon. The tale is wonderfully inventive. Moldy toxic jungles and giant insects have taken over the world, and, as the poisonous mold spores spread, mankind is being wiped out. This movie shows how civilization tries to survive and take back the earth.

The Good:

1. Those toxic jungles and insects are wildly imaginative and beautifully realized. I loved the plants most of all.

2. This movie doesn't pull a lot of punches. People are awful to eachother and bad stuff happens. (Can you tell I hate adventure stories and movies that take place in a lala land where there are no bad consequences?)

3. I want a super cool glider and a deerfox of my very own.

The Not-So-Good:

1. Princess Nausicaa is a bit too-clever-good-wholesome-magical-perfect. She has no flaws whatsoever and everyone worships her. Its kinda annoying.

2. I'm a wee bit tired of movies with a message about the environment. I like it too be a bit less heavy-handed and pummelly.

Rating this one a 5. Visually, this is amazing.

Cute!

2009-01-17T18:37:00.002-04:00

Hot Yoga Morning Remix
Originally uploaded by MissMaryah

Okay this lady is my new muse. I simply adore her style and she has the most awesome headbands on sale on etsy. But seriously, check out her photostream and be inspired too.

2009-01-17T18:11:00.002-04:00

On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a Small Town was an ideal escapism read for an Ohio girl stuck with too much snow and below zero temperatures. The author write about moving to France to write a cookbook along with her husband and very young son. She discusses the fifferent way of life, the people, the food, the landscape. Its a great read for travel buffs or escapists. Food factors into the stories but only here and there and she follows each chapter with some delicious-sounding recipes.

She jumps around in time a bit in the story. And I use story very loosely. Its really more of a loose memoir and rather dreamy. My favorite bits were the tales of remodeling their crumbling old house and the description of the weekly farmers' market.

I'll give this a 6. Anything that takes my mind off the cold is alright by me.

Today today today

2009-01-17T18:09:00.002-04:00

The mister and I went and donated some food and blood in honor of the MLK weekend of service and the upcoming inauguration. Now we've got that good deed glow. There's still time to get yours! Find something happening in your neck of the woods.

After the wedding

2009-01-16T19:17:00.002-04:00

After the Wedding is a stunner of a film. The story is gorgeous and stirring and utterly not what I expected. Its so well told. I don't want to give anything away. I just want you all to watch and discover this one for yourselves.

It's a 10 in my books.