08.03.13 whats making me happy this week
August 3, 2013
photos:
1. first tomatoes
2. photo my daughter used for a screen saver…on my unsuspecting husband’s laptop.
3. finnegan cuddling up with our smelly shoes
4. my sister’s handwritten (love) recipe and the last of her bean and rice salad
5. cornflake marshmallow cookies
6. hibiscus
7. mid century library staircase
8. dr. who phonebox cake
What a week! Home from a trip to visit my brother’s family in Virginia, my son’s 16th birthday and too short visit from my dear friend Cathy. In addition to all of that BIG happiness, here are some little things that are making me happy thing week:
1. Our first tomatoes from our garden make me happy!
2. My daughter, who makes me laugh a lot, makes me happy. (Also we fight a lot.) You can see (above) the kind of desktop photos she puts on any unattended laptops when she has the chance. She was recently sitting across from me as we both “worked” on our laptops. She laughed aloud and said ‘This meme reminds me of you.‘I tried to login to my iPad, turns out it was an etch a sketch and I don’t even own an iPad, also, I’m out of wine.’”
Do you think I’m a good role model?
3. My puppy. He likes to sleep among shoes. I think because they smell like us. Lucky for him, my family provides ample opportunity for him to sleep among smelly shoes!
4. Summer salads. I love them for their use of produce, freshness and mix of flavors. Three of our staples include my sister’s bean and rice salad pictured above, Giada De Laurentiis’ Mediterranean Farro Salad and this panzenlla salad.
I also tried this tomato and watermelon salad from shutterbean.com and it was like eating a big bowl of summer!
5. Speaking of shutterban recipes…tracy’s Cornflake Marshmallow Cookies are pretty amazing. In fact they are too amazing. It will be awhile before I can make these again because they are so darn good, both baked and raw! I made one batch one night and then immediately had to make another the next day and then I had to make myself stop. So, so yummy.
6.The hibiscus are finally blooming in this part of the world.
7. Libraries make me happy, particularly this mid-century modern one pictured above, where I spend my time when my son volunteers at a zoo about an hour away from our house.
8. Comedian Jim Gaffigan. We just saw him at Meadowbrook Theater, near my mother’s house. He has two stand up specials on Nextflix and just published a book called, “Dad is Fat.”
9. The Dr. Who phone box cake above that my daughter made for her friend who loves Dr. Who.
When my daughter delivered it, her friend’s 11 year old brother, who loves my daughter, asked her, “Wanna look at baby animal pictures with me?” Yep. That’s how we grow our men in Ann Arbor. Love.
10. And speaking of growing men. I am excited by this new project by Jennifer Siebel The Mask You Live In, about the very restrictive and destructive models of manhood that our society presents to our sons. If you haven’t seen Jen Siebel’s Miss Representation, about girls in the media, please see it. It’s not just for women, or parents of daughters. We showed this on our campus last year to a large crowd of male and female students and there was clapping and cheering at the end by all genders. See it. Please. It has a hopeful ending!
11. These capri yoga/active wear pants my sister sent to me. At first I thought they were Lulu Lemon, because my sis is all about Lulu Lemon and because they were so quality…but no, they are from Old Navy! = affordable! I love them. She says they are her favs.
12. Something about the song Royales by Lordes makes me happy…it’s a great workout jam. Turn it up…even louder. I know I will be sick of it in a month…
13. Also this song, We Are Flowers sung by Eef Barzelay from the band Clem Snide).
14. It makes me happy when a story stops me in my tracks, transports me, and then haunts me for days after, as happened when I heard Ron Rush read his short story, “Something Rich and Strange,” from his collection of short stories Nothing Gold Can Stay.
Happy week to you! Watch Jim Gaffigan on Netflix, he will make you laugh!
photo 111: assignment 6, unusual angle
July 28, 2013
Photo 111: assignment 6, unusual angle
photos:
1) a birds nest in the top door of my mother’s barn.
didn’t that male bird make it fancy for the ladies? i wonder if he was successful or if they all avoided him for being odd. or if his special lady friend slapped him upside the head and said, “why don’t you just put an electric sign on it that says ‘hey cats! there are tasty baby birds right here!’”
2) from under one of my mother’s many bird feeder’s. the slinky is to keep the squirrels out, and it works!
3) a blue birdhouse my dad painted so many years ago, through a knothole in the barn loft. so many reminders of my dad all over the place
4) little hedgehog feet, next to a toaster
5) grumpy, grumpy hedgehog, next to a toaster
Though I’m not sure I was successful at this assignment, I enjoyed it. Changing your angle can turn a mediocre scene into something interesting. But as demonstrated above, finding the right angle takes practice. I’m still learning.
My son says the birdfeeder photo above is not an unusual angle, since we normally view a birdfeeder from below. He’s right. But still, a shot from directly underneath an active bird feeder is unusual. Especially in the winter when you have to lie very still, on a beach towel, in the snow for some time before the birds will come to the feeder.
For my assignment, I turned in the bottom photo of Dandelion, even though it was terrible. So much out of focus. My classmates loved it. Haha. My instructor didn’t. (I posted my daughter’s superior photos of Dandelion in a previous post, hedgehog: real talk, and taken with a small Canon pocket camera.)
High angles, low angles, framing photos through things like branches, are a good way to try out unusual angles.
Here are examples from some amazing pros:
• Elliott Erwitt, such a classic, and his dog photos are funny
• Arno Rafael Minkkinen, really interesting use of bodies
• Vernon Merritt , great photos of 1969 NYC
photo 111: assignment 5, great depth of field
July 22, 2013
photos:
1) massimo vitali beach photo
2) helen levitt street photos (so love her photos)
3) john pfahl nature photos
I started writing about my photography class in past posts, and never finished, like so many projects in my life. Sigh. The class ended April. So I thought I would go back to those posts.
There were 12 assignments, I have written about 3 of them (I skipped assignment 3, panning motion, because my photos were so boring and terrible…):
• photo 111: assignment 1, he is the eggman
• photo 111: assignment 2, stop motion
• photo 111: assignment 4, shallow depth of field, and not so shallow barbie
Great depth of field was not one of my favorite assignments, because it required photographing a scene with everything in the photo, from fore to rear, being in acceptable focus. I just couldn’t come up with a scene I liked…It was January in Michigan and everything was dull and grey. Plus, getting the light right was difficult. As I said, January, Michigan, and I didn’t have a tripod at the time.
I posted some of the photos I took for this assignment in one of my earliest posts, snow day. The photos above are much better examples. To be fair, these photographers have pretty amazing cameras and lenses…
When shooting for great depth of field, you need to use the smallest aperture (f-stop) your camera allows, usually f16 or f22. Small referring to opening in the lens, which is a greater number because it’s really a fraction 1/16 and 1/22. So f22 is a smaller aperture then f8. So confusing!
Since you’re using a small aperture, it’s best to photograph on a sunny day so you have enough light. You don’t want to use a shutter speed any slower than 1/60 because that will make your photo fuzzy, unless you use a tripod.
Or you can just point your iphone and click and be happy.
The only classmate photo for this assignment that I can remember was of a tree line across a field of snow. The trees were tall, slender and dark and in nice contrast to the white snow and light grey sky. At first, I thought it was a black and white photo, but no, January in Michigan.
discordant and antsy
July 21, 2013
photos:
1) size 11 watershoes left on the patio
2) the cottage, looking in from the front porch
3) the cottage, inside looking out onto the porch where the men are playing a game over breakfast
4) the cottage, doggy doorstop
5) a stealth photo of my son cuddling finny as we watch television in the basement
6) too many days of this weather
7) finnegan finally gets a properly-sized pool
This summer has felt…discordant…just off in some ways. Parenting teenagers has been tricky. Schedules are feeling like tectonic plates grinding against each other. My expectations for everything I will get done in the summer are always too high and unrealistic. In fact, it feels like I am able to get less done during the summer because schedules and needs are unpredictable. And I am antsy for a new direction, one that involves creativity.
Today I am home alone. My husband and daughter are up north at my husband’s family cottage. My son is working all day. So I will try to make progress on a long list of tasks.
Hope your summer is feeling more settled than mine and that you are not, like me, feeling a little panicky about August lurking around the corner…
you say “boden”, i say “i want that”
July 11, 2013
I credit the British ready-to-wear brand Boden, with luring me out of the dark. Truly. I spent most of my adult life wearing mostly black, every day.
My sister was in the same rut. She realized it was a problem when she and her 2 year old daughter were lounging in their pajamas one morning until my sister finally said, “Time to get dressed!” and her daughter replied, “Yes, time to put on your black clothes, Mommy!”
Haha. Yes, my niece is brilliant. She doesn’t miss a thing.
Somehow I stumbled across Boden a few years ago and I’m hooked. Color, pattern, style, quality and detail. Sometimes items don’t work, no matter how badly I want them to, but return shipping is completely free, and there is great feedback from buyers to help you decide on a purchase and a fit before purchasing (something that, annoyingly, J. Crew does not provide on its web site).
I receive compliments on most every item of Boden clothing I wear. I am not exaggerating. I was once getting out of my car and a woman walking her dog yelled across the street to me, “I love your skirt!” Even something as simple as an emerald green cardigan gets compliments.
I always thank those giving the compliments and tell them about Boden. Few have heard of it. This is a fairly small town, but not THAT small…David Byrne was just in town performing for heaven’s sake. But it is not the most fashion conscious town, which I actually like. It gives a girl a lot of flexibility.
I shop for Boden online because I hate shopping in person, but I know Nordstrom’s carries Boden. I don’t know about any other US stores.
They also have the great kids clothes under the brand of mini boden.
Boden is pricey for my income…I’m putting a child through college and another one is soon to follow. But I do try to get a few items each season, which I wear over and over again. If you join their email list, you can get promotional pricing. I just bought two tops at 25% plus free shipping.
This is one of the tops. I love the color and pattern and neckline, but the fit was odd. And I’m not crazy about the fabric. Stiff, thin cotton. I’m returning it (for free) and trying it in a smaller size to see if it remedies the fit issue. I wish it was a knit fabric, but I just love the color so I’m willing to try again.
This top I am keeping. I love it for it’s cut and comfort and funky colors. I may get another in a different color.
I am now lusting over the Boden autumn collection and thinking perhaps college for my children is unnecessary…KIDDING!…mostly.
(Boden is NOT compensating me in any way for my praise—though I so wish they would…in clothing!)
Do you have brand that you love for style, quality, uniqueness? Please enlighten this small town girl!
summer
July 10, 2013
photos
1) walking to the parade we passed this kitty on 5th street. she is often there, ruling the street.
2 – 6) parade photos. i love the mom carrying her child, and her homemade sign of protest against corporations and i love the dads carrying the sweetest homemade sign, on a sheet.
i love homemade, and people who care, and people who get involved…even the beer-bellied tea party guy wearing cammo. my political antithesis. but he’s there. he’s involved. gotta have at least the tiniest amount of respect for that.
7) my new friend julien, the lost and found and returned dog
It has been many weeks since I have last blogged. I run summer programs through my job and during those weeks I often work 13 hour days, say hello to my family, go to bed and start again.
The more intense programs have finally ended and my summer has finally begun. Hooray!
I did not get enough evenings at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, which takes place for 3 weeks every summer, beginning the night schools gets out. The Summer Festival includes hours and hours of outdoor live music and entertainment followed by either a DJ with people dancing in the street until midnight, or a movie on an inflatable screen. There are food stalls and beer and wine. Everyone is there.
I did manage to meet friends there a couple of times for drinks after work and my husband and I went to one of the ticked shows at the Power Center—Snap Judgement. Which is an amazing storytelling show on National Public Radio. (I make dinner while listening to the podcast.) The live performance was fantastic. Afterward we mulled around the Summer Festival and saw this attraction from Spain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0WzN89Sbec
It was SO COOL. If I hadn’t been so tired, I would have stood in line to “fly” on our beautiful Burton bell tower.
We also attended the Ann Arbor July 4th parade. If you ever want to learn about a community’s values, attend their 4th of July parade. In Ann Arbor, this is not a fancy parade. In our town this is a very homey event—there is a place for everyone. This year was particularly entertaining.
There were the usual group: politicians, nursery schools, parents of multiples (a group for parents with twins, triplets etc. they are in the parade every year), the Ring of Steel stunt group (9 adults enacting scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Every. Year.)
But this year there were roller derby girls, star wars characters, the ukulele club, a group of pugs (it was so hot I felt sorry for them), the 5 guys from the Tea Party, followed by a giant group supporting the ACLU…There’s a place for everyone here!
My daughter and our neighbor worked at the Summer Festival on the 4th, and I picked them up to drive them home just after midnight. When I pulled into our neighbor’s driveway, we saw a dog running down the street. He heard our voices and ran to us and jumped in the back of my car and laid down, tail thumping on the seat in appreciation. Poor guy. He must have been frightened by all of the fireworks and ran away from home.
That turned out to be a longer rescue mission than I had anticipated, as the owner was out of town with a dead cell phone (the phone number on the tag). Her 19 year old son was “taking care” of the dog. The dog spent the night in my bedroom. He was very nervous and so was I. He seemed like a sweet dog, but who knows…Finally made a hand off to the owner’s older son at 11am the next morning.
And now for some time at the lake and for the Ann Arbor Art Fair and the Townie party that proceeds it. A visit to my brother and his family in Virginia and a family trip in August– destination yet unknown! (and work, and housekeeping and yard work…)
I hope your summer has been full of good weather, friends and relaxation. If it hasn’t been, then hugs to you. Truly.
what’s making me happy this week 06.14.13
June 15, 2013
photos:
1. mangos
2. blik eames decal
3. charles and ray eames © 2011 eames office, llc
charles and ray Eames “pinned” by chair bases, 1947, as seen in american masters charles & ray eames: the architect and the painter.
4. converse sneaker made with lucienne day textiles
5. nigella lawson’s old fashioned chocolate cake
My son finished his exams Thursday and christened the beginning of summer by having friends over for a fire in the backyard to burn homework, and to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. (Though earlier in the day he said, “I miss school already.”)
The Ann Arbor Summer Festival started last night. Three weeks of free outdoor concerts, food stalls, late night outdoor movies and many other amusements. I noticed they added some free outdoor yoga classes starting at 5pm on the lawn adjacent to my office. Maybe…
There are also free noontime concerts on Thursdays a few blocks away from my office, Sonic Lunches, sponsored by a local radio station. UM graduate Darren Criss was the star of the most recent one. I wanted to go, but didn’t want to wait hours to get in the door of the Michigan Theater. Most concerts are outdoors and not so well attended. But Darren Criss is now a superstar, having conquered Broadway and now starring in Glee. He also wrote and starred in “A Very Potter Musical” which he created while a student here. Such a talented guy. He has quite a fan base here in AA.
In addition to a free-for-summer child who loves school, the start of summer and the anticipation of the AA Summer Festival, also making me happy this week include:
1. Mangos. I didn’t like mangos for a long time due to my experience with some with stringy texture years ago. My brother had me try one a few months ago and it was amazing. Love them. But still need to learn how to properly cut one…as it is now, my hand turns into a sticky, slimy mess and much of the fruit is left on the stone.
2. I have some Blik decals on my office walls, but I may have to replace them with these decals based on Ray Eames textiles. I’ve been thinking about the Eames lately as they are featured in a current exhibit on modern design at the Cranbrook Institute where they met. I plan to attend at the end of the month.
3. Converse sneakers made with Lucienne Day textiles make me happy. But it makes me unhappy that I discovered these years after they were produced.
4. Nigella Lawson’s Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake that may daughter I made this week. I was in the mood for cake. She was in the mood for chocolate. It was better the next day after having been refrigerated.
5. Have you seen these Openculture videos on the Bauhaus, Modernism and American Design?
6. Six Words You Should Say Today, from the Hands Free Momma blog. I love simple suggestions for better parenting. As my sister said, filing this one away with the other important scripts! (One of the best scripts was given to me by my friend, Suzanne, who told me to practice saying over and over again, “I’m sorry, but that would be just impossible.” The period at the end was the most important part.)
7. Libby Callaway’s home featured in the Selby. I probably couldn’t live here, too much going on. But I love looking at it. I love that she’s taken a pretty modest house and really turned it into a spectacular and unexpected space. So much to love here, the chevron rug, the closet, the clothes…though, I’m no fan of antlers, bones or dental casts…
8. Convos with My 2 year Old: Episode 3
Not as good as the first one, but it did make me laugh
Happy weekend to you!
weekend escape to the big lake
June 11, 2013
someone left this line of pretty rocks for us
sleeping bear dune in the furthest distance, and south manitou island the dark line to the left of it
see the fuzzy black dots? not dirt on my lens. flying black insects…with no breeze to blow them away. at least they weren’t biting, just annoying.
large prints and wee prints
welcomed color on a gray day
(my parents were canadian and i still spell gray, “grey” first)
a big bouncy dog found my daughter, i love the long shadows
she has seen many sunsets at pt. betsie
pt. betsie lighthouse with the lamp just lit
reading “the autobiograpy of red” on crystal, recommended by my daughter, the sun finally shining
wild turkeys bigger than my pug. i later noticed the christmas lights on the house. a newer kind. did someone live here so recently? or did they just decorate to draw attention to the antiques store next door?
“i won again mom. did you see i used the word “idiosyncratic”? shall I put my can of whup*** away now?”
My daughter and I escaped this weekend to northern Michigan, to the big lake, Lake Michigan, and to Crystal Lake. My husband’s parents have a cottage on Crystal Lake, very close to Lake Michigan, which we have spent time at every summer since before our children were born. As a child my husband spent most of his summers there. He spent so many hours combing the beach for Petoskey stones, he would fall asleep with the pattern of Petoskey stones on his eyelids. I love that image.
It is not always easy for me to spend time at that cottage. Clutter, clutter clutter everywhere…I wish I was wired differently and that such unimportant things didn’t bother me, but I’m not and they do. I haven’t even mentioned the dog toys, crates, hair…gah. And I love dogs.
But it is in the midst of paradise and I am grateful for time there, especially since it is a place my children and husband love. (They don’t mind clutter…believe me and don’t get me started.)
It was a quiet weekend, almost too quiet for us. It was grey and cool. No waves on either lake. I have never seen Lake Michigan with no waves. No breeze in the woods surrounding the cottage. And very few people– that will all change at the end of this week when school is out for the summer.
Still, it was nice to get away together. We walked along Lake Michigan at Empire Beach, sat on the beach at Crystal wrapped up in towels and read and napped, bought coffee and giant soft chewy butter pretzels at the Crescent Bakery, watched the sun set at Pt. Betsie, ate at the Coho Café where our up north neighbor from Virginia was being trained to be a waiter (his family stays up at the lake all summer), and played Bananagrams, which I enjoy less and less every time I play with my daughter.
We plan to go back up north with the rest of the family in July, after my daughter’s job working at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival ends. Hoping the lakes and the air will be a little warmer!
what’s making me happy this week 06.07.13
June 7, 2013
photos:
1. random photo of ant mural in ann arbor, on the back side of the now vacant borders building. did you know borders books originated as a single book store in ann arbor? in this town where brains count more than money, you were revered if you worked there…with your 3 phds, making less than minimum wage…because in order to work there you had to pass an impossibly rigorous literature test, or so i’m told. i miss borders.
2. the nasturtiums are starting to bloom.
3. the homemade gelato truck that we are going to lojack, for both the truck, named ingrid, and for the gelato.
photosource: annarbor.com (see direct link below)
4. played with these this last saturday. two robotic prosthetic hands, one with the fake flesh off and one with it on. kidding. only one robotic hand, the other is a real one…that we are going to attach to a robot. kidding. it’s just zach’s hand and we are going to leave it on zach, which makes him happy.
5. the basil is growing!
1. My friends and I are going to lojack this ice-cream truck. I want the truck almost as much as I want the homemade gelato that is sold from it. All local ingredients. I want to try the sesame fig and the salted caramel flavors. I will keep you posted on our success.
http://annarbor.com/business-review/hello-ice-cream-ann-arbor-entrepreneur-launches-italian-style-ice-cream-business/
2. From the Onion. This made me laugh because it is so much my life right now! “Man On Cusp Of Having Fun Suddenly Remembers Every Single One Of His Responsibilities.” The photo is the best.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-on-cusp-of-having-fun-remembers-every-single-o,32632/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=standard-post:headline:default
3. I guarantee you will smile—the fashion, the dancing. I want to be there. As I said in a comment to shutterbean.com today, I call being the woman in the orange extra bell bottom flowing pants– I call her hair, her clothes and her moves. And you?
http://www.good.is/posts/how-to-dance-properly-to-daft-punk-s-get-lucky
4. It’s graduation speech time, and here is one I love. I think his sentiment about realizing you don’t know anything so keep your mouth shut,
but sometimes you do, so open it up,
applies to old folks like me as well as those graduating infants.
http://www.upworthy.com/obamas-speechwriterstand-up-comedian-gives-a-graduation-speech-not-surprisingly-its-badass?c=ufb1
5. A teacher friend posted this on facebook. Teachers who got the last laugh. You have likely seen it by now. My favorite is the teachers who took selfies on a student’s confiscated iPhone…tee hee hee
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/33-teachers-who-got-the-last-laugh
6. I don’t know much about Viola Davis. I have not seen one of her movies. But after viewing this Elle magazine Women in Hollywood award speech, I have decided I love this woman. I love strong women who reach back and reach out. Plus she’s beautiful. I could never give such an eloquent, fearless, compelling, seamless, off the cuff speech.
http://www.elle.com/video/viola-davis-women-in-hollywood-speech-video-1226838796001
By the time you read this, I hope to be on the road on my way to northern Michigan. It won’t be very warm, but still, being on Lake Michigan will make me happy in any weather. I hope you have found bits of happiness this week– if not, hugs to you.
a few photos from the past week
June 5, 2013
It has been an intense week, as they all will be in June. I run a few summer programs and this year many of my trusted instructors have left this transient college town to pursue graduate degrees or for real jobs.
So there have been many evening and weekend meetings and trainings, and more responsibilities that others used to take on. I can’t sleep because I keep running through my head everything I have to do the next day. So, so, so, so many balls in the air. So many moving pieces. I have an excel spreadsheet of everything that needs to be done and for everything that I cross off the list, 3 more things are added.
Some days I feel tired of being at work, and just plain tired, and I want a different job. Some days I feel really excited and proud of what I’m doing.
Here are a few random photos from the few random hours I have been home:
1) Finnegan lying in the sun where he likes to lie.
2) I made this lemon buttermilk bundt cake from shutterbean.com. I don’t have a bundt pan, but I do have a rose cake pan. Delish! This was gone in 24 hours. My family of 4 did not share it with anyone. It was dessert, breakfast, snack and gone.
3) Can you see the spider on the edge of the glass? He was in our dining room. We don’t like to kill spiders in our house. It could have something, or everything, to do with E.B. White’s, “Charlotte’s Web”.
4) A long overdue thank you note to my friend Cathy for the Catherineholm fondu pot and vintage red purse she sent me for my birthday.
My daughter and I may go “up north” this weekend to my husband’s family’s cottage. Sandy beaches, no internet, blue water for as far as you can see, woods…I am both looking forward to it, and also feeling a stomach-churning anxiety about not being here to get more work done. I am trying to ignore my anxiety because my daughter really wants to go. She may not have another opportunity to go for awhile as her summer job starts a week from this Friday and she is taking a stats class. My son’s final exams are next week, so he and my husband are staying home. They will have more opportunities to go up north after this weekend.
I hope that if you also are experiencing stress in your life, that you are able to set aside some time for yourself and your family and that you are also feeling proud of the good work you are doing.
flora margaret 