Wednesday, July 29, 2009
gent
my bruddie sent me an email earlier today with the subject line "your own personal gent." hours later, this is still making me giggle.
last week of july, in summation
first of all, now that it's almost august, summer has truly arrived. i haven't put on a wool sweater in maybe a week (no, really - much of the month of july has been sweater weather. not that i talk about the weather on this blog).
bean has been cooking us fabulous indian feasts! see the photo below, which features homemade dosas, sambar, garlic pickle, and coconut chutney.
bean has been cooking us fabulous indian feasts! see the photo below, which features homemade dosas, sambar, garlic pickle, and coconut chutney.
oh, it's been raining still, every other day or so (again, not that i discuss the weather on this blog, so don't ask me to). below is a portrait taken during a distant thunderstorm that i like to call "too nervous to poop":
even as i write this, there are guys on my house, ripping off the old horrible leaky roof and (eventually) replacing it with a brand new, leak-proof roof.
well hello! and welcome to my back yard:
the end.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
spam
my favorite recent spam subject line: "you own personal gent!"
i'm not sure why i find that so funny. i just love the idea that someone would see that, think, "ooh, my own personal gent!" and click on the link.
i'm not sure why i find that so funny. i just love the idea that someone would see that, think, "ooh, my own personal gent!" and click on the link.
Friday, July 24, 2009
hausfrau
first of all, i love books with pictures. seriously, some of my favorite books ever are graphic novels, particularly when they're not novels at all, but memoirs (including fun home, persepolis, and maus, just to name a few). i had the opportunity to read nicole chaison's (illustrated/illuminated/graphic) book recently, and even to be kind of an official reviewer of it, with a reviewer's copy dropped off at my house by book fairies and everything. i don't know nicole well,* but our paths have crossed on a very regular and friendly basis over the past seven or eight years, and i've always had the sense that we were leading - if not parallel lives - similar and compatible ones (just one example of this is the time we spent simultaneously in the world of kids' scottish highland dancing. not a huge world, at least not in portland, maine. i've seen her dance at ceilidhs with her kids, and she's seen me, goofily, do the same). also, back when we had our book store, nicole would bring in her hand-drawn zine (hausfrau), which i'd stack tidily on the shelf next to the east village inky. and then i'd borrow myself copies of both to read and savor. more recently, she drove past me with her head out the window of her car, yelling, "hi liz! i'm reading infinite jest!!!" and i thought, "i like her."
well, let me tell you, this hausfrau can write. her book was pure pleasure - funny, beautifully written, and honest. i have a low tolerance for cute stories about other people's kids, but that's not what nicole does in this book, despite the fact that it's about being a mom of young children (and they seem, actually, like pretty great kids. and by "great" i mean strong-willed, eccentric, smart, impossible at times, and suddenly sweet at others). she is brave enough to show herself as confused, mixed-up, stanky-breathed, flabby, and all those other wonderful things that real women really are, and i kind of love her for it. i really can't imagine anyone who's been through the experience of becoming a mother, mothering, and growing a family who wouldn't find this book somehow both poignant and hysterically funny. i'm guessing there are even plenty of people who haven't experienced it who would also love it.
*okay, the weirdest thing about reading the passion of the hausfrau is that i feel like i owe nicole a long letter filled with lots of stories about myself, because now it feels like i've known her for years...
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
kombucha batch number one
i made some kombucha. if you google that word, and click on "images," i can guarantee you'll be horrified. so don't do it. it involves a mushroom-like starter, and fermentation of a sugary tea. the result is a delightfully fizzy, sour carbonated beverage that is vaguely reminiscent of vinegar but in a good way.* on sunday, we invited some brave friends over for a tasting.
i think there were some words like "oaky" being used here.
that big jar in the middle of the table is batch number two, and it was there for illustrative purposes only (also to test the mettle of my tasters, as the contents aren't exactly pretty). the verdict was: yummy. not fizzy enough. someone thought a bit too sweet (hence that bottle of lemon juice). and finally, we all survived. i'm going for more carbonation in batch number two.
*i just know someone is thinking, "why?" right about now. well, i'll tell you. kombucha has all kinds of purported health benefits similar to other fermented foods, including those good bacteria that your stomach likes (someone also told me that it can reverse graying hair, which i'm not so sure i believe, but i'll let you know). ever since i first tasted it, when my initial thought was, "weird." i've craved it. and the good kind you can buy at whole foods is really expensive. my friend amanda carried a "mother" (that's what we in the know call the kombucha starter) in a plastic bag on her lap on the bus all the way from new york, just for me. also, it's kind of like homebrewing for non-drinkers, right?
i think there were some words like "oaky" being used here.
that big jar in the middle of the table is batch number two, and it was there for illustrative purposes only (also to test the mettle of my tasters, as the contents aren't exactly pretty). the verdict was: yummy. not fizzy enough. someone thought a bit too sweet (hence that bottle of lemon juice). and finally, we all survived. i'm going for more carbonation in batch number two.
*i just know someone is thinking, "why?" right about now. well, i'll tell you. kombucha has all kinds of purported health benefits similar to other fermented foods, including those good bacteria that your stomach likes (someone also told me that it can reverse graying hair, which i'm not so sure i believe, but i'll let you know). ever since i first tasted it, when my initial thought was, "weird." i've craved it. and the good kind you can buy at whole foods is really expensive. my friend amanda carried a "mother" (that's what we in the know call the kombucha starter) in a plastic bag on her lap on the bus all the way from new york, just for me. also, it's kind of like homebrewing for non-drinkers, right?
Saturday, July 18, 2009
finalist!
we drove up to waterville today for the student film and video portion of the 2009 maine international film festival. a film that boo made at film camp last summer was a finalist in the junior division! that's him, above, in the stripey shirt, answering a few questions about "operation: blackfox."
bean in der küche
what's it like to have her back, you ask? well, it's been pretty fabulous nearly every single minute, to tell you the truth. it was almost worth being without her so long to have the chance to be reunited with her, to get to hug her constantly, to walk down the street holding her hand, to see her in the morning and be delighted and surprised all over again that she's home!
she is adjusting admirably well to being back, especially considering the emotional and physical difficulties involved in re-adjusting after an entire year away. she misses it, she misses people, she misses speaking german all the time. she has shed a few tears, exchanged some emails with german friends and family, and spoken on the phone to her german host mother. she has many wonderful and funny stories to tell, and lots of souvenirs, photos, books, and recipes to share. her friends seem truly overjoyed to have her back, and are enthusiastic listeners. she seems like herself (of course, right? but we wondered about this). just a few notes on the culinary changes in a sixteen year old mädchen fresh off the plane from germany:
**she likes a dark, dense, seeded bread that we haven't yet located here in portland
**she likes radishes
**she likes emmenthal cheese
**she instinctively expects a larger meal at lunch and a smaller one at dinner
**she likes her water carbonated
**she craves a small cup of coffee in the afternoon
she tells fabulous tales of the most wonderful piece of kitchen equipment you've ever heard of: the thermomix (pronounced "TER-moe-mix"). it apparently does everything a blender, food processor, grinder, steamer, mixer, kitchen scale, timer, etc. can do, all in one amazing package. i. want. one.
she made a schwarzwälder kirschtorte (black forest cake, which we attempted before she left, you might recall, although not quite authentically, according to the mädchen) for a party at a friend's house tonight:
it requires kirsch, which we don't happen to stock in our (nonexistent) liquor cabinet (our liquor cabinet is a refrigerator full of kombucha, actually).
bean and i had a hard time tracking it down (in the liquor aisle at hannaford, a young man gestured at the various bottles of jägermeister and asked me, "which one is a fifth?" i could only shrug helplessly. no idea, buddy), but finally mama d came to the rescue. it turned out her neighbors had a bottle - from the last time they made a black forest cake, in fact!
she is adjusting admirably well to being back, especially considering the emotional and physical difficulties involved in re-adjusting after an entire year away. she misses it, she misses people, she misses speaking german all the time. she has shed a few tears, exchanged some emails with german friends and family, and spoken on the phone to her german host mother. she has many wonderful and funny stories to tell, and lots of souvenirs, photos, books, and recipes to share. her friends seem truly overjoyed to have her back, and are enthusiastic listeners. she seems like herself (of course, right? but we wondered about this). just a few notes on the culinary changes in a sixteen year old mädchen fresh off the plane from germany:
**she likes a dark, dense, seeded bread that we haven't yet located here in portland
**she likes radishes
**she likes emmenthal cheese
**she instinctively expects a larger meal at lunch and a smaller one at dinner
**she likes her water carbonated
**she craves a small cup of coffee in the afternoon
she tells fabulous tales of the most wonderful piece of kitchen equipment you've ever heard of: the thermomix (pronounced "TER-moe-mix"). it apparently does everything a blender, food processor, grinder, steamer, mixer, kitchen scale, timer, etc. can do, all in one amazing package. i. want. one.
she made a schwarzwälder kirschtorte (black forest cake, which we attempted before she left, you might recall, although not quite authentically, according to the mädchen) for a party at a friend's house tonight:
it requires kirsch, which we don't happen to stock in our (nonexistent) liquor cabinet (our liquor cabinet is a refrigerator full of kombucha, actually).
bean and i had a hard time tracking it down (in the liquor aisle at hannaford, a young man gestured at the various bottles of jägermeister and asked me, "which one is a fifth?" i could only shrug helplessly. no idea, buddy), but finally mama d came to the rescue. it turned out her neighbors had a bottle - from the last time they made a black forest cake, in fact!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
she's home!
we did it. we got our mädchen! we were an hour and a half early at the hotel in virginia, we were so excited. we killed some time and then went inside, where we waited with many other anxious parents in the lobby. finally, she emerged, looking like the most wonderful sight we'd ever seen. here, m and boo wait and wait:
me, finally getting to put my hands on that girl. i can't even tell you how many times i hugged her in the first hour (and three days later, i'm still touching her every chance i get. she's very indulgent).
m, ditto:
she said many goodbyes to the other cbyx kids, and then they let us take her away with us! we drove into washington d.c. and went to this vegan bakery, sticky fingers:
bean and i had wanted to go there forever, and it was fabulous. she had a vegan chili dog, and we all shared some cupcakey delights and iced coffee. this whole time she was telling us about her adventure and the details of her trip home, describing saying goodbye to her family, showing us photos, giving us gifts, laughing, and crying:
we spent a couple of days in baltimore, where we walked around fell's point:
and celebrated stella's first birthday:
with ellen's parents (who graciously hosted us the whole time we were in baltimore) and a select few of stella's grownup friends:
bean gave me many presents, including this adorable cake cookbook, which has a gnome theme:
our last stop before arriving home was cambridge. bean and minnow were reunited, and she hugged a couple of happy grandparents. we ate indian food and toscanini's ice cream. bean had a moxie float, which made her very happy:
bean and my mom:
i neglected to photograph many other poignant reunions (with artemis, flora, miss gliss, the dancer lady, the sports fan, animal lover, and enoch), as well as a massive banner that was taped to the side of our house when we pulled up in the driveway (made by artemis and flora). she spent the whole day yesterday with friends, walking to arabica, watching movies, eating dinner, playing games. last night was the first she spent in her own bed in nearly a year. oh, did i mention that the girl is fluent in german? our favorite thing is when she talks and talks and talks in german and we just listen, amazed and delighted. one of her highest priorities right now is to find ways to continue to speak, in addition to the german class she'll be taking in the fall at usm. boo and i have made a renewed pledge to work our way through the rosetta stone german program, too.
one moment i can't believe she's really here, and the next it's like she never left.
and finally, here is an appropriate poem my dad sent me, by pat schneider:
Don't go. Don't stay.
Daughter. Morning after afternoon
the last year slips away.
Singing all the old songs, you will go
(ambivalence of moon, certainty of sun)
we know
only half of what we are.
The earth is earth to us, star
perhaps
if apprehended far enough away.
Daughter – don't go.
Don't stay.
"To A High School Senior" by Pat Schneider, from Long Way Home. © Amherst Writers & Artists Press, 1993
me, finally getting to put my hands on that girl. i can't even tell you how many times i hugged her in the first hour (and three days later, i'm still touching her every chance i get. she's very indulgent).
m, ditto:
she said many goodbyes to the other cbyx kids, and then they let us take her away with us! we drove into washington d.c. and went to this vegan bakery, sticky fingers:
bean and i had wanted to go there forever, and it was fabulous. she had a vegan chili dog, and we all shared some cupcakey delights and iced coffee. this whole time she was telling us about her adventure and the details of her trip home, describing saying goodbye to her family, showing us photos, giving us gifts, laughing, and crying:
we spent a couple of days in baltimore, where we walked around fell's point:
and celebrated stella's first birthday:
with ellen's parents (who graciously hosted us the whole time we were in baltimore) and a select few of stella's grownup friends:
bean gave me many presents, including this adorable cake cookbook, which has a gnome theme:
our last stop before arriving home was cambridge. bean and minnow were reunited, and she hugged a couple of happy grandparents. we ate indian food and toscanini's ice cream. bean had a moxie float, which made her very happy:
bean and my mom:
i neglected to photograph many other poignant reunions (with artemis, flora, miss gliss, the dancer lady, the sports fan, animal lover, and enoch), as well as a massive banner that was taped to the side of our house when we pulled up in the driveway (made by artemis and flora). she spent the whole day yesterday with friends, walking to arabica, watching movies, eating dinner, playing games. last night was the first she spent in her own bed in nearly a year. oh, did i mention that the girl is fluent in german? our favorite thing is when she talks and talks and talks in german and we just listen, amazed and delighted. one of her highest priorities right now is to find ways to continue to speak, in addition to the german class she'll be taking in the fall at usm. boo and i have made a renewed pledge to work our way through the rosetta stone german program, too.
one moment i can't believe she's really here, and the next it's like she never left.
and finally, here is an appropriate poem my dad sent me, by pat schneider:
Don't go. Don't stay.
Daughter. Morning after afternoon
the last year slips away.
Singing all the old songs, you will go
(ambivalence of moon, certainty of sun)
we know
only half of what we are.
The earth is earth to us, star
perhaps
if apprehended far enough away.
Daughter – don't go.
Don't stay.
"To A High School Senior" by Pat Schneider, from Long Way Home. © Amherst Writers & Artists Press, 1993
Friday, July 10, 2009
my mom
happy birthday to my mom. i took a photo of her brand spankin' new "senior id" card, and just you wait. you would never guess this woman is a so-called senior citizen. like, never in a million years. but now she can buy a t pass for $20 bucks that cost her $59 back (yesterday) when she was 64.
birthday gifts for my mom: 1) a new iphone 2) the return of her prodigal german granddaughter, who we're picking up tomorrow!!!
birthday gifts for my mom: 1) a new iphone 2) the return of her prodigal german granddaughter, who we're picking up tomorrow!!!
Monday, July 06, 2009
baltimore loves us
the baltimore sun's environmental blog, b'more green, loves milo in maine! yay, cause we love baltimore right back.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
hey...
has anyone else ever noticed that itunes genius likes to group bands with animal names together? like i'm listening to andrew bird, and i click on the genius thing and i get
grizzly bear
deerhunter
animal collective
fleet foxes
the dodos
deerhoof
bat for lashes
(that last one could refer to an animal or not)
weird.
grizzly bear
deerhunter
animal collective
fleet foxes
the dodos
deerhoof
bat for lashes
(that last one could refer to an animal or not)
weird.
life
a whole bunch of random images from my life this week, for you to either scroll past rapidly or contemplate thoughtfully, as you prefer.
billy mays died, but his commercials live on:
enoch borrowed a projector, and for one blissful evening m, boo, and i were able to roll a ginormous katamari ball around on the wall of his apartment, until boo fell sound asleep on enoch's bed:
i saw a pretty dragonfly on the window. this must've been when the sun finally came out:
i'd been dreaming for days of this scrumptious meal i was going to make for independence day. and then i made it. and it was scrumptious. veggie sushi (my dream involved making a spicy sauce out of vegenaise and sriracha to put inside the rolls, and...yum):
veggie sushi, five minutes later:
my other dream, the dessert dream, was inspired by delicious strawberry shortcakes i've eaten recently at emily's and holly's houses. my version consists of vegan scones topped with local strawberries cooked a little bit saucy, and a dollop of vegan whipped coconut cream on top. oh. my. god:
later we hiked up the hill to watch the fireworks on the eastern prom (and very briefly crashed a party at our friend lincoln's house). they were spectacular. ooooh:
ahhhhh:
billy mays died, but his commercials live on:
enoch borrowed a projector, and for one blissful evening m, boo, and i were able to roll a ginormous katamari ball around on the wall of his apartment, until boo fell sound asleep on enoch's bed:
i saw a pretty dragonfly on the window. this must've been when the sun finally came out:
i'd been dreaming for days of this scrumptious meal i was going to make for independence day. and then i made it. and it was scrumptious. veggie sushi (my dream involved making a spicy sauce out of vegenaise and sriracha to put inside the rolls, and...yum):
veggie sushi, five minutes later:
my other dream, the dessert dream, was inspired by delicious strawberry shortcakes i've eaten recently at emily's and holly's houses. my version consists of vegan scones topped with local strawberries cooked a little bit saucy, and a dollop of vegan whipped coconut cream on top. oh. my. god:
later we hiked up the hill to watch the fireworks on the eastern prom (and very briefly crashed a party at our friend lincoln's house). they were spectacular. ooooh:
ahhhhh:
Saturday, July 04, 2009
mädchen
in one week and one hour, we will be at a certain hotel in northern virginia, jumping around in excitement, waiting out the last ten minutes before we're allowed to grab our world traveler and hug her...
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
mumble
can i just interrupt your day to announce that by my count, i've watched sixty-one movies so far this year?* i am pretty impressed with myself, actually. last night m and i watched hannah takes the stairs, my second official experience with mumblecore (i have seen the puffy chair too). we were both pleasantly surprised by it, although there's not much in the way of a plot and you have to get comfortable just kind of hanging out with hipster 20-somethings for an hour or so, watching them eat, play the trumpet, draw pictures and get naked.
*should you care to, you can glance over at the right hand side of my blog for a complete list of the movies i've watched in 2009.
*should you care to, you can glance over at the right hand side of my blog for a complete list of the movies i've watched in 2009.
sweeties
my california sweeties, robot and pink, came to visit us for a few days this week. it was so wonderful to see them - they fit very comfortably into our routines around here, and they are funny, smart, sweet kids. on sunday robot dressed up like a zombie with boo and they played kickball in the pouring rain at zombie kickball IV:
two of pink's favorite things are dogs and rain, and we were able to provide her with plenty of both (lulu was here, too, with my mom and dad):
on monday we had some hot chocolate at arabica, and then pink and i took a long, wet walk in the rain together:
now we've sent them back to cambridge for a day of boston fun (boo went too), and then my dad will deliver them to their other grandmother in new jersey.
also, have you noticed that it's july? the month in which we get our girl back??! TEN days.
two of pink's favorite things are dogs and rain, and we were able to provide her with plenty of both (lulu was here, too, with my mom and dad):
on monday we had some hot chocolate at arabica, and then pink and i took a long, wet walk in the rain together:
now we've sent them back to cambridge for a day of boston fun (boo went too), and then my dad will deliver them to their other grandmother in new jersey.
also, have you noticed that it's july? the month in which we get our girl back??! TEN days.
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