advent

i went for a long walk yesterday, through deering oaks (full of crows!) and around this quiet town of mine. the dancer bought me some delicious soup at north star cafe -- a perfect way to spend a sunday afternoon in november.

yesterday was apparently the first sunday of advent, which bean's german family observed with cake and candles on an advent wreath. she and i assembled a pretty nice wreath on saturday, and bean baked us an authentic linzer torte (you should see bean bake her german recipes, with a dictionary at hand, also constantly converting grams to cups, measuring very carefully). it was so delicious.
























we ate it with coffee and some german gingerbread-ish cookies we found this weekend at trader joe's in cambridge.

they even let me listen to christmas music!

scenes from the holiday

no tablescapes, no roast birds, just this and that.

my boys:
























found art, "common trouble."























playing hearts with mom.
























more found art, "gate may move at any time without prior warning."
























aha, here's the thanksgiving feast, a plate full of deliciousness from the buffet at the kebab factory in cambridge:
























and yet more found art, "girl in the gutter."
























oh, and more! found by my mom (circa 1944, and hot): let's call this one "HOT 1944."
























dueling computers. they were shopping craigslist for new york apartments.

it gets dark around here early because of all the crows

you should listen to this song while you imagine my back yard. also, i took some pictures, but they don't convey the masses of crows (at least one murder of them) roosting in our trees.



















i love them.

serious

a serious man + incessant snacking = the day after thanksgiving.

fantastic

a feast at the kebab factory + fantastic mr. fox = thanksgiving.

thanks

oh, thanksgiving. i have such mixed emotions about you, you deceptive holiday. i spent countless elementary school class periods making and wearing construction paper pilgrim hats and "indian" headdresses and then sitting down to cafeteria meals of sliced turkey alongside those glutinous piles of mashed potatoes with the perfect concavity in the middle for the gravy, only learning years later what a bizarrely positive spin had been applied to thanksgiving, how fooled we all were.

i've known the true story for a while now (and my own kids learned a much more accurate version of the way native people were treated in this country), but i was still shocked and upset when i watched american experience's series of films, we shall remain. actually, i could only stand to watch the first two -- and now they are all i can think about when i contemplate the official holiday of thanksgiving: what my ancestors did to the people who lived here when they showed up and claimed it for themselves.

but, here's where the conflict comes in: i love my own version of thanksgiving, the one that has evolved over the years with my family. first of all, my thanksgiving hasn't involved a dead bird on the table for a long time -- i've been a vegetarian since i was seventeen, and remarkably, both of my parents are now vegetarians (as are both of my brothers, their wives and all but one of their children - my eight year old rebel niece pink - as well as my own immediate brood). during the seven years that m and i had our bookstore, we weren't able to travel over thanksgiving break because of black friday (ugh), when we had to be there to open the store. we started a tradition of ordering carryout indian food and eating it in the bookstore (which was closed, a rare occurrence) with whoever happened to be around and hungry. my parents admitted that they enjoyed spending thanksgiving alone, just the two of them, with no fuss, no cooking, and no stress.

since we closed the store, we've continued the indian food theme, often with my mom and dad. it is awfully luxurious to have someone else cook for you, and indian restaurants are almost always open on thanksgiving. we tend to cook an elaborate feast for christmas instead (in fact, it's a pretty traditionally "thanksgiving" meal, minus the turkey and plus a tofurkey or two).

so, that's the food part. the opportunity to have several days of bean and boo home from school, and to pause and think of everything and everyone i have in my life to be grateful for, plus that delicious emptiness of the streets when you're out walking on thanksgiving day and everyone else is inside eating, digesting, watching television -- who could hate a holiday like that?

quiz results

and the answer is...OAKDALE! the winners are meg, lisa, and mama d, who will be receiving baked goods of some sort very soon (meg, i am thinking i'll bring something delicious to jen's house december tenth, if you don't mind sharing). i told you it was hard!

you first, my dear

a character flaw of mine. i will be either alphonse or gaston, whichever you prefer.

chicken house?

i know you're like, "shut up about the chickens already!" but wouldn't our playhouse make an adorable chicken coop? i think it could be retrofitted fairly easily.

we bought the playhouse when we first moved here in 1999, and the house numbers on the side represent the ages of boo and bean at the time (3 and 6, if you can believe that), and also happened to be our street address in baltimore, where we lived before moving to portland. this thing cost just about one thousand dollars, which was the exact amount of cash we were left over with after we sold our baltimore house and bought our portland house. ever practical, we spent it on this playhouse, which has seen some action over the last ten years, although not as much as we imagined at the time. i think it needs some chickens.

where i live

i love this map of portland, by corey templeton. can you guess which neighborhood i live in? if you guess correctly, i'll bake you something.

scenes from a craft fair

in sepia tones. hmm. the actual craft fair was brighter and more colorful than these pictures convey.

















it was a fun day with m and mama d, who should seriously get a commission for the sales she made at our humble table.

















if you missed this craft fair, we'll be doing another one at north yarmouth academy on december fifth. also, what will definitely be the most fun and fabulous fair of all, at jen's house on december tenth!

perchance to dream

now i know that i definitely dream in color, because i dreamt last night of these shoes of mine, red and pink pumas that were really fabulous when i got them about seven years ago, and are now very old, worn nearly smooth on the bottoms. in my dream, i was in an elaborate relay race of some kind, and anxiety was looming within me because i knew i was going to have to run a mile, and i was going to have to run it on slippery wet leaf-strewn paths in these shoes.

all the world is birthday cake

i needed to pick bean up early at school yesterday for a doctor's appointment (the waiting room was alarming, full of preschoolers either wearing face masks or refusing to wear them, being chased around by their parents), and after that i didn't return her -- instead i took her to lunch at artemisia.
























we shared a sweet potato sandwich and a veggie dumpling salad. i love the soy-ginger dressing they use on this salad - i always forget how delicious it is.

last night we ate at one of bean's favorite restaurants, asmara, and shared two big vegetarian platters with flora and enoch. then, cake back at home - bean wanted something reminiscent of a strawberry shortcake, so i made a vegan pound cake, cut it into two layers, and slathered it with whipped coconut cream and stewed strawberries.

here is a blurry picture of said cake.
























in case i didn't mention it, the girl is seventeen now.

seventeen

happy seventeenth birthday to my little bean. i don't know how that happened! in honor of her birthday, i present one of dozens of adorable stories i like to tell, like some old grandma, about my girl:


scene: grocery store. bean is riding in the cart. she is about three years old.

little old lady: "oh, such a little sweet cutie pie, oh so cute (or words to that effect)!" she approaches, cheek pinching fingers at the ready.

bean, turning an impassive face towards me: "these people are all hyenas."


can i just tell you how amazed i still am to realize that she was so truly herself at that age? even when she was a baby, she was the same person she is today (although she is able to walk and talk etc now of course), with the same dry sense of humor and skepticism and intelligence?


also, this photograph of bean making muffins (or cupcakes?) reminds me of the time her preschool teacher confessed to me that when her three year olds brought in baked goods, she would ask enthusiastically, "did you help make these?!" and if they answered, "yes," she would surreptitiously not eat any, knowing so well how dirty and germy those little hands tended to be. although i didn't share her qualms, i thought it was funny.

life so sweet

(print by alli coate, available at etsy. i saw it on swissmiss.)

sad

i finally got around to scheduling a doctor's appointment today only to learn that my healthcare provider, a nurse practitioner named connie nagle, died unexpectedly in a bicycle accident just a couple of weeks ago. i barely knew her -- i've seen her a total of six or seven times in my life, and she was basically my gynecologist, so it's not like i looked forward to seeing her or anything. but she was such a sweet, bright, comfortable person, and i really did like her very much. i'm shocked by how sad i'm feeling about this.

electricity

i don't know why, i just like this sign.

16

i am falling way, way behind with the daily novel writing, but i haven't given up yet. i imagined i would write every day at holly's house, but in reality when we got there each day i was so tired from strolling around college campuses and driving all over the states of new york and connecticut that i felt like i'd been doing manual labor for hours and i needed to just sit there, pretty much, and be fed by my best friend. there was one productive day, when i wrote about 1,000 words, but otherwise it was all i could do to keep up with my daily blog post.


in other news, here is a photograph for your entertainment of a highly offensive sign that bean and i saw in vernon, connecticut:

we travel on our stomachs

i mean, not literally, but...well, you'll see. bean and i returned home last night after the fabulous final college tour of 2009. we had a great time and saw some lovely college campuses, but the best part was going home each night to hang out with these sweetie pies:
























plus, of course, their dad and their mom, the amazing holly, who managed to cook us gourmet meals every night while in the midst of her busy weekday life (just for example, she leaves for work every morning long before the sun comes up). she also helped me finish up a secret crafty project that i've been procrastinating about for a long, long time. i can't wait to go back and stay with her when there's more time available for lounging around drinking coffee and talking, because she's one of my favorite people in the world to talk to. also, she makes the most beautiful jewelry you ever saw. i snuck and took a picture of her studio (soon to be expanded, since she's taking over the current "ping pong room"):
























so, day one was vassar, where i neglected to take any photos at all. bean and i found a nice spot near campus for tea called the crafted kup (not krazy about that kute 'k,' but it was a sweet little place). our tour was great, the highlight being the indescribably gorgeous library with a nearly floor-to-ceiling stained glass portrait of the first woman to receive a doctorate. bean liked vassar, although she still thinks she would prefer to be in a large city.

day two we toured bard - our guide was from pakistan and had the most charming accent. bard was absolutely lovely, right beside the hudson river, with views of the catskills off in the distance, and farmland all around. too remote for bean. also, the director of admissions was played by jane lynch. seriously. it was bizarre.
























there are many charming paths through the woods at bard.
























we drove to nearby rhinebeck for lunch at bread alone, where we had delicious white bean and escarole soup and an artichoke panini.
























friday was connecticut day - first, wesleyan, which bean really liked.
























our tour guide, rachel, had the adorable habit of closing her eyes for long stretches.* the campus was great, and the town of middletown had lots of cafes and restaurants. we got a private tour of the rare books room at the main library from susie cupcakes, and stopped in at the german department (bean's usm german professor attended wesleyan), where there were no professors to be found, although we had a nice chat with the department secretary.



















the best thing about wesleyan was the food at udupi bhavan, a southern indian restaurant we found nearby.
























we shared vegetable pakoras that were like spicy indian beignets, so tasty:
























and we each got a different type of masala dosa (they're actually not this huge, since they fold up around the filling to be about the size of a burrito). they came with coconut chutney and sambar, yum.
























next we went to connecticut college, where our tour guide just happened to be from portland, maine! we walked around in the pouring rain - it was raining so hard that it was difficult to even see what the campus looked like.
























on saturday, we were signed up for a full day at sarah lawrence, but we ended up cutting out early after a very long info session. the campus was lovely, and the people seemed wonderful, but bean was certain almost immediately that it wasn't for her; she wants a college with at least a bit more traditional structure, and preferably one that's larger.

on our way home we stopped at rein's deli in vernon, connecticut.



















bean had a veggie reuben and i had a potato knish.


and when we got home, look what was waiting for me:

























*all of our tour guides walked backwards except the one at wesleyan. "that's dangerous," she said.

i want to see this!

vassar and bard

quickie report from the college field trip: vassar was gorgeous (oh my god, the liberry). bean was, unsurprisingly, not charmed by poughkeepsie. but she liked the school, and she's considering applying there.

bard was also gorgeous, in a very remote, little-buildings-in-the-woods-by-the-river kind of way. bean is less interested in applying there, mostly due to its location (kind of in the middle of nowhere). more details and photos to follow!

best of all, we are spending lots of time with holly and her family.

today we are sticking to connecticut - first we'll check out wesleyan, and then connecticut college.

college tour, day two

if today is thursday, we must be checking out bard college!

final college tour 2009

today bean and i embark on a college wrap-up tour, cramming in a few more campuses for her perusal before the girl has to sit down and finish her applications, write all of those essays for real, and mail everything off. or, well, hit the "send" button on the common application, actually. she knows for sure that she is applying to

the university of chicago
barnard college
macalester college
and
the university of kansas

i wanted her to be able to see a few more, plus it's a great excuse to stay with holly for several days! so, day one (today), our itinerary is thus:

*get up super super early, hit the road at 5 am
*drive to poughkeepsie
*attend the vassar fall open house all afternoon
*drive to holly's house in connecticut

we have stolen our family's sole car, leaving m and boo with only their feet and their bicycles for transportation.* we will return to them late on saturday. more college details to follow!



*update: thanks to the generosity of mama d, those boys now have a car at their disposal!

coco

saturday night bean and i went to see coco before chanel with emily and eva. i always love looking at audrey tautou for a couple of hours, and the scenes like the one pictured above, actual sewing scenes, were great. she made hats, and she stole clothes from men's closets, snipped at them with her huge silver scissors, and - voila! - a cute outfit. she got the idea for that stripey shirt from french fishermen. however, there was far too much about romance in this movie, too much of "she doesn't believe in love until she suddenly does, and then SPOILER ALERT her true love dies and she has no choice but to become a success - a cold and stiff success, but a success nonetheless." also, bean will confirm that i predicted her true love was going to die about thirty seconds before he did. also, i was offended by the first line in the epilogue: "coco chanel never married."

Nine

*i am still doing this.

*i am also still doing this, but i have fallen thousands of words behind.

*thanks to the awesome shopping skillz of my friend mama d, who found me free shipping and discount codes, the red boots have been ordered and are on their way!

*i like marvin gaye and all, but don't you agree that this is the least sexy song of all time? what would you do if someone leaned into your sleeping ear and said, "wake up wake up wake up wake up because you do it right"?

*did i tell you that the dog ban didn't pass? m and i took minnow to willard beach yesterday to celebrate!

*in other minnow news, he and i now have an official song. which means i sing it to him, and he wags his tail. also, plans are in the works to have that thingy removed from his eye and his teeth cleaned.

march

friday night, m and i met enoch at the brand new international cryptozoology museum, right here in beautiful portland, maine. it was really something. my favorite thing was probably the almost-life size bigfoot near the front door.

after that, m and i joined the post-election rally and march for equality down congress street. this was my favorite sign:
























the best thing about it was all the supportive honking cars and art-walkers yelling and clapping and slapping hands as hundreds of us marched past (also leaning out of windows and waving). it reinforced the huge crush i have on this city right now.
























the portland press herald didn't see fit to print much of anything about it this morning. there was another simultaneous rally going on (u.s. out of afghanistan and iraq) with a louder sound system but fewer folks. we marched past them in monument square and to city hall.
























there were speakers. my favorite was a kickass minister from a united church of christ. there weren't many specifics about what to do next, but much enthusiasm and a generally positive energy. i pledge, personally, to do more next time.

red boots

my mom gave me some birthday bucks that i've been saving for a treat for myself. so here is my question to you: do i really want these shiny red vegan boots? or do i not?

a more positive spin

this is more for my own future reference than the enlightenment of my readers, but here is a list of towns in maine where sixty percent or more of inhabitants voted to protect marriage equality:

brunswick
cape elizabeth
cumberland
falmouth
freeport
long island
portland (73.5%)
south portland
yarmouth
carrabassett valley
bar harbor (71%)
blue hill
brooklin
brooksville
castine
cranberry isle (75%)
mount desert
osborn (82%)
hallowell
camden
isle au haut (88%)
mantinicus isle plantation
north haven
monhegan plantation (88%)
newcastle
orono (73%)
penobscot nation
arrowsic
islesboro
pleasant point
kennebunkport
kittery
ogunquit



View Overwhelming Support of Marriage Equality in a larger map

never

based on an incomplete list of individual votes on question one, here are the towns in maine where i will never live:

anywhere in androscoggin county
baldwin
bridgton
casco
frye island
gray
harrison
naples
new gloucester
raymond
standish
windham
avon
carthage
chesterville
dallas plantation
eustis
industry
jay
kingfield
new sharon
new vineyard
rangeley
rangeley plantation
sandy river plantation
strong
temple
weld
wilton
amherst
aurora
bucksport
dedham
eastbrook
ellsworth
franklin
great pond
hancock
mariaville
orland
osborn
swans island
trenton
verona
waltham
winter harbor
*anywhere in kennebec county except hallowell, readfield, waterville, or wayne
appleton
cushing
friendship
owls head
south thomaston
thomaston
union
warren
dresden
jefferson
somerville
westport
whitefield
wiscasset
albany township
brownfield
buckfield
byron
canton
denmark
dixfield
gilead
greenwood
hanover
hartford
hebron
hiram
lincoln plantation
lovell
mexico
porter
roxbury
rumford
sumner
upton
west paris
waterford
woodstock
*anywhere in penobscot county except for bangor, veazie, penobscot nation, orono, or old town
*anywhere in piscataquis county at all, including milo
bowdoin
phippsburg
west bath
woolwich
*anywhere in somerset county except the forks plantation
belmont
brooks
burnham
frankfort
freedom
jackson
knox
liberty
monroe
morrill
palermo
prospect
searsmont
searsport
swanville
troy
unity
waldo
*anywhere in washington county except pleasant point
alfred
arundel
biddeford
buxton
cornish
hollis
limerick
limington
lyman
north berwick
newfield
sanford
shapleigh
waterboro
*anywhere in aroostook county

okay, yes, this is a bit obsessive of me, and in many of these towns nearly half of the residents voted the right way. but if i ever succumb to my not-so-secret occasional desire to live out in the woods somewhere, i want to end up in a town that (mostly) supports equality. there were some unpleasant discoveries here (i've always loved the sound of appleton, for example - so...apple-y. and what's up with the towns named things like freedom and liberty?), it was interesting to see where the good guys prevailed in huge numbers (e.g. the cranberry islands!). and of course what makes the most sense is to stay right where i am, a little city where 75 percent of voters are fair and smart and not homophobic.

broken hearted

it is a very sad day in maine, where voters repealed a law that made it legal for any two adults of any gender to get married. i am disgusted and furious with about 52% of the people in this state right now, and feeling guilty that i didn't personally do more to fight for no on one. also, i am compiling a list of the towns in maine where i would never, ever live -- the ones where a majority of people are full of ignorance and hate.

lately

*doing nanowrimo and nablopomo and anything else with a ridiculous name like that i can find.

*drinking too much coffee, sometimes with this in it.

*cooking delicious meals, like the best vegan spinach stuffed shells last night - seriously, i wish you all could have tasted them. i used the basic cashew "ricotta" from veganomicon and added extra garlic and lots of spinach. stuffed shells with it, covered with tomato sauce and baked a long time at 350 degrees. a sprinkle of vegan mozzarella, then put it under the broiler for a few.

*getting sleepy around 6:30 pm, since it's getting dark around 5:00.

*listening to boo's voice get deeper and deeper, and watching him grow taller and taller (dental hygienist to boo yesterday: "you are looking so handsome today!")

*observing, amazed, as bean juggles three ap classes, two university classes, college applications, the knitting of many beautiful mittens, hats, socks, and sweaters, and much more.

*getting caught up on milo in maine for the holiday craft fairs rapidly approaching.

...i have love for those with four feet, for the many-footed I have love.

bean and i ate so much good stuff this weekend at the boston vegetarian food festival. we went on saturday with my dad, and just like last year it was packed and hot and overwhelming, but totally worth it. there were many delicious free samples and lots of friendly vegetarian types. but the highlights (for us anyway) were the snacks that we purchased, cheap, as we perused the floor:
























okay, first of all let's talk about the best damn vegan donuts ever in the history of my life. bean's was a pumpkin spice donut filled with pumpkin mousse, and mine was an "entenmann's style" chocolate dipped donut. they were so good. unfortunately, vegan treats bakery is located in bethlehem, pennsylvania, kind of a haul. which reminds me of an idea bean and i had for a vegan bakery road trip, crossing the country sampling the fare at every single vegan bakery we can find. any takers?*



















dad shared some tasty sushi and perfect, crisp fried spring rolls from veggie corner vegan restaurant. we went back for seconds!
























bean found herself a tasty vegan thai tea-flavored bubble tea at boba-licious:
























uh, little pause here to say that we spent some time watching a chinese film crew interviewing these folks outside the festival. the whole thing just struck us as very odd. i'll say no more.



















also from boba-licious, vegan banh mi, a vietnamese sandwich with veggie meat, lettuce, cucumber, spicy sauce, tons of cilantro, on a perfect crusty french bread. i am desperate to reproduce this at home, it was so delicious.
























after the feasting, we took a long walk through the common and the public garden. there weren't too many vegetarians wearing halloween costumes, but we saw many costumed people and animals over the course of the day. most notably, we happened upon a gathering of dozens of dogs -- mostly dachshunds -- dressed up. mostly as hotdogs.
























we met up with my mom when she finished work, and bought her a sandwich at trident booksellers & cafe. i had a halloween-themed soy latte:
























i think it was the next day that i spotted this bereft wig, abandoned on the sidewalk post-celebration/trick-or-treating:



























*checkout girl, i actually have you and miss a. in mind for this dream pilgrimage!