Tuesday, June 30, 2009

My Hero

Dan plumbed this past weekend. Last Thursday, our basement flooded with two inches of water when a big storm blew up and took out electricity for a big part of our town. We baled some of the water into our utility tubs. And then after the debacle was over, the utility tubs wouldn't drain anymore.

I admit that I was doubtful on Saturday at the start of the project and cross words were exchanged. But by the end of the weekend he pulled it through!



triumphant Dan


close up of success

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Creepy/Cute in ohmycavalier

I love creepy/cute. I also like romantic/creepy. And I think ohmycavalier on etsy, brings both possibilities to the party. Also an old fashioned Gorey-esque style of drawing that feels very 18th/19th century.

I love it.
http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.73710029.jpg
Badger Girl with a Spyglass original framed drawing

Antler Girl Brooch with wide blue gray ribbon

summer is awesome

I've been so caught up in work and my artwork and my friends' good news and tragedies, that I've been more or less ignoring the garden. Luckily, it's been raining every few days and the husband waters pretty faithfully. So, it's been chugging along without me.

But I decided to take stock today--do a little weeding, plant basil in back (for pesto!) and hostas out front (for curb appeal!) and give the whole thing a once over. And this is what I found:


out of nowhere. . . zucchini


My first nasturtium flower.

tiny baby green beans.
we'll be rolling in them soon.


and l.p. thinks gardening is pretty serious business.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Good News 6

Chicago SummerDance is back (well, it's been back since earlier this month). Free dance lessons and then free music to dance to! And tonight is:

Tükrös Hungarian Folk Ensemble

Szatmari Dances from Hungary--dance lessons by Ignac Kadar & Barbara Baranyai and live music by the Tükrös Hungarian Folk Ensemble, performing authentic Hungarian village music.


I wasn't able to stay for the dancing tonight, but the band was rehearsing when I was walking between buildings on campus. And for a moment there was no wind and weirdly no traffic on Michigan Avenue. Everything was still and strains of Hungarian folk music--haunting cello and violin--echoed off the building facades at Harrison and Michigan. A really nice way to end the day.

And if you don't live in Chicago, I bet your town does something similar. Go to dance. Go to listen and watch. Go to find good news.

Romy and Langston


new in the shop at fivetrees
and summer has settled in finally, so these new little boys were able to play out in the garden amongst the nasturtiums and sage.

Langston

Jerome (Romy)

Monday, June 22, 2009

good news 5

now i know the good news here at the start has been small and maybe a little too personal (except for that dog who has a best friend, of course. he's a total stranger to me). . . but just one more:

i'm an aunt.

Good news 4 and the fabulous Jill Huntsberger


The fabulous Jill Huntsberger's kitchen ceiling fan light cord terminates in a tiny rubber chicken.

But don't get me started on the scary painting in the background. The fabulous Jill Huntsberger tried to convince me that it was a cute painting, but if not for the dear tiny rubber chicken taking up most of my attention, I would have nightmares for weeks.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

new project


Rattles! I've been wanting to try my hand at making rattles for a while now. And I'm pretty excited about the results. Only one misstep and one resulting subpar rattle. But the second try was perfect and now I'm in the rattle crafting business.

Very similar to my finger puppets, but larger and for the shaking. So far, I have a bunny version, a kitty version and an elephant version. Check the bunny to the right.

And I think it's good design. Safety eyes and no hard parts--even the handle is just hardpacked with fiberfill. . .

familial love--good news 3

d and i have buddies who weren't sure they would ever have kids. then they got in the family way quite by accident (and they blame us for our terribly sedate 4th of July party last year. redonkulous. . . though we'll take the accusation if it means we're at all responsible for the adorable result). and now they have a tiny tiny baby girl that they are obviously completely smitten with.


happy accidents are good news.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

good news

this is pretty good news.

Il_430xN.63451084

this dog has a best friend. . . or at the very least, knows someone with opposable thumbs who loves him dearly enough to call him a best friend.

bad times

we're going through a rough patch. . . and it can feel like it's getting harder and harder to make emotional ends meet. who would have thought that money wouldn't be the hardest part by a long shot. with all of us in kinda bad shape, it's hard to hold each other up.

but there's good stuff out there and i'm looking for it. and i'm gonna share it, too. because finding good news--even if it's a search, even if it takes longer than usual to dig it up, even if it starts to feel like homework--is important work.

you should do it, too.

and share it.

or if you can't find the good news. . . make some.

and then share that.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

dragon cuteness


this makes total sense to me.

check the other cute/creepy prints at mikeatron's Etsy shop.


Dragon Poot

My favorite doorway


lovely.

little girls are too smart. . .

if one can judge such a thing by what they pack in their tiny dress purses for weddings. My own contained make-up, an ID, a credit card, my car keys, a cell phone (that I, of course, never used once during our friends' beautiful wedding).

This is what was in our buddy Ada's (age almost 5) purse:



Much more sensible than the contents of my own. In the future, I am going to make sure that I have a tiny sketch pad and pen (and maybe even a tiny koala) that will fit into my own tiny tiny formal clutch. Thanks, Ada, for teaching us old ladies what's what.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

. . . then Friday was Unbearaborrible

After such a great day Thursday (though admittedly that in the heart of a pretty stressful week), Friday was a mess. The kind of day a girl should never get out of bed. And there was no huge tragedy. No death. No job loss. No big break-up. It was just one of those days filled with such an unbelievable accumulation of screw-ups and bad timings and inexplicable rudenesses from complete strangers that you progress from cranky and out of sorts, straight through to crying, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments.

I felt utterly incapable of controlling a single thing around me and so ended the day (9:00 PM/12 hour work day/at the end of a week of several 12 hour work days/because huge bad thing discovered at 4:30PM/re:final straw) with a treat of a cab ride home. And the moment I got into the cab, a van cut the cab off and I was stuck for four blocks in traffic swerving pursuit of that van and the cabbie barking the worst possible swear words at the van at every red light. And at the end of the ride, I couldn't even get him to drop me where I want to and had to walk 4 blocks back to meet Dan and little grey and LP. And Dan gave me a big hug and I just cried and cried and cried.

I think this is what newborns must feel like--as if the whole world is a giant rough insensitive place and they can't even get a word in edge wise. And they cry and cry and cry.

Meh.

So, today, a whole collection of my favorite graffiti artist's sticky-label drawings. Perfect for the day after what will heretofore be known as the "stupidest day of the year":



don't fret, indeed.

Thursday was Magical

A gorgeous day outside on Thursday (though inexplicably chilly for June. my tomato plants are all "wtf?"), and my city looked like this at 7:00 PM when I picked the man up on Michigan Ave:


and after the pick-up, we headed north to Moody's for a surprise b-day dinner for our buddy Larry. And after a few drinks and some fun, Larry looked like this:

laughing so hard, he was crying. Later there was more laughter and candlelight and burgers and onion rings and cupcakes. In so very many ways, it was a great night. Happy Bday, Larry.