"I was merely trying to elevate small talk to medium talk."

- Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm - Season 8

Less Monday,

more coffee,

please.

um, somehow this is turning into a blog about bug nooky... but look: I'm not the only voyeur ^^^

bits of my weekend

chainsaw artistry going on at Jud's Stone House Nursery - Rt. 54A Bluff Point, NY
(the owner explained a favorite pine tree had gotten sick and needed to be taken down - so they're having the remaining stump carved to resemble a Seneca Indian)








Market Street, Corning, NY

5 things that made me happy this week

1. Using the rain barrel with the hose to water the garden for the first time - gravity fed, it works perfectly:



2. Conversation at a luncheon in Naples:

Woman 1: "You have no idea until you're 70 how young your 70s really are. Truly... It's incredible!!!"
Woman 2: "How would you know?"
Woman 1: "I'm 72!"

3. Evening walks through the village with a friend

4. Chocolate vegan ice cream (made with coconut milk) + roasted almonds + fresh raspberry sauce

5. Opening ceremonies for the 2012 Olympics in London!!!


***Update: On August 2, 2012 they won 2 Olympic gold medals!!!***

happened upon this illustration by Maira Kalman (one of my favorite illustrators) -
feels like me today:

bits from the weekend

Mr. G

on that note...
can't wait for the Olympics!!!

5 things that made me happy during the past week

1. Ate the first ripe tomato from our garden, and baked zucchini bread with the first ripe zukes!

2. Closing out the week with cooler temps and gentle rain - what a relief! - which meant...

3. Mowing the lawn for the first time in a month! I've actually missed that chore

4. Saying "Good-bye" to a stye on my eye!
(that was a gross one - I've never had anything so disgusting - ugh, hope to avoid that ever again!)

5. The best one for last: my dad went through two medical procedures this week (one right after the other, poor guy) and came out with a healthy report card on both afterwards!!!! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

rainy day bug nooky

on the sedum, rain water collects in interesting shapes that look like smooth glass pebbles nestled in their leaves - I didn't quite capture the effect with my camera

Traveling Wilburys - "End of the Line"

Watched the second disc of the Scorsese documentary about George Harrison (my favorite Beatle) last night - Remember the Traveling Wilburys?!! - what a fun band - listened to those albums a bazillion times back in the day... perfect songs to bop around and sing along to:

Well it's all right, riding around in the breeze

Well it's all right, if you live the life you please

Well it's all right, doing the best you can

Well it's all right, as long as you lend a hand

You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring

Waiting for someone to tell you everything

Sit around and wonder what tomorrow will bring

Maybe a diamond ring

Well it's all right, even if they say you're wrong

Well it's all right, sometimes you gotta be strong

Well it's all right, as long as you got somewhere to lay

Well it's all right, everyday is judgement day

Maybe somewhere down the road a ways

You'll think of me, and wonder where I am these days

Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays

Purple haze

Well it's all right, even when push comes to shove

Well it's all right, if you got someone to love

Well it's all right, everything'll work out fine

Well it's all right, were going to the end of the line

Don't have to be ashamed of the car I drive

I'm just glad to be here, happy to be alive

It don't matter if you're by my side

I'm satisfied

Well it's all right, even if you're old and grey

Well it's all right, you still got something to say

Well it's all right, remember to live and let live

Well it's all right, the best you can do is forgive

Well it's all right, riding around in the breeze

Well it's all right, if you live the life you please

Well it's all right, even if the sun don't shine

Well it's all right, we're going to the end of the line

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Beatles - "Strawberry Fields Forever"

5 things that made me happy during the past week

1. every summer morning


2. The rain barrel our neighbor made for us got put to use!!! - Tim installed it just in time to collect water from the desperately needed rainfalls (we still need more, but what we got felt sooooo good) (it's been so dry, look at all the walnut leaves already fallen on the ground)


3. winning a raffle to take home a fern centerpiece from my cousin's fiance's bridal shower - I've always wanted to plant ferns, now I'll have a nice reminder of the day


4. something new: I've started doing these "5 Tibetan Rites" each morning - spinning is my favorite!


5. discovering that others also keep a "Happy List"... (Ha!) Keep focusing on life's happy moments! :)
(I'm trying to be diligent about maintaining this list as a weekly exercise as well)

the farther one travels, the less one knows

"By having the money we found that money wasn’t the answer. Because we had lots of material things that people spend their entire life to try and get. We managed to get them at quite an early age, and it was good, really, because we learned that that wasn’t it. We still lacked something and that thing sometimes is the thing that religion is trying to give people."

- George Harrison, from George Harrison: Living in the Material World (HBO documentary by Martin Scorsese - a good watch!) during part of his description about why he pursued enlightenment in India & Indian music

Beatles - "The Inner Light"
(lyrics reference the Tao Te Ching)

my first time "sidewalk chalking"

participating in the Perry Chalk Art Festival -

The theme was "Food for Thought" - open to artist's interpretation...
So my approach was to depict the "edible bounty" of the rolling hills of the Finger Lakes, specifically what is most common in Perry (according to a friend who lives there) - apple orchards, fields of wheat, dairy and sunflowers
(style inspired by two of my favorite artists: Mary Blair & Sabra Field)





my knees still hurt from kneeling on that carpet scrap

my finished square - I wanted to finesse the colors a bit more, but time was running out and it was soooooo hot I couldn't see as well by this point either, getting seriously dehydrated:

some of my favorites by other artists:
- very pretty & graceful

(clever!) Eating = mind curiosity² -

- like a Tibetan sand mandala

gorgeous bright colors -

it was a fun event, with a specially designated area just for chalking

one of the best parts was being able to listen to the live music happening under the tent the entire time

lotsa variety in artist's interpretations of the theme