Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The proof of the pudding is the eating

or so says Miguel de Cervantes in Don Quixote.

Was so excited to see local milk in glass bottles that I had to get one.  And since I had all that milk and only use a teensy amount in my daily tea, had to use it up.  Enter, another recipe from my favorite dessert recipe book.  Homemade chocolate pudding!


This is the debut of this lovely crystal stemware which I rescued curb-side last May.


As the sun is out and the temperature rose above 50, the mint is going crazy, so it seemed fair to include it in this dessert experiment.


Bon appetite as our Julia would say!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

at the end of all our exploring

The sun is out, so it seemed a good time to explore Discovery Park.  My batteries died early into my hike, so only have a couple of photos of the woods to show.  Glorious bay views will have to be shown another day.


 "What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make and end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."

from T. S. Eliot's Little Gidding from The Four Quartets

Saturday, May 14, 2011

wired in disconnection


Found it highly ironic that while I am reading this book, I was foiled and frustrated by switching phones this week. Due to a damaged SIM card, I was phoneless (and computer-less) for over 24 hours.  And Blogger was down during this same time period.

Discovered that I become extremely twitchy when disconnected from the wired world.  Why is this?  I am barely on the edge of being a digital native and yet, without the comforting blink of my Blackberry or my MacBook, I felt lost and a bit panicked.    Part of this may be because I've moved so much and my friends are scattered all over the world.

But it gave me pause and made me a little saddened that far-away people somehow seem/feel more important to me than people in my daily orbit.


The above mentioned book is a fascinating examination on how our relationships with humans are shifting due to our continuous connection to technology.  It's (and this) are not a rant against it.  I am astounded that I can, in a device that fits in my hand:
  • watch a friend/student's audition video
  • be part of the joys of the Littles in my life
  • have my friend in Glasgow, help me job hunt--in real time
  • do banking, pay bills
  • map a driving route
  • read newspapers, watch TV, movies
  • connect with dates, restaurants, concerts
  • etc, etc etc


The first computer I ever used was a Commodore Pet and it had......cassette tapes!  For one teeny program.  My entire thesis and many graduate school papers are on the above USB flash drive.   Astonishing.   And what was life prior to Google?


There have many articles bewailing how disconnected we are now because we pay more attention to the virtual world than to the life floating around us.   It's a little eerie, at times, to walk into a coffee shop and see 40+ people hunkered over laptops and smart phones and not hear a single conversation.  Lots of words and ideas are being exchanged, but none aloud, in the shop.


I've nothing eloquent to articulate on this topic...just pondering if my life is balanced between real and online and wondering how technology appears, and its affect in your life.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Pennies from heaven


(The very fun poster advertising our concert--Whether the Weather.)


As we're mere hours away from curtains up with a concert by the wonderful Rusty Chords, thought I would use some of their lyrics for Poetry Friday.


 (Carol, Donna, Jeanne--some of my sopranos.)

Every time it rains it rains
Pennies from heaven.
Don't you know each cloud contains
Pennies from heaven.
You'll find your fortune falling
All over town.
Be sure that your umbrella is upside down.
Trade them for a package of sunshine and flowers.
If you want the things you love
You must have showers.
So when you hear it thunder
Don't run under a tree.
There'll be pennies from heaven for you and me.


Thursday, May 12, 2011

silver threads among the gold


Yes.  Another trite phrase that popped into my head.  I've been finding grey hairs this year and find that so disconcerting.  Not sure why; I certainly don't feel older than 19 and have never been one of those who bewail aging.


Celebrated a cousin's 40th and another friend's 30th this past weekend and I find it hard to believe that they are that old.   


How about you?  How do you feel about aging?  How old do you feel?  There's a fun (and maybe eye-opening) quiz you may take to see what your real age is.  


I remember being so depressed when I turned 30, but it had more to do with the fact that I hadn't achieved the goals which I had listed when I was 20.  Once I threw away that list, I haven't cared about my biological age.  And as I'm having a good hair day--you're getting a ton o' photos--including the grey hairs.



 Youth is a wonderful thing.  What a crime to waste it on children.  
~George Bernard Shaw



Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years.  
We grow old by deserting our ideals.  
Years may wrinkle the skin, 
but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.  
~Samuel Ullman


  
The years teach much which the days never knew.  
~Ralph Waldo Emerson



 Thirty-five is when you finally get your head together 
and your body starts falling apart.  
~Caryn Leschen


And I'll close with one of my favorite invitations by Robert Browning:  

Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be...

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

transformation


 Rhubarb from Uncle Bob's front yard yesterday=today's strawberry/rhubarb pie.


Now it's spring!


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

banal doggerel


 Mother's Day gifts readied.


Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.

This bit of folk wisdom has been rattlin' round in the grey matter this week.   It's been a long slog of a winter and my current aim to attempt to match nature's exploding exuberance.  Reconnecting with some long-time friends in the past week has done much to revitalize my slumped mettle.


Perhaps it's because we're in the midst of mother/father's day and graduation season is all around, but sentimentalism is in the air.  In that spirit, I offer laconic homages to these stalwart and steady friends.


During a delightful lunch on a  sunny Seattle Sunday, I realized that G and I have been friends for twenty-six years.  We met when my dad's school hired her for her first teaching job. She's courageous and zest-filled and continually brings buoyancy to my life.  She also was my first piano teacher.  


That sentence alone needs to be engraved somewhere.  While I was immersed in conversation at a recent dinner party; speaking of career paths, etc. I realized what a gift those piano lessons were.  

At 16, I had no inkling of an idea that I would be a professional musician and that my career would take me around the world.  And part of that began with those after-school lessons--pounding out Bach to drown out the janitor's vacuum in that tiny Oregon classroom.  Who knew that path would meander through Carnegie Hall and throughout Europe?  Who knew that I would conduct myriad choirs and teach hundreds of students?   It started with a half-hour piano lesson.

Thank you.


Had tea yesterday morning with another strong woman.  A entered my life as an elementary student and we morphed from mentor/student to friendship to sisterhood.  She brings beauty to everything--from painting her house perfectly to raising three gorgeous children to her incredible zaniness.  She has provided a durable help-line for every crisis in my life.

Thank you.

And the final nod of gratefulness from the weekend goes to my aunt E.  There really isn't a way to express the depth of our friendship.  I've learned so much from her:  baking, sewing, gardening, a deep love of words and music, delight in wit and fashion.  Her wisdom and advice is invaluable.  As is the stability of her address; as I've wandered the world, it is steadying to be able to know that her home is always there.

Thank you.

(the view from her driveway yesterday)

End of mawkish meanderings; please don't be offended if you weren't written about--these were just the three friends  whom I saw in the past few days.


And now it's back to the job hunt...

Saturday, May 7, 2011

SWF seeking Niche


"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"  
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the cat.  
"I don't much care where," said Alice.  
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the cat.

Lewis Carroll, from Alice in Wonderland

embossed and ivoried serifs burst with profusion from my post box
   quietly mocking  with commencement, nuptial and offspring arrivals

while glad for other's fortunes, I wonder
   when? 
        when do I get the grant?
       the train ticket?
            the ring? 
                    the stamp in my passport?
                WHEN?

even while know I am only seeing the outer of the Other
    my mirrored shell is cruel
        with it's callous reflections of cellulite and grey 
the Other's skinny joy is juxtaposed
    with my sodden and stagnant life 
        manky-- like January leaves in the gutter

Exhausted with a life
    precarious
        scrabbled together with duct tape and paper clips

Guilt slinks around my ankles
    what kind of ingrate am I to morose around
        while the neighborhood exuberantly
    throws pinks and greens into the air?

Still.  i ask
                           when, oh when
    when is it my turn to bloom?






All photos from my wander around my neighborhood this morning.  If you peer closely at this last one, you will be delighted to see that it is blooming in both pink and white--thanks to someone's grafting.

Friday, May 6, 2011

security, social

 
Summer school, and jumbo shrimp, of course.
Friendly fire, famous poet, common sense,
and, until very recently, safe sex.
Blind date, sure thing, amicable divorce.

Also there's loyal opposition,
social security, deliberate speed.
How about dysfunctional family?
Eyes blackened, hearts crushed, the damn thing functions.

Some things we say should coat our tongues with ash.
Drug-Free School Zone? No way: it's our money
our children toke, snort and shoot up while we
vote against higher property taxes.

Want a one-word oxymoron? Prepay.
Money's—forgive me—rich in such mischief:
trust officer, debt service, common thief
these phrases all want to have it both ways

and sag at the middle like decrepit beds.
Religious freedom—doesn't that sound good?
And some assisted living when we're old
and in our cryptic dreams the many dead

swirl like a fitful snow. We'll wake and not
think of our living wills or property.
We'll want some breakfast. Our memories
will be our real estate, all that we've got.

"Oxymorons" by William Matthews, from Search Party: Collected Poems.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

patience & simplicity



Always the wish that you may find patience enough in yourself to endure, 
and simplicity enough to believe; 
that you may acquire more and more confidence in that which is difficult, 
and in your solitude among others. 

Rilke

Monday, May 2, 2011

sometimes, a light surprises


and in yesterday's case, it was the SUN.  While I'm a huge fan of living in cool climates, it was surprising how manic and happy everyone was yesterday.


After dining at the ever-delightful Cafe Flora last month, I tried to recreate their fried avocado with some success.  With Cinco de Mayo coming at us this week, there will be more attempts.

 
Three tomatoes (Early Girl, Roma, and Golden somethings) and two peppers (red and jalapeno) awaiting planting.


Thriving lemon balm and peppermint that survived the winter on the balcony.


Peas beginning to climb.


A few hours of layover for a long-time friend meant we had time for a delish lunch at one of my new favs Lemongrass.



Said friend with one of the Ming camels at the Seattle Asian Art Museum.  Please note the beaming sunshine.


Conservatory at Volunteer Park.



Mocha at my coffee haunt in C-hill.