My friend Jodi leaves for Africa today; she’s going on a once-in-a-lifetime safari with the San People for two weeks to experience their culture and way of living. And she gets to go with Jon Young!! (One of Tom Brown, Jr’s more famous tracker students, who later founded the Wilderness Awareness School in Washington.)
It is one of the most exciting adventures I could imagine.
I’m thinking of her today – traveling to Africa – it’s a fitting staff development trip for the founder of Earthroots. Here’s a video from a previous trip.
Well, nobody really thought we were going to get out of the two’s without some struggle did they? So a few things get broken, shirts get stained, and mama’s label-maker gets thrown off the porch – yup, you’ve definitely discovered your will and the power of NO. In fact, talking to you about something (as much as you love to talk) doesn’t really get us anywhere these days, except a quick trip to the LAND OF OPPOSITION, so your dad and I are really polishing up on alternative ways of introducing transitions to you (i.e., naked to dressed, barefoot to shod, muddy to clean…)
Oops, I hear you waking. We’ll run down to the dog park with our neighbor’s dog and get back here tonight.
Enjoy the short vid below. Note that moments after this frolicking scene was filmed, the boys took turns sitting in the water, leaning back slowly and dunking their heads – which of course eventually led to full-body-soaks. It makes me laugh out loud when we hike with your dad and he imagines that we are going to keep you dry and mud-free…
You have burst up in height – so that even though you’re not huge for your age – you’re suddenly as tall as your “tall” friends and all your pants are high-waters.
Your fascination with swords and guns has not, sigh, diminished in the least. You love nothing more than to sword play with your friend and neighbor Riley, whom you currently adore. He’s a year older than you and can handle your present moody bossiness, or should I say, he can out-moody and out-bossy you any day. That’s what’s called for right now, because your contrariness leads to shouting matches with even the kids you normally love (Yes I did! No you didn’t! YES I DID! – Do you even know what you’re arguing about anymore?)
Earthroots homeschool field class- that welcome five solid hours in wilderness every Wednesday – is still our anchor midweek.
You love love love to talk and your understanding grows in spurts. After you saw me shaving in the shower the other day, I heard you earnestly explaining to your dad that you were going to have hair on your chest when you were a “big guy.”
Right now your favorite toys are the Ben Ten characters that you and your dad have amassed from many trips to gas stations and Asian grocery stores
in east LA, Koreatown, and Orange County. Seriously, I suspect that your dad is having even more fun than you hunting down and collecting all the gumball machine characters; although I know he broke down last week and ordered a complete set off amazon! I often hear you and your dad in the other room, belly-laying and naming all the guys:
Dad: Who’s this guy?
You: Deep Freeze! Gray Matter! Chromostom! Ben Ten himself!
Pretty cute, even though I have to overlook the general creepiness and complete un-Waldorf-ishness of the little plastic figurines.
I’m moving into birthday preparations for your big Three next month. Still haven’t figured out yet what will go down, but we’ll do something FUN. As for a gift… a crocheted chain maille hood? a chain maille sweater? a felt horse and knight? You, I know, have determined that I will get you a pirate sword and pirate eye thingie.
I love you, Baby.
Love,
Mama
P.S. On Earth Day when I went into Starbuck’s to get my free coffee in a refillable coffee mug:
Me: Okay, we’re going into Starbuck’s for coffee, buddy.
Christian: But you had coffee today, Mama. One at already Trader Joe’s! (note: it was a sample) Are you having TWO COFFEES today, Mama? What the heck?!
I hadn't realized that Kehinde Wiley is something of an art star with studios in three cities (New York, Beijing, and Dakar). His work is not only sumptuous but funny in a don't-laugh-out-loud way. This work is titled After Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres' The Virgin with the Host. It's a large photograph from 2009. His show at Roberts & Tilton was similar, but the subjects (still handsome men of color) were all from Israel and all the portraits were painted oil on canvas.
Chad, Christian, my friend Ellen, and I spent Saturday cruising through the art scene in Culver City. It was quiet and on the hot sunny side. We made it through over a dozen shows (George Billis, Blum&Poe, Cherry and Martin, Honor Fraser, Francois Ghebaly, Emma Gray, Paul Kopeikin, David Kordansky, Walter Maciel, Malony, Mihai Nicodim, Roberts & Tilton, and Taylor De Cordoba), but in the end I only wanted to write about three artists: Florian Maier-Aichen, Tillman Kaiser, and Kehinde Wiley.
I only got the capsule on Kaiser written and submitted before other writers beat me to the Maier-Aichen and Wiley.
That’s okay. We had a lovely day, and Ellen treated us to a delicious lunch at a newly-discovered spot. It was a hole-in-the wall place that had taken over the sidewalk in front with a garage-size shade cover, wooden fencing for walls, and painted plexi-glass windows. It was an ingenious makeshift restaurant space that turned this take-out joint into a sit-down restaurant! It was called, simply, Oaxacan Restaurant, and I hope to eat there every time I visit Culver City. I had the chile relleno stuffed with chicken – think I’ll have it next time too.
In any case, I had already written and submitted a longer preview piece AND pitched a feature to another magazine based on a previous art day this week.
We needed the practice finding Kordansky (Blackwelder, Blackwelder, the entrance is on Blackwelder) and we enjoyed the clever use of space by the galleries Francois Ghebaly and Emma Gray.
Tillman Kaiser's Facher (2010)
My capsule:
Don’t worry if the works in Tillman Kaiser’s show Für Kinder and Kenner seem esoteric and hard to understand – Kaiser himself using phrases like “brain digestion†and “laboratory for psychoanalysis†to describe his practice – but as the title suggests (translation: For Children and Experts), his works operate on many levels. Although the works range from painting to sculpture and wallpaper (and a combination of those in four canvases hooked together to form a large paravent), Kaiser’s meditative and slow process with layers of egg tempura and silkscreen, his restrained palette, and elegant geometric repetitions create a cohesive show full of hinted meaning. Oftentimes there is a layer of handwritten text underneath the paint, but even if words cannot be discerned, these futuristic mandalas are a sublime exercise in form and composition.
(Honor Fraser, Culver City)
P.S. Yes, Chad biked up. Yes, he’s still doing these crazy 70+ mile rides on his mountain bike.
My neighbor recently had a dragon training-themed birthday party for her 4-year son (a post unto itself), which gave me an opportunity to try making a dragon t-shirt for the birthday boy (and his little brother and Christian…) I knit the dragon scarf for him too, and that, also, must be put aside for another post.
This technique of making t-shirts produces t-shirts that look like they were professionally silk-screened, except that you can choose ANY DESIGN YOU WANT. Even better, you can make them at home for under $10 per shirt including the cost of the shirt – it’s virtually free if you already have solid-colored shirts to use.
This is the same technique that soulemama illustrates in her book The Creative Family.
You need
Image of your choice – I’m using an enlarged dragon xerox from my friend’s free clip art. It should enlarged to be exactly the size you want.
T-shirt – solid color (widely available for $5 at Old Navy or Target or craft store or online…)
Butcher paper – apparently the Reynold’s brand is easy to find. I just used the stuff that was wrapped around my boar’s head deli cheese. It’s the same stuff! Paper with one waxy surface.
T-shirt paint – Scribbles is cheap and easy to find ($2 at Joann’s) or you can splurge and get Lumiere by Jacquard which is $5 a bottle. You only need a little bit, so it’s fun to share with a friend. My friend just loaned me her paints. (Thank you, Ruth!)
Scissors/Exacto knife – Both would be handy, but you can do it with just one of the two.
Paintbrush
Iron
Protected working surface
Look around, you may have everything you need already in your house. This project is fast, easy, and extremely satisfying. It makes a wonderful and useful personalized birthday gift.
Cut out your design. Then trace and cut it out of the butcher paper to make a stencil. The exacto blade is helpful for cutting the stencil.
Trim up the stencil and iron it on to your shirt. Position carefully.
Paint the entire design evenly with your brush. Let it dry for a while. Then peel the paper off.
The jacquard paint recommends air-drying fro 24 hours. Then heat set by ironing both sides at the correct heat for the fabric of the t-shirt.
Look! My shirts look just like Ruth's shirt (she showed me how to do it and loaned me supplies). You can see the shirt she made for the 4th of July. Next on the list is a Mario/Luigi shirt for the Mario-themed party I'm going to next month. I'm thinking a silver silhouette of the two characters running across a royal blue T.
The wedding I officiated a few weeks ago goes to show what a little thought and time can do for a ceremony. There weren’t even any guests – but the mood was reverent and meaningful, perfect, in fact. Mai Mai and Ken are good and truly in love and that shined through all. I opened with a blessing, which is the first stanza of a poem by e.e. cummings. The other three stanzas can be read here.
I thank You God for most this amazing day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything wich is natural which is infinite which is yes
Then, because they’d asked, I said a few words about the gravity of what we were doing:
Dear Mai Mai and Ken,
You have honored me today by asking me to solemnize your marriage ceremony. The word “solemn†is appropriate for this occasion, because today we are creating one of the most powerful units of community in this world: the FAMILY.
Yes, we are creating a new family.
As children we looked to our parents and siblings and grandparents, and it may have seemed that the family always existed, and that the condition of “family†was somehow outside of choice. But here’s the truth: Every family is CREATED. Your mother and father were once strangers to each other, just as you, Mai Mai, and you, Ken, were once strangers to each other.
But with your vows today, you will be intentionally welding your lives together and you will be family, not just to yourselves, but to all the world, and to all future generations.
And here is another truth: In the way you live your lives together, you will be creating your own definition of family. Let this family be filled with love and tenderness for each other.
They said some short heartfelt vows by a lone pine tree where the rings were tied with ribbon. Ken, who’s Irish, had made both rings; his was hammered from an American coin, and hers from an Irish one. Did I mention that the engagement ring was made with a stone they’d found together on a geologic mining trip?
I added The Ten Commandments for Married Life, written by my parents’ pastor, that my father had sent me. I altered the tenth commandment, because Mai Mai and Ken are not religious (it referred to God as the ultimate matchmaker).
Ten Commandments for Married Life By Reverend Hyo Sup Choi
Do not get angry at the same time. Whenever there is a pitcher, there must be a catcher. In case you strongly feel the need to get angry, please take turns.
Unless a fire breaks out in the home, do not scream. If both of you begin to scream, the voices will get louder and louder. If the wife screams in soprano, let the husband answer in bass. If the husband screams in tenor, let the wife answer in alto. In this way, there will be harmony.
Even though you have eyes, do not stare at your spouse’s faults, and even though you have a mouth, do not talk about your spouse’s mistakes. If you see these faults and mistakes through the glasses of love, a fault can be an attraction, and a mistake can be amazing.
Do not compare your spouse with other persons. If you compare your wife with your sister or mother or if you compare your husband with your brother or father, then you have not fully matured as an adult. It is especially destructive to compare your spouse with someone whom you formerly had a romantic interest in.
Do not scratch your spouse’s hurt. If you are going to scratch, give comfort by scratching an itchy spot. Wounds should not be scratched. They should be treated and bandaged.
Do not go to bed angry. If you keep your anger for one day, it may remain for two days; if you keep it for two days, it may continue for four days – that is the character of anger. The way to stop this progression is to solve the problem before going to sleep.
Do not forget your early romantic feelings. Occasionally repeating some of the acts of your courtship and honeymoon may prove to be a secret potion for revitalizing your marriage.
Do not give up easily. Remember the Korean proverb that fighting between husband and wife is like cutting water with a sword – it runs back together. If you take the initiative at reconciliation and offer your hand first, the solution will be found easily. Waiting is a bad idea.
Do not keep secrets from one another. Hiding something can become a habit and can be explosive later. Be open and honest.
Do remember what has brought you together. You have chosen one another to forge a new family. As family, take measures to love, support, and protect each other – take tangible measures.
And then I pronounced them husband and wife while choking back tears. There were lots and lots of gorgeous photos taken by the professional photographer present. Her name is Vera and you can see her work here. (If you grew up in Joshua Tree, you’ll see portraits of locals you know.) Her photographs will be far superior to mine, but I don’t have access to those (yet). And of course, there was cake. Mind you, not any old wedding cake, but one designed by a specialty designer in Irvine who has won Food Network awards and normally charges a minimum of $2000. She happened to a be a sister of a good friend of the bride’s. The cake was spectacular and elegant. All those succulents on the cake that look freshly clipped? They’re all made of sugar. The electrical circuit board design was very contemporary and creative. It was delicious to boot! (Can’t go much wrong with chocolate and hazelnut, as far as I am concerned.) It was a lovely experience.
A little garden flower is lying in its bed.
The sun shines bright, overhead.
Down came the rain, dancing to and fro.
The little garden flower awakens, and now begins to grow.
Spring is Coming by Elisabeth Lebret
Spring is coming, spring is coming, birdies build your nest!
Weave together straw and feathers, doing each your best. Doing each your best.
Spring is coming, Spring is coming, Flowers are coming too.
Poppies, rosies, daffodillies, All are coming through! All are coming through![flower names have been modified to reflect flowers in story]
Spring is coming, spring is coming, All around is fair,
Shiver, quiver on the river, Joy is everywhere! Joy is everywhere!
Finger Fairies by Betty Jones
Fairies funny, five are we.
Laughing, happy as can be.
HA-HA-HA
HEE-HEE-HEE
HO-HO-HO
WEE-WEE-WEE
And away we go!
Repeat verse using other hand.
Who Likes the Rain? By Clara Doty Bates
“I,†said the duck, “I call it fun,
For I have my little red rubbers on!
They make a cunning three-toed track
In the soft cool mud. Quack! Quack! Quack!â€
“I,†cried the dandelion, “I,
My roots are thirsty and my buds are dryâ€
And she lifted a tousled yellow head,
Out of her green and grassy bed.
“I hope it will pour, I hope it will pour.â€
Croaked the tree-toad at his grey back door.
“For with a broad leaf for a roof,
I am perfectly weather-proof!â€
Sang the brook, “I welcome every drop,
Come down dear raindrops; never stop
Until a broad river you make of me
And then I will carry you out to sea!â€
“I,†shouted Ted, “for I can run
With my high-top boots and raincoat on,
Through every puddle, runlet, and pool
I find on the road to school.â€
Fairy Ring
Round about round about, in a fairy ring.
Thus we dance, thus we dance, and thus we sing!
Trip and go, to and fro, over this green grass we go,
All about, in and out, for our Flower Queen/King!
To Let by D. Newey-Johnson
Two little beaks went tap, tap, tap!
Two little shells went crack, crack, crack!
Two fluffy chicks peeped out and Oh!
They liked the looks of the big world so,
They left their homes without a fret,
And two little shells are now to let!
Something I like about life? It is so dang unpredictable.
I was asked to solemnize a marriage ceremony in Joshua Tree.
This is not something I have ever wished to do. Neither is it something anybody in my family has ever done. And oddly, the request did not even come from somebody I knew.
Yet, the honor is so great, and the request so sincere, that I have accepted, and I will be a Deputy of Marriage Commissioner for one day, and one day only, and that day is Monday, March 14, 2011.
I will be pulling from a variety of sources during the wedding: my father’s recommendation of “Ten Commandments for Married Life” by Reverend Hyo Sup Choi; an e.e. cummings poem, the conventional ceremony script, and my personal words to round out the couple’s own vows.
More details to follow. Right now, I’m off to prepare.
A mini-pause from running along the wall by the pier.
Buttons, knobs, and levers, OH MY!
Dozens of helicoptors and airplanes on display – many were open to the public.
Perfect weather to be out – hard to believe that all these pictures are from a boat!
What Sierra would look like with five kids (a little crazed).
Did I mention that we had five kids, four strollers, and one grandma among our group?
This transport helicopter was great for imaginative play.
Lots of time for good talks on the train.
This is where we’ll go for the Dude’s b-day this year.
Last week, a few of us moms took advantage of a homeschooling group deal to take the Amtrak train down to San Diego and back to Irvine for just $10 (normally something like $45). We discovered at the last minute that both the Museum of Contemporary Art and Children’s New Museum were closed on Wednesdays – so we set off without any plans at all.
Only to discover that the U.S.S. Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum is a fantastic place to visit with kids. We thought the tickets were a bit pricey ($18/adult, children 5 and under free), but the money ended up being well worth the trip. There is so much to explore on this decommissioned war ship – we barely hit the main attractions in the 3-4 hours we spent there. In retrospect, it would have been worth it for at least one of us to get a membership, because a family membership gets you unlimited entry for a year for FOUR people – that’s nearly getting back the cost of your membership the first time you visit.
Take a moment to check out the link – and you can see that the ship is larger than my entire condo complex!
I generally have capers on hand for one thing and one thing only: bagels and lox. I love bagels and lox, but it is a meal I reserve for special occasions and guests.
But the other day, I was staring at that lone jar of capers on the lazy Susan in my fridge and I realized that I could use them for chicken piccata, which I also love, but have never made.
Well, there will be many homemade chicken piccata meals in my future because it was simple, fast, and delicious. I used a basic recipe from the Joy of Cooking for reference, but I’m jotting down what I did from memory. (There are A LOT of recipes under “C”; besides chicken, there are some other big categories like cookies, Christmas recipes, children, and COCKTAILS.)
A big bonus to peeking in my Joy of Cooking was learning how to properly pan-fry chicken. They referred to chicken breasts, but I usually just get the organic thighs in a 3-pack from Costco. It’s an Asian thing to prefer dark meat…
Chicken Piccata
chicken thighs (the Costco pack is about a pound and contains 4-5 deboned thighs – trim the fat if you can)
flour for dredging (I like to use a pie dish)
salt and pepper
wine or chicken stock (cup or so)
lemon juice (recipe calls for 2-4 T, I juiced two lemons)
capers (a T or more)
1. Salt and pepper the thighs while you get your frying pan good and hot with a bit of oil in it.
2. Dredge each thigh generously and use tongs to place in the HOT oil. Cook for FOUR MINUTES on each side. (Joy of Cooking is very specific about this – and it worked!)
3. Put them on a rack in the oven at 350 to keep cooking/stay hot while you make the sauce.
4. In the same pan over lowered heat, add white wine (or stock), lemon juice, and capers. The actual recipe called for scallions or those other small fancy onions, but I didn’t have any on hand.
5. Serve chicken with grain and veggie of choice (we did rice and roasted onions and cauliflower) and drizzle everything with sauce.
One of your favorite parts of the week these days is Earthroots day; every Wednesday we tail the Earthroots homeschool class for five hours in a different wilderness park in Orange County! And while you are too young to be officially enrolled in the class, no one would ever know – you participate and squeeze out every bit of fun to be had. In the photo up top, you’re with your buddy Anna at one such class, on the day we visited The Ecology Center and make homemade pizzas in the Cobb oven on the premises. There was fire-making involved and we were all very impressed when Jodi made a coal with her bow drill kit. You’ve had renewed interest in making fire since.
You’re really turning the corner with your development in language and motor skills. You like to impress folk by jumping from three steps up on our stone staircase (put the stick down, please) and we’ve started having much more detailed conversations. The other day:
you: What’s this? Can you open it? waving around a puffed lid from a cocoa tin container
me: It’s already open, that’s just the lid.
you: But does this come off? indicating the puffed part of the lid Can it collapse?
me: No, that part doesn’t come off. It doesn’t collapse either.
you: Is it glued? Did Dad glue it?
me: Yeah, it’s probably glued. But Dad didn’t do it. It came that way.
you: finally satisfied Oh, they glued it at the store.
You are also pretty excited that your cousins Noi naa and Leela are coming to visit you in June. Little do you know, but that will be just the start of your summertime adventures (cruise with my family up the NE coast to Canada! Working at Not-Back-To-School Camp in Oregon!)
We just need to stay on top of all your sword-swinging and light saber-whizzing, so that nobody gets too bruised up. Although, when you put your weapons down, you can be a good help in the kitchen. Cutting veggies and washing dishes is a favorite for you right now.
Your favorite book is Richard Scarry’s Peasant Pig (in which the brave pig outsmarts the rascally dragon and is consequently knighted in gratitude) and your favorite toy is a $.50 transformer toy from the gumball machine (beautiful wooden toys be damned, although you do make me a mean cup of tea every day in the kitchen that Grampy built – always with marshmellows). Your favorite person is your dad, with maybe Anna in a close second. Riley, our almost-four-year old neighbor is also the object of much adulation. Your favorite place is…OUTSIDE.
I love you Buddy. We are still having lots of fun.
Love,
Mama
P.S. In this photo, you are planting a broccoli start with Dawkins at our monthly gleaning at The Great Edible Park, where all the produce is grown to support the local soup kitchen. To be honest, that may have been the only sprout you planted that day. There was much too much fun to be had playing in the mud between rows.
