Sweet Joshua Tree Wedding

Posted on March 29, 2011 by jeannie

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Do not keep secrets from one another. Hiding something can become a habit and can be explosive later. Be open and honest.
  10. 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.

Anybody else need marrying? I had so much FUN!

Posted in Joshua Tree, wedding for $2000 | 3 Comments

New Spring Cycle of Playgroup in the Woods

Posted on March 18, 2011 by jeannie

A Little Garden Flower

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!”

“I,” cried the dandelion, “I,
My roots are thirsty and my buds are dry”
And she lifted a tousled yellow head,
Out of her green and grassy bed.

“I hope it will pour, I hope it will pour.”
Croaked the tree-toad at his grey back door.
“For with a broad leaf for a roof,
I am perfectly weather-proof!”

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!”

“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.”

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!

Posted in waldorf | 2 Comments

Deputy Marriage Commissioner for a Day

Posted on March 10, 2011 by jeannie

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.

Posted in do some good, marriage | 1 Comment

U.S.S. Midway

Posted on March 7, 2011 by jeannie

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!

Posted in san diego, SoCal attractions | 2 Comments

Got capers?

Posted on March 3, 2011 by jeannie

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.

Posted in recipes | Leave a comment

Letter to Christian at 2 years and 9 months

Posted on March 1, 2011 by jeannie

Dear Christian,

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.

 

Posted in Christian Holden | 3 Comments

Two Mentions of Addis Ababa in One Week

Posted on February 20, 2011 by jeannie

I’ve been gone. I’ve been living in Addis Ababa for the last couple of weeks. I’ve just finished reading Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone, and truly, I wish it weren’t over. Although now, my life seems ridiculously plentiful and straightforward in comparison.

When I began, I have to admit I sighed a little, seeing that it was going to be another epic novel chronicling generations from the old country, right up to contemporary days in the U.S.A. like Middlesex (which was also a great read). And then I sighed again when I saw that I’d be reading through a political uprising in Ethiopia – I don’t have anything against Ethiopia – but I since I know next-to-nothing about that country, I knew I was going to have expend energy paying close attention to the text. But Dr. Verghese, who teaches medicine at Stanford, has supernaturally well balanced right and left lobes going for him. By that, I mean, Verghese’s prose goes from detailed specifics of a surgical maneuver to an infant’s poetic rhapsody upon discovering a breast and he manages to keep it all fascinating; Verghese is a brilliant and rich writer. Some books I read (Shanghai Girls by Lisa See), and I think, I could totally be a writer like that – other books, like this one – I finish and think, oh dear God, I could never be such a writer.

I am so enamored of this book that I am recommending it to both my parents as summer reading for our cruise in July. (My dad’s treating the family to a 10-day cruise up the Northeast coast and I’ve nominated myself as the official summer book guide: Mom – The Help by Kathryn Stockett; Dad – Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese; Sue – The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins; Joss -  Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides; Songbae – The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan)

I’ll let the text speak for itself. Marion and Shiva are identical conjoined twins, who are surgically separated at birth. This passage describes Marion in the arms of the housekeeper/nanny. I want to share a second excerpt, where Ghosh teaches another doctor how to perform a vasectomy, but we’ll see how long Christian naps.

…

I whimper on Almaz’s shoulder, perilously close to bubbling cauldrons.

Almaz puts down the stirring ladle and shifts me to her hip. Reaching into her blouse, grunting with effort, she fishes out her breast.

“Here it is,” she says, putting in my hands for safekeeping.

I am the recipient of many gifts, but this is the first one I remember. Each time it is given to me it is a surprise. When it is taken away, the slate is wiped clean. But here it is, warm and alive, eased out of its cloth bed, bestowed on me like a medal I don’t deserve. Almaz, who hardly speaks, resumes stirring, humming a tune. It is as if the breast no more belongs to her than does her ladle.

Shiva in the pram puts down his wooden truck, which saliva has digested to a soggy pulp. It is, unlike his anklet, separable from him if need be. In the presence of that magnificent one-eyed teat, Shiva lets the truck fall to the floor. Though I have possession of the breast, stroking it, palpating it, I am also his amanuensis.

A rapt Shiva spurs me on and sends silent instructions: Throw it to me. And when I cannot, he says, Open it and see what is inside. That, too, is impossible. I mold it, indent it, and watch it rebound.

Put it to your mouth, Shiva says because this it the first means by which he knows the world. I dismiss this idea as absurd.

The breast is everything Almaz is not: Laughing, vibrant, an outgoing member of our household.

When I try and lift it, to examine it, that teat dwarfs my hands and spills out between my fingers. I wish to confirm how all its surfaces sweep up to the summit, the dark pap through which it breathes and sees the world. The breast comes down to my knees. Or perhaps it comes down to Almaz’s knees. I can’t be sure. It quivers like jelly. Steam condenses on its surface, dulling its sheen. It carries the scent ot crushed ginger and cumin powder from Almaz’s fingers. Year later, when I first kiss a woman’s breast, I become ravenous.

A flash of light and a blast of crisp air announce Rosina’s return. I am back in her arms, removed from the breast which vanishes as mysteriously as it has appeared, swallowed by Almaz’s blouse.

Posted in books | 2 Comments

Favorite Movies of 2010

Posted on February 8, 2011 by jeannie

I’ve discovered that I can’t really put out last year’s movie list until I’ve seen most of the Oscar contenders, which often happens in January of the following year.

Notice that I’ve titled this post “Favorite Movies” not “Best Movies.” Long ago, I gave up trying to be a critic for everybody because I can only swallow so much violence – and less if the violence is directed at women and children (even though I did read all three of the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo books this year). Basically, I write about movies with my sister in mind. If I think she’ll enjoy it, I take note.

True Grit – Among the questions that I might ask to determine if you and I could be friends, one might be, “What do you think of the Coen brothers?” Tell me anything short of saying they are modern day sages, and I’d have to take a pass on investing in our relationship. It is a serious film, but in such an odd sincere way, that it’s like reading a Haruki Murakami novel: pleasurable and puzzling. Jeff Bridges was perfect (and nearly incomprehensible) as the gruff U.S. Marshall Cogburn and Hailee Steinfeld is sure to become big news.

Toy Story 3 – I don’t have to be embarrassed about gushing over an animated film when even Quentin Tarantino made it his #1 favorite film of the year. Anyway, everybody loved it – it even got an 8.7/10.o rating at IMDb. Besides having a brilliant storyline (hard choices about what’s “right” and what’s “loyal”), lovable voice acting (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusak…), this film is also filled with hilarious comedic moments that made me laugh until I cried. I thought it was great when Woody placed a square of toilet paper on the toilet seat before using it to climb out of the bathroom. I look forward to watching this with Christian some day.

Animal Kingdom – This film was this year’s Frozen River, which made my top ten back in 2008. By that I mean, it was a surprisingly good, low budget, gritty look at a hard luck guy in bad circumstances (he falls in with his cousins who happen to be professional bank robbers). There’s not a lot of conversation, but the emotional drama is incredibly high. It’s an Australian flick with lots of tough Australian dudes elbowing to be in control. The eldest brother is one of the creepiest characters I’ve ever watched, and the mother of all the boys (Jacki Weaver) surely deserves that supporting actress Oscar.

Babies is a darling documentary which chronicles the first year of a baby in each of the following cultures: Japan, Mongolia, Africa, and North America. At first, I was fascinated by the contrasts baby-rearing styles, but by the end, I sat back and enjoyed the cute fest – babies are adorable and funny where EVER they are. Plus this movie was totally “G” and so we played it while Christian was in the room. It was his first movie night with Mom and Dad.

Inception – From the director/writer who brought us Memento (and the latest Batman movies) comes another psychological twister. He’s proven himself enough to command an all-star cast, including DiCaprio and Leavitt, and you buy into the whole she-bang. How brilliant is it to make a chase film through FOUR levels of your mind?

127 Hours – I became a Danny Boyle devotee after watching Trainspotting. There are scenes in that movie that I can communicate to my sister with the slightest of gestures, because we’ve already laughed over them a hundred times. And now after Slumdog Millionaire, I imagine there are lots of Boyle fans world around. This film is based on the true story of a guy whose arm is trapped by a boulder for 127 hours, until he is finally able to amputate it himself with a cheap and blunt pocketknife from China. I knew this before I watched the film and it did not diminish my watching in any way and the final cutting is not overly dramatized. James Franco puts out a heartfelt performance and helps lift the story from gruesome to uplifting and inspiring. The Utah backdrop is gorgeous of course.

Black Swan – Despite the fact that this intense psychological thriller kept me from breathing properly for days, it made my list because Natalie Portman’s acting was spectacular. She trained for a year to be as convincing as she is on stage – there is plenty of dancing and stage glam, but make no mistake, this is a dark, dark story at the brink of insanity.

The Social Network – Chad considers Fincher to be the best director working today, and he does have a a few good ones under his belt already. The Fight Club is an indisputable cult classic and as sick as Seven was (as in the seven deadly sins), it’s memorable too. I never imagined that the ascent of a computer geek could be so gripping – but it is.

The King’s Speech – I had no idea that this was going to be about a speech impediment. I’m not kidding either, this entire movie is about the king’s  stammer! I’ve had a soft spot for Firth since Mr. Darcy (who hasn’t?), and then he really knocked my socks off with his performance in last year’s A Single Man, which would have made my top ten had I ever gotten around to writing it; so I’m not surprised to hear that he is the best bet for this year’s best actor Oscar. It is well-deserved.

Short List

The Fighter – Christian Bale puts out a tremendous performance in this one, but I just find it too depressing anymore to be entertained by people screwing up their lives and losing children to bad choices.

The Rabbit Hole – You’ll need a box of tissues for this one as it deals with life after losing a child. Painful, but good. Nicole Kidman is very believable.

Love and Other Drugs – A good sexy romp. A Love Story for the new millennium – you know, heart-wrenching love story laced with lots of prescription drug references. The back story is the advent of Viagra drug sales. Based loosely on a memoir written by a drug sales rep.

The Kids Are All Right – Almost too canned, but the acting saves it. And not as predictable as you think it might be. Annette Benning and Julianne Moore make a hot couple – love how Moore tries to explain why two women might watch gay male porn to get off.

Hot Tub Time Machine – If you grew up skiing in neon in the eighties, this is a must-watch for you. Do kids these days even know what a walkman is? Have I seen every movie that John Cusak has ever been in?

P.S. Here’s Chad’s Top Ten Films of 2010

  1. Inception
  2. The Town
  3. Black Swan
  4. Animal Kingdom – Australian
  5. The Social Network
  6. The Chaser (2008) – Korean
  7. I Saw The Devil – Korean
  8. The Fighter
  9. 127 Hours
  10. True Grit
Posted in movies | 5 Comments

Babies, Blankets, and Wedding Bliss

Posted on January 28, 2011 by jeannie

I love me a big challenge of a craft project, and suddenly these gorgeous big blanket (and carpet!) projects are flying at me from all over the web. I’ve tweeted a bit about them, but wanted the excuse to post pics (and links) to these lovelies to share and for my own personal reference. Part of the fascination with these projects has to do with the color combinations, and another part has to do with the luscious wool yarn used.
I first started thinking about blankets when I saw these baby blanket packages at the purl bee. (That’s the craft blog of a fantastic fabric and yarn shop in NYC, which happens to have a warehouse outpost in Irvine. The blog has great free patterns, but don’t go to the warehouse unless you have lots of money to burn.) The colors are awesome – but the kit which contains 7 skeins of yarn costs $120 – and I didn’t win the blog drawing.

And then at the blog, Smoking Hot Needles, I stumbled upon a blanket that was nothing but a granny square grown completely out of control and enormous (for a granny square, that is). Apparently there was some kind of internet craze that I missed about making these blankets. This blanket is crocheted and I want to make one. It would be a great project to use up bits and bobs – although unlike the classic granny square afghan which is completed in small sections and crocheted together (and therefore extremely portable) this is one project that could only be worked on at home. Although, that said, we have a rainbow afghan that was knit entirely while my friend was minding the detention room at lunchtime…

And when I tweeted about that giant granny square, my friend Reanna threw me a link to this blanket that had been knit like it was quilted. The blanket-maker (her blog is Completely Cauchy) calls it Syncopation.

Again, theoretically it would be great with left-overs, but Syncopation (like the giant granny square) was knit with  SEVENTEEN skeins of yarn from the same maker; thus, there is a very satisfying tone match throughout. That, my friends, would cost over $200 in wool yarn. But I when I checked out the Shelter yarn, I saw the problem: I wanted every color! And there are seventeen.

With names like Long Johns, Wool Socks, Sap, Hayloft, Embers, Tent, Almanac, Button Jar, Faded Quilt, Homemade Jam, Thistle, Fossil, Sweatshirt, Soot, Woodsmoke, Nest, and Pumpernickel. Whew. Talk about comfort naming.

Here is the beautiful braided rug that Jaimie pointed out to me from the Sew Liberated blog. Although again, I wince slightly at the use of brand new “t-shirt yarn” for this traditional craft that was intended for recycling old clothing. If I made one, I think I’d like to use old jeans. I think all the shades of indigo would be awesome, and we all know how jeans wear like iron. This braided rug though, IS gorgeous. If I had extra cash, I’d probably just break down and buy new t-shirt yarn myself.

I HAVE made a large blanket before, and I’m quite proud of it too, but have no idea where I’d find a picture of it to show you. It’s from this Leisure Arts pattern and it’s 63 different crocheted squares. Crocheting that queen-size blanket was like a college-level crochet course at home, because you really really learn all the different crochet techniques. I did it for my sister’s wedding gift. These big projects are good for special occasions. I used three shades of green and brown (I was thinking “tree”) in merino wool. At the time, my sister and b-i-l were living in London and needed to keep warm. In Thailand, that blanket is just packed away and waiting – probably the bugs there don’t even know what to do with wool!

Posted in crafts, gifts | 2 Comments

Cheryl Ann Thomas

Posted on January 24, 2011 by jeannie


Posed elegantly on plinths, the furled and sometimes collapsing ceramic “artifacts” and “relics,” as sculptor Cheryl Ann Thomas calls them, seem very distantly related to their ancestral forebear, the coiled clay pot. Indeed, the swaths of charcoal gray and creamy coiled clay resemble more a crushed brim of a straw hat or ribbons of snake skin than anything porcelain at all. These sculptures do not function as vessels, but rather seek and explore the edge of what hand-wrought clay can achieve, often reaching mind-boggling heights and stunning delicate balances. The monochrome palette draws attention to the delicate texture of the surfaces and to the repetitive print of the artist’s fingers. Thomas begins each work with long thin rolled ropes of clay coiled and coiled to build forms, and then often uses several forms in one work. She has just begun to investigate making similar works in stainless steel and bronze, which seems an appropriate direction for these noble ruins (Frank Lloyd Gallery, Bergamot Station).

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