Ernest, but playful, like a female Tim Hawkinson, but not nearly so self-obsessed, Jeanne Silverthorne fills a gallery with tongue-in-cheek objects: botanical flora and fauna and other objects from her studio – all cast in rubber. The resistance rubber has to conducting an electrical charge works very much to this installation’s favor – instead of an angry studio critique, the worms creeping about in the decaying roses and the miniature rubber casts of Silverthorne reading Gone with the Wind on top of coffin-like wooden crate (a replica of one of the crates used to ship her work) become a hilarious nose-thumbing at death. Although one might expect the rubber trashcan can overflowing with rubber lightbulbs (tossed bad ideas) or the nest of rubber lightbulbs (stillborn bad ideas) to be so obvious as to be irritating, the stealthy mechanical movement of some of the works, the sounds of the jiggling rubber fans on the floor, the confusion of real and not-real, all add up to much more than the sum of its parts (Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Bergamot Station).
Jeanne Silverthorne
That's some very nice proscuitti!
Quickly now, so the finished book doesn’t languish in one of my slippery piles under my desk, a post about Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma.
I have two words for you: READ IT.
I am admittedly, the kind of person who buys ten copies of a new favorite book to give to everybody at Christmas (blogging is much more cost-effective), but this book – I have to find a new way to gush – is not only entertainingly written and meticulously researched (the guy teaches journalism at UC Berkeley), but it also tells you loads of information you feel you should have already known. LOADS.
Pollan follows four meals (his own – not too much preaching here, as he starts with by eating at McDonald’s) backwards to whence they came. The first meal is the quintessential fast food meal for four, eaten while hurtling down the freeway; the second is corporate organic; the third is grassfed organic (hurray for Polyface Farms!); and the last is one entirely hunted, foraged, and grown by Pollan himself.
And all so well-written that it reads like a fiction mystery thriller. And you don’t have to be a foodie to enjoy this kind of fiction, although it helps if the fact that they are eating terrine of lobster and halibut en gelee while out hunting for wild pig makes you smile.
Aside from the one tedious (but, I agree, necessary) chapter on the ethics of eating animals (and again, so satisfyingly well- researched: he goes straight to the granddaddies of animal activists), each chapter is more riveting than the one that precedes it. I mean this guy hunts down and shoots a wild (big!) boar right here in California, and he’d never shot a gun before researching writing this book. He tells me everything about hunting I’d ever wanted to know, from the perspective of a guy who didn’t think he’d ever be a hunter.
A few nuggets I pulled from this book:
My CSA basket is the best thing I do. Fast food is one of the worst. Corporate organic and even shopping at Whole Foods is not really all that. If I’m going to eat meat, I need to look for grass-fed beef. I want to visit Polyface Farms next time I’m on the East Coast.
P.S. My post title is from Angelo, Pollan’s wild food mentor – it’s what Angelo says when Pollan bags his first wild pig.
Posted in books
2 Comments
Grateful for
my impending health.
After having been knocked flat on my heiny for about 24 hours.
Although a child in our playgroup was (momentarily) suspected of having the measles, and the girl I drive home after school was diagnosed with bronchitis, I actually think I am recovering from a bout of the dreaded swine flu.
It appears that H1N1 is THE flu of the season and makes its appearance with a fever and sore throat. This is so characteristic of this flu that at Chad’s work, anybody who shows both these symptoms is asked to stay at home.
It started with a headache and some strange other-body-ness that was so unusual (for me) that I didn’t immediately attribute it to sickness. Then the next morning I woke up feeling better and I went out to a La Leche League toddler meeting (but I didn’t hold any babies and mostly stayed away from people in general). By the time I got home I was feeling much worse and by lunch I was alternating shivering and sweating, and I had such bad body ache that my eyeballs hurt. Every once in a while, I got an itch in my throat that made me cough – that hurt too.
By bedtime I could barely turn my head, and nursing the baby to sleep was agony. This plus I developed a razor sharp ache in the right side of my throat. I remember thinking, I can’t do this for another day, before drifting off. Sleep was not much better as my affected sense of equilibrium inflected my dreams, giving them a nightmarish quality.
When I woke up – I could feel the body ache receding.
Hallelujah. I was still sick, for sure, but well enough to appreciate how sick I HAD BEEN.
Now that it’s bedtime, I can really appreciate feeling better, although I’m not 100% by a long shot.
Whew. Hope this one passes you over.
[Update:
It has now been exactly a week since I got my first symptoms of sickness. No more body ache, but I still feel slightly weak and I still have a deep cough, although that only makes itself known very occasionally.
Recovery is slow.
I did notice that my fever ebbed and returned several times over the course of a few days. Also, I had many disjointed symptoms that would disappear and reappear, like the fever, a stiff neck, a sore throat, and even this cough.
Chad felt unwell and stayed home two days from work, but never got it as bad as I did – and never coughed either. His worst symptom was a mind-crushing headache which was accompanied by a slight fever.
Christian and Bella remain healthy and are getting plenty of rest.
I’m staying home today and eating lots of soup.]
Posted in health
5 Comments
Craft-o-rama Waldorf-style
We’ve just completed one full cycle of our Waldorf in the Woods playgroup and the second cycle starts this Thursday.
Eeeep!
My intent was to ride the momentum of the first cycle through the start of the second cycle, since I know from experience how easy it would be to just drop the ball in between cycles – but then last night I realized, WAIT! There are new songs and handplays to learn! A new puppet show! And I’m hosting in three days! And I have to teach them to everyone!
I don’t think it’s as bad as that, as I’ve been learning and memorizing the lyrics and melodies as I’ve been finding them and playing them on various keyboards and pianos in south orange county. I do have to make sure that I know the proper order and that I have all the elements of my puppet show created this week.
Just performance jitters.
But a brag moment to take my mind off of that. We made a terrific range of crafts this first cycle. I made even say that the craft-making has been an unexpected pleasure and highlight of our weekly playgroup.
Here are some photos to show you what we made (there were eight in all):
The very first craft: the owl finger puppet to go with the owl poem we recited at circle time.
Corn husk people - from fresh corn husks!
Finger puppets that were claimed by kids literally as the last thread was being cut...
Okay, this is Devana's gnome...ours didn't turn out AS cute, but they were still pretty cute.
The jesters we made (from Feltcraft) were a big hit with the kids. The jingle bell on the tip of his hat is especially sweet.
We needlefelted our own pumpkin pin cushions.
We decorated beeswax candles with (more) beeswax. (Although we didn't use a particular craft kit, they can be purchased at a Child's Dream.)
The walking finger puppet was our most ambitious and last project. General instructions came from the book, Feltcraft.
These chickens were not technically a group craft, but every mom knit her own to tell the story of The Little Red Hen.
Sierra's full cast for The Little Red Hen...
And a here's a preview of one of next cycle's crafts - this pocket baby is SO SWEET!
Posted in crafts, waldorf
2 Comments
Happy Halloween!
A little video from JibJab that Chad put together for Halloween featuring me, him, Bella, and the baby – singing and dancing!
Check it out here: The Monster Mash
Posted in holidays, says chad
3 Comments
Spanakopita
The combined events of the week: craft night at Devana’s tonight and Bella’s birthday this weekend, shone favorably on the making of spanakopita, which I rarely make these days, due to the idiosyncrasies of phyllo dough.
But here I am. I just broke one my cardinal rules by cooking while Christian is napping, but I refuse to go to crafting night without fresh-baked spinach pastries and Bella just texted me asking if we could swing by the mall on the way home from school today, closing my small afternoon window for cooking before leaving for the evening.
I started out years ago by making Molly Katzen’s version of spanakopita in one of her Moosewood cookbooks, but then I met an older Greek woman at Trader Joe’s. We were both standing in the front of the cheese and I was holding a block of feta in my hand. She looked at me, and said, “What are you going to do with that?”
When I replied, “I’m making spanakopita tonight” her eyebrows just about jumped past her hairline.
“What?! YOU make spanokopita? That is great. Tell me, how do you make this spanokopita?”
I started, now very much on the spot, with, “Um, I saute some onions…”
“What? You don’t need onions in spanakopita!”
and that was the beginning of an entertaining lesson in what goes in spanakopita: Basically ONLY fresh chopped spinach, crumbled feta cheese, and ricotta no other herbs or spices, no egg, no nothing.
And that’s how I make my spanokopita to this day – with just those three ingredients.
Posted in recipes
Leave a comment
looking on the bright side
I went to the dentist yesterday to check on the status of the deep pocket behind my furthermost upper molar and the news was not good. Although all my other teeth registered smaller numbers (and hence less recession of my gums), that back pocket came up an mind-numbing NINE millimeters deep. Last time it had been seven – but now the hygienist thinks that the last time it was measured that the tool was blocked up against a piece of tartar.
Bummer. I was referred to a peridontist who will most likely recommend that my gum be cut open in a flap so that the entire tooth length can be cleaned.
I am just not convinced that cutting will make it better.
On the upside, I got to watch an hour of the cooking channel while my teeth were being cleaned.
I don’t know who Racheal Ray is, but she cooks a mean meal in under 30 minutes. As I have several times in the past now, I came home and immediately made the dish she had prepared on the cooking show.
Tonight that was Orange Balsamic Glazed Chicken (basically pan-fried thighs with a balsamic vinaigrette and marmalade added at the end – I also added a chopped bunch of kale) served over what she likes to call a “puddle” of Lemon Risotto (a cup of risotto, chopped onions and garlic, with lemon zest and juice, all cooked slowly with chicken stock).
What can I say. The meal rocked.
And we got in a fight over the risotto leftovers. No joke – an argument that left each the three grown-up-ish people in three different parts of the house after dinner.
SHEESH. I CAN MAKE MORE TOMORROW!
Posted in recipes
2 Comments
The Fun Theory
I love the idea behind this project – of injecting fun into ordinary mundane moments of our life. Curiosity and laughter are necessary for mental and emotional health!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw]
Posted in Jeannie's Stamp of Approval
1 Comment
Letter to Christian at 17 Months
Dear Baby,
I swore that after you turned a year, I wasn’t going to count your age in months, because it has always seemed like a silly over-specific practice to me, but here I am – You just change so much month to month that it would be unfair to give you a less precise age.
Communication is exploding for you. Not only are you eager to repeat any word you hear us say (today, you said “LAME” after you heard your dad say it – we are having to be every more vigilant about the words we use), but last week you heard me mumbling numbers under my breath. I was trying to figure out the time in Bangkok and I was quietly counting, “seven, eight, nine…” I paused to refigure my calculations.
You leaned forward, put your face in my face and said very clearly, “Ten?”
And ironically, you are even more into the sign language that we taught you so that you communicate before you could talk. For instance, when I read you sign language book to you, you mimic every single sign I show you – and sometimes you babble in sign language too – making silly gestures with your hands to pretend “talk.”
The boyness in you is starting to assert itself more strongly. I don’t remember Bella ever being so cut up and bruised, but you seem to have a nonstop violent relationship with the floor and corners of things. Nowadays when I ask Chad what he wants to do on the weekend, he says, “Whatever it takes to exhaust the little guy.” This usually means small adventures to the beach, or to the local Santa Ana Zoo (I’m sticking to the San Diego one from now on though), or up in a hot air balloon at the Great Park.
I am delighted to have an excuse to plan more outdoor events though. I have somehow managed to plan at least one camping trip every month for the last several months, through to the end of the year. You ADORE camping. And the six other people who slept in the tent with us in Joshua Tree know its true. You woke up each morning with a huge grin on your face and hugs and kisses for all your friends.
I love you Baby!
Love,
Mama
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVuJU8qG0XQ]
Posted in Christian Holden
Leave a comment
A Martinmas Puppet Show
My friend Darlene wrote this puppet show twenty years ago and it’s a hit every single year when she performs it for all the children at her annual Martinmas celebration.
[a selection of related highly recommended Darlene links: Apple Days, a Tea Party, the playroom at Darlene’s house, a description of a summertime puppet show, some video footage of aforementioned events.]
Since St. Martin is the patron saint of the poor, Darlene celebrates by hosting a potluck of soup and bread only. Later in the evening there is the puppet show, and then children and adults alike sing Martinmas songs and swing lanterns in a long procession up a dirt road by their house.
This year I will hosting my own first Martinmas with my attachment parenting group. I’ll tell the same puppet show that I’ve heard Darlene perform for so many years!
MARTINMAS PUPPET SHOW
(Two characters, a child and the sun)
Boy: “Oh I just love the summertime! I love to smell the flowers, and play with the butterflies, and sing with the birds! But, I’m sad because summer is over and all my summertime friends are going away. The flowers are going away, the butterflies are going away, and even the birds are going away! What am I going to do? It’s going to be so lonely without my summertime friends! And the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer, and it’s getting cold! Brrr”
(the sun comes out from behind a cloud)
“Oh Hello Mr Sun! Mr. Sun, I don’t know what to do because my summertime friends are all going away and the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer and it’s getting cold outside! It’s so lonely without my summertime friends.”
Sun: “Yes, the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer and it’s getting colder because Autumn has come and I am not around as much, and soon it will be cold, dark Winter. But, if you will make a little house for it, I will give you one of my sparks to keep you company until I start coming back again at the end of December.”
Boy: “Oh thank you Mr Sun! But, how shall I…. Oh, he’s gone behind a cloud again. I guess I will have to figure it out for myself. I’ll go home and see what I can do.”
Narrator: “So the little boy went home, wondering what to do. What could he make a house out of?”
Boy (in front of a table): ” Well, I found this piece of paper. I wonder if I could make a house out of this.”
Narrator: “So the boy went to work fashioning a house out of paper. He worked on it all afternoon.”
Boy (showing paper lantern with tissue paper windows) : “Well, here it is! I like it. I wonder if Mr Sun will like it. I think I’ll go find out right now.”
(he moves outdoors) Mr. Sun, Mr Sun! (sun comes out from behind a cloud) Oh, there you are, Mr. Sun. I made a little house for one of your sparks. Do you like it?”
Sun: “Oh, that is a beautiful little house! I like it very much!”
Boy: “Then may I have one of your sparks please?”
Sun: “Yes you may!”
(an assistant lights birthday candle in lantern)
Boy: “Oh look how the spark dances in its new house! It must be very happy! Oh thank you Mr. Sun! Thank you!!!”
(Boy sings) “The sunlight now is dwindling, my little lamp needs kindling. It’s beam shines far in darkest night. Dear lantern guide me with your light!”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGedZR1xWUc]
Posted in waldorf
Leave a comment