The Metaphorical Magpie

Enjoying the small stuff

Yes, I know, I fell off the NaBloPoMo wagon in the past week- HARD. There's a big lump on my rump from the fall. Did you know that sometimes you will write a post for an hour- a post with more links than a charm bracelet- and then Typepad will just EAT it when you attempt to post it? It's happened to me twice in the last month. It makes me very angry at naughty, post gobbling Typepad, so I decide to not speak to it for a few days and then I start to forget and come around again.

It's just been so gorgeous here this week, that I'm besides myself with the niceness of it all.

Here are some highlights:

Celebrating Sweets birthday with a trip to Philadelphia for Cuban food and the Kate Nash show.

Woodchuck cider on tap at the Trocadero.

My dogwood tree is going to bloom any day now. I think I'll de-ribbon the wish tree over the weekend.

Helping my neighbor look for her lost cat.

Watching the grass along the parkway being mowed and smelling it's fragrance waft through my car's windows.

Spending a glorious day in Brooklyn with M.Heart traipsing through Greenwood Cemetery, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and tracking down THE BEST pizza at Di Fara's. Then spending the evening with Talulah sipping margaritas and walking along South Street Seaport admiring the twinkling bridges and ships. A full day spent with a new friend and an old one is an excellent combination.

Making homemade yogurt. This makes me ridiculously puffed up with pride.

Magnolias and lilacs and cherries, oh my!!!

Putting on sunblock and getting out in the sunshine.

Taking a quick walk in the afternoon and a quick rest in the sun before going back upstairs to work.

Wearing a dress.

Grey's Anatomy came back.

Thoughts of collaborations on several projects.

Planning a little road trip.

Self Portrait Challenge: Puppy love

Photo by J-Po

For more absurd images, the pool is open at Self Portrait Challenge

Spring is lookin' pretty rocking right now

Concerts:
4/19: Kate Nash, Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players at the Trocadero in Philadelphia

5/18: Black Kids at Bowery Ballroom in New York

6/14: Vampire Weekend, Kid Sister, Ecstatic Sunshine at Central Park Summerstage

6/30: Pearl Jam in Mansfield, Mass.

Museums:
DARGERISM: Contemportary artists and Henry Darger at the American Folk Art Museum  thru 9/21/08

Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art thru 5/18/08

Public gardens:
Duke Farms. Eleven indoor display gardens housed in glass conservatories as well as expansive grounds to explore. The gardens will be open until 5/25/08 and then close for extensive renovations until 2010. Admission is free but requires online reservations. I've booked a visit for April 26th with my mom and Cyndemouse. Looks like tickets are very scarce. I have one extra. Email me if you'd like to join our group.

Brooklyn Botanical Garden  Their cherry blossom festival continues thru 5/11/08. Check out their handy dandy status map to see how the trees are blooming this year.

What's already penciled into your social calendar?

Getting it together in the JR-Z

Over the weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of being invited to Kristen's home for a get together with several other  New Jersey based bloggers. I've waited a few days to write about the day because  the conversations we had were so thought provoking for me, I've been mulling things over. I joined Susannah and Bella around a table of tasty treats and steaming mugs of tea in Kristen's serene light filled living room.

It didn't take long for us all to get introduced to each other. We'd all done our homework and looked at one another's blogs before our planned meeting. Conversation was easy with this group of thoughtful, articulate ladies on a wide range of topics. We went everywhere- politics, the economy, Blogher, art making, photography, our vocations, families, living in New Jersey and our sense of identity. These are big topics. Somehow we just wandered in and out of them, thoughtfully considering our answers and listening intently to each others opinions and life experiences. I'd really like to get together with these women again because one afternoon was not enough time with them.

One thing that happened for me that day, was a renewed sense of pride of being from the Jersey Shore. Bella's family has a tradition of taking a summer vacation very close to where I live. Susanna and Kristen are not natives and they've been exploring the shore over the past few years. Usually, I can be quite cranky about the summer people, or "Bennies" as the locals around here call the folks that come a calling in these parts in the summer. Feeling invaded makes we want to hide away at home all summer long and only venture around the edges of the shore. Hearing their enthusiasm for this place that I  take for granted because it is so familiar to me, has inspired me to be more open to brave the crowds this summer to take advantage of all the best things we have to offer here.  And I'd like to share the things and places that I love with these ladies and others. One day in the summer, I'd like to host a little tour of Ocean Grove and Asbury Park for them and any others that care to join us.

Last night, I put together a new Flickr set of things I love about living here: picnics on the beach, the Sandy Hook lighthouse, skeeball and miniature golf, bonfires, boardwalks, good food at local joints, ice cream trucks, plants that appreciate sea breezes, apple picking and lots lots more. I'm looking forward to adding more to the mix in the next few months. Check out my new Jersey Shore Is Home set.

Lalalalala

Asbury Park, NJ.

One of my favorite sign photos ever.  That's it for tonight. My mind is feeling  spongy and jumpy. Or springy? Anyway not particulary coherent. Back tomorrow!

R is for ....

Roses and  ranunculus

Reading

Rock n Roll, baby

Robins

Roller skates

Reason

Rings

River rocks

Raspberries and radishes

Records

Remembering

Really Rosie

Riesling

Rest and relaxation

Pink possibilities

Cherry blossoms are beginning to burst into bloom. It seems everywhere I turn this week, I see pink.

I'm hoping to make it over to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Branch Brook Park in Essex County to see their showy display and the new visitor's center. The park hopes to rival Washington D.C. for gorgeous blooms.

Hopping around on line, I've seen pink loveliness.
Annie B posted this yummy pink polaroid diptych.

Earlier this week, 3191 posted this photo duo that made me mad for the view of pink blossoms just beyond a pair of peppy pink floral drapes.

And Darlene wrote a poem about pink frilly dresses.

Today I ate a very pink, strawberry ice cream cone.

Pink is the new yum.

Suits him to a "T"

I fell off the NaPoBloMo thang, but I'm back on my feet. All week I've been tremendously tired. Except when I should go to bed. Then I'm awake and want to read. But when I'm at my desk, I can hardly keep the peepers open. Allergies? We've been sleeping in the guest room this week while the bedroom furniture renovation continues in our room. Perhaps the change of venue has me mixed up.

Continuing on with April's letter theme for NaPoBloMo, I present you with a shirt Sweets and I designed for one of our nephews. This little boy is quite the swashbuckler. He loves anything pirates related. Especially the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films. At Christmas, I decided to make him a pirate ship shirt using a  freezer paper stencil. When it came to the sketch of the ship, Sweets and I  collaborated on the design. I knew I definitely wanted the "T" on the flag because it's my nephew's initial.

If you're not familiar with making freezer paper stencils, it's really easy.

Equipment you'll need: Freezer paper, scissors or X-acto knife, paint, stencil brush, iron

Sketch your design on the freezer paper. Cut it out leaving a good border around your design. Iron the freezer paper, waxy side down, on to your project. Apply paint with the stencil brush. Let paint dry completely. Peel off freezer paper. Voila!

For areas that you want the background color to appear, such as the port holes and letter in this case, you'll need to cut out shapes and iron them on when you iron on the main design.

For another photo of this shirt in progress, take a peek here. There is a Flickr Freezer Paper Stencil group. I think the fad of doing this technique has waned a bit but it's still lots of fun to try.

Self Portrait Challenge: Attack the munchies

A few months ago, my friend, Saed, asked me to help him out with a photo illustration he was working on. I've helped him on lots of shoots but usually I help behind the camera. Sometimes I'll sit for test shots to get the lighting right before his real subject arrives.  We always have a great time working together. On this occasion, I slipped away from the newsroom and headed down to the studio not quite sure of what he had in store for me.

There he was with a GIANT pencil. He directed me to make stabbing motions at invisible foes and to hop around triumphantly with the pencil over my head. Later on, Steve, a fellow photo editor, went down to pose, too. Saed took our photos and combined them with ones he'd already taken of  toy chattering teeth. I really had no idea of what it was going to look like until I saw the finished illustration pop into our photo archive.

Then on Tuesday the story finally ran.  I made Sweets wait for me to open the paper in on the front steps to proudly reveal the photo appearing across six columns of the Today, our daily features section. I got some good natured ribbing later that day at the office from people who recognized me.

This photo illustration accompanied a story about the latest book "The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size" by prolific author, Julia Cameron. She has also written the  "The Artist's Way" and many other books focused on creativity. With this new book, she suggests writing morning pages will help you know your feelings and you'll move away from overeating as a way of compensating for them. I know several of the bloggers I read are advocates for doing morning pages. I've not read any of Cameron's books or tried doing the pages. I have a feeling it would take a giant pencil indeed to quell my cravings. Maybe not one so absurdly giant as the one pictured. It's as long as the bed!

For more from the perspective of the photographer, read his post about creating this illustration. He's new to blogging but his blog has become one of my regular stops. If you're at all interested in what it is like to be a photojournalist, visit his blog Saed Hindash Through the Camera Eye.

For more self portraits bordering the absurd, sashay on over to Self Portrait Challenge.

Letters that don't last

Sometimes it all seems so impermanent. Doesn't it?

Photo taken on Cannon Beach in Oregon when Cyndemouse and I vacationed there in 2004. We used a piece of driftwood to write out the letters of our erasable graffiti.

Not your ordinary nest

This weekend, I reluctantly left the nest only for provisions. Saturday, I indulged in an afternoon nap after staying out way late the night before to catch the Ambulance Ltd. show at Maxwells. Mostly, we puttered around the kitchen. Sweets took charge of the stove, making pancakes for breakfast one day and egg and cheese sandwiches on english muffins the other. Saturday's supper was simple. I put together a salad of whatever produce we had at hand and whisked together a dressing. Extra saucy and cheesy rigatoni courtesy of Sweets rounded out the meal. Tonight's supper was an Indian feast. Fiery tofu curry, dal, chana masala and papadums. A quick whizz in the blender gave us a butternut squash soup for lunches this coming week.

We're busying ourselves with the ongoing furniture painting project. So far one nightstand and the mirror are done. The long dresser is primed and painted two coats. Next will be silver trim and coats of sealer. Cleaning the dresser out took half as long as painting it.  During breaks there are cups of tea and hot cocoa served with conversations about how to spend our first wedding anniversary.

Sometimes all you need is in your little nest. A  good project, a  a new book and someone to read aloud the good bits, quality teas, packets of curry, sleepy dogs and clean paintbrushes.

How did you spend your weekend?

Today's feature courtesy of the letter B

Keeping in the NaBloPoMo theme of letters, I present you a little list of awesome things that begin with the letter B.

Blowing Bubbles

Babies

Baboons and their cute bottoms

Blueberries

Bands up close and personal

Bluejays in the back yard

Butterflies

Batter

Bottles of Bubbly

Books

Badger Balm

Ballerina flats

Blown glass

Bedtime stories

Fiction: C - H

What are you reading today?

Open letter to the rummage universe

April 3, 2008
               

 

Thrift E. Shopper
Chief Rummage Sale Officer
Castoffs Incorporated
The Universe
                              

Dear Sir or Madam:

Please allow me to thank you for all the surprises you've led me to in years past of numerous rummage sales at churches, schools and temples. There have been all manner of things that I had no idea that I needed until I laid my peepers upon them as they jostled for room alongside a hodgepodge of items set upon rickety tables. Over the years, you've led me to some fantastic finds. There was the $2 blue glass cake stand. The $2 vintage green and white striped lawn chair I now use to read in the garden. There have been loads of vintage linens : sheets, tablecloths, and napkins. How about those Vera pillowcases? Huh? Was that a good find or what? Don't even get me started on the cashmere sweaters, vintage hats and scarves, coats, and all sorts of printed shirts that makes the old lady inside me do the jitterbug of joy.

I admit it.  You've been good to me over the years. When I first started rummaging, it was just me, a bunch of old biddies and that smelly guy that biked everywhere. Now, thrifting is more popular. Competition is getting stiff. Elbows fly and harsh words are muttered. As a seasoned veteran of sales, I can handle the drama at the tables as long as I come home with a bag full of goodies.

This year, I thought I would tell you what kinds of things I am really looking for. I expect to be happily surprised by what you set in front of me. But if you have any of these items behind the counter, could you maybe do me a favor and set them under the table with an ugly afghan draped over them or behind a pile of gaudy plastic flowers? I'll sniff them out.

My spring 2008 rummage sale wish list:

An electric juicer. The motor burned out in mine a few weeks ago. I'm hoping to skip spending $89 at the department store.

A yogurt maker. I've gotten into the habit of eating it every day. The brands I like cost almost a dollar a serving. The cheaper ones are filled with yucky fillers and nasty aspartame. I could be super thrifty making my own organic yogurt in a thrifted yogurt machine. Cyndemouse has one and the yogurt it makes is divine.

Van Gogh prints. With our bedroom renovation working around a Van Gogh, the addition of some other smaller pieces would be great.

A bust. This idea came to me the other day. Wouldn't a alabaster bust draped in my colorful vintage necklaces look great on my newly painted dresser. Beethoven. Shakespeare. Surprise me.

A Canon Canonet camera. It would be fun to have one of these 70's beauties to roam around with around my neck.

Sincerely,

Rachel

P.S.: Can you put a word into the estate sale and thrift store department heads for me about a sofa? Maybe something with a tufted back along the lines of this beauty? Except for about 5% of the cost.

Self Portrait Challenge: Special delivery

When we went to California, we spent most of our trip's stay at Hotel Tomo in San Francisco. All the rooms have cool murals and modern furnishings. I totally gasped when we walked in the room and I saw the mural in our room featured birds AND letters. Two of my favorite things!

Before we checked out, I couldn't resist taking this goofy self portrait of myself accepting a special delivery from the little birdies. I think this one definitely qualifies for this month's Self Portrait Challenge theme which is absurdity. And the letters theme for NaBloPoMo.

The really absurd thing about our stay here was because it's a Japanese hotel the room was stocked with an electric kettle and green tea. No coffee. I repeat no coffee. How absurd is that? I almost went all Godzilla on the front desk. Almost.

For more absurdity, visit SPC.

Fools Rush In on April 1st

This morning I was minding my own business, nursing a cup of coffee in the gray pallor of a rainy morning, when I popped into Shades of Joan, saw she was joining NaBloPoMo for April and found myself setting up a profile over there and getting started.

It's April Fools' Day after all. Might as well foolishly think I can pull off blogging every day for a month.

Evidently, "National Blog Posting Month is the epicenter of daily blogging!" according to their site. Each month has a theme for posting. April's them is letters. As you all know, letter writing has a soft, cozy spot in my heart. You can also interpret that theme typographically, visually etc. So here I go, NaBloPoMo'n away.

I took this photo in Amsterdam. Grams used this phrase a lot and it always cracked me up when she accused people or corporations conspiring together to be "in cahoots " When I saw this sign posted in a window it gave me pause. I never did find out what the sign meant exactly or why it would be posted. 

The graphic nature of the sign appeals to me.  Weighting the letters differently really makes it cool.

When I signed up, I was NaBloPoMo's  #6711 member. So, I guess I'm in cahoots with quite a large party this month. Grams would be clucking and shaking her head disapprovingly over all this cahootin' I am quite sure.

If you'd like to get In Kahootz with the daily blogging, you can sign up for NaBloPoMo, too.