To this little lady. AKA, Monika. AKA, the middle sister.
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| a snapshot from birthdays past |
She's chilling in Tacoma with Mom. Lucky birthday girl.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
spring to winter, winter to spring
Spokane was in the mid-fifties yesterday and sunny. Spring felt so near! I spent a couple hours on the porch replanting succulents and, to be honest, ended up with a bit of a chill. Despite all the hopeful sunshine, fifty-two degrees is not exactly t-shirt weather. Silly me. And today is positively dreary. Wind and gray skies for hours and hours. So, I felt the need for a stark little poem today. Thus, "Peach Fires"...
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| via Oh. Pioneer! |
PEACH FIRES
Out in the orchards the dogs stood
Almost frozen in the bleak spring night
& Mister dragged out into the rows
Between his peach trees the old dry limbs
Building at regular intervals careful pyres
While the teeth of the dogs chattered & snapped
& the ice began to hang long as whiskers
From the globes along the branches
& at his signal we set the piles of branches ablaze
Tending each carefully so as not to scorch
The trees as we steadily fed those flames
Just enough to send a rippling glow along
Those acres of orchard where that body—
Sister Winter—had been held so wisely to the fire
Friday, March 2, 2012
Diorama video!
This is such an awesome video that someone from work recommendation to me.
The entire thing is filmed in a way that makes it look like a living diorama.
The entire thing is filmed in a way that makes it look like a living diorama.
Jarbas Agnelli is amazing!
Everything's better on the moon.
Hands down, the best book for obsessive sisters is We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson. Wait. Are we talking about the same Shirley Jackson who wrote "The Lottery" and The Haunting of Hill House? Why yes, the very same. There's also cat fancying. Loads and loads of cat fancying. Oh, and strangeness for days. It's practically perfect in every way.
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| via Amazon |
Somehow I managed to make it out of middle school and high school without ever having read "The Lottery". Or Lord of the Flies. I know, right? (And a side note: "The Lottery" is really amazing. The other stories in that collection are fair. Just fair.) My point is, that while I was aware of Shirley Jackson, I hadn't actually read anything she'd written. But then, wonder of wonders! My friend Dan, who is some kind of genius with book recommendations, told me to give We Have Always Lived a whirl. He thought it'd be right up my alley. (I'm using italics because I'm almost certain it's a quote. Almost.) What with the extreme sistering and all.
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| via Wikipedia |
And it was. It was right up my alley. So up my alley that I made Catherine read it. And it was up her alley too. And while I may have mentioned it to Monika, I don't know if my mention conveyed my admiration for this book. As I know I've mentioned before, probably my all-time favorite opening paragraph is from We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead.
Le sigh. I'd step into this book in a heartbeat...if only such a thing were possible. My point, if I have one, is that you should pick up this book. Also, Monika: I found you a used copy and will be mailing it out posthaste. You lucky duck, you.
Please, please read it so we can trade quotes like:
Jonas and I dislike rhubarb.
On the moon we have everything.
I thought of using digitalis as my third magic word, but it was too easy for someone to say, and at last I decided on Pegasus.
And Monika, if you read it and don't love it: I'll straight up kill you.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Look at this mug. These mugs, I mean. Plural.
I can't quite remember when I first heard about Kin Ship Press, but I must say that I'm all for the series of mugs they've recently produced. I almost wish that I drank coffee, just so I could have an excuse to add a couple to my kitchen cupboard. Also, the lady and gent behind KSP list among their likes & dislikes: napping hard and making a ruckus. I like them more by the minute.
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| Add a Nip and Sip ceramic mug |
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| Time to Get Things Done ceramic mug |
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| His & Hers...Ax and Spade ceramic mugs |
The only thing is that I would waaaaaay rather have the cool ax mug than the less cool spade mug.
Agree? Course you do. Wouldn't it be nice if you could pick?
Agree? Course you do. Wouldn't it be nice if you could pick?
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| Good Night Moon pillowcases |
Their pillowcases are also pretty sweet, see above. But I have a confession to make. I don't like new pillowcases.
I like old pillowcases, like from Mom's linen closet...like the pillowcase that came with our Sesame Street sheets, which I effing hope Mom did not give away because I told her not to, and my bed in the apartment is a twin bed, and I could be using those sheets right now and would if I had them in my possession. Know that, Mother, know that.
And I like old pillowcases from thrift stores. Not gross, nubby, childhood nosebleeded pillowcases. Cleanish ones that have Transformers or cowboys or Indiana Jones or vintage prints of kitschy embroidery on them. Don't worry, I conduct a thorough examination before purchase and am quite diligent about their washing routine before I lay down my head.
I do not want a 12 year old boy's skin cells from 1978 all up in my sleep business.
So, Kin Ship Press.
on etsy
on their blog
and somewhere in Louisville, KY.
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