Milkweed

I keep thinking about sitting on the beach with the wind cooling off the hot summer sun as I am home in Rochester. So I am working like crazy to keep from feeling sad about not being in Cape May. I have really cleaned up the basement and have begun to get Aster's room ready to paint. I took pics of the garden as we are rarely here these weeks to see what is bloomin'. The milkweed is gorgeous and I was hoping to find monarch eggs, but instead found theses muddy moles on the leaves. Any one know what will come out of them? I happen to really enjoy the japanese beetles on the asters, they have not posed a problem in the past, so I live and let live.Aster took this lovely picture of me and Allen...

Stories that don't end

My dad is an extremely amazing man. In the picture, he is looking overly concerned at me, so I am guessing this in the Autumn of '66. My dad is 75 years old and has been a practicing dentist for close to fifty years. He has only recently had to "take a break" from working, as he has aplastic anemia, but he is strong and healthy and will be better soon, and then back to drillin' an fillin' for only God knows how many more years. My dad has a huge circle of friends, volunteers at church, with the Boy Scouts, for his alma-mater Bucknell University, his fraternity Kappa Sigma and attends all his grand children's sports, music and other school events (all while working sometimes 10 hour days). Last year when Allen was in the hospital, my dad came up with my sister-in-law Lisa to help us. They drove ten hours for a two night stay, did laundry and shopping, gave Allen their love and drove the long trip home. I wish we did not live so far away, and I wish I could see my dad everyday (along with the rest of the family) and I wish he did not have aplastic anemia. I love you dad.

Yard Sale

We are having a yard sale tomorrow. I am so proud of myself as I have really made a difference in the black hole that the basement has become. And my favorite thing about being a completely disorganized hoarder -

is that I make discoveries as I clean out.

Here are a couple of wonderful items...

1976?

What do you think mom? I can't figure out what year this picture is from, but I know it was a church picture. We used to get our portrait taken for our church member's book each year. I am the youngest in my family, and I think I look about 10 years old here, which would make Susan 14 and Robert 17. I just don't know...

friends

A boy is walking down a street when he falls into a deep hole and the walls are to high for him to get out.

A doctor walks by and the boy shouts to the doctor, "Can you help me?"

The doctor write a prescription and tells the boy to see him in two weeks.

A psychologist walks by and the boy shouts , "Can you help me?"

And the psychologist says, "Breathe, and see me two weeks"

A friend comes by and the boy shouts , "Hey man, can you help me?"

And the friend jumps into the hole.

The boy says,"Why did you do that, now we are both stuck in here?"

The friend says, "Yeah, well,I have been here before and I can help you get out."

I want to thank all the amazing friends we have. We are not out of the hole yet, but lots of people have helped us and although we count our blessings every minute, sometimes that just doesn't do the trick. Thank you to everyone who understands.

1910 Typewriter

Well it wasn't the Brooklyn Flea, but we went to a neighborhood of yard sales this morning and got a number of wonderful items including a 1910 typewriter. Information from the Typewriter Conservancy :

The L.C. Smith type-writer incorporated some advanced features. As far as we are aware, the No. 2 (actually manufactured before the No. 1) was the first machine that was basket shifted instead of carriage shifted. However, the typing basket shifted up instead of down. The platen was easily removed without tools by moving back a clip over the axle between the platen and the platen knob on both sides of the carriage. This not only allowed replacement of worn-outs platens, but the quick insertion of platens for special purposes, such as manifolding and typing index cards.

Busy Birds and Pearl Jam

It was raining on Wednesday and the birds were just crazy at the feeder. They finished off the entire container in two days. And below are the (edited) lyrics to Pearl Jam's amazing song, Breathe. I was sure it was a new work by the great Crash Test Dummies, as the vocal sounds very similar to their 90's songs, but I finally found it on the internets and downloaded it from i-tunes.

Yes I understand That every life must end

As we sit alone I know someday we must go

Oh I'm a lucky man

To count on both hands

The ones I love

Some folks just have one, Yeah others they got none

Stay with me

Let's just breathe

Nothing you would take

Everything you gave

Hold me till I die

Meet you on the other side

Terrific Terrarium

Jessica And Rob gave Allen this amazing terrarium that they purchased from a vendor at the Brooklyn Flea. It is a vintage container and has a deer and a shopping bag lady in it. Allen was very concerned going through airport security with it - bomb shaped as it is. Jess wrote this about the artist/terrarium makers in a blog post:

Katy Maslow and Michelle Inciarrano are the stars of a Times Home & Garden story titled "Terrariums Make A Comeback," which author Emily Weinstein seems to have used the Flea for as inspiration. (Totally cool with us, Em, obv.) You've been living under a rock if you hadn't noticed the boom in all things garden-related lately—planting is the new crafting, judging by new vendor applications for the Flea. Anyway, Katy and Michelle's Twig Terrariums is a new business involving found apothecary jars, moss, and miniature mugging scenes, and you can next find them at the Flea on June 19.

A Wonderful Wedding

Allen "officiated" this wonderful wedding. He read a short introduction and then the bride and groom spoke their own vows. Jessica had hers on her I-Phone.

And then they kissed.

The ceremony was outside on a rooftop that over looked the Manhattan Skyline.

The light changed each hour and the lights come on across the river. It was beautiful.

Our weekend away

We arrived in Brooklyn Friday morning and had a lovely lunch and then walk a long, hot, ten or more blocks to the Brooklyn Museum.

They have the Dinner Party permanently installed and it was a treat to see it in person, although it is not that relevant to me, some believe it to be the quintessential feminist work.

There was also a wonderful traveling exhibit of Kiki Smith's work, Allen doesn't like her work, but I enjoyed immensely.

We then took a walk through the Brooklyn Botanical gardens. Simply a beautiful natural space in the midst of a bustling, brick city.

And then... we took the Subway to the apartment we rented and took a nap, which made us late to the "rehearsal" dinner (as it was sans rehearsal it wasn't a big deal to be late).

Saturday we went to the Brooklyn Flea. THE GROOM is THE MANAGER of the whole thing, he really runs it. It is a complicated and wonderful business with jurying for each week's two separate events and amazing food and set ups. The amazing website tells visitors who will be there and what to expect and a blog keeps one in touch with the specifics of foods and goodies. They even have a weekly Scavenger Hunt. Which I didn't know about until today - and I saw that bottle! Below is from the Fea's blog (for which the Bride writes).

Scavenger Hunt Items—June 5+6

Local and historic for Saturday, musical and obscure (for the Camera Obscura gig) for Sunday. Enjoy the Hunt. When you find one of the items above, which can be hidden in any vendor booth, it's yours, absolutely free! Then we post your photo with the generous vendor here on the blog on Monday. Only one winner per calendar month. Items posted every Friday around Noon.

I had a wonderful time and the flea was more than I ever could have hoped for, but I had a "call in" shift at Anthropologie that I "called in" at lunch time to find out that was expected to work, so now I am in trouble because I couldn't be there and I couldn't get any one to cover me. I believe we get three strikes and then we are out - and now that there aren't that many employees left to take this crap, it is getting harder and harder to get coverage. I also missed my own opening at Shawn Dunwoody's Gallery Friday night, so I was kind of bumming that day. After hours of shopping (vintage photos for me and Allen to use in art work, a hand made ceramic cup for Aster, t-shirts for Gage, vintage rhinestone buttons and a headband for me), we took the subway to the entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge and walk across to Manhattan, hung out in City Park and had a coffee and then walked back across to Brooklyn. Strangely, the subway we needed was under construction, so we ended up taking a subway back into Manhattan to transfer to one that went where we needed to go - back to Brooklyn. Two wonderful trips across the East River -

one over and one under.

I will write more about the wedding tomorrow. I am excited to paint images that I took of the bridge. I love the lines and shapes. We saw Georgia O'Keefe's painting of the Brooklyn Bridge as it is appropriately on view in the Brooklyn Museum. This bridge has been painted by so many. I just can't resist.

Bits and Pieces

Come to the opening of Bits and Pieces for live music, hors d'oeuvres, and drink and you will also receive this amazing paper bag to collect your own collage material!

Opening reception: Friday June 4, 6:00 - 10:00pm

BIT & PIECES

(what the hell was I thinking?)

FOURWALLS ART GALLERY presents a collage and assemblage show featuring:

Elizabeth Lyons

Nancy Topolski

Joe Hendrick

Kathleen Farrell

Shawn Dunwoody

Elizabeth McDade

Todd Beers

Mike Yates

Outdoor art mural by Sweet Meat Co.

FOURWALLS Art Gallery

34 Elton St.

Rochester, NY 14607

Parking is available in the parking lot across the street

Show runs: June 4 -July 3, 2010

Gallery Hours:

Thurs - Fri 2:00 - 6:00

Sat: 1:00 - 5:00

This weekend

This weekend is full of amazing things to do in Rochester - but Allen and I will be attending a wedding in Brooklyn. I am terribly excited about spending three days in Brooklyn, I am pretending it is a town in England (or somewhere abroad at least) and am looking forward to investigating, exploring and enjoying this new foreign (at least for me) place.

But Rochester will be hosting two fantastic art opportunities that we will sadly miss. 6 X 6 is one of the years best nights, crazy art loving people fight over $20 pieces. And the second great thing is the show that I am in. So many amazing artists share the gallery with me (and I will give the Bits and Pieces Exhibit its own post tomorrow).

RoCo's 6 X 6 is open all week for previewing the work, but the sale is only Saturday night.

All 5000 pieces are available for viewing on the website. Aster, Allen and I all have pieces in the sale/show. And I know it is supposed to be anonymous, but here is one of Aster's...

And here a a few of mine...