1. pinky leon imagines he is tall. 2. pinky leon imagines my leg is an attack-cat and attacks first. (no legs were harmed.) {oh, the humor of people who spend too much time photographing their cats.}
i first read about the bee crisis a year ago in this great article in the new yorker. and then a couple days ago i read about it again in a much less in depth article on sfgate.
this pollinator partnership site is interesting. on the right you can click to find out what plants to plant in your region to help the bees (and us!). (the coastal calif. guide is not ready yet.)
the bee situation is frightening to say the least. i can't help but think it's related to all the crap we're putting into the environment and all the problems created by the industrial agribusiness corporations (evil monsanto, adm and cargill who are ruining our food and our land and our farmers, together with our government who is supporting these scoundrels).
in happier news: i had no idea about the robert plant–alison kraus collaboration. you can listen to the whole album on their site.
and emile norman: by his own design a couple nights ago i turned on kqed in the middle of a film about the art and life of emile norman. norman is an intense craftsman and a passionate person. he was with his partner, brooks clement, for thirty years until brooks died in the 1970s. from what i saw of the film, the two lived a charmed life together in a beautiful house in big sur. they were social and generous and lived life to the fullest. they also inspired/supported their gay friends and acquaintances just by being out in the 40's and 50s. an interesting, touching and joyful story. emile is 88 and still working on his inlaid wood sculptures every day.
mati and hugh made such a beautiful dinner up on their rooftop. i love their colors! so rich. mati and hugh's house makes me think of frida kahlo's house (or at least the sense i got of it from the frida movie), in that there is so much art, so many deep colors and just a general abundance. (and mati has a frida flair in her clothing style too i think.)
the weather was perfect for dinner outside, and the food was just as beautiful as the setup, as you can see.
once we were full and tipsy from margaritas, we ventured over to my house (a block away) for key lime pie. i am still so stuffed this morning (though that didn't stop me from having a piece of pie for breakfast).
next time it's over to diana's studio for dinner and painting ceramic bits!
apparently (and embarrassingly), i haven't quite gotten over my childhood empathy with my stuffed animals. because leaving that little kitty like that, up there by herself on top of that shelf, is nagging at me. she looks lonely. and like she's afraid of heights. frankly, she looks positively freaked out. (at least they're not all surrounding me in a ring at the head of my bed anymore.)
this photo/post is really just an excuse to post all the below links. but we did have goats for a while when i was little. and i did try goat milk—not bad at all. my dad transported the goats to school when i was in kindergarten. it was the best show and tell of the year, if i do say so myself. the goats ran around with us on the black top. they tried out the squiggly lines. jumped the hopscotch. did the goat shuffle and probably tried to eat some shoelaces. they really like to eat shoelaces. and hair.(did other people have squiggly lines at their school? did other people call the concrete at elementary school the black top?)
one could spend hours looking at goats on flickr. thousands of goats come up if you search goat. there really are a lot of different styles of goat too, i realized. i had to limit myself. so i'm sure there are thousands more great goats out there. but here are some i found (including one trick link, just because goats get you in the tricking mood):
(today i put my bicycle on the two shuttles i take to work and rode it home {because the way home is almost all downhill}. why have i not done this before! oh yeah, cuz sf drivers are crazy. but it was so much fun. i only had to get off and walk for like 3 uphill blocks {such a weakling!}. otherwise it was all smooth sailing across town. i think i'll do this regularly!)
click links above to see whole, beautiful photos. (sometimes i'm impatient, so friday flickr faves are happening on tuesday this week.)
this stories from rwanda is incredible. found through superhero journal (i cry/get teary almost every time i visit andrea's blog. she consistently {for years now} writes moving posts and finds equally moving links.)
it's always a bit weird to go to santa cruz. i went to college there, and it's a strange town. when i arrived at the metro station there this past friday, at first i thought, oh, it's so easy here. so relaxed, slower, and sunnier and friendlier than sf. but quickly i remembered what a strange town it is. lazy, upscale and ramshackle, sunny, with flowers pouring out of everyone's yards (except of course when it's raining non-stop and the banana slugs and earthworms are out en masse). so much natural beauty there with the ocean and redwoods. and so much wealth. it's all too much. and then there're all those kids pretending to be, or believing they are, hippies. the campus was (and i'm sure still is) incense and patchouli central.
santa cruz seems mostly the same, but everyone seems so young now! being there the past two days, i kept imagining tromping all over that town at age nineteen, arm in arm with oona or lindy, and trying to see us from my view now. did we look that young? (i'm sure we must have.) i wasn't feeling nostalgic exactly these past two days (though yes, a little wistful). there's so much i don't remember and yet the place seems filled with memories. it was like the ghosts of our younger selves were there. maybe the ghosts of all those college students cycling though is part of what makes that place so weird.
i just got out my sleeping bag, which i keep in one of those sleeping bag holders. pinky leon was obsessively trying to free the bag from the holder. he LOVES my sleeping bag. he'd spend all his days inside it if he could. i took it out of the holder so he'd stop making such a racket, and since then all has been quiet, and i see the PL lump down at the bottom of the bag. cute.
although sweden is clearly in some global warming f-ed up weather situation, it sure looks nice there right now. all the swedesareoutfika-inginthe sun, looks like. harligt. onskar det inte var sa dyrt att aka dit!
i know i've linked to violette's lovely drawings before, but have you seen her cover art set?
taking the cal train+bus to santa cruz tomorrow for some music and relaxation. i haven't been there in forever. when i went up to grass valley last week, i actually got kind of anxious about traveling because it had been a while since i'd gone anywhere. and i'm such a homebody. but once i was away, it was so refreshing, and i realized i really need these little trips and new views/colors! traveling sure can help one get unstuck. we all know this, but sometimes i have to be reminded.
my aunt in georgia was telling me about some feral kittens that showed up by her barn a little bit ago. one in the litter is bright orange and she calls him/her? cheato. heehee. the cats eat right next to the foxes she also feeds. they're friends! (i won't tell you what she feeds the foxes.) {she's planning on trying to get the cats spayed/neutered, but i guess there's a question about if the neighbor thinks they're his cats.}