flowery walk

people like their gardens in alameda. 

cat power first listen! 

i need to post a rant about GMO labeling soon. in the mean time, some good GMO-related articles:

sorry NY Times, GMOs still won't save the world

big tobacco shills trying to stop GMO labeling in california

why pepsico is fighting GMO labeling in california

jere gettle sows the seeds of a movement

wanted: scientific integrity on GMOs

bill gates reveals support for GMO ag 

these companies don't want GMOs labeled in california

oo o OOO 0 0

a sweet small house

a great day in harlem

pretties from sunday

mati, katrina and maxwell at the farmers market. this photo makes me smile. 

swedish illustrator lena sjöberg has changed her website. looks great!

mocfa

japanese textiles at sf museum of craft and folk art

more alameda houses

a non-instargram view of them

also found two more old trucks yesterday to add to the old trucks in alameda set. i wonder when i will have found them all.

listening to austra's lose it and to the deadly syndrome's all in time album (maine and won't be me, for ex)

watching sytycd. my favorites: cole, lindsay and george

juniper tree

 
at juniper tree vintage, new to alameda

i love love love this tattoo that anna emilia was commissioned to design.

flickr movement

by margaret durow

by shelbie dimond

by mary amor

pickathon 2012

 

the pickathon music festival at pendarvis farm has grown (3000 attendees this year) since my first pickathon in 2008. but it's still pretty special. such a thoughtfully planned festival with beautiful stages—the main stage with a view behind it of mount hood (covered in snow while we sat in 94+ sun); the woods stage, which is like a fairyland, especially at night all dark and twinkly (complete with a pizza oven and a beer/wine/cider vendor tucked in trees nearby); the two intimate barn stages and the starlight stage (which we completely missed). delicious food vendors in a little food "square" and much needed, extremely refreshing outdoor (though curtained off for privacy) showers (stocked with dr. bronners). recycling and composting. shuttle services to the venue (to cut down on cars). and misters in the form of children with spray bottles (put those kids to work). they had solar recharging stations for smart phones and were selling the camping gear left behind at last year's festival. shovels and rakes to borrow for making your camp site flat and the farm dog roaming around dispensing dog love (aka looking for scraps).

and of course the music. above are the two man gentlemen band—if watching these funny and talented charmers (sporting suspenders and slicked hair) doesn't put a smile on your face, i don't know what will, the mynabirds (rad), and ted jones and the tarheel boys (i think, practicing). also enjoyed neko case, genticorum, the war on drugs, the bowerbirds, white denim, typhoon, the cave singers and lake street dive. sad to have missed heartless bastards and thee oh sees, among others.

two man gentlemen band sing chocolate milk and
mynabirds sing mightier than the sword

ahhh

along the oregon and california coast

chico

hi there. back from a much needed trip. this is chico, my friend liz's dog. such a good one. black fox, seal dog.

❁ ❁ ❁

 

going from rosy alameda to the city of roses—portland (and seattle and the pickathon!). i'll be reading gone girl on the plane. i'm not a big mystery reader, but i heard this is a good one, and so far i'm really liking it. i need to be as distracted as possible on the plane.

some assorted links:

i would like to see jared flesher's documentaries: the farmer and the horse and sourlands.

this film, toxic profits—about how pesticides banned in the US are still exported to other countries—looks like a good one to me to fund via kickstarter.

beautiful photos on the blog dear leila

i like to look at mieke's photos of people's apartments.

❤ this photo

house of cards

see you in a little bit.

key lime

 

with regular limes. for some belated birthday celebrating

lettuce+kale+fake stars

j and d are growing lots of good foodstuffs in the backyard: lettuce, kale, corn, strawberries, various beans, carrots, many herbs, melons, tomatoes, and more. the corn and kale have shot up  over the last week.

i am very ready for vacation, some good cheer and live music. finally, next week up to seattle and portland and the pickathon. will be good to see my dear friend liz and meet her dog chico. 

here is a funny dog.  
and a cute one.

summertime

blackberries and peaches, clear blue sky and an open window

more tart

morning pinky

i had my own personal cute overload this morning. this one cracks me up.

❤ ❤ ❤

an oldie i've probably posted before: me, my cousin daniel and my aunt katarina having a fika at vallsta, my mormor and morfar's old summer house in hälsingland, sweden. (sidenote: a girl whose uncle now owns my grandparents' old house contacted me a while ago after finding my photos of the house on flickr, and we are now FB friends! how rad is that. the internet gets a lot of points for that one.)

it's a bold statement, but sweden in the summer (a warm summer anyway) is my idea of heaven. 

some swedish summer flickr faves of late:

by lawa: 1, 2, 3
by juliasvardag: 1 
midsommar


when tomorrow comes: erika spring covers eurythmics. been listening on repeat to her album since kate miss posted about it. 

native plants

at the regional parks botanic garden in tilden park, where stony paths swirl and disappear into trees and flowers and bushes (all natives of california). 

here you can find a brook, a small sandy swath, bumble bees and flowers that look like eggs, sunny side up. the garden is home to over 200 rare and endangered plants.

sweet peas | luktärter

crazy how yummy these smell. instagram version. 

my mom is visiting. she told me that in google translate you can use a listen feature to hear swedish words and that the robot translator's accent is pretty accurate. we decided to test it. we tried my name (quite good) and some swedish tongue twisters. there is one tongue twister that is particularly difficult for non-swedes because it has tons of this sort of german sch sound. in the google robot translation it sounds like whipping, the sounds are said so strong/clear. we were very amused by it. 


to hear it, copy the following into the translate field and click on the megaphone/listen icon: seven beautiful nurses took care of seven seasick seamen onboard a sinking ship. 

or click here and click the listen button.

eskimo prints

the flight of the shaman and the owl and the woman who lives in the sun. aren't they nice? more here, from the book arts of the eskimo: prints

ibland kan det vara skönt att fly in i svenska. tänka på ett annat språk. hemligt o mjukt. undrar om det känns mjukt pga ljuden eller minnen eller båda. är nog båda. idag är det svenska som gäller. som en famn. o bra övning inför besök av mamma som kommer imorgon. 

lyssnar fortfarande på jonathan johansson: under sjukhusen. 
tyst nu
 

words

definitely need the stop thinking advice. 

from this show at ybca. very amusing show.

green | pink | green

back yard 

kitchen 

hall 

french navy

ask

happy fourth of july

i rode in the alameda bicycle coalition contingent of our fourth of july parade. alameda's parade is just the right size and length (3 miles), everyone greeting one another. very sweet. i'm a little sad to have missed seeing all of the other groups in the parade. i hear there was a beautiful mexican cowboy contingent with horses and riders decked out in their finery. but i did get some good bicycle bell ringing out of my system. though now i want more and other bells. a horn too. 

kitty | orchid

honey in hong kong

 

occupy | midsummer

i like this latest yerba buena center for the arts mailing cover (bigger). 

looking at the scandinavians' midsummer blog posts makes me long.

camilla's

elisabeth's

anna emilia's

emma's

cousin lotta's

försenad glad midsommar!
 

the pink man window watching

added a truck to the old trucks in alameda set.

great ny times paul fusco presentation, found through all the mountains—always great images/links there.

tall pear

sometimes i have to buy pears for their looks. i don't mind eating them, but i can't say i have ever bought a pear because i craved its taste. although, a baked pear with chocolate sauce and whipped cream....mmm

here is a mesmerizing short video of talented ceramicist karin eriksson throwing a vase. my friend liz and i visited karin and her shop/studio last summer, so i know just where this magic is happening.

new kicks

these sneakers are surprisingly not comfortable. so hard to find comfy shoes. 

andrew bird: sifters

low: home

the national: brainy

olaf hajek illustration 

colors!

the blonde woman drawings. really nice.
long time girl gone by Long Time Girl Gone By

From OFG is back

mistubako, a From OFG contributor, keeps taking dreamy bee photos like the above: beehives in the riverside kitakami

 

finally putting From Orchards, Fields, and Gardens back up online (on sale!) i put the books in storage while i moved last year, and i recently retrieved a box of them.

in addition to mistubako's photos, below are some more links to recent work by From OFG contributors—such a talented bunch.

heather smith jones recently updated her letterpress shop, blue sparrow press.

katrina rodabaugh won a lotta jansdotter fabric contest with her sweet soft mobile.

mati rose mcdonough's Daring Adventures in Paint book is coming out very soon!

anna emilia laitinen's peaceful scenes grace an array publications.

jen hewett delves deeper into textile art.

i could go on about all of the contributors. but you can look them up yourselves in the links on the book's homepage.

farm bill time

americans, if you care about any of the following—small farmers, sustainable farming, food stamps/food accessibility, safe food, treatment of farm animals, it's time to contact your senators about the farm bill. while the current bill mostly sucks, there is still time to get some meaningful amendments added to it. the farm bill lasts five years and affects all of us (we all eat!) and affects animals, land, and water.

two easy ways to contact your representatives:

1. through food & water watch (their letter focuses on two amendments related to small farmers and non-GE food)

2. through organic consumers association (their letter focuses on reversing the food stamp cut)

for more farm bill info, read this open letter from food movement leaders and/or watch a very short video.

for more detailed info, check out this page of food & water watch's site, or check out the book food fight explains the farm bill in greater detail. 

california coast

on the way to strawberry picking saturday