this morning

in pictures:
1. cat is abducted by ufo (for being this cute)
2. year round roses in alameda
3. honey man showing off his bees at the farmers' market
4. fireside letters and light
5. green+green=green

skating

for the bookworms

history of sadness chapter: before language, the sea mirrors feelings of loneliness


history of love chapter: sexual, personal confusion
confusion or
confusion with thicker lines


scenes from 1955 chapter: oh shit
caption at the bottom: mcdonald's opens its first franchise restaurant, april 1955


history of love chapter: real problems in a relationship | imagined problems in a relationship

got this book of mike mills' drawings from the movie beginners (my favorite 2011 movie) for xmas. love it. so funny. bigger and more spreads here.

on my reading list for 2012

jeffrey eugenides' the marriage plot
ann patchett's state of wonder
salvage the bones by jesmyn ward
the art of fielding by chad harbach
something by oliver sachs
something by marcel proust
perfume by patrick suskind
doc by mary dory russell
under the banner of heaven by jon krakauer

bye 2011

oh, you're taking a photo of those cards? let me sit on them for you.

(card backs)

happy 2012 to you!

gott nytt år!

a horse is a horse

when home in december, i always end up going with my mom to the stable where she keeps her horse. my mom has been a horse person since she was a girl, while i have never been a horse person. but horses are pretty cool regardless. top is godiva. my mom is pictured with her horse, nejlika, who traveled to california by plane from sweden. certain kinds of horses are more expensive to buy in the states than to buy in europe and have flown over! nuts. did you know that horses often ride on passenger planes?! nuts. my mom is 70 and has a replacement hip, but she rides regularly. nuts. :-) but good for her i'm sure.

nejlika expects (and receives) treats on the regular. carrots, sugar cubes, cookies made for horses, apples. giving nejlika treats is one of the more fun activities at the stable.

delicious

i'm hoping a certain L isn't reading this. had to take some photos of the beautiful blue chair jam cookbook before wrapping it. the book is chock full of crazy delicious photos by sara remington. and the graphic design is gorgeous as well. mmm. (more photos of the spreads)

good in december

lights of alameda's movie theater

i think there should be advent calendars all year round. little (often meaningless but nice and simple) surprises each day. i've been enjoying hanna konola's advent calendar so.

also liking the best of 2011 lists, though so far i have only heard the lists on fresh air for books, music, tv. and their linguist's word for the year: occupy.

lately i'm listening to lykke li's latest album, wounded rhymes (just realized she had a new one—yay!). also check out her version of the righteous brothers' unchained melody.

pretty excited about this calendar that i picked up by brendan monroe.

circles and triangles

liking my new cup, seen in elisabeth's shop, but purchased in sf at rare device. intended to be buying holiday gifts for others, not for me....

winter trees

the trees in alameda are tall and old and great.

always inspired by sandra juto's tree photos, which are gorgeous. here are just a few

the morran book project

camilla's beautiful morran book is out. such a wonderful tribute to such a fine dog friend. i love this photo of camilla and ingvar and morran, from my trip to sweden this past summer. all three laughing and enjoying a fika. that morran was so lucky to go on all those hikes in the woods in göteborg and on adventures all over europe! wrapped in cozy blankets, snuggly sleeping spots at every turn, treats treats, treats and so much affection.

above is one of my two contributions to the book based on this great photo by camilla.

all profits from the book go to the world society for the protection of animals.

tomte time

despite today's sunny weather, i'm ready for winter glögg, candles, darkness, tea, cookies, tomter, strings of lights.

goodies:

me, at parties may be my all-time favorite drawing by gemma correll.

in swedish, but still fun to see this video of designer lotta kühlhorn's studio, style, design. found via lena sjöberg.

i like this oakland backyard, via lena corwin.

dust and water

oh, antony. come back to sf so i can see/hear you live please.

dust and water
dust and water with audience participation. go swedes.

book recommendation

more fall in alameda. to the farmers' market this morning. perfect day for bicycling, again.

finished what is the what last night, a fantastic book. my foremost book recommendation for the year. it is the story of the incredible life/struggle of valentino achak deng, who was one of the "lost boys" from sudan, written brilliantly in valentino's voice by dave eggers. i got chills reading this short interview with valentino and dave about the process of writing the book—the faith and trust and patience and friendship required to create this book. (i also recommend purchasing the book since the proceeds go to the vad foundation.)



♥

farm bill rant

the fate of the US farm bill is not yet decided. currently it's in danger of being (re)written or revised by the super committee instead of its going through any kind of public hearings or the usual (largely pretense of) negotiations. if the super committee writes parts of the bill, almost certainly any new pieces that would benefit small, sustainable, organic and/or beginner farmers would not be included. and the few good programs that came out of the last two farm bills are in danger of not getting re-authorized. if the committee does make decisions about cutting funding, at the very least, they should not be allowed to write any new agricultural policy, as this would be even more undemocratic than the usual already undemocratic farm bill process. this (among other things) is what i learned at a recent kitchen table talk event about the farm bill.

if you care to learn more about the farm bill (which deeply affects us all—our food and our environment) and/or make some phone calls to senators/reps, civil eats has posted a blog that includes pertinent info. also the book food fight, which i have yet to read, can supposedly help demystify the farm bill.

the civil eats post also features a very short video of michael pollan talking about the farm bill. it never ceases to amaze me how good pollan is at tailoring his message to the medium and to how much time/space he is given—such an adept communicator.

speaking of pollan, can't wait to read the new edition of his food rules now illustrated by the fabulous maira kalman!

amusing

sometimes he just cracks me up.

it's fall in alameda.

this weekend listening to: vetiver, florence and the machine, broken bells

will scobie and lots of other good illustrators/designers found through meowoodle

grattis!

today is my mom's 70th. she is in sweden celebrating with her sisters. it sounds like they are treating her special all around. lots of celebrating. i'm glad. it seems like just yesterday i was 11 and my mom and i were surprising my mormor on her 70th. appearing from behind a piece of fabric that was hung in the back yard at vallsta. the family was all gathered, everyone in on it except my grandparents. my great aunt carin worried that my morfar (who had heart trouble) might have a heart attack on the spot, so carin's eye was on him when my mom and i emerged. i don't remember it all that well, but i love the photos. mormor clasping her hands, a huge smile on her face. totally surprised and joyful. and then clutching my mom hard to her. and morfar sitting, looking somewhat stunned but calm, smiling. seems like it took him a bit longer to take in the scene. (he survived it.) it's hard for me to believe that my mom is of grandma age now. grattis på födelsedagen mamma min!

don't have access to photo albums at the moment, so above is an oldie i've posted before. bigger.

lilli carré's shadows

the top photo made me remember to post photos of this mini art book of lilli carré's. it's part of little otsu's wonderful mini art book series, living things. lilli's is about shifting shadows. i love her work.

the way lilli interpreted her theme reminded me of this swedish kids picture book i read when i was little. in it, a kid is afraid of the dark because at night, he sees monsters everywhere. but the outlines he sees, which do look like monsters, turn out to be innocuous things when the lights are turned on—oh, that trickster perception.

tail

bigger

PL is finally settling in to the new place. it's only taken almost two months! it's so much quieter here than at my old house in SF, but he seems more sensitive to suburban noises. finally he's hanging out (out from under the covers) during the day. this morning when i was taking photos of him enjoying the fall light, however, the toast popped up in the toaster. yikes! immediate fat tail. i almost caught the tail puff on camera. (this is a half deflated fat tail.) at least he didn't run for cover though. that's something.

hi

finally going to go to gather this weekend. can't wait.

been reading richard russo books lately—so entertaining.

i love this clever tiger zebra animation. i also like her rocket coffee blast off sweater drawing.

funny cloud t shirt

now back outside! so pretty out today.

alameda houses

more

one of my sources of entertainment in alameda is bicycling around and looking at the houses. so many different styles of houses from different years line the streets and stand in varying states of decay/renovation. (another day i'll post some decrepit ones.) there are plenty of well-used porches, trellised entryways, gardens (popular: sunflowers and roses), raiders flags.

the house i live in was built in 1895, and there many other victorians on the island—some gigantic, some itty. i think i'll pick up some books on the history of alameda/its houses.

according to wikipedia, alameda, named so in 1853, means grove of poplar trees or tree-lined avenue in spanish. before the spanish arrived, ohlone lived here.

on a totally different topic: via more & co, this awesome project: (moveable in more ways than one) moveable type

around my hood

wild garden, crazy bright rose, perfect green truck

(another bigger of the rose here)

i scored some sale red + pink marimekko fabric that i will make curtains from. two curtains down at my new place and six to go.

guillaume kashima
amanda marsalis makes beautiful photographs. found through jeana's closet visit with amanda.

plant/flower

abundant in alameda:

fat squirrels (all over—i think it's something to do with all the big trees and it being an island)
american flags
tangles of kids roaming together
riding of bicycles on sidewalks and without helmets (guilty—everyone else is doing it)
great old signs
bright coral colored roses

good stuff:
carson ellis
pawling print studio

more bits

from the new home

there are various tomatoes growing. tomato still with the vine scent on it has to be one of the best scents.

the yard—rambling and with so many possibilities. my landlady dreams of multiple treehouses and covered bike storage (sounds good to me!). chickens, of course, crossed my mind. i like hearing some neighbor chickens clucking. goats? i should at least try to garden! (there's also a tall, somewhat stingy with the oranges orange tree and a picnic table outside of the picture frame.)

one of my favorite san francisco stores, gravel & gold, apparently went to sweden. they visited the jobs textile factory. and check out their cute post about their own funky and bold first printed textile, panda.

bright eyed

i plan to install a shelf to the right there for reading lamp and glass of water.

this here fine marimekko pillow i was ogling this summer in the marimekko store. and dear liz (in regular generous liz form) bought it for me for my birthday right then. i love it.

some good things

some alameda surroundings that tug at me.

the cake plate from laurel and family wants a small iced sweetness to top it.

the peaches (not mine) tempt me at least twice daily.

the blue flowers (also not mine, and just by the peaches) wish to fit inside my small blue ceramic vase (and they have in fact. shshsh). it's a matter of time before a peach finds its way to my house. maybe i'll ask if there's a plan to harvest or if they just plan to let them fall. the way the tree is propped up does make me think they have some peachy intentions. they certainly look ripe though, don't they?

slowly

settling in. bought some cutie plants today at encinal nursery. some thread for curtain sewing. a mixing bowl for cookie baking. (i've always had housemates with mixing bowls it seems.) still need to get a small cookie sheet though for my miniature oven.

goodbye living room doves.

i got the apartment, by the way! so very grateful. i'm off to the sunny east bay soon.

while i appreciate the convenience, diversity and cultural and food offerings of san francisco, i've never felt like a city person. i grew up in a city of 23,000 and lived on the edge of it, surrounded by hills. and the two colleges i applied to, i chose based mainly on the number of trees in the vicinity (a lot). so it's strange to me that i've weathered city life in SF for 13 years. as cities go, i suppose san francisco is pretty gentle (aside from ridiculous housing prices). and the neighborhoods almost seem like small towns that just spill into one another. but still!

some things i will miss about my apartment of eight years
being able to easily walk to dolores park, bernal hill, and to all the bakeries and ice creameries and other deliciousness in between
the views from the back steps
flowers from the yard
rainbow grocery right down the street
my housemate of four years, heather (and splitting our csa box)
going to the alemany farmers' market with jen and mati most saturdays

some things i will not miss
the sirens that sound from living near a fire station
men peeing wherever/whenever on the street, regularly
city noise
the heavy influx of marina types and mainstreamers (stereotypes, i know) to the mission
carpet
slow drains
extreme drafts/lack of insulation and heat

i'm excited to learn a new place. to walk around and look at different houses and different yards. to figure out where to put things in my apartment. to bike. i wonder what the SF fog looks like from there...

have you seen heather smith jones' beautiful new shop, blue sparrow press?! lovely.

want

wee house by my house party

it has been a long time since i've wanted something so badly. since i've known what would be good for me. this house, this little sunny apartment would suit me just right. at first when i entered, there was a strange smell that put me off. but that is just the current resident's smell. it can be waved away. and after a minute's adjustment, i no longer smelled it. then a couple of minutes imagining away the current tenant's things, and i could see myself and pinky leon there so clearly. in that bright morning kitchen with its black and white checkered floor we could bask—me drinking tea, PL on the floor, tummy to the sun. kitchen things on white shelves. tall windows and tall ceilings. hardwood floors throughout the rest. a tiny bathroom—the bathroom has never been important to me—the less bathroom to clean, the better. a back door to the large, rambling yard that has so much potential. and already an orange tree and tomato vines growing up, up. and a super friendly musician-mom landlady!

and i'm so excited to move away from the bustle (and poop) of the city and onto a sleepy street with tall old trees lining it. there are a lot of american flags out there, and i counted two of those military tank-like SUVs within about as many streets, which puts me slightly on edge, but the house feels so safe. i can bike all around the flat town on my cute public bicycle. there's a city carshare pod nearby. a public library nearby. an expensive, but cute natural foods marketplace. movie theater not far. BART not far. what more does one need, really! a park and a swimming pool, but i'm guessing that can be discovered there too.

i am getting ahead of myself. she has not decided yet who will move there. but i tell you, all of my fingers and toes are mentally crossed, and in my head i'm already there, already home. i did not feel this way when i moved into my current apartment years ago. not even close. the wait is excruciating. i may be developing an ulcer.

and i know it is dangerous, this wanting, because all this imagining, all this hoping could be dashed. but i can't help it.

well

i was trying to photo the marimekko socks that i bought in sweden—almost the only thing i bought for myself in sweden. but a little cat decided he was a far more interesting subject. i suppose he's right.

today i finished the grapes of wrath. it was 27 dollars for a paperback in sweden!! so i figured i better get one that's guaranteed to be good. it was. man. that is one intense trial of a story. constant struggle. and i'm guessing today's migrant farm workers' struggles are not much different. probably even worse in many cases. it's crazy how most of the seeds of today's food movements can be found in that book, published in 1939; we've known for some time how f-ed up our agricultural system is.

margaret

bigger mk photos

amidst dropping off books at dog eared, dropping off cd jewel cases at scrap, dropping off old electronics at green citizen, donating some smudged FromOFGs to hayes valley farm, picking up moving boxes and doing some packing, i managed to catch the margaret kilgallen show at ratio 3 and eat a salted caramel ice cream and have a sauna! now i'm wiped out.