some things will always be better: mixed tapes and usps letter mail

This past week I came home to a treasure chest mailed to me by my friend, Rbt. Sps.

Rbt. makes a weekly sitcom, and I have been fortunate to receive a Season 1, boxed set of dvds. I'm so excited to share these and have been plotting and planning with my friend Natalie, for the better part of the day, on how to make this happen. 

Summer fun.

rbt. thank you a million times over

And, of course, it's better to make plans while you make food

spinach/kale/tofu/stuff

And this weekend, there were lots of plans

midnight doughnuts and ethiopian food 

But sometimes it can be overwhelming

So it's good to take time for long walks

and note all the things that make everyday life so great.

It's a good week.

There have been some good things:

keep your hands busy

_____

because who gets that lucky.

in the hole $1.75. "You have to play big to win big." -Jenna

best corner pool

 _____

And there have been some ridiculous things, like all day baking:

What? Why.

_____

So today, I was leaving my house with a bag full of cinnamon rolls just as a neighbor-stranger was heading down the sidewalk. I thought about offering some to him, but didn't because no one takes baked goods from a stranger on the street. That's weird.

I walked on.

Then changed my mind. Typical.

So I turned around and offered some sweet treats.

The neighbor-stranger actually took them. I wonder if he ate them.

Maybe that's why I spent the majority of the day baking all these unnecessary foods, to remind me, so I could remind you, that sometimes impulse is good.

word. music. art.

Poet Laureate, W. S. Merwin, might be speaking at Joslyn Art Museum at the end of April. Plans aren't finalized yet. I hope this happens.

In light of this recent news, I decided that the poem to memorize for April should, of course, be a piece by Mr. Merwin. So here it is:

"Air"

by W. S. Merwin

Naturally it is night.

Under the overturned lute with its

One string I am going my way

Which has a strange sound.

This way the dust, that way the dust.

I listen to both sides

But I keep right on.

I remember the leaves sitting in judgement

And then winter.

I remember the rain with its bundle of roads.

The rain taking all its roads.

Nowhere.

Young as I am, old as I am.

I forget tomorrow, the blind man.

I forget the life among the buried windows.

The eyes in the curtains.

The wall

Growing through the immortelles.

I forget the silence

The owner of the smile.

This must be what I wanted to be doing, 

Walking at night between the two deserts, 

Singing

_______

I discovered this through an old, dear friend of mine, Rosalie Miller:

http://www.benoitmaubrey.com/

Benoit Maubrey and his Berlin-based Audio Gruppe build electro-acoustic clothing and suits. These are clothes equipped with loudspeakers, amplifiers, and 257 K samplers that enable them to react directly with their environment by recording live sounds, voices, or instruments in their proximity, and amplifying them as a mobile and multi-acoustic performance. They also wear radio receivers, contact microphones, light sensors and electronic looping devices in order to produce, mix, and multiply their own sounds and compose these as an environmental concert. The performers use rechargeable batteries and/or solar cells, which ensures them complete mobility both indoors and outdoors.

_______

And, finally, 5 of a thousand:

_______

Make a move, make a sound.

Yes to subtlety.

I recently began appreciating Sundays. 

For 30 years and 8 months, this particular day has been my least favorite day of the week.

However, my dear friend Julia has been hosting Sunday brunch at her house and it's been such a treat! Thank you, Julia!!

disco sunday afternoon walk

The wonderful, talented people that I've had the pleasure of meeting, over delicious food and mimosas, have endured my "it's a new recipe..." efforts, and I think it's finally paying off.

This past Sunday I made a batch of scones that were pretty good.

The best I've made so far.

And if they didn't taste good, well, they looked good.    

ginger, chocolate, & walnut scones

A minor success.. a day in the life.

It's worth it.

__________

The dog downstairs howled all day.

I realized that it's payback for my smoke alarm that went off for 20 minutes at 5 minute intervals yesterday morning. Sorry neighbors. Hooray scones.

An apartment where the windows stay open on their own.
Baking without setting off the fire alarm.
One of these days.

__________

Tie a string around your finger.

Quote of the day: "I went to sleep to start over."  -Natalie

It's cold today.
It's better tomorrow.

Cheers to good starts.

onward

"I think that life would suddenly seem wonderful to us if we were threatened to die as you say. Just think of how many projects, travels, love affairs, studies, it -our life- hides from us, made invisible by our laziness which, certain of a future, delays them incessantly."
                                                                                                                -Proust

___________

The Joslyn Museum is free on Saturday mornings from 10-12. I often use that time to wander around the galleries and watch people look at art. Sometimes, I watch these same people watch each other. I like when that happens.

In between, I sit down with little kids and help them piece together tangrams, or I draw with them, or ask them questions. I introduce myself and shake their hand and wonder about the big ideas and big adventures that are housed inside these teensy people.

it's so simple. it's so complicated.

We talk about the shapes that make up their tangram puzzles, and when we get to the parallelogram we say that word together and laugh because it's a mouthful.
But all that matters is that it's something new, and they tried, and they had fun trying, so they'll probably try again... whatever it is.

We should all laugh, shrug it off, and try again.
Don't you agree?

___________

This forever-on-hold-book-project that I keep mulling over is finally ready to go. I made a call to my friend Jenni Brant, who is the director at Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts (a great place with a great residency for you art people out there) and asked if a letterpress was available to use: "Why, yes it is!"

So I'll be visiting Nebraska City in the coming weeks to freshen up on my letterpress skills -or lack thereof. 

___________

And while a thousand things have happened in the past 3.5 weeks, 

I'll just share the latest 16 mm highlight:

The Owl

...and the Pussycat

cave

I can be painfully stubborn. 

I've learned to be better. learning.

We're all learning to be better.

I guess part of being better is noticing when you fail yourself. And remembering. 

And remembering to remember. 

I try.

and notes help

because it's easy to forget

but sometimes words just don't cut it

and sometimes a little goes a long way

Who knows?

So at 5:36 pm on this lovely, chilly Tuesday afternoon, as this incredible caffeine-free headache sets in, I can't decide what to do..  cave in or stubborn on.

cave @ 6:17 pm

7:23: headache free

Here's to giving in!
Hope it's been good for you..

plans change

..but nevermind the details.

Just know that things started going downhill from here: 

After i finished sewing the front cover of this book 

my brow may have furrowed for a split second.

"does that look...  nah."

nah..

And then I stitched up the back cover:

wait a minute..

And then I put the two together.

WHAT?

And then I chucked the damn thing across the room.     not really

There's no fixing this, I do believe it's a make believe heart. 

It wasn't supposed to be what it looks like. 

But I think it just is now.

Maybe I was secretly fighting  the voice of my dear friend Michelle in the back of my mind, "Maranda has no feelings. She's of the rock heart people."

_______

My sidekick Trish, who's back in Kentucky, is an epic email writer. I'm talking novel length here. Sometimes they're funny and sometimes they're sad but usually they're funny/sad... which is even better. 

Do you people have a friend like that?

So, Dish, this one has your name on it. Guess it's time to get started on that real book now..

_______

And a big thank you to my dear friend Shanee for the surprise mail I received this week! Several years ago she up and moved to Alaska one day and never looked back.. 

preserves wait, in the box it arrived in, for a special occasion

maybe stylized snow people?

It's time for a singer-sewing-break.
Happy Weekend!