secret notebooks • wild pages

Lightness

2009-11-11T05:21:00.003-05:00

“He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back.”
— Henri Matisse

Ready to Rouse Your Inner Warrior?

2009-11-10T14:00:00.000-05:00

Dog Music

2009-11-10T05:07:00.001-05:00

Dog Music

Amongst dogs are listeners and singers.
My big dog sang with me so purely,
puckering her ruffled lips into an O,
beginning with small, swallowing sounds
like Coltrane musing, then rising to power
and resonance, gulping air to continue—
her passion and sense of flawless form—
singing not with me, but for the art of dogs.
We joined in many fine songs—"Stardust,"
"Naima," "The Trout," "My Rosary," "Perdido."
She was a great master and died young,
leaving me with unrelieved grief,
her talents known to only a few.

Now I have a small dog who does not sing,
but listens with discernment, requiring
skill and spirit in my falsetto voice.
I sing her name and words of love
andante, con brio, vivace, adagio.
Sometimes she is so moved she turns
to place a paw across her snout,
closes her eyes, sighing like a girl
I held and danced with years ago.

But I am a pretender to dog music.
The true strains rise only from
the rich, red chambers of a canine heart,
these melodies best when the moon is up,
listeners and singers together or
apart, beyond friendship and anger,
far from any human imposter—
ballads of long nights lifting
to starlight, songs of bones, turds,
conquests, hunts, smells, rankings,
things settled long before our birth.

— by Paul Zimmer

Books, books, and more books...

2009-11-09T16:04:00.001-05:00

I have lots of time to find books I want to read lately, but not enough time to actually read them. Maybe once the sub-zero nights and Nor'easter days of winter kick in I'll catch up...not that I'm looking forward to that kind of weather.

I just pre-ordered New York: The Novel on Amazon, after seeing an ad for it in the New York Times Book Review (somewhere a marketing person is giving a little cheer over that statement, believe me). Booklist calls Edward Rutherfurd's 7th novel a "lush, lavish tribute to the Big Apple" that spans four centuries of it's history (880 pages!) "New York's growing pains, tragedies and triumphs, are reflected in the experiences of a range of ordinary and extraordinary citizens from varying backgrounds, with a wide spectrum of ambitions and expectations. Although it is hard to do justice to a city with such a throbbing pulse, Rutherford’s homage is compulsively readable." To learn more you can visit the author's website here. I'm looking forward to reading this book all winter.

Maybe a light-hearted companion to New York: The Novel could be Robinson's New York Line By Line. From the Amazon description: In the early ’60s, Robinson, a German illustrator, visited New York and documented his trip in his signature style, the self-described "X-ray view," in which he depicts important buildings simultaneously from within and without (instead of showing exactly what was already visible in photographs). Today, with such programs available as Freehand and Illustrator, Robinson is considered a graphics pioneer. From a Greenwich Village restaurant to Chinatown’s Mott Street; from a Museum of Modern Art exhibit to takeoffs and landings at Kennedy Airport; and from the Rockefeller Center ice rink to Times Square, New Yorkers and tourists alike will savor Robinson’s beautiful and meticulous re-creations. The book also includes updated urban facts.

It can sit on my coffee table next to This is New York, a copy of which J gave to me as a gift this past summer. Originally published in 1960 Miroslav Sasek's bright and graphic illustrated picture book of Manhattan is a joy to leaf through for kids and adults alike.

Another new book arrival, completley unrelated to New York (gasp!) is Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. This is the hot-off-the-presses follow-up to the wildly popular Artisan Bread in five Minutes a Day, which I was contemplating purchasing until I began reading comments on Amazon.com and noticed lots of complaints about the book's lack of whole grain recipes. That won't do, I thought, even if their technique takes only 5 seconds a day. A little more searching and I discovered this new book with 100 recipes featuring whole grains, fruit, vegetables, and even gluten-free ingredients. I need a few basic tools before donning my baker's hat (a baking stone and oven thermometer, most importantly) but I'll let you know how their technique works out for an impatient I'd-rather-be-blogging baking novice like myself. Has anyone out there tried it?

Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart recently appeared on my desk at work for a gardening book photo shoot, and I didn't hesitate to take it home with me afterwards (that's the danger of leaving nice books within my reach, and a perk of working for a publisher). This little hardcover would make a wonderful gift for the plant/history/folklore/science lover. Of course the more pages I turn the more paranoid I am about going outside. I thought poison ivy was all I needed to worry about, when in reality my gardens and woods are full of ghoulishly poisonous greenery.

Last but not least, a couple of weeks ago I went online and felt inexplicably compelled to buy used copies of Kerouac: The Definitve Biography, Visions of Cody (which I somehow never read), and The Subterraneans (my copy disappeared years ago), only realizing a few days later that I'd bought them on October 21 — the 40 year anniversary of Kerouac's death. I love coincidence.

Now I just need more time to read. Maybe while I'm waiting for my bread dough to rest.

Good Morning!

2009-11-09T05:56:00.002-05:00

Guess who's back for a visit?

Sunday Sunset

2009-11-08T21:41:00.001-05:00

The Loser

2009-11-08T11:14:00.000-05:00

A man thinks of the woman he once loved: first, after her wedding, and then nearly a decade later.

1.
I kissed you, bride and lost, and went
home from that bougeois sacrament,
your cheek still tasting cold upon
my lips that gave you benison
with all the swagger that they knew—
as losers somehow learn to do.

Your wedding made my eyes ache; soon
the world would be worse off for one
more golden apple dropped to ground
without the least protesting sound,
and you would windfall lie, and we
forget your shimmer on the tree.

Beauty is always wasted: if
not Mignon's song sung to the deaf,
at all events to the unmoved.
A face like yours cannot be loved
long or seriously enough.
Almost, we seem to hold it off.

2.
Well, you are tougher than I thought.
Now when the wash with ice hangs taut
this morning of St. Valentine,
I see you strip the squeaking line,
your body weighed against the load,
and all my groans can do no good.

Because you are still beautiful,
Though squared and stiffened by the pull
of what nine windy years have done.
You have three daughters, lost a son.
I see all your intelligence
flung into that unwearied stance.

My envy is of no avail.
I turn my head and wish him well
who chafed your beauty into use
and lives forever in a house
lit by the friction of your mind.
You stagger in against the wind.

— Adrienne Rich, 1958

It's a little disarming to pull a favorite book from the shelf and see that the pages have gone and yellowed on me. Does that happen to you? Was it that long ago that I bought it? In my defense, The Fact of a Doorframe, like many of my other books, was purchased used — and for only $4.50. When I think of the profound influence poems like The Loser had one me, it's almost an incomprehensible bargain.

Someday perhaps I'll tell the story of how the dress and veil came to be hanging in the closet.

Saturday Double Takes

2009-11-07T20:27:00.001-05:00

The last double take. At least for now.

It feels as if there are million things I could or should be doing this evening but I can't seem to focus on any of them. I thought I'd choose some simple diversions — create mini moo.com cards for the blog, start a Blurb book of images, dive into a new book — but I can't muster up the enthusiasm to get started on any of them. Perhaps these endeavors are too much like my day job to seem fun on the weekend, and maybe I'm just burnt out from a fast-paced, meeting-heavy week and feeling physically under the weather.

Last night, however, J and I celebrated a little bit of early Thanksgiving with friends by attending the first annual (hopefully annual) Grateful Harvest Dinner at nearby Elmer's, the local general-store-turned-homey-restaurant that we love. Everything on the night's set menu was grown, raised, or produced within a 100-mile radius and consisted of:

• Savory Brined Turkey
• Roasted Fall Vegetables: Parsnips, Carrots, Brussel sprouts, Acorn Squash
• Gorgonzola and Bacon Mashed Potatoes
• “Old School” Pan Gravy
• Roasted Mushrooms, Green Beans and Caramelized Onions
• Chestnut Dressing
• AnnaBread (made locally)
• Dessert - pumpkin pie or Berkshire ice cream

Also featured were a variety of local hard ciders from West County Cider and local Meade. That the meal was utterly delicious probably goes without saying. How could one go wrong with a menu like that? I don't know specifically what kind of local mushrooms were served but they were dark and meaty and utterly delicious (turns out I like to eat mushrooms as much as I like to photograph them). There was also a tart-yet-sweet berry compote on the plate that didn't appear on the official menu. Post-feast we headed for our friend's house to sip tequila and play dominos until the wee hours. It didn't occur to me until just now that the last time I played dominos was on Thanksgiving proper, a couple of years ago. J and I would always play along with my family on Thanksgiving evening, huddled around our tiny kitchen table sipping cider and snacking, candles flickering in the windows, a fire crackling in the woodstove. I have great memories of those games.

Maybe there will be new traditions. How does the saying go? Friends are family you choose yourself. I always thought that quote implied a dissatisfaction with or rejection of one's actual family and viewed it with suspicion — but latley I see it simply as an acknowledgement of the wider circle one can create.

"Cheers" to life's widening circles.

Five Senses Friday #30

2009-11-06T18:31:00.001-05:00

Wow, a Five Senses Friday on a Friday!

Taste:
• Cheddar, apple, and caramelized onion tart
• Andouille sausage with red beans and rice
• Roasted delicata, garlic, sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts over quinoia with tempeh
• Nutella on sour dough toast

See:
• No wild turkeys this week, but a cattle crossing!
• And speaking of cattle, my friends with the beautiful Highland cattle have just started both a newsletter and a Facebook page for their family farm, Gordon's Fold, which they're trying to save from being sold. Cross all available appendages that they can save their beautiful spot. And go be their fan!
• Today the hills were purple, green, and gray and frosted with a bit of icy snow; behind clouds the sky turned the pale blue usually reserved for the later winter months

Hear:
• Pomplamoose? The video is cute.
• Vixen and Yeti panting and play-fighting

Feel:
• Pants that fit perfectly right off-the-rack are nothing short of miraculous, and I had to restrain myself from buying every style in the store.
• Confident driving someplace unfamiliar with the help of my GPS. No more hour-long side trips through the great unknown.
• I've now surmised that my shoulder only feels good when I'm moving it.

Smell:
• Fresh fish cakes
• Fresh brewed cappaccino

Zimoun: Sound Sculptures & Installations

2009-11-06T17:37:00.000-05:00

Zimoun : Sound Sculptures & Installations | Compilation Video V1.0 from [ ] on Vimeo.

This is super cool, and I'd love to experience it live in a gallery space (like at MASS MoCA for example). I love how the "swarm prepared vibration motors" at 3:48 have a robotic insect thing going on, and that final installation looks like a lot of fun to play with...

Via Swissmiss

Friday Double Takes

2009-11-06T05:20:00.002-05:00

My parent's backyard in RI/NYC bodega.

Thursday Double Takes

2009-11-05T05:47:00.003-05:00

These hills are bare now, but last week I caught the very end of the day's light as I trudged towards the parking lot after work — the leaves were golden alchemy against the eerie gray sky of an impending rain storm.

Scene

2009-11-04T12:14:00.001-05:00

MASS MoCA, October, 2009

Wednesday Double Takes

2009-11-04T05:46:00.003-05:00

North Adams/Northampton. Who could resist shooting that statuesque dog? I shot from the hip, not wanting to get yelled at. One never knows.

Earth to Earth

2009-11-03T14:19:00.000-05:00

North Adams, MA

These images give the impression that this particular cemetery is in complete disrepair, but that is not really the case. I just find the toppled statuary and stones striking, sinking quietly into the grass — did someone push them over, or was a strong wind responsible? There are broken bits everywhere, engraved letters filled with rain, stones covered in moss. Thankfully nobody takes them, or so it appears.

Tuesday Double Takes

2009-11-03T05:45:00.003-05:00

On the one hand, if this were our wood pile we would have very few worries about heating this winter. On the other, if this were our wood pile we would have had to have stacked all of it.

Until next year...

2009-11-02T21:01:00.005-05:00

Here is one last image from Halloween, taken in the car while J and I sat wondering whether or not to abandon our plans to see The Alchemystics in favor of simply spooking around the drizzly streets of Northampton, as we did when we first met. We ended up having plenty of time for a bit of both. Did I mention that J is responsible for all the detail work on my face paint? It was hard to stand still and not burst out laughing while he added the flowers and swirls, eyeliner pen in hand, his face inches away and serious with concentration.

I'm a bit late discovering it, but there is a beautiful Day of the Dead tribute (Dia de Bloglandia) going on at the Rogridvitz Style blog. I'd like to participate next year and am already thinking about my altar, about those I could honor. The more I learn about the Dia de los Muertos holiday the more appealing it's traditions feel — how comforting to share our remembrances as a community, to know that we're not alone with our losses, not isolated in our grief; and how appropriate to acknowledge the briefness of our life here not with morbidity and sadness but with celebration.

Doin' the (brrrbrrr)...Pigeon

2009-11-02T12:22:00.000-05:00

Watching this short video, I realized that pigeon flying or keeping is something I know absolutely nothing about. But it's fascinating that someone could have that many birds in the middle of the city.

And for those of you who didn't grow up watching Sesame Street in the 1970's and are trying to figure out what the post title is all about...

This was one of my favorite things to do as a little kid. Apparently J too.

There are lots more short videos about real New Yorkers on the The Revel in New York site.

Monday Pairings

2009-11-02T05:44:00.001-05:00

Pairing up some photos this week, for fun.

Five Senses Friday # 29

2009-11-01T19:33:00.003-05:00

See:
• Japanese maples shrugging off red dresses
• A pink clouded moonrise
• Those wild & crazy turkeys again
• Gangs of costumed revelers on night sidewalks
• Newborn glass beads, still on their mandrels

Hear:
• A forceful hissing coming from my rear driver's side tire
• A new washing machine agitating in the laundry room
• Related by J: An older man sitting outside a local bank was having his photo snapped by a younger man with an iPhone. "What's the apple for?" he asked.

Taste:
• New York strip steak with a green peppercorn Cognac cream sauce, bleu cheese and scallion mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables, followed by a cup of Americano and spicy pumpkin pie
• Lobster spring rolls
• Burritos and cold Modelos at La Veracruzana, Northampton

Feel:
• J drawing on the details of my Halloween face with black eyeliner (more photos to come)
• Can't shake my recent shoulder and neck pain

Smell:
• Sometimes when the air is filled with car exhaust it reminds me so much of Manhattan that I find myself enjoying it
• The increasingly strong scent of skunk as J and I made our way back to the car on Halloween night

Almost ready...

2009-10-31T20:19:00.002-04:00

Decided to forgo the black wig in the end. Too goth. Hard to see in this photo, but the dress has little dia de los muertos skeletons all over it. The best idea of the evening was to attach a big flower to my little zipped wristlet, so I can carry my id and cash without having to lug around a bag...

Since I already have a bouquet of red fake flowers to carry...

2009-10-31T17:33:00.001-04:00

This is the time of year I find myself visiting the hilly, rambling cemeteries around North Adams, trying to catch a bit of daylight during my lunch hour. Graveyards are also one of my favorite places to shoot. So in honor of Halloween/All Souls Day/All Saints Day/Dia de los Muertos I'm posting photos from a few recent graveyard ramblings tonight...

Halloween

2009-10-31T06:02:00.001-04:00

Decisions, decisions...

2009-10-30T14:52:00.000-04:00

Halloween is tomorrow night, my friends, and though J and I usually skip the festivities in favor of a quiet night at home, we are headed out this year. If you follow my tweets you know that as of last night I now own two sets of cheap drugstore-style vampire teeth, neither of which are at all convincing. Not only are they not convincing, they fly out of my mouth unless I keep it clamped shut (with the rubbery incisors poking out at ridiculous angles) and this newest set even triggers my gag reflex (gagging, bucktoothed vampire - now that's scary). In desperation I tried googling "make your own vampire teeth" and came across several projects that look as if they'd require robbing my dentist's office to pull off. Another site suggested cutting a pair of vampire teeth out of a white dishwashing liquid bottle (shudder).

So. I shelved the sexy vampire idea (which is probably for the best, as who isn't going to be a sexy vampire this year? The entire country is currently obsessed with all things sexy vampire) and I spent this morning tearing around the house for the makings of a costume. Turns out, I have several choices...

God knows I have plenty of vines, leaves, dried flowers and berries, so I fashioned a quick wreath and thought if I combined it with this outfit and added a few more natural elements on my arms and/or legs I could be a wood nymph/earth goddess. Pros: it's fairly comfortable and easy. Cons: the wreath digs into my head, most of my foliage will probably end up littering the dance floor within 10 minutes, and, minus the wreath the outfit isn't anything I wouldn't normally wear. Moss, anyone?

Option #2 felt a little more costume-like thanks to the mask and black wig. Pros: comfortable and costume-like. Cons: still a little boring. Dress doesn't have much give to it for dancing, so there's the potential for an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction.

Back to the attic...

To pull this ensemble together. There's something about the combination of the afro wig and blank white mask that I really love. Remember this post? Paired up with a vintage 70's polyester jacket and retro-inspired bell bottom pants that I've been holding onto for 15 years for just such an occasion, I could be a creepy, faceless disco dancer. Whatever that is. Pros: I love this wig and am looking for an excuse to wear it. It's a great costume for dancing. Cons: the mask makes it hard to breathe and doesn't have any mouth hole, which will make drinking a challenge. The shoes, while incredibly cute, are going to require me to be carried back to the car by the end of the evening. Still, this is the option I'm leaning towards so far. There are still a few more bird-shaped masks, tuxedo jackets, face paints, petticoats, and prom gowns to shuffle through...

Need another online distraction?

2009-10-29T12:26:00.004-04:00

Good grief this is addictive! Here's a memory matching game that uses images from Flickr based on whatever tag you create...want to match up green, Halloween, Border Collies, flowers? Go for it here.