10.06.2010

new is new

It's been 8 months since I decided to move back North. That seems crazy. Seems like I just got here in ways, and seems like I never left in other ways. Time is always tricky like that. I figure what makes me feel like I just got here is that I continue to be overcome by moments of "newness." Even though my life up here has succumbed to bits and pieces of routine and monotony, it doesn't drag on me the way it has previously. I'm not sure how long that will last. Maybe it takes a year. Or maybe it will go on and on since I will never be native to this place. I think about this a lot. And, I am grateful for this a lot. I decided to take a few photos on one particularly monotonous day at work. These are some things that are often around me, and boring as they may be, I am thankful to see them.


9.17.2010

o-hio

The countdown for this Big trip used to be months, then weeks, then days, soon hours.
I am short on time, but full to the brim on the inside and think I should do a an Ohio post before those hours tick by, and then the days, and then the weeks, and it never happens.

The last few days in Ohio were the kind of days you can't describe with plain words. The images I have won't do it justice, either, but it's a start.

[evening drive // Hocking County, Ohio]












[Loch Loafin at Stony Broke // Hocking County, Ohio]


[Jack's Steakhouse // Hocking County, Ohio]




[The Annual Hocking County Fair // Hocking County, Ohio]

9.10.2010

home is where the heart is

Good heavens, I have been a terrible blogger lately. I am going to place blame on the following things:

1. I have traveled to Colorado twice in the last month.
2. I lost my camera for a while.
3. Waldo spilled water on my computer.
4. I go to work, and then I cut paper at night.
5. I leave in 4 days for ArtPrize. (holy shit).
6. I moved in with David and we do not have internet at home (first on the list of things to do when I get back from Michigan).

There. I promise things will get better.

On another note...I loved last weekend. Here are some things I am going to blame for that:

1. That I walked in on you and Sam multiple times drinking wine and watching movies.

2. That we all somehow keep maintaining the ability to all be in the same place at the same time every once in a while, even if the in-between times send us all over the place.

3. When you are the photographer for the weddings I am in. We should be some sort of combo package or something.

4. Singing on the roof top.

5. Blue hair and blue tights.

6. Being your accomplice for Todd's photo surprises.

7. That you have a cane.

8. No shoes, No service.

And many more, I'm sure.....

It's funny that the next time I visit, it's entirely possible neither you or Sam will be there. I think I am almost as excited as you guys about your road trip (especially since Moscow is on the route). I'm excited to hear about the people you meet and the places you fall in love with. Likewise, I am excited to hear about some misfortune and strange people as well (as long as they are harmless). I wonder where you will land after the trip. So much unknown!

Returning from Colorado this time I really felt like I was coming home rather than leaving home. I love this nook of the country, and the people I know here, and the boyfriend and dog I live with. I never would have imagined any of it, which is what makes it all so exciting. So much is always about to happen.

homegrown

She thinks my tractor's sexy.


[Raton, NM, August 2010]

9.08.2010

around about october




I liked it when you were here.
And I really like that scrambled eggs song.
When are you going to put a recording of that up on WN?

See you in Moscow, round about October.

8.31.2010

2640





I am still melancholy about leaving that little house.

broke down


[broken down 15 miles outside of Alamogordo, NM]

8.22.2010

the way that blue sky fades

We leave today for New Mexico a trip that will take us to Raton, Santa Fe, White Sands, and Vermejo.
I will always love New Mexico.

Heading To Santa Fe -- Samantha Crain:

8.19.2010

McCarthyism

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One of the first interviews Cormac McCarthy ever gave, to the NY Times in 1992.
Read the whole thing through, but this is one of my favorite paragraphs:


Since 1976 he has lived mainly in El Paso, which sprawls along the concrete-lined Rio Grande, across the border from Juarez, Mexico. A gregarious recluse, McCarthy has lots of friends who know that he likes to be left alone. A few years ago The El Paso Herald-Post held a dinner in his honor. He politely warned them that he wouldn't attend, and didn't. The plaque now hangs in the office of his lawyer.

8.10.2010

matters of the heart

I've been cramming at night to get my giant paper cut done for ArtPrize which happens just over one month from now (yikes.) Tonight I have been spending some time on the TED website to keep my mind sharp (and awake). I listened to the talk below about love and cheating and thought it was necessary for your ongoing research on love and marriage.

p.s. my camera has been found and will soon be on it's way back to me. until then, you might be getting some more TED videos.



8.09.2010

you were my feather


The band Sam + I found ourselves watching and liking last night is called O'Holloran.
When you get to their MySpace listen to 'Oh to See a Picture.' That's the one I was telling you about.

8.07.2010

note from ny

I wrote this on the way home from visiting my Grandma in Geneseo, NY, and just never posted it.

________________

I'm writing this from the little Rochester airport, having just spent the last few days with Grammy Bow and Aunt Joyce in Geneseo, NY. Maybe it's age or maybe it's having lost people I love, but I am acutely aware of how limited my time is with the people I love, especially those people are 88 years old. I try to actively appreciate my time with GBow, mindfully absorbing her stories, mannerisms, nuggets of wisdom. That town is so infused with my family's history that it seems impossible to take a step in any direction without finding yourself face to face with an anecdote.

I've had a lot of time to think the last few days, mostly while sipping iced tea on the screen porch, the air thick with humidity, the insects and birds sounding distinctly more Eastern than the ones I'm used to. Of all the stories she tells -- and she tells many -- my grandmother talks about my grandfather the most. These stories usually are about the early days, when they were courting, or just married, or when my dad and aunt were small. If we are at the house when she's telling these stories she brings out a creased envelope containing her favorite photographs of him and sets them out where she can see them while she talks. She talks about the first time she saw him, about what he was wearing and the exact words he said. She talks about the floor plan of the first tiny apartment they shared. She talks about my grandfather's hidden sentimentality. When pushed, she'll talk about other things, too. I asked her how he proposed and she said it happened one evening as he was driving her home from a date, and that he said it out of the blue. She said he was shaking he was so nervous, but that his face was stone. That sounds like him. She said yes. I asked what happened next, and she laughed and said, "What do you think happened next?" I'm not sure what that means exactly, but there was a light in her eye when she said it.

When I think about my grandparents' relationship, especially in the last few years of his life, I don't remember any tenderness or affection. Maybe this was just because I wasn't privy to a sweetness that existed only behind closed doors. Or maybe things did get complicated and bitter at the end. In any case, I've wondered if maybe her losing him freed her to remember him the way she wanted to. It gave her ownership of their shared memories, allowed her to rewrite the past any way she liked.

Whatever the case, it's a hell of a love story. I hope I'm lucky enough to live a love story so great it sustains me when I am very old.

[Letchworth State Park, NY]

[Grandma Bow + Auntie Joyce, Letchworth State Park, NY]


[The Riviera, Main Street, Geneseo, NY]


[Main Street, Geneseo, NY]

[The Big Tree Inn, owned + operated by my grandmother and her family during WWII, Geneseo, NY]

[The Bar at the Big Tree Inn, Geneseo, NY]

[Graveyard near Geneseo, NY, where my grandmother's parents are buried as well as Bows who were buried as long ago as the 1700's]


[my grandfather, my grandmother's enduring love interest]

7.24.2010

music with feeling

I have a rather long post about my NY trip in the works, but in the meantime I'm going to post these musical suggestions while they're on my mind.

I've spent a lot of time the last few days reading, writing, thinking, and all the while listening to Chris Pureka + Dawes. Download these tracks next time you need some music with feeling.

7.21.2010

on food

I found something to rival the glory of eating food outside, and that is eating food you grow yourself.

This is my first tomato.

7.14.2010

backyard

Sunday evening:



7.12.2010

i heart gingers

The most significant adventure of the weekend: working the door and subsequently experiencing the mad energy that is hip hop legend KRS 1.
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Bathroom stall graffiti that rivals that one time I saw 'Follow Your Bliss' in a bar in Crested Butte:
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[women's bathroom // Cervantes // Five Points, Denver CO]

in defense of organized fun, just once

Sam + Ross + Ross' friend, Mark, collectively forced me to go to a Rockies' game this weekend.

I surprised myself by not hating it completely, organized fun that it was. I was pleased with the lighting, and with the drinking, and with exuberance on the part of the true fans.
m

traffic jam

While stuck in traffic on I-70:
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7.09.2010

yelle



Next time you are getting a little drowsy editing, I suggest you try giving Yelle a listen. It's one of my new favorites favorites.

7.07.2010

some summer

I realized the other day that this is the first time I have ever had a full time 40 hour work week kind of job. The good thing is that I don't really mind, seeing as though I play with plants all day. In between all the working, I have been able to do a few summer activity type deals. One of which was a peaceful trail ride in Idaho (It was only the second time I have been on a horse this year, and it felt good, real good): And the other was a brief cabin stay on Lake Coeur D'Alene. I was able to meet up with Shauna and family on her journey home to CO, and then David and I stayed at a little cabin he did some work on last summer. Best part, by far was the hour we spent on the dock the next morning throwing sticks to Waldo.

7.05.2010

independence week

I had two great adventures this week: first, the trip out to Pat's Wildlife Creations in the Poudre Canyon outside of Fort Collins, and second, the trip to Carter Lake outside of Berthoud to shoot a wedding.




[I-25 Northbound, just outside of Fort Collins]


[an especially lovely sunset at the house]


[Dale's furniture store, Berthoud CO]




[fireworks stand, Berthoud CO]


[gas station with no prices, Berthoud CO]


[fruit sale at Graci's Fruit Stand, Berthoud CO]


[Sam's note inviting our next door neighbors to our 4th of July shindig]