two kitties/small city

Half, not whole.

Bill Scott Painting Exhibition at Hollis Taggart New York.

I am inspired by the Bill Scott paintings [currently] on show at Hollis Taggart gallery in New York City.Scott was born and raised in Philadelphia and still teaches in the area. This is his fourth solo show at Hollis Taggart.

 

Looking for more information about Bill Scott [Philadelphia], I found another painter named Bill Scott. William Scott was born in Scotland and died in 1989.

  The link through all of them is that cobalt blue. I love that color.

 

Nava Atlas' Quick Vegan Recipes

As I continue into the second month of the Engine 2 Diet, I struggle (like most everyone I'm sure) to keep my energy for food preparation going. We bought a new dishwasher, which helps alot, but I still find that I can easily talk myself out of taking the time to make something healthy. Then, because I don't want to eat non-healthy or non-Vegan foods, I wind up starving myself until I break down and eat whatever. A pattern that has been ingrained for many years now, possibly forever.

So today, I made super-portions of some of my favorite dishes from Nava Atlas' Vegan Express cookbook while John gutted the downstairs bathroom.First, a "Green Garden" of steamed vegetables I had on hand:

I served the veg over brown rice with Nava's Coconut Peanut Sauce drizzled over everything:

I also made up a batch of my favorite Thai Coconut Curry Soup. A favorite recipe and super fast and easy to whip up:

I am still bumping along on the Vegan Wagon. I promised to weigh and measure myself, but I haven't. John says I'm losing weight, so that's good enough for me. I do notice small changes that make me happy and, eventually, I will work up the nerve to get back on the scale - but I think I will wait until I've finished my Jeff Galloway 5K training program and run my race. The 1:1 minute run:walk intervals seem to rev my metabolism. I'm in week 4 of an 8 week program that I downloaded on iTunes. Love that app!

Weekly Kiki.

Anger Management.

 

One of the things I wish I was better at is the art of being mean. Now, I'm a jackass as often as the next gal; the difference is that I struggle to be mean on purpose. In the heat of the moment, I never have a comeback. And sometimes, a comeback is what's appropriate, you know?

Like when someone turns you into a brunette against your will and then tells you (more or less) that ash brown hair is what you asked for. Or when you can't get good health insurance because of a pre-existing condition, even though you cover 90 percent of the costs anyway.

Much of what I am angry about, today, is the wasted time. The FOUR HOURS I spent at the hairdresser only to get something I didn't want. The hours and hours of paperwork prepared by me, my doctors, and their nurses for an underwriter who probably never planned to approve my appeal, anyway.

All that anger gets stuffed in and swallowed and, according to an article I read at the beauty salon today, it's that anger that is making me fat. Maybe.

Here's the short summary, from the July 2011 issue of SELF:

No More Ms. Nice Girl

The Author's [didn't write her name down] lean (and slightly mean) plan for losing weight

• STOP LEADING A REACTIVE LIFE Don't answer the phone or respond to email instantly. Instead, do it when you're ready.
• PUT YOURSELF ON YOUR TO-DO LIST If you're always available to others, you'll want to eat. Take care of your own needs and you won't need to comfort yourself with food.
• FEELING A LITTLE HUNGRY IS OK It's natural to occasionally feel a bit hungry just as you occasionally feel a bit cold or hot. It's not an emergency. You won't starve to death.
• DON'T THINK, "IT DOESN'T MATTER." We've all thought, "It's late, I'm tired, I'm nervous -- I'll just eat." It does matter. The food you consume doesn't go through your system and out to the hungry of the world. It goes onto your poor, overworked, accomodating body.
• FORGE AHEAD. In horse racing, there's a rule of thumb: One pound of weight slows a horse one full length. Slow down too much and you lose your momentum.
• PRACTICE SAYING NO (Especially to habitual takers.) Repeat after me: No, no, no. No is a complete sentence.

Who are your habitual takers?

 

Sandy Skoglund - Radioactive Cats.

I found this postcard in the archives, a photo of the installation Radioactive Cats (1980) by the artist Sandy Skoglund.

The man who sent it to me was named Spencer and I worked with him in the sporting goods section of Dayton's Department store during my last year of high school. He was the first openly gay man I knew and we were as devoted to each other as two fish-out-of-water could possibly be. He was gay in Roseville, Minnesota, and, well, I was working sporting goods.

He spent a few months traveling the world and sent many cards back to me in Minnesota. He moved to Denver and I lost track of him years ago. If I could remember his name I'd stalk him on Google or FB just to see how his life turned out. He was a lot of fun. Who have you lost track of that you'd like to see again?

Heidi's Healthy Hummus.

If you blanch collard greens, they make a nice low-carb wrap. I'll just go ahead and link to a "How to Blanch Vegetables" article so my sister doesn't get upset.....After I give them an ice water bath, I usually spin the leaves dry.

I fill my wrap with hummus, shredded carrots, and thinly sliced cucumbers.

The greens actually have a little tack to them, and wrap nicely without rolling back open.

Here is my recipe for Healthy Hummus. I've been making this for about twelve years - I can't even eat storebought hummus anymore, it's just too disappointing.

Heidi's Heatlhy Hummus.

1 T. whole cumin seeds,

2 cups cooked chickpeas;

1/2 cup. silken tofu;

2-3 T. fresh lemon juice;

1 T. best quality olive oil;

1 clove garlic;

1 tsp. sea salt (or salt to taste);

smidge turmeric; for color.

 

Toast the cumin seeds in a dry, nonstick pan. Toasting the whole seed will give the hummus a delicious, nutty flavor similar to tahini but without the added fat.

After toasting the cumin seeds, grind them in a coffee grinder or spice grinder. (You can clean the spices out of your coffee grinder after by grinding up a slice of bread or two). 

Bung the cumin and all the other stuff in your food processor and pulse until smooth. Season to taste.

How Illuminated Manuscripts Are Made.

Last winter, I saw the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. There was a video of a woman making illuminated manuscripts using old school methods. This is not that video (I couldn't find it) but this piece from the Getty Museum is equally compelling. The book was once a very, very fine work of art. Painstakingly crafted. Just something that was on my mind today in the art studio, as I struggled because of my poor gold-leafing skills.

Manifesto of Encouragement by Danielle LaPorte

I sent this to one of my favorite-est people this morning, as she prepares to leave for her first year of college. And now? I'm sharing it with you:

 

right now:

There are Tibetan Buddhist monks in a temple in the Himalayas endlessly reciting mantras for the cessation of your suffering and for the flourishing of your happiness.

Someone you haven't met yet is already dreaming of adoring you.

Someone is writing a book that you will read in the next two years that will change how you look at life.

Nuns in the Alps are in endless vigil, praying for the Holy Spirit to alight the hearts of all of God's children.

A farmer is looking at his organic crops and whispering, "nourish them."

Someone wants to kiss you, to hold you, to make tea for you. Someone is willing to lend you money, wants to know what your favourite food is, and treat you to a movie. Someone in your orbit has something immensely valuable to give you -- for free.

Something is being invented this year that will change how your generation lives, communicates, heals and passes on.

The next great song is being rehearsed.

Thousands of people are in yoga classes right now intentionally sending light out from their heart chakras and wrapping it around the earth.

Millions of children are assuming that everything is amazing and will always be that way.

Someone is in profound pain, and a few months from now, they'll be thriving like never before. They just can't see it from where they're at.

Someone who is craving to be partnered, to be acknowledged, to ARRIVE, will get precisely what they want -- and even more. And because that gift will be so fantastical in it's reach and sweetness, it will quite magically alter their memory of angsty longing and render it all "So worth the wait."

Someone has recently cracked open their joyous, genuine nature because they did the hard work of hauling years of oppression off of their psyche -- this luminous juju is floating in the ether, and is accessible to you.

Someone just this second wished for world peace, in earnest.

Someone is fighting the fight so that you don't have to.

Some civil servant is making sure that you get your mail, and your garbage is picked up, that the trains are running on time, and that you are generally safe. Someone is dedicating their days to protecting your civil liberties and clean drinking water.

Someone is regaining their sanity. Someone is coming back from the dead. Someone is genuinely forgiving the seemingly unforgivable. Someone is curing the incurable.

You. Me. Some. One. Now.

by Danielle LaPorte

Studio Snapshots.

Not much has happened lately, as I spent most of the last week UNCONSCIOUS on major anti-histamines. The doctor gave me the same drug that they give heroin addicts in detox to keep them from scratching themselves. Well worth it. I needed the rest after two weeks with poison ivy, and I seem to be getting better. I asked J. to help me with the laundry this weekend though.

One thing I am CONSCIOUS of is how different this blog is from its previous version. I don't entirely understand it myself, but it seems to be part of a larger trend of not wanting to talk much [this year] in general. All I can tell you is that I have absolutely no desire to dress this one up, promote it, or even make a banner. I may do that some day, but not right now.  I hope you don't miss the style of the old one too much. If you do, it's still all there. The high drama (deeply introspective?) of the "What's on My Mind" section continues here.

I'm still a happy vegan and it was sort of strange that when I wasn't feeling well this week, I craved kale. I know it. I know it.

A tetch of work going on in the studio. I've been collaging a lot in an old book called Leave Her to Heaven. It's half art; half prayer journal. Of sorts. I started it last year but have been working in it more, lately, because the studio is still too messy and cluttered to paint on large canvas. I thought I would share some images.

I tend to prefer the pages that are a mix of appropriated images, paint, and text. If I had planned this project, I would have chosen a book that had stronger pages. This book is probably sixty years old and the paper is very brittle. I put pieces of watercolor paper underneath each page as I work - to absorb liquid and give some support. 

We have put birdseed outside a window to keep the kitties happy, but the bird traffic makes me happy, too. They park in the tree outside the window in front of my studio work table. Lots of cardinals.

This male [juvenile, I think] blue jay hung out and watched me work for almost a half hour. Until our squirrel, "Rudy," made him nervous.Rudy's fuzzy butt is on the right, there.

Not great pictures through the wavy Civil War glass, but you get the idea.

And I cut open a silk coccoon that was rattling - I bought a bag of them at the yarn store in Montana and (of course) have never done a thing with them.

Inside was a mummy.

The cocoon would make a great egg shell shrine.

What have you been making, lately?