snowy vacation

yesterday - was a relaxing drive through some

of the best scenery in the country - in my opinion.

fugu, james and i

drove up the 395 - stopping a few times along the way

for grassy spots and then at Schat's bakery in Bishop for some provisions.

12 grain bread, cheese, peanut butter

and some of their homemade

doggy crackers.

when we started winding up into the mountains -

an excitement and energy - like a breath of crisp, fresh air took over!

the feeling of being a kid, making snowmen

and tearing down the mountain all start getting planned in my head - before we even get to

the snow covered cabin!

and the views...

simply terrible huh.

no.16 and frances

hidden no.16...

Belgium, Antwerp, peeping hole cleverly disguised as number 16.

1941 London aerial shot of lot 16

and

let us play with your brain -

Frances Farmer...

in 1937 - she played Josie Mansfield - a would be actress that appears

at Pike's Opera House in a sequence called "The Twelve Temptations" ...

this image was called "Vice."

burning the candle at both ends.

one mess at a time

to begin and give you an idea of what my living room looks like at the moment-

or what it may have looked like if it were blasted by a

time machine back into the seventies and a strange man with an

exhausted pose

might be standing in the middle of the room...

much like this man,

i have been sorting through one messy mess project at a time..

ongoing mess no. 3:

when one goes to as many vintage clothing sales, flea markets and

second hand stores as i do...

and takes home so many things

for which there is no space for...

you begin to cross the fine line

between collecting and becoming a hoarder.

1. the acquisition of and failure to discard a large number

of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value.

2. living spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities

for which those spaces were designed.

these items that you bring home should be organized on racks or hung in

closets, neatly tucked away, easily seen and readily accessible -

so that you may be able to enjoy them and wear them...

growing up, my mother enforced a biannual wardrobe cleansing; as an adult,

i told myself that it shall be a ritual i'll never abandon.

i hate to admit that i have slacked off a bit over the last few years..

slowly and surely- i am guiding myself back into

the organized world of being clutter free..

so -here's how it works: every six months,

take everything out of your closet, your shoe boxes,

jewelry bins, sock drawer... then carefully put back only those things that you

absolutely love ~ things you would buy again right now if given the opportunity again.

everything that is left must be immediately donated to charity or consigned.

some dangerous phrases to stay away from are:

- i paid good money for this!

- i'll get to it when i have more time.

- it's too good to just give away!

- it would cost me a lot more if i ever had to replace it.

- if i don't like it, i can alway return it.

- i've put too much into it already to abandoned it now.

- maybe my feet will shrink.

beegle and tony

some inspiration from tony and beegle...

their respective talents were perfectly suited and their artistic collaborations throughout their lives complimented each other.

a tuesday matinee

i have been listening to the Fever Ray album just about every day -

and this is a very nice version of Stranger Than Kindness.

just as nice as when Nick Cave did it- just a bit different...

i hope you like it.

Fever Ray - Stranger Than Kindness from Mute Records on Vimeo

backyard squash, tomato & chive garden

yesterday - james and i got some wood and made a raised

bed for a backyard vegetable garden.

today we went and got the smelly soil and put it

in the bed and then planted two different kinds of tomatoes,

some summer squash and some chives...

here is what the squash blossoms should look

like when summer time come around!

small, delicate, orange blossoms

that will be ready to wash...

or they might look like this on a blue glass plate-

side by side in a neat little row...

then i can make all sorts of delicious plates like this one...

just follow this recipe by Laurel Miller, except for the filling, simply mix cream cheese with a minced garlic clove and some chopped chives and oregano from the garden. also fry several just with the masa harina batter and leave out the cheesy filling. they are delicious and really allow you to appreciate the blossom's subtle flavor.

FRIED SQUASH BLOSSOMS WITH GARLIC-CHEESE FILLING

This recipe is an adaptation from one used at Chez Panisse. The masa harina, available at any grocery store, makes for a more crisp, delicate batter than all-purpose flour or cornmeal.

1/4 cup finely chopped mixed herbs, such as chives, tarragon, or chervil

1 1/2 teaspoons finely minced shallots

12 fresh open squash blossoms

Large pinch salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 cup masa harina

Two large pinches salt

Pinch freshly ground white pepper

Vegetable oil

In a small bowl, mix together the herbs, shallot, chvre and salt.

Open up the individual blossoms wide enough to insert a teaspoonful of cheese mixture. Do not overfill or fried blossoms will be soggy. Twist the ends of the blossom together gently.

In a medium bowl, beat 2 eggs together with 1/4 cup milk. In a separate medium bowl, mix together masa harina, salt, and pepper. Dip each blossom into the egg mixture and then roll quickly and evenly in the masa harina mixture, gently shaking off excess. Refrigerate for a few minutes.

Pour 1 inch of oil into a small shallow saucepan or skillet. Heat oil to 350 degrees. Deep-fry the blossoms in batches until they begin to turn light golden brown. Drain on baking rack set over paper towels, and serve immediately.

or you can put some on a pizza -

along with some pine nuts and zucchini or slices of squash!

checking things off the list of importants

day to day has been very much engulfed with ideas

and endless creative possibilities

in my latest adventure

of the 'installation of an art exhibition' no.2--

once we get the grand opening up and going,

i will start posting things over on the

musée page-

but for now i will share a little bit of this ongoing

dream venture over here on my

day in the life of page..

here is a little window into the marvelous space that awaits us.

the interior of the trailer is quite luscious and will be perfect

in my mind - for tiny displays of artifacts and art-

sort of like the hidden room that Winston and Julia are staying in

above Mr. Charrington's shop on the other side

of the wall in Nineteen Eighty-Four..

i found some old phototube relays with black bulbs

and a telegraph relay that came from a disused science lab

that will fit nicely--

along with a rejected turntable,

some idle toy submarines

and a few squirel cage filament bulbs.

also -found an antique metal 'specials of the day' board

with really nice old style metal letters

to hang on the outside of the gallery for artists names and shows.

and got an official new down by the sea address for the musée.

so-

the airfloat is being prepared and polished.

it is still up in mill valley just

waiting for us to go pick it up any day now!

5 cent frank

'The market is collapsing, we’re all staring at a new Depression, and I’m talking about going to Europe now? Am I crazy? But, yes, this is what you should be thinking about now. We may all end up with food carts. But it’s a lot better to have a good cart on a good corner; conference publications and contacts are good for you.'

Berenice Abbott, Hot Dog Stand, West St. and North Moore, Manhattan,1936.

5 years

five years ago,

james and i flew to the very bottom of the

Grand Canyon

and we were married

along the winding Colorado River

with all of the amazing, gigantic red rock formations surrounding us...

so- yesterday we went and rode

the train to the Grand Canyon

at Disneyland...

it was a long journey

with many spectacular sites along the way....

then we stopped at the red and white striped candy store

on main street and shared a hot dog

while listening to the piano player and

watching the mad hatter and alice

play musical chairs.

very romantic it was...

later that evening-

we went for a cuban candle lit dinner

and some bottles of havana wine

at one of my favorite places..Habana..

we talked and had a few laughs about what an adventurous five years

these have been--- indeed...

to be continued...

rainy day breakfast

a good morning breakfast at one of my favorite

little diners with charm and old time appeal...

it's the Filling Station

in old town Orange.

this place really did used to be a filling station..

but now it looks like the perfect place to sit at the

counter and sip a cupa joe while

reading the paper.

my plate had 2 sunny side up eggs with avocado

and sliced tomatoes with wheat toast- dry...

i just wish this place was open longer

then just for breakfast and lunch -

the back room would be perfect for a

get together with friends

or a romantic quiet dinner two

or even one.

oh and.. i took these splendid pictures with my

digital harinezumi camera.

a traveling museum vessel

as i have mentioned before,

since we closed up shop and gallery in portland---

searching and brainstorming

for a new space for our petite musee16

has become a favorite pass time

in the last several months...

looking for something that matched

a theme we had going

along with being pleasing to the eye.

well- guess what?

the search is over!!!

because we have found a perfect vessel for our

traveling venture/museum shop and mobile

exhibition...

we won a beautiful 1950's Airfloat Skipper

last night and just need to drive up to marine county

and tow it back down here to begin the process of transforming

it into a mobile museum that defies

easy categorization...

what it really seems to always come down to...

Aesthetic

this exit- a vegas trip

'This Exit' we stopped for a toilet break in Baker.

the arrow points to Area 51 and where

nothing but a toilet really is.

on the way back we will look for an alien or two-

but right now we have places to go!

then we were back on the road, heading towards

the dark clouds - and the desert

rain storms were very colorful.

-

arriving in Las Vegas...

we pulled up to the Wynn and went up to our

room in the Encore tower.

what was the view from our window?

a few abandoned

construction sites that were left part done-

a sad view-

due to the recession hitting

Vegas so hard.

one of the holes

was where the old Stardust was.

but...

after reading about it

in the

local newspaper that was left for us on the desk...

James decided to put on an optimistic face despite

the industrial carnage below.

so---

we headed downstairs for a very relaxing and lovely dinner at Sinatra....

best caesar salad i think i have ever had,

[perhaps because that's the way Frank would have had it]-

and then it was back up the elevator to the 26th floor,

for a good night's rest

and a big day of bright light adventure awaiting...

[so glad Circus Circus is still over there on the left]

to be cont...

---

so then we did things like walked around and ate dinner and walked

around and looked at the many people walking up and down the strip.

there were people only looking upwards, people denying the people handing out flyers for

nude dance clubs, people who looked like they didn't want to walk anymore,

people who looked extremely lost, drunk people falling into the bushes and

even joggers weaving in and out of the strip walkers...

so

then we decided to escape

to a quiet, dark place at the far reaches of the strip.

a place where underwater creatures swim above and around you-

moving on-

after a few days of too much over the top-ness and topless this and

number one in town that and best of everything votes by whomever...

it was time to head home and recharge our heads

along with our internal batteries.

so

then it was back on the road -

and while

driving in a daze of desert wonderment,

i happened to glance over at a car passing us up...

we followed this car for several miles-

it led us to another planet... a place not much unlike that of a mini mart,

where one could find energizing-

out of this world - tasty treats such as alien jerky and

pistachios made by the local aliens themselves.

they were extra nice and even offered us a sample---

but then it was time to say our

goodbyes and traveled the rest of the way to what we call

home.

new camera & my walls

i recently got a new camera and these are the very first

photos i took with it...as i was trying to figure it out and

reading through the steps,

they really came out so rich and full

and turned out pretty nice...

for an amateur practice shoot.

these are few images of my inspiration walls

in the bedroom.

the pretty wood paneling is also inspiring because

my grandpa put them up about

60 years ago...

i love these looks - with the scarf and the hair piece

spiraled around in some contained netting---

imagining them as sort of a modern peacock

version of a 1970's Faye Dunaway and

a 1930's Bonnie sitting at a 1940's cafe

in Chinatown...

valentines day dogs

today is valentine day and that means dog beach

and bon fires and weenies

for lot's of people- so it seems...

this morning, james and i went down to the beach with

fugu and walked and walked.

in the sand with so many other dogs.

big dogs and little dogs.

even tiny little versions

of fugu came running up to us

as balls flew by and waves chased us back

and forth...

as we were walking along,

one could get a wiffs of smoking fire rings and

people holding sticks with hot dogs on them.

it smelled good...

and what a great idea for a romantic valentines day

out in the sunshine...

i'm still dreaming up ideas of how to put a hot dog cart together.

i think when i find a little airstream submarine gallery,

it will double as a de-luxe dogs for

my friends and i!

and i think this will just have to happen very soon-

i'm feeling it.

those delish de-luxe dogs are going to be perfect for

birthdays and lazy days alike...

just perfect.