Just want you to know that when I recommended you read Dave Eggers’ The Captain and the Glory, that it makes an antidote to the captain and Zelenskiyy.
I confess that I could not finish Eggers’ masterpiece. I tried. I heard enough of it to recognize it as great. I only know bits and bits of Ulysses, too. If you can, read Eggers. Heck, read both Eggers and Joyce.
My preference is veggie-forward plates. My stepchildren gifted me again with a vegan lunch. [Last month it was Le Botaniste.] I am delighted.
Today, I took my gift certificate and went to the uptown branch of PeaceFood.
The flavors in a seemingly simple sandwich are rich and complex. I know how difficult it is to follow a vegan regimen.
I watched our son-in-law learn to prepare amazing, exciting dishes from a vegan cookbook. He had a knack from the beginning.
The two restaurants are utterly different. Each faces its veganism with its own style and invention.
The feminist, the spiritual, the mystical is emerging as part of the history of art. Art no longer is defined exclusively as white and male.
It never belonged exclusively to the patriarchy.
The American Folk Art Museum is a showcase for art created by non-traditional makers and self – taught artists.
Last week, AFAM offered via Zoom a fascinating presentation in conjunction with an exhibit of Shaker creations, which has since closed.
The panel, Mystical Abstraction: Women, Spiritualism and the Arts, stands on its own. (Click above or here to enjoy on YouTube.)
We visited images created with the goal of connecting humans to the mystic or spiritual by women makers.
We learned of artists whose work informs and expands human knowledge.
We met women creators who channeled the devine.
The panel included Hilma’s Ghost a pair of collaborative artists, Sharmithsa Ray and Dannielle Tegeder and art historian and author Jennifer Higgie [The Other Side: A Journey Into Women, Art and the Spirit World]. The program was moderated by the Museum’s curator, Mathilde Walker-Billaud.
Muffins feel like such an ideal nibble. You know, light but feeling.
Actually, what is a muffin but cake masquerading as healthy. Walnut + banana, cran-apple. Yeah. It’s just cake and mostly not even the best of cake.
Pound cake, fluffy, flaky but insubstantial. Yet amazingly caloric.
This struck me as exceedingly clever.
The bag says The Container Store. The tagline says
Bloomingdale’s country has several new interesting hi-rise neighbors to the flagship store
It was in one of the several dining rooms at Bloomingdale’s that I met D for lunch. My notation post our get-together was «lunch with D was heavenly.« Should I have journaled «divine?«
I had what I always described as a Bloomingdale’s habit as a teen. The store was midway between school and where my parents, who were my ride home, worked. That made it the perfect stopover.
For years, if you needed a break during your shopping trip, there were only 2 places to visit. 40 Carrots, a yogurt emporium was downstairs. [There were always lines for that treat.] The fancier restaurant, tablecloths and all, named Blue something, was on 7.
All the options upon our visit were more casual if upscale. We hit two on the same visit. The adorable Studio 59 has a limited menu, with the exception of a cocktails list. The breakfast was excellent. On to Flip, the burger joint (get it, flippin’ burgers) off the Men’s department. It checks off every box: Very friendly. Very tasty. Plenty of variety. Very cute.
Of course, my journal comment wasn’t about the (good) food. It was most definitely about the good company and sprawling conversation we, D and I, shared.
My resource among professional organizers turned out to be a unique choice.
Karen Guccione has a background in social work.
She was perfect for the small task I needed.
Of course, she would be suited to undertake your daunting need to get everything ship shape as well.
I wanted someone who would schlep my excessive stacks of receipts and bank statements to the shredding event our public representative, Rebecca Seawright, had organized. I intended to go with but did not have an aide to stay with my husband that day.
Karen brought her large shlepping cart to help with the undertaking. She came back afterward to give me company, support, and compassion.
Karen’s web page will lead you to her services.
My quandary over what to «name« a post has led me to refine my activity.
I think I am gaining skill in the art of titling a story.
It’s about defining what you want to say.
It’s about grabbing a reader’s attention. It’s an important part of the process, especially in my «opinion« pieces. It’s very much a challenge for my poems.
Ok, so I have laid bare my longs and my shorts.
Here’s one where I came up with an “alternative” to the title I used.
The original was «Barkeep, I’ll have a….« The subject was simply musing on the art of tending to a coffee bar.
Saffron, that rare and expensive spice, is rare and expensive because it’s challenging to harvest.
As a spice, it’s a deeply yellow hue. The little florets are purple.
I did not know that.
Here’s advice that is both timely and practical, well, timely for me since there was a leak in my egg drawer. Not eggs, I’m happy to report as that would be a big mess, but it caused a need for a clean-up.
Don’t keep the fridge door open for longer than 5 minutes. Then give your refrigerator 20 minutes for recovery.
I don’t think I knew that. Didya?
I learned a new word from the NYT The Morning pangram (I want to call it pan-a-gram, but it’s not). Monocracy, government or rule by one person, also referred to as dictatorship.
Baristas like bartenders have upped the ante. The more specific drink invention gets, the more knowledge and skill they have to exercise.
So it’s blonde and flat or almond and what have you. I don’t even know how to order from these menus.
Let’s face it, complicated is fun. And adds spice.
I thought of asking my Swiss cafeista today to prepare my cappucino mit schlag.
They call it Vienesse at Sotheby’s down the block. Adding not spice but calories.
All The Best