girl in a band

go read kim gordon's memoir. read it now! go!

here is the last sonic youth concert she was talking about. listen to it while you're reading. try not to get angry at the double back pat after you've read about it. whatever you do JUST GO READ IT

so good. so sooooo good.

some blossoms on saturday

and some altered and creepy kitchen graphic things

why must these lemons have faces? :(

some nice graphics in the kitchen

three pictures

here are three pictures from around the sound today. i don't understand this boat. 

the port was open for business today. will they finish any time soon with the backlog of freight ships floating in the inlets? who knows.

if you squint, you can see rainier in the lower right.

i do enjoy using my sunglasses as a filter.

last minute valentine's day gift: chocolate hearts in strawberries

you want to make something special for someone for feb 14th but you've run out of time. what to do if you've only got about an hour and a half? 

do you have strawberries, chocolate and an xacto or small heart shaped cookie cutter? if yes, you can make chocolate hearts in strawberries.

it's sheer simplicity. melt the chocolate (microwave it for about 30 sec or use a double boiler. i don't care. you don't even have to use fancy chocolate. i grabbed two bars (one milk, one dark) from the bodega. that is not fancy.)

then grab your knife or small heart shaped cookie cutter

and start cutting heart shapes into the strawberries. (it is up to you whether or not you get this dumb song stuck in your head. (i hope you don't.))

then simply fill the hearts with chocolate.

i used a spoon. you could rig up something fancier if you so desire.

tips:  you might need to reheat the chocolate for about 15 seconds at some point if you feel it's gotten too thick.  also, if you get some chocolate outside of the heart area, just clean it off with a bit of damp towel.

let cool on the counter et viola! chocolate hearts in strawberries!

people will think you spent forever on these. let them and enjoy sharing these treats.

hand holding and a valentine

like kenny rogers i know when to hold 'em.

also adept at knowing when to fold 'em, when to walk away and when to fucking run.

it's almost that time of year again

it is actually a bit early for cherry blossoms here. not that i care. if i don't have to deal with a real winter, i'm very happy.

leff's been using the good camera to get blossom pics. here's his first batch!

also, here is a dog.

consider svestkove knedliky for valentine's day

if you are tired of giving bog standard chocolates, flowers, etc to whomever on valentine's, i'm gonna' suggest maybe trying to cut to the chase and make svestkove knedliky for them. 

i mean, you'll probably already have strawberries. they are inexpensive right now due to standard issue romantic situations they're associated with, yeah?

have you considered plums though? they are suggestive as hell.

go with plums. there's really no confusing your intention with that fruit.

here's where i'm going to fail you though. i don't have a good recipe for svestkove knedliky. sorry about that. here's a google search for you so at least i saved you that step. just know you'll be making dough and wrapping fruit.

and then you'll be boiling the dumplings kind of like bagels.

i really don't know what i did wrong. eh, they still look a little suggestive here. i must admit that the recipe i used was a failure though. (or maybe i read it wrong, who knows.)

anyway, give it a try! maybe you'll find a version that works better than the one i'm not linking to.

and if all else fails, at least you won't have gone to the damn "50 shades of grey" movie.

some current rabbit holes

i'm sure everyone has their own version of a personal travel guide. my latest is for chicago. (again)

while this notebook is entirely too small (i'm sure i'll end up rubber banding another one or two to it as needed.) it's crucial. it also sent me down many rabbit holes.

in fact, it was while i was adding the depaul art museum's "rooted in soil" exhibit to this book that i noticed chicago wildsounds (warning: fb link). there is a soundcloud page!!  

i also spent some time reading about tara bogart's wonderful "modern hair study" (inspired by felix nadar's"hair study") after i saw that some of that series is included in "identify' at catherine edelman.

"crime then and now" at gage (warning: crime photography) indirectly sent me to lynsey addario's it's what i do. i cannot wait to read that.

lastly, aic's mary louise reynolds binding exhibit not only had me chasing pierre legrain (dude! two books in austin! i haven't been to austin in FOREVER!) but it also made me laugh because, wow, i am so not interested in the other binding that is dominating (ha) the "news" cycle this week.

oh look, weeds in a vase.

the weather report

at our house, it is possible to know the weather just by looking in the stairwell.

i mean, i could look out the window but then i'd have to see washington state. and who the fuck wants to do that? 

chicago bound (for a weekend anyway)

yay! leff and i are taking a short scouting trip to chicago soon!

i am only mentioning it briefly here so that our chicago area friends don't find out about the trip after the fact and think that we were somehow avoiding them. THIS IS NOT THE CASE!!! leff and i love you guys TO BITS but are, sadly, not going to have time to hang out this trip. (promise to make it up to you the next time we're in the area! (you will probably get sick of us anyway once we are living there. XD))

we are all very excited about the new harper lee announcement!

july 14th cannot come soon enough!

edit:  vulture's list of harper lee's five nonfiction pieces!