Saturday, August 23, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
Washington Ballet
Went to my first ballet last Spring and saw "Peter Pan" by Septime Webre at the Washington Ballet. Wonderful evening. Now I'm contemplating this season's offerings. In particular two more choreographed by Mr. Webre.
Invasive Vines...Yuck
The vines along the creek, which I now know are primarily the invasive Asian Porcelain Berry are in the mid-August glory.
They remind me slightly of a movie I saw way back when I was kid called "The Day of the Triffids" (the 1962/3 version, NOT the 1981 BBC remake).
Before Elvira, there was Sir Graves Ghastly who hosted a Saturday afternoon horror film of the week on WJBK TV channel 2.
Lawson Deming (as Sir Ghastly Graves), 1913-2007
Whenever my older sister was in charge of the household she made me watch American Bandstand at noon (after the cartoons) and then Sir Graves Ghastly, which always scared the bajeebus out of me to her sadistic teenage delight. Isn't it fun how the minds works!
The Insect Chorus, 1917
Charles Burchfield, 1893-1967
I was also reminded of my own of my favorite regionalist American artists, Charles Burchfield.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Today's Sermon
Who's this—alone with stone and sky?
It's only my old dog and I—
It's only him; it's only me;
Alone with stone and grass and tree.
What share we most—we two together?
Smells, and awareness of the weather.
What is it makes us more than dust?
My trust in him; in me his trust.
Here's anyhow one decent thing
That life to man and dog can bring;
One decent thing, remultiplied
Till earth's last dog and man have died.
~ Siegfried Sassoon, 1886 - 1967
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Postcard Art
I love the bubble letter art on travel postcards. My dear friend who lives in Lakewood, Ohio sent me this one freshly minted of his hometown. Awesome sauce!
Synethesia
A friend recently asked me what Synethesia is like and I sent her this set of words and what I see when I read them, or think of them, or write them. I see words (numbers) in colors. Always have, always thought that everyone else did, too!
Broken Pots Planter?
I got this idea from a post of Bored Panda (dot) com.
First, you assemble a range of plants. I went to a local nursery and purchased mostly terrarium plants because they are both interesting and cheap!
The article featured creations with "fairies," but I decided based on a recent visit to a local toy store to buy some animals and make my theme a safari. The plastic figurines are hand painted from the Germany company Schleich.
Next I assembled a couple of broken pots and then broke a couple more to use in the construction of a broken pot form from which to create the Broken Pot Safari Garden.
Once the layers are outlined, I started to add the plants.
By separating and repeating some of the plants, the whole composition has a more natural look. The tall fern and palms at the top are the focal point, while the orange flowering succulents create splashes of interest. Once all the dirt was compacted, I added natural aquarium gravel to the bare spots before adding in the animal models.
And Voila!
Plus a little Fennec Fox surprise on the back side.
Down Under Vaca?
My friend Rod from Gladstone, Victoria is enticing me to come for a vaca in Australia. If only I had the cash! So this week a package came with travel brochures from him to fuel the flames of my fantasy life! But who knows?
He's proposing a three leg adventure.
First, stop Sydney and I'm on my own for a few days. I put on my itinerary the following: The Opera House (no brainer!), The Royal Botanical Gardens, The Art Gallery of New South Wales and The Taronga Zoological Park.
Next, to Melbourne and Rod's stompin' grounds. He plans a road trip and fly over of the Twelve Apostles with lots of photography, beer and canine named F.R.E.D. who can actually do dishes!
Finally, a visit to Tasmania. Like WOW, right? Someday.
How Today Started
I have joined the local advocacy group The Friends of Sligo Creek. Today they sponsored a tree walk led by a local arborist and landscaper, Matt Cohen. It started @ 9:00 AM and lasted for about 2.5 hours.
Matt began by sharing two insect denizens of the woods along the creek. Here you can see the katydid that escaped to rest for a time on the top of his cap.
With knowledge and humor he turned a Tulip Popular leaf into a "cat" mask.
Here a cicada shell rests against fungi shelf on a Black Locust.
While talking about the invasive Porcelain Berry vine, I noticed this invasive stink bug resting on one nearby.
Here, Matt talks about the characteristics of the Box Elder, a letter member of the Maple family.
And here he is comparing the Porcelain Berry to one of the native Wild Grape species in the park. Another friend calls them 'Possum Grapes'.
In the end about 30 of the original 50 participants remained. A wonder way to spend the morning!
From Our Walk Today!
Easy Dinner
After a long week, ran by the Giant and grabbed a deli-premade pizza "Supreme". It comes with sauce, sausage, pepperoni, onions, red and green peppers and cheese. Add to this more pepperoni, mushrooms, black olives, fresh cherry tomatoes from my gardens and more cheese. Voila! An easy dinner.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Visiting DC #1 MLK Jr. Memorial!
What I'm Listening To #118
Yesterday,
there was much joy! I recieved a gift in the mail from someone I just met and it was quite impressive. Thank you, Duncan! As the title says: The Adodi Muse is a Gay Negro Ensemble, and "Ain't Got Sense Enuf to be 'Shamed" is a collection of spoken word performances on gay themes interwoven with snippets from various radio interviews of the ensemble members. Inside, Duncan wrote; "Randy, Lovers of poetry must stick together." Can I get a witness?!
More Definitive Stamps
Five more in the new series of coil stamps. Here are the next five issues in denominations of 11¢ to 15¢.
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