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Archive for January, 2016

My man.

Saturday, January 16th, 2016

My Brian

My Instagram: http://ift.tt/1ZqK8T6

Brian, my man. Best human in my life.

After our rousing Friday morning concert, lunch at The White House diner in Clare, Michigan. They always request a tune or two. This time we sang “Cuddle up a Little Closer, Lovey Mine” and “Side by side.”Good folks who work hard & do it well.

This is the life!

Posted in Dance and Music | No Comments »

Dory the fish…

Friday, January 15th, 2016

My Instagram: http://ift.tt/1Ncocny

Dory the fish… (A blue tang, a character in the movie Finding Nemo). My spirit animal, if I have one.

“Just Keep Swimming” is a good mantra for a distractible optimist like me.

Posted in Miscellaneous Artforms | 1 Comment »

Martian fish!

Friday, January 15th, 2016

My Instagram: http://ift.tt/1OUDkLS

What the heck? This is the oddest-looking fish I have ever seen in person. Fish-with-nose-and-grumpy-eyelid. Saw it today at Playmaker’s in Okemos, Michigan. Surreal and artful. And COLORFUL!

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My kind of Diner, in My Neighborhood!

Thursday, January 14th, 2016

My Instagram: http://ift.tt/1mYI9ck

I am a big tea drinker. I’m not exactly snobbish about it but I don’t like flavored and perfumed tease. I like tea leaves, period.

I went to the neighborhood diner (well, one of them), and they surprised me with two types of very nice tea. I will be back.

Posted in Food, Lansing | 2 Comments »

In a Recording Studio

Wednesday, January 13th, 2016

My Instagram: http://ift.tt/1N8HsSY

Me, Edna Poore, my Brian. Recording Edna’s song for her upcoming album.

I worked with Edna in 1989-1990. That was a particularly bleak period in my adult life. She asked me if I might like to go to a couple of the folk music events in town while I worked there. I went, and that is where I first found out who my now-husband Brian was.

I am so grateful to stay in contact with Edna, who treated me so well when I was so unhappy. She really wanted us to sing and play this particular song. It was a joy to record her very fine song for her. What a wonderful thing to be able to return a different sort of favor after all these years!

Posted in Dance and Music, Relationships | 1 Comment »

There IS no perfect time. Act now.

Tuesday, January 12th, 2016

My Instagram: http://ift.tt/1OffQ2x

I needed to read this, and thought a reminder would be good so I made this image. In certain areas, I tend to be perfectionist and feel things are “not done enough” and never actually finish the last tiny bit. The other side of that is being afraid I don’t have enough time/energy/focus to start, and then waiting for the perfect time.

I do this most for things where I think someone is going to judge in some way, especially with my artwork/knitting. In 2015 I finished a bunch of knitting patterns I’d started in previous years but never finished. I’m practicing finishing and remembering that I can be my worst critic when I’m in the wrong mood.

Some people only knit one item at a time, where others of us enjoy starting many projects (that’s me).

I think starting something or at least planning something is like embracing a dream. Maybe not finishing is, in a sense, holding on to the dream that started the project rather than embracing what it has grown into becoming.

Do you ever have trouble finishing things you start? Tell me a bit about them.

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What I made with a veggie Brian brought home

Tuesday, January 12th, 2016

My Instagram: http://ift.tt/1W2hI1H

Brian brought home some odd little round veggies the other day. I asked Instagram and Facebook what they were. The answer was Thai eggplant.

A friend said they often cut almost all the way through the veggie in about 1/4″ (1 cm) slices and that if you then cook them in a curry, they can fan apart when they soften.

I ended up making an Indian-inspired tomato-based curry. I cooked it in the crockpot so it cooked past the “fanned out” phase and into the falling apart phase. I love eggplant, so this was very pleasant. If I were to do it again, though, I would have added a few more veggies (maybe carrots) and maybe some chickpeas/garbanzos.

Brian’s good for me. He’ll try new things where I might not. I appreciate him.

We’ll try the Thai eggplant again. Yay!

Posted in Food | No Comments »

Colorful Clown Fish – Just keep swimming…

Monday, January 11th, 2016

My Instagram: http://ift.tt/1VYjYXB

Perhaps I’ve found my “spirit animal.” I’m only partly kidding. This is a reference to the animated film “Finding Nemo. So many people told me Dory the fish (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) reminded them of me, that I had to go read the Wikipedia article about it.

I do see a resemblance. She’s distractable, determined and an optimist who repeats “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…” When things get discouraging.

This photo is a clown fish. Nemo is a clown fish, but Dory is a Blue Tang. I took the photo at Charlie Kang’s Korean Restaurant in East Lansing, Michigan tonight.

Posted in Miscellaneous Artforms | No Comments »