Happy New Year

The Holiday season kind of tricks you into good cheer with sugar highs, booze, sparkling lights, and hugs. Thanks, 2011 for a lot of things among them: moving 4 times, traveling so much, graduating, more gardening and quilting, and beautiful new friendships.

Happy New Year, friends! Sorry, this post reads bottom to top.

December 2011: Rainbow Party and feeling infinite love for Oakland, my friends, my surrogate families, and all things good. Celebrated the Solstice by unceremoniously burning something over the grill while smoking a cigarette...four days later. I sell my banjo.

November 2011: Fly home to Tampa for the holiday and to photograph Mary's wedding. Especially awesome to see my baby cousins run circles around me and to eat cookies with my mom.

Oct, Nov, Dec, etc. 2011: Occupy Camps and marches, rainy season begins again.

October 2011: Visit Portland again, and Cape Perpetua. More trips to Seattle + Las Vegas.

All summer long 2011: Camp in Alameda with 15 Kinder-3rd vs. me

July 2011: My sister, Lauren gets married to her beau Chris and buys a house in Gilbert, Iowa. I see my parents for the first time in 7 months!

June 2011: Rosie and I move into the Happiness Hotel. I buy a bike and a banjo.

May 2011: I visit my Portland people. Not pictured: Lis and Gabby.

March+ April 2011: Rosie and I move to Oakland. Trips to Seattle.

January 2011: Noelle visits before moving to New Orleans.

January 2011: Take Rosie across a lot of states to Berkeley. Here she is licking frost off a window in New Orleans.

Fiber Fun

Hi, friends, I finally finished this multi-toned scarf for my brother-in-law. Got this yarn for nearly free from the Depot. Hopefully the USPS doesn't collapse into the abyss of holiday mailings and potential anthrax scares. I was reading this morning Mother Jones article on the timeline of beginning the Iraq War. In reflection of this past year, on this winter solstice, I am amazed at how time scurries away from us. Ten years has passed by in a few winks, and 2011 is a hyperventilated exhale. Bring on la fin du monde, 2012.

The Rainbow party was rip-roarin and fun, and my friend Jorge who works at Revere Glass made me this awesome glass pendant as a birthday gift. I made a knit necklace to hold it.

It feels good to exchange joyful greetings in the form of knit love and also glittery postcards - here are a few that I made last week. Most are getting sent out at thank you cards.

Dreamy Daikon

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe, most likely due to my incessant traveling for the past month and a half. I have another weekend in Seattle to look forward to in the coming year, which will hopefully yield more blueberry picking a la Jenni Kaye, more rain, and more jokes like the one the baker in Pike's Market told me.

"What is the most confusing holiday in Oakland?" ".....Easter?" "No, Father's Day!"

Anyway, I scrambled to market and got some peppers and dill and made these roasted veggies and stuffed pepper for lunch on Saturday.

1 anaheim pepper, whole

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 large daikon

3 whole garlic cloves

bunch of dill

pinch of salt

dash of dried rosemary

1/4 C oil

1/8 C rice

1/8 C cooked red beans

I used leftover rice and beans to stuff my pepper and have estimated how much I used. Of course you can substitute any pepper and any kind of beans to your liking/availability. Use the pepper seeds to spicy it up (or feed them to your parrot).

Toss the ingredients in oil, stuff the whole pepper with rice and beans, roast at 375F for 20 minutes.

As promised to Jessica, here is a photo of my holiday cheer living room which I enjoyed decking out with fake flowers, a Christmas vagina, and various other articles from a box labeled "X-Mas City babies." Thank you, Happiness Hotel.

The Oakland port feels like the end of the world, large boxes filled with anonymous humming shit, well-lit and guarded by 50+ OPD. The winter fog makes everything feel spooky, and apocalyptic. Meanwhile, a group of women in Vermont are arrested for protesting nuclear power plants by performing a citizen's arrest on power company executives. Democracy Now! coverage here.

Full Moon

Two days until the full moon and Mercury Retrograde is ending the year with an obvious and resounding sigh, thinking about how I've almost been in the Bay Area for a year makes my head spin. Made a delicious dinner of penne, pesto, arugula, black pepper, and raw tomatoes followed by a Morpho Herbal Ale.

More photos from my trip to Florida (above) uploaded on my flickr here.

Ben's Nat Geo photo contest photo here, which you should vote for.

My friend Katie's yoga blog comin at ya from Asheville, North Carolina you should read here.

Have you seen Green Porno?

Went to LA for my birthday and a stranger at a Hermosa Beach vintage store gave me a Wild Heart vinyl for free.

Having an excellent evening and considering stringing Christmas lights in preparation for the upcoming Rainbow party here at the Happiness Hotel.

Tampa, TPA, Trampa, Tampon

Photos from my trip to Tampa, Florida. View more here, and more to come following my god-awful long layover at Hobby airport.

Where the wave of moonlight glosses The dim grey sands with light, Far off by furthest Rosses We foot it all the night, Weaving olden dances, Mingling hands and mingling glances Till the moon has taken flight; To and fro we leap And chase the frothy bubbles, While the world is full of troubles And is anxious in its sleep. Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.  Where the wandering water gushes From the hills above Glen-Car,. In pools among the rushes That scarce could bathe a star, We seek for slumbering trout And whispering in their ears Give them unquiet dreams; Leaning softly out From ferns that drop their tears Over the young streams. Come away, O human child! To to waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For to world's more full of weeping than you can understand. 

Dakota's Quilt

Blue moon of Kentucky, early sunset of November, sweet sugar sticking to my blue painted toes from crawling all along the bathroom floor spreading lacquer and love while sugar cookies congeal in the oven. Dark night of six o'clock, sweet promise of a flight leading to the promised land according to ancient Spaniards. Dinosaur bones hiding beneath fern leaves, my mind turns to swampier places including campfire pits tucked behind a bamboo gate. Earth balance and almond milk, the kitchen smells like winter. I will leap from the runway and bound into my loved ones' arms. I will deliver homemade gifts and kisses. I will bake more cookies with my great-grandmother's recipe plus earth balance and almond milk. I will launch into the ancient future on Wednesday and earn the hours back on Monday, having stuffed my belly full.

At the end of Spring I lived in an apartment on the north side of the lake with two humans and two cats. The cats, as far as I know are the same in number, but the humans have decided to procreate and multiply! Alak, babies need quilts.

Well, it's finished! And shipped on Monday to awaiting arms and bulging stomach.

Mangroves

I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida where mangrove forests thrive and strangle all other shore plants - my friends and I used to collect mangrove seeds, pop em open, and watch the little sprouts struggle for survival. Then we would dive into lagoons full of calcium deposits licking our calloused feet, bleed on limestone shells, and dash across sand to boardwalks to watch crabs hunt.

My roommates and friend has a great series of photos of mangroves in Colombia, which you can peep here.

My own photos below: 1) a cormorant in the Hillsborough River State Forest, the same forest I used to live in. 2) lily pads in Lake Forest subdivision, my home during my last years of college. (above) Lake Forest just before sunset.

So Much

There is so much happening in our world right now. Occupy Oakland swelled to 8,000 or so on Wednesday, these photos are from the weekend when it was much quieter at city center. There is a lot of public art, for example a "curtain of grief" which are yarn and fabric remnants strung from trees under which you can walk and contribute to numerous shrines. This week I am especially proud to be an Oaklander.

As I write this a group of activists floats towards Gaza in an attempt to defy Israeli tyranny. Video from Democracy Now

As if to deny shifting paradigms and excessive change I am going to Las Vegas for the weekend to be inundated with lights, booze, sad glittery people, and a circus performance. What a world.

Pumpkin Carving

2011 officially rules with the inception of pumpkins into my life beginning a few weeks ago and ending in the bloodiest pumpkin massacre I have seen with my wee eyes since years ago when Salina and I tried to dissect some orange beauties only to find they were rotten, fell apart, or become depictions of our artistic failures. Oh pumpkin vengeance, your seedy ass is mine!

Roasted pumpkin seeds:

cleaned and degutted seedlings tossed with a bit of oil

dash of nutmeg

sprinkle of cinnamon

pinch of salt

little bit of coriander

Roast for 20 minutes at 400 degrees

Crafternoon

This here post will be a list a la Noelle Bonnie

• waking up at 7:30am every morning whether I have to work or not
• Betty Grable sings "Shimmy Like my Sister Kate" better than anyone else.
• drinking hot chai and waiting for two batches of biscuits to rise: one vegan, the other gluten-free. Two friends and their new baby need gluten-free goodies and far be it from me to stop the consumption of treats. I have never baked gluten-free before and don't expect magic from this batch because I am not following any rules or using a special recipe, but I have a good feeling about this.

Did I just unintentionally diverge from the list format? I think I did. In two weekends I'll be in Las Vegas at Cirque du Soleil - how lucky am I? These photos are from a crafternoon I spent last week painting and napping with Devo.

Teacher

Yesterday my mom sent me a wooden pin shaped like an apple. I love being a teacher, and I especially love Fridays because it is an easy day academically for the kids, we went to the library to read Victoria Kann books, played exquisite corpse (drawing), drew pictures of owls, listened to Let it Be, and watched Ponyo.

Self-Portrait

self-description, age 22. Joyful, bird tail peering out from behind skull.

Radish Rug

My favorite snack lately is roasted radishes. I toss them with oil, a pinch of salt, and black pepper, then bake them for about 20 minutes at 300°F. (The greens are my favorite part).

I am making a rag rug with no pattern and with complete disregard for technique, let's see how this turns out.

After a dreamy week and weekend, I've got butterflies fluttering out my eyelids and have been puttering out for a daily nap, and especially looking forward to the rainy season coming up because now I have an excuse to start my annual knitting frenzy. Watch out for fiberous gifts coming your way, friends. Just started working on a multi-colored neck warmer, and need to restock my yarn stash - I only moved with four skeins from Florida, two of which are half used and smell unsurprisingly like plywood and oak splinters. Today I took a field trip to Lake Anza and dove off a cliff into the crisp water below, swam like a dog, lifted myself onto a rock like a turtle, and dried my hairy legs in the sun like a lizard.

I've been thinking about making an account on etsy for a while now to sell postcards and knit things and have (which you can find here) but I haven't added any goods to it yet. Because I haven't made them yet. Motivation, kick in soon.

Watermelon Sugar

Spending the afternoon on the porch with Rosie, taking a break from to-do lists today and getting sticky fingers from sucking on yellow watermelon slices

Old Photos

After a visit from a friend that I haven't seen in a year, I am feeling particularly nostalgic. I was looking through my trove of photos from over the past 10 (holy shit!) years and wanted to share a few of myself, in a fit of egotistical reflection. Why did I wear so much makeup? Did I really drink that much High Life? What are my best friends doing right now? These are all from high school.

Other things to share: This My Morning Jacket song is getting my through my morning, living life without Facebook and having to explain to my friends why I won't be friends with them online, just send me your physical address already, my in-box is overwhelmingly full (inbox being an envelope taped to the wall), my bird is overwhelmingly adorable and spent the morning preening my hair then playing hide and seek with me as I overcame the hangover of 8am trips to the airport.

I can't complain.

Cupcake Table

This here little table was painted in primary colors, showcasing the alphabet and big golden cartoon stars. After distributing star stickers, practicing Aa Bb Cc Dd all the way through Qq, endless praising and ice cream all day, the last thing I want is to come home to the same decor that peppers my day. Ok, so I painted this table to look like a cupcake.

The mysteries of our free box are endless and wonderful. I found this matboard and gave it a makeover, I'm thinking of hanging fabric inside of it.

Other projects include a floral pin cushion, a quilt for my former roommates' (when I lived on the Lake) baby girl, finishing the patchwork curtain in the bathroom, and of course more postcards.

Friday is the Equinox!

Baby Blanket

I have made three quilts for my nieces and nephews, one tapestry for myself (previously bragged about on this here blog), and now am making another for a friend's impending babe. I got all of the fabric and batting from the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, which after volunteer discount and other friendly discounts from awesome employees cost me next to nothing (or maybe 3$ at the most). I haven't purchased backing for it yet because I hate measuring but will post a finished photo in a few weeks. Watch me keep my own deadline! I intend to line the hem with silk ribbon and try my hand at embellished stitching.

I think the little hand-stitched flannel cowboy appliques are damn adorable.

aaaand more postcards, this time in matching colors!

I am also trading a few for a friend who does glass blowing, in exchange for an implosion marble!

This is a weird skyline that is supposed to be Oakland but also with the Transamerica building in it, no idea. Observe: Lake Merritt, cherry blossoms, Canada geese!