Babylon, City Maps, Neolithic Art

It's been a whole month since my last post, but with good reason and I am spending so much neck-cramping time bent over books, watching historical documentaries, and organizing color coded flashcards (yes!) in my pursuit of a passing score on an important test. Ancient History is something I barely understood when it was compulsory in elementary school and barely heeded in college when my focus was on more modern eras. I am astonished at each truth I encounter, from the first forms of writing and art to engineering of humans who had only recently developed language. 

Here are some cool things you might find fascinating too:

• Babylonian gates (second civilization out of the Fertile Crescent):

• Museum of the City (particularly Mesoamerican sustainability)

• Development of writing, and the first sound-symbol "true" alphabet from the Phoenicians

• Pacal the Great, Mayan ruler / self-described God, Alien encounter?

Silver Dagger

Joan Baez, live 1965

Oregon, Waterfalls

Portland gets better each time I visit, mainly this time around because I spent time outside of the city, hiking with friends at Eagle Creek and Punchbowl Falls, and Wahkeenah Falls.

I am so proud of these people who are making art and kicking ass in a city that caters to those things:

Elisabeth Horan, collage, fabric, and nonsense extraordinaire. 

Jeff Sheridan, cartoonist, illustrator, and wise-cracking genius. I have this one hanging in my room.

Kai Mathur, all around badass, artist, model, designer.

Autumn of the Chihuahua

A couple weekends ago T and I had the great honor of pretending we were in high school again and dressing up for prom. I wore the same dress I wore to my senior high school prom and drank much more wine than the first go-round.  Here is a totally unrelated, but painfully cute photo in San Francisco last weekend when Jen K. visited!! 

Exhibits A and B: 

Then! This weekend I bought a mushroom mini farm from Far West Fungi in the Ferry Building  and should soon have shitakes alongside my bromeliad and semi-dying orchids. Other happenings around the home and garden: 

Chicken in the sunshine

Fresh from the garden yesterday! 

Peppers, and some unknown plant

Morning Glory vining all over the place

Summer's blazing by

Heat wave, ripe tomatoes, quilt of the map of California, amaranth and sunflowers wave. And a silly vase I painted for my mom, and hanging card for my sister (Happy Birthday!)