Current Photo Friday theme: Awful

Abandoned Houses

Abandoned houses are
illusion reaching
its end;

wind and rain and time
root for the
ground.

They have the calmness brought
by defeat,
the bearing of farmers

who are whittled
and resist no more than
enough.

See how easily the earth
takes them back:
an eye here,

a bone there, the same rite
as with the animate.
The open windows

are in the flight path of night
tired and bound
for home.

Zorika Petic, 2001

Overheard in the workroom:

Summer: Satin is my favorite fabric.
Becks: Satin's not a fabric, it's a weave.
Summer: Like Figaro's hair?
Becks: You could weave Figaro's hair into satin. You can also weave satin from silk or wool--
Summer: No wool. Wool makes me itch. That's not wool satin, is it? I'll start scratching on the runway.
Becks: (eyeshift) So what do you want in a design?
Summer: Elegance. Sophistication.
Becks: Who do those words call to mind? Who did you think of when you picked these fabrics?
Summer: Grace Kelly. I love Grace Kelly.
Becks: (mutters) Because raffia just screams Grace Kelly...




I'm concerned.

It's Wednesday, I know, and I'll get to your bit of happiness. First, I want to share some of the good things about my week. I don't have pictures of the sight that makes me smile from ear to ear, and that is Rexford G. Lambert and EZ running The Compound grounds together. They don't play with each other yet, but they are able to enjoy being outside, unleashed within the fence, acting like dogs who've become part of the same pack.

( click here for more about being happy )

The point of all this is: I could wish nothing greater for my readers than friends to nourish your bodies and hearts. For a little something extra, give me a page number between 1 and 611, and another number between 1 and 25 in comments, and I'll find more happiness for you from this book--which is now a bit Coke-stained thanks to silly Guinness.



Good luck!

Fear the influence of the demon dachshund on your dogs.

In the Runway Monday challenge, the winner is announced right here. Hint: It wasn't my design that won. But I'm fine with that. I enjoyed your comments and what the judges had to say. Plus I liked the other two designs. I'm glad I don't have to vote. Thanks to the judges--"Miranda," "Michelle," and Mary, for their hard work, and to Marika for putting it all together. (What is this M theme?)

I'm looking forward to this week's challenge. I had no idea this would be as much fun as it is.

( sadly, the models are not quite as enthusiastic )

On July 21, 1899, Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois. Several decades later, I would first "discover" him through The Sun Also Rises and develop a passion for every word he wrote, even those published posthumously, and for learning every thing I could about his life. Maybe I wouldn't have been friends with him--I'm definitely not about big-game hunting in Africa, and his attitude toward women was often abysmal. But I fell in love with his language, his passion for the great outdoors, and the moral codes of his characters, and I'll make no apologies for that.

In 1987, the year before Tom and I married, we took a vacation with friends to Florida that included a drive down to Key West. Since I was there, I opted out of some other group activity one morning so that I could spend time at Hemingway's Key West home. It's been too many years ago for me to remember details about where on the property I took some of these photos, but I offer them to anyone who'd like to enjoy them as a celebration of the birthday of one of our greatest American writers, Ernest Hemingway.

( pictures are here )

Edit: I still don't know who the winner is, but I'm unscreening comments.

In the first Project Runway challenge, the designers had to take their materials from a grocery store and use innovation and creativity in their designs. The Runway Monday designers timothyjlambert, markgharris, and I were allowed to use anything in our homes that came from a grocery store. My theme for my model, Summer, was Autumn: Less Goth, More Glamor, and the materials I used were wax paper, orange and brown markers, a chips bag, and parsley.

Although everyone is encouraged to comment with snark or praise--your choice--and I will respond to all comments, everything except the judges' comments and questions will be screened until after they make their decision on marikanola's journal sometime Monday. Thanks!

( Judges: I have my design here! )

Current Photo Friday theme: Flight

Flight to New York, 1998

I don't usually use my camera when I'm flying. I'm too busy gripping the armrests or the hands of the nearest friend or stranger. Nerves might explain the blurry photo, but I will admit that this was one of the happier flights of my life. James and I flew to Manhattan, where I met Tim and Timmy in person for the first time. While the jet was backing away from the terminal, James, knowing how I fear flying, said, "If we die, at least we'll be together!" That wasn't exactly comforting--but his presence and his bear were.

It's not "How long must we wait to see Tim's, Mark's, and Becks' designs?" It's not "How the hell will I pay for gasoline?" It's not "Where's Becky's Photo Friday?" It's not even "McCain or Obama?"

It's--WHAT ABOUT MY STARBUCKS? Full list of planned closings right here. I hope this won't ruin anyone's weekend.

...have you ever seen such sweetness? In this photo taken today, do either of these two look like the kind of dog who would, yesterday when I left my office for a single minute, use my chair to get all four legs on my desk in a quest for a small order of french fries Tim had placed atop my printer as a surprise for me? Would either of these two angels in fur coats dance around until things on my desk went flying into hard-to-reach places? Can you envision either of them being so startled when I came in and yelled that she would kick off a full Coke so that liquid was running down the walls, everything on the floor was coated in a sticky mess, and drops would be flung as high as four bookshelves, saturating one book, splattering several others, along with mail and Mattel Top Model dolls and my day planner and my shoes and...

If you had to pick the guilty culprit, would it be Margot (on the left) or Guinness (on the right)? Tim, Tom, and Lynne are disqualified from answering.