5.31.2010: day 96

Self-portrait at the laundromat.

5.30.2010: day 95

A few days ago I noticed this little nubbly near my side mirror...Something is probably in there, so I'm waiting to see what happens. (Doesn't it kind of look like a blonde french burnt peanut candy? Don't worry. I won't eat it.)

5.29.2010: day 94

It's Saturday, so I took a jaunt down to the Farmer's Market...bought some gazpacho and beets...there is borscht in my future...yum.

Here's the recipe I used last time. The lemony flavor was refreshing and tasty!

Clear Summer Borscht
By Martha Rose Shulman
Published: August 6, 2008 www.nytimes.com

2 pounds beets (8 medium, usually 2 bunches), peeled, cut in half and sliced in thin half-moons

7 cups water

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

6 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice (from 2 to 3 lemons)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 plump garlic cloves, cut in half lengthwise, green shoots removed

3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt (optional)

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut in small dice

Chopped fresh dill or chives for garnish

1. Combine the beets, water, and 1 teaspoon salt in a soup pot and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add the lemon juice, remaining salt, and sugar and continue to simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the garlic. Allow to cool, then cover and chill (you can speed this process by transferring the soup to a bowl and placing the bowl in an ice bath). Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove the garlic cloves.

2. Place 2 tablespoons yogurt, if desired, into the center of chilled soup bowls. Ladle in the soup. Garnish with diced cucumber and minced dill or chives.

Advance preparation: This soup can be made a day ahead and will be good for 2 or 3 days.

Yield: Serves 6

5.28.2010: day 93

Looking up.

5.27.2010: day 92

Shadows on my wall... sunlight reflected off a car in the driveway, shining through my window, through the back of a chair, onto my wall...

5.26.2010: day 91

Did a little sewing today. The tv and npr kept me company.

5.25.2010: day 90

Waiting postcard. Goodbye New Haven. Thanks for your hospitality!

5.24.2010: day 89

After seeing the amazing Marina Abramovic show at MoMA, Nikki and I went down to Madison Square Park to see if we could find Antony Gormley's Event Horizon out and about. I was just guessing at the location, because I'd forgotten to bring the info with me. But then, I saw one on the top of a building, and then I saw another, and another, and another.... Wahoo!!!

On the train back to New Haven, this guy looked the way I felt.

5.23.2010: day 88

New Haven. Yale Art Gallery. Helmet Mask (a-Rong-a-Thoma). Temne. Sierra Leone, early 20th century.

"Fancy" Masquerade Headdress. Temne, Ode Lay association. Sierra Leone. Mid-to-late 20th century.

My friend, Nikki, and I went to the Yale Art Gallery today. We checked out the Jane Davis Doggett: Talking Graphics exhibit. She created simple graphics to illustrate various quotes. Here's a blurb about her show: blurb
Then, I wandered up to the African Art section. I tend to find masks fascinating because of the variety of characters or spirits or othernesses you could become when you put one on.

And then, lo and behold, as we were walking back to our friend's house (thanks you guys!), we came across some sort of celebration. Their feathered headdresses were amazing. It was one of those times when things just sort of align... gets me thinking.

5.22.2010: day 87

10:12pm. Nearing the end of a long drive. View out the car window. Foggy smoke stacks. Connecticut.

5.21.2010: day 86

"I hate it when I lose my head! It really bums me out..."

5.20.2010: day 85

Amazing shapes.

5.19.2010: day 84

I came across another turtle today. I like looking at her stripey eyes that match her stripey skin and stripey shell. She was a pretty good sized turtle, too. I hope she doesn't get run over and her babies survive.

5.18.2010: day 83

Went to a little shindig with some friends. It's going to be sad to see Brad and Emily go.

(And, in this one I was still playing around with the slow shutter speed. I like all the swirls.)

5.17.2010: day 82

"There must be more than this provincial life..." she sighed wistfully, "...if only I could get out of this box..."

5.16.2010: day 81

What time is it? It's magnolia time!
They are just starting to bloom. Big and beautiful.

5.15.2010: day 80

Awww...bunny in the clover...

(I do see rabbits pretty frequently in my backyard, but this guy seemed to be enjoying a lazy Saturday morning brunch in a nice open, sunny spot.)

5.14.2010: day 79

I have discovered some neat old bottles. With a little phosphorescence or other accoutrements, they might become something one day...

5.13.2010: day 78

"...sometimes he used to slip in the laundrymat and watch the clothes float in them glass portholes. He'd listen to the blue jean buttons and loose change clinking around. He'd watch that round and round motion and get sad, thinking about a circle that kept going and didn't end up anywhere."
While waiting for my clothes to dry at the laundromat (inside several of 'them glass portholes') I came across this passage in the book I'm reading (Bloodroot by Amy Greene, p121.) I like when things shift or align like that. It makes me pay attention.

5.12.2010: day 77

Nothin' like a few spare parts.

5.11.2010: day 76

I saw my friends, Helen and Eric, at the store today and chatted in the middle of the aisle for awhile. Helen said I was the first person to whom Eric has ever waved. That was pretty neat. I feel privileged. (Of course, I didn't catch that one in a photo. But, these were close.) Thanks Eric!

5.10.2010: day 75

I took a short walk down to the lake and found this branch on the way, standing there, just like this.
Happenstance sculpture. Love it. It makes me happy.

2.9.2010: day 74

Driving through Richmond on my way home, I often pass this cool building. I think it's the old train station.

5.8.2010: day 73

Mmm...Farmer's Market...Straawwwwberriiiieeeeeeesss...

And after buying my strawberries, I stopped and listened to this singer for awhile. She was lovely: Heather Jinmaku

5.7.2010: day 72

Yesterday, one of my colleagues made a stylish pair of shades out of a black plastic B, a pair of Ls, and some rose-colored acetate. Today, I found the lenses, minus the B and Ls.

5.6.2010: day 71

The birds have been really rambunctious this evening.
I can't see 'em, but I sure can hear 'em.

(This photo, by the way, reminds me of Ann Wilson's Topologies piece.)

5.5.2010: day 70

"One of these things is not like the other..."
I was walking home this evening and stopped to check out the lovely garden in front of the Alumni House. It's much more hazy out than I thought. And, when I looked at the photo more closely, I noticed a nice little electrical box playing wannabe at the front of the flowerbed. But, the view is still pretty.

5.4.2010: day 69

Outside smells amazing, and I mean that in the best possible way. (Although the smell of chocolate in Hershey, PA, or the smell of oranges in Florida, might come close, this is pretty lovely for au naturel scents.) The clover is blooming!

5.3.2010: day 68

My friend, Louie, stopped by work for a bit today, so I went over to say hello.

5.2.2010: day 67

All I can say is thank goodness for air conditioning. (But not the super cold I-have-to-wear-my-winter-coat (hehe...I almost wrote winter goat) frigidity that is in most establishments. More like the take-the-edge-off-the-heat-and-humidity kind.) I have a feeling I'm going to be thankful a lot this summer.

5.1.2010: day 66

As I was walking to my car, I almost stumbled over this little guy. I talked to him for a few minutes, and told him this was no place for a box turtle to hang out. He just eyed me. So, I picked him up, told him I wasn't going to hurt him (he hid anyway), and moved him into the yard. By the time I got in my car to leave, he had disappeared.

It must have been an animal sort of day. Later, I helped a friend move some stuff from one apartment to another. He had a deer-like, antelopish animal head that I conveniently packed in a little hamper with a million plastic bags as cushioning so his ears wouldn't break off. Closing the lid, I realized what a strange and surreal sight it was, and had to take a photograph. After I moved the taxidermied dead thing, I checked him out and caught myself asking aloud, "Did you survive?" He just eyed me.