Cosplay Version of I Was Born This Way

Let your freak flag fly. Where was this culture when I was in uni?

Extra points if you know your Japanese pop culture and can name all the characters. Who is the Sasquatch dude and is that Jesus in there with the purple toga-sarong?

Nat King Cole

Errand Boy for Rhythm. I love it!

Work, Work, Work

My work is seasonal, and it shifts. Right now it's about collecting and sorting seeds and getting words on the page. It's been a while since I wrote a solo show--about 7 or 8 years. It's fun to be able to take up space on the page and stage again. I  promise silly costumes and filthy language. There will be cleavage. I'm keeping it pretty light, and making myself have fun.

I love the softening of the light. I walked to the library and just admired the quality of light around me. Not having to water and not having to walk my son to school literally saves me hours out of my day which I fill with cups of tea and words, words, words.

Being in the moment, planning for the future and musing on the past: fall is full of all three for me, braiding it all together in soft, muted colors. Lately I've longed for someone to braid my hair, like a child. Hopefully, after the seedy workshops I will be able to clean up the plant matter in the house and get some more space happening. After all, I've got to get this script up and moving now.

The Last Fruits of Summer

I find it alarming that you can't find blackberries in grocery stores--does that mean summer is over? I made a lovely blackberry tonic by letting berries sit in water that's just been boiled for 1 day. I add a bit of agave syrup to sweeten, and have experimented with adding anise hyssop blossoms and leaves. I've been doing the same with the crab apples of Cactus Lake. I love the soft gentle heat of September. It feels good on my shoulders. Warms ones bones.

Tonight I made an homage to my dad's cousin who sent us some seeds for German beans called Nekkar Konige. I grew some of those in our garden and used them mixed with Catherine's beans and some Mayan beans from UBC Farm to make a diasporic dish with garlic, jalapeno, and olive oil. I steamed the beans first and then fried them in the garlic and pepper adding purslane at the last minute. Cousin Otto grew sunflowers from seeds mom send him and sent photos of his Canadian Sonnenblumen. Sadly, Otto passed away this spring. He must have died shortly after sending us those "King of the Nekkar" beans.  We ate them with spaetzel and roast chicken.

For dessert: ricotta, peaches, and anise hyssop florets.

I am creating a hummingbird project proposal and saving seeds. It's that time of the year when you can see me with my paper bags surreptitiously shaking or snapping seed pods in gardens around the city. Let me know if you see any worth swiping.

Beach Glass Combers

 For those of you who like beachcombing, this might be the site for you. Sarah Goodyear writes about a former trash dump in California has turned into a dream place for those seeking beach glass.

Person after person comes down to the shoreline, picks up a handful of sand, starts sifting though … and then just sits down in place, fixated on the multitude of glistening, rounded fragments, hundreds of pieces in any random sample, thousands within a few inches. You can’t stop looking. What treasure might surface in the next handful? Plenty of people load their pockets with the glass. It’s like a reverse dump, now.


http://grist.org/living/nature-reclaims-a-trash-strewn-beach-inspiring-hope-and-its-opposite/