Recent acquisition from Nakisha Elsje VanderHoeven; it’s an original watercolor. Reminds me of my own wicked little lop-eared rabbit, if we ever let him out in the snow.

Edit: I was so inspired by this piece, I snagged a spot in the Etsy Treasury and created a collection of winter rabbits. Enjoy!

The song is “My Patch” [duh!] by Jim Noir. I discovered it after doing
ten minutes of extensive online research, because i liked the version
in the new Target commercial.

I had myself a little design *squee* earlier when I stumbled onto Zune’s promo website for their digital media player. Once I got the hang of flying through their semi-psychadelic theme artwork (I wish it were mine!), not only did I discover a pile of eclectic new music on the accompanying tracklist*, but it all made me hearken back to the days where the intarwebs first promised the possibility of visually-immersive experiences. And look, here we are!

So. Freaking. Pretty.

*Rogue Wave – Lake Michigan
  Ceu – Ave Cruz
  Junky XL – Dark Territory
  Pacha Massive – Don’t Let Go
  Great Lake Swimmers- Your Rocky Spine
  Handsome Furs – Cannot Get Started

I’m lucky enough to live in a city neighborhood which is surrounded by sprawling parkland. Lately one of my favorite occupations is to explore the outreaches of my immediate territory, which often takes me for miles through winding wooded paths and over hills and across hidden meadows. I usually go with a thermos of hot tea and digital camera in hand. Besides the hundreds of acres in the city Arboretum, as well as the cemetary which backs onto my hill, there are miles and miles of conservation land and paths. I almost have more places to roam than I did growing up in a rural town.

Last week I found a meadow, sort of tucked unexpectedly between the back of the Arboretum and a fenced-off train lot. Weird juxtaposition. I was at first drawn off course by the open spread of green tufted grass, sun dappled by clumps of short trees. I found a small marsh which was fringed by a willow grove on one side, and a path wound through the tall grass, across a dry streambed, and up a short slope. I startled a deer out of her hiding place in the reeds. When i looked back around, i saw a long concrete wall covered in fantastic graffiti art. Presumably the area is secluded enough so the urban picassos could paint without interruption.

I like to take close-ups of spraypaint art, composing something entirely separate from the original design. Plus, there’s the added texture of the peeling paint, cracks and lumps in the concrete, and spatters and drips. I spent some time at my newfound plein-air gallery collecting colorful abstract photographs. I’m thinking maybe I’ll sell framed prints. Yeah, artsy-fartsy, i know.

Today Matty and I took advantage of the clear November weather to walk around the arboretum in Jamaica Plain. After wandering a few miles though the woods, we came across a huge hill from the top of which we could not only see the panorama of the city, but also the the neighboring hillside, where our house is.

And then we goofed off.

Hey look! That dog has his collar popped.

And after that, we chilled for a bit in our neighborhood cafe, and took interesting pictures of each other.

It’s a horror of a night here in Boston. A storm is blowing by offshore, and the wind and the rain have been howling like mad up on our hill. Almost all the leaves have blown off the trees, and our wild yard is full of damp piles of green, red and gold.

I’m [supposedly] working on a novel for Nanowrimo, and I’ve poked at it a bit. I promised myself- PROMISED- that I’d make some kinda effort to get this thing done. Not only would it be awesome to have written some semblance of a “novel” before I get all old and stuff, but I’m hoping this self-imposed assignment will get my creative ass in gear and give me a little discipline. Har. Right. But I hate starting, so i’m thinking I’ll begin in the middle of a story, and fill in bits and random pieces around that. Maybe that’s why I started off this blog with a version of  “It was a dark and stormy night…” Blah!

In other news, yesterday was Matt-tastic’s birthday. He wanted to go to the Medieval Manor for dinner, so we were treated to some feasting and revelry and naughty jokes. I got absolutely, unintentionally schnockered. Matty had a blast, and thoroughly enjoyed the adventure. While i was busy hiccupping over my tankard, he was up on stage hamming it up with the king and the jester, something to do with jousting with phallic breadsticks. Hehehe. It’s all a little foggy. But he had a great time- ok, we had a great time- and laughed a whole lot when I was all tipsy outside the theatre. I fell on my ass!! Go, me!

So yeah, I kinda had a hangover this morning. Heh.

Last weekend we went to a dorky halloween party, and by dorky I mean in an absolutely awesome way, because i have the dorkiest sense of humor ever. I dressed up as a LOLcat (I’m in ur party, drinkin ur beerz), and the mister went as a Safety Manager. I’m always teasing him about being overly cautious, so we spent part of the evening gleefully writing up humorous safety violations on the other people attending.

Evidence of dorky halloween costumes:

Also, some photos from a few weeks ago, when we went for a hike up the Great Blue Hill in Canton. The weather was glorious, and we had a clear view of the city and surrounding hills, all speckled with gold and orange.

Also, I’ve been working on some beady things, so hopefully that will all come to some kind of visible fruition sometime soon. I’ve been in kind of a creative slum for the past few weeks, but I’ve been keeping busy organizing and doing some bookkeeping, and setting up some things in my studio. Bought some nice new plier, too, so maybe my hands won’t cramp up as much. Also, one of my silly uncles tipped me off about a new bead shop in his neighborhood, so I sent them an email tonight with some photos of my paper beads and other designs. hopefully they’ll bite, and at the very least I’ll go over and pay a visit next week. Woo, beads.

Speaking of beads, a couple weeks ago Matt and  I went to visit his mum up in Maine, and I brought some beads and findings along with me to show her. She’s a funny lady- she always goes on and on about little crafty ideas, but doesn’t think she has the gumption to try them herself. Matt took her to a bead shop once, and she thought she might like to try and make something, but the little bitch working behind the counter was totally unhelpful, so that put the kaibosh on that idea for the time being. So I brought some pretties up with me, and  showed her how simple it is to stack beads on a wire headpin and hook it onto an earwire, and we had a good time designing some fancy fancy jilleries. She’s actually really creative, and has a good eye for shape and color. So, I secretly made her an Etsy! Matt is going to suprise her with it tomorrow, and we’re betting she’ll be all excited. Oh, gosh, she’ll say, that is just so neat. Those are the earrings I designed!? Wouldja just look at that!! Wow!

Hehehehe.

Also been playing Kingdom of Loathing a little bit. Yeah, yeah, goofing off. whatever. I did some art!

So, for now we’re all cosy in our little house on the hill, and we finally got the heat to come on. Our furnace is as old as hell, down there in our scary dark basement. I made a delish supper- herbed lamb chops, baked squash, mashed potatoes, roasted pears- a regular yankee feast, perfect for a chilly autumn evening. Brrr!

That’s right, you heard me. You naughty thing, you.

Here’s a recipe for Dia De Los Muertos I just dreamed up in my kitchen this evening, which have a little more kick than the ordinary chocolate rum balls you may be familiar with. Ay yi yi!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 bag of ginger snaps, finely crushed- i prefer the nabisco ones to the generic, they have more oomph!
• 4 tablespoons of whipped cream cheese*
• 1/4 cup Hershey’s cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar (reserve some for coating)
• 1 shot of rum, preferably something dark & sweet
• 1 tsp. powdered cayenne pepper. Caliente!

Mix the dry ingredients, making sure the cayenne powder is evenly distributed.

Stir in the cream cheese until you get a thick dough with smooth consistency, then toss in the shot of rum. Maybe have a shot yourself, too, to celebrate being an awesome cook.

Adjust the amount of cocoa, sugar and ginger snaps to taste, or if the dough seems too thin.
(You want to be able to form the dough into balls – hur hur hur, balls – later on)

Chill overnight.

When dough is firm, roll into balls and then powder them with more confectioner’s sugar.

Chill for a few hours then serve, or freeze until needed.

Warn people before serving : )

I took a walk over the hill today to pay a visit the long-dead relatives. The cemetery was gorgeous as usual, and the all the pampered old maples were in their full autumn glory.

It always takes me a few minutes to find what I’m looking for in that place, mostly because i usually just stumble off the path through the woods which connects my neighborhood to the back of the park, and I don’t bother with a map. Don’t need no stinking map, it’s better to just wander and observe, and listen. The people there have been dead for so long that there is kind of a hush over the whole place (and maybe the occasional spectral snore, heh). The trees and squirrels are louder. Don’t get me started on new cemeteries, what a ruckus, ugh. At any rate, it usually takes some crisscrossing and backtracking and wandering about until I can find what I’m looking for.

Funny thing about those Farquhars, though- I can never get to their little grove directly. I always end up going in a big loop and getting all turned around, no matter how many times I make note of the direction I’m going or surrounding landmarks. Today i actually thought for a brief moment that somebody might have rearranged things on me. And always when I’ve just about come to a point where I’m like, screw it, I’m turning back home, I look over a little knoll or just past a tree and there they are. Robert, Mary, Little Lovejoy Leonard.

So anyways, had a nice visit. First time I’ve said hello to great-great grandparents since Mum and I found his passport, photo, and visa for a visit to scotland from 90 years ago. Inside it says: “reason for travel: to visit relatives.” The photo shows a distinguished looking old fellow with bristly hair and grey eyes. I sat and watched the squirrels hop around on my great-great auntie? jennie’s headstone, made note of the lovely weather and foliage, and filled them all in on what’s happened (the relatives, not the squirrels; the squirrels don’t care. Of course, maybe the dead don’t, either) since they all kicked the bucket.

I bet nobody else visits them anymore. Come to think of it, most of the people buried there have been dead for so long- some going on a century and a half- that there’s nobody left living to really pester them anymore. Except for the squirrels, and me tramping all over hill and dale. There’s my great grandparents, who I first found by accident, and have managed to only find by accident every visit since, and for them there’s maybe five people left in the world who know only a very little about what their lives were like. So, i wander around the cemetery and wonder about everybody else’s story, all these long-dead people who are somebody’s forgotten relatives, who maybe wore funny hats or had children or fell in love or had terrible debt or lived in houses with fancy furniture. I guess it could be depressing, to think of how time has made them anonymous, their legacies reduced to a faded name on a mossy stone. Living, or at least the all the niggling details, seems much less significant when you put it into that perspective.

But then again, it’s a nice thought, to go back to the earth and become a simple thing, or just be nothing at all. Or maybe part of a grand old maple tree in autumn, with squirrels scampering underneath.

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Apparently, i’m not the only one who hates Starbucks.