all the things

Perhaps you've heard of this thing called Pinterest? As someone who gathers photos of all sorts of things (art, fashion, shoes, sparkles, wedding ideas, party cakes... the list goes on and on) and who used to add those photos to random files on my computer, this site is like a giant inspiration board.

I love being able to scroll through friends' and strangers' boards, and you can even "pin" other people's pretties to your own unique board. I highly recommend it, if you are a saver of images as I am.

And yes, you're already in danger if you are even considering it. It took me a few months of urging before I tried it.

And then I pinned all the things.

piano

My fingers meet the ivory keys only once or twice a year but when they do, they dance. It feels like twirling, falling, flying, and the weight of the keys on my childhood upright grand is a familiar balancing act. A few of the lowest keys are off, and the felt has worn away, but the sound is lovely.

My hope is that we'll have room in our new house for my piano. It takes up the space of two dressers and is as deep as a refrigerator but I want to start playing again. This new house doesn't exist for us yet, but it will someday and I plan on taking more lessons. I'd like to sit down on my piano bench with some new sheet music. I'll arrange the pages just so, and try a few measures with my right hand. Then I'll play a few with my left. Once I feel I understand a bit, I'll try both hands together.

I learned to carefully keep my palms curved, knuckles up (for good form), and to keep my back straight. Once I'm ready, I'll let my fingers dance.

all of this inspired by MCS's song on Radio Paradise

Matthew C Shuman - Chasing the Wind

a little too much

Overstimulated!

But underwhelmed with what I've been able to accomplish this week. Washing, polishing, then waxing a VW Vanagon: check.

Planning a reunion: check.

Working: check.

Running errands, wrapping gifts, stocking up for said reunion: check.

Planning a project, gathering the pieces, plotting the design: check.

But I haven't been able to work on it for a minute!

Is there anything more frustrating than being super inspired to do a project, and not being able to even touch it?

I think not.

labonita

tamar stone

electrochef

I love to cook. Sometimes just pizza with interesting vegetables on top (steamed cauliflower is surprisingly delicious!) and sometimes I like to experiment. I've played with truffle oil, aged balsamic vinegar, used blueberries as a garnish for baked chicken, and added green chiles to seared, sliced polenta. I discovered that cooking without salt lets out a whole spectrum of new flavors (and I looooove salt!).

After years of cooking on gas stoves, I've been learning to cook on electric. It was not a delightful beginning (you mean I have to figure out how hot Medium is, I can't just look at how high the flames are?!), but after some weeks or months (I'll not be telling you exactly how long) I've finally gotten the hang of it. Water continues to boil on my 1970's stove top just below Medium, Warm means Hot, and High means "I'm coming to kill whatever it is you're trying to cook."

I've cooked in restaurants using exotic 12-burner tops and even one-burner camping stoves, learning from great chefs who taught me some of their secrets. One thing I learned was to deviate from the recipe and try an extra pinch of this or that, to use the recipe as a guideline but mostly as an inspiration for new culinary creations. This can come in handy when you happen to be missing one or two ingredients...

And so I come to the point:

In life, it's easy to follow what's written down and make something delicious. What's not so easy is when we encounter something missing, such as a key ingredient and are still expected to have something edible and perhaps even wonderful in the end. I like to think that as I look back on all the meals I've shared, that I can sit happy knowing I made the most delicious dish I could with what I was given, and with what I happened to find sitting around in the bottom drawer of my fridge.