Call Me Kristy

I'm changing my name, I'm moving to a new town and you will come with me

2010-10-28T10:52:00.000-05:00

I'm a Gemini and that means that I like to change a lot. I can't help it. So, I've decided to change the name of this blog and move it, another thing I like doing.

It's new name is: Magic Child. You can find it here: http://www.magic-child.com/. Go on over there, there's some pictures of rainbows for you. Bon Voyage!

Wait here, I'll be right back

2010-09-28T18:52:00.000-05:00

I am going to the South. When I return I will have a new name. I'll be in touch.

What I'm Working On

2010-08-21T14:14:00.000-05:00

Are these, many pairs, for Faythe Levine's pop-up boutique at Sky High.

Vacationland

2010-07-27T20:26:00.001-05:00

Up in the great North woods. I did not see a bear although I would like to have. Did see, however, tiny frogs, baby birds, and the following:

Wish you could hear the loon.

Living mirror.

Uh-huh, have a couple of these and then:

Yep, that's Jack Nicholson in this movie. Here's another scene:

Found these beauties driving through Chequamegon National Forest.

Staring at these cabins all day kept making me think of Dirty Dancing, and also kept making me ask "What if it was 1940 right now?" If it's 1940 in the forest does your cabin still make a sound?

Here you've caught me just about to sit down. 10 seconds is not quite enough to make it to your chair. Oh well, see you next summer, cabin. Or possibly later this summer.

Adventureland

2010-06-27T11:51:00.001-05:00

An adventure must begin with breakfast. Oh how I love white cheddar cheese.

Thrift score. Yes, I did bring this home. I had to.

General Lumber sign near the thrift store. The building has pictures of famous generals on it too.

Scrap yard.

Shopping carts outside the scrap yard.

The Hideaway. Shares a parking lot with the scrap yard.

It's called the Hideaway for a reason I expect.

Notice the sparkles on the 'H' and 'R'.

Now we arrive at the abandoned strip mall.

Oriental Inn.

And now my favorite part: Bonanza Offices.

Speechless.

The detail is breathtaking.

You better be ready to prove it.

Best 49 cents ever spent.

A few hours later: burgers and this greek potato salad.

Wanting to go outside so bad and trying to squish through the screen.

This is from a different day last week, but I think it sums up the summer I'm having pretty well. The end.

Dear Diary,

2010-06-20T14:05:00.001-05:00

this weekend, I

the tomatoes are blowing up

daisies from the front yard. From the farmer's market:

crimini mushrooms;

onions;

garlic. Also purchased but not pictured: snap peas, lettuce, iced tea. Meanwhile, at the homestead:

This is her summer home. Sometimes she vacations in the flower bed outside.

Lemon spice sun tea. I will be drinking copious amounts of this all summer.

Sunday morning breakfast, and my new favorite: scrambled eggs with above pictured farmer's market mushrooms and onions, as well as chives from the garden, on toast smeared with goat cheese. Delicious. And finally, my favorite summer flowers: poppies and daisies, growing in my very own front yard.

Perfect summer weekend and it isn't even officially summer until tomorrow. My band also played a show Saturday night but I don't have any pictures of that yet. Okay, I have a lawn chair to go sit in now, see you!

Gemini

2010-06-11T09:05:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday to all the geminis.

The Witch and the Cow

2010-06-05T15:47:00.001-05:00

The Witch and the Cow by Signe Baumane

Lost Angeles

2010-05-12T14:35:00.001-05:00

I've been watching a lot of Adam 12 lately, which if you don't know, is a TV show about two beat cops in late 60s L.A. It's pretty good for a variety of reasons, and if you have Netflix you can see the entire, 7 season series for free online. But anyway, it's been making me day dream about Los Angeles in the old days. So I daydream about times before I was born, so what of it?

Via.

Fire

2010-04-29T10:46:00.002-05:00

photo by S. Tiber.

This was the thing I was looking for

2010-04-21T10:20:00.002-05:00

Cloud City

2010-04-16T09:19:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I sigh longingly and say I wish I lived in a yurt. But other times I sigh longingly and say I wish I lived in a teepee in the sky. I think what it is though is that I really need to go camping.

Belated Birthday Present for Mandy

2010-04-02T14:50:00.002-05:00

I love listening to Portuguese.

I woke up with this song in my head

2010-04-01T15:57:00.001-05:00

A Sam Pekinpah flick with a Bob Dylan soundtrack.

Vagabonding in America

2010-03-25T09:34:00.000-05:00

This is my new favorite book. Lately I've been flipping through this non-stop, thinking about yurts and bicycle trips to Central America...still gotta get a basket for my bike...anyway, now that the sun doesn't set at 4:30 anymore, it seems like there's so much to do. Gotta figure out where to get some cheap camping equipment fast, gotta get the backyard ready for planting (seeds started: check), gotta think about what flowers to plant as soon as it's warm enough. On a drive from Rockford to Madison with my family a few days ago, we talked about what things to plant, when to plant them, how to take care of them. We talked about making cheese and having birthday parties. The sun was setting in a vivid orange over that straight horizon line and the trees looked black. Then it got dark and my dad said "We'll just cross over the road and then we'll be almost home".

My Dream of Living in a School

2010-03-04T08:58:00.002-06:00

Back in 6th grade I remember reading a ton of books about kids living in the wilderness by themselves. Hatchet, that book about wolves, and so on. There was one we read that I've been thinking about for about the past 10 years but have not been able to remember the name of. It was about these kids who end up living in a school after a mysterious plague sweeps the world killing everyone over the age of 12. I don't know why, but I have always wanted to take over a school building and live in it. I think I dreamed of that even before reading the book (which I suddenly was able to remember the name of thanks to a particularly fruitful Google search) The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson. So anyway, I re-read it a couple weeks ago, along with My Side of the Mountain and then tried to convince everyone I know to read those as well as The Silver Crown by Robert C. O'Brien. All books about kids making it on their own in the wilderness (The Silver Crown has some crystal caves and weird sci-fi stuff going on as well). Why? Because spring is almost here and this year I'm planting a garden and I'm going to be just like these kids making it on their own in the woods, except this will all take place in my backyard in the middle of a city.
Side note: there is a girl who currently lives in a school, in fact 3 school buildings, in rural Kansas. It's called the Harveyville Project and they have sheep and goats there and space to make art. AND, it's in the middle of wide-open kite-flying country. Living in a school in the middle of a huge, blue-skied expanse of land? Sigh.

Sunday morning

2010-02-14T15:43:00.000-06:00

Foroozan

2010-02-06T10:43:00.000-06:00

Alone in the Wilderness

2010-02-05T09:17:00.006-06:00

Nina told me about this at dinner the other night and I can't stop thinking about it.

Waxy yellow buildup, mass murder and the Fernwood Flasher

2010-02-04T09:05:00.000-06:00

Have you seen the TV show Mary Hartman Mary Hartman? Here she is, played by Louise Lasser:

It's the best show I've ever seen. I don't want to tell you too much about it, other than it was made in the mid-70s, is a sort of cross between a daytime soap and a prime-time sitcom, and was so subversive at the time that it was only played after midnight in most places where it aired. It was created by Norman Lear. Here's a clip. They have it on Netflix, but they've only put out part of the first season on DVD.

Something lovely

2010-01-29T08:43:00.003-06:00

Via Vamoose

This is the best thing I've seen all day. Happy Friday.

The Baroques

2010-01-26T10:18:00.000-06:00

At my house, we listen to this Baroques record over and over and over for some reason.

Bon après-midi

2010-01-23T12:54:00.002-06:00

Aren't they dashing?

2010-01-21T18:35:00.002-06:00

Joan Didion

Jack Kerouac

Anne Sexton

Cesar Vallejo

2010-01-21T13:29:00.001-06:00

Here is my favorite poem, written by Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo. I wish I could find the original Spanish version but I haven't been able to in a long time. If I do though, I will memorize it so I can recite it.

This September night, you fled
So good to me… up to grief and include!
I don’t know myself anything else
But you, YOU don’t have to be good.

This night alone up to imprisonment no prison
Hermetic and tyrannical, diseased and panic-stricken
I don’t know myself anything else
I don’t know myself because I am grief-stricken.

Only this night is good, YOU
Making me into a whore, no
Emotion possible is distance God gave integral:
Your hateful sweetness I’m clinging to.

This September evening, when sown
In live coals, from an auto
Into puddles: not known.

Eat Food That You Make

2010-01-19T18:14:00.000-06:00

I used to really hate cooking, or rather, feel really overwhelmed at the thought of cooking, as if it were too hard to get it all together or something. Not anymore. So I'm going to share with you something I make pretty regularly, something that is really easy and pretty good for you. It's basically a little casserole that I adapted from this recipe over at Sustainable Pantry. I don't know what to call it...it's basically polenta with some kind of beans, tomatoes in some form, some cheese, and some vegetables. And it's good! I've fed it to vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike and they all seem to like it. So here goes.

You will need:

1 1/4 cup Coarse-grind cornmeal. (If you can't find coarse-grind, regular will do)
4 cups water
1 can (16oz?) of white beans, either cannelini or great northern
1 can (16oz) of diced tomatoes, well drained (and I mean WELL drained. Or, you can use fresh chopped tomatoes. Fresher is better, I always like to say.)
parmesan cheese
mozzarella cheese (I used a mozzarella ball, but you can use whatever type you want)
1 small white onion (or whatever you have on hand)
mushrooms (or not, your call)
Salt, pepper and whatever other seasonings you want to add

Directions:
1. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Mix the cornmeal with the 4th cup of water. When the water is boiling, slowly add the cornmeal/water mixture and whisk so it doesn't clump up. Bring it back up to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Stir it frequently or it will stick to the bottom of the pot. You'll want to cook it for about 15 minutes. It will thicken as you cook and you want it to be fairly thick. This is the fun part because as it cooks, it will bubble and kind of look like lava (that's how they describe it at Sustainable Pantry and they're right). I even took a little video of it while it was cooking so you can see for yourself:

(Notice my unicorn trivet)

2. While the polenta is cooking, dice the onions, chop the mushrooms, shred the cheese if necessary, drain and rinse the beans and drain the liquid out of the canned tomatoes. Maybe take this opportunity to pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. But don't forget to stir the polenta from time to time.

3. When the polenta is done, turn off the heat and throw the diced onions in there, some salt and pepper, maybe some garlic powder, and a handful or so of parmesan cheese.

4. In a 9x9 pyrex or other square casserole dish, layer one half of the polenta. Then add the beans, then the tomatoes, then the mushrooms, and finally the mozzarella cheese. Pour the remaining half of the polenta over the top and spread it around. You can add some more parmesan cheese on top if you'd like.

5. Bake for 20 minutes. It really won't need more time in there than this. You'll find that if there's too much liquid in the tomatoes, the bottom will be watery, but that's okay, it will still taste good.

Ok, now you try.

You can now follow my blog with bloglovin

2010-01-14T10:39:00.003-06:00

Follow my blog with bloglovin

That is all.

Ginza Honeybee Project

2010-01-13T14:56:00.000-06:00

The majestic bumble bee

Yesterday morning on the way to work, I heard a story on NPR about a problem Tokyo is having with crows. Apparently they're taking over. Even the mayor's pissed about it because one dive-bombed him while he was golfing, causing him to declare that crow pie will become Tokyo's favorite dish. Anyhow, there's a group in Tokyo called the Ginza Honeybee Project which the reporter visited in the story, and she said two amazing things:

These honeybees are so friendly toward humans that they'll let you pet them; and
These honeybees actually chase the crows away

For these two reasons, I am declaring publicly on this blog that I love bees. I love them, I don't care what anyone thinks. They make delicious honey, they have a striking jacket and the big fat bumble bees remind me of my cat. Listen: my brother is allergic to bee stings, and I still love them. Listen further: I got stung by a bee for the first time just last summer (a swarm of bumble bees had made a hive underneath my boyfriend's porch where we'd all hang out around dusk each day in the summer and these bees always got a little angry and stressed out at dusk) and sure, it hurt. But I learned a few things that day: 1. I am not allergic to bee stings and 2. I still like bees in spite of the fact that they sting.

And while I'm at it

2010-01-12T14:24:00.000-06:00

Pick up a Richard Brautigan book. Any of them. I think he's one of my very favorites, ever, and I can't believe I didn't know he existed until I was in my 20s. I don't even know how to describe his writing, but my absolute favorites of his are (in this order): The Abortion, In Watermelon Sugar, and The Hawkline Monster. But then again, they're all good. I even picked up the last book he wrote before he died. I didn't finish it, I couldn't really get into it, but someday I will, I promise you that.

Something to Read: Up and Down with the Rolling Stones

2010-01-11T13:25:00.000-06:00

I read this book last spring and I find that it makes a great conversation piece at parties. At least if the people at the party are talking about the Rolling Stones. So now I’m recommending it to you! Also I like saying the title out loud. It’s one of my favorite sensational band biographies, right up there with The Lives of John Lennon by Albert Goldman. The author of this book, Tony Sanchez, was a member of the Rolling Stones entourage. As a result, there are many incidents in the book where various members of the Rolling Stones smash a really expensive car into a wall and then taking off, leaving Tony Sanchez to sort it out. But mostly I liked the parts about Anita Pallenberg. True or not, it doesn’t matter to me. Anita Pallenberg is also the main reason to see the movie Barbarella. Your boyfriend will also enjoy watching Barbarella with you.

My Humps My Humps My Humps

2010-01-07T11:09:00.000-06:00

I have a lot of plans for this blog for the upcoming year, including new team members coming on, fantastic discussion topics, showing things and so forth. There's a winter storm going on here in WI right now, so I'm putting up this picture I took last winter at the lake. Those are the lake's shapely humps. That photograph was taken with a Diana F+, a very fun, albeit expensive, camera to use. Enjoy and stayed tuned!

Etsy Shop Update

2010-01-04T12:53:00.001-06:00

Did you know I have an Etsy shop? Well I do, and you should check it out here. Here's what's new in the shop:

Macrame earrings in grey

Macrame earrings in coral

Did you know that macrame dates back to the ancient Egyptians? Well, okay, Wikipedia says it was the Arabs, but my Sunset macrame book says it was the Egyptians. Either way. That's how you know it's good.

New Time, New Day

2010-01-03T15:32:00.000-06:00

Oh what a world. In the past week, or even the past month, it's been non-stop parties. But now, the x-mas tree is out by the curb and there is a big pot of black bean soup cooking on the stove because tomorrow is the beginning of that horrible part of the year where there are no holidays or days off, no excuses to celebrate and the sun keeps going down each day before you're ready. But let's not fall in that winter time hold, let's keep each other out with constant dance parties and pots of soup.

X-mas time is near

2009-12-22T16:09:00.000-06:00

Growing up, my family always had a fake tree. Since this was my first year in my own house, without roomates and the like, we got to have a real tree. We also had some friends over and forced them to make ornaments for it, which they did happily. All it takes is a little felt, pipe cleaners, googly eyes and glue. People will go crazy. See for yourself.

Santo & Johnny

2009-12-19T11:18:00.000-06:00

So do you have a record player or what? Because if not, you should get one. Yes, I know the digital revolution chugged it's way into our lives (just like the industrial revolution at the turn of the last century! That's why I made that train analogy. Isn't history amazing?!), but you can't cuddle with an ipod the way you can with a record. I insist that you seek out the above Santo & Johnny record. I'm listening to it right now and loving it. You should be too.