Art, Music, Meatballs and The Moon

This Sunday is my day of rest. There may be five of these days per year. I really need this one. Today I want my brain to rest. Cooking is great therapy. Like any creative process, you go into the zone and your mind is occupied with preparation and presentation. Friday I began craving meatballs and spaghetti. It's been eons since I chopped onions, garlic, basil and parsley, mixed soft bread crumbs and Parmesano, shaped the seasoned meat into small spheres and patiently browned them. Then, gently added them to an old fashioned sauce that's been simmering, waiting for their rotund spiciness to permeate the tangy tomato flavor.

I haven't listened to the beautiful old tangos for a while. This lovely vals is so tender, the harmonies just take me away. That's a very good place for me to be today.

So, I'll listen to passionate music, create an old fashioned, comforting meal and some art that has wings. How I wish I could fly away for a while. I'll be in Oaxaca soon, but for now I'll let my mind wander and my taste buds enjoy those meatballs. A little red wine might just round out the meal.

A visit to the Cloisters is overdue. For me, it's the closest thing to time travel. I always feel peaceful and comfortable there. If I believed in past lives, I must have been happy in that era.

This era is fine with me, just a bit of white water to navigate lately. Too much smooth sailing can be boring, I'm told. That has never been my experience. That's life, if you're fortunate. I do count my blessings and they are many. It's just that some days I'd like to count them from afar.

http://www.todotango.com/spanish/download/player.asp?id=699

Sagittarius Horoscopes
(Nov 22 - Dec 21)
Next Week
For the Week of Sep 29th, 2008 -- The Moon is in your sign this weekend, and it might find you howling with delight. You're not usually the quiet type, Saggie, but even the meekest among you could be dancing on tables and making outrageous statements. But you can get away with just about anything as long as you maintain a playful attitude.

What a relief to know if I hold on for the next week I can be dancing on tables again. Not to mention that howling. I am feeling a bit playful right now after a little meatball and spaghetti dinner and of course, a lovely glass of Cabernet. Tomorrow brings the new moon. I just may be howling whether I see the moon or not. This is the week of the Moon Festival. It's celebrated with poetry, sweet moon cakes and wine. At least that's how I celebrate. Find a quiet place to sit and watch the heavens. Soon the moon will be a slender crescent. All the better to see the other celestial bodies. The poetry will be in those moments you appreciate the infinite beauty that surrounds you. Sweet cakes and wine are just the icing on the cake of life. Take a big bite and, if the spirit moves you, howl at that moon.

September moon hides

stars shine bright searching for her

she laughs with delight

Colliding Galaxies ~ NASA

Adoracion ~ todotango.com

The Anti-Hero

Today's headline reads 'Largest US Bank Failure Ever'. I'm no economist. I'm not a politician. I'm not a financial expert. I am a US taxpayer, though. My Uncle Sam wants to borrow a staggering sum of money from me and my fellow citizens. This will put a band aid in a gaping fiscal wound. There's no way I will pretend to understand the nuances of this band aid, but I have been doing my homework. Hey, it's my hard earned mortgage-paying economy pushing money they want to use. Compromises had been made and Democrats and Republicans seemed to have a basic agreement.
Enter Sen. John McCain, riding his valiant steed, in his leadership role. His cronies hammered out a new plan to spend the big bucks. Did he share this information before the big meeting? Hell, no. He's a hero, charging in to save the economy. He knows what's best for all. The house of cards comes tumbling down with a real brouhaha.
Maybe Dave is right. Something stinks. It is the stench of tactics used by the Bush administration from which Senator McCain so desperately wishes to distance himself. Create confusion, increase the fear factor and try to shove some policy down our throats in the name of saving us, the American public. Aren't you supposed to serve the people? We've had enough of pseudo-kings. A true hero doesn't have to grandstand. A true hero comes to the rescue by doing what has to be done, without a spotlight. This is just more of the same. All we need is an aircraft carrier and a banner. Deliver me from saviours. Find a leader who levels with America. We can all work together. We must, to survive this mess. We want to support a president who supports us.
I hope Sen. McCain has the intestinal fortitude to debate Sen. Obama tonight. The topic should be the economy. The American public would like to hear what both of you have to say. Sen. Obama will be there. We will all be listening.

Seems the debate is on this evening. I'm all ears.






The Cisco Kid Was A Friend Of Mine ~ comic collection

I Heart Dave

Watched David Letterman last night. Don't you just hate being stood up?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjkCrfylq-E

National Punctuation Day

Victor Borge and Dean Martin explain the fine points.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7L02tCNi0I

Demand vs Desire

Monday, September 22, 2008
General Weekly Love Horoscope
Alluring Venus steams into sexy Scorpio this week to add a little more intensity to romance. Since passions run deep this is no time to play with some one's feelings. The game of love is much too serious to be treated lightly now. Go after what you desire with all of your heart and soul. Anything less is unlikely to get you what you want.

Sagittarius Horoscopes
(Nov 22 - Dec 21)
Next Week
For the Week of Sep 22nd, 2008 -- The weight of responsibility may hamper your personal life this weekend. Whether you have work to do now or tasks piling up to attend to later, it can be hard to lighten up, let go, and be your usual easygoing self. Yet, you can also gain some favorable attention when handling a tough job with grace and skill.

So let me get this straight. Go after what I desire with all of my heart and soul while handling a tough job with grace and skill while still being my easy going self. All as Venus steams into sexy Scorpio. Looks like I have my work cut out for me. I do have my hands full this week but that's not unusual. My car is in the shop (brakes failed, but no squishing), several art projects are due and I still have los desaparecidos on my mind. Norman, my fabulous mechanic, will take care of the brakes, my muse is very inspirational lately, so the art projects are cooking and I think I'm on the right track with los desaparecidos. I'm composing a letter to the family of one of the victims. My coworker and friend from Chile will return from vacation tomorrow. She'll help me with my Spanish translation. It is so difficult to ask a family who has lost a loved one to use his name, but I think they will agree. If they do, I will be able to proceed to the next step, which is raising awareness. For some reason, the thought of people disappearing for political or other reasons haunts me. So, the logical thing to do is to take action. If they do not wish me to use his name I will move on to plan B. Right now, I'm not sure what it is, but I'm not worried. It's a tough job I can handle with my usual grace and skill. Unfortunately, this doesn't leave me much time for the game of love. What the heck, with Venus steaming Scorpio it will probably fall right into my arms. After all, passions are running deep.

Fence ~ Adriance Farm 2008

Still Moving Through the Fair

Time to sit back and have a cool drink. The maze called and I answered. Having a distinctly poor sense of direction never deters me. I have been lost so many times it rarely bothers me.

My friends joke (I think) that when I say left turn they make a right. So they scoffed when I braved the maze. Well, I'm out...with the able navigational skills of five year old Sophia. It was soooo much fun! They have maze runs at night, in the dark, with flashlights. Very tempting.

No lumberjacks nor harmonicas, but knights and medieval dancing make for a jolly olde tyme.

The pig racing was outstanding and, of course, the Pickle People were there.

I could not help checking the blue ribbon tomatoes. Lo and behold, the tiny fruit won the blue ribbon. Just wait 'til next year!

It really was fun to see some old friends and make a new acquaintance. You go Sophia!

Rumour is the Harmonica Band will be playing at the Apple Festival. I'll keep you posted.

Pictures of Pickle People, two of my maze buddies, and what we did in the corn! Yes, it involved mailboxes.

She Moved Through The Fair

Saturday and Sunday bring the Queens County Fair to the Adriance Farm. I will be there early Saturday, enjoying the bounty of the county. I'll probably be looking for the lumberjacks balancing on those floating logs. I never realized we had lumberjacks in Queens until I found them at the Fair a few years ago. I believe they are an endangered species here.
There are certainly bigger County Fairs, but I can walk to this one from my home. It is so cool to have a farm just down the road. I know my eggs are fresh. There are ribbons awarded for baked goods, jams, preserves, jellies, floral arrangements, flowers and vegetables. My tiny teardrop tomatoes did not want to wait for the fair, but there's always next year to enter the competition. If I won a ribbon I think I would frame it. The prizes for livestock are for exotic fowl and rabbits. The farm has a cow, goats, chickens and a crazed peacock roaming the grounds. Canada geese stop by for occasional handouts and sympathy calls to their caged cousins.
There will be exhibits and vendors, one of my favorites is the pickle vendor: sour, half-sour, garlic and hot pepper spice. I'm salivating at the thought. I'll also be on the lookout for the Harmonica Band.

They are amazing, you just have to sing along. It's almost an out-of-body experience. The mean age of the musicians is about eighty-one.

There is a corn maze that is just a bit freaky. It's huge! You can wander after your hayride.
Maybe the farmhouse itself will be open for tours. It's a little taste of time travel. Spinning wheels, herbs drying on the rafters, spiced apple cider and the scent of long ago take you back a century or two. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
And so, I will move through the fair, too.

Sung by Lorenna McKinnett ~ ah! Looking for Harmonica Band pics

Speak Softly And Carry...

Unsurprising economic meltdown, and hope for the future...

Steal from the poor and give to the rich: this is the policy that we have in recent days seen the U.S. Government unhesitatingly and irresponsibly sanction by bailing out the big gamblers and law-breakers with tax-payer money. At least now this short-sighted and destructive approach to governance is undeniably out in the open. We saw this happen in the 1980s with the savings and loan scandal and bail-outs, and we are seeing now, as we saw then, people like John McCain, Phil Gramm and the usual assortment of corporate pirates get off scot-free and continue on their paths of self-advancement and cronyism. The mismanagement and plundering of our nation's wealth and the cavalier drive to burden future generations of its citizens with crushing debt have been hallmarks of U.S. government practice for quite some time, but never to the unprecedented degree that we have experienced during the eight years that the Bush Administration has plundered the treasury for the benefit of a tiny, very wealthy minority. Hopefully voters will keep this in mind when deciding whether they wish to continue in the same vein with McCain, or give change a chance to happen with an Obama administration. Perhaps, too, the mainstream media outlets, in response to the now undeniable financial and moral crises we face, will get back to allowing issues more pressing and significant than the personal and ethical foibles of Ms Palin to take precedence in their daily election "coverage". I have my doubts about their willingness to do so, but there is always hope.

Viggo Mortensen

There is always hope. That's one of the reasons this post resonates for me. Perhaps one good thing will come of the financial chaos that is unravelling. Perhaps people will think long and hard about where they are after the past eight years. Where would you like to be eight years from now? There is always hope.

Viggo Mortensen and a really big shotgun ~ Appaloosa

Now you know why I still love a good western. Thank you!

On Feeling Alive

Buoyancy

by Rumi (translation ~ Coleman Barks)

Love has taken away all my practices

And filled me with poetry.

I tried to keep quietly repeating

no strength but yours,

but I couldn't

I had to clap and sing,

I used to be respectable and chaste and stable,

but who can stand in this strong wind

and remember those things?

A mountain keeps an echo deep inside itself,

that's how I hold your voice.

I am scrap wood thrown into your fire

and quickly reduced to smoke

I saw you and became empty,

this emptiness more beautiful than existence,

it obliterates existence, and yet when it comes

existence thrives and creates more existence.

The sky is blue. The world is a blind man

squatting in the road.

But whoever sees your emptiness

sees beyond blue and beyond the blind man.

A great soul hides like Mohammed, or Jesus,

moving through a crowd in a city

where no one knows him.

To praise is to praise

how one surrenders

to the emptiness.

To praise the sun is to praise your own eyes.

Praise, the ocean. What we say, a little ship.

So, the sea-journey goes on, and who knows where?

Just to be held by the ocean is the best luck

we can have. It's a total waking up!

Why should we grieve that we've been sleeping?

It doesn't matter how long we've been unconscious.

We're groggy, but let the guilt go.

Feel the motions of tenderness

around you, the buoyancy.

Meet me in Oaxaca :) por Dia de los Muertos

Constitution Day

Today is Constitution Day or Citizenship Day. Know what blessings we have and be sure to protect them by being informed, active and voting.

Needle felted and embellished Quiltie

Full Moon

Love Sonnet

LXXXIX

by Pablo Neruda

When I die, I want your hands on my eyes,

I want the light and wheat of your beloved hands

to pass their freshness over me once more:

I want to feel the softness that changed my destiny.

I want you to live while I wait for you, asleep.

I want your ears still to hear the wind, I want you

to sniff the sea's aroma that we loved together,

to continue to walk on the sand we walk on.

I want what I love to continue to live

and you who I love and sang above everything else

to continue to flourish, full-flowered:

so that you can teach everything my love directs

you to,

so that my shadow can travel along with your hair,

so that everything can learn the reason for my song.

Colors of Summer Quiltie ~ vt ~ heading south

Time Time Time Is On My Side, Yes It Is

Sagittarius Horoscopes
(Nov 22 - Dec 21)
Next Week
For the Week of Sep 15th, 2008 -- On Friday night the Moon goes into entertaining Gemini and will illuminate your 7th House of Partnership throughout the weekend. Chatty people and easy communication make relating more relaxing. You can be open and interested without making promises that could cost you your freedom

That would be quite a hefty promise. What would cost me my freedom? I value my freedom. Of course, there is a price to pay for freedom. The freedom to live in this amazing country, with all its foibles and confounding opinions is very precious to me. Listening to the late, and so insightful, George Carlin as well as our campaigning politicians is a right I do not take for granted. My right to listen to all the issues, when they do get around to that, and make my personal choice is a right many have fought and died for each day. Their freedom to express their opinions is a right they exercise. The lying and falsehoods we leave to the ethics department.

A few weeks ago I noted it was Remember the Disappeared Day. It seems I haven't been able to just file that information. There is a soft whisper in my ear, which is getting a little louder every day. It's asking me what I am going to do about this. So many of them died just because they voiced an opinion deemed 'dangerous' to the ruling government. I'm trying to get my courage up to speak up for those who have disappeared. First, I need to contact the family of one of the victims in Argentina. My Spanish is not very good, but I will get some much needed help. The seed of an idea is germinating. I plan to use art to raise awareness, to keep their memories alive. Do you hear those wheels turning?

Rainer Maria Rilke:
Let no one say that I don’t love life, the eternal Presence: I pulsate in her; she bears me; she gives me the spaciousness of this day, the primeval workday for me to make use of, and over my existence flings , in her magnanimity, nights that have never been. Her strong hand is above me, and if she should hold me under, submerged in fate, I would have to learn how breathe down there. Even her most lightly entrusted mission fills me with songs of her; although I suspect that all she really wants is for me to be vibrant as she is. (Fragment of an Elegy, Appendix to Duino Elegies, translated by Stephen Mitchell)

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=3EaUb4zk0Ow

Thanks to Ann Marie Bennett of Kaleidosoul http://www.kaleidosoul.com/ for the link to the video above. It certainly resonates with me.

Goodies

There's something about Jane Wynn's art that really appeals to something in me.
When I saw this lovely piece on her blog I did not resist. It's on it's way to Glen Oaks. You should check out her octopus. Imagine having one of those hanging from your neck. Remember 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? Wait, that was a giant squid. Wait, that's a jellyfish not an octopus.
You'd think after watching The Little Mermaid a gazillion times I would know my sea creatures.
Sebastian would be mortified!
Nevermind, it is so cool.
My soon to be necklace/assemblage/pretty, pretty thing is titled Homecoming. Love it!


I still wait for you
knowing you still wait for me
somewhere in the mist



Photo ~ Homecoming ~ Jane Wynn

September 11

Remember, be aware, do something positive

seven years pass
remember the fallen ones
endless love prevails

There's Magic In The Air

General Weekly Love Horoscope
There's magic in the air this week as astrology's lovers, Venus and Mars, join each other in the relationship sign Libra on Thursday. This can be a perfect set-up for the weekend as it increases the chances of meeting someone new or reviving romance in a current partnership. Don't be pushy, though, because the Moon's in Aquarius where freedom is as important as intimacy.

Magic, mmmmm. There's magic everywhere. Some say it doesn't exist, but most of us know better. Serendipity, coincidence or chance occurrences happen every day. Most of the time we are not paying much attention. The universe is speaking to you. It starts as a whisper. Next, it gets conversational. Now, if you're not listening, it ups the volume to shouting or screaming. You may even have dreams where the message surreally appears. When you awaken you just can't shake that feeling. If you choose not to take action at this point, the universe usually pulls the rug out from under you and it's free fall time. Did you ever feel your world start to crumble?

Hello, hello, it's the universe calling.

There are those who say they can see into the future. I think we all have that magical ability, but that gets a little scary. So, we ignore the little voice. We shake our head when a certain song plays on the radio or blares from a car rolling down the street. No way. You think about a friend and the phone rings. Guess who? These are minute things in a busy day, but it behooves you to pay attention.

We live in a magical realm. Each day is a miracle. Extraordinary events occur on a daily basis.

Why don't we pay more attention to them? After all, true magic isn't about the illusions, it's about appreciating the extraordinary life we have. Abracadabra!

still autumn evening

moon rising cat fence sitting

listen to the night

Poe's Pet ~ Halloween ATC Paper Doll

Cease Your Labors...A Least Today

Sagittarius Horoscopes
(Nov 22 - Dec 21)
Today
Monday, Sep 1st, 2008 -- Spending time with your friends is exactly what you need and, luckily, it's looking good for a party now. With four planets clustered in your 11th House of Groups, you will be surrounded by like-minded people today. Revel in being part of a community, for the feeling of belonging to something greater than yourself can ground you in ways that may not be obvious at first.

Usually I love a party. Coyote Girl is wending her way home from the wilds of Massachusetts and Bee Woman is beading. Other friends and family members are similarly occupied. Vickie Barcelona is playing with metal and paper and ink and paint today.

Definitely reveling in being part of that zany community.

Happy Labor Day one and all.

Prayers for the Gulf Coast community. May Gustav spare them destruction and tragedy.