January 21, 2005

"A Certain Slant of Light"
8:02pm

'A certain slant of light'

But this is not the oppressive slant to which Emily Dickinson refers. Winter afternoons up north may have an oppressive nature. In contrast, summer afternoons here in the desert are the most oppressive, causing 'a heavenly hurt' should one spend any length of time. But that is a hurt that, unlike Dickinson's moody day, will leave a scar.

Still, I love the slant of light which causes strong shadows.

Quite glad I am that Red Lobster was ridiculously crowded this evening. I think Julia wanted an excuse to go to River City Grill anyway, as she'd pointed out that she was wearing her pretty new dress. When we saw the seats in the waiting area all filled with hungry people, we backed out and headed over to River City. I was in the mood for fish, and River City has better fish anyway.

'The True Cod'

Yes, Julia and I have now both seen 'the true cod'. We have partook of the 'true cod'. I'm not sure what a 'false cod' would be. Meanwhile the Alaskan True Cod was delicious with caramelized onions, pumpkin ravioli, broccoli and carrots. The finishing touch of chocolate amaretto mousse was as divine as food can be.

Always, meals there are memorable.

The poetry and prose book work has been temporarily set aside for other projects, but I have gotten up to 59 likely prospects.

'A certain slant of light'

January 22, 2005

"Quilted Art"
8:38pm

Blooms And Baskets

I always like to go to the yearly Desert Lily Quilt Show. As I sew, I know the painstaking work involved in these exquisite creations. We are given a ballot to pick our favorites. This year, it was easy to select the large piece. Blooms and Baskets must have taken an immense amount of time to complete.

Later, I played with one photo of a rather mandala like quilt section:

Original image...

As striking as the above image is, I prefer the more comforting effect in the one below, which I've placed in my photo gallery:

Quilted Comfort

And here is a picture of Julia in her new dress:

January 28, 2005

"Glum!"
11:16pm

I left work early with an horrid sinus headache. Fortunately, I was enough ahead that I could do this. I went straight to bed and slept all afternoon. Then I wasted time surfing the web, just looking at stainless steel products, something like 38 Google page results and then links off of those. I envision this beautiful kind of stainless plates for everyday use, brushed finish, nice slightly bowled at edge and of course such does not exist. There is campware mostly ugly, and serving trays, 12in wide with mottled surface, barware tumblers of uncertain size, tiny expresso cups with saucers, even medical supplies, 14 oz cups which might serve, but nothing like what I envision.

So I am frustrated. And I have not had one lick of inspiration in any realm. I know this mood will pass and others have it worse. And then I think of all those dead marines, 30 more in a helicopter crash, and the tsunami disaster, and well, one could have excuse for a mighty case of the glums.

At least my sinus headache is now some better. That is a small happiness.

January 29, 2005

"Rather Rich"
8:37pm

Such indulgence! At home I burp freely. There was chocolate in every form and configuration at the Yuma County Library's Death by Chocolate: chocolate via mousse, brownies, pretzels, doughnuts, ice cream and cake, etc., etc., etc.. I cried "Uncle!" and passed my dish of half eaten goodies over to Julia, with the admonition that she needn't feel obligated to finish my leftovers. Maybe you can imagine it. Even the air was rich with the fragrance of chocolate.

When a vat of chili was reeled in, its robust smell was a welcome contrast. I had four small cups of it, which had also been laced with chocolate, although not to any detectable degree. The proprietor of the shop Twigs in Old Town had thoughtfully provided an alterative to all the sweetness. I noticed, however, that as the evening wore on, the small cups were filled with decreasing amounts. They hadn't anticipated the demand would be so great.

It was a well attended event. Julia and I did not participate in the silent auction, but we did buy two CDs for five dollars each. Julia wanted the Empire Strikes Back album, and we both were drawn to Cesaria Evora's São Vicente. We've heard her rich voice in earlier compilation albums of world music. She serenades us well while we digest that rich food.

Earlier in the day, we celebrated with slightly rich shopping splurges. Julia is enjoying her new 'Blue Willow' teapot, and I am enjoying fancy steel and rubber coasters. I'd been sitting my drinks on an old hard surface mouse pad, but it didn't work very well, warping under the heat and sticking to the cups. I've also added to the steel drink 'tumbler' collection. The bottoms from drink shakers make delightful drink 'glasses'.

Julia has a new teal silk jacket which looks lovely on her, and I have a new flared denim skirt. And there is that gold with green leaves Hawaiian shirt I sent for a week ago, and the green pincord shirt and the . . . Maybe I have enough shirts now!

Such indulgence!