Blog Archives
WINDSHIELD ART
Rain on car windows, train window, any windows at all always always results in fluidly mysterious works of art.
NEW MEXICO. NOT REALLY NEW. NOT REALLY MEXICO.
Bumper stickers proclaimed to the world our political persuasions, senses of humor, disregard for our cars’ paint jobs. I miss them. Now they’re usually too discreet or totally crass but occasionally a welcome exception appears.
SHOE SHOPPING
Sara, my youngest granddaughter, a birthday this month. Twenty years old. Six decades younger than me. We get along quite well in spite growing up in completely different worlds; we like museums and documentaries and shopping for shoes. And next year we’ll travel together around the continent of Africa. This birthday our travels took us all the way to the mall for tennis shoes and pizza.
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- Waiting for the shopping to begin.
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- Sara arrives.
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- We walk past shoes not to our liking.
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- I have been looking for lime-greens for the grandson’s fall wedding…maybe this is not the time to wear my first heels ever.
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- Finally, the right place.
PRIVACY
I live in an apartment. Other dwellers here in apartment land can walk right by my front windows. So I’ve grown my own forest.
SUPER FOODS AND ME
I have an easily annoyed stomach who (which?) forces me to eat early, eat lightly, and pretty much live on sweet potatoes. Not yams. Sweet potatoes. Today was a fairly typical food day. Leftover fried rice and yogurt for breakfast, a couple of over-the-hill bananas for lunch, and half of a giant sweet potato with a whole lot of butter, some maple syrup and a handful of raisins and pecans for dinner/supper/afternoon snack. So filling and, according to those ten-best-foods charts, supremely excellent for one’s health. Although, honestly, I’m getting a little tired of them…just a nice baloney sandwich would be so welcome…except for the meat (even worse, processed meat) and gluten part. Here’s to the Super Foods…the ‘super’ part means they’re to be enhanced by very much butter, cream, syrup or other superior embellishments.
MY COLORING BOOK
Jane Sprague’s Color Book
It’s Saturday night and Judy Collins is singing to me…In My Life…Amazing Grace…Send in the Clowns…Both Sides Now, every tune both pleasantly nostalgic and still pertinent. We had a most enjoyable art opening and poetry event at North Fourth last night and some of my best old friends were there. Today I’ve been writing all day, with the occasional dip into a book and food and plant watering. My photos of the people and places ‘in my life’ surround me…I’m very happy.
One of the things that makes me happiest is color and my workplace, the North Fourth Art Center, joyfully reflects that love. While everyone isn’t as enamored of bright, some might say gaudy, hues, fellow staffer Tim is my partner in crime. Together we have re-imagined the Center as a lively background for our artists’ paintings and performances. And simply to pleasure our eyes.
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- by Jesse Cruz, North Fourth artist.
THE RETURN OF TODAY
From spring 2013 to spring 2017, this blog served as my almost daily journal. I wasn’t sure I would ever return to it so this spring I turned its four years into a blog book, quickly realizing in the process that Today was an important (to me) record of four years of life as lived by me in Albuquerque, New Mexico with family, friends, work, weather, plants, food and all the rest of that ordinary stuff. Why not continue then? Getting back in the habit of a daily photo and comments/observations/joys/complaints is the hard part. Here goes.
At the North Fourth Art Center where I work, we are all learning to live more responsibly and one way to do that is—composting. Out with my camera (an actual stand-alone camera which doesn’t ring or speak or wake me up) on a walkabout of the parking lot plant life I realized our compost bed was actually quite photogenic.
The View From the Hill
I love California. Wish I could have made it work here. Lived here for six years, three in San Francisco, three in San Diego, and of course I’ve visited many times. Finished my MSW here and worked various and sundry jobs. I was just starting too late to fully enter into ‘the good life’ in the Golden State. But I suppose if it had worked I would just be missing New Mexico and my New Mexico family. Such is life with that greener grass always just over there.
Nine days to look forward to now…doing exactly what I want…being pampered…being the family elder isn’t all bad…
THE VIEW. FROM ARRIVAL IN THE RAIN LAST NIGHT TO RIGHT NOW. The poor man’s version of time-lapse photography.
Friday Morning: A Minute of Weather
Gripe, complain, piss and moan…all I ever do about the endless Albuquerque sun. So we are supposed to have Weather (not WEATHER) today and tomorrow. However, as usual, it will only last a minute or seven. Any Albuquerque Weather deserves a photo or two don’t you think?
LEAVING HOME
ARRIVING AT WORK
VOTE…unless you’re a Trump supporter which I am pretty sure none of my FB Friends are…
Before the Big Trip
NEW BAMBOO PLANT
It’s Wednesday (actually now it’s Thursday). On Sunday this big trip begins. Big trips are good except except that once you’ve gone big it’s hard to go back down to a week or two. Just does not seem travel worthy.
So my granddaughter are coming over shortly to get ‘watering the plants’ instructions. Yes. I said plants. After years of being responsible for nary plant, animal or mineral (does the lava I snuck out from Hawaii many years ago count as a mineral?) other then my living breathing self…I have plants. I love having them. I worry about them. Too much water. Too little water. Not enough sun…well that’s how it goes with plants isn’t it?
I’m really panicked just a little tonight about this trip. Just the Greenland part. Which is a cash guzzling/REI dependent mystery at the moment. There are questions of weather and unknown guides and are-we-tourists-or-trekkers? and how will raw whale really taste? and will there be an actual giant ice bergs all about? and can I sleep on a floor with just a mat in a sleeping bag. Thank god for good drugs.
When I return I’m just going to dig up my tiny new apartment-dwelling-size back yard and grow green things and watch every Netflix/Amazon series I’m behind on and spend NO money and eat more vegetables.
For now I’ll finish my New Belgium Heavy Melon beer and eat some dinner spinach with a nice dab, big chunk actually, of butter.
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- MY IKEA TABLE OBSESSION HASN’T LESSENED.
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- BEST FERN EVER.
TODAY 