Eggers and a Photoless Dinner

Dave Eggers is haunting me. Marissa recently suggested I read his book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, after my mention of The Road started a little back and forth between us about book recommendations. I checked it out of the library and was reading it last week when my in-laws were in town. My father-in-law, seeing the book on my bedside table, said that he really enjoyed reading it. Then I saw Andrea's recent post in which she included a quote from the book. Several people left comments on her blog about how much they liked it as well. I'm in the minority on this, I guess, because I wasn't a big fan of Eggers' book. My blog friends loved it, the press adored it, heck - it was a Pulitzer finalist. But it didn't float my boat. However, there were a few passages of the book that really stuck with me. Like this one:

"...I know what I am doing now, that I am doing something both beautiful but gruesome because I am destroying its beauty by knowing that it might be beautiful, know that if I know I am doing something beautiful, that it is no longer beautiful. I fear that even if it is beautiful in the abstract, that my doing it knowing that it’s beautiful and worse, knowing that I will very soon be documenting it, that in my pocket is a tape recorder brought for just that purpose – that all this makes the act of potential beauty somehow gruesome. I am a monster."

This sentiment relates (it's definitely more intense, but it relates) to one that I've had recently as I've decided what and what not to document and post about here. A few nights ago, while plating our dinner (doesn't "plating" sound formal? it wasn't), Barry asked if I wanted to take a photo of the food for my blog. I'd spent a decent amount of time in the kitchen preparing a yummy soy and ginger salmon recipe and an improvised Asian-inspired slaw that I was compelled to make after hearing a recent episode of the Splendid Table with Sally Schneider. But no, I didn't want to take a photo of what turned out to be a darn good meal. I just wanted to eat it. Sure, I wanted to share the recipe links with you guys, but I wanted to share the experience of the dinner with Barry, and not be bothered with thinking about lighting, camera angle, to zoom or not to zoom... Thinking about so much of the good things in my life in the context of how I document them on my blog makes me feel kinda lame at times. How about you, fellow bloggers? Ever feel like some of the beauty of an experience is taken away by posting about it (or by doing the work it takes to post about it)? Or is blogging simply a nice way for you to collect and share snippets of beautiful (and/or not-so-beautiful) parts of your life? Or maybe blogging is more than that - maybe it causes you to see and experience beauty that you hadn't before. Maybe it's all of the above. Discuss. And have a great weekend, whether you document it or not.

Curmudgeon

I'm getting older, people. I know we're all getting older day by day, but I'm getting decidedly older in mindset. Case in point: my grumpy reaction to the goings on at the bar across the street from our apartment. The bar has picnic tables out front on the sidewalk and the staff there serves customers outside until 2 am every night of the week. And as you might imagine, people who are out drinking until 2 am aren't the quietest group. Years ago (okay, to be honest it was over a decade ago), I was occasionally (fine, I'll be honest again - I was rarely) one of those people who was out at that hour. No longer. I'm all about early to bed early to rise. So now, I am the person woken in the middle of the night by those people. I am the person who calls the bar at 1:30 to tell them to quiet their customers down or bring them inside. I am the person who calls the non-emergency police line several times a week to have a patrol car swing by to put a damper on things when I'm awakened by bar noise at 2 in the morning. I am the person who sends in official complaints to the state liquor licensing commission regarding the sleep-interrupting noise that projects from the bar on a nightly basis. I am tired. I am grumpy. I am a curmudgeon.

I took this photo - yay for Christmas lights in July! - down the block from my favorite neighborhood bar. Like the annoying bar across the street from our place, my favorite neighborhood bar has outdoor seating. Unlike the owners of the annoying bar, however, the owners of the New Old Lompoc have consideration for their neighbors - they shut down patio service at 11 pm.

Run-On Necklaces

People, I was a necklace-making machine today. Between the encouragement of Patricia at Bonnet, who I can't thank enough for her support of my designs - especially my necklace designs, as well as the promise of an amazing upcoming sale at Abby's place in a couple weeks (have you seen the awesome blog she set up for the Summer Social and the beyond sweet feature she posted on sulu-design?), I've decided to seriously focus my energy on getting some new pieces produced this month. (I should, perhaps, be focusing my energy for a moment on adding some periods to that insane run-on sentence you just read. But right now I'm typing as I would be talking. And I'm excited about all of this, so I'd totally be run-on talking, too.)

Today I finally broke down and worked with pieces that I've been holding onto in my stash for years - found bit of metal from the streets of Queens, bits of old jewelry from a table at the former Chelsea Flea market in Manhattan - as well as with some new-to-me chains and beads.

I was listening to NPR for several hours while my fingers worked away today. I wish I had a nickle for each time the phrases "President Obama and his Russian counterpart" and "the architect of the Vietnam War" were uttered. Where's a thesaurus when a reporter needs one?

Okay, too much coffee and too much jewelry-making has me a little wired. I'm heading to the kitchen to put my energy to a different use now, making this with turkey sausage for dinner. Thanks for stopping by, friends. Hope your weekends were wonderful.

Edited to add: Abby's Summer Social takes place on July 25th. I'll list remaining necklaces in the sulu-design shop after the sale.

No Intent

The little run of Original Intent posts I'd done last week had me excited again about using my camera in conjunction with working on jewelry. That project always seems to give me a kick in the earring-making pants when I need it. Sometimes, though, I like to head out to take photos knowing that I'm not going to use any as inspiration for jewelry - to just shoot what I like. That's what I did recently in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood. The light of summer is making me camera-happy.

Al Fresco

Trying to soak up all of the goodness of summer, Barry and I have taken to eating dinner on our fire escape. Homemade pizza (made with a simple and delicious dough recipe from my usual go-to, Mark Bittman), turkey burgers with jalapenos, and fish tacos have been in heavy rotation. How about you? Any good ideas for healthy summer dinners?

Little Acorns

Yesterday was the last day of school for New York City public school students. It was the final day at C.S. 50 for the last class of kids that I taught there - they've graduated and will move on to new schools in the fall. I'm thinking of them, wishing for the best for each of those little ones I used to read to on the classroom carpet (some are not so little any more... my oldest class of kids is college-age now). Three of my friends who taught there retired this year, too - congratulations, Marilyn, Penny, and John. The school will be a different place when I get back there for a visit one day.


I think of my old students all the time. I keep in touch with several of them who are sweet enough to write me every now and then. It was an insanely tough job - insanely - but today I'm really missing teaching in the South Bronx.

Original Intent (Revisited): Day One Hundred Fifty-One

chinese lanterns, park slope, brooklyn (archived)

inspired earrings found here