walking around in a holidaze

The past couple weeks have been packed with holiday-related activities...lots of events at Misericordia (including helping the Mahoney ladies deck the halls/walls), glögg at the always festive Simon's, the Plagiarists' holiday bash, Jessica's appletini & gin bucket party, &c, &c. It has been fun. It has also been seasonal in a more traditional, get-togethers-centric way and a less buy-10 million-presents-to-the-tune-of-Mariah-Carey's-"All I Want for Christmas is You"-blasting-throughout-the-mall sort of way.

I still don't like that weird Christmas song, "Everybody's Waiting for the Man with the Bag." But I still do like the Vienna Boys Choir's cooley high harmonies.

Tonight AEM and I went to see the Joffrey's Nutcracker, and it was pretty amazing! I am always awed by the dancers' athleticism.

Now Chicago is more or less a ghost town. Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

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Courtney made her place look magical last Saturday.







The highlight of the night, of course, was the new puppy...



...Shep!



Finally made it to the Christkindlmarket.



Anne noticed that these poor sheep were drowning in snow.





I gave serious consideration to buying a glass ornament shaped like a pepperoni pizza.



Window wonderland at Rainbos.



Today I got my Christmas on (studio apt.-style). Put mini ornaments on my stick collection...



...and made some Mom-inspired Xmas cider...all while listening to the V. Boyzz Choir.



Grandparents decked with light. (I miss them.)

some recent wtg

David Horvitz (Proximity)

Green Lantern Press (Is Greater Than)

The Plagiarists (Gapers Block)

enduring light

Ben Schaafsma.

cloves, almonds, vanilla pods

In mulling over winter beverages, I realized I was getting them confused:

"Wassail is a hot spiced punch often associated with Christmas. Particularly popular in Germanic countries, the term itself is a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon term, wæs hæil, meaning, 'Be healthy.'

Glögg is the Nordic form of mulled wine, similar to Glühwein in German-speaking countries. Glühwein is usually prepared from red wine, heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, cloves, citrus and sugar. Almonds and raisins are often added to the Scandinavian version, though not to the German.

Navegado is a kind of mulled wine typically from Chile. The word "navegado" comes from the Spanish navegar meaning sailing. Navegado is heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, orange slices, cloves and sugar. Almonds and raisins are often added."

Just another aha moment made possible by Wikipedia.



Hope to finally make it here.

sister city

Back from NYC.



Already miss this one like crazy.



And this one...even though he and his sis make me sneeze like crazy. Ah, but they're wonderful.



Sister sister.



Cute kids.



Baobab.



Homemade bounty.



Girlsgiving.



Channeling Tyra.



Jam session with Pete!



"Dear Macy's Santa. Please bring me lots of things. I so believe in you."



Ginger hot toddy with rosemary sprig? Yes, OK!

we saw the sky, swarming full...

...with the light that the fireflies made.
An accidental constellation.
You, how will you go?
Out through your mouth in a sigh?
Into a space we don't know.

(New Anathallo out today. Well done, friends.)

falling forward

ALICE'S!



ARM & CLC specialize in "Hold Me."



They also specialize in amazing Halloween costumes. Twins from The Shining.



AHHH!!!!



Twins + Dust Bunny.



The best costume for the day?. (I=way dork.)



Football.

unpresidented (sic)...

...& at long last. The right person for the job.

now the swinging bridge...

...is quieted
with creepers...
Like our tendrilled life.

(Basho)



Remembered.
Remembered.

nothing was irrevocable; everything was within reach

In celebration of getting engaged, Matt and Heidi made a Goldworthy-style sculpture in the Washington woods (but better than ol' Golds, in my opinion, for the fact that it was not made in isolation). So I'm saying "Congrats!" by stealing this rather personal photo from Matt's Flickr. Thanks for sharing, friends. Here’s to more spiraling collaborations between you and others, rocks, leaves, stillness, movement, “blessed and blessing trees...”

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The ever-productive Plagiarists adapted a bunch of Jonathan Lethem's stories for the stage—stories from Lethem’s Promiscuous Materials Project, in which he makes available (for $1 apiece) original short works for adaptation/mutation. It’s a really cool concept and was Lethem’s follow-up, walk-his-talk venture after writing this amazing Harper’s essay about influence.

"As I researched that essay I came more and more to believe that artists should ideally find ways to make material free and available for reuse,” he explains. “This project is a (first) attempt to make my own art practice reflect that belief.” The Plagiarists’ version opened last Sunday at the Athenaeum and runs through November 23. Influential!

lay your shadow on the sundials

Whoa. Just listened to the Radiolab podcast called "The (Multi) Universe(s)"—an interview with theoretical physicist Brian Greene—and it was a real mind-bender! Thanks, Radiolab. Even though the physical comedy noises and certain attempts at "humor" can get a tad tiring/mildly distracting, overall, this WNYC program does a fine job of making science palatable and interesting for people who don't have much (if any) background in science. A respectable feat. I also like the show where E.O. Wilson talks really casually about how he discovered pheromones.

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BD retrospective: To Wilmette to Logan Square to Michigan and back.



The lakeshore in Wilmette is really quiet and empty on a Friday afternoon. A middle-aged woman was sunbathing on the grass in a teeny bathing suit—a bit of a bold statement for an October day, but then again it was 75ish degrees.





Finally visited the Baha'i Temple, and it was pretty great, architecturally speaking. A really calm and calming space, despite the hype of being advertised as one of the "Seven Wonders of Illinois."









Back home for party preparations.



Li'l pun'kin patch w/ green coconut grass.



In the background is the carver of this pumpkin, and the lovely lady who made the party happen.



Not only does she educate the leaders of tomorrow, but Jessica also makes an amazing carrot cake.









How they built the pyramids:







Rebuilt, reconfigured:















Thanks, friends. A bday to remember.



In Kalamazoo... Patty + Brian=The Panthers Bowling Team!



My bro cutting loose in his room to the tune of the Bstreet Bs.





Trees catching fire.


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And from the HP tour, here's my favorite new photo.