January 2012
1 post
December 2011
3 posts
The diagnosis
Read Xeni Jardin’s moving and personal account of the day her life changed.
A small bit of it:
The gravity in this place is different. I’ve spoken to others who’ve traveled out here, too, and returned home safely. When you become one of them, you learn quickly that you share a language others can’t understand.
The trick, these fellow travelers tell me, is to accept the...
Learning to draw...the 50 states
I’m kind of hot for teacher.
Kenny O’Brien teaches online drawing classes on Mahalo. He’s a little bit dorky in a Mr. Rodgers kind of way, but mostly he’s kind and funny and extremely good at teaching. The first thing that hooked me with these courses was the way he made drawing the NW states look easy. This is the easiest chunk of the country to draw, but I found it...
November 2011
0 posts
Bobulate: A ban on busy →
Over lunch, over the phone, over email, and some simple eavesdropping, I’ve noticed a pattern. Because the social constructs of a greeting includes a banal how-are-you salutation, people tend to answer abruptly. And recently, I’ve heard people answer most often using a single word: “busy.”
The…
October 2011
12 posts
in praise of Powell's Books
Powell’s Books in Portland is the best book shop on the planet. The gigantic main store (Powell’s City of Books) is full of great book reading mojo and proud, intelligent employees. They have an app that provides turn-by-turn directions to find books within their store.
I often lurk on their website learning about new books to read. But what I do most of all is lust after their...
skateboard graveyard
I’m trying to research this - does anyone know the story?
There are a shit ton of broken skateboard decks on one of the pilings about 20 feet below the Embankment bridge.
Who is doing this…and why? Do skateboarders save their broken decks in order to throw them here? Do they sometimes miss and end up with boards in the Thames?
I haven’t found an answer yet, but it sure...
"Having the best show on network TV is kind of... →
Chuck Klosterman on TV, culture, morality…and why Breaking Bad might be the best show ever.
california love
June 17, 2008 was the day that same-sex marriage went into effect in California. ..before Prop 8 took away this right the following November. I was so proud that our state was part of leading the way that I showed up at Beverly Hills city hall with a camera and without a plan, hoping to share in the joy of the day.
It turned out that quite a few couples were so swept up that they forgot about...
4 tags
the view from my window on "the view from your...
Being a big fan of Andrew Sullivan, having my photo on his blog is very exciting. That is indeed a view from my office window.
the desktop wallpaper project
Bobby Sullivan has been offering up a free, beautiful desktop wallpaper on The Desktop Wallpaper Project every week since 2007. He works with incredible painters, designers and photographers from around the world. His blog is called The Fox is Black and it’s all about design and art.
The image above is my favorite wallpaper from Cole Gerst/Option G.
Thanks Bobby.
3 tags
feral honey
We put this website together about the honey we make…and by “we” I mean our bees. The bees make the honey, we make the website. FeralHoney.com
is there anything more boring...
than a blog post about how someone hasn’t been blogging enough? I think not.
Sorry
August 2010
1 post
dinner invitation
Last summer I had the great privilege of participating in the “Friends Cook” program at canelé restaurant. I came up with a honey-driven menu that featured LA beekeepers’ honey in all of the courses. I was nervous and intimidated beforehand and ended up having a blast. I learned a ton about cooking that day and was blown away by the talent and professionalism of everyone at the...
May 2010
1 post
spring garden!
I’m pretty sure I planted too much shit in this garden. I drove all the goddamn way to North Hills to go to the best nursery ever, and they had 6-packs of plants for the same price that two would cost. What would you do? I couldn’t afford to not buy them.
The tomatoes on the right were planted about 5 weeks before the rest.
What we’ve got going here:
armenian cucumbers
...
February 2010
1 post
mary herczog - you did it right
My friend Mary Herczog died on Tuesday. She had breast cancer and had been fending it off for 12 years. She was 45.
We were never super close, but we were always happy to run into each other at a party or around the neighborhood. She had a way of being inclusive and intimate in even the most chaotic social setting that put everyone at ease. Most of the time she seemed much more interested in...
December 2009
3 posts
people are nervous and kind of dumb
One of my favorite blogs these days is Liz Danzico’s Bobulate. Liz is “an independent information architecture and user experience consultant”, and though I don’t know her at all, she is my imaginary/internet friend who is incredibly gifted with language and ideas. I am a bit wary about mentioning the site as I am so in awe of her writing and know mine pales in...
I’ve been making playlists like crazy this...
picture if you will
I almost submitted the above photo to the Pictory San Francisco Showcase, but I decided that they would be getting tons of shots of the Golden Gate and I needed to work a little harder than that.
I feel honored to have made the cut among some super-talented photographers on such a beautiful and inspiring new site.
Mine is #14 in the series.
boom shaka
As you can see, the DOJ is now aware of me.
Apparently, all you have to do is sit in a classroom/trailer for five hours to get clearance to work with explosives. This is what makes our country great.
November 2009
3 posts
coop scoop
The men are working super hard to build a chicken house in the yard. I’ve seen some extremely fancy ones in recent weeks, but I already have the most affection for ours. They salvaged that window from a neighbor’s trash and worked it into the plan. I’ll be doing my best 5th grade-style paint job on the henhouse next weekend.
Have I joined a chicken group? You bet! Celebrity...
recipe: lemony kale salad with dates and almonds
I’m obsessed with kale right now and it appears that I’m not alone. My Facebook posts about kale got immediate and fervent responses - the sort that seem to only come when people talk about Glee or newborns. A surprising number of kale commenters demanded recipes from me. What follows is my best attempt at food blogging.
Lemony Kale Salad with Dates and Almonds 4 small side dish...
October 2009
3 posts
purge-a-thon 2009
I am committed to owning fewer things.
The hard reality of dealing with dead people’s possessions has helped me realize that most of the stuff we own is meaningless and will likely be a hindrance to those we leave behind.
This is not to say that all material things are evil. Hell, a new pair of shoes can make me happy for weeks. The new me just has to ditch at least one of whatever comes...
winter garden
Finally pulled out the last stragglers from the summer garden - we had tomatoes, shishitos and eggplant going right up until yesterday.
Got some arugula, romanesco, chard, broccoli rabe, beets, kale, thyme, shallots and sage in there for winter. Go little plants go!
Coming soon: chickens!
August 2009
1 post
what's been going on
Well damn, I’ve been rather remiss in updating this blog. I realize that all of these things should be posts unto themselves, but I’ve already taken my Sunday evening Ambien and schluffkins are imminent.
SOME HIGHLIGHTS:
I’ve become a bona fide hippie. Bees begat garden begat co-ops and such. I’ve been volunteering at Farmlab and learning about urban farming. So far I...
July 2009
3 posts
north cackalackey
We’re back from North Carolina and the trip was just great.
I don’t think I ever posted pictures of the farm since I was so obsessed with the cows and cheese. The pics above gives you a pretty good feel for the lush and languid feel you get as soon as you step foot on the Chapel Hill Creamery grounds.
The ladies were super sweet to offer their guest room for a couple of nights....
one year later
Holy cow! This is little Azalea…remember when she was born? It wasn’t even a year ago. She came running when we came over to see us. I like to think that we have a special bond, with me naming her and all.
She’s already gone into heat a couple of times and they’re going to get her knocked up this winter. They grow up so fast.
Look how cute she was.
i may have a bit of a gear problem
not pictured: digital SLR (took picture), Wii, Slingbox, Roku, laptop.
Up to 6 phone numbers now…must get consolidated.
June 2009
8 posts
a honey of a whoa
I’m going to cook at a real restaurant on Tuesday night and people are going to pay real money to eat there.
Corina (pictured above) is the chef at canelé restaurant in Atwater Village and is allowing me to cook in her kitchen. They have a somewhat irregular program called “friends cook at canelé” where they welcome someone from the neighborhood into their restaurant to...
veg porn
It’s getting so that we can have vegetables from the garden at least once a week. I expect that to double once the tomatoes begin to ripen.
We grilled up squash, japanese eggplant and those 6 precious shishitos tonight. I realize that this gardening thing is not new to many humans, but I still feel strangely smug about growing food and then eating it…like it is a secret science that...
i am the eggplant
Individual produce-in-action pics are starting to be more interesting than full garden shots.
Coming soon: veg-porn in the form of tomatoes, soybeans and cucumbers (oh, cucumbers!). We may have to revisit the raging force of nature that is crookneck squash as well.
…and here is what the garden looked like yesterday
my new hero
I’ve read this little piece from Last Sunday’s NY Times at least five times now. The writing blows me away - I am struck by the grace and honesty Tim Kreider achieves without even once stooping to anything that resembles maudlin or story-milking…and the story is extremely milkable. Kreidler stays cool and aloof where others (me) would have gone into superflous and overdramatic...
bee on me
My mom often accused me of having a “lack of impulse control” and I am starting to realize that she was right about that. Once I had the idea in my head that I wanted a bee tattoo there was no stopping me. I guess this beekeeping thing is for keeps.
I had originally scheduled the tattooing for June 26th with one of those famous tattoo dudes who you can’t get an appointment with...
good boy
Ran into this dog and his early 20’s, possibly-homeless owner in Hollywood. The dog’s name is Disco. I didn’t get the human’s name, since he wasn’t nearly as charming, but he was a good dog owner.
That thing with the bowl crushes me.
growing almost like a weed
News coming soon about something other than the veggie garden.
Please enjoy this eggplant blossom in the meantime.
the garden...last week
Apologies for the garden pic slackage. The squash continue to intimidate all of the other kids in the garden. They don’t play nice, but have proven to be delicious.
We also planted a fig tree in the yard last weekend. And when I say “we” I mean the husband. It was my idea, though.
May 2009
6 posts
garden of iniquity
The garden continues to go bezerkers. Though the growth may not seem as impressive as in previous weeks, there are fruits and flowers happening now. I keep hacking away at the squash leaves (front left) so that nearby shishitos and tomatoes can have a chance.
Your money shot:
update from the chaos
Things have gotten a little nutso here in Swiss Family Robinson world. A quick update:
We now have 3(!) hives of bees. It turns out that the queen wasn’t dead after all. Long live her! Whole story on the bee blog.
Speaking of, I’m going to get a bee tattoo and need illustration suggestions. Nothing anthropomorphized, please.
I am spending a ton of time trying to be the cat...
the bionic garden
As you can see, the garden is blowing up. (I was just tempted to use a snarky “literally” in there in as in “the garden is literally blowing up like The Hindenberg”, but I was a tiny bit concerned that I might just sound like one of the morons I was mocking. I’ll just be the regular moron that I am).
The husband sprayed the leaves with some kind of plant crack and...
and so it grows
Significant progress in a week, especially from the tomatoes and squash (near left). Go little plants go!
sowing the seeds of lunch
We planted a little garden. It started as a gift to the bees, but I’m pretty excited about it now.
I’m going to take a picture every Sunday so that we can all see it grow (or not). This one is from last Sunday. I will attempt more prompt posting in the future. Blame the owl for my tardiness.
For the record, we are growing:
Tomatoes
Japanese Eggplant
Yellow Squash
Watermelons
...
adventures with wildlife
Apparently, the painting of the animals on our front wall served as a welcome to all of the local beasts.
I guess it really started before that.
We recently decided to adopt a couple of feral cats. They were going to be euthanized at the shelter and our yard is cat paradise. We would just leave out some food for them and that would be that.
Of course we had to get all geeky about it - Russell...
April 2009
4 posts
pictures on retaining walls
Wowie! Young Phil Lumbang really outdid himself today.
I hope the neighbors chill out.
the good news bears - philip lumbang
Very excited! I just spoke to Philip Lumbang, who is going to come by and paint the wall in front of our house this weekend. I have a big crush on his polite and sincere bears that have popped up in the neighborhood. Maybe they will be discussing bees and honey?
You can see a video of Philip at work here.
See how polite the bears are?
Thanks to Lucinda Inganni and Orrin for the photos.