Name All the Animals

Name All the Animals
by Alison Smith

I'd been wanting to read this for quite some time as I'd heard solid reviews from various sources. When I finally had it in my hands, I seriously had a hard time putting it down (and was basically reading for two days straight).

Alison Smith's memoir takes place in her teenage years, growing up in a Catholic family and dealing with the life-altering event of death, the loss of faith, and an unexpected sexual awakening. More than anything, I was drawn to the relationships in this book. Alison's relationship with her mother and father, her brother, her classmates, her relationship with God, even her relationship with food. All of them unique, all of them believable, all of them in some way totally relatable. Smith does an amazing job of pulling you in, to see the world through the eyes of a 15 year old girl, and to make her experiences seem like your own narrative. And of course, I love that it takes place in Rochester, New York.

Beautifully written with a quiet observation in every detail, has definitely become one of my favorite memoirs.

Creature Discomfort

see the posting at Arting Through Limbo

Stuck

Stuck: Why We Can't (or Won't) Move On by Anneli Rufus

I loved this book. But I sort of picked it up off the book shelf out of curiosity, so I really had no expectations one way or the other.
I don't know if it was the way it was written, or the observations themselves, but I ended up agreeing with the author on 95% of the issues she covers. She talks about everything from the pathologizing of America to the problems with our capitalist lifestyle, to our obsession with other peoples' traumas. It's possible that liking this book makes me un-American, but oh well, I can live with that. Also, I appreciated Rufus' self-deprecation, not only telling us what's wrong with society on the whole, but also detailing her own faults and 'stuckness'. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone interested in sociological observations and writings... or anyone fond of the idea of escaping the rat race to go live in a hut somewhere.

3 Exciting Things

I hate Tuesdays. To me, they represent the badness that comes BEFORE the badness of Wednesdays. So in an effort to rid myself of that icky Tuesday feeling, my roommate Brian and I headed over to a little cafe down the street from our apartment, called The Flower Flat Cafe. I read a newspaper. I finished another 2 chapters in my library book. I ingested an entire pot of COFFEEEEE. I ate a croissant. It was great. The ladies at The Flower Flat are really nice and the environment is totally the kind of place you'd want to be if you had to write a paper or sketch out ideas for a few hours. Next time I go back I'll have to order a sandwich, because they looked really tasty. Also? Totally reasonably priced! Your own little french press (which was not so little), a croissant, and a cup of soup for $7 and change. That's my kind of spendin'!

Upon returning home, I had the strange uncontrollable urge to get out my oboe. So I did. Now, let me stress the fact that I really do not play oboe anymore. Once I got to college it just became something that I never really made time for. I promised myself I wouldn't totally give it up, but days became weeks, weeks turned to months (you know how the rest of this goes) and before I knew it, I hadn't played in 5 years. It sometimes haunts me a little. I'll be sitting on the el and I'll realize that I'm absent-mindedly practicing scales with my fingers. Or I'll catch a sneaky couple of measures running through my head from a piece I once played long ago. I do wish I still played. I do wish I was still good. My embouchure has really deteriorated, my breath support sucks, I can't remember fingerings for some of the high notes, but all in all, it didn't sound too bad. Who knows, maybe I'll magically gain some determination and start practicing again. That would be something, wouldn't it?

The third (SUPER) exciting thing is that my metal smithing tools have arrived!!!!!!! GAAAAH!!! (Do you sense the excitement I'm feeling)?? I haven't even opened the box yet, I was so ecstatic I had to write about it. So yeah, that awesome bf of mine bought me tools as a belated birthday present. Under normal circumstances, I would dissuade you fellows out there from buying your ladies something as unromantic as a drill press (and I might still dissuade you if your lady has no interest in drilling holes in things), but I've been pretty obnoxious lately with my whining about a lack of jewelry making equipment in my life. So weeeeeeeeeee, expect to see lots of new things with little holes drilled out of them sometime soon!

Arting Through Limbo

So let's discuss a rather touchy subject, shall we?

I am currently (dun dun dunnnn) unemployed. Ugh it sounds like such a dirty word, on the same level as "contagious" or "moist" or "meaty". But it's true nonetheless. And it has been for quite some time now. So why is it that I still feel a sense of shame regarding the matter? Like maybe I should be good enough, smart enough, and gosh-darn-it have people like me enough to get through this little hiccup. But then I have to remind myself that there are greater things at work here. I cannot simply be talented and qualified and **poof** suddenly have an awesome job sitting in my lap, heck a CRAPPY job sitting in my lap.

So in the meantime, my sister and I are starting an art blog. It will have a few purposes: 1. To provide a supportive, therapeutic environment for those suffering from the symptoms associated with unemployment. 2. To encourage the consistent production of creative work (and therefore, to prevent our minds from getting too gooey). 3. To expose our FREAKIN' AWESOME TALENT TO THE WORLD!!!!! 4. Possible world-domination.

So yeah, read it: Arting Through Limbo

Once a Year, The Feminist Movement Goes Down the Crapper

I'm going to talk about something that is entirely not okay with me: Girls' Halloween Costumes. I know, I know, it's something we expect to see every year, but just because we anticipate that tiny little skirt, those fishnet thigh-highs, that skin-tight navy lycra minidress with the 'sexy' aviator cap and nametag reading "Mile-High Pilot" (what!?), it does NOT MAKE IT OKAY.

Why!? WHY WHY WHYYYYY??? Why do we allow ourselves as women to be portrayed this way? Why do the men in our society encourage it? WHAT THE F!?

I find the trend towards skanky women's Halloween costumes to be insulting, depressing, unfair and entirely uncreative. Whatever happened to truly scary? Or funny? Or clever? How easy (and cheap looking) it is to slither into a tight little number, throw on some high heels and call yourself... I don't know... "a sexy pirate," "a slutty nurse," "a-who-gives-a-shit-what-I-am-as-long-as-I-look-hot!!"

This really got to me while I was riding the train home from a party on October 30th. All the girls in costume were wearing stilettos, ill-fitting dresses that hit mid-thigh (and seemed incapable of concealing a well-balanced dinner), and sheer stockings of one sort or another. The men? Track suits. Flight suits. Sweat pants. Trench coats... And me, in my (very un-sexy) pirate costume which utilized my boyfriend's oversized dress shirt, a red bandanna, a pair of khaki's rolled up, a hand-sewn felt eye-patch, and a pair of black winter boots. And damn, was that outfit comfy. Which is more than I can say for an outfit that forces my posture off-balance, inhibits my food-intake for the night, and requires constant re-application of various goopy face-products that may or may not make my eyelids look infested by centipedes.

I, for one, am boycotting this sexist BS. I refuse to allow myself to feel less feminine or attractive. I refuse to give in to "easy," "sexy," or "hot" (unless I mean "hot" in the fleece onesy-pajama type way). I will be creative. I will be funny. And damn, will I be comfortable.

Wheat Berry & White Bean Salad

This is my new favorite warm weather salad! The heartiness of cooked wheat berries paired with the tanginess of a lemon vinaigrette really says 'summer'. It's super simple, totally filling, and absolutely delicious.

Ingredients
Salad:

3 cups cooked hard red wheat berries

2 15 oz. cans cooked white beans 

2-3 green onions, chopped 

1 cup celery, sliced 

2-3 tomatoes, diced 

Vinaigrette Dressing: 

3/4 cup olive oil 

4 Tbsp. lemon juice 

4 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar 

4 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped 

2 Tbsp. honey mustard 

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Mix the dressing by stirring all the vinaigrette ingredients together in a medium size bowl. In a large bowl, mix the salad ingredients. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and mix well. Let chill for several hours to let the flavors blend (or, if you just can't wait, do what I did and dig in). Yum!

Makes 6-8 servings.