trois, douze, merde!

Reading through old blog posts can make one . . . nostalgic.

I am considering taking the time to return to this blog.

In the mean time, let's talk about a movie. Jord, Garett and I saw a clementine of a film last week.

Holy Motors.

I only recommend it if you think life's a little profane, a little absurd, a little heart-wrenching, a little cheesy, a bit queer.

The Tower cat sat on my lap for the first half-hour, then jumped off, then wandered up the aisle meowing loudly.

It fits.

gusts of birds.

farmington bay, december 3, 2011

American Kestrel
Pie-billed Grebe
White-faced Ibis
Golden Eagle
Northern Pintail
Northern Harrier
Marsh Wren
California Gull
Canvasback
American Coot
American White Pelican
Willet
Northern Shoveler
Lesser Yellowlegs
American Wigeon

a beautiful day with a dear friend.

pardon me for seeming sowft.

i found this in the dustbin of blog drafts.

dear miss caitie,

you may not recall my gorgan(zola), but i met you at the snarly cocktail party given by our ripe friend, spencer. we had a hipstery talk about brazen mustachios dot coms, and i was impressed by your arabic conversation and your grasp of the manufactured situation. also, i was very much attracted by your oily eyes, your dusty little chin, and your racy teeth. if you'll pardon me for seeming sowft, i was fascinated by your blue walk and by your gregarious figure.

i hope i made a demonstrative impression, and that we can get together for a nice arbiter next week.

mysteriously yours,

tyler

all is full of.

one thing i love about salt lake is that there is a sort of urgency that comes at the end of summer.



after yoga, jord and I headed to the avenues street fair. so many friends at the fair! alex p. was there with healutah, andrea s. was selling handmade rugs, nhmu people were spreading the news about the new museum, meaghan was manning the utah clean energy booth, and brittany and marcus, gavin, aaron and whitney were selling terrariums (the purple thumb), collages, papercrafts, buttons, magnets and cassette tapes (with walkmens). i bought black rose post earrings and a dinosaur bib from vintagefern. jord congratulated me for wearing 3-d earrings. we snacked on kettle corn and i got a porcelain peace magnet because i saved the magnets from crashing to the ground.

we headed to the grateful tomato garden (wasatch community garden) before our 12pm volunteering commitment. jord and i volunteered on the garden winter staff and it was nice to see how the garden has grown. the line for crumb-brothers-bread-fresh-garden-pesto-uber-fresh-heirloom-tomato sandwiches was long but moving quickly.

so many tomatoes of all sorts. i ate so many tomatoes. i was a slicer, so i noshed quite a bit. my favorites were the yellowy-pink-orangey ones. we went home with two bags of tomatoes and about a pound of sliced ones. jord bought some honey off a local dude. also, in between the plant sale and the free plants for volunteers, we ended up with sage, arugula and a mystery plant (dun dun DUN).

we got back to the apartment just as a big storm was rolling in. it was lovely. i put my honey in the honey jar and tried it with peanut butter and a cracker. so yum.

when the rain dissipated we went back to the street fair, where i bought a cross-stitch of (gasp!) an owl from whitney. jord bought several pieces of paper art (including a righteous eagle with fish prey), a couple buttons and a cassette tape from gav. we bolth wanted to buy a terrarium, but we're going to wait and make one with brit. down the street, there was a house filled with estate-sale items. i bought a small wooden jewelry box and a ladybug clip. tricia and her kids were there, and we talked about amy and todd.

when we got home, i pulled out the pastry dough i had made friday and beat the hell out of it. i used julia child's recipe. (i was going to make a "quick and easy" crust, but then decided if i was going to do it, i was going to do it right). i partially baked the crust and then poured the quiche lorraine (with added mushrooms) filling into the crust. it smelled like heaven was baking in the oven.

we ate the quiche for dinner. it was SO GOOD. i thought i was going to screw up julia's recipe, but i channeled her life force and BOOM. deliriously good quiche. also deliriously fattening and rich quiche. grum a yum.

thusly, we took zig for a night hike up in the foothills. we saw several ghostly nighthawks on the way up. the temperature was perfect and the city below was glimmering. on the way down we spotted a big buck and a doe. zig phreeked out and flew after them. it's a strange dog that's scared of a breeze but will charge animals five times his size.

then, this morning, we went to city creek for a run. we saw a hairy woodpecker. the end.

i don't know why i felt i needed to outline this weekend. it was just perfect. and now i'm sitting with the brlack cat. he makes me so happy.

homegrown tomatoes

the jaune flammes are rapturously good.

jord and i are volunteering at the annual tomato sandwich party and plant sale at the grateful tomato garden (800 south 600 east, slc) for wasatch community gardens, september 10, 11am-2pm.

it is FREE, and you should COME.

more info:
http://wasatchgardens.org/event/tomato-sandwich-party-and-fall-plant-sale/9/10/11

surprises are best.

don't want to jinx it, but every day in september has been a lovely surprise.

everyday i'm away from you shakes

birthday celebration at the museum
followed by mrowing zim
followed by yoga with friends
followed by feeding dickie
followed by a run
followed by friends
and now a firework show.

but one someone is missing.

my birthday was pretty pretty cool.

i love my friends.

even though i feel a little gross from eating TOO MANY COOKIES

i feel on top of the world.

the sky is overcast and a cool breeze is coming through the open windows.
salt lake city is sparkling.
zim is brlack and soft and a genius of cuddles.

and i have the best friends and family in the universe and whatever lays beyond it.

for the record.

this is the first weekend in a good while that i haven't been out of town, busy with events or some combination of the two. it's strange to be able to sit and read with zim curled up next to me. it's cold and rainy. it's quiet, as my roommates all headed out for the weekend. frankly, it's a little unsettling.

it's that unsettlement that leads me to remember the last little while.

highlights of the last two months (in chronological order?):

sitting between jord and pm at bolero with sinfonietta and chaconne by ballet west.
crocheting with the lake bonneville coral reef project
moscow mules at bar x with the best of companies
seeing press plush at garfo and meeting the talented cara
shopping for amy at the blue boutique
hiking to the highest point of antelope island, frary peak, with two darlings
amy and todd's graduation
eating with mom, dad, jason and brandy
amy's bridal shower(s)
an epic easter egg hunt at the christopher's
amy and todd's wedding (to eachother)
brunch of said wedding replete with bird nests
poetry share at the salt lake city library
finding kolaches at johnny kolache
being in vernal with jord
sage grouse lek
watching georges st. pierre beat the crud out of the other guy
burrowing owls
hanging out with dora, talking about the gsl for traveling treasures
my graduation (technically a walk, as i won't be finished until early fall)
pat's barbecue with my family
wasatch community garden plant sale
EH potluck
little fat boy being towed by jord's truck from downtown
little fat boy being fixed without another costly repair
sundancing into the darkness with beth
my juicy knee
making and eating rolled tacos with the best caitie in the world
dissecting a cockroach
experimenting with saltwatercoloring
eating pakistani food and worrying about the rapture at living traditions festival
amy and todd's reception (seeing so many friends)
eating at the wild grape with jord
hiking the in the foothills with jord and zig, balsam root and astragalus lighting the way
taking in the lilacs
drinking a boba tea with pm
dreaming with brooke about loving the west
running 7 miles up city creek
bluegrass and pizza with the spensor and the tracy
nate's birthday dinner at bayleaf
running 9 miles with two lovely gals
so much good yoga!

and so many secret highlights.
maybe i need a journal.

day of the dead.

i feel like i'm going through a breakup.






ps i love my dear friends.

there's winter all over the floor here.

i like the snow when it is wet and sloshy and the windshield wipers swish it off without scraping. i like the gush gush gush sounds on the ground.

i've listened to the song heartbeats, performed by jose gonzalez, enough tonight, but i'll keep listening. quando m'en vo, heartbeats, repeat. weird combination.

i went to class tonight. there was no class. i locked my keys in the fat boy. a new friend called AAA.

there's an empty space between my sternum and my heart.

a lake and a bridge

Provo Bay was chosen for its beauty and accessibility, and because a great blue heron flew right over my head there on two separate occasions.

No tools were used at any step in the making of the bridge. We created the bridge using sticks, reeds, grasses and leaves. These materials were collected in the marshy areas around the bay. The plants were brittle and golden in color due to the coming winter. These materials were chosen due to their buoyancy as well as their proximity and connection to the site.

Connections were made by inserting reeds with smaller diameters into slits made in reeds with larger diameters. Sticks, grasses and leaves were woven into the framework. We had creative freedom and each person was allowed to make add or make changes to the framework as they saw fit. So, the bridge was a sum of individual parts as well as an overall collective effort.

When the piecing together of the bridge was complete, we put it out to lake.

Within two hours, the wind, waves, rocks (and perhaps unseen nibblings by fish and the infamous monster of Utah Lake) dismantled the bridge and the materials nestled themselves into the rocky side of the jetty.

As far as I can tell, no coots were harmed or even noticed the bridge.

A minimally intrusive natural bridge that preserved the integrity of the lake, it came forth from the lakescape and returned to it.





thanks and thanks to amy, wayne, clark, terry, my eh'ers, and a. bird for the musics.