esprit de l'escalier

Wherein I tell things out of order

There is a little ice cream shop in Granville that is only open in the spring and summer called Knuckleheads. It's kind of fantastic. Great soft serve, great burgers with fresh toppings, killer onion rings. I made a lot of good decisions today, and one of them was to get a chocolate malt as I was leaving town. I spent the second half of the afternoon at a friend's pool and after several hours in the sun, a frosty malt was just what I needed for my drive back to Columbus. (One bad decision I made was to put on sunscreen while I was wearing shorts. I now have a patch of sunburn on my upper thigh. Oops.)

Last night my friend had some of us over for a cookout at his new apartment. I made Pimm's cup, potato salad, and chocolate chip cookies. He figured out his new barbeque. I also took some Polaroids. He has these roses that have gone a bit crazy, I call them feral roses. They are kind of awesome. See them below. And my awesome friend Erin. We then went to see her husband's band and hung out at the bar for a while. It was a good night, if a late one.

More flowers

Tonight Esther hosted a stitch and bitch at her house. I ended up getting too caught up in the Korean drama she pulled up on Hulu to pay much attention to the blanket I was attempting to crochet. (So much intrigue!) Before that got started, though, I wandered her yard to snap some photos of their roses, and their neighbor's clematis. Oh spring. I do love you.

A spring evening

I love being able to spend a spring evening in my parents' yard, stalking the dying light and the blooming flowers. It is so calming to bring the camera to my eye, compose an image, and capture a moment. There are so many more peonies this year. I am in thrall to them, as always. Mom broke her foot last week, and can't be working in her garden as much as she'd like. (But she went slugging yesterday with much success.) We both miss Frank as we wander the yard. He would love the new flowers and beds that are planted this year. I think I am always half waiting for him to run up to me to say hello. I hope you enjoy the photos I made this evening.

Hirshhorn two ways

I finally got a roll of film developed that has been wallowing in my camera since I was in DC at the end of March/beginning of April. My last day there I wandered DC with my dear friends Bird and Sarah, and showed them some special-to-me places on the mallway. This being the prime spot. I interned in DC one summer three days a week, and on the weekends I worked at the gift shop at the Hirshhorn. I was the youngest person by at least 35 years. It was fun. Except for when the boy scouts were on the mall for a week. Boy scouts plagued me two summers in a row. That's another story for another time.

Furry Friday

My friend Mel has an awesome cat, Kid Rock. He is a big lover of a cat. Hope you have a great weekend.

Thank you, Mr. Sendak

I was really saddened today by the news of Maurice Sendak's death. His books brought me much joy throughout childhood, young adulthood when I read him to my babysitting charges, til today when I've given his books to my friends' children. Outside, Over There always gave me chills, but I returned to it again and again. (I also love the name "Ida," which stems directly from the heroine in that book, who saves her baby sister from the goblins.) The Nutshell Library made me laugh and sing. (My tiny copies are somewhere in my parents' house.)  In the Night Kitchen always made me laugh and now makes me think of my godson (pictured above), because he loves it so. And then of course there is Where the Wild Things Are. A book I can recite much of. A book I truly, truly love. A book I will read again to myself tonight. Thank you, Mr. Sendak.

My friend Dan

Friday is my friend Dan's last day of work. He was one of my first friends at my job. Actually he was my designated "buddy". I'm going to miss him. My liver, pocket book, and waistline probably won't miss our late nights drinking on work nights, but I'll definitely miss his company. And yes, as he keeps telling me, he's only moving to Virginia, not the moon, but still, it's not the same. It's a loss of a friend. Here are some photos from a happy hour we had back in March.

Conspiracy of love

Tonight my friend Julie and I went to hear Mayor Cory Booker through OSU's First Year Experience Distinguished Speaker program. (Thanks to my other friend Julie, who works for that program and snagged us tickets.)

For those of you who may not know who that is, Cory Booker is the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, a scholar, an upstanding citizen, and one hell of a ranconteur. As an urban planner and enthusiast, I was interested in hearing him speak, but my friend Julie is a super fan and she was pumped. He did not disappoint. He spoke for almost two hours about his life experiences, how he got to where he is, and some lessons he learned along the way.

His main theme was about how his life was all thanks to the people who came before him. We are all standing on the shoulders of giants. He used the phrase, "conspiracy of love" over and over again. That thanks to a conspiracy of love - of community members, strangers, people whose names he does not know, his father was able to go to college. That through the hard work of his parents and their generation, he was able to achieve all that he has achieved. Underlying his message that we should be aware and thankful for the people who have come before us was one that we need to help people up as we achieve. Pull people up with you. Make your community better by looking out for those around you. 

I am so glad I was able to hear him speak. He is inspirationational. It's good to be reminded that we need to speak our truths. Be our true selves. He is enthusiastic and has an open heart and an open and curious mind. Hearing people like that speak can do nothing but excite you. Plus: hugger.

A prime year

I had a birthday this weekend. A prime year: 31. So far, it's been a fun year. Friday held for me balloons, a yummy chocolate caramel tarte from Pistacia Vera, lunch with my parents, almost constant interruptions leading me to stay after 6 to get some stuff done. Then I went out with five of my favorite locals for dinner at Till. We had fabulous wine and food, and I had the cake (really a trifle) above. I always feel good when I've got my grandmother's pearls on and my favorite perfume (I almost never wear it, because I'm forgetful, but it makes special nights more special). I ended the night listening to my friend's cover band, dancing and yawning, 'cause I was exhausted. I'm hopeful for a good year. I have no idea what it will hold. At the moment I can't see anything big or life-altering on the horizon, but then again I usually don't see those things coming.

Things I spotted in DC

Friends in DC

Here are some of my photos from my trip to DC a couple of weeks back, almost a month ago now! There were still some cherry blossoms left, followed by some of the lovely people I saw while I was there. Check out those baby cheeks below. So damn cute.

Thoughts on book club

Book club just ended. People have left. My kitchen is tidied. My dishwasher is running. I love hosting book club. I think I may have started a book club at work as an excuse to invite people over and feed them. Although, I also love having people over with the pretense of talking about literature. I really should have been an English major in college; I love to talk books. But really, I think the overwhelming need for book club comes from me wanting to have social events in my home. I love hosting.

This round we read Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh. Only two (of the now six) of us finished it. Me and Erin, who chose it. Erin is the only one of us who has read all of the books. But I digress. We found Waugh off-putting for various reasons. It was a hard book to get in to, and a hard book to like since he did not seem to like any of his characters. That didn't preclude us from having good conversation about the book, and of course not at all when discussion of the book was over. I also like the people in book club a great deal. Especially those that stay late.

We try and have a themed drink around our chosen book. This book, Andy brought bottles of Prosecco with him. Since the characters drank champagne the whole time, it seemed very fitting. (Joe also made gin drinks, which also seeemed appropriate.) I made a bunch of food that was totally incongruent with the book - Mediterranean food (or approximations thereof). I made meatballs, tabbouleh, and a lemon tart. They were all a hit; especially the tart. It's so nice when you don't screw up the food you're making for your guests. Now I'm off to bed. This was all very tired-making.

Saturday hello

Hello lovely people. Thank you for all the kindness about my monster rug! It makes me laugh that it ended up so huge. I'm glad you all enjoy it too. Here's a quick Saturday hello. I was up early this morning, as I was volunteering for Earth Day at the Audobon Center. It's within walking distance from my apartment, and my friend Mel joined me early for some weeding this morning. It was nice. I think I might try volunteering there more often.

I just had a bit of a nap and a bit of snack. I had to get some energy up for this big dance party I'm headed to tonight. I'm excited. I've got to go get ready. Just thought I'd leave you with some pretty spring blooms from a couple of weeks ago... it's gray and rainy here today! 

My monster muppet rug

On Tuesday night I finished my first rug in weaving class. Now, I sort of jumped ahead of some of the other students, because instead starting on a loom from scratch, I jumped on a loom that was already set up with the warp, which saved me a lot of time. I used loopers, which are cotton loops that are leftovers from making socks. (Remember those potholder looms from childhood? Like those loops. Only I tied them all together before using them in the loom as the weft.) That made the rug sort of like a rag rug.

I didn't quite know how long the rug was going to end up; I thought about 6 or 7 feet. I just kept going til I ran out of loopers. Turned out it is over 11 and a half feet long... yep! It's gigantic. Luckily I have a long hallway in my apartment! As I was weaving it, I kept joking that it was my muppety rug, since it's mostly purple and blue. Now it's my monster muppet rug! Here are some photos, taken by my friend Esther, as I was taking it off the loom.

Me cutting it off the loom.

Me pulling it off the loom... it just kept coming!

Here it is all rolled out!

Happy Easter

My sister posted this photo to Facebook this morning, and since I scanned it for her last year, I thought I would share it here. It is hard to imagine this scene is from 25 years ago, but it is. I am pretty sure I am rocking a Care Bears shirt. They were my favorite. Oh Easters when you're little... I miss the egg dyeing and hunts, the chocolate and the plastic grass that got everywhere. I am having lamb tonight with my parents. Wish the two above were going to be with us.