Knocks my socks off

Through the years, I've passed this sculpture by Lars Erk Falk in Kungsholmen (Stockholm) and not really thought about it at all. However, when I encountered this massive structure sitting right outside my first hotel (I switched hotels after a week), I had the good fortune to really look at this piece.

I told my friend how much I was digging it and she said, "It's just a bunch of poles sticking out of the ground." I implored her to take a closer look, and she promised to do so. I've not heard back.

It's called "Tower of Colors" and it's so cleverly constructed. From one angle you'll swear it's bright orange and from another you'll swear it's royal blue. It's magnetic! It completely knocks my socks off!

Here's a quick tour:

Casual Friday

I love the way most Swedish men dress. This is what my colleague Jonas wore today. I joked with him that he belonged on the golf course. In truth it was very refreshing for the office. Pretty dishy.

Saying goodbye to the kits and now I am gone

I was hanging out alone on Sunday and packing for my three-week sojourn to Sweden. It was good to have time to think.

[As an aside, I brought the biggest, heaviest suitcase ever on my trip to Sweden. Although I like to think of myself as a light traveller, the real story is that I keep stuffing things in my bag until I cannot fit anything else. There's that image of myself wispily floating through airports free and easy and then there's the real me, struggling conspicuously, burdened, weighty, bogged down by my possessions. It's shameful. Enough of this.]

I took some parting shots of the kitties; I am pretty sure they had a hunch I was leaving. They were sticking by my side and sneaking into my suitcase.

I checked into my hotel and felt was feeling very zombie-like. I hooked up my computer and then got so busy I never even went out.  But I was happy to see Stockholm from my hotel room, I'm on the 10 floor and there is a beautiful view. It's so lovely to be here, seeing this city is like meeting an old friend, a couple of things are different but we still love each other. I can't wait to go out tomorrow!

Arrival at the airport




A view of my night table: Oh the irony of getting two bibles! "The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ"



Sunset over the western highway´.

Intricate traffic patterns.



Will they be back?

Only time will tell if Mr. Groundhog and his family will be back this summer to chow down on our grass and hang out underneath our trees. Last summer it was a joy to watch the babies grow up. I hope they come back. And soon!

I also got the moon.

I've seen so many beautiful photos on Facebook of the supermoon that graced the skies this past weekend. I swear I looked for it in early evening when it was to be low in the sky, and I was all set to get out my tripod and make a decent attempt at getting a good shot. But I just didn't see it! Finally a few minutes before I went to bed on Saturday night I spotted it high in the sky. This is the only shot I could get... Lameness.

Some like it hot

I caught Poppy the other day trying to sun herself with my desk lamp. That makes two of us longing for summer!

How to groove on life

or... Why i LOVE Lynda Barry

or... Let's all stop being all fakey

I went this week to see Lynda Barry speak at the Free Library of Philadelphia, which by the way has an excellent author series and many of the them are absolutely free. Many of their events turn into podcasts. (I'll keep my eyes out for this one; if it comes up as a podcast I will post that later.) 

This was the best photo I could take of her, cute piggies!
She spoke for more than an hour and used no notes! 

My friend Beth and I make our way downtown, arriving early to get good seats. Finally, the talk begins, and there she is, standing a few feet away from us, the illustrious Lynda Barry. And what does Lynda wear? Doggonit, she wears pigtails! Woman after my own heart. Lynda, you had me at your pigtails! 

I could write accolades about her, but I guess what I'd most like to do to share with you my favorite Lynda Barry strips. Below are three excerpts from Ernie Pooks Comeek, a syndicated column that ran for almost 30 years. Lynda has also written novels and published many other books about writing and drawing and how to free yourself up and stop holding yourself back from from the person you might really be. Stop editing yourself. 

Each strip has four boxes.

First up is the voice of Marlys, a happy-go-lucky, quite egotistic girl who is blessed with confidence and has a huge heart. She gives her best advice here, in How to Groove on Life. 

Right on, Marlys! Thank you for that, I will never forget that great advice! When I am a very old lady I'll still be enjoying dancing, being kind to animals and fixing everyone's hair up all gorgy. 

The next strip is in the voice of Marlys' far more complex older cousin Arna. Arna breaks my heart. She wants what we all want: love, friends, popularity, acceptance, a boyfriend who likes her, being able to trust people. Why do I suspect she will never get it?

Maybonne is Marly's big sister. This next strip is in her voice, and it's another quite serious one. Oh, it almost makes me cry to read it. 

PS.  I hope Lynda will forgive me if I am breaking copyright laws. She does not seem the type to sic her lawyers upon me. I'll just hope. 

What's cookin?

What's cookin' is that I've been thoroughly delinquent about blogging lately, but that is about to change. What's cookin' is that I'm getting ready to go to Sweden in a couple of weeks. What's cookin' is that winter is almost over. Whew, just barely made it. What's cookin' is that I got a new camera and I'm so excited about it. The photo of Poppy in a pot was taken with my old camera. We were just a little bit tempted to make Poppy soup... but not really.
Peace and Love and I'll be back soon!

An icy patch

I think I might have promised myself not to show any pictures of winter this year. "Oh no," I thought, "I'll leave the winter weather to the other bloggers. I'll stick to summer."

Keep in mind I was so busy this summer I barely had time to blog and share everything, so I assumed I'd have loads of material to keep me busy. And that holds true.

But then winter happened. At first I was determined to ignore it. However, that got harder and harder with each winter storm. And there have been so many.

Then, last week, winter came in earnest. The ice storm came. The horrible, cur-sed (that's two syllables!!) ice storm. Snow, while I don't love it, is soft and fluffy. Ice, however, is something else. Ice is hostile.

I donned my rubber boots and slicker and ventured out. It was, ironically, actually breathtakingly beautiful. So I documented it, and here are my photos.

It makes me want spring to come even more.

None other than classic Swedish Tretorn!

st

Street's completely empty. School's cancelled. 

This is the prettiest tree, and it's in the cemetery next to my house! I know that would creep some people out, but I love it living next to a cemetery. The cemetery is funnily called Odd Fellows Cemetery.

I

No one's home

All dressed up in vintage

I hope I don't seem vain for posting two pictures of myself, but I was all dressed up for a party this weekend and I LOVED the dress I wore. I know my expression is goofy, especially in the second photo, but I want to show the back. 

I purchased the dress at flea market a few months back and was dying for an occasion to wear it. I couldn't resist buying the dress although I am not frequently invited to balls and gala affairs! 

Alas. 

The dress was a Bob Bugnand (for Sam Friedlander), who according to Couture Allue Vintage Fashion, was a French designer active in New York in the 60s and 70s.  This dress felt super sixties. It was, um, a tad too tight, but I went with it anyway. I decided to be true to myself (shoes, hair and makeup) so it wouldn't look Halloweeny.  

Everyone looked fabulous. We had so much fun and danced nearly till dawn!!

Stairway to heaven

I love old ladders. There's something about what they do and the way they look that appeals to me.

Our house has a lot of hard-to-reach spaces, one of which is in Charlie's room. He has a little loft where he likes to hang out sometimes, actually I think his friends like it up there more than Charlie does.

That's why I've had ladders on my mental list of "things to look for at garage sales." (That list, by the way, is way too long.)

This past summer I found a beauty. It was beat up and old, for sale in this beautiful 150-year-old stone house, actually it was in the backyard stable I found it. The man at the garage sale said I could "fix the ladder up real nice" if I cleaned it first and then painted it with a mixture of linseed oil and paint thinner.

I paid $30 (after a bit of haggling) and I took the ladder home (thanks to Emma whose car we used to transport it). I immediately went to the hardware store and bought what I needed, cleaned it up and .... ta da!!! .... such a beautiful ladder.

I went crazy with the linseed/paint thinner mixture and starting polishing everything, all my old tools (I also like to pick up old tools, I think they're lovely) and a basket I picked up somewhere. The mixture is a miracle, it brings the best out in everything!