Thursday, May 31, 2012

Day 152 - I love...doors

I shot all the doors for the cover of my poetry collection, Three Thousand Doors

It was gloriously wonderful to drive around my town, stopping every now and then in various different sections in order to shoot a large variety of doors to choose from.

I had the idea in my head, how I wanted the cover to look, I just had to get the pieces of the puzzle together and then arrange them in the most aesthetically pleasing way.

 One very hot afternoon I was shooting several church doors, and stumbled upon this beautiful RED door.  
Abilene, Texas - May 2010 - keg

There is a beautiful red church door here in Louisville I plan to get out and shoot soon as well.

It was my fascination with doors which led to the title of my book, and prompted me to take those first tentative steps toward publication.

Thank you, doors.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Day 151 - I love...baking (again)

This morning, I dreamed up a new gingerbread recipe which I will make on Saturday.

I tend to be a kitchen witch. I take a basic recipe and tweak it. write it down. and save it for the bakery I hope to one day open.

I have plans for a baking book one day as well. which is both exciting and frustrating to the people who currently want my recipes.

The funny thing is...I don't really have much of a sweet tooth. so most of what I bake goes to friends and family. I usually just want a few bites, and the rest would simply go to waste. But lucky for me, I have plenty of people willing to be my samplers, test kitchen, guinea pigs.

so I continue to create in my kitchen.

next project (after the gingerbread) is my own take on RED velvet cake. excited!


Day 150 - I love...red wine

it's true.

it's nice to come home, slip into comfy pants and a t-shirt and pour a glass of wine.

I drink reds. almost exclusively. though Principato Rosato is a blush I've been known to drink, and Conundrum is one of the few white wines I go ape over.

but mainly, it's all about the RED. Malbec. Pinot Noir. Shiraz. Montepulciano D'Abruzzo. Chianti. and...fucking Merlot. (a reference to Sideways.)


Day 149 - I love...roadtrip part 5

I spent Sunday evening chatting and catching up with my friend Sue and her wonderful, just-graduated, daughter, Jane (I was Jane's nanny for a year when she was a baby.) It's been about 6 years since the last time I saw them.

Jane has grown into a beautiful, funny, quick-witted, brilliant, confident young woman who will stand her ground and face any challenge that comes her way. She's pretty amazing, that girl.

She also loves to bake. (which had me at hello!) She made big fat sugar cookies for a friend of hers, and dropped in some RED food colouring because it is her friend's favourite colour.

Monday morning, we chatted a bit more over giant cups of coffee, then hit the road for the 10 hour drive home.

We stopped in Memphis to eat at Central BBQ. and decided it's a city we definitely need to return to!

We ran into a teeny bit of a downpour on the north side of Nashville (the first rain we'd seen during the entire trip,) saw a beautiful rainbow and a phenomenal sunset.

It was an exhausting "vacation" for sure, but also a much needed road tour to revive and reignite the creative fires.

Home. my kitties. my own bed.

Day 148 - I love...roadtrip part 4

Sunday. Another bright and early up 'n' at 'em day.

Finished sorting through the last of my sweetie's things, loaded all the Goodwill pile back into the trailer, hauled the trash off, re-packed the "wait til next trip pile" into the designated storage closet, and sat back for a moment to admire the clean lawn which had been littered with the piles of his storage unit.

Over morning coffee on the porch we saw a bright RED-bellied East Texas bird. I can identify a pretty decent handful of birds, or conduct enough research to figure it out, but I don't know what this one was. It had a pretty awesome chirp though.

My sweetheart's Mama made a wonderful breakfast of homemade Belgian waffles, bacon and pineapple. Paired with a fresh cup of coffee, it was pretty amazing. 

After hugging Mama, Daddy, Aunt, Uncle and Grandmother farewell, we hit the road again....headed for Texarkana.


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Day 147 - I love...roadtrip part 3

Saturday was another early start.

I hugged my sweet friend goodbye, (our "visit" was much too brief - between her work schedule and our tight schedule - we hardly managed to see each other) and my sweetheart and I headed off to DFW.

After a brief stop for lunch and visit with my darling Gaby, we cleared out my sweetheart's storage unit (with the help of his Daddy and the trailer) and headed down to his parent's house to sort.

Trash pile. Goodwill pile. Keep now pile. and Keep for later pile.

He left the final packing to me...y'all would be amazed at my ability to tetris an incredible amount of stuff into my vehicle. 

My sweetie's Mama cooked a fabulous country home food meal of meatloaf, mac 'n' cheese, okra, hashbrown potato salad and fresh-picked, shelled black eyed peas! (I am completely obsessed with black eyed peas...and these were the absolute BEST ever!) There was a chocolate trifle with bright RED strawberries for desert.  

I've been craving the stars lately, and since we were way out in the country, as soon as it was dark enough we took a blanket out on the lawn and watched the stars - satellites easing their way between them - a big fat smile on my face.

the roadtrip continues tomorrow...

Day 146 - I love...roadtrip part 2

Friday morning, we woke up bright and early and headed to Abilene in order to clear out some of my storage.

First stop in Abilene was La Popular...THE best chorizo, egg & cheese burritos! with delicious fresh-made RED salsa.

Then we stopped at The Leaf, (the tobacco and coffee shop I used to work at) for a chance to visit with my dear friend, Bill.

Sorting through storage was a grueling experience in the 100+ degree heat. Not something I would recommend.

I was also able to see my sister and my niece, which made the whole day worth it.

We drove back to Wichita Falls for the evening to see Hayes Carll at the Pub. His opening act was Lincoln Durham, who is beyond spectacular!

Day 145 - I love...roadtrip part 1

I was on the road for a few days, so I didn't post.

Oh, I took my computer with me, but I never even took it out of my bag. never plugged it in. never turned it on.

It was kind of a nice change.

I'm so plugged in all the time. work. home. cell phone.

We're constantly accessible in our techno-driven society.

Of course, I still had my cell with me, but I really didn't use it much.

We left Louisville at 3:30 Thursday morning. We arrived in Texas at about 7 Thursday evening, and promptly pulled in to the Iron Horse Pub, where I was able to hug my best friend RED for the first time in a year and a half.

After a ridiculously long day on the road, which took us through St. Louis, Tulsa, Oklahoma City...driving along parts of Route 66 (which, by the way, ALWAYS makes me ecstatic!) we sipped on a couple beers at the pub, grabbed some dinner, and called it a night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
oddity of the day: somewhere between OKC and The Falls, we passed a homemade lawnmower/motorcycle contraption...with a car engine!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Day 144 - I love...Dutch's

Dutch's was a tavern here in Louisville, established in 1929.

After 80 years of business, they closed their doors for good in June/July 2011.

It was a sad day.

My sweetheart and I wanted to grab a beer and decided to swing by Dutch's for a cheap pitcher. We pulled up, got out of the car, walked to the front door, and gawked at the "Thanks for 80 great years" sign painted in grease paint on the window.

What?!

Not Dutch's!

Dutch's was a place I visited several times when I lived in Louisville in the late 90's and early years of the new millennium. Dutch's was the first bar we visited when we moved here in February 2011, and where I promptly ran into an old friend's dad.

It had groovy bartenders. great atmosphere. a sleazy swanky ladies room, and a rockin' RED men's rest room that my sweetheart took a few frames of one night and was planning to go back and re-shoot for a series he's been working on.

It was a Green Bay Packers bar. Memorabilia adorned the shelves above the taps, including a glorious cheesehead.

The building that once housed this fantastic bar is now being re-purposed. It's going to be a Mellow Mushroom. They are in the process of tearing everything down to just the beams in order to rebuild. At least, I assume, they are leaving the beams.

Yesterday, driving by, I noticed an old sign had been exposed in the demolition process.

A piece of history...about to be knocked out. taken away. destroyed. gone for good.

So today...my sweetie grabbed his camera in order to preserve this little piece of St. Matthews history.

Because, while I don't know the full history of Dutch's, how long it sat in it's St. Matthews location, or what kind of expansion they may or may not have done...it's quite possible...that the sign...buried under years and layers of siding, awning, etc...may very well be something that existed in the early 1900's. It's certainly at least mid-1900's.

kinda cool.

Dutch's - found this photo on Google
The glorificus Red bathroom - Scornphoto


awesome...old signage - Scornphoto



Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Day 143 - I love...babies chasing fireflies

Sitting on my porch tonight, the little curly-haired blonde toddler across the street is chasing fireflies with her mama. daddy brought out a jar.

She is wearing bright RED shorts and a white t-shirt...blonde curls falling almost to her shoulders...tiny little baby legs stomping through the grass...waving her little arms above her head each time a firefly lights up...baby dancing-jumping steps of excitement.

so adorable. so precious. giggle-making moments.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Day 142 - I love...potential

I absolutely ADORE the movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

My friend Kathi made me watch it with her a few years ago, and I absolutely fell in love with it. it's just a sweet, feel-good movie. it's a movie about finding and reaching potential. it's about finding your spectacularness and embracing it...it's about "your life is an occasion. rise to it."

There is a scene in the movie...the normally bright RED wall has a huge, bubbled up, charcoal blemish.

The store is sad because Mr. Magorium is leaving.

The song "Colors" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals always reminds me of that scene...the line "you want to sink into the colours on the wall, but all the while you are the brightest of them all"

now, let it be known that "Colors" is one of my favourite songs anyway...every line is poignant and soul-touching for me...but that particular line. always. makes me see the wall at the Emporium.

and makes me ask myself...if I am rising to the occasion. 



Sunday, May 20, 2012

Day 141 - I love...simplicity

Simple things make me happy.

For example, yesterday I needed brown sugar. I was at Wal-Mart Neighborhood market picking up a couple of things that I can't get at Trader Joe's. All Wal-Mart carries is Domino sugars. I'm a C&H girl. (I'm singing the jingle to myself right now - because I'm also a jingles girl. I remember wayyyyy too many jingles. Monchichi anyone?)

So...I'm at WM, staring at the Domino brown sugar and I just can't bring myself to buy it. I kind of whispered to myself "I wish TJ's had brown sugar." and then thought, oh well, I'll just use turbinado in my recipe.

fast forward to Trader Joe's. I'm grabbing a couple items for dinner - Cremini's, butter lettuce, chicken, ravioli, marinara, strawberry preserves, and...wait! what!? is that...brown sugar!

I almost screamed!

checking out, the cashier says the standard, "did you find everything?" to which I reply, "yes. I was particularly thrilled to find brown sugar!" he said, "yah, that's kind of been hit or miss. I'm glad you found it."

he may or may not have understood the pure joy of finding brown sugar...but it pretty much made my day.

and now, I can make banana bread. yay! everyone wins.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and now, for another little piece of simplicity.

my Tacky RED lamp. 

it's really the lampshade I love. but it only looks good on the tacky plastic stand. I tried it with another lamp, which has a beautiful silver base, and it just looked ridiculous. like, dog riding a bicycle ridiculous. so I put it back where it belongs.

My tacky red lamp

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Day 140 - I love...spectacular sunsets

tonight, around 8:45, as I was driving down I-64, I caught a glimpse of the most amazing orange-RED sun!

I wish I'd had my camera...been able to stop and snap off a few frames...because it was absolutely incredible.

perfect nuclear furnace...no clouds...just brilliantly on fire in the darkening sky. 

Day 139 - I love...concerts

so this is a day late.

because yesterday afternoon, spur of the moment, my friend Beanie invited me to go with her to see Citizen Cope at Churchill Downs.

I love outdoor concerts. To me, there is nothing better than sitting under the stars listening to music.

We got to the track in time to see the last two races. and I bet on a horse in the last race. Marvin. who was so ridiculously cute and Marvin-like...I absolutely had to bet on him.

He was a total long shot. and he came in 6th. but I don't care. it made me happy to cheer him on. Go MARVIN!

and I have no way to tie RED into this! except maybe the fact that I was drinking Budweiser. which has a red label.

The concert was great. the company was awesome. I learned a teeny tiny bit about horses and had a much-needed night to relax.


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Day 138 - I love...Red Vines

one of my favourite happy candies.

I buy them by the bucket. a bucket o' RED vines. doesn't get much better than that. because, to me, even when they get dried out and a wee bit old, they are still quite awesome.

and not to be evil to the fans of the other red licorice candy...but to me, those taste like wax. cherry flavoured wax. kind of like chapstick.

I'm not a fan.

give me red vines. :)


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Day 137 - I love...massage

My friend Donna is a teeny tiny, pocket-sized, RED-haired firecracker.

She's brilliant, quick-witted and hysterically funny, lovely...and absolutely the BEST massage therapist I've ever been to.

It's been about 9 years since I've been able to get a massage from her...because I was living in Texas...and flying to Louisville for a one hour massage just seemed a bit frivolous.

Tonight...I had my first visit after too many years.

and oh my gawd...I am so completely relaxed...nearly comatose. It's really taking every ounce of concentration I can muster to even write this much of a post.






Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Day 136 - I love...fancy feet

specifically, when they are decorated with RED shoes.

I have a mini collection of red shoes. some hot. some practical. some librarian-esque...but all quite fabulous to me.

My collection of red shoes

One of my favourites from my Carlos Santana collection (perhaps I will photo montage THAT collection next month) ummm...these shoes are freakin' fantastic!

and...my Danskos...because they make my feet ridiculously happy.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Day 135 - I love...Pasta

My sweetheart is quite the little chef.

He gets so engrossed in what he's doing...dice. chop. sliver. slice. towel over the shoulder. intent. stay-out-of-MY-kitchen kind of cooking.

and he makes incredible RED sauces for pasta.

tonight, he is making a vodka sauce to top our butternut squash ravioli.

umm...yum!

I'm pretty excited!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Day 134 - I love...baking

I received my Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas several years ago.

It was the only thing I wanted. The only thing on my list.

Specifically, a RED Kitchen Aid mixer.

I love baking.

Baking relaxes me. It's therapeutic. I make up recipes, and tweak recipes to make them my own.

People always say I should open a bakery. And perhaps one day, that's exactly what I will do, but for now, baking is my escape from the daily grind. It is my creative outlet when writing and photography are playing hide-and-seek.

Yep. even when my pen is being stubborn and refusing to channel the stars, even when my eye refuses to fascinate through my camera lens...I can always step into my kitchen and start working a little magic in the realm of my personal bakery.

The kitchen witch in me rarely fails.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Day 132 - I love...travelling pants

Some years ago, Kaci bought an awesome pair of pants.

They were the perfect shade of RED, with groovy piped detailing down the front of each leg.

Sometimes Kaci (4'11") would wear them, and sometimes I (5'8") would wear them.

As usually happens with clothing, a closet cleaning came about and Kaci decided to give me the pants. 

One day, my niece (5'11") came over and wanted to borrow something to wear for the evening...she tried on the pants...and they fit her!

At that point, we all decided they should be dubbed the travelling red pants...because we'd found that magical piece of clothing that somehow fit our different shapes and sizes...and looked amazing on each one of us.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Day 131 - I love...my son

My sun.

this is the little man who keeps my RED blood flowing.

he floors me with his wit. slays me with his smile.

love washes over me when I hear his precious voice.

Two of my favourite pictures of his perfect and wonderful face...

Ri - 2007

Ri - 2009

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Day 130 - I love...a flash of red

So tonight was a spur of the moment photo shoot night.

I was supposed to go out with a few of the girls, but too many things challenged the evening and we wound up cancelling.

I decided my fella and I should go out and shoot for a bit.

We went out to the Water Tower. I snagged a couple of bird pics and then got down on the ground and started shooting seed pods and dandelion fluff.

I saw a teeny spot of RED out of the corner of my eye, and crawled under the stairs to get this shot...

It's not the most spectacular photo I've ever shot - but it IS red!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Day 129 - I love...Raggedy Ann

When I was little - maybe four years old - I remember getting really angry one day, running to my room, grabbing my Raggedy Ann doll and biting the crap out of her arm.

and then I felt terribly guilty, apologised to my doll, gave her numerous kisses and placed a band-aid on her arm...which is still there to this day.

There is a sweet nostalgia in seeing a Raggedy Ann. A trip down a lane of memories...to days that were full of dancing, singing, tea parties, catching bumble bees, tasting the pollen of clover flowers...

Raggedy Ann...with her little RED checkered dress, and her red yarn hair. She is a reminder of the simplicity of childhood bliss.

Recently, while browsing an antique market, I stumbled upon this and insisted my sweetheart snag a photo...

hello...she has my name!



Monday, May 7, 2012

Day 128 - I love...ladybugs

One of the few bugs I can handle crawling on me.

I've always loved ladybugs.

We have a couple of little blue planters on our back porch. We're growing cilantro, chives and basil. Yesterday, I noticed a tiny little spot of RED on one of the cilantro leaves...a sweet lady bug.

I like to think it was blessing our little herb garden.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Day 127 - I love...cardinals

This morning, sitting on the porch with my coffee...I saw a splash of vibrant RED on the railing.

A brilliant cardinal. with his beautiful black-masked face and awesome little mohawk-like crest.

I desperately wanted to get a picture of him, but he flew off almost as quickly as he arrived.

so I'm borrowing a photo from the amazing interwebs:

This is actually the exact look the pretty bird gave me this morning...
...and this is how vibrantly red and wonderful he was.


Day 126 - I love...fireflies

aka: lightning bugs.

so, this post is a day late, because...I was completely exhausted last night and couldn't get my brain to function on a proper writing level.

I spent Friday and Saturday working a Mint Julep and Lily bar at the Kentucky Oaks and Derby. wowza! about 14 hours on Friday and about 15 on Saturday. it was exhausting, long hours slinging thousands of drinks, but it was a good time, spent with good people.

The 138th Run for the Roses. RED roses. (see how I did that? tied in the red? yay.)

There was a fella who came to our booth at one point during the day, who new EVERY SINGLE Derby winner. we quizzed him on several. even chose a few from the 1800's. and he got every one of them correct! it was pretty damn impressive.

I got home around 9:00 last night, sat down on the porch with a cigarette and a beer and breathed a sigh of relief.

As I was sitting there, I saw a little flash in the yard. "firefly!"

The first one I've seen this year.

Fireflies are truly one of the coolest bugs I've ever seen in my life. They have light up asses! hello! awesome bug...its ass lights up!

Pretty groovy if you ask me.





Friday, May 4, 2012

Day 125 - I love...my red hat necklace

some years back, Kaci and I took a weekend trip to New Orleans.

at breakfast one morning, a big group of RED hat society ladies came in and sat at a table near us.

they were having a jubilant time and chatted with us for a bit. we had a great time meeting those ladies, and a great time that entire weekend. it was a memorable trip.

when I decided to make a move back to Seattle in 2005 (maybe 2006) Kaci threw me a huge going away party.

as part of my going away present Kaci gave me a red hat necklace. a cowboy red hat.
a little reminder of that fabulous NOLA trip...and a little reminder of Texas. 

because really, Kaci and I pretty much never give each other special gifts with only one meaning.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Day 124 - I love...Tomatoes

Beautiful RED tomatoes.

Fried green tomatoes.

delicious heirlooms in varying hues.

fantastic little brown kumato tomatoes - which have a slight hint of bacon to their flavour.

I didn't enjoy tomatoes when I was young. it was definitely an acquired taste...but once I did acquire that taste...oh my! I couldn't get enough of them. 






Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Day 123 - I love...Red, Red Wine

The song.

My two youngest nieces are a little more than a year apart. 

When they were babies, every time UB40's version of RED, RED Wine would play on the radio, the girls would run to find me, jump into my arms, and for the duration of the song, we would dance.

The teenage me, with a darling baby girl on each hip.

Dancing

Singing

loving our moment.

The girls still remember it. it was our song.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Day 122 - I love...May 1st inspiration

I've been thinking about trying something new with my daily posts.

and as per usual, I was going to bag it when something so serendipitous happened that I knew I had to give it a try.

I love the colour red.

my laptop is red. my toaster is red. my kitchen aid mixer is red. I have a wonderfully tacky red lamp.

I'm challenging myself for the month of May...to post red related posts each day.

and today...a dear friend of mine sent me a text. a sweet, flirty text intended for his girlfriend.

now, I'm pretty sure we've all been there...sent a text to the wrong person...said "oops! that was meant for so-and-so" and gone on with our day.

but every once in awhile, we send something personal, something colourful, something embarrassing.

and the thing about this was that it was not at all offensive or naughty...as I said, it was sweet and flirty...and not meant for me.

and I laughed my ass off...tears rolling down my cheeks as he texted his apologies.
I could see him blushing RED through the phone.

so awesome. best laugh I've had all day.