Short Films

These are a barrel of fun. Some made me laugh out loud:

http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/one_page_screenplay_competition_II.html

Hey the guy in Man Down looked like he had on HIS lucky underpants!

Lucky Underpants

Are you wearing them???

Encouraging Ali through her mid-terms reminded me of another gem of wisdom.

I am reading Hero's of History by Will Durrant - but no, this advice isn't from Confucius or Leonardo da Vinci, but from a four year old. Davyd that is. When he was four he used to wear his "lucky underpants" for his soccer games. I suppose we all need a pair or two of our own.

Take Your Vitamins

How I appreciate the perspectives of a nine year old. Davyd takes a multivitamin every morning with his oatmeal, but he must have been moved by the spirit of Valentines week. On Monday before he left for school, he came up to me with out stretched arms and said "I need my Vitamin M." I must have looked quizzically because he announced with glee "Vitamin Mom!" and gave me a big hug. As the week progressed, of course we have come up with other essential nutrients...Vitamin H, Vitamin K...

Two Boys With an Afternoon Off

Davyd had the afternoon off for conferences so we had a grand adventure with his friend Karin. We hiked the ravine behind our house down to Lake Michigan. Water only went over our rubber boots twice. We know the coyotes frequent the ravine, but they didn't stalk us. A couple bridges were out but we made it across. Lake Michigan was full of perilous ice blow holes and crevices, but our skill and thrill of advnture got us to the other side. Somehow I don't think I would have had the same hike without the imaginations of a second and third grader.

Beautiful Sweater

Wow, this pattern was fast!

I started this sweater about a week and a half ago and finished it last night. I used eight skeins of Berroco Memoirs Wool/Mohair/Rayon on #10 needles and the PQ pattern on Rhumara's website: http://www.ruhamas.com/knitting/freePatterns.php. The blend of colors and mohair are lovely!




Though I knit at east eight sweaters a half a lifetime ago, I wanted to regain my confidence. This was a good pattern to do just that. If you are a knitter and in Milwaukee, don't miss Ruhama's or The Loop Yarn Shops - both are a knitters paradise.

On to my mitten study...

On Vocation

Nic and I on Lake Michigan.

I have stumbled on a couple inspirations on vocation recently. Just last weekend, The New York Times had a great article called What's Your Plan B?. Parker Palmer spoke on Repossessing Virtue on NPR last December and moved me to pick up a couple of his books. Let Your Life Speak seems especially relevant as I encourage my son Nic - fresh out of college with a degree in film from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. I am proud of Nic, he is working in film - picking up freelance jobs but wondering how to make ends meet. It isn't easy to be a recent graduate in these "interesting" economic times. It seems the best stimulus package might be a good dose of self-discovery, hope and perseverance.

I remember being in the same place in my early twenties. Nothing was going to stop me from reaching my dream of being a Wildlife Biologist. I spent almost all of my humble life savings supporting myself through some pretty amazing internships for a year and a half after graduating from college. It tore me apart to be laid off in the fall after my first paying job with the Forest Service. Frustration lead me to decide I should return to school to become a OB nurse. No sooner was I accepted into nursing school that I was offered and accepted a year long paid internship as a Biologist and a year later a permanent job as a Biologist. The uncertainty though was heart wrenching.

Parker Palmer makes the following points that are especially relevant for those in transition:

"I have no idea how I would have learned the truth about myself and my calling without the mistakes I have made."

" What a long time it can take to become the person one has always been!....How much dissolving and shaking of ego we must endure before we identify our deep identity - the true self...that is the authentic seed of vocation."

"In families, schools, workplaces, and religious communities we are trained away from our true self and towards images of acceptability...We are disabused of original giftedness...then, if we are awake we recover and reclaim the gift we once possessed.'

"Our deepest calling is to grow into out own authentic selfhood... as we do we find our path to service in the world."

"We must withdraw the negative projections we make on people and situations that serve mainly to mask our our fears about ourselves... and embrace our own liabilities and limits." Finding..."congruence between our inner and outer life."

We control our destiny by owning our lives. We discover our vocation by knowing our true self - by embracing our true strengths, our passions, our limitations. Accomplishment does not depend on roles or power but by putting to action what we value in ourselves. We lead by embracing opportunities to learn and grow and knowing that the universe works for us not against us. We must believe in a greatness larger then ourselves - that ours isn't the only act in town. We are happiest when we love and are loved in the broadest sense of the word. Chaos is the precondition of creativity - the only way to have a sense control of life is by not being afraid to embrace change.

Best ABC's

A - Aveda products, acapella music, Alterra Coffee lattes
B - Brie cheese, Bordeaux wine, Bananas, Bonnie Raitt, blueberries, my bike, back rubs, bloodroots
C - Candles in a dark bedroom or bathroom, cross country skiing, cinnamon toothpaste, cashmere, cinnamon rolls, curry, chickadees, chocolate, chocolate cake, Cirque du Soliel, contact from someone you haven't seem for a long time, clean house
D - Down comforters, Dubliner Irish cheddar, dinner at someones house, dry tents
E - Earl Grey Tea,
F - Full moons, fireplaces, foreign travel, fresh squeezed orange juice, ferns, fried onions, fluffy dry snow
G - Girl scout cookies, Grape Nuts, garlic, guacamole, ginger snaps
H - Honey crisp apples, handwritten letters, homemade cards, hardcover books, herb gardens, hepaticas, hugs, half and half in coffee
I - Interesting people (meeting them)
J - Jackson Montana
K - Kayaking, knitting, Kendall Jackson Chardonnay, Kopps ice cream, Paul Klee
L - Linen napkins, long walks in wild places, loons echoing across a lake, lavender gardens, Lake Superior, lemon on veggies
M - Mustard, massages, Mephisto sandals, mint tea, memories of my Grandmas houses
N - Newborn babies, Northeast Minnesota, northern lights, NPR
O - Ocean beaches with nobody on them, olive oil, Georgia O'Keeffe, open windows
P - Pedicures, pie, plays, piano solos, pastel drawings, Public Radio, pesto, photos of childhood
Q - Quilting, quiet, quaint towns and restaurants
R - Red leaf lettuce, Russian tea cakes
S - Salmon, Smartwool sox, Sweden, Stockholm Wisconsin, Seattle Washington, sketching, suprize presents, snowmen and snowforts, summer dinner on the deck
T - Thunderstorms, time with my kids altogether and one-on-one, tissue paper
U - Underwear and socks that are new
V - Vegetable gardens, Valentines
W - Wood fired saunas, wild places, watercolors, wildflowers, winter wrens, walnuts in bread and cookies
X - Xtra ketchup on hamburgers
Y - Yarn shops
Z - Zippy salsa

Afternote: Writing your personal best ABC's is a really good way to get a good nights sleep. I was wide awake at midnight last night and I slept like a babe after posting XYZ.

Ski and Tea

Though I still mourn leaving the northwoods - and vow to return, this has been a good year for cross country skiing. Being retired offers precious time to take advantage of the windows of snowfall that come and go in Milwaukee. Thank goodness for lake effect! The past few years I have taken annual trip(s) north to ski with a group of Forest Service women in northern Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. This year we skied the Birkie (trails - not the race.)

Thanks to Connie, in January I participated in my first ever ski clinic with the "Ski and Tea" group out of Hayward, Wisconsin. Just the sound of it is delightful, isn't it? The clinic involved classic and skating coaching from three delightful elite/Olympic hopeful skiers. After thirty years on skinny skis, I do have room for improvement as I have focused on the joy of skiing over technique. Most of all it was energizing to ski with women ranging from high school ski team members and stay at home moms to avid racers and a senior skier on her way to the Masters in France. The camaraderie was unforgettable. Picture fluffy snow through the pines balanced with hot tea and cookies in a log warming house to imagine what warms my heart.

I overheard one woman say "I don't enter it unless I think I can win it." More power to her, but that sure isn't me. Go ahead and ski your heart out but I just love a long day outdoors, skiing for myself. I'd be the one to be out the day before to avoid crowds and find my own zen-like-rhythm.

The experience also caused me to do a little soul searching. Why all this independence? The Ski and Tea group certainly demonstrated what synergy is all about. Skills and backgrounds were diverse but the nurturing and love of the outdoors was so grounded. I might just have to try it again.

Afterthought: This article gave me goosebumps. What a cool thing: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/113083/

Kitchen Remodel Done!

Well, three months, $15,000 and a few broken dishes later our kitchen remodel is done! I was never smitten with the off white laminate cabinets that came with the house. Needless to say I wasn't that distressed when a crack appeared in the corian counter tops late last summer.

We worked with Home Depot's kitchen design team and landed on natural cherry cabinets, granite counters, a black undermount granite sink and oak flooring.








Initially it felt like camping - setting up the kitchen and doing dishes in the basement was novel. Come the holidays I changed my tune. Still we made all our Christmas cookies amid dusting daily. Needless to say, I love my kitchen.

Knitting Needle Holder

Oh I think I am so smart! All those knitting needles jangling in my knitting basket. I noticed on one of my recent knit shop forays, fancy cases for needles.

I made mine with a 27 inch square piece of upholstery fabric and a yard of gross-grain ribbon. I sewed the edges and stitched vertical channels in the bottom pocket. It is quite snazzy, if I do say so myself.

Eggplant Parmigiana

I always loved this dish but this particular recipe is the best ever - it hails from the Silver Palate Cookbook. Not breading the eggplant and using ricotta makes it light and soooo good! This is a quick meal to prepare as well. Great with garlic vinagarette (see recipe section) on greens.

2 eggplants, peeled and sliced 1/2-3/4 inches thick
Salt
2 c ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/4-1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh chopped Italian parsley
Olive oil to brown eggplant
2 c tomato sauce (if your cheating Muir Glen Organic with italien herbs is good)
1/2 lb Mozorella ( I used half Parmesan)

Salt eggplant and drain in colander 30 minutes (this really added flavor.) Combine ricotta, eggs and Parmesan cheese in a bowl. Brown the eggplant (do not fully cook) in oil and drain on paper towel. Pour 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce on the botom of a large baking pan and then place one layer of eggplant. Put a tablespoon of ricotta mixture on each eggplant slice and then sprinkle 1/3 of cheese on top all slices. Place the second layer of eggplant and layer the remaining ricotta, tomato sauce and cheese on top. Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes until cheese is browned and bubbly. Let the dish 10 minutes before serving.

Felted Mittens

Being one of my favorite winter sports in the past, I decided to try knitting again. After a few baby hats last summer and a vest in the fall, I am now knitting with a passion. I combined a few patterns I found online for these beautiful felted mittens.

I used Freedom Spirit (light worsted) 100% wool in Fire and size 10 double pointed needles.

Knit body:

• CO 50 st and divide on three needles.
• After 30 rounds, place marker after 21 and 24th st.
• Increase one stitch on the inside of each marker every other row, knitting a row between each addition - until you have 13 stitches between markers at row 40. Put the 13 stitches on a holder for thumb.
• Knit rows 41-64 for body or until proportionally time to decrease to shape top (mittens will be large and baggy.)
• K2, k2 together for entire row
  
• Knit next row
• K2, k2 together for entire row
• K next row
• K1, k2 tog for entire row
• K next row
  
• K 2 together until 8 stitches remain.
• Tie yarn through 8 stitches, slip knot and weave into mitten

To shape thumb:

• Place the 13 stitches on holder on 2 needles
• K the 1st stitch from needle 1 and place on needle 3, then knit the rest of needle 1
• Place the last stitch from needle 2 on needle 3, then knit needle 2
• On needle 3, K2 together, k3, slip stitch and knit together - 16 stitches on 3 needles.
• K 10 rows
• K2 , k2 together 4 times.
• Break and tie yarn, weave end down thumb.

To felt mittens: Place mitten in lingerie bag in hot cycle of washing machine - I did not use soap. I only needed to agitate the mittens about 7 minutes until they shrunk to size. Roll the mittens gently length-wise to ring out water, then roll in thick towel to take out additional moisture. Shape mitten (I rolled the bottom edge for a cuff) to desired size and lay flat to dry. Beautiful and warm!

2/11/09 update: Oh, I wish I had found this sooner. A good online tutorial on felting is at http://www.pickupsticksonline.com/felting/felting.php