Friday, March 15, 2024

March 2024: Secret Life of Objects, Famous Artist Finger Puppet Theatre

What capers can be dreamed up for this Fab Four?

So I got Andy well over 15 years ago as a Christmas present from my sister-in-law Denise, who popped it in a Keith Haring coffee mug. I loved him.

Fast forward to 2017, when I was at a conference in Florida, and Jen and I took a day to wander the Dali museum, and Salvador joined Andy on the corkboard. 

Well, I spotted Pablo at the Art Institute over Christmas and suddenly, there were three. 

Frida sat in my Amazon cart until I was warned there were less than 7 left and I'd better order soon. 

I'm delighted by their personalities and think they will serve as a welcome distraction on days that are short on brain power and ambition. 

Perhaps Famous Artists Finger Puppet Theatre will become a new feature, a series of one-act plays…

Friday, March 8, 2024

March 2024: Rethinking Brown

I am a sucker for a brown leather bag

Brown is...

Taste: chocolate

Touch: aged, pebbled leather

Smell: a hot pretzel

Hear: soft folk on an acoustic guitar on open mike night

Friday, March 1, 2024

Best Meal I Ever Ate, Sushi

My lunch getaway in Olivette

When I worked in the Central West End in Saint Louis, I was kind of lonely at lunchtime as outside of the occasional meeting or getaway, everyone I worked with did their own thing. The Al-Anon building next door always had stellar burgers and chips for $3. I do remember fondly walking the neighborhood and taking in a few choice spots like the Chase Park Plaza with Judith or hitting the Indian buffet with Prashant, my print vendor.

But I was also the only one at Catholic Charities with a hankering for sushi in a hot, humid climate. 

I can't remember how I found I Love Mr Sushi since it was a hole-in-the-wall in an area I didn't drive through, but Yoshi made it a destination for lunch. "Hello, hello!" he would greet me, gesturing to an open spot at the bar, and feeding me a bite of whatever roll he was experimenting with. 

My favorite item to order there was one of three $10 lunch specials that always included green tea, ginger salad, and miso soup. The extra I always ordered was the salmon skin hand roll - a cone of rice, cucumber, radish greens, spicy sauce, and toasty salmon skin. I wish I knew what made them so incredible, and I haven't had better since. 

This is also where I first experienced vegetable tempura, white tuna, and caviar. 

I'd roll back into the office, full and satisfied but not stuffed. 

It's been almost 20 years since I last ate there. Yoshi moved on to open a restaurant in the western suburbs then he closed up shop without explanation. People still mourn his disappearance. Checking online, the lunch specials at Mr. Sushi are still the same, they're just $15 now. Maybe if I make it back there during the week someday...

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Secret Life of Objects: My Dempsey Weekender Set

I don't often treat myself like this. Given the story around it, the bag's name will probably be Coach Hayley. 

I took Pia to Chicago over Christmas and sloppily threw things in a tote bag for our overnight adventure. I didn’t like the look. The bag was five years old, an inexpensive striped beach bag from Ron Jon Surf Shop. Things were spilling out and the bag was dirty. 

Then a few weeks ago, I found myself killing time at the outlets making a return and saw this at Coach, the Dempsey 40 tote and matching toiletry case.  The story of my toiletry case is even sadder, a teal plastic train case obtained from Clinique as one of those "free with purchase" makeup bags from 15 years ago.

I walked away because I couldn’t justify the price tag. I thought about the crass commercialism of our culture, need vs. want, and the fact January is the time when I purge cupboards and closets of our excess. Then I thought about excess - I have bags, did I really need another one? I am guilty of the FOMO mentality, the fear of missing out.

I thought about it for the next two weeks. Coach didn't help by geofencing my location and urging me to buy with a daily email nudge. 

I was on my way to a cheer comp near the outlet mall and I remembered my fun money account. I save my judges’ gifts and expense checks for… what exactly?  I squirrel away my cash for a rainy day, using the balance from time to time on a down payment for a car, the cottage, and most recently, a new furnace. 

So I've been a good girl, if not a bit conservative with my savings. 

I veered over to the credit union and made a withdrawal, budgeting myself to a certain amount. On the way to the shop, I debated if I needed it, making the deal with myself that if, and only if, the set was there, I would get it. 

I got it. And instead of being 60% off, it was 75% off. 

Bringing it home, I left it in the shopping bag for a moment before taking it out and removing the tags. It's pretty. It's professional-looking. This new bag allowed me to get rid of at least eight tote bags, including another "free with purchase" overnight bag from Elizabeth Arden that is 20 years old, ripped, and fixed with liberal coats of nail polish. 

With a quality bag, it's unlikely I will purchase another one any time soon. I will also resist the urge to buy other things to obtain the "free with purchase" bags I normally do. I'm also satisfied, which usually quenches the thirst to get more.  

Addition by subtraction. 

I always name my Coach bags, the hot pink purse I'm using currently is Chloe. I'm going to think about this one, as it is closely tied to my experience with competitive cheer. It's Coach and the girls' coach is Hayley. There you go, it's Coach Hayley.  

Saturday, February 10, 2024

Typing Out Loud: Judging The Beatles

Opinions can change, I love this!

I had grand plans to rank every single Beatles song that has ever made it to the public's ear. To do so would mean ranking over 300 songs, from In Spite of All the Danger, which was recorded by ambitious teenagers in 1958, to the latest Now and Then, a digital masterpiece that was released in November 2023. 

That's 65 years of music. And while Paul and Ringo have said "That's it," there's now noise about using the AI technology to release Live at the Star Club bootlegs from the Hamburg bar scene, bringing Pete and Stu some more performing credits. 

It was easy to start charting my bottom couple of songs, and then I hit a snag. Working my way up, I went from hate to meh and realized there wasn't too much difference between 267 and 219.  

And my affection for a song can be on a sliding scale, contingent on attitude or maybe a new way of seeing things. A case in point is Come Together, a tedious classic rock staple until Beatles 1+ was released, including the video created to launch Beatles.com, and I fell in love with the song again. 

I also realize I don't want to set my love in stone. If I put Don't Bother Me at #77, I want the right to move it up in case the Foo Fighters cover it or if it's used to frame a key scene in a new favorite movie. 

Finally, there are multiple versions of songs to tackle. It's Only Love from Help! exists, as does the version from Anthology 2. Multiple versions of While My Guitar Gently Weeps; I love the version from the White Album, but then there are the alt versions from Cirque de Soliel's Love, and the remaster in 2018. 

So what to do? 

I have a blog post already written noting what I have listed as the NAs. I think I will roll with a bottom and a top. I'm pretty adamant about my top 10 and bottom 10, the fun may be in the fringes. 

 

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Rethinking Red

Align your senses

Red is...

Taste: cinnamon candies, preferably heart-shaped red hots

Touch: warm laundry fresh out of the dryer

Smell: Apple blossoms warmed in the spring sun 

Hear: Lover, Taylor Swift 

March 2024: Secret Life of Objects, Famous Artist Finger Puppet Theatre

What capers can be dreamed up for this Fab Four? So I got Andy well over 15 years ago as a Christmas present from my sister-in-law Denise, w...