I just discovered the artist Kate Nash. I find her voice and style to be charming and cute and lovely and would very much like to purchase her album.
Other albums I've been meaning to buy forevers are Rilo Kiley's "Under the Blacklight" and Tegan and Sara's "The Con".
Hannah came over on Saturday and we went to Joanne's and bought puff paints and then we came home and made cupcakes and decorated my apron that i use in ceramics to not get COMPLETELY covered in clay and dust.
Here's a link to her journal entry about the event: Greener Living
The recipe for our cupcakes can be found in the 1975 Joy of Cooking that I inherited from my Granny.
One -Egg Cake
Two 8-inch Round Pans
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Have all ingredients at about 75 degrees.Sift into an electric mixer bowl and mix for about 2 minutes at medium speed:
1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup soft butter
2/3 cup milk
Add and mix for 2 minutes more, scraping bowl constantly:
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pour the batter into greased pans and bake for about 25 minutes.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing
About 2 cups
Melt:
3 oz. chocolate
Soften:
3 oz. cream cheese
in:
1/4 cup milk
Add gradually:
4 cups confectioners' sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt
Combine this mixture with the melted chocolate and beat until smooth and ready to be spread.
Then today I made brownies using my 2006 75th Anniversary edition of the Joy.
Brownies Cockaigne
The little intro bit says, "If you want them chewy and moist, use a 13 x 9-inch pan; if cakey, a 9 x 9-inch pan.")
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking pan lined with foil. Melt in a small saucepan:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
Let cool. If you don't, your brownies will be heavy and dry. Beat until light in color and foamy in texture:
4 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
Gradually add and continue beating until thick:
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
With a few swift strokes, stir in the cooled chocolate mixture just until combined. Even if you are using an electric mixer, switch to a wooden spoon for this. Stir in just until combined:
1 cup all-purpose flour
Gently stir in, if desired:
(1 cup chopped pecans) (i used 1 cup milk chocolate chips)
Scrape batter into the prepared pan. Bake about 25 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a rack.
This is my favorite picture from Hannah's blog. As Ben put it, "You look so ill." These young people and their lingo.
I've added some links to my links list. Most recently there's Jessie's Wisconsin blog that she's using for this quarter she's spending there, working in a wildlife rehabilitation center.
Also Frannie has a blog for her photography that I don't think anyone knows about but me.
Ben started a livejournal after I showed him mine and has been using it to post his thoughts, which, being Ben's thoughts, are quite interesting and written in a style that is his own.
Then of course, there are the old standby's:
Corbin's Stock Ticker is a blog written by former D-dormer and now downstairs neighbor, Corbin. It's hilarious. He writes about movies a lot.
Hannah calls her blog Greener Living in homage to Evergreen. She started it at the beginning of last year to let family and friends from back home know what it's like being a student at Evergreen. There's a bunch of posts from her travels in Europe, since she spent last quarter living in Florence, Italy. She puts a picture in almost every post and has a really charming writing style.
Steve almost never updates his blog, Artemesis, but when he does, there are fascinating pictures of whatever art projects he's been working on lately.
Jessie posts whatever poetry she's been writing lately in her poetry blog. She is not to be confused with Jessie Maier, who is Hannah's little sister. Several of Hannah's relatives clicked on a link to Jessie Allison's blog from Hannah's and assumed that this was the poetry of 17-year-old Jessie Maier, and that Jessie Maier was clearly very depressed. It spread through the grapevine of the family and arrived back with Hannah who exasperatedly explained that this was a friend from college who actually is not depressed at all.
I've been sick since Friday night and it has been rather miserable. Just one of those colds where you're exhausted and your nose is drippy and your eyes tend to water and you have a cough and an occasional sneeze and you lay around watching hours and hours of America's Next Top Model because they just play one after another and you think to yourself, "well, I am curious who gets cut this week, maybe just one more episode."
About a week ago Ben and I went to visit the Hannah/Katherine/Evan/Paul household where we played video games and baked pie. i brought the filling I'd made over and Hannah and I made the crust which involved me putting too much shortening it and it being somewhat moist and crumbly. Oh well. Hannah took some lovely pictures here: http://greenerliving.blogspot.com/2008/01/triumphant-return.html
Beginning Ballet (from the syllabus):
Each week we will be studying the basic positions, vocabulary and movements of ballet. Each class we will add new positions and steps.
In addition to learning ballet, each week we may study any or all of the following: focus exercises, Pilates, Gyrotonics, EFT, self massage, Developmental Movement Therapy and stretching exercises.
Beginning Ceramics: Vessels
Week 1:
Tues: Course intro
Thurs:Pinch pots
Assignment: Make 20 pinch pot bowls to be used for glaze testing.
Week 2:
Tues: Soft clay forming: pinch, altered slabs, dowel formed
Assignment: Matching sets: plate, bowl & cup: 2 of each (6 pcs.). Match shape, surface, coloration, designs on all pieces.
Thurs: Slip painting and surface development
Week 3:
Tues: Slump and press mold forms/alterations, additions, handles
Assignment: Make 2 slump or press molded pieces
Thurs: Leatherhard slab construction.
Assignment: Make 2 10" pots (tall or wide)
Week 4:
Tues: High fire glazing: lecture and demo
Thurs: Work day
Assignment: Glaze all bisque ware made to date
Week 5:
Tues: Coil construction: large forms
Assignment: build a 12" to 15" pot
Thurs: continue
Week 6:
Tues: Wheel throwing: cylinders - centering, opening, and forming
Assignment: 20 cylinders - 1-2 Lbs clay each, throw, cut in 1/2, and recycle.
Thurs: 3 basic forms: cylinder, bowl, closed form
Assignment: 2 of each
Weeks 7-10: individual projects: using techniques, processes from weeks 1-6, complete 3 projects (ie: large pieces, sets, experimental vessels, etc)
The Practice of Writing:
This course will give students a broad overview of prose writing, and help them to broaden, deepen, and improve their own writing practice. We will explore every step of the writing process, learning to brainstorm, structure, draft, critique, rewrite, polish, and "share out" in ways large and small. The course will also address key principles of good writing, challenges like procrastination and writer's block, and ways to develop productive writing routines.
Our class meetings will include lectures, writing workshops, small-group critique sessions, brief tutorials, and class recitations. Outside of class, you will keep a daily journal, pursue various writing activities as assigned, and complete a 5-10 page final project. If you wish, you may also visit Evergreen's Writing Center for one-on-one coaching, especially if you want or need to strengthen your grasp of the more technical aspects of writing (paragraph and sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, etc.).
Today was the first day of winter quarter here at Evergreen. Here's my schedule for the next ten weeks:
Monday: Beginning Ballet 12:00-2:00
Tuesday: The Practice of Writing 5:30-9:00
Beginning Ceramics 1:00-3:00
Wednesday: Nothing!
Thursday: Beginning Ceramics 1:00-3:00
Friday: Nothing!
Saturday: Nothing!
Sunday: Nothing!
