Thursday, March 26, 2015

Strange slump

Last night, I had a nightmare about thousands of starving people in loincloths sitting outside of my childhood home. Needless to say, I'm in a poor mood today. The grey and rain doesn't help, because now my new walking route is less attractive as an option for exercise. I know it's been a while since I've been here, but I honestly did not know until a few days ago the proximity and niceness of having water around. I've walked down streets I never knew existed that I drive past all the time. There are stunning houses (in the other direction, the sites of heinous crimes and a city in great distress). One day I saw a pair of geese slowly walking across a big road. The next day, a pair swimming. This is a little stream I've never noticed until I was on foot.
My other new obsession is learning to cook tastier vegetarian meals. I've always had a small mortar and pestle but never used it, so I was over the moon to choose new spices that I've eaten but never lived/cooked with. Also, I spun up and wove the rest of the logwood dyed Japanese paper from Tatiana's demo. Because of this sudden fixation on all that happens in my kitchen, I've also felt the urge to get things that I've always gotten by without, but while thrifting today, couldn't bring myself to buy a salad spinner. Still felt too decadent (and space hogging). But I've eaten marvelously well this week!
The entire zodiac was not available, but my sign is way below so I was happy. Last weekend, I went to visit the site that will become the marvelous new fiber studio in town: Praxis. Jessica is the ED and founder and incredible ball of energy behind it all, and I not only got to see the space under renovation but her new home in the neighborhood. She is really serious about investing in a place, and has done so with her personal and professional life with so much gusto and commitment that it makes me wish we could all be this way. But it's not in the cards for me, at least not yet.
The lighting is terrible, but here is the stage behind the front windows, where the looms are hanging out for now. They have a beautiful new sink, will have a dye garden out back, individual studios almost ready to paint, and so much space! It's going to be stunning.
I don't have a place to hang my hanji dress so it's just hanging out for now on the wall. Though I promised myself some calm time, I still feel there is too "quiet" stuff to do! If I want to cook something, I need to get a new knife. If I want to sew more paper, I have to buy a sewing machine. There are letters and reports to write, files to file, endless life minutiae. I have also been to the dentist three times in the last three weeks and the end is not in sight. And now it's snowing again. But last night I read a beautiful book that I heard about while in Korea and I am so glad I found it yesterday after yoga: Brown Girl Dreaming. So maybe I'll give up on everything else this afternoon and get back to reading a book on paper that is also brilliant. Let me lean on a book.

4 comments:

Velma Bolyard said...

i hear bill withers singing lean on me and remember being a teen in a car with lots of summer friends, singing. maybe that's what books do, sing that to me, to you? beautiful dress and oh! the colors in the paper.

Therese said...

mmmmmmmm....yummy logwood !!!! & yay, for kitchen antics ~ ... no need for a salad spinner when an old, thinned-out cotton towel works great. (place wet leaves on towel, tie opposite corners, hold tied corners in hand & spin your arm to release water...or gently fwop inside of sink walls) you knew that though, didn't you ?

aimee said...

that book sang and sang to me yesterday, songs of egyptian, north african, and spanish papermaking!

aimee said...

i have gotten by with so little in the kitchen and laughed at people who fell prey to the newfangled tools and gadgets and whatnot...only to find myself coveting things. i was close to buying new things yesterday and then put everything back on the rack and walked out of the store because i knew i could continue to survive just fine with what i have. you'll see!