photo of the day - sept 4

The two formerly known as the Little People. I've known these two since birth. So fun to get to take them to dinner and to see Despicable Me tonight. 

my life's really fun

This was one of my favorite moments of Thanksgiving:

4 year-old niece and I are out on our one-on-one outing, which is becoming a tradition when I visit. We're headed to a coffee shop and bookstore. I see a cupcake shop, which is famous for its cupcakes and pull in.
Me: Here's a cupcake shop! Do you want to go in?
4 year-old: Can we get a cupcake?
Me: Yes.
4 year-old: Then, yes.

We're sitting at the bar, enjoying our cupcakes when she says, "My life's really fun."
I want THAT kind of joy.

Weekend Recap

Quick run-down of the holiday weekend:

Thursday night went to White Fence Farm for dinner. Fried Chicken mecca of Denver. We had a great waitress and she let us guess the ingredients of two of our favorite side dishes - Bean Salad and Coleslaw. Now, I just have to figure out the measurements. I am sure they make the stuff by the swimming pool-sized bowlful. 

Friday morning went to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. Lots of great art. Stuart and Sheralee surprised me with this nifty dragon fly yard art from one of our favorite artists there.

Friday night a dozen people came over for movie night in my backyard . 

Saturday evening I hosted 35 people for an Independence Day celebration. 

After tons of hours of yardwork by the fabulous Richard Turley and myself, the rain commenced fifteen minutes before my guests were slated to arrive. My mother would be proud that my house was clean so we were able to seamlessly transition things inside, soon after I finished my fit of anger. You know the one... you are tired and exhausted, the yard looks great, you are finally proud of it, but, alas, you and your guests must enjoy it from afar. I got over it.

The rain did stop and we were able to be outside for part of it after all. Bottom line is that we all had fun anyhow. And the thirteen pound brisket I cooked that people thought was too freakishly large? Not. a. single. piece. left. 

Brian P. Clifford, PhD

A few photos from Brian's commencement last weekend in Jacksonville. A fun time with the other two Clifford kids.

New Music I Loved in 2008

What follows is a totally random list of the six* new albums I most enjoyed in 2008. I seem to have discovered less new music this year, and that makes me kinda sad. Hopefully 2009 will bring on some new tunes.

In no particular order:
Sigur Ros, Med sud I eyrum vid spilum endalaust
Lucinda Williams, Little Honey
Kate Campbell, Save the Day
Sugarland, Love on the Inside
Coldplay, Viva la Vida
Emmylou Harris, All I Intended to Be

Looking forward to:
Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
She & Him, Volume One
Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
Son Kil Moon, April
The Frames, The Cost

(*) edited to include Emmylou. Couldn't sleep tonight if I left her out.

my favorite superheroes

splendid

love/hate

5 things I love today:
- my friend Nadia's new book
- wooden knitting needles
- my boots
- a fantastic blazing orange sunset
- espresso at home

5 things I could do without:
- seeing people walking their dogs toting around clear plastic bags of dog sh*t
- milk that goes bad too soon
- beets
- too-small parking spaces
- legalism

these are my favorites

wild weekend

Carla makes a valance for my dining room out of tea towels.

Close up view of the valance.

The finished product.

The pillow I am currently embroidering an ampersand on for my den.

Carla models the sun-dress I made in 9th grade home economics class. Yes, it is covered in green rhinos, but the photo does not do it justice.

Sunday supper. Pork loin, sweet potato fries, grilled asparagus, coca-cola salad (a southern classic), fresh tomatoes, whole grain bread, and, of course, sweet tea.

Nice, low-key, three-day weekend here. My friend, Carla, who has been my friend since birth, came out from Richmond for the weekend. A big thanks to Andrew for running the home front so she could hang with me and the little girls could enjoy Camp Daddy. (Thanks, Andy!) It was good to just get to hang out, go to the museum, work in the yard, cook a few nice meals, do some small projects, consume large amounts of coffee, and laugh a lot.

do you hear what I hear

I'm not the music junkie I used to be, but I was still happy to see some of my favorite albums of 2007 on Paste Music's Top 100 Album List.

In no particular order:
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Bruce Springsteen - Magic
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Patty Griffin - Children Running Through
Over The Rhine - The Trumpet Child
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha

reading...

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, Warren St. John
Simplicity, Kim Thomas
*
Christmas additions to the Library:
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Complete Stories
Creole Thrift: Premium Southern Living Without Spending a Mint, Angela Parlange
Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas, Michka Assayas

potpourri

- Saw Into the Wild yesterday. Really enjoyed the book when I read it several years ago. But the movie was a bit disappointing. It does have some soul to it, and the music - which is by Eddie Vedder - was spot-on. Haunting, but it was a long 2:20.
- Still mired down in somewhat of a spiritual funk. Not sure what happened to get me here, or how to get out. I'm still "in", but things are awry. The words that jumped out at me in my lectio divina group this week say it best. Parched ground. Suck. What to do when you seem to have lost your passion and joy?
- Helped a friend facilitate a collage workshop today. Actually made a piece of my own, which I plan to finish this week.
- Looking forward to a bit of family time later this week, and a few days away from work. Not necessarily a restful time; but a nice change of pace.
- Hopefully I will get a chance to work on one of my favorite hobbies: sleep.
- Pulled out the Votivo Christmas Sage candle today. Because it makes me happy.
- Off to finish up a business review for work now.

tunes and tomes

reading...
Articles of War, Nick Arvin (book club book, and the 2007 One Book, One Denver pick)
Everything Must Change, Brian McLaren

listening...
Bruce Springsteen, Magic
The Foo Fighters, Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace
The Restoration Project, Songs for a Revolution of Hope

drinking...
French Press Kaladi Brothers Tanzania AA coffee

watching...
rain on the patio

what's up

- just back from a belated birthday beach trip. yeah, i milked this one for all it was worth. squeezed two more birthday celebrations out of the big 4-0.
- got to catch up with my birmingham buddies.
- played a lot of boggle.
- ate a lot of firecracker shrimp (this involves the best remoulade sauce in the world).
- slept a lot.
- sat on the beach a lot.
- watched the sun set and the moon rise.
- had some great conversations.
- did a lot of nothing.
- read Bless Your Heart, Tramp. and random magazines. deep, deep reading, in case you can't tell.
- did read a bit of Breath for the Bones, by Luci Shaw, so all was not mindless.
- enjoying the new foo fighters album - echos, silence, patience & grace. isn't that a great title?
- found the perfect music for the treadmill - florida state's marching band doing the best of college football fight songs.
- drove up to the mountains today so i could catch the aspens in all of their fall glory.
- just spruced up my porch with a pumpkin/mum display to officially welcome fall.
- trying to plan my week now so that i can ease back into work and maybe even a daily routine that doesn't feel like chaos.
- have a huge need for great amounts of creative energy to come bursting forth in the next week or so.

kindred spirits

That's my girl! My niece shares my love of music and I recently turned her on to the iPod....Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band doing Old Dan Tucker. Peter, Paul, and Mary's Go Tell it on the Mountain, and Eva Cassidy's Over the Rainbow.

welcome to the world, baby boy

well, the clifford name can go on now. harrison james clifford arrived friday morning. mom and baby are doing well. i arrived in town friday evening and took a cab straight to the hospital. not that i was excited or anything. i've enjoyed a weekend of playing with little people, and was even able to take in some live music last night. now i'm off to bed for a few hours before my 6am flight home.

tunes and tomes

Listening:
Kate Hurley, Sleeping When You Woke Me
Over the Rhine, The Trumpet Child
Wilco, Sky Blue Sky

Reading:
What is the What, Dave Eggers
Paste Magazine
A friend's project for her dissertation
The new Pottery Barn catalog

mrs. beasley rides again

Remember Mrs. Beasley? She was one of my favorite childhood toys. Early in her life, she talked. Then I barfed on her, and when you pulled her cord, she spoke in tongues. Then she quit that, and all you get now is a whirring noise when you pull the cord.

Where the hell did Mrs. Beasley surface from, you ask? I'm just back from a 10-day road trip to Tennessee for the express purpose of retrieving some family heirlooms that were in storage. My mom's china and silver, a couple of globes for my vintage globe collection, a rocking chair, a side table, and some other random things had been stored at a friend's house since my dad moved to Nashville last year.

Besides the china and silver, the other item I am most proud to have is the clock that my grandfather purchased in 1927 and hung in my grandmother's one-room schoolhouse. It hung in her classroom for most of the 47 years that she taught school. I'll post a picture once I get it on the wall here.

Back to Mrs. Beasley...she was among the boxes of stuff I sorted through and brought back with me. You should also know that she was baptized on July 4th by my niece. I know many of you will have a problem with the fact that a) she was baptized by a female; b) that same female is only two years old; c) she was not fully immersed.

Mrs. Beasley thoroughly enjoyed her road trip to Denver, and looked out the window the entire trip. Not sure how long she will be around, but she deserves a photo shoot. And she's currently contemplating a retirement option in Richmond, where she could live with her childhood friend, Cookie Maness.

serenity now

all fun things must come to an end. tomorrow i go back to work. had a glorious time away from the funhouse. sat on the beach for 8 straight days. read a ton. laughed a lot. enjoyed the company of good friends. ate boatloads of shrimp. caught up on my sleep. detoxed from sugar-free red bull. totally de-stressed.

would that i could prolong this serene state.