18 January 07
Fungus the Bogeyman
A friend brought a copy of this amazing graphic novel, now out of print, when they were up here doing the Christmas Bird Count, hoping , perhaps, I’d agree with her that it was the best children’s book ever.
Ron, you’re right.
I’m seeing from the Wikipedia entry that this was turned into a TV miniseries in 2004. I’m sure my niece and nephew, who are heavily into all things gross just now, would appreciate it. I love the art, I love the philosophical turn of thoughts of poor old Fungus (“but what’s it all for?”), and I love the side comments. (And I especially love the triple nipples.)
Thank you, thank you. A treasure.
16 January 07
Test Approaching
I’m planning to take the exam for my General Class amateur radio license this Friday at a session in Lafayette. The imminent elimination of the Morse Code requirement has gotten me motivated to take the test while the requirement for the Morse Code is still in effect. I will be having to copy code at the rate of 5 words per minute for the test, in addition to the multiple-choice questions on radio theory and practice. 5 WPM is still very slow, but it’s a good starting-off point for on-the-air adventures in Morse.
15 January 07
Bodega Trip
While my mother moved to Maine last summer, her house has not yet sold, victim of bad timing. I went over there yesterday to check on things and meet with the realtor.
It was the first time I’d been back since she left.
It was cold but sunny and with almost no wind to speak of, an anomaly in this place where there’s almost always an onshore breeze (more like a gale, usually).
I took myself to lunch at the wonderful Seaweed Cafe (baked queso fresco over roast vegetables and amaranth pudding, washed down with an exquisite Ti Kwan Yin). This is a restaurant that takes “local” food seriously, serving, for instance, wine from not just Sonoma County, but WESTERN Sonoma County.
After I walked along the Head, a place I’d walked so many times with my mother, and stopped at the spot where she strew some of my father’s ashes.
Bittersweet. I’m glad she’s moved to a community she can grow to be a part of while she’s still strong and has all her faculties (and can be near the grandchildren). But she’s far away now. This scattering, fruit of choice and opportunity, comes with a certain price…
14 January 07
From Farm To Pie
On an appropriately pie-shaped plot of land south of San Francisco on the Peninsula coast is an educational farm named Pie Ranch. This farm grows all the ingredients for pies: wheat, berries, bees for honey, goats for milk, chickens for eggs, pumpkins for pumpkin filling. This week they opened up a a café and pie shop in San Francisco named Mission Pie, located at 25th and Mission. Why pie? They say:
We call ourselves Pie Ranch for several reasons: 1) because the ranch is in the shape of a slice of pie; 2) pie, with all its ingredients and associations, is a great means for understanding how food comes from the land to our tables and 3) because the promise of pie will encourage city youth and adults to come discover the beauty and importance of rapidly disappearing farms to the future of people in the Bay Area, our food security, health and our understanding and appreciation of life and nature.
(From World Changing).
13 January 07
Sketching Outing
So, so cold last night, but not as bad as it might have been. We met up with some friends at the Farmers’ Market and there were Chicken Tractor, a local bluegrass band, freezing their fingers off. One young aficionado couldn’t take all the excitement.
I’ve been doing some more playing with colored pencil outlines for letters (below and also here).
11 January 07
Freeze
No, it’s not Minnesota here, but we’re having an unusual Arctic air mass moving in. The minimum temperature for the next several days is expected to drop to the 20s Fahrenheit. Right now it’s 37 outside and dropping, with a north wind picking up. We’re worried about our newly-planted guavas; we’ve covered them with gardening fleece tarps that will hopefully keep them out of trouble.
10 January 07
A Busy Day
I’m back from MacWorld. I thought an Apple phone, long predicted as the feature of this year’s Keynote, was a silly idea.
I can only say I’m really glad they weren’t for sale today, because I’d have gone against all good sense and plopped down a big wad of cash for something I don’t need.
Didn’t stop me salivating, though.
The event was the usual overstimulating paradise for geeks. As usual, there were the obvious tech types and the obvious designer types and the obvious mac nuts. Sometimes all these occurred in the same person, but mostly it was three separate groups.
I went down on the train with the Yolo Designers, a group that meets on the last Friday of every month in downtown Davis. They were able to help me come up with some specs for a new computer I need to order at work “as soon as possible.”
I’m well prepared…
9 January 07
Gobs More Of Weather Data
I’m not quite sure how to directly make use of the data for Pica’s garden, but at least there’s a good source of such information for us. This is CIMIS, the California Irrigation Management Information System. The state Department of Water Resources maintains a set of over 120 automated weather stations in the agricultural portions of California to provide measurements of evapotranspiration — that is, water loss from soil and plants to the atmosphere — for irrigation planning purposes. Conveniently, there’s a station less than 2 miles from our house. It’s a very solid data record, and it’s neat to see an event like last Friday’s bitter north wind reflected there.
8 January 07
Colored Pencil Odyssey
Long-time readers of Feathers of Hope will know that both Numenius and I like watercolor pencils. I also like non-soluble ones and have a large collection of Prismacolors. Sounds like there are others I should try, but for now, I have penty to be going on with.
The idea here is to use colored pencils to “sculpt” letterforms and areas around them, following an article I read in the latest issue of Bound and Lettered.
I’ll post some results here soon, but [Images uploaded 1/11/07] for now I’m having a great time experimenting with color, shading, texture. It’s not just a medium for children…
7 January 07
Kitty Basket
For a holiday present my folks gave us a gift basket filled with pasta, olive oil, and other Italian food goodies. They did not however realize that it turns out to be the perfect transportable cat nook. We unwrapped the gift basket last night and Charlie has since spent many hours dozing within!