Moving

Maybe I'll post here sometimes, but
I've decided to create the new blog name URL:
some silken moment

Ciao Tim

Tim left my workplace yesterday for good. He's moving into whatever the unknown future holds...
Tim is such an interesting, fun, people-person and will be missed.
But... change is good and I'm sure he will find something better.

Spring Haiku's I just wrote

Spring Haiku’s

The sky starts to sing
Drifting like petals that fall
Ear and heart listen

Cherry blossoms burst
Honeysuckle fills the air
Taste sweetness of spring

Nat'l. Poetry Month Begins

(From Google Images)

Poetry Month begins - I share some quotes from 'Practicing Writing':

"Poetry isn't a profession, it's a way of life. It's an empty basket; you put your life into it and make something out of that."--Mary Oliver (b. 1935)

"I write poetry in order to live more fully."--Judith Rodriguez (b. 1936)

"A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep."--Salman Rushdie (b. 1947)

"A poet can survive everything but a misprint."--Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Tattoo Art

Today I redeemed my Christmas gift.
The Artist is Karina at One Shot Tattoo.

I'm very happy with it,

but the pain is.. well a lot... this is my last one!

Tortilla Art

I just made "Tortilla Art". The Great Tortilla Conspiracy is a show Rene & Rio Yanez curate. Opening at Somarts Cultural Center. For more info: http://www.somarts.org/

Luncheon at the Boating Party

I went to see Susan Vreeland at Stacey's Bookstore today. She is well known for other novels, particularly "Girl in Hyacinth Blue". This is a novel of historical fiction about Auguste Renoir's significant painting, "Luncheon at the Boating Party" which I find intriguing being a fan of Impressionist's and of France. Plus it's a different genre for me to read.

This is from her inside front page:
"Instantly recognizable, Auguste Renoir's masterpiece portrays fourteen lively, diverse, and elegant Parisians enjoying a summer Sunday along the Seine. An art collector, an Italian journalist, a war hero, a wealthy painter, a celebrated actress, and Renoir's future wife are among those sharing this joyous moment of la vie moderne. But who were they really and what were their lives truly like? Narrated by Renoir and seven of the models, and using settings in Paris and along the Seine, Susan Vreeland's vibrant novel recreates their lives, loves, losses, and triumphs to illuminate the gusto, hedonism, and art of the era."

From what she read and shared with us, it sounds like a lovely written and compelling story. For example, in the very beginning this scene is of Renoir with his right arm in a cast making his way to the river in a three-wheel cycle, when he lost balance and tipped over and crashed. "How different the colors from this low angle, the contrast between tips of ripples and valleys between them more pronounced now - a deeper forest green for the furrows, with shifting patches of yellow-green and ocher on the humps, and the silver highlights more transparent than he'd ever seen them. My God! To show that to the world!"

This is what she signed in my book:

"There's no remaining still, in art or in life."

My First Photoshop Collage

Mystify

I can't help it, I still love original INXS. This song inspired my new new Blog Name - "Some Silken Moment" (formerly Haiku Pizza) I feel like changing the vibe a little without creating a brand new blog. Stay tuned as Haiku Pizza transforms.

Go While You Can

(From Google Images)

I read this in my book by Jillian Robinson on the way to work this morning:

Go While You Can

Diane, a woman in her seventies, now battling several debilitating medical conditions, said, "Travel while you still have youthful vigor, good feet, and an open mind. My husband and I never could afford any of the vacations we took, but we went anyway and never regretted a dollar we spent. We still revel in the memories today."

That's all I needed to hear.

this and that

(From Google Images)

It's a warm, sunny day here in SF! If I didn't spill coffee on my white shirt, I would have taken my sweater off when I was outside earlier. Oh well.

So tomorrow we get an extra day with this leap year. Cynthia will be announcing her big 'creative leap' which has something to do with writing and Italy. I haven't thought of something special I could do with this extra day yet.

However, I am going with George to attempt another blood donation this weekend. They really need it. Hopefully I can give the full requirement this time which is about one pint. I also wanted to try one more time before I get my next tattoo which I'm still thinking about.

I signed up for some Group Pilates classes at a studio nearby - dharmaspace It will be a good way to get in a workout during the lunch hour and working different muscles than I usually do at the gym. It's good to mix it up once in awhile.

Natalie Goldberg has a new book out "Old Friend from Far Away - The Practice of Writing Memoir" Speaking of books, I'm about half way through Laurie's book. I learned of a Christian Author today, Debbie Alsdorf. Actually on the train this morning I notice a cute tote bag a woman had on her shoulder. It was just plain black and at the bottom in script said "God is Good" design 4 living ministries. So when I googled that, I found Debbie Alsdorf. I'm not sure if the cute tote is from her though so I emailed her to find out!

What do you need to do?

(from Google Images)

"Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals. How long can you afford to put off being who you really want to be? Put your principles into practice - now. This is your life! You aren't a child anymore. The longer you wait, the more you will be vulnerable to mediocrity and filled with shame and regret, because you know you are capable of better. From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do - now."

~The Roman Epictetus

Birthday Boy

Someone Special had a nice birthday.

GEORGE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE

LOOKING FORWARD TO CELEBRATING WITH YOU

SURPRISES AWAIT...

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

More from S.D.

"Above all, remember that you must build your life as if it were a work of art."
~Abraham Heschel

Scenes from San Diego

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Valentine cupcake

vitamin D and a little horsing around

We had beautiful, unseasonable weather this past weekend. Wearing short-sleeves, we were comfortable and warm on this sunny February weekend. We spent most of Saturday outdoors walking. First to the Cole Valley neighborhood, then through G.G. Park all the way to Ocean Beach and back. We actually stopped and had a little lunch on the sand - deli sandwiches, kettle chips (my weakness) and SoBe green tea. Some guys were playing Frisbee near us and we had views of the surf and cargo ships at sea.


We saw a few horses in the park at the stables. George stopped to chat with a couple of them. He's funny, he can talk 'horse' you know. On our way back, the Botanical Garden was cr-OW-OW-ded! So we went home, and after a hot bath, I finished reading Kim Sunee's book (which I liked a lot) and then I couldn't keep my eyes open and took a little well-earned nap.

I did start Felicia's memoir too - pretty intense and interesting story. Tomorrow we leave for San Diego, looking forward to a little get-away.

At work today, after a meeting we get to have lunch at Hunan, mmmmm -

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

(Gung Hay Fat Choy means "Best wishes and Congratulations. Have a prosperous and good year." Chinese New Year marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It is a time for family reunions, for honoring ancestors and for thanking the gods for their blessings.)

Next Memoir-The Sky Isn't Visible from Here

Felicia Sullivan's memoir is out and her book tour is in full-swing. She has an appearance scheduled in SF in May. Check out her website for event info at:
http://feliciasullivan.com/?page_id=772
I'll probably pick up a copy as I'm at the end of "Trail of Crumbs" already.
I'm still in memoir phase.

Coffee Cup Inspiration

(From Google Images)

The way I see It # 270

Taste is subjective. Taste is

democratic. Taste is powerful.

Taste - the combination of texture,

aroma, temperature, aesthetic and

environment - is also a window

into someone else's life or culture.

Be confident in your taste, but

remain curious and expose yourself

to new tastes. Allow your taste to

constantly evolve and grow - while

keeping and cherishing hte

memories that taste creates.

~Marcus Samuelsson

Chef, co-owner of Restaurant

Aquavit and author of The Soul

of a New Cuisine

Multimedia message

Plaid

bangs

Tuesday Haiku

This country needs hope (and help)

Super Tuesday Election

Please be sure to vote

Waitress

I rented the movie "Waitress" this past weekend. I thought it was pretty good. Jeremy Sisto did a great job as Jenna's (Keri Russell) controlling, miserable husband, easily unlikable. I particularly like the creative way she thought up new pies in her mind. Keri Russell was good, I like her back from the days of "Felicity". I also liked the character Dawn's (Adrienne Shelly) style, cute glasses with that dorky-stylish black frames look and her pretty red hair w/bangs. Speaking of bangs, I got spontaneous bangs cut earlier that same day! (Photo to follow.)

From IMDB:
Jenna is a small-town waitress at Joe's Diner, who has a great knack at making delicious pies there. However, Jenna is in an unhappy marriage to her controlling and immature husband, Earl, who always takes the money she works hard for, but Jenna keeps some of it hidden from him. Jenna suddenly finds her life has taken an unexpected turn when she discovers she's pregnant with Earl's baby. But the unhappy pregnancy changes Jenna's life as she becomes determined to win the $25,000 pie contest prize money and begins an affair with her handsome, married gynecologist that gives her confidence and an attempt at happiness. Written by r2k443

I really liked Adrienne Shelly who wrote, directed and starred in this film as another waitress, Dawn. She was only 40 and Russian Jewish decent like myself.
What disturbs me most is that she was killed (I think before the movie premiered). So very wrong and sad.

From Wikipedia:
At about 5:45 p.m on November 1, 2006, Shelly's husband found her hanging by a bedsheet[13] from a shower rod in the bathtub [11] of an Abingdon Square apartment in the West Village section of Manhattan's Greenwich Village, in what at first appeared to be a suicide.[13] Shelly, who lived in Tribeca,[11] used the apartment as an office.[11] Ostroy had dropped her off at 9:30 a.m. that day, and as the building's doorman told journalists, "He hadn't heard from her and he said it was odd not to hear from her, so he was nervous. And he asked me to go up to the apartment with him, so we went to the front door, and it was unlocked".[11]
An autopsy was performed the following day. The New York City Police Department was suspicious of sneaker prints in the bathtub that did not match Shelly's shoes (she was found wearing only socks). Shelly's husband also indicated that there was money missing from Shelly's wallet. He vigorously denied allegations that she could have committed suicide.[14]
Press reports on November 6, 2006 stated that police had arrested construction worker Diego Pillco, a 19-year-old illegal immigrant who confessed to killing Shelly after she complained about the noise he was making in the apartment below hers. Pillco said that he "was having a bad day."[15] Police said Pillco had made videos implicating himself in the murder, and as of November 7, 2006 was being held without bail for her murder.

Field Trip

Today my department had another outing with the Producers, and went to a new restaurant called "LOCAL - Kitchen & Wine Merchant". Not everyone could make it so there was only about 9 of us. We had a nice wine tasting (2 whites and 3 reds) then we all made our own pizza! The Pizza Chef has worked in many good S.F. Restaurants and he was so nice and patient with us. He helped us stretch our wad of dough, then design our pizzas and cook them in a wood-burning oven.

This is what I put on my pizza: first I brushed on some olive oil with chopped garlic in it. Then added a light layer of tomato sauce. Mozzarella, mushrooms, fresh basil and tomato. Then when it was ready in like 5 minutes or less, I topped it with arugula and prosciutto.

Viola, tonight's dinner.

Dead Skin Scrolls

(Photo- Dead Sea Salt - from Google Images)

Yesterday I went to the Westfield Mall during lunch. It was the first time I was stopped by the "Kiosk People". Uh oh.... turns out I learned of some great products. First it was the Dead Sea Salt Mineral Treatment - an exfoliator, I tried some on my hands it reminded me of the scrub I used from Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Hand Recovery. Here's the difference, today my hands STILL feel soft! The Dead Sea Salt scrub can be done weekly. The C&E product only felt soft that night I used it. I think they are on to something here. I also purchased a Dead Sea Facial Peel which is a gel texture that exfoliates as you massage in upward circular motions. At first it didn't really feel like anything but then (sorry if it's T-M-I) but the dead skin starts to come up, sort of like when sunburned skins is peeling if you were rubbing it off. Then you rinse with warm water.I've tried masks and other scrubs and this is the ONLY one I've ever actually seen the dead skin removed. I only need to use this once a week as well. These were from http://www.swisabeauty.com/

Then I walk down one level and am approached by this woman who asked what I bought and I guess their products are also Dead Sea Salt related. But she shows me this nail buffer thing. Ironically just that morning I was bummed about more ridges I noticed on yet another nail. I let her take my finger and she buffs one with the gray side for a few seconds, then the blue side, then white side (one, two, three) and viola, smooth and shiny (no ridges or discoloration). No wonder it's called the "Super Magic Nail Buffer"Again, I compare with buffers I've used before and they were never as effective and that fast! Today my nails are still shiny. It also comes with cuticle cream to apply after. She told me it's not good to cut cuticles, just soften. I don't think I need manicures anymore. In 10 minutes, I can trim, file, buff and shine for natural clean nails. I'm going to try it on my toes next. http://onsensecret.com/scripts/prodListCat.asp?idCategory=25

Okay last item - I have had darkness under my eyes forever. She showed me their eye treatment "Textured Eye Cream" which also has Dead Sea Salt. She also used a gel that was applied first but it's more for lines and I didn't need that (Thanks to the good genetics in my family). Today, I seriously notice it seem lighter under my eyes, no dark bags. I have never seen results like these, and so immediate. Nail ridges and dark eye circles. These products are from http://www.attitudeline.com/

I felt like a sucker at first, so after my purchases thought they did give me discounts, I went back and looked up their websites for more info. I'm impressed so far, I think these are very effective products.
This concludes today's infomercial. Thanks for reading.

For the love of books and boboli

It's Friday. Looking forward to my favorite dinner of yummy boboli pizza and salad and vino rosso. George makes the BEST boboli pizza's.

It's also very rainy here. Looking forward to being warm and cozy at home later. So I already bought the book "Trail of Crumbs" mentioned earlier, (I'm used to reading many books at the same time, and yes, I'm well aware of my book addiction) which is written so beautifully, I'm on chapter 4. The chapters are short with some good stopping places / paragraph breaks. She includes recipes for the dishes mentioned at the end of each chapter. http://www.kimsunee.com/books.html

On the flip side Laurie's story (mentioned yesterday 'Crazy Aunt Purl') has a very different tone. Though I do not discount her pain of going through an unexpected divorce, she is pretty funny and down-to-earth. Her chapters are short too. I like short chapters. Aside from her four cats, as I find her book to be interesting and amusing. At the end of her book, she includes knitting recipes and color photos. http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/book/

Today I learned of Linda Joy Meyers, PhD., Author, Instructor/Coach, http://www.memoriesandmemoirs.com/ and she's all about memoir writing. She offers workshops and classes. I'd like to find a writing class or group to attend in person that is affordable and geographically desirable. I think the in-person interaction, energy, and support you get from a group is beneficial. I'll see what I can find out. I don't know if I have a 'memoir' in me yet... but I have my own montage of pieces and stories I am currently exploring in writing. It's just that I see these blogs and books and I think, "I want to do that too!" And why not try? The only difference I see is that they DO the writing and the work, I just THINK about it. ACTION is my answer. Many people self-publish and make their own little chapbooks, etc. Anything is possible with a CAN DO attitude, a little faith, and doing the work. This concludes today's pep talk.

Writing and Knitting

(BOTH FROM GOOGLE IMAGES)

There is a blog I used to periodically read: http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/
Today one search lead to another and I happened upon her blog again. Lo and behold, she has a published book out now! She is a writer, and avid knitter in Los Angeles.

More and more blogs I read, I find these committed writers make their way into publishing articles and books.

Another one I found last year is Quinn Cummings. She's been writing a blog and now has a book deal. http://www.qcreport.blogspot.com/

Even though my blog is not well-known or popular, I enjoy it just for the sake of creating and sharing my writing, info, and photos. In fact, I don't usually have an audience in mind. That could be good or bad, I'm not sure. When I hear of these successes it motivates me to try...something, like writing more and sending out submissions for starters.

Not only am I now creating a new writing project for myself, I am toying with the idea of taking a knitting class again. I love knit scarves and hats and maybe it's worth another try.

*Does anyone know of a good beginner knitting class in SF?*

You know famous Anais Nin quote about the the blossom remaining too tight in the bud, well that's how I'm starting to feel. I really think I have some talent and desire to work with. Instead of birthing babies (not interested), I'd like to bring something I've written and created into the world one day. In fact, that's probably true for both of us as our own "family". George has already brought lots of Cin(E)-Poetry into the world, as well as his creative and unique short films (I bet film is not the correct word anymore. Like the word 'album' is now CD or mp3. But I'd still say "Oh, U2 has new album, if they did."). Cie la vie.

p.s. On the train this morning, a girl sitting next to me was drawing in a little moleskine sketchbook (i ALWAYS notice Moleskines). http://www.moleskineus.com/

At the top of the page I glanced and she had written, "Clean your head. Clear your mind." I've remembered that all day.

M.H.'s would-have-been 48th birthday today...peace

(Don't Change Tribute)
I remember INXS in concert like it was yesterday, though I can't remember exactly how many times I saw them, maybe 9? Not enough. The first time was a concert at Magic Mountain when the Shabooh Shabah album came out, circa 1982-83 when I was in high school. The last time was at the Warfield in 1997, which became their last tour.

Japanese Tea Garden this morning

It's a cold and rainy day but this morning the Tea Garden was still beautiful as ever.
Time for some tea, a book, and little coziness on the couch this afternoon, which could very well lead to a nap.