limitless love by semhar

i have a girl crush on semhar. i love to watch her recite her poems. it is the fervor, the warmth, the agony, the devotion, the feeling…it is her passion, spirit, and dedication to her art. i just dig that. 

it is almost as delicious as tim siebles reading one of his pieces.  

tim is  a brilliant poet, current professor of creative writing at old dominion university, and happens to also be my former tenth grade english teacher. i remember when there would time left at the end of class, he would read one of his poems to us.  it was such a treat.  my three all time favorite are  big mouth ,  the ballad of sadie la babe, and trying for fire. 

got a girl crush?

my boys, the alps.  fall poloroid week 2009  submission

art is a form of exploration, of sailing off into the unknown alone, heading for those unmarked places on the map. if children are not permitted—not taught—to be adventurers and explorers as children, what will become of the world of adventure, of stories, of literature itself?

-michael chabon, manhood for amateurs: the wilderness of childhood

i started a list of masterpieces that fueled my imagination as a child, igniting a lifelong enthusiasm for reading. adventure books that i adore still today and look forward to sharing with my children:

a wrinkle in time 

charlotte’s web

island of the blue dolphins

little house on the prairie

charlie and the chocolate factory

james and the giant peach

 feel free to add more!

when my friends tamara and dale found out they were expecting, they had to get rid of books in their home in order to make extra space for their growing family- they had them everywhere. they donated and gave-away over 3000 books.

that’s how i got my hands on two huge boxes old books and became the owner of this treasure, a 1976 middle copy of norman rockewell & the saturday evening post.

the complete set of the 324 rockewell saturday evening post covers is reproduced in 3 volumes- a collection of masterpieces that create an irresisitable american self-image and a glorious record of a nation’s life.

rockwell painted over 2000 original works in his life time but it was through his exposure in the saturday evening post that he became and american favorite and created his legacy through images of patriotism, growing up, music, christmas, and love.

manning the homefront, september 4, 1943 this was inspired by the insignia on the cover of women war workers

the marbles champ, september 2, 1939 one of is many growing up images, he loved to watch kids

the doctor and the doll, march 9, 1929

meeting the milkman a couple was obviously having such a wonderful time that the hours flew by and they didn’t return home until dawn

april fool, 1943, april 3, 1943 the first of three april fool special covers- on page 99 of this issure, the editors listed some 45+  errors in this painting: a stairway running behind the fire place, and architectural impossibility, water, a fish, and hook on the stairway, the deer under the chair, etc

maiden voyage, june 4, 1938 grandma is taking her first flight

you can find others with priceless treausres participating in vintage thursday thingies, at coloradolady 

there is also an online gallery with more of rockwell’s work 

for more from the book 

(more…)

very few things are better than a good book that cannot be put down. for the last several months reading has been a lifeboat for me- a relief from pain and madness. i carefully planned the next book before i finished the current - i searched and dug out every books to read list i started, every piece of post-it with a recommendation scribbled on it from the last phone conversation with a girlfriend (i love recommendations), i referred to reviews including those of talk dark and handsome, i even reread a few great classics-  what a sweet escape.

there are one too many projects i have put on hold because they just weren’t exciting anymore, i didn’t have the energy, plus i didn’t want to put a good book down-

i will continue my 365 challenge on flickr but am signing off  from here to focus on and finish my projects. i especially would like to spend my free time catching up on personal correspondence- letters, emails, even telephone calls.

i may even renovate or give this blog a face lift, we will see.

for now, auf wiedersehen

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hthe sun’s story will soon be published by a major world magazine- and one other one has shown interest so we are very pleased. 

halso- the best book i read this year is the time traveller’s wife by audrey niffeneggar- what a treat- if you haven’t read    it, do it now before the movie comes out later this year.

i wasn’t sure how i was going to pull this one off since there’s nothing really french about my life. all i knew was that i wanted in on winning this fabulous book by vicki archer.  it’s easy,  go here  if you want in too.

i thought about telling one of my many stories of when in france but there are so many other guides or bloggers that are doing that way better than i ever could-

my melange:: getting the most out of your french adventure and infusing european culture into your lifestyle 

paris parfait::with added insight into french life and culture 

tongue in cheek:: french antiques and stories of and american mother and her french family-i read this one every morning with my coffee

le petit cabinet de curiosites:: shop your heart out here, french antiques and european fabrics galore!

tarte flambée

tarte flambée, or flammkuchen in german, is a specialty of alsace, an eastern region in france that borders germany. it is a favorite savory dish here in our region and often served in the winter at open or christmas markets. the name comes from the method of baking translating to  ”baked in flames”, it is served fresh out a wood fire oven.

it is quite easy to make at home too in your own oven. it is always a big hit in ours! that’s about as french as we get around here.

“professionalism is way overrated. it is the spirit of the amateur that people in creative occupations- in almost any occupation- need to cultivate more than anything else. a couple of hundred years ago, “amateur” was an entirely positive, noble description of someone. the word comes from the latin amator, which means “lover.” an amateur undertaking was something you did out of love, for the pleasure of doing it- something you did out of passion (and if you think about it this whole country was a nation created by passionate amateurs).

-kurt andersen, in “ode o amateurism”

there is nothing little about little wing

this is tom our neighbor and little wing’s drummer. he also is a member of another band called the lunatics. he plays the hell out of rock and roll but his true love is the blues. he has toured all over the world for over 20 years playing with the likes of carey bell, louisiana red, champion jack dupree, lovie lee, katie webster,  karen carroll, jeanne carroll, rudy rotta, steve “big man” clayton, and vince weber. what an impressive list! he also is president and ceo of his own very successful print marketing company. 

what makes the entire band so special is that like tom, carry other titles. they are corporate professionals, business executives, not to mention, mothers and fathers who are passionate lovers of music and get together to make good, wild, make you shake your body music (jam session video).

often rotating guest musicians, they get down and dirty, feeding their souls doing what they love, what gives them joy, sharing it and taking us along for the ride. it is wonderful to see these guys enjoying their passion for music.

one our favorite things to do is going to see live bands so we were excited to go see these wild guys last weekend hot- date- style with an overnight babysitter thrown in for extra fun.  we had a blast. the energy was unbelievable, we were all shaking our bodies and howling like wolves to the wee hours of the morning.

i have said before, we don’t get out much, and when we do, we talk about it for days like to kids just back from disneyland. so yeah, we are still talking about little wing and will forever. especially since they let me sing back-up when they played mustang sally!

*more here* local paper coverage 

language development is interesting and amusing to observe in children.  it is even more so when raising children in a bilingual family.  my husband and I call it “fulltime entertainment“.  as many parents do, we foster this fascinating process by reading to them(in both languages).  we truly enjoy searching for and  collecting fairy tales and classics then  revel in the magic they create for our children. many popular fairy tales were originally written in german by the authors bruder grimm . they were two brothers that traveled  around the country asking people to tell them stories. they collected hundreds of stories which they re-wrote and published.  here are some familiar tales:  little red riding hood, rapunzel, the hare and the hedgehog, rumpelstiltskin , snow white, sleeping beauty, hansel and gretel, the elves and the shoemaker, cinderella and many more.  almost all of your childhood favorites!  

most on that list really surprised me  and left me wondering are there any that are originally written in english?  one beautiful sunny day, I stopped at a flea market in überlingen just because i was driving by and stumbled upon  a vintage copy of the wonderful american classic, walt disney’s dumbo the flying elephant  in german (originally written in english by helen aberson). it was a pleasant surprise to find it  in german!

the rune stones by claudia wedig 

congratulations to my dear friend claudia whose book was published and is out at books stores all over the country this week!!! the book is written in german so all you german speakers and enthusiasts, go out there and get it! a magical fantasy, it offers equal parts of danger and delight. i am so proud of her!  here i have i translated to the best of my ability, the excerpt for the book. here it goes:

the farmer boy elyjas is hunted by soldiers and flees into the forest. there the mysterious araya rescues him from a wild bear and cares for him until he regains his strength. araya is the high priestess of the moon goddess. she knows that elyjas was chosen by the gods, in order to assist her in their dangerous fight against powers of the darkness. shakar rhi, the fallen high priest, wants to release the eleven terrible masters of the darkness. they were banned before many generations in stone cocoons. if shakar rhi’s plan succeeds, the masters of the darkness can again secure their cruel rule and the whole country will fall, succumbing to destruction and devestation. in a magic world elyjas and araya fight despair with courage and receive support from many fantastic natures. But their mission can succeed only if they learn to use the four powerful rune stones in order to rule the elements. Can they master their task and prevent the freeing of the dark creatures and the fall of mankind?

i know i didn’t do it justice but notice: one of the main characters is named araya

claudia, at her last birthday party. she baked that fantastic cake herself! 

claudia is a wonderful human being. aside from her new title “author” she is a software engineer by day, and  fierce baker on the weekends. she taught me how to bake everything from sponge cake, swiss roll, to german christmas cookies. she has also exercised with me every night for the last year helping me lose 22 pounds!

herzlichen glück wunsch claudia, zur erfüllung deines traumes!/congratulations claudia, for making your dream come true!