d.Sharp Journal

Help.

I have too much stuff. That needs to be organized. Back on Monday when I can reach the desk.

Digest - December Home Companion

So happy to see my friend Gianna Majzler  in the current issue of M.E. Home Companion. Gianna and her business partner Darren Calkins own the fabulous company FG and Co. , Darren also owns the store Paris to the Moon. Both Gianna and Darren are exceptionally nice and extraordinarily creative. It has been a while since I have seen them -  I miss them! The magazine feature shows some great shots of the home Gianna shares with her husband and Darren {her dog's bed is even amazing - antique church architecture!} as well as her studio {bottom picture}.

The Salvage Sisters

The Salvage Sisters are my kind of gals. While not all of the projects are my style, a book like this, that transforms castoffs{ think broken birdbath fruit bowl or a bookshelf constructed of loose drawers} reinforces all of my hording instincts. Otherwise known as "someday that thing might be useful". Find the book here.

Their ideas for Christmas couldn't include a simpler material - newspaper. The wreath has a charming and humble quality. The December issue of Country Living has instructions.

At times a tree this simple has been appealing to me, no lights to undo, no ornaments to take down, Christmas is over and you can chuck the whole thing - your decorations are biodegradable.

Text messages on telephone poles

My husband is a proud Canadian, a dual citizen. Growing up in New York and spending summers in Quebec, he used to think that, culturally speaking, Canadians are more polite than Americans. {Notice the past tense} On vacation in the idyllic little town of Victoria, British Columbia, on a garage door in huge duct tape letters - PISS OFF! NO PARKY! {sic]. I bit my tongue, but I didn't have to for long - we both cracked up.

Written on the City is a photo based project where people send in photos of messages, well, written on the city. There are examples from all over, from Cape Town to Reykjavik, ranging from the profane to the thought provoking.

Musical references in Edinburgh

the brazen in New York City

and the apparently autobiographical in San Francisco.

 

Drama Club

This video by Danielson is crazy great.

 

I have no idea what the words are, but I kind of like it.

 

Music by Eglantine Gouzy, from album Boamaster.

Remember, storage is about retrieval

  You know how some old ladies want to encase their orange and yellow floral couch in clear vinyl slipcovers for protection as if it worthy of archiving at the Smithsonian? Well I rented a commercial studio from such a woman, except she wanted to slipcover the old building in much need of repairs that were a long time coming. I guess if you don’t rent to anyone then those problems don’t exist anymore. After almost 4 years I am moving my business back into the carriage house studio at our house, and it will be a squeeze. It has also been a lot of work during a very busy time of year, we are hoping to finish up this weekend. And most of all I will miss my studio mate Rory!
   On the bright side, this has forced me to given me the opportunity to become a bit more organized around here. I don't think, however, my studio will ever be quite as together as Martha's craft room. It is almost as absurd of thought as me entering the Miss America pageant, winning a triathlon or living without coffee. Almost, except I want to attempt organization and those other three things, well...{shudder}.

So good friends of mine have been married forever and he is more the Felix to her Oscar and maybe they were in the midst of organizing the attic or basement and there was probably a little back and forth about what to get rid of  and where things should go and he declared " Martha says, storage is about retrieval " like this knowledge should be their beacon and guide them, end of discussion. Thinking about it now with piles of crap supplies littering my studio floor, figuring out how it will all fit,  I think maybe he wasn't far off. For my girlfriend's sake, I can't let him know that. Now, I have my mantra, onward!

Bird Dog

This is our dog, Marble. She is a German Wirehair Pointer. She is a rescue and can be pretty kooky. The second Thanksgiving we had her I walked into the kitchen to find her pointing at the turkey. Thanks Marble - I wouldn't have been able to find that bird on the kitchen counter.

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving with your family {kooky or otherwise}.

Bacon is a vegetable.

{Pic from Flickr, shirt here.}

M. is slowly, gradually becoming a vegetarian. Not on my doing. He is just becoming more and more finicky about meat - he does this fake/ kind of fake/ might be real gag thing sometimes and it is no fun at the dinner table. He says it is because there is fat on the meat, which, we don't even really eat that often anyways, but I make sure I cut off whatever fat there can be on a boneless skinless chicken breast. We have tried to reason with him, point out that a little bit of fat in your diet is healthy, etc. But I think it is a texture thing. We also remind him that his first love, Bacon, has a substantial amount of fat and that he hasn't had a problem eating it. Oh well.
Last Thanksgiving we heard the first rumblings. I am pulling the turkey out of the brine to prepare it for the barbeque and he tells me that he feels sorry for the turkey, which okay, I can understand. We talk a little bit about it and I tell him that he doesn't have to eat the turkey if he doesn't want to. Later, my mother is over and he comes up to us in the kitchen and announces, rather officially, that he is going to become a vegetarian. That's fine. I was a vegetarian for a number of years I say, but that means that you need to eat other forms of protein - like legumes, and maybe tofu, oh, and being a vegetarian means NO BACON. Oh, okay M. says stoically as he leaves the kitchen.
A minute later my mom walks by and sees him in the front hall with tears in his eyes. She bends down, worried, and asks him what the matter is. M. says: I miss meat!

gnome more hunger

Canstruction is a creative food charity. Design and build competitions {using only canned goods} are held throughout North America and all the food is donated to local food banks, since its inception 10 million pounds of food have been donated to end hunger. Check out the photo archive of past sculptures as well as the current calendar to see if a competition is coming to your city and how you can participate.