Recent good sentences, etc.

I've been really into literature lately, so it seemed natural that I would write a book review, but I rarely finish books, and often don't have much confidence to assess them, especially immediately upon finishing them. So I've decided to post a bunch of excerpts from random things I've read recently.


Here are some things I like:


"O happy hepatitis! I've never known sickness -- or sorrow, or disaster, for that matter -- not to unfold, eventually, like a flower or a good memo. We're required only to keep looking."
Seymour -- An Introduction by J. D. Salinger

"at a civil but not quite relaxed dinner at an Italian restaurant, the two visionaries explained their ideas in their respective languages."
"Hell House in Brooklyn" from The New York Times

"An American near Billy wailed that he had excreted everything but his brains. Moments later he said, 'There they go, there they go.' He meant his brains. That was I. That was me. That was the author of this book."
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

"They do a fantastic job of creating these fears, these problems, condemning us for the fears, and then letting us know that they thankfully have the solution."
"Halloween and the Hell House" from The Everything Else Atheist 

"A very hairy man, youth, adolescent. The other kids in the family, not exclusively but especially the boys, the many pre-puberty boys we always seemed to have around the house, used to be fascinated by his wrists and hands. My brother Walt, at about eleven, had a routine of looking at Seymour's wrists and inviting him to take off his sweater. "Take off you're sweater, hey, Seymour. Go ahead, hey. It's warm in here." S. would beam back at him, shine back at him. He loved that kind of horseplay from any of the kids."
Seymour -- An Introduction by J. D. Salinger
Note: I love the use of the word 'inviting.'

"Interfaith gathering... talking back and forth about what all this means..."
I don't remember what this was from, maybe I overheard it in a conversation, but it was about an alternative to church, I think

“As nearly as possible in the spirit of Matthew Slinger, age one, urging a luncheon companion to accept a cool lima bean, I urge my editor, mentor and (heaven help him) closest friend, William Shawn, genius domus of The New Yorker, lover of the long shot, protector of the unprolific, defender of the hopelessly flamboyant, most unreasonably modest of born great artist-editors, to accept this pretty skimpy-looking book.”
(The dedication of) Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger





Also, I'm working on a collection of anonymous poems. It is a handwritten account of what I overhear people saying. It's the first endeavor of me and Kyle's publishing company. I'll post more when it's done!

A new season

It's Fall and everything continues to be beautiful, as always.

I got two gourds at this pumpkin stand for $0.50 each.

They were selling huge, overripe summer squash for the same price, and I wondered, "What purpose could this serve?" I expect that it would go rotten very quickly, and already be too far gone to be eaten. The salesman didn't seem to be any more optimistic about them being worth buying than I was, so neither of us bought them.

View from route 106

I have a bunch of new jewelry to post! Just you wait!

Pets on furniture

My sister Melissa just sent me a link to the blog Desire to Inspire, which has a (long!) weekly (!) "pets on furniture" post. I love this!

Here is my contribution to this "pets on furniture" movement, taken yesterday, at my friend Kyle's house:

Little Man on Kyle's vintage couch

When I take photos of my pets, I say to myself, "I am so corny for doing this. No one would ever be interested in seeing these pictures." But maybe that is not so! I have found that I'm surprisingly interested in looking at pictures of strangers' pets.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I also have to share with you a fantastic video of an experiment Ikea did, in which they let a hundred cats into one of their stores.

Watch it here.

If nothing else, you have to watch the part at 3:27. But seriously, watch the whole thing. (I also found this on Desire to Inspire.)

Lantern parade

The other day (August 27th), Easton's first annual lantern parade, organized by my friend Christine, took place. There were tons of people! I, arriving late and alone, ran after the parade and finally caught up to everyone at the library (the destination), where there was lemonade, cookies, a choir, and a children's entertainer/singer. It didn't get dark until the end of the singer's performance, so the parade part wasn't as glowy as expected.

                              My lantern                                                    Christine's husband Brian with their neighbor

My tomato plant gives me a present

My cherry tomato plant finished growing its first tomato the other day. When we first met, the plant was only a little bigger than the one pictured below.

I am shocked by how emotionally attached I have become to this plant. It is my first attempt at gardening.

The plant now, with at least four green baby tomatoes growing

When I picked the tomato, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I couldn't think of a sufficient way to express this, so I said thank you and kissed a leaf near where its first fruit had been.

I didn't feel worthy to eat the tomato that I had done so little to help grow, so I let it sit in the kitchen for a few days while I brainstormed alternatives.

The tomato resting on my porch

My first thought was to give it to Nate's mom, who has let me eat countless tomatoes from her own garden, but that didn't seem like a good idea since she already has more tomatoes than she can eat.

I also considered cutting it up and sharing it with multiple people, but it is so small that I was afraid a significant amount of its juicy insides would be wasted during the chopping.

After a few days, when it seemed to be too ripe to wait any longer, I decided to eat it. I had never before had so much fulfillment from eating! The process of watching a plant grow, watching its fruit grow, picking it, and eating it made me feel very close to the earth. I've recently gotten out of the habit of thanking god for food, but I might like to get into the habit of thanking nature for food.

Photo, news, and promise

Nate through the peephole at Melissa's apartment. He's getting his own apartment in a few days, complete with ugly mismatched carpets in every room except the kitchen, which has old linoleum. But I am up for a challenge/I am not going to take over decorating his first apartment.

P.S. I have an actually interesting post in mind (concerning my beloved tomato plant), which I will publish soon, but tonight is a letter-writing night.

Two photos

I haven't been posting recently partly because I have been generally busy and partly because I am pet sitting, so I haven't been home for long enough to make anything.

Anyway, I have a dilemma. I took some photos of a chive (?) the other day, and I don't know which one I like better. I have no reason to pick a winner, but I want to.

Any opinions?

(Neither photo has been edited.)

Secondhand stuff: What's good about it, where to get it

When I decided to downsize my possessions about a year ago, I got rid of lots of things that could probably be useful. I had acquired most of these potentially useful items for free, picking them up with the intention to be made into something, used in my nowhere-in-sight future apartment, or given to someone who could use them. But after becoming frustratingly bogged down by my excessive possessions, I decided that I would probably be able to find these things for free again when their purpose arose, and if I had to do without them for a time, I could probably manage.

Free stuff is really easy to come by. I see free furniture in fine condition on the side of the road daily. It makes buying these things new seem a little unreasonable. Of course, when you go to a firsthand store, you have a better selection and you might have to do less work (lifting, finding a truck to use, potentially refinishing), but is it really worth it? It is understandable to put effort into having a clean, safe, comfortable living space, but style might be worth compromising for the advantage of both the environment (there are already more than enough couches/tables/lamps/TVs/beds/dishes/etc. out there already, why use resources to make more?) and your bank account. Plus, visually challenging items can spark creativity to make them work with your taste.

 

Alternatives to buying new:

1. Freecycle

     -Grassroots nonprofit dedicated to reusing and keeping good stuff out of landfills

     -Sign up (for free) with your local Freecycle branch to get and give free stuff

2. Craigslist (free and otherwise)

     -You can use Craigslist without even having to sign up

     -On the Craigslist home page, click "free" under the "for sale" category

     -Also a good place to find out about yard sales--click "garage sale" under the "for sale" category

3. Yard sales

     -Yard sales are good for recycling, building community, and spending time outside

     -If you go to yard sales near the end, lots of times people just want to get rid of everything so they'll give stuff to you for free or cheap

4. Thrift stores

     -Good for recycling and getting bargains, but not free stuff, and not usually as cheap as yard sales

     -Good for finding fabric. Sheets usually cost a couple of dollars and provide a lot of fabric

     -Often money goes to charity or church

5. Consignment stores

     -Good for recycling and getting bargains, but not usually as cheap as thrift stores

     -Some consignment stores are very designer brand oriented, so they're not as cheap

6. Swaps

     -Some organizations (colleges, churches, etc.) organize swaps, especially clothing swaps

     -If you can't find one, organize one! Even if it's just a few friends.

    

7. The side of the street

     -Good for finding free stuff!

Some of my recent free finds:

A side table found on the streets of Quincy, which I think I'll paint; a picnic basket found on the streets of Easton

A large vase found on the streets of Easton; a candle holder found with the vase

Pillows found on the streets of Stoughton; a ton of curtain rods found next to the metal/furniture dumpster at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy. I have also found book ends, paper organizer things, futons, office chairs, comfy chairs, and lots of other things next to/in that dumpster.


I also get all of the beads I use in my jewelry for free, mostly at the ends of yard sales. Don't spend money on stuff!

What it would be like to live in a house boat

Ducks would swim up to your window.

I saw ducks at Sheep Pasture on Sunday and they looked like they were having so much fun! I love them.

New jewelry with buttons and chain links

I went through my vintage button collection the other day and was inspired to make button jewelry!

Vintage light yellow button over a shell-like vintage white button:

Vintage white button:

Vintage light pink over a vintage tan and black button:

I've also been using the links from this vintage chain a lot recently. I take each link off the chain and hammer it flat before using it.

Chain link necklace on a vintage silver chain:
(This necklace actually used to be this necklace, with the bronze beads. I like it much better now.)

Chain link dangle earrings:

Blue and pink recycled faux pearls with a vintage goldtone leaf pendant:

My cousin Jennelle brought this fabric back for me from Ghana. I love how the birds' feet fit together. I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet.

Also, if you are ever interested in buying jewelry from me, let me know. I don't think I would ever charge more than $15 for a piece of jewelry I made, but most would be less than that. It would just be nice because I have to spend money on chains, clasps, wire, and earring question marks. My email address is nicolekendra@mail.com, or you can just leave a comment. Thanks!

Vegetarian eating: in and out

Vegetarian Recipes

Quinoa stuffed pepper:

1. Cut a pepper in half. Clear out the seeds and anything you don't want to eat.
2. Fill it with a mixture of cooked bulgur wheat and/or quinoa (which both have a lot of protein), shredded bread, ricotta cheese (not pictured), grated parmesan cheese, apples, vegetables (i.e. zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, celery), and oil (it should be pretty moist so the stuffing doesn't get crunchy).
3. Optionally, top with a slice of tomato and shredded cheese.
4. Cook in the oven/toaster oven for more than 10 minutes.

Pretty healthy frappe:

1. Add: Vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt, plain Greek yogurt (good source of protein), soymilk, honey, and vanilla extract.
    Optional: add one or more of the following:
             -Fruit juice (especially orange juice, cranberry pomegranate juice, or cranberry grape juice)
             -Frozen berries
             -Pretty much any fruit
             -Chocolate syrup, hot cocoa powder, and/or chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast
             -A banana
2. Blend in a blender.

Tip: I find that using a straw greatly increases my enjoyment of any frappe.



Eating out: Where to go and what to get

Subway: Veggie Delite   $2.99 six inch, $5.00 foot long
A sub with lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers (I think), red onions, green peppers, banana peppers, olives, pickles, and cheese. (I like to get it with monterey cheddar cheese on Italian herbs and cheese bread with chipotle southwest sauce.)

D'Angelo: Vegetable Quesadilla   $2.99
A quesadilla with grilled mushrooms, peppers, onions, and American cheese in a flour tortilla. This is pretty greasy, and a little less filling than the Subway sub.


Chipotle: Any burrito, taco, or salad without meat    about $5.00-$6.00
Lots of vegetarian options, and beans are a good source of protein.


A deli
Not many delis offer a wide selection of vegetarian meals, but most will make you something special if you ask. Fresser's Delicatessen in Randolph is my recent favorite. They make a vegetarian sandwich for me that has lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, onions, roasted red peppers, oil, and provolone cheese. It is so good! And they're really nice.


A pizza place
Pizza is usually around $2.00 per slice, I think.


A sushi place
Most sushi places have a vegetarian section of the menu. My favorite vegetarian sushis (plural of sushi?) include: sweet potato maki, avacado maki, and spinach maki.

Birdcage Mobile

I made this birdcage mobile for Ashley as a birthday present.

I made the frame of the birdcage out of pipe cleaner (double stranded) and wrapped it in strips of fabric, sewing it into place where necessary (only a couple of places). Then I tied three pairs of strings of varying lengths (and colors: white, tan, and brown) to the bottom of the birdcage, and tied a clothespin to the bottom of each string pair. I tied a green ribbon to the top of the birdcage so it can be hung.

The easiest way I found to tie a clothespin to a pair of strings so it hangs straight:

1. Start with two strings.
2. Put one through the circle in the clasp of the clothespin from the left so it comes out the right side.
3. Do the other string the opposite way.
4. Tie the two ends of the strings together above the clasp.



I went to a Bon Jovi concert last night for my mom's birthday.

There were so many people! It was at Gillette.


Also, I saw this outfit at Merry Go Rounds yesterday. It reminds me so much of the cards I've been making!

Military advertising

Air force billboard I've seen all over the place recently:

How I read it:

I really think advertising should be strictly informational, not persuasive. But everyone tells me that will never happen. Also, why is the air force reserve's domain name .com, not .gov or .mil?

New jewelry, new creative opportunity, and new experience

I recently taught myself to do the "Herringbone weave" and the pendant on this necklace is my first attempt. It's not as neat as it could be, but it doesn't look bad on.

I was hoping for a more dramatic look when making this next necklace. I'd like for the beads to be bigger, but I don't have any that would work. I almost never buy beads since the reason I started making jewelry was to reuse pieces from unwanted jewelry, and the pieces that are usually salvageable are the beads.

I found a ton of peacock feathers at a yard sale, and only paid a dollar for all of them. I'm not sure what to do with them yet, but I think they have a lot of potential.

Also, my mom got me this new plant for my birthday! I love the yellow planter.

I cleaned my bureau for it.

We went to Waterfire in Providence on Saturday night. I had never been before, and it was really cool. I got some good photos.

I like the light sky in the background of this one.

I'm making an Etsy shop soon, so it will be easier to buy jewelry!

Card making, website making

I've been making cards with a bunch of little squares recently. It's a little meticulous, but I like having so many images on one card. Instead of measuring each square, I cut out a stencil square from a thick piece of paper to trace. 

I think I'll make some to look like window panes. I made this one into the header of this blog!

I put another art table in my room. The other one is always covered in jewelry pieces, so I wanted a big, empty place to work on everything else. It doesn't match my furniture, but I like having something useful and not pretty in my room so it doesn't feel staged.

Merry Go Rounds is getting a new sign within the next few days, so I redesigned the website to match it.

The old site:

 

The new site: