crates

i am setting out to learn how to make crates. i bought 4 back when i was in college from a fruit stand. they're so versatile: they've been nightstand, coffee table, bookshelves, a plant stand, and seating. and when i had to pack for a move they were super heavy, but useful--filled with books.

i want to make a set of at least six crates. it's adam's idea, but instead of making bookshelves, i can just stack these crates (just two or three high, for safety). while sketching ideas today it came to me that i could make them in such a way that they could also be drawers.
i love multipurpose objects. the best other example is my set of wide-mouth mason jars that are both drinking glasses and an alternative to tupperware. their lids are handy for covering a cup of coffee that would otherwise get cold.

i regret that i cannot give photocredits for these beautiful images that are not mine.

the urge to garden has never been so strong. there is no logic to this, since i don't even have a balcony to put my plants on, but the call to have plants growing, to eat what the earth can give...it is compelling and i WILL find a way.

rosemary

the first tomato

i sprinkled some yellow pepper seeds in this pot and covered them with soil. here they are...although since they are from a grocery store pepper (that could be a hybrid) there's no way to know if they will produce fruit.

i also planted carrots, apple seeds (from an apple), cherry tomato seeds, and am planning to plant the garlic bulbs that have sprouted. basil and cilantro would be wonderful.

my first table

this is my first. very basic. the leg closest is wood found on the beach. we found the two pieces that form the table top in a dumpster and sanded them off. the fact that it is rough & unfinished suits adam fine--he doesn't have to worry about paint drips.

expenses, food, and the global hunger crisis

In the past few years, I began to make decisions to radically decrease my living expenses. My ability to now live on about half of what I used to make has given me considerable freedom, and the luxury to slow my life down to a contemplative pace.

One big thing was to move into a two-bedroom apartment and share with a roommate. But there have been other things as well. I don't really shop for clothes except when i need a specific item. I cut my own hair. I get movies at the library instead of the video store. I curbed my addiction to buying books. I stopped going out to eat, except very rarely. And lately, Adam & I stop each other from buying things because we can lend or give each other things we already own (well, mostly he stops me).

I also found ways to reduce my grocery costs. I started to think about all foods in terms of their cost per pound, and quickly saw that meat and cheese are much higher than vegetables, grains, and legumes.
-eat less meat (I now eat no meat, and barely miss it.)
-eat foods made from basic ingredients
-eat more vegetables and legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils)
-make my own bread (often just biscuits because they're easier)
-cut out fruit juice, boxed cereals, and insta-meals because they're expensive
-cut out processed foods (also because they are full of unnecessary and unhealthy ingredients)
-buy rice in bulk (I can get a 20 lb bag of whole grain rice for $11)

In case this sounds like I am living in a state of deprivation, I should emphasize that the meals prepared with these foods are so much more delicious than I have ever made. I've learned to use good oils (peanut, olive, sesame), and a variety of seasonings. Simple eating can be the best kind of eating.

There are items that i now spend more on than i used to. Cage free eggs (some of the time), organic milk, and some organic produce. When the farmers' market comes back to town, I'll be happy to spend a little more to support local agriculture. I think I still end up spending less than I used to.

But our recession (whether it's official or not) isn't really the biggest news on the planet. Other parts of the world are suffering from severe food shortages. I don't know enough to say what the causes are, but I clicked here to urge our government to send aid. You can read more about the crisis here.

i can't remember being hungry and not having the resources to get food to fill my stomach. maybe i've come home late to an empty fridge and been too tired to cook, but i always have something that i could eat.



I seem to always have those Pachacutec slums in my mind. Maybe one day I'll learn something useful to help them to live better, healthier lives on the dunes outside of Lima, Peru.



This interview on NPR today inspired me. I want to know more. "Paul Polak, Tackling Global Poverty His Own Way" Maybe I'll read his book.



This man is trying to find low-tech solutions to help small farmers (less than 5 acres) to improve their yields. This speaks to me, on so many levels. Maybe I'll write more after I read the book.

people who've inspired me

these are people who've had a significant impact on my outlook.

+madeleine l'engle. she is a writer of children's fiction as well as reflective memoir style non-fiction (and poetry). in her books i found an idealized world of intellectuals who had faith and who thought about the world, science, nature, and responsibility. i think she helped me to start seeing my belief in God from a different angle, which was helpful for that critical time in high school.

+mark strand. for this one poem, which touched me when i needed to hear it.

+robin lee graham. he sailed around the world alone as a teenager. this book opened up to me the world of adventure, travel & exploration, which i read a great deal about for some time. it always seemed like a world that wasn't really available to me. even though i grew up in bolivia, my life wasn't one of rock climbing, sailing, or exploring the wilderness, like i wanted to. as an adult, however, i've taken some amazing road trips, snorkeled in the bahamas, climbed on rocks, camped in the back country, had a bear encounter (more than one actually), and taken sailing lessons. of course, it is never enough.

+dan price. the author of a little book called radical simplicity, he tells with wonderful sketches about all the ways he's lived a non-traditional life, breaking free of the mortgage trap and living in a series of huts, tents, yurts and hobbit dwellings. reading this book started me truly knowing that i could and had to live in a weird house i built with my own hands. (this one's for you, bethany).

+mom and dad. even though we have our struggles, my parents are heroes to me. they have chosen to live meaningful lives, helping others and doing things that matter. i have started to see ways in which my choices mirror theirs. mom's legacy is amazing--painting, playing the piano, speaking 7 languages, being a nurse & midwife, living in the jungle in a bamboo hut on stilts in malaysia when she was 23, marrying late and having 4 children by c-section in bolivia starting at age 39. she is my heroic wild woman. now she gardens and talks to the cats, the flowers, the bees, the birds. she composes music and revels in scripture and travels and continues to inspire me.

dad is generous, always opening his heart to those in need, in prison, immigrants, outsiders. he loves to read, he is an idealist, he believes in Truth and that it will not fail us. he invented popcorn & games and the rowdy hide and seek game that thrilled and scared us to death and made mom nervous. now he's travelling more than ever, racking up millions (literally) of miles on airlines and driving all over the place.

+m. scott peck. The Road Less Travelled changed my life. I guess it's corny, since it's a self-help book, but I took it seriously. When I moved out here to NJ it came into my life from a friend's bookshelf. Over the course of months I read it and it shaped my thinking about my life habits, taking responsibility and being more disciplined. It also was a turning point because it opened me to the wisdom of eastern thought as supplementing, rather than threatening, my Christian faith.

+c. s. lewis. His writing took everything I knew about my faith and made me see it in a different light, from a different perspective. "This is a myth that is true." I feel like I still have much to discover and learn from him. I want to think and read more about world myths, the story of the Christ, Jungian archetypes, Lord of the Rings (written by his friend Tolkien). It's all connected.

+adam, my boyfriend. i respect his art, which is an embodiment of his sensitivity and honesty. having adam in my life has challenged me to be more honest. i look forward to more adventures and discoveries and to making things together.

there are so many more.

step

“There is usually one small step we can take in the direction of a dream. When we do the universe often takes several more.”
-Julia Cameron

act

from a book review here:

"Emotion follows action, not the other way around. Act, then feel good. Do not wait to feel good before acting."

My life doesn't have an externally imposed structure right now, outside of appointments I set with tutoring clients. So I have to motivate myself to get out to the workshop, and create. Later, I feel good.

here is my new bench/table. it's dimensions were dictated by the (salvaged) wood i had available, but it works nicely in my room as a place to stack blankets and stuff that otherwise would get piled on a chair somewhere. the top is 18 by 40 inches, and it's about 26 inches high.



i'm pretty happy with the look overall. i found pictures in various interior design books at barnes & noble and made sketches in my journal of antique style country furniture that appealed to me. (sometimes the lines and dimensions of a particular table would resonate so strongly with me that i would just stare at the picture and feel an intense pleasure, as if some part of me were being fed.) that is how i came up with the general design of this table, and it's one that i'm likely to repeat.



the image above shows how i notched out the leg to support the cross-piece. This strengthens the piece structurally, and is a step up from the very simple joinery on adam's painting table (which i'd like to post pictures of soon).

..

yesterday and today i've been working on organizing my workshop to make it more livable. the idea is to be as productive as possible with the idyllic life that i currently am blessed with.

ideas for the next project:

a longish bench for seating or even a coffee table
a long shaker-inspired pegboard
various kinds of stools
re-finishing some salvaged furniture (i've been procrastinating that)
fixing some chairs i found

i think my passion for now is tables and benches.
kind of like when i was doing ceramics i only wanted to make bowls and mugs.
super functional, very basic, handmade, imperfect

i made this planner/notebook/address book recently, and i love how it turned out.

here's what i did. i decided on a 4 1/2 by 5 3/4 inch size for the covers (cardboard), and made the pages slightly smaller (about 4 by 5 1/2). i went through my paper collection, old envelopes, graph paper, old yellowed paper, magazine pages and made a big pile of pages ripped to size.

i also drew up the calendar pages by hand, which resulted in a nice looking imperfect grid of days. there are tabbed dividers made from a blue 2 pocket folder from a conference a while ago.

with a little help from adam, i held the pile of pages tightly together in their desired arrangement, and he drilled through the pile three times with my drill. then, three hinged metal rings (that open and close) completed the binding. for some reason i decided on tomatoes for the front cover, which is a little odd, but maybe it is a portent of gardening in my future.

some other images of this little project are here.

adam's art work--an update

adam has been painting and posting photos of his latest work here.

he has a set of watercolors that i love, including this one and this one.

i also love the large canvas he started recently. (in this picture, you catch a glimpse of the table we put together for him.)

my camera is either dead or uncooperative, so i don't have any new pictures to share, but hopefully that will change soon.

i've spent a lot of time being annoyed at irrational behavior.

just recently, a new thought came to me. (i think it was while i was sitting at the kitchen table, watching out the window as people walked by two stories below.)

it's precisely our irrational behaviors that make us human. does any other animal behave irrationally?

well, actually...i know this cat...

but really, i think that choosing illogically, having weird quirks of behavior, liking things for no particular reason...this is our prerogative as humans, isn't it?
free will?

this is not a complete thought, just a new one, for me.

the trouble with perfect

that lovely new dish gets chipped, there's a spot on the wall where the paint got nicked...it can really get to you. a snag in a sweater, hole in your jeans, a scratch on the new leather shoes. a dent in your car, a stain on the bedspread.

the trouble with perfect is that we think we have to get a new one. or find a way to perfectly conceal the flaw.

but the flaw is a trace of our existence, our motion through life. our posessions are marked by our passage. and all things are in transition. all things will one day return to what they were made of. this is a natural process.

---

i am working on a table. it is a challenge to make a good table, and yet to be at peace with its imperfections.

there are scratches and stains on some of the pieces of wood. one board has paint drips on it, which i love. some of the smaller pieces had a former life as a dresser drawer before i claimed them.

i do want the table to rest solidly and quietly on its four legs. but the fact that it is a little bowlegged on one end because i carved a too-large chunk out of a leg...that is just part of its character now.

---

the difference between real wood and fake pressboard is in how it ages. real wood can look good even after 50 years. the weathering and scratches eventually give it real charm. but pressboard (like my ikea shelves) tends to end up on the side of the road after 5 years, and it doesn't have charm. it just looks bad. even if it looked perfect when you bought it.

i'll post a picture of the new table very soon.

i definitely believe in picking a book by its cover. this one lived up to my expectations.

some excerpts:

"If you keep quiet, you die. If you speak, you die. So speak and die." -introduction

"How is it that some people always know what is best for others?" -p. 111

"His mother...was a refined woman--but not so refined that she couldn't eventually tell me so." p. 272

"Grandfather didn't have time to build anymore walls, he said that now everything was held together by factory cement, but if he ever built another wall he would do it his own way, and hold it together with what he called cunning." p. 41

"The worst burden in life is what others know about us. But maybe there is one burden even worse than this. It happens when they don't know about us, it is what they think about us when, in silence, they force us to be what they expect us to be. Even worse is how we become it, and I...had become it." p. 248




This isn't just a book about a gypsy life. It's about the life of a woman who suffers and wanders and sometimes speaks and sometimes keeps her own counsel.

do you see the wildness?

it sprouts, neglected, between
the rowhouses and the noisy tracks

in thick, tangled silence
it roars in another tongue

mythic
primal forest

it will never die, yet
it is caked with black exhaust
choked, choking
on the fumes of hurry and distraction.

hacked shackled shorn
taken bondage
an indomitable savage
with head held proudly.

do you see the wildness?


(this is the raw version. i'd like to work on it more.)

i am so excited and inspired that barack obama is possibly going to be our next president. everything i learn about him wins my respect, and even inspires me to try to be a better citizen.

you can view his speech "a more perfect union" on you tube here.

i sense that he is an intellectual with integrity. and his campaign seems more like a generous act of leadership than a grab for power. thank you for running for president! i want to tell him.

i've been dreaming of gardening this year. reading this and crossing my fingers about a plot in a community garden nearby.

can you wear your mistakes with frankness, without shame?

i wanted bangs, i was convinced they were my path to hipness, the hipness i'd always been missing. i delayed and delayed...and then took the plunge, and... they look pretty bad. not everyone says this. but my dear honest sis says that they hark back to the awkward highschool era. especially when they get super fluffy. why can't my bangs lay flat like everyone else's?

i guess the good thing is that i gave bangs a shot. and i know they're not really for me (unless i can re-invent them in a more flattering configuration, or start using styling product--which i won't).

so the little barette is back, and i'm pinning the bangs to one side until they grow out...a testament to trying something and being ok with it not being what you thought it would be.

i'm renting a space! it has no electricity or light, except daylight that comes in the garage door, but it's cheap and close to my place. i will find a way to make it work with hand tools and battery powered tools. after all, i'm always talking about going off the grid.

now--to move the piles of scavenged wood, discarded furniture, and driftwood.

maybe this is a good project to start planning. my first table is now underway, with parts here and there waiting to be assembled. i'll get a picture together to post eventually.

i've been struggling with the lack of a proper workspace, and then the lack of a consistent income to pay for renting a workspace, which brings me to looking for a part-time job that can cover my needs. today i felt hopeful as i asked at a library and at a coffee shop. the responses were friendly and positive.

let's see where this goes. meanwhile, i'm off to visit my sis for the weekend.

Six Tips for Happiness: Advice from Tal Ben-Shahar.

I'm always drawn to articles that proclaim to give secrets to a happy life. Maybe this one is incomplete but it contains great advice nontheless.

1. Give yourself permission to be human. When we accept emotions -- such as fear, sadness, or anxiety -- as natural, we are more likely to overcome them. Rejecting our emotions, positive or negative, leads to frustration and unhappiness.

2. Happiness lies at the intersection between pleasure and meaning. Whether at work or at home, the goal is to engage in activities that are both personally significant and enjoyable. When this is not feasible, make sure you have happiness boosters, moments throughout the week that provide you with both pleasure and meaning.

3. Keep in mind that happiness is mostly dependent on our state of mind, not on our status or the state of our bank account. Barring extreme circumstances, our level of well being is determined by what we choose to focus on (the full or the empty part of the glass) and by our interpretation of external events. For example, do we view failure as catastrophic, or do we see it as a learning opportunity?

4. Simplify! We are, generally, too busy, trying to squeeze in more and more activities into less and less time. Quantity influences quality, and we compromise on our happiness by trying to do too much.

5. Remember the mind-body connection. What we do -- or don't do -- with our bodies influences our mind. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy eating habits lead to both physical and mental health.

6. Express gratitude, whenever possible. We too often take our lives for granted. Learn to appreciate and savor the wonderful things in life, from people to food, from nature to a smile.

i've been thinking a lot recently about poverty. the good side of it.

there is a bad side to poverty, too, i know. deep poverty is not being able to afford health care for a sick baby, nutritious food to keep your body healthy, not being able to be warm in the winter, not having shoes and socks to wear when it's cold out.

deep poverty exists in much of the world. it's a desperate existence, which breaks the spirit.

but i've been rolling over in my mind the lifestyles of people i grew up with. their homes were often 2 or 3 rooms, a kitchen and a bedroom or two. an outhouse in the back, and a faucet and sink somewhere in the courtyard. there would be a clothesline, and perhaps an orange tree and a mango tree growing in the yard, along with other tropical flowers.

instead of a living room, there were a few chairs in the yard, perhaps under a tree. on a rainy day, visitors can sit on the beds in the bedroom and chat, but usually they are outdoors. children run and play in the yard barefoot with a tattered and mended ball, sometimes one that has been re-stuffed with plastic bags.

as i try to pare my life back to its most fundamental essentials, these images come back to me vividly. what do i really need? and why should i work to pay for what i don't really want? couldn't that time be more well spent in contemplation, reading, with loved ones. then i could cook, garden, sew, make furniture. i could make what i need, instead of buying.

the desire for a home of my own is intense, but i wish i could own a home like those bolivian dwellings...so simple, so minimal, and so sufficient.

from a journal entry last year:

oh, algebra, algebra, thou that killest the prophets
and crushest the creative spirits beneath endless equations
fain would i have replaced thee with an excel spreadsheet
or a qualitative graph
but they would not

behold your textbooks i leave to you, desolate
without the contributions of one of your daughters.

2 movie recommendations

there are so many artsy movies that are truly disturbing, whether it's violence, infidelity, or mentally ill behavior that is being studied. i've decided that i don't need to expose myself to that stuff, but sometimes it's hard to find a good movie that is just warm, uplifting, and fun, while still being intelligent and a little different. here are two recently that definitely fit the bill.





both of these movies are library rentals...they might be a little obscure but definitely are heartwarming and eyeopening. both take a look at cultures that on the surface appear very different from ours, and as we get closer, we see that as fellow humans, we share so much, especially our sense of humor and desire for love.

La Grand Final (The Great Match)

This movie gives us a tour of soccer obsession rising to heights you'd never have imagined. There are lots of laughs and really honest moments.



Ten Canoes

Canoe-making, egg-hunting, story telling, and searching for a wife...

i would love to make something like this someday.

it was so warm here today. i sat by the open window and watched the breeze move the curtains.

some of my latest projects

adam alerted me to this, sitting by the road. i'm hoping to strip the paint off and then go from there. i love the simple shape.

on their little table, the plants were always in danger of getting knocked off. this gives them better sunlight. i did a super rustic job, and am rather pleased with how it looks. it functions, and i can roll the blinds down behind the shelf, which is perfect.

i have six of these boards which were varnished when a friend gave them to me. i'd like to strip off the varnish (sanding is too much work) and then use them in a table i've been dreaming of making for a long time.

this desk was given to me by my former roommate. the top surface and the fronts of each drawer are faced in a veneer. i finally realized that that is why i never really liked it.

quiet time

done

after making a big mess in the living room...

the shelf is done. well, except for the finish. i sort of like the raw look for now. maybe...i'll remove the paint, or paint it all white...

a poem, an image and a recipe

The year's doors open
like those of language,
toward the unknown.
Last night you told me:
tomorrow
we shall have to think up signs,
sketch a landscape, fabricate a plan
on the double page
of day and paper.
Tomorrow, we shall have to invent,
once more,
the reality of this world.
- Octavio Paz
excerpt from January First
(from here.)
--------

image found here. i love the drawers in the foreground, as well as the mix of pieces along the back wall that make up the work space. it's so much more interesting to me than uniform built-in cabinetry.
--------

here's something good i made last night:

warm spicy pasta

cook 1 lb whole wheat pasta

in a saucepan, combine and simmer:
olive oil
1 can tomatoes
1 can garbanzo beans
2-3 cloves of garlic
1-2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
salt & freshly ground pepper

when the pasta is cooked, toss it with the sauce and then add a cup of grated white cheddar cheese.

(all measurements are approximate.)

delicious!!!

image by tanya goodwin

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.

William Henry Channing
quote found via {A}

I'm interested in making a bench like this...with as little hardware as possible. The other day I found a little table in a similar style which I'd like to refinish.

happiness is a beach full of pebbles

the other day i went to loews and looked at lumber for a long time. i left without buying any (although I bought a rasp and some other things). on the way home, i found this dresser, minus any drawers, on the curb.

i wedged it into my trunk and drove slowly home. later, i pulled out some of the pieces and repositioned others.

here it is with some shelves roughly in place. when it is done the shelves will be custom-fit and wider. a traditional bookshelf isn't usually this deep. this makes me think it might be better used as storage, perhaps for pots or other items.

i'd like to put it on wheels. i might even put in more shelves. i'm debating removing the back panel.

i have yet to rent a space for working in. i've found that if i restrict myself to working with hand tools, there is no problem doing this in my bedroom. my room is large, and i try to keep the sawdust away from the bed.

i'm psyched about the possibilities of working almost entirely from reclaimed materials. since i'm a beginner, it's good not to be spending much on supplies. keeping the overhead low means that i don't have to stress too much about the puny amount of work i've been doing.

oh yeah, and i used a vacuum today. it did the job fabulously. sigh.

in support of low-tech

brooms:
cost about $6 (a vacuum costs more than $100)
do not consume electricity
are easier to use (even a child can use one)
can be beautiful; do not need to be hidden in a closet
can be made from natural materials, not plastic
you could make one by hand.

if a hand-made broom were bought from a craftsman for $40, an artisan and his trade would be supported. instead of a factory worker supervising machinery, you'd cast your vote for a person who uses their hands to create something beautiful from wood and dried plant matter.

a broom is difficult to use on carpet, although if the carpet is not thick it can work. i kept a carpeted apartment clean with a broom for a year. it was a workout, though.

this is beautiful

these creations are from live wire farm. i want to make some myself.




what a vast improvement on a metal or plastic toilet paper dispenser!

i've been photographing some of adam's art. he paints on wood, sometimes on the back and sides as well.

I just bought this book, and am so eager to get it. Here is an article about the author, a yurt builder and simple-life-seeker. He, like me, believes in low-cost, natural housing.

today i bought a table saw and a chop saw, used. i'm hoping they work well and help me to move ahead. my other big tool purchase was this:

i took this photo, deliberately forcing my camera to blur this image. it seems more beautiful to me this way.

cubbyholes

black bean dip

last night i came home tired...and knowing i needed protein. i also need to make my lunch for the next day, since my income doesn't allow for buying deli sandwiches like my boss does.

black beans & rice--so easy:

2 cans of black beans
1 t paprika
1 t cumin
1 t (or less) chili powder
salt & pepper
olive oil

i blend all that in the food processor. (i probably use more seasoning than that...i just tip the spice jar and guess.)

i put some in a mason jar for later and had some for supper, with rice (wholegrain).

this dip is also handy for making burritos. Add cheese and salsa. Or with fried eggs & salsa. and there's no need to cook it.

we ventured out into a cold wet evening to see the darjeeling limited yesterday. it was full of earnest absurdity and poignant awkwardness, as well as being a visual feast of hues and textures.

another intensely colorful treat is the music of peruvian yma sumac. surprising. november can be bleak and gray...things like these are bursts of sorely needed color.