Wednesday, July 11, 2007

How Beautiful Is This?


And this?


And this?


Why I love the Apartment Therapy website.

The Children in the Park


So, today I was out in the garden raining curses down upon the morning glory, when I heard two teenage boys in the park arguing very loudly. "You ain't gangsta!" the one was screaming at the other. Then he proceeded to list his felony charge or charges-- as opposed to the other kid's juvie charge/s. Round and round they went. I only caught snippets of what they were saying, but those snippets were enough.

Ok, so I've become one of these people. I went over there.

Essentially, I became that neighborhood mama. Am I old enough to be that neighborhood mama? I don't even have kids.

But here's the thing. I love this neighborhood. I love the sound of the children in the park. Usually, what they're screaming at each other, while shooting hoops, is, "shut the f*** up!" That might bother some folks. Not me. They just sound like kids to me. But this was something else entirely. I honestly could not stop myself. So now, I'm that crazy woman who lives in the house on the corner, going off on them about mental slavery and how I teach at Auburn prison and they don't want no part of no white man's jail, believe me. And they were as polite as concern for their cool allowed them to be. And they argued a little bit more. And then they went off home. But now, I feel like I need to go down to the county Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention program and somehow get myself assigned to these kids.

Meanwhile, various neighbors passed by while I was ripping out weeds. They introduced themselves and said how pretty the flowers looked. Some remarked at how the house "always seemed empty," that until today they didn't even know whether anyone lived here.



















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OK, I hate my kitchen...

Maybe hate is too strong a word.


Though, up until this week, I would've just said hate, yeah, hate, without reservations. But this past week I started using the kitchen more than I have been previously, and suddenly I realize, I don't hate everything about it, just a few things. This means the impossible renovation I'd previously imagined may not be necessary. Actually, I'm starting to think, hmmm... a little paint, new light fixture, new counter-top, new floor, maybe a new fridge could do it. (You have to bear in mind; up until this past week my thoughts went more along the lines of: "I have to just rip it all out and start from scratch! My living holy hell, it's hideous! Agh, my eyes! Look at that! I want to vomit every time I walk into this room! Et cetera! Et cetera! F*** barking et cetera!!")

So here's how the change happened...

I woke up on my birthday feeling ok, but suddenly the day took a rapid nose-dive. I wasn't where I expected to be (either literally or figuratively), acupuncture (for the first time since I started) didn't invigorate me, I was weepy and feeling sorry for myself and convinced the day was shot.

Then, I went to the co-op.

Lo and behold, garlic scapes! The skies parted and the birthday angels sang: ah ahh AHHHH ahh. I don't know. I just find these things aesthetically perfect. Just their existence in the world cheered me. I bought just enough to make me feel better. Then got up on Saturday and went to the farmer's market and bought enough for the plan I'd concocted. I would make a giant batch of garlic scape pesto and all would be right with the world. So, I made a giant batch, froze most of it in smaller batches, cooked up some angel hair pasta, invited a couple friends over, threw together a fab salad (Remembrance Farm in Danby, NY sells the best Asian Braising Mix; I live off the stuff! Perfect greens. Perfect.), poured myself a glass of wine, offered my friends some beer, and had a lovely dinner on my front porch. A kitchen that made that possible couldn't be all bad, right?

I was thumbing through Apartment Therapy and, oh yeah, they suggested one clean one's kitchen top to bottom. So then I decided to clean the broiler, which was one of the reasons I hated my stove and longed so passionately for that O'Keefe and Merritt. Then I went through some cabinets and took some stuff to the Salvation Army. (May as well give back for all the treasures I find there.) Today, it cooled off enough for me to be outside, so I went after the blasted white morning glories (bindweed) trying to utterly consume my garden. But then I returned to the kitchen to roast some summer veggies.

Look how pretty these vegetables came out, with their lovely little caramelized tips. Do I really need a new oven? Huh. Maybe not.

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