9.28.2007
9.20.2007
9.19.2007
Chimney Sweep Haiku
Had chimney sweeps come by today to check out the fireplace and make sure we're ready for winter. With a minor adjustment to one of their words and the addition of a line describing what they did, the "sweep's comments" portion of their bill makes a nice haiku:
Chimney very clean
also in good condition
no charge for mortar
Chimney very clean
also in good condition
no charge for mortar
9.16.2007
Not A Real Good Showing; But, Paella
Time again for the New Mexico division's annual fencing tournament, the New Mexico Open. Last year it was right here in town. But Santa Fe can be a bit extra difficult to get to, with a lot of fencers coming from Colorado, Arizona, Texas, and California. So it moved to to Albuquerque, to the UNM campus.
I went down to Albuquerque last night to stay with one of my teammates. Was up around 7:15 to make it to the venue for 8:30 registration. Fencing in the pool of 7 started around 9:00 and continued to just about 11:00. Then there was about a 45-minute wait, and the direct elimination bouts started, and I got eliminated around noon. The less said about what happened between 9:00 and noon, the better. Got one bout in the pools, probably shoulda had another.
Made it back home, washed, put on a heating pad. And then it was time to head over to Monica's co-worker's house for a cookout. Jamie and Betsy are also recent transplants. They're also both musicians (banjo and mandolin, respectively), and have a ton of bluegrass musician-type friends. They also have an outdoor fireplace that they've taken to cooking paella in.
Jamie and Betsy, as it turns out, live in Alan Stamm's (the developer of our neighborhood) block-large prototype neighborhood, Casa Mañana; they're in his plumber's house right behind his own. The house dates from the late '40s. They have a basement, porch, and all sorts of great original built-ins and details.
Met some new folks, visited with some of Monica's co-workers. Grazed on all the various treats everyone brought. And listened to the music, which went pretty much nonstop all day.
Sometime 'round sunset, Jamie got the fire going put the paella pan on its rack in the fireplace. And added the ingredients to get it going
An hour or so later . . . mmmmmmm.
I went down to Albuquerque last night to stay with one of my teammates. Was up around 7:15 to make it to the venue for 8:30 registration. Fencing in the pool of 7 started around 9:00 and continued to just about 11:00. Then there was about a 45-minute wait, and the direct elimination bouts started, and I got eliminated around noon. The less said about what happened between 9:00 and noon, the better. Got one bout in the pools, probably shoulda had another.
Made it back home, washed, put on a heating pad. And then it was time to head over to Monica's co-worker's house for a cookout. Jamie and Betsy are also recent transplants. They're also both musicians (banjo and mandolin, respectively), and have a ton of bluegrass musician-type friends. They also have an outdoor fireplace that they've taken to cooking paella in.
Jamie and Betsy, as it turns out, live in Alan Stamm's (the developer of our neighborhood) block-large prototype neighborhood, Casa Mañana; they're in his plumber's house right behind his own. The house dates from the late '40s. They have a basement, porch, and all sorts of great original built-ins and details.
Met some new folks, visited with some of Monica's co-workers. Grazed on all the various treats everyone brought. And listened to the music, which went pretty much nonstop all day.
Sometime 'round sunset, Jamie got the fire going put the paella pan on its rack in the fireplace. And added the ingredients to get it going
An hour or so later . . . mmmmmmm.
9.15.2007
Dori in Santa Fe
Dori and her friend Jane spent a couple days in New Mexico, staying with friends of Jane's in Albuquerque. They spent Thursday in Santa Fe, and we got to spend some time with Dori that evening.
Sat outside for a couple hours up at the Bell Tower at La Fonda; then headed out for a dinner and a brief stop to show off the house.
Too short!
Update: Dori's posted her trip photos on Flickr.
Sat outside for a couple hours up at the Bell Tower at La Fonda; then headed out for a dinner and a brief stop to show off the house.
Too short!
Update: Dori's posted her trip photos on Flickr.
9.12.2007
Zozobra!
Yeesh, a week later. Catching up on posting. There's even another new one below, more current than this.
We drove over to Jett/Serena/Poalie's around 7:00 last Thursday. We'd brought sandwiches, we visited and met Patrick and Mina, who joined us for the evening. Around 8:00 we started out, which meant we were walking to Fort Marcy by around 8:10.
That got us through the ticket checkers, security, and onto the field around 8:40 — just as they turned off the lights. Perfect timing. Wound through the crowd for a bit and found a nice open space for all of us in the middle. Settled in to watch.
There was the lead-up, the dancers, the fireworks. There was socializing and yelling "burn him!"
And then around 9:00 they lit his head, a departure from previous years.
It is all over pretty quickly — great and luminescent as he burns up and the falls into a heaping bonfire.
We lingered for a bit, visiting with other folks on the field and waiting for the exits to clear, then headed over to the party that Monica went to last year. The pies were pretty well picked over, but there was this amazing blueberry . . . thing. Kinda like a big muffin. And then we discovered another one of them, untouched.
Snacked for a while then decided, even though it was much better than last year's experience, it was time to go. Walked back to the car, and off home.
An awful lot of fun, that Zozobra.
We drove over to Jett/Serena/Poalie's around 7:00 last Thursday. We'd brought sandwiches, we visited and met Patrick and Mina, who joined us for the evening. Around 8:00 we started out, which meant we were walking to Fort Marcy by around 8:10.
That got us through the ticket checkers, security, and onto the field around 8:40 — just as they turned off the lights. Perfect timing. Wound through the crowd for a bit and found a nice open space for all of us in the middle. Settled in to watch.
There was the lead-up, the dancers, the fireworks. There was socializing and yelling "burn him!"
And then around 9:00 they lit his head, a departure from previous years.
It is all over pretty quickly — great and luminescent as he burns up and the falls into a heaping bonfire.
We lingered for a bit, visiting with other folks on the field and waiting for the exits to clear, then headed over to the party that Monica went to last year. The pies were pretty well picked over, but there was this amazing blueberry . . . thing. Kinda like a big muffin. And then we discovered another one of them, untouched.
Snacked for a while then decided, even though it was much better than last year's experience, it was time to go. Walked back to the car, and off home.
An awful lot of fun, that Zozobra.
Flo(o)r!
After much, much hemming and hawing and even some dithering, working with the Configurator, and changing of minds, we decided on the FLOR carpeting we wanted for the living room. It arrived yesterday and we decided that we could install it that evening.
Took less than two hours, from unpacking to figuring out what pattern we had planned out to installing to cleaning up. And now we know where our living room begins and ends, ready to show off for Dori.
Took less than two hours, from unpacking to figuring out what pattern we had planned out to installing to cleaning up. And now we know where our living room begins and ends, ready to show off for Dori.
9.08.2007
Helvetica
Last night, went to Helvetica, a documentary about, well, the ubiquitous Helvetica. Brought to town by the local chapter of the AIGA, it was shown at the Santa Fe Film Center, formerly the Cinema Café (so the seating is all sofas with coffee tables).
The design blogs have abuzz about this for more than a year, so I'd heard plenty about it. Figured we go check it out and show our support for type geekery.
The film is approachable enough for the layman, but its real audience is other designers. It addresses Helvetica's history, shows plenty of examples of its presence in urban environments around the world, and interviews a cross section of graphic design's "superstars." We enjoyed it well enough, learned some new historicial details, had a few laughs, but I wonder what the reaction from the average viewer would be.
(Still working on the Zozobra photo post; current hangup is posting video.)
9.06.2007
Zozobra Tonight!
OK, so for the first time since the move, I'm not traveling for work and will be able to make it to Zozobra. We're off to collect Serena in a bit and then head over to the park.
I just really wanted an excuse to post those tickets — with a couple umlauts, that "Zozobra" would make an excellent logo for a heavy metal band. Maybe not as good as Bigg Nife or Limozeen, but still.
And only a 40% chance of rain tonight!
Update: no rain, way less effort than 4th of July on the Mall with just about as good fireworks, and way, way, more cathartic.
9.03.2007
Nambe Falls
Yesterday we headed out to Nambé Falls, a trip that we tried to get to some time ago. Poking around a pile of brochures the other day, found one for the Falls that noted it closed down after labor day.
The drive's a nice one, up north and through the pueblo. We parked and hit the trail. It's straight up, but pretty short — maybe 20-25 minutes.
Nice views, pretty out there. But didn't go far toward working off our Santa Fe Baking Company breakfast burritos. Hopped back in the car, drove around the lake there, and then took the scenic route via Chimayo back up to Tsankawi.
A little stroll there, watching the thunderstorms off in the Sangres and the Jemez. On the drive back home, the rain hit us. But it was light enough that we decided to stop off at the Tesuque Pueblo Flea Market. It had either rained heavily there earlier, everyone there shuts down at the slightest precipitation, or they knew what was coming, because most of the vendors were closed.
Back home, cleaned up, and brought Sabine back. See, we've figured out most of The Game — it's less about fetching or chasing, and more about ambushing. She likes to pounce on the unsuspecting ball from her hiding place. Though rooting about for it when she left it on the corner of the yard, that's when she found the yellowjackets.* She was pretty well freaked, we found 4 in her fur over the course of about 15 minutes. She slunk back inside, lay in the corner. Don't know now if she was still recovering, or if she could sense the thunderstorm and torrential downpour that came soon after.
Today, a stroll to get some coffee and a walk through the neighborhoods. Spent the day unpacking and hanging/placing some art, cleaning.
* Found them in an old railroad tie that marks the border of one of the gardens. Beginning to think that's what I bumped when mowing.
The drive's a nice one, up north and through the pueblo. We parked and hit the trail. It's straight up, but pretty short — maybe 20-25 minutes.
Nice views, pretty out there. But didn't go far toward working off our Santa Fe Baking Company breakfast burritos. Hopped back in the car, drove around the lake there, and then took the scenic route via Chimayo back up to Tsankawi.
A little stroll there, watching the thunderstorms off in the Sangres and the Jemez. On the drive back home, the rain hit us. But it was light enough that we decided to stop off at the Tesuque Pueblo Flea Market. It had either rained heavily there earlier, everyone there shuts down at the slightest precipitation, or they knew what was coming, because most of the vendors were closed.
Back home, cleaned up, and brought Sabine back. See, we've figured out most of The Game — it's less about fetching or chasing, and more about ambushing. She likes to pounce on the unsuspecting ball from her hiding place. Though rooting about for it when she left it on the corner of the yard, that's when she found the yellowjackets.* She was pretty well freaked, we found 4 in her fur over the course of about 15 minutes. She slunk back inside, lay in the corner. Don't know now if she was still recovering, or if she could sense the thunderstorm and torrential downpour that came soon after.
Today, a stroll to get some coffee and a walk through the neighborhoods. Spent the day unpacking and hanging/placing some art, cleaning.
* Found them in an old railroad tie that marks the border of one of the gardens. Beginning to think that's what I bumped when mowing.
9.02.2007
Things We Learned About Our Yard This Weekend
That dead patch out in the yard seems to house some sort of gathering of ground wasps of some sort. The lawnmower and I discovered that.
Behind the lilac bush, there's a bunch of yellowjackets. That was Sabine.
There's the possibility that they are one and the same, what with neither of us really paying attention to the circumstances at the time.
Behind the lilac bush, there's a bunch of yellowjackets. That was Sabine.
There's the possibility that they are one and the same, what with neither of us really paying attention to the circumstances at the time.
Letterpressing
Monica had done some work for James The Printer and so, in turn, we got some letterpress time at his studio. Last Tuesday, we headed over after work and spent, as it turns out, most of the evening there.
We'd decided that some of the patterns Monica made for Naked & Angry would make for some pretty nice notecards. James made plates, the patterns covering the front and back of the cards. We had a bunch of paper we'd accumulated over the years, James had a couple piles as well. He got us set up, ran through the operation of the press (which, eventually, we remembered), and set us loose, stopping by periodically to help us out and to chat.
We ran three plates, changing inks along the way, and alternating among the paper choices.
We were printing for more than 3 hours, plus about another half-hour to clean up at the end, wrapping up around 10:30 (James had long since gone to sleep). Right now, we estimate that we did around 350 cards.
With the different paper sizes and some plate shifting as we printed, we have to hand-trim two of the sides (then we can use a paper cutter for the rest) and then score. Looks like that will, in the end, take longer than the printing.
Plan is to bring them to SPX (not comics, but crafty, and there's some of that there) and make a place to put them on the Panel Press site.
We'd decided that some of the patterns Monica made for Naked & Angry would make for some pretty nice notecards. James made plates, the patterns covering the front and back of the cards. We had a bunch of paper we'd accumulated over the years, James had a couple piles as well. He got us set up, ran through the operation of the press (which, eventually, we remembered), and set us loose, stopping by periodically to help us out and to chat.
We ran three plates, changing inks along the way, and alternating among the paper choices.
We were printing for more than 3 hours, plus about another half-hour to clean up at the end, wrapping up around 10:30 (James had long since gone to sleep). Right now, we estimate that we did around 350 cards.
With the different paper sizes and some plate shifting as we printed, we have to hand-trim two of the sides (then we can use a paper cutter for the rest) and then score. Looks like that will, in the end, take longer than the printing.
Plan is to bring them to SPX (not comics, but crafty, and there's some of that there) and make a place to put them on the Panel Press site.
9.01.2007
Happy Anniversary, M+D
Spoooooky parents. Unpacking art and framed photos (remember those? like, from film?) this weekend.
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