Today’s post is so long that I’m not showing you a piece from Simply Home*, my show in Exeter at CACHE. But first, an advertisement:
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- Amor Towles in Table for Two, a book of short stories, had a line that caused me to think, and talk to other friends my age: “After the age of sixty-five one wishes to travel less, eat less, own less.” Maybe point one and point three, but I’m not sold on point two.
2. My How to Draw presentation at CACHE was great fun. 22 people, one hour, lots of talk, one exercise. People really enjoyed themselves while learning and spending an entire hour without a screen in hand. Prolly ought to start charging. . . (I mean charging money, not charging devices).
3. I’ve spent the last month working on my website—learned to back it up, to “purge all caching” in order to correct behind the scenes mistakes that occur when developers change things, to show all the art for sale instead of just showing 9 pieces. Some expert said I have too much data and need to rebuild the entire site and to pay for more storage and that it can’t be backed up properly because of the excess data. I think that is what she said; it was hard to understand her.
4. I read an article on 9 brain challenges by Mike Donghia, a blogger at This Evergreen Home. The list includes things like travel without GPS, memorize important facts, strike up conversations with strangers, use your non-dominant hand, and shop without a list. I do these things! I couldn’t find the list on his site: I read it in The Epoch Times.
5. Did you know that there is no mail service or delivery in the Dominican Republic? Good thing they have the internet so I can text my friend there. We had to make plans for our coffee date, something we do for a catch-up session whenever she comes home.
6. I relearned how much I enjoy the town of Exeter. I loved having my studio there in the building owned by my friend Seldon Kempton. We worked together on the mural team, and it was just a joy to be downtown surrounded by can-do people. It’s been good to be working at home too, to be off the road. . . a big fat car wreck caused me to rethink studio space in Exeter in 2001 and then build my studio at home.
7. “Pulchritudinous” means physical beauty. What a goofy word! Might be hard to remember.
8. Trader Joe’s balsamic vinegar comes in this sweet little bottle that is just right for giving a tiny bouquet of flowers or for rooting basil. I love that balsamic vinegar, and whenever I am in a town that has a TJ’s, I buy several. Been feeling confident about the wise nutritional habit of using vinegar to fight against glucose spikes, but then. . . I FEEL SO BETRAYED AND STUPID! Why? BECAUSE THEY ADD SUGAR TO THEIR BALSAMIC VINEGAR!! Of all the nerve—balsamic vinegar is naturally sweet and some people just say it IS sugar (to which I respond SO WHAT? IT’S VINEGAR!) But now I am thinking that stupid Trader Joe’s, Betrayer Joe’s, can just stay out of Tulare County! We fat diabetic ignorant poor folks don’t need you adding to our sugar problem. Do you hear me, TJ’s?!!
9. Ghost Town Living by Brent Underwood is an excellent memoir, which is my favorite genre of book. I highly recommend it. A friend recommended it to me, and I got it from the library.
10. Tim Cotton Writes is one of the best blogs on my short list. He recently wrote “Unhappiness Has No Permanent Address”, in his inimitable style of folksy wisdom. I highly recommend reading his work.
11. Did you know that the word “shortening” comes from the fact that when you add fat to flour, it shortens the gluten strands? Gluten is what makes dough stretchy, so when you knead it for bread it develops those strands. If you are making pie crust, you don’t want to make it stretchy and tough; hence, you add shortening (and don’t overhandle it). (Learned from The Frugal Girl).
*The show hangs until December 29 at CACHE in Exeter. Their hours are Friday 1:30-4, Saturday 10-4, Sunday noon-4. It includes about 50 paintings, 3 original pencil drawings, calendars, cards, coloring books, The Cabins of Wilsonia books, and a few pencil reproduction prints.