Look at what the pros are doing

Images drawn on an iPad by David HockneyIf I were Alex Cassetti, I would exclaim that David Hockney is “fresh as hell”. This is an unafraid artist who paints about everything that touches him from his lifestyle with pictures of men in swimming pools in Los Angeles to his new and exciting pop in the iPad art world. I love it that Hockney has been drawing on his iPhone and has newly adapted the pad (down to having coats made with big interior pockets to hold the pad). He has exuberantly leapt on the technology, making new pictures that have merit on their own, and not trying to be anything than what they are. He creates images daily and emails them out to his friends just because…and this resonates with me. So, inspiriation is there. Just get going. Keep drawing regardless of the medium. It will look like you because, silly, it is you.

“Who would have thought that the telephone would bring back drawing?”  David Hockney

“I realized when I was doing the sunrises last year that it was partly because the iPhone was beside my bed when I woke up,” “But if I’d only had a pencil and paper there I probably wouldn’t have chosen to make pictures of the dawn.”  David Hockney

And so today begins. Recycled soup (bean as the base…tomatoes added as well as some chicken) ready for the back porch crew. I made two cornbread loaves last night while I joined the world watching the amazing and to me, frankly pretty scary/horrifying venture in Chile to get the miners out. That tube, the rescue contraption called “Phoenix 2”, 26” x 6’ being lowered into the ground essentially with a jerry rigged rope tow, with either a miner or a rescuer squeezed in, coffin style with air and (I hope some medication) to make an uncertain journey (180 feet of it encased in a metal tube as the ground was uncertain towards the top of the shaft). The chanting of Chee Lay by those above and below as if it was a game, interestingly, instead of buoying my spirits, made me chew my lip even harder. Then the elegant Florencio, the first miner up, was instead of having a bit of privacy watched as his dear little son (with a chilean mylar balloon shoved into his hand by some media spinner) break into heart wrenching tears when his papa surfaced. And the media circus surrounded this poor soul who needed a beer and a chance to put his head down, hold his family’s hands and say a big prayer that he was out of that subterreanean prison and his comrades would make it too. There was nothing about this enterprise that spoke of any of this being a “sure bet”— but the quiet confidence of those surrounding the entrance to this shaft was reassuring even to this nail biter. I hope that today brings more confidence, more rescues and closer to this amazing story of these men below the ground.

Sure make the small stuff seem pretty silly, doesnt it?

 

Head down.

Coming Soon: Farmer Ground Flour MixesComps in the hands of the master who will be showing them this week at a food show. Farmer Ground is coming out with some great organic mixes: Buttermilk Pancakes, Buckwheat Pancakes, Cornbread and Muffin Mix, Bran Muffin Mix, Ginger-bread Cake and Cookie Mix. These are packaged in nice, neat canisters that keep the flour and ingredients fresher. Fresh, organic and delicious.

Speaking of fresh, organic and delicious… freerange, happy bird for the holidays—I ordered my turkey for Thanksgiving today from The Regional Access. So, I have put the money down and have pencilled in the pick up prior to that special Thursday in November. Now what to cook beyond this. And, who is sitting at my table too? I would love to have a big group. Its so much more lively and fun. Plus, as its Kitty home from college, it would be fun to have people she loves and adores too to enrich the time. And extras? Do you think that something with Farmer Ground Cornmeal or Grits might peek into the mix? Can I do something with leeks and polenta with a little elegant cheese? Hmmm.

Speaking of food…I used a Martha Stewart Food recipe as a starting point to riff on using beets, potatoes, tarragon and onions (roasted) and then cooked cooked cooked into a pink soup. It was good. Pretty good…and a little something hefty needs to be added. But we all politely ate it for lunch. More successful was the beet salad that everyone is chowing on and going back for seconds. So from all white lunches to today, all pink all day!

Had a terrific chat and am highly motivated by talking with the local letterpress printer. His prices are good and he loves the same things I do (crappy paper or really elegant all cotton cream paper, we love letterpress and foil stamping and the works). We are going to work on a postcard printed on a kraft paper stock (black and grey on kraft)…and his price is great. So, need to get the valentines prepped as well as a “family” holiday card for friends and wider family group. Need to roll on that….

Cranked a ton of design work today too. Got new numbers on possibly refinancing our house. Going rate these days is 3.5% and we could lower our payment and by refinancing, also save a ton of money over the life of the loan. I hate applying for these things, but at least we can get our hands on the paperwork quickly…So need to talk to R about pursuing it or not.

Keystone cider mill, Q. Cassetti, 2010

Pennsylvania Pizza

Peter at Keystone Cider, Q. Cassetti, 2010It was running from pillar to post this weekend. No time for blogs, naps in the car from one place to the next. Friday found us meeting up with some family members from Rob’s family—a treat, a sparkling gem. Things have been hard for them, but time has not visibly aged them…but the wisdom, kindness and joy peek out from the words and ideas and we are sad with them and embrace them in their joy. It was wonderful. We left them to have dinner with Ron and Mary to go have dinner at the Pourhouse—meeting up with people we do not have a chance to chat with…to much happiness and laughter. Then, we dropped into the Rongo for the driving, happy music of Billy Eli and Eric Aceto. Lots of energy, nice crowd dancing and mixing…and not too loud to talk. We had a chance to catch up with Todd on news around town and things that interest him. Local food being a lead. We had to get home as apples awaited the next day.

We got up early and met Peter and the apple crew at the Little Camp House on Searsburg Road. Peter believes in free apples —so he collects, like a mushroom hunter, old apple trees, and where they are. He calls the owners and asks if he can pick up the excess which they grant him. It was a brilliant day—just warm enough, clear blue skies and if I were the determiner of the “colors” we were on the shoulder of the peak colors. So dazzling yellows, gold, orange, purple and red.  So, there are bags and bags of apples ( coal bags) (85 we finally had), of old and new varieties, quince, and other yummies that are piled into trucks after the picking and sorting on Saturday Morning to go to Keystone Cider in Sayre, PA. I raved about it last year and could rave again this year about the belts and chutes and ladders, the hoppers and the tractor drive. I could rave about the filters and goldenPennsylvania Pizza, Q. Cassetti, 2010 juice being forced out of layers and layers of apple which, when its scraped off the filter is lovingly referred to as” Pennsylvania Pizza”—a dried mash of apples, core, and fiber that the ciderists feed to chickens (or so the young boy who I befriended, told me). Smaller group this year ( I am thinking maybe because it was a rough weather day last year)—but all of us knew the drill…so it went smoothly. We had a nice dinner with the same group hosted by Peter and Peggy—with delicious dinner, of course cider and all sorts of ideas, thoughts and sharing going on. We are so grateful to be included in this wonderful progression from fruit to table—and all the exotics, the ingredients, the community and network that spin and overlap with this group I find amazing. Amazing to understand. Amazing to find that I am in some of those circles that keep overlapping. Amazing to find out how many communities are out there…each as interesting as the next…all locally driven and inclusive. So different from living in a big city or corporate town…as these communities just spin like catherine wheels, overlapping mandalas…that grow and morph. I think living in this small environment makes these groups so much more apparent. Curiouser and curiouser.

Amy, Q. Cassetti, 2010Sunday was up and at em with Rob meeting with a really wonderful new friend to talk architecture, stones, masonry, projects, “who do you know”, “what do you know”, “how do you do it”. High energy, high ideas. Ponds and hot tubs, stones and quarries, steps and projects. While all that was going on, I made beet soup, beet salad and a huge beef (not beet) stew for later during the day. It was processing a ton of stuff in the fridge, so there is more room in the top of the refrigerator and tons more to eat. Thankfully, a bit of cooking keeps my Alex happy…and as its been so wild, it makes me happy to know that we have something for the boy to eat (at least for today).

Then I went off to Amy Brill’s Open House.What a shot in the arm! OMG. It was color, fiber, energy, gorgeous display, Amy “doing her thing” and showing us all the things her clothes do when you turn things upsidedown and backwards…the nineteen things to do with her sweaters. I, of course, couldnt resist and found things I have always lusted after in black and or charcoal (my faves)…along with some beautiful shawls and scarves for the holidays. It was great watching a pair of friends taking picture of each other and sending them to “mom” to approve or direct. Their use of the phone was sublime and quite effective as they managed to pick out sweaters and shawls for all of the daughters for the holidays this year. Amy spun magic and energy dressed in this adorable dress with great legs and cute shoes…constantly fluffing and trying on new scarves and accessories to let us see how great they look. Friends offered up that this was their second time to the sale….with full arms and happy hearts. I hope that this was successful enough for Amy to do it again. I know there are ladies I didnt have the sense to call (as not everyone is a Facebooker) who would faint at all the glory of Amy’s clothes, her accessories, and fibers. The riot of color, buttons,, and details invites a welcome step into Amy’s happy world and vision. And, I want to be in that world with Amy…spinning in joy in the fashion stories she tells us. What an absolute treat.

The small group spent the evening at the lake. Late dinner. Late sleeping and now we are back in the cogs of the machine. More later.

Here and now.

Lots of work hitting the desk. Redos of a client’s international work with very immediate turn-around (my stomach is still churning) along with long discussions of design and imagery that could affect so many future instances that its important we are talking and better understand what is important. And its fast and furious.

The two books for Cornell’s Vet School I am powering through—looking for images, lots of retouching and editing. I did a few layouts for one and need to make the second one more real. I am working a lot in Century Schoolbook (need to reconsider the drawing I am using) and really loving the way it looks. Marries well with the wood inspired type (Knockout, Acropolis for instance). We will be printing on uncoated paper for both pubs using (like the year before) UV inks which do not fade but give you much brighter and bolder ink coverage on the sheet.

Running parallel with this work, Farmer Ground Flour is coming alive. I posted a page via Squarespace which is really working between my pal and me…editing, designing, refining all in tandem. Once again, Squarespace pulls through easily. It has given me something to tinker with in the slivers of time (not a lot into this) to get a site up and posted as Farmer Ground and Cayuga Pure Organics will be in an article in The New York Times Magazine (10/17). We need to have some presence before it hits.

Additionally, there are some terrific new products using Farmer Ground which are being shown next week that we need to get labels resolved for comps that they need. As we keep talking, the need for a rack card, or output is surfacing. This logo is in the works but I really want to rework it this weekend as it needs to be tweaked. The uber cool thing (speaking as a vector geek) was that the wheat are brushes that created these strokes that were then rotated off a central spine. Still looks friendly and handmade but just a bit clunky to this designer. The messaging and image of the flour will flow into the messaging and image for the Bakery we are working on and is derivative of the messaging and the image of the grain and grain farmer. So it feels like there is a lot to think about, but as we begin to parse this information, it suggests or overlaps other aspect of this grain related community which is really cool. I am enjoying trying to put these pieces together.

I have been really going, so having that peaceful moment to think about pictures hasn’t happened in a few weeks. I would really like to get back to it. For now, a double order of granola and a tray of cookies need to happen on top of what is going to be presented for dinner.

Man, do I love the web.

Birthday clouds over the NYS Thruway, Q. Cassetti, 2010So, to pick up where we left off. I was busy musing happily on how the naming of this nutty region happened. Dreaming of some scholar, schoolteacher who might have surveyed and in his dreamy way, somehow assigned value and sported his classical education in the naming of parts of Central New York. Rob found some interesting stuff that pointed to an idea there…but something caught my eye, the phrase “Military Tract” and so, as always, I googled it. Turns out there is a lot of talk on line about the “Military Tracts of Central New York” with wikipedia and rootsweb really getting into it. Wiki sez:

The Military Tract of Central New York, also called the New Military Tract, consisted of nearly two million acres(8,000 km²) of bounty land set aside to compensate New York’s soldiers after their participation in the Revolutionary War.

The United States Congress had already guaranteed each soldier at least 100 acres (0.4 km²) at the end of the war (depending on rank), but by 1781, New York had enlisted only about half of the quota set by the U.S. congress and needed a stronger incentive. The state legislature authorized an additional 500 acres (2 km²) per soldier, using land from 25 Military Tract Townships to be established in central New York State. Each of the townships was to comprise 100 lots of 600 acres (2.4 km²) each. Three more such townships were later added to accommodate additional claims at the end of the war.

The townships were at first numbered (1 through 28), but were later given (mostly) classical Greek and Roman names, along with a few honoring English authors:

1. Lysander
2. Hannibal
3. Cato
4. Brutus
5. Camillus
6. Cicero
7. Manlius

  8. Aurelius
  9. Marcellus
10. Pompey
11. Romulus
12. Scipio
13. Sempronius
14. Tully

15. Fabius
16. Ovid
17. Milton
18. Locke
19. Homer
20. Solon
21. Hector

22. Ulysses
23. Dryden
24. Virgil
25. Cincinnatus
26. Junius
27. Galen
28. Sterling

The tract covered the present counties of Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, and Seneca, and parts of Oswego, Tompkins,Schuyler and Wayne. Most of these township names are reflected in current town names in these counties, but the area of the military townships do not correspond exactly with any of the modern towns, which only cover a fraction of the original townships.

 

So there you have it. Rome and England…all in one place. Names that have stuck in most cases, with the subdivisions of these towns taking on Native American names, or to my thinking, also taking on the names of those soldiers who earned their acreage….Certainly worth learning more of that. I am going to post the map with a close up for your amusement.

Names of Ancient Rome

I am always thrilled and secretly amused by the crazy naming we have in this area. I love going to events and seeing the names of Ancient Rome, Roman writers and philosophers, towns and personalities blazed across these young chests proudly stating that they are: Tully, Seneca, Ovid, Romulus, Manlius, Ulysses,  Homer, Rome, and so on. Ancient Rome takes on Native America with teams that evoke those names and places. 

I am secretly harboring a passion to take portraits of these athetes… singletons or could be these sensational posed pix for the “moms” which I pretend I am one of… with a salient quote from Seneca or Homer or the person/ place these groups of sweating teenagers represent.

I hope I am not the only person humored by these wonderful names and references that go beyond the painted lines of playing fields and into our minds, our cultural history referencing a romantic time worthy of honoring on new maps with straight lines in this crazy lake filled countryside we live in. 

Just a thought.

“Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.”

Marcus Tullius Cicero

“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. “

Lucius Annaeus Seneca 

“Light is the task where many share the toil. ”

Homer 

Home again home again jiggity jig

Utica Club Brewery Sign on a Fall Day, Q. Cassetti, 2010Up and back. A big fagged…but up and back. We split from Tburg around 4:30 yesterday afternoon to drive to Utica (getting us to the concert at a quarter to showtime) with a little time to spare. Rob had managed to ask a colleague from Museumwise if she could get us a pair of tickets for this honored event- a double header of “The Sleigh Bells” and “LCD Soundsystem” for Alex and a friend. This was, as Alex proclaimed, “the concert of the season” and after the concert is was affirmed times ten (“How did you like it? ” we asked. Response “I’m speechless.”). We were absolutely charmed with Hamilton, this beautiful campus on a hill in Clinton, New York with old and new buildings all harmoniously designed and working together. The concert was in a small venue (low stage no more than 700 standing students)….in this inside/outside complex of buildings that had a “diner like” food offering, mail room, and various study and hanging out spaces in these low silo like spaces with different sized perfomance spaces as well. It seems like a great school for the right type of kid (they all seemed really nice, earnest, and friendly)—who would like to spend four years on top of their little hill overlooking Utica. We left the boys to check into the hotel (Hotwire…and it was called the Clarion which really was the Hotel Utica). The Utica is an oldstyle hotel that seemed to be ramped up and revamped in the mid eighties and sort of, kind of missing the mark by miles. But the beds were horizontal and seemed to be bedbug free…so we plunked down our bags and opened the windows and waited for the call from the boys. Prior to finding our accomodations downtown, we decided to go to dinner at Matt’s Brewery (which it turned out was closed for a party) so we ate in the Brewery area—dumbfounded by all the worker bars that were there (no food, just bar stools, bad lighting, linoleum floors) which had outdoor spaces for overflow. These places were dead last night…and our only assumption is that summer brings the beer drinkers and the need to expand to the outdoors. Matts also had a big stage etc…so that probably is the case.

We got up early this morning and had our free breakfast at the Hotel Utica and The Face of Tully, Q. Cassetti, 2010got the boys to the cross country event an hour plus south of town in Tully. Tully is one of my favorite races as we always have a “Tully Day”—cloudless blue skies, brilliant sharp light and all the Tully touches such as huge pallet loads of crisp cold apples free for everyone (today was macintosh!). The Tully team and families knock themselves out with teeshirts and consessions, music and a dj, and all the trappings of timers and mascots and places for teams to set up and have their pictures taken. And, it all goes remarkably smoothly for all. Alex did not run his best (no “PR”—personal record) and cramped up midway. But others did quite well, happily and against a mixed group of big and small schools (something that doesnt happen very often). But now, Alex is worn out…and a bit low.

My Birthday was nice. Really nice. I got some flowers from friends and family. I had dinner with my boyfriend. And I was given an iPad which is in the box and is next on my list of things to do after I finish talking with you. Very exciting. As you know, I love my Kindle and this is a Kindle with more…email, images, movies, youtube, books, audible books, and more. I hope I can get good with the keyboard so I can use it to post here too. I am, unfortunately, fond of a keyboard. We’ll see, won’t we?

Kitty’s gothic lolita dress just arrived from China. Terrific. And, if you are in the market for this sort of thing, trust me, you need to get the petticoat too. It absolutely makes the look. There are bows galore and the sleeves are detachable (not noted but a great thing). Something every girl needs. The shoes are on the way…and we got stockings at Target to compete the rig. Tres victorian mourning meets manga character. She should flip over this (at least I hope). All is well for classes. Same for friends and the stuff they are all doing during the hangout time. Kitty is fiddling with Pencil and is working on a series of little animations of some of her little critters. They should be fab. This could be a niche she pursues.

More later.

Pencil it in:: Amy Brill Open House 10/09/2010

Amy Brill, fashion and knitwear designer as well as all round majorly creative person, is doing something we have never had the opportunity to participate in, an open house!

Amy’s sweaters and clothing are carried at high end clothing boutiques that specialize in smaller, more art oriented clothing which we do not have much in the way of here in Itown. Plus, as an old house person, her house and grounds in Jacksonville where her living and creating happens are not open to a wide group of people, and the house is as much part of her energy and image as the work itself. So, on October 9 (and maybe 10th) Amy and her associate, Meg, will be throwing open the doors (which you are traversing Rt. 96 during the Ithaca Art Trail) to the public for a sale of her sweaters, jewelry, accessories, and clothing which we do not have access to. Learn more about Amy on her blog or site>>

Amy Brill
The Trees/ Trumansburg Road (Rt 96)
Jacksonville, NY.

Grey Wednesday

Phone call central here. Had a good meeting with the Yearbookers today. We planned the Senior picture this a.m.—going out to the bleachers with the students sitting in the bleachers to see how we are going to set up the shot. We have 15 minutes to do it. I am going to pray for sunshine. We are working on the pretext that we will be working in InDesign and Photoshop to produce a publication at Lulu. But, after trolling the web, I found a cool option to this. Take the ease/ simplicity of layout from the big Yearbook companies and marry it to the speed, price and options of on design printing (Lulu) and it is manifested at Entourage Yearbooks. I ordered a sample and we will see what we can do. We can do custom custom custom…but the minute I don’t want to give up my morning slot pre work, they will need a sustainable resource and approach that doesnt need the coaching and training by a professional designer/ print pro. This idea of sustainable is important… and taking the designer out of the equation…is important too. So…I think I will be looking at some of the tutorials etc. prior to our plunging in. Plus, they dovetail with Josten and Lifetouch perfectly…Less work for me. Maybe more fun for the class. I am feeling very good about this.

We are making plans for the first. LCD Soundsystem and the Sleigh Bells are playing at Hamilton College (and we have snagged 2 tickets)—so we are driving to Utica with Alex and a friend and leaving them for the concert (with Rob and me hanging somewhere else).—and then picking them up. Alex is absolutely thrilled that Rob could work out getting tickets and for once, we are okay. We will spend the night in Utica (as we have to go to Tully, NY early the next morning for a Cross Country Meet and will take Alex and friend down for this gig). For once, we are doing okay as parents. It’s rare…but sometimes we hit. Sounds like another not too relaxing weekend. Over the 16th we are back in Amherst for a parents weekend with Kitty. Rob is gone the next weekend. A weekend in November we are off to Chicago for the SOFA show (maybe taking Alex too).  I am seeing deepdish pizza and brats with the boy.So lots of getting out and about. Bizzy.

Am working on an image derived from the week in the Adirondacks. The more wonderful the picture will inspire other images of dancing bears, pinecones, and cottages. Bring on the canoes, fires, and fish.

Have a wall of calls from now on. Just wanted to say hi.

Dreary Tuesday

East West Postcard, Q. Cassetti, 2010, for the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NYUpcoming fun at the Corning  Museum of Glass. Pencil it in…with Kelley and the Cowboys and Eric Meek, glassmaker extrordinaire along with John Ford..the man that spans both cultures interpreting in probably both Chinese and English. The show opening, “East Meets West” is an interesting take on objects inspired by those things Eastern created by Western hands. A bit of this, a bit of that. Eggrolls and Tacos? Tofu and Hamburgers? Sake and and Whiskey? Rockabilly and a  Tea Ceremony? All in beautiful Corning New York. If you are a CMU alumni, there will be a gathering of the Tartans as well. Look for more details coming your way. And as you can see, two color layout with my favorite Hoefler Frere Jones font, Knockout in all sorts of iterations.

Alex is being challenged to win the race today. Everyone else is being asked to make it a “tempo run” with Alex and a friend being told to take it…with some stiff time expectations put in place. I hope he can do it. Now the question of the big dinner I need to whomp up for him.

Am working on tables and info for the Baker and Feline. Lots rolling for the big client. We MAY have a holiday card…pretty noncommittal, but something. Right now, I will take anything.

Monday Monday

Modified Rooster, Q. Cassetti, 2010, digitalA low little Kitty was on the phone last night. She was just plain tired…and wasn’t dealing well with the overachievers and competitive sorts (of which she is reluctant to agree that she is too) overdoing it when given an assignment to get familiar with the tool they will be using to do some animation (Pencil-animation.org). So over the course of two calls, we got here to a point that she was ready to let go a bit…and maybe take a shower and go to bed early. Man, do I sound like a mom or what? She is all worked up…but as I reminded her, she had only been at Hampshire for less than 26 days..and of those days, how many days in class. I mean, get a little real? Poor thing—its not all going to come immediately—(something her brother understands)—but with time and effort, it will happen. I guess this is why they call it school. Lots to learn.

Bruce came back from a very fun few days of visiting and gathering with friends. We hung out…and I cooked a bit (biscotti with dried blueberries and almonds, and two big pizzas (not the best…but edible). Big pot of recycled soup for today’s luncheon extravaganza.

I downloaded a collection of the Deerslayer volumes (James Fennimore Cooper) to get my head wrapped into the mythology from which I believe the romance of the adirondack style has sprung from. I do not know why I am on a jag about this…but I am fascinated. First, though, I need to finish William Gibson’s latest, Zero History “-a wierd and wonderful world of Hollis and Hubert Bigend and the miasma that Gibson creates of information, data, and the odd/perplexing and wonderful visuals/interiors/ fashion he describes. I am wild for his work…albeit, not “smart” reading. Escapist stuff.

I got my notebook for the library project mentioned last week. The topic I picked was Secret Code…so I am musing on the Masons (of course) and the odd stuff I love about them. Maybe a little Masonic tome made by little ole non masonic Q.

It is grey and stormy. Rob spoke on Martha Stewart Radio (Sirius) this morning. Shady is back to smelling bad (need to get a major deodorizing shampoodle for her). I wonder if part of shaggy dogs getting older is that they stink more? I hope that isn’t the case. Oy. It absolutely radiates from her despite her bath yesterday.

More later.