nibbling, not gnawing

Sailor Jerry Flash Such a beautiful dawn. Pale skies with peach and salmon fading to a clear yellow. The lake was spectacular—a blend from oyster grey to a brilliant blue. To reiterate a phrase Rob reminds us daily:”We live in a place people go on vacation.” And with a morning like this, his sentiments are confirmed. The fragrant Luckystone hosta are blooming with large, Easter lily scaled flowers —scenting the air and reminding us that fall is coming, and that the are celebrating the summer we had, and the transition at hand.

I am up early with Rob—he had to leave for an early meeting so I have time to start a batch of recycled soup, sometimes called garbage soup chez moi. This soup is one of the few that number one son requests—and devours bowlful by bowlful which makes a nervous mother proud. Plus, this soup is the standby when we all of a sudden have 4 more mouths at the lunch table and nothing worth noting to serve up to a crowd of ten. Recycled soup is made up of all the leftovers in your fridge. It is good if you have a couple of links of left over sausage—and some left over veggies. I sauté a few onions adding peppers or celery (organic) if I have it and then start adding. Sometimes fresh tomatoes, sometimes a can. Sometimes a can of white beans. Sometimes a heap of left over basmati rice. Sometimes a container of new tortellini and a walloping dollop of pesto. I have a range of good stuff from a half a dozen ears of gorgeous white corn that I have cut off the cob, the requisite sausage, some left over zucchini, glorious and flavorful celery greens. And I have stock. Which reminds me that with fall coming again, the boneyard can open, and stock season can happen. Love the magic of stock.

This is part of the prep for getting the dear one ready for college. We went to get big plastic totes and toiletries yesterday which was amazingly quick and to the point unlike the other college prep where we discussed and considered every item in the store. Mr. Cassetti is a focused decision maker that really doesn’t want to admire and consider every item in the store. He just wants to get and go. I hope, now with the totes, it will be the right prompt to get cracking on the packing. A girl can dream…right?

Kitty is back into the swirl of the Pioneer Valley with interesting work during the day and contradancing all over New England in the evenings. She has engineered a series of people who are gracious to take her wih them—so she can be in Concord MA one evening, and Amherst the next. She is embracing all of it, catching up with the contradancing friends she has and planning on the early September dawn dance which is a favorite for her. Dawn dance and Flurry are the apex dance events in her life which she sets her calendar around.

Kitty has been given a huge, and exciting opportunity to help work on a project to identify (only using border patterns) a collection of shawls from the 1700s to 1900s. This two week period is a test to see if this work is viable, and if so, it could grow into a larger scope project that perhaps Kitty could assist with as a job while she studies. The project is led by two Smith professors (one retired, one current) who are costume people with the passion of the retired professor being establishing a document that details fashion transition and change through the compilation of fashion illustration/.plates on a month by month basis. She has remarkable paper files of all of this information that this shawl project and the work the three students are doing will lead to the beginning of a digital version of her personal work/files. And Kitty is being pulled into this vortex— learning quite a bit and really enjoying the work. Two really positive job experiences this summer plus a summer of sewing made a great summer for her.

Sketchbook page by Sailor Jerry from Tumblr.I am nibbling, not gnawing yet, at the edges of tattoos. I am intrigued by their obvious iconography—yes, its illustration, but it illustration and style take a back seat to the message that the symbols, or arrangement of symbols convey. I am intrigued by the mismash of religious, cultural, limited community symbols that take on a whole other import when personally embraced becoming a personal brand (in two ways). I am intrigued by the sacred and profane in the imagery from having a pinup on one arm, and the Virgin Mary and “Mom”on the other. I am fascinated that the brands a sailor or exmilitary guy of my childhood has transitioned to body fashion today with young girls upon their eighteenth birthday running down to the tattoo parlor to get her first tattoo, a modern right of passage. Friends are getting marriage tattoos to strengthen their bond beyond the ring and contract with the Almighty. Another friend wants a tattoo to confirm her strength through an unforseen divorce after a massive move with two young children. Modern symbols branded in ink to recognize personal change, personal triumphs, personal growth. Visible marks to identify this moment during our life journey—reminders of these significant moments that manifested individual change. So the symbols are important. And the design and drawing of these symbols make it distinct and singular for the individual while still keying into the aesthetic that comes with tattoos. This is where the art comes in—designing and detailing the symbols into something that expresses the individual. And quite honestly, if the individual tattoos are designed and drawn well, it sets the stage for the next tattoo, the next personal statement that could happen on the same canvas—helping to render the entire human canvas as a symphony of imagery and not, as we see so often, a disparate collection of “spot” illustrations that do not relate or inform the others.

I am not considering getting a tattoo as it is a commitment I cannot make as I am a vacillating Libra, and find that today’s passion, is not so tomorrow. Committing to the visualization of a personal brand is a step I cannot make—as I have been working on just understanding what makes me, me…forget making a picture or a symbol of it.

And so the day begins. Soup is started. Dog is snoring (clean from yesterday’s flea shampoo). I have to wake to sleeping boy. Work is out there to attend to. I am thinking today might have a holiday card in it!

Red Leaves

Seahorse Valentine, Q. Cassetti, 2012, Adobe Illustrator CS5.1It is always a surprise when summer begins to wind down into fall. The blistering days shift one day after the promised rain arrives, and washes all the heat and humidity out of the sky leaving us with cool breezes, brilliantly clear sunshine, and days that stretch into blazing sunsets that blend a dirty blue to pink to hot red without a dull color or brown in the ombre. The green of summer mellows to olive and surprisingly, under some of those autumn green leaves, scarlet ones peek out like bird plumage.

This coming autumn is not the same. Though we are participating in this seasonal change that will motivate us to sweaters, layers and boots from swimsuits and sandals, our last fledgling is leaving the nest. I wait expectantly, hoping all will work out, quizzing Rob about his impression as to whether everything will work out, and dwelling on this immenant change for our son— knowing that once shoved out of this comfy nest (that he doesnt even see as comfy), he will beat his wings and begin to fly—It just might take those long seconds of having him figure out that this is his option. Our boy has always been a bit of a late bloomer, and in the spirit of consistency—he may deliver on that—but he inevitably figures it out—and succeeds. But this quiet waiting is tough though Alex continues to live the life of hanging out with friends, drinking coffee every morning with Eleanor, having bros here to eat and spend the night, golf and weight lifting. He is oblvious to the momentous shift, a life earthquake, looming in the near future….blissfuly being the high schooler he knows.

I need to get him some totes so as to be able to goad him to pack. The aspect that Alex is going to college in a week really hasn’t registered with him…but it has with me. Jeez. Time to get that sharp stick out.

There was a little swimming this weekend albeit was cool and we were not able to stay in for very long. The brisk water was wonderful, shocking us to sleep and dream into the late afternoon. I guess this is our little vacation. Next week will be wild—with our going to Hempstead to deliver Alex, and then swinging up to Amherst to get Kitty settled. Rob will be going to NYC after that, with me taking a bus home to get to the office. 

The Farmers Market is going full bore. We are well into the season with September and October to go. We have our little building in gear which has helped folks to have a “customer service” window to get tokens for the market for their food stamps and get information. I have a feeling that this is only going to be stronger as we go further into the year. I am looking into new methods of promoting the market for next season (billboards, bus signage).

Simple squidly

Squid sketch, Q. Cassetti 2012Kitty finally got the packing done with all her things moved to the dining room for us to move later this month to Northampton/Amherst for her. We had a quiet day—with Kitty packing and me musing. Alex was camping. Rob came back from Nascar for a nap and then to take Kitty and me to go hear Johnny Dowd at Felicias which was fun and always interesting as Johnny is one live wire. Johnny was celebrating his “25 yrs. in showbiz” complete with looped music, poetry and wry commentary. Not a crazy crowd, but everyone there was there to hear and admire Johnny, a rare bird who attracts a specific audience who want to listen and hear.

Tonight, there is a village meeting having some points about the Farmers Market being discussed, so I will need to be there to represent. I hope it’s brief….but you never know.

I discovered something very obvious, but very sweet between Etsy and Pinterest! If you have an Etsy store, you can “pin” your items in the store….and move them into “board” on Pinterest…with the image, text and even price moving over in a neat format. So, you can easily share and promote your store through Pinterest, and begin to see whatever you are offering up to become part of people’s scrap and personal reference information. Be cautious, however, as their copyright stance was questionable…though I am seeing via the web, they are getting more in line:

“Pinterest is a platform for people to share their interests through collections of images, videos, commentary and links they can share with friends. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides safe harbors for exactly this type of platform. We are committed to efficiently responding to alleged copyright infringements. We are regularly improving our process internally with the help of lawyers who are experts in the field of copyright.” from Pinterest

Here is QToo on Etsy. Here is QToo on Pinterest…as a fyi for Y O U. I am learning quite a bit from this  little experiment…and learning that sales can happen. We will see if the price point is sweet enough…or if a bit of refining might move the product. I am sure you are less than fascinated, but I am. There is something marvelous about this time when an entrepeneur can build a business, one brooch or one blouse at a time…and for a miniscule price, post those products to sell to the world if the design is right, if the audience is right, if the time is right, if the price is right. All these essentially free tools that help us take tiny risks to see if there is traction…and to see if there are “legs”. Then, there are the flash auctions like One Kings Lane and Fab.com who sell online—and are happy to take on a single item, handmade or design specific things. One could graduate from design school or an illustration program and create your own job versus waiting for one to fill… and, if you are wise, you create your own space, your own position, and not wait to be the square peg in the round hole. So much potential. So much wealth in these venues. Rich for ideas, rich for development and potential. What a great world.

As an aside, or did you love the Olympic Octopus yesterday? I did!

Octopus brushes, Q. Cassetti, 2012Rob is at Watkins Glen taking in NASCAR and all that is promises. Alex is on a fishing trip in Roscoe, NY (complete with a single day fishing license). Kitty is packing in style. She is sporting red, white and blue, Jeffrey Campbell amazing heel/ booties (way over 6” tall) (and she bought at a second hand store in NYC) combined with black hot pants and a sheer white teeshirt complete with a black bra. She looks fabulous. Not my choice to do packing…but it works for her and entertains me. Kitty and I watched fashion shows on YouTube, something that is becoming something we love to do together. It was such fun doing something that simple, I envy her friends who get large doses of our Girl in the Newspaper Dress (the name of her Tumblr blog).

Kitty and her friend, Martha, turned me on to an amazing pair of brothers, John and Hank Green, the VlogBrothers, a video blog phenom, influencers of another generation, funny and giving people who are famous due to their own creativity going directly to people. Brother John Green is a well recognized Young Adult writer/novelist. So, with that strong recommendation, I picked up John Green’s Paper Towns which I finished today—amused, inspired and in love with this new writer! I highly recommend this book which blends Walt Whitman with high school kids, and a lot of questions of idenitity, future, life and living. I am going to start another Green book tonight. Cannot wait.

Got a shingles innocuation and a renewed whooping cough shot on Friday. My arm is ouchy…but it was so great to see the doctor, talk about all things health and healthy…and plans for the new school year for yours truly. It was great to get all things checked out…so I can go forward into the new year ready to rumba.

new week

Another offering at the Saturday Farmers’ Market from me…a ward against all badnessWe had a small rainstorm yesterday afternoon which took away all the humidity and left us with cool breezes and temperate temperatures. It is summer perfection as I look out the window at the amazing light that happens this time of the year, stagelight almost—illuminating the usual, and focusing it…to make everything otherworldly and beautiful. I could fuse with the cloud bowl overhead…as it is remarkable this morning.

All the offspring are upstairs snoring. I am going to have to rouse them so as to go to work this a.m. It is a perfect morning for golf, a run or in Kitty’s case, to organize her things for another Hampshire year as her next chapter starts in another week.

Shady is curled up, running in her sleep. Mr. White has been murdering rodents around here…and has the wildlife population all shaking in their boots. The birds are quite chatty with the White around, telling each other to “watch out, that cat is trouble”. The rodents are not skilled communicators as the the birds are. Their loss.

Mr. White has a 6 hr. cycle that consists of finding and killing a rodent (a mole, a mouse, a baby rabbit, a chipmunk) (4 hrs); devouring the entire creature from tip of tail to tip of ears often leaving nothing but one gizzard and maybe a foot; and then the final digestif, the protein inspired sleep that occurs while hugging a shoe or something odd. And then the cycle begins again. To think he has the audacity to even ask for kibble given the amount of eating he has been partaking of. Mr. White is staying at the Luckystone for the summer…and the Greys are chez Camp as all the cats need a vacation from each other…and we want Mr. White to keep the one functioning eye that remains. TJ has other plans.

This week promises the community dish to pass at the Farmers’ Market tomorrow. Wednesday is the Farmers’ Market with a Movie Night. Saturday is one of the trial Saturday Markets (with yours truly with her own table of stuff and nonsense to sell). We will see if there is any traction around that. Rob is doing Nascar stuff over next weekend. Alex might have a camping trip with friends. Kitty has friends in and out…and about. Rob is in NYC for a few days and a sleepover. So, even though I just started talking about this more as a way to organize myself, it seems there is quite a bit going on after the workday—so time to buck up and write a plan so as not to forget anything.

Time to wake the babies.

puzzling

Soon to be for Sale at Qtoo on Etsy.The gang have gone to the Big Splash event in Stewart Park and I am blissfully washing towels, charging my iPad, making coleslaw and thinking about the iconic aspects of roses. It was similar yesterday—and I revelled in not having deadlines, plans or schedules. It was just nice being….reading, and at the end of the day floating…until the Bros came over and I made a nice but pretty informal and quick dinner to entertain them.

I am making these cameos (see to the left) and shooting pictures on my windowsill with a point and shoot and then using the photoshop skills (once in a while this sort of thing is nice to really have chops in)—to create images to post to Etsy for the soon to be Qtoo Shop. There will be jewelry and tattoos, cards, and sticker sets, and of course, tattoos. The more I think about Q designed/ illustrated tattoos (particularly the big ones) I think there is a cool niche that could happen not only as one offs, but for wedding parties, anniversaries, etc. And, the darker the better though seed package art might make some cute tats as well.  Both Alex and Rob are not enthused about this, but it is keeping my mind off of where my head is these days with the travel and changes about to happen.

I must be a bit depressed, I think, from the change in the near future. No more kids full time. You have them, raise them and put them first in all you do from cash spends to time spends— and then, they are gone. I am sounding selfish, I know—but when “THEY” give you the baby to take home from the hospital, “They” do not give you a book on how to nurture and raise this person, what to watch out for, how to behave, how to react, how to plan, how to care. “They” do not give you a roadmap of the key “decision diamonds” (corporate speak, impressed?) on this persons path from zero to eighteen. And as we adults stumbled, and fumbled, our little ones raised themselves with breakfast, lunch and family dinners, with little vacations and time at the lake, with the picking and loving of pets, music, art and books on tape to become the fledglings that are leaving our nest…and with that my fear the bumpy road ahead. Why is it that I hesitate in trusting this person who I trust implicitly? Why is it that  I fear for their personal fumbles? Why is it that I worry about the unknown? What can I do to help my fledgling get out of the nest and point his head into the wind to soar? I worry at this change—and am at the same time puzzling over all the new time I will have to be selfish with. More time for pictures. More time to date my boyfriend husband. More time to get myself together. It could be a wild marvel and opportunity and I should try to focus on that than the fear and trepidation I have for my kids. Number One is flying. Number Two is ready….He just needs to jump…and I need to let him (and applaud!). I need to treasure the time I have with them together in the next few weeks and then try to let go. I think I can do this…. I know they can. Deep breath.

Fast and Furious.

Street art, NYC, Q . Cassetti, 2012Last Thursday, Rob and Alex roared down to NYC after a ribbon cutting to pick up Kitty and her possessions after being ousted from Alumni House at FIT. She peacefully stayed in the downstairs sewing room,  I joined them Friday evening after riding the lovely Cornell Campus to Campus bus leaving Ithaca at 6 and promptly getting into NYC in less than 4.5 hours. No stops…quick as can be. I sketched out possible tattoos I want to sell ( “Until death do us part”, and Lucky 13) on Etsy. It was fun…and a really nice break for me. Rob, Kitty and Alex waited up for me, and we had a late dinner at the River Cafe, NYC.

Rob and Kitty had the weekend on Governors Island with GlassLab. So, Alex and I had two days to ourselves. So, he and I walked up Bowery to the New Museum to see two very thought provoking shows(Ghost in the Machine  and Pictures from the Moon: Artists Holograms 1969-2008)that we both really enjoyed seeing and seeing together. The Ghost s how spoke more to me with imagery from paintings from the 20s, to interpretations of literature, music and embroidery, to how people interact with technology to interface with nature (stratosphere suits, cars, bikes, airplanes, diving bells, sailboats, submarines, spacesuits, rockets etc). Lots of kooks and kookery….but challenging none the less. Alex looked at things I blew by…and thanks to him, I really saw the show through his eyes and his total appreciation of the sublimely abstract. Sol Lewitt is a favorite of his. Wall graphics, tattoos and renaissance art top my list…but you know that. I like a lot of stuff. The New Museum is an amazing space with a great shop with very edgy things, a good selection of books and just enough to pick through. Then it was off to a this and that lunch at the Fiat Cafe (which Alex proclaimed as “perfect”). We ordered an antipasto, some fresh mozz, and a few bruschetta. Alex was in heaven.

We did a tea tasting at David’s Tea, a canadian chain that approaches tea the way gourmet food is sold with tastings, smelling, and customer education. Alex and I had Note: Babyfood type jars, clear with black screen printingfun chatting with the Tea Barista—enjoying his candor and wit. Smart people work for Davids.We bought some green tea that seemed palatable and not like a concoction of grass clippings. We did a walkthrough at Dean and Deluca with my taking pictures of things to bring home to my local foodies. Cupcakes and cookies are the rage…with less focus on fresh produce and more on meat/cheese/ bread and condiments. The funniest thing we saw was a granola called “Hippie Chow”. What a hoot. Low key packaging that is standing on humor to get the buyer to reach for the first package. Then hopefully, they “get em”.

Lots of clear glass or plastic packaging with single color (black or white) screenprinting on the front. The Yogurt to the right is an example of what we saw a lot of (including an heirloom tomatoe sauce, McClure Pickles etc). Lots of food with minimal/kraft paper packaging. Just to keep it in the front of our local food nation packaging. Nothing feels custom (even though much of it is)—but a clean humility is kind of the aesthetic that is presented by the hopelessly hip. There is a celebration of basics too( flour, salt, sugar)—that seems to be new.

Then, we shopped for shoes and nipped into exclusive mens stores for fun and to see what was cool. We got some Birkenstocks for Alex on sale as his were hand me downs from Rob and the bottoms were peeling off them. And then we got back to the hotel to meet the other two and see a little Olympics with my guy.

Untitled Restaurant at The Whitney with Kusama sculpture above the space, Q. Cassetti, 2012Sunday was Metropass day with mother and son. I showed him the difference in express and local trains. I pointed out the crosstown buses and how it works. We changed lines from the green to the yellow to the red…piecing together a ride to get from one point to another…helping Alex to realize that this is a skill he will have when he visits NYC from Hofstra. It was good to give him that time and point up. I worry about my kids…and Alex is alway reticent to get “out there” and try new things. Hopefully, the subway will not be one of those scary things he will not try.

Sunday was also another Q and Alex museum experience: The Whitney with see the  Yayoi Kusama show. Alex and I waited in line for well over an hour to just get tickets and then scored 2 of the free tickets to see the special installation of Fireflies on the Water. It was interesting as the Kusama show was another styles company sponsored art event (with crossover installations at the Museum and at the Louis Vuitton shop) mirroring the show we saw at the Temporary Contemporary Gallery in LA, the monumental show of the work, product, videos of Takashi Murakami.  Kusama is a product of her time—with self sponsored art events in Washington Square—very much in the Yoko Ono mode…with Murakami not riding on top of this style piece but integrating with it…and embracing it in his art.  but, it was a big show…and fun to see the work with Alexander.

We also saw a bit of the Whitney collection including a wonderful Walton Ford Turkey, and the Alexander Calder circus. Alex was a great companion—and seemed to take a lot in. From the Whitney to Aldo to get a pair of “real shoes”—something that spans birkenstocks and boat shoes…but isnt too dressy. So we got some dark blue “bucks” which he was delighted with. He must have tried on a dozen pairs of shoes to get to this decision…but we made a choice, and he was and still is charmed. Then, more subway time…to get to Peck Slip for the five o’clock looksee of the Olympics and to wait to meet up with Kitty and Alex.

Garmento, Q. Cassetti, 2012We met them at the Stone Street Tavern, a big beergarden in lower Manhatten.  The area the Stone Street Tavern occupies is shared with a half dozen restaurants and spans a small, wide alley that teams with people eating and drinking under huge umbrellas and european picnic tables. It is so curious the way beergardens have popped up all over NYC and Brooklyn—and how finally, New Yorkers are taking advantage of the big sidewalks and the culture around hanging out, out of doors. This is the kinder and gentler New York that we didnt live in…and welcome the change.

Monday, Kitty, Alex and I shopped for fabrics and trims in the Garment District in the morning. We saw beads and baubles, gold boullion, and embroidery, buttons, and bag trimmings, clasps and zippers, spandex and sparkles, sequins and feathers, mens suiting, and fishnet. We bought yards of spandex printed like a newspaper, a few yards of a lovely printed material with a Mary Blair style border, and a spectacular ombre that is a gradient from mustard to liliac and then back to mustard….with cream as part of the blend. More subway riding…back to the hotel to meet with Rob as we had Hempstead on the schedule to get Alex to his first Hofstra Orientation. And so we did.

We discovered that instead of Hofstra being on the edge of an edgy neighborhood, it turns out that Hofstra is on the edge of a gorgeous perfectly named area, Garden City. We found the Mineola train station and the Hempstead bus station—thanks to Rob knowing that we needed to center Alex in the neighborhood. We found his adorable dorm on campus, and got him registered for the early morning start with new classmates. We discovered a phenomenal restaurant in Garden City, Waterzooi, a belgian restaurant known for mussels, beer and waffles…Boy howdy, we are definintely going back there! It is a soup and shellfish thing…that we all basically took baths in. Alex was on time the next morning—with Hofstra cutting things off at exactly 8:45 a.m. to prevent the helicopter parents from  hanging on. Once again, I am always thrilled and happy with the way Hofstra does business along with the really nice and smart people we always meet.

It was chop chop on Tuesday after the drop off. We got in the minivan to get to the Governors Island Ferry to get over to pick up a half dozen totes filled with GlassLab product, sketches and models.  We got back on the ferry and high tailed it home.

We are home…for now. Alex is on the noon bus to Ithaca from Hempstead…and he figured it out! I have Farmers Market meeting this p.m. and then the home team for dinner….or at least, that is what I hope.

flurries

Farmers’ Market Mercantile on Main Street, Q. Cassetti, 2012Grassroots came and went. It was a few hot days and a few moderate days with nice music, an opportunity to visit with Kitty and Alex and friends, and the chance to see some of the sidebar activities which I now think improves the Grassroots experience (at least for me). I met a lovely person new to the community who knew me from my blog and work (which was a bit undoing as she had the pulse on the here and now of what was going on with my life). We saw all sorts of old Trumansburg friends, and made friends with folks we knew but really had a chance to talk and engage on a different level. The Horseflies were amazing as was Jenny Stearns (with Leah and Amelia being part of the Fire Choir). We loved Mary Lorson’s set in the Cabaret Hall…and the pick up music in the new beer garden (for this year). The Stringbusters arrived on their own and played an unscheduled gig to all of our delight. Plus, it was really nice just hanging out with my boyfriend…and taking it all in. I am so blessed with such a great companion and hubby.

I am immersing myself in folk art. Gotta get going on some images, and need a trigger, a push to get it going. I have been sidetracked by the cameos and plan on getting them to Etsy soon to move it from a crazy obsession to a cash factor. They are beautiful and by combining different charms, they begin to tell little stories that I am enchanted by. Stupid, I know, but none the less charmed.

I am looking at Alexander Girard and books from the Girard collection of the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe and hoping that this will force my hand to move and ideas to flow. We will see. If not, the funny tattoos I am doing for a few bands will have to be the trigger to do more work…even if it is a body of tattoos just to get really good at it. They have been fun as I can use all the cool tools I love in illustrator, and work with making the type really sing. Who knows, I could be on the train…and not realize I have left the station. Plus, there are more 1 hour portraits to do. The newest Lincoln is at the top of the page here>> Next one, Susan B. Anthony.

Another flurry begins tomorrow. Just to confirm, no one ever said this was going to be the most relaxing summer on the books. Matter of fact, it is right up there with the nuttiest.

Alex and Rob leave tomorrow p.m. to pick up Kitty to evacuate (“check out”) of her dorm in Manhattan. The FIT folks were inflexible (but maybe that is okay as Kitty didn’t get clarity on when she needed to be gone. The last thought she had was well into August, so we planned accordingly). Kitty will be sitting in the lobby with her stuff until the boys can come and get her after the ribbon cutting Rob is participating in at the Museum tomorrow a.m.

I will follow end of day on Friday on the sublime and fabulous Cornell bus (Campus to Campus), getting into NYC at 10:30 p.m. We will have the weekend in NYC with Kitty and Rob working on Governors Island with GlassLab. Alex and I are free so we may do a little “be in the city” tutorial with map reading, location identification, and subway/bus riding. I offered up a few options and surprisingly, this was the one that struck Alex as fun…or maybe not fun, but the right thing to do given his new status as Hofstra student. Then Monday, get Alex out to Hempstead to have a 3 day orientation at Hofstra.

We will bring Kitty home—and have Alex take the coach back from Long Island to Ithaca for the first time. He is not liking that idea very much…but hey, we cannot be a prince forever.  Time to grow some wings….who knows, he might like it. There are direct buses from Hempstead to Ithaca…so it cannot be that bad..unlike the chutes and ladders Kitty needs to climb in order to get home to Central NY.

We will all be together again next Thursday/Friday…and maybe we can have a few weeks of being together, enjoying each other’s company, the lake, the cloud bowl, our pets, our ideas and thoughts. This time will be a treasure…bliss. Looking forward to it.

Patchouli scented carnies

Farmers’ Market Mercantile, Q. Cassetti, 2012Bless Nigel. He is the funniest person in fully grasping the whole Tburg/ Grassroots thing—captioning ideas, coining ideas, personifying types of people. He captured one type as a patchouli scented carney…with his making up imaginary conversations, and exchanges. The tattooed and tiedyed are all in force…randomly walking across the streets without looking after having clogged Rabbit Run with tents and campers getting ready of their festival. Grassroots management changed the rules this year with respect to people getting in the gates to set up for reserved camping. It was kooky time today with streams of cars clogging Camp Street, Elm Street, Camp Street, Rabbit Run in festival preparation. Facebook is winking and blinking with local folks upset with this change in the traffic patterns here in the Burg.

Nigel had us all yucking it up as today is day that every Tburger anticipates like Christmas, the opening of GrassRoots Festival of Music and Art. The crew is cranked. Last night was the opener at BarAngus with lovely Amy Glicklich Puryear and her Double E band as well as Bob Champion and the American Hell Drivers. It was an amazing time with great music, really fun and interesting people, delicious food created as a gift for the attendees, and the cool evening air after the hot, humid day.

However, in preparation, Alan Vogel and Rob honchoed the annual “Community Build” for Grassroots which was decided to be our Market Manager/ Customer Service Window at the Trumansburg Farmers Market. A team of less than 2 dozen people, many of them the top of the local field of craftsmen, artisans, artists, managers who have given time and skill to this project which is showcased at Grassroots and then moved to our market for next Wednesday’s market. This 10’x10’ building will house an adult side and a kids’ market/store side along with a ladder to the second story seating space (complete with a fire pole to slide down to the first floor). I will have a bulletin board, a clock and shelves for the manager. We can amend / add things as soon as we settle into the final space (maybe a space for banners on the roof). And those amazing guys slugged it out during the blistering hot weather to build this beautiful add to our market in such an efficient manner. We are so so lucky.

The third space

I style my life around that of Rumplestiltskin. You remember him, dont you? He was the man who squirreled himself away forever, never interacting with society, and finally at some point, joining society after missing decades. Another memorable point of Rumplestilkskin was his amazing beard and appearance. I am somewhat in that mode too (without the beard). However, it is his total cluelessness that I relate to. Having kids, having a job and not much else, put me into this place where I was not hip, not clued in, not on trend, on point or in any way relevant except to the ones I interacted with. Now, with that dynamic changing, I am coming out of my cave and discovering all that went on during my hibernation.

We spent 24 hours at Sagamore with some amazing and engaging people to talk about the value of conversation, what it means, how it can change lives, how it can be the quiet underpinning for personal and public change, engagement. Conversation can make us more human, more humane, and more thoughtful creatures than any media we have. Rob and I knew it was a wonderful thing as we talked and planned, plotted and imagined ideas around conversation and how programming and awareness, quiet teaching and involvement could be so galvanizing and so right for a place like Sagamore which is the soft place that people can go and be fearless.

From this talk, everyone took something different home. For we Trumansburgers, we were so amazed and delighted to see that the concept of the third place (part of my Rumplestiltskin lack of awareness)—was something we had in spades in our little village. If you need a little help with “huh? what is the third place?” this is what Wikipedia says:

“The third place (also known as Third Space) is a term used in the concept of community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. In his influential book The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg (1989, 1991) argues that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.
Oldenburg calls one’s “first place” the home and those that one lives with. The “second place” is the workplace — where people may actually spend most of their time. Third places, then, are “anchors” of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction. All societies already have informal meeting places; what is new in modern times is the intentionality of seeking them out as vital to current societal needs. Oldenburg suggests these hallmarks of a true “third place”: free or inexpensive; food and drink, while not essential, are important; highly accessible: proximate for many (walking distance); involve regulars – those who habitually congregate there; welcoming and comfortable; both new friends and old should be found there.”

It is important that we all have a third space. We have Gimme! and the Farmers’ Market. We have the library and Shur Save. We have had Simply Red and the Pourhouse. The Rongo also used to be a third space, but it has not been cultivated. I guess we Tburgers love our third, fourth and fifth spaces and actually, we go about creating them. One of our favorite spaces is happening this week. Yes, folks, its the national holiday for the Evil City (Ithaca) or even the hamlet of Rongovia! It is GrassRoots week! May the walls of beer be built, the tents set up with tie dyed goodies to buy, and the locals are posting parking signs at the school, on their property. Rob leapt out of bed as if it was Christmas morning to get up to go to the community build—with a bounce in his step and safety glasses on his nose.

The community build for this year will be the market managers booth for the Farmers Market. It is going to be adorable. It is a 10’x10’ footprint that will enclose the eyesore of the market electric box, and will accomodate the manager and one other, with a tall window to sell our shopping bags, our teeshirts, and to do the token sales for EBT. We have had a folding table and wonderful Alan V. suggested that this years build at GrassRoots was to be for the market. Two years ago it was for our wonderful bandstand. So, Here it is, day three (Monday). The structure is solid (Larch, the favorite wood of all Tburgers), and they are beginning to frame it in. I took doughnuts, fresh peaches and beehive pins to them today…and plan in a few minutes to take a bunch of cold and frosties over to make the afternoon a little better. Gotta sign off for now. Beer run!

freefall

Trainyard, NYC, Q. Cassetti 2012They really weren’t kidding when parents say to their kids “This hurts me more than it hurts you”. It’s a mean thing to say because within the context of the kid, its bad enough…but there is truth to being there with your kid when the slapdown happens. I know it’s life and in order to grow and develop we all need setbacks and setdowns, but must we really keep having to hit the wall over and over again not only for ourselves but for our kids. My heart aches for my hopeful son…who wants to pass a test—and needs to buckle down to do it. And unfortunately he needs to focus, be mad and just plain do it. I think a channelled anger might do the trick as he is too trusting to get this one right. When he started to verbally flaggellate himself starting with comparing himself to his friends…and keeping on that channel, I had to seriously tell him to shut up. The only person in this game is him…and no one else. We just need to put our shoulder to it and keep pushing. We need to get right back up on the horse and try again. My heart aches.

The Farmers Market was blissful last night. We had a bunch of new vendors—and it was happily full. People were shopping, eating, hanging out. It was so nice to see the buzz that was there—and though I go to the market to “represent”, it was a pleasure to see our farmers, caterers, and artisans all selling well (some selling out) on a hot summer evening. It didnt hurt that we had the Zydeco Trail Riders who picked up the feeling—-and encouraged people to stay for just the music and the Cayuga Creamery fresh iced cream. I stayed late to see what my friend Stefan was up to, catch up on local doings and news and keep an eye on the wind down. From what we could see, last night was the best night second to our first opener. The parking was full…and people stayed. It will be curious to hear what happens on Saturday. We will be coming back from Sagamore for Alex’s performance of Oklahoma…which really will be the kick off to the summer for us.

There is hope for more events at the Market. Next year, I would love to see both a Wednesday and Saturday market along with bi-weekly or weekly Flea Markets. Someone mentioned a beer festival! That would be fun too (I wonder if this would be a problem)—-and promote the Finger Lakes Beer Trail!

Cameo Bracelets, Q. Cassetti, 2012 (available for sale)…

I am cranking up my Accucut Craft—and am die cutting a bunch of boxes for my cameo bracelets that I am making. Its pretty great…and they look pretty polished to my delight. Next step, sell them. The inset pictures are some of the pieces I have going….Some prettier things, some scarier  things, some terrifying things. All to grace a person!  We are putting the pins and necklaces on cards, and then I will be ready to show those too.

Mermaids, squid, octopus, Abraham Lincoln and bumblebees. The miasma of being lost and floating.

Whirlie Bird

First Round/GlassLab/ Soft Serve cones., Q Cassetti, Eric Meek, GlassLab team, 2012I am in a whirl of work, thinking about cameos, soaps, molding, resin casting, and the things one can do with jump rings. I am thinking of squid, octopus, and of all things, Baba Yaga. Its the mixmaster of no focus. And I am the mix mistress of no focus. I am waiting—impatiently, to see what is going to snap me out of the funk. So, I am learning a lot about molds, epoxy resins, my new accucut craft machine, and soap molding. Kookie. Who knows—resin squid? squid soap? A witch who rides an octopus? I am a bit confounded. Soft Serve Squid?

Speaking of Soft Serve. The picture to the left is of the samples we generated last week with GlassLab at Governors Island. I think the direction is good, but we will need to work on the proportions of the cone and the taper of the top (with the curl) of the ice cream. Part of the research that keeps me spinning but not engaging, was research on fake food…to see how soft serve is rendered. Here are a few good ones:
• Just Dezine 
• Fake Food made in Japan (the best) 

Plus, there is a very cool nugget I discovered which was Kappabashi Market on Kappabashi Street which is recognized as THE place for plastic food models. I searched Flickr just to get an eyeful and I am ready to put the plastic down and buy a ticket to get myself to that amazing place. I was secretly hoping that I could surface a wonderful online resource that brings this terrific Japanese display art to us in the US. I made a few hits, but not my dream opportunity. I checked AliExpress and DHGate as well (Chinese vendors) being disappointed that there was no real resource for this sort of thing. Curious? Right? There are complex soap molds on ebay that rock the house. Yes, I am fried…and am itching to hit on something to illustrate. 

Rob has been on the road since Saturday and will be home tomorrow.  He has been really hitting it between the hot weekend on Governors Island to meetings in Manhattan. Alex is needing to be shuttled down and back to the State Theatre for Oklahoma and Tech Week as they are going live this Friday/Saturday/Sunday. We have been having really nice chats during our commute—about the music of Rogers and Hammerstein, the meaning of the show, the time of the show, lighting, and how musical theatre speaks to my boy particularly the music. He is quite interesting…and if I live in his zone, it is fascinating to hear what he had to say, how he interprets his world, and where he gets excited.

Alec and Alex’s graduation party was on a very hot and humid evening. I had injured my knee (PCL) and the doctor said no to my being on my feet cooking  hamburgers for 50. So, we had pizza delivered.  I made a two complete 4 gallon batches of lemonade, and we went through 10 bags (!) of ice! At least everyone was hydrated in this blistering heat. Our guests were entertained with lawn games, walking around the back forty in little groups. They played “Kan Jam” and Kubb. Ben M. brought his DJ set up and played a great mix of very listenable music. Alex was a gentleman and such a help to me, a prince indeed.

Needing to prep. Friday is opening night for Alex. The tickets are ordered. However, Rob and I have been invited to participate in brainstorming an idea at Sagamore. So we are doing an up and back to the Adirondacks Friday/Saturday so as to be able to see 2 out of the 3 performances of Mr. Alexander in Oklahoma. Need to charge  up the phone and get going….maybe even get some laundry in.

Speaking of birds, Mr. White was peacefully digesting and giving himself a bath after another outright murder of a big blue jay. All the other jays are divebombing him and screaming. Quite a scene, and Percival B. White couldn’t care. Just another day for a serial murderer.

True Love 4 Ever

Whoa. What a wild ride.

Alex and I got into NYC with no events except the obvious, being greeted by high humidity, high heat...master blaster summertime. We were dropped off at the Cornell Club, and went west looking for a cab, which wasn't a problem. We got to our hotel, which had fixed the systematic air conditioning failure that Rob was treated to. We put our things down with hope to get a snack and take walk. I was stunned by the heat, so we had our snack and went to J. Crew to get shorts for Alex (he is delighted with them, telling me that they are "cute"(his words). We met up with the jolly Kitty Robbie team--and had dinner with them and the hot glass team (a treat).

The next day was a full Governors Island Day. Kitty was on an early ferry to get to the site to pack the work from the day before, set up chairs, and take lunch orders. It is amazing to watch our girl engage--and to see how those experiences with the planning and designing for Hampshire's theatre productions yield a planning, thoughtful, proactive worker that I did not have any idea existed inside our dear girl. However, we ferried over around an hour later and stayed the entire afternoon. We walked down the new New York Boulevard--along the East River--another inspired park (very reminiscent of the amazing High Line park) to the Ferries--after buying a bag of italian goodies from JoeMozz (joemozz.com) which caused Alex to think that maybe, just maybe being in the NYC area might be an amazing place to go to college. We saw helicopter, many types of watercraft and ferries, along with little plantings, nice chairs and chaise for people to stretch out in the breezy riverside park--to take in the sunshine and have a free day in nature. This is not the NYC we lived in. Kinder and gentler. Much more inviting as a place to live. It makes me proud that friends of ours were part of changing this paradigm.

The Ferries are clean, well organized and run, and a friendly/fun introduction to a blistering day. It is a breezy, free way to see a bit of NY harbor, recalibrate from urban to rural as getting to Governors Island is a distant park--with the NY skyline as a backdrop to the grass and nature the island promises. It was good to be in the shade, watching the hot glass presentations with designers Eric Ku, and brother/designers Chris and Dominick Leong. For me, it was the right thing to do---to see how others responded to the same input I had, to watch the crowd, to see how the GlassLab team worked and worked with the designer. So when it came to being my turn, I was ready to see if we could make a soft serve ice cream cone. First one was close....second one was fabulous! It was so much fun--with the cone being made as a hollow form, and then a conical form stuck inside to support the hot glass swirl--which went on just as I had hoped, like a coil pot. The crowd was with me as the thing we were working on was something tangible, something fun, something that caused the families of kids to come to the stage and watch closely. I was enjoying it so much, I asked Steve if I could have a headset and he and I had a little repartee--the Louis Prima and Keeley Smith of GlassLab. The call and response approach to talking about the glass was really fun, and got some energy going for the crowd and the glass team.

I loved working with GlassLab. Why? It is a rare thing to be able to work in a making environment where an idea can be spun into a reality by a team of thinking, problem-solving glass designers--who not only can figure out the idea could be made into reality--but then actually doing it--working as one--thinking doing acting. This team thinks, acts and does at 100% alertness--always thinking, pushing, reconsidering during this graceful process of interweaving skill, talent, and smarts trading off as often as the reheat door is opened. GlassLab personifies the power of collaboration.

Prototyping in this efficient way with more brains on the idea is singular--so getting from testing an idea to actually finalizing and finishing is fast with a finished piece worthy of talking about in an hour and a half. The team made 3 complete cones and a single cake cone in less than an hour and a half. I am blown out of my chair and cannot wait until I get another shot with this remarkable group of glass professionals--to see what we can do, what we can learn, what we can feel. It is a powerful thing that this Museum of Glass has--How to keep it going...and have more of us collaborate with with team--is key to seeing the world change it's view of glass, glassmaking and the amazing teams. I am a believer and disciple now. True Love 4ever.

what a treat

Alex and I are sitting happily all plugged in, and rolling on the magnificent Cornell Campus to Campus bus. He is busy with music and creating playlists on YouTube, and I am saying hi to you. Rob and Kitty on on hot Governor's Island staying in a hotel were the air conditioning is broken throughout the entire building. It promises to be a scorcher,, so having a cool, quiet time on the bus will be welcome. We have comfy seats, a place to plug in, tray tables, foot rests, coffee, soda and fruit. Plus, we have a very cheery, nice driver who seems to have a little comedy act to make it even more friendly and neighborly. I think we will be planning to do this again real soon. It is so so much more nice than the public bus.

I went crazy with herbs and scents at Sweetland CSA yesterday bringing home some lettuce, a big chinese cabbage and then big bags of cilantro, basil and mint. I am chopping the cilantro and basil (separately) with a touch of olive oil and freezing for the time when we need to whomp up salsa or pesto. Alex is still working off the pesto I made a few weeks ago. So the leaves were flying last night in preparation. I need to get this stuff out of the way as I have party prepping on the list for next Friday--that cannot deter me. So much so, I am going to do the CSA cha cha on Tuesday next week to leave Friday open for just that.

I was busy looking at lubok work and think I might give it another spin to get my head moving again. Still in creative free fall.

July starts tomorrow. Its going to be a nutty month with GrassRoots, with our participation in a pilot program at Sagamore, the GlassLab event tomorrow,Hofstra's orientation, Oklahoma prodction and more. This is all outside of a busy 9-5 experience. I will just need to hang on and try to keep moving in a positive direction.
Please try to stay cool. We will be.