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Go fly a kite

Maybe 2015 is all about taking the kite situation up a notch…

Sure it’s still in the 70′s (global warming, anyone?) but the leaves have changed and fall is in the air, even if it is floating in on an unseasonably warm breeze. Autumn is my favorite season for kite flying, and these Fredericks & Mae flyers are just about the most lovely ones I’ve ever seen.

In my perfect, clutter-free, all-the-time-in-the-world life, we would walk along the coastline, flying one of these kites high above us us, and then perhaps return to a perfectly decorated table covered with bouquets of fall leaves and settle into a game of dominos, or perhaps darts in the back yard, whilst sipping hot apple cider.

Here are the darts and my domino set of choice for your viewing pleasure.

It’s nice to think about… and only a few purchases and a DIY bouquet away from being a reality.

(at least in the Instagram version of my family life in which we never argue, wear beautiful clothes and cook sumptuous meals sourced from local farmers who also happen to be our close friends…)

Are these my new kicks?

style

Shearling Evi booties by Zero Maria Cornejo.

I mean, sure they’re made of ponyskin, they’re mostly white, and they’re not even officially called sneakers (they are booties, for what it’s worth.) But the kicks I’ve been rocking for the past few years have seen better days, and I am beginning to search for the next pair.

And Maria Cornejo made them, which is justification enough.

Monday, Monday– or more links about Halloween aftermath, elections and cooking with kids…

links

This is my favorite photo of this year’s Halloween costume largely because you can’t see any of the cockamamie hand sewn seams.

Allah Akbar, Halloween is over. And in an effort to somehow counter all of the high fructose corn syrup that my daughter has ingested in the past 48 hours, I’m thinking of making Melissa Clark’s shiitake/tofu stir fry from the New York Times. It’s about as far away from Skittles as a person can get and still be potentially appetizing.

I would also like to declare that this will be the last year that I sew my daughter’s costume together by hand. Despite my new handy dandy needle threader, this year’s silver witch dress and cape almost sent me over the brink. I am currently considering sewing machines and am pining over the Bernina classic mechanical (ie totally analogue) models… Swiss precision at it’s best.

Speaking of Halloween costumes, please please take a minute to read Lena Dunham’s brilliant and hysterical piece about a lifetime of failed costumes. I laughed so hard I cried (and I was on the subway, reading on my phone, which is not an atmosphere conducive to such public displays…) After you read it you should subscribe to Lenny, which is a bi-weekly newsletter I actually look forward to receiving.

You may not be focused on it, but tomorrow is Election Day in NYC. There are a few important races out there for some districts… find out if you live in one of them (and who is running for what positions) by checking out the NYC Voter Guide and entering your address. Not that any of you guys have put this off till the last minute, of course, but just in case…

Probably the reason we have all but forgotten about tomorrow’s races centers around the fact that the entire country has been obsessed with the battle for the presidency, despite the fact that we don’t vote till next year. I have largely boycotted the whole thing until now (having to hear the words front runner applied to Donald Trump is almost more than I can bear), but am now beginning to pay attention. This 2016 US Presidential Race cheat sheet from the Atlantic has been a perfect place to start.

Oooooh… a chic (ie: black) french press coffee maker. Because black is the new black.

Or maybe, teaching your kids to cook is the new black… one can never be too sure. Check out what James Beard winning chef Hugh Acheson has to say on the subject and decide for yourself.

Looking at other people looking at themselves

art

Or, in other words, putting this entire #selfie thing into an historical context that suddenly pushes the whole genre away from a general societal egotistical psychosis and towards a central part of the way human beings make sense of themselves and the world around them.

A Kaia Miller self portrai, as seen in a video as part of the show "ME" at Ricco Maresca gallery in NYC.

A Kaia Miller self portrai, as seen in a video as part of the show “ME” at ricco Maresca in NYC.

My friend Emily told me that her 12 year old daughter Kaia was going to be featured n a photography exhibit at Rico Maresca gallery in Chelsea. I looked at her Instagram (@growingrainbows) and was intrigued, but I have been growing increasingly skeptical of the constant flow of selfies and the apparent myopic obsession with ourselves that they seem to represent, so, to be honest, I was also a bit worried about what kind of person Kaia was growing into.

But I love Emily and I dutifully went to check out her kid’s work, just like I’d like my friends to look at my kid’s stuff if and when the time ever comes. And as I read the press release and looked around at the other work in the show, I was suddenly able to see that some of today’s selfies really are a part of an evolving body of work that is well worth checking out, sitting with, and mulling over.

Kaia Miller’s work is presented as a video, played on an iPad, in which the artist talks about the motivations behind each of her photographs. The images are for sale, but the only way to view them is via this video. And I found myself glued to the screen, curious about how she manipulated some of the images, impressed by her thoughtfulness, and captivated by the parallel universe digital fairy world she has created. I might not want to live there, but it’d be a nice place for an expedition-style vacation.

The show also includes Photomatic images from the 1940′s, and other surreal self portraits from artists like André Kertész and Berenice Abbott. Some images are familiar, while some I’ve never seen before. But they are all evidence of people grappling with self and self image and their place in the world.

self prtrait with gorilla mask soji Ueda

Self portrait with gorilla mask (1975) has always been one of my favorite images by Shoji Ueda.

It’s a show well worth seeing… but tomorrow is the last day, so hop to it. If you miss seeing the images live, there is always the gallery website, and a lovely piece by Adam Gopnik in the New Yorker that you can peruse at your leisure.

ME
Photographic Self Portraits
Through October 31 2015
Ricco Maresca Gallery
529 W 20th Street, third floor

Yeasterday, at some point…

photography

This year’s model. Kid designed and husband carved.

And now, on to the costume…

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Yesterday, at some point is a series of photographs that describe a moment I experienced during the previous day. The posts are meant to be stand alone images, though at times I can’t control myself, and I end up expanding the caption into a more lengthy bit of text. Hopefully the extra information is useful, or at least interesting. If not, feel free to ignore it.

Monday, Monday– or more links about podcasts

links

Ok so this is not the Long Island Expressway mentioned below, but it is a road that I have driven on during the past year. In Hawaii. I wish I were there now, to be honest. Podcast or no podcast.

I have discovered, after many many hours of experience, that nothing turns a potentially endless drive down the LIE into a captivating and sometimes enlightening adventure faster than a good story.

Like the Radiolab podcast about real life Dr Doolittles who are actually figuring out how to talk to the animals.

Or the second episode of The Mystery Show in which Andrea, a writer who nobody has ever heard of, discovers she may have one very high profile fan.

And then perhaps it is fitting to use technology to listen to Sherry Turkle talk (on Note To Self) about the psychology of our relationships with… well… technology. Because I would like to know if, when we get married, we are also marrying our intended’s smartphones.

Terry Gross interviews Gloria Steinem. Need I say more?

Sometimes it’s just cool to learn abut a phenomenal person who you may have known very little about before. Like this State of the Re:Union episode about Bayard Rustin, the black, gay, Quaker pacifist who schooled Martin Luther King in the ways of non-violence and was the unofficial architect of the March On Washington.

Halloween is coming (are your costumes ready?) so perhaps some real life scary stories are just the thing right about now.

And then no list of podcasts is complete without the gold standard, the shining crown jewel of them all: Serial. Which most people have already listened to, but I have only just discovered. I am on Episode 2 and I am tempted to just blow everything else off (including making my kid’s Halloween costume) to just listen to the entire season at once.

Apple curry coconut soup

food

A cure for what ails you… Apple coconut curry shiitake soup. Delicious.

In the interest of winning the epic life long battle against the dreaded cold and flu season, and because we are going apple picking tomorrow and are going to need all sorts of things to do with the bushel of apples we are sure to bring home, I present to you this incredibly delicious, warming, wholesome, flavorful (nay, spicy if truth be told) and healing apple coconut curry soup.

It started with an e mail from John Gallagher (of Learning Herbs fame) with the subject line: “Is an apple a healing herb?” Naturally I had to find out, so I opened the message and discovered this recipe from Learning Herbs contributor Rosalie de la Foret. Before laying down the cooking directions, she shares a bit about the healing properties of each ingredient (Apples are loaded with antioxidants, garlic boosts the immune system and shiitake mushrooms have been shown to support cardiovascular health) just in case we need any more motivation.

And then we are off to the races. You can get all sorts of details about the nutrition, plus the recipe in it’s original form, on LearningHerbs.com.
But I’ve laid it all out here just to make it easier.

I’ve been eating this soup all week and man has it hit the spot!

Coconut Apple Curry Soup

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
2 small apples, cubed into small pieces (I like the more tart apples like McIntosh)
2 medium potatoes, cubed into small pieces (I like Yellow Finn potatoes)
1 quart vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup coconut milk
Salt to taste (I added about 2 teaspoons)
2 handfuls fresh shiitakes, cut into quarters (If using dry shiitakes, rehydrate the mushrooms in hot water and then cut to size)
Parsley for garnish (optional)

Begin by melting the butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add the minced onion and sauté until translucent. Add the fresh ginger, curry powder, and freshly ground pepper. Stir for one minute or until the spices are fragrant.

Bring it to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Add salt to taste. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Using an immersion blender or a regular blender, purée the soup until smooth. Return the soup to the pan and add the shiitakes.

Simmer for 10 minutes or until shiitakes are cooked. Stir frequently. Add salt and pepper as desired. Optional parsley for garnish. Makes four large servings

Yes, dear, video games can be beautiful

kids - tech

Monument Valley, brought to us mortals by ustwo.

In my (overly simplistic) world view, there are basically two kinds of video games. The good ones of my youth (space invaders and pong) and the horrible ones of today (like soldier of fortune and those overly saccharine ones where you give a beauty makeover to a cat.)

And yet to be honest, I must admit that the above statement isn’t true. I’ve even written about some compelling video games and apps on this very blog. And as my daughter gets older, I find myself looking for more of these types of digital experiences. Because like I have always said… Video games are not the enemy. Bad video games are the enemy.

Enter Monument Valley.

It’s simple, but not stupid. It features a princess who is an intrepid explorer and has some complicated back story that we haven’t figured out yet because we have yet to travel far enough into the game. I say we, because this game is kind of like falling backwards into an Escher drawing that moves in ways that are so complex it often requires my daughter and I working together to figure out how to get our valiant heroine to the next level.

But isn’t that the perfect thing? A video game that brings us together, stretches our minds, and pleases our eyes whilst refraining from pounding our brains into mush with horrible music, bad graphics and loud noises? A tool for enlarging our imaginations rather than numbing our senses? A digital universe even my vinyl listening, rotary phone dialing, Waldorf-adjacent self can get behind?

Yes. Yes it is. And here’s the trailer for you to check out, so you know what I mean.

And suddenly, it’s cold and flu season again…

health/beauty - kids

The makings of my family’s first line of defense against colds and flu.

It. Has. Begun.

On Thursday, we were all walking around in t-shirts. By Friday, my daughter was home sick with a runny nose and a low grade fever. The vast majority of my plans flew out the window, and I spent the day watching movies, drinking tea, reading and making this seasons’ batch of Elderberry syrup.

Elderberry is my favorite first line of defense against colds and flu… We drink the dark, flavorful elderberry tea almost every day during the fall and winter as a preventative measure. However, when the symptoms actually hit, I find the syrup to be even more effective. (The University of Maryland Medical Center has some good literature about Elderberry and how it works, if you want to go deep.)

This season, I found a recipe (from Wellness Mama) that includes ginger, cinnamon and cloves, three herbs which add a pleasing sweetness and complexity to the syrup, as well as their own immune boosting and antibiotic properties.

Here’s the recipe in all of its glory:

Black Elderberry Syrup, from Wellness Mama

Ingredients

⅔ cup black elderberries
3½ cups of water
2 Tablespoons fresh or dried ginger root
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
½ teaspoon cloves or clove powder
1 cup raw honey (we get from our farmer’s market)

Instructions

Pour water into medium saucepan and add elderberries, ginger, cinnamon and cloves (do not add honey!)

Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour until the liquid has reduced by almost half. At that point, remove from heat and let cool enough to be handled. Pour through a strainer into a glass jar or bowl.

Discard the elderberries (or compost them!) and let the liquid cool to lukewarm. When it is no longer hot, add 1 cup of honey and stir well.

When honey is well mixed into the elderberry mixture, pour the syrup into a pint sized mason jar or 16 ounce glass bottle of some kind.

Here’s our fresh supply, ready to do battle against the evil viruses that plague us all this time of year…

Standard dose is ½ tsp to 1 tsp for kids and ½ Tbsp to 1 Tbsp for adults. If the flu does strike, take the normal dose every 2-3 hours instead of once a day until symptoms disappear.

5 movies I’d like to show at our school’s movie night next month

kids

Once a year, my daughter’s elementary school hosts a movie night. Kids come, all excited, some in PJ’s with sleeping bags, to eat pizza and popcorn and watch a movie. Their parents drink wine, eat cheese and hang out in the back. All in all a great night for the entire family. So far, we’ve seen Ponyo and The Lego Movie (not bad, right?) and now it’s time to choose the film for this year’s shindig.

Here’s what I might screen, were I the person in charge (which thankfully I am not):

The secret World of Arrietty is a modern Japanese anime take on the beloved novel The Borrowers by Mary Norton. The main character is an adventurous girl, which is always a good thing, and the action takes place in a tiny imaginary world inside of our normal one that, to this day, makes me wonder whenever a thimble goes missing.

The Iron Giant is one of my all time favorite movies. It is an old-school feeling cartoon that rails against the military industrial complex while celebrating the individualism and compassion that makes this world of ours truly great. Plus it stars a giant robot that you can ride on. What’s not to love?

And while we’re on the topic of cultural criticism, Wall-E, an action packed love story of two robots who manage to help bring humanity back to the human race after a seven century hiatus from Earth, might be one of the most profound films your kid will see… at least while they’re still little.

Song of the Sea tells the otherworldly story of a mother and daughter who live between our world and the mystical world of the Selkies– mythological creatures who live primarily in the sea. It is kind of like entering the most beautiful lava lamp/Escher drawing combination imaginable… you may never want to leave their world once you’ve experienced it…

In the spirit of The Lego Movie, Big Hero 6 is one of those films that looks like it’s going to be one of those lame one-dimensional kid action animated films but is actually thoughtful, intelligent and grapples with complex issues (grief, healing as more powerful than hurting, loyalty) with finesse. Actually, Common Sense Media says this is for ages 7+, and they may be right, but I couldn’t help putting this on the list. I mean, these kids are New Yorkers. They can handle it.