December 30, 2008 - Joy and sadness

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I spent the last week with some of my family amidst much turbulent weather—ice, snow, fog, rain, cold and winds. But all in all we stayed safe and happy, ate too much, and enjoyed each other's company. Another Christmas past.

Madison is breaking records with snow fall this December. We're not jumping for joy but at least we've had less ice and a lot of the snow has melted. But there's much more on the way and we're all bracing for a long winter. I'll keep you posted.

Over the past years movie watching has been a big part of the Christmas holiday for me and family. Lots of leisure time means lots of time to enjoy movies. I have no idea how many movies we watched but here's a few. First there was "Wanted". A totally bizarre fantasy about a group of assassins with extraordinary and totally unbelievable skill sets. It didn't do much for me. We also saw "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and I liked it a lot. I had seen a review that didn't recommend it so I was hesitant. But it was a really nice story about love, growing old and growing young. It's very long but it held my attention and it kept me guessing as to where it was all going. And my sister finally talked me into watching "Mama Mia." Although I resisted you can't help but get into it if only for the catchy songs. There were more including marathons of "A Christmas Story" which has been a part of our family Christmas for many years.

The hit of the holiday was experiencing the Wii game machine. My brother-in-law  got one for father's day and my niece got her husband one for Christmas. I was curious having seen all the buzz about it over the last year. And it is fun. We played tennis, golf, archery, figure skating, volleyball, snowboarding, go-cart racing, bowling, billiards, and the silliest of all, cow racing. I have to say it was as entertaining to watch as it was to play. I get it now. It's great entertainment for small and large groups as well as on your own. Worth the price? I'm still deciding. And as far as the exercise benefits go, you do get a great work out for one of your arms. But be careful. I came home with a sore wrist from all the twisting and erratic movements. It does get you off the couch and laughing at the very least but it's hardly a substitute for the real thing.

And now the sadness. I came home to an email from a long time friend. It said that two friends of ours were killed in a car accident on their way to a family Christmas in Indiana, not far from where I was. I'll leave the details for my next post but it was a shock and terribly sad. So with joy comes sadness. And that's life.

December 13, 2008 - Tales of Chi-town

Spent a bit of time in Chicago recently. Some friends and I decided it would be great to see a live taping of one of our favorite radio shows on NPR—Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. Each week on the radio you can test your knowledge against some of the best and brightest in the news and entertainment world while figuring out what's real news and what's made up. It's a great show and very funny. The show is taped in the Chicago Chase Auditorium right next to Daly Plaza in the Loop. We had a blast. It takes about two hours to tape the show. There are 3 celebrity panelists, an MC, Peter Sagal, and Carl Kasell, a legendary newscaster who's been doing NPR's Morning Edition since 1979, and you've never heard him like this. In fact the main prize for the call-in contestants is Carl recording a greeting for your home answering machine. Every week they have a celebrity guest who plays a game called "It's not my job", a series of questions that have absolutely nothing to do with the guest's background, just to make it interesting. In the past they've had Tom Hanks, Tom Brokaw, and Michael Hayden, Director of the CIA. Sometimes the guests are on the phone but we were lucky to have a live appearance by Denise Leary, a very irreverent comedian who is currently starring in the FX channel's Rescue Me. Check out Wait Wait Don't Tell Me on the weekends if you ever get the chance. And even better get to a live taping. I haven't laughed that much in a very long time. Below is my mug in front of the stage before the taping courtesy of Kristin. She also took a photo during the show, and after they warned us not to take any flash pictures her flash accidently went off. No one was more shocked than Kristin. Ed and I would have denied knowing her at that point if it meant missing the rest of the show. We also saw Jersey Boys, a musical about the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, had some great food and went to the One-of-a-Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart, one of the best art fairs in the Midwest. 

The shot above is out our hotel window and shows the progress of the newest skyscraper, The Trump Tower. Below is the Famous "Bean" sculpture in Millennium Park. The last time I was in Chicago, almost 3 years ago, they had it covered up for repairs. I guess they also had to add some texture to the top of it as it was blasting intense sunlight into quite a few office buildings. 

And one more little tidbit leftover from Thanksgiving. I made a few deserts for the big dinner—a Pumpkin/Orange Bread Pudding, a Maple Pecan Pie, and a Pear Cranberry and Pecan Pie. All on my stove top ready to go. The bread pudding was supposed to have a rich whip cream topping with white pepper but I'll save that for another time.

November 26, 2008 - Thanksgiving

This is to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. My life is full and content and all of you have made it so. It's a tough year for many. I feel truly blessed that I have so much and hope to give much back over the next year. I'll be spending the day with a great group of friends and I'm sure the food will be amazing. 

We had our first snow of the season this week. So I went outside and took a few pics near my house. Tonight I'm making a few pies and of course one of them has to be pumpkin. I like to try something new every year so I found a recipe for a pumpkin/orange bread pudding and a great pie that combines pears, cranberries and pecans. I'd better get to work.

For each new morning with its light.

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food,

For love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

--Ralf Waldo Emerson

November 20, 2008 - I'm bad.

I'm bad for not blogging for the last two months. Sometimes you just run dry. And nobody reads this anyway. Especially when I don't put anything new in here. So I'm back. Next week is Thanksgiving. The best thing about a holiday like this is sleeping late and really not feeling compelled to do anything. Working at home the temptation to do work is pretty powerful. You're in the office so why not get something done. But on holidays…nothin. Don't want to lift a finger. 

So I start the day with a big leisurely breakfast. It's just one of my favorite comforts. So I'm going to share. Here's one of my favorite recipes:

Corn Meal Pancakes

Put one cup of white or yellow cornmeal in a bowl and add

1 teaspoon of salt

1 to 2 tablespoons of maple syrup

Stir in 1 cup of boiling water, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl beat

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons of melted butter

Add these to the cornmeal along with

1/2 cup of all-purpose flour and

2 tablespoons of double-acting baking powder.

Give a few good strokes and fry em up on a cast iron skillet.

Cover with hot maple syrup.

A few sausage links on the side make it great. And coffee.

And lay around in your robe and stocking feet near a sunny window. 

Enjoy. m

October 4, 2008 - Recycled Beauty

I think this is a beautiful chandelier and an amazing piece of art. This piece was created by Stuart Haygarth in 2004. The original Tide Chandelier is part of a larger body of work based on the collection of 'man made' debris washed up on a specific stretch of Kent coastline. The sphere is an analogy for the moon which effects the tides which in turn wash up the debris. More amazing and creative lighting to come. m

Sept 17, 2008 - Island Getaway

These are some of the unique plant life found on a very secluded island off the coast of Africa called Socotra. It's an almost alien world that has been geographically isolated from the mainland for 6 or 7 million years. Like the Galapagos Islands, this island has 700 extremely rare species of flora and fauna, one third of which are found nowhere else on earth.

The Island has been declared a World Heritage Site and has around 40,000 inhabitants. If you're looking for a little getaway the island is geared toward eco-tourism—trekking, camel riding, cave exploration, snorkeling, and diving on shipwrecks—no beachfront hotels and restaurants. But it could be a place you'll never forget. What is unfortunate is that Socotra is located off the coast of Yemen, one of the hot spots for violence in our world as evidenced by the attempted bombing of the US Embassy just yesterday.

Sept 14, 2008 - Open Art Studios

Time goes by too fast. There are times when I seem to have lots to tell you about and then it slips away and suddenly a whole month has gone by. August was great, slow and a bit lazy. The weather was amazing too. Mild and comfortable, a rare thing in my memory. You just need some time to be lazy every once in awhile. September is definitely accelerating my days. I'm working on a few freelance projects and I have a good stream of lamp orders to get done, including some custom work which isn't that common for me. I'll show you the results when they're done.

I wanted to take some time to promote the Open Art Studios tour here in the Madison area. It's coming up on the weekend of Oct 4-5. Around 150 artists open up their studios to the public for one weekend only. For a lot of these artists it's the only time during the year when you can actually see an artist's true working environment. And I think it's kind of fascinating. Unfortunately, for the last 4 years I've been one of the artists showing and I haven't been able to take the tour myself. But I'd really like to. There's something about seeing behind-the-scenes. It tells much more of the story behind an artist's unique vision. That's kind of what I'm trying to do with this blog but being in the environment is much different than seeing pictures of it.

Here's how it works. We are fortunate to have a preview exhibit at the wonderful Overture Center in downtown Madison. The exhibit is in the Community Galleries from Sept. 22 to Oct. 10. The galleries are located on 3 floors of the center located off the main rotunda entrance. The exhibit features one work from every artist participating in the event. The idea being that you can pick the artists you want to visit based on the work you see in the exhibit. Printed maps of all the artist's studio locations are available at the galleries and at local library branches and community centers. There's also an opening for this exhibit on Sept. 26 from 6 pm-9 pm. There will be a cash bar and a great silent auction. 

Go to the official Open Art Studios web site for more information. The site features a listing of all the artists, their work, and an interactive map of the studio locations. There are also a few locations where a group of artists are showing. These are artists who don't have studios near by or whose studios just aren't able to handle the public coming through. Take this very rare opportunity to visit some studios including mine, pictured below. Have a great day. It's very dark and rainy here but it makes me feel better about staying in and making lamps. Ciao. m