I’m very busy working on a top secret painting commission for Caplan Art Designs. So instead of talking about that – look! Poetry! Pasta! Pretty cups! Books!
Poetry: Two books of Andrea Gibson‘s poetry came by mail from one of my local bookstores! Gibson is my latest favorite poet.
Here’s one of Gibson’s poems on page 32 of You Better Be Lightning.
Pasta: My wife got a mixer with the pasta attachments for Christmas! So we’ve been making pasta together! She makes the pasta from scratch while I make the sauce.
Here she’s making large elbow noodles.
I made a butter and parsley sauce for our first pasta attempt so we could primarily taste the homemade noodles. Yum!! Homemade noodles really are worth the effort for the flavor!!
Pretty cups: Recently we’ve been to a few special events with dear friends. There were pretty cups at each occasion. Having recently made a calendar of coffee cups perhaps I was primed to notice them. Even so the cups, and my awareness of them, added a soupecon of extra special to the time with friends.
Here’s a related-to-cup-thoughts page from my sketchbook.
Books: I finished reading this book about books and oh my! What a marvelous invention writing things down and storing them in a book format has been for us humans! And how easy it is to stand on the shoulders of giants simply by reading.
I enjoyed this video about why we should read more. This article about how reading is itself a creative act. And this article about how creativity is actually a practice of resiliency.
So here’s a photo of one of the books I’m reading now in addition to Andrea Gibson’s poetry, a book of short stories and a book of essays.
Hope your week contains good books in it. I’ll see you next Monday or thereabouts.
What a lovely post. Some of my favorite things!!!
So glad I’m not the only one!!! ❤
And thank you!!! 🤗
I love “Instead of Depression.” I’ll have to remember it. That homemade pasta looks really good. How does the taste differ from that of store-bought pasta? A student of mine gave me a pretty cup so that every time I had tea in it, I would be reminded of her.
Glad you liked the poem! The homemade pasta is different from store bought in several ways: it’s flavor and freshness hit your nose as the pasta is being made, then again as it’s being cooked and a third time when it’s covered in sauce and served at the table. It’s akin to how a homemade cookie is different from a package of cookies from the store. The homemade pasta by itself has flavor like fresh baked bread; light yet chewy with a robust wheat boldness. It’s easier to have a small serving of homemade pasta and still feel full and indulgent.
How thoughtful of your student to give you a pretty cup!!
I’ve always found pasta rather tasteless. The homemade version sounds like another taste experience entirely!
I remember this student very fondly. Cheryl was an autodidact in the mysticism of Saint Teresa of Avila. I helped her receive college course credit for her knowledge.
Your life seems pretty blissful. I always think of the word “contentment” when reading your blog posts.
Oh thank you! For the record I have had my share of troubles and have come to highly value calmness in daily life; so much so that I actively seek quiet and calm, I try each day to notice the pleasant things and appreciate them. This blog is an extension of my delight in the daily creation of contentment and how it dovetails with my art projects. I’m glad to hear it comes though….💚💙
I think those of us who have experienced adversity are often those who are more conscientious about curating various areas of our lives in order to safeguard our own health and wellbeing.
Absolutely!!!! Well said!!!! ❤
Your artwork is stunning, Sue. It’s no wonder you have a commission. I did spend about five minutes trying to come up with a P word for books, to go along with PAINTING, POETRY, PASTA, PRETTY CUPS AND (because that’s what writers do). Paperback? I got nothin/
Lol!!! Thank you for your kind words!! So kind of you to think of P words… besides the word paperback I did think of the word prose… PROSE!!… but decided that there are so many pleasant things re books that begin with letters besides P …so I used “books” and figured my writer friends would think of paperbacks, prose, parables, publications, printed things, penciled words, programmes, pamphlets, pocket books, pot boilers, palimpsest … 🤣😘❤