insert japanese exclamation of delight.

so, lately i've been thinking about projects in which to invest a bit of creative energy. i leafed through a library book on mennonite quilts. some of them are pretty sweet. couldn't find a web image for it, but there was an incredible poppy quilt i'd love to have seen in person. or made.

quilts are fabulous. and yet, would anyone else agree that quilts are generally really really outdated colors [excepting vintage quilts, of course! my grandma has some sweet crazy quilts made out of the most delightful fabric scraps]? and it's sort of an... older person type activity? no offense please, just saying it how i see it: not many people of my generation are avid quilters.

but i want to make one. sometime. who knows how soon. maybe i'll start tomorrow. i never can tell when a spurt of creative excess will burst forth from my deepest heart-of-hearts; but, by george, i love it when that happens!

along the lines of quilts, CHECK this one out. i am utterly amazed, blown away, thunderstruck. it's awesome.

it's a quilt. of the tokyo subway system. i cannot even express how amazing this is. i want to make one. check out the original blog post here. can you even handle it!!!!? the only improvement upon making and cherishing such a masterpiece would actually to go ride the tokyo tube after having made it= i figure i'd probably have all the stops memorized by then anyway, you know?

[ok so being a bit of a researchical person, i looked up the real tokyo metro map. not an exact replica, but admirable, nonetheless. on second thought, i'd better enjoy the quilt at home, and use the metro map when in tokyo.]

arigatooooo japan. and thank you, elizabeth hartman, for proving that quilting is by no means out of date.

p.s. her fabrics are cute gozaimasu, ne?

autumn 1st.

today, if you have not yet heard, is the first day of a new season, one which many claim as their favourite. i have in years past been an avid yea-sayer with such folk: "fall is best, oh yes, oh yes!", and "down, down, with summer- let fall begin to fall!"

this year, however, has proven to be somewhat contradictory as concerns my seasonal preferences. winter was white and wonderful; spring began with a nearly wholly foggy month and afterward blossomed and sprang with new fervor. and then came summer! the blessed heat of the sun, producing vegetables in my garden, long summer nights in which to ride my bike, and freckles upon tan on my skin, warmed me entirely anew to this marvelous season's sweetness. i made it very clear to all who inquired [and some who did not] that i was loathe to see its end. days began to have a crispness about them, the sun set earlier with every passing day, and the treetops were set moderately ablaze. still i denied it. fall would never again hold the charms of former days. never, never.

but the funniest thing happened today. it's autumn the first, the official beginning to this new season which shall indeed see us through to nearly the end of december! today began a bit earlier than usual, with a cheery brightness as i sped off to work. increasingly the day became darker, and reports from generous, eager, amateur forecasters were proven accurate [this time anyway] and, a bit abruptly, the torrents burst upon us.

i made my way home through the wet streets, and shortly thereafter headed out again bedecked in skirt, leggings, boots, raincoat, and scarf, for, favorite season or not, the first day of fall is a worthy occasion for which to dress! i visited my dear thrift shop, at which i acquired a classy blouse and an all-wool striped sweater, kindly bespeaking the season at hand. the weather was somewhat torrential at this point, and rather resembled hurricanic activity, for while it has been wet enough of late to irrigate a rainforest, the breeze was... stiff. therefore, as necessity necessitated, it was my utmost delight to dash through the parking lot. afterwards i was off to the grocer's for a bag of rosy red macintosh apples, with which to make a carmelly-cobblery delight which even now sits cooling on the stovetop. after another scurry with flying skirts 'twixt automobiles and raindrops, i was off through blusts and gusts to the post office, where i purchased the very best of stamps for two hand-written, typewriter-addressed letters to friends in various states; although, it must here be said that the selection of stamps was grim: mother teresa, wedding rings, some bleak and forbidding purple design, or a puerto-rican poet of whom i'd no former knowledge. i chose the puerto-rican, of course.

well, lest this become an everlasting epistle, i came home, brewed a pot of Lady Grey, switched on classical MPR, and donned my apron. after the delectable apple-delight was safe in the depths of a warm oven, we partook of our supper, which was also sublimely autumnal, with fresh homemade bread to sop up our steaming beef and tres-vegetabley soup. [dessert yet remains a future occurrence, but shall not tarry long.]

i suppose none of these events are terribly ideal, but they, combined with the cozy-cloudy-blusteryness of the day, seemed to make me realize that fall isn't so bad after all. i was simply not yet prepared to begin a season which itself had not yet commenced. it's all very clear to me now that it's begun in earnest. so, caramel-apple-cobbler in hand, and cozy homelights and dear family surrounding us as the rain beats down upon our snug roof, we shall step bravely into the unknown yet well-familiar loveliness of fall as it begins to truly and beautifully fall.

synopsis of diversion.

inspiring, ne? 
source


"But the child who has outgrown spade and bucket, and who is a little fagged [that means tired! -a.] with school work, needs, like his elders, engrossing interests which shall compel him to think new thoughts. Fresh air for the lungs, fresh scenes for the eye, are fully healing and helpful only when the mind, too, is taken into account, and the jaded brain is spoon-fed, as it were, with new ideas. This is why foreign travel is delightful... " - Charlotte Mason

The above statement was one of the main thoughts in my recent presentation on The Delightfulness of Travel. Wouldn't you agree with it? Sometimes the usual, normal, mundane routines of life can become quite tiresome, and all we want is a bit of diversion! Travel is one of many ways to do something out of the ordinary, and it needn't be far from home. 'Fresh air for the lungs, fresh scenes for the eye ... [and] new ideas' are what make coming home so lovely; a change of pace [and perhaps place] gives new vigor to the mind and cheerfulness to the spirit. I've had a rather diverting past week, and here are some of the highlights.

Well, as you know, I went to the opera [Don Giovanni] in downtown St Paul last Friday. I was back again in St Paul this Thursday with my friend Teresa to see the second of my SPCO concerts for the year. As we walked down the aisle to our appointed places, we became increasingly astonished; our seats were in the third row! We were off to the left side, so our view of the entire orchestra was really somewhat poor. But we were delighted to watch the bassists, oboist, and first-chair-second-violinist. We could also see the backs of the first violinists, and chuckled as the first-chair/concertmaster proceeded to break 3 of his bow strings throughout the performance. You just don't see those things from the nosebleeds.

Our greatest delight was watching Gil Shaham, the featured artist, who is one of the most animated classical musicians I've personally seen! He plays a 1699 Stradivarius violin. [Yes, 1699. That is 311 years old. They just don't make them like that anymore.] It was our great pleasure to see his facial expressions, his winks to the other musicians, his infectious joy in playing the wonderful music of Hadyn and Mendelssohn. It may or may not be true, but I would think he's a jokester.

The SPCO also played Beethoven's 2nd- without a conductor!

Having now driven twice in a week through downtown St Paul, I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it- at least with finding the Ordway! I was back in the cities on Saturday with my friend Mel, to see Wicked at the Orpheum in Minneapolis. My, but I do like downtown Minneapolis. Wicked was fun too. I still wake up singing the songs.. it's time to try defying gravity! We met up with 3 friends for the show, and an additional friend for dinner, and afterwards spent quite a while walking and exploring downtown, all the way to the River [the Mississippi, of course!], Nicollet Island, and back. I think I'd like to live downtown somewhere big sometime. Minneapolis may be it... someday? We'll do London first. :)

Well, after all the excitement and probably 30+ hours in the car in the past week, it's nice to be home. You know, there's no place like home. It really is refreshing to get away and do interesting things though, and to spend time with new people. Friends on the prairie aren't exactly, shall we say, excessive? So, new or old, it's a pleasure to see them, whoever they may be. I'm working lots this week, and have a few projects on the agenda, as well as a stack of library books to peruse and a couple of letters to write.

But it's 72 degrees and sunny. Sooo.. maybe just a little more diversion in form of a bike ride would be fitting?

300th post.

September 15

I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. [Philippians 3:8]

The Swedish Nightingale, Jennie Lind, won great success as an operatic singer, and money poured into her purse. Yet she left the stage while she was singing her best, and never returned to it. She must have missed the money, the fame, and the applause of thousands, but she was content to live in privacy.

Once an English friend found her sitting on the steps of a bathing machine on the sea sands with a Bible on her knee, looking out into the glory of a sunset. They talked, and the conversation drew near to the inevitable question: “Oh, Madame Goldschmidt, how is it that you came to abandon the stage at the very height of your success?”

“When every day,” was the quiet answer, “it made me think less of this [laying a finger on the Bible] and nothing at all of that [pointing to the sunset], what else could I do?”

May I not covet the world’s greatness! It will cost me the crown of life!

- springs in the valley, mrs charles e. cowman.

t-ravel.

you should listen to this while reading, because it's the best. and kids are playing it.

[Ma Vlast  - Vltava [Moldau] - by Bedrich Smetana]

fave.

in other news, the opera was grand. three hours of musical grandeur. it rained. but it was fitting. it's not the most moral of all operas; but i'm beginning to think that few are... nevertheless, it was a delight, and at one point it gave me a bit of a surprise! all anne of green gables fans, did you know this song is from don giovanni? start at 3:19. :)

the performance of the opera we saw was put on by the SPCO, and it was a "semi-staged" production; there were no props or scenery or even period costumes. this was a different sort of opera experience than i'd seen before, and i was a little disappointed on first thought, but actually it was pretty nice not to be distracted by extra characters, dancers, scenery, and props whilst also remembering to follow the story and note which person is singing. it worked. the opera was, of course, sung in italian, but the english text was projected onto a small screen above the stage. 


i've talked to a lot of people about opera lately. i think not very many have actually ever seen one. i'd recommend it. first of all, it's lovely to get dressed up and go downtown. second of all, there are melodies from most common operas that the average ear is familiar with, as i've found in the three operas i have seen. thirdly, the music is exquisite. fourthly, it's a great way to experience culture. it is my common observation that people who are interested in many things are they themselves quite interesting. i like being interesting, and i like interesting people. so be interesting, and go to the opera! and then tell me all about it.

tonight i'll be talking on The Delights of Travel at the PMEU. basically it's a once-a-month group of educators [whether homeschool, public school, private school, or self-educated beings like myself] who read through and discuss a chapter of a Charlotte Mason book on education. she was a very unique and thoughtful British educator of the early 1900s. i really like her work, even though i'm not a teacher. she really thought. therefore, these meetings really make me think! the first half of the meeting consists of the chapter discussion, while during the second half one person presents a topic. i am the chosen presenter for the evening; i feel pretty honored, as it's the first meeting of the new school year. i've been really having a great time searching all of CM's materials for notes on travel, and combining those thoughts together with quotes from other travelers, and my own personal experiences. should be fun! i'll be bringing along lots of "props" in my little brown pasteboard suitcase, in the form of books, maps, and treasures from here or there.

two more cultural experiences shall occur before the week is up, but for now i'll bid thee adieu.

night on the town.

tomorrow shall be a fairly normal day. bake bread. go to work. finish a project.
but übermorgen [the day after tomorrow, which happily coincides with friday] shall be a different story entirely.
for we are going to the opera.

upon re-entering the land of my birth last winter, i created a short 'bucket list' for myself. it's called "my top ten."
number two on said list is as follows:
2. see an opera

dearest friends, i am delighted to announce that this fond heart's desire has been granted. actually, having attended La Boheme and Carmen in beautiful Prague this past June, it shall soon be thrice-fulfilled.
on friday evening, my mother, grandmother, and i are going to the opening night of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra's 2010-2011 season.
the event?

dooooon giovaaaaaacan't you just feel the vibrato?aaaaniiiiii!

[kindly sing the aforementioned line in bass; if unfamiliar with the tune, prithee with all due haste acquaint yourself!]

i shall be wearing a black satin hepburnish dress and black alligator peep-toes, with the dangliest earrings you've ever beheld, and my hair piled sky-high atop a graceful head. [fear not- we're in the back row, so no unfriendly reproaches from backdoor neighbors at low altitudes shall be needful.]

all i need are opera glasses and a mink stole.

i propose.

..that the day before a day off is even more joyous than the day off itself. it's sunny and money, honey.

yes.

it's vinyl.

sponsored by the perfect weather of today!

[everyone's favourite topic of discussion]

it's just like friday, only wednesday!!!!

it's vampire weekend. cause it already was the knife.
it's jim-the-friendly-postman.
it's 45 hours until i have to go back to work.
it's sunny and unspeckled blue.
it's september. which i sort of like because it's just so likeable and sort of don't because it's unlikely to remain summery.
it's little prince, because questions ought to be answered, and foxes ought to be friendly, and taming is unlonesome.
it's travelzoo top 20 wednesday, one of the most important parts of the week.
it's ausstrahlung=radiant emittance!
it's "it's time to go to the station, tom!" for the 47th time.
it's houses for cheap.
it's potato-tomato. but grilled cheese.
it's chopin is the only one who knows what i mean.
it's days like these i miss the purple hercules.

Latin herculaneus bicyclopaedeus

circa 2009