Tuesday, July 31, 2007

We're fresh off the river from a search & recovery mission. We're looking for a paddle we lost two days ago. It's been cold and rainy this evening and the river is swollen. The only people we saw were a raft of men wearing shirts that said "I'm very excited to be here" and "I red heart NY". It was as plain as their pale faces that they were fish out of water.

In passing I asked them, "So did you see the beaver?"
"Oh yeah, we saw ducks too!"
"Did you see the horses by the bridge?"
"YEAH! We saw them!"

At this point I felt like quite the hostess, welcoming tourists to the beehive state, enriching their experience, making a memory...
Then I asked, "Did you see the muskrat?"
"Uh no."
"How about a beached paddle?"
"Noooo..."

I couldn't think of anything else to ask but I was possessed and said, "did you see the mysterious girl wearing a black and white striped shirt?"

And then I panicked and paddled really hard.

No sign of the missing paddle. We'll have to go back.
1 a.m. watching Oliver sleep. For the first couple of married years he would instantly wake up if I got out of bed. I had to be stealthy. Now I can wander about undetected. When he's out he's out.
4 a.m. found my dead cell phone in the hammock.

i used to hate the dark 'cause i really like to be able to see.
but now...i've got the world to myself, other than the lyrics in my head, it's quiet.
shhh shhh. it's oh so quiet
shhh shhh. and so peaceful until...

Monday, July 30, 2007

O'lover and I went contra dancing for FHE tonight. NO PICS were taken but I CAN promise there was much pouring of sweat and gripping of wet palms.

I was told that contra dancing was outlawed in Provo (circa 1900). Well then we were not only breaking the law we were shredding it, stomping on it, and heehawing it (not much new there.)

And even though blogs are all about the HERE and NOW, here are some pics from the THERE and THEN.
TamTam and her look alike.

Marcos and Sheena's kids, H&G. We took them to the Terra Nova Gallery Sidewalk Art Party in the bike-a-boose (also pictured). The kids gave flowers to all the directors on the gallery stroll.
Andrew painted a room in the 337 graffiti house in SLC. This event constituted the biggest impact art has made on me for a LONG TIME. I wanted to move in.


Farmer was only a wee guy when Sophie helped us put up our back fence.

My art from the staff show at G110 in March.
The staff of G110 in March. Leland is now a co-director. Paige, Sabrina, and Oliver still actively volunteer. I'm on hiatus or "bye"atus. i love my new life as an enthusiastic audience member!!

p.s. Is that rumored contra dancing law a version of the Footloose Urban Legend or is it really still on the books?

Sunday, July 29, 2007

As promised, here's the after pic of our "Isis" colored dining room!

Now the dining room is cluttered with our dining room and living room furniture as we're prepping for the other half of the paint job.

Great beams of light can be seen at the end of the tunnel!

Soon we'll be enjoying more outings. It's been hard to leave the house or even go to our art studios when there are so many projects underway.

Friday, July 27, 2007

coming to terms with living in utah valley sometimes necessitates some pretending, especially when you've always been told you must learn to play well with others...

there once was a Girl (really a grown woman) who thought, "Eagle Forum Lady is certifiably scary and in a nightmarish way."

and then Girl thought harder and maybe even a little creatively, "hey i bet i could like Eagle Forum Lady... maybe she could do goofy imitations of political pundits...HUH...and i would win a bet about global warming and make Eagle Forum Lady sneak off to watch the Simpson's Movie and laugh 'cause there's no helping it...she could make fun of nancy pelosi and i would let her and i would talk about cindy sheehan and she would remark on the power of a mother's love."

Maybe Girl would even let Eagle Forum Lady detail her naughty crush on Sean Hannity without gagging.

And Eagle Forum Lady and Girl would help each other weed and mulch their gardens and live happily ever after disagreeing about nearly everything.

And General Population would feel the LOVE.

The End!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Life under construction...The curtains are drawn until the dust settles...

BUT...first one thing before I go back into hiding...shout it from the roof tops...I just had a run in with Richard Bushman, the famous LDS historian...the one who knows it all and still believes. The Boy who Lived! or uhhh the Man who Believes! He wrote "Rough Stone Rolling", was on a rebroadcast show on Radio West yesterday and this morning at 6:30 a.m. I began a 4 hour Richard Bushman podcast kick. He's swell.

Saturday, July 21, 2007


We did seed bombs today. Sunflowers will grow where the beautiful St. Francis building once stood.

Just north of the church site AJ and I spotted this charming shack.

Emo Moment: My repertoire of emotions has been expanded today. My wish is to never hurt anyone's feelings and to be better at soothing people. k...

Emo Flashback: Back in the day Tam and I came up with "the human womb". If we knew of someone who needed love and attention we would wrap ourselves around them and concentrate on love. I also had a friend, MHen who helped me give hug trances to friends who had just experienced loss or who just needed it.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

A lot of good people worked really hard to preserve the beautiful St. Francis church and its a bum deal that it was torn down. Tomorrow there's a memorial with music and speakers. Please come and show support for a new trend: preserving our beautiful buildings!
The Timpanogos neighborhood chair, Scott and Shannon Bingham put together a blog to rally enthusiasm and appreciation for our architectural heritage. Visit www.preserveprovo.blogspot.com
This week has been haywire! My favorite boss in the world resigned. Instead of having the week off as I had planned on we've been reassigning duties and trying to wrap our brains around the new situation.

What I wouldn't give for a motorcycle ride to decompress. Instead the garden has been refuge. This is Honey. She's our sweetest but also our loudest squawker. She has a bare spot on her back because of Crawford, the rooster who now resides in our freezer. (Hardest bite this ten year vegetarian has ever had to swallow.) This past winter Honey was at the bottom of the pecking order and had a big gash in her side. I didn't think she'd make it but I treated her daily with betadine and kept her separate until she finally healed. She's the only one I didn't have to chase down to get a good pic. She's our most tame dame.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

for FHE last night we went with Oli's youngest bro and friends to Harry Potter 5. Second time for us. I've just been summoned by Oliver. i was going to write something about an NPR commentary on teaching moments by JK Rowling and how i wish she'd teach us how to get over Dementor attacks WITHOUT the abuse of chocolate.

Oli just stopped the shower to shout to me that Jason Brown got a personal e-mail from Vandana Shiva! Shriek! Vandana Shiva gave Jason and Oli permission to use the name of her movement (Earth Democracy) in the title of the NGO they're forming.

Really good people really do exist.

And I got a side hug from Jack Healy. That was in April. But I still think about it.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Carnage in the bedroom

We may as well live in a swamp. Last year O'lover and two neighbors contracted the West Nile Virus. They were all sick for days.

This year it seems that I'm the only one being eaten alive.

"Oliver have you been getting ANY mosquito bites?"

He just said "No".

Hahahahahaaaaaa. I guess it really is my turn to be sacrament for the little buggers.

Last night and for several nights previous...

O'lover has been passed out on our bed completely oblivious of the war i wage with a swarm of mosquitoes. I've been using our mattress as a trampoline so i can smack mosquitoes against the ceiling with my library book (still reading Anna Karenina). The resulting carnage on my formerly white ceiling and my growing ruthless cold bloodedness BEGS the question:

Is this What Jesus Would Do?
Would he kill poor innocent buggies? Or would he command them to leave? Can't see him wasting his time.

So I'm left to think...I'm bringing this on myself. It must be something I'm
doing to call forth the pestilence.

It's the diet coke with lime.

We all make sacrifices. I can't drink carbonation discreetly. And to get through my work day I've taken up drinking diet coke with lime, thus sacrificing my ladyness.

And this year I'm the mosquitoes star attraction. Hmmm. see the connection? Soooo if i take back my ladyness, dump the diet coke with lime, i may restore balance to the universe! and the pestilence will pass us over.

"honey, i really don't think i'm a very logical person."

he just said, "i love you."

"but do you think i'm logical?"

he just said, "that's a vague question."


Sunday, July 15, 2007

good things brought to light TODAY (so far)

-smitty is peeved. until i come visit his family in China. Why am i reflecting with great happiness about his peevedness? Because when smitty is peeved, by golly, i will travel any distance to smooth things over. And when that entails a trip to China...
Fabulous Sweet Nectar! I'm going to China!! (this fall)
Top: view from Smitty's apartment
Bottom: the Chinese speaking city savvy kids who will be my guides!

the goodness continues...

-Somebody is MORE plagued by jealousy than me! Really this is brilliant news! The winner is...Levin from Anna Karenina. So what if this jealous madman is only a fictional character! Geesh that guy bellyflops off the handle at the slightest "tucking of the leg." I on the other hand, have valid provocation. My O'lover receives constant admiration from discerning floozies.* I've witnessed half a dozen women coo in Ollie's ear, while clinging to his arm, "I wish my husband/boyfriend were like you..." Even the lovely PREGNANT cashier at the market has confessed her wish for a husband swap! And my comeback to all this? Something vague about the discontinuation of sharing spouses...a familiar concept in these here parts. Mumble mumble...I could take you... in arm wrestling...mumble. The truth is...shhh...i've turned a leaf...evolved. I'm not so jealous of Ollie's fan club. In fact I'm flattered. I captured the flag and I staked my claim, my lover is MINE (he told me so). Frosting on the cake...All those Ollie compliments are really mine too!

And lest you think I have conquered my noTorious astrologically-given "flaw" (scorpio)...

I'm jealous of Georgiana's goodness (and skinniness), I'm jealous of my sister's high hematocrit count and her BRAIN, I'm jealous that my boss always makes people laugh and puts them at ease at what could otherwise be tedious meetings...I'm jealous of people who aren't preoccupied with our civilization's imminent DOOM and jealous of Z and K and probably YOU. sometimes I'm even jealous of MEN who can grow facial hair! Even more jealous if said facial hair is thick and wiry!

In other words...there's plenty of fodder for my resident green-eyed demon.

*p.s. I love, understand and completely sympathize with the above referred to "floozies" (AKA all my wisest friends). And right backatcha cause your lovers are cute and talented too.

I'm not done yet...

-I'm also grateful that Prairie Home Companion EXISTS! And that they rebroadcast Saturday's show on Sunday. I love PHC sooo much that I might hafta name my kids "Prairie"... and... "Homie"...yeah

-lastly, my gratitude spilleth over 'cause my grandma Frances taught me about pincurls. when it's this HOT (pushing 105 F) one must be shorn to BALDness or have PINCURLS.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

SATURDAY! hooRAY!
It's been going something like this:
We went to SLC to the farmer's market. We were late with our payment for our CSA share from Zoe's Garden so we had to go to their market booth. Being part of the CSA means we get fresh organic produce all season long while supporting a local farmer and NOT doing dumb stuff to the planet (like all of that stinky pollution from transporting food an average of 1500 miles) or to me (like eating pesticides). We pick up our food every Monday at Pioneer Park in Provo. Mondays are my new favorite days!! Our food changes every pick-up according to what's ripe at the farm but looks something like this:Then we went to the Wasatch Gardensto join the downtown salt lake backyard chicken coop tour. BUT THEY WERE GONE. Ahwell, next year.
But across the street i spied a beautiful house.
And who came out the front door? None other than the gorgeous newly engaged Suzanne Heaton! I heart Suzanne.

She's house sitting for an artist couple and asked if we wanted a tour. YES!! (if it's no trouble). She also offered us tiny pieces of gum (trident) suzanne is nice that way.


me gustan esos colores...
and the his/her studio complex in the back.

then we went to sugarhouse to the green building supply center. one of Olie's favorite places. he could talk to the lady owner for ...well, he has talked to her for HOURS. Their business is going super well. they're expanding to the two storefronts next door.

We bought clay paint..."Isis" for our living room and "Curry" for the dining room.

the paint is washable, rich, vibrant, ancient mayan pigments, hand-crafted quality, zero VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and on and on...they had me at ancient mayan. J/K they had me at "feel the texture of this paint sample." oh boy.

Before pic of dining room (with Robyn Gumaelius sculpture in the corner):
Stay tuned Mama (one of the two people i told about grittypretty) for the results of my mucky clay ventures!!! YAY for CLAY!

p.s. we had ikea icecream cones on the way home. so gross and disaapointing! they have like NO FAT. i gave mine to Farmer (or as hannah says, 'farmie"). he licked it right up (and dribbled all over the back seat. i gave my doggie sugar, what kinda ma' am i?)

Friday, July 13, 2007

Meow. This is me as a "cat girl for peace". Oh wait! It's Friday the 13th! This is me looking for my prey. All sinister like.

My boss told me to slack off. It's been an incredibly stressful time at work as we reformulate our sources for funding. So I'm taking some time to track down my voice.

Where did I put??? "Come back to momma. I will let you out more often I promise guarantee!" I'm going to start saying whatever I want. Stop, determine if its true, and alter my statements as necessary. And this blog will help me. This blog is about dropping anchors in time and having a life outside of work. My sister, with her elephantesque memory, will not be my only crutch. I will rely on my blog now...to prod my memory and...

I will be all"sparkly and new" (anyone recognize that reference). And I will- damn it! have opinions and more importantly I will know what they are!

Everything for a mighty long time has been about to-do lists.
All the books I read have had one thing in common: how to be more effective at work, how to get more done, woe more colleagues, and lead from the middle. blah blah blah.

So its time for fiction, for laziness (at least until my boss gets back from leading girl's camp). It's time to channel my love into my home...

BUT THEN...I just got offered a second job. One that I can't refuse. With Provo City. Putting up their art shows in their brand new Center for the Arts.

Bring on the diet coke with lime!
The two best men.

Abuelito is my mom's father. I cried A LOT as a baby (so sorry mom). The first time I met Abuelito I demanded to be held by him and never wanted to be with anyone else. I felt instantly and endlessly charmed by him.

Maybe babies are an excellent judge of character? He's the finest sort of person...Was it the alignment of the stars? Abuelito and I are both water signs...My mom says everyone witnessing my adoration of Abuelito was puzzled. He was known as very strict (he made his kids eat their oranges and bananas with a knife and fork), intimidating (there was no messing with him or his family), and at the time didn't have much interest in babies (at least not like the gushing womenfolk). Whatever.

Abuelito had a rough childhood. His mother was an Araucana Native South American (I wish I knew more about her!) His father had some addiction problems and was around enough to have 7 children but not around to take care of them. Abuelito as a child living in La Boca, Buenos Aires, had to step up to the plate. He wasn't able to attend school after the age of 10 but worked many jobs to keep his family afloat.

Abuelito died in his sleep in 2001. He was 91 years old and still going strong (running circles around everyone).


This is Grandpa Buchanan, the dearest man. He was always looking out for me.

Once I found him in my bedroom at 315 East Center having switched all of my furniture around. He was so upset to see me. He had ordered me a new Serta mattress and it was supposed to have been delivered hours earlier. He wanted to switch out my bed without me knowing who'd done it. What a sweetheart!! Well, he noticed I had blood dribbling down my face. I had just walked home from getting my molars pulled and was so drugged up I couldn't feel a thing. We waited for the mattress delivery people and then he took me home to feed me liquids and stay at his place until my mouth was back to normal.

The second to last time I saw Grandpa was at UVRMC at about 6 am, October 1997. I snuck into his room to hang out for a couple of hours before school. His breathing was alarmingly labored. He insisted that I leave. When I next saw him he was in a coma. He died of pneumonia.

If I ever die (Generation X is immortal, right?) then Abuelito and Grandpa are two of the three people I want to see first.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Oli and me at the opening night of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I stayed awake even though it was way past my bedtime. The new look of the film was jaundiced, clammy and peakED. Appropriate to the circumstances the faces of the main characters looked stresssssed. This movie will make looking overwrought the new glamorous trend.
Beautiful Helen Mirren. I have a major thing for her. Wulf Barsch said to never "aspire" to anything. But if I were to aspire it would be to become as sexy as Helen.

Because she's holding a British flag and I'm half Argentine I must say "Las Islas Malvinas son de Argentina!"

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Two Sink Pics
Grandma Frances Allen Smith Buchanan. She wore a pantsuit to her wedding back in the day when pants were not worn by women. She used to have shopping cart races with strangers in the Ream's parking lot. Remember the turtle Reams? Anyone ever climb onto their roof? Grandma lives in Tennessee now.

Eggs laid by our hens and ducks. We get their feed from an organic farm on Grandview Hill. Anyone want a "one-eyed pirate?" (AKA "army eggs".) Come get your dozen!


Tuesday, July 10, 2007

My first entry is about some of the people I love most: my siblings! This pic is of Smitty, me, Marcos, and TamTam sitting on the side steps of our trailer. We LOVED living in the trailer park (Provo Town Center Mall is there now). It's curious how all four of us kids came from the same mother and father and yet turned out very differently (that's another story). One thing that we all hold in common is our immense love for each other.

We had lots of friends. This is the era when the worst curse we new was "dummyhead". Tammy would eat pre-chewed gum from the sidewalks. Marcos would soon be the target of a dozen little girls chasing him for a kiss.
I would invent tragic songs and make myself cry. Smitty was my big brother and hero. He would hide on the rear bumper of our dad's truck and holding on tight would go for rides.

We ran loose until the cow bell rang for meals (no kidding- who has the cow bell now? Marcos?). Mom would remind us to "Pretend you're a doctor and wash your hands up to your elbows." Tammy, the youngest has since "pretended to be a doctor" all the way to an MD/PhD program in Chicago. The rest of us have manifested this motherly advice in different ways. Both Smitty and Marcos are well groomed and have immaculate houses (that could actually be due in large part to their wives). =) I have a mostly healthy respect for germs and am in awe of all the little critters that can't be seen with the naked eye. I also maintain a tiny but sensible case of OCD. I keep it reigned in (while tempted to be more obsessive) but do wash my hands every time I've touched a public door knob and am letter of the law when it comes to food handling.

I can't help but notice when other people aren't washing their hands when maybe they should.
Like at the deli when the gloved person making your sandwich is also taking your cash...while still wearing the same gloves!

Anyone else like that?