Our pal Magnus is in town! Magnus, who usually lives in Norway. Magnus, the guy on the right sandwiched by beautiful girls. Magnus, who once walked across Iceland, and does back & front flips in your peripheral vision.
We had dinner at our house and then walked through the block to Kirsten's for desert.

Me and Laura-of-the-great-facial-structure that can showcase the best short haircuts like another vixen in the valley. Laura and I both thought O'lover's apple cobbler was transcendent.
O'lover channeled Nigella Lawson & Jamie Oliver (his most recent favorite foodies) and made us a great pot roast. I carved up one of our last pumpkins and made a Camille Kingsolver soup from that book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Kirsten baked a cake spiked with plum juice that she had harvested from her neighbor's tree.
YUM.
There was more good food to describe but i've gotta go check the fridge for something.

Remember how it is a stinkin' shame that O'lover quit making music at about the same time we got married?!!

Well, the living room has been REpurposed. It already contained the piano and two accordions.
but then...
we drug in three mics, the guitorgan (a guitar with organ circuitry), the amps, the drum kit, the chromaharp, the PA system, the bell lyre, marimbas, and bass.
now it's our band practice room.

Here Suz and Ollie are singing Sea of Love by Cat Powers.
accompanied by B-rad (normally on the piano) and Brandon with his bass.and now it's just me. without any musical talents. think i'll go play me some guitar hero next door...
JUST KIDDING OLIVER!!
those deseret industries drums look like they need a good beating...

but first, introducing the little rockers...

Thumbing through recent pix i'm struck with gratitude for all things COLORFUL.

Ollie was considering whether or not to organize our books by color or topic. I'm glad he chose the rainbow. I think my lunch looks like a bowl full of cabbage fireworks. savory...
Ashley is full to the brim with wit and her brilliance overfloweth. she is the granddaughter of one of my favorites. Neal A. Maxwell. Ashley's hair color changes a lot. You can read her thoughts and see a different hair color here.
Sus KB lent me a stack of Art News. Because art school friends don't let art school friends lapse into arter darkness. signed,
where is my copy of Stitch 'n'Bitch? What color is the cover? crap.

last night stephen goldsmith had dinner at our house.
he's the guy at the far end of the table.
stephen is the rockstar of new urbanism.
when his friend rocky anderson became the mayor of slc he asked stephen goldsmith to be the city planning director.
stephen is an artist and the founder of artspace in slc.

got it? 'cause you'll be quizzed later.

AJ's delectable pie. imagine the words "oh yeahhhhhhh" but in otis redding's deep voice.

afterwards stephen spoke at gallery oneten.
he held our attention.
sophie's ensemble held my attention too.
so many budding city planners.

signed,
man, that pie was good.

it turns out i'm

a respecter of persons
AND,
even worse,
a stalker.

this is right before michelle obama shakes my hand.

after her inspiring speech in slc last monday.

her hand is very soft and thin.
my hand was clammy and in awe.
while in chicago last november i visited THEIR house. on their street there's an LDS chapel, then my friend kimmy's house, then a couple houses, then my favorite presidential candidate's house, then a jewish synagogue.

signed,
yes there were secret service agents watching me take this pic.

p.s. i'm a bit paranoid about THEIR safety and putting this image online but newsweek magazine beat me to it. they had an article with the pix of all the candidates luxurious "estates". this candidate is the only one with a "house". the article was trying to make a point.

lately i've been living way too much in my hard head and not enough in my soft mushy heart.

blame it on the art grants i'm writing for for work. i just wrote "for for". crud. what next? run-on sentences?
-please- for the love of laughing (and a return to having more than one thing -and one thing only- on my mind) please dear NEA grant awarders please make downtown provo your awardee. may there be soulful art on every public corner.
in the name of hesoos...amen.

one recent happening that put my head in the back seat was liz's dance concert at coleman studios. remember liz? as in happy liz and reo who parked their gypsy caravan in our back yard until this past month (they bought a beautiful house in the timpanogos neighborhood!!).

liz is a dance choreographer. like none other. kinda like how she's a naturalist/gardener/food preserver/dula. like none other. her rows of glass jars all lined-up and full of curried and fermented everything...well, they are prettiness in a pantry. like none other.

but her dancers. with their shamanic exotic moves. with their black eyes and wild hair...i went home feeling all tranced out and oh so soft and loving.

and for that. i am very thankful.

here's a glimpse of february's downtown provo gallery stroll...

we hit nine of the ten art venues last night. quite remarkable for me and my lounging, lingering self.

mr. ryan neely and his very fitting yoko and john shirt. byron and his fine paintings at coal umbrella.
ashley mae at metropolitan. sophie and i both bid on her beautiful art work for the silent auction. i hope we win!
ollie took this pic of sophie and me. we did the entire stroll *on foot* as the good god intended. with our canines hobo and farmer. i'd like to believe they are slightly more cultured because of it.

i hope to see you and your dawgs next first friday!