SPIRAL: *Bricolage

Showing posts with label *Bricolage. Show all posts

Saturday, February 11, 2023

Bricolage

My mind and heart have been wandering to different times and places today.

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Thursday, November 10, 2022

Sunday, August 7, 2022

I enjoy this excerpt from Ceremonials of Common Days by Abbie Graham. It was the inspiration for one of my philosophies of life: I've always made it a practice to celebrate every day as special, even the ordinary ones -- Ceremonials!

The very precious gift that I received yesterday from my family was this list of ways our days have been special. It would seem that my efforts have been noticed :)

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Saturday, September 18, 2021

Long Beach CA

The Pike, circa 1910.

I just stumbled across this old photo today, thought it was interesting. If you click on the B + W photo to enlarge, you can actually read the signs. This area is still an amusement and shopping area here in Long Beach along the waterfront, right out in front of Dave's hotel.

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Sunday, December 13, 2020

Bricolage

The age-old question: Artist or Crafter? HERE

I consider myself an "artisan" because I'm working with a high level of experience and skill to make things that serve utilitarian purposes, but are also successful visually.

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Lovely holiday inspiration HERE

This year brings such an out-of-the-ordinary holiday season for everyone!

We are enjoying varying levels of success here as we seek

new/different ways to celebrate all the winter holidays. Sigh.

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Friday, October 16, 2020

Bricolage

"Accepting oneself does not preclude

an attempt to become better."

- Flannery O'Connor -

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Sunday, June 14, 2020

Bricolage

We watched a new-to-me movie last night: Road to Perdition. I don't know how I missed it when it came out a few years ago. It features Tom Hanks, who is always superb, and Paul Newman in his last film role, as well as an absorbing storyline. The movie takes place in 1931, in downstate Illinois and in Chicago. It's a well-developed tale of organized crime, loyalty and revenge, and family relationships. All good.

But the thing that really caught my attention was the environment of the movie. I was born in Chicago and grew up in Illinois. This movie features scenes on small town main streets and in old farmhouses, in downtown Chicago, inside the Wrigley Building and on the bridge over the Chicago River, out on farm roads running alongside flat cornfields that stretch to the horizon, and on the sand dune shores of Lake Michigan. Sigh. I haven't been to any of these places in many decades, but the movie brought me such vivid pleasant memories of the familiar settings of my childhood.

I love where I live now, at 7000' elevation in the mountains in California, in the middle of a pine forest. No cornfields here. For that matter, no level land nor elm-tree lined streets, nor brick buildings anywhere near here. This is a far cry from Illinois. But I guess a piece of my heart is still connected to the Midwest.

Isn't it odd: the little things that toggle the switches in our memories?