Merry Christmas!!!

In all the craziness of this year, I am so thankful to have my kids and husband close to me.

Dump Trump

I have been feeling a little crazy lately. People that know well, call and say: "You are so calm and nice and quiet, the sweetest person I have ever met", but when I see your Facebook post on Trump, I am wondering who you are? My kids say I have become the Kayne West of Facebook. My daughter-in-law has even unfollowed me because she does not want to listen or talk politics every post.

Yes, I am docile. A sweet person. Will do anything for anyone to help them along or gain something they want. I am not really a fighter anymore. I was louder and meaner in my youth, but I have calmed down in my old age. 

Until Trump. From the moment I started watching him on his campaign trail, the more my blood boiled. In disbelief - of his behavior, his thoughts, his comments - of what his minions would allow him to get away with and still not question his character. David and I would sit here in sheer awe at what we were witnessing. I guess it was history in the making ... in a perverse way.

I was worried he might be elected. He was too calm at the very end of the campaign. Like he knew something millions of us did not. My best friend in Texas told me everyone she knew was voting for him and she felt very alone in a sea of Red. Not that she was a HRC follower, far from it. She was Bernie all the way. But knew the danger of Trump. 

Election night, I kept watching the electoral vote in disbelief. The numbers were coming in too fast to believe it all. (When I did email all the electoral college, most of my automatic responses had a "Go Trump" in the response). That also made me wonder, how can they represent their constituents if they all ready have their minds made up. At the end of the night, I cried. In shock. Many of my friends at worked called in sick. We were the walking zombies for a couple of days. I could not help myself, I went to social media and started complaining, loudly. 

I got into many arguments on FB with former co-workers, or classmates or acquaintances with my anti-Trump postings. I really could not believe what I was hearing from them. The two that sent me into a rage ... "I can't wait until we have a classy, beautiful First Lady in the White House" and when I would say I am fearful of Trump and what he might do ... "former friends and family" would say "know you know how I felt the last 8 years". WHAT? REALLY? YOU lived in fear when Obama was in office, what? because he was black? Because you thought he would take your guns away?  I am sorry, but it is all laughable. On that note, I am sure the entire world is sitting back having a good laugh at this ridiculous moment in U.S. history. Of course, we are a young nation, and have many mistakes in front of us to catch up with many countries in that area.

I was never interested in watching Trump's reality TV show. I have always thought he was a ridiculous person even before I started reading every piece of news I could find on him. I am not of the "realty TV" genre ... so I could care less about who he really is or what his status is. But he has now made a complete mockery of the American election process and he has 2+million angry, ignorant, dissatisfied white men and women that think he is a God, because he wants to "Make America Great Again", aka "Make American White Again". David and I saw this coming years ago. A smart, articulate black man in the White House with an educated wife and great kids and NO scandals and the anger that was building up on that issue. I have never been so proud to be an American than when Obama was elected president. But I knew in my heart there would be a backlash or "blacklash". I just never dreamed it would be the nightmare of "Trump".

So, I have lost many friends on FB and I could care less. If they think that Trump is the answer to all of their problems, frankly, I don't want them as a friend. Family - unfriended many of them. Luckily, I live out of state and never see them anyway. I really don't want to claim them as family if they think this joke called Trump can be a responsible, respectable President. I beg them to unfollow and unfriend me because I do not care to hear their point of view. 

So here we are, at the precipice of a new, dangerous era of American history. My kids are a little worked up about it but do not understand the magnitude of what could happen. This is THEIR life, THEIR future, not mine. I am fighting for them, not me. I will not be here that long. But climate change, nuclear war, Planned Parenthood decisions and women's rights, environment, saving our national parks, drilling, fracking, relationship with NATO and other responsible countries ... all of these things will affect their future, Mason's future.

It keeps me up at night. It makes me a little crazier than my family would like to see me. But I am not going to turn my head and say this is not my fight. I have many friends who are fed up with the anger, the hate ... "I have stopped watching the news", "quit posting my opinion on Facebook", "I just can't stand the hate etc". Well, I will not be complacent. I will not be silent. Maybe this is why my mom read me books about Hitler, the plight of Jews in Germany, Nazi concentration camps. My mom was little obsessed with this, I grew up with her reading me books, watching TV specials ... and maybe that was the reason. This is what happens when people become silent and do not speak up for what they see is wrong. This is how Hitler became into power. It scares me, really scares me. 

I hope, I really hope, that I am wrong and Trump is going to be a better President than what I predict. But with his choices for his administration and the question of Russian interference. It is all up in the air right now.

Evgeny Parfenov

I don't know how Evgeny Parfenov does it, but I love his art! 

Mary Bauermeister

Sometimes I feel like I have "seen it all" because I have been on the internet, looking for art and artist and trends for so many years. But I found someone new (to me) today!  

Mary Bauermeister: "In her early work and after her move to New York in 1962, Mary Bauermeister often worked with natural materials such as sand, stones, or honeycombs. She had been interested since childhood in the mathematical principles behind natural processes. Her use of natural objects, as well as other chance finds, distinguishes her from her American contemporaries, such as Robert Rauschenberg, who tended to incorporate urban discards in their work." 

You know me, I have lots of rock necklaces and they are more precious to me than a diamond necklace! So, of course, I would love Mary's rock art.

 

Exploring the wilderness within

This week the winter addition of Hutch Magazine arrived at our door. I was so lucky to illustrate the cover, inside spread and lots of other details on pages. Like I have said before, I have a @dreamjob and work with so many talented people. It covered everything you ever wanted to know about microbiomes.
 

 

Also did a little gif animation for the website ... it is never about just the printed piece anymore. We also do all the the web graphics ... and get to have a little fun.

Thoms Hudson

Thomas Hudson fabrics are the most beautifully painted I ever want to seen! An English portrait painter in the early 1700's. 

Cheese Boards

Had Friday off, so I feel like this is Sunday, I just realized it is Saturday!!! Hurray. 

I ran across this delicious post on the West Elm blog, with some great looking condiment recipes to accompany your cheese on your Cheese Board, for every occasion. Recipes for SWEET AND SPICY APPLE CHUTNEY, HERB-BUTTER POACHED POTATOES, ORANGE CONFIT, BALSAMIC ROSEMARY CHERRY MUSTARD, SPICY CURRY CASHEW BRITTLE, PICKLED FENNEL, HERBES DE PROVENCE CARAMEL CORN, SAVORY CHERRY CHUTNEY, PASSIONFRUIT BASIL-SEED CURD. All from this book, Composing the Cheese Plate. I would buy this for mom for Christmas, she would have loved it.

Red Lentils!

I had this for lunch the other day and it is the perfect fall soup! Indian Lentil Soup (Dal Shorva). This is something my mom would make and it would be wonderful. I really miss my mom's cooking!!! I need to go dig up her cooking blog that we started so many years ago.

Later: I actually ended up using this New York Times recipe because I wanted the sweet potato.

Hate election

"We all knew these hatreds lurked under the thinnest veneer of civility. That civility finally is gone. In its absence, we may realize just how imperative that politesse was. It is the way we managed to coexist. 

If there is a single sentence that characterizes the election, it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” That may be what is so terrifying. Who knew that so many tens of millions of white Americans were thinking unconscionable things about their fellow Americans? Who knew that tens of millions of white men felt so emasculated by women and challenged by minorities? Who knew that after years of seeming progress on race and gender, tens of millions of white Americans lived in seething resentment, waiting for a demagogue to arrive who would legitimize their worst selves and channel them into political power? Perhaps we had been living in a fool’s paradise. Now we aren’t." 

This is exactly how I feel, thank you Bill Moyers for sharing Farewell, America written by Neal Gabler.

This is all you need to know

Listen up!

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. From New York Times best-selling author of the "twisty-mystery" (Vulture) novel In a Dark, Dark Wood comes The Woman in Cabin 10, an equally suspenseful and haunting novel from Ruth Ware - this time set at sea. Can't wait to start listening! 

Hutch Holiday Gala

As I round the corner to finishing up 2016 Hutch Holiday Gala ... I remember 2015 Hutch Holiday Gala catalog ... all silver foil and silver paper!

The end of civility?

I am so disgusted with our country right now with the election of the most vile, disgraceful, unqualified person to lead the United States. 

Someone must have been watching a different person for the last two years than I was. He lied all the and you could check the lies because it was all on film! This is not something I am making up. 

I am also disgusted with previous co-workers posting nasty things about the Obamas, calling our President a POS for absolutely no reason. Creating terrible cartoons of Michelle Obama. So, I have discontinued my Facebook for now. I simply do not want to read it, respond to it, be a part of it. 

I am also going to stop watching my beloved Sunday morning political news shows ... I blame them in part for showcasing Trump for over a year, giving him airtime to spew his nasty viewpoint. I think I am going to stop watching news all together for some time ... I have had enough. I think I might even quit listening to NPR and go back to listening to book-on-tape. It seems less contentious.

I am going to start blogging more, cleaning house more, taking photos. Less hand-wringing about our nation's future. We elected a buffoon and we get what we deserve. And every time I look at Melania, I see her in complete frontal nudity. It is all absurd to me! I do not understand it! So I choose to ignore it for now and go do something good for myself, my family, my house. 

I wish us all good luck in the coming years!!!

The End (papers)

It is strange what you remember about your childhood. Bits and pieces stuck in the far corners of your brain. Thinking about Mason's books has made me remember things about my favorite books as a child. I still have some of them in storage, that I need to go dig out for her. I remember some of them, and many of the illustrations made me feel very sad. But what I remember looking at in amazement and delight the most are the endpapers! Isn't that funny! 

 Like this one by John Kemper
 

Here are some delightful examples:

The Golden Circus Book by Kathryn Jackson with end paper art by Alice and Martin Provensen, 2005 found here on Red Caps Cards, where you can see more examples.

Of course there are some great examples on Pinterest, here and here.

COOL ENDPAPERS ON PARADE! on Flickr.

Bob Staake The End post.

This is a beautiful example by Walter Crane, Sing a Song of Sixpence Picture Book, Endpapers, London & New York: John Lane, 1909, below.

THE END! XOXOXOX

Yukai Du bright and beautiful

I love the colors and textures used by Yukai Du. Visit her website to see more. 

I can not help myself

This election is making me mentally ill.