tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15992087443743495582024-03-14T03:58:51.747-06:00The Wild Blue YonderAureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.comBlogger154125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-55610348516999797562015-01-20T22:58:00.001-06:002015-01-20T22:58:14.898-06:00A Very Cool Show With Maybe Some Unintended Resonances<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Maurice's Church in the Lower 9th Ward</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking over the 9th Ward from the steps of the church. You can't tell how close we are to the river, but we're really close, only a few blocks.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the pictures I took of this were blurry. It's called "Altarpiece", by Taylor Lee Shepherd, and it's a bank of TVs that respond to sounds in the church. It was gorgeous.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the feet and legs on the balcony at St. Maurice's. Note how almost everyone is wearing the exact same shoes. Full disclosure: I was also wearing those shoes.</td></tr>
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On Sunday night a friend and I went to see a performance, part of a series called Space Rites, in a partially renovated church in the Lower 9th Ward. The church is called St. Maurice's, and it's incredibly beautiful inside, covered in white rectangular tiles that make it look like the interior of a shell. I was happy to see that it's apparently being fixed up--many of the deconsecrated churches are in worse shape. Nevertheless, we were pretty sure one of those pretty tiles was going to fall on ours heads. But none did.<br />
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We were there for the debut performance of the Weather Warlock, a machine built by the musician Quintron to translate weather information into sounds. You can hear it here: http://weatherfortheblind.org/ On Sunday it was playing the sunset, with a variety of local musicians playing along. And it was wonderful--I was expecting something a little more delicate, but it was loud as hell, with a killer band playing along. It was thrashy; it was churchy; it was great.<br />
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OK, but here's the problem. My friend and I quickly noticed that the audience was almost universally clad in a style I would describe as "White Etsy Hipster", and was so culturally uniform I could have sworn we were in Portland, or maybe in a music video making fun of Portland. (Men: suspenders, ironic prospector beards. Women: vintage flowery dress, 80s accessories.) There was a contingent of grungy metalheads and a few people in jeans and coats, but mostly it was these very specific-looking folks. (I myself am white and have my own Etsy shop, so I'm not pointing fingers too hard here. I draw the line at ironic calico, though.) More than that, everyone drove there--there was a huge and sudden influx of cars into the neighborhood, to the clear amusement of the locals. And then when it was over everyone went away again, like a school field trip. <br />
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This show took place in the Lower 9th Ward, a neighborhood that is almost entirely black, and one of the most economically depressed in the city. The Space Rites folks have done right by the community there, offering the church space to a local Baptist congregation and enlisting the Lower 9th Ward choir for another show in the series. I think it's a good project. But there's some introspection to do here about why it attracted such a specific audience and nobody else.<br />
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<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-7159783903890697372014-06-16T11:09:00.000-05:002014-06-16T11:09:18.840-05:00Various Changes, and also I am the worst blogger everMy poor blog, I haven't updated it since last October. And that post was only a soup recipe. Not that anybody really reads it (hi, 4 subscribers, one of which is my mom), but it's always nice to look back on things from years ago, in the event that I bothered to record them. In any case, I do actually have something to write about. Because I bought a house:<br />
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It's in the Mid-City neighborhood in New Orleans, and it's a slightly decrepit but sweet single shotgun, built around 1910. We call it the Voodoo Dollhouse. It's got a wee little front yard and a back yard that's only slightly larger, and a front porch that faces West, perfect for watching sunsets. It has 11-foot ceilings and wonderful acoustics; it also has a variety of issues, from both Hurricane Katrina and long-term mild neglect.<br />
It's been a tumultuous few months; I broke up with my long-term boyfriend, and moved out of the neighborhood we'd been in for three years. It's a lot to process.<br />
And I became a homeowner. I did this with money I inherited from my grandparents, which makes the whole thing rather bittersweet. And while it was a lot of money for me, I could only afford a somewhat funky house in a neighborhood that's actually great, but mere blocks from one that's not so great. This house is a project, is what I'm saying. Or rather, it's a series of projects. Some of which I'll be detailing here, I think.<br />
<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-21558561177986286632013-10-13T01:43:00.001-05:002013-10-13T01:44:53.498-05:00Spicy Bacon Dream SoupBy which I mean, this recipe literally came to me in a dream. It wasn't even a full night's sleep, but an afternoon nap, which seems somehow less witchy and dignified. Nevertheless, it was quite a vivid dream, and when I woke up I realized that I had all the ingredients in the fridge. I went ahead and made it, and it was pretty much as delicious as you would expect for a soup that somebody literally<i> had a premonition about. </i>So I can confidently say that psychic powers exist, but maybe only in regards to soup. <br />
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You could make a nice veggie version of this, with mushrooms instead of bacon. But it was bacon in the dream.<br />
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You will need:<br />
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6-8 medium red potatoes<br />
1 tablespoon crawfish boiling spice (or Old Bay seasoning, in a pinch) <br />
1 large onion, chopped<br />
2-5 cloves garlic, to taste, coarsely chopped<br />
6 strips bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces<br />
2 cups cooked whole kernel corn (canned or fresh)<br />
Enough broth to completely cover the other ingredients <br />
1 teaspoon olive oil <br />
Salt and pepper to taste<br />
A lemon<br />
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The broth: Better than Bouillon is my favorite brand, and they make a <a href="http://www.superiortouch.com/retail/products/better-than-bouillon/vegetarian-bases">faux-chicken stock </a>I use for everything. You can make it while the onions are cooking. <br />
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In advance: Boil the red potatoes whole in the crawfish* boil (or Old Bay) until cooked through. Drain and let cool, preferably overnight, but at least for a couple of hours. When cool, cut into quarters and put aside.<br />
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In a medium soup pot, add onions and olive oil. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until onions start to brown a bit. Add bacon and garlic, and cook together 5 more minutes. When everything is slightly browned, add broth, quartered potatoes and corn. Simmer over low-medium heat for about 20 minutes. Add more broth and salt and pepper if needed. Right before serving, add a wee bit of lemon juice. Serves 4, whether regular people or soup-related clairvoyants.<br />
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*Crawfish boil, despite the name, is vegan. Most contain cayenne, salt, celery, lemon powder, and sometimes MSG. You can totally make your own, but I'm too lazy.<br />
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<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-2308275648624287542013-07-28T22:22:00.001-05:002013-07-28T22:22:20.012-05:00My Family's Old Neighborhood in Winnipeg<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Above: This is the house my dad grew up in, in North Kildonan, a suburb of Winnipeg. I went out there with my dad and uncle. It was so cool to see it!<br />
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Below: The back yard, and the shed my Granddad build himself, circa 1965.<br />
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Below: Now this is really cool. Behind the house, there is a dog footprint... it belonged to my uncle's dog Princess, who stepped in this concrete in 1970, when a crew was paving the back lane.<br />
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Below: a back lane. Many of the older suburbs in Winnipeg have a back lane running through the middle of the block. People used to park their cars back there. The back lanes felt very woodsy compared to the rest of the city.<br />
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<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-16990343948790043302013-07-28T22:11:00.001-05:002013-07-28T22:11:25.427-05:00Winnipeg!I went to Winnipeg for a week, for my uncle's wedding. It was pretty fantastic to see my Canadian family, and meet my new auntie-in-law and her daughter. I haven't been to Winnipeg since I was a little girl. It's a vibrant, growing city, and incredibly diverse, culturally. I like to make fun of Canadian food sometimes, but I had all sorts of wonderful meals in Winnipeg--Greek, BBQ, amazing hamburgers, and my uncle's awesome cooking. <br />
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The weather in July was pretty wonderful--70 and breezy, a treat after New Orleans mugginess. In the winter, it can get down to 40 below. The buildings all have massive walls and half-inch, double-paned windows. Downtown, the skyscrapers have passageways between them, over the street.<br />
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<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-28476000650215239242013-06-02T11:58:00.000-05:002013-06-02T11:58:06.582-05:00Skully Dolls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been making these for about a year. They're peg dolls, meaning that their bodies are clothespins, and their heads are round wooden beads. They have a sculpted base to help them stand. I used to use air-dry paperclay for the base, but now I use Apoxie Sculpt, a miraculous two-part putty that dries as solid as armor. They're incredibly fun to make, and much faster than my stitched and embroidered dolls. I got the idea originally from the cute little pincushion dolls from PicalilliPatchwork, when they were featured in Art Doll Quarterly. I've diverged a fair bit from hers, though. The clothespins and wooden beads are available at most craft stores; I got mine at Jo-Ann's. (You can also get a starter kit from Picalilli's Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/122855583/make-your-own-lily-unpainted-clothespin?ref=shop_home_active) <br /><br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-66285427430259544682013-06-02T11:14:00.001-05:002013-06-02T11:14:12.059-05:00More Mardi Gras <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Top to bottom: Fog in the French Quarter, the view of the city from Algiers Point, me in my Mardi Gras wig and headdress, St. Ann's Parade.Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-16079243236501633982013-06-02T11:05:00.000-05:002013-06-02T11:05:36.678-05:00Mardi Gras! Only 4 months late!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We had a lovely time! My sister and her sweetie were in town, so we had a proper Mardi Gras posse. We started the day with a healthy breakfast, and then a slightly less healthy second breakfast (booze). We walked with the St. Ann's parade (first picture) down to the Mississippi River (second picture), which was completely socked in by fog. It was quite magical, and we hung out on the levee for some time, visiting with friends, singing songs, and, of course, drinking booze. (Though nobody got too ridiculous.)<br />
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Then we took the free ferry across the river to Algiers Point, and hung out over there for a while. Then we very, very gradually walked home, with many stops along the way. We managed to stay out until almost 10pm, which is a full 12 hours of Mardi Gras, which is <i>way</i> longer than I made it the previous two years.Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-30166795241136871842012-11-26T10:16:00.000-06:002012-11-26T10:16:56.934-06:00A tardy post-Isaac updateWe were fine. New Orleans proper was fine. Plaqumines Parish (the southernmost part of the state, the part that looks like a bird foot sticking out into the Gulf) flooded pretty badly, as badly as Katrina. However, they were able to get help in a timely fashion, because Obama un-gutted FEMA, and there was less competition for hurricane relief as well. Here are some pictures of our neighborhood on Thursday morning, about 24 hours after the worst of the storm. It was still windy. Here's the same under-construction house before:<br />
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And after. It's since been fixed, and is now almost finished. But it's still ugly.<br />
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This fence blew down in the wind; again, this has been repaired since, mostly with the same materials. They kind of just hammered everything up again. <br />
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Leaf debris, everywhere. <i>Everywhere</i>. It was rather magical looking, actually. Like we were in the forest.<br />
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We lost power around 10pm on Tuesday night, and the most intense part of the storm was around 4am on Wednesday morning. We didn't sleep all that much--the wind was too loud. Our house is brick, with nothing to fix storm shutters to, so there were a few times we worried for our windows. But nothing broke. We stayed inside all day Wednesday, and ventured outside on Thursday. We never lost water or gas, luckily, so we were able to cook normally. All in all, we were pretty well prepared for the hurricane itself.<br />
<br />Thursday night, the wind stopped, and the storm was officially over. <i>And then began the boredom</i>. As I said, we lost power Tuesday night. We didn't get it back until Sunday afternoon. (And we were lucky. Some people had no power for 10 days.) We stocked up on ice and first aid and snacks, but we were profoundly unprepared for 5 days without internet, Netflix, or sweet, sweet air conditioning. What wusses we are. My grandmother was a WWII nurse, and she once had to singlehandedly care for an entire field hospital when the other nurses got dysentery. A hospital <i>in Calcutta</i>. And I bet she bitched and moaned less than we did.<br />
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Eran and I read every novel in the house. We took walks and drives. We went down to the French Quarter, which was the only operational part of the city, and charged our phones in bars. We played about 100 games of penny-ante poker. We helped our neighbors clean their yard. We filled the bathtub and just sat in the cold water, reading. We felt intense jealousy towards everyone with a porch to sit on. (Our apartment has almost bizarrely poor air circulation, even with every window open, as if it exists in its own windless pocket universe.) We yelled "Fix it! <i>Just fix it!"</i> out the window when we finally saw a utility truck. Okay, that was just me. The neighbors cheered. When the power came back on, we switched on every light in the house and put the AC on full blast, and danced around yelling "Electricity! Electricity!" and rushed to catch up on all our Internet bullshit. Next year we're going to stock up on board games and trashy novels before hurricane season. And possibly move to a house with a porch.Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-48608888847952561752012-08-27T16:43:00.002-05:002012-08-28T16:12:24.795-05:00Hurricane Isaac, here it comes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hurricane Isaac is rolling slowly over the Gulf of Mexico. It's forecasted to hit us early Wednesday morning. Hurricanes spawn smaller thunderstorms as they go, and we'll get a wave of these little stormlets (the opening act, if you will) tomorrow afternoon. If Isaac ramps up to a Category 3, we're planning to evacuate; otherwise, we're staying put. We have candles and canned food and water. This is Eran and my first actual hurricane. There was a nearly-hurricane tropical storm last year, but this is the real deal.<br />
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We can already feel it coming. Hurricanes are preceded by several days of odd but pleasant weather. Today is warm and dry and windy--more like an August day in Los Angeles, when the Santa Ana winds are kicking up. The sky is hazy and white. Earlier, I drove up to the grocery store (Mardi Gras Zone, who say they'll be open "as long as possible", bless 'em), and saw people out nailing plywood over their windows. The bald cypresses in our backyard are whipping back and forth in the hot wind. <br />
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Back in the 1800s, this unnatural lack of humidity was the only way to know a hurricane was coming. It happens because the hurricane is literally drawing in all the moisture in the air, from way out there in the ocean. Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-54485318787510359242012-06-23T15:25:00.002-05:002012-06-23T15:25:35.801-05:00Daisy!<br />
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We love Daisy. We have had her for just about a year, and she is the pinnacle of kitty-ness, in my opinion. She usually does not like having her picture taken, but she wandered into my light-box while I was taking pictures of the doll you see above. I managed to capture "the Daisyface" (middle photograph), which is the face Her Nibs makes when she is displeased about something. Causes of Daisy's displeasure include: picking her up or putting her down when she's not into it; stealing the piece of tape she is straight-up trying to eat, and when we go out for dinner and a movie instead of staying home and petting her constantly.<br />
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We adopted Daisy from the lovely folks at <a href="http://www.animalrescueneworleans.org/">Animal Rescue New Orleans</a>. They can always use donations and volunteers!Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-46445696267724936132012-06-09T12:13:00.002-05:002012-06-09T12:13:32.777-05:00Update on Etsy Boycotts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It worked! Well, sort of. There are still zillions of resellers on Etsy, but the Featured Seller who started the whole kerfluffle, Ecologica Malibu, has closed her shop. Or had it closed by Etsy--it's pretty unclear. <a href="http://www.regretsy.com/2012/06/06/bon-voyage-2/">Regretsy story here</a>. And there's been a little bit of improvement in the way Etsy polices resellers. Nevertheless, it's clear Etsy is going in a more commercial, corporate direction, and I'm going to be looking for somewhere else to host my shop... possibly <a href="http://thecraftstar.com/">Craft Star</a>.<br />
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(The rose is from City Park. I really like wilting flowers.)Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-14349354676975717142012-05-14T19:55:00.001-05:002012-05-14T19:55:08.351-05:00Monster High repaints<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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These little dollies all started life as off-the-shelf Monster High dolls from Mattel. They're ostensibly for children, but seem to mostly be popular with grown-up Goth chicks such as myself. A "repaint" is any mass-produced doll that has had its factory paint removed and new paint applied. Popular subjects include vinyl baby dolls and Barbies. Monster High dolls are petite (about 11") with big heads and skinny, Tim Burton-y proportions, and their arms and legs are removable. These are four of my repaints; I have a few others in the works. All of them have been rehomed except the little skeleton girl, who is on Ebay right now.<br />
I really like repainting Monster Highs because they're so accessible--they cost $12 to $20, instead of the $100+ for a resin ball jointed doll. And I like their weird little body shapes. <br />
<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-77906865280198454572012-05-14T19:26:00.001-05:002012-05-14T19:26:14.650-05:00Some of my ball-jointed dolls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I seem to keep acquiring these things, despite my reduced circumstances. I was the recipient of <i>unbelievable</i> generosity from the doll community when my dolls got stolen last year. And of course, layaway, baby. <br />
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Below: The grandly named Dulcie Bourbon Saturday, in two different looks. Dulcie is a tan-skin vampire Akasha from the <a href="http://www.impldoll.com/">Impldoll</a>
company--I bought her on layaway from my darling friend Nina, who
wasn't bonding with her. She came blank, and I painted her face and made
the long brown wig myself.<br />
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Below: Jenever, also made by Impldoll (this sculpt is called Antonia). Her facepainting was done by BJD artist Jisatsu and her neck modification is by Catdancer. She was a generous gift from Nina and another friend. I made her dread-lock wig and her clothes. <br />
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<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-23157791854074961392012-05-07T17:09:00.001-05:002012-05-07T17:09:49.971-05:00The Secret of HappinessOK, not really. But I promise this recipe will make you <i>slightly</i> happier. If you like mayonnaise.<br />
You will need:<br />
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A little jar (I used an old pesto jar)<br />
1/2 cup of regular mayonnaise<br />
1/4 teaspoon curry powder<br />
small clove garlic <br />
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Plop that mayonnaise into your little jar. Add curry. Whisk around with a fork until the curry is blended in and mayo is a nice yellow. Crush the garlic in a press (or chop really fine) and mix in. Give it 15-20 minutes in the fridge for the flavors to combine. Boom, curry-garlic mayonnaise! It's the best stuff on earth. Use it anywhere you would regular mayonnaise--on sandwiches, in coleslaw, in salad dressing... it also makes a great dip for steamed vegetables. When I was little, my mom's curry mayo was the only thing that could induce me to eat broccoli.<br />
Curry-garlic mayonnaise is even <i>slightly better for you than regular mayonnaise</i>! It has vitamin C and antioxidants in addition to all that yummy, yummy fat and cholesterol. You may even find yourself using a little less of it than regular, because it has a stronger flavor. Plus there's that helping-you-eat-healthy-vegetables thing. (It's also delicious on plain white rice, but let's pretend I've never done that.) Truly, curry-garlic mayonnaise is a glorious foodstuff. Go make some.Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-73510829222909444092012-04-27T21:45:00.002-05:002012-04-27T21:47:49.828-05:00Etsy Boycotts--support genuine crafters and vintage sellersI'll be participating in 3 one-day boycotts of Etsy this month. I'm protesting the influx of factory-made goods, and Etsy's disregard for its core of crafters and vintage sellers. A full explanation of the issue is below, in my previous blog post. <br />
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The boycotts are:<br />
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May 1st--I guess this here is the website for this one, until something better comes along. Started by Etsy seller <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/Lightworksartworks">Liz Hornbrook</a> and myself<br />
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May 3rd: http://www.neogami.com/baligate.html<br />
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May 10th (this is looking to be the big one. Sign up at <a href="http://www.protesty.com/index.php">http://www.protesty.com/index.php</a>) <br />
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A couple of tips:<br />
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If you're putting an announcement on your shop, DO NOT mention Ecologica or Etsy by name--this can get your shop permanently closed for "calling out" or "being negative", which are not allowed on Etsy, even when they're pretty well deserved. Say something like "I handmake all the items in my shop. I am closing for a day to show my solidarity with genuine handmade artists and vintage sellers. Buy genuine handmade. I will reopen tomorrow. Thank you for your support."<br />
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Please refrain from personal remarks about Mariana Schecter, especially her appearance. It goes to the "calling out" rule listed above, but beyond that, it's sexist. The issue is not that she's pretty or well-dressed; the issue is that she's acting in an unethical way, and Etsy is supporting her. Ecologica is just the tip of the iceberg anyway.<br />
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Spread the word! The more people who get involved, the likelier Etsy is to reconsider their policies. They need to see how badly this story is hurting their brand. I am also concerned that if only a few people protest, Etsy will shut down their shops for trumped-up reasons, but they cannot erase thousands of shops.<br />
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Most things are mass-produced--Etsy pretends to be different. They should honor their mission statement and stop making excuses for Ecologica and other resellers.<br />
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<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-17240967789478358932012-04-27T21:21:00.003-05:002012-04-27T21:24:01.272-05:00Etsy boycotts--background<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been an Etsy seller since 2009, and generally, Etsy's been good to me. Their listing fees are reasonable, and the interface is intuitive and easy to use. More than that, though, I love the idea of a handmade marketplace, where shoppers and crafters can make a personal connection. There are many lovely, talented people on Etsy, and many wonderful creations.<br />
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Recently, though, Etsy's been plagued with "resellers"--people who buy factory-produced items and sell them as their own, handmade creations. Many resellers are large-scale importers, and their items can also be found in non-handmade venues like Ebay. For example, <a href="http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?q=pocket%20watch&view_type=gallery&ship_to=ZZ&min=0&max=0">here are the results</a> of a search for "pocketwatch" in the handmade category. Clearly, most of those watches (over 10, 000!) aren't handmade, or vintage. Etsy Terms of Sale DO allow for altered items--meaning that if you buy a factory pocket watch and incorporate it into a necklace you assemble yourself, that item is allowed. But it's pretty obvious that over 90% of pocket watches on Etsy are straight-up factory produced items. Look at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/84975842/hello-kittycute-cat-pocket-watch-locket">this one</a>. The same item is <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cute-Hello-Kitty-Necklace-Pocket-Watch-Pendant-008-/251037401011?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a72febfb3">available</a> from multiple sellers on Ebay.<br />
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Many of the genuine crafters and vintage sellers on Etsy have been very frustrated by this. Etsy has a flagging system in place, where you can report factory made or non-vintage items, but often nothing is done about flagged items or shops. And yet, Etsy aggressively promotes itself as a "handmade marketplace", and enjoys considerable brand cachet derived from this image.<br />
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On April 20th, 2012, Etsy published a "<a href="http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/featured-seller-ecologica-malibu/">Featured Seller" article</a> about a furniture shop called Ecologica Malibu. It drew attention for being suspiciously light on actual technical info, and heavy on Etsy-riffic copy like "I always felt that there was magic in the trees and a mysterious energy in the ocean." The article seemed to imply that Mariana Schechter, the owner, actually hand-built the items by herself. However, the next day, satirical site Regretsy published compelling evidence that Schechter was, in fact, <a href="http://www.regretsy.com/2012/04/21/the-etsy-featured-reseller-ecologica-malibu/">importing the furniture from Bali</a>. In large amounts. The <a href="http://www.overstock.com/search?keywords=ecologica&SearchType=Header">same furniture is available</a> at Overstock.com, and also at <a href="http://allfromboats.com/">http://allfromboats.com/</a>. Comments on the article exploded, with many Etsy users calling for the feature to be removed, and the Ecologica shop closed. Regretsy's evidence included photographs of Balinese carpenters building the furniture in Indonesia, and shipping records marked "furniture" and signed by Mariana Schechter. Clearly, this shop was in violation of Etsy's stated mission. <br />
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Instead, Etsy leapt to Ecologica's defense. An Etsy moderator deleted all comments, and Etsy rewrote the article, "clarifying" that Ecologica was a "collective", and adding the names of Schechter's employees, who were not mentioned in any way in the original. Multiple Etsy members started forum threads about the issue, only to have them summarily deleted within hours. Customers who had purchased supposedly handmade, one-of-a-kind items from Ecologica began leaving negative feedback. Schechter left them negative feedback in return. Etsy <i>deleted the negatives from the Ecologica page, while allowing her retaliatory feedback to stand</i>. Considering that Etsy has summarily <a href="http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2012/01/etsy_closes_azreals_accomplice.php">closed small shops for a single factory-made item</a>, this consideration struck many Etsy users as profoundly unfair. <br />
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Many longtime Etsy sellers have been left feeling betrayed. Etsy promotes itself as a paradise for small-scale businesses, and the many independent crafters on Etsy help to maintain that image. They also pay listing and sales fees, which helped Etsy earn <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etsy">314 million dollars in 2010 alone</a>. Etsy can't be expected to catch every single instance of reselling, but their ongoing refusal to close Ecologica's shop is a clear violation of Etsy's stated principles and public image.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Many Etsy shop owners are organizing temporary boycotts--a 1-day shop closure on May 1st, another on the 3rd, and another on the 10th. You can show your support by not shopping on Etsy on those days.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Feel free to reproduce this article! However please give credit to me, Aurelea River. I believe I've provided links to all of the sources I used in writing this post--please let me know if something is uncited! </i></span><br />
<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-21551939929458810282012-04-25T12:46:00.001-05:002012-04-25T12:46:30.255-05:00Again, City Park<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ducks! There's also a squirrel in this picture, if you're eagle-eyed. Louisiana squirrels are small, brown and zippy.<br />
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Iris! I love irises. Also ducks. This duck didn't know what to make of me.<br />
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Is this voodoo? Someone would have you believe that it is. <br />
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<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-42817346755524344942012-04-25T12:40:00.000-05:002012-04-25T12:40:33.726-05:00Stormy Day in City ParkHoly moly, it's been a long time since I posted anything. It kind of got away from me... I don't know if anyone's still reading. Whatever, I'm amused.<br />
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City Park is pretty amazing. I love the Bywater, where we live, but one thing it doesn't have is decent-sized parks. Marky Park is cool, despite (because of?) the overwhelming urge to call it Marky Mark Park, but it's pretty teeny. City Park is actually bigger than Central Park in NYC, though not all of it is landscaped... we usually go the end where the New Orleans museum and duck ponds are. There's also a kid's playland and a free sculpture garden. These pictures are from a stormy day last month. Click to see 'em bigger!<br />
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Spanish Moss, in sepia tone. <br />
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The famous Spanish oaks. I've never been able to convey with pictures how <i>big</i> these trees are. The tracks are for the miniature railroad that runs around the park. <br />
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Doesn't this look like I took it out in some moody bayou? That's the magic of a cloudy sky, because this tree lives in the City Park duck pond. <br />
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<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-75116935074194117322011-11-23T09:35:00.000-06:002011-11-23T09:35:04.146-06:00Lots of AlligatorsOk, to make up for our swamp trip having like, .10 of one alligator, here are a bunch of 'em.<br />
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This one is both exceptionally old and exceptionally fat. He only had about half his teeth--he is around 85.<br />
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The white alligators are my favorite! The Audubon zoo has two, and the New Orleans Aquarium has one. Most white zoo alligators are from the same nest, which means if you've seen one in, say, San Francisco or Boston, it's the sibling of these here. They are not albino, but leucistic ("loosistic"), like white tigers. They have blue eyes.<br />
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Did you know gators scratch their itchy heads with their back feet, like puppies? Well, they do. This gator was very interactive and interested in us. The other one just slept.<br />
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You can ride a gator at the carousel, except it was out of order. This is a great carousel, though. If this was a real gator its tail would be half its body length (see above). I think alligators are fascinating--they're like... swamp dragons. They also had some foot-long hatchlings, but I didn't get pictures for some reason. They were cute.<br />
<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-73722822940784818222011-11-23T09:21:00.000-06:002011-11-23T09:21:37.856-06:00Trip to the Zoo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This cool Angkor Wat-style building is from the 1920s-- a lot of the buildings are much newer, but there are a few holdovers.<br />
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The carousel was very photogenic. Aren't they always?<br />
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This is an orangutan READING A MAGAZINE. He was totally reading it, like methodically flipping through and looking at everything. I think someone may have tossed it in there.<br />
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And a disgruntled pelican. There are a lot of ponds and water birds.<br />
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My mom and I went to the Audubon Zoo on a beautiful, sunny day just before Halloween. It's a lovely zoo, one of the best in the country. Alas, it closes at 4, so we didn't quite get to see everything.Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-20434818606349169262011-10-14T23:33:00.000-05:002011-10-14T23:33:38.634-05:00Salt Marshes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Above and Below: At the end of the trail, the swamp opens up into salt marshes. (Swamps have trees, marshes only have grass, according to the rangers.) There's a nice overlook platform here where we hung out for a while. Next time I will bring a picnic lunch.<br />
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Spanish moss at the boundary between swamp and marsh.<br />
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Below: These fluffy things were blowing everywhere, which was very lovely. I swallowed one by mistake! <br />
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This baby raccoon totally posed for us. Then it ate some grubs from the top of the tree and climbed down. I didn't get any pictures of the water moccasin we almost stepped on, because really, that was careless, but chasing a poisonous snake for pictures is seriously dumb, and I didn't have a zoom lens. It was beautiful though. Like a rattler, but shiny black.<br />
We went on the 1.5 mile Bayou Coquille trail, but there's a 4-mile trail as well; I'd like to walk that one another day. If you go, bring lots of water, sunscreen, and bug repellent. (Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil is like super mosquito Kryptonite, so totally I recommend that.) And don't feed the alligators. As the sign at the ranger's station hilariously and accurately says, "Alligators cannot tell the difference between a HANDOUT and a HAND."<br />
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<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-35108844974400324132011-10-14T23:18:00.000-05:002011-10-14T23:18:04.792-05:00Let's play Spot the Alligator<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Above: There is an alligator in this picture. Can you see him? He kind of just looks like a truck tire tossed into the bushes. Actually, someone told us that it's hatching season, so there were baby gators around, but they were all hiding from the herons. <br />
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A fairy path into the swamp. </div>
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Spanish moss. I thought there was a lot in New Orleans, but there's a ton out here.<br />
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Doesn't this look like a Berkeley garden spider? She was huge, and some others we saw were even bigger. We took these from the boardwalk that goes through the swampy bits. It's the dry season, though, so things weren't as squishy as we expected.Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-26133288915835742192011-10-14T23:10:00.000-05:002011-10-14T23:10:02.181-05:00Proceed to the Swamp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Above: Spanish moss in the bald cypress and swamp tupelo trees.<br />
Below: These pink flowers were everywhere.<br />
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A cute fat swamp bee. They'll kind of buzz your head, but they aren't aggressive.<br />
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My mom is visiting, and yesterday we drove out to the Jean Lafitte Barataria Bay Preserve, about 40 minutes outside of New Orleans. ("Proceed to the swamp" was what Mom wrote on our dry-erase board in the morning.) It was totally cool! And it was free, too. But when they say "Watch out for poisonous snakes" they're not kidding--on the way out, we almost stepped on a fat water moccasin that was hanging out right beside the path. Which really made us rethink the times earlier in the day we snuck off the trail to take pictures. Nature is fangy down here. <br />
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<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1599208744374349558.post-11663574613103747702011-10-14T22:37:00.000-05:002011-10-14T22:37:31.474-05:00Magazine Street, and a rainstorm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Above: A house on Magazine Street, uptown.<br />
Below: Also uptown. This tree is huge! That's my Honda under it, looking like a toy. <br />
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Same Spanish oak, with breaker boxes for outdoor lights mounted on it--I think that's what they are, anyway. It's illegal to cut down a Spanish oak in Louisiana, but this is OK, apparently.<br />
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The Circle Food Store on Claiborne Avenue. It's been closed since Katrina. Claiborne Ave was the center of a thriving African-American business district until I-10 was installed on top of it in the 1960s. Now this stretch of Claiborne is pretty bleak--it runs under the freeway for miles. <br />
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A summer thunderstorm, with Mardi Gras beads.<br />
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A hibiscus flower I found in the street. They start blooming in the fall. They don't last long, but they sure are pretty; I see them in red, orange, pink, and white.<br />
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<br />Aureleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06456797353093753527noreply@blogger.com0