Howard Zinn, warming mustard bath, The Selby, split pea soup, color scheming, Andrea Dezso, Bespoke

1. Remembering the anniversary of the death of Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922- January 27, 2010). A hero.

2. I am a religious bath taker. Almost every night. I made a batch of this warming mustard bath. Inexpensive therapy that works wonders.

3. The other day, one of my super cool students introduced me to this project site, The Selby. Right up my alley! Thanks, Brenda!

4. JMP (husband) made an enormous pot of thick, delicious, warming split pea soup that lasted us three dinner meals.

5. I am having my high school students reference this site for considering color palettes for their project. What fun! What choices!

6. With that same project, we are taking a look at the incredible tunnel books of NY artist, Andrea Dezso. Last spring, my sister and I saw her work at the amazing "Slash: Paper Under the Knife" exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design, NY. What a fun and inspiring sister adventure that was! (I cherish those times with her.)

7. So wish that JMP and I had a chance to catch this exhibit there at MAD, too. "Bespoke: the Handbuilt Bicycle." When bicycles and art meet, we happily coexist.

"I am a man," chai at home, the color-in dress, brown butter spice cake (pending), winter vegetable chowder, sloths, bicycle rush hour

1. This picture is in my studio: Memphis strike, 1968, by Ernest Withers. In remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this past week, this image comes to mind. I look at this picture each day.

2. Making chai at home in my stump pot.

3. I was reminded again of this amazing artist who created a color- in dress.

4. On the list of things to make, consume this coming week: Brown butter spice cake from Heidi Swanson at 101 cookbooks.

5. A favorite soup recipe of ours that we made this week: Winter vegetable chowder from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison.

6. Sloths were my favorite childhood animal. Can you see why? They savor rest, calm, and good company. Watch the "Meet the residents of the Aviaros sloth orphanage" video.

7. Bicycle rush hour, Utrecht, the Netherlands. A beautiful sight. I so long to live in a place where this is the expectation in getting oneself around.

a snow day, mexican lasagna, portlandia, chai rice pudding, valerie roybal, a visual life, the sketchbook project

1. A project that I am finishing up. My theme is “If you lived here…”
http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject
postmarked by tomorrow.

·2. Intel Visual Life: The Sartorialist

Blogger Scott Schumann, aka, The Sartorialist, shares “leading a visual life” and “reacting to what you are seeing.”

3. I like the simplicity of this work by Valerie Roybal.

4. Chai rice pudding: I long for it when it is cold. I made a huge pot of it earlier this week.

5. I have not had a television since 1998. A couple of times a month, JMP and I watch a show via hulu on our small laptop. We happened upon this ridiculously hilarious show, "Portlandia," premiering on January 21st on the Independent Film Channel. Since it may well be the first and last time we are able to watch it (unless hulu continues to run the upcoming episodes), we want to make sure someone else out there gets to enjoy it.

6. Mexican lasagna. It very well ought to be my husband's middle name. He made it last night for dinner.

7. A snow day in the middle of the week. It was all about a lot of coffee, drawing and quiet.

Charlayne Hunter- Gault, call and response sound, "Blackbird," light, Guinness chocolate cake, gorgeous coffee, Massive Change

1. This inspiring interview with Charlayne Hunter- Gault about her experience becoming the first black woman to attend the University of Georgia 50 years ago.

2. The incredible sound of four men chopping down a tree, singing recorded by Alan Lomax. Very rock n roll way before rock n roll.

3. I revisited this performance (that I had seen on television last year) in preparation for a lesson that I am doing with my students. Corinne Bailey Rae and Herbie Hancock performing Sir Paul Mc Cartney's "Blackbird."

4. My word of the year: light. Buoyancy, brilliance, positive energy, laughing, illumination, less. Inspired by this blog entry.

5. I had been meaning all of 2010 to make this Guinness Chocolate cake from Nigella Lawson. I finally did. It is now gone and I plan to make it again for someone's birthday next month.

6. Gorgeous coffee at Coava Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon via Remodelista.

7. I read Massive Change by Bruce Mau at the beginning of 2010. It really has influenced and inspired my thinking about design. "It's not about the world of design. It's about the design of the world."

light mixing

for 123110: the light mixer we spotted in burlington, vermont. light: my word for the new year.