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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

RECIPES: 3 POSTCARD POEMS by AMANDA LAUGHTLAND

Here's a book I put together from stuff lying around my writer's studio--in this case, the inspiration were three postcard poems I'd received over the years from Amanda Laughtland--a poet, blogger, beekeeper, visual artist and founder of Teeny Tiny Press (click on all images below to enlarge):




I decided to incorporate the postcards into a single "book" which was sized at 3" x 4.25" as such is half the postcard dimensions.  Because the text all had to do with food, I thought the cover should incorporate that theme.  I flipped through a magazine I received that day and noticed an advertisement for Eiko's, a Japanese restaurant. As you can see, I cut the horizontal band of images and made them the image for the front and back covers:







I then cut up an unused postcard and pasted it across the front cover.  I also cut a stamp from one of the pieces of mail that day:






When you open the "book", you can see the pages formed by simply folding the three postcards:



Here are the interior content as you turned the pages over:










If you click on above images to enlarge, you can read the recipe-poems.  The exception (due to moi poor skills as a photographer) is the third recipe poem so I'll just type-to-share it here:

from I Meant to Say


You work at the Taco Place

You have blonde hair and usually wear
blue eye shadow. You seem to be
in the back most times and don't work

the register much. I probably will never
tell you how sweet you are and how I wish
you were into girls. I sometimes try

to get your attention and talk a little.
If you guess who I am, please
don't say anything at all. Or say yes.

A lovely poem!  And this below is the back cover where you'd see the edge of a postcard laid over the food imagery.



Now, where shall we serve this yummy book?  Well, it seems to enjoy itself on the "Swingasan" chair, so there it shall swing!






Tuesday, June 18, 2013

SITTING WITH OWLS!

Here's a chair I really wished was carved from wood, instead of just looking like it is, uh, carved from wood:




It's a really nifty image, right?  That's why I got it even though it's only made from resin.  Besides, I was in Ashland in a very good mood from partaking of Oregon's Shakespeare Festival and that only made me too open to helping out the local economy, hah.  Here's a detail shot:




I am sure we will find a sagacious mini-book to sit with these owls!



[Prov.: Unicorn Gifts & Toys, Ashland, Oregon. Size: 10.5" height, 3.5" width, 2.25" depth]




THE DOLL ARTIST'S CHAIR

Visiting gorgeous Oregon for its annual Shakespeare Festival allowed me to pick up a lovely mini chair by Selma's "Doll Artist" Nancy Hall.  Here's what the little flyer said about her works: "Her dolls have been shown in the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads Master catalog, Soft Dolls and Animals Magazine, Art Doll Quarterly and featured in Doll Costumers and Crafters Magazine. She has won numerous awards for her work including the Hoffman Challenge First Place Doll Award in 2011 as well as having her dolls tour nationally with the Hoffman Challenge." Here is her hand-crafted addition to SitWithMoi's Chairs Collection:





And here's a shot featuring the chair's equally charming backside:





Must find an equally charming mini-book to shelve on this blue felt-plus!


[Prov.: Oregon Cave Outfitters. Size: 10.25" height, 4" width, 3.75" depth]






Wednesday, June 5, 2013

SHE by SUSANA GARDNER

Part of the "Dusie Trove" was this interesting 2" x 2" "book" that extends the definition of a book (e.g., to my eyes (and perhaps to my eyes alone) the feather bespeaking the notion of "wings of a prayer" as a book, like a poem, can be a prayer ...).  It's not just a story but book art!




It's not titled by its creator, Susana Gardner, but for purposes of this post, I'm going to title it SHE...for reasons that I hope will be obvious below.

So, when you untie the pink yarn around the book and first begin to unravel it, the book reveals the first "page" to be:



There is a pencil, an even smaller book with blank pages within this fold, and as the following detail shows, a URL address:



And what do you know?  Guess who's blog is noted in the URL address?  Well, click on it: http://angelicpoker.blogspot.com.  Yep, that's Moi primary blog where I post the results of playing poker with the poetry angels (all fallen, of course).  If you look at the detail above, you'll see a make-shift folder, too, where strips of the URL are enclosed, as if one can take one to give to others.  In other words, to pass the word about the writings of this person who pens THE BLIND CHATELAINE'S KEYS, which is where http://angelicpoker.blogspot.com goes.  I won't go into the very long conceptual underpinning to my blog, except of course to note the gender of "Chatelaine."

When you unfold SHE further, you will see a page that contains a quote from Muriel Rukeyser,

What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?
The world would split open
--Muriel Rukeyser



Then when you go to the next page on the other side of the above, you will see a poem I wrote from I TAKE THEE, ENGLISH, FOR MY BELOVED (Marsh Hawk Press), my book that was released at about the time Susana made SHE:




Here's the text of the poem, in case it's not clear from above image:

Helen

Part of mortality's significance is that wars end.
Yesterday, I determined to stop watering down my perfumes.
Insomnia consistently leads me to a window overlooking silvery green foliage—tanacetum argenteum—whose species include the tansy which Ganymede drank to achieve immortality.
Once, I could have been tempted.
But to be human is to be forgiven.
The man in my bed shifts, flings an arm across the empty sheet—gladly, I witness him avoid an encounter with desolation.
Soon, summer shall bring a snowfall of daisies across these leaves whose mottles under a brightening moonlight begin to twinkle like a saddhu's eyes.
I can feel my hand reaching to stroke the white blooms as gently as I long to touch a newborn's brow.
By then, I swear my hand shall lack trembling.
I am nearly done with homesickness for Year Zero.
This is my second-to-last pledge: insomniac thoughts understate my capacity for milk.
This is my last pledge: I will not drink until all—all of you—have quenched your thirst.

When you unfold the above page, by the way, more blank pages fall out:




The pencil, the blank book, the blank pages inserted along with references to a woman writer's blog ("The Chatelaine"--which I will share I define as not necessarily a chateaux's caretaker but its other definition of "keeper of keys"), the Muriel Rukeyser quote, a poem regarding "Helen" from the male-centered Greek myth -- do not all of these combine to offer implications about de-silencing women's "truths"?  That's just a general interpretation, of course.  What's smart about Susana's approach is the lack of didacticism and the offering, instead, of several ways in which the combination and recombinations of her material can hint at or reveal stories that women can tell.

So where shall we "shelve" Susana's book?  Well, why not on one of the Star Trek chairs inspired by innovative designer Eeno Saarinen -- because I suspect that what's also relevant to Susana's project is a voyage into the (still) unknown:







Saturday, June 1, 2013

GETTING BENCHED!

I love this miniature concrete bench!  It's obviously meant for the outdoors, so I position it here in front of scenes from Yellowstone and Grand Teton visits!






[Prov.: Etsy/Kazoo Creations. Size: 7.5" length, 3.25" height, 2.5" width]