fragile

frederick called. he has decided to put henry to sleep. i know it's for the best but i also feel like i just lost my dog all over again.

i know it is an insignificant loss in the grand scheme of things. especially right now as it seems every day i receive news of another incredible life being held in precarious balance. ultimately, it is a reminder that each day is a miracle.

there will be other dogs i'm sure, but i will never forget the light and laughter that this little creature brought into my life.

japanese loveliness

i wish i could read japanese because i think i'd have a much easier time navigating this design site.

i want one of everything.

and one hundred of these so i can put them on my table and pretend i have grass inside my house.

couches that look good from behind.

these lovely creations are found here and unfortunately not yet in my house.

but one day.

two things

the first thing i have to say is that i get inordinately entertained by church signs.

second, is that i love this idea so much that i want to replicate it on the streets of nashville, mumbai, prague, wherever. in fact, i would like this to be my new job. professional world traveling question ask-er.


Fifty People, One Question: Brooklyn from Crush & Lovely on Vimeo

not quite the puppy i wanted for christmas...

christmas came early this year

last night we went to holley and g's new home. its gorgeous. curved walls painted a lush mink. and a shower i could throw a party in, complete with pebbled floor! (my mum would love this). and the kitchen just makes you want to take lessons in gourmet cooking so you can use it to its full potential. and then you add holley's sense of style which is all mid century modern 'i was cool in the sixties/seventies but i'm even cooler now' furnishings and it's magic.

dev and i kept going from room to room, eyes widening the whole time - i guess we could have been a bit more restrained, after all lots of other very exciting things have happened in their lives lately, like their youngest, the adorable luca learning to walk.

but instead we were all 'hi. luca has started walking? OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE THAT THEY HAVE A TAP OVER THEIR GIANT GAS STOVE SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIFT HEAVY POTS TO THE SINK!' and as dev added, you can drink water while you are making scrambled eggs without leaving the stove! not really the point. but amazing nevertheless.

so then later, when holley said she had a gift for me upstairs, i was hoping it was a room to live in. but alas it wasn't.

but then she gave me this and it made up for it:

success!

pomegranate peeled in a deep bowl of water wins.
(i haven't actually tried the other methods yet)

what i want to know

is how i can peel a pomegranate without resulting in red-stain-casualties?

memphis sojourn

saturday nights circa 1999 consisted of a lot of phone calls. phone calls about which party to go to, which band to see, which event to be 'seen' at. phone calls about what to wear, what not to wear because she was wearing it, about what to borrow to wear. friends arriving. spending far too long getting dressed and fixing hair. all in an effort to achieve the 'messy, effortless' look. finally going out. music. dancing. smoke infested air. insta-crushes on elusive dj's. foraging for food at 2am. novelty of heels over at 3am.

rinse and repeat.

i tired of those saturday nights a long time ago. now i'm completely content to be with friends and family. small get-togethers. board games. couch time. tea time. dinner parties. art gallery crawls. movies. in-front-of-the-fire-time. i don't really miss 'checking out the scene' or 'hitting the clubs' or 'partying till the break of dawn'.

is this a sign i'm getting old? probably. but i'm okay with that.

more concerning, is the fact that i just used the phrase 'partying till the break of dawn' a sign that i'm getting old? definitely.

occasionally i will have the craving to dance. however, that impulse is taken care of because, 9 times out of 10, conversations between dev and i end like this:

d: shall we buy steaks for dinner
g: i'm feeling like a vegetarian tonight
d: okay, steaks and hummus?
g: do you think we've OD'd on hummus lately?
d: maybe...hmm...you want to DANCE about it?

and then dancing ensues. in the supermarket aisle. side of road. your kitchen. the location is irrelevant. and it's not really a question either. it's more of a statement so i have no choice. the next thing i know i'm being whirled and dipped in the fruit section of krogers.

this saturday, i drove with dev, his family, and some family extras like nathan and collin's girlfriend, inee, to memphis. we were going to show our support to the memphis baha'i's who were holding their reflection meeting.

we had no idea what to expect but the turnout was amazing. suddenly the large room was full of friendly faces and laughter. as the meeting was about to begin we realized there were about twenty kids in the room aged between 2 and 14 and no children's program.

i decided i would take them upstairs and do activities with them so their parents could take part in the meeting with less distractions. it was also precisely at this exact moment that i forgot how one child contains enough energy to power a small island.

collin, inee and nathan bravely jumped on board and we herded the children into the big rumpus room upstairs. then we looked at each other and had the sinking realization that we had no. idea. how we were going to entertain them for an hour or so.

cue the noise. screaming-for-no-reason-at-all. laughter. giggling. jumping. bouncing. racing. running. did i mention the screaming?

of course the children had a blast because kids are awesome like that. they think 'cool, i'm in a room with my friends. no parents in sight. i can be a maniac. this is fun'.

meanwhile my brain is doing back flips to my montessori school teacher assistant days trying to remember games. we exhausted the few i remembered in oh, about five minutes.

then i had to get creative. one of the children found a penny and tah dahhh! now we were all going to play my 'magic penny game'. everyone sits in a circle, one child leaves the room. the rest pass the penny around while i sing the 'magic penny song'. when i stop singing the penny stops and the child who left the room comes in and guesses who has the penny.

sounds pretty decent right?

well the problem was, that there was no point to it. if the child guessed right, well great. if they guessed wrong, they guessed wrong. one of the older kids finally asked 'um...how do you win this game?'

my sophisticated response? 'i don't know because i just made it up'.

yes, by the end of the hour my ears were buzzing like i'd stood too close to the speakers at a concert. yes, i was wiping 'art' off one of the white walls that had been used as an impromptu canvas. yes, i crashed on the couch feeling like i'd been trampled by wilder beast.

but, the thing is. i had a great time.

these children were brilliant lights. they showered each other with affection and kindness. they were patient with their younger siblings. they loved us and our lame excuses for games. they were full of happiness and energy and enthusiasm for life.

i'm so glad that this was how i spent my saturday.

neato

i don't drink wine. but i like wine glasses. and so having some of these would make them useful and adorable.

you know what else i would find useful and adorable?

a mini cooper.

tomfoolery

it's before midnight. i don't think i've slept before midnight in months. and i have every opportunity to do so right now. but instead i'm listening to samimi-extremie's fantastic, perfectly mood suiting mix tape.

i was a bit melancholy this week and i wasn't sure why. and then i remembered i'm only happy in the sun, and it's been a week of gray days. so that must be the reason. time to invest in a sun lamp. or a warm tropical island.

but guess what? i have found a yoga class that i love. it's at the east nashville ymca - which is super close to me. they have hot yoga on monday and wednesday. i went both times this week and it was sweaty and wonderful. it's a relief to stop thinking about how much i want to do something and actually JUST DO IT. nike was right.

this year is nearly over. it's been a year of extremes for me. highest highs and lowest lows. i'm happy to welcome 2009 in. make it a cup of tea. and enjoy the calm.

list of words i like though i couldn't really define:
maelstrom
rigmarole

okay so i guess i had thought the list would be longer when i started.

but here is something for you to learn so this post isn't a complete waste of your time: the word 'gargalesis' means to forcefully tickle.

you know that feeling when someone stronger than you tickles you against your will? and you want them to stop. and they don't. oh the agony.

well heed this warning you tickling bullies:

Although it may be funny when you are the one causing gargalesis, doctors recommend that people don’t do this to others for an extended period of time especially children. Gargalesis can potentially be dangerous causing neck and other injuries. In addition, despite laughter, rough tickling can cause a child emotional distress when their pleas to stop are covered up with laughter. That’s why a lot of kids refer to this game as tickle torture.

that's right, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS.

in other news, i have an idea. i want to make recycled sweater skirts.

you know how thrift stores have all sorts of fitted wool sweaters. but they are kind of oddly shaped or too long? or well, what if i bought a bunch, cut off the arm/neck part and attached some sort of bandeau waist and made little woolen winter skirts. perfect to wear over tights.

don't you think that would be pretty awesome?

i just googled sweater skirts and found this horrifying image. which is not at ALL what i had in mind. yes, it actually says 'i da ho. r u da ho 2?'
now i'm completely put off.

finding bibi

a few of years ago i said yes to a question that changed my life.

on an otherwise ordinary day, sitting in melbourne university's student union building, my friend bita asked if i would accompany her to pakistan and india, assisting her as the producer for a portion of a documentary she wanted to film. the idea wasn't fully developed but she was inspired by the courage of mukhtaran bibi and so she wanted to find her, and tell her story, interweaving it with her own - the quintessential wannabe all-american girl who wasn't interested in her iranian heritage or the cultural norms that came with it - like the notion that boys could do whatever they wanted, while a girls crowning achievement was getting married. bita wanted to explore all the paradoxes she faced growing up and set out on a journey to find out what women in other cultures and corners of the earth were experiencing. the notion of the veiled woman was something we were confronted with in pakistan. we were curious to understand whether these women considered themselves inferior, less than, and if so - why?

the film is coming together...bita's doing most of it alone and experiencing all the tests that come with single-handedly trying to bring a massive project into fruition. the preview is below...check it out...it's going to be an amazing film and i'm grateful to have been a part of it.


SELECTED SCENES_PROMO

dreams really do come true

a little robot that sucks up your crumbs and an adult onesie. you know you want one of each.

latest out-of-my-price-range obession

this is the most fascinating instrument i've ever held in my hands. the lovely kelly snook has one (listen up children, these are the kind of perks you get when you are grow up to be a genius who works for NASA) and she bought it down the last time she visited. i was instantly enamored. i can't really describe how it works but it basically plays sounds according to patterns. our friend wikipedia has this to add:

Tenori-on is an electronic musical instrument, designed and created by Japanese artist, Toshio Iwai and Yu Nishibori of the Music and Human Interface Group, Yamaha Center for Advanced Sound Technology. It consists of a screen, held in the hands, of a sixteen by sixteen grid of LED switches, any of which can be activated in a number of ways to create an evolving musical soundscape.

needless to say, i want to create an "evolving musical soundscape". who doesn't?

easing back into the blogosphere with some lists

list of things i already love - though i haven't yet experienced

hot air balloons
africa
space travel
owning a tea shop
south america
chinchillas
rock climbing
an entire closet of thrift store finds
samoa.tonga.kiribati.basically any small island in the south pacific.
swimming with dolphins
being a mother
tokyo
having an art studio
ice skating at rockefeller park
iceland

*

list of the one thing i will accomplish today because i'm tired of hearing myself talk about how much i really should do this

find and join a yoga class.

*

list of ten things that i don't know 100% whether are true or not but have caused me to change my behavior/purchase choices/habits/hippy-status

1. bees are being fed corn syrup so they can produce honey all year round. so even though the label says 'honey' you are basically eating regurgitated corn syrup. unless it's the raw/organic/cost-a-fortune kind.

2. regular antiperspirant has some chemical/metal in it that is bad for you. especially as you apply it so close to your lymph nodes (under your arms). natural deodorants are better for you. 'toms of maine' wins again.

3. shoes hanging over a telephone wire mean you can purchase drugs nearby. what i want to know is does the type of shoe reflect the kind of drug you can acquire?

4. the companies that create anti-virus software, are the ones who also create the viruses in the first place.

5. pc's are lame. (this one i know is true).

6. eating cheese before you sleep can give you nightmares.

7. sleeping with the light on is not a good idea as there is some enzyme (?) that your body releases in complete darkness that your body needs. there was this study in israel, and they found that women who had a street light shining into their bedrooms had a much greater chance of being diagnosed breast cancer.

8. shell station and bp gas is not as good for your car as exxon mobile.

9. sugar weakens your immune system.

10. pomegranate juice purifies your blood but stains so badly that if you get it on your clothes there will be no going back to spotless.

*

letting go.

henry is not doing any better. frederick was waiting it out since the vet told him that he might just heal on his own, but i guess soon he'll have to make a really tough decision. it's not fair to henry to have this be his existence. not for a dog like him who lives to run.

i'm still heart broken over it. and i keep telling myself all the obvious things: it's just a dog. it's no longer your responsibility. there are more dogs. this is life.

but then, the other day i received these two photos below. i guess they are a sort-of-before-and-after. seeing them made my heart stand still.

i can't really explain how much love, affection and attention was poured into this little dog. i guess it was one thing that frederick and i completely agreed on and adored without question. i remember getting up at five in the morning to hold him, like a child on the eve of an important event, i couldn't sleep. i was so excited to spend time with him. our long daily walks in melbourne's beautiful parks were my therapy. frederick taught him so much and his tricks kept us amused for hours.

i really miss him.

spare time. and the lack thereof.

it seems i no longer have it. i don't have nary a spare minute in my day. days are too short. nights are too short. weekends definitely way. too. short.

the cons about not having enough time are: not getting enough sleep, my hair is always messy, my washing piles up, i disregard my blog ;)

the pros are: i am never bored.

i love jumping from one project to the next. i love traveling. i love being around people i love. and meeting new people. i especially love going on adventures. whether that means a trip to the store our pajamas because we HAVE to have hot apple cider at 11pm. or an escape to some other city, country, continent.

since dhg entered my world there is zero time for boredom. not only am i entertained constantly but together we come up with new projects on a daily basis. and next thing you know he's self-taught himself how to 'code' and is setting up a tripod on our kitchen table and i'm trying to figure out how to draw bumblebees (this will all make sense when you see our stop-motion animation project).

our latest we-don't-have-the-time-but-let's-do-it-anyway-project was to enter into a contest that described 'carbon emissions caps' using an analogy. it had to be 30 seconds and brief, non-partisan and memorable.

and this, ladies and gentlemen, is our entry:


It's time to get off the couch. from devon gundry on Vimeo.

shake it like a polaroid picture. except don't.

i know you are excited to whip up your own.