Color of the Week: Pale Salmon

It’s an official obsession.  

pale salmon-colored amaryllis: 

It will be an element of a forthcoming ARL arrangement.  I got some wild and disparate elements for an upcoming design (fingers crossed that it works out).  I’ve been feeling really inspired by the work coming out of Saipua–it’s just so unexpected and at the same time so beautiful.  We’ll see if I can pull it off. 

Update Your Bookmarks

Ici Ice Cream has  a new website!  Remember them? 

New soothing additions such as a forthcoming online shop (!), details on the history and founders of Ici (let us all bow down to Maria Canales), and Ici’s pioneering efforts towards sustainability (who doesn’t love it?).  

Soothing pastels abound. 

I also found out that if you call Ici (510.665.6054 ) you can select the number ‘2’ to hear the ice cream flavors of the day.  Soothe.  The efficient way to find out if they are serving Meyer lemon without making the trip to Elmwood.

Cream and Pale-Salmon-Centered Daffodils

Brighten up the gray February.

Peonies; all the way from Brooklyn

Happy birth-day-week-month Chad!

Trip to Koreana Plaza in Pictures

 

Every type of fish-, soya-, and seaweed-based product pre-pickled and packed for take-home

In bulk

These objects are smaller than they appear

Who knew that Koreans were such fans of Armenian Brandy?  Or that it came in such fun containers? (cork is at the derriere)

Koreana Plaza, 2370 Telegraph Ave at 24th Street in Oakland, 94612

T.G.I. Still Stone Crab Season

I happened upon Molly Wizenberg’s post about her messy crab dinner, which reminded me it’s still crab season!  She and her loved ones did it just right.  A table smothered in newspaper is a prerequisite for an authentic experience. 

My family always orders stone crab near the beginning of the season (usually for a New Year’s Eve feast) since supposedly the crab is sweetest then, but I’m hearing reports that the crab this time of year is just as good.  

If you’re going to do it right, lay the newspaper on thick, tuck that napkin into your shirt, and order your claws from the Islamorada Fish Company in the Florida Keys.  My family has been ordering from them probably as long as they’ve been around.  

Another advantage of stone crab claws is the relatively low-impact your consumption has on local ecology:

The Florida stone crab loses its limbs easily to escape from predators or tight spaces, but their limbs will grow back. When a claw is broken in the right place, the wound will quickly heal itself and very littleblood is lost. If, however, the claw is broken in the wrong place, more blood is lost and the crab’s chances of survival are much lower. It only takes about one year for the claw to grow back to its normal size. Each time the crab molts, the new claw grows larger.

There Will Be Blood

I am teaching Shakespeare for the first time.  Macbeth.  At Harold Bloom’s urging I’ll be screening Kumonosu jô; Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of the play.  I’m SO EXCITED. 

The stills alone!  I can’t wait!!!

Do you think my 10th graders will go for it?  I’m going to start with a clip rather than doing the whole thing at once.  Fingers crossed! 

Oh Mercy, Mercy Me

I was browsing FFFFOUND! and this image caught my eye:

 

Those ranunculus, those lamb’s ears, those mona lisa anemones!  Is that a branch of eucalyptus beads I see in the background?   WHO could have made this GORGEOUS arrangement?  WHO could have combined such unexpected elements yet made such an elegant statement?

It comes from the Saipua blog.  Where had I heard that name before?

Then I realized it’s those soothing soap-makers from Brooklyn who sell at Atomic Garden right here in Rockridge!  But they do floral design?  

After visiting the website, I have to admit I still don’t quite understand how all the pieces fit together.  All I know is that Saipua makes some of the most gorgeous, naturalistic, refined floral arrangements I’VE EVER SEEN.  Here are some more of my favorites:

They’ve mastered everything from the tall statement arrangment,

to the perfect posy;

from the modern, (succulents and sea holly)

to the classic (camelia, protea, lisianthus, veronica, queen anne’s lace, geranium leaves, dogwood, cock’s comb celosia).

I haven’t been this excited about a florist since I discovered Birch in San Francisco.  New Yorkers take note!  Let your loved ones know who to call the next time they’re in the dog house!

Current Obsession: She Got Her Own

She Got Her Own: Jamie Foxx Featuring Ne-Yo & Fab0lous

Jamie Foxx.  Who would’ve thought ugly girl Wanda would end up all slick and pretty in the here and now with “She’s Got Her Own.”  So where are those fly girls?

Current Reading List: Go on-Judge a book by its cover

Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human by Harold Bloom

Midnight: A Gangster Love Story by Sister Soulja

Learning and Not Learning English: Latino Students in American Schools by Guadalupe Valdes