I am the Audience

Another start

May 4, 2015

a day in this life, bonsai

The little cedar made it through the winter in its pot. (I didn’t take a picture because it just doesn’t look any different.)

I have put another tiny (potential?) tree in a pot, though. I was potting some cilantro for my sister-in-law yesterday and pulled a maple seed out of the dirt I was using. The seed had a root and the beginnings of leaves. The possibility of a maple bonsai flashed across my mind and I stuck the seed in a home of its own.

I haven’t removed the seed cover because I didn’t want to damage the new leaves. I hope to have something to work with, that I started myself, in a decade or so.

In the mean time, my father and I are going to a workshop at the Bonsai Learning Center in Mooresville on September 20. I just realized it isn’t going to be at the Cary site. Yay. Mooresville is equidistant between us. We need to figure something out about traveling.

36.108930 -79.221065
Paste magazine’s list of 30 of the Best Horror Books

May 4, 2015

a day in this life, books, reading
Yes. I realize there are 31 books on the list. Not my fault Paste is a little tweaked.

This is the list from the article found here: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/04/required-reading-40-of-the-best-horror-novels.html

Bold means I’ve read it. Italics means I only saw the movie. Both means I read it AND saw the movie.
1. American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis
2. The Amityville Horror – Jay Anson
3. Books of Blood, Vol. 1-3 – Clive Barker
4. Broken Monsters – Lauren Beukes
5. Carrion Comfort – Dan Simmons
6. Coraline – Neil Gaiman
7. The Damnation Game – Clive Barker
8. Dracula – Bram Stoker
9. The Exorcist – William Peter Blatty
10. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus – Mary Shelley
11. Ghost Story – Peter Straub
12. The Girl Next Door – Jack Ketchum
13. Haunted – Chuck Palaniuk
14. The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson
15. Heart-Shaped Box – Joe Hill
16. Horns – Joe Hill
17. House of Leaves – Mark Z. Danielewski
18. I have No Mouth, And I Must Scream – Harlan Ellison
19. It – Stephen King
20. John Dies @ the End – David Wong
21. Let the Right One In – John Ajvide Lindqvist
22. Little Star – John Ajvide Lindqvist
23. The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft – Howard Phillips Lovecraft
24. Lunar Park – Bret Easton Ellis
25. The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka
26. The October Country – Ray Bradbury
27. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark – Alvin Schwartz
28. Silence of the Lambs – Thomas Harris
29. The Shining – Stephen King
30. The Tune of the Screw – Henry James
31. World War Z – Max Brooks
I’m saving this for the times when I can’t decide what to read next.
Bone Wind

May 2, 2015

poetry and songs

Found on Tumblr this morning by following #ordinary things. I”m saving it here because I really like the poem and want to remember it in December.

http://witchesandpagans.com/sagewoman-blogs/woodspriestess/bonewind-s-return.html

Bone wind has returned
    mother of winter’s chill
    sweeping through bare branches
    and rattling dusty leaves.

    The remnants of summer
    have completely faded
    and the doorway to the new year
    has cracked open.

    With the skeletal swirl of frost and freeze
    I see the hint
    of new things
    waiting to burst from behind the door.

    Hibernating now perhaps
    hunkered down to wait it out
    resting, biding time, percolating
    nestled in darkness
    but, oh so ready, to grow.

    It is only on the surface
    that the world prepares to take a long nap
    underneath the crust
    change boils
    life bubbles
    new ideas gestate
    and time crowns anew
    with the promise and potential of birth
    held in cupped hands.

    The flame of fresh ideas flickers
    and catches
    until the blaze of possibility
    envelopes the cold.
RiverRun Film Festival, 2015 – Part 2

April 24, 2015

film, RiverRun International Film Festival

Yose mite “The lives of three 5th graders intertwine in the suburban paradise of Palo Alto circa 1985, as the threat of a mountain lion looms over the town. Featuring James Franco in a supporting role, the film is adapted from short stories in Franco’s collection ‘A California Childhood.’ ”

This wasn’t really what we expected. We thought we were getting a variation on “Stand By Me” and instead it simply a week in the lives of 3 boys. So, the 11 year old who went along was completely underwhelmed.

It was scary in an anticipating-something-bad-happening kind of way. So much so that it was a relief when it finally did.

I like it better in retrospect than I did while I watched it. Which isn’t uncommon for me watching that kind of film.

The Long Start to the Journey “Filmmaker Chris Gallaway documents his own personal attempt to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail and to learn what the path means to individuals he meets along the way. This is a personal story of struggle and perseverance as well as a historical account of the origins and cultural relevance of the Appalachian Trail.”

I think this is probably the best film about the AT that has been made. It has a little history, some gorgeous scenery and tons of information about what to expect. I think anyone considering hiking it, sectionally or through-hiking, should see it.
Planting – April, 2015

April 22, 2015

a day in this life

I started Beauregard sweet potatoes a couple of months ago and have put 3 slips in my raised bed this morning. I put 3 eyes of a Yukon Gold Irish potato in the other end. I stuck the rest of the eyes in empty-ish places along the iris/blueberry fence row.

I had already planted nasturtium seeds in the holes in the cinder blocks along one long and one short side..

5 Arkansas Little Leaf climbing cucumbers have gone in the center holes on the other long side. 6 bush cucumbers have gone in the other holes, 3 at each end. One of the Arkansas Little Leafs didn’t sprout. But the Mexican Sour Gherkins are volunteering in their holes. I have 4 bamboo poles in holes and I have a bottom row of string ready for the cukes to begin climbing.

I have pulled my carrots so I can plant 2 rows of the Glass Corn popcorn seeds I managed to produce last year. I’ve put them in the middle of that bed. The garlic needs to grow another month or so, so I’m leaving it alone. I”ll put the jalapenos in there when they are bigger. There are 4 spindly plants in little pots, right now.

Chuck’s carrots are bigger and more consistent, so I’ll make a huge dessert this afternoon with my multicolored ones. I hope they keep the colors when they cook. Purple okra doesn’t.

The sunchokes are coming up like crazy, so the bees should have a nice treat this Fall.

Roses and kiwis are putting out new growth.

Dill seeds are sprouting in the herb bed.

Columbines are blooming in the front.

We have bitty plums forming and one peach.

Lilacs will not be blooming this year. Their buds froze.

Iris buds are popping up, And one has even opened.