autumn daze

it is so gorgeous out right now i could fall into a deep slumber on the hammock and remain there until next autumn.



maybe that's because i'm tired from attending another concert last night. tashi had a sleep over with a friend while dan and i went to see phil lesh and friends at the charlottesville pavilion. i went into it muttering curses under my breath about letting myself buy into yet another grateful dead related concert. but as soon as we reached the downtown mall and started spotting all the tie dyed middle aged freaks and heard phil's soundcheck drifting down the corridor, the contentment fell about me like a comfortable embroidered gauzy dress. we ate a delightful assortment of small nepali dishes at himalayan fusion while listening to the soundcheck and watching the concert goers drift past. we made our way into the pavilion and when the show began with "the golden road to unlimited devotion," i was hurled into an emotional space of memory, nostalgia and musical euphoria. it was all good.





very, very good!

dan and i continued to marvel at the fact that we had the whole night to ourselves even after the show, so we went to fellini's where awesome african drummer daryl rose was playing with some musical companions. we proceded to drink one too many vodka & cranberry juices at our cosy window seat and then danced like mad (some more) to the rhythmic drumming and shrieking saxophone.



and today couldn't be a better day of rest. as i type, tashi and a friend are researching fairies, building little houses & hunting for the evasive winged beings.







i am about to work up the nerve to finish a project i started weeks ago and abandoned because i did something mysteriously and terribly wrong. it is amy karol's scalloped baby blanket that i'm making for wee julian. it was all going seemingly well until i turned it out and realized that my scallops were misshapen and inconsistent and that i'd done something very strange in the crevice of each scallop. the fabric bunches in each crevice and there is one visible thread that comes through each time. perhaps it had something to do with the way i pivoted the needle of the sewing machine? perhaps i have no idea really how to do this?







ah well, the best i can do is complete the project and present it to julian's mama as perhaps, a changing pad. or a picnic mat. or a rather misshapen blanket. sorry for the delay suzanne!!!!

girls' lunch

today tashi didn't have school ("autumn break") and i had my friends molly, meredith and baby evangeline come over. i had the honor of supporting meredith as evangeline came into the world and i am enjoying seeing evie grow bit by bit.



i made pumpkin tureen, which is supposed to be pumpkin soup cooked right in the gourd. it turned out more like pumpkin pudding though.



we ate up the contents of the first pumpkin, and had some more from the second, this time adding chicken stock to our bowls. the stock helped a lot. i'd like to find a better recipe, or figure out how to tweak it so that the soup comes out soupy. we also had homemade cornbread and a nice fresh salad that included some of the last bright & juicy tomatoes from molly's garden.



for dessert, molly brought a mouth watering caradmom coffee cake. i also made a sort of cobbler, apple & cherry with a polenta-pecan topping. we added a little freshy whipped cream and it was all rather heavenly.



it was a beautiful autumn day, cool, crisp, sunny -- spent with warm hearts.


(molly and tashi are trying to block the bright backlighting!)

Apple-Cherry Dessert with Pecan-Polenta Crust
(serves 8)

Filling:
6 medium apples, peeled cored & sliced
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tblsp butter
Crust:
1 cup polenta
1 cup white, unbleached, flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tblsp orange zest
2 tblsp veggie oil
2 eggs beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine apples, cherries, sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg. Transfer to a 2 quart baking dish and dot with butter.

2. In a bowl, combine polenta, flour, baking powder & soda, salt, sugar & pecans. In another bowl, combine orange zest, egg, veg oil and buttermilk. Combine wet & dry ingredients and mix.

3. Dollop mixture on top of the apples. Bake 45 minutes or until topping is brown and apples are soft.

Z stands for Me!

ok, i was trying to avoid the most obvious z word in my book, which is my middle name, zoe, the name i've been called since i was an infant. but really, what other z word could be more significant to me?

my grandfather insisted on calling me zoe from the start, rather then lara, my first name, and his was the word that stuck. zoe was my grandmother's name, and she died while i was in utero. so zoe it is, and zoe it always shall be.


zoe and michael, my maternal grandparents

i certainly don't mind. though it was a difficult name to have as a child. i lived in a small, small town, and zoe was a rather unusual name. i was called everything from zebra to zipper to zorba to zoot suit. ok, maybe not zoot suit.

zoe is the greek word for life. if you every listen to greek pop music, it's guaranteed you'll hear my name repeated often. i've had random christians tell me (with a hungry sparkle in their eyes) how my name means "life of god". and indeed, if you google it, you'll learn astonishing things like, the word zoe is used 134 times in the new testament to indicate eternal life. or that zoe was the daughter of sophia and is another name for eve:

After the day of rest, Sophia sent her daughter Zoe, being called Eve, as an instructor, in order that she might make Adam, who had no soul, arise, so that those whom he should engender might become containers of light. When Eve saw her male counterpart prostrate, she had pity upon him, and she said, "Adam! Become alive! Arise upon the earth!" Immediately her word became accomplished fact. For Adam, having arisen, suddenly opened his eyes. When he saw her, he said, "You shall be called 'Mother of the Living'. For it is you who have given me life."
(on the origin of the world from the nag hammadi library)


my mother, tatiana

well, i'm not a christian. i was baptized greek orthodox, but i had no say in that. i think christianity is fascinating, and there are certainly good stories to be told, and amazing lessons embedded within. but monotheism just doesn't work for me. so while some might try to convince me that zoe means the life of god, i'm perfectly happy knowing it means life of all.


me with my dear cousin, david

according to a chart i found, the popularity of the name zoe has grown exponentially in the new millenium. from 1880 to 1980, less than 265 per million births were named zoe. in the year 2000, there was a leap to 2,384 named zoe per million births.

it used to be people would say, "were your parents hippies?" and then people would say, "oh, i know a dog named zoe." now i hear people calling to their children named zoe, and of course, i always do a double take.

here is a great list of words beginning with z.

and here is me trying to steal candy from my grandfather's pocket:



thus ends the encyclopedia of me meme! it's been a great vehicle for inspiration and reflection. it's never too late to begin! thanks to bella dia for urging us all on!

olden books

today when i picked up tashi from school she requested we visit the spca thrift store and then hang out at the neighboring cafe, shenandoah joe's.

twist my arm!

the thrifty prizes for today are three rather old books, "cooking the greek way," "gardening: a new world for children," and elizabeth and her german garden.



the elzabeth book appears to be a first edition, and has an inscription dated 1901. i couldn't resist!



the gardening book has very quirky chapter names, for instance: odd behavior garden; lilliputian gardens; pocket money garden; and party garden. it's full of sweet little drawings.



there are worse habits i suppose!

Y is for Yoga

something i don't do nearly enough of.


(on the origins of yoga)

i first started taking iyengar yoga classes in berkeley in 1993 with the now super star yoga instructor, rodney yee. he was very popular then too, but hadn't yet started showing up in ads and magazines and dvd's at every turn. he was an absolutely incredible teacher and always ended the class with words of humor and inspiration. he was tough, but compassionate, and had a way of pushing you just a little further with each stretch. that was one of the best years of my life: i grew apart from toxic relationships, i started taking yoga classes and attending contact improv sessions, i was writing, and exploring, and collaging, i moved out of a house of roommates into my own magical studio on haight street, and dan came into my life.

once i moved from berkeley to san francisco i started taking iyengar classes around the corner with another awesome teacher, evlaleah howard. i was suffering from a back injury due to lifting dozens of heavy boxes daily at the book distributor i worked for. evlaleah specialized in yoga for back care and through persistence and careful attention, i was healed.

when i was pregnant (and living in the east bay again) i took prenatal hatha yoga with saraswati devi at yogalayam. i also took her birth classes, and then a postpartum mother/baby yoga class. eventually tashi took toddler yoga classes at yogalayam. all very highly recommended.

and then i stopped. for years. every once in a while i would go through a phase of doing it at home, but always felt i was doing something wrong. i value the guidance of the master. it was hard for dan and i to juggle our schedules or to even afford for me to take a class. but every once in a while, i would manage. and of course, there is always laughter yoga, as discussed here with john cleese:



in ann arbor i took iyengar yoga for a while with laurie blakeney. it was the first time i had taken a class with someone who, with such precise attention to detail, focused primarily on getting every aspect of the poses aligned and corrected. i realized i still knew nothing.

in charlottesville i tried something new and took vinyasa yoga with hilary jackson. the class was incredibly rigorous and such a challenge for the not-so-flexible me. i loved the challenge, and the feeling that i really had a work out. when i found myself pregnant i stopped due to the rigorousness of the class, and after that pregnancy ended in yet another miscarriage, i found myself void of all motivation to return. i haven't taken her classes since, though i am constantly trying to work myself up to it again. after my knees stop hurting. after i quit finding excuses.



despite the classes i have taken on and off with these incredible teachers, i am not very good at yoga. i am incredibly inflexible and i still consider myself very much a beginner. now when i go to a yoga class i feel self conscious with my belly bulge and lack of fashionable yoga wear. i usually try to find the most invisible part of the room to be in, and struggle with beet red face through all the challenges. i worry about my knees, which in the last two years have developed a painful stiffness.

i have to come to terms with this self destructive part of myself, which knows what is best for the body, for healing, for overall wellbeing, yet is very good at avoidance. writing this helps. i recently picked up some yoga dvds from a thrift store. i think i'll pop one in right now. it's a start.



OM

Let us bow before the noblest of sages Patanjali, who gave yoga for serenity and sanctity of mind, grammar for clarity and purity of speech and medicine for perfection of health. Let us prostrate before Patanjali, an incarnation of Adisesa, whose upper body has a human form, whose arms hold a conch and a disc, and who is crowned by a thousand-headed cobra.

octobermuddle

on saturday we went to oktoberfest at the local schnitzelhouse. a friend won a chicken hat and gave it to tashi and then another friend traded his royal crown for the chicken hat. but that wasn't a permanent exchange. the chicken hat came home with us and proceeded to lay erasers (tashi's egg-like approximation).

i just learned about this photo tool. kinda silly but do give it a try!

we need rain

i never thought i'd ever say i was sick of hot weather, but i've had enough. yesterday i woke to a sad little sprinkle that fizzled out into a hot day. while tashi had a play date, dan and i took a bit of a hike at sugar hollow. i couldn't believe the river was bone dry. the last time we were there we had trouble figuring out how to cross over the waters so we could meet the trail. yesterday we just walked across the river bed.



today it was in the high 80's, and humid. the mosquetos are still buzzing around viciously in our yard, and the cats are panting and tiptoeing across crisp autumn leaves.

i hope that soon there will be some relief.

beyond the blog

i'm very happy to have my tribute to devendra banhart up at stuck between stations. it feels good to get beyond the blog a bit.

i also want to recommend and excellent documentary which is on youtube, broken up into six parts. it's called the eternal children, directed by david kleijwegt. here is part one for your viewing pleasure.

from afar

today i received a belated birthday present from my beloved pal, laura meisler. i love belated presents because they just keep the party going.

i opened up the package and found this hilarious bag:




and inside it was a pair of awesome garuda earrings that i am just going nuts over.




they are purrrrrrfectly perfect. thanks so much laura for making a good week even better!

devendra banhart setlist anyone?

if anyone has the set list from the dc show on monday, oct 1, 2007, could you post it in my comments? i sunk into a puddle of euphoric glee sometime after at the hop and stopped keeping track.

thrift-o-matic

tashi and i are getting in the habit of stopping off at the spca thrift store on the way home from school. oh dear. she loves to look at the toys and books while i scour the whole store. here are some of our finds:

a charming little teapot. i don't know the make, but it is a friendly aquamarine color with little red speckles. it's bigger than a toy teapot, just the right size for a kid's cuppa:



and then we found this game. i was a little concerned, not knowing anything about it, but tashi and i played a round this evening and it was such a pleasure. the game encourages dialogue between girls (or mothers and daughters) about their changing bodies, their likes, dislikes, fears, and dreams. and there are jokes, songs and compliments to be doled out. as you answer questions from multi colored cards, you choose alphabet beads, the goal being to make a bracelet that says "go goddess girl!" there is some explanation of differing goddess natures based on the greek and egyptian pantheon. so sweet! i can't wait to hover around while tashi plays it with her girlfriends.



and then there was this made-in-italy vintage dress for a couple of bucks. it actually fit me, unlike most vintage clothes i come across these days. i'm not entirely sure it looked good on me, but whatever. it's good to have some emergency vintage on hand.



i can't make up my mind whether it is perfectly hideous, perfectly charming, or both. the brand name is goldworm.





finally, i found this for a buck. om saraswati.



as i write this i'm listening to vetiver, another amazing band you might never know about unless someone told you. so now i'm telling you.

happyhappyhappyhappy.

devendra banhart live in dc

i am writing a little review of and tribute to devendra banhart and may submit it to a music website. so i won't go on too much about his show here. it was an incredible night and i would highly recommend him to anyone who loves finely crafted songs, wide ranging vocalization, flawless harmonies, clever guitarmanship, rockin' jams, and an all around riveting stage presence. we had fun spending an evening in chinatown and experiencing some of the finest, most poetic, rock music out there today. for anyone who has been wondering when the music will be as meaningful as it was in the 60's, devendra banhart may be the troubador come to satisfy that longing.

here's a bit of a photo essay of our evening, with more on my flickr page.

























i feel inspired, blessed and really fucking tired! goodnight!