Purple For Fall

Slightly ghoulish, also goes harvest.

First Days of Fall

Crossing the Raritan. 

(Double click on image to view it larger).

Ryan Hall Wins The Philadelphia Distance Run!

And I finished 55 minutes later,* taking more than a minute off of my Spring Half time. It was a beautiful day, as it has been the three previous years I've run it, and my running tribe of a half dozen people all had great races (even the ones who swear they didn't). Next time though, I will remember that the course is almost entirely shady and I need to bring my sleeves.


One other note: what is it with racers who wear shirts with pompous and/or obnoxious sayings on the back? It's race pollution, if you ask me. It just makes me want to pass them... Maybe I shouldn't condemn them, if it's good for me. 


* Well, not in real time. We started in waves (a great idea) so I actually finished more than an hour later. They let the fast people go first, and put the walkers in the back, etc.

If You Ever Get To Nantucket...

Be sure to do the following things:

1. Rent a cruiser with a wicker basket.

2. Explore the bike paths.

2. Ride to Sconset. When in Sconset, be sure to pick up supplies at the market, like cookies as big as your head, water, fudge, and cigars, if you're into that. Enjoy these items at the beach, or store them in said wicker basket for later.

2. Go down strange streets that lead to nowhere.

3. Get some ice cream in a hand-rolled waffle cone at the Juice Bar.

4. Watch the Pats score two touchdowns to come from behind and win their home opener.

These are my personal recommendations on exploring a far away isle in New England. Enjoy the wildlife and the silence. And the ice cream.  And the football dynasty. Make plans to come back again.

On The Topic Of Heydays

Those who know me well can attest to my use of the term "heyday." I find it an apt description of many kinds of happiness and/or periods of time in which the universe conspires in your favor. In a recent text message exchange, my friend on the West Coast and I were contrasting our heydays -- his entailed seeing Phish on their reunion tour, mine meant having friends over for grilled food and pie on the deck. He wrote, "All paths, whatever they be, lead to Hey." Well said.

My love of "Hey" springs from my second favorite children's book of all time, Marie Louise's Heyday. It's an odd little out of print book, but I still love it to this day.

I found an excellent summary on the web to fill you in on why you should care about this overburdened mongoose and her quest to eat a banana.

On this Labor Day weekend, I wish for you a Day of Hey.

Maira Kalman Continues To Be My God

How did I not know about this before?! Maira illustrated my favorite reference guide, Strunk & White's Elements of Style -- a book which not only endorses the Oxford Comma but also gives me the possessive apostrophe I very much deserve, in a one-two punch.

I beg to differ, Maira, I think you come pretty close.

Family members and good friends, please note my birthday is the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I look forward to receiving my copy.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to put the finishing touches on my Maira alter.

Chair Excitement

Sorry for the slow posting, I have been at home smiling at my new chairs. Well, they're not new, more like born again, thanks to the help of Lenny Piekarski at Jacob Piekarski & Son Upholstery. He special ordered my my dream fabric, sped over in his furniture ambulance and took my sad hand-me-down chairs to his chair hospital, and delivered them back to me in an almost unrecognizable state.

Here are my grandmother's chairs before. Note the general wordown appearance, saggy cushions, and cat claw damage (not from my cats, Rufus only likes to destroy carpets, knock on wood).

Here they are after visiting Lenny and being worked on by two Italian brothers and Lenny's 90 year old father. (Apologies for the poor lighting, I haven't picked out any new lamps to go with the new look.)

This is my favorite detail on the whole chair, the double piping around the leg. So sexy.

When I look at the fabric, it makes me feel like this.

Here's a little sneak peek at the rest of the room, which I will write about more as the last details come together.