You're looking at September, 2010
Curtains for the Apartment
··· Sep 30 2010 · By ···
One of the cool things about moving into a new place is that you get a chance to decorate that place to make it fit your personality and sense of style.
We are currently renting a place, and like a lot of rentals, things in the apartment are pretty plain. White walls, grey carpeting, and horizontal blinds. So D and I decided that it might be nice to have a little color. A good way to do that is by putting up some curtains.
Now I don’t know how many of you out there have gone out buying curtains lately but they are pretty pricey, and mostly made in China. So knowing that I have a nice sewing machine, and some fabric and thread, I set out to put up some privacy curtains around Dorothy’s work area. These curtains are really just half window blinds, that still let us see out of the top of the windows, while keeping the views from below blocked at night.
So I decided that hanging them from regular curtain rods is boring, and ugly, so D and I went to our local hardware store, Jackson’s, and got some 1/16” cable, and some grommets attach to the curtains and slide onto the cable.
Next I set out to measure how much fabric I would need, gathered it all up, and threw it into the old sewing machine. It really doesn’t take too long to get some simple rectangular fabric panels sewn together. The hard part is getting the seams sewn in straight.
Well, I got it all together, and realized that the front fabric measurement was taken from an earlier window measurement, where we had the top of the curtain 8” or so shorter. So I had to improvise, and what I came up with was to bring the longer backing fabric, and fold it at the bottom and come up the front, like a big off white cuff. It actually looks pretty good. So we got those hung, and are now moving on the next phase, the front room window panels. Let the sewing commence.
Dorothy Says: I love the curtains! They are cheery and totally original, and make me feel cozy and private after dark. And, when we’re having a Marin heat wave (like last week) and it’s 90+ degrees, they help keep it cool during the day while still letting light filter through!
Bike Knicker Battle
··· Sep 29 2010 · By ···UPDATE, 18 Nov. 2010
The Zoic Knicker has shown a weakness. There is a little section of fabric just above the zipper on each of the cargo pockets that has a flap. The point where that part of fabric is sewn under the top seam of the pocket flap, onto the leg of the trouser, has separated from that seam. It is pretty sorry since I have only had these things for 2 months, and this isn’t even a stress point. I am thinking about shipping them back to hucknroll. At least the seam isn’t compromised on the flap which is pretty solid.
Well, here is a shot of the shredded pocket.
*****ORIGINAL POST *****
I recently picked up a couple different pairs of knickers for biking, tooling around, hanging out, whatever. With Autumn here, and Winter just around the corner, something a little more substantial was called for, and knickers seemed the perfect thing.
I got my hands on a pair of Endura Zyme knickers and a pair of Zoic Reign knickers, and here is a brief report of what I feel about both of them.
The Endura Zyme knickers are really tough, made with the thick brushed cordura nylon. I have about a 35″ waist and usually wear pants that range between 34-36″ waist. The Large size of the Endura is dialed right in to that size. They are roomy, but not baggy, and have cinches on the waist to snug them up if I don’t feel like wearing a belt. I don’t really need a belt with them, because they fit so well, but I like to wear one because the snap on the front seems to pop open when riding if I lean too far forward. The length of the knickers for me is just about right, maybe an inch shorter than I would like though. They have two knee darts that when I ride, end up above my knee. The darts are sewn for a shorter leg than mine (I am 6’3″ BTW). This doesn’t cause any trouble, it’s just a design peeve of mine that the darts are sewn in, but don’t hit where they should. The end cuff has a velcro tab that adjusts to tighten the cuff up a bit if you like. I like that it is easy to adjust, but doesn’t get in the way. The pockets are plentiful, without going overboard. Two front pockets and two on the back all with zippers keep things where they need to be. There are also two front thigh mounted pockets that fit phones or pens, one is open the other closes with a zipper.
Overall I like the Enduras, they seem to keep in the heat a bit so they might be a bit too much in hot temps, but fall, winter, and spring these are good to go.
The Zoic Reign knickers I just got are pretty nice. Their sizes are different, and I had to get a XL. The size chart for XL ranges from 36-39″ I would say 35-36″ is safe. The cut of the legs on these are extra long, they hit just below my mid calf, and I have pretty long legs. The leg end cinch lets you easily bunch them up and wear them just under the knee, that gives a bit of play in them for pedaling or walking or kicking. The cinching cord is hidden inside the cuff though, and it is a bit hard to adjust. They are a bit skinnier than the Enduras so if you have huge thighs you might have to think about something with a more generous cut. The nylon they are made from is more of a mid weight ripstop and lighter than the Enduras. Still being nylon they trap heat, fortunately there are two leg zips that open up just below the crotch on each leg (inside thigh seam) to let a little fresh air in, there is a mesh liner there to keep things from peeking out. They came with a padded inner short, that doesn’t look terrible when worn inside these, I’m just not too into the padded inner short thing though. My Brooks saddles fit me well enough, and don’t present a need for extra padding. The pockets on the Reign knickers are as such. Front pockets cut in jean style with a little change pockette. One zipped pocket on the right side in back. 3 cargo pockets, one on the left leg, two on the right, with a spot in one for a phone or music player with threading holes for a headphone. I like that feature a lot, because I hate my phone flopping around in my bag or other pockets.
Overall, I kind of like the Endura more than the Zoic, but each are rather good, stylish knickers that you can wear tooling around town, or just hanging out having a beer in the City. I got both of these on sale, so who knows if they will continue to be around next season, since clothing manufacturers seem to be fickle and don’t like to keep styles around for too long.
Officiating a Wedding
··· Sep 27 2010 · By ···
I had the opportunity to officiate my first wedding recently. I was honored to be asked by a couple of good friends to share in this special occasion. As an ordained Minister, I have the legal power to conduct marriages and proclaim couples as married (as well as a few other things).
Officiating a wedding is a funny thing. While most everyone is familiar with the “traditional” style of wedding with some singing, and candle lighting, and vows and ring exchange, there are really very few rules that need to be followed. So it comes down to the taste of the bride and groom, and what they want as part of their ceremony. For this wedding, H & T (the couple getting hitched) told me that they wanted a nice short ceremony. No Problem!
Having never done the marrying before I needed some help, so I consulted a book that was given to me as a gift by my Spiritual Mentor Sue who is a fellow member of the clergy. This book, entitled ”Weddings, Funerals and Rites of Passage” by Rev. Amy E. Long, really came in handy as it contains a nice collection of different ceremonies and ceremony elements that can be packed together to create a unique ceremony.
I could have simply read from the book directly, but I felt it necessary to throw some of my personality, and the personalities of H&T into the ceremony, so I studied a number of different elements, and developed a nice ceremony (high level here, simply an outline for the ceremony) that really fit the setting that H&T chose, (Outside in a nice spot in the west Michigan woods) and that captured the wants and needs of H&T (simple and quick).
It was helpful to do a walk through the day before, but for the most part, that was done sort of freestyle, as H&T didn’t have a lock on what they wanted in a ceremony, and I sure didn’t have anything written down at that point. So, as the Officiant and apparently the one in charge, I had to make some decisions, which ultimately became the outline for the guts of the ceremony that would be delivered the next day, while being flexible for the inevitable . That’s about all you can do in a situation like that, better to bend than break.
With the rehearsal still fairly fresh in my head, I sat down and wrote out the ceremony, in bed, at around 1a.m. It felt good to get the ceremony scripted out and on paper.
The next morning was time to prepare everything for the ceremony later in the afternoon. As officiant, there really isn’t much to do except be there and try to pick out the people who you have to give special instructions to, like any family who wasn’t at the rehearsal who have assigned seats. So that was the real job I had to do before the ceremony. In addition, being that H&T are good friends, I helped with setting up the flowers and place settings in the reception hall. This was good, because it was busy work that took my mind off things, and left me with a clear head for the ceremony.
To sum this up, the ceremony went off without a hitch (except for H&T getting hitched, of course). leaving me with only one remaining job, to sign the wedding license. So after the reception cleared out I rounded up the Bride and Groom, and a couple of witnesses, and we got down to the business of making this thing official. It’s pretty straight forward, just filling out what you need to fil out and signing where you need to sign – in triplicate.
Licenses all signed and in hand (it is the job of the officiant to file the license with the locality where the wedding took place) Dorothy and I made a mad dash out of there, and headed on to our next adventure.
Our Yard and Towhee Friends
··· Sep 23 2010 · By ···
One of the things I enjoy most about living in different places is getting to know the nature of the area: plants, trees, flowers, birds, creatures, rocks, and minerals. Marin, as we had hoped and envisioned, is proving to be excellent for communing with/observing/learning from nature, which is abundant here, in our own back (side) yard and beyond. Wherever we are, Jeph and I both tend to be very keyed into the rhythms/language/energy/spirit of the Universe and its natural manifestations. Choosing to be in places where man made objects have not taken over and suppressed nature is a priority for us. That is why we chose Marin – there is still a lot of, blessed, Open Space here. Space to explore, observe, learn, and just Be. And that is one of the top reasons we chose our new home – all along its side is a yard, and every room has one or more windows looking out onto that yard (except for the bathroom, which has a window looking onto the street and hills, from tree level.) It is full of trees, many of them new to us, and we are gradually learning their names: acacia being one.
We share the yard with many creatures: lots of spiders (who’s webs we admire, and try to avoid walking through), squirrels – gray and red (who’s daring acrobatics entertain us daily), butterflies and moths (I see more here, and wherever we go in Marin, than I’ve ever seen before – some very pretty), hornets (not a favorite, because they sting, but we coexist peacefully), deer (at least occasionally, because they left some scat behind one night), and many birds. Crows fly past and we can see and hear them in the tall trees of neighboring yards. Hawks (and possibly falcons and golden eagles – its hard to tell from far away) soar overhead throughout the day. Even without nectar producing flowers, hummingbirds hover through at least once or twice a week. Scrub jays are vocal regulars and we like them as much as blue jays, maybe even more because they’re a bit scrappier. And there are four so far that we are delighted to be meeting for the first time: dark eyed juncos, plain titmice, a white crowned (or other?) sparrow, and towhees.
We heard the towhees before we saw them. That’s what makes them particularly fun to have around – they scratch around in the leaves looking for food. At first, we assumed it was just the local squirrels doing their thing, but the rustling went on for a long time and finally got our attention. We saw a black and orange bird and it was really funny to watch him kick up the leaves and dirt. So we looked in our bird book and found out he was a towhee. Cool name! There are several types of towhees – these are “rufous sided.” They visit us every day, with the female joining sometimes (the picture if of her), and we always get a kick out of their hopping and scratching.
Towhees, large ground-feeding sparrows with long, rounded tails, are often seen scratching for insects and seeds under shrubbery or brush. They hop and kick with both feet together; usually fly close to the ground, pumping their tail.
-from the Golden Guide to Field Identification – Birds of North America
Chalkboards
··· Sep 21 2010 · By ···
One day as we were leaving Jason and Leslie’s place in Ann Arbor, after a visit, walking down the sidewalk, they ran after us, asking if we happened to want a chalkboard. After considering it for like 2 seconds we said “of course”! So we left there, happily, with a nice, old, big, wooden framed chalkboard. That was somewhere between 2001 and 2004 and it’s been with us as we’ve moved around the country roughly 10 times. It was a good day when Jeph hung it up in my office, here in our new home. That made it really start to feel like a place to do good work.
I’m a list maker and project planner/manager – it’s the way I approach almost everything in life: be organized and have/follow a good plan. I have google docs with lists of writing topics for our websites, for stories, poems, and essays. I have a google doc of all of the hands-on creative projects simmering on my many burners. I have a current notebook, and many old notebooks, full of ideas, concepts, and inspirations. I’m currently using Action Method to manage our web design and development projects (and, while it has its merits, we’re going to look at some other web based PM options – Basecamp being one, because we used and liked it about 5 years ago.) I have two To Do lists on my iGoogle: “Tasks” and “My Listy”. And, I always have one or two paper “Action Lists” on my desk (sometimes more, but I’m trying to limit it to two.) I could spend far too long explaining how I determine what gets listed where, and that is definitely an ongoing process of experimenting and refining (like life itself – isn’t it great?!) But, I’d rather talk about the chalkboard.
I’ve found that having a visual snapshot of my/our “Current Focus Areas” (that’s what it’s called on the board) is really helpful for me. As much as I value technology, my eyes need regular breaks from the computer screen, and I crave physical experiences (I’m a Taurus – fixed earth…) That’s why I’ve always written paper lists. Writing with pen and paper is a different experience from typing into a computer, where your words are processed and spit out onto the screen. I can choose from an endless assortment of papers and pens – big, small, plain, designed, red, black, and so on. And I can erase or cross off with a satisfying flourish – both can be done on the computer too, but it’s not as satisfying. Anyway, back to the chalkboard. It’s broken into the primary areas of our work life and the current projects we are visioning and implementing. Whenever I want the Big Picture view, I just look across the room at the chalkboard – it helps keep everything in perspective.
P.S. Chalkboards can also be used for playing around and drawing too. Eventually I want to paint a wall, or two (maybe one outside), in chalkboard paint, for the silly, playful, spontaneous, un-organized, un-planned stuff. ‘Cuz that’s equally important.
P.P.S. Thank-You to Jason and Leslie for a great gift!
First Visits to Spirit Rock
··· Sep 13 2010 · By ···
Last month I visited Spirit Rock Meditation Center for the first time. I had heard of the place before moving to Marin and was delighted, once we arrived in our new home, to find it is only about 25 minutes from here. Nicole and I went together which was nice, because it gave us a little time to catch up on each other’s lives, and she has visited several times and so has a familiarity with the place.
Driving onto the property, there was a man out in the field with horses, and a dog running around the horses – playing? herding? The sun was going down and bathed the whole scene in amber light. It’s beautiful land out there and I made a mental note to bring along the camera next time.
The entry was quite packed, which I wasn’t quite expecting, as we made our donation, took our shoes off and tucked them away. Nicole mentioned that Jack Kornfield would be leading the evening and that it was likely more crowded because of that. It was a pleasant surprise because he was not listed for that night when I looked at the schedule. And, since Spirit Rock was founded because of his vision, it seemed appropriate to be led by him on my first visit.
We entered the main hall, found some chairs midway back, and chatted quietly while people made their way in and filled up all the chairs and cushions. The live music being played was soothing and really assisted with the relaxing/loosening process. I was happy that the musician took a few moments to discuss the instrument and its origins, because it is fairly young (10 years) and not common to hear, or see. It’s called a hang and sounds similar to a steel drum but is played with the hands (not drum sticks) and is less “tin-y” and more warm sounding/feeling.
The feeling of that large room full of people was surprising nice and calm. The energy of the land out there, in the rolling golden hills, with the big, starlit sky, sweet country air, and wild creatures living naturally, it envelops you in its stillness and natural rhythms, filters through the windows, and infuses the inside space, too. I very much enjoyed the wisdom, guidance, and stories shared, the opportunity to slow down and clear out my mind, and the experience of being part of a group undertaking this work together.
After a month of letting life get in the way of returning there, I made it back this evening, brought Jeph so that he could experience it as well, and brought the camera for some photos of the land. I plan to return again soon.