Blog No. 214: Classic Danish Designs, Lessons from Survivors of Auschwitz, Elevator 11

January 17, 2025

Classic Danish Designs

When it comes to design, nobody beats the Danes.  Here are a few of my favorite Danish classics...
  

Royal Copenhagen Model Number 1/525 Blue Fluted Half Lace Teacup with Saucer

Bang & Olufsen was founded in 1925 when Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen started making radios in the attic of the Olufsen family home.

Created in 2007 by H.C. Gjedde for Royal Copenhagen

Hans Wegner’s “The Chair” was designed in 1949 by Hans Wegner and its iconic status was established further when it was selected as seating to John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in the first ever televised election debate in 1960.

Lessons from Survivors of Auschwitz

27 January was chosen to commemorate the date when the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Red Army in 1945. The day remembers the killing of six million Jews, two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population, and millions of others by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

The Claims Conference put together these short videos from 80 Auschwitz survivors that are still alive, asking each of them to answer the question: What would you like the world to remember?

Scottish Elevator Voice Recognition

This made me laugh: Scottish Elevator 11. I hope it has the same effect on you. God knows we need it these days...

Quote of the Week

**I am about to leave facebook and instagram and join blue sky.**

Paintings of the Week

A client just sent me this photo of a piece they bought many years ago from Gert Mathiesen. A beautiful piece that I had forgotten all about…

Charity of the Week: World Central Kitchen

World Central Kitchen and Jose Andres are as usual on the front lines—in this case, helping and feeding victims of the California fires…

Charity of the Week: Pasadena Humane Society

Anyone who has a pet can see the terror in the eyes of this dog and my heart breaks for all the animals affected by the LA fires. Please consider giving to the Pasadena Humane Society. They have taken in over 400 animals from the Eaton Fire Emergency and are desperately in need of monetary donations to help purchase medical supplies and other resources as they start to see a significant increase in the number of burned and injured animals coming to our shelter.

About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

Source: classic-danish-designs-elevator-11-auschwi...

Blog No. 213: The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds, Creative Growth, Amanda Gorman on the Fires (Copy)

January 12, 2025

The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds

So much for me these days is trying to find some distraction from what is going on in politics and the world...and it is a struggle because I know that looking the other way is what enables the status quo to exist--I suppose there must be some kind of balance between burying my head in the sand and seeking joy in other things.

This entry is in the category of seeking joy: The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds is a heartwarming and often humorous, sometimes distressing, British television show that gives us amazing insight into the emotional and social development of children.

A specially designed playroom is the setting of the show where we can observe, through hidden cameras, a group of children in the midst of their free play. As viewers, we have the opportunity of watching them make friends, communicate with each other, juggle leadership roles and behave and navigate life in a group setting... The show's expert psychologists offer commentary on the children's behaviour, providing insights into how they are developing and offering advice for parents and educators. This is one of many episodes of The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds which can be found on youtube.

This is a good follow up to my recent post on Chasing Childhood, the documentary I recently wrote about in a previous blog post (scroll down) that accentuates the importance of free play in childhood.

Creative Growth on Sunday Morning

Photo courtesy New York Times and Pete Buttigieg

So happy to see this piece on Creative Growth featured on CBS Sunday Morning, the Oakland, California organization I have been raving about for years now. Wonderful that they are getting the national attention...

I remember the first time I stumbled upon this place...I was walking by and looked in to this enormous studio space with people hard at work, totally engrossed in all kinds of art making activities: printmaking, embroidery, sculpture, painting, ceramics. And there was a gallery attached full of wonderful, raw, inspiring work. I stopped dead in my tracks and thought, "What is this?!" Tears came to my eyes. I realized that the place was full of artists. Not people with disabilities making art but artists who just so happen to have disabilities...people who normally the society might consider throwaways and everyone in there was engaged in creating and producing amazing work!

Founded in 1974 by psychologist Elias Katz and his wife Florence (an artist herself) in their garage, Creative Growth is a pioneer model that should be adapted in every town. The philosophy of the founders "is that each person has the right to the richest and fullest development of which he is capable. Only then can society reach its fullest potential … Creativity is a vital living force within each individual.” — Florence Ludins-Katz and Elias Katz, founders of Creative Growth

Click here to learn more.

Art by Dan Miller is in many museum collections around the world.

Creative Growth at the Oakland Museum, courtesy Leopoldo Macaya, Oakland Museum of California

Art by Scott Martin, courtesy of tghe artist, Jeff Minton and The New York Times

Amanda Gorman on the Fires

Photograph by Abbie Trayler-Smith / Panos Pictures / Redux

Born in California in 1998, American activist, poet, and model Amanda Gorman has emerged as one of the leading voices of the next generation. Here she reads her new poem Smoldering Dawn, a tribute to her home town of Pacific Palisades, California, in the light of the catastrophic fires of January 2025. Gorman first rose to fame when she performed her poem The Hill We Climb at the inauguration of Joe Biden in 2020.

For more information, watch her on The View.

And here is a list of some of her favorite things.

Paintings of the Week

Charity of the Week: World Central Kitchen

Charity of the Week: Pasadena Humane Society

Source: creative-growth-secret-life-of-4-5-6-year-...

Blog No. 212: Bonnie Raitt Interview, Pete Buttigieg, Mary Oliver Poem (Copy)

January 11, 2025

Bonnie Raitt

It is ironic that I chose this comprehensive in-depth two year old interview with the revered Bonnie Raitt, conducted by New Zealand's Zane Lowe to include in this week's newsletter, just as we are experiencing the apocalyptic fires in Southern California. In the interview, she talks and reminisces about the Los Angeles where she grew up, the LA she knows and loves...in addition to her musical inspirations and influences.

She is about to embark on an extensive world tour beginning in February in San Francisco. Quoting from her website: "More than just a best-selling artist, respected guitarist, expressive singer, and accomplished songwriter, Bonnie Raitt has become an institution in American music. Born to a musical family, the ten-time Grammy winner, who Rolling Stone named as both one of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” and one of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time,” is the daughter of celebrated Broadway singer John Raitt (Carousel, Oklahoma!, The Pajama Game) and accomplished pianist/singer Marge Goddard. She was raised in Los Angeles in a climate of respect for the arts, Quaker traditions, and a commitment to social activism. A Stella guitar given to her as a Christmas present launched Bonnie on her creative journey at the age of eight. While growing up, though passionate about music from the start, she never considered that it would play a greater role than as one of her many growing interests."

Here are some of my favorite Bonnie Raitt songs:
Just Like That
I Can't Make You Love Me
Love Has No Pride
Dimming of the Day

Pete Buttigieg

As we enter the dark ages in American history, I am trying to look ahead to the possibility that we will emerge from this time somewhat intact. So I look ahead to some politicians and leaders whose leadership abilities might be able to guide us out of this. One of the voices of sanity for me is Pete Buttigieg. I recently did a deep dive into Pete-Buttigieg's bio which I share with you here...along with the speech he gave at the Democratic Convention a few months ago.

"I know I will make myself useful again."

Poem by Mary Oliver

Poet Mary Oliver. Photo courtesy Lannan Foundation

STARLINGS IN WINTER
by Mary Oliver
from Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays

Chunky and noisy,
 but with stars in their black feathers,
 they spring from the telephone wire
 and instantly
they are acrobats
 in the freezing wind.
 And now, in the theater of air,
 they swing over buildings,
dipping and rising;
 they float like one stippled star
 that opens,
 becomes for a moment fragmented,
then closes again;
 and you watch
 and you try
 but you simply can't imagine
how they do it
 with no articulated instruction, no pause,
 only the silent confirmation
 that they are this notable thing,
this wheel of many parts, that can rise and spin
 over and over again,
 full of gorgeous life.
Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,
 even in the leafless winter,
 even in the ashy city.
 I am thinking now
 of grief, and of getting past it;
I feel my boots
 trying to leave the ground,
 I feel my heart
 pumping hard. I want
to think again of dangerous and noble things.
 I want to be light and frolicsome.
 I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
 as though I had wings.
Copyright ©: Mary Oliver

Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow, mixed media on canvas, 50” x 80” approx.

Charity of the Week: World Central Kitchen

Charity of the Week: Pasadena Humane Society

Source: bonnie-raitt--pete-buttigieg-mary-olilver-...

Blog No. 211: Jimmy Carter, Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening, Poem by Ellen Bass

January 4, 2025

Jimmy Carter Rock and Roll President

Back on March 20th of 2021, I wrote the following piece on Jimmy Carter on the occasion of a documentary that had just come out. I repeat that entry here as we say rest in peace to an incredible humanitarian who was an example to us all...

From Blog No. 12:
If you have any doubt that Jimmy Carter was one of the coolest presidents the United States has ever had, think no more. The recent CNN documentary Jimmy Carter Rock and Roll President confirms it. Aside from his political accomplishments in the field of conservation, the Salt II Agreement, and the Camp David Accords (establishing peace between Israel and Egypt), Carter's other deep love and passion was for music. He was friends with a myriad of rock and roll and jazz musicians and they were frequent visitors to the White House. (Willie Nelson was even purported to have smoked pot with Carter's son inside those walls...). Bob Dylan spoke of Carter as "A man you don’t meet every day and you are lucky if you do…." and the Allman Brothers helped propel him into the presidency with their fundraising concerts...

I always thought Jimmy Carter got a bad rap as being a weak president, mostly because of the Iran Hostage crisis. But in my mind, he was a gentle man, a true humanitarian and to this day at 96, still at it, building homes for his beloved Habitat for Humanity and speaking out on issues that matter...I absolutely loved this documentary and if you want to read a good review and synopsis of it, go to Mary Lucia's (aka Looch) Minnesota Public Radio podcast The Current.

Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening

The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo is a great spiritual guidebook divided into entries for each of the 365 days of the year. Nepo faced death in his thirties and for him that was "the opening through which I stared into Eternity, and the fire I built was The Book of Awakening." The book contains life lessons he discovered for himself and found important to share. Originally written in the year 2000, it is in its 20th Edition and has not grown old. I refer to it on a daily basis first thing in the morning and always find something new to take in and ponder. Today January 5th is no exception. Thanks Dyan for turning me on to it...

JANUARY 5
Show Your Hair

My grandmother told me,
Never hide your green hair--
They can see it anyway."
--Angeles Arrien

From the agonies of kindergarten, when we first were teased or made fun of in the midst of all our innocence, we have all struggled in one way or another with hiding what is obvious about us.

No one plans this. It is not a conspiracy, but rather an inevitable and hurtful passage from knowing only ourselves to knowing the world. The tragedy is that many of us never talk about it, or never get told that our "green hair" is beautiful, or that we don't need to hide, no matter what anyone says on the way to lunch. And so, we often conclude that to know the world we must hide ourselves.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is an ancient unspoken fact of being that blackmail is only possible if we believe that we have something to hide. The inner corollary of this is that worthless feelings arise when we believe, however briefly, that who we are is not enough."

THE THING IS
Poem by Ellen Bass

THE THING IS
By Ellen Bass

SHARE
to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you’ve held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you
down like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.

Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow/Gert Mathiesen Collaboration, Rowboat, giclee print, framed original is mixed media on Mexican bark paper, 8” x 10” $150 (available in larger sizes as well).

Charity of the Week: Habitat for Humanity

Source: jimmy-carter-ellen-bass-marc-nepo-the-book...

Blog No. 210: Jesse Krimes, Ray Masterson: Art from Prison, Bob Dylan Interview, Stretch Pizz

December 28, 2024

Jesse Krimes, Ray Masterson: Art from Prison

Coincidentally two exhibitions caught my eye recently and both have something in common: not only do they involve works of art that were done in prison but they also reflect the ingenuity of an artist working without access to traditional materials.

I just came from seeing Jesse Krimes' amazing work at the Metropolitan Museum in a small show entitled Corrections. Krimes spent six years in a Pennsylvania prison on drug charges and during that time, his art is the only thing that kept him sane. "The one thing they could not take away or control was my ability to create." His work is made from prison issued materials: small bars of soap, bed sheets, hair gel, toothpaste, playing cards and newspaper clipping of mug shots. He innovatively found a way to transfer the mug shot images onto the small soap bars and bed sheets, expressing his feelings about mass incarceration and individuality.

One of the most compelling pieces in the show is a huge wall covered with ten thousand thread wrapped hanging pebbles, sent to him from prisoners across the country. His intent is to serve as a reflection on individuals caught up in the criminal justice system and how dangerous it is to reduce individuals to statistics...

In 2022, Krimes founded the nonprofit Center for Art and Advocacy. The mission is to highlight the talent and creative potential among incarcerated inviduals and to support and improve outcomes for formerly incarcerated artists.

At the Andrew Edlin Gallery in New York City, Ray Masterson created very small embroidered works using threads obtained by unraveling his socks. His work is very small, illustrative and very intricate (the gallery gives out magnifying glasses so you can appreciate the detail).

Produced during the seven years he spent in prison for a crime he committed in the throes of addiction, Masterson began to sew in order to add a personal touch to the uniformity of prison garb. He then branched out to embroider his favorite sports team logos, and subsequently caught the attention of fellow prisoners who commissioned him to make gifts that they could send home to loved ones. In the end, he realized he had his own stories to tell based on his own life experiences...

Bob Dylan: 60 Minutes Interview 2021

Bob Dylan in 1963. courtesy William C. Eckenberg/The New York Times

Bob Dylan was a constant in my life throughout the years--I think his music was a thread that ran through the lives of so many of my generation. Just as the new movie A Complete Unknown is released, I thought I would include this Ed Bradley 60 Minute Interview with Dylan from 2021.

My late husband, Gert Mathiesen, was a big Dylan fan. I'll also include a few of his favorite tunes here, although it is hard to choose...

Forever Young

Not Dark Yet

Is your Love In Vain

Tangled Up In Blue

Knockin On Heaven's Door

All Along The Watchtower

Wylie Dufresne Stretch Pizza

Photo courtesy Stretch Pizza and The Infatuation

Gadi Peleg and Wylie Dufresne, photo courtesy Buck Ennis

Got together with some old friends from Usonia the other day and ended up at Stretch Pizza, one of their local haunts on Park Avenue around 24th Street. It was a great find for me. I knew about Wylie Dufresne from WD50 Restaurant days when he was a pioneer in molecular gastronomy but I hadn't realized he was back at it again after a long hiatus.

Stretch Pizza is Wylie Dufresne's venture into the world of pizza, along with his fellow collaborator, Gadi Peleg (of Breads Bakery fame). Wylie's interest in pizza began for him during the pandemic when he found a brand new pizza oven in the basement of the Connecticut house he was renting and decided to try it out.

This is not your ordinary pizzeria-- in true Wylie Dufresne style, the pizzas are unusual and delicious and his approach is always similiar: like a scientist, he is systematic and innovative as he experiments with many types of unexpected ingredients in very creative ways. You won't find your normal choices here--although they do make a great simple Marguerita one. Many of the pizzas are take offs on sandwiches from local restaurants. The Old Town pizza, named after a sandwich in a local bar, is made up of mushrooms, muenster cheese, garlic cream, and pumpernickel. The one I had, a little more ordinary but no less delicious was called the Stranger, consisting of sweet fennel sausage, roasted peppers and tomato sauce. One that sounds crazy, which I haven't tried yet, is called A-Maize-ing: consisting of corn, cilantro, lime, and cotija. And I should also mention that they have perfected one of the most important ingredients: the crust! which even contains some soy sauce...

Pizza is not the only thing on the menu. The salads are awesome--one of the best caesar salads I have had and one of the other salads has potato chips crunched up inside it. The meatballs are made with ritz crackers. And my friend goes there just for their garlic bread, also a slightly different take on normal fare. Go try it if you are in New York.

Paintings of the Week

Pam Smilow, Tree Series: Spring is Not So Far Off, mixed media on paper, 60” x 22” each

Charity of the Week: American Civil Liberties Union

Source: jesse-krimes-ray-masterson-incarcerated-ar...

Blog No. 209: Intelligent Trees, Playlist of Winter Songs, Melissa Clark Latkes Recipe

December 21, 2024

Intelligent Trees Documenatary

Just discovered the documentary, INTELLIGENT TREES, directed by Julia Dordel and Guido Tölkeabout, about one of my favorite subjects: those majestic green beauties that surround us and provide all living things with the essentials of life: oxygen, prevention against floods, a home for millions of species that protect us from disease, air conditioning for our streets and cities, and a huge contribution towards our emotional well-being.

When my nephew Aaron was in 2nd Grade (at P.S. 290 in New York City), I was so pleasantly surprised that as part of the regular curriculum was a bird study. To this day (he is 30), he knows how to identify many aviary species and knows their birdsongs. It occurred to me that we don't teach enough about our natural environment and what is right in front of us. I, for one, wish I had that kind of education and knew more about how to identify all the trees that surround us...

I read The Hidden Life of Trees by the German forester Peter Wohlleben and this film is a perfect companion to that book. Wohlleben is featured in the documentary along with Dr. Suzanne Simard, a forester and professor of Forestry at University of British Columbia and Dr. Teresa Sm'Hayetsk Ryan, Lecturer of Indigenous Knowledge and Natural Science, UBC. They have a lot to teach us about the interconnectedness of our forests and how trees work as a community and form mutualistic relationships with other species.

We think of a tree as the trunk: leaves and the crown but did you know that the major part of a tree takes place underground with a complicated network of it's roots and fungi that exist on the tips of the roots. There are "mother trees" that protect their sapling kin. Even seemingly dead stumps retain life and are fed by the surrounding community. To say that trees form "friendships" is not as far fetched as we think...

Playlist of Winter Songs

I am slowly putting my toe in the political arena again, but just a tiny bit. Mostly I stay in touch through the substack newsletters of Heather Cox Richardson, and Robert Reich's and Michael Moore.

I know it is time to pull my head out of the sand, but I am not sure I am ready just yet. In the meantime, I spend my time listening to music. Here is a short playlist of some winter songs that I love...

Song for a Winter's Night by Gordon Lightfoot

Flowers in December written and sung by Mazzy Star (Hope Sandoval and David Roback)

7 O'Clock News/Silent Night by Simon and Garfunkel

Baby It's Cold Outside written by Frank Loesser (1944), sung by Ray Charles and Betty Carter

Winter Wonderland written by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith (1934), sung by Michael Bublé

Melissa Clark Potato Pancakes (Latkes)

Of all the chefs on the New York TImes Cooking app, Melissa Clark is my favorite. I haven't made one recipe of hers that I didn't consider a success...

Right in time for Chanukah, here is her recipe for latkes (potato pancakes)--one of my favorite things to eat, and not just in December. Courtesy New York Times Cooking App

POTATO PANCAKES
by Melissa Clark

Ingredients (makes 3 dozen)
2 large Russet potatoes (about 1 pound), scrubbed and cut lengthwise into quarters
1 large onion (8 ounces), peeled and cut into quarters
2 large eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Safflower or other oil, for frying

Instructions
In a food processor, with a coarse grating disc, or by hand, grate the potatoes and onion. Place on a clean dishtowel and squeeze out excess moisture.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the eggs, flour, salt, baking powder and pepper, and mix until the flour is well.

 Over medium-high heat, pour in about ¼ inch of the oil in a heavy pan and heat on medium-high. Once the oil is hot, drop a heaping tablespoon of the batter into the hot pan, cooking in batches. Use a spatula to flatten and shape the drops into discs. When the edges of the latkes are brown and crispy, about 5 minutes, flip. Cook until the second side is deeply browned, about another 5 minutes. Transfer the latkes to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and sprinkle with salt while still warm. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Paintings of the Week

Pam Smilow, Tree Series: Day and Night, mixed media on paper, 60” x 22” each

Charity of the Week: American Civil Liberties Union

Source: intelligent-trees-peter-wohlleben-suzanne-...

Blog No. 208: Chasing Childhood Film, Taylor Swift Kindness, Mourning Restaurants

December 14, 2024

Chasing Childhood Film

“From a biological perspective play is nature's way of ensuring that young mammals practice the whole range of skills that they need to become effective adults.”--Peter Gray, research psychologist, Boston College.

Play is practice in what is arguably the most important human skill, that which is being able to get along with other people. If there is any criterion for happiness, it’s that!

So how is it that we have managed, for the first time in human history to deprive our children of freedom? Except in times of intense child labor, and times of slavery, children have always been free to explore, to play, to do things away from adults. We’ve created a world in which we are in some sense negating childhood and we are making children depressed, and anxious and in the worst case, suicidal.

CHASING CHILDHOOD takes a direct look at this ever growing problem and forces the viewer to examine their motivations for pushing pushing pushing our kids and to what end...This is an important film that every parent should see, espcially ones with young ones, as we set the stage very early for the future lives of our children...I highly recommend this documentary!

Taylor Swift Compassion

Courtesy Forgotten Scrolls, Youtube

A little kindness can go a long way...This is not the shortest youtube video you will ever see, the AI narration is annoying, but I think it is worth sticking to. It is a beautiful story about Taylor Swift and a homeless guitar player she encountered on the street and instantly fell in love with his heartfelt music. What she did next changed his life forever. You don't have to be Taylor Swift to show a little bit of compassion and recognize the humanity in everyone...

I don't think you will ever walk by a homeless person again without being reminded of this story. We all have the capability to touch the life of others and be helpers...Sometimes it can take so little to literally make a difference in someone's day, or their life for that matter...I am reminded of the Mr. Rogers quote:

Mourning Old Restaurants

the former Chaiwalla, in Salisbury, Connecticut, famous for their tomato pie and delicious chai.

Tomato Pie, courtesy Berkshire Kitchen and Chaiwalla

the former O’Chamé, Berkeley, California

One doesn't often mourn a restaurant but there have been a few in my days that stick vividly in my mind. Sadly they have closed for one reason or another. I can still taste some of these beloved dishes and wish I could just go back and relive those delicious sensory experiences. One of those places, maybe top of my list, is Chaiwalla, a tea room in Salisbury, Ct. I loved it so much that I would drive all the way from NYC to have their tomato pie. My studio manager from Brazil, Poli, reminded me the other day about the time we went there with her mom, who was visiting from Belo Horizonte and we had the best time on a fall day...

Luckily, I wasn't the only one who loved their tomato pie, (not the best for someone on a diet)...and I found the recipe on the internet...Here it is!

It is hard to find a true neighborhood place in NYC and Bistro 61 was just that place--a hangout for all us locals and a home away from home. Gert and I used to hold court their in our day--we had our special seats in the bar and the three owners became dear friends (and still are!). There was no need to go to Nice anymore for soupe de poissons--they had the real thing right their on First Avenue and 61st Street! And I will never forget the night Obama won in 2008 and we danced on 1st Avenue!

O'Chamé,, a Japanese restaurant that celebrated home cooking rather than just sushi was another of my favorites that I miss to this day. Located in on 4th Street in Berkeley, Califoria, it was my go to place in the East Bay when I was out there selling art...It was family run--and warm and friendly and the food was divine...

And the last for now, for us New Yorkers, so many of us still mourn Prune, Gabrielle Hamilton's gem of a hole in the wall on the lower east side...I had many a great meal there--seemingly simple and yet deep--and dare I say one of my favorite dishes was celery! I could go on and on but I will stop here for now and savour the memories...

I welcome your input--if anyone, like me, misses a favorite restaurant, please join in here with your thoughts in the comments section... Another of those restaurants I mourn is Central Cafe, a breakfast place I used to frequent whenever I could while going to school at the University of Michigan. They made the best hues rancheros and although this is not an uncommon dish, and probably not that complicated, I never found one to rival it. ..

**In NYC. Call for details 917-239-3789.**

Great Gifts in our ArtSHOP

Charity of the Week: American Civil Liberties Union

Source: chasing-childhood, ...

Blog No. 207: Robert Reich News Source Recs, Ted Kooser Poetry, Chicken au Poivre Recipe

December 6, 2024

Robert Reich News Source Recommendations

Robert Reich, Former U.S. Labor Secretary served under three presidents. He is currently the Carmel P. Friesen Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.

In a time when mainstream media has failed us so miserably, who can we rely on to deliver us truth. And yes, truth does exist even if we are told otherwise...
These are the sources Robert Reich relies on for honest news. I trust him and share in many or his recommendations:

Here are the sources we currently turn to:

The Guardian
Democracy Now
Business Insider
The New Yorker
The American Prospect
Americans for Tax Fairness
The Economic Policy Institute
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
ProPublica
Labor Notes
The Lever
Popular Information
Heather Cox Richardson
robertreich.substack.com/.

Ted Kooser Poetry

Tree by Pam Smilow (detail) mixed media on paper

Pulitzer Prize winning Ted Kooser is a poet, essayist and Presidential Professor Emeritus at The University of Nebraska. He served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 2004-2006. Here are a few of his poems that I like:

JUST NOW
Just now, if I look back down
the cool street of the past, I can seelighting small circles of time
into which someone will step
if I squint, if I try hard enough--
circles smaller and smaller,
leading back to the one faint point
at the start, like a star.
So many of them are empty now,
those circles of roadside and grass.
In one, the moth of some feeling
still flutters, unspoken,
the cold darkness around it enormous.

TREES
Trees are born blind and in need of each other.
With luck they come up in a forest with brothers
and sisters to listen to. Growing up for a tree
is mostly reahing out and out to touch another.
and that's enough of a life. None of them knowwhere they are, but that's OK. It doesn't matter.
They don't ask for much, a good rain now and then,
and what they like most are the sweet smells
of the others, and the warm touch of the light,
and to join the soft singing that goes on and on.

Chicken au Poivre

Courtesy Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist Cyd Raftus McDowell

This recipe comes highly recommended from my dear friend Claudia, college roommate (from way back when) par excellence. I always loved steak au poivre so this variation is a good alternative for those who like to avoid red meat...

CHICKEN AU POIVRE

INGREDIENTS
4 servings
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)
Salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced shallot
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
3 thyme sprigs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, plus more for garnishing
Crusty bread or egg noodles (optional), for serving

PREPARATION
 Use a mallet, bottom of a pot or mortar and pestle to crush the peppercorns coarsely. Set aside.

 In a 12-inch cast-iron or other heavy skillet, heat oil over medium. Season chicken with salt. In two batches, sear chicken until light golden all over, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate. Pour off any remaining oil in the skillet.

 Add butter and shallot to the skillet and cook, stirring, until butter is melted and shallot is softened, 1 minute. Add broth, heavy cream, thyme sprigs and cracked peppercorns and mix well, stirring to lift up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.

 Add chicken (and any accumulated juices), bring to a simmer and cook, turning and basting occasionally with the sauce, until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees, 6 to 8 minutes.

 Divide chicken among 4 serving plates and discard thyme.

 Add lemon juice to the skillet and stir until sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and stir in parsley.

 Spoon the sauce over the chicken and garnish with more parsley. Serve with crusty bread or egg noodles, if desired. you here.

Great Gifts in our ArtSHOP

Charity of the Week: American Civil Liberties Union

Source: yo-yo-ma-cello-duets-joan-baez-interview-o...

Blog No. 206: Yo-Yo Ma Duets, Joan Baez Interview, Maira Kalman on Remorse

November 29, 2024

Yo-Yo Ma

Creator: Todd Rosenberg | Credit: © Todd Rosenberg Photography Copyright: © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2010

I never knew that Yo-Yo Ma was a musical prodigy. A child of musician parents (his mom was a singer, his dad was a University professor of music), Yo-Yo began at the age of three to play the drums, viola, violin and piano. At four he told his dad he wanted a "big" instrument--so his father introduced him to the cello. At five he was performing before audiences and at seven, he had already played for two presidents: Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.

I love listening to Yo-Yo Ma play classical music but I really love his versatility and playfulness with other genres of music as well...He loved collaborating with other artists of all types. Here is a selection of duets with renowned musicians:

With James Taylor Sweet Baby James and Here Comes The Sun

With Bobby McFerrin Hush Little Baby

With Chris Botti My Favorite Things

With Alison Kraus Simple Gifts

With Kathryn Stott Over The Rainbow

Joan Baez Interview

Krista Tippett On Being Interview with Joan Baez November 2024

Joan Baez marching alongside James Baldwin

Documentary Trailer, Joan Baez I am a Noise

Who hasn't admired Joan Baez...For the beauty of her stellar voice, for her songwriting, for her political activism, for her poetry and her painting...She is a true icon of our generation!

Krista Tippett recently produced an wonderful and revealing interview with Joan Baez which I share with you here...In her own words, “You know, I am over 80 years old and I wanted to leave something truthful."

Diamonds and Rust debuts on a pair of charts in the U.K. this month as people discover the tune for the first time

Maira Kalman on Remorse

Kalman’s beautiful work has often graced the covers of New Yorker Magazines…

To say Maira Kalman is an illustrator is to totally limit her. She is a true artist in every sense of the word...she writes, she paints, she tells stories...and explores the human condition through personal zany projects that are wildly innovative and full of joy and pathos, honesty and deep feelings. Aside from a series of wonderful children's books (some of my favorites of that genre), she has written a series of eclectic adult ones as well, including an illustrated quirky version of William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White's The Elements of Style, a history book, written on the occasion of Barak Obama's election, about democracy and politics entitlted The Pursuit of Happiness, and a book on her mother, Sara Berman's, closet.

The Book of Remorse is her latest. The New York Times wrote about her and her recent offering in a recent article which I share with you here.

Great Gifts in our ArtSHOP

Charity of the Week: American Civil Liberties Union

Source: yo-yo-ma-cello-duets-joan-baez-interview-o...

Blog No. 205: Human Kindness to Animals, Jimmy Kimmel Stunt, Lazy Peach Cobbler

November 23, 2024

Human Kindness to Animals

Here are a few stories where humans did the right thing--where their kindness and compassion towards our animal co-habitants on this earth shines through. May this part of human nature win out in the end...

This first story about a whale off the coast of San Francisco fully entangled in a net actually broke my heart right open--it enabled me to finally let out the tears that have been stored up inside of me since Election Day...I cried for this whale and what we have done to it, I cried for how we saved it in the end, I cried for the whale's tenderness towards us, and then I cried for our country, I cried for the loss of freedom, I cried for what we are doing to the earth, I cried for all of us that have to live with such evil and mean-spiritedness, I cried for the blatant exposure of the underbelly of America--the racism, the hate, the misogyny...May good win over evil in the end...

Here's another nice story that involves a dolphin that I found on facebook:

”The famous Italian diver Enzo Maiorca dove into the sea of Syracuse and was talking to his daughter Rossana who was aboard the boat. Ready to go in, he felt something slightly hit his back. He turned and saw a dolphin. Then he realized that the dolphin did not want to play but to express something. The animal dove and Enzo followed. At a depth of about 12 meters, trapped in an abandoned net, there was another dolphin. Enzo quickly asked his daughter to grab the diving knives. Soon, the two of them managed to free the dolphin, which, at the end of the ordeal, emerged, issued an "almost human cry" (describes Enzo). (A dolphin can stay under water for up to 10 minutes, then it drowns.) The released dolphin was helped to the surface by Enzo, Rosana and the other dolphin. That’s when the surprise came: she was pregnant! The male circled them, and then stopped in front of Enzo, touched his cheek (like a kiss), in a gesture of gratitude and then they both swam off. Enzo Maiorca ended his speech by saying: “Until man learns to respect and speak to the animal world, he can never know his true role on Earth." ~ Vangelis.” Credit to the respective owner

Jimmy Kimmel Laugh Out Loud Stunt

This Jimmy Kimmel stunt had be doubled over with laughter. I had to put it on here...God knows we need a little comic relief. Hope it has the same effect on you.

Now for something more serious. Driverless cars are becoming more of a reality. You can ead this account of a Times reporter's trip in a driverless car.

Lazy Peach Cobbler

One of my favorite fruits is peaches. Of course I prefer them fresh but it is not always I even like the canned variety. I just came across this super easy recipe for a quick peach cobbler. Here goes:

LAZY PEACH COBBLER
Directions
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 2:
Pour the melted butter in a 9x13-inch baking dish, evenly coating the bottom and the sides.

Step 3:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the peaches and their juices.

Step 4:
Add 1 cup of the sugar and 1/2 cup of the water to the peaches and bring to a simmer.

Step 5:
In a small bowl, stir the cornstarch into the remaining water.

Step 6:
Stir the cornstarch mixture into the peach mixture and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.

Step 7:
Transfer the peach mixture from the heat and let it cool slightly.

Step 8:
While the peach mixture cools, in a medium bowl, whisk the flour, the vanilla, 1 1/2 cups of the sugar, and the milk together.

Step 9:
Pour the peach mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Step 10:
Spoon the flour mixture over the peach mixture.

Step 11:
In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and the remaining sugar.

Step 12:
Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar over the cobbler.

Step 13:
Bake the cobbler until the top is golden-brown, about 30 minutes.

Step 14:
Serve topped with the vanilla ice cream. © 2024 by Recipe Saver

Great Gifts in our ArtSHOP

Charity of the Week: American Civil Liberties Union

Source: human-kindness-to-animals-whales-dolphins-...

Blog No. 204: Tibetan Sound Healing Bowls, Boycotting Tool: Goods Unite Us App, Remember, Poem by Joy Harjo

November 16, 2024

Tibetan Sound Healing Bowls

I am trying to focus on helping people cope right now, to remain calm and try and gather strength to continue the fight...And for that, I at least need some healing time to center myself and get back on my feet again. It is my hope that these Tibetan/Himalayan crystal sound healing bowls played by Tseyangyoga might help in that endeavor: as a stress reduction technique to help us remain grounded at times of complete overwhelm...

As I resesarched the singing bowls, I came across an interesting article by a sound healer named Guy Beider, who told the special story of what the singing bowls mean to him.

Boycott Tool: Goods Unite Us App

Get the app on your phone by clicking image above

There are very few ways right now where I can see tools we have to fight--but here is definitely one of them...GOODS UNITE US is an app and website that lets you see the political affiliations of thousands of brands and companies...and gives us the opportunity to use our power to decide where to spend our money. I grew up at the time of the Delano, California Grape Strike and I remember it pretty vividly. No one was buying grapes in my household and neither were our like-minded neighbors and friends. It was a movement. The boycott was eventually successful--it took 5 long years, but with the help of consumers, civil rights groups, and labor organizations, the UFW (United Farmworkers Union) won contracts with most California grape growers by the summer of 1970. The strike was most notable for "the effective implementation and adaptation of boycotts, the unprecedented partnership between Filipino and Mexican farm workers to unionize farm labor, and the resulting creation of the UFW labor union, all of which revolutionized the farm labor movement in America. In this day and age, it is not as simple as avoiding one product--so much of our economy is based on very large companies that are in control of so many industries. And we have all gotten totally used to and spoiled by the ease of Amazon--everything literally at our fingertips--so this is going to take some doing. Many of us have already been aware of this. But let's all double down and try very hard to commit and being conscious of putting our money where our mouth is...

Remember
by Joy Harjo

Photo courtesy Joy Harjo and Blue Flower Arts

Click image to hear an interview with Joy Harjo

My friend Brab shared this poem with me a couple days ago and it hit the spot...

REMEMBER

Remember the sky that you were born under,
 know each of the star’s stories.
 Remember the moon, know who she is.
 Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the
 strongest point of time. Remember sundown
 and the giving away to night.
 Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
 to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
 her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
 Remember your father. He is your life, also.
 Remember the earth whose skin you are:
 red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
 brown earth, we are earth.
 Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
 tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
 listen to them. They are alive poems.
 Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
 origin of this universe.
 Remember you are all people and all people
 are you.
 Remember you are this universe and this
 universe is you.
 Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
 Remember language comes from this.
 Remember the dance language is, that life is.
 Remember.

A member of the Muscogee Nation, Joy Harjo is "an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold that honor." (Wikipedia)

Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow, Pink Floating House, mixed media on canvas, 68” x 40”

Charity of the Week: Bob Casey Pennsylvania Senate Race Recount

Source: tibetan-sound-healing-crystal-bowls-boycot...

Blog No. 203: Words of Anne Frank, Satygraha, Holding Vigil by Alison Luterman

November 9, 2024

Words of Anne Frank

Miep Gies, the office secretary who defied the Nazi occupiers to hide Anne Frank and her family

The words of Anne Frank from 80 years ago touched me today, and I hope they have meaning for you: “It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquillity will return again." Let us be reminded of what is truly important in the midst of challenging and chaotic times, maintain our ideals, strive to better understand and work with each other, and keep fighting the fight. And follow the immortal words of John Wooden: “Things turn out best for the folks that make the best of the way things turn out.”

Satygraha: An Opera

Philip Glass Album artwork; credit: Luis Álvarez Roure: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

I spent the day after the election listening to music--I definitely need to bury my head in the sand for a while...I found solace in Philip Glass's opera Satygraha, which aside from its beautiful music and the visual feast of Julian Crouch's Metropolitan Opera production, also has a very relevant theme. Satygraha is made up of three acts, each dedicated to a key figure in the life of Mahatma Gandhi: Leo Tolstoy, Gandi's personal friend the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, and Martin Luther King. I saw it back in 2008, going two days in a row I was so mesmerized...If you ever get a chance to see it, go running...One of the best productions I have ever seen...Youtube is not the real thing but this six minute clip is better than nothing. Particularly apt today, the meaning of the word "satyagraha" according to Wikipedia, comes from the Sanskit: "सत्याग्रह; satya: "truth", āgraha: "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), is "holding firmly to truth",[1] or "truth force"--a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance.

Holding Vigil by Alison Luterman

HOLDING VIGIL by Alison Luterman

My cousin asks if I can describe this moment,
the heaviness of it, like sitting outside
the operating room while someone you love
is in surgery and you’re on those awful plastic chairs
eating flaming Doritos from the vending machine
which is the only thing that seems appealing to you, dinner-wise,
waiting for the moment when the doctor will come out
in her scrubs and face-mask, which she’ll pull down
to tell you whether your beloved will live or not. That’s how it feels
as the hours tick by, and everyone I care about
is texting me with the same cold lump of dread in their throat
asking if I’m okay, telling me how scared they are.
I suppose in that way this is a moment of unity,
the fact that we are all waiting in the same
hospital corridor, for the same patient, who is on life support,
and we’re asking each other, Will he wake up?
Will she be herself? And we’re taking turns holding vigil,
as families do, and bringing each other coffee
from the cafeteria, and some of us think she’s gonna make it
while others are already planning what they’ll wear to the funeral,
which is also what happens at times like these,
and I tell my cousin I don’t think I can describe this moment,
heavier than plutonium, but on the other hand,
in the grand scheme of things, I mean the whole sweep
of human history, a soap bubble, because empires
are always rising and falling, and whole civilizations
die, they do, they get wiped out, this happens
all the time, it’s just a shock when it happens to your civilization,
your country, when it’s someone from your family on the respirator,
and I don’t ask her how she’s sleeping, or what she thinks about
when she wakes at three in the morning,
cause she’s got two daughters, and that’s the thing,
it’s not just us older people, forget about us, we had our day
and we burned right through it, gasoline, fast food,
cheap clothing, but right now I’m talking about the babies,
and not just the human ones, but also the turtles and owls
and white tigers, the Redwoods, the ozone layer,
the icebergs for the love of God—every single
blessed being on the face of this earth
is holding its breath in this moment,
and if you’re asking, can I describe that, Cousin,
then I’ve gotta say no, no one could describe it
we all just have to live through it,
holding each other’s hands.

—from Poets Respond

Painting of the Week

Charity of the Week: Doctors Without Borders

Source: words-of-anne-frank-satygraha-philip-glass...

Blog No. 202: Subway Station Mosaics, Songs of Freedom, Back on Your Feet Run Clubs

November 1, 2024

Subway Mosaics in NYC

I entered the 72nd Street Q station this morning on my way home from early voting and was reminded of the treasure trove of art we have underground in our subway system. 72nd Street is my favorite--mosaics by Brazilian artist Vic Muniz--but there are so many stations that brighten up a commuter's life. Each image is clickable so you can see the whole array of each artist's work.

*Blooming*, 1996, MTA Arts & Design, Lexington Avenue-59th Street. Photo courtesy Murray Holman Family Archive

***Stream*, 2001. MTA Arts & Design, 23rd Street-Ely Avenue, Long Island City-Court Square, *Images courtesy Fabrizio Travisanutto, Travisanutto Mosaics.***

Keith Godard’s glass mosaic hats at the 23rd Street N & R subway station

Songs of Freedom

Courtesy of Junne Alcantara via The Washington Post

Back On My Feet Run Clubs

It is New York City Marathon time this Sunday and one of my favorite days to be in New York City. I live just a half block away from the half way mark and I always like to get out there early and see all the wheelchair runners zoom by--what a symbol of the indomitable human spirit. By the end of the day I always have a sore throat from cheering everyone on...this is the human spirit at its best.

I recently heard about an organization that attempts to help the homeless by getting them back on their feet, literally. According to their website, BACK ON MY FEET is a national organization operating nationwide, that combats homelessness through the power of running, community support and essential employment and housing resources. They seek to revolutionize the way society approaches homelessness. Their unique model demonstrates that if you first restore confidence, strength and self-esteem, individuals are better equipped to tackle the road ahead. For all in need, they aim to provide: practical training and employment resources for achieving independence; an environment that promotes accountability; and a community that offers compassion and hope. For all with the capacity to serve – volunteers, donors, community and corporate partners – they seek to engage in the profound experience of empowering individuals to achieve what once seemed impossible through the seemingly simple act of putting one foot in front of the other."

Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow, Diving Board, mixed media on canvas, 50” x 70” approx.

Charity of the Week: Voters of Tomorrow

Source: subway-mosaics-nyc-protest-songs-freedom-s...