Blog No. 102: Our Canine Friends, Singer Songwriter Lily Meola, Dale Chihuly Glass

December 3, 2022

In the next few weeks I will be offering a giveaway of a large painting, in honor of the holidays and my 100th blog post. Stay tuned for details…

Our Canine Friends

My granddog Frenchy! We think she might be a mix of Basenji and pitbull?

I have just become a dog grandmother, and as such, have a new found interest and love for our canine friends. I grew up in a family that always had dogs, but as an adult living in a big concrete city, I didn't think it was practical. My daughter recently stopped listening to her pragmatic mom and adopted a rescue dog from Tennessee. Am I glad she did! Oh boy, do we love this dog and how much pleasure it brings us...

According to researcher Brian Hare, an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University, we haven't paid near enough attention to the study of our man's (and woman's) best friends--they just haven't been studied as much as other animals, despite the fact that we evolved alongside each other for more than 15,000 years. Here is a very interesting story about Chaser, a border collie, whose extensive vocabulary was that of a 2+ year old toddler and capable of inferential thinking. Anderson Cooper did an interview about Chaser and the underestimated capability of dogs on on 60 Minutes. And if you want to put a smile on your face, watch this longer documentary about dogs entitled Seniors: A Dogumentary.

Lily Meola: Daydream

Here is a little song big on inspiration by singer/songwriter Lily Meola to remind us that life is not a dress rehearsal and to give us the everlasting message we all need to learn to stave off fear...Here's to daydreams...

Dale Chihuly

I have always wanted to visit the Dale Chihuly Museum in Seattle and yesterday it happened. What a wonder! This glass artist is fearless, ambitious and amazingly talented--no project is too big and he has the confidence to know that he will find a way...I watched a few short documentary videos of him at the museum and realized we have a common way of working. He doesn't think when he works (I don't either), he doesn't know where he is going with a piece and finds out in the process, he is interested in the architecture around his art, he often sticks to variations of one dominant color, and he tries to suspend judgment and just get to the point where something simply looks good...In other words, I think, like me, he relies and trusts his intuition and more than anything...

Unique Gifts for the Holidays

**For unique gifts, visit our artShop:** **www.pamelasmilow.com/shop-all**

Charity of the Week:

This is the charity closest to my heart in New York City. My daughter Morgan was part of this wonderful dance program in the NYC public schools in fifth grade and then went on to dance with them every Saturday as part of their SWAT Celebrations Team for the following four years. As a young deaf boy, Jon Hine, (pictured here), was an incredible dancer who lit up the stage and has gone on to do wonderful things with his life…This is defintely a charity worth supporting as it literally changes kids’ lives…

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 the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

Blog No. 101: Elizabeth Cotten, MOMA Favorites, No Knead Bread

November 26, 2022

In the next few weeks I will be offering a giveaway of a large painting, in honor of the holidays and my 100th blog post. Stay tuned for details…

Elizabeth Cotten

Print by JustaJar Design Press available for purchase on Etsy

On November 5, 2022, Elizabeth Cotten (1893-1987) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some people thought it was long overdue. Working as a domestic and caregiver for the Seeger family (relatives of Pete Seeger), Elizabeth was discovered in a room one day picking away at the guitar. Totally self taught, Cotten had a very unique way of playing: she was left-handed and held the instrument upside down. "The Seegers hired Cotten, whom they called "Libba," to cook and clean and look after the kids. They were surprised to discover that she was a musician, too, says Peggy Seeger. "When I was about 15 I walked into the kitchen and I saw her playing the guitar that was hanging on the wall. And she was playing 'Freight Train.' Then she started trotting out songs. She knew a lot of songs. We would have been happy to do the cooking and cleaning if she would just play!" The Seeger family recognized right away her talent and eventually helped her to achieve a career in music. Most famous songs include Freight Train and Shake Sugaree but she has written many other great ones as well...For more of her folk and blues roots music, listen here.

A few MOMA favorites

I hate to sound so old and change resistant but in some ways I never really got over the Museum of Modern Art renovation or the return of Guernica to Spain. I liked the old museum! I knew where all my favorite paintings were and now I am lucky to even see a few of them once in a while...Here are a few Picassos that feel like old friends and that I have loved over all these years...

No Knead Bread

I probably shouldn't be eating so much bread but this recipe is so easy, so delicious and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and totally irresistible! I was graciously invited to a dinner at some new friends' house in Tenant's Harbor and Jo proved to be an amazing cook. The bread was only one of the many good things she made that day and she wasn't proprietary about any of the recipes. A few days later I made this no knead bread myself. Recipe below. You can substitute beer for water if you like...

NO KNEAD BREAD

Ingredients
3 cups all purpose or bread flour
1/4 teaspoon yeast (active dry or instant)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water (or beer)
1 1/2 tablespoons extra flour for shaping

First mix dry ingredients together and then add the water (or beer), combining together (with your hands if you like--it will be sticky so put some flour on your fingers). Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let sit out on the counter for 12-18 hours. Preheat oven and pan to 500 degrees (very important that both are very hot), shape the dough (by flouring the counter and your hands) into the shape you want and place in a dutch oven or loaf pan. Cook covered for 30 minutes and then uncovered for 15 minutes more.

Painting of the Week

When you live in Santa Barbara, you can even have paintings hanging outside on your terrace! Here is my friend Barbara Edelston Peterson, jewelry designer (https://projectbemoved.com/foreste-and-hils/) and founder of the Whole Champion Foundation, in her beautiful “tree house” home.

Unique Gifts for the Holidays

Charity of the Week:

Doctors Without Borders

Blog No. 100: Loreena McKennitt, Down to Earth Netflix Series, Vegan Broccoli (Cheddary) Soup

November 19, 2022

In the next few weeks I will be offering a giveaway of a large painting, in honor of the holidays and my 100th blog post. Stay tuned for details…

Loreena McKennitt Dante's Prayer

There are moments that you remember when you hear a piece of music and it just hits you. This is one of those songs for me. I hadn't heard of Canadian singer/songwriter Loreena McKennitt before and was introduced to her by a good friend, who by now knows what I like and often feeds me wonderful music. Maybe it was the setting I was in, not sure, but I remember the moment like I remember other big events in my life...And in some ways, I attribute Dante's Prayer to opening my heart just a little more when I didn't even realize it has been so closed...So here is the song...I hope its beauty and depth affects you too....It starts with a Gregorian chant...Click here for the song and the lyrics

Down to Earth: Netflix Series

Somehow the Netflix TV series Down to Earth, already on its second season, has not been on my radar, probably because instead of a television screen, I have just been gazing at a beautiful vast ocean for the last months. But a friend brought this series to my attention the other day and I wanted to share it with you. The show, hosted by the American actor Zac Efron, has searched the world for creative ways to live healthily and sustainably and as a result, discovered a group of extremely passionate, intelligent and dedicated people leading the way...This is very exciting tv, exciting news for the world, and I wonder why and only wish that the news media would focus on this type of news rather than doom and gloom and humans at their worst. This is truly human beings at their best--finding innovative ways of saving our planet, making responsible choices, and figuring our way out of this mess we have made of our planet.

I started with the second season, episode 1 of Down to Earth Down Under, which describes zero waste in many forms, from new ways to butcher fish with almost no part left over (did you know that with our precious and dwindling fish population on earth, we discard 50 percent of our catch!), to Joost Bakker and family's totally zero waste free new food system home, smack in the middle of Melbourne, Australia.

We are all capable of at least some of these practices so for some good ideas and inspiration, check this series out...

Vegan (Cheddary) Broccoli Soup

I am always looking for ways to eat healthier and this soup is a delicious option on a cold winter's night...It was served to me in Belfast, Maine by my friend Roberta, who shared this recipe from a cookbook she loves: Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Recipes by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

VEGAN (CHEDDARY) BROCCOLI SOUP

Ingredients
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 small chopped yellow onion
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cloves garlic
4 cupes chopped broccoli
1/2 cup peeled and chopped carrots
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
3 cups vegetable broth

CASHEW CREAM

1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
2 cups vegetable broth
3 tbsp mild white miso
2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
ground pepper to taste

In a 4 quart pot, sautee the onions in the oil, adding a pinch of salt, the garlic (cooked about 30 seconds until fragrant), then add the broccoli, carrots, tumeric and broth and remaining salt. Cover, bring to a boil and then simmer for approx 10 minutes until carrots are tender.
In the meantime, prepare the cashew cream. Drain the cashews and in a blender, place the broth, miso and nutritional yeast. Blend until totally smooth (may take 1-5 minutes), scraping sides to get everything blended.
When carrots are tender, add the cashew cream to the soup and puree with an immersion blender. Keep cooking the soup on low for another 10+ minutes until thickened, stirring occasionally. Once thick, add the lemon juice and pepper and serve.

Paintings of the Week

Unique Gifts for the Holidays

Charity of the Week:

Doctors Without Borders

Blog No. 99: Dave Evans, Michael Moore, Poem by Kyle Tran Myhre

November 11, 2022

Dave Evans Wake Up Call

click for a tribute to Evans on W. Virginia Public Radio

Vietnam Veteran Dave Evans is the subject of a beautiful documentary entitled The Wake Up Call (directed by Alison Gilkey and Eric Neudel) which I had the privilege of seeing recently at a screening in Damariscotta, Maine. The film is making the film festival circuit and I am unable to share anything more than the trailer, but be sure to watch for it. Born in the coal mining country of West Virginia, Dave Evans enlisted, like so many young American men, in the Marine Corps as a young man looking for adventure and a way out. And sadly, like so many other men his age, he was rudely awakened to reality when he lost both legs in an ambush soon after he first saw combat.

Returning to West Virginia as a very angry disabled man, Evans soon decided to channel his anger into something more useful: he became an outspoken activist against the Vietnam War and spent a good deal of time talking to young men like himself. Realizing how lucky he was to live in a country where medical care was accessible, he then turned himself into an expert on artificial limbs and directed at least some of his intense anger against the American government into a life of healing for others. He spent the next forty years of his life traveling throughout the world to many remote areas where medical care was completely lacking, fitting fellow disabled people with prosthetics that would utterly change their lives...Evans was a hero and savior to so many in Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Angola are other places where he ventured to help set up prosthetic clinics.

Michael Moore: Our Nation's Conscience

Illustration by KeithNegley.com courtesy of The New Yorker Magazine

All through this election process, when I dared not look at the news and truly, I am ashamed to say, buried my head in the sand, Michael Moore was my one source of comfort. His frequent optimistic emails entitlted Mike's Midterm Tsunami Truths (there were forty of them) showed up religiously in my inbox, and maybe yours too, giving us a ray of hope through such heavy dark waters and doomsday predictions. And the glimmer was brightened even more when I remembered that he was no sugar-coater--he was correct in 2016 when he almost solely predicted (like me) Trump's victory over Hillary. Well, he turned out to be right again!

This wise caring man, who tirelessly fights the good fight, has documented our nation's shame in over ten important documentaries (including such films as Roger and Me, Sicko, Where to Invade Next and Farenheit 11/9 to name a few). I think I am going to go back aned watch them all again.

Michael Moore is our nation's conscience and a true national treasure!

Poem by Kyle Tran Myhre

VOTING AS FIRE EXTINGUISHER

by Kyle Tran Myhre

When the haunted house catches fire
a moment of indecision.

The house was, after all, built on bones

Everyone who enters the house feels
that overwhelming dread, the evil
that perhaps only fire can purge.

It's tempting to just let it burn.

And then I remember:
there are children inside.

Smilow Mathiesen Swag:
Unique Gifts for the Holidays

Charity of the Week:

Warnock for U.S. Senate

My portrait of Raphael Warnock, used to make into lawn signs in Georgia. Click to donate and call me to get the image to make your own sign....

Blog No. 98: Billy Crystal on Muhammad Ali, Keanu Reeves, Kurt Vonnegut Documentary

November 5, 2022

This Robert Hubbell column today made me feel a little bit better this morning. It might do the same to you…https://open.substack.com/pub/roberthubbell/p/join-the-pre-election-discussion?r=4adbb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Billy Crystal on Mohammad Ali

Billy Crystal and Muhammad Ali had a friendship that spanned over forty years.

I have long admired Billy Crystal as a talented and wonderful, caring person and was not surprised to learn that, like me, he grew up in a home dedicated to civil rights. His father was a producer of jazz concerts and was one of the first to integrate bands in the forties and fifties. His family produced Strange Fruit, Billie Holiday's poignant song about the lynching of African Americans in America.

What I didn't know is that Muhammad Ali and Billy Crystal had an unusual and deep relationship and they considered each other brothers.

Muhammad Ali was a looming figure in my life--I admired him, not for his boxing prowess but because he was a hero to my father when he stood up against the Vietnam War and was a moral example for many young Americans who shared his belief that the war was just simply wrong and unjust...

I share with you here Billy Crystal's beautiful and very moving eulogy to Muhammad Ali, laced with humor, delivered in Louisville, Kentucky on June 10, 2016.

Keanu Reeves

Written by cultural critic Alex Pappademas, published by Abrams Books

Because this column is all about celebrating the unsung heroes of our world, here is a piece on Keanu Reeves that touched me.

"He was abandoned by his father at 3 years old and grew up with 3 different stepfathers. He is dyslexic. His dream of becoming a hockey player was shattered by a serious accident. His daughter died at birth. His wife died in a car accident. His best friend, River Phoenix, died of an overdose. His sister has leukemia.

And with everything that has happened, Keanu Reeves never misses an opportunity to help people in need. When he was filming the movie "The Lake House," he overheard the conversation of two costume assistants; One cried because he would lose his house if he did not pay $20,000 and on the same day Keanu deposited the necessary amount in the woman's bank account. He also donated stratospheric sums to hospitals.

In 2010, on his birthday, Keanu walked into a bakery and bought a brioche with a single candle, ate it in front of the bakery, and offered coffee to people who stopped to talk to him. After winning astronomical sums for the Matrix trilogy, the actor donated more than $50 million to the staff who handled the costumes and special effects - the true heroes of the trilogy, as he called them.

He also gave a Harley-Davidson to each of the stunt doubles. A total expense of several million dollars. And for many successful films, he has even given up 90% of his salary to allow the production to hire other stars.

In 1997 some paparazzi found him walking one morning in the company of a homeless man in Los Angeles, listening to him and sharing his life for a few hours.

Most stars when they make a charitable gesture they declare it to all the media. He has never claimed to be doing charity, he simply does it as a matter of moral principles and not to look better in the eyes of others.

This man could buy everything, and instead every day he gets up and chooses one thing that cannot be bought: Be a good person."

Humanity at its best.

Many people have stories about Reeves, since he often travels alone without handlers. Naomi Fry, staff writer at The New Yorker, wrote about some of these encounters in a short article entitled "Keanu Reeves Is Too Good for This World back in 2019.

Kurt Vonnegut Documentary

Documentary filmmaker Robert Weide was the principal director and an executive producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm for the show's first five years.

Whether you have been a big fan of Kurt Vonnegut all your life like the filmmaker Robert Weide and me or are just learning about him now for the first time, this documentary Unstuck in Time is a beautiful tribute to an amazing and influential writer who has a lot to say about life and the human condition. Vonnegut authored fourteen novels in addition to many essays and short stories. He tackled life's biggest questions with satirical humor and his unconventional style combined the philosophy of metaphysics with science fiction, mixed in with ramblings about the simple banalities of human life. Unstuck in Time is available on hulu and youtube and in my humble opinion, well worth the watch...

Photo of the Week:
My studio these days, Midcoast Maine

Charity of the Week:

ACLU Legal Defense Fund

Blog No. 97: Ignore the Polls, Ave Maria, Michael Singer Quotes

October 29, 2022

Ignore the Polls

Robert Hubbell’s newsletter started as a letter he sent out to his family.

Robert Hubbell sends out a daily newsletter on politics that is well worth the read. It originally started out as a letter to family members. He describes his intent as "a reflection on today's news through the lens of hope." I take a look at it every morning after I read Heather Cox Richardson. This entry today (October 27, 2022) is particularly good so I'd like to share it with you--important for all of us to read as we lead up to the elections.

Ave Maria

Two friends of mine who have a lifetime's intereest in music have a weekly radio show every Tuesday evening on WRFR.org, a community radio station in Rockland, Maine. It is always a treat to spend two hours listening to their eclectic mix of great music and hear the knowledgeable banter between two brothers who, amidst the teasing, clearly show that they enjoy each other's company.

All that to say that last night they played a surprising choice as part of their sweet lullaby section. It was R&B and soul singer Aaron Neville's version of Ave Maria. I am not a religious person and this piece of music has no religious connotation for me--all I can say is that this particular version of this song is beautiful beyond words...

There is a comment section under every video on youtube and I loved this quote from self professed heavy metal devotee Malin Choneska: "I'm a metal head to the bone. This song not only choke(sic) me up, but I actually shed some long overdue tears. How could this happen? I think I need those tears, not from pain, but from joy. There's now light at the end of this tunnel."
I couldn't agree more!

Liner Notes by the Whitt Brothers can be heard every Tuesday from 6-8pm eastern time online on wrfr.org.

Michael Singer Quotes

Michael Singer, illustration courtesy of nowwatch.org

I wrote about Michael Singer recently in another blog post. Here are a few choice quotes from him that struck a chord with me. I hope they interest you enough that you will want to look further into his books--they have had a tremendous effect on me!

"The mind is a place where the soul goes to hide from the heart."

“To get some distance from this, you first need to get some perspective. Walk outside on a clear night and just look up into the sky. You are sitting on a planet spinning around in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Though you can only see a few thousand stars, there are hundreds of billions of stars in our Milky Way Galaxy alone. In fact, it is estimated that there are over a trillion stars in the Spiral Galaxy. And that galaxy would look like one star to us, if we could even see it. You’re just standing on one little ball of dirt and spinning around one of the stars. From that perspective, do you really care what people think about your clothes or your car? Do you really need to feel embarrassed if you forget someone’s name? How can you let these meaningless things cause pain? If you want out, if you want a decent life, you had better not devote your life to avoiding psychological pain. You had better not spend your life worrying about whether people like you or whether your car impresses people. What kind of life is that? It is a life of pain. You may not think that you feel pain that often, but you really do. To spend your life avoiding pain means it’s always right behind you.”

"Do not let anything that happens in life be important enough that you're willing to close your heart over it."

“If you want to be happy, you have to let go of the part of you that wants to create melodrama. This is the part that thinks there’s a reason not to be happy. You have to transcend the personal, and as you do, you will naturally awaken to the higher aspects of your being. In the end, enjoying life’s experiences is the only rational thing to do. You’re sitting on a planet spinning around in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Go ahead, take a look at reality. You’re floating in empty space in a universe that goes on forever. If you have to be here, at least be happy and enjoy the experience. You’re going to die anyway. Things are going to happen anyway. Why shouldn’t you be happy? You gain nothing by being bothered by life’s events. It doesn’t change the world; you just suffer. There’s always going to be something that can bother you, if you let it.”

“There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind - you are the one who hears it.”

“Imagine if you used relationships to get to know other people, rather than to satisfy what is blocked inside of you. If you’re not trying to make people fit into your preconceived notions of what you like and dislike, you will find that relationships are not really that difficult. If you’re not so busy judging and resisting people based upon what is blocked inside of you, you will find that they are much easier to get along with—and so are you. Letting go of yourself is the simplest way to get closer to others.”

Products of the Week:
Cutting/Cheese Boards

These Cutting/Cheese Boards (16" x 10.5" x 0.5") and more products available on our website: www.pamelasmilow.com/shop-all

Charity of the Week:

ACLU Legal Defense Fund

Blog No. 96: Neuroscientist Anil Seth on Consciousness, Maira Kalman, Mountain Gorillas

October 21, 2022

Ted Talk on Consciousness

Click above to see this mind blowing fake hand experiment

Anil Kumar Seth, British professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex.

Science was never my strong point but the field of neuroscience and the science of consciousness captivates me.
Here is a very powerful Ted talk in which Anil Seth, a neuroscientist from Sussex, England explains how conscious reality is just our brain hallucinating...Mind expanding! To prove one of his points, Seth illustrates an experiment involving a fake hand that can be mistaken as one's own...I'd write more by way of explanation but I think it is best you listen to him. And if you care to learn more, here is an interesting 2021 interview with Anil Seth in Quanta Magazine on the subject.

Women Holding Things by Maira Kalman

The Humor of the Every Day: Talk by Maira Kalman

I love New York! On any given day you have your choice of so many stimulating and inspiring things to do and tonight was no different. I attended a talk by Maira Kalman, one of my most favorite artist/illustrator/authors. To say she is one of the coolest people I know is an understatement: unabashedly herself, with an unbelievably great sense of humor (my kind of humor), truthful, open, and so creative! Kalman is author of some of my most treasured books...This new one is no different: Women Holding Things. Full of her colorful gouache paintings of unexpected people and objects, Kalman is her own quirky self--I find her so refreshing. Check out the long list of her wonderful books for children and adults. She is also a frequent contributor to the New Yorker magazine and The New York Times. If you happen to be in New York right now, check out the original illustrations from the book at her show at the Mary Ryan Gallery through November 12th.

Women Holding Grudges—Maira’s mother in law and twin sister who didn’t get along.

Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda

Silverbacks are mature adult male gorillas.

"It seems very unfair that man should have chosen the gorilla to symbolize everything that is aggressive and violent when that is one thing the gorilla is not, and that we are...."Sir David Attenborough

Growth of the mountain gorilla population in Rwanda is one of the few success stories in conservation history--their numbers has grown remarkably since Dian Fossey first studied them in the 1970s. To quote primatologist of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, "When you look in the eyes of a gorilla, you see a kindred spirit looking back at you. They are so much like us. They have friends, they have enemies. They love to play. They love to eat. They love to nap. They are incredible moms and incredible dads." To learn more, follow Charlie Annenberg, founder of Explore and Craig Sholley of African Wildlife Foundation as they guide us through Volcanoes National Park in this fascinating documentary about these mountain gorillas of Rwanda.

Gorillas share 98.6 percent of human DNA.

Products of the Week: Yoga Mats

These Yoga Mats and more by Smilow + Mathiesen available on our website: www.pamelasmilow.com/shop-all

Charity of the Week:

Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

Blog No. 95: Jo Malone Ad Campaign, Celery Leek Potato Soup, Tracy Chapman

October 14, 2022

Jo Malone Mental Health Video Clips

October 10th, which happened also to be my birthday, was named World Mental Health Day 2022--Many people are struggling around the globe one way or another, especially now after the pandemic. Jo Malone, founder of a British perfume and cologne company, started her own foundation dedicated to mental health. Their cool ad campaign, consisting of short little video clips, took me by surprise on the small screen in the back of a NYC taxicab the other day. Here are a few of these videos--I hope you think they are as brilliant and touching as I do...

Celery Leek Potato Soup

It's getting to be soup weather. Here is a recipe, courtesy of the New York Times, that looks good to me--aside from being delicious, I especially love the color!

CELERY LEEK SOUP WITH POTATO AND PARSLEY
By Alexa Weibel
serves 6-8
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 large leeks, cut in half lengthwise, sliced thin
3 sliced garlic cloves
1 pound celery (about 1 large bunch), peeled and thinly sliced (save leaves for garnish
1 large peeled russet potato, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 bay leaves
1½ teaspoons thyme
1/4 cup dry white wine
7 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves, plus more for garnish
Crème fraîche or heavy cream, for serving

In a large pot, cook leeks and garlic, salt and p[epper in the oil until tender, approx. 7-10 minutes. Add the celery potato, preferably fresh thyme and bay leaves for an additional give minutes or so. Add wine to deglaze, then cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is almost dry, another approx. 3 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium and simmer until another 20 minutes until vegetables are tender and soft. Discard bay leaves. Stir in 1 cup parsley leaves.
In smaller atches, add soup to blender or use stick blender and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
In bowls, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with celery leaves and parsley and a bit of pepper. Serve with creme fraiche, sour cream or a little bit of heavy cream... ]

Tracy Chapman

I always loved Tracy Chapman--hadn't thought about her for a long while until I heard one of her songs yesterday...Thought I would share a few of my favorites....

All That You Have Is Your Soul

Change

Subcity

Sing for You

and of course Fast Car

Charity of the Week:

World Central Kitchen

Blog No. 94: The Year Earth Changed, Poem by Diane Zeuss, Beth Krensky Art

October 8, 2022

Couldn’t resist posting this utter piece of joy that has just elevated my mood tenfold this afternoon…—Mark Morris’ Dance Company hot off the press including the divine costumes by Isaac Mizrahi. The piece debuts in Santa Monica on October 20th but watch for it as it tours in a performance venue near you…

The Year Earth Changed

David Attenborough Illustration by Lulu Kitololo

My friend Tina is pure heart and she always gives me great ideas of what to include in this blog...Brought to you by David Attenborough, the important Apple TV film The Year Earth Changed shows us the positive impact the pandemic has had on animal and plant life and is a clear reminder of how much better off nature would be without us. It also includes some practical ideas of actions we can take to better coexist with our fellow inhabitants on this planet, while not destroying them in the process (which is exactly what we are doing at fantastical rates right now...).

Bobby by Diane Zeuss

As it appears in Poetry Magazine October 2022

BOBBY
by Diane Zeuss

All the actors from the sitcoms
I watched as a child are dead.
And the musicians, assassinated
or natural
causes. Take a hint
they shout from the top tier
of the ancient Roman
amphitheater. No
I will not take a hint. I still
make a mean
bowl of soup which can now
be poured directly
from a can and inserted
into a box that heats
via electromagnetic radiation.
I once owned
a guitar and learned me
some of the chords to “Me
and Bobby McGee” and damn
if I couldn’t sing
good.
My voice was not like Janis.
Nothing like Janis. It was high
serene
forthcoming
piercing
mezzo
very lyric
very trill
hugely skinny like a water spout
the neighbors complained about
its beauty I sang I sung I’m singing
I barely began to begun
and I’m not done.

Beth Krensky Art

One of the best things that came out of the pandemic is the fact that we can visit faraway places virtually and experience things that are not just in our local backyard. For example, I have been a regular visitor of programs at the The Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Center in South Africa. I have participated in film festivals in California, attended holiday events with distant friends and family strewn all over the globe. And in the case below, we can attend an art exhibit at Yale University by artist Beth Krensky, because an old client asked me to take a look at her childhood friend's current exhibit there at the Institute of Sacred Music. I found her exhibit and the objects in it mysterious, meaningful and intriguing...Krensky considers herself to be "a gatherer of things--objects, words, spirit--and a connector of fragments, to make us whole..." And in the words of the curator Maddie Blonquist Shrum, "This exhibition invites viewers to inhabit the space Krensky does herself: the in-between of matter and spirit, the profane and the sacred."

Take a look yourself at both the exhibit entitled Between Spirit and Matter and the catalogue which accompanies the show...and if you are anywhere near New Haven, the gallery is open weekdays from 9-4.

Paintings of the Week

Collaborative Animal Giclee Prints, 8” x 10” or in customizable sizes….www.pamelasmilow.com/animal=prints/

Charity of the Week:

World Central Kitchen

Blog No. 93: Searching for Sugar Man, Anderson Cooper's New Podcast, Roger Federer's Retirement

October 1, 2022

Searching for Sugar Man

Musician Sixto Rodriguez (click on many of the images in this blog for further links).

Sometimes things just strike me as so important that I am inclined to repeat myself on this blog in an effort to spread the wealth and make sure it isn't missed. This is the case with Searching for Sugar Man--a 2012 documentary (available on youtube and amazon) about a musician named Sixto Rodriguez. I was reminded of it recently and actually sat down to watch it all over again this week. The story is so full of miracles and wonder that I just want you to do the same--watch it from start to finish and laugh and cry and be touched by this unbelievable and true story... And for those who have seen it already like me, you might just want to fill yourself with awe all over again... Here are the two records Rodriguez released during his career: Cold Fact (1970) and Coming From Reality (1971).

Anderson Cooper's New Podcast

A few people have shared Anderson Cooper's new podcast All There Is with me and I just had the chance to listen to the first two episodes last night (as I lay wide awake trying to sleep...). No one likes insomnia but I did like the podcast, which is all about grief.

Anderson Cooper is no stranger to loss: his father died of a heart attack when Anderson was ten, his older brother Carter committed suicide at the age of 23, and his mom, Gloria Vanderbilt, just died in 2019. In Cooper's words, "I was surprised by the lonelinesss I felt afterward and still feel...she was the last person from the little family I grew up in. The last person who knew the same stories as me, had the same memories. Now I am the only one. I feel like a lighthouse keeper on an empty island and i feel like I need to preserve all that happened because if I don't, my mom and my dad and my brother and all those moments and all their friends will just disappear..."

Named after the Peggy Lee song Is That All There Is, the first episode of the podcast takes us back to Anderson Cooper's mom's home in New York City as he attempts to go through and part with much of its contents in anticipation of it's sale. We are right there with him as he holds objects and articles of clothing that have been left behind and that have such sentimental value to him: the pajamas of his dad, hidden notes his mom left him to find after her death, his brother's belt...

The second episode is a follow up to a conversation Anderson had with Stephen Colbert on his show in 2019. Colbert experienced a terrible tragedy at the age of 10, when his father and two siblings died in a plane crash and in my opinion, has a lot of very enlightened thoughts and feelings about grief. From someone who has experienced my share of loss and grief, I found this podcast really to the point and illuminating...Looking forward to future episodes...

Roger Federer's Retirement

Roger Federer retired from tennis this past week after nineteen years on the tennis circuit. His last tournament of his career was played as a doubles match partnered with his friend and tennis rival Rafael Nadal. Some might say these are first world emotional problems but in any case, here is Federer's farewell--and a four minute display of love, friendship and sportsmanship by two of the classiest competitors tennis has ever seen. I couldn't help but be moved...

Paintings of the Week

Charity of the Week:

World Central Kitchen

Blog No. 92: Artist Kiki Smith, Paper Airplanes, Poem by Rumi

September 24, 2022

Artist Kiki Smith

No surprise that Kiki Smith grew up in a very artistic family--her father, the acclaimed sculptor Tony Smith and her mother, singer Jane Lawrence, seemed to give her a head start on greatness. This is an artist that does it all in so many different mediums and she might just be the contemporary artist I treasure the most. Smith makes wonderful mixed media prints, incredible monumental sculptures, and large-scale installations, many related to her interest in the human body and the human condition. Her subject matter is gutsy, visceral, and honest.

Smith is an artist's artist. I wouldn't be surprised if many of you haven't heard of her. Here is an interesting interview she gave about her life. She is definitely worth a look and a listen...
I don't usually like reviews but this one is particularly astute, no surprise written in 2015 by a non-professional critic--a student, writing in the the Cornell University newspaper.

How to Make a Paper Airplane

I guess I am just a kid at heart. Spent the last hour making some of these paper airplanes and flying them in my hallway, They do fly! I've had this idea of making kites for years--one of these things I just never seem to get to--but maybe this is the next best thing for now...

Poem by Rumi

The Guest House
by Rumi

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Painting of the Week

Doctor’s Office, West 51st Street, New York, NY

Charity of the Week:

Save The Children

Blog No. 91: Michael Singer's Living Untethered, The Farnsworth Museum, Oliver Sacks Why the Brain Loves Music

September 17, 2022

Living Untethered by Michael Singer

Just finished Michael Singer's book Living Untethered--it made a really big impression on me. If I had to summarize it (and I might massacre it, I am warning you), I would say that it is very clear account of what it is to be inside of you, why the mind does what it does, how the heart opens and closes and why we have such trouble "being here now." When we encounter an interaction that is uncomfortable, we push it away in order to protect ourselves instead of letting the experience come in and go out again--i.e, if we have a bad encounter with a snake, we then associate every time we see something snakelike (i.e., a piece of rope, a big worm) to that bad experience and it brings up the past trauma over and over again even though it is not the reality in front of us. When we store up these past experiences, they compound and become a mess of blockages that inhibit our energy flow, prohibit us from our natural state of wellbeing and affect our spiritual growth. Singer attempts to shed light on this by illustrating how the moment in front of us is not bothering us but we are bothering us. He shows us that we have the capability of freeing ourselves from this scenario, leaning away from the noisy mind and changing our focus to what is right in front of us, the reality as seen clearly in the stillness. Away from worldliness into spirituality. A lot to work on but being clear and aware is the first step...

The Farnsworth Museum

Artists have a way of finding the best places on earth in which to spend time and I never realized how many great artists have been attracted to the state of Maine over the years, either as full time residents, summer dwellers or occasional visitors. I took a recent visit to the Farnsworth Museum and realized again what a first class museum it is, right in the heart of the midcoast city of Rockland. The museum's primary focus is to celebrate Maine's role in American Art and here is a sampling of featured artists who have spent time in this beautiful state.

Why The Brain Loves Music by Oliver Sacks

I have written about Oliver Sacks before but find this lecture Why The Brain Loves Music he gave at Columbia University particularly fascinating. It is the basis of his book Musicophilia...It is a long lecture but if you can spare the time, well worth it. And if anyone has any doubt of the power of music to pierce your heart, have a listen to this P.S. 22/Andy Grammer rendition of Don't Give Up On Me and sing it at the top of your lungs. It transforms me! I've shared it before but could listen over and over...just to see those kids and Andy Grammer light up!

Sacks refers to himself as just a country doctor and "an explorer and naturalist, exploring many strange, neuropsychological lands — the furthest Arctics and Tropics of neurological disorder.” Seldom has there been a physician more compassionate and incessantly curious about all aspects of the human condition. In addition to Musicophilia, Sacks is known for books such as The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, An Anthropologist on Mars, Awakenings, Seeing Voices, Island of the Colorblind, The Mind’s Eye, and Hallucinations. He has also written personal accounts of his own life including the titles Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood and his motorcycle days in On the Move: A Life. Additional books include The River of Consciousness, Gratitude and final essays published after his death entitled Everything in Its Place.

Painting of the Week

Tree of Life Series, mixed media on paper mounted onto canvas, 60” x 22”, Grantham, New Hampshire

Charity of the Week:

Save The Children

Blog No. 90: Amazing Grace, Serena Williams, Spicy Baked Chicken Recipe

September 9, 2022

The President Sang Amazing Grace

Michelle and Barak Obama resurfaced this week in all their glory as their official presidential portraits were unveiled at the White House. It got me thinking how much I miss them! I don't think we ever had a cooler president....Which lead me to revisit this stunning Joan Baez video about the horrific 2015 Charleston church shooting The President Sang Amazing Grace (written by English folksinger Zoe Mulford, art by Jeff Scher). I shared this once before but it is definitely worth seeing again.

Lyrics
A young man came to a house of prayer
They did not ask what brought him there
He was not friend, he was not kin
But they opened the door and let him in
And for an hour the stranger stayed
He sat with them and seemed to pray
But then the young man drew a gun
And killed nine people, old and young
In Charleston in the month of June
The mourners gathered in a room
The President came to speak some words
And the cameras rolled and the nation heard
But no words could say what must be said
For all the living and the dead
So on that day and in that place
The President sang Amazing Grace
The President sang Amazing Grace
We argued where to lay the blame
On one man's hate or our nation's shame
Some sickness of the mind or soul
And how the wounds might be made whole
But no words could say what must be said
For all the living and the dead
So on that day and in that place
The President sang Amazing Grace
My President sang Amazing Grace

Serena Williams

Serena’s goodbye speech after her loss last week at the US Open

Click image to hear Serena talk about being black and different

Hear Alexis Ohanian talk about his marriage to Serena Williams

I am kind of a fair weather sports person--most of the time I don't pay much attention but when I do, I always enjoy it...Once a year I tune in to the U.S. Open because I have memories of going to it when it was still Forest Hills with my dad and I have gone a few times more recently... Happened to watch Serena the other night and was very moved...Has there ever been a more spectacular athlete? Thought I would share the New York Times piece on her--What Serena Williams Means to You in which they asked people about their personal memories of watching her play.

Let's not forget that Arthur Ashe paved the way...

Indian Spicy Baked Chicken Recipe

This recipe is delicious!

Recipe by Madhur Jaffrey

Ingredients (serves 6)
1 tbsp. ground cumin seeds
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. ground turmeric
1-1 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 1/2-3 tsp. salt
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed to a pulp
6 tbsp. lemon juice
3 1/2 lb. chicken pieces, skins removed
3 tbsp vegetable oil

Combine the cumin, paprika, cayenne, turmeric, black pepper, salt, garlic and lemon juice in a bowl. Mix well. Rub this mixture over the chicken pieces, pushing the paste inside any flaps and openings that you can find. Stuff some paste along the bone of the drumsticks. Spread the chicken pieces in a shallow baking tray and set aside in a cool place for three hours covered with plastic wrap (or longer).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush chicken with oil. Place in oven and cook for 20 minutes, then turn the pieces over and cook another 25 minutes. Basting the chicken pieces 3 or 4 times. If there is a lot of liquid, remove extra fat with a spoon and pour remaining liquid into a smaller pot and boil until reduced a bit. Place cooked chicken on platter and pour reduced sauce over the pieces and serve with basmati rice.

Painting of the Week

Charity of the Week:

Save The Children

Blog No. 89: Viktor Frankl: The Meaning of LIfe, Another Mary Oliver Poem, I AM BLKBOK

September 3, 2022

Viktor Frankl The Meaning of Life

In my daughter Morgan's elementary school there was a sign that hung in the stairwell that all the children passed every day that read: "Happiness is an emotion that requires effort at times." This is the crux of Viktor Frankl's philosophy and what he claims enabled him to survive Auschwitz (and thrive in life). "It wasn't the people who had the physical strength and brawn who were most likely to survive, but, rather the people who had the best imaginations and could visualize what they had to look forward to in the future. This mental projection could be a person, place, or thing, that gave them a reason and the passion to want to live."

In his autobiographical book Man's Search for Meaning, the Austrian born psychoanalyst and neurologist talks about “What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.”

Here are four things Frankl considers essential:

1. We find meaning by paying attention to synchronicity--meaningful coincidences when an event in the outside world matches up with the inner state of the mind that has inner meaning and causes a feeling of amazement and the sense of the numinous. These seeming "coincidences" lift us outside of ourselves, giving us a glimpse of the sense of the divine.

2. We find meaning by finding work that feeds the soul. After losing his life's writing, Frankl never lost hope of getting his manuscript back and if not, he knew he could rewrite it...So essential to have a task that is waiting for us.

3. We find meaning through the people we love or have loved--only through love can humanity be saved. That is true fulfillment.

4. We find meaning by facing our suffering. Even in the face of horrific conditions, it is possible for spiritual life to thrive...

Another Mary Oliver Poem

Spent last weekend in New Hampshire in a beautiful setting in the White Mountains. Went kayaking on a mountain lake and sat ever so peacefully in a kayak, watching a great blue heron move so slowly, intentionally and gracefully through marshy grasses...Then came across this Mary Oliver poem this morning which just about says it all...

Heron Rises From The Dark, Summer Pond

by Mary Oliver

So heavy
is the long-necked, long-bodied heron,
always it is a surprise
when her smoke-colored wings

open
and she turns
from the thick water,
from the black sticks

of the summer pond,
and slowly
rises into the air
and is gone.

Then, not for the first or the last time,
I take the deep breath
of happiness, and I think
how unlikely it is

that death is a hole in the ground,
how improbable
that ascension is not possible,
though everything seems so inert, so nailed

back into itself--
the muskrat and his lumpy lodge,
the turtle,
the fallen gate.

And especially it is wonderful
that the summers are long
and the ponds so dark and so many,
and therefore it isn't a miracle

but the common thing,
this decision,
this trailing of the long legs in the water,
this opening up of the heavy body

into a new life: see how the sudden
gray-blue sheets of her wings
strive toward the wind; see how the clasp of nothing
takes her in.

I AM BLKBK

If you asked me which musical instrument I love the most, I would be hard pressed to say just one, but if you forced me I know it would be the piano. Not sure where I came across BLKBOK, a uniquely talented pianist from a family of musicians in Detroit who in his own words is "doing what thousands of black artists have always done--take the tool we have and create our own hybrid expression." I love his mission--to make classical music more accessible to everyone. He loves rap and hip hop as much as he loves Mozart and Debussy, and composes what he describes as neoclassic musical poems created for everybody and to bring everyone together. Here is a beautiful example. And here he is performing and talking on the Today Show, interviewed by Al Roker. He makes special mention of a film I particularly loved entitled Green Book, , the story of trailblazing Don Shirley who travelled to the deep south at a time that was not safe for a black musician, to bring music there. If you are looking for something to watch one night, this is a good one...

Charity of the Week:

Save The Children

Painting of the Week

Blog No. 88: Philip Glass' Satygraha, Two Favorite Children's Books, Albert Einstein Quotes

August 27, 2022

Satygraha by Philip Glass

When I die, if anyone does an autopsy of my brain, everything I have listed in this blog would come falling out of my head--a real diary of things I have loved and been inspired by and paid attention to over all my many years...
This morning my friend Dyan told me how much she enjoyed the dance things I have posted and she said she preferred dance to opera...Which got me thinking about one of the most exciting unconventional operas I had ever seen (in fact I saw it two days in a row I loved it so much--many years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday). I am talking about Philip Glass' opera Satygraha, loosely based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi and the concept of nonviolent resistance, which I saw at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

I would never put it to justice by trying to describe it but I can say that the whole set is made out of newspaper and paper mache, the set, puppets and costumes are beyond gorgeous, the music is sublime (some people hate Philip Glass--I love him and find him so meditative and soothing), and this was one of the most all encompassing, visual, musical, dance, experiences I have witnessed and enjoyed in theatre...I wish I could tell you it is being performed again soon but I don't know of any upcoming events--just watch for it in the future and in the meantime, watch the video for a little introduction...

Favorite Children's Books

I always like to visit libraries in new places--just being around books gives me such a warm, cozy feeling, even if I don't open them up. Oh, the possibilities! I found myself in the Rockland Library the other day and wandered into the children's section. That's when I found a book that got my heart beating as if my childhood was just yesterday: The Red Ballooon. I can still remember vividly every single page--below are some of the ones that got my heart beating faster. The book actually comes from a wonderful academy award-winning film which A.O. Scott, film critic of the New York Times (who I don't always agree with), called "a masterpiece of simplicity."

And then, just the way it goes, the very next day on my way to a wedding in Vermont, I came across another of my favorite children's books at a friend's house in New Hampshire--synchronicity! This book, The Lonely Doll, was unusual because again, it was all (black and white) photographs. My sister and I loved the characters--two teddy bears and a doll--and their friendship. This book hasn't withstood the test of time in the same way as it has a male chauvinistic bent to it but it still touches me in a deep way as if my childhood was yesterday...And now for the laugh, just googled it to add the link and found this article from The New Yorker, describing the book as the creepiest children's book"... with a cult following."

Albert Einstein Quotes

Science and spirituality are not polar opposites. Here are a few thoughts on this by one of the greatest thinkers of all time: Albert Einstein.

"I failed to reach my understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe through my rational mind."

"In this case, we have been completely wrong. What we have called matter is energy whose vibration has become so low that it is noticeable to the senses. Matters are spirit reduced to visibility. There's no such thing as that."

"Time and space are not conditions we live in, but conditions we think about."

Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind and are not, however it seems, determined by the external world."

"Time doesn't exist - we invented it. Time is what the clock says. The distinction between past, present and future is merely a stubborn, persistent illusion."

“I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me."

"Intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or whatever, the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why."

"A person experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest, a kind of optical willpower of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, which confines us to our personal desires and affection for a few people closest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by expanding our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature in its beauty."
“Our separation from each other is an optical illusion."

"When something vibrates, all of the electrons of the universe resonate with it. Everything is connected. The greatest tragedy of human existence is the illusion of separation."
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

“We are souls dressed in sacred biochemical garments, and our bodies are the instruments through which our souls play their music."

"Examinating the lives of the most influential people who have ever walked among us, one finds a thread that runs through them all." They have first been aligned with their spiritual nature and only then with their physical self."

"The true value of a man can be found in the degree to which he has achieved liberation from himself."

"The ancients knew something we seem to have forgotten."

"The more I learn about physics, the more I am attracted to metaphysics."

"One thing I've learned in a long life: that all of our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childish. We still do not know one thousandth of what nature has revealed to us. It is quite possible that behind the perception of our senses, there are worlds hidden that we are unaware of."

“I am not an atheist. The problem is too big for our limited minds. We are in the position where a small child walks into a huge library filled with books in many languages. The kid knows someone must have written those books."

“The common idea that I’m an atheist is based on a grave error. Anyone who interprets my scientific theories this way, didn't understand them."

"Everything, each beginning and end, is determined by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as the star. Humans, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious melody, tuned in the distance of an invisible pipe."

"The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It will transcend a personal God and avoid dogma and theology."

“Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another."

"Everything is energy, and that's all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you desire and you cannot help but receive that reality. It can't be any other way. This is not a philosophy. This is physics."

"I'm happy because I don't want anything from anyone. I don't care about money. Decorations, titles or distinctions mean nothing to me. I’m not in the mood for any praise. I’ll take credit for nothing A happy man is too content with the present to dwell too much on the future."

Charity of the Week:

Save The Children

Painting of the Week

Blog No. 87: This American Life: Squirrel Cop, Just a Sweet Story, Tanitoluwa Adewumi Chess Prodigy (Copy)

August 21, 2022

Squirrel Cop on This American Life

I can't say I listen to the radio program/podcast This American Life that often--it goes in spurts because I don't always think of it, but when I do, I am never sorry. Ira Glass is a cool guy, very personable, and he has a down to earth style when he talks to the eclectic mix of "ordinary" people he interviews that I really admire. Glass himself sheepishly describes his show as "funny," "entertaining," and "true stories but not boring." I would describe it as interesting and quirky. Each hour long show is centered on a specific theme and there are usually several short stories around that specific subject. The show has been around for a long time now.

The story I share with you here is part of a recent This American Life episode entitled "Fiasco!." You can hear the whole episode here but the story that almost caused me to go off the road I was laughing so hard is the one entitled Squirrel Cop "

Just a Sweet Story

This is just a sweet story shared with me this week by my friend, Eileen Michel. We could use some of that good old fashioned neighborliness these days...

Tanitoluwa Adewumi, Chess Prodigy

The story of Tanitoluwa Adewumi and his family is a Hollywood story if there ever was one, and in fact Paramount has optioned it--soon to be a full length movie.

Tani is just about to turn twelve now--but he is already well on his way to becoming a chess grand master and has even authored two books about the life of his family. The Adewumis ended up in a homeless shelter after fleeing Boko Haram terror in their native country of Nigeria. Tani first spotted a chess app on his father's computer in Nigeria, but developed his skill first from his brother and then in an after school program at P.S. 116 in NYC. (My daughter Morgan was in a similar program at her elementary school, P.S. 183). To say he took to the game is an understatement.

At the age of 8 he took everyone by surprise by winning the 2019 New York K-3 Chess Championship and caught the attention of Nicholas Kristof, who wrote a piece about him in the New York Times.

Broadcaster Tamron Hall produced a sweet short documentary on him for her TV show.

If you like the subject, there are a lot of good chess movies out there but two that stand out for me are Searching for Bobbie Fisher and the series The Queen's Gambit (available on netflix).

Charity of the Week:

Save The Children

Painting of the Week

photo courtesy of Poliana Espirito-Santo

Blog No. 86: This American Life: Squirrel Cop, Just a Sweet Story, Tanitoluwa Adewumi Chess Prodigy

August 13, 2022

Squirrel Cop on This American Life

Just a Sweet Story

This is just a sweet story shared with me this week by my friend, Eileen Michel. We could use some of that good old fashioned neighborliness these days...

Tanitoluwa Adewumi, Chess Prodigy

Charity of the Week:

Save The Children

Painting of the Week

Blog No. 84: Animator Anna Samo, Humpback Whales, Michael Moore and Kansas

August 6, 2022

Filmmaker Anna Samo's Cool Animation

Here is a gem of a short animated film about resiliency and the opportunity of growth that comes out of adversity. I originally saw it on the newsletter Colossal, based on filmmaker Anna Samo's experience as an artist of rejection and failure in entering her films in various competitions, only to be repeatedly rejected. Although Anna Samo has directed her stop motion film Conversations with a Whale to the creative community, the message really applies to us all. There isn't a single one of us who hasn't been knocked down, some of us many times over--but the key here is to get right back up and keep going and do what you do...
You can find more information about the film and see more work from Samo on Vimeo and Instagram.

Saved by a Humpback Whale

I have loved animal stories since I read my favorite childhood book, How Smart Are Animals when I was six. Here is a good one. Scientist Nan Hauser talks about her very incredible experience with a humpback whale.

During the pandemic, when everything was at the height of shutdown around the globe, nature thrived. Animal populations grew, flora and fauna flourished, and pollution levels went way down due to the lack of human activity and abuse. It is not that I have given up totally on the human race and the possibilities of turning around our evil ways, but I have come to believe that planet earth will survive with or without us and in fact, might thrive even more if we are out of the picture.

Michael Moore and Kansas

I subscribe to Michael Moore's podcasts and always find his point of view in line with mine. My sister Judy and I used to ask each other "where is the outrage?"--Michael Moore personifies it and I love him for it! Here is his reaction to the the vote in Kansas on Tuesday...

Medecins Sans Frontieres

Photo of the Week

What I was working on this week in the studio

Blog No. 83: Oliver Sacks Documentary, Eagle Rescue, Emily Brzezinski

July 30, 2022

Oliver Sacks Documentary

It is often not the big things in life that make such a difference but the little things we do to fill our day that enrich us and make us feel grateful to be alive. I had that feeling this week when I made the decision to sit down to watch the PBS American Masters Series documentary Oliver Sacks: His Own Life. It is a wonderful tribute to a truly great human being.

I count Oliver Sacks as one of the most interesting thinkers of our time and have enjoyed so many of his books and lectures over the years...Mostly, he is an example of a deeply caring and compassionate human being who was full of love and respect for his patients and for life--a doctor who practiced medicine in such a humanistic and qualitative way, reviving the role of case histories, combining the literary and the scientific, providing his very ill patients with a narrative that validated and gave their lives meaning. As he was bringing many of these very ill patients out of their shells, he was also inviting and bringing the rest of the world in.

An individual full of quirks, Sacks was curious about absolutely everything, a true investigator, observer and storyteller of the human condition. He had many struggles in his life and his is not a Hollywood story but what a life! and what an inspiration!

This documentary is really well done and any of his sixteen books are well worth the read.

Eagle Rescue

If this isn't a feel good story, I don't know what is...
Enjoy!
(Shared with me by my friend Robert Piper.)

Emily Brzezinski

Emilie Brzezinski (1932-2022) has been on my blog idea list for over a year so I thought it was timely to write a bit about her now since she passed away earlier this week. I always take note of famous people whose parents were artists and I remember being surprised that Mika Brzezinksi's mom (of MSNBC's Morning Joe) was a really good sculptor. It seemed such an unlikely pair--outwardly straight-laced Mika had a chain saw yielding artist as a mom but then again, organized and seemingly left brained Morgan Mathiesen is my daughter too....

Brzezinski loved trees as I do and made it the primary subject of her work. I can relate to the intuitive nature of her process and the fact that spending time in her studio just brought her sheer pleasure. Here are a few examples of her monumental wood sculptures and a short video tribute produced a few years back by Mika and Joe Scarborough. .

Medecins Sans Frontieres

Painting of the Week

Green Garden mixed media on canvas 54” x 84”

Blog No. 82: Musician Jacob Collier, Refreshing Summer Drinks, Derek Walcott Poem

July 23, 2022

Musician Jacob Collier

I don't profess to know anything about music at all apart from listening often and enjoying it across many genres. Someone recently turned me on to a young British musician named Jacob Collier (born 1994) and when I asked my friend what instrument he played, his answer was "everything!" And when I asked if Collier was a prodigy, my friend's answer was "beyond prodigy." In my mind, this guy is a phenomenon. Judge for yourself.

Known for an eclectic combination of jazz and other musical genres, Collier's energetic live performances are multi-media extravaganzas featuring original compositions as well as unique renditions of covers from many other musicians. He first went viral on TikTok in 2012 with Stevie Wonder's Don't You Worry About a Thing and here are some examples of other covers including the classic Moon River, Blackbird, Carole King's You've Got a Friend, and Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You.

Here is a recent original Collier piece entitled Never Gonna Be Alone.

For those who are much more advanced than me in musical theory (and it won't take much), check out an interview with Collier here regarding among other things, negative harmony.

For a general overview, check out Collier's Live Ted performance.

One YouTube listener named Random Awesomeness on youtube commented: "Non professionals will be impressed by Jacob because of how good it sounds. Professionals will be even more impressed because they know how advanced this is. That's the power of bringing skills into popular music that will truly improve public appreciation of good music."

Refreshing Summer Drinks

I am not a big drinker so I look for special non-alcoholic beverages for a little summer excitement and variety. And I am not going to lie--I chose these two recipes first of all for the color! But the ingredients and their deliciousness come close behind and of course you always have the option of adding gin, vodka, tequila, rum or whatever you would like ...

CUCUMBER GINGER LIME DRINK

INGREDIENTS
1 ½ packed cups fresh mint leaves, plus sprigs for garnish ½ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup hot water
2 English cucumbers, ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 (3-inch) piece fresh ginger (about 2 ounces), scrubbed and chopped
1 lime, plus more as needed
Ice cubes, for serving

In a medium bowl, combine the mint leaves, sugar and salt, and smash them together using a fork or the back of a wooden spoon.
Pour in the hot water, and stir until the sugar and salt dissolve. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Combine the cucumbers and ginger in a blender, zest the lime right into it, then squeeze the juice from half the lime right in. Pour in 1 cup room-temperature water and purée on high until smooth. Pour the purée through a strainer, pressing it lightly with a spatula to get the liquid out. Discard the solids and pour the mixture into a medium pitcher.

Pour the mint syrup through the same strainer into a container, pressing on the leaves the same as before to extract the liquid.
Add 3/4 cups of the strained syrup into the cucumber ginger lime liquid. Taste and add more syrup or more lime juice to taste. Cover any leftover syrup and refrigerate for another use.

STRAWBERRY HIBISCUS LIMEADE

INGREDIENTS
Pineapple juice
2 sprigs fresh mint
2 hibiscus tea bags or 1/2 cup dried hibiscus flowers
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 pound fresh strawberries
1/2 cup homemade simple syrup

Pour pineapple juice into an ice cube tray, and allow to freeze overnight.
In a large pot, add 6 cups of water and bring to a boil over high heat.
Add mint leaves to a pitcher, and muddle them to release oils.
Pour the boiling water, the tea bags, and lime juice into the pitcher, stir and steep for 15 minutes.
In the meantime, purée strawberries in a blender. (You should have about 1 cup purée.)
Add the purée and hibiscus or simple syrup, stir and refrigerate until ready to use.
Add mixture and pineapple ice cubes to individual glasses, garnish with fresh strawberries, lime slices and mint and serve immediately.

Derek Walcott Poem

Love After Love
by Derek Walcott

The time come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

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Painting of the Week