Thursday Poem

Karen

This was in the most recent Hell’s Backbone Grill newsletter and it’s really giving me Mary Oliver vibes. “There are many ways/ to face the dark” indeed.

 

Crickets
By Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

When they sing
it is a kind of love,
a pure-toned,
full-bodied ringing
born of friction.
You could say
it’s just a wingstroke
that makes a pulse of sound
that joins with all
the other pulses
to form a river of music,
and you would be right.
But there are many ways
to face the dark.
One is to hide.
One is to prowl.
One is to bring
the bright music
of your body
and offer it
to the night.
Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?

54 Days

Karen

We watched about thirty minutes of the presidential debate last night before we both went online to read live-streams about it instead of listening to that guy’s deranged voice. Doc chose the New York Times; I chose social media.

 

This was pre-debate but you know I’m going to post the Chinese AI:


 

In all seriousness, I appreciated the Harris strategy to get under his skin, and not just for the rich online fodder. I thought she was fantastic talking about abortion:

I can’t fathom how anyone is undecided in this election but … maybe decide for the candidate who hasn’t announced plans to be a dictator. Also check your voter registration/make sure you’re registered!

Tuesday Project Roundup: Hiking (Climbing) Pants

Karen

Since shorts season is ending, I thought I’d make some hiking pants. But every pattern I was seeing didn’t seem high-waisted enough to be comfortable with my hip pack. Then I remembered the splash that the Leila Makes Topo Pants made–Leila has a huge Instagram following and released her first pattern for a pair of climbing pants last year. The pattern said it was high-waisted to work under a climbing harness. Boom! Pants pattern acquired.

 

The pattern has some nice details, like a double front with knee darts, and the drafting was fine. She’s selling these as unisex, though, so I made the recommended full seat adjustment just by guessing how much my seat would need. The elastic at the ankles seemed like a weird insertion method and the instructions could have been tighter, but overall it wasn’t too amateur of a pattern.

I made these in a technical stretch woven (Eddie Bauer for Joann) and did not size down as the pattern recommended, so they’re baggy. But I don’t mind; I’ll probably grow into them as I keep squatting and I can throw a base layer under these pretty easily.

 

The pockets included in the pattern are unequivocally great, though: two deep front pockets plus as many holster pockets as you want to add (I made two and put velcro on one). I also added a zip pocket into the yoke seam, which was pretty easy to figure out. (You lose your ID in a lake one time and you put a secure zip pocket for ID ONLY on every pair of pants thereafter.)

 

And they’re definitely high-waisted enough to be comfy with my packs, so all in all a successful project. Plus I have some pants if I ever want to try climbing.

Friday Links

Karen

1. Speaking of illustrated mail, how about The Postcards That Picasso Illustrated and Sent to Jean Cocteau, Apollinaire & Gertrude Stein? I love how the messages sound exactly like how friends text: “I don’t see you anymore. Are you dead?”

 

2. I just learned about the GERMAN FORKLIFT CHAMPIONSHIPS?!

 

3. Who knew Edo fish could convey so much? (I’m #3.)

Which Edo fish distressed by current events are you?

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— Dr. Paula R. Curtis (@paularcurtis.bsky.social) Aug 3, 2024 at 11:29 AM

Dilettante Catnip

Karen

I was browsing Pinterest the other night and saw some vintage examples of letter art–decorated envelopes where the address is part of the design. That pulled up some modern examples and then I found The Graceful Envelope contest, which “was created in 1995 by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum, which administered it until delegating responsibility to the Washington Calligraphers Guild in 2001.”

This is literally everything I loved as a teen/want to dabble in again: sending things in the mail, fancy lettering (and a CALLIGRAPHERS GUILD!), cool stamps, and little paintings. You can see the current winners here and past winners here and you’d better believe I looked at them all.

We Tried

Karen

For our last hurrah of summer, I had the idea to take the new pack up to the same trail that nearly killed us and do it again, this time prepared for every eventuality. It started out so well–look at that pack stuffed full of gear!

 

But there is no such thing as lightning gear. We made it to the first lake and then the clouds started coming in fast and the thunder started getting louder. We were above the treeline in a thunderstorm the last time we tried this hike; the trail was about to climb; and we looked at each other and said, “NOPE.”

 

But before the clouds rolled in, the first lake was doing its best Bob Ross impression. (There’s about 10 minutes between the last pic and this one, that’s how fast things changed.)

 

We got off the trail of doom, the weather changed again, and we went over to Mirror Lake to eat our lunch:

 

And then we hit Provo Falls on the way home, even though it was cloudy again. Things are looking a little autumnal up at altitude–that willow is turning and there were one or two maples on the mountainsides going orange.

 

But the water was still pretty warm so we Got In. It was a good adventure.

Long Weekend Links

Karen

Monday is, of course, US Labor Day and I”ll also be gone Tuesday (Doc’s usual day off)  to go have one last adventure of the summer. See you Wednesday!

1. Japanese bathhouse cutaway illustrations? That’s a combo of words that I will immediately click on. Check out Isometric Drawings of Sento, Kissaten and other Japanese Establishments by Honami Enya.

 

2. Herman Melville probably worked as a pinsetter in a bowling alley in Honolulu? This 2019 NY Review article gives the evidence and a lot of the history of bowling. (Archived link to get around their paywall.)

 

3. I can’t stop watching this:

 

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