Genre Cookshop

ONE THOUSAND POSTS

a journey of a thousand blog posts
starts with the click
of one finger...

Many thanks to my brother Bruce for starting me on this journey in September of 2003. He called me up one day and said "I think you need to do a blog." I said "What's a blog?" He sent me a cheap digital camera and talked me through my first post. I never looked back.

The beautiful roses are courtesy of my husband Paul. They are actually meant to be in honor of my birthday, which is also today, but are now doing double-duty as my thousandth post flowers!

Labels: 1000 posts, blogging, flowers

LOFTY
H scraped the sky with a softball at yesterday's district-wide Junior Olympics. Softball throw is the elementary school version of shot put I believe. Last year he won a ribbon, this year he just won open-mouthed admiration as his ball flew higher than most local raptors. If they were giving ribbons for height, he would have won hands-down. Alas, they were going for distance so no prize for H. The softball throw judge did later come up and talk to me about a kid's summer baseball camp though!

Hey, this is post 999! Augh, I can hardly believe it!

Labels: children, sports, spring

FIRST DAY
with the brand-new BB gun!

Labels: children, home, toys

FLOWERING

Crowding my senses
with perfume, color, pollen-
the flowering trees


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This shot was taken yesterday, so Happy May Day! Pretend this post is in a little paper cone with ribbons, tied to your door handle! ;-)

Labels: flowers, haiku, spring

FRUITY
For a brief span of time yesterday our fruit basket held only the clearest brightest colors! No apples with streaky rust-colored skins, or brown spotted bananas. Just these fruits which look almost fake in their primary coloration and shiny skinned perfection. Of course, I had to go grocery shopping and this state of intense Lilly Pulitzer-like coloration didn't last long.

Hey, I am fast approaching my 1,000 post! Instead of making me want to post ever-more frantically, this realization has made me want to slow down and savor the big moment. I really can hardly believe it.

Labels: food, home

PAINTY
I have been really busy getting ready for a one-person show in New York. Today I used so many different brushes (26) that I had to wash them in two separate batches with a tea break in between! It's very tiring and time-consuming. This is why famous and/or rich artists have studio assistants.

I may not have a studio assistant but I do have an awfully cute rubber ducky nail brush!

Labels: home, painting, studio

SUPER STIM
Many autistic people engage in stimming, a repetitive movement or behavior that seems to calm and satisfy them. Henry has always had a rather unusual one...one of his early developmental doctors called it "La Cucaracha" because it looks a little the way one might look when engaged in that dance. One arm flung behind his head ,the other hand brought up in front of his face and either flapping or holding something and shaking it, like this rain stick.

The stimming is not a bad thing we decided early on, despite a lot of debate pro and con. Now, people with autism who can communicate are describing stimming in terms of pleasure and relief. Very occasionally though, Henry's stimming will segue into an intense perseveration, or unbreakable focus, and then he will be crying in anguish as he repeats the same thing over and over again unable to stop. Then we step in and break it up, but fortunately these occasions are rare.

Perhaps blogging and other web activities are a kind of stim? Most of the time blogging is a relief and a pleasure, but there are certainly times when I wish someone would come and tear me away from the computer for my own good!

Labels: autism, children, family

PAINTING IN THE COUNTRY

Glossy horse trots by,
muscles rippling and bunching:
my brush hesitates

Labels: animals, haiku, painting, plein air, spring

BLUEBIRD
I was painting yesterday in the Brandywine River Conservancy. Without realizing it at first, I had "set up shop" just across a dirt road from what turned out to be a Bluebird nest box. I have to admit, the birds were very distracting. I'd be painting away when a flash of vivid blue would catch my eye and I'd just have to look at what Bluebird père was up to. Bluebird mère was less flashily attractive, in fact she looked pretty dull and bedraggled, but her actions were equally interesting as she was engaged in constant defense of her nest. Dozens of small birds (martens?) were making multiple attempts to enter the nesting box, but to no avail. The bluebirds were obviously a united couple in defending their young. It looked pretty exhausting, but I guess that is parenthood for you!

I also have a new appreciation for bird photographers. My Nikon ran out of battery before I'd gotten a good descriptive shot of the birds, and this one was taken with my little purse camera. It was so blurry I had to put on a few art filters. But that blue of the bluebird's back! It is like nothing else on earth.

Labels: animals, birds, painting, plein air

KITCHEN PARTY

vegetables lining up
for their short sharp dance
with the knife

Labels: food, haiku, home