Blog No. 178: Another Mary Oliver Poem, My Sauna Friend Graham Waltz, Crows vs. Ravens

May 18, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Mary Oliver Poem from the book Thirst

I don't think I will ever get tired of Mary Oliver. Here is another of her beautiful poems:

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird--
equal seekers of sweetness.
here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished. The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.
--From Thirst: Poems by Mary Oliver

My Sauna Friend Graham

One thing that makes me feel richest of all is the fact that I talk to everyone and value the daily connections I make just about every day of my life. By being open, I am always running into interesting people with stories to tell. And I realize that much of life is made up of these little, seemingly insignificant encounters we have every day--with the UPS delivery guy, the person serving us our morning coffee, the kid who overheard I needed bug spray and ran and got hers from her mom...

What better place to strike up a conversation than by sweating in a 180 degree (yes you read that right!) sauna at the Penobscot Bay YMCA. That's were I met Graham, who shows up just about every day with energy and a positive attitude, despite the fact that he lost his leg as a result of that rare condition called necrotizing fasciitis, the flesh eating bacteria that gets into your system through a break in your skin and proceeds rapidly, destroying muscle, skin, and fat tissue.

It was a seemingly minor injury that caused Graham to lose his leg. A slight fall in an otherwise very active life caused a rupture in his quadriceps tendon. It required surgery but a simple one. It went smoothly and he was home in just a few days. Three days later he got a high fever as an infection set in. Turns out 97 percent of the people who get this die...But Graham was a fighter.

Graham shows up every day at the Y in Rockport for daily exercise, going between the gym, the pool and the sauna. In his own words: "Forty years of handball and biking are now a memory. Our home in Hope is one level and has a ramp. I do get out on Church Street for exercise weather permitting. Seventy years of life in Chicago and Minneapolis didn’t exactly prepare me for rural Maine. My wife has a beautiful garden. We read, listen to Classical music, and subscribe to Netflix shows. I am a sports junkie. Friends from many cities come to visit. I do realize how many elderly people kind of shut down over time. I’m not one of them!""

I am writing about Graham here because he inspires me every time I see him--he always has a smile on his face, a positive attitude and a will to go on no matter what. It is that indomitable human spirit I celebrate here--thank you Graham for reminding us!

Crows vs. Ravens

This is a crow. Click image to learn more.

This is a raven. Click image to hear a fun story.

Photos clockwise from top left: Common Raven, Ed Oakes/Audubon Photography Awards; American Crow, Brian Kushner; American Crow, Arend Trent/iStock; Common Raven, Andrew Lunt/Audubon Photography Awards

How to Tell the Difference Between a Crow and a Raven

I always wondered about this. Maybe you did too. The Audubon Society, that great nonprofit organization that is dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats has provided us with a guide on how to differentiate these two bird species.

Here are a few tips for starters:

A crow makes a cawing sound--caw caw caw whereas a raven's voice is lower pitched and sounds more like croaking.

A crow's tail feathers are the same length and spread out like a fan whereas a raven's feathers are uneven--the middle feathers are longer than the outer ones.

Ravens travel in pairs while crows are usually seen in large groups.

Ravens kind of hop around on both feet at the same time.

Ravens beaks are larger and more curved.

Painting of the Week

Living Green (in progress) mixed media on canvas 54” x 84”

Charity of the Week:

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.

Blog No. 177: Jimmy Fallon/Nicole Kidman Funny Story, Wall Street Article on Past Lives, Poem by Billy Collins

May 11, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Jimmy Fallon/Nicole Kidman Story

This is a cute story that defintely put a smile on my face. It made me realize once again that in this starstruck society of ours, celebrities are just people like you and me...with real human emotions and vulnerabilities. Both Jimmy Fallon and Nicole Kidman come across as delightful and real...Enjoy!

Nicole Kidman, **(Photo: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)**

**Jimmy Fallon, (Courtesy Getty Images)**

Even the Wall Street Journal is Talking About Past Lives!

I hope by now you are not rolling your eyes at last week's entry about the television series The Ghost Inside My Child and that you have at least kept somewhat of an open mind. So now here goes something that might just clinch it for you—and from the Wall Street Journal no less! Funny how this article entitled The Children Who Remember Their Past Lives just came out on May 2, 2024 (in one of the straightest business publications no less)-—should we chalk that up to coincidence or is it just another example of a synchronicity?…

I am encouraged that these ideas and discussions are becoming more mainstream….

P.S. After my husband Gert Mathiesen died, I visited a medium. Gert came through loud and clear and said that he was happy I believed in the idea that consciousness survived death. He said he hadn't believed that himself before but that he was happy that I did because it turns out I was right..."

Poem by Billy Collins

The Lanyard
BY BILLY COLLINS

The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly—
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift—not the worn truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

“The Lanyard” from The Trouble With Poetry: and Other Poems by Billy Collins, copyright © 2005 by Billy Collins. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

Painting of the Week

Tree of Life Series (Purple and Blue) 60” x 22” mixed media on paper

Charity of the Week:

Blog No. 176: The Ghost Inside My Child, Michael Singer Quotes, Summer Drinks

May 4, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

The Ghost Inside My Child

Those who know me know that I am fascinated by paranormal phenomena and I am particularly interested in what happens after one dies. This is not the first time I have written about children who claim to remember being a previous person in a past life but here are some new stories to me taken from a telelvision series called The Ghost Inside My Child. There are two seasons of the series available on Amazon, and though the name choice seems to trivialize the stories, they can be hard to dispute...

Quotes from Michael Singer

This is the book of Singer’s I found most useful, published in 2022.

I can't always practice what Michael Singer has to say about life--It seems easy but it most certainly is not--but he is the place I go to when I am feeling like I need to gather myself and be reminded of what is important in life...

In researching special quotes from Singer's books for this blog entry, I came across this from Deepak Chopra: "In the book The Untethered Soul, Michael Singer takes you step-by-step through the process of Gyana, the yoga of the intellect, to the Source. Moreover, he does it with elegant simplicity. Read this book carefully, and you will get more than a glimpse of eternity." I guess I am in good company admiring him.

Here are some quotes from Singer's books that have helped me understand myself in a deeper way and a reminder of the direction I need to steer myself towards.

"The mind is the place where the heart goes to hide.''

''If you spend your time hoping that it doesn’t rain tomorrow, you are wasting your time. Your thoughts don’t change the rain. You will someday come to see that there is no use for that incessant internal chatter, and there is no reason to constantly attempt to figure everything out. Eventually you will see that the real cause of problems is not life itself. It’s the commotion the mind makes about life that really causes problems.''

''To be aware that you are watching the [mental] voice talk is to stand on the threshold of a fantastic inner journey. If used properly, the same mental voice that has been a source of worry, distraction, and general neurosis can become the launching ground for true spiritual awakening.''

'Will you dare to do this experiment?... Just try to get to know what you live with inside by externalizing the voice [in your head]. Give it a body and put it out there in the world just like everybody else.Let it be a person who says on the outside exactly what the voice of your mind says inside. Now make that person your best friend. After all, how many friends do you spend all of your time with and pay absolute attention to every word they say? How would you feel if someone outside really started talking to you the way your inner voice does? How would you relate to a person who opened their mouth to say everything your mental voice says? After a very short period of time, you would tell them to leave and never come back.''

'What it means to live life is to experience the moment that is passing through you, and then experience the next moment, and then the next.''

''Two kinds of experiences can occur that block the heart. You are either trying to push energies away because they bother you, or you are trying to keep energies close because you like them.In both cases, you are not letting them pass, and you are wasting precious energy by blocking the flow through resisting and clinging.The alternative is to enjoy life instead of clinging to it or pushing it away. If you can live like that, each moment will change you. If you are willing to experience the gift of life instead of fighting with it, you will be moved to the depth of your being. When you reach this state, you will begin to see the secrets of the heart.''

Quotes courtesy of https://bestbookquotes.blogspot.com/search?q=michael+singer

Not Quite Summer Drinks

Blood Orange and Kombucha Mule Recipe courtesy of Marianne Williams, Real Simple. Photo courtesy of Stephen Devries

Recipe Courtesy of Liz Mervosh and Real Simple, Photo coutesy of Victor Protasio

I think I am probably pushing it a bit up here in Maine but isn't it about time to pull out the refreshing summer drink recipes...

Here are a few that seem particularly interesting to me:

APEROL SPRITZ
Yield: 1 drink Ice, for serving 3ounces dry Prosecco 2ounces Aperol 1ounce unflavored sparkling water or club soda Orange slice, for serving

BLOOD ORANGE AND KOMBUCHA MULE
(Courtesy Marianne Moore, Real Simple

Ingredients 1 ½ cups ginger beer 1 cup ginger kombucha 1 cup fresh blood orange juice, plus slices for serving (from 4 blood oranges) ¾ cup (6 oz.) vodka ½ cup fresh lime juice (from 4 limes), plus wedges for serving

Directions

Fill 4 copper mule mugs with ice. Add 6 tablespoons ginger beer, ¼ cup ginger kombucha, ¼ cup blood orange juice, 3 tablespoons vodka, and 2 tablespoons lime juice to each mug; stir to combine. Garnish with blood orange slices and lime wedges.)

CUCUMBER SPRITZER

Ingredients 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup mint leaves 2 medium English cucumbers, coarsely chopped, plus slices for garnish 1/3 cup fresh lime juice (from 5 limes) 3 cups chilled club soda, plus more for topping off 8 oz. (1 cup) gin (optional)

Directions
Bring sugar, mint, and 1/2 cup water to a gentle simmer in a medium saucepan over medium, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Simmer, undisturbed, for 2 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Process chopped cucumbers, lime juice, and cooled mint syrup in a blender until mostly smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium pitcher, pressing gently to squeeze out juice (do not push solids through strainer). Discard solids. Stir in club soda and (if desired) gin. Serve over ice topped off with more club soda and garnished with cucumber slices and mint.

Last Minute Products for Mother's Day

Charity of the Week:

Blog No. 175: What Makes a Good Life, Ben and Jerry's Oreo Bar Graph, Traditional Women's Dress

April 26, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

What Makes a Good Life?

Robert Waldinger is the fourth director of the longest longitudinal study on happiness. The comprehensive Harvard Study of Adult Development began in 1930 and is ongoing--it has lasted over 85 years, following 724 men (60 of them are still alive today) and the research continues on their children as well).

Waldinger's Ted Talk spells out the results and what they have found might surprise you. Contrary to what most people might think in America, the secret to a happy life has nothing to do with money or fame.

The cliff notes on this talk is that good close relationships are what makes for a good long life. Mark Twain just about sums it up: “There isn't time, so brief is life, for bickerings, apologies, heartburnings, callings to account. There is only time for loving, and but an instant, so to speak, for that.”

Ben and Jerry's Oreo Bar Graph

How to illustrate concepts where the numbers are just so big that it is hard to picture? How to combat all the fake news out there?

What better way than than through easy to read, straightforward bar graphs that show comparisons throughout history of what is really going on with our budget, gdp, unemployment, immigration, etc. It is a clear way to separate truth from propaganda--looking at cold hard numbers in a very easy digestible way...What policies work and under what administrations have we made the most progress?

Ben and Jerry were on to something when they created this U.S. Budget Oreo Chart, which is simplified here in cartoon form. Although it is ten years old, I think the gist of it is still very valid.

I just wish more of the news was conveyed in this way...

Traditional Dress

This short video This is Not Our Traditional Dress has been making the rounds on social media. Thought it was important to repeat here as a reminder that we have backpedaled and need to fight to combat that. Women Unite! We have the Power! How to stop this horrific trend?

Painting of the Week

Charity of the Week:

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. 174: Wayne Dyer's Butterfly Story, Longevity Soup Recipe, Sweet Animal Story

April 20, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Wayne Dyer's Butterfly Story

Wayne Dyer, who I have always greatly admired, calls this the signature story of his lifetime in connecting with spirit. It's the tale of his encounter with a monarch butterfly and it literally blew his mind...I stumbled on it this morning while roaming around youtube and it was a great story to wake up to. Hope you enjoy it too.

Longevity Soup

I don't know if you do but I've decided I do want to live to be 100. So when I came across this soup, I thought I might give it a try...There are many versions of it so feel free to improvise. This particular recipe is courtesy of Dan Buettner of Blue Zones fame and Toni Scaglione.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of black beans
1 cup of kidney beans
1 cup of navy/white beans
1 cup sweet corn
7 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped white or yellow onion
3 medium peeled and chopped carrots
4 medium chopped celery stalks
1 cup chopped fennel
2 slided leeks
5 sliced mushrooms
4/5 chopped cloves garlic
8 medium tomatoes (or 1 can crushed)
1/2 cup italian flat parsley leaves
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
6/8 cups vegetable broth/water
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. tumeric
or any other italian seasonings
top with cilanto or avocado

DIRECTIONS
(Soak beans overnight if using dry and then rinse).
Sauté garlic and onion in olive oil. Add celery and carrots and cook for approx. 5 more minutes. Add fennel, leeks, tomatoes and any other vegetables you have and the beans.
Add 6-8 cups stock/water and add herbs and salt.
Bring to boil, then simmer for 40 minutes to an hour.

Sweet Animal Story

I grew up with dogs and know the meaning of love one can have for an animal. And that love definitely goes both ways.

This nine minute video captures that love and tells the sweet story of a dog, its owner and the pandemic...

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”
--Anatole France

“I don't believe in 'ownership' of a sentient life - I think we undertake volitional guardianship and that this bringing forth can be one of the most rewarding and reciprocally loving relationships that a human being can ever experience.” ― Noel Fitzpatrick, Listening to the Animals: Becoming the Supervet

"You can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant

Painting of the Week

Charity of the Week:

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. 173: Temple Grandin's Brain, Poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, Apples Don't Fall Mini-Series

April 13, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Temple Grandin's Brain

I have long been fascinated by minds that are not neurotypical and have read a lot about autism, savants, and adhd to name a few. For me, it is the "quirky" people I am most interested in because they stretch the imagination of what the human mind can do and is capable of.

I have written about Temple Grandin before—she is helped us so much to understand how the autistic mind works. Her mother accepted her where she was and nurtured her from early childhood on. Grandin is able to communicate from the inside out what it is like to be her and has written and lectured extensively about it. Here is an article she wrote for the National Library of Medicine that I found particularly useful in understanding her neurodivergent brain and that of other people on the autism spectrum, and the minds of animals as well.

Edna St. Vincent Millay Poem

SPRING
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

Apples Never Fall Peacock Series

This is the trashiest thing I ever put on my blog but I figure trashy is okay once and a while, especcially on a very stormy day on the coast of Maine when the waves are spraying up and the ocean is furious and the skies are grey. I binge watched this series Apples Don't Fall and I have to say it is a good mystery, kept me entertained and had me guessing until the end. You might enjoy binge watching it too on a rainy gray cold day...

Painting of the Week

This large painting hangs in an inn in Round Top, Texas.

Charity of the Week:

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. 172: Wanda Sykes: A Good Laugh, 3-D Art, e.e. cummings poem

April 6, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Wanda Sykes: Very Funny!

If this doesn't get you to laugh out loud, nothing will!

Wanda Sykes is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. This bit she did is all too familiar--haven't we all done this one time or another.

True laughter, from deep in the belly, is such good medicine and we don't do it enough...God knows we all certainly need it these days!

And while we are still laughing, let's go back to better times. Here is Wanda Sykes performing at the White House Correspondent's Dinner in 2009. And Barak Obama himself performing at the same dinner in the last year of his presidency. And one more: the best of Trevor Noah.

Road_art1

The artist known as Road_art1 instagram.com/road_art1/ is a creator of these great optical illusions with chalk. Have a look at some of his amazing creations that can fool just about anybody or anything….

Poem by e.e.cummings

O sweet spontaneous

O sweet spontaneous
earth how often have
the
doting

fingers of
prurient philosophers pinched
and
poked

thee
has the naughty thumb
of science prodded
thy

beauty .
how
often have religions taken
thee upon their scraggy knees
squeezing and
buffeting thee that thou mightest conceive
gods
(but
true

to the incomparable
couch of death thy
rhythmic
lover

thou answerest

them only with

spring)

Painting of the Week

Just finished this painting in my studio in Maine

Charity of the Week:

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. 171: John O'Donohue Poem, The Last Repair Shop, Chicken Marbella

March 30, 2024

Upcoming Show this coming weekend April 5 in Houston!

If you have friends in Houston who you think will enjoy my art, please forward this invitation to them.

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

John O'Donohue

Poem for a New Beginning
by John O'Donohue

In out of the way places of the heart
Where your thoughts never think to wander
This beginning has been quietly forming
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire
Feeling the emptiness grow inside you
Noticing how you willed yourself on
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the grey promises that sameness whispered
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

~john o donohue~

Documentary: The Last Repair Shop

In a world where we are more and more dependent on screens and technology, where hardly anyone does anything with their hands anymore, the 2024 winner of the Oscar for Documentary Short celebrates the beauty of music and the whole down to earth, hands-on world around it. This beautiful short film, The Last Repair Shop is about a workshop in Los Angeles that repairs musical instruments and provides them free of charge to all LA public school kids. (Los Angeles is one of the last cities in the United States to provide this service to all kids who want to play an instrument of their choosing.) More than that, the film tells the moving tales of the people who work in this repair shop, and the touching stories of the student recipients who fall in love with their instruments.

There is beauty in repairing something that is broken and making it whole again. And you can see the transformative power of music and how playing a musical instrument has the ability to heal people and elevate their souls.

Chicken Marbella Recipe

This is defintely a lot of people's go to recipe from the famous Silver Palate Cookbook, a staple in many people's kitchens...It is delicious and not that complicated to make.

CHICKEN MARBELLA
6 to 8 servings

½ cup olive oil
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 cup pitted prunes
½ cup pitted Spanish green olives
½ cup capers, with a bit of juice
6 bay leaves
1 head of garlic, peeled and puréed
½ cup fresh oregano, chopped (or ¼ cup dried)
2 teaspoons of salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 chickens, 3½ to 4 pounds each, quartered
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

* Step 1
 In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers and juice, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight.
* Step 2
 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a shallow roasting pan; spoon the marinade over it evenly. Pour in the wine and sprinkle the chicken with the brown sugar.
* Step 3
 Bake until the thigh pieces yield clear yellow juice when pricked with a fork, 50 to 60 minutes, basting two or three times with the pan juices once the chicken begins to brown. (When basting, do not brush off the sugar. If the chicken browns too quickly, cover lightly with foil.)
* Step 4
 Transfer the chicken pieces to a warm serving platter and top with the prunes, olives and capers; keep warm. Place the roasting pan over medium heat and bring the pan juices to a boil. Reduce to about ½ cup. Strain into a heatproof bowl, add the parsley and pour over the chicken.

Painting of the Week

Charity of the Week:

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. 170: Jon Batiste, Bernard Langlais, Pro-Choice Women Candidates

March 24, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Jon Batiste

Jon Batiste with his wife Suleika Jaouad

Jon Batiste is a man that beats to his own drum, literally. Born from modest circumstances into a family of renowned musicians in Louisiana, (his Dad was a bassist, and his mom insisted on classical piano lessons for him and his sister), Batiste, who plays multiple instruments, defies any categorization. In his own words, "I don't even think genre exists. Self-curation and the free exchange of information and content creates a lack of genre adherence. That kind of diversity and access changes listening habits and changes the way people perceive music."

He's an ambitious guy. With an undergraduate and master's degree from Juiliard, it was clear right away that he was going to forge his own path. Defying convention, Batiste played in subways, at times on his cartoon-like harmonium, and was more interested in integrating the community into his music rather than playing in more conventional settings.

All this is made clear in American Symphony, an Academy Award nominated documentary by Matthew Heineman (produced by Michelle and Barak Obama as part of their Higher Ground film series), available on Netflix. The film covers the making of Batiste's first full length symphony involving over 200 sounds and musicians, a patchwork of American diversity and musical traditions which culminated in a one night production at Carnegie Hall in 2022.

As fate would have it, many things happened in the life of Jon Batiste that year of 2022. Aside from winning five grammys including Album of the Year. He married his wife Suleika just as she suffered from a reoccurence of cancer. And he indeed did perform his symphony at Carnegie Hall, complete with a brief power outage in the middle of it! All this is beautifully illustrated in Matthew Heineman's film, well worth seeing. It is a musical journey as well as a touching love story and a tribute to a man who believes music has the magnificent power to bring us Americans together as a nation to save our democracy...

Bernard Langlais

Bernard Langlais, Courtesy *Photographer David Hiser, and the Georges River Land Trust, Rockland, Maine*

So many good artists in the world and many of them were born and/or live(d) in Maine! Meet Bernard Langlais (1921-1977), although you will have to know him through his art since he is no longer alive. I have seen his work before but recently came upon it again on the top floor of the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine. Langlais makes these really cool raw wood sculptures. He began as a painter in oils but soon became fascinated with sculpture and wood as he was renovating an old barn in Cushing, Maine, after getting fed up more or less with the New York City art world. He soon changed to working in that medium and called his process "painting with wood." Langlais's subject matter is often images from the animal kingdom although he has done figurative sculptures as well.

Children’s Book, part of the Maine Art Series for Young Readers

Pro-Choice Women Candidates

I don't usually like to get too political in this blog but some things are just too important to ignore. This is probably the most crucial year in the history of the United States--will we remain a democracy or will we succumb to dictatorship and autocracy? This is no election to sit out and I encourage all of us, myself included, to get involved in any way or we can.

Let's start with these women, all of them running for the house of representatives, all actively pro-choice and fighting for our right to control our own bodies.

Painting of the Week

Charity of the Week:

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. 169: Wim Hof, The Traveling Wilburys, Animal Stories

March 15, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Wim Hof: The Iceman

My friend Eddie has been going on about Wim Hof for the past month or two and although I have been listening, I have to admit I took a little of what he said with a grain of salt. It is not that I didn't believe him—he is usually a pretty reliable source but this story sounded totally crazy to me: a Dutch guy climbing Mt. Everest in shorts, running a 1/2 marathon in bare feet on ice and snow, immersing himself in an ice bath for shockingly long periods of time, at the same time practicing a special breathing method whose goal is to increase the amount of oxygen in your body by controlling your breath in specific ways. Hof's Method claims that we can control from within our own autonomous systems and this possibility has enormous repercussions for health and wellness, while skirting big pharma, whose drugs, according to NIH: National Library of Medicine are the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer in our country!

Well, I just watched this Mulligan Brothers documentary on Hof and I have to admit I think there might be more to do this than what I thought.

The crux of Hof's beliefs are based on the idea that exposure to cold and cold water immersion drives a significant percent increase of norepinephrine and adrenaline, triggering the sympathetic nervous system while not raising the release of the stress hormone cortisol. Combining that with meditation and the Wim Hof Method of breath-work, Hof claims he can affect our nervous, immune, endocrine and the cardiovascular systems in ways thought impossible before. Hof has been studied by science, described in an interesting article I came across in the Smithsonian Magazine of all places, worth the read.

Wim Hof is a controversial figure and not everyone is on board with his methods. It would be remiss of me if I didn't cite this article from Scott Carney, a journalist who formerly touted Wim Hof and his message, only to doubt and question his previous admiration for the man and his methods after further investigating deaths associated with practicing the Wim Hof Method. One very important cautionary note, which needs to be heard loud and clear, according to Carney, is not to mix the hyperventilating breathing with water, even in the shower.

The Traveling Wilburys

The music of The Traveling Wilburys, the winning combination of George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Jeff Lynne, never gets old. They came together rather haphazardly beginning in 1988 and not a lot of planning was involved ahead of time. They just decided to gather in a house and proceeded to go to work.

Here is a selection of their music which I keep enjoying over the years…I am sure our daughter Morgan has these songs imprinted on her brain--we listened to these songs over and over again in our studio when she was growing up. Sad to know that only two of them are still alive today but what a great legacy to leave with us.

Handle With Care

Heading for the Light

Last Night

Tweeter and the Monkey Man

Congratulations

Dirty World

And for those who want to delve deeper, here is an interesting documentary on the group.

Animal Stories

And now, here are a few animal stories that made me smile and brought me joy, just in case you still hold the false belief that humans are the only ones in the animal kingdom with intelligence and deep feelings:

Animals who never forgot their human friends.

A raven named Walt…

Darling the Crow

Paintings of the Week

B&W Trees I, II, III mixed media on paper 90” x 22” each

Charity of the Week:

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. 168: Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, Miso Black Cod Recipe, Full Grown Furniture

March 5, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

Watch the full length documentary by clicking above.

Sounds boring--one and a half hours of footage inside a half-lit Estonian smoke sauna listening to women talking while they partake in this ancient tradition of communing and cleansing. Yet this film is anything but boring!

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood is a multi-award winning documentary by Anna Hints that pretty much sums up the experience of womanhood in the most poetic of ways. As viewers, we bear witness as the women share intimacies, speaking about their bodies and their self image, their relationships, and their experiences of growing up in a male oriented, patriarchal society.

Traditionally the Estonian smoke sauna is a sacred, spiritual place that dates back to pre-biblical times--where women give birth, wash the dead, smoke meat and heal. It continues to this day and UNESCO has in fact included the Võrumaa smoke sauna on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List.

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood is available on Apple TV and on Amazon. Upon receiving an award from the Sundance Film Festival, Anna Hint said "In Estonia we don't speak too much but we do sing. Here is a song for you."

Miso Black Cod Recipe

Courtesy Eat With Carmen https://www.instagram.com/eatwithcarmen_/

INGREDIENTS

4 pieces of black cod fillets (16 ounces)
¼ cup red miso paste (you can use white miso)
¼ cup sake
¼ cup mirin
¼ cup white sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

*In a small saucepan, on medium heat, heat your sake, mirin, red miso paste, and white sugar.
*Bring to a slight boil and remove from heat after 10 minutes or until your sugar has dissolved. The sauce should be thick.
*Preheat the broiler. Make sure the oven rack is 6 inches away from the broiler.
*Line your baking sheet with foil for easy clean up.
*Place fish onto the tray. Use paper towels to dry the fish.
*Pour half of the sauce on the fish. Broil fish for 3 minutes.
*After 3 minutes, remove the tray and pour the remaining sauce on the fish.
*Put it back under the broiler. Broil for another 8-10 minutes. The fish should be beautifully caramelized.

How To Grow a Chair

Gavin Munro had a lot of time to think as a kid as he lay in and out of a hospital bed, over a period of eight years, to straighten a crooked spine. He had a perfect view from his bed to stare at the forest and the trees. If ever there was a story about making lemonade after being dealt lemons, this is the one.

Today, in Derbyshire, England, Gavin Munro is the proud founder and owner of a business called Full Grown, which is revolutionizing the way we think of manufacturing furniture and collaborating with nature. He is growing trees to make chairs, tables and lamps, coaxing them into workable shapes, forming them into one solid piece, a zen 3-D printing process so to speak. His process, combining art, design and horticulture, uses the least possible intervention with nature in order to get the things we want.

Hear Munro talk about his project here in a Ted Talk.

Photo of the Week

View from my window. Dream come true. Pinching myself.

Charity of the Week:

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. 167: Nick Cave, Mary Oliver Poem, What I Listened to on My Ride to Maine

March 2, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Nick Cave

When I am looking for a good podcast, one of the places I head to is On Being by Krista Tippett. Her recent conversation with Nick Cave was particularly interesting and moving to me, covering a multitude of issues including love, death, grief, and religion--a full gamut of topics that plague the human condition.

Nick Cave is an Australian musician, writer and filmmaker whose intense life has been full of ups and downs including devastating loss. His emotional opennesss and vulnerability has had a healing effect on many. His new book entitled Faith Hope and Carnage documents that emotional journey. In addition, he writes a blog entitled The Red Hand Files where readers ask him questions and he attempts to answer them. Amanda Petrusich conducted a recent interview with him in the New Yorker and there is a full length documentary entitled This Much I Know To Be True about Cave's life on youtube should you want to learn more. His creative rich life is definitely worth examination.Here are a few of his songs:

Into My Arms

Red Right Hand

Waiting For You

Mary Oliver Poem

Drifting by Mary Oliver

I was enjoying everything: the rain, the path
 wherever it was taking me, the earth roots
 beginning to stir.
 I didn’t intend to start thinking about God,
 it just happened.
 How God, or the gods, are invisible,
 quite understandable.
 But holiness is visible, entirely.
 It’s wonderful to walk along like that,
 thought not the usual intention to reach an answer
 but merely drifting.
 Like clouds that only seem weightless
 but of course are not.
 Are really important.
 I mean, terribly important.
 Not decoration by any means. By next week the violets will be blooming.
 Anyway, this was my delicious walk in the rain.
 What was it actually about?

Think about what it is that music is trying to say.
 It was something like that.

A Few Songs I Listened To On My Ride to Maine

I am back in my favorite spot. These are a few of the songs I listened to on the six hour ride up:

Clay Pigeons sung by Michael Cera, written by Blaze Foley

Song for a Winter's Night written and sung by Gordon Lightfoot

Whistle Stop sung and written by Jim Sullivan

Hero by Family of the Year

Bluebird of Happiness by Mojave 3

Kiko and the Lavender Moon by Los Lobos>

Shotgun Never Aimed by Uniontown

Beware of Darkness by George Harrison sung by Stanley and Astrid Samuelsen

Texas Hold Em by Beyoncé

Painting of the Week

Spring is Coming mixed media on canvas 54” x 32” $7500

Charity of the Week:

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. 166: National Dance Institute's Dream Project, Poem by Aurora Levins Morales, Teriyaki Chicken Cups Recipe

February 23, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

National Dance Institute's Dream Project

Today I attended a performance of National Dance Institute's Dream Project, an inclusive dance program within NDI that provides children with disabilities the opportunity to perform.

In this unique program, children with disabilities and a group of age-matched, neuro-typical peers dance in partnership, with the goals of maximizing participation and challenging every dancer to achieve their best through teamwork, creativity, empathy, and discovery.

DREAM stands for Dancers Realize Excellence Through Arts and Movement and this is the 10th year of its existence. NDI believes that dancing enriches the soul and brings joy and expression into every person's life…and that every single child in a room has different levels of ability that should be recognized and celebrated. The Dream Project is living proof of that. To say it has made a tremendous difference in the lives of so many children and their families is an understatement. One has only to look at the faces of the participants to see the joy it brings to them, their families and to any audience who sees them.

Poem by Aurora Levins Morales

Aurora Levins Morales is a Puerto Rican writer and poet. She takes part in many social justice movements with an emphasis on Latina and Third World feminism.

Summons
by Aurora Levins Morales

Last night I dreamed
ten thousand grandmothers
from the 12 hundred corners of the earth
walked out into the gap
one breath deep
between the bullet and the flesh
between the bomb and the family.
They told me we cannot wait for
governments.
There are no peacekeepers boarding planes.
There are no leaders who dare to say
every life is precious, so it will have to be us.
They said we will cup our hands around each
heart.
We will sing the earth's song, the song of
water,
a song so beautiful that vengeance will turn
to weeping.
The mourners will embrace, and grief replace
every impulse toward harm.
Ten thousand is not enough, they said,
so, we have sent this dream, like a flock of
doves
into the sleep of the world. Wake up. Put on
your shoes.
You who are reading this, I am bringing
bandages
and a bag of scented guavas from my trees. I
think
I remember the tune. Meet me at the corner.
Let's go.

Teriyaki Chicken Cups

TERIYAKI CHICKEN CUPS
Courtesy of kalejunkie on TikTok
Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
3 sheets nori cut into 12 inch squares
1 lb. chicken without skin cut into small pieces
You can substitue with salmon or shrimp
1 tbsp. olive/avocado/or sesame oil
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
3 tbsp. mayo

SAUCE
2 tbsp. mayo
1-2 tsp. sriracha
think with water if needed

Garnish with scallions and toasted sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cook rice and set aside (could be sushi rice or any rice will do).
Cut chicken into small pieces and toss with oil, mayo and teriyaki sauce and set aside.
Cut nori in 12 inch squares and in a muffin tin, place nori and press down 1-2 tbsp. rice into it.
Add 2 tbsp. chicken mixture.
Bake for 15-16 minutes, then broil for 2 minutes to get top a little browned.
Make spicy sauce and spoon a little onto each
Top with green onion and sesame seeds.
Best to eat immediately after cooking…

Quote of the Week

Painting of the Week

Private Collecition, New York, NY, Purple Tulip, mixed media linocut

Charity of the Week:

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. 165: NYC Ballet Copland, Queer Eye: Clarinet Queen of New Orleans, Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark

February 17, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

NYC Ballet Copland

I went to the New York City Ballet last week based on some photos I saw of the costumes--luscious colors, pure clean set, beautiful figures seeming to fly through the air. The program was Copland, a full ballet choreographed by Justin Peck, dancer, director and resident choreographer for the NYC Ballet. It was inspired by and set to compositions by the wonderful music of Brooklyn-born, American composer Aaron Copland and includes vibrantly colored sets by artist Jeffrey Gibson.

Peck knows the the dance world from all angles, affiliated with the NYC Ballet since 2006 as a dancer for the company and choreographing his first ballet in 2008. Alastair Macaulay, the chief dance critic at The New York Times, described Peck in an article as "the third important choreographer to have emerged in classical ballet this century."

Those of us lucky to live in New York City and vicinity have one more chance to see Copland this season, on Wednesday February 17th at 7:30pm at Lincoln Center. Words that come to mind are exhilarating, fresh, and joyful. An antidote to our world right now and a cold winter's night...

Below are a few of Copland's most famous compositions that Peck drew on for this ballet:

Fanfare for the Common Man

Simple Gifts

from Rodeo

from Billy the Kid

Ballet 422 is a documentary of a behind the scenes look at Justin Peck and the New York City Ballet in action. Available on tubi, amazon, etc.

Clarinet Queen of New Orleans

Queer Eye is one of those television shows on Netflix that just expounds good, in a world that is intent on spreading the bad. And lucky us, a new season is out of the Fabulous Five for our enjoyment and inspiration.

One of the new episodes in Season 8 features the legendary street musician Doreen Ketchens, official Queen of the Clarinet from New Orleans. You just have to listen to her play to realize she is the real thing, rivalling the best of the best of the jazz musicians of our time. When home in New Orleans, Doreen can often be found on Royal Street performing for tourists and other French Quarter strollers but she is also an international attraction at festivals and concerts throughout the world and has performed for four United States presidents. She is also one of the first female bandleaders in New Orleans, and also a musical educator to boot. No wonder the city of New Orleans has celebrated her with a honorary degree.

Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark

The town of Gilleleje, the town most known for standing up to the Nazis

**Henny Sinding Sundø was behind the rescue of over 300 Jews.**

The Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in downtown Manhattan has a current exhibition (October 2023-ongoing) entitled Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark. The show is geared to young people and makes use of state of the art technology: talking holograms and creative storytelling that bring this important chapter in history home to viewers of all ages. We get to know enactments of children affected by the German occupation, their personal experiences and how they survived during that time.

In this day and age where anti-semitism is on the rise all over the world, I think this is an important show that illustrates how, despite enormous risk, neighbors mobilized to create one of the most effective—and exceptional—examples of mass resistance and escape in modern history. It is the curators' hope to help young people make connections to their own lives and reflect on the dangers of prejudice.

Click here to listen to some real accounts of survivors during that time.

Quote of the Week

Paintings of the Week

Charity of the Week:

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. 164: Sandra Mujinga, Caroline Myss: Sacred Contracts, Fast Car :Tracy Chapman/Luke Combs

February 9, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Artist Sandra Majinga

Multidisciplinary artist/musician Sandra Mujinga could be called a citizen of the world. She was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo but grew up in Norway from the age of 2 (why am I not surprised—those Scandinavians!) and also moved for a few years to Kenya as a teenager. Her mom was a fashion designer and was intent on exposing her to all different kinds of culture.

Mujinga's art was a standout at a recent visit to the magnificent Guggenheim Museum (the building never disappoints) as part of a show entitled Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility. Mujinga's installation piece consisted of tall, thin, towering figures draped in fabric, bathed in lime green light, making for a mysterious "afrofuturist" alien vibe while at the same time mirroring the suits of medieval bee keepers.

Mujinga's Louisianna channel interview reveals a very thoughtful and engaged artist—well worth the listen…

Caroline Myss Sacred Contracts

I have come across Caroline Myss's name before but couldn't remember in what context. I am so glad I found her again, this time on an interview with Oprah Winfrey from her program Super Soul Sundays. Myss's book, Sacred Contracts is not new, but her message is still relevant and maybe a game changer for some of us in search of our purpose in life…

According to Myss, so many of us have no idea why we are here on this earth and what our purpose might be. As a result, anxiety, depression and fatigue run rampant, symptoms of a general malaise among our population.

Myss has developed an insightful and ingenious process for deciphering your own Sacred Contract—or higher purpose—using a new theory of archetypes that builds on the works of Jung, Plato, and many other contemporary thinkers. All of this is explained in detail in this interview, and it is one of the best examples of a practical and useful self-help guide I have come across...

Fast Car: Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs

No need to introduce this more--you have probably heard about it already--Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs knocked it out of the park with their Fast Car duet on last week's Grammy Awards--one of the all time great songs of our time. What a wonderful sight to see their pleasure at performing together and the joy it brought their audience.

Combs is a star in the country music world: 2x CMA Entertainer of the Year, multi-platinum, award-winning artist from Asheville, NC.

Tracy Chapman often avoids the spotlight and has not emerged often in reccent years. That is why her Grammy appearance made even more of a sensation.

For the story behind the song, click here.

Painting of the Week

I often put quotes underneath my paintings, to serve as subliminal messages…This one is a Rumi quote: Put your thoughts to sleep, do not let them cast a shadow over the moon of your heart. Let go of thinking. .35” x 111” mixed media on canvas.

Charity of the Week:

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. 163: Two Dogs: Poundcake and Milkshake, Heather Mader Wild Story, Cat Stevens

February 3, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Two Dogs:
Poundcake and Milkshake

Here is a sweet story about a beautiful rescue dog named Poundcake, who happens to also be deaf. Poundcake was finally adopted by a nice loving couple who gave her the proper attention she needed after living in a shelter for quite a while. The new owners even learned sign language and taught it to her so they were able to communicate with her that way. But there was something missing...And then along came Milkshake...

Heather Meder Wild Story

At the risk of being called crazy, I share with you here a story that defies logic yet is so intriguing that I thought I would share it with you in any case. Whether you believe something like this is possible or not, whether you take it as pure fiction or in the realm of possibility, it is a good story nonetheless as heard on the Jeff Mara youtube channel, a podcast that explores paranormal phenomena.

Meet Heather Meder, an artist/painter in her own right, who claims to have encountered and lived with a real life true extra-terrestrial alien. Sounds unbelievable. As she herself states, she is just a normal person who never thought anything like this could happen to her. If you stick to it, you might find this interview utterly fascinating as I did. Judge for yourself while watching the video...

Cat Stevens

Cat Stevens was such an important part of my teenage years and coming of age. His songs evoke so many memories and a friend just reminded me that I even went to see him in concert at the Westchester County Center when I was in middle school. She reminded me that we baked him some banana bread and left it on the stage for him (no recollection).

Born Steven Demetre Georgiou in London, England to a Greek Cypriot father and Swedish mom, and whether you call him Cat Stevens, Yusuf Islam, simply Yusuf or his original stage name Steve Adams, the man has had a complicated history and illustrious life as seen through this video. One thing remains consistent—-his ability to play amazing music and write compelling songs that have stood up throughout the years…

Here are a few of my favorites:
How Can I Tell you

If I Laugh

Father and Son

Morning has Broken

The Wind

RubyLove

Photo of the Week

This painting found a good home with some nice people in the new Nordhavn waterfront section of Copenhagen, formerly an industrial area, now converted into a whole new neighborhood with apartment buildings and shops and sustainable innovative Danish architeture.

Charity of the Week:

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. 162: Inge Schuster Art, Jenny Cockell's Past Life, Rumi Poem

January 26, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Inge Schuster
Art

Came across these digitally manipulated compositions by artist/photographer Inge Schuster on instagram (@inge.schuster), full of luscious color and stark architectural structures, combining them in an innovative and beautiful way. The creative and innovative photo compositions, sometimes coined as "urban minimalism" immediately called out to me for their zen-like, simple, poetic quality. "With a keen eye for detail, a lot of time and care is put into editing the images to achieve a unique end result. She often combines elements from different photographs."

For more of her stunning and varied works, follow her on instagram: @inge.schuster

Jenny Cockell's Past Life

The story of Jenny Cockell/Mary Sutton is perhaps the most remarkable story I have read on the subject of reincarnation, shared with me by a good friend in Maine.

Cockell claims to have remembered many of her past lives--the story in this video from the Phil Donahue Show details one of those lives which preoccupied her deeply throughout her current life. In that past life which she had definitive memories of, she died at a young age, leaving her eight children to fend for themselves. She worried about them incessantly in her current life and set out to see if she could figure out what happened to them. She managed to succeed and twenty years later, ended up finding her (now adult) children who were still alive and who were able to corroborate her story.

Sounds too crazy to believe...as fantastic as it seems, you will have a hard time disproving it. It will all make (more) sense after watching this incredible video.

If you have further interest, you might want to take a look at her books Yesterday's Children and Across Time and Death by Jenny Cockell and read another one that started me on my journey: Many Lives, Many Masters, written by psychiatrist Dr. Barry Weiss of Mt. Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach, Florida, which opened the possibility of reincarnation for me. I have been down that rabbit hole, and many other related ones, ever since.

Jalaluddin Rumi Poem

THE GUEST HOUSE
by Jalaluddin 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’re 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 whoever comes,
 because each has been sent
 as a guide from beyond.

Translated by Coleman Barks

Photo of the Week

FREE POSTERS! Going to visit this painting today at the home of Architect Kim Herforth Nielsen of 3xn architectural firm. in Copenhagen. Let me know if anyone wants a free poster and I will send you one.

Charity of the Week:

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. 161: Jamie Raskin/Cassidy Hutchinson, Birds of Paradise, Rudyard Kipling Poem

January 20, 2024

You can find additional content by clicking many of the images and photos below as well as the underlined links.

Jamie Raskin and Cassidy Hutchinson in Conversation

Two of my favorite people in politics these days—ones whom we owe it to if democracy does prevail… Congressman Jamie Raskin (representing the 8th district in Maryland) and former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. Raskin asks very compelling of questions of Hutchinson that give us a glimpse of what it was like for her to be on the inside of the Trump administration, realizing she was no longer comfortable with what was going on… Here is their conversation.

I've written about Cassidy Hutchinson before. I read her book Enough, highly recommended from this awesome young person who is wise way beyond her years. She was drawn to Washington DC since she was a little girl and I Wonder if she was in politics in a past life...

Birds of Paradise

Not much to say about these surreal creatures which have rendered me speechless (and that's saying a lot if you know me). Watch this video below that hopefully will provide some distraction from all the overwhelming man-made problems in the world. These birds of paradise are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and eastern Australia. The family has 45 species in 17 genera. Be prepared to drop your jaw in utter awe of mother nature…

If
by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream- -and not make dreams your master;
If you can think- -and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on! ‘
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings- -nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And- -which is more- -you’ll be a Man, my son!

Photo of the Week

Charity of the Week:

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. 160: Artist Isamu Noguchi, Winter Songs, Brisket Recipe

January 13, 2024

Isamu Noguchi

One of the perks of needing new tires at Costco in Queens is that it happens to be right across the street from the Noguchi Museum, a place I’ve always wanted to visit and just never seemed to get around to it. But today was the day and boy am I glad I came! The museum is really beautiful, the art is totally amazing—almost felt like a brief trip to Europe smack in the middle of an industrial section of Queens…

Isamu Noguchi(1904-1988) was a sculpture and landscape architect—half Japanese and half American, growing up in both places. He had a complicated life and as a result, he never felt at home in either place and art played a role as his refuge.

Right away as you walk there are big signs saying not to touch. I thought that was a little strange and it felt off-putting but now I realize why—the textures are so exquisite that you can't resist putting your hands on them. I love the contrast between the smooth and the rough, the chiseled and the mottled, the shiny and the matte…the many varieties of stone—all feels like poetry to me.

Winter Songs

***Courtesy Getty Images, photo by Lawrence Toscano***

Courtesy Peter Ralston, Peter Ralston Gallery, Rockport Maine. To purchase, contact them at ***(207) 230-7225***

Blizzard, Courtesy Peter Ralston, Peter Ralston Gallery, Rockport Maine. To purchase, contact them at ***(207) 230-7225***

Valley Winter Song by Fountains of Wayne

I Am A Rock by Simon and Garfunkel

Reindeer King by Tori Amos

Winter Song by Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson

Brisket Recipe by Joyce Nathan

***Courtesy Joyce Nathan and the New York Times Cooking App, Bobbi Lin for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Maggie Ruggiero.***

I am pretty good at keeping in touch with people—in fact it is the pride of my life that I have many friends that go back to when I was five or six years old. And lots of high school friends, one of them being Nick Fox, who I met in tenth grade. Aside from being on the editorial board of the New York Times, he is also an awesome cook and I had the pleasure of having dinner at his house the other night. He even gave me a couple choices about the menu ahead of time. At first he asked me how I felt about borscht, to which I replied "that sounds fine" (but secretly thinking maybe it didn't sound so fine) and he picked up on that right away and said it had to garner a better than just fine response. So then he mentioned brisket to which I responded "that sounds much better." Well, it was much better! In fact it was by far the best brisket I ever had and the only problem is that I overate because it was so good. His wife Cielo is a lucky person. She doesn't cook at all and to have Nick in the kitchen providing all the meals is a truly wonderful thing. Hopefully I will get invited again soon. Here is Joyce Nathan's Brisket recipe that Nick adapted and his own mashed potato recipe to accompany it…

INGREDIENTS, Serves 12
1 first-cut brisket, 6 to 7 pounds, rinsed and patted thoroughly dry 1 medium onion (Nick adds a large instead), peeled, cut into and quarters
2-inch piece fresh ginger (Nick uses a 3 inch piece), peeled, cut into chunks
6 large cloves garlic (Nick used 9 cloves)
1 cup ketchup (Nick adds a half cup of gochujang with the ketchup
½ cup dry red wine
¼ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup honey (he skips the honey)
¼ cup Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper, or to taste
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1½ cups Coca-Cola or ginger ale (he used coke) ½ cup olive oil

Step 1
Heat oven to 300 degrees
 Let meat stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.
Step 2
 Place all ingredients except soda, olive oil and brisket into a food processor and process until smooth. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and whisk in soda and olive oil.
Step 3
 Place brisket, fat side up, into a heavy baking pan just large enough, and pour all the sauce over it. Cover tightly and bake for 3 hours. Turn brisket over, cover pan, and bake 2 to 3 hours more or until fork-tender. Cool, cover brisket and refrigerate overnight in cooking pan.
Step 4
 The next day, transfer brisket to a cutting board, cut off fat and slice with a sharp knife against grain, to desired thickness. Set meat aside. Remove any congealed fat from sauce and bring to a boil on top of stove.
Step 5
 Heat oven to 350 degrees. Taste sauce to see if it needs reducing. If so, boil it down for a few minutes or as needed. Return meat to sauce and warm in oven for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

MASHED POTATOES
Cut yukon gold potatoes into large chunks of the same size Simmer until skin starts to come off. Better to just slightly overcook Cool, peel, set aside Roast unpeeled garlic cloves at 350 degree until soft. Cool and peel. Mash in a bowl Heat butter and olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Heat the potatoes a couple minutes to try to get out more moisture. Add garlic and buttermilk. (Use enough buttermilk that would seem to easily incorporate into the mashed potatoes and add more if needed.) Heat until buttermilk starts to simmer, then start mashing. Add a good amount of black pepper and parsley before serving and check for salt.

Painting of the Week

Gert Mathiesen, Untitled, Linoleum Plate, collection of Power Station, New York, NY

Charity of the Week:

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. 159: The Book of Awakening, Starry Night Sky, Two Air Fryer Recipes

January 5, 2024

The Book of Awakening

I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions. Not sure why. I always feel like I don’t ever really carry them out anyway and I just feel that this is something we should be doing every day, not just on New Year’s Day.

But never say never—this year, while cleaning up my desk piled high with papers and books and everything that had accumulated over the holiday, I came across a book that my friend Dyan gave me last year called The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo, and it is a daily dose of wisdom and meditation. The author set out to write his thoughts in hopes of introducing his readers to their own wisdom.

So I decided I’m going to try and read this every morning as Dyan does just as a reminder of how to center myself and what’s important in life.

Below is the January 3 entry, which, as you could see, I started a couple days late. Even though God is mentioned in the title of this entry, I do not see the book as at all "religious" in the typical sense of the word. I’m sharing it with you here today in case you are inspired to get your own copy and have a look at it every day like I am planning on doing.

Starry Night Sky

One of the pleasures for me of being up in Maine is going out in the middle of the night and looking up at the stars. Sometimes I am even too lazy to put on a coat, even in the dead of winter. It is refreshing and I don't have to go far...

From my little rented cottage, there is very little light pollution so it is a great place to view a good portion of the sky, being on the rocks with the ocean 180 degrees in front of me. Here is a simple lesson from an Indiana Science teacher on how to identify basic constellations.

The New York Times publishes a sky calendar every year and it can be synched with your regular phone calendar. And here is a what to look forward to in 2024 including meteor showers, moon schedules, eclipses etc..

Two Air Fryer Recipes

***Courtesy Eleanore Park, NY Times Cooking App. Photo Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.***

For those of us who have air fryers, here are two super easy to prepare recipes adapted from the New York Times Cooking App. Tasty and crispy without the amount of oil usually required for frying...Looks like a good meal to me! Complete it with a good salad of your choice...Courtesy of Eleanor Park and Melissa Clark.

***Courtesy Melissa Clark, NY Times Cooking App. David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.***

CHICKEN THIGHS
Ingredients for 3 servings
3bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 6 ounces each) or boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
Step 1 Heat air fryer to 375 degrees, if preheating is recommended for your air fryer.
Step 2 Pat chicken dry. Add salt to both sides of chicken thighs. In a Combine the sour cream, mustard and rice vinegar in a bowl and coat the chicken. (Chicken can be marinated up to 8 hours.) Refrigerate, then let return to room temperature before cooking.
Step 3 Transfer chicken in an even layer to the air-fryer basket. With bone-in, skin-on thighs, place them skin side down. Cook chicken until browned all over and skin is crisp, flipping halfway through (approx. 15 minutes). With boneless, skinless chicken thighs, put in fryer smooth side down. Cook until browned in spots and their juices run clear, flipping halfway through, about 15 minutes. When fully cooked, an instant-read thermometer inserted into a thick part of the thigh should read 165 degrees and the juices should run clear when pierced. Return to fryer if not done and check every few minutes. Let chicken thighs rest slightly and then serve.

FRENCH FRIES in the Air Fryer
Ingredients yields 2 servings
1 large russet potato cut into ¼-inch-thick sticks
1½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1½ tsp kosher salt, more as needed
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
Step 1
 Put potatoes in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Soak for at least 30 minutes (or up to overnight, stored in the refrigerator), then drain and pat very dry.
Step 2
 Heat the air fryer to 350 degrees, if preheating is necessary. Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels.
Step 3
 In a dry bowl, toss potatoes with 1 tbsp oil and 1½ tsp salt. Transfer to air fryer and fry at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, tossing halfway.
Step 4
 Turn the air fryer heat up to 400 degrees. Drizzle potatoes with ½ tbsp oil. Cook for until golden and crisp, about 8 to 10 minutes, tossing or stirring halfway through. Transfer immediately to a serving platter and sprinkle with more salt.
Step 5
 While the fries are cooking, make the sauce: In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard and paprika. Serve alongside the fries for dipping.

Painting of the Week

Love in the Pacific Northwest, mixed media on canvas, 50” x 80” $8500

Charity of the Week:

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.