a new little person

Little Rene was born to my friend Denise and her husband Marcel. I am so happy for them. He is beautiful. Here is the blanket and hat I made for him

Highland Park Farmer's Market

Every Tuesday night I go to the farmer's market in Highland Park. It is small and there isn't a huge variety of produce, but the quality is high, the prices are good and everyone is friendly. The market started about six months ago- what a change in my neighborhood's quality of life. I think it makes such a difference. Not only do we get to eat quality food and meet the people who grow what we eat, there is a sense of community at the market. Author Michael Pollan says that the next revolution in food is the rejection of bar codes and all that they symbolize. Where was your apple grown? Chile? Australia? I'd rather buy my apples from the Ha family or Johna's
Farm.
















There is no way that I can buy all the food I eat at a farmer's market. But at least almost all the vegetables and fruit I eat is grown locally. It is markets like this one that make that possible.



















when you arrive at the market, you might be greeted by Jeff and Christopher. Ricky, the main organizer is usually around as well. I didn't get a picture of him, but his friendly attitude and welcoming spirit foster a sense of community.



The market has a frequent buyer card, there are prizes for coming often.
















Misty and Sumiko will punch your frequent shopper card. Misty is also one of the main organizers of the market. Misty and her husband made an amazing haunted house for Halloween.





















Here is Julio and the delectable carrots I bought. So crunchy and sweet.





















I buy asparagus, green beans and eggplant from Salvador. In the summer, he sells melt in your mouth cantaloupe.






















Jan is the "herb lady". She started selling herbs at farmer's markets because she was growing so much in her garden. I've been using the curry thyme I bought from her in my lentils- yum. She also makes a shea butter and lavender cream.




















This is Patricia. I buy most of my veggies from her. Especially lettuce and beets. At her stand, there are always great deals. The farm is in Oxnard.




















That Yarn Store in Eagle Rock has a table they share with Sugarbutterbex. Often they have an art workshop that kids can participate in. Here is Thea from That Yarn Store knitting with Misty's son.

















The Arroyo Arts Collective also has table set-up. Here is Amy knitting.






















I'll finish this post with lettuce. No need to say more...

Knitzilla b-day party!

Last night I went to Knitzilla's 2nd birthday party. Here is a description of Knitzilla from their website:
Knitzilla! is a group of yarn addicts of all genders who get together Monday nights in Silverlake to chat and knit or crochet. We welcome new knitters to come and learn-we'll show you the basics! We are an all-ages group that believes in investing in our community.Knitzilla! members pledge to support our community through at least one project each year. Give back through craft! Check out our Rad Bad Beanies Project!

Knitzilla members have given crochet and knit hats, blankets, scarves, sweaters to a variety of causes, including Afghans for Afghans, Rad Bad Beanies Project, to Katrina victims, Stitches from the Heart. I have only attended one meeting and the party last night. But I will be going back. It is a great group- very friendly. The woman who started this group-Bug- is really amazing. She did a fabulous job organizing the party last night. Tons of raffle items. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and didn't take any pictures at the party. but when I came home, I took photos of the raffle items I won. I made out like a bandit!

I won:

1. a subscription to Craftzine! check it out- http://www.craftzine.com/


2. 2 skeins of bamboo yarn donated by That Yarn Store in Eagle Rock! I think I am going to make a farmer's market bag.
















3. Everyone got some clover knitting needles and pair of cute scissors. Now I am set to learn how to knit! We were all also given t-shirts and some coupons, including 15% off at the Black Sheep Knittery





















4. A sassy canister for storing knitting needles donated by Jordana Paige. In my favorite color! Isn't it cute?























5. and a pair of Knit Lite knitting needles! Dixie really liked them- Maybe she'll learn to knit with me.

Babies!!!

This year I have four friends having babies. Of course that means- CROCHET!!!
At work tomorrow we're having a baby shower for my dear friends Elizabeth and Pattie. They are both having girls. I decided to make hat and blamket sets for them. I didn't finish the blankets yet, but I did finish the hats.


Here's the hat for Elizabeth's baby:






















And for Pattie's baby:

October 23, 1989

Today is 17 years since my mother passed away. In some ways every year gets a little easier, the pain is not acute. This morning I cut some flowers from the garden, moved her picture to the mantel, and put the flowers in front of her picture. Marigolds. I went to work. Everything I did today, I took her with me.

Although it is easier, there is a sadness I carry in me. I sometimes think it will go away- there is not a day that I don't think of her. It sounds trite, but my heart broke when she died. My family changed- everyone moved away. I am grateful that my father is still alive. I am grateful that he found someone to love. He is 84 and in terrific shape. I have to acknowledge that I am sad that he lives in Ecuador- although he has a fulfilling life there, and I wouldn't want him to not have it. I am still sad not to see him frequently.

And I am grateful that my mom and I had time when she was sick to resolve issues, for me to see her has a woman, not just as my mother.

For years, perhaps a dozen, I carried my grief like a badge, like a definition of who I was. A motherless daughter. The grief was how I measured my love for her. My siblings are a lot older than I am. When she died, they had children and spouses. I perceived that they did not feel her death as acutely as I did. I was wrong and unfair. I carried my loneliness along side the grief. The art I make, especially poetry, came from this grief. Although today I miss her, I am no longer consumed nor defined by her illness and death.

She tried to teach me to crochet, but I wasn't patient enough. When I finally learned last May, the hook felt comfortable in my hand, like a body memory. Now, every stitch I make is a remembrance.

who I live with

There have been complaints from the beings that I live with that their pictures aren't on my blog


This is Dixie Dear.







This is Dervish Darling









and Jakey with Dervish when Dervish was a kitten.










And Jake and I at my brother's wedding.

bowling birthday

Last Sunday my darling friends Reina and John celebrated their birthday at All Star Bowl in Eagle Rock. Since I can't bowl (doctor's orders), I took photos.



(Yes, I made birthday scarfs.)

Poets Reina and Maria Elena

Santa Perversa prays to the bowling goddess.

John...


Yummy cake from Phoenix Bakery in Chinatown.


Thank you Reina and John for a wonderful time!!!

Urban Parrots

quick post before I go to work-

It is October and the large flocks of urban parrots are back in Highland Park. This morning, I got up super early and I was working in our vegetable garden- picking some arugula and tomatoes for lunch, pulling a few weeds, pulling out a couple of dead tomato plants. I heard them flying, first the squawking. (What a commotion those birds make talking to each other.) Then, they were overhead and magnificent- over a hundred parrots. The flock flying left then right in unison. I almost couldn't contain my joy. As I sit here typing, I can hear their jabbering through the closed window in my study. I imagine they found a fruit tree or they are moving down the street. In the house I used to live on avenue 66, they would roost in the backyard mulberry tree. I could see them up close. Brilliant green, shock of scarlet. (oh my, now they are even louder, they must be flying over the house.) These birds symbolize Highland Park for me. Hold that thought, I'll explore it later. Now I MUST get in the shower and go to work...

sweater update

Quick post-
I'm getting closer... must go crochet more, must go crochet more, must go crochet more...

Book Club + crochet along

On Saturday the book club I belong to met at my house. We read Gabriel Garcia Marquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude.

As we talked about the book, we ate yummy food. Here is a beautiful pear cake that Ximena baked. You can order one too! www.classictreats.com



I read One Hundred Years a few times in collage, but hadn't read it in over 10 years. Even in English, this book has such a resonance. Everyone enjoyed the book- of yellow butterflies, candy animals, bones that that clac-clac. Ursula, the many Aurelianos and Jose Arcadios, Meme, Mauricio Babilonia. The politics and history of Colombia in gorgeous language.

Here's where I am with my sweater. I only had to rip 4 inches out, once!

Crochet-Along

I have chosen the yarn, ultrafine alpaca/wool blend in charcoal and ultrafine wool Filatura de Crosa in olive:



I made a ball

Decided on a stitch (hdc). I made a gauge swatch (4 stitches/inch), measured the back of my neck (7 inches so that the neckline is not too tight), made the calculations.

And started my sweater

I hope I don't have to start over too many times...

Screaming Queens Screening

My finace is organizing a wonderful event at CSUN: a screening of the documentary Screaming Queens. Screaming Queens was made by our friend Susan Stryker. Rumour has it that Andy Warhol Superstar Holly Woodlawn will make an appearance. See below for details.

THE CENTER FOR SEX & GENDER RESEARCH

PRESENTS

SCREAMING QUEENS

THE MOVIE AND THE FILMMAKER

It's a hot August night in San Francisco in 1966. Compton's Cafeteria, in the seedy Tenderloin district, is hopping with its usual assortment of transgender people, young street hustlers and down-and-out regulars. When a surly cop, accustomed to manhandling the clientele, tries to arrest one of the queens for making too much noise, she throws her coffee in his face. Windows break, furniture flies, the fighting spills out onto the street. For the first time, drag queens band together to fight back. For everyone at Compton's that night, one thing was certain: things would never be the same. Screaming Queens introduces viewers to a diverse cast of former prostitutes, drag performers, police officers, ministers and neighborhood activists, all of whom played a part in the events leading up to the riot. The documentary links the riot to the larger social upheavals affecting the U.S. in the 1960s. Screaming Queens explores the reverberations of the rise of transgender activism, a story in which the riot plays a pivotal role. Writer, director, producer Susan Stryker – an internationally recognized scholar of sexuality and gender – will answer questions after the screening.

For more information about the film, you may visit
http://www.screamingqueensmovie.com

Thursday, October 5, 7:30 p.m.
Oviatt Library Presentation Room
California State University, Northridge

This event is free and open to the public. Parking at CSUN costs $4.
For more information, please call 818-677-2638

Co-sponsors: Oviatt Library, College of Humanities, Center for Ethics & Values, Departments of Asian American Studies, English, and Philosophy, Masters Program in Social Work

First Post

I have been thinking about blogging since I started going to the West Hollywood sitch 'n bitch meetings last May. Besides learning my new obsession- crochet- I discovered a group of amazing people, who are creative, a blast, and who blog. They all have blogs! I felt out of the loop, felt like I was missing something. And then Annika started a web ring for WeHo snb, and well, I admit, I'm a joiner. So here I am. There's a bunch of things I still can't figure out- like how to join the ring or add links. Eventually it will be old hat. I was lucky to figure out how to add a picture.

The other thing about blogs that appeals to me is that the writing is so immediate. Since I'm a poet, every word in a poem is very deliberate and measured. Blogs are looser and I like the idea of getting my thoughts out, without worrying so much.

I also decided now is the time to blog is that the website Crochet Me is having a crochet-along and I have to have a blog to really participate fully.

Here, I've copied the info on it from their website:

Welcome to the Crochet Me's first ever Crochet Along!

The madness starts Wednesday, September 27th.
In the mean-time--choose your yarn, get the button, spread the word--it's going to be sweet!

We can't wait to see what you are going to do with the Sweet sweater, and we'll talk about it all here.

I'm looking forward to crocheting this sweater in community. It will be my first fitted garment. I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions.


I'm looking forward to being a part of this community!