spoiler alert

For MC

With congratulations.

"Swiftly he passed into his bedroom next door, and arrayed himself in his summer Hitums: a fresh (almost pearly) suit of white duck, a mauve tie with an amethyst pin in it, socks, tightly braced up, of precisely the same colour as the tie so that an imaginative beholder might have conjectured that on this warm day the end of his tie had melted and run down his legs, and buckskin shoes with tall slim heels: a straw hat completed his pretty Hitum."

-E. F. Benson, Queen Lucia

From the UW Archives: Union Terrace Opulence

circa 1940's

"What is my status? Is that status secure? Do I have enemies? Do I have friends? Which of the two groups is more influential? Do I have a comfortable degree of economic security and (especially) of psychological autonomy and peace of mind? Does my social position allow me to feel respected and (perhaps more important) to feel self-respect?"

-Robert C. Evans, '"This Art Will Live":
Social and Literary Responses to
Ben Jonson's New Inn'

Spot Sequence - Update

9. 24. 08

bicylist

9. 4. 08

Gazebo

Kenneth longs with perverse giddiness for a day when we might have property enough to feature a gazebo.


Envisioning something is the style of Mies van der Rohe, Albert Frey, possibly Konstantin Melnikov-- I'm game.


We can host dinner parties & Mahjong brunches out in the gazebo.


And we can reenact our favorite scenes from Spanking the Monkey.

From This Weekend's Market

I missed the market last week: the morning was too gloomy, too rainy, and I desperately needed to sleep in. It would have been a huge mistake had Kenneth's difficultly busy week not altered our regular eating patterns. I did pop into last Tuesday's East Side Market for some lacitano kale, tomatoes, and yellow wax beans. On Saturday, though, I was back to business as usual.

Three varieties of potato.

White beets. They're delicious. And-- I think-- I take an odd pleasure in the fact that they lack that characteristic which is most generally associated with the vegetable-- its potent hue.

Beet greens, the roots having been removed for separate storage.

Cranberry beans.

Baby artichokes remain irresistible.

A veritable winter holiday of okra.

Marconi beans (baby romanos).

Heirloom tomatoes.

A sizeable cauliflower nonetheless categorized for sale as "small."

Bi-color corn from the blondest family of farmers. They're lovely. Even their plastic bags are bright golden.

"But paper was too expensive to throw away so casually; indeed, the undertaker (and in many cases the author) was generally expected to pay for it. All sheets of such valuable material had to be accounted for. Instead of a revise, the first sheets of a print run would therefore often be checked as the rest were being printed off. In such a case, books would inevitably be made up of sheets in different states of correction. The consequence was that no two final copies out of a given edition would necessarily be the same. Indeed, in its modern sense, the very concept of ‘edition’ is entirely anachronistic."

-Adrian Johns, The Nature of the Book:
Print and Knowledge in the Making

I would like to take you to Scarborough Fair.

Yellow Fever

Dedicated to Ms. Praline Croissant Tooknap: Yellow, it's not just for soup anymore.

Gingered Yellow Tomato Soup

w/simplest croutons and tarragon & chives from out back.

It meant so much to me, Like a birthday or a pretty view...

With immense love to the memory of The Steve Lady, who was primary among a small cadre of queens that taught me just how vital, how critical, how sharp, and how mentally raw good contemporary drag performance can be.

Today is hoodi-crisp.

A: Well, I would be much more surprised to learn that Will Smith had hung himself...

B: Isn't that part of the problem with things today?

Best Word

Jon Hendricks

Years ago, Kenneth introduced me to the genius, splendor, and electricity of Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross. A week ago last night, we saw national treasure Jon Hendricks perform live at an outdoor concert just off Madison's Capitol Square. What a joyous, life-affirming, and artistically bright performance.

Hendricks took the stage along with his delightful and wonderfully capable daughter. He-- overwhelmed with pride-- announced her name over and over again throughout the evening: "ARIA HENDRICKS!!!!"

Hendricks whistled an extended solo while holding a drum stick as if it were a flute. He similarly performed a tremendous bass solo sans bass.

Hallelujah.