Recollection

Funny conversation at the lab last night:

D: What's your favorite color?
S:  I really like fuchsia.
D: Nice!  How do you spell that, again?
S:  Uhmm, I changed my mind, I really like red.

Self-Awareness IV

"'I think that one of these days,' he said, 'you're going to have to find out where you want to go.  And then you've got to start going there."

Spring Run

Woke up to a sunny morning and in spite of allergies and a minor distaste for a run, off to the trail I went.  On the 3rd mile, I stopped to urinate.  Chagrinned when I had inadvertently chosen a colony of ants to step and do business on.  Ahh, Spring!

The trail was muddy, but that's often the case.

New Art

I've always had a predilection for earthy colors in landscapes.  There was a previous picture painted on this canvas that gave homage to the style of Gustav Klimt.  The technique was premature, 2 dimensional, and overall unsatisfying and so I decided to paint over it today.  The strange formation of what one may think of as clouds were originally superimposed curlycues from the previous Kilmt-esqueian attempt.  I added the word "There" as if to suggest an accidental installation to the picture but to me it provides a rather discomforting element of Magic Realism.  There are a lot of trails around here that inspired the meadowy expanse of land and its culmination into distant shadow of hills or mountains on this image.  The entireness of the landscape isn't the most important element -  I urge the viewer to divide the piece into quarter sections and reflect on the pool of shapes and ideas unique from each other.

Ode to Spring

There are little plants,

verdant

ripe with tasty colors,

like fireworks across the land,

not fleeting nor dying,

growing,

glowing and reaching,

for whatever magic there is 

hovering aloft

 in the air.

Spring had its advent yesterday and I'm joyful because of it.  A lot of trees are beginning to burst with pleasant colors, daffodils have been blooming for quite sometime now, and I've got vegetable seeds prepared for planting.  There will be an abundance of sun next week according to the weather forecast.  Life is good!

Wednesday Evening, 9 PM

Exit I-90, left on 5th, another left on S. Jackson, then right on 1st, keep straight till you're downtown, then right on Pine, up to 1st Hill, turn right on Broadway, another right on Madison, enter I-5 and keep left to arrive at I-90.  That's life.

Coffee Review: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

KT acquired this brand of whole bean coffee during her recent trip to the Dominican Republic.  I was totally gratified to receive it and as promised, here's my review:

I've only been able to make 3 brews out of it, all of which a different method; pour-over, french-press, and espresso.  Coffees that originate from Latin-America are typically the milder kind so the pour-over method didn't pan out too well.  The swift pass of hot water on the coarsely ground ebony particles did not capture the smoky aroma that can be detected from the beans themselves.  The beverage was good, but felt a little two-dimensional; too simple.  French Press utilized the same grinder setting and so it was nearly the same experience, but the aroma was definitely more pronounced.  This morning, I decided to opt out of the coarse grinding business and resorted to an ultra-fine espresso procedure.  My typical 16 ounce cup contains no less than 4 shots and this was not an occasion for exceptions.  The dusty fineness of the beans exuded a floral air that still pervades in the entire house, 5 hours later, a character I was not able to previously detect.  The cup was a nice smoky color, with swirls of caramelized foam (an attribute unique to super-fine grounds,) and an almost hypnotic shimmer of black.  The aroma was smoky and offered a waft of pine needles.  The flavor was astonishingly robust, not heavy or burnt, but just perfect enough to fool the inexperienced tongue into thinking that the coffee may actually have originated in Sumatra.  4.5 stars!

Thanks, KT!

Self-Awareness III

Narcissism:  jailed inside the same framework for 70 years, how does anybody not fall for it?