Jen Brown: a life.

Portland "Where young people go to retire"

2011-08-08T23:45:00.008-04:00

So I spent a lovely week in Portland, Oregon.

My dear friend Michael traveled there to attend an IVAW conference, so I went with him to see Portland, and to see our friends Hannah and Joel.

They have a lovely house and roommates, and of course, chickens!

Veggies!
Portland has more beautiful edible and non-edible plants per square foot than any other city I've seen.

Hopworks was an awesome introduction to some of the local brews.

Hannah and Joel powering the restaurant while we waited for our food.

We took a trip to the beach, and stopped to stretch our legs and gather wild berries.

I don't think Mike was enjoying himself enough.

Or Joel, clearly.

The beach was simply amazing.

We found a little shack just far enough in the grass that there was no wind at all, which made for the perfect temperature and hangout space!

We pretty much dined like kings every night. (Hannah and Joel are unimpressed by their cooking...I'd hate to let them taste even my best dishes!)

(PORTLAND COMPOSTS! )

Day care ON BIKES.

Hannah and Joel took me to the farm they have a work-share at.

Pickin' broccoli.

Jade, most awesome dog on the west coast!

Hannah and Orson.

Don't worry, I also spent plenty of time at Powells, and the PDX Art Museum. And at In Other Words, and plenty of Anarchist/Vegan Coffee shops.

Best part of my trip? I convinced Hannah and Joel to move to Philly.

I'LL SEE YOU GUYS IN OCTOBER!

Pittsburgh

2011-07-24T21:59:00.011-04:00

The city of a gazillion bridges. Apparently just one more than Venice, according to Celia and my gracious host Adam. Adam and Ian were wonderful to let us stay with them while Celia had to come to Pittsburgh for the once-a-semester in-person session of her online class, and I decided to take advantage!

I saw some Museums the first day, namely the Nationality Rooms, and the Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Warhol. (For those of you who don't care to see a thousand artworks, I've moved that sort of photo to a new Tumblr I started for Other Peoples' Art that I like- if you DO care, then click there!)

The Mattress Factory was worth the whole trip!

There was indeed a Cell Phone Disco, but the discovery was better than the photo of it, so go find it yourself!

Shepard Fairey

The Conflict Kitchen! ("Conflict Kitchen is a take-out restaurant that only serves cuisine from countries that the United States is in conflict with.")

Overlooking the city.

The last morning Adam took Celia and me to the Incline

We learned a few things that weekend, to be sure!

Leaving to Come Back

2011-07-24T21:33:00.003-04:00

Once again haven't been posting very diligently. Was having a bit of a hard time, wrapping up some emotions about some situations, but they seem to have cleaned themselves up for the most part.

I've been traveling quite a bit lately as well. Pittsburgh last weekend, NYC/Brooklyn this past weekend, and Portland for over a week starting Thursday!

I haven't been up to too much aside from those travels, but I've got some photos to tell some quick tales.

A month or so ago I did my first Vermiculture Demo as a favor for my friend Toby at Sustainable19125. It was a lot of fun: who doesn't love to share knowledge and passion with people who are interested to hear about it?!

Photo by Kelsey or Beth, who were so wonderfully patient while I did this demo!

Carson, Beth, Kelsey

I've also been house hunting with my friend Kelly. Its going pretty slowly, but we're really trying to be patient while we find the right place, and the right third roommate.

I've been bad about going to the studio, but have been working on a few things. I've been going to the print shop every Tuesday, and I should have some finished etchings soon!

I'm going to post some photos about my recent journeys, and I'll see you again when I return from Portland. I may have to leave from time to time, but I always come back, eventually...

Hot Hot Heat

2011-06-10T10:23:00.003-04:00

My roof garden is doing quite nicely! The chard and kale need to be harvested though, dinner tomorrow?

Jackie came to hang out at the warehouse last week. So Happy!

First Friday last week Rosie and Mark played at The Garden Center, and it was lovely!

Elizabeth; Celia, Toby.

Then off to Little Berlin for Epic Pain, the High School Art Show.

There were lots of great pieces, but John Sinclair's was the best. Not just because I was so looking forward to it either!

He set up his bedroom from High School and invited girls to come hang out, where he seduced them by playing the guitar, making poptarts, and watching Say Anything.

The goal was to get girls to make out with him, but I was the only one to take him up on it! Well, me and Mark...

Yesterday I took Zac's friend (my friend now too!) Shion around Philadelphia. After the ICA we went to see my friend Sandy Boyer's show. I was really quite impressed!

Tonight I am going to see Puppet Uprising's 5 Act Shakespeare play: Antony&Cleopatra!

Finally, Summer.

2011-05-27T12:07:00.002-04:00

Lunch in the Medicinal Herb Garden at the Mutter Museum: Finally, Summer.

Foxglove!

Poppies!

Zac and Rudy
Rosie with Spencer and Mark in the background

Zac, Mark, Spencer on the roof, waiting for the grill to heat up for Burger Night!

Best Art

2011-05-23T20:40:00.003-04:00

So I ended up helping paint a lot of the Mutant for the OMG!GMO! group for the Kinetic Sculpture Derby at the Trenton Ave Arts Fest last week.

And its a good thing too, because we won BEST ART!
See how thrilled John and Rebekah are!
It looks so great!
With the one and only Mat Shiley powering his machine.

John, the scariest carrot-shark I've ever seen.
Teenage Mutant Ninja... SuperWeed?
Mat, so pensive with his bikes!

Well, it was a lovely lovely day, despite the sunburn that I obtained... but luckily I made a purchase of some coconut oil recently: it works wonders! The sunburn is almost gone, with no peeling to date!

Baltimore

2011-05-21T10:26:00.009-04:00

Last weekend I went to visit Baltimore for Mike Hanes' Birthday! Also, for the commencement show. And of course, because I haven't been in a while, and do miss it from time to time.

I had a really lovely time, spent time with a lot of dear friends, and ran into a bunch of acquaintances and that was real swell too. Of course I neglected to take photos of things like that until the end, but I managed to get a nice shot of Beth and Carson, which she'll kill me for posting here:

Saw a lot of awesome work at the commencement show, here is some of it:

(this being relevant because I had wanted to go to the Rooms Play, but it was a few weeks before I went to Baltimore. Also relevant because the folks in this photo are Zac, Leslie, and John!)

Addison Ryan Wahler:

Kate Brooks:

Kari Opert:

Dylan Conner:

Clementine Jang:

Kate Robinson:

Ainsley Buckner:

Eileen Vernetti:

Alyson Steele:

Kimberley Michalak:

John Aquila:

I actually did a lot of things around the city that I had never done as a busy busy Mica student. Enlightening, to say the least.

Also, I brought the gloves that Dave of Party in My Pocket made for me. Francis just loved them, as did a lot of other folks!

And that was my trip! Today is the Kinetic Sculpture Derby at the Trenton Ave Arts Fest, marking my two year anniversary living in this apartment, remember the day I moved in?

I think its time to move though. I'll probably stay in Fishtown, ...but maybe Brooklyn, or New Orleans! Stay tuned!

Catching Up, Reaching Back

2011-05-12T00:06:00.000-04:00

Springtime at the Mutter Museum Medicinal Herb Garden (where I take my lunch any day its warm and dry enough!)

April Showers were good for something at least...

Eli
Morning walk to work.

The Trenton Ave Abomination
Roof Garden: chard, kale, lettuce, arugula

Pretty red flowers, since then have been eaten by the Dreaded Black Aphid!

Helped Erika plant some things; this lovely young man is Mr. Fox!

The Garden behind Erika&Jeremy's garden.
Lilacs!
Mr Fox; Monty!

Okay, enough photos of other people's animals.

Then Jeremy built me some steps for my roof garden smart pots!

Tartes that I made to thank my French Professor!

Amelia came to visit to see DIME by NoFace (which was of course excellent!) We did lots of things the following day, including the Rocket Cat with the lovely John Sinclair.

Of course I've probably done a great deal more in the last two months than what is represented here in words and pictures, but this will have to do for now. Heading to D.C. in a minute and Baltimore later tonight.

I hereby resolve to make a better attempt at upkeeping the NanaBlog!

"The stars are beautiful, because of a flower that cannot be seen."

2011-05-01T23:31:00.009-04:00

Once upon a time I fell in love with the most beautiful soul I may ever know. We had each other for two wonderful years, and then his body admitted that he was in fact very sick, and within two weeks he was gone.

March certainly did go in like a lion, and took my little lion away, and left me with nothing but some wool in my hands.

I have been blessed by so many wonderful things these past few months, and also so horribly, horribly cursed. I gave in to the bad things, because what can be worse than losing the one thing you live for? But luckily, (the wonderful, wonderful) Jeremy fixed my computer, and I'll find someone soon to repair my beautiful camera that I neglected for too long. I have Saturdays off again, I've been in the studio a lot, some other things are rather grand, and spring time is beautiful and blossoming in my eyes and my heart as well. Of course, many days are still incredibly difficult, as have been the past few, extremely so.

I'd like to come back to posting, and I do have some photos to share. I feel it only appropriate to post a few of Hans at this time, and return with a heart turned toward the sky at a later date, sooner than later I hope.

A Very Long Winter

2011-02-25T16:45:00.003-05:00

These cold winter months have been filled with much more social activity, and much less art than I had original planned for. I am really only able to see how busy I am by how long I have had a netflix dvd for, and have been unable to watch it. (I had Fantastic Planet for over three weeks! But it was a really good film!)

Last Friday the weather was so nice that Eli and Dave and I went to Penn Treaty Park to have a picnic. I brought the blanket, we had bread and cheese and grapes, Eli made a seitan scramble, Dave brought hummus and etc. What a lovely Spring day. Of course it was just a tease: we knew it would get cold again, and in fact it snowed a few days ago. But soon it will be warm for real, and everything will be glorious.

My French class has been going really well: I just took my second quiz last night and I think I'm seriously caught up. As in, I might even get a really good grade on it. Still a few grammatical things I'm confused about, but I'm getting there!

Last week Kate came to visit from Chicago for a few days. Here is the one photo I took of her, and bonus! Andrew too!

We love when Kate comes to visit, and she'll even be back in a few weeks for a grad school interview in Delaware!

Today has been a lazy day. Thought I'd spin a little yarn, watch a little tv, but instead have been reading, making appointments with accountants (wow, am I a grown-up now?), and even baking scones and challah! Noah's mom has a recipe that she uses every week, to mix in the bread maker and then braid and bake. I came upon it again today and said "well, why the hell not?"

Yum!

Art in the Age: Tyler Scaife

2011-02-12T13:12:00.006-05:00

Tyler has a show at AITA! We went there for First Friday, and there were some other awesome works there, but Tyler's blew them out of the water. Thought I'd share, but these photos simply don't do it justice.

The artist, in all his lighthearted enthusiasm.

If only we were all as talented as Tyler! Keep up the good work!

Spinning Snow

2011-01-26T23:47:00.004-05:00

Today was very productive!
I put together my spinning wheel,
and Hans helped!

Then I went to the studio and got a lot of work done!
When I left it was snowing, but I went to Zac&Johns to watch
The Host, for the third time!

And as usual, Hans is finding new and amazing things to keep us both entertained.

New Year, New Attitude

2011-01-21T00:35:00.007-05:00

I had the wintertime blues pretty bad there for a while, folks. All the good people left for Christmas, and most of them stayed away until after New Years. It was cold, and I was lonely. I baked a lot of pies, and I didn't do anything that was actually productive. Although, some time away from things is productive in its own way.

And then one day things started getting better!

Kayla and her British cousins came to visit, and I showed them around Philly. We went to see the Liberty Bell,

Independence Hall,

Eastern State (oh how good it was to be back there!) and of course, the goddamn Rocky Steps (did you know they have like, art in there? like, paintings and sculptures and shit. crazy!)

And Tim came to visit for a few days as well!

The following week Noah came to see me, which was wonderful because I didn't get to see very much of him when I visited Providence, because he's a genius with a full course load.

My birthday was a days-long event, beginning with Noah's visit: lunch with Noah and Andrew at a delicious Indonesian restaurant in South Philly, followed by a few hours with Noah at the Random Tea Room. His friend Lizzy (who will be moving to West Philly soon!) came to join us for a bit, before stealing him away, and there were lots of other good folks at the Tea Room as well.

My birthday "party" was a night of drinking at Johnny Brenda's bar, and then a few of us went to karaoke night a block away, which is hosted by my friend Caren from Eastern State!

Friday night, my friend Lauren and her dad and brother were in town, so they took me to Honey's Sit N Eat for my birthday (SO delicious!). They are so sweet! Turns out, Lauren's going to Peru for a year, to work at a hostel and live a little. Flights are cheap, so place your bets now, folks. I'm betting I'll be there by this time next year.

Later that evening, Kung Fu Necktie provided some awesome entertainment, several of the kids I know from these here parts, and their bands. Rosie brought her accordion to the El bar next, and we sang ourselves silly, much to the entertainment and annoyance of the other patrons. All in all, a lovely evening.

Saturday Rosie, Leslie and I went to the Rocket Cat for lunch, where we saw half the city, and then regrouped for a walk to the ATV tracks. We even found Christiane on our way there and easily convinced her to join us! Here, I finally took a few photos.

So Rosie, John, Honey Pie, Rebekah, and Christiane and I had ourselves a lovely walk in the cold.

Saturday night was Eli's party, which was full of fun, shenanigans, and lovely people.

Then I returned home to Hansie.

Last night Jack and I went to Memphis Taproom for dinner, and Andrew joined us back at my apartment afterward. Hansie nuzzled Andrew's shoes for old time's sake, while us adults watched scary videos and hysterically subtitled anime.

That's it for now, folks!

A Holiday of Feasting

2010-12-24T20:10:00.007-05:00

This year I chose to make things simple by staying in town for Christmas.

Now while most Jews are (according to a short audio-story by Andrew) screaming at the clock, hurling books at the wall, and breaking their TVs in impatience for this dreadful holiday to end, I decided to bake.

Things started out nicely with Conjoined Baby Jesus sugar cookies, decorated with the conjoined efforts of Lizzy, Andrew, Celia, and myself.

Then yesterday I made a delicious butternut squash with ground turkey (I still have the other half! ah, what to do with it?!)

Today I started early by making oatmeal blueberry pancakes.

Then I threw bread ingredients (cheese garlic herb) into the machine. It just now beeped. Those 3 hours really do drag on!

And then I made some soup with a lot of the F2F produce: carrot, sweet potato, ginger, and beet! I am always nervous when it comes to beets, but this is actually delicious!

And finally, a frittata, which I have never made before. Not bad!

And tomorrow I will bake an apple pie, and who knows what else!

I hope everyone is eating as well as I am, and if you aren't, come help me eat all this goddamn food!

*Edit. A continuation of this bless-ed holiday, a Snow Day has befallen the people. I indeed baked that apple pie, as well as pumpkin scones that were a failure, but then last night I made up for it with pumpkin cup pies!

What else can I bake today?!

Solstice

2010-12-22T15:23:00.008-05:00

The Winter Solstice coincided with a lunar eclipse yesterday morning. I should have stayed up. I should have called out of work. But I didn't. I was really sad to have missed it, but a lot of good people posted photos and videos on facebook. And I knew it happened, so I suppose that was enough for me.

I've been participating in some studies for monies. The past two were mood studies, at The Monell Chemical Senses Center and Penn. Penn was much more enjoyable than the Monell, but the Monell was much more interesting, to say the least.

Also, now that the CSA is over, Lizzy, M.E., and I have been utilizing the Farm to Families program, which is a pilot program to get fresh local produce to low-income families in the Kensington area. So far its great! I pay $5 and they split the rest. I get all the meat (so far ground turkey!) and half the eggs and then we split the rest of the produce. Thursday pickups, so, tomorrow!

The other day my friend Erika calls to ask if I have time to do a quick photoshop project for her parents' company, Interprative Solutions. I had done a small photoshoot for them before, and of course I said no problem. I did it in two hours last night, so, thanks Erika, for $30!

I even finished that commission for that couple. They picked it up on Saturday. I forgot to take a good photo of it though! But they loved it and were very happy. Lots of money rolling in these days. Much different from last December.

Kayla came to visit last week. We went to the Wagner Institute of Science which was AWESOME. It's just like the Mutter museum, but its Natural Science specimens. We were there for 2.5 hours, and it was free. I love Kayla because she is so smart and wonderful!
She even made me this lamp shade because the bulb is so bright!

December is pretty cold, but my apartment is warm, and we even got a little snow.

Oh how I love the snow.

Today I cleaned out the hallway (and Ian is coming next week to get some more stuff)

I checked on the building's worm bin (I have my own in my kitchen). Its doing really well, but there were all these squash sprouts!! And because I'm me, I couldn't just break them all and shove them back down... I had to pot them. They'll probably die anyway, but I will love them until they do.
Oh the magical world of the worm bin.

Tonight? Conjoined Baby Jesus Sugar/Gingerbread Cookies! Stop on by!

Thanksgiving and a Day in NYC again

2010-12-05T23:44:00.005-05:00

Another couple of busy weeks!

Thanksgiving was spent in Columbus Ohio this year, with Celia's parents and brother Josh, his wife Claire, her parents, and her sister. The food was delicious and Celia's friends are wonderful! What more could you want?

I flew home on Friday and was back at work Saturday. Monday was Yoga again, and then Tuesday Mom came for dinner and to gift me some things. I bought her a necklace fitting the description "funky" and she liked it! Glory be!

Wednesday morning I got up and went to NYC and met Erin there! She was in town because she participated in a fundraiser show for Hamilton Alumni. It was in the same building as the Gogosian show with John Currin. While we were in the city we managed to see the MOMA,

Double O, by Zilvinas Kempinas

Gordon Matta-Clark

Yoko Ono

the Whitney (sorry, no photos, but they did have the same Charles LeDray show I had seen at the ICA in Boston. It was lovely to see those tiny pots again!), and some galleries on West 24th st including the Gogosian Gallery there with Anselm Kiefer. Amazing.

Got back from NYC and then worked on the commission for a while, followed by Puppet Uprising's Year End Cabaret! Both Friday and Saturday nights! What an awesome couple of weeks.

But now it's cold outside. And it's just harder to feel the sun on your skin through so many layers.

Alice

2010-11-23T11:00:00.009-05:00

Also, I have to give Celia credit for finding this guy Pogo, but Andrew did show me this.

Enjoy!

Social Survival

2010-11-22T14:33:00.003-05:00

Been very social this weekend. Nick (old Mutter coworker) stayed with me so that he could talk to Penn about grad programs. We went to Toby's Weekly Revue which was med-student themed.

Saturday Zac took me to a housewarming party for his friend ShawnElise and met wonderful folks there, including Zac's exroommate Chad and his girlfriend Audrey, both of whom were delightful.

Last night Eli and Celia helped me move some huge roots into the studio. I have great plans for them, so if anyone has [a shit ton] of white yarn I can have, please let me know! Then Eli and I went to Dave's for cookies and bonfire with some other good folks. They have the most lovely backyard.

And the weather has been awesome. (Especially compared to last year, sitting outside at ESP all fall).

Tomorrow I leave for Columbus, Ohio for Thanksgiving with Celia and her family and her brother's wife's family. Will I survive? ...Will they? Tune in next time!

Worm Bin for the House

2010-11-17T21:08:00.006-05:00

It is November 17 and it is finally Autumn.

Thanksgiving is next week. In Columbus.

Yesterday I started working on this commission for a lovely couple in Baltimore. They drove up a few weeks ago so I could take the reference photos, and they turned out wonderfully. The painting is going super super well (don't jinx it, Jen!) and today was day 2 working on it.

I came home for dinner and was feeling so productive that I tore the worm bin apart. In a good way. I promised the building a worm bin and issue after issue have come up to prevent it. Finally I said that I would have my own worm bin, so that I could monitor what goes into it, how often, how much, where in the bin... how warm, how cold, how wet, how dry... And now, three months later, I can officially call myself a Vermiculturist. I can now identify all the good guys from this article, and none of the bad (don't jinx it, Jen!). For the past few weeks I have been keeping all the food to one side of the bin, so that the worms leave the other side of the bin, and I an empty it of castings. Too much castings is bad for them! So then I realized, well, this is a great time to start the other bin (because let's face it, I'm too protective of my worms to give them up to the fates of strange food matter). So I ran across the street to Circle Thrift, and kindly asked the beautiful blonde boy if they had any plastic bins with lids I could buy. After 5 minutes he came back with a perfect blue one. What a wonderful store.

So, how do you separate out worms from dirt, you ask? Well, you use their hatred of light against them! pile the dirt into a mountain, and shine a light. The worms will burrow, and just scrape off the top layers. It takes a few rounds of remolding the mountain and scraping off dirt, letting the light encourage them deeper and deeper into the mound. So, I now have a wonderful bag of dirt. I will give it to Gert for her flower bed!

I apologize if this is too much for you guys. But think of how much you've learned! I will try to keep my worm excitement to a minimum from now on.

Hans sneakily trying to play with his tiny wriggly brothers.

And last night I made french onion soup in my new soup pot!

I had a little of it last night, but it is MUCH better today, sitting in its own delicious juices overnight. With bread from whole foods, and 4cheese blend from trader joe's, what more could you want?

A head of lettuce that is now a pet and not food, perhaps? Well, I've got that too.

So That They Don't Freeze

2010-11-12T00:18:00.004-05:00

I finally transplanted my herbs indoors. I ran out of pots, and they are currently residing in my bedrisers (I took my bed down off them a few months ago, but eventually I might want them again!)
I offered via facebook to give away the doubles (oregano, marjoram, parsley, catnip) and my friend Kolleen once again accused me of being a hippie. Listen folks, don't be fooled: just because I sometimes plant a whole head of lettuce at 1 in the morning because I can't bare to eat things that can continue to grow... JUST because I have a goddamn worm bin... JUST because I learned to bike in a city and refuse to use air conditioning except in the most extreme of temperatures... Shit. Maybe Kolleen's got something there.

Anyway, lots of good stuff going on these days: I feel really good about my art lately, and I'm in the process of winterizing the studio. Found some plastic at Lowes, but I might end up getting some better stuff through my wonderful uncle, if he ever emails me the link so I can see what he's talking about...

I'm about to start the commission, the couple responded today with their favorite image. And Amanda recommended the printshop at UPenn, and I think that's exactly where I'll go!

First Friday was lovely last week. I took Jessica and Christiane to the galleries on Frankford Ave, and we even stopped by the BYO printshop to discuss using the space. I am all set. Just need to get some copper plates and get started!
Then we ran to Old City for the Painted Bride's First Person show, that Mutter-cohort Megan has been working on for months. It was pretty good! Then Dave had some gloves for sale at Art in the Age. Every time I turn around, this guy has some new connections coming through for him, including this awesome article.

And last night was another show: Tyler Scaife, another Basho slave, has a show at the Random Tea Room. I brought Jess and Christiane again, as well as their roommate Erin, and Kelsey who also went to MICA and is visiting for the week. It was a nice turnout. Not TOO many people, but the space is very small. The show is of the Wet-Plate Collodion pieces he's been working on. This is one off his website, even smaller than the image on your screen.

Tyler is really an inspiration to me, whether or not he believes it. (Sidenote, my hands are featured as two of the 26 in the show, selling for $35, so if you want to own my hands, go and get them, if you can figure out which ones are mine...)

Tonight is movie night with Jess and Christiane. Last week we watched The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I enjoyed a thousand times more than I expected to. I mean, Wes Anderson, of course! I also really enjoyed The Ballad of Jack and Rose. And I also enjoyed Agora, but mostly because it was beautiful: Rachel Weisz is stunning as usual, but mostly it was every Alma Tadema painting ever.

Celia and I even went to Yoga on Monday! At the Kensington studio. We liked it enough to agree that going back is a good idea. Pretending to be healthy for $5 is a pretty good deal.

Yesterday was the last CSA day of the year. How heartbreaking! But Celia took me to IKEA and I bought a big soup pot so this winter will be sponsored by root veggies and lentils!

And today I'm covering for Sandy in the store. Time to use the booklight I bought on Amazon. It has been helping, in that I can actually see the words on the page of the book. Maybe its my fault for buying a 600 page book with dark pages and tiny words. But The Mandarins is just so good! (I can't wait to be done with it!)

November and Some Breathing Room

2010-11-01T23:23:00.007-04:00

November. I breathe a sigh of joy, another of relaxation, and another which is more like a gasp for the warmth of summer.

Ghost Tours are officially winding down. I have only one scheduled for November (at my request... no more cold for me than necessary. And I should really be using any nice days in the studio while I can before the weather and I get miserable at each other.)

Riding my bike has been fantastic. This past week as been sort of like a race to the finish line. Halloween, of course. I do SO love having a deadline. I never do anything without a deadline. Today I made a list of all the things I need to do soon, and gave them each a deadline. A bunch of them are getting done this week. Hooray deadlines!

I knew things were winding down when I was able to have coffee with Celia at the Rocket Cat last week. It was a beautiful day. Maybe the last beautiful day for months. I loved it, and mourned it at the same time, as I do with so many things.

Dave joined us for a bit, and introduced us to Slim, who usually doesn't have soot on her nose.

Then, this magical flower burst into a fairy and we followed it to the moon.

We came back though, because Celia forgot her water, and I had to work on my Halloween costume.

Where were my turnips?!
Prepping in the studio.

Garvin and Eli and me waiting for the bus (picked us up at a top secret location, to bring us to an even more top secret location for the epic PEX party!)

(Keeping my eyes real wide gives illusion of being more cartoonie. You see it, right?)

Garvin volunteered for PEX so got to hang some of his work in the first floor gallery space!

And if that's not enough pictures for you, here's some more!
And we dressed up at work on Sunday.

Megan (dead drummer boy), Me, Marie (Super Umlaut Girl!), and Sandy (Sonic the Hedgehog)

I sold one of my hair paintings that day: I have large ones for $55 and small ones for $40. I sold a $55 one, and I get 65% of that in January. Very cool, I gotta keep em coming though!
I even have a commission! This lovely couple is driving up from Baltimore on Friday so I can take the pictures. Pretty exciting!

Friday is First Friday, and my first First Friday in MONTHS. Very excited! I've been really happy being social lately. I want more and more and more of it.

Every winter for as long as I can remember, I think of it as a time for renewal. I imagine a part of myself dying, the part of myself that has grown too warm, or too attached to things, people, places. The winter cools me down, and I grow numb to those things, but I know that they will return to me again. The winter is something I really need, I just wish it weren't so long.

The jade is all dead. It tricked me! It looked so thirsty, so I watered it just a little bit, and just a little bit, and just a little bit. DEAD. But some buds survived, and I'm nursing them (or leaving the fuck alone) back to health, and they are looking quite lovely.

At My Fingertips

2010-10-22T10:53:00.005-04:00

Since New England, October has been in full swing. Apples from the CSA, scarves, ghost tours, and they even turned on the heat in my building!

I went to NYC last week to see the Avett Brothers at Radio City Music Hall with Kayla and Kevin. I spent the whole day there, and got to see the Guggenheim exhibit Chaos and Classicism, which was awesome. I think they could have explained a little more of art before WW1 to the general public (ie, they mentioned Ingres a few times, but without any explanation of who he really was). But it was really very good, I was there for two hours! Then I ran to the MET to see the Jan Gossart show, which was pretty good too. Then the Whitney for the Lee Friedlander show with Kayla, Kevin, and Kayla's friend Ann-Marie. We walked around the whole museum, but two floors were closed. Good thing we all got in free on museum-employee passes! The Avett Brothers were so good!

I did start volunteering at the UPenn Museum last week, and so far its really great. My project is to identify, label, and log hundreds of 4x6 E6 (film positives) photos of the museum's roman glass collection.

I would have gone again yesterday, but Nanny came to see the Cleopatra exhibit at the Franklin! I found that the objects they chose were beautiful, but not necessarily displayed as well as they could have been with the text. I enjoyed reading the historical labels, but they were sort of haphazardly placed near objects that had little or nothing to do with that specific piece of the story, or it was a serious stretch. But then Celia met us for lunch and Nanny took us to Sabrina's which was delicious! AND I have leftovers.

I finally started moving some of the herbs inside.

I have even started riding my bike! AMAZING, JEN, GREAT JOB!, you say. Yes, its true. But, the real truth is that Erika and Jeremy are so good to me, that I asked Jeremy to fix up my bike. He did that and more, granting me not only the use of my bike, but even rode around with me for a little bit. Now, the city is at my fingertips (but, for now, I'll just stay in Fishtown).

I have to admit, I hate how dry and cold and dreary the winter is. But it might just be my best winter in Philadelphia yet.

A Long Awaited Trip to New England: The Boston Photos

2010-10-18T22:58:00.009-04:00

Well folks, the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder, and the ghost tours are getting larger.

But finally, a moment to update you with my goings-on!

Boston was nice. I had imagined it to be very clean, and very new. Very nicely maintained. And it was all of those things, but in a sort of creepy way.

I only really spent two days in the city itself, and one of them rained all over my hopes of truly exploring the city. But I think I saw a pretty good chunk of it, all things considered.
I went to the MFA
Saw one of my favorite Matisses
And once again spotted an Alfred Emile Stevens!

Was surprised to find a Sarah Bernhardt sculpture.
A lot of Sargents!

And I went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where I couldn't take any photographs.

This photograph of the atrium at the ISGM was just now stolen off the internet. I felt that a lot of the paintings on display in the building were poorly lit and difficult to see. But the building made up for what was disappointing in the paintings. Absolutely stunning, and inspiring. I'd like to see an artist residency built around this idea of environment and community.

Anna came to visit on Friday, and we went to the MIT museum, and saw the Robots exhibit!

That night we were joined by Anna's boyfriend as well as Julie, and we went to the Contemporary Art Museum, and then to see In the Next Room, or, The Vibrator Play. It was amazing. I'd recommend it to everyone. Yes, especially everyone.

Saturday Julie took me to Salem! Ahh!

It really just reminded me how much I loved The Crucible.
And there's not much else like hokey, historic tourism!

Sunday we stopped by Kerouac's grave. It was really moving, how many people leave things for him every day. We met two people visiting him, and we were there for maybe 20 minutes. People sure do love you, Jack.

Our next stop was Concord. We did tours of the Old Manse, Orchard House, and then stopped by Waldon Pond.

We didn't have enough time to actually see where Thoreau built his little house, but the recreation of it by the parking lot was good enough for me.

Then I caught a train to Providence. But I think that's best entered in a separate post, yes?

...And Providence!

2010-10-18T22:25:00.008-04:00

Providence was nice too! Unfortunately it was entirely too rainy, and one day, we didn't even leave the apartment. But there was lots to do there, including Settlers of Catan, and lots of food to be baked, cooked, and ...souped?

I really, REALLY, don't know what I would have done if I had gone to RISD. Some of these hills are really dangerous! I imagined slipping down the hill with a big wet painting... no. no. Never.

The Rolypig made me SO happy!

Julie even came in one day to go to a TED talk at RISD with me. Well, not actually a TED talk, but rather a talk with the guy who started TED: Richard Saul Wurman. Julie wasn't feeling it, but I stayed the whole time. I find listening to interesting people incredibly enjoyable, even when they're just rambling (and sometimes, especially then).

I went to the RISD museum with Patrick, Noah's boyfriend. It was WAY more extensive than I had expected, and I really enjoyed it.

I even, once again, found a Stevens painting! (Twice in one trip! Imagine my delight!)

Patrick and I also went to the Culinary Museum at Johnson&Wales. It was actually a ton of fun. The museum itself was pretty small, but just packed with awesome old cooking stuff! The labels were well-written, even some of the individual exhibits were incredibly impressive. But, we had worked up such an appetite that we were prepared to pay top dollar for J&W cooked food, but apparently they have no such place on their own campus? Appalling.

The last night I was there, we went to an awesome Poetry Slam sort of thing. It really made me miss writing.
Kitty.

But I had to come home eventually: Hansie missed me soooo much!

And More and More and More!

2010-09-25T13:31:00.004-04:00

Well this week was my last week volunteering at Project Basho. I met a lot of people that I will continue to see, and I discovered some awesome resources that I will probably continue to not use. Except that I did finally get my film processed from NYC/Brooklyn, and the images did come out, so I'll make a point to use Basho's Negatives Scanner in the near future. My camera being in working order also means that I can take it with me to Boston&Providence next week!! I can even fit it in my beautiful new hiking backpack (ordered off Ebay for cheap, but it totally serves my purposes!).

And when I return from far-away-lands, I will have yet another volunteer job awaiting me: yes, that's right folks, I am officially the new volunteer at the UPenn Archaeology&Anthropology Museum's Archives Department!

I will be working there Thursday mornings (meaning I'll have to get up early on my day off, BUT, I'll be home by early afternoon and hopefully will go right to the studio for some daytime painting of Leslie's kitchen (on the 4x5 canvas I stretched weeks ago. It's coming along quite nicely!) And I even have plans to audit my friend Erika's Architecture class at UPenn on Wednesday mornings. (And I won't even mention the new yoga studio by my house, because then I won't regret talking about it when I end up not going with Celia like we are promising each other we will).

So there's a lot going on! Including, of course, food: the CSA continues to be delicious (lots of squash: squash pasta, squash soup!) and even local honey this week! Last week Mom and Nanny came for dinner at Alma de Cuba (we are really making our Stephen Starr rounds) and Mom liked her birthday earrings (purchased at my favorite local jewelry store Tselaine) and Nanny had a box mailed to me because it was SO heavy, but it included lots of cookies and an asparagus cooker (in which I fully intend to cook pasta and other goodies), but because one tiny box is hardly enough to fill every nook and cranny of my apartment with food and other potentially necessary objects, she brought some boxes with her too.

And lastly, Christiane and Jessica have been graduated from Phase One of Jen Brown Fishtown Integration Orientation 101: they were introduced to, and approved of by the one and only Celia Caust-Ellenbogen. I am looking forward to a beautiful autumn of pretty ladies, knitting (finally) Amelia's poncho, squash, archives, studio, and maybe even some damned yoga. But first it must all begin with a trip to Boston, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Julie, Lowell, Kerouac's grave, Providence, Noah, and more and more and more!

*Apologies that all of my images this post were savagely stolen from the interweb.

Escarole, Worms, and The Horse's Mouth

2010-09-15T19:46:00.003-04:00

Wanted to get so much done today, but instead only ended up getting a little bit of work done in the studio on my hair art (soon to be finished and posted!, round one of them anyway)

But then I came home and made some escarole to go with some of Nannie's chicken I found buried in the freezer, and some leftover sweet potatoes. If I'm still hungry, I can eat some bread with the pesto I made today out of CSA spinach and some basil from the garden and other delicious pesto-making ingredients.

And the crumbs can go to the worms!
I got the worms in, and they are currently residing in my kitchen. I just get so worried about them! Soon I'll move some into the big bin outside, but to be honest, I plan on keeping enough of them in my own bin, just in case the outside bin fails again. This is my last effort on the communal worm bin, after that: they're all mine!

Now for dinner and The Horse's Mouth, a really funny movie that one of the docents at the Mutter Museum recommended to me. Every week he asks if I've seen it yet, and to be honest, I just can't take another week of saying no! (twenty minutes into it, and it's good already!)

Scarves and Apples

2010-09-09T23:55:00.005-04:00

Well, I wore a scarf today. Just a small one. But it happened. I am so not looking forward to the winter. As a matter of fact, knowing that autumn only leads to winter, makes me dislike autumn. But that's not fair, because I really do love autumn. I just love summer the most.

A Fistful of Flowers was an awesome show by the Baltimore Annex Theatre! There weren't too many people there, but it was small and intimate and thoroughly enjoyable. Afterward we all hung out for a while, part of which took place in the playground across from the warehouse.

I took some long exposures with my digital camera.

This week has been very busy with moving Celia into her new apartment!She has some furniture from when she was a kid. We're making it work.

Did I mention she's keeping Marie-Claire? (The cat she's been cat-sitting at the house she was house-sitting)

Before&After

So, you can see even after two days how much better it looks! We still have some work to do, but all in all, its been a great Rosh Hashanah. I even ate a tiny delicious apple from the CSA on my walk home today. So much delicious food! Always!
Look at this freaking broccoli!

Hair, a Bag, and a lot of Good People

2010-09-04T14:33:00.004-04:00

I also managed to get my hair cut for the first time in over a year! Tina at Plume managed to fill out my bangs, healthify my ends without cutting too much off. I was really satisfied with my experience, especially that the salon is organic, and only charged $35 for all that attention. And they do free bang trims too!

Hans does this all the time. He's nuts!

I've been hanging out with a lot of different groups lately! Its so strange to think that I moved here little over a year ago without knowing anyone, and now I have friends from Eastern State, Basho, Swarthmore, and now members and friends of Puppetyranny! And its the best when they overlap! Like when Kennedy from Peter Pan showed up at Erika&Jack's housewarming party with her boyfriend! Or how Eli from Basho was roommates with Mark Pruce from USY during college! Just the other day I hung out with Eli and David from the Peter Pan show! David makes these amazing gloves, and his website is great, but you can also buy directly from his Etsy store. Photos by Eli!

Tonight is a play by the Baltimore Annex Theatre called A Fistful of Flowers, hosted by Puppetyranny at Little Berlin!

Tuesday Celia can start moving in to her new apartment, just a few blocks from me!

AND I just discovered that some awesome girls I knew at MICA, Christianne and Jessica, are moving to Fishtown, also just a few blocks away. I think Celia will like them very much. <3 <3 <3

Last night I made scones from this recipe, with cranberries! Yum, breakfasts for weeks!

Also, All the Plants are Fine

2010-09-04T12:51:00.004-04:00

Despite that Hans took a chunk out of the Avocado plant, I managed to save him and he seems to be growing back in all the right places. I mean, so its starting over a few months, its going to take 10 years to bear fruit.

This funny thing that I still have growing and growing from the Bryn Mawr Lancaster Boys last summer
Spider plant!

Ivy, oh where did that come from? Ian of course.

Jade is also doing much better than when Ian saw it last.

And if my grandmother doesn't come get her plants soon I might just throw them to the worms!
The worms actually are a sad story right now: I did several things wrong, varying from not enough bedding all the way to not keeping them moist enough. But Matt recently built us a beautiful handle-lid, so I need to get things figured out and start again! Yay wormies! (I hope I didn't kill them, but rather that they escaped out the drainage holes and into the earth and are making babies and happily swimming around down there)

Brooklyn and Back (And a lot of Manhattan too!)

2010-09-04T12:20:00.013-04:00

Well, I made it to Brooklyn this time. Saw some amazing people, museums, and I understand NYC/Brooklyn much more than I did. All in all, mission accomplished!

I stayed with Dave on Monday and Wednesday night, and even got to spend some time with him during the day! My AAM card lets me in to any AAM Museum (and others too!) for free, sometimes with a guest too! So I ended up going to 10 museums in 4 days, and Dave got to go to some with me, including the Guggenheim!

The MET is always a good time, and I always end up seeing a new Alfred Emile Stevens painting! He's one of my favorites, and I can't find a book of his work anywhere. I can usually spot him a mile away too!
This lovely work is by Kees van Dongen. I am so in lust with these color choices! (Even more intense in person of course)

I took a walk around the Reservoir while headed to the West side, and took some shots along the way.

I had just enough time to run through the Natural History Museum before having to head back to the Gug, who were nice enough to hold my bag while I toured the city without it for a bit.

Then Kayla was so great, she came in to the city after work to pick me up and we had dinner in Chinatown which was delicious (shrimp in eggrolls! genius!)

Then I went to meet Lizzy Zevallos at a Fringe show that her friend wrote called Tiny Geniuses. Hadn't seen Lizzy since high school: she's the same, but better! Every aspect of the play was simply AMAZING: from the IKEA set, to the actors, to the spectacularly written over-the-top witty dialogue... I wish I could see it again! And best yet, Lizzy knows the girl who wrote it: Emily Feldman. Awesome.
I stayed with Lizzy and her roommate Christina, and their cat Blinkn. View from out their bathroom window:

It was raining a lot, and luckily on Wednesday morning, Dave was home so I could drop my stuff off at his place. Then I took him to the MOMA

How he loves his art!

I really loved this Matisse. I couldn't look away. I need to paint more nudes. (!!!!!!!) (And this particular painting wasn't even at the big Matisse show (on the 4th floor?), and that was really good. We were pretty tired, so I just ran through it while Dave rested outside. It was like a miniature depiction of my week, just running around looking at art smiling wildly and feeling a little bit insane and a lotta bit excited.)

Finally saw a Kara Walker in person! It was really amazing.

Dave left and I hit up the American Folk Museum, sort of just breezed through it, but it was interesting. Then I met him for his fringe show, In the Schoolyard. Not so much my cup of tea, but enjoyable nonetheless. And I got to see two fringe shows! Talk about an education!

Thursday morning I got to see Mark Pruce for breakfast! I have waited YEARS to see him again. What a great kid, and engaged too! Lucky gal. I'll meet her someday soon too!

Then I booked it to the New Museum, where I couldn't take any photos, but had a really good time there too. The space is amazing! Ran to the Whitney, and had an amazing time. I had only been there for the 60s show a few years ago, but was awesome (really, how many other words are as pure as "amazing" and "awesome"?)

Then bolted (note use of increasingly hurried adjectives, as my time in NYC runs short!) to the Frick where I finally saw Ingres' Contesse d'Haussonville... and cried. Like a sap. I didn't expect to, but I love him.

And the Neue Museum. I remembered my love for Schiele and Klimt, as well as discovered George Minne, and educated myself in Otto Dix, of whom I had remained mostly ignorant through my art education.

Thursday night was spent at Ashley Lloyd's, and we went to dinner with her friend Jeremy (how we never met during our years at MICA is beyond me!) and went to a real Brooklyn bar, and then crashed. I saw Chelsea for a minute, and Selina for a bit longer.

(Be cool, make serious faces.)

One more museum: The Brooklyn Museum. It was so much bigger than I was expecting!

And I had forgotten about their Warhol exhibit. I have also been rather ignorant of him, passing him off as "that pop artist" but now I know better!

Then some Kiki Smith, although perhaps I didn't spend enough time with her.

Larry Rivers

And even got to see Judy Chicago's The Dinner Table!!!! It was really the icing on the cake!
Vadis Turner
And even some Louise Bourgeois.

I'm exhausted all over again. Or should I say, inspired? Studio time!

Staying in the Loop!

2010-08-20T10:33:00.003-04:00

Alright folks, I'm trying Brooklyn one more time. I've got a few days of working by day and partying by night, and then I hit the open road (via Megabus of course).

I can't believe how busy I've been this summer, with good people, good food, and being productive in the most important areas of my life. I even gave my kitchen a bit of a makeover!

Look at all that CSA food! Last night was one of those meals that the rest of my meals should strive to live up to: corn on the cob with butter; baby potatoes with trader joes olive oil and rosemary from my garden; sauteed eggplant with tj's olive oil, on toasted tj's bread with pesto that I also made for dinner, the basil from the garden, arugula from the CSA, pine nuts from the depths of my cabinets, and cheese from tjs. (everything not specified, is from the CSA). Good gosh it was a delicious meal! And I have tons of pesto leftover!

I'm finally doing laundry at Andrew's today, and will make him some sort of lunch-dinner combination while I'm there in return.

I also bought a bike helmet yesterday. Total impulse buy, but I had stopped in the Bike Stable to scope them out, and I always forget that studio-mate Derrick works there, and was so helpful! And now I just have to fix the bike and grow a pair, and I have lots of people who have promised to bike around with me, and I'm really hoping to get comfortable enough for a bike ride to Manayunk with good people in the fall. (What more could anyone want?)

I've been reading some awesome books, and also have finally gotten some Artnews magazines in the mail. Its so important to stay in the loop!

On the Road Again

2010-08-10T12:07:00.002-04:00

(Why, hello August! You seem much nicer than July already! July was really quite a bitch.)

Its really quite impossible to post, when you're so busy (too busy to take photos), and even more impossible when you're sad and busy with sick grandfathers, and funerals. I know my audience here is limited to a select few, but for those of you who knew my grandfather (even for a moment), you knew how special he was to me. There were hundreds of people at the funeral/shiva, and that, I'm sure, is not even a fraction of the lives he has touched during his lifetime.

Shayna's visit was also overwhelming too, but it (above other things) reaffirmed how much I really need to live alone. And of course it was nice to see her again.

I've been in the studio a lot lately, but not for very long periods of time (those mosquitoes are either actually demons, or I am way too fucking delicate). I made a list of all the things I'm working on, and I'd really like to get most of them finished by the time I go to Boston&Providence in October. And definitely by the time I go to Ohio with Celia for Thanksgiving.

I've recently been sucked into the tornado that is Puppetyranny. I've mentioned them before, but I was asked to help with a performance at Vox Populi this past Friday. It turned out to be one of the pieces that I had seen at the Cabaret Naivete a few weeks ago, but it was great to be involved.

Puppetyranny presents Mystic Powers from Jeffrey Bussmann on Vimeo.

I'm on the left. Its actually pretty unfortunate that this is the one that got filmed: we did maybe 7 performances that evening, and most of them were very smooth, but this particular one, we got a new helper, unrolling the scroll. A little awkward at times, but you get the picture.

Also, check out the mouth puppets video!

Puppetyranny is putting on their Prequel to Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens this weekend, and I've been told that I'll be selling admission. I already helped make the duck. Come show your support! Its looking really good.

And most recently, Nadav and Sam have asked me to design their ketubah, so I've started some sketches. Hopefully that'll be smooth sailing, and will bring in a pretty penny too!

And finally, I've just spent the last 2 hours posting a note on facebook, begging for dark hair donations, so I can FINALLY get a move on with the hair art, to sell at the mutter. SO, if any of you have dark hair, and are getting it cut, please send it my way. Much obliged.

Apologies, but I'm Brooklyn Bound

2010-07-26T14:43:00.002-04:00

I know, I know, I've been MIA lately. Shayna stayed for a week and a half, Poppy is really sick, I have been working a lot. Several parties and good people have been taking up my time, and I leave right from work today for Brooklyn. Lots of good people there too. And museums! And galleries! And food! I promise photos will be posted soon. A thousand apologies.

"How wonderful, how sane, how beautifully difficult, and therefore true."

2010-07-12T11:29:00.004-04:00

Reading Salinger again.

Shayna will be staying with me for a week or so, I must get her a key, as I'll be visiting Jackson (somehow, and only briefly) and my elderly grandpapa and my sillyface gradmammy.

Herbs and a Birthday

2010-07-06T21:55:00.005-04:00

So I know I've been bad about posting what I've been doing with all my herbs! Well, I did dry a shit ton of mint, and made iced tea last week. Delish!

To be honest, I've been a little intimidated, its still scary to throw herbs in something unless you know it'll be good. The thought of it being awful and therefore having wasted otherwise perfectly-edible food is horrific to me, but its pretty hard to mess things up with a few herbs! (The irony of course is when I'm feeling especially ballsy, I just throw in a ton of different herbs and hope for the best, and this is of course when its most likely to turn out badly!)

Tonight I made my go-to mushroom&cheese burger sandwich (I am always comfortable buying mushrooms because no matter how many I use, I can throw the rest into this burger-like masterpiece just before they go bad and save the day!) but I threw in some marjoram, which turned out well! And topped off with the last of the mixed greens from the CSA a few weeks ago.

And I have so many cucumbers from last weeks CSA, but luckily my Melissa's Everyday Cooking with Organic Produce by Cathy Thomas had the trick:

-peel, slice & remove seeds from the cucumbers (even though I hate peeling/de-seeding cucumbers because they're fantastic in all their wholesome glory!)
-heat up in a skillet with some olive oil for 3ish minutes
-add 1/4 cup water and a pinch of cumin, boil until water evaporates
-add 2 tbsp basil/tarragon/dill (and of course I picked all 3)

and voila! it really was good too! (And then an apricot, followed by several too many peanut butter cups from trader joe's, sigh.)

Enough about food, I forgot to share photos from Elizabeth's birthday this weekend! We did all sorts of things, mostly walking around, enjoying alcoholic milkshakes at PYT, followed by more walking around, some shopping, and dinner at my favorite Cantino Dos Segundos. We attempted to get ice cream at the leukemia fundraiser Saturday night at Penn's Landing, but it was sort of insane, and we didn't get to a prime viewing location in time for the fireworks, but we all had a very nice time, so many Swarthmorons at once!

Elizabeth had a birthday!
Kate flew to visit from Chicago!
I met the infamous Jack!
Even Toby and Julia were there!

Andrew showed up too, just in time to miss the photoshoot, but this blogpost documents his presence.

And for those of you at the edge of your seat, I *did* end up bringing my camera to Making Time, and I *did* have a good time. Maybe I'll even do something with the two rolls I shot, eventually...

Happy 234th, America!

2010-07-04T13:29:00.005-04:00

Celebrating tonight at the annual Making Time Pool Party at the Bamboo Bar

Will I bring my camera to photograph the youth of America as sponsored by Urban Outfitters (during the daylight hours at least?) Or will I jump into a bathing suit and attempt to act as one of them? Only time will tell.

And as always on wasteful-massive-consumptive food-related-American-holidays-celebrating-something-we-barely-understand-but-pretend-to-make-sense-out-of-from-convincing-history-books, can at least try to consume less?
This lovely illustration is by Zoe Keller, illustration-turned-graphic-designer, currently acting as head-of-house at good old 1533.

100 Blog Posts!

2010-07-01T23:31:00.008-04:00

Well guys, this is it! My 100th blog post (not counting the 52 and counting on my art blog!) So let's reflect, shall we? I've lived here for one year and one month. We've had some laughs and choked back some tears, but mostly there's been plants, and Hans... and some fantastic food!

I walk past this building all the time on my way to Basho and whatnot, and I just love it, mostly that some of the boarded up windows are painted as the sky.

On my way home from Basho today, stopped to smell the flowers, they smelled so good! Was photographing them when this little old lady with a Russian or Polish accent yelling from her top floor window told me that they are Passionflowers, and then proceeded to tell me that we're all going to die because there are no bees left, anywhere in the world, and its just a matter of time until we die. (Expressing that I totally agreed with her would have done no good, and I was trapped for a good 5 minutes!)

Walking to get the CSA, this is the intersection by my house. I've been really fond of the 5-7 oclock light lately.And I finally photographed Greensgrow's CSA!

These are their chickens! Hi chickens!Waiting patiently in line, I'm standing in the threshold, also where the fridge for the cheese and "proteins" are kept, I took the Muenster this week, and some eggs for myself!
So the left side is the CSA, the right is the farmstand. So, for those of you still confused about how CSAs work, we pay for our shares ahead of time which ensures the farmers and whatnot that their produce will be sold, which means that they can go ahead and grow all this organic deliciousness. The farmstand is there for whoever is not part of the CSA but still wants awesome goodies, and also they have things that the CSA doesn't, maybe things that aren't quite as in-season, so someone with a CSA share can still buy stuff from the farmstand side, obviously!
And they very clearly label what everything is, and how much of it you should take!
Oh, you can see the apricots in the first one, but because of all the weighing, the line was long this week, and I was able to take these photos without being horribly in the way!

The basket to the left is the trade-in basket, so if there's something you simply don't need or want, you take it, and then put in the basket, and hope that there's something in there that you want instead! Today no one wanted the mint, I bet because a lot of people grow mint on their own, or most people don't know what to do with it (quite a difference, I wonder which one is true) And although I do grow my own mint, I grow spearmint, and this is peppermint, but there will be much more of this I'm sure. I gave it to Erika and Jeremy, this week, they also grow spearmint!

And oh my god, Erika asked that I pick up some meat from their freezer (this year they're not including meat in the CSA but its available for purchase in the retail fridge/freezer section), and so we picked lamb cubes, and then Erika and Jeremy made a fantastic dinner (as usual) of lamb kabobs with peppers and hummus made while everything else cooked. I love CSA day!

Chrzan's Curve_One

2010-06-28T10:14:00.005-04:00

So, while I was enjoying Puppet Uprisings on Saturday, Erika and Jeremy went to Harrisburg to launch the "spaceship" that Jeremy has been working on for a few months. When I first heard about it, I thought it was just a dream of his, an awesome idea that would never come to exist. But, alas, the documented proof, that I am really impressed by and wanted to share with you:

Many, many more photographs can be found at this website, but he's threatening to downsize his image library soon!

Yeah, I know some pretty cool people.

Boskke (It's French for "Jen, You're Crazy!"

2010-06-27T17:01:00.003-04:00

Boskke.

Oh god.

Good; Antipodal Goatlegs

2010-06-27T10:45:00.002-04:00

Goodness gracious, Puppet Uprisings last night was a lot of fun! It was two groups, Beth Nixon and The Cat Fish. The Cat Fish had an awesome rather post apocalyptic performance on a makeshift boat, but it was too dark to really photograph. And Beth's I was simply too captivated to do anything but watch, but luckily someone else was smarter than me (at a previous performance), and so this is the first third of her Antipodal Goatlegs, and if you're curious the folks assisting her are Morgan Andrews and Leslie Rogers, some other awesome puppeteers I know!

I mean, there weren't tons of puppets per say, but what a fun show!

Lots of fun people were there: Basho people, Berks Warehouse people, Baltimore people. Tons of fun. And it was outside with the fireflies and the mosquitoes which is a great way to spend a Saturday night.

Another pretty great thing, is really just Good. Andrew introduced me to Good a few weeks ago, and I really really like it. Its news but its all interesting, relevant, and all of the articles are really short and not at all overwhelming. Basically, its news for the instant gratification hip college age demographic, and I like it!

Through them I even learned about this new website that connects you to volunteer opportunities: Catchafire. I know I have had some serious difficulty trying to volunteer for different groups, that either it takes so long that by the time it comes through I'm already in a different state, or they never get back to you, or you end up not finding any organization that you feel comfortable working with (I mean really, imagine me sawing wood). So, for those of you seeking out some volunteer opportunities this summer, either to give back to the community, meet new people, or just do something productive with your endless summer days of free time, try Catchafire, and I'd love to hear how it goes!

Tropical Apartment!

2010-06-25T11:31:00.005-04:00

The Air Conditioner has been in use, and Hans is thrilled! Honestly, I have to admit, its nice. But, I don't have it too cold in here either.

We have to keep it warm enough for the avocado!
Not to mention the palm tree!

If you can spot the new growths, good for you!

Really not too much to report, CSA day was yesterday, with lots of delicious stuff. I finally used the cucumbers from last week when I made the avocado&cucumber soup last night, and it is delicious! Arugula&parm cheese pasta for lunch for the next few days and kale and we each got one peach. And its blueberry season... there aren't enough blueberries in the whole world for me. So, I think I'll buy some from Trader Joes and enjoy them all week long! Summertime!

And just a few hours later, reading The Bell Jar, got distracted and decided to finally put the avocado in soil. And then got so mad at the Dill for growing into a monster that I cut his flowers off. Well, its ok, because apparently they lose a lot of flavor once they flower! So, I've found some recipes for dill flower butter and of course pickling recipes, but I'd have to buy butter or cucumbers. But they're so beautiful!

Good thing I have work tomorrow, meaning grocery shopping! Followed by Puppet Uprisings at Emerald Street Farm!

Recommendations

2010-06-22T19:12:00.002-04:00

Busy busy busy

Friday I saw Vaclav Havel's first play in 20 years "Leaving". It was really good, but I think I enjoy it more now than I did while in the theatre. I definitely recommend it, and don't get fidgety: its worth sitting through.

Saturday and Monday were gatherings at Erika and Becky's houses respectively. Both were a really good time. Sunday M.E. got locked out of her apartment so we got to hang out for the first time really. I like my new neighbors very much.

I indulged myself yesterday by purchasing two cookbooks that I really don't need but wanted! I mean really, what the hell am I supposed to do with 18 herbs constantly growing outside my window?! The Herbal Kitchen by Jerry Traunfeld, and Melissa's Everyday Cooking with Organic Produce by Cathy Thomas, which is actually more for the CSA stuff but, its just really well organized with great recipes. I did a fair amount of research before purchasing them, and then spent a lot of time in the bookstore looking through them. I already have several herb books, but none specifically on cooking, with recipes. Also, I don't cook a lot of meat so I hate to buy cookbooks where meat is always the main dish. So, recommendations all over the place!

This weekend is another Puppet Uprising show! Right by my house, at 2313 Emerald St. from 8:00-10:00 pm. See you then!

Woolly Pockets and !@#$%^ Pumpkins!

2010-06-14T11:00:00.005-04:00

Design*Sponge just posted this wonderful new product called Woolley Pockets! I was sort of doubtful at first, and you definitely need lots of light, but, seriously these are awesome. Especially the Wallys.

I need an electric shock collar so I won't buy anymore plant items. I planted some pumpkin seeds from a kit mom bought me last year, and only realized in September that it said to plant them in June. So, now I have fucking PUMPKINS growing in my apartment. Ugh. HAHAHA... totally loosing it.

And Avocado has leaves!

The roof garden at Leslie's is epic, and we had our first big summer evening rainstorm last night. I had just gotten to the studio and soon everything was glowing and green.

Itching for the Future, Enjoying Today!

2010-06-08T14:27:00.004-04:00

'
An update on my herbs! They look great! I finally cooked with some of them last night: mashed potatoes with cilantro and scallions, and mushrooms with onions and a whole mix of herbs! Just threw em in the pot! It was a bit overwhelming, but I'll get the hang of it. Oh and also, I've decided to add sage to the list. So soon it'll be 18 herbs! Good number, and the rightmost smartpot is a little empty looking anyway.

So I have officially moved down to 3 days a week at the Mutter, the Census is all but over, I have a lot of ghost tours, including one tonight just for Elizabeth, her mom, and Celia- free of charge of course!

I have been in the studio a lot, soon to bake some faces and generally getting things going. I've also been reading a lot. I finished Helen Fisher's Why We Love, and if you'd like a briefing on the subject, you can watch the following video:

I am reading Murakami's Norwegian Wood, but mostly while at work. And at home I am reading Diarmaid Macculloh's Christianity. Both incredible books, but for different reasons, obviously.

I found this pudgy little cappytiller on the herbs I didn't plant in the garden. I potted them in a pot and then gave them to Amelia when she was here last week. But by then he had disappeared.

This guy got repotted today!
Look at this lovely avocado! It has lots of attempted stems, so I'm not sure if I did something wrong... several times... or if he just likes to try things to see what the difference is. But this one seems to be the guy, he's got little leaves on the top ready to spread their wings.

It finally cooled off today, but Hans is getting shaved soon!

And all this warm weather and good literature and herbs just make me itch for a good Kerouacian adventure... even just a few days of craziness... I'm looking forward to my trip to Boston and Providence in the fall. But that's so far away. Itching for the future is the opposite of enjoying today!

TasteSpotting!

2010-06-06T11:37:00.002-04:00

Sandy Boyer just told me about TasteSpotting, and brilliant website which enables you to search the best of the food blogs!

In other news, I went to Puppet Uprising on Friday with Amelia, Erika D, and Becky. It was awesome! The next event is June 26 right by my house, so feel free to join me!

Becca and Yelena Strike Again

2010-06-02T10:47:00.005-04:00

So, I am at work at the Mutter again, and after I check gmail and facebook, I move on to npr and then design sponge, only to find that Yelena Brynksenkova is featured on Design Sponge today!

Then I go to blogspot and see that Becca has posted that she is featured in the 69th issue Oxford American magazine!

These girls really are too much!

Hans&Oscar, and 17 Rooftop Friends

2010-05-31T20:48:00.004-04:00

Last week, Hans started sleeping in my closet, behind my skirts, above my little plastic dresser. Its almost time to shave him down!

The CSA started last Thursday! Erika is on vacation, and last minute Celia went to visit her grandmother, and Elizabeth is too busy to collect her share: leaving me with 4 CSA quarter-shares to consume myself! But I made some kale chips, and have been eating a lot of mixed greens salad with strawberries, and tonight I made some zucchini casserole, so I can freeze some and give to the others.

I also made mulberry muffins, after being informed by my ex-downstairs neighbor Nicole (she moved back to Massachusetts this morning) that the trees outside our building are in fact mulberry trees, and quite edible and delicious!
I finally bought my herbs from Greensgrow, the same day I got my CSA! What herbs do I have? Left to right: dill, parsley, marjoram, mint, oregano, and tarragon; catnip, cilantro, basil, thyme, and lemongrass; sweet fennel, rosemary, St Johns wort, chamomile and lavender. Scallions are separate, but I need to drill a hole in the bottom of that spare bed riser!

I haven't used any of them yet, as I want to give them plenty of time to adjust. I am determined to learn the art of drying so I can have tea all winter! And Hannah has gotten me so excited about making wine and preserves, so I might have to do that too! Now I know I have mulberries, and the leaves make good tea too! And I think I'm going to get a goji plant, I have a hook above to the right of my window, for a hanging basket. Goji's are really big right now, and I actually have a credit to use at Greensgrow: the very helpful girls sold me a block of coconut peat moss or something like that, to mix in with the mushroom compost. But as I only had about 2 hours to plant everything, before work on Friday, chopping from the brick was awful. I only used a little bit of it, and ended up having enough potting soil to mix, and then I added more from the NKCDC nursery that evening, since they were open after work and I was able to buy a big bag from them. Ah, sometimes I think I do too much. Anyway, the folks at Greensgrow said I could bring the partially used brick back in exchange for a plant or something, so I intend to do just that.

In other news, Hans has finally met his new boyfriend Oscar: Lizzy's cat.

Their meeting was rather chill, with Oscar hissing just a little, and then them mostly ignoring each other. Hans finally showed that he is submissive in Oscar's territory and also since Oscar is two years older and several pounds heavier.
Since that day they've hung out a few more times, mostly sitting on opposite sides of the table until Hans tries to play with Oscar, something in which he has yet to succeed. Soon though Hans, soon.

Movement Makes My Heart Sing!

2010-05-30T12:56:00.006-04:00

I have been so incredibly busy! I even have some photos to prove it! But for now, I just had to share these images by Pablo Zuleta Zahr, featured on Daily Serving today. The movement in these makes my heart sing!

Mo' Money Mo' Problems

2010-05-25T19:54:00.009-04:00

Just Kidding.

Except that now all of a sudden I have a list of all the things I need, that I haven't needed until now, when the money keeps rolling in!

I had my first day working for the Census today, and the hardest thing should really be getting in 20 hours of work every week, and not blowing through all the work assigned to me faster than the speed of light.

I was supposed to have finished my ghost tour training last week, but I think all the other things I've been doing got together with my cold feet and I canceled my appointment. Rescheduled for tomorrow, and I will vanquish this final story and give two tours this weekend!

3 jobs, and a studio to use! I've started a doll, and I have an idea for a puppet show that will probably never come to fruition, but lets just say Leslie and her apartment and her friends are all sorts of inspiring!

My friends are really the best. And who knew they felt the same about me?! Aisha spent the night two weekends ago, the first night I was back from Baltimore. Apparently all this blogging about being productive, and mostly about growing a green thumb has been an inspiration to her! What an honor! I've just been so busy to post, but it was her birthday yesterday, so I figured I should get my shit in order. Happy birthday Aisha!

There are so many plants in my apartment now!
It is a jungle in here!
Ian left a bunch of plants that Lizzie and M.E. simply don't need in their lives right now. Of course, Hans doesn't need this palm in his mouth, but he insists. It is his current get-spray-bottled-to-the-face act of rebellion.
I bought these plates from that oh so charming place called Urban Outfitters. On sale!

Then there was the night Tsuyoshi called a full staff meeting last week so that we could clean out the storage space in the ceiling. It was epic.
Alyssa
Garvin
Eli
The Gallery
Garvin again. We all felt like that. But it was good.
And then Tsuyoshi took us all out for drinks. Not everyone, but a many (courtesy of Eli):

Rachel
me
Jacob
Grisha
Eli
Dave
Anne
Garvin
Tsuyoshi

This post is getting awfully long. Maybe I should stop doing so much, and stop having photographs to show. Hah, but then I don't post at all!

Last Friday was the Weekly Revue, my second time attending, mostly on Leslie's behalf as she was an act, wearing her naked man suit answering questions about a mouth-puppets video I had seen in December at the Puppet Uprisings show. Lots of good people were there from Eastern State, Basho, everywhere. Some good acts too!

Avocado!
Hans was so sad when I went to Celia's after work on Sunday: I just had to watch the series finale of Lost on a real live television. It was great!

And then today I bought some bowls at Circle Thrift (I think I have somehow lost one of my ceramic cappuccino mugs, which are so universally utilitarian!) And if I haven't posted them yet, in the back, yes, those are the cocks that Kayla bought me. She is convinced that I should decorate my kitchen with cocks. Tons of 'em. I think two is good. For now.

We Love You So Kayla and Ellen!

2010-05-21T11:22:00.010-04:00

Soon, hopefully tonight, I'll post some photos of Aisha's brief but extremely appreciated visit, but I couldn't wait to post these awesome congratulations!

One) Congrats Kayla, official graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in evolutionary anthropology! Not only that, but she is leaving tomorrow for a three-week trip through Albania, Greece, and Romania! Best yet, she just got a hot promotion at the Liberty Science Center, so she'll now be workshopping experiments with children!! I am so jealous (well, about everything but the children...) and so proud!

Two) Ellen Kling was featured on We Love You So, a blog with which I am sorry to say, I was not aware. But any friend of Ellen is a friend of mine!

How can one person have so many awesome friends?

"Parting is all we know of heaven and all we need to know of hell."

2010-05-18T11:17:00.011-04:00

-Emily Dickenson

A year ago today, I graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art. I didn't cry that day. I tried not to cry that summer, because I knew that if I started to cry, I might not ever stop. But time does soothe all sorrows.

My visit to Baltimore was grand. I got a ride there for free, since Nick was driving through Baltimore on his way to North Carolina. I even got a ride back because Sarah was driving back to Atlantic City from Towson! I have such good friends!

I stayed with my friend Victoria, but so many MICAns were finishing up commencement show stuff, and etc, that I ended up spending more time with friends who graduated MICA but stayed in Baltimore.

The Commencement Show was awesome, and ArtWalk was great, but looking at that much art really is exhausting!

Claire Clayton
Becca Stadtlandter*

Yelena Brynksenkova*
Shannon May

Dominique Hellgeth was front and center on the first floor of the Brown Center!

Peter Eide got two walls!

Caroline Evans

Ashleigh Wilkinson and Heather Donahue; apologies for slightly misrepresenting the piece: it actually reads (from the eye-level of a person of normal height) "We Have Nothing To Hide"

Austin Rocket

Ajay Leister

"Validation"

"Virgin and Slut"

Jamie Freedman

This is actually my friend Riff, with whom Bobby and I enjoyed some of Fishtown's First Friday a few weeks ago. He got photographed by some MICA kids, and was there in the show!

And I must have accidentally deleted the photograph of this artist's name, so if anyone knows who did this awesome piece, please enlighten me!

Other good times were had, including two nights of celebration of the 25th anniversary of the birth of Mike Hanes.

"And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure . . . And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, 'Yes, the stars always make me laugh!' And they will think you are crazy. It will be a very shabby trick that I shall have played on you..."
-Antoine de Saint Exupery, The Little Prince

*denotes photographs stolen from Claire Clayton on account of I didn't catch the artist beside their work myself.

Studio Apartment

2010-05-12T09:04:00.005-04:00

As I still have no internet at my apartment, posting has been a bother. I currently sit inside the Rocket Cat Cafe, not yet enjoying my much-too-hot yet incredibly-fresh coffee, and croissant which is destined to make me thirsty enough to attempt the coffee. Better things to to, like post to my blog! But, ya'll should check out the Rocket Cat because the above photograph is actually the recently done side of the Rocket Cat, a fantastic work of art by Shepard Fairey, who of course is best known for the following images

http://www.designlessbetter.com/blogless/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/shepard-fairey_barack-hopethumbnail.jpg

http://www.graffiti.org/faq/kataras/kataras_fig3Fairey.jpg

and of course you may recognize the people in that photo as well, since Amelia, Kayla and Kevin came to visit last weekend for the awesome Gogol Bordello show at the Electric Factory! We enjoyed a lot of things including bubble tea, and a trip to the Archaelogy and Anthropology museum and also harassing classical sculptures just outside it.

The Studio is going really well! I have been using it daily, and have even begun a topsy-turvy doll which will of course have one side regular-doll, and the other side medusa-doll. Who knew I can sculpt?! I just need to learn how to sew.

I am headed out now, since Nick from the Mutter is moving to North Carolina today, to attend a pre-med program. He happens to be driving through Baltimore, and is giving me a ride, how awesome! I will be there to see awesome people, eat awesome food, and of course see awesome art, since Artwalk is Thursday night!

Becca the Incredible!

2010-05-05T12:49:00.004-04:00

I have quite a few photos to post, and quite a few events to report, mostly including that I have officially moved into my studio with the help of one Celia Caust-Ellenbogen! I have a lot of stuff, and am going to purchase some light bulbs and extension cords and coffee!

The internet is down at the apartment temporarily because Ian has moved out, and Lizzie and her roommate M.E. haven't moved in yet. Turns out, same M.E. as the M.E. I worked with at Eastern State for a week before replacing her! Amazing!

Almost as amazing as Becca Stadtlander, former roommate, and lifetime buddy. She has been featured on Design Sponge, and I couldn't be more proud. Although, it should come as no surprise since she had a some pieces accepted into the Society of Illustrators back in January.

I am going to Baltimore next week to see the commencement show, and I couldn't be happier to see all these beautiful smiling faces and magical souls again. What a great month to move into my studio at the Berks Warehouse!

Domestic Transformer

2010-04-27T20:25:00.002-04:00

So, Small Cool didn't pick my apartment, but it was fun to apply to something. (Seriously, what on earth would I do with a $2000 design shopping spree!?)

But, I've been really inspired by all the small, cool spaces, and I just saw this, and just had to share it with you guys. I guess I'll give up my dream of being the land lady of a 4 story row house full of artists...

Gary Chang's 330 square foot apartment. 24 rooms. Genius.

Done with Doubts and Dithering

2010-04-26T15:30:00.002-04:00

It's been rainy and cold, so I haven't gone to buy my herbs yet. But, I did make dinner with Celia last week, so I saved the unused scallions and parsley: the scallions (above) are growing quite nicely in one of the two extra bed-risers I got from Ikea last year (since my bed uses 6). The parsley (below) is sprouting well in water.
My grandmother's violets are doing really well, just in time for their return in a week or so! She'll be thrilled with all the pretty white flowers!
Guys, I've got to admit something. The universe has been sort of handing things to me lately. I haven't had enough hands to accept it all, and I am really grateful, but I am beginning to wonder what it will want in return... Are you curious yet?

Mostly in terms of income. I was unemployed for a whole month, and it got to be a bit scary but mostly boring and unproductive. But since then I've been working at the Mutter, and still volunteering at Basho, while continuing to apply to anything that catches my eye. I am doing really well on my ghost tour training, and should be giving tours in just over a month! The Census called me last week, and I have my paid training next week. Urban Outfitters called me for a group interview that I accepted, but have been postponing on account of all the other things going on: I have to call and ask them to put my on the back burner for a few months, if they can. The Mutter might be needing me a little more often soon, when Nick leaves for his Pre-Med post-bac program in North Carolina, but I still haven't been told anything officially yet.

Most recently, today, my phone rang and it was Gert, downstairs. She asked if I wanted a job as a hostess at a Cafe, and if I wanted to make some money this week doing face painting at the UPenn Children's Festival. Of course I reluctantly said no the first, and yes to the second! We went to meet her friend Simone, who owns Hinge Cafe in Port Richmond, which is about a half hour walk, or a short bus ride. She needs a hostess for the weekends and helpers for face painting this week only. I am helping her out tomorrow and Thursday, but am busy other than that! Maybe later in the summer she'll be in need of some help, and then I might be more available, but maybe not. When we got back, I thanked Gert for the gig and the ride, and she casually mentioned that Simone has artists show work there from time to time. Gert is my favorite person today, if only she would get her act together building our tumbling composter!

I don't know how I'm going to have time to do all these things AND use my studio. All I know is, I get a lot more done when I am running on adrenaline, coffee, and chocolate, than a good night's sleep.

Mom is coming for dinner tonight, although she couldn't get her hands on a promised used Air Conditioning unit. Good thing I really won't need it for a few more weeks. I guess she'll just have to come visit again. Too bad, I really hate free dinner and mom's company!

Fantastic Planet

2010-04-23T12:35:00.002-04:00

Maybe this Jade plant is good luck already! Or maybe I made my own luck by adopting him, because some pretty rad stuff has been dropping by to say hey for a few months now.

Yesterday as I was painting in Ian's apartment (lucky, I was being productive!), I got a call from the Census, offering me the job as an enumerator, beginning in May with 4 days of paid training! (Lucky, I scored a 95% and then assumed they didn't call for a month because I only speak English, but they were just being lazy I guess).

And best of all, some friends from Baltimore are into putting on plays as an art form, and so they are doing a rendition of Fantastic Planet. I thought I wouldn't be able to see it, since they were performing it in Baltimore, but they are on tour for a few days and played at the OX, which is really close to my house. I brought Andrew and Andre, and I think they liked it. And then my friend John and some other guys came back to my place ...ok, Ian's place to crash for the night. It was so awesome to see Mike and John and even the faces I barely recognized. It was a pretty good night.

And I noticed a few days ago, one of my (too many) avocado seeds is sprouting beautifully. And I bought some parsley for dinner with Celia, and threw the extra in water: they are beginning to root! And in celebration of Earth Day, I finally planted some seeds in some peat pots. I planted mustard and pole beans and some sweet pea. This really is one fantastic planet!

Jade

2010-04-20T17:04:00.002-04:00

I had almost forgotten about these two photos.

Ian packing and Adam cleaning. It took exactly one week for Ian to quit his job and move to Pittsburgh. Fast!He gave me this jade plant. He's not doing so well. But I think Ian could learn a thing or two about succulents, because this guy was drowning. So, he's in new dryer soil, and I took all his dead and dying limbs away.He looks better already!
And in the process of cleaning him up, some little guys fell off. Let's see if they grow!

Small Spaces, Wide World

2010-04-19T18:59:00.004-04:00

This morning, I helped Ian bring the rest of his stuff out to his car. He moved to Pittsburgh today. He'll be back in May to get one more carload, and he officially pays rent until July. But its strange to have been here less than a year and to have met Noel and Ian, watched Noel leave and be replaced by Ally, watched Ally leave, and finally say goodbye to Ian. Gert and I have decided to personally advertise and choose who gets to live here. The apartment beneath Ian's will be opening up over the summer as well. So, anyone looking for an awesome place to reside, here it is!

Speaking of residences, Apartment Therapy is hosting their 6th annual Small, Cool Spaces contest. Obviously I qualify because I live in a small space (well under the 400 square foot mark, their smallest category: Teeny Tiny), but I also live in an awesome space. I took some new photos and had to pick the best 5, and I am hoping they post my entry, but since they might not, here were my entries (I even cleaned up a bit for the photo shoot!):

Pretty damn cool, if you ask me.

Cool enough to work at Urban Outfitters? I had applied back in November, and received a call for a group interview this week. Talk about prompt. I decided to postpone the interview on account of I don't know what will be happening at the Mütter, since I have heard some rumors of a coworker quitting soon. But its a nice thought, to work 7 days a week and have a sweet discount on awesome clothes... Too bad I just paid my deposit on a studio space, since I can use Ian's for a few months yet. But I need to devote time to making art, and I am still convinced that I'll do better making art around other art-makers.

Although I have been writing a lot lately.

And here's something just a little controversial, to start the week off right.

Shame and Glee over Food Stamps

2010-04-14T18:39:00.002-04:00

Basho shift this morning. Had totally intended to stay and print, but I had forgotten my film here. Oh well, Andrew is coming over for dinner. And he just sent me this fantastic article about the shame and glee of 20-something year old college grads on food stamps, purchasing organic and exotic foods and living the high life. Its the best article I've read in a while.

Pixel World Domination

2010-04-13T14:55:00.002-04:00

by Patrick Jean

Blooms

2010-04-12T16:44:00.004-04:00

Little Megan sent me a lovely drawing! Although, I think it was mostly for Hans.

Last night was Passover Seder at Celia's! ...What do you mean we were 3 weeks late? (Because Celia had seder with her parents in Ohio, and then the water in their house was busted, things had to be postponed a bit). But I took the Regional Rail and Celia picked me up and it was all sorts of lovely. Three of the 6 of us hadn't been to a Seder before, so it was a really nice combination of people.

Without a car I have successfully done laundry, and gone to Celia's: the two things I was most worried about! And if Ian doesn't know he's helping me move into the studio on May 1st, he's in for a big surprise!

Speaking of which, I paid my deposit and first month's rent for the studio today. Took some photos, but it's a 10x11 foot space with nothing too exciting to photograph yet. I get to keep the bookcase!
This foyer is just outside the studios, I have a feeling I'll be painting here a lot.
Flowers!
The tree behind my apartment is finally doing something!
Hans has been using his harness! He meows like a dog when he wants to go out, and I let him out for a few minutes until I get bored. He's not very good about coming back in. We're going to have to work on that.

Onion!
Nannie's plant is about to bloom!
This thing is nuts.

Ghost training tonight (oops, I should leave now!) and then birthday party in West Philly! The crazy thing having friends who don't have M-F 9-5 jobs, means we can throw parties any day of the week and still get a decent turnout. Right on!

Of New Sales and Leases

2010-04-11T13:31:00.006-04:00

In the past week I have fallen in lust with one studio, in love with another, sold a painting, and hosted some Canadian friends of a friend of mine.

Leslie, the same girl from this blog, posted in one of my previous posts, as well as a member of Puppetyranny, a group part of Puppet Uprisings, also previously posted: Leslie, a girl I went to MICA with, and also a girl renting out studio spaces in her warehouse apartment at the Berks Warehouse. AKA, the home of my new studio. I move in on the first of May. The studio is smaller than the first one I had looked at, and doesn't have any direct windows. Its slightly further away. But, there is a kitchen, living room, roof gardens with herbs and veggies and exotic plants. Most importantly, there are just tons of awesome people. I suppose it came down to the fact that I am certain to meet more people at the Berks Warehouse than at the Viking Mill, which as far as I could tell, is mostly comprised of artist professionals, who maybe intimidate me a little.

And that's the story of my studio.

Everything else is history.

Except for this blog (recently published into a book) which I think is the most fantastic thing ever.

And, thanks to whoever out there is searching for me on Google! I believe that I am the second non-sponsored "Jen Brown" on Google, and rising! Search my name and see for yourself!

Springtime in Fishtown

2010-04-06T09:56:00.005-04:00

I woke up to rain, but now it is sunny and the birds are chirping and the windows are open!

So the House Plant is a Coleus! And I am glad I know his name now (thanks Amelia!) because I awoke today to there only being two little guys on the windowsill, and three little pots. HANS! Yes, Hans had eaten the weakest one. But then I looked at the mommy Coleus, and decided that she needed a trim again, so we are starting from scratch, and why not?

I had my second audition thing with the Ghost Tours and it was much better than last week. Do not ask me about last week!

The Census never called me. And I thought a 95% was goddamn impressive! But Grisha says that they would be much more likely to call me if I knew another language. But, I am not giving up hope, and maybe I'll even call them eventually. But right now I am focusing my energy on finding a studio. It is tricky business, let me tell you!

But these shoes are fantastic, are they not?

I bought them when I went shopping with Erika a few weeks ago. Perhaps the first pair of shoes ever that didn't need to be broken in, and also, honestly my first pair of sandals since middle school.

In other news, I enjoyed First Friday with Celia, Elizabeth, their friend Jessie, and Andrew too! We mostly stayed at ExtraExtra Gallery, across the street. I had been invited by Leslie Rogers, a fellow MICAn who I only recently realized I know. It turns out that the performances were mostly MICA students, and since I wasn't close with any of them, I haven't seen any of their recent work, but it was wonderful to see what they have been up to. All the performances we saw were thought provoking, humorous, and well done. Don't take my word for it, they were the star of this post of The Art Blog on Fishtown's First Friday on Frankford Ave! You can even watch a bit of Leslie performing!

Hans loves the windows open. I even let him out on the roof yesterday with his harness and leash! If only there were more he could explore without the danger of fleas and other icky critters.

They are jackhammering outside my building again. I guess that's what you get for living in the newest cool part of town!

House Plant Babies

2010-03-29T15:19:00.004-04:00

In other news, I just discovered this fantastic website, of Obama Looking at Awesome Things. He is SO COOL.

Eat Your Matzo.

2010-03-26T11:08:00.002-04:00

I passed the Census exam with a beautiful 95%! The first (real?) test I have taken since the SATs. Or maybe it just felt more real because it was final, and in-debatable: at school, you can always retake, or argue, but with filled-in dots on answer sheets, that shit's for real. They'll call me within the week.

And I need to get my shit together with the ghost tour, practice/training keeps getting postponed due to the weather, and that Eileen has a cold. And of course without the pressure, its hard for me to actually rehearse!

For those of you excited for Passover, I'd like to share in my excitement, but it all rests in this little minute of traditional stimulant:

Eat your Matzo.

Stop-Animation Inspiration

2010-03-24T22:42:00.013-04:00

I've been really into stop animation lately. I started one last summer that died as soon as I tried to put it to paper, but maybe I should try it again.

Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie

Lost Things by Angela Kholer

Western Spaghetti by PES: one of the most sensually gratifying videos of all time

and because I could just post these when I have nothing else to post, here's the last one:

NYC looking very small by Sam O'Hare

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

I took my practice Census test last night and did very well! Tomorrow morning is the real thing, and I don't quite know what the next step from there is. Tomorrow night is my first presentation of my tour guide skills with the Ghost Tours of Philadelphia.

Today I walked to Basho for my monitor shift and then walked back. Way to walk an hour and love it! I can't believe how everything is blooming and lovely! It seems as though the months are all ahead of themselves: the 40 inches of snow we should have gotten in March, was got in February, which definitely went "in like a lion, and out like a lamb", while March is bringing April's showers, so April can flower and May has nothing to do but be beautiful! Sigh, as long as we get two months of May and not two months of July or August!

Spring has Sprung!

2010-03-21T21:37:00.005-04:00

What a difference a few weeks can make!

Unfortunately, I have been busy and more unfortunately, I haven't been documenting this busy-ness. In an attempt to post more often with less effort, I have decided to post more artists and videos that I enjoy. Starting today, when it is not necessary:

Some of my recent activities include getting a new job (Philadelphia Ghost Tours!), for which I am still in training/ongoing audition, Taryn Simon's lecture at the College of Physicians (aka the Mutter Museum), Puppet Uprisings production of Julius Caesar (and it turns out I know a few of the cast of the best act!, Puppetyrrany, from MICA), the Mutter Ball (which I hear there are tons of photos and videos of online, but I can't seem to find any!) and most recently, a production of The Pillowman, starring my friend Nick from Eastern State (one more weekend, purchase tickets here!). Whew! That's a lot! But, last week was most hectic, as I had company for 4 straight days!

My friend Ekaterina came to visit, to see the Picasso and the Avant Garde show at the PMA, which was good, but I am going to see it again and listen to the audio guide and really pay attention. It's curious though, that we can't sketch, probably because of how many people they are expecting, since it is the only American location for this show. Maybe I'll email the museum and ask for special permission...
It has been just the most beautiful week ever. I am so excited for summer time and warmth! These were the first blossoms I saw this year!

I drove Ekaterina back to Jackson so she didn't have to take the train all the way back to her house, and after I abandoned my car at my moms house, we had sushi and she dropped me off at Amelia's. Amelia, Desiree, and Megan spent the next day and a half here, and we had a lot of fun!
We went to the Mutter, which they loved, and Trader Joes, and lots of shopping, and South Street including the Magic Gardens:

$4 for admission, you're damn right I took a lot of pictures!
I finally tied a string to this guy and hung it from the ceiling: he is doing so well!
I planted an onion that started to grow. Too bad I am totally lost when it comes to bulbs.
I finally attacked "the houseplant" (I never knew his name!) and felt badly, so put the clippings in water, and they are rooting! If anyone in the area wants a lovely sturdy Houseplant, let me know... I wonder if they'll make it to soil stage!
And of course, Mr Hansome.

Lastly! Ian, Celia, and Elizabeth are all splitting the CSA with me! We made it in, and I might have run over there so fast that we were the first ones! $8 for each person, per week, for 24 weeks! SO AWESOME! And because I loved having a roof garden, but the Great Squirrel Battle of '09 was no fun, I have decided to grow 15 herbs this summer. Tune in next time for the complete list!

Be Excited.

2010-03-02T17:01:00.005-05:00

Celia knows about a restaurant in DC that is famous for its Grilled Cheese-Burgers. And so, we made some:

They are every bit as good as they look, and simple as, well, grilled cheese-burgers!

Busy is as busy does, and I have been very much so. I spent most of last week in Atlantic City house and dog sitting for Sarah's parents. It was relaxing, but I didn't do anything productive at all.

I finally painted the dresser.
I decided to finally tackle the things I have been bothered by. So today I went to the Mutter Museum for a tour with Evi, which was informative as well as re-informative. Then I took a walk on my way home, and dis
And then I realized how big this plant got.
And because I do this one every so often:
And then Andrew came over and we discovered the Kensington Library, which is incredibly small and not so much the nicest neighborhood. And then we made grilled cheese that didn't even come close to the grilled cheeseburgers I have come to know and love.

In other news, I am very excited for a few things in the (hopefully) immediate future:

I am in touch with the woman who owns the artist studios above the Rocket Cat Cafe, and I am on the waiting list for a space. I am convinced that this will make more difference in my art making than anything else has, since May.

I am signing up with Ian for the Greens Grow Farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

There is another community garden closer to my house than the other one I've been trekking to, and I've been trekking there to dispose of my compost. It sort of amazes me that in our thriving Green/Sustainability obsessed nation, especially Philadelphia, that there are so few community composters! It is terribly frustrating. But this new one is getting theirs set up soon, although it might only run during the summer? Because people don't have organic material to dispose of during the cold winter months?

I am returning my car to my mom, and I will finally become a permanent user of Philadelphia's Public Transit System: as inconvenient as SEPTA can be at times, it will feel great to know that I can get anywhere I want without a car (it might simply take a lot longer, or cost a lot more for that particular trip- in the long run, it will be cheaper by far). I have been saying this for a few months now, and I have come to a realization. I spent four years at MICA with the sure knowledge that my time was much much much more valuable than my money. I didn't have tons of money to blow, but it was no question whether or not to walk home to make and eat lunch, or to buy something overpriced from the school Cafe: spending money meant saving time. Now, although my time is still valuable, the tables have turned. I am sure that when I want to visit friends in the middle of nowhere New Jersey, that I will be cursing this day during that 4 hour bus ride. But until then, especially with the help of Philly CarShare, I think I'll be doing ok, even if it means planning ahead, and having less time on my days off to sit around watching episodes of this or that on the computer.

And last but not least, I may be selling a painting on Friday. Details on the Other Blog.

Snowpocalypse!!!!!

2010-02-10T13:02:00.005-05:00

Can you spot where I've been storing my old dresser? Erika will be taking it off my hands, as soon as our schedules correspond with a lack of snow.
The snow is still going strong. And apparently there will be more next Monday and Wednesday?! I thought the term "snowpocalypse" was just a silly facebook joke, but when NPR used the word, I believed it. I guess its just that we're not used to all this snow. Apparently Maryland has declared itself a State Emergency, and will ticket any vehicle on the road other than state vehicles. Crazy! Stay at home, build a snowman! (I might play in the snow with Ian and Adam later/tomorrow.)
I haven't really done a lot this past week. I've been watching a lot of good tv, and even used the darkroom on Monday. They're going to have me work one day, and volunteer another= 4 full days of paid work every week!
I also finally painted this bench! Its a light orange-pink color, even though it looks white here.

The Big Snow 2

2010-02-06T14:28:00.001-05:00

I would be at work today except that there is this horrific snow storm, and the Mutter is closed today. Eastern State is also closed because of the snow, so we KNOW its bad. Even Circle Thrift across the street is closed. But Basho is still having its opening for the Onward 2010 exhibition! 2-5, if you can brave the snow, which I can't.

Its bad out there!

But at least the plants are doing well!

Last week Megan sent me a beautiful drawing to put on my fridge:

But I tacked the bottom right with a magnet, which Hans just NEEDED to have.

I moved it up a little further, but, the magnet is now in some other galaxy.

Its even cold enough in the apartment today that I am wearing slippers and a sweater. I am also baking right now, a banana bread from a mix from trader joes:

So that's warming up the apartment a bit too. Honestly though, its nice to have a day that feels like winter. You know, along with 3 feet of snow outside.

Onward 2010 Gallery Opening

2010-02-02T11:39:00.000-05:00

I went to the darkroom early yesterday to get some printing done, but I had totally forgotten that they were installing the Onward 2010 show! So, I helped them out, and then took some photos of the space:

I drove our new monitor to his building to grab some spare nails, and it turns out his roommate is the same acquaintance from MICA that I had run into at Circle Thrift across the street, two months ago! I saw her again randomly, in her own apartment!

And the photograph on the far right is one of two pieces that made it into the show, of Rafael Soldi, a fellow Mican. Congrats Rafael!

We cleaned up after putting everything up, and the space looks great! The opening is this Saturday from 2-5, but stop by anytime to see it! (Call ahead to make sure someone will be there: 215-238-0928)

Also, its Celia's birthday, and tonight will be bagels and lox in her honor!

Good Eats

2010-01-29T21:54:00.000-05:00

Today was my last day training at the Mutter, so, awesome!

I've been really into salads again, ever since I decided to buy an avocado from Trader Joe's as soon as I've eaten the last one. I love avocados because they really give you time to gauge when they'll be used, and therefore, what for! And if nothing else, throw half of it, cubed, into a salad! (What to do with the other half? Easy: save it! A potentially absurd device, I have learned to love it, because it really does save almost perfectly the other half of the avocado! And its always silly to buckle it into place) Also, sliced hardboiled egg? Fantastic.What else? Oh, Trader Joes sells pizza dough for 99¢, which was fantastic when I went to Celia's to make dinner for us before she got home... just in time to eat and head off to King of Prussia Mall, in search for affordable yet fashionable clothing (as usual, mostly a dud of an excursion).
But the pizza was awesome! One mushrooms and pesto and cheese on plain dough, and the other tomato, onion and cheese on (I think) garlic herb dough.I'm not the biggest fan of gingerbread, but I think this purchase from the Mutter Museum is a sure call for sugar cookies!

I also bought the Bread and Bread Machine Bible, and I can't wait to use it (oh wait, yes I can... I'll wait until I think I can eat that much bread in a matter of days... now?)

23.1

2010-01-25T12:55:00.000-05:00

I've been working a lot: full time for two weeks until my training is done. But starting next week I'll have off Monday-Thursday, and will be spending every Monday all day Monday at the darkroom, for my volunteer shift and also to get work done! At least two of the other days will be for getting work done, and I will also be reading the entire Art of the Avant-Gardes by Steve Edwards and Paul Wood, with the incentive that the the new Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris will be at the PMA in February.

This my new coffee table! I have a few new projects in mind, including painting this table a rosy-cream color, and the dresser will be a cobalt blueish lavender. Also, I'll be building an over-the-door pot rack, which will give me more cupboard space for things like more produce.

Working across the street from Trader Joes is awesome, especially when I get tips on the weekends, and can pop into Trader Joes for some fresh produce before going home.

Celia came over last night, and brought dinner (ratatouille), so we could go see The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus without having to make dinner beforehand. I liked the movie, although parts of it weren't thoroughly explained, and it is easy for me to dismiss those things because Heath Ledger died half way through filming, and its amazing that they were able to finish the film, so a few loose ends here and there are excusable, but.... not really. It was beautiful and entertaining, although nothing so incredible plotwise. But of course, Heath is/was a beautiful man and this film was no exception.

I hadn't mentioned to Celia that it was my birthday when I went to New York, and so she brought me a cake last night (which happened to be my grandmother's birthday), and so if you read this correctly, I am approximately 23.1 years old.(tiny christmas trees picked meticulously out of christmas themed funfetti)And to our delight, we realized I was dressed up as my apartment. What might be more apparent is how messy my apartment was! I cleaned today of course, and if you can spot where Hans is hiding, you win!