Inkysocks: Padding around with socks and pen

horse camping
ethnomusicology
psychoanalysis
greek tragedies
children
french, spanish, arabic
parfumier
read the whole bible
green thumb
tons of rabbits
pinch pots and coil pots
oral history field school
music
kumquats, licorice, chinese food
chinese food taste tester/chinese food reporter
books n books n books

2012-01-15T11:10:00.000-08:00

[top photo for ereck--sibling of jacket with fern]

From January 15, 2012

lumpy lunch after bank, bills, dump, groceries, bottle returns, tree disposal, laundry

2012-01-13T07:55:00.001-08:00

My interview with Yvonne Meier, Part One.

2012-01-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

From January 9, 2012

"This place smells like renunciation, fog, and salad." [C Isherwood, in a letter to Sudhira]

2012-01-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

From January 9, 2012

I begin a month of mostly silence and things I'm afraid to do.

2012-01-07T07:02:00.000-08:00

From January 7, 2012

Good morning. I'm polishing my nails yellow, reading Rebecca's incredible book, drinking from Cary's mug. Shortly, I'm heading to teach this in Catskill, and I will be attending this, tonight: shape-note singing and Bulgarian folk songs. Perfect Hudson day.

2012-01-06T18:35:00.000-08:00

From January 6, 2012

You have no faith in the version of the book or play you are working on but are unwilling to change it, telling yourself that this would mean a lot of trouble and that time is short. Meanwhile, however, a rebellious element inside you has secretly created its own anti-version, complete down to the last detail, and is waiting for a chance to produce and impose it. If the rebellion succeeds, outside observers are amazed at the speed and smoothness with which the takeover is accomplished.Rebellions may be made smoothly, but never without causing psychological disturbance.

-C Isherwood, The Guru and His Disciple

2012-01-05T17:20:00.000-08:00

From January 5, 2012

2012-01-04T20:06:00.001-08:00

Oh, Pina. I miss you. I was blessed with a lot of good film, company, and food over the last two days. On Monday, I interviewed Yvonne Meier, which made this a perfect week of dance, having spent time with my two favorite choreographers.

2012-01-03T06:18:00.000-08:00

From agent inkysocks

Happy Birthday to my BFF! Here's to 40 more and 40 more after that. I love you.

2012-01-01T08:25:00.000-08:00

Todd Selby x Christine Sun Kim on Nowness.com.

Happy New Year to you. 2 0 1 2

2011-12-31T15:52:00.000-08:00

From December 31, 2011

From October 25, 2011

From December 31, 2011

Farewell, noble animal friend. For 20 years, you lifted hearts. You were a sexy lady with attitude and grace, to the end. Rest in Peace. Float on.

2011-12-29T08:51:00.001-08:00

Before the New Year
-~~finish editing article/rewrite~~
-~~prep for interview on Jan 2~~
-~~query editor~~
-~~photograph documents for OH project~~
-~~invoice for OH project~~
-rearrange my office
-~~inbox zero~~
-~~buy new books for me and R.~~
-~~sit by the tree~~

2011-12-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

From December 29, 2011

2011-12-28T12:53:00.000-08:00

From December 28, 2011

Here's what my mother did right after the cactus expert said not to touch the prickly pear cactus:

From December 28, 2011

2011-12-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

From December 23, 2011

2011-12-22T22:19:00.000-08:00

From December 23, 2011

2011-12-22T21:09:00.000-08:00

From December 22, 2011

Happy Channuka, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Solstice

2011-12-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

I'm drinking a large green juice while grading 30 final projects, and I'm determined not to photograph my food, today. I'm still experiencing afterimages from Yvonne Meier's The Shining. We were kidnapped by a naked lady in a van and driven to another borough. I will save the rest for later.

2011-12-14T22:08:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed this response to Farhad Manjoo's embarrassing article (even if the author is a smartass).

2011-12-14T21:11:00.001-08:00

From December 8, 2011

Dan commissioned a portrait for my birthday! I love it.

2011-12-11T08:13:00.000-08:00

From December 11, 2011

I look at the photographs to tell me about my experience. Well this looks like it was a good time, I think to myself.

Now the cake is being cut
Now the bride is sideways—so thin, so Grecian, so relaxed.
Now I’m listening to that Steve Miller song on repeat in my car.

I try to switch to a new CD, but it sounds like a tin can in here. I can’t find good bass. Did you feel the love that was in the air? Wake up wake up, and look all around you. In the parking lot, I see the lesbian couple head to their car for hormone shots. Kay injects it in Ina’s stomach, and they invite me into the backseat, to watch.

Eventually, they take their hormones and leave. As I begin to double back on the party to look for a ride, I see a few hikers come from the trees at one edge of the party, a little shocked at where they have landed. The man comes out of the woods with a walking stick and a bandana, carrying a large backpack with a frame. The woman wears a sweater and has a poodle in her arm. Somehow, this makes me feel better. By comparison, they don’t belong. And yet I also feel that they’re my fellow travelers. I admire the specificity of their clothing.

The road is my friend. I drive it home, sober, with Lila beside me. Though I was eager to leave, I now think of staying here permanently. I am always resistant upon arrival and wistful upon departure. I wonder if I should pretend to barf at the side of the car. Though I admire this strategy, I don’t know how to use it. I ask Lila, “Do you like this song?” You’re lost in space and the earth is your home. She nods. She motions toward the window and I lower it.

2011-12-10T08:31:00.000-08:00

From December 10, 2011

2011-12-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

From December 8, 2011

Augustus really enjoys kicking back. Here's a glimpse of a typical day.

2011-12-04T11:10:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting around grading papers, today, with a pot of delicious tea made by Lauren at Good Fight Herb Company. We traded music for tea (and I think I got the better end of this deal). Lauren's using the former to keep lively while packaging herbal gifts for the holidays and making an apothecary for the etsy office, here in Hudson.

From December 4, 2011

2011-12-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

From December 3, 2011

hocking wares

2011-12-03T12:54:00.000-08:00

From December 3, 2011

2011-12-03T12:52:00.000-08:00

From December 3, 2011

my mother's office and studio

2011-11-29T17:25:00.000-08:00

From November 29, 2011

my father's studio

2011-11-28T09:24:00.000-08:00

From November 28, 2011

I met this wonderful interviewee, last week. He was a corrections officer for many years at the prison we're researching. He also plays Latin drums (Serpico is in his drum circle!), and his wife decided to take up the bagpipes a few years ago. Certain interviewees I meet have a real mastery over their own lives, which always inspires me.

2011-11-28T06:08:00.000-08:00

From November 28, 2011

I think I'm finally selling some of my Pendleton collection. Email me if you're interested.

2011-11-28T05:41:00.000-08:00

From November 28, 2011

+Happy Thanksgiving. I'm grateful for so many things this year, including our brief Thanksgiving vacation.

2011-11-19T18:40:00.000-08:00

From November 19, 2011

Rebecca brought us the beautiful new issue of Fence and a new Fence book. It's all books and food right now.

2011-11-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

a recent trip to the mechanic, where they have decorated the place in orange and blue.

2011-11-18T12:46:00.000-08:00

2011-11-18T08:44:00.000-08:00

cleanse, week 4: collard greens, two poached eggs with red pepper sauce

2011-11-11T00:17:00.000-08:00

From November 11, 2011

2011-11-10T11:21:00.001-08:00

From November 10, 2011

2011-11-07T05:25:00.001-08:00

From November 7, 2011

brother from another planet

2011-11-07T04:00:00.000-08:00

From November 7, 2011

22-year-old sisters.

2011-11-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

From November 7, 2011

2011-11-03T20:28:00.001-07:00

Pinch me! I just found a House of David pocket knife.

From November 3, 2011

2011-11-03T11:06:00.001-07:00

Maybe when Robin gets home, I'll have filled the house with Japanese masking tape and bouchourite rugs.

From November 3, 2011

Pops, if you're reading this in Morocco, I hope you find les bouchourites!

2011-10-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

From October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween

2011-10-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

it was robin's birthday, yesterday, but we did not eat this cake, due to the diet mentioned below. on the upside, we have discovered xylitol, which is much less nasty than stevia.

2011-10-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to the one I love. xx

From October 27, 2011

2011-10-26T08:11:00.000-07:00

Hell or high water, I am sitting down to edit my interview with Allyson Strafella, today. Her work blows me away. made entirely with a typewriter and transfer paper.

From October 26, 2011

2011-10-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

Sending love to Robin and black, today

From October 25, 2011

2011-10-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

From October 24, 2011

I presented for the first time at an academic conference, last week, in Denver. My paper: "Black Mayonnaise: Using Oral History in a Public Health Context."

2011-10-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

From October 23, 2011

2011-10-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

From October 23, 2011

mochi, broccoli, smoked trout

From October 23, 2011

japanese turnips, chicken sausage, string beans with walnuts, tahini dressing

2011-10-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

Very very slowly, we are moving in...

2011-10-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

After four weeks of being sick with sinus infections, I'm caving to a three-week diet and acupuncture: no gluten, no dairy, no sugar, no vinegar, no sweet vegetables, no fruit. This is for Anne, too, who is trying to same diet.
Day 1

cod dredged in quinoa flour with collard greens and acorn squash (too sweet for this diet, really)

chicken sausage and more greens
Day 2

haddock with greens and a sauce made from tahini, lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper
I welcome more suggestions.

2011-10-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

A lot of amazing animals have died this week. Laika, Bopr, and Joni. I like to think these animals are going to get to know one another. That's the extent of my religion, right now. RIP animal friends.

2011-10-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

From October 18, 2011

The most wonderful gift in the world, from my friend lily. We'll call these "anger drops."

2011-10-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

From October 18, 2011

My friend Dan is not blurry in real life. Check out this book.

2011-10-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

From October 12, 2011

2011-10-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

From October 12, 2011

2011-10-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

From October 12, 2011

2011-10-06T20:23:00.001-07:00

I love the word wax. A few ways you might wax:
WAX ELOQUENT
WAX ENTHUSIASTIC
WAX EUPHORIC
WAX INDIGNANT
WAX LYRICAL
WAX NOSTALGIC
WAX PHILOSOPHIC
WAX PHILOSOPHICAL
WAX POETIC
WAX PROFESSIONAL
WAX RHAPSODIC
WAX SENTIMENTAL

2011-10-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

From October 1, 2011

This a recent interviewee, a 90-year-old man who once ran several institutions for young girls put into the correctional system. He is also a Buddhist, an anti-war activist, ex-Navy, and studied Tai Chi in the US and China for the last 40+ years. Also: a proud gardener.

2011-10-01T17:20:00.000-07:00

Am I Dreaming?

From October 1, 2011

2011-09-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

Things I want to make as soon as I have time:
these chocolate sour cherry cookies
black olive cookies
tomato cobbler with gruyere crust
steamed buns

2011-09-25T13:23:00.000-07:00

I woke up with one line in my head, one that I repeated over and over, in my dream: "Give me your stimulus plan, and I will give you pizza. Stimulus plan; pizza."

2011-09-21T20:05:00.001-07:00

From September 21, 2011

This morning, I interviewed Sister Francis Gerard Kress, a 96-year-old environmental activist who has been a nun for 70 years. She said her nickname was "TM," or "troublemaker." She told me she knew she wanted to be a nun as early as age 7.

2011-09-21T20:04:00.000-07:00

From September 21, 2011

2011-09-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

This week, I interviewed a public health grad student, a former prison teacher, and an artist who draws with typewriters. Next week: a nun/environmental activist. Not a bad life.

2011-09-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

2011-09-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

9/11. I was by myself on Lake Michigan, that day. I didn't get television reception and couldn't use the dial-up internet. I drove to the closest bar and watched the television with the only other customer, a man who repaired washing machines for Whirlpool, Walt. That afternoon, I carried on with my interviews at a saw mill in Michigan. The owners were talking about Nostradamus, and I missed my home and friends, terribly. I don't think I touched anyone or hugged anyone for another week or two. I went to see my parents on one of the Jewish holidays, then returned back to my perch, alone. Juno called me and said "Come home. That doesn't sound like a good scene." Anne played that Paul Simon song that made me cry. I listened to it over and over.

2011-09-10T23:03:00.001-07:00

2011-09-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

Our car caught on fire. We pulled over to the side of the road on Labor Day weekend, into this woman's driveway. She pointed to her neighbor's yard and said his garage was a Mexican grocery store. Sure enough, it was. I bought tortilla chips and tried not to cry while missing Monica and Katrina's wedding.

Here's her fiancé. Robin calls that hat a fedora, but I thought it was a wizard hat. They were very concerned about us, while we waited for AAA in the rain. It took three hours. We hopped a train 5 hours later, and then the train stopped for a tornado.
The couple pulled tomatoes out of their garden for us and said that humans should treat each other that way. That even insects should be treated well.

2011-09-06T21:05:00.001-07:00

Peter Campion's poem

HAPPINESS
The feeling in the chest is red: eruption spreading for whatever cause
as sunlight in the sycamores drains down to clearish orange.
And towns beyond the hills. And friends there. And my dead.

All possible: as if loose slivers from a life (blood shriek and joy shriek
and evenings rainbows rose by the rusted bridge in Bethel and this
warmth circling my rib cage now. . . o let me hold this) could be held.

2011-09-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

From September 3, 2011

2011-09-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

From September 2, 2011

2011-08-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

summer castle

2011-08-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

From agent inkysocks

There’s nothing worse that finding yourself unlovable while wearing a gorilla suit, a sort of Kafka-nightmare where one’s actions cannot be taken back because the gesture was much too grand and flamboyant to disappear, to simply fold oneself up, origami-style and pretend to be a quieter woman with blonde hair who suffers migraines elegantly and barely speaks. A breathetarian who leaves half a piece of toast on the counter because she forgets about it (These are generally the air signs) It’s way too late to “take two.” Suddenly, I could tell—as if the three-way mirror went additional ways, as well––just how grossly I had miscalculated.

2011-08-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

Back then, my form was inflated with big muscles and fat. I felt like a proud blown-up woman who never covered up, finding various forms of humiliation cathartic, including bad art, which could serve as my good example. I stomped on the street to scare rats on Stanton Street with too much zeal, starting the Godzilla routine half a block away from the offending garbage cans. I felt productive if the rats appeared. I noticed that they, too, were made of muscle and fat.

*

If bad mimicry becomes great poetry, so could I unfold from a point of faulty interpretation, socially and sexually, the ribbon rolling slightly askew. I want the ‘anxiety of influence’ to work in my favor. Less and less do I find myself with strangers who might offer these kinds of generous distortions. Back then, I sat at the coffee shop on Smith Street, completely content to while away eight hours playing chess, reading comic books and listening to T-Rex albums—-mostly because I had been misunderstood as another kind of girl who wasn’t me, but I was happy to chip in and play her part.

*

I wanted to be him: liberated from ambition but always the smartest guy in the room; an outsider who always got in, having merged with the Chinese soccer league, a punk band, and now, he would be appearing in his friend’s film, nude, “because they need someone whose cock starts small and gets huge,” which described him perfectly. So much so that I once had my ovaries checked.

He was a rascal but also plain Zen, a nilla wafer with an extra hard drive, a storage space. I wanted that space. He wore white karate pants and carried a tote. And like a newborn baby, he never knew shame.

2011-08-27T13:54:00.001-07:00

2011-08-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

2011-08-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

2011-08-27T06:21:00.000-07:00