BirchLane.net

March 2008 (Editing; notes for now for later)

 

Sunday 30

Eye of Round With Mustard Herb Crust INGREDIENTS: 1 eye of round roast, about 3 to 4 pounds water 1/2 cup Dijon or Creole mustard or other spicy brown mustard 2 tablespoons red wine 3 large cloves garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf tarragon 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper PREPARATION: Heat oven to 450°. Line a roasting pan with foil; place a rack or several pieces of celery in the pan. Place the roast, fat side up, on the rack or on a few celery ribs. Add some water or broth (about 1/2 to 1 cup) to the pan to keep juices from burning. Combine mustard, the red wine, the garlic, tarragon, and black pepper. Rub roast all over with the mustard mixture.   Put in the oven; reduce heat to 325°. Roast for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until a meat thermometer registers about 150° to 160° for rare to medium. Let rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.

 

How German Is It? by Vince Aletti March 31, 2008   German photography has had an enormous impact in America in the past two decades, but the success of Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, and Thomas Ruff has eluded Michael Schmidt, who is having his first solo show in a New York gallery, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, at the age of sixty-two. While Schmidt has had his champions here (MOMA exhibited important bodies of work in 1988 and 1996), his pictures are tough and decidedly unspectacular—not exactly catnip for collectors. The photographs in his current exhibition, made between 1965 and 2004, are all modest in size and black-and-white, and were taken in Berlin. The city and its citizens have been Schmidt’s subject since the beginning, and he documents them with the kind of passionate, despairing objectivity that makes Struth’s work look decorative by comparison. History screams from postwar office blocks and drains the light from every landscape, yet Schmidt is relentless. His Berlin is a wasteland with a past that no amount of concrete can conceal. ♦

 

Saturday 29

Comics: Pen Power A Graphic Novelist's Personal Portrait Tackles Fear, Anger and History By JEFFREY A. TRACHTENBERG March 29, 2008; Page W2   In Toufic El Rassi's debut graphic novel, "Arab in America," he explains what daily life has been for someone born in Lebanon and raised in the U.S. "Since it was clear that the average American couldn't distinguish Arabs & Muslims from other nationalities & faiths I soon felt both fear & anger," he writes. Mr. El Rassi says his book, published by Last Gasp, an independent publisher based in San Francisco, is primarily autobiographical, although he has made some changes. He intersperses his story with historical events such as the 9/11 terror attacks and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in order to "tell my story while presenting history and politics from an Arab point of view." The 30-year-old author decided upon the format of a graphic novel because he has always loved to draw. "So much has been written about the Middle East, but I wanted to do it in a way that nobody has done before," he says. Mr. El Rassi is an adjunct instructor at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Ill., where he teaches history and political science. Mr. El Rassi, who was born in Beirut and immigrated to the Chicago area with his family in 1979, got the idea for the book while attending a fund-raiser at a local mosque. A woman got up and said her children were ashamed of who they were. They didn't want to tell anyone they were Arabs, and they refused to speak Arabic at home. "While she spoke, it seemed like my life experience came flooding back into my brain," he says. "Every time I met somebody who was noticeably Arab, they told me they'd had a similar experience. So I decided to make this book for them."

 

Friday 28

 

Thursday 27

Flipbook/Jumpcut.

 

Wednesday 26

Photos.

Gustav Klimt
Two Girls with an Oleander c.1890-92
Oil on canvas, 55 x 128.5 cm
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut

Tuesday 25

At The Museum.

Thomas Struth.

Monday 24

Back To The Pond.

Sunday 23

Easter Sunday.

 

Saturday 22

Easter Saturday.

 

Friday 21

Thursday 20

Wednesday 19

The Little House. (book)

 

Tuesday 18

Rain Light

by W.S. Merwin
 

All day the stars watch from long ago
my mother said I am going now
when you are alone you will be all right
whether or not you know you will know
look at the old house in the dawn rain
all the flowers are forms of water
the sun reminds them through a white cloud
touches the patchwork spread on the hill
the washed colors of the afterlife
that lived there long before you were born
see how they wake without a question
even though the whole world is burning

Monday 17

 

Sunday 16

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ~Paul to the Phillippians 4:8

Saturday 15

Friday 14

Thursday 13

Photography & Performance Art.

Wednesday 12

Travels to Worcester.

 

Tuesday 11

Breakfast in Hartford and Dinner by Susan.

Linguine with Tuna, Capers, and Olives SERVES: 4 When it comes to making quick, delicious pasta sauces, Italians hold canned tuna in high regard. We complement it with Provençal herbs and orange zest. If you're a lemon-zest fan, try that instead of the orange. ingredients 2 tablespoons olive oil 3 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 teaspoon dried sage 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary 3/4 teaspoon grated orange zest (from 1/2 orange) 1 tablespoon drained chopped capers 1/4 cup chopped green olives 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper 2 6-ounce cans tuna packed in olive oil 1/2 teaspoon wine vinegar 3/4 pound linguine 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley directions In a medium frying pan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the garlic, sage, and rosemary and stir until the garlic just starts to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the orange zest, capers, olives, salt, pepper, and the tuna with its oil. Remove from the heat; stir in the vinegar. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the linguine until just done, about 12 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss with the tuna sauce and parsley. NOTES Tuna Packed in Oil Here we use tuna packed in olive oil, and we count on that oil as part of the sauce. If your tuna doesn't have at least one-and-a-half tablespoons of oil per can, add a little more olive oil to make up the difference. Of course, you can use tuna packed in vegetable oil, too, but avoid water-packed tuna at all costs. The flavor, and most of the nutrients for that matter, leach out into the water. A robust French rosé from the southern Rhône appellation of Tavel will serve these Mediterranean ingredients well. Earthy and full of roasted raspberry flavor, Tavels are among the most full-bodied of rosés. If you'd rather stick to the Italian theme, look for the wonderful Sicilian rosé from Regaleali. ~Food & Wine

Monday 10

Untitled

white days, a passion for the winter-birds
cached in every elm, each goat
with its bell in the pasture
as the wind tolls diurnal through the scape,
a far gray band of willows,
the snow cross-harrowed, a barn
where every breath has faltered
where beasts lie down in stalls
quiver and are still, are hauled
to the fire, roil, and enter the earth
as wind skurls bright smoke
against the purple that is darkness blooming


Kevin Goodan
The Massachusettss Review
 

Sunday 09

Danielle and Mike.

 

Saturday 08

Rain and Rain and More Rain.

 

Friday 07

My Birthday. "No boxing," my doctor said. "No boxing. No Rugby. No wrestling." As he spoke, I pictured myself prowling around the ring in Madison Square Garden; dressed in colorful red and blue tights, colors in honor of my mother's native England and my father's native Italy--my name Bronko Barone, professional wrestler, one in a treasured and long and  revered line of master of the mat, lords of the ring; bruno samartino,..................and my twin uncles, the tag team, Basil and Bonaparte Barone, sometimes affectionately called The Battling  Bees.

 

 

Happy Birthday: Until you are willing to let go of things from your past, you can't moved forward. Become engaged in something positive that can bring you plenty in return. If you continue to spin your wheels, you will waste valuable time that could be put to better use. Don't harbor ill feelings. Your numbers are 1, 16, 28, 34, 40. Birthday bay: You are sensitive, giving and willing to help the underdog. You are open-minded but do like things done your way in the end. You are a charming story-teller. ~Eugenia Last's Horoscope

Thursday 06

On The Road.

(breakfast in worcester, lia, meetings in town)

Wednesday 05

Lunch with Trace and the Tavern.

(old friends, art, marketing, upcoming show, holyoke)

Tuesday 04

Dinner with Daryl.

(menu, etc)

Monday 03

I expect and accept that all good is possible.   I am one with God, and in this awareness I co-create the life I desire. Choosing to think happy, positive thoughts, I experience greater peace and joy. I set goals and trust that through the power of God within me, I will achieve all that I desire.   Whatever I desire—a healthier body, a more fulfilling job, more meaningful companionship—I picture myself living the life of my desires. I see myself choosing appropriate food and exercise. I act in kind and loving ways that attract kindness and love into my life. I take time each day and listen for God’s guidance in the quietness of prayer.   I keep my mind filled with happy, positive thoughts, picturing myself light-filled and God-centered. For in the light of God’s unconditional love, all good is possible. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” —Matthew 6:22 ~Daily Word from Unity

Sunday 02

A New View.

(someone wrote: )

Saturday 01

Last Night and Today. Last night for dinner I made a delicious, yet simple, pasta meal:

CARAMELIZED ONION & ROASTED PEPPER PASTA INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil 1 Large onion,halved, thinly sliced 2 Roasted Peppers (red and green)cut into thin strips 1 cup organic chicken broth 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar 1/2 Tbs. Fennel Seeds 8 oz. dried pasta of choice Melt 1 Tbs. butter with oil in heavy large frying pan / skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until tender and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Add peppers. Sauté 5 minutes. Add chicken broth, vinegar, and fennel seeds. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce reduces slightly, about 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining 1/2 Tbs. butter. Season sauce with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender. Drain. Return to pot. Add sauce and toss to coat. Transfer to serving bowl. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve with red wine and salad.

(add to notes below)

 

Today I continued to unpack.

 

Sorted recipes.

 

Dinner at the Hofbrau House.

 

The last photo I took in the loft at Eastworks: