Saturday walk -- Power Hollow, Enfield CT

See the entire set here:

(If you are unable to view the embedded slideshow, please click here for a direct link.)

Kitten-shaped hole in my heart.

In March of 2006, my roommate and I took in a family of unwanted cats -- a mother cat and her litter of 5-week old kittens.

My roommate's sister, a veterinary assistant, told us that the momma cat's previous owner dropped them off at the vet's office, saying that she didn't want them anymore; that they had "lost their charm," and that she wanted them euthanized.

Horrified by this story, my roommate & I decided that we could make room for these cats temporarily, until the kittens were old enough to be adopted.

The hardest part was confining a space for them. We already had four cats of our own, and wanted to make sure to give the mother a safe, quiet place to care for her babies, without our cats interfering. My roommate decided to convert her bedroom into the nursery. She bought secondhand blankets and spread them out over the carpet, bought a new litterbox, etc.

And to make a long story short, we helped to raise & care for the 5 kittens over the next couple of months.

Although we already had cats of our own, we decided almost immediately that we would keep at least one.

Though we adored them all, we had our favorites.

My roommate had instantly fallen in love with this one, whom she eventually named Puzzle:

I was drawn to 2 of the kittens equally -- the grey & white tabby (whom we nicknamed Little Grey), and the other tortoiseshell kitten (who I eventually named Oatmeal):

As the kittens grew, we knew that we had to look into getting most of them adopted (including the momma cat); my roommate was having an increasingly tough time sharing her bedroom with them. However, we had gotten so attached to the kitties that we decided that we could keep two, and that each of us could choose one. For my roommate, the choice was rather easy -- although she loved the black & white kitten a lot too, Puzzle was obviously her little soul-mate.

For me, the decision was really, really difficult. I had bonded a lot with Oatmeal and Little Grey and was quite attached to them both. In the end, I decided to keep Oatmeal, but saying goodbye to Grey really broke my heart. I wish we could have kept them both, but two new kittens was already too much; no way could we afford, or handle, three. It killed me to have to choose.

Hopefully, Grey is happy with her new family. I suppose I will never know.

After she was adopted, in May of that year, it took me a little while to get over her, and for the most part I have moved on...

However, last night, out of the blue, I dreamed about her -- perhaps it was just old memories resurfacing. In my dream, I very vividly remember how it felt to hold her, her soft little body cradled against my chest, her tiny paw curled around my fingertip, her ear against my nose.

I love Oatmeal, and I would not give her up for anything, but how I wish I had been able to keep Grey, too. I miss her -- god, I miss her. I've been crying about her for hours and I can't stop and I don't know why. I am haunted by her; I feel I have lost a part of myself.

I miss you, Little Grey, wherever you are; I'm sorry I gave you up.



More pictures:


(If you are unable to view the embedded slideshow, click here)

Spring day on the Mohawk Trail

I took a short daytrip with my roommate up to the Shelburne Falls area of the Mohawk Trail in Massachusetts recently. It was a nearly flawless spring day; it felt good to be outside & get some fresh air. We had a late breakfast at Gould's Sugarhouse, bought some fresh maple syrup, and did a bit of wandering around Shelburne Falls.

(If you can't see the above slideshow, click here to view)

New digital camera! Finally!

I lost my former digital camera over a year ago, and have had to rely on my awful cellphone to take any photos. So I finally got around to buying a new camera, yay! It's a Canon Powershot and it just arrived on Wednesday. I haven't taken any great pics yet, as I'm still learning about its many functions, but here are a few random ones I took for fun:

My painting in the 2009 Salon des Independants @ Hygienic Arts in New London

At the last minute, I decided to enter a piece in the 30th annual Salon des Independants at Hygienic Art in New London, CT. I started a new painting, but hated how it was coming out, so I then finished a painting I had started for last year's Salon but never got around to finishing.

[* I entered a different painting last year, which didn't sell, & I forgot to pick it up, so I have no idea what happened to it... I have no pictures of it or any other record of it, unfortunately. I could have SWORN that I blogged about the experience, but I can't find a post anywhere in any of my past journals... argh]

My entry for 2009:

Title: All Loveliness Is Anguish
Year: 2008/2009
Dimensions: 11 in. X 14 in.
Media: Acrylic on canvas.

Here's a bit more information about the event:

Hygienic Art, Inc. was created as an incorporated structure in the fall of 1979, when artists employed by a federal Comprehensive Education and Training Act (CETA) grant decided, as a final project, to hold an outsiders' art festival. The show was modeled after the "Salon des Independants," a late 19th century art movement in Paris in which artists had protested the aristocracy by exhibiting their works in cafes located in the 'seamy' areas of the city. The artists in those exhibitions gave rise the the great French Impressionist movement.

The exhibition was presented at the Hygienic Restaurant, New London's only 24 hour eatery, which had been open since 1919. The rules were simple; no judge, no jury, no fees, no censorship, one piece per artist and all were welcome. The show was an immediate success and the Hygienic Art Exhibition became an annual creative arts festival, attracting over 450 artists and an audience of thousands...

...The show has moved around over the years taking root at a pizza joint, rock clubs and other historic sites around the city. Wherever the people were the art was hung. Andn there was a lot of art (last year nearly 500 showed their work) and lots of people to take it in (the show, fondly dubbed New London's only Winter Tourist Attraction, averages more than 3000 visitors on its opening night alone).

Everything changed in 2000 when Hygienic Art, Inc., the non-profit organization formed to oversee the show annually, made a bold move to save the historic Hygienic Restaurant building which was quickly sliding down a path to demolition in the name of redevelopment. The building was purchased, rehabilitated and now houses the Hygienic Galleries as well as a Cooperative of developing artists. Hygienic Art soon took aim at the property next door, a vacant dirt lot, and built the iconic Art Park which now plays host to music, theatre and other community events.

(Above excerpts taken from the Hygienic XXX Collectors Program)

Design: Karli Hendrickson

I arrived at around 4:30 pm, hung my piece, then wandered the space for awhile, checking out all the other art.

My painting on display (I was entry #502):

The official opening was at 8 pm, and since we had time to kill, my friend & I decided to have dinner at the little bistro across the street, Brie & Bleu.

We had originally intended to just order something small, but ended up getting a bunch of stuff to share, it was so difficult to choose! We started with the Tuscan white bean spread with toasted baguette slices, then added the Antipasto plate, which included mixed olives, prosciutto, and cheeses (brie, a 5-year Gouda, & Blue Stilton); my friend ordered the soup of the day, which was a hearty chicken tortilla; I had one of the daily specials, fish tacos (blue corn tortilla, shredded cabbage, white fish & some kind of creamy sauce) with a side of pico de gallo & rice. We also ordered a bottle of wine recommended by our server -- the Don Ramon 2006. After dinner, we lingered for a bit, my friend got a coffee and we shared a chocolate pot d’crème garnished with sliced strawberry.

We wandered back to the gallery for awhile longer, but it had gotten REALLY crowded so we didn't stick around -- there was literally no room to walk around by the time we left.

A few examples of the work on display:

(click the photos for artist information)

[The piece on the right reminds me of a sculpture by Tim Noble & Sue Webster called Pink Narcissus; my friend Dekka Raymaker recently posted 2 pics of it on his photostream --
flickr.com/photos/dekka_raymaker/3233845803/
flickr.com/photos/dekka_raymaker/3237110310/ ]

For more pictures from the gallery, please click here to see the rest of the photoset. This is not a comprehensive collection of the work on display by any means (there were well over 500 pieces); I don't have a good camera (only my cellphone), so I simply took pictures of the ones I liked best to remember them.

If my painting doesn't sell, I have to go back in about two weeks to retrieve it -- I hope I remember to this time!

My photo 'B is for Bird' featured in 'Architectuur en Alfabet' exhibition & book

Back in October of 2008, I got a Flickr mail from someone asking permission to use my photograph B is for Bird in an upcoming exhibition & publication:

Dear madam, dear sir,

The Centre for Architecture in Leiden in the Netherlands is organising an exhibition entitled Architecture & Alphabet focusing on buildings which make use of letters.

Searching for examples on the internet, we found your beautiful photograph B is for Bird
at www.flickr.com

Would you be so kind as to grant us permission to reproduce your photo in the book publication (in Dutch) that we are preparing, and may be also in the exhibition itself? We would, of course, guarantee that your name is mentioned as the photographer.

Our Centre being a non-commercial cultural institution which is completely funded by government subsidy and run by volunteers, we regrettably are not able to pay for your permission. Moreover, the book will be sold at a low price which will hardly cover our printing costs while entrance to all our exhibitions is free. We would gladly send you an invitation for the opening of our exhibition, which is in December of this year.

I granted them permission, and nearly had forgotten about it until I received another message inviting me to the opening of the exhibition -- I was not able to be there in person, of course, but it was a nice gesture all the same:

RAP Architecture Centre cordially invites you to the opening of the exhibition Architectuur en Alfabet and the presentation of the publication with the same name,Thursday 22nd January 2009 at 17.00 hours. Location: RAP Architecture Centre Nieuwstraat 33, 2312 KA Leiden...

...Book Architectuur en Alfabet (Dutch)
Publisher : RAP Architectuurcentrum
Editors: Bernard de Mol Moncourt, Annemarie Beunen, Barbara Heijl en Fons Verheijen
Graphic design: Jan Kleingeld
144 pages, ISBN 978-90-810744-2-1
Price: 15 euro

Exhibition Architectuur en Alfabet
January 23- March 29
Open: Friday , Saturday and Sunday 12-17 h and by appointment

RAP Architectuurcentrum
Nieuwstraat 33, 2312 KA Leiden
+31-71-5137525
www.rapsite.nl

I got another message just this morning, with a link to the .PDF version of the book:

A few months ago we asked your permission to use one of your photo’s for a publication.
We are very pleased to present you with the pdf-version of ‘Architectuur en Alfabet’. The following link will give you access for seven days.
We worked hard the last couple of month and hope you will enjoy the result. Although the book is in Dutch, we hope the multitude of pictures will make a good reading on its own.
We trust you will respect our copyright.
Thank you for your contribution to our project, on behalf of the RAP architectuurcentrum,

Kind regards,
Prof. ir. Fons Verheijen

I replied with my thanks, and asked permission to use a couple of images from the publication so that I could make a blog post about it. I was given permission, and I am grateful to be able to share the following image compilation of the book & my photo within it:

Rest in peace, Mr. Bun-Bun.

My brother's rabbit passed away sometime Christmas morning after some recent health troubles. He was about 7 years old.

He had been a Christmas gift to my brother from his former girlfriend about 7 years ago.

He was a sweet, affectionate, loving bunny who loved to play and give kisses.

He was loved by everyone who knew him.

I'll miss you, Mr. Bun. :(

Spontaneous photo meme

I have (indirectly) created a monster!

Unbeknownst to most of you, I also have a Livejournal account, which I created in order to be able to read the blogs of some friends. My friend Vady posted a meme recently, & I thought it sounded fun so I participated:

Instructions:
Take a picture of yourself right now.
Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... Just take a picture.
Post that picture with NO editing.
Post these instructions with your picture.

Soooo I posted the above pic of me to Flickr; little did I know that the idea would become such a huge hit! Someone even started a Flickr group for it -- sponteneously me.

Fascinating, how this kind of thing spreads. Seeing all the pictures is amazing, too -- I love how everyone kinda adds their own twist to it. Fun times!