creativespotlite’s Neighborhood

mmm

mmm

This is the "before" picture. Practically ALL my shelves look like this! Ah, January...the month that triggers resolutions, good intentions and lots of great plans. Can you guess what I am starting? That is if I can get off this computer and not get distracted by something else. I find that when I tidy up anything with words, I start reading.... :) oh yeah, where was I? Takes forever!

Our storm is over! What an event that was.  I don't think I've ever seen such change in so short  time. Raining, then snowing hard, then ice pellets and back to snow, now it is mild and everything is melting. Wonder what is in store for next week? Crazy weather everywhere!

Gretchen Rubin is someone we can all learn something from. She just published a book called The Happiness Project.  I 'd like to read it. Last year she test drove lots of theories about happiness and this book outlines what she discovered. One of the things I thought was interesting is that "random acts of kindness" don't work. People invariably end up suspicious and nervous. Better to help out a friend in need or help out as opportunities present themselves. Random scares people. Hmmm. Good stuff to ponder.

I wish you all a very good 2010!  May it be brighter than 2009, which was a year of hard lessons for many in this nation.  A few years ago, I tentatively entered online life through Vox.  I discovered quickly that I was able to post poems and receive instantaneous  non-academic feedback, which is of great value to me.  I also reacquainted myself with the arts of photography and sculpture.  That said, I have decided to spend the majority of my creative energies on a new endeavor in the next year.  The book of fairytale poems is still being tortured in layout stage.  When it is available, whether it is published or self-published, I will let you all know.  The next year.....

I have been busy home-schooling my children and struggling to keep up with creating and keeping my domicile clean.  What has been forgotten this past year, is good nutrition.  "What about integrating art into cooking and eating?"  I thought during a long winter's nap.  This makes perfect sense. 

I also had the pleasure of seeing Julie and Julia, which not only made me salivate over the gastronomy, but also provided a spark.  My Julia Child is definitely Gloria Bley Miller, who did for Chinese cooking, what the former did for French cooking.  She brought it, in its authenticity, into American households.  As a teenager, I created sumptuous meals for my family.  Her book is weathered and loved.  Miller was also an artist and an educator.  Her husband, Richard Miller, was a famous sculptor.  I used to imagine their Greenwhich Village house as a refuge from my suburbia, from the pains of ticky-tacky houses.  I laugh at this now, but it was very real to a fourteen-year-old misunderstood artist. 

This year, the year I turn forty, I return to the art of Chinese Cooking.  I am publishing my blog through Salon, so I won't be as much of a presence on Vox.  Please come over to see me!  If you want me to read anything, please send Vox mail to me.  Thanks for a year of warmth and kindness.  I wish you all health and prosperity in 2010!

New Year's Greens

New Year's Greens

Night of Roses

Night of Roses

2 comments

M.I.A.  -  Jimmy

Aneela - Chori Chori

It's a winter wonderland out there! So pretty, so terrible to drive in. Right now I can hear ice pellets pinging my windows. Today and tomorrow .... snow, ice ,rain, repeat. A real nor'easter. I've been watching the always cheerful Chris St. Clair on the Weather Network describing it. He makes it seem like fun:) Love that guy!

I was out shoveling this morning, good way to get some exercise in:) Cleared off the bird feeder. Those little guys get hungry this time of year. Now it is time to think about lunch. Made some mjuddrah yesterday for good luck. It is a Lebanese dish with lentils and rice and caramelized onions. Eating lentils on January 1 is considered lucky, attracts prosperity:) I think it is because they look like tiny coins. I will have some of that with chopped tomatoes and feta. Yum.

This afternoon I am going to try my hand at painting:) Finally!! I've been doing everything but....

It's here! 2010. We are on the other side:)

Ahhh, sigh of relief, back to basics..... it is going to be hard after all the indulging. My birthday is fast approaching too. It is my winter hat-trick, Christmas, New Year and then Birthday:)

Last night's meal was delicious, shared with good friends...... Chipotle pork tenderloin, penne with shrimp and asparagus, broccoli salad and then profiteroles with chocolate sauce for dessert:) Topped off with a decaffe latte and sparlking drinkies. Movie was Stone of Destiny, a quaint Scottish flick, finished off with Halifax Parade Square countdown, dazzling backyard fireworks and then Times Square countdown! Dick Clark keeps soldiering on:)

Hope you had a good night too:) What did you do?