Alice Neel

Like Chekhov, I am a collector of souls… if I hadn’t been an artist, I could have been a psychiatrist. - Alice Neel

A new biography by Phoebe Hoban is out.

pirouetting

“And a beep, and a ba-ba-ba and a tour jeté and you’re fabulous, you’re marvelous, relax.”

While Natalie Portman manages something physically incredible with the pitiful script that is Black Swan, you needn't put yourself through the trial of seeing it. Unfortunately it's an eye-roller ...predictable narrative and typical characters. bah! So, if it's ballet you want, take a look at this.

the hidden mother

tintypes of tinies.
from here.

pour les petits

De Stijl-style chair. Verzuu chaise en bois laqué blanc et rouge. Vers 1930.
Bid on it and other lovely things for little ones here.

how to hem

J J

Two of them: Janice Jakielski and jj.

A Gift

pour vous, from Allison Manch.

and something to make you laugh, and something else to make you laugh.

Tug of War

Merry Happy Jolly and HO HO HO XO XO XO

yes way.

Harriott Grace

Cake flags, linens, cookie cutters, wooden spoons, bowls and cake stands ...
The impeccable world of Harriott Grace.

Vince and Charlie

a note

can be sent on monogrammed stationery from Rifle Paper Co.

MOSAIA

yes, MOSAIA.

(thanks to CK)

a christmas breakfast

with my ladies.
. . .
Listen to this (via mobiusstripmall).

guts

A photograph of Nita Tokoyu sewing a gut parka with (her children?) Kakhsogon and Wiyi beside her, at Gambell, Alaska.

(Photographer: Otto W. Geist, from the Doris Bordine Collection, Anchorage Museum)




Drawings (1929 and 1928) by Florence Napaaq Malewotkuk, of women and men wearing bleached seal gut parkas and boots.
(Collection of the University of Alaska Museum of the North)

More on gut parkas here, from the Smithsonian.

J K

The amazing Julie Kavner.

She's been on my mind the last few weeks: Rhoda's sister and the voice of Marge Simpson and her sisters Patty and Selma. But perhaps her greatest claim is this rock-out with Tracy Ullman to Wally Walodarsky in 1998.

When less is more.

A little more mending, this time orange on red.
Moths find these animal proteins delicious.

- - -
The lists are out.

dutch babies

A simple, most impressive soufflé-like Dutch pannekoek.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Place a 10-inch cast iron pan in the oven and allow it to heat, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whip:
4 eggs
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
1/2 cup spelt flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Remove the cast iron pan from the oven and add 2 tablespoons butter. Return it to the oven and allow the butter to just melt, about 3 minutes. Remove it once more and swirl the butter around, making sure it reaches up the sides of the pan. Pour the batter into the hot pan and slide it into the oven. Bake 18-20 minutes.

Pour a little fresh lemon juice over the hot Dutch Baby and sprinkle with icing sugar. Serve.

If you like berries with yours, try this:
2 cups blackberries, each sliced in half length-wise
1 cup blueberries, squeezed briefly in your palm
2 teaspoons organic sugar
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cointreau
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
Combine and allow to rest at least an hour before serving. This allows the berries to release their juices.

in the mornings

when the sun comes in, the wiener wants to lie in the window.