Candy Corny

On a recent early morning  walk I came upon this funny-looking flower.

Having recently participated in  Carla Sonheim's imaginary flowers, it got me thinking that this one looked like it came out of a dream.

So I was inspired to create some new flowers like these,

And I put them in a field, with photos the real ones (do you see them?)

And I named it and put it in verse, because every flower should have a poem written for it.

My days were drab, and life was thorny

          'Til I found this field of Candy Corny
         
          Its petals spiky and cheerfully yellow

          Unhinged my blues and made me mellow.

Sunday again...

Sunday's come and go so fast around here. Lots to enjoy in this, the longest daytime of the year. Ah! Sweet Summer. Here are some nuggets from recent papers, Brain Pickings, and my out-and-abouts.

Here's something I think you'll enjoy:

 
Student Design Award Winner - Curiosity: Exploration and Discovery from RSA Student Design Awards on Vimeo.

I saw this on Brain-Pickings, where I also liked an interview with Neil Gaiman (who grew up in libraries) on How Stories Last:

Stories should change you — good stories should change you.

Maurice Sendak, The Big Green Book by Robert Graves

Illustration by Maurice Sendak from 'The Big Green Book' by Robert Graves. 

Lucas Aoki

This is not my artwork. It is the work of Lucas Aoki from Argentina. It is from a funny and creative sketchbook I found here. It is also a reminder that, if you love to peek into sketchbooks (journals, drawers, and your sister's diary), you have hundreds to fascinate you here and possibly in your own city when sketchbooks tour the country. I wrote about it here.

And there is this creative and playful take on book covers  from May 3 NYTimes.
I think this looks like a whole lot of fun. I may have to try it. Stay tuned.

NY Times photo by Ray Defara

With the U.S. open in our backyard, golf is on our minds. I smiled at this quip from The Onion, quoted in today's Seattle times:

Bubba Watson horrified to learn two-thirds of Earth covered in water hazards.

Go Cubs..

Pulling it all together. A beginning.

 I have begun to pull together photos, sketches, and memories into a couple of travel journals for our recent trip to Amsterdam, Budapest, Paris, and points in-between. I also have a couple of short videos I played around with apps that are kinda fun, I think!

There is a YouTube video on the 1934 Jordaan riots. It's from newsreels of the time. The first part contains image of the working class, depressed Jordaan neighborhood. It's quite interesting to compare it to the yuppie neighborhood it is today. (Are there still yuppies? Well, whatever we call them today.)

and a quickie video or two…



https://youtu.be/kjnnab0sHZ8



https://youtu.be/xgW7u09zhWc
Go here for "Walking Jordan," a more fun version of this one.

On the subject of fairy tales

I have long been smitten with fairy tales, especially the various visual concepts of the illustrators of them. In my collection of picture books, I have several beautifully rendered fairy tales. Below are two I would love to see on my shelves.  There are other gems here, here and here.

I was detoured from my plans for the day with another post from the ever-fascinating Brainpickings, which has now made my top 5 favorite places to visit. (I am supporting Maria's site with donations. It is an awesome place.)

Hardly any other form of storytelling honors children’s inherent intelligence more than the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, which have been extending a luminous invitation into the dark for more than two centuries.   (Quoted from Brainpickings, Maria Popova

Here is a sample illustration from a new Grimm's fairy tale book. The illustrator is Lisbeth Zwerger. I love their choice of wallpaper, don't you?

Lisbeth Zwerger

Ms. Popova continues: 

J.R.R. Tolkien famously asserted that there is no such thing as writing “for children” — something that has since been echoed by C.S. Lewis, who admonished against considering children a special species, E.B. White, who insisted that one should write up to children rather than down, and Neil Gaiman, who believes that we do a disservice to children by shielding them from darker elements.

Here's another creative artist in a fairy tale format. The artist is Shaun Tan who created exquisite sculptural illustrations in Philip Pullman's take on Grimm's fairy tales. 

The Frog Prince. Shaun Tan. 

Rapunzel.  Shaun Tan. 

I really, really admire this kind of creativity.

My friend Gigi told me that I should really watch Once Upon a Time, the TV series. So I've hunted it down on Netflix and will do some catching up to see if I agree. Anybody else out there watch it?

Back to Books

…about something other than Budapest, Amsterdam, and points in-between.

carved image by me

I love translated mysteries from Scandinavia, Iceland, Italy, and France. Camilla Lackberg's series is a favorite of mine. This is her latest and my favorite so far. I have a hard time putting it down.

Diane Moline

and just also started this one and can already tell it will be as good as Devil in White City and In the Garden of Beasts.

Diane Moline

Resting up...

from vacation!  You know it's true! It takes a few days to get your land legs back - whether or not you've been on the sea, it matters not. However the way, travel is energizing, exciting, educational, and exhausting!

Aren't the peonies lovely? I rescued the last of them from the heat. It is unseasonably warm here in Seattle. An especially early summer perhaps? While I love the warm, I'll do without the hot, so the weather has my permission to ease up just a bit. Sun, though, you are not dismissed.

I sent myself postcards  Today, Monday,  I received the most recent one, sent from Paris just Thursday morning! 

I am busily organizing photos and stories from our journey to Amsterdam, Paris, and the amazing river cruise down European waters. Eight couples from five states with various Kevin Bacon degrees of separation got to know each other, laughed a lot, ate a lot, walked a lot, and were pampered by a Viking crew and staff and brand new ship. We had a ball. I think I like it better than report cards, my previous normal this time of year. Oh, yes.

I'll post travel memories, mostly through my visual journal and sketches, on the website over the next days and weeks.