postcards (adios, for now)

last summer, on the occasion of my birthday, my sister, my friend z, and i took a train north for my first ever visit to dia: beacon.
it was a drizzly, green day.



there are wonderful works on view there--my favorites, by fred sandback, robert smithson, richard serra, and michael heizer are part of the "long-term" collection.

there was also an installation by zoe leonard, "you see i am here after all," a collection of some four thousand vintage postcards of niagara falls that essentially chronicles "our" sense of that natural wonder over the course of the last hundred or so years. the postcards are "evidence" but also a vehicle for perpetuating its iconic, mythic, cliched status. you can read more here, if you'd like...

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the most charming part of the exhibit (for me) were the actual messages on the cards:

hello! i wonder what you are doing tonight.
lovingly, nellie

i come on the afternoon train.
anna

please let me know if you have any turkey eggs for me and how many.
truly, jennie hammer

will return wednesday evening, will look like a boiled lobster.
sincerely,
elizabeth

annie skillens and i are together. a very enjoyable journey. no accidents.
l. pearl

great. but everybody are robbers. they would steal the pennies, etc.
"dutch"

i saved more messages (but alas, they are long gone, with my old phone).

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the postcard has always been one of my favorite collectibles--whether i'm traveling, or visiting a museum, or just browsing at shop here in the city. i buy multiples of cards i like-- one clean card for me to keep, other clean cards to share with my sister or my cousin jojo, and still others to send...

sometimes my best intentions to write and send them, especially when i'm traveling, go unrealized. time and days get away from me. maybe i spend too much time trying to craft a thoughtful and "perfectly" worded message. and, sometimes if i actually write them, i'll forget the stamp or better yet, not be able to find a mailbox! so the cards come home with me. there have been a few times, feeling totally inept and defeated, i have just kept them or tossed them away...

but i'm resolving with this trip to buenos aires, to write and send, write and send, because postcards can really be perfect expressions of sentiment--brief, heartfelt, unexpected--and i would argue just as nice to write as to receive. with so many opportunities (facebook, twitter, IM) to say what's on the mind, always something so clever and funny and smart, it seems the most novel thing to say would be an honest i'm thinking of you. i miss you. i wish you were here. or something like that.

we'll see how i do...

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as always, thanks for visiting the blog. i'll be back in a week or so, with new tango shoes and hopefully a few good photos to share.
in the meantime, check out the work of the people i adore, permalinked on the sidebar, but especially:
sheena925...see her latest, lovely creation
jojo aguilar...finally--new drawings up this month
film snobs...shutter island review!
jess hullett (she's got something yummy for you for st. patrick's day. check it out on phoebetv--new episode on monday. maybe tuesday... haa)
and
my maximum favorite writer, steve tignor, blogging brilliantly from the bnp paribas open in indian wells. the tournament actually became one of my favorites because of the way he's written about it--always so keen, so fun. i was almost sorry that i planned this trip during such an amazing tennis week (i might try to catch a little of it while i'm away) but the blog will make it seem like i'm not missing a beat (or ball). i have come to rely on his eyes and ears and mind and heart (yes, i said heart. you can't be a great writer without that) to enlighten me and enliven the world around the sport i love, other things too. and i've never been let down.

be well, and enjoy the week.

piym: oh my cherry pie

i confess--i made this cherry pie.
i am guessing that if jess made it, it would be a little less brown around the edges.

but the truth in advertising is, from crust to fruit filling, it's all made lovingly from scratch.
and at a dinner party/taste test it received high marks. not bad for a first pass.
sweet, even.

check out jess in this week's episode, she's got fun facts and a few important tips for preparing the pastry crust...

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all photos © anita aguilar for phoebeworks/piym

c'mon everybody (it's elvis' birthday tomorrow)

i'm not working tomorrow (not as of yet) and people have been carping about snow that's on the way (?). so my plan for the king's would- be 75th is to enjoy a little of tcm's programming (girl happy, that's the way it is--which will be new to me, blue hawaii, and of course...viva las vegas). and i'll be making the elvis special--a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich--for lunch.

photo of "the elvis sandwich" © anita aguilar, for phoebeworks/piym.

i think you should give it a try, too. it's creamy, sweet, salty, crunchy...bacon-y. it's got all the complexity and contrast that you want in a "dish."

here's a link to jess' recipe and the elvis' birthday episode of PIYM:

piym: "it's britney, b*tch!"

britney spears chicken cheetos casserole (alleged). it's not pretty, but it's entertaining.

jess in a favorite shirt.

why do i love jess?

because she completely un-ironically loves britney spears.

and she made a chicken cheetos casserole in her honor.

it's "disgusting and repulsive and delicious and addictive."

(i'm not gonna lie--it's one of the weirdest dishes i've ever had. but it smells outrageously good.)

anyway--i love this episode, jess just makes me giggle.

need an is-it-really-only-tuesday-pick-me-up?

watch this...

piym: apple month

probably not unlike a lot of kids, my first taste of an apple pie or any sort of cooked apple concoction was a mcdonald's apple pie. i remember thinking the packaging was quite special, but the pie itself, revolting. cooked fruit was just...weird. i was thereafter never tempted by any hostess fruit pie. and i didn't hanker for the little paper cups of apple sauce that were served up in our school cafeteria.

but my palate has since evolved--i love any kind of cooked fruit, stewed in a compote (even prunes, for goodness' sake) or poached in wine, and especially when nestled in a tart, pie or pastry. any kind of tart, pie or pastry. (ok, i still might not be able to swing the mcd's or hostess...)

i made an apple pie once, many moons ago--i tend to stick to the pecan and pumpkin, in the fall and winter months. i like how easy they are to make. but jess' apple pastry recipe, using ready-made crust, is appealing and seemingly simple to prep.

check out the latest piym episode, celebrating "apple month," and her recipe for apple pastry cups with caramel sauce here...

piym: national sandwich day...

did you know that today is national sandwich day?

i actually did, but only because mike, jess and i shot this episode a couple of weeks ago (with a new show open, new photos--a knife-wielding, but not at all menacing, jess). for this holiday, she is offering a recipe for a mediterranean lamb burger, with a yogurt-mint sauce. i wish i could tell you exactly how good it is. i can't, but only because the team ravaged it on the set before i could get to it. rumor is it's very good.

i do LOVE lamb burgers (a bar near-ish to my apartment, the perfect pint, has a nice one. i basically can't bring myself to order anything else when i'm there). jess' version has cinnamon and cloves, which intrigues me. once i figure out where i can find ground lamb in my neighborhood, i'll be making these at home.

check out this and other PIYM episodes and recipes on the phoebeworks site...let me know what you think.