Mary Janes
Cris and I have had a long running joke about these candies. I put these into her Christmas stocking this year and yesterday she placed them on my nightstand before leaving for a couple of weeks in Dhaka. They will probably be there when she gets back. Neither of us seem to like them that much. Chocolate on the other hand, wouldn’t last nearly that long.
Standing Quarter
Well, it happened again today (click on the “it”). When I posted a similar occurrence last year, my friend Alex reminded me of a “Twilight Zone” episode where a guy threw a quarter into a newspaper vendor’s box and the coin stood on its edge. All the rest of the day he had the power to read minds. As was typical of that program, it didn’t turn out so well. I was in the process of putting a quarter into a parking meter this afternoon and it dropped into the snow and landed this way. I wasn’t able to read minds, but it did make me happy.
More Pearl
A bit of “karma congestion” lately. So as a default I feel like doing a Pearl post. We never let her up on the furniture until about a year ago, but now she seems to have claimed the center section of this sofa. It is really nice to have the wood stove going with her asleep next to you.
Cris was putting some wrapped presents under the tree yesterday, and Pearl went right to this “Mega P’nut” dog treat. She got an early gift.
Peter is home from DC and he and I took her for a walk today. I know I have posted a similar photo, but for some reason this still gets to me. She wants to carry her leash everywhere.
This past year has been monumental in many ways, and next year could be equally interesting. My very best wishes to all of you who follow this blog. I’ll get back to some serious stuff soon, but in the meantime, ’tis the season to be thinking about friends and family and have lots of love in your hearts.
Cheers, Jon
Ithaca, NY
Here’s a shot I took from the top of the Ithaca parking garage a long time ago. It was around this time I started to become interested in motion. I really like the movement of the arm reaching out to the mailbox. / Sorry for the dearth of posts lately. My cold really knocked me down. Finally feeling somewhat healthy again.
Plant
Cris thought this was a clematis, but upon looking at pictures that are online, I am quite sure it is something else. In any event, it was outside all summer and appeared to be totally dead. I moved it into the shade and watered it regularly and it came back. / It is an appropriate flower, as earlier this morning I went to the doctor and was informed that I had “pink eye”. I almost laughed when he told me, as I don’t think I have heard those words since elementary school. It is still kind of fun to say….pink eye. It is a total drag though; certainly not a good condition for a photographer. He gave me some drops and I hope it starts clearing up soon. / The picture in the background is my mom and was taken in 1956 in Lermoos, Austria. Here’s a link to a previous post about that trip.
Hot Toddy
I am drinking one as I write this. It seems kind of silly as it is the essence of simplicity to make a hot toddy, but here’s what I usually do. (I am making two here since even if you are not sick it will really hit the spot. Cristine loves them.) Three main ingredients. A thick slice of lemon, a big teaspoon of honey, and some amber liquid (I usually use a fairly cheap blended Canadian whiskey, but others use rum or scotch, or well, just about anything. I would welcome suggestions for alternatives for those of you who don’t use alcohol.)
Put the lemon, honey and alcohol into a big mug. I like these glass ones. Boil some water and add. Stir until the honey is dissolved and everything is well mixed.
You can see from the mug on the left that I left the pips in the lemon slices. They add a certain rusticness (is that a word?). / The main reason I am posting this is that I did get several responses from the previous post. But leamuse’s comment sealed the deal. “The Mistral is blowing here in The Mediterranean so let’s have the recipe!” How could I resist?
New York Thruway (Eastbound)
As I was driving home from Brockport yesterday afternoon the light was similar to that in my previous post, though at a different time of the day. As my film-maker friends might say, “magic hour”. / I seem to have come down with a very nasty chest cold. I know it is all about the virus, but I can’t help wondering if lack of sleep and being in hotel rooms didn’t make it worse. So I’m drinking lots of fluids and sleeping as much as I can. If anyone else is in the same boat, let me know and I’ll post my hot toddy recipe.
Small Fir
I think I posted a shot of one of these a few years ago. I can never remember what this small plant is called but I seem to remember seeing them in terrariums back way back when. They are all over the woods above my house. I’m pretty sure my sister will chime in with the correct answer. Anyone else care to enlighten me?
Bluebonnet Diner
I am getting a new battery in the Element and having the snows put on. I should really be doing some work answering email or going through the to-do list in my notebook. The dealership has great WiFi and it is a good excuse to do a quick post and avoid actual work. / The Bluebonnet diner on King Street in Northampton is pretty classic. An original Worcester Diner with an attached restaurant. I like pictures that show prices. Maybe someday someone will look at this and say “Liverwurst sandwich for only $4.29. Amazing”. My mom used to love liverwurst with a slice of sweet onion on rye bread.
Willard Suitcases Update
Since Hunter’s “Collector’s Weekly” interview with me came out earlier this week, a lot of attention has been drawn to the suitcases project. He did such a great job capturing my voice and I am really grateful for his interest. It has suddenly opened up some very interesting new doors, and has driven a ton of traffic to this blog. Occasionally when people come here expecting to see suitcase photos, they see my other posts and get confused. It has been intentional on my part to mix up the suitcase updates with my other stuff because I want visitors to get an idea of who I am as a person and a photographer. But when someone comes here looking for Willard suitcases and sees a picture of my dog in the back of the car, they might be thinking something along the lines of WTF (as the kids say). I have been giving this a good think, and here’s my solution. I still want everyone to see everything, but to make it easier on people I will link to some of the earlier updates. So here we go: Dmytre, Frank, Flora, and some earlier ones: Charles, and the first one I ever shot which explains the genesis of the project, Frieda. For those of you new visitors who are adventurous and have some time on your hands, just click on the archive links to the right and wander around a bit.
I have received so many notes from people saying that they came to this site to look at the suitcases but were excited by what else they saw. And I want to thank you all for being interested in my work and my life.
Here’s a link that my friend Tom Bollier sent to me earlier today when it popped up on his Google reader. I had no idea that this was being done, but she did a nice job. More news to come soon, I hope.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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