27 June 2016

The cathedrals of our time

by Cecily
Texas is real serious about its highways and interchanges. I knew this, of course, from having studied the very informative documentary David Byrne made about this state years ago. However, as is the case with other sorts of cathedrals from other times, actually visiting the highways in person is a very different experience than just looking at pictures.


Not that the pictures are anything to be sneezed at, either.

I will admit that driving under and/or over them has its own brand of numinosity.


The system of frontage roads is also at a highly advanced level. There's a learning curve. I'm on it.

"Well, I suppose these freeways made this town and a lot of others like it possible.  'They're the cathedrals of our time,' someone said.  Not me."

13 June 2016

Placeholding

by Cecily
I've been starting a bunch of projects and thinking about another bunch of different projects, but I haven't actually completed anything in a while, or taken any interesting pictures of anything, or thought about any interesting ideas that I feel like sharing.

Instead of completing things I've just been sort of reading and making dinner and petting the cats and mending/altering things.  And swimming in the river. And sleeping. My life is very hard.

Here's what I've been reading:
1. Detective stories. As usual. Margery Allingham, currently, and before that Edmund Crispin.
2. The Count of Monte Cristo. This is such a great story if you sort of let your eyes glaze over during the long boring descriptions of things and skip forward to where the revenge starts up again. I am constantly forgetting about it and then remembering it and binge reading the whole thing.
3. Bring Up the Bodies. I've been reading this (the sequel to Wolf Hall) for 8 or 9 months now. For some reason I cannot keep it up for more than an hour or so every... well, month, I guess. Then I have to re-read a bunch because I forgot what was happening before.
4. Kelly Link.  (this one.) The creepiest story, Catskin, is where Small got her name.

Here's what I've been mending/altering:
1. shirts
2. Batman outfits
3. disintigrating flaxseed pillows
4. paper boxes
5. Abe's quilt

Here's what I've been making for dinner: Rice noodles and roast pork. Even the 7-year-old eats it! Highly recommended.