Grandma Florence Remembered

This morning my girlfriend Connie told me that the round potholder Grandma Florence made for her is the only potholder her husband will use for removing items from their microwave and she needed to make a new one.  “Did I know what she used for padding?”

Grandma Florence passed away on July 16, 1994, about a  month short of age 99. During her lifetime she was constantly busy doing “handwork” as she called it, making quilts and crocheted rag rugs and curtains for her kitchen.   As she got older the jobs became smaller.  She made and gifted potholders to everyone in the family and all of my friends. Everyone I knew had stacks of her potholders in all shapes and colors.

  I knew that some of my friends had never used them, had kept them as remembrances. But what a sweet thing that after so many years her work was so valued that Connie’s husband wants it replaced.

Grandma Florence, you have been gone a long time but you are still in our thoughts and in our lives.

 

What Fun Would That Be?

My book club just finished reading Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister. Based on the name and the cover on the paperback edition, I wasn’t excited about reading it, thinking it was going to be a very predictable happy ending kind of book.  In fact, right on the cover was a quote from author Garth Stein: “Moving, touching, wonderfully written, inspiring to read.”  Need I say more?

But I am the leader of the book club and two days before our meeting I bought the book and began reading. I was right, it was predictable but there were three ideas in that book that I wrote down and keep thinking about.  So I guess you can’t always tell a book by its cover.

“My husband said he didn’t want to be married to Robin’s mother anymore.” To learn more about that mouth full,  read on

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3-D Printing on Project Runway?

About a year ago Robin called me and began our discourse on 3-D printing.  It was new to me but it didn’t take long for her enthusiasm to rub off on me.  In May when we were in NYC for Grace’s graduation we went to the MakerBot store for a demo.  What fun that was and Robin and Jim bought one.  Since then we have seen numerous articles and demonstrations on 3-D printing, including a quote from Diane von Furstenberg that 3-D printing would revolutionize the fashion industry.

Well, as you can imagine, I was thrilled this evening on Project Runway to see her words come true.  Read on to learn how 3-D printing was used in this evening’s episode.

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Only the Best

Friend recently gave me a book: Only the Best – A Celebration of Gift Giving in America by Stuart E. Jacobson. It is 213 pages of celebration of thoughtful and memorable gifts.  Like Richard Burton’s gift to Elizabeth Taylor of a diamond  bracelet entwined in 10 d0zen Sterling roses, lavender to match her eyes, which were delivered at 8:30 in the morning, when he knew she would answer the door herself.

In the Preface Jacobson states that “The great giver is a breed apart, sometime angel, sometime fool, at once in and out of control, but always operating from the heart.”

Take for example the gift Vilmos Gabor gave his daughter Zsa Zsa Gabor.

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Riverdog Studio

Dee Dee and I visited  Riverdog Studio on a Textile Art Alliance tour a few weeks ago.  It is a stunning studio full of fantastic art created by Deborah Banyas (fabric creatures) and T. P. Speer (Polymer objects and oil paintings).  www.banyasandspeer.com

Studio open house is this weekend, Oct. 5 and 6, noon until 5 pm each day.

Address:  13818 Gore Orphanage Road in Henrietta Township, Wakeman, OH 44889.  5 miles west of Oberlin at the corner of Becker Rd. and Gore Orphanage Rd., just south of Camp Firelands.

The open house includes:

  • Great selection of new artwork;
  • Snacks and complimentary wine and craft beer tasting presented by Sheila and Pete Badel of APIAS Consultants;
  • Explore Riverdog Retreat;
  • 1 1/2 miles of walking trails and Bad Baby sightings;
  • Breuer Pottery is also holding their Fall Open House just a short drive from Riverdog Studio www.breuerpottery.com
  • See websites for directions.

The studio is located on 20 acres of wooded land on the East Fork of the Vermillion River. Property includes 2 houses which are available for bed and breakfast rentals (minimum 2 nights) and a barn which is available for parties and concerts.

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Rare Bird of Fashion

One of my favorite designers of accessories is a 90+ year old woman, Iris Apfel.  She is nicknamed the Rare Bird of Fashion.  Thus her line is called Rara Avis.  I purchased her 36″ string of very large resin multicolored beads (white, green, blue, coral, etc.) and wore it in May when we went to the Live with Kelly Ripa and Michael Struhan show.  After the show when they were talking to the audience, Kelly stopped in mid-sentence and said “I love that necklace” to me.  Iris’s jewelry is that kind of fabulous.

She is on HSN today.  If you want to be wowed and have fun,  and maybe buy some fabulous Xmas gifts for yourself or friends, as I did, tune in to HSN this afternoon at 5:00 to 7:00 pm Eastern time or go to HSN.com and search Rara Avis.

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Google Glass as Fashion Accessory

Diane von Furstenberg was photographed in the Sunday Style section of the August 25 New York Times wearing tangerine Google Glass.  Seated next to her was Sergey Brin, her friend and Google Co-founder, wearing sky Google Glass.  They were watching DVF’s models rehearsing for NY Fashion Week 2012.  The article, Past the Glass Ceiling, reported that the following week models in the DVF runway show wore Google Glass, one model matching tangerine Google Glass to the orange squiggle on her jumpsuit.

Three days later I saw a picture in the August 28 Cleveland Plain Dealer of an Ohio State University orthopedic surgeon wearing the gray Google Glass.  And a 12 page spread in the September Vogue magazine entitled The Final Frontier – Beyond the blue horizon lies a futuristic vision of fashion  in which every model was dressed in minimalistic fashions wearing Google Glass.

What is this Google Glass?

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Aug. 26: My Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday.  39 again.  Well, actually 39 again, and again, and again….  So many agains that it has made me kind of sad.

What was special about this birthday?

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Fire in the Mountain

National news is reporting on the Rockport5 Fire near Park City, Utah.  Well, we have a front row seat. Ralph and I are at Robin’s house which is on the top of the next mountain ridge, about 3 miles away from the blaze.  It began with a lightening strike near Rockport State Park at about 2 p.m. on Tuesday that exploded into flames in the dry terrain.  It was a very small thunderstorm that was gone as quickly as it came and did nothing to put out the flames.

Wednesday morning the fire officials reported that 1,920 acres were burned, 14 houses, 20 outbuildings and several vehicles were destroyed but there were no injuries.  The fire was 20% contained. 250 homes in Rockport Estates, Bridgehollow and Promontory Subdivision were under evacuation order until Thursday evening.

We sat on the deck all Tuesday afternoon until well into the night watching.

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Outpouring of Love and Respect

Ralph and I went to the funeral this morning.  Got to the church early and already were placed in the second line of cars for the procession to the cemetery.  When the mass began the church was full of people.  When we came out there were cars with flags lined up everywhere in the church parking lot.  Once we finally began moving there were flagged cars as far as we could see both in front  and behind, but the hearse was way beyond what we could see, and we were heading in the opposite direction from the cemetery.  There must have been 150 cars in the procession.  At every intersection police cars blocked traffic for us and long lines of cars and trucks were waiting for us to pass.  Even at the end of our street to allow the deceased to pass his home on the way to his resting place.

We drove for 55 minutes, disrupting traffic in Westlake, North Olmstead, in Cleveland along Brookpark Road leading to the airport and on to Holy Cross Cemetery.  It was the largest funeral procession I have ever seen.  Not for a public official, or a corporate giant, or a priest or bishop.  For a 30-year old man with a heart of gold who had helped and touched the lives of everyone he met.

Rest in peace Tony.

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