Only in Miami: Remember those flamingos at the race track?

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Miami memories!

Here's a contour drawing of a flamingo. I colored it with Copic markers. 

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Book club: recommended

Written Tuesday night:
Dear Friends,

It was book club night — also pumpkin soup and good bread and salad and sangría and gingerbread and applesauce. 

I already posted my books on Goodreads -- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino.

We argued and laughed jotted down books recommended by others. Here are some:

Lincoln in the Bardo. Novel. One who didn’t like it gave it a second try and now she loves it.

The Circle by Dave Eggers. Novel about Silicon Valley. Not good. Don’t read.

Drinking Arak off an Ayatolla’s Beard by Nicholas Jubber. Recommended for me, about Iran

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali: Novel, Good so far, light read, beautiful cover! Recommended 

Pilgrim, Poetry by David Whyte. Amanda, who read this, said she loved it, but she said it might not appeal to people who are new to poetry.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, by Lori Gottlieb: Not your usual book by a psychotherapist. Recommended.

Love,

k

Ask a question, write an essay, make a book

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jia Tolentino asks herself a question and then answers it and that is her essay. You don’t know what the question is; I had fun guessing. Sometimes she injects herself into the text, and sometimes she’s more professorial, but you always know she’s THERE.


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Reminded me of Florida

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jagged, sad, and gorgeous. I usually start novels but can’t finish them. This was the opposite— I HAD to keep reading.
Thanks, Steph, for sharing it with me!

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Scribble and paint

Written yesterday:
Dear Friends,
It’s 4 p.m., and soon I’m driving to Woodland, to attend a benefit for the ArtFarm project that I love. It’s the program that welcomes artists to spend time at Yolo County farms. Yolo is next to Sacramento County; the counties meet in the middle of the Sacramento River. There will be displays and tastings from farms and wineries — if I remember right, there’s lots of food, and music too. And an art auction, at the Hotel Woodland.  I expect the whole scene to remind me of small farm towns in Ohio.  I’m meeting Mary Kaye and Leigh there. 
Here’s some scribble and paint. Can’t keep away from colors! 
Love,
k

Imagine orange

Written last night: 

Dear Friends,

Halloween is not supposed to be relaxing, but mine was. 

🎃Take Zing! to Tony

🎃Walk the mile across I Street Bridge to Burgers & Brew in West Sacramento (West Sac is a separate city just across the bridge.) 

🎃Relaxing lunch there with Patrick & Steph. I like the way people at tables around us are laughing and relaxed at lunchtime. We laugh too.

🎃All at once I realize it’s autumn. I decide to spend an hour cooking. That’s just enough to get lentil soup bubbling and make some gingerbread. 

🎃I am willing to share some of this with my neighbor Sandy, but she declines. She doesn’t like lentils. 

🎃She comes over with a sandwich, and helps me try some pinot noir that might be good for Thanksgiving. 

🎃She loves the gingerbread. I didn’t have time to make applesauce to go with it, but vanilla ice cream was fine. 

🎃I draw these marigolds. Imagine they are orange. Orange marigolds are the flower of Día de los Muertos, November 2. 

Happy Halloween!

Love, 

k