School Update

What to see what I've been up to in school? Come see my other blog, which is really for documentation purposes, but it gives you an idea of some of the work I've been doing.

http://arttherapyart.blogspot.com/

Here is a resent image of one of my last projects.
http://arttherapyart.blogspot.com/2008/09/bindle-stick.html

Other than making art, I do lots of reading. It's really great though, and I'm enjoying the whole experience.

Dad's Visit

Labor day weekend my dad came up to pay me a visit. I was really surprised that he made the journey since he doesn't like flying anymore. But as he promised, he flew up and spent 4 days up here. We had a great time.

The first day he arrived we just went to dinner and then he went back to his hotel (which he insisted on). The next day we went to the historical Minute Man Park in Lexington. He loved hearing about the history of this country (a true military man). The third day we spent driving around in Boston. Yes, we drove, which is crazy, because the streets are always full and Boston is known as a walking city. After seeing the sites we all made it an early day, and I said my good-byes. The last day dad prepared to leave.

I really enjoyed his company and so did James (my partner not dad). After my dad returned home he ordered us a table and chairs for the front porch of our house so that we could have somewhere nice to sit. What a sweet guy, thanks dad.

Arlington Town Day Festival

The event started Friday evening with an Arlington's Best Dog Show. It was quite a site. I've never seen a dog show in person before.

The evening ended with a beautiful fireworks display.

And the following day, on Saturday, the fun really began. There was an all day event . The town blocked off the main street, Mass Ave., for vendors of all kinds. Above is a picture of me at a historical site where there were historians in costumes. We also saw a K-9 demo from our neighbor who is a K-9 police officer.

We really feel lucky to live in such a nice little town.

Last year's project - Update

In an effort to spend half the year traveling James and I have been working on promoting our motorcycle journal website full of travel info. and motorcycle specifics. While the site is up, its still a work in progress. You can check it out at:
www.jjriders.com

Also, we put up a video we made from some of pictures from our cross country trip. If you haven't seen it yet, its pretty cute. I've watched it probably a hundred times now. Its also especially good if you like Jonny Cash. Check it out and enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyAxyoeVHoQ

Vermont in 3 days

We dashed out of Arlington, MA Thursday morning for one more last minute trip on the motorcycle before the responsibilities kick in on Monday. I woke up full of worry this morning, but all that didn't matter today because we were hitting the road. I really love that riding is about being in the present moment.

We head west across Massachusetts and around 100+ miles later we take our first break at the Mass Moca in North Adams. Its a large museum in what feels like the middle of no where. This town, North Adams, must have been a mining town, which has since had many of its building converted, including the building of the Mass MoCA. We saw some great exhibit with Jenny Holzer and Anselm Kiefer.

Time to get back on the road and get to our final destination: the Nordic Hills Lodge in Wilmington, VT. where we'll be staying for the night. This is a great spot that James found by chance on a solo trip he did last month. This great lodge is motorcycle friendly and has a lot for a smaller place and great price. I would defiantly recommend if your in the area. Its also at the bottom of Mount Snow, which I hear is a nice ski area in the winter. At the lodge there's a game room downstairs where we played air hockey and then some pool.

Fall was starting to show, but its still a little early and actually quite hot - 84 degrees F. I do hope the heat late in the season means that this will be an easier winter.

The following day we made it over to our friends Stewart and Jenny who just moved up to Vermont from FL. It was great seeing some familiar faces up here.

Today, Saturday, we drove back home in a hurry, trying to bet the tropical storm making its way up here. So weird. Anyways, we made it and Monday is back to school.

Tofu Scramble Recipe

(Pictured here is tofu scramble made with peppers and onions along with buckwheat pancakes and vegetarian sausage.)

Ingredients

• block of Firm Tofu
• Veggies of choosing (peppers, onions, zucchini, what ever you've got in the frig)
• 1/2 tsp. of tumeric
• 1 tbsp. oil
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast (from health food store or Whole Foods)
• parsley

Directions

1. Start by draining the tofu of all its water. I like to also use a towel and some pressure to dry it out. Remove as much water as possible. This will make the tofu more flavorful.
   
2. Next Saute your onions first, so that they get some caramelization happening.
3. Cut the tofu into 1" squares and crumble into the pan.
4. Throw the tofu into the pan for about ten min. or so. You want the tofu to brown and dry up a bit.
5. Sauce time. Add the rest of the ingredients above and your other veggies if any.
6. Cook a few more minutes and then enjoy!

Cape Cod

Today I unexpectedly found myself in Cape Cod with James on the motorcycle. Let me explain. I have been considering buying a motorcycle (to be discussed in another blog). We traveled to Wymouth about a half hour south of Boston to check out this cute little dual purpose enduro bike. It was nice, but I wasn't completely sure, so since we were already south of home, we thought lets keep going. It was probably a little after 11am, and with no pressing comittments and my freedom of flexibility slowly slipping away (classes start next Wednesday), we thought we should take advantage.

I have been talking about going to Cape Cod since I moved here; excited to see the ocean and this famous area. Finally today was the day, and just in time. It was good getting there on a week day, as I hear this area gets really crowded during the weekends. With a 35 mile stretch of one lane highway, I was glad there were few people out.

The ride out got more and more beautiful the closer we got. Towards the tip of the Cape appeared sand dunes (see photo above). It was unlike any beach terrain I had ever seen. The landscape reminded me of parts of Death Valley, but with vegetation. I really wish I would have brought my camera, but I did manage to find some photos on line, which are the photos above.

A hundred plus miles after leaving the bike we checked out this morning we had hit "P-town", which stands for Provincetown. This is the furthest point on the Cape Cod Bay. This was quite a ride considering we had no plans, no side cases and no lunch. We rode up route 6A looking for a lunch spot that had some fried seafood (we all get our cravings from time to time). We found a great little place called Pepe's Wharf Restaurant‎. It's right on the beach with a great view of the bay.

A few interesting things about Provincetown can be found here:
http://www.pilgrim-monument.org/t3/index.php?id=38
I'll tell you some of the most interesting. There is a monument there called Pilgrim Monument (see photo above). This is because this town is the first place that the pilgrims on the Mayflower landed in 1602. I know, crazy huh? I thought it was Plymouth Rock, which it was, but this is where they spent 5 weeks before heading up to Plymouth Rock. Interesting stuff.

The ride back went pretty fast but it was a little long probably due to the lack of water and too much sun. That can really zap your energy, and being tired on a motorcycle is the worst. A half hour out of Boston we stopped and got coffee to pep us up. This was a good move since we hit some traffic on the way home. We finally made it home by 7pm. Sometimes you never know where the day will take you.

Another successful day trip on the moto.