Very interested in making some bread from THIS Sullivan Street Bakery. Recipe info and photo thanks to Tollipop.  I know it reveals a weakness and a missed physical/spiritual experience but, the standing fact is that kneading for a smaller (short and short) person is not always the easiest (I have to stand on a stool at the kitchen counter to get proper leverage). I carry kids around all day that are half my weight so I think of it as preserving my arm-life by not kneading my own dough. Anyways, now that I am fully embarrassed... this looks to be a delicious alternative.

All of our homemade bread loaves have had that awesome square shape and spongy texture that our bread machine is fab at producing. But this pain rustica looks like the city-sour I would bundle in my suitcases and smuggle  back from OR on my trips home from college. Mmmmmm.

St. Vincent "The Strangers" from Lake Fever Sessions on Vimeo.

This is one of the best things I have seen in a while.  This (above) session, taped by our dear friends over at Lake Fever and this Pheonix  session have kind of been making my new year grin what it is and should be lately. Happy New Year. Just lovely.

     I always wish that I was in London but I reeaaaally wish that this afternoon.

I have been thinking up and working on these small pieces for Roman Candle for a couple of months now and they are finally at the stage where I can start to share them here.  There will be a bigger update on the main blog page later today but here is a sneak peak at some Roman Candle song stitchings that have come from a little bit of time in the tour van with a lot of rainy windows to look out and a little bit of imagining over a LOT of touring these past couple of months. I'm really excited to share these with you...stay tuned :).

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The boys, band frisbee, rainy van rides, Sun Studios... so far so great.

When we went out on our very first tour years ago it lasted four weeks or so and I packed one backpack with clothes and underwear and a toothbrush and then went on to fill the above suitcase with books. The whole thing. Full. And heavy. I admit this sheepishly because this is the least "zen" part of my personality. I hoard books on every single journey as if they were my underwear. It is not a cool thing, and never a reasonable thing. In fact, it is kind of a panic thing. I get so overwhelmed and excited about the potential of whatever adventure we are going on that I think I need nothing short of a small library at my constant access in order to be fully prepared for whatever inspiration might or could strike. Does anyone else do this? Please say yes. Even if you are lying. I have hurt my back, taken up way more than my share of space in the back seat, and not read more than I would ever admit when I am stacking them up for the next journey. Anyways, after that first trip of packing this suitcase to the brim, Skip was kind enough to stop me at the door and veto about a third of them (only to add his own bag full of poetry books..he is not above it) and then he talked me slightly down off of the loony cliff I was on convincing me that it was kind of crazy and, well, crazy. SO, this time around I am thinking light. Just a couple and a good variety. The truth is, when you are stuck in a van there are a lot of variables to what you can read and when. the length of the drive, the stage in the tour ( if you want to kill everyone and need to just peace out with an embarrasing vampire novel for example), how loud the music is and what kind is playing...you never really know what book is going to fit until you are out there and you try it on. Can you tell that this is the kind of stuff I tell myself while I am sneaking extra books into my duffel or even into the kid's suitcase ( I am not above it either).?

Anyways, this time it is the above short stack and it should be good. There might be another cookbook in the stack but nothing else. For now, the suitcase will have to sit this one out.

Just recently discovered the illustrations of British born Nigel Peake. He has drawn things for about everywhere but the real treats can be found in his mini-zine projects here. I really love how he uses so many technical subjects (architecture, biology, anatomy) and yet each of his illustrations have a kind of whimsical element.  Pretty great. I also love the names of his zines, i.e. "Ghost Houses", "Broken Camera Club", "Entirely Ordinary", "Wreck and Ruin".  Go check out is site and don't forget to click through his books to see the different pages. Pretty nifty. Oh, and he has a blog to with a bunch of his photography, etc.