Friday Five: things from this week that are not related to Fascism

Happy Friday! Dismal as the weather is here in the Philadelphia area. 

I typically drop this stuff in Thursday Thoughts, but yesterday was for fascism.

Fascism. Fascist. The words never look like they're spelled correctly. Probably because the words, what they mean, and the people urging us quickly into them are abhorrent and the mind does not want to retain it. 

ANYWAY this is for not fascist shit. This is for the life things.

Like Billycat's first birthday, and pets in birthday hats. 

And amazing art Carol & Dad tracked down and bought for me from a local DE artist. This speaks to me and I love it so much. Cannot wait for girls weekend next week. 

And skies.

And shore chores like stripping every blessed piece of bedding and having it laundered, getting rid of a box spring, cleaning under beds, swapping mirrors, getting paint for the powder room and touch ups, fixing the freaking towel rack, swapping the living room rug, and hunting for new hardware.

Schnoozy days. Evening trips to dog beach. Eating jelly beans like an orderly psycho. Tiny treasures. Cat guards. Running all necessary errands and encountering gross shit. Do not litter outside or inside!

Good thoughts and love to Aunt Maureen and her kids and grands. MFD's uncle died of pancreatic cancer this week, very unexpectedly, very quickly, and very young. That's one to pancreatic cancer on my side with my Grandmom and one on his with Uncle Matt. Painful, silent, deadly. Just a terrible disease. 

Live fully now, hug people, love people, and have a good weekend. Stay dry out there fellow Mid-Atlantic folks. 

Happy Mother's Day to all moms and extra love to anyone who struggles with Mother's Day. 

Thursday Thoughts - I think you're sweet like rock candy

Essie Expressie, recommend. I hate the brush, but cannot deny the love I have for the punchy colors and the way it wears. This is my second time wearing the pink and it is perfection. Sometimes you need a quick dry polish, and this wears better than Sally's, which was my top standard for a quick dry. I have it in Trick Clique and just got it in the red this week, so I'm excited to try that. 

Don't you forget about me. 

End of dogs on the regular beach season tomorrow. We are sad. Dog Beach is only 10 min away, but in season we will go less because it's more of a pain to lose a parking spot, and the insane crowds over there mean it's like a 6 am or 7 am trip which I am not as keen on these days. If Ben didn't really love to run I wouldn't take them nearly as much.

Spackled several spots that I've been meaning to spackle for three years. Victory. I'm not great, but I'm passable, and I'll slap a coat of paint on it this weekend. I'm also an absolute fucking mess with things like this because I do not cover anything or remove anything I just start things and leave myself with a lot of cleanup.

Ben is happy for a laundry basket ride. Only when it's dirty.

PA Voters, Monday is your last day to register to vote in the primary. The primary is May 17. Only registered democrats or republicans can vote in it, not independents, because PA is a closed primary. Fart noise. If you are a registered democrat or republican, please make a plan to vote in the primary on Tuesday, May 17 - we have an open Senatorial seat and both parties have an array of candidates up. Make sure to vote for that and all other races - local politics impact your life more than a presidential election any day. Vote twice a year, every year. Believe me, I know that it feels like no one is listening to jack shit but less engaged voters is not the way to address that. For more info on elections and what is on your ballot, visit the League of Women Voters Education Fund site vote411.org - anyone can do this, not just PA voters - you input your address

Yesterday was packed AF and I did it all on five hours of sleep from the night before. I was up by 6, on the train, OPC, set up at my office, dentist appointment at 8, picked up a bagel, work, pick up salad for lunch, work, lyft to acupuncture appointment, killer painful but necessary appointment to address arm nerve issues and numbness, lyft back to work, finish up at office, train, home, eat, more work, return things to two stores, hair appointment, home at 9. Whew. Art outside of Salon Harmony below. Always a fun night with Kristi & Maria even if I am dog ass tired and delirious.

I've missed train reading.

Forever a fan of Philly street photos. 

Looking good, Philly. The news shows so much bad shit, but on the streets to me it feels like a comeback. 

Yesterday's out of home food. A bagel after my dentist appt from Philly Bagels. A chimichurri salad from sweetgreen. 

Home food of the week. Grilled cheese on rye, always a little burnt please. Breakfast burritos to freeze. If you eat bone in chicken thighs and are not making them in the air fryer, what are you even doing? Pre-heat air fryer. Season well. Cook skin side down for 12 min on 380. Skin side up for 11 or 12 on 380. My basket fits four perfectly. Serve with salad, boom and done

Billy Hicks turns 1 next week. I feel like securing a tiny cat hat. He would loathe it.

Testing Password keepers. So far I like LastPass best. It feels the most intuitive. 

For your perusal. The New York Times continues to whitewash right-wing extremism in Chris Rufo profile,  Mainstream coverage adopts Elon Musk's "free speech" framing - despite his anti-union, anti-speech, anti-worker history. 

What else...save public ed. Biden is republican lite. Defending Elon Musk's billions as if you might one day have them is a fucking joke. Close the racial wealth gap. Drink your water and stretch today. If you are woman of a certain age consider taking Magnesium/k Aspartate supplements. Peace. 

What appears beyond the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts titles is what I'm listening to when I'm starting this - this week is Watercolor Eyes by Lana Del Rey

Friday Five 10.30.2020

 
1. I made my first soup of the season yesterday - a simple vegetarian eight can soup (rotel with mild green chiles, petite diced tomatoes, corn, green beans, Campbell's vegetable soup, sliced whole potatoes, mixed veggies, vegetarian chili beans = don't drain any of the liquids) with some veggie base and spices of course. I doubled everything to make a larger batch. This freezes well. 

2. For over a year I have made hard boiled eggs via air fryer and will never make them another way again. They come out perfect every time and I don't have to babysit them. After pre-heating, I put eight or nine in my air fryer, and cook at 260 for 15 minutes. 

3. I love outtake photos. My old dogs this morning with Maedop's tongue out.

4. New shore art from AlmaBoheme. It coordinates with my newest tattoo and with the shore house logo TWSSQuoteShop did for me. 

5. I am comfortable recommending this to everyone. I have sensitive skin and it's okay for me. It is a beautiful experience. I put it on like a scrub and leave it on for five minutes, then rinse and carry on with my nightly routine. I use it three times a week. If you are a TJ shopper, don't sleep on this. 

Happy weekend to you all, be safe TOTing if you're doing that or handing out candy - mask up and don't crowd! - and happy wedding day to my cousin Kristine!

TWTW - the one where January made its presence felt

Hold onto your hats, because I did not spend Friday night on the couch. MFD picked me up and we met Angie at the Nasty Women exhibit at ABD Gallery with great city views on a bitterly cold night in Philly. There was a piece in there that elicited a visceral rageful reaction from me and that alone was worth attending.

We followed it up with a belated birthday dinner for Angie at Bufad. The top left is what happens when MFD takes the photo. The bottom right is what happens when he suggests walking under trestles.

I came home to the arrival of the pieces I ordered after Christmas from Philly artist Blur Street Art. After encountering an ishknits street art piece before the art exhibit, it was a nasty women day all around.

Saturday dawned with a pre-7 am grocery delivery, food prep (see below), some random purging, and an inability to find my keys. Serenity now in the form of a hot stone massage.

That was followed by a chocolate chip bagel and surviving a short dicked loser with Florida plates passing people on a road with no passing lane at 55 MPH in a 25 with three inches of snow and ice on the ground. Once home, I stayed there. Laundry, reading, Billions, and lounging were orders of the day. Lori spent the night and I rented another week at the shore house.

Sunday I cleaned out the freezer and two kitchen cabinets, changed the sheets, found my freaking keys in a coat jacket, and did a little face mask magic. MFD was in charge of this week's flowers. My hanger project in the closet is in full swing. That's about it for productive things, otherwise it was starting a new book and laying on the couch in lounge attire finishing out the first season of Billions and watching Deadpool and Sisters. It was way too fucking cold to go outside voluntarily, and thankfully that wasn't necessary for me on Sunday.

Weekly food prep: the word of the week is spinach since I had a big mama box of it to get through. Breakfast is a spinach/tomato/cheese egg bake; lunch is cauliflower bowls; a batch of spinach muffins for the freezer with mini chocolate chips added because I'm crazy like that; a pan of spinach lasagna roll ups to freeze and one for dinner this week (that is not actually a pan of indecipherable sauce, there's spinach lasagna roll ups under there); and Sunday dinner was supposed to be baked chicken with roasted carrots and potatoes  but then I didn't feel like getting up off my ass so it wasn't. That'll be one night this week too.

Favorite day tomorrow! Show Us Your Books!

Linking up with Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending

Visiting Philadelphia's Magic Gardens

Philadelphia's Magic Gardens is, well, magic. It beckons you from the outside - mosaic work spills out onto the streets surrounding it, mirrored pieces catching the sun, urging you on. 

By the time you reach the gates, it's like you're walking in of your own volition. 

And when you get in, wherever you are, it's like standing inside of art. It's above you, it's below you, it's around you, it's in the bathroom with you. 

There's so much to look at, you can stand in one spot for quite a while soaking it all in. I like art that you can identify some part of yourself in. You can do that literally and figuratively here. 

The art comes on strong...it's outspoken, a little broken, a little gritty, a bit pieced together...basically it's reflective of the city of Philadelphia itself. 

Which is easily explained, given the artist's origins and choice of home. The creator of the art, Isaiah Zagar, is a mosaic mural artist whose work can be found on more than 200 public walls throughout Philadelphia (neighborhood mural map here) and around the world. Born here and raised in Brooklyn, Zagar and his wife returned to Philly after college (Pratt Institute for Zagar) and a three year stint in the Peace Corps to settle in and create and inspire the art world. 

He began creating what would become Philadelphia's Magic Gardens on the vacant lots near his South Street Studio in 1994. In 2002 the Boston-based owner of the lots discovered the installation and decided to sell the land, attempting to force the dismantling of the installation. The surrounding community swelled in support and the Magic Gardens became a nonprofit, preserving the art at the site and throughout the area. The moral of the story: don't fuck with Philly's art. 

If you go:

• Philadelphia's Magic Gardens is at 1020 South Street, on South between 10th & 9th
• Wednesday to Monday 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., closed Tuesday
• Adults $10, Students w/ ID/Seniors 65+ $8, Children 6-12 $5, Children 5 + under free
• Line forms out front if there are too many people inside
• Directions and parking, click here
• The space also has events like Garden Sips on second Wednesdays in the summer, Twilight in the Gardens with music and tours on fourth Fridays April through October, Crafts with a Kick, Public Tours, Mosaic Workshops, temporary art Exhibitions, and more

And I think you should go and ramble around in there. The pictures don't do it justice.