muerto de risa

big blue

...taken during my first colorado hike

 

a little less exotic

we have started our search for an apartment (we won't seriously be looking to buy until the spring or summer) and the process is amazinly easy compared to new york.  we drive around, find a building we like, call, and most of the time an affordale two bedroom is available.  we hope to be moved into one by early november.

     

(couches from l to r: troy from crate & barrel, parcel from design within reach, dublin from room & board, rochelle from crate & barrel)

since we've never actually owned a couch, we are also starting a search for something simple and afforable.  something neutral and versatile, so it will also work in the space we end up buying.

you know your life has become a little less exotic when you go from posting about traversing through the ecuadorian jungle to couch shopping!  :)

besides couches, i've also been thinking about how to frame some of my art collection.  the pieces are leaning up against a wall in my inlaws guest bedroom, and flipping through them every few days makes me smile.  here are three of my favorites (none of which need to be framed):

   

an encaustic wax view of the sky given to us as a wedding present from my oldest friend.  i feel terrible that i don't know the name of the artist, but i can't read the signature on the back.

   

gold steer by my friend, carol es. 

   

softly spoken by my friend, julie.

i can imagine these three hanging in the same room as the new couch where i will sit and dream about future trips to south america.   

a little history lesson...

while cleaning out some old boxes this summer, i stumbled on an old set of postcards i used to play with as a child.  my first reaction was, "look how cute these are!"  then i turned the cards over and realized they are from sambo's pancakes, an old restaurant chain that i think was popular in the '60s.

sambo's owners supposedly chose the name based on their names (Sam and Bo for Bohnett) but used the story, "little black sambo," as a promotional tool.  The story is about an indian child who has his new clothes stolen by a group of tigers.  he finally outwits the tigers (they run in circles so fast that they turn into butter) and returns home where he eats big piles of pancakes.  while the story takes place in india, the sambo character in the original book (written by Helen Bannerman) is depicted as black, and not just black, but as an offensive stereotype with crazy hair and big red lips.

it is interesting to me that sambo's restaurant would choose this name but chose to illustrate the sambo in their story as white.  i wonder if these postcards were the original ones used or if they were used later once the restaurant faced a drop in business due to opposition of the racist sambo story?  the last of the sambo's restaurants closed in the early '80s.

yay! i have a job

this week i accepted a job where i will continue doing work related to HIV/AIDS.  that being the case, these postcards included in a package from uschi will be perfect decorations for my office:

 

"fits all cucumbers"

"good for survival"

"stand up/suit up" (in german suit and stand are the same word)

i want to start a little collection of prevention ads from around the world.  if you see any good ones and are willing to send them to me, i'll send you some goodies in return.

pretty penmanship

*from an old family ledger written by my great-grandparents

signs on colfax - part 2

signs on colfax - part 1

be t. s. eak in town! 

2 good comics

1. Aya by Marguerite Abouet & Clement Oubrerie

a graphic novel about Aya, a teenager in Ivory Coast during the late 1970's.  the art work is beautiful.  many pages contain frames all with the same color scheme, so there are red pages, purples pages, green pages, etc.  i love reading graphic novels that teach me something, in this case what it was like during a time of economic prosperity in the Ivory Coast.  and yet, it's also the story of a teenager and her friends and family, a universal coming-of-age comedy with which we can all relate.

2. Tales of Woodsman Pete by Lilli Carre

i love this little silly book.  pete is endearing and i loved the comics featuring paul bunyan.  i adore the folk tale quality of the stories and giggled out loud while reading several of them.  i wonder if pete accepts visitors? 

   

3 things i like about colorado

1. pine needles

2. rainbows

3. tamales