2FarNorth

Pleurotus Log

2012-01-21T08:42:00.004-09:00

We've been growing oyster mushrooms for fun and gustatory profit. We purchased a mushroom log at the San Francisco Ferry Building mushroom store. We tried this once before with a shiitake log but had only moderate success. I wish I had a time-lapse set up - it was amazing how fast these guys grew - they doubled in size every 24 hours!

at about 1 week's growth

yum

Visitors!

2012-01-21T08:37:00.004-09:00

Chin Yi, KeHsien Fu, Harper on Ester Dome.

Harper has visitors from Taiwan visiting with us for the month. KeHsien is the graduate student and colleague and Chin Yi, his girlfriend. The night they arrived it was -46F at the airport. They have never seen snow before! Nor ever been so cold no doubt.

It's been fun having them here and I'm enjoying learning a little Taiwanese again. Last time we saw Mr. Fu & Chin Yi they took Eli and me for a scooter ride across the bustling Taiwanese city. What different worlds we inhabit.

January Weather

2012-01-21T08:21:00.001-09:00

I wish I could say we're rising out of this long stretch of cold weather but looking at the NWS 10 day forecast I see that highs in the near future are to reach -20F, lows back to -45F. It's currently -28F at the airport and lightly snowing. Chris' weather data graph does the best visually describing mid-January:

http://swingleydev.com/weather/index.php

So, we've been finding ways to have some cold weather fun...

Harper's kielbasa - yum!

Doing the hot water trick.

Ester Dome pano.

Nice fata morgana on the horizon.

City Textures - San Francisco

2012-01-08T17:57:00.002-09:00

Teasel

2012-01-08T17:12:00.000-09:00

teasel field, N. California

For some reason (with apologies) we keep being attracted to invasive plant species like vetch and teasel for their aesthetic qualities. These plants also often have interesting histories and medicinal uses. The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia on Teasel:

The Fuller's Teasel (the cultivar group Dipsacus fullonum Sativus Group; syn. D. sativus) was formerly widely used in textile processing, providing a natural comb for cleaning, aligning and raising the nap on fabrics, particularly wool.^[6] It differs from the wild type in having stouter, somewhat recurved spines on the seed heads. The dried flower heads were attached to spindles, wheels, or cylinders, sometimes called teasel frames, to raise the nap on fabrics (that is, to tease the fibres).^[7] By the 20th century, teasels were largely replaced by metal cards, which could be made uniform and do not require constant replacement as the teasel heads wear. However, some people who weave wool still prefer to use teasels for raising the nap, claiming that the result is better; in particular, if a teasel meets serious resistance in the fabric, it will break, whereas a metal tool would rip the cloth.

Teasels are also occasionally grown as ornamental plants, and the dried heads are used in floristry.

Teasels have been naturalised in many regions away from their native range, partly due to the import of Fuller's Teasel for textile processing, and partly by the seed being a contaminant mixed with crop seeds.

Common Teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris) and Cut-leaved Teasel (Dipsacus laciniatus) have both been observed as invasive species in the United States. Common is more widespread, but Cut-Leaved is more aggressive.

A number of medicinal properties are claimed for the teasel, though not proven in medical trials:

Cure of Lyme Disease.
Antibiotic.
Improved circulation.
Cure for warts.
Eyewash (water collected in the cup formed by the sessile leaves).

California Holidays

2012-01-01T07:18:00.000-09:00

At the Beach - Northern California

2011-12-23T16:58:00.001-09:00

Birthday Dinner

2011-12-18T21:49:00.000-09:00

Had a lovely dinner last night with family to celebrate early holidays and birthday boys. Harper cooked all day:

consumé of caribou stock, onions, gruyere
patties of braised goat wrapped in pork caul with sage infused honey
roasted tomato with garlic on creamy polenta
brussels sprouts
sauteed baby portobello
salad
pears poached in red wine and spices with creme fraiche, chocolate, and wine syrup

City Textures - Las Vegas

2011-11-10T07:03:00.001-09:00

Testing ifttt

2011-10-23T09:00:00.003-08:00

ifttt (http://ifttt.com/) - stands for if this then that and is a tool to help you connect various social software by creating various tasks based on your activity around the web. Here I've tested this by saying IF [a new post added to RSS feed at 2farnorth.blogspot.com] AND [has 'fb'] THEN [upload photo from post to Facebook]. Now testing.

fb

2011-10-22T20:15:00.001-08:00

Happy Saturday at our house...exciting stuff getting done. Here's Harper in the kitchen mixing spices with pork for chorizo grind. Meanwhile, I was out changing out my car tires and getting the auto-start fixed. I'm so happy to have my autostart working again but the sausage making is way more exciting:

Chorizo fixins - pre-grind

Didn't get a photo of us running the sausage maker but here's today's loot - chorizo, andouille, and Italian! I made the andouille really short just for fun, aren't they cute?

Here are the andouille and chorizo hanging in a cool spot. Turns out that the clothes drying rack wrapped in celo works pretty darn well for drying sausages too!

The andouille had to hang for just an hour before getting smoked and then dipped in a cold ice bath. Here they are, nearly ready to package for freezing. The chorizo will hang for another couple days before getting smoked.

Recipes come from Charcuterie: the craft of salting, smoking and curing. Both the andouille and chorizo are super fine again this year. We made only about 30lbs today, so we've plenty left to have more fun with. I'm particularly interested in trying to duplicate one particular sausage I tried in Northern Thailand spiced with galangal, lemon grass, kafir lime leaves, and chili!

Bacon Love...

2011-10-09T20:42:00.001-08:00

XXX

Pig Roast

2011-09-18T11:09:00.001-08:00

Joakim's annual pig roast was super as usual this year - food-a-plenty, great fire & conversation, kids playing Lord of the Flies in the tall grass...

Team Saxifrage!

2011-09-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

Harper, Tatiana and I ran the relay in the Equinox Marathon this year. Turned out to be a gorgeous sunny fall day here and we had such a great time. It was really fun to run with and be cheered on by so many beautiful people. It's such a community event. The course is fairly challenging with 2,300 ft in elevation gain overall. I'm so impressed with everyone who does the whole thing and especially in total awe of those, like our friend Christen, who do the Ultra, this year - 40miles with a brutal double climb.

This is the elevation profile for the regular marathon. When I look at it I realize how easy I got off! I had the first 9 miles, Harper did all the uphill and Tatiana all the downhill. We haven't gotten our results back yet but I think we all ran at about 10 min/mile.

Eskimo Cook Book

2011-09-14T20:52:00.002-08:00

I've been having a bit of one of those weeks but, much to my delight, this showed up in our mailbox unexpectedly tonight. A little book of recipes 'Eskimo Cook Book', copyright 1952 by the Alaska Crippled Children's Association, that my parents must've sent to my grandmother in my name when I was 4. I totally recognized it immediately with warm and fuzzy feelings. Amazingly, it seems to still be available through the Alaska Geographic for $4.95, although the cover has been changed. I'm intrigued by many of the recipes such as willow meats and pick'niek (mouse food)...

Fall Textures

2011-09-12T21:08:00.003-08:00

Summer Movies

2011-08-28T08:34:00.000-08:00

This might be my favorite movie we've watched this summer. Bunny and the Bull, 2009, directed by Paul King. Quirky, crafty, cleverly produced and shot almost entirely on green screen with amazing bric-a-brac and illustrated backgrounds. It has a somewhat similar surreal look and feel to The Science of Sleep but not quite as fanciful and romantic.

The only other movie of note we (finally) watched this summer was the Motorcycle Diaries (2004), which is one of the most beautifully shot movies I've seen in a while.

Others? Of course, Harry Potter, but that goes without saying.

Caribou butchering

2011-08-27T17:37:00.001-08:00

School Supply Lists

2011-07-26T11:48:00.000-08:00

I love the school supply list for the intermediate multiage classrooms at Watershed:

1 hand saw
1 phillips-head screwdriver
1 Silva or Brunton compass
1 box of latex gloves
5 three-ring binders, 1-inch thick
400 sheets of loose-leaf, lined paper
2 packs of divider tabs for binders
6 packets of 1x2-inch Post-It notes
200 3x5-inch notecards, blank on one side, ruled on the other
1 calculator
1 box of tissue
pens, pencils

It's assumed that the 7-8th graders already have these, but K-6th grade lists include things like:

1 pair of snowshoes
1 pair of cross-country skis, boots, and poles
Rubber boots and raincoat
Re-useable water bottle
Backpack suitable for hiking – no wheels
Photo of your student doing something interesting outdoors

Summer Texture III

2011-07-24T12:36:00.002-08:00

Summer Texture II

2011-07-24T12:05:00.001-08:00

summer texture

2011-07-09T21:26:00.001-08:00

Rainbow Ridge Campout

2011-06-05T20:18:00.004-08:00

This weekend we joined some friends for camping in Red Rock Canyon on the Richardson Highway. It's a gorgeous area with great alpine hiking around Rainbow Ridge and Canwell Glacier areas. Was so great to be out and about and off the grid for a few days.

spring biking

2011-05-14T20:11:00.000-08:00

After searching for the perfect road bike for the last couple months and feeling frustrated by the choices in town, I finally settled on the Specialized Dolce triple. I'm calling her 'Dolce Bella' because she is a pretty bright shiny blue and has a nice feminine curve to her top bar. I test rode a lot of bikes lately and was nearly swooning for the sexy carbon fiber racing bikes but none of them had both a triple crank in the front (essential for me for getting up those long tall hills) and the ability to carry a pannier. All of the higher end bikes in town have switched over to the double crank in the front effectively cutting out at least the two lowest (granny) gears, which is fine if you are in a hurry, are a really powerful hill climber or don't have 43 year old knees. Every expert I consulted working in the stores said - you won't miss those gears - while every expert elsewhere said - get the triple. For now, I'm glad I did.

Dolce Bella is pretty much the bottom of the Dolce line beginner road bike, aluminum with carbon front fork, triple front cog, 8 gears in back and I can put a rack on if I like. I'm not sure how much she weighs but I would hazard around 21lbs (the carbon frames were more like 16-18lbs). I decided that I can always do some modifications and upgrades as inspiration hits and I can always get another bike later.

This morning did the Ballaine loop, about 16 miles and the ride was great! Tomorrow maybe I'll ride to Fox!

Me & Dolce Bella pausing to check out the birds nesting at the bog in Goldstream Valley.

3 little pigs!

2011-05-14T18:08:00.001-08:00

Our pigs are here - all boys! This year we got Yorkshire/Hampshire piggies. They are a little sturdier than the straight Yorkshire pigs we had last year. Two of them have mis-matched eyes - light and dark blue. It is still too cold for them to spend the night outside in their hut so until we can get a heat lamp set up they are staying cozy in our garage! The cats are a bit freaked by the idea. Here they are, all tuckered out from their long ride from Delta.

Arty bread

2011-04-18T06:20:00.000-08:00

Harper's bread came out with funny little dots all over...turns out the last rise took place in the colander. Yum.

Hooray for Spring!

2011-04-17T09:49:00.002-08:00

It's really spring. Snow is quickly disappearing and the sun is so warm. Went for a nice 7ish mile walk around the hood via Skarland trails and the South Goldstream Valley trail - a nice loop. We were surprised that we still could have skied much of the way, at least on the Goldstream Valley side but I'm still recovering from a nasty bug so walking was the right speed. Spring skiing at Skiland today.

Watershed Spring Carnival

2011-04-03T13:55:00.004-08:00

Spent a beautiful sunny day at Watershed yesterday for the spring carnival. Watershed is such an outstanding school - where else can kids do fire building contests & 3-leg racing with snowshoes! We had a full day with skiing and snowshoeing races, a permafrost walk, nature art, and a super fine pig roast potluck.

pig inside

Eli and Justin were the winning team - first team to build a fire and boil the water in the can!

3 legged snowshoe race!

Boise Visit

2011-03-30T16:33:00.001-08:00

Eli and I had a nice visit with folks' in Boise this week. Ate lots of good food, spent time in the shop, learning blacksmithing, poking around the metal & electronic recycling places and hanging out.

Detail of Chihule or influenced gorgeous & amazing chandelier at Barbacoa Restaurant

Fried ice cream lollipop tree!

Dad's fancy milling machine cuts all metals like slicing into butter. Here, he's designed a cool thing out of aluminum for Eli.

The CNC milling machine. Around the shop...

Everything is looking so organized and clean!

Dad has rigged his tablesaw to store vertically. It rotates around a piece of pipe.

Also, extended top with parts from 3 table saws!

Playing with my new camera.

old pics

2011-03-29T23:16:00.001-08:00

How fun to go through old photos. My Dad has been scanning in old negatives lately - many photos that I have never seen before bring back some very old memories and I'm dreaming from within another life...

Dress by Dad...

2011-03-29T22:52:00.004-08:00

It was 1980, I was in 7th grade and going to my first (and only) formal dance. We were tight on dough and the fancy Gunni Sax dress I wanted was too expensive so my Dad made this one for me. Wearing that dress made me feel pretty and so proud and happy that night. Dad & me in photo.

Blacksmithing Workshop

2011-03-28T23:20:00.134-08:00

Spent the day with Dad's friend Rick, architect and blacksmith, who put on a day-long private workshop for us. It was super fun and we learned tons. He has a fabulous workshop full of some awesome tools, many of which he has made or modified to fit his needs. Although I've known how to move and work with metal for a long time, I've never tried to work with iron before other than some oxyacetylene welding, so this was pretty exciting.

Eli and I used 1/2 inch square rod to make hooks, and my dad made a backscratcher. First, we lengthened and pointed one end, then we worked the other end by spreading and curling or, in my case, making a 180º twist. Then we curled the tip tightly and rounded back the other direction into a hook shape. Then indentations were placed with a ball-peen hammer. Later I'll drill holes in those indentations for the hanging screws, which will be single-slots not Phillip's head for better aesthetics and blacksmith-cool factor. Of course, the metal has to be worked while hot so these steps were moderated by many trips back to the forge to get back to that red-hot state.

It takes a lot of muscle and precision to make iron to submit and the process went a little slow at first as we were too timid with our blows. After 8 hours I had decided that I need to stick with smaller stuff...I just don't have the blacksmith physique but it was a really valuable experience and I'm very inspired to get my metal studio put together now. It would be great to have a forge for doing small iron work too. Rick built his own propane forge and it was pretty simple and elegant design with a series of pipes and adjustable air intake going into the horizontal forge tube lined with a special ceramic thermal insulating material and closed in on the front and back with fire bricks.

Dad & Eli working on their pieces

Irons in the forge

Here I'm preparing to make a twist in red-hot iron! It was like twisting a piece of clay - very easy, exciting and rewarding. I could twist iron all day!!

Trying to make the indentations for fasteners with the ball-peen hammer was the hardest part, probably because by now my arms were getting really tired and you really have to hit it with concentrated force.

Eli helps Grandpa work on his back scratcher

Making the fingers with a splitter

Rick helping Eli with his hook

Our finished hooks!

Super fun day!

Some References from Rick

Artist-Blacksmith's Association of North America

http://www.abana.org/

Pine Cones

Bugs and Birds with Bill Epps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3UjV1BxErc&feature=related

General Blacksmithing - Mark Aspery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-3ZPbxQDwY&feature=related

Movies Recently Consumed

2011-01-16T21:00:00.000-09:00

Micmacs (2009), the latest Jean-Pierre Juenet film is about a man who decides to seek revenge against two weapon dealers who have deeply impacted his life. Because of misfortunes associated with one of these events, he joins a family of oddball misfits who are instrumental in his success with bringing revenge upon the dealers. The oddball characters are typical of Juenet films and with some of the same actors from his earlier movies. The movie had a similar feel to his early films Delicatessen and City of Lost Children but with only a hint of the dystopian darkness and underlying mystery although it was not quite as fluffy as Amileé. Micmacs was a fun watch with the usual Juenet creative whimsy. Trailer here.

Director's cut of Robin Hood (2010) with Russel Crowe and Kate Blanchette. Beautiful cinematography, sets, acting, adventure and action...another fine Ridley Scott film. One of my favorite parts of this movie is the credits sequence:

Mary and Max (2009), directed by Adam Elliot, the story of a lonely 8 year old Australian girl who starts a pen-pal relationship with a 44 year old obese man with Asbergers Syndrome who lives in NY City. 90 minutes, claymation. It was wonderful.

A Town Called Panic (2009) is a spinoff of a puppetoon tv series starring Cowboy, Indian, and Horse involved in everyday activities that get completely out of hand when Cowboy and Indian decide to build a barbecue as a birthday present for Horse. The main characters are constructs of those cheap plastic toys we played with as kids. Surreal and entertaining. Trailer Here.

The Secret of Kells (2009) - animated film by Cartoon Salon. The story of a young monk involved in the creation of the Book of Kells in the ninth century. The story is moving but definitely second to the absolutely stunning animation.

Harper's Chair Project

2011-01-10T07:24:00.001-09:00

Harper sewed two pieces of heavy canvas together to help support the hide, which seemed too thin to last long.

Experimenting with a woven pattern. This shrank so much there were huge gaps between the layers after it was dry. Too bad, it sure was pretty when wet.

The finished chair with hide stretched over the canvas. It dried super tight.

It's a beautiful color, dyed with tea bags and oiled. We'll probably have to oil it once in a while to keep it from drying too much and cracking.

Weekend Refashioning

2011-01-10T07:18:00.003-09:00

I'm forever frustrated by sweaters that I adore but are too short for comfort around the midriff. Instead of throwing them out, I have been refashioning them using complementary parts of other sweaters and decorative buttons.

Take a too-short sweater, the hem and cuffs from another sweater, some good buttons...

These really didn't take long to do but the results made me feel productive!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T18:33:00.000-09:00

I'm back in Fairbanks tonight after a short visit to Juneau. Came home a little early because I've been under the weather all vacation and wanted to have a couple days at home before returning to shooting the rapids at work. Nice to be home on New Years Eve. Came home to a nearly finished drywall project -- Yay! We had the old wood paneling in the dining room covered and it is a much improved space.

Harper continues to work on his caribou hide project. He has been removing the hair and scraping for some time. Tonight it was stretched out and had been dyed with Lipton tea bags! It's a gorgeous color and will make really nice contrasting seats for the greenwood chairs that he and Eli created this summer with John Manthai, a local fine woodworker and friend of the family who teaches various woodworking classes through UAF Summer Sessions.

Scraping the hair off the caribou hide.

Greenwood chairs made by Harper and Eli this summer.

Tea stained hide.

Birthday boys

2010-12-19T22:42:00.000-09:00

Nice dinner party tonight for the birthday boys - Harper, Eli and Bret. Abby made a divine yorkshire pudding with standing rib roast stuffed with garlic and rosemary, salad, and marzipan cake with chocolate ganache; Harper made garlic butter roasted mushrooms, and Charlie & Sheree brought roasted potatoes. Yum!

Toby the Aquatic Turtle

2010-11-16T07:21:00.001-09:00

Toby has been at our house for a couple weeks again. We are getting to know him but we are cautiously wondering if he is actually a god in small and unwilling disguise like the Great God Om dwindling in obscurity (see Terry Pratchett, Small Gods). We just wonder -

Is it really normal for aquatic turtles to:

1. chase after people and cats
2. get really excitable when you come over to their tank and shout at you to let them out
3. respond to your voice by running toward you
4. want to give nose kisses
5. want to sit on your lap, anyone's lap
6. make a beeline for the nearest pile of books - every time
7. give you cursing looks

Just in case, we've decided to be really nice to Toby while he is visiting and feed him plenty of lettuce and blueberries, lest a plague be set upon our tiny mundane lives.

10/10/10

2010-10-10T19:15:00.002-08:00

Yesterday we treated our pigs to one last fabulous meal and some love before they were shot and hung up for processing. It was sad but they had the best life any pig could hope for, rotatilling a large area and eating high quality foods with tons of love and belly scratches. This time of year, all meat hogs meet the same fate. Today we spent the day with Charlie & Sheree butchering and packaging them. It took us 7 hours to butcher and wrap 2 pigs (one of our piggies died earlier in the summer from piggie pneumonia despite all our efforts to keep him.) We tried a pork steak for lunch and it was delicious. Thank you and many blessings to our pig friends.

Harper is currently working on brining our bacon and jowls in 5 varieties:

pepper & brown sugar
pepper
maple
brown sugar
pink salt, garlic, sugar, pepper

He is doing the hams & ham hocks in classic American style holiday wet cure with brown sugar.

Our larder is full again.

New Shed

2010-10-09T08:40:00.000-08:00

Harper is building us a fine outdoor open shed for firewood, snowgo, and other things. Yay!

Twiskerella Twilight

2010-10-07T08:26:00.001-08:00

We are still saying goodbye to Twisker in our hearts. She was a really great cat and we miss her dearly. We just got her ashes back and now she exists in an amazingly small box. In the spring, her favorite time of year, we will find a pretty spot to spread her ashes close to the house with good vole activity. I think she would like that.

She wasn't cherished by the other cats but she loved Kitty Mao Mao with a deep passion. She was a conversationalist and an awkward receiver of affection but paradoxically extremely social.

Twisker was fierce. She ate whole squirrels, leaving only their gut sacks, claws, and tail. She brought us live animals to capture and set free. She once brought a live spruce hen in through the cat door. It ran around under our bed and had a bad gash on it's wing....we ate it later. She also chased a large malamute dog out of our yard.

We will always love you Twiskerella Twilight.

vetch killer

2010-09-20T20:34:00.003-08:00

I've always thought that bird vetch (Vicia Cracca), aka Alaskan kudzu, with it's curling tendrils, violet flowers, and verdant pinnate lusciousness was rather pretty, especially decorating the roadside. Harper and I even used it as a textural element on our wedding photo, despite it's invasive status - I'm not quite sure what that says about us but it doesn't seem to have had any ill effect thus far. Vetch was introduced to Alaska in the early 1900s as a forage crop and it has done particularly well here. So well that some people are quite upset about this prolific plant and I know more than a few who religiously try their best to exterminate it from the landscape - I've always secretly thought of them as 'the vetch killers'. I confess I've always been somewhat amused by this behavior as it seems so futile. So, yesterday I was tidying up around the house in preparation for winter when I realized that an eager vetch vine had managed to get a strangle hold on our lone lilac tree. The next thing I knew I had my arms full of the dratted plant and was spotting it all over the place on our property. I spent the next half-hour pulling vines and, despite my admiration for it's tenacity, came to the conclusion that I had just been indoctrinated into the society and that I too am a vetch killer, at least in the privacy of my own yard. It also makes me wonder if goats are fond of vetch - if so, it could be a viable excuse to keep one around next summer.

Denali Road Lottery

2010-09-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

Was a beautiful day in Denali on September 18. I won the road lottery this year so we went with some friends all the way to Wonder Lake. The day started with some amazing hoarfrost and ended in the sun. Lots of people with very large cameras but no buses. As usual, Denali delivered the amazing wildlife cornucopia...moose, caribou, sheep, wolf, fox, ptarmigan, eagle...

Art

2010-09-11T17:01:00.001-08:00

I've owned the domain jmossart.com for some time but haven't done anything with it in years. Lately, I've been inspired to try and brush together some my digital breadcrumbs and to be better about documenting some things like my art. So far the site is populated with a selection of odds and ends lurking in folders on my computer. I plan to update it once in a while from now on with new and old art as I come across it or create it. So....here's the link www.jmossart.com.

Harper on HiSeasNet

2010-08-19T18:54:00.003-08:00

Harper is in the South China Sea at the moment, just north of the Philippines doing his internal tide research. News from today was that things are going well andeveryone is happy because they haven't encountered a typhoon (or pirates I might add).

You can check in with their research cruise at HiSeasNet, a website with real-time web cams and location data for scientific cruises. You might even catch a glimpse of him at work!

http://rtapps.ucsd.edu/hiseasnet/rtship/index.php?ship=revelle

Monoprints

2010-08-19T18:42:00.005-08:00

More monoprints from this week. I messed up on the first one because I forgot to remove the stencil before running through the press. The first two kiwi birds (from the left) were painted on in monotype style with etching ink using my kiwi stencils to mask out the color, which was a thin layer of brown litho ink. The third one over was first pulled from a previous leftover gradient or rainbow color on acetate and then the same kiwi stencils were used to mask the brown overlay. The idea for the fourth one over from the left was taken from an acrylic painting I did a few years ago...some space-seedpod thing titled 'change'. Here they are monoprint and painting side by side.

The monoprint was much simpler but it was fun to play with another format. Would be fun to try it again with more details and a little less muddy.

Monoprints

2010-08-15T12:23:00.004-08:00

I'm taking a monoprint short intensive class, 3 evenings in 3 weeks from our friend and printmaker Heather Kasvinsky who is faculty at the UAF Art Department. She's an awesome teacher and it's been fun to visit and learn from her. Super fun to take an art class too - it's been a very long time. I also haven't done any monoprints for at least ten years, maybe longer. I forgot how fun it is, especially with a press.

Preparation of the stencils and plates.

These are the results of the first night's printing. I used a couple different stencils - bubbles and kiwi birds - and a few different background etches - grass hatches, flower stems, and random lines with circles. Next week I'll mix them up again with another seed-podish stencil.

Old Posts

2010-08-14T10:03:00.000-08:00

Recently, I discovered an old wordpress blog I started in 2005 that I had completely forgotten about. It makes me think about all the digital breadcrumbs down forgotten paths I’ve left all over the place over the years. I’ve started so many projects that seemed like a good idea at the time, were created just for testing, or out of simple curiosity.

I experimented with moving this blog back to the old location but I think I will stay with Blogger for now. Here are the old posts, which I copied over here:

Eyes in the dark (2006)
I am thankful for - words by Eli (2005)

Summer 2010

2010-08-13T09:43:00.000-08:00

The summer seems already elusive to me, a slippery fish evading clutching fingers. It has been a whirlwind of change and activity and still no end in sight for slowing into any sort of relaxed fall. We said goodbye to the Red Berry house and Kittiwake is putting us through our paces as we transform it into our own. Meanwhile, we continue living in construction and out of boxes. I changed jobs and careers, and, although it’s more just a shift in perspectives for me, the pieces are still coming together. I dig the new atmosphere and people I’m working with but I doubt I will ever regain the freedom I had before. My mom visited from Tennessee and good friends moved to Texas. Harper is now off to the South China Sea for an unknown quantity of time, somewhere around a month. Eli starts 7th grade next week and Amara has her own apartment.

I think I’ll be reeling for a while yet and I have been remiss with taking enough photos but here are a few (click on photo to go to gallery):

Catios

2010-06-19T07:05:00.001-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/garden/17catio.html

The state of our new living room

2010-06-17T20:08:00.001-08:00

The carpet goes first.

- Posted from my mobile device

Mushroom & Specialty

2010-06-14T20:43:00.005-08:00

We recently bought another house and are in the process of moving. It's amazing the things one collects over the years, including foods. We are food lovers and eatables from far away places always entice our curiosity. One of the interesting products we found in our larder during packing was brought back by Harper on his most recent trip to Taiwan - mushroom cookies (freeze-dried king oyster mushrooms). They're tasty and I think they would go great with onion dip.

I really love the translated description from the package:

Selection from the Taiwan's mushroom most famous habitat [Sinshe Township] high-quality mushroom. Uses the natural cultivation, in not polluted conditions growth, fresh and integrated mushroom makes carefully. Each mushroom cookies is the nutrition rich and healthy nature. It is for people who want excitement in their mushroom cookies. Enjoy nice time by specially fine tastes.

Yes - I DO want excitement in my mushroom cookies!

We had some amazing meals in Taiwan. One of my favorite dishes consisted simply of huge, probably king oyster, sauteed mushrooms. Funny to me the foods that end up being culturally assimilated in the U.S., like sushi, which we can get at Freds and Safeway. How does one thing end up on our shelves and not another when there is so much great food around the world!

Piggies at Munch and Play

2010-06-08T18:37:00.001-08:00

I just can't stop taking photos and video of our pigs. They are entertaining, fun, and, well, stinky!

AutoStitch Panorama

2010-05-31T08:36:00.004-08:00

This is a series of photos stitched together with the iPhone app AutoStitch Panorama. It really does do a comparable job to Photoshop and it might be even faster. This one was a series of 8 or 9 images of Rebecca and Toreston's house and guest cabin near Tok.

Piggies eating their afternoon mash

2010-05-30T15:18:00.001-08:00

Pigs eating like pigs!

Piglets!!

2010-05-23T21:26:00.000-08:00

Introducing...our piggies!! We picked them up on our way home from a weekend in Tok! Two barrows and one gilt. They are super cute and have a lot of personality. Harper has been busy making a pen at the folks'. More photos soon...

Kitty Mao Mao on the NYTimes!

2010-05-11T17:08:00.004-08:00

Check out this super cool world-wide collaborative visual journalism project from the NYTimes - A Moment In Time. And, even cooler, we were there! I have to credit Harper with spotting the link at the right moment. It was the just right moment to snap a funny shot of Kitty Mao Mao and send it along - and he made it to the top of the stack in Fairbanks! At least when viewing from this IP address. It would be interesting to know if he is on the top of your stack too - let me know if you check it out.

Interactive Gallery
So, click on the link just above, wait for the gallery to load and then spin the globe to any location for photos all taken within one hour on Sunday, May 2, at 15:00 hours U.T.C.

Biking in Denali

2010-05-08T07:45:00.003-08:00

Went biking/hiking/camping with Eli's 6th grade class this week. Biked round-trip 34 miles from Teklanika to Polychrome pass on a beautiful day in the park. We went hiking around the campground and visitors center, enjoyed presentations by an amazing ranger named Kristen and took over at Riley Creek campground. We were 22 6th graders and 17 parents & teachers for a super amazing class trip.

Wildlife: grizzly bears (3), canada lynx (1), caribou (many), arctic ground squirrels (many), dall's sheep (many), porcupine (1), snowshoe hare (many), golden eagle (2), bald eagle (1), ptarmigan (many), trumpeter swans (2), black-capped chickadees...

Other items of interest: northern hawk owl (?) dining room - on a bridge between Polychrome and Sable Passes we found lots of owl pellets, rodent skulls and bones, and part of a fox's tail, lots of bird droppings. At this same spot we also saw a large nest built of sticks under the bridge but the only bird nearby was a raven who was either curious or concerned.

Here are some photos.

Blackbelt!

2010-04-12T06:32:00.005-08:00

Here are a few shots from Eli's blackbelt test this weekend. It was quite a day and I'm near bursting with motherly pride.

The lighting was awkward and it turned out that my little Lumix camera did much better on the video than the Xacti video camera I borrowed from work. Too bad I didn't use the Lumix for all of it.

Lampang, Bangkok

2010-01-17T07:29:00.006-09:00

In Bangkok we had the strange feeling that we were within a very complex and dynamic giant mandala. It is a city in motion that has a very old and spiritual feel.

Thailand - Bangkok - photos by Rhonda and Jen

We went to the Thai Elephant Conservation Center near Lampang and stayed for the 3 day VIP mahout training camp. It was an intense and amazing experience. Here are photos:

Thailand - Mahout Training - photos by Rhonda and Jen

Chiang Mai

2010-01-11T19:44:00.000-09:00

A few more pics from the north:

Thailand 2010 - 2

Thailand

2010-01-11T17:21:00.004-09:00

Rhonda and I are having a good time in Thailand - our trip is half over and has gone by in a snap. We've either been without internet or I've just not been in the mood to be on the computer - too much to do here. Here are some photos from the first week:

Thailand - 2010

This afternoon we will travel about 30 miles south from Chiang Mai to the Elephant Conservation Center - http://www.changthai.com/ - we will be there for 3 days of mahout elephant training! Check out their page over the next few days and maybe you will see us atop pachyderm!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-28T21:13:00.006-09:00

Christmas morning. Harper made panettone - yum! Christmas was super great this year. An auto start, fine perfume, and an anvil. What more could a girl want?

Haven't named him yet but he's a super fine, shiny, 35lb hunk.

More catch up

2009-12-28T21:08:00.004-09:00

One of the only photos I took on a recent trip to San Francisco for the fall American Geophysical Union meeting. Harper's sister Ashlyn and I spent a very enjoyable afternoon wandering around Chinatown and found this guy hanging out.

Eli and his best buddies at Eli's birthday celebration outfitted and ready for laser tag action!

Fire building expedition & luncheon, a current favorite activity for my danger boys.

Catching up

2009-12-28T20:57:00.012-09:00

November ski on Smith Lake with Amber.

Local color.

Halloween ghouls & a superb bonfire at Charlie & Sheree's.

I asked Charlie if he would make Janice a tray table topper. The nursing home she is in is fairly new but they have some hand-me-downs from the old St. Anne's nursing home including a tray table with a sticker that looks like it is from the 50s. Her things were falling off and there was never enough room. I took some measurements during my visit this summer and Charlie made this beautiful yellow birch top. Now she has room for a food tray and plus her most needed items.

Found this little guy on a rare sunny day in Juneau, Outer Point trail North Douglas.

Skating, bog burps, and autumn harvest dinner

2009-10-25T17:47:00.014-08:00

Temperatures have been cold enough here at night to freeze the ice down at least 5 inches. We haven't had a staying snow yet and it has been just above freezing in the day so the conditions are perfect. We had been seeing people skating this week on Ballaine Lake, so on Saturday we dug out our skates and headed to our favorite spot, a neighborhood peat bog, to check out the skating action. It really couldn't be more perfect, with no snow cover, smooth ice, and temperatures in the upper 30s F.

The bog is just starting it's freeze cycle and, probably because of the warm temperatures and possibly the number of people skating, there were regular eerie twanging and flumping noises as the ice sorts itself out. Initially it was fairly freaky, especially watching cracks form beneath my skates as I moved along, but the ice was clear enough to see it's depth and liquid water wasn't flowing up to the surface anywhere.

Plenty of air bubbles in the bog have formed during freeze-up. These air bubbles are full of methane gas from sphagnum decomposition but I like to think of them as bog burps. The kids made great sport of chipping a hole in the ice and lighting the methane on fire - they had some good success and managed to get away with not singing too many eyelashes.

Today our friend John was out testing his excellent new invention - a backyard zamboni!

Saturday evening, we had a super meal with family and Harper working his magic in the kitchen...

Bone-in caribou roast with garlic & herbs rub and bacon...mmm.

Salmon gravlax and caribou paté.

Harper was inspired with this spicy tomato aspic, amanita muscaria anyone?

What did we do this week?

2009-09-13T19:42:00.005-08:00

Packaged caribou burger!

Canned jams, jellies, pickles, oh my.

Made caribou sausage with cousins - breakfast, Italian, and smoked chorizo, muy fino!

Sister

2009-09-07T08:58:00.007-08:00

It's been so nice having my sister Amber here this summer. Now that September is here I worry that we haven't done as many activities as we could have and she'll probably escape to Korea before the snow flies.... I will miss her!

Berry Picking Madness

2009-09-07T08:56:00.003-08:00

Went out with Bret and Andrea for more blueberry picking and got another two gallons in a couple hours. Yesterday we went to Angel Rocks and while we were there picked a couple gallons of high bush cranberries. Harper is honing his jam making skills and our riches increase.

Amara Starts University

2009-09-07T08:53:00.001-08:00

Last weekend Amara moved into the UAF dorms and started classes! Yay Amara - we love you!!

Stop Motion Animation

2009-09-07T08:48:00.002-08:00

Eli has been playing around with stop motion lego animation. Battle scenes! This one is a little rough because he didn't have a proper tripod...

hmm - The video looks great in quicktime but got a little funky after the upload processing. I'm not going to fix it right now, as it kind of adds some interesting atmospherics.

More Caviar

2009-09-07T08:46:00.003-08:00

When Pa Simmons went fishing he saved a bunch of roe for me to play with. I was eager to try a couple different techniques after talking to various people about their methods of de-skeining and brining.

This time I tried the hot water method to de-skein the eggs. The water should be as hot as your hands can stand to work with. Pouring hot water over the skeins makes the membrane turn white and tough and it is fairly easy to get the large bits off. Once the large bits are off and the eggs are all separated individually, pour the water off. Then pour more water on, swirl the eggs with your hands, pour the water off - this helps wash away the small bits of gooey membrane. Repeat until all the little bits are gone.

By this time the eggs will have turned opaque and nearly white with the fresh water. Instead of measuring carefully, I decided to use zen cooking technique this time. So, I added just enough water to barely cover them and sprinkled it with kosher salt, swirled it about for around a minute and rinsed. As soon as the salt hits the eggs they turn from opaque white balls back to gorgeous luminescent jewels.

I then added enough soy sauce and sake to just cover the eggs and brined them in this mixture for 15 minutes or so.

One batch I packed in a little sake/soy sauce mixture and one batch I drained overnight in the fridge and packed dry.

At this point many of our friends would go ahead and eat the roe but I decided to put it in the freezer for a couple weeks because as I was separating the eggs, I definitely found little nematode friends who I don't want to get too cozy with.

A couple days ago we tried the first batch of caviar made with the salt brine - a little sour cream on Kavli crackers...mmmmm. The eggs are smaller this year but I think it adds good texture. They turned out a little less salty than last year too I think.

Putting up food

2009-08-16T20:41:00.005-08:00

This week we spent a few days processing salmon in various ways - frozen fresh fillets, cold smoked fillets, and hot smoked strips. We borrowed a canner and Harper canned a bunch of both the fresh and smoked strips. It is amazingly yummy!

We also made a case of caviar to freeze using more or less the same method as the last two years. First we separated the skein from the eggs using a laundry bag type mesh stretched in a wood frame. This part is always a little tedious and in past years we have used a variety of strainers - tennis rackets are great for straining larger eggs. This years eggs are on the small side, so the laundry bag worked fairly well. Unfortunately, we did lose all the larger ones to breakage during this process. We strained through the mesh 3 times to get the mucousy skein off, carefully keeping the eggs on ice in-between batches. We then brined them for 15 minutes in a solution of 2 cups salt/3 quarts water. When they are ready the eggs become pearly on the surface and we then rinsed them in a weak brine of 1/4 cup salt/3 quarts water for less than a minute. They drained overnight in a cooler with ice - we used a smaller mesh on the inside (from one of those shower scrunchies purchased for this use) and more laundry bag mesh on the outside. The next day they were transformed into perfectly beautiful jewels waiting to be lovingly packaged!

Bret says that we should freeze salmon and eggs for at least two weeks before eating raw to be on the safe side. We know lots of people who don't do this and eat the caviar right away. We prefer to be safe however and avoid the nematode friends. Because of the strong brine, our caviar is a little on the salty side but it does help protect the eggs from freezer burn. This way, we can enjoy caviar all winter - best with sour cream on crackers. mmmm.

Friday Harper and I picked enough rose hips to make 8 small jars of jam. It turned out to be more like thick syrup but it's so lovely. Today we went to Wickersham Dome and gathered 2 gallons of blueberries. Harper made 2 delicious pies and we have plenty left in the freezer.

It sure is a super fine cozy feeling to think about all the cans in the larder and containers in the freezer of local food we've worked on growing and harvesting. We're overflowing with the bounty of the season! Harper is going caribou hunting with Rafe and friend later this week. We may have to buy yet another freezer if they are very successful! Either that or Christmas will come early...

Chitina

2009-08-15T07:45:00.008-08:00

Harper, Eli and I went to Chitina this week to go fishing for red salmon on the Copper River. We chartered a boat and the skipper took us out to a really great spot that was farily safe for kids. I didn't take photos of where other people were dropped off but some of them looked really really dangerous - steep banks of tumbling rock plunging into deep, cold, fast, silty water. I'm not sure how people don't fall in - especially if they get a king in the net.

We arrived at our spot at 6:30am and by 8:30 had caught the family limit of 30! Eli found the sweet spot and caught the most. I had one exciting moment with two fish in the net! No kings or silvers, just beautiful yummy reds.

We took up the charter guy's offer to have him clean and fillet our fish for $1 each - 30 minutes later with little effort from us we had 2 coolers packed and ready to go! We had planned on spending the night but we decided to head back to town early and get a start on smoking, packaging and making caviar.

A few more photos from the wedding day

2009-08-15T07:38:00.005-08:00

The beautiful bride!

Our beautiful daughter!

My beautiful sister!

Our dapper son!

August 8th Wedding

2009-08-15T07:29:00.004-08:00

Ashlyn (Harper's sister) and Kepa got married today. They had a short ceremony on top of Ester Dome ministered by Pa and attended by a small group of friends and family. It was a very sweet wedding and a real fun party at the folks' house afterward with plenty of sangria & barbecue and Tom Hart & friends playing music, Paula calling the dancing squares.

Smokey Summer

2009-08-15T07:27:00.003-08:00

The month of July and early August were very smokey with wildfires burning all over the interior. It was as bad as 2004 at our house, as we had days of visibility under 1/4 mile with raining ash. This photo is looking up our driveway on the worst day- this is not fog. Just when I thought I was at the pinnacle of smoke-induced claustrophobia the rain came and magically took it all away. Today we have clear blue skies and crisp clean air - yay!

Golden Days Parade

2009-08-15T07:22:00.004-08:00

This year Eli and I finally joined our friends at the Golden Days Parade - the parade event of the year in Fairbanks. It was a typical Alaskan parade with lots of religion, politics, and youth sports teams. My favorite were the Farmall and John Deer tractors - Eli has some toy metal tractor replicas from when he was younger so it was like his tractor shelf came to life.

Summer Spices

2009-08-15T07:17:00.003-08:00

I keep falling in love with the spice rack that Harper made for me a few years ago as a Mother's Day present. I recently re-labeled them using a permanent ink label gizmo. The square shapes are perfect - they are recycled jam jars we have been collecting for many years.

Fun with foam weapons and Mustang suits

2009-07-18T09:45:00.001-08:00

Summer at the CSA

2009-07-18T09:13:00.007-08:00

This year we bought into our favorite CSA again, Wild Rose. It's located on this gorgeous field between town and our house off Miller Hill. I really love coming here after work every Thursday and feeling the rest of the world fade away into the open sky.

They also do a awesome outside summer camp for kids here that Eli has attended for the last 4 years or so. The tepees provide shelter for the campers and space for natural handicrafts.

Each week we pick up a few large bags of organic goodies that are a little different each week. Goodies like lettuce, kale, chard, mustard greens, savoy cabbage, herbs, kohlrabi, turnips, carrots, onions, broccoli....

The CSA also offers a flower share. We've never bought into it but I always kinda regret it as the flowers are always so amazing.

A clear day in Juneau

2009-07-18T08:39:00.006-08:00

This photo is from my recent trip to Juneau for Janice's birthday on the 3rd of July. Had some lovely weather and we spent an enjoyable afternoon at the Mendenhall Glacier strolling on wheelchair accessible trails.

We missed the 4th parade but I did manage to catch the fireworks from Rhonda and Dave's deck. These pics were taken using the fireworks setting on my Lumix.

Bai Bai Taiwan!

2009-06-17T21:18:00.008-08:00

Our last afternoon in Taiwan we spent in Taipei after taking a short 2hr bullet train from Kaohsiung. After a little shopping we went to Taipei 101 - one of the top engineering marvels of the world and the tallest building in the world (until the Burj Dubai is complete anyway). It's a pretty darn impressive structure.

We had a nice and huge dinner at a teppanaki restaurant in the mall adjoining 101 - really fabulous meal and fun to watch the chef. This is what happens after a month of supreme eating!

Hee.

Yesterday morning, which was actually this morning once removed or something because of the date line, we left Taipei and headed for home via Tokyo and Seattle arriving at about the same time/day we left Tokyo. Hrrm. But, really, not a bad set of flights - the jet streamed shaved a couple hours off and we arrived safe and sound but very floppy.

More photos here.

Taiwan - Kenting

2009-06-17T20:35:00.010-08:00

The final weekend of our trip YuHuai took us along with 4 students to Kenting on the southern tip of Taiwan. It's a surfing and diving holiday destination for people of Taiwan. It's a lush and very tropical region with some actual sand beaches - most of Taiwan's coast is rocky with strong currents not safe for swimming. Actually, we read that most Taiwanese do not know how to swim and generally stay away from water. This was certainly true for the students who accompanied us. YuHuai hired a snorkeling guide for all of us along with wet suits (in case of jellyfish or cool water), gear, and life jackets for the non-swimmers. We found some pretty good snorkeling not far off the beach in really warm waters. We learned later that it was in path of the nuclear power plant water outlet - no wonder the fish were so big and bright!

All the fancy hotels were occupied by mainland Chinese tourists. Evidently tourism was just opened up 3 months ago to mainlanders and they are all flocking over in droves. So we ended up staying at the Taiwan equivalent of the YMCA, which was actually nicer accommodations than the U.S. YMCA we once stayed in ...we had our own bathroom with products, TV, nice little room free of bugs, night-time gecko friends, courtyard with lilly pads, and enclosed room with a table, oh - and good breakfast. The place was styled to look and feel like a feudal era Chinese family community - we ended up in the building where the grandparents would have lived. They also provided some traditional Chinese toys to play with in the common courtyard including a heavy spinning top, wheel/stick thingy, and stilts!

This is the fabulous lunch we had one day - really really fresh seafood! YuHuai chose the large red rock fish and it showed up on our table a little while later cooked 3 different ways - broiled, in some sauce, and soup! This meal was incredible - everything was so delish. What was also completely new and exciting this meal was the sweet potato greens sauteed in garlic and mild chili peppers - it was so amazing - we'll definitely look into whether it's the same variety here!

We had a lot of fun in Kenting... swimming and goofing around with students and, of course, eating barbecued squid on a stick...

In Kaohsiung

2009-06-12T01:12:00.010-08:00

City view from our hotel. The haze is mostly humidity.

Eli and I have had a few relaxing days here in Kaohsiung, a bit of a vacation from our vacation. We're staying at the Grand Hi-Lai, a huge 5 star (second highest building in the city) with 45 floors, 17 restaurants, food court, department store, rec area, etc. It's been nice to relax and be lazy about trying to see everything. One reason we've slowed down somewhat is that no one walks here and pedestrians don't have the right of way so it can be a little nerve wracking to try and wander around by foot, which is the most fun for us. Still, we did get out to see a few things.

Scooters are everywhere here!! Eli is riding with Mr. Lee and I am riding with Ms. Lin.

more photos here

The first day we were here YuHuai's students took Eli and me out to Cijin Island to shop and look around. They all drive scooters so we got to see some of the city from a different point of view. It was quite enjoyable really and I can imagine using a scooter if I lived here. There aren't really any sidewalks - they are taken up with scooter parking and storefronts that have expanded beyond their doors. We then went looking for monkeys in the park. I guess they will grab food from your hands but it is a little dangerous. It was the middle of the day and very hot, so they were probably all sleeping. Time for 'Taiwan ice' - shave ice with fruit or tapioca and beans on top drizzled with sweet condensed milk - quite refreshing when it's hot out.

at the night market

night market fare - 9 organ soup (?), very fresh

hm... roasted chicken feet, organs, duck head and neck...

and more photos here

We've been to a couple of night markets here in Kaohsiung. These are streets or city blocks that are full of booth style retail and food stalls. You can probably get a good deal on flip flops or t-shirts if you know the language. I asked about a pair of sunglasses and was told that they were over $40 U.S., I saw a very similar pair of glasses at a local store today for less than $15. Mostly we just gawked at the foods, which seem very strange to us and smell even stronger.

Another night we went out for a lovely dinner with YuHuai, his wife, Yi Huan, and students. It was a nice evening and I am growing fond of these people. We will be going with most of them to the southern tip of Taiwan this weekend to the vacation area of Kenting. We had some interesting food this evening, some of which we found very tasty like the mochi balls, other flavors were a little more challenging for us (see photos).

Taiwan impressions

2009-06-12T01:11:00.001-08:00

Taiwan is bustling.
I've never seen so many scooters in my life.
Dogs seems to sorta roam free here.
The streets are an amazing collection of shiny and sparkly newness and old grunge.
It's hot in Kaohsiung - 36.5C/97.7F and humid....like Florida in summer.
Sadly, shark fin is really good.
We really don't like the dishes with pig intestine ingredients.
No one walks in Taiwan - the sidewalks are taken by scooter parking and extended storefronts.
Things are not dirt cheap here but are a little less expensive, especially food.
The subway (MRT) has only two lines, so it's use is very limited but it is very clean and modern.
Pedestrians do not have the right of way here.
Neither do the scooters but the scooters do whatever they want and ignore traffic signals routinely.
Guava here are a completely different fruit than in Hawaii...more like an apple.

Taiwan

2009-06-09T15:14:00.011-08:00

First meal in Taiwan from the buffet. Yep, it's a little whole squid.

What strikes me about Taiwan right off is that most people are speaking very good English with us automatically. After a short 3.5 hour flight from Tokyo, we landed in Taipei, grabbed a taxi to the Hotel Zi-Mei where we had a decent room with good sheets. We only stayed one night here and after breakfast hopped in another taxi to go to the train station. We had a little excitement because it was an inauspicious day for our driver, as he crashed into a truck not 20 feet from the hotel. Hailing another taxi was easy and we got away without paying the ridiculous charge for a 'call fee' that our first driver was trying to get out of us. Taxi drivers here will over charge if you aren't careful.

Taiwan is a bit run-down after being in Tokyo but I must say that I could live happily for a couple days just in the Taipei main train station with its seemingly endless interesting little food shops. There are a few beggars about and people trying to sell little flowers and stuff, which we had not seen any of in Japan but still nowhere near as bad as any city in the U.S.

Tiansiang, Grand Formosa hotel on left. This photo was taken from the top of a Buddhist pagoda across the river.

Once out of the city, our train went through lush jungles and through small towns until we arrived in Hualien where we caught a shuttle to our hotel in Tiansiang, deep into the Taroko Gorge National Park. Taroko is an amazing place - a must-see for any visitors to Taiwan. It is the world's deepest marble gorge with the Liwu River running through it. The road up is skinny with no shoulders and amazing views. There are many precarious hiking trails here with suspension bridges and drops that make your head spin.

Cave of Water Curtain

hiking back from the farms

We went on a few nice hikes here. The first through the cave of water curtain - after going through many many tunnels you get to one with water pouring through and all around. We had fun getting a little wet. I tried an umbrella but it didn't work too well. Also we went on a 4 hour hike up the gorge to some farms. If there is a reality TV show called 'extreme farming' these places should be on the list. Miles up the gorge over a path - not a road - these people drive scooters and small trucks regularly. We think they are crazy - the rock slides are numerous and the drop would have no mercy. Anyway, it was a lovely hike although we were a bit nervous of falling rock. It was one of those - are we being really stupid by doing this with our kid - kind of adventures...breathtakingly beautiful though.

Taroko Gorge

This area is home of the Taroko Tribe, an indigenous people of Taiwan, who, like other first nations around the world, have had hardships with land rights and colonialists over the years. Last night we went to the restaurant at the Buluowan Taroko Tribe run Leader Village Taroko Inn. Harper went here 3 years ago and has been talking about the meal ever since. It was indeed memorable - with millet wine, wild boar, betel nut soup, sticky rice cooked in bamboo, some beautiful mushrooms, and lots of other little dishes. Yum. Very different cuisine from Chinese - more like Alice Waters meets the east, with local ingredients and simple but wonderful combinations. It was all tasty from the whole shrimp in passion fruit to the potato salad. Actually, it was the best potato salad I've ever had - with corn kernels! I just couldn't get over the fact that I was sitting in an aboriginal village somewhere in the mountains of Taiwan eating the best potato salad ever.

yummy meal at Buluwan

More Photos Here

Sayonara Japan

2009-06-09T14:59:00.005-08:00

We were so sad to leave Japan - it had been such an awesome and special visit. We did way too much to write about - our days were completely packed. Our last night we took the train across town to our favorite ramen shop in Shibuya for dinner and afterwards a quick stop on the JR Yamanote line to Shinjuku to say farewell to the twinkly lights. This time we had the wide tsukamen ramen and tried both the miso and shoyu. The chef recognized us and beamed a big smile making us feel right at home - slurp slurp slurp!

During our stay we quickly grew tired of the hotel breakfast buffet and ventured out for local cheap eats. One of our favorite spots was a kind of fast food place called Hotto Motto just around the corner where a great breakfast consisted of Japanese style breakfast burritos - rice with meat or seafood and a little cabbage wrapped in nori. These are really tasty and inexpensive and it's a popular spot for the college kids at lunch. So our last day, we went one more time - we'll definitely be making these at home.

Also - I really must mention PUDDING. We never knew this secret, did you? Japanese make the world's greatest puddings and jellos (some from agar and some from gelatin?). We tried just about every kind of pudding and jello we could get our hands on. Coffee pudding, milk pudding, red bean pudding, coffee jello (!!), cantaloupe jello, green tea pudding, coconut pudding & jello, mango pudding & jello....on and on. We are really not loosing any weight on this trip!

Of course we still love mochi too.... Oy, we will miss the food.

More impressions of Japan

2009-06-09T14:51:00.004-08:00

Most homes here are in muted colors, occasionally you will see yellows or oranges.
Most women don't have pierced ears or wear much jewelry.
Many women wear fancy tiny little micro-socks with their heels.
There are signs and maps every where - just when you think you might be lost, you look up and there is a map or sign pointing you in the right direction.
Young people don't often color their hair wild colors - but we did see a number of purple and green haired older folks!
Everyone is attached to their cell phones. Cell phones here can do everything you can do on a computer and more.
You can get a great meal for around $10 US.
Perfectly good meals can be found in convenience stores.
Plenty of coffee everywhere - in vending machines and convenience stores - my favorite was the container of mascarpone cheese coffee - liquid tiramisu!
The subway is extremely easy to navigate.
People are very polite and orderly on the subway and wait before charging onto the trains.
The construction workers, mechanics, and others who work with their hands all wear little white gloves and often matching uniforms.
When there is a construction project in the city, they use very tidy white barricades to separate the work from pedestrian traffic.
While walking down the sidewalk, it is customary to walk on the left side.
Cute signage is everywhere.
In certain areas of Tokyo I had the distinct feeling that I was walking around in a giant architectural model, like with little fake trees and people.

Honke Bankyu

2009-06-04T00:10:00.014-08:00

On Sunday, we hopped on a series of trains and one bus, destination Honke Bankyu Ryokan. I found this place online before we left at Andrea's recommendation - she said it was a really amazing place but we found out that, in addition to that, it is also one of the most famous ryokan or traditional Japanese inns near Tokyo. With help from Ms. Enomoto, we were able to secure a room for the night in the main house. It's nestled by a river in a cozy town in the mountains north of Tokyo and required a 3 hour trip through smaller and smaller towns and rice paddies and diminishing English signage.

Our belts are all tied wrong here and the knot is supposed to go in the back - little details that we didn't know until the doorman at dinner took one look at us, grunted, and retied all of our belts for us.

When we arrived, we took off our shoes and stepped into the sandals provided, were served a lovely tea and red bean cookie and were taken to our room after being welcomed by a man banging a hanging drum. Our room was traditional with tatami mat, sliding doors, table, and cedar bathtub. Our hostess came in with us and served us more tea and mochi treats as she got us settled with our yukata and various welcoming discussions. She didn't speak any English, so it was pretty much a one-way conversation.

We donned our yukata and went in search of the onsen. There were both inside and outside baths lined in rock (separate baths for men/women). There are lots of rules to bathing at an onsen. We did our best to follow what others were doing and what we'd researched before hand. The water was hot and the outside bath was particularly nice, as it looked out over the river and the rain was falling - very relaxing and peaceful.

woman's outside onsen

Dinner was served in a private room in a building across a rope bridge over the river. A sand pit in the floor held coals with various things skewered on sticks - fish, amazing beef, vegetables, mochi. Our kaiseki dinner consisted of 17 various beautifully arranged and delightful dishes that just kept coming and coming and coming....we drank warm bamboo sake and stuffed our bellies until we were rolling out the door.

going to dinner

first course

While we were gone our beds appeared, pillows stuffed with grain. After that huge meal, we were all feeling sleepy but we stayed up late because Harper signed me up for a massage that lasted an hour and was fairly painful but left me feeling like jello.

We woke to more baths and another large meal and were at the bus station by 9:30 to make our way to Nikko for the day. We were sad to leave...this is a place to relax and would be great for a longer stay. Maybe someday we'll come back.

Signage out front to welcome guests. Our sign said 'Dr. Shirper' - I guess something was lost there...we were the only westerners at the hotel.

More Photos Here...

Food Bliss!

2009-05-28T00:08:00.014-08:00

We ate at a place called Suzuran Ramen in Shibuya the other night that makes freshly made thick ramen noodles - it was blissful. We all had tsuke-men, dipping style noodles while we watched the chefs prepare the meal. The ramen came served on the side with a very rich delicious broth with lots of sprouts, some very tender pork meat, cabbage and stuff. Their gyoza was wonderful too. It was so yummy and a great way to end a long day....belly full of a serious ramen treat. We're definitely going to get more of this stuff soon.

We've had some good soba too, although none yet homemade.

mari soba (cold with dipping sauce and seaweed sprinkles), tempura soba

Eli digs sushi & sashimi and everyone is impressed by his chopstick ability.

We went out with Harper's host, Toshi-san, to an izakaya place called Seigetsu in the Korakuen area and had a bunch of really yummy small dishes and gorgeous sake. We finished with this fish - tai snapper. Eli loved it and even ate the eyeball. For real.

Last night Toshi and Yuko invited us over to their home for dinner - a luscious spread of sushi (including natto rolls), sukiyaki, beeru, plum wine, green tea, and special sake from Okinawa called awamori which is made by distillation rather than brewing.

Toshi-san's student brings him the awamori and they keep it in this clay pot. It had a really good flavor but was too strong for me so I added a splash of Mitsuya Cider (soda) and it was a good mix.

Toshi, Yuko, Harper, Eli, Saki, Yuki. A very enjoyable evening.

Tokyo Impressions So Far

2009-05-27T23:49:00.009-08:00

I've never seen so many men in suits before.
It is warm (70-80F) but no one wears tank tops.
No one wears bicycle helmets.
Children ride the subway alone and in small groups home from school.
The subway/rails are faster than driving and are extremely easy to navigate.
There are no public trash cans! rrrrr!
Areas where the teenagers and after-work business crowd hang out are noisier than others.
There are arrows all over the subway telling you which side of the hallway to walk on - mostly on the left but not always.
There are maps all around the city in popular places and in subway stations that are very helpful - except sometimes in stations when they are displayed at 90 degrees with north on the left....?!
Many women wear long sleeves even when they are exercising.
Many women wear tiny little lacy socks inside their work shoes....I must get some!
In the local area shops and restaurants, prices are about equivalent to those in Alaska.
You can get a really yummy breakfast burrito (rice and beef or shrimp, eggs, wrapped in nori sheet) for less than 200¥ (less than $2 US).
It's rare that someone bumps into you and does not apologize.
It's uncommon that anyone bumps into anyone else anyway - pretty amazing considering the number of people walking, biking, carrying umbrellas and jammed into subways.
Signs everywhere remind you not to smoke and walk at the same time while on the sidewalk.
People do not eat while walking or sitting near sidewalks or subways.
Obesity seems to be only for the sumo wrestlers.
Extremely short, frilly skirts are popular with young women - problematic on escalators with train breeze.
The city streets are free of trash, gum and debris.
People do not generally talk or laugh loudly.
Cars honk infrequently and never obnoxiously.
People are in general extremely neat and tidy - even the homeless remove their shoes before entering into their cardboard box shelters!
There are a lot of really really really good looking people here.

Tokyo - Edo Museum, Akhibara Electric Town, Tokyo Station area and 'salaryman area'.

2009-05-26T15:41:00.000-08:00

Tokyo Tower, Asakusa, Hongo

2009-05-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

5-26-09 Tokyo day 6 Tues

2009-05-26T14:45:00.005-08:00

Eli and I went to the Tokyo Edo Museum in search of medieval Japanese armor. Despite the gorgeous photo of the shogun armor on all their promotional materials, that was the only set of armor they had, much to Eli's disappointment. We found a free guide there though and learned about the history of Tokyo, which was great anyway. We also caught the special exhibit of Osamu Tezuka's work - I never knew about this guy but he is credited with the title of 'father of manga' and his original drawings (everything from cute comics to medical illustrations) were absolutely amazing. He is the creator of Astro Boy and many others.

Eli and I ate lunch at a tea house. It was called 'soup rice' - rice with fish broth (you add), meat/fish, and condiments. I had the most delicious plum flavored green-tea...

After the museum we went to Akihabara's Electric Town. Our first stop was Yodobashi Camera - OK. 8 floors of bright pulsing everything electronic you could ever think of - plus 4 basement levels - plus a top floor of everything golf. Yes, golf. Immense saturation unblinking bright. The streets nearby are lined with lots of little shops - computers, light bulbs, fans, figurines, manga, arcades...

We met up with Harper later and went in search of a restaurant called Milk Won Ton near Yurakucho station. Couldn't quite locate it and we were all starving so we ended up eating at a funky place underneath the metro lines. We met a couple of high school teachers (P.E. and Japanese) and did our best to make conversation. They were having fun after work drinking their shochu. They told us that this area is called 'salaryman area', a popular after-work spot. Our table was perched on plastic crates but the food (yakitori) was good and the waiters were very nice. By the end of the meal, one of our new friends had invited Eli to marry one of his 3 daughters, all near his age. Eli wasn't so sure...

5-25-09 Tokyo day 5 Mon

2009-05-25T16:20:00.007-08:00

Tokyo Tower (333 m)

While Harper worked, Eli and I went to Tokyo Tower and rode the elevator up to 250m above the city. It was a nice day and we had a great view! We could see a lot of really cool buildings. The elevator wasn't too packed and was amazingly fast. My favorite part was when the announcer said as we are looking down hundreds of feet through the window and getting higher...'you may hear a loud crack...' video to come.

We then jumped on the Asakusa subway line - the first subway we've been on that did not have announcements in English - wandered around the Asakusa shops around the Sensoji Temple. A legend says that in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida River, and even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Consequently, Sensoji was built on that spot for the goddess of Kannon. The temple was completed in 645, making it Tokyo's oldest temple.

This is an amazing area full of little booth-style shops selling everything from shoes to fans to tourist trinkets to food. Eli spotted a sushi boat place so we had a little snack.

Went back to the hotel and met up with Harper. Ate again at a nearby small neighborhood restaurant called Mei - great food, very local. We tried the saki sampler - OMG - best saki ever. Our favorite was the 'black dragon' in the blue glass. The saki in each glass tasted like the colors of the glass - the green one was faintly green apples, the orange was faintly orange and the blue was, well, blue!! Synesthesia for non-synasthetes!

We also had a cooks choice sampler with some amazing flavors and textures to challenge our western palette. Our favorite dish was the dried squid that we roasted over a small clay oven full of charcoal briquettes and dipped in mayonnaise - we ate it all, even the squishy inside squid bits. Eli stuck with his usual favorite - ikura on rice.

roasted dried squid on clay oven

Harajuku & Shinjuku

2009-05-25T04:06:00.002-08:00

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5-24 09 Tokyo day 4 Sun

2009-05-24T03:57:00.004-08:00

Today it was a little rainy but we headed out to see people, shops & temple anyway. Went to Harajuku first to see the teenagers dressed in their strange finery. Every Sunday, many young people dress in a variety of styles that include gothic lolita, visual kei, and cosplay, among others and spend the day in Harajuku socializing. It was pretty amazing to see them - some dressed to look like dolls, others with tape on their noses and sometimes canes and other bandages to look like broken dolls, some in white contacts, some in plushy costumes, all kinds of stuff.

Harajuku area was definitely noisier than other areas we've been to - we definitely felt the teenage presence.

Visited the Meiji Shrine nearby and caught a couple wedding processions winding through the shrine grounds. It was a nice and quiet break from the bustle.

Then we wandered about, had some lunch, visited Kiddy Land (large toy store), and other shops and then off to Shinjuku and the Isetan department store. By that time, we were so overwhelmed - the streets were blocked off in Shinjuku and it was like a holiday. It is an understatement to say that our senses were completely overwhelmed and we found ourselves open-mouthed, gawking, sighing, and wandering aimlessly through the huge, fancy, shiny Isetan basement food court (NOT AT ALL like American style food courts, btw). I thought I had really gone and died and that this was heaven - how to choose from all the earthly delights - everything was SO amazing! We ended up forcing ourselves to choose and came back to our little room with a variety of yummy treats all neatly wrapped with individual ice packs and paper. Arigato gozaimas!

Tokyo - Ueno, Shibuya, Sumo Tournament

2009-05-23T16:12:00.004-08:00

We'll work on adding to this gallery and updating captions as we have time! Click here to go directly to the larger gallery online.

Sumo Tournament

2009-05-23T15:11:00.005-08:00

After attending the Grand Sumo tournament last night at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, sumo has become my new favorite sport of all time. What could be better than big guys in fancy silk underwear politely acting tough and tossing each other around? The crowd was so excited, especially for the last two matches of the night. One of the contenders was an ozeki (second highest rank) from Bulgaria - he won the match and pillows were thrown high into the air as the crowd went wild. I think this means he will be competing tomorrow in the final matches for the top rank of yokozuna. I sure wish we could be in the audience tomorrow but we were lucky to get tickets for the next to last day (thanks Tohu & Kenta!!!).

According to legend, the very origin of the Japanese depended on the outcome of a sumo match when the islands were established when the god Takemikazuchi won a sumo bout with the leader of a rival tribe.

The Torikumi, the actual wrestling part, only lasts seconds to a minute or two, most of the time is spent in ritual leading up up to the match.