raindrops

I have been blessed with a most joyous rainy weekend. All day Saturday, at my parents' house, the rain fell. I love rain anywhere, but sometimes I think it might be best there. Sometimes, when rain begins to fall, the pitter-patter on the leaves is so soft and crescendos so slowly that it could just as easily be a strong wind blowing through the branches of the trees of the surrounding woods. We can't know if it's raining or not unless we look at the surface of the lake and see the patterns of the raindrops.


On Easter Sunday, my parents and my grandmothers and I played cards in a quaint little sunroom all afternoon as the rain came down. Springtime rain makes me feel so vital. And fortunately, it followed me back to school yesterday. This photo is of my deck this morning, with little petals in the little puddles. The best song to go along with a bouncy, lively, wet spring day (for me, anyway) is James Taylor's "Up Er Mei." (Unfortunately, I'm having trouble finding anything other than the Amazon clip to listen to on the web. But it's on his album called "Hourglass," for what it's worth.)


See more rain-love here and read a cute little poem about rain by Shel Silverstein, after the jump.

Photo by Shanti Knight

Rain

by Shel Silverstein

I opened my eyes

And looked up at the rain,

And it dripped in my head

And flowed into my brain,

And all that I hear as I lie in my bed

Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.

I step very softly,

I walk very slow,

I can't do a handstand--

I might overflow,

So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said--

I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head.

parapluie

image courtesy of dense readings


This morning I turned on NPR just in time to hear a forecast for "a one hundred percent chance of rain." I've never heard that before; usually the weather reports like to leave just a little uncertainty. I smiled when I heard it, not just because I thought it was funny, but also because I've always preferred rain over sunshine.

I was getting ready to leave my house when the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning, which is something I don't like as much. I sat on the bathroom floor of my second-story apartment for a little while before deciding to go meet my first-floor neighbor & ask for some shelter. His name is Will & he very kindly allowed me to hang out with him for about thirty minutes while we waited for the storm to pass!

When I finally stepped out the door, I tested out my new black umbrella from Totes ($7, TJ Maxx) & was slightly disappointed to discover that it's just a tad too small, especially considering the force with which the rain was coming down. It made me miss my late Amsterdam umbrella, which broke around this time last year. It was a gift from my Dutch friend Thomas, who gave it to me when I was visiting him & his super-rad family (Ineke, Christiaan & Aischa) a few years ago in Alsmeer, Holland. It was black & green, with "Amsterdam" written under a certain nature motif on each section.

Here's Thomas with his woman, Ineke, at The Hague.

Photo by Shanti Knight

Fortunately, I'm so thrilled to see rain that nothing can mess with this mood!

Pitter patter raindrops

Pitter patter raindrops

I love you

I love you

saturday night in chicago

This past weekend, Maria & I took a really wonderful trip to Chicago where we visited my totally awesome cousin Tim & his completely lovable girlfriend Sarah. Here's a little recap:

Saturday morning on the road, the weather started off mild & the sky pearly gray, though it wasn't long before it developed into rain that followed us all the way into the city. Driving into Chicago from the south means paying lots of tolls. Maria is so funny. When we hit construction, she said, "What? They're making us pay to drive on this road?!" 

the endless toll booths!

Wow— the skyline was deep in fog... this was our view as we approached the city!

beautiful Chicago!

Once we arrived in Chicago, we met up with a high school friend, Zach, and took the El downtown to do some shopping. It was Maria's first time on an underground train! We discussed what underground trains are called in different cities (the Subway in New York City, the Metro in Paris, the Underground in London... etc.) and wondered how fast the train was moving (no idea).

Maria's first time on an underground train! Zach was less excited. =)

After shopping, Maria, Tim, Sarah & I walked to dinner at Dee's. We enjoyed lots of great conversation with the staff, several of whom know Tim and Sarah from their weekly visits. Our bartender (also named Tim) showed us some hilariously cute photos of his high-maintenance Miniature Schnauzers who won't nap without pillows!

Our sushi was seriously awesome. My Fashion Maki had spinach, salmon, masago, yellowtail, tuna and cucumber. So good. We finished with delicious hot sake, which had a really nice anise flavor. And then Tim-the-bartender treated us with complimentary shots of bright blue & tropical-flavored Malibu... something.

delicious sushi & sake at Dee's (left to right right: Tim, Sarah, me, Maria)

After Dee's, we took a cab downtown to the Trump Chicago Hotel to drink cosmos at Rebar on the second floor. It had floor-to-ceiling windows looking over the Chicago River, which was just beautiful at night.

Tim took this picture, in which he says Maria looks like Margaret from HBO's Boardwalk Empire (played by Kelly Macdonald.) I actually see it. What do you think?

weird cantaloupe-textured columns at Rebar

happy happy

After Rebar, Tim had another location (name long-forgotten)  in mind. We began to walk there, but before we arrived, we came upon Fadó Irish Pub. Sarah commented that she had celebrated her 21st birthday there, and for kicks, we decided to step in. Upstairs, we found a totally awesome party in full-swing. Selective Recall was on-stage playing Tommy Tutone's "867-5309 Jenny" & everyone was dancing. The atmosphere was laid-back but high-energy. We ordered drinks and danced to all these fabulous classics, & Maria & I danced on stage with the lead (who looked strikingly like Richard Simmons)! We ended up sticking around until 2 a.m., when Selective Recall called it a night.

my goodness. how beautiful!

Maria with her new bestie, Richard Simmons!

We finished up the night with great music at  The Redhead, a really fun piano bar. Of course, there was lots of Billy Joel: "Piano Man," which we sang along to, but also "Half a Mile Away" and one of my personal favorites, "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant." Additionally, though, the performer played Coldplay's "Yellow," Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" and John Mayer's "No Such Thing" (a Studio B favorite). It was a really nice mix of music to wind up the night.

awesome cousin!

silly & lovable!

cutest couple!!

Sunday morning, we were sad to say goodbye and head back to normal life... But it was a perfect day for driving, despite the scary semis on the interstate. =)

master navigator

also, just because the northern Indiana windmills are so beautiful:  

They go on for miles and are completely mesmerizing. For more wind energy love, see this video via A Cup of Jo.

a nip in the air...

You might say. It snowed— legit snowed— in NYC all day on Saturday. Say what?! I have to say. I loved it. It was cozy inside and even fun outside, where I had to carry an umbrella because even though the snow was gathering on rooftops and cars, it hit the ground with the weight and wetness of rain.


Mmm... stacked flannel. I need to hit up some thrift shops and stock up.

via Four Horsemen

brrr

After a weekend that almost felt like springtime, it's back to freezing rain as usual. Fortunately, I've got my cute weather widget on my Dashboard to give me a smile with its graphics.

P.S. The trees look really pretty, too!

whale watch

via NRDC


a poem by Dean Young, sent to me by Karina

Sometimes you may feel alone and crushed
by what you cannot accomplish
but the thought of failure is a fuzz
we cannot rid oursevles of
anymore than the clouds can their moisture.
Why would they want to anyway?
It is their identity and purpose
above the radish and radicchio fields.
Just because a thing can never be finished
doesn't mean it can't be done.
The most vibrant forms are emergent forms.
In winter, walk across a frozen lake
and listen to it boom and you will know
something of what I mean.
It may be necessary to go to Mexico.
Do not steal tombstones but if you do,
do not return them as it is sentimental
and the sentimental is a larval feeling
that bloats and bloats but never pupates.
Lean what you can of the coyote and shark.
Do not encourage small children
to play the trombone as the shortness
of their arms may prove quite frustrating,
imprinting a lifelong aversion to music
although in rare cases a sense of unreachability
may inspire operas of delicate auras.
If you hook, try to slice.
I have no the time to fully address
Spinoza but put Spinoza on your list.
Do not eat algae.
When someone across the table has a grain of rice
affixed to his nostril, instead of shouting,
Hey, you got rice hanging off your face!
thereby perturbing the mood
as he speaks of his mother one day in the basement,
brush your nose as he watches
and hidden receptors in the brain
will cause him to brush his own nose
ergo freeing the stupid-looking-making rice.
There is so much to say and shut up about.
As regards the ever-present advice-dispensing susurration
of the dead, ignore it; they think everyone's
going to die. I have seen books with pink slips
marking vital passages
but this I do not recommend
as it makes the book appear foolish
like a dog in a sweater.
Do not confuse size with scale:
the cathedral may be very small,
the eyelash monumental.
Know yourself to be made mostly of water
with a trace of aluminum, a metal
commonly used in fuselages.
For flying, hollow bones are best or
no bones at all as in the honeybee.
Do not kill yourself.
Do not put the hammer in the crystal carafe
except as a performance piece.
When you are ready to marry,
you will know but if you don't,
don't worry. The bullfrog never marries,
ditto the space shuttle
yet each is able to deliver its payload:
i.e. baby bullfrogs and satellites, respectively.
When yong, fall in and out of love like a window
that is open and only about a foot off the ground.
Occasionally land in lilacs
or roses if you must
but remember, the roses
have been landed in many times.
If you do not surprise yourself,
you won't surprise anyone else.
When the yo-yo "sleeps", give a little tug
and it will return unless it has "slept too long.
Haiku should not be stored with sestinas
just as one should never randomly mix
the liquids and powders beneath the kitchen sink.
Sand is both the problem and the solution for the beach.
To impress his teacher, Pan-Shan lopped off
his own hand, but to the western mind,
this seems rather extreme.
Neatly typed, on-time themes
strongly spelled are generally enough.
Some suggest concentrating on one thing
for a whole life but narrowing down
seems less alluring than opening up
except in the case of the blue pencil
with which to make lines on one side
of the triangle so it apperas to speed through the firmament.
Still, someone should read everything
Galsworthy wrote. Everyone knows
it's a race but no one's sure of the finish line.
You may want to fall to your knees
and beg for forgiveness without knowing precisely
for what. You may have a hole in your heart.
You may solve the equation but behind it
lurks another equation. You may never get
what you want and feel like you're already a ghost
and a failed ghost at that, unable to walk through walls.
There will be a purple hat. Ice cream.
You may almost ruin the wedding.
You may try to hang yourself but be saved
by a kid come home early from school
or you may be that kid who'll always remember
his mother that day in the basement,
how she seemed to know he'd done something wrong
before he even knew
and already forgave him,
the way she hugged him and cried.
Nothing escapes damage for long,
not the mountain or the sky.
You may be unable to say why
a certain song makes you cry until
it joins the other songs,
even the one that's always going on
and is never heard, the one that sings us into being.
On the phone, the doctor may tell you to come in.
It may rain for three days straight.
Already you've been forgiven,
given permission. Each week, cryptograms
come with the funny papers.
You're not alone.
You may see a whale.

via Nantucket Art

via Denver Post

& just for fun

via Fuck Yeah Tumblr Whale

please see also: Marine-Life Mondays