Tumblr & quote

“… and those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
— Nietzsche

This quote spoke to me, found, of all places, on the pages of Tumblr.com. I was reading an article on emails and social media, and had never heard of this "online scrapbooking" kinda concept. I like it. It's like a blog, except you just post stuff that catches your eye online. Or as the Tumblr Support page says, "If blogs are journals, tumblelogs are scrapbooks."

I've been scraposting for the last few days on Facebook, ever since I discovered the super easy "Share on Facebook" bookmarklet. I'll explore Tumblr for this need instead, and finally have a place to house all the cool creative bits I've been saving in the "inspiration" folder on my hard drive.

Results are in, sign up was simple, and the new Reduction Design design inspiration scrapost site is here: http://reductiondesign.tumblr.com/

Oh yes, and also in the sidebar of this blog, as in this RSS age one can get quite url weary.

New Point Comfort Shrimp Boil Recipe

I've been bugging Nathan all week for this recipe. Now, I have eaten a lot of shrimp in my life, but this qualifies as some of the best shrimp I have ever eaten. It was a highlight of the Mobjack trip.

Here is the recipe, as told by Nathan:

First open a good beer! Drink half, save the other half for adding to the boil right before water begins to roll

Fill a big pot with 3 quarts of water

add one bag of Zattarans crab boil, one lemon quartered and squeezed, 2 cloves of (smashed!) garlic sliced, one tablespoon celery seed, one teaspoon Cayenne, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, one teaspoon of sea salt, one teaspoon celery salt, one tablespoon of dehydrated onion flakes, and a splash of liquid smoke!

Bring to a rolling boil. Right before boil add the other half of your beer.

Add up too 4 Lbs. of (Here's the key...) Medium or Large raw shrimp thawed - shell on (more or less and they will suck!)

Boil for a minute and a half or until lightly pink then immediately strain into a colander. Dump the entire contents of the boil into the colander spices and all!

Let cool.

Put one tablespoon of old bay into a gallon Ziploc and empty the shrimp/boil spices into the Ziploc and toss. Refrigerate.

Do not let shrimp cool down in the boil water!!!!!!

Enjoy!

Logo: The Global Hearts Project

Just put together this little logo for a client. I may post the attending collateral when it is done, everything is turning out quite nicely!

Winterpills

Jimmy introduced us to another band last night, the Winterpills. I did a cursory search through YouTube, and this song struck a chord, among many. According to the YouTube post, the band made this video themselves.

AND the band will be touring with CAKE, one of my long time favorites! The closest they will come is Baltimore on October 2. Hmmm...

Mobjack Island, Another Friends of Jay Event

Nathan rallied the troops for a trip to Mobjack Island, on the Virginia coast, where we kayaked, fished and camped for the weekend. Things were glorious and sunny, until we nearly lost Carolyn and Vickie on a perilous night kayak around the lighthouse. Keith saved the night by setting off a flare from the shore, and Jimmy, Frank, Vickie and I returned to find that Carolyn had passed our ships in the night and was merrily drinking a beer by the bonfire. Too bad the flare did nothing to save Nathan, who was felled by Aguadiente, following in his sister's notorious face plant footsteps!

Mobjack Island

Nathan and Jimmy

Vickie, finally caught on tape!

Luz y Waldo

George catches a sea turtle

Carolyn's DIY bifocals

See, Jimmy? Having your photo taken isn't so bad...

Fisherman at work

Dennis and George look out to sea

Carolyn & Jimmy

Who is a camera ham now?

Nathan

Vickie

Members of the FOJ Adventure Crew

The Meaning of Life

A quote from Laura R's email signature. She and her beloved Brian actively pattern their life on this ideal, and are an inspiration to us.

"The meaning of life is to find your gift, the purpose of life is to give it away." --Joy J. Golliver

Ode to Jimmy & Carolyn

Jimmy & Carolyn offered to be our hosts while Deb finishes up her job. They epitomize words like "gracious" and "giving." We live in their driveway out in a quiet, sparsely populated, woodsy area of New Kent County and we LOVE it there. In the morning, you can hear the baa of neighboring sheep, while guineas and chickens peck for breakfast nearby. There are always at least 10 hummingbirds around the feeders, and Carolyn tells me the names of the other brightly colored winged denizens that come for seeds.

Carolyn is a mother, through and through. Last night she picked a tick off of me because I was too freaked out to touch it. She is a nurse of baby birds, feral cats and all the tiny woods creatures that come to her. She and Jimmy have been married some 30+ years and have this calm, nurturing aura about them. They love life, especially in the form of kayaking, hiking, camping, skiing, art, music and maintaining friendships that have spanned a lifetime.

Jimmy is a man of music. We have had countless conversations about bands and artists we like, and he has been opening my ears to the albums in his collection. Jimmy is never more than a phone call away, whether for bypassing traffic on the way out to New Kent, where to find food, where to find hex bits, what kind of extension cord will power our air conditioner on hot days, how to find the coffee shop so he can give me a ride home.

This morning I have taken them up on yet another offer. They have a beautiful place at Emrick Flats in downtown Richmond, and there is wireless here. I opened the door and walked into an oasis. The flat has all the beauty characteristic of a remodeled brick warehouse—-enormous windows, high ceilings, glossy, worn concrete floors, space and light. They have the most amazing furniture made from rock and gnarled tree roots. I feel as if I am walking through a riverbed, with the high walls around me casting a cooling shade. Carolyn's art, Nathan H's photography, band and festival posters adorn the walls. There are bright highlights of red from the long couch, echoed in the sea kayak mounted above a wall. Every First Friday, Jimmy & Carolyn host a cocktail get together here, before everyone heads out to the surrounding galleries to see the latest installations in Richmond's burgeoning art scene.

So how do we know Jimmy & Carolyn?

Through Friends of Jay, of course! Another testimony to the love they give to their friends.

Jeni to the left, and Carolyn, in her "tubegerie!"

Jimmy

Left to right: Jay Bird, Hudson, Alissa & Theo.

Our membership in Friends of Jay came through Hudson, who Deb met circa age 5, and the two of them grew up together in Lexington, VA. Lexington is a small, though increasingly popular town, home to Washington & Lee University, Virginia Military Institute and a lot of Civil War history. It has been dubbed "Lex Vegas" by various residents who grew up there. Hudson has an older brother, Nathan (Nathan H of the amazing photography). Now I am not entirely sure about the order of things, but somehow Nathan befriended key folks, linked to J&C, that became the very popular outdoor group, "Friends of Jay." Jay, or "Jay Bird," went through a rough patch and his friends rallied around him to get him through it. They organized all sorts of outdoor adventures. Word got around and more folks flocked to the Friends of Jay banner. So, one weekend last summer, Deb and I were invited to the Friends of Jay Annual Lex Vegas Maury River Tubing Trip. We had a ball, of course, for what's better than adventures, fine food and the people you love? For Friends of Jay loves each other, and from that comes our friendship with Jimmy & Carolyn, and this is an ode to them!

New Alternator

Item number 15ish over the last few months that is brand new on our '95 diesel Chevy. Someday soon it may be a completely new truck! I am trying to talk Ed into making me his tooling-around-on-the-weekend mechanic buddy so I can learn some skillz.

Kaki King

Jimmy just turned us on to this gal—sacre bleu! Loads of folks likely know her from the movie, August Rush.

Canning and Airstream Twins

Canning class was a blast! I didn't get to do any pressure canning, but I got to see how completely easy it is to do hot water bath canning. I highly recommend it! The group did several, amazingly yummy recipes. Spicy fruit chutney, strawberry freezer jam, nectarines in port wine, bread and butter pickles, and a spicy blueberry jam. It's hard to say whether the chutney or the blueberry jam were my favorites, but I think I will defer to the blueberry jam for the novelty. The gist of it is blueberries, cinnamon, cloves and lemon peel:

Spiced Blueberry Jam
Makes about 4.5 cups, or 4 half-pint jars.

• 3 cups fully ripe blueberries, washed, drained and mashed well (2 1/4 cups mashed)


• 3.5 cups sugar or the equivalent in granulated sugar substitute (boo, says Lauren. Sugar subs taste nasty.)


• 1 Tbsp lemon juice


• 2 tsp freshly grated lemon peel


• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon


• 1/4 tsp ground cloves


• 3 oz liquid fruit pectin


• paraffin, melted and hot to seal jars, or sterilized lids

Prepare blueberries. In a large heavy saucepan, combine all ingredients except pectin and paraffin, mixing well. Bring to a full rolling boil, uncovered, over moderate to high heat and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and immediately stir in fruit pectin. Skim off foam with a metal spoon. Stir and skim for 5 minutes or until slightly cooled and fruit is not floating. Pour into sterilized jars and seal with hot paraffin or attach lids and process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Variation: omit cloves and add 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg to blueberry mixture.

The class was part of the University of Richmond's School of Continuing Studies, Culinary Arts Program. They have just upgraded to a new, roomy facility. I recommend their classes.

I had a funny, outgoing, sassy cooking partner who gave me the MOST interesting tidbit of information—we seem to have Airstream twins! She had just read an article in the New York Times, detailing the adventures of two women, accompanied by their two dogs, who run a graphic and web design business out of their Airstream. The only deviations in the story is that the dogs are Dachshunds and the ladies advertise and work out of RV parks. I've googled around a bit, but can't find the story. If anyone reading this post has a lead, please send it on!

Hearye, all who hoard stuff—don't do it.

Thurs night: ran out of time to sort, just jammed everything left in the house into the garage. Notified renters.

Friday morning: Took two trucks loads of trash to the city dump. Deb leaves for work. I hang out until renters arrive for a walk through. Hitch up Airstream and drove it out to New Kent county. Notice that battery light comes on. Pull into Jimmy & Carolyn's driveway just in time for a torrential downpour. So as not to get stuck in mud, attempt to back Airstream up driveway by myself. Back over one of Carolyn's crepe myrtles. Decide that the spot I am in is the perfect spot for now. Enjoy a quiet few hours of reading/napping/watching rain. Deb arrives. She has received complaints from the renters. We stress, there's no cell reception, so we wait the agonizing hours it takes to get online with AOL dial-up on a 5-year-old PC. Finally get online and get everything sorted. Walk dogs, eat dinner, read, pass out.

Saturday: Drive to Richmond for breakfast at a restaurant that has wireless. Do all sorts of business, including rent a UHaul and storage. Pick up UHaul, drive to alley behind house to load up all our stuff in the garage. Hot and overwhelmed, we decide that we will be happier people if I load up the UHaul myself, since I have a method and absolutely must adhere by it. Load UHaul, schedule a friend to meet me in alley to pick up darkroom materials, borrow hex bits and a drill and finally disassemble the treadmill so it will fit out the back door of the house. Call friend who purchased treadmill and let him know I will leave it at his sister's house. Convince neighbors to help me load treadmill into truck bed. I have come to hate this treadmill. There are a few items that have earned a similar level of ire. The treadmill is at the top. Get ready to leave house for good, and diesel truck won't start. Get neighbors to jump the diesel. Leave UHaul in front of Elizabeth's house, who is out of town. Get stares from the neighbors. Drive to Advance Auto Parts to get free battery test. Diagnosis is that batteries are not charging alternator and likely need a new alternator. Begin driving to the UHaul lot so I can get other car before we drop the truck off at the mechanic. Find that truck will not go faster than 33 mph and the engines lurches while idling. We pull over so I can get my bike out of the back. We prearrange the route where I will search for her if she does not make it to the mechanic (don't get me started on the cell phone saga and why we can't just call each other) and I take off for the UHaul parking lot while Deb goes to the mechanic. Everybody makes it to their destinations safely! Deb jokes that this may be a sign that our adventure will take place in Richmond, and quotes the urban lore than no one ever leaves this city after 5 years of habitation.

Sunday: Return to UHaul in order to begin the sorting process: trash, donate, keep, store/ship to mom. We quickly decide it would be much nicer to do this back in New Kent, in the shady woods, chilling with our puppies. Or rather, I will do the sorting back in New Kent, as the "everyone will be happier this way" rule still applies.

Today: Deb leaves for work. I drive UHaul to Richmond, to coffee shop #1. Order coffee, water and breakfast. Find that I cannot get on their wireless network. Decide that it is a sign that I should turn UHaul back in before noon and save $20. Drive UHaul to thrift store and unload donations. Drive UHaul to UHaul storage facility and felt quite proud of my cart stacking prowess as I managed to womanhandle grandma's old bed and enormous mattresses, a chaise lounge, and a few boxes into storage. The bed and chaise will become mom's again, along with a Karen Kemp original painting. Besides that, I am happy to report that I only kept my sewing machine, a few framed photos, journals, college yearbooks and mom's old typewriter. This is an unbelievable accomplishment for a legendary hoarder. Turn in UHaul and walk over to a nearby Starbucks. Order another beverage. Find again that I cannot get on their wireless. Start working on some logo concepts. Get a call from Deb, her meeting was in the area, and she whisks me off to coffee shop #3. Tired of beverages, I order the most amazing Ginger ice cream and, because they sounded so unusual, Rose Water Sugared Peanuts. The cashier asked me if I was treating myself, and I decided right then and there that we always deserve to treat ourselves! Settled down, got on the wireless network (hooray!) and got ready to catch up on work. Aaaand... the power goes out. There is a 3 alarm fire near VCU and the power is out for blocks. I just can't be in a bad mood about this. I have Ginger ice cream! And I have long ago relinquished any idea of control over the situation. Long ago as in three days ago. Now I expect the ridiculous and would be disappointed with less!

So, I just spent a quiet few hours in a corner park, hand drawing logos and listening to a young guitarist jamming out some Radiohead covers. Pretty good day, really!

Deb will be here after her last meeting, and I am off to a canning class. Leah is determined that I won't kill myself with botulism, but I don't want to try my luck, what with this high level of riculousness going 'round!

Full time Airstreaming begins tomorrow!

Wow, we have a lot to catch y'all up on. We picked up the Airstream from Colonial Airstream last Friday. Wonderful folks who gave us the thorough training we never had on our first AS ("so that's how it works!"). I am so glad we filmed the whole thing.

So this week has been a whirlwind of moving, clearing, donating to the thrift store. We have a bunch left to do today before we leave off tomorrow afternoon!

Hey! Now you can follow us on Twitter! See latest 5 posts in the sidebar, and a link where you can also subscribe.

Trip Vs. Journey

If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all.

 - Dan Rather

Everywhere I go, everything feels different. And like every good extrovert, I feel determined to share these feelings with everyone. Who am I? Where am I going? So who IS God? Are you feeling what I am feeling?  

Following along the lines of all great travel novels, we have come to realize that this trip is going to be much more significant then we had anticipated. This is quite a sentence to write since both of us are fierce women with a whole lot of passion for "in the name of significance".

Someone recently made a distinction between a trip and a journey. A trip is something that has a definite end. You think of a trip when you think of vacations, fun, excitement. With a journey, you might have fun, time for vacation, and excitement, but a journey brings about so much more. A journey is a quest for Spirit, Self, Life. 

"The Journey is the Reward". --- boy have we won big. :)

We are slowly losing all of our every day comforts. We move out of our house in 11 days. Although we are sticking around Richmond for a while longer, losing our house is one of the most significant transitions to make because our environment will completely look different when we come home from work. In fact, we won't be coming "home" in the way we imagine coming home. Luckily though, for the next month, we will at least be going back to our friend's house who are just freakin cool people. That helps with any transition.

I have taken 1000 personal journeys over the last week alone. I have been convicted of my worst fears just to realize I never did anything wrong. I have learned who I am in a way that no one can condemn, betray, or own other then myself.  I have learned about loss. I have learned that I don't have to take on someone else's problems just because they have a problem with who I am.  I have also found out who God really is in my life, about the miracles in my every day life. I have been transformed, uplifted, betrayed, and rejoiced all in a week's time.

....I know....a little deep.

Nothing is insignificant right now. Every action that I have taken, every thought that has passed through my head, and every response that I have received from others, has been with great purpose.  And we haven't even left. 

This is going to be one heck of a journey.