Wednesday, January 7, 2015

catching up with myself

Or "Whew: Part II"

Not only did our visitors keep me busy for over a week, but I've been exploring and planning how to use my new Christmas toy -- an electric pressure cooker.  :-)  The night before last, I prepared a boneless pork shoulder roast in it, and it was delectable.  I took the cooked meat out and in the juices I cooked some frozen veggies; my husband practically swooned with delight.  Tonight i'm turning the shredded leftovers into a version of Pichelsteiner stew -- I have every expectation that it will be a hit, too.

I've been reading like a maniac.  I usually do read myself to sleep at night, splitting my time between internet, kindle, and REAL BOOKS [gasp] -- between old fiction, new science, and writings about food of every era, i'll probably be well-occupied till springtime and beyond.

The thing that has me VERY excited right now is Dr. Feinman's new opus, "The World Turned Upside Down," which to my delight is available to read FREE with KindleUnlimited, on a month's free trial.  This could be dangerous....  :-)

So far, it's outstanding.  His students are lucky kids, because he's an excellent explainer.  I've long enjoyed his blog and sorrowed that he doesn't write more, but if he makes up for it with more books i'll forgive him.  I'm only a third of the way through -- i'll probably have more to say about it tomorrow!

Between that and George's interesting series about glucagon, I almost resent taking time off from reading to face the single-digit wind-chills blessing us this week.  But even though the cold wind made my ears ache as we walked between the car and the St. Louis Museum of Art, I enjoyed the hell out of our visit.  ...I wonder if I should try painting in the impressionist style...?

7 comments:

  1. Definitely you should try to paint in impressionistic style. It may be easier to start by copying something. Copying impressionistic work is very interesting! I know because a while ago I copied one of Water Lilies by Monet. Also, it used to be the legitimate way to study how to be an artist.

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    1. :-) I haven't taken an art class since I was about 13 -- I WILL have to learn a lot of things from scratch! did you take a photo of your WL painting? i'd love to see it!

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  2. No, I didn't. It is on the wall of the nearby school my son used to attend, probably, I will go there and take the picture. I started to paint around 1998 again after a very long brake of about 20 years.

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    1. don't go on my account -- stay home and get to feeling better! :-) what's your favorite medium, oils, acrylics, watercolors ...?

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    2. Probably I should take that picture for my own behalf. It was stupid not to. I attempted my own picture in an impressionistic style afterwards, but I was a flop. On a plus side, all that activity prompted me to read and learn a lot of Impressionists . I found the book "Techniques Of The Great Masters Of Art" to be the most useful , it was published by Cartwell Books INC,
      My flu is almost left behind, but there is still something lingering like weaknesses and a very strange symptom - no food tastes good. Today is a historically cold day in Florida - they promised 43F, but it is actually 36 now with a strong wind, so I will indeed wait some time before going somewhere without a good reason.
      Oil is my favorite medium, there is nothing like that, super forgiving, transparent or opaque, depending on the pigment, textured or smooth. Even easy to clean brushes and messes because it takes time to set. I use the low-odor solvent to clean brushes, and reuse the same solvent over and over again because the pigment particles are not dissolved, but suspended, and when they drop on the bottom in a thin layer, I just remove the clear part in a different empty container.

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  3. Well I've been away for a few days and am catching up on reading. When I'm away I take a book to read ......still not into kindles ..... although many are. I tend to take a light dip in and dip out of kind of book, it suits me.
    More serious readings at home. Is that good? Well it suits me.

    All the best Jan

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  4. Here's another dinosaur who prefers the printed page (so of course, my bookshelves remain cluttered messes!) - the Kindle just don't "do it" for me...

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