spring has sprung

The back yard has become our sanctuary. The weather isn't hot enough for mosquitoes yet and the kids are loving the freedom. despite a few ant and spider scares the kids are pretty nature-loving. our whole yard is covered in little purple flowers (fair's photographic genius above)... i know they are weeds, but they're beautiful. fair refused to let me cut the yard because of them, but whitman has been instigating sibling fights by stomping on them. it amazing how the young ones know what buttons to push...

We found some abandoned tree stumps and claimed them for our firepit seating. The kids then continued to transform them into an outside dining area. gourmet veggie corndogs a la ketchup.

whitman has found a new love. this is one of the few real solid foods he approves of.

momma, shy whitman and pirate fair.

i'm so glad that the warmth is here and we have big plan for our back yard. we are starting a community garden, which involves transplanting the play set to the other side of the yard. we are having our garden kick-off party in a few weeks.

this saturday is our remembrance of the Haymarket Affair and the grand opening of sticks and stones books, our portable bookstore, with music from them, him, him, and michael's new band Holy, Holy, Holy!!! at picasso's coffeehouse. starts at noon and goes all day. ending with the showing of the film "Sacco and Vanzetti."(synopsis: In 1920, the anarchist Italian immigrants Niccola Sacco (Riccardo Cucciolla) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (Gian Maria Volonté) are sentenced to death, falsely accused of a robbery and murder. Indeed they are condemned due to their political beliefs, in one of the most shameful and hypocrite judgments of the human history. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ) Here's the flyer for the whole day:

Empire or Humanity?

zinn takes complicated issues and states them so simply. What the Classroom Didn't Teach Me about the American Empire by Howard Zinn Narrated by Viggo Mortensen Art by Mike Konopacki Video editing by Eric Wold

here are some of my recent art pieces from my fibers/printmaking class and a few others...

my first attempt at monoprints (additive)
**from a photo from my friend sarah**

monoprint (additive)

caligraph

"july and her ghost" dyptic, monoprint and ghost print (subtractive)

batik in progress

"the crowd" conte drawing in progress 36x28

"serenade" acrylic and charcoal on cardboard

franklin family folk festival

last night we celebrated the first ever franklin family food folk festival. the sky cleared for us right before dinner and we shared the company of our many st. charles friends, but a whole slew of those from st. louis. more and more people arrived throughout the night and enjoyed our backyard, with poetry, music and fire. we hosted David Rovics for the night , while he is on a short mid-west tour and he closed the evening with his furious guitar pickin' and sweetly piercing songs. it was his 41st b-day and michael suprised him with a homemade cake. michael's nifty like that... he used so much red food coloring that everyone's mouths were turning red. it was a really great night and i didn't pick up a single dish! i'm really against disposable plates, even at huge potlucks. we went through four sets of dishes, over forty people ate and we ended the night with two full recycling bins (one went missing at the end of the night...) and less than half a bag of trash. i always get upset when i see three huge full trash cans whenever i go to other potlucks or events. i hope more people start mucking through the dishes and give up the convenience of throw away plates and the like. i had many volunteer washers... sean, james and the other mystery washers get many points. thank you! and thanks to all who came and shared an amazing evening and to those who gave their support to david. all of the boys ( michael, david, jason and sean) left this afternoon to drive david to KY and then on to Tennessee. I'm sure they will have many adventures, make lots of good music and hopefully remain out from behind bars (the orange jump suit kind).


david rovics and his revolutionary b-day cake


fairs, tigers and whitmans, oh my

a sliver of jen with james and sean

i think lady bug is enjoying the poetry.

michael, my hubby and of the garage

sean arnold, casino town poet

ian fisher

david rovics

the fire

the beautiful glow...
of not only my lovely cousin carrey and her belly-floating baby boy ( please name him Ettienne), but of the fire.

off to play with the kiddos!

thanks! angela

chicago and the sickness

i had a fabulous time in chicago last weekend (henry darger, pale blue dot and a skinny-ass bar called the matchbox...just to give you a taste) and i'm dedicating a whole future post on the trip... sadly i came back and by the end of the next day i was laid out with a flu bug and have been moving at a snail's pace for the last four days. whitman caught it as well and we were in the ER wed. night to get him re hydrated. things are calming down now but i still have the rumblies in my tummblie. i was feeling a bit better on thurs., but i didn't want to chance getting sick during classes, so i spent the day at home sewing these:

and whitman's conquering dino... on the Vera linen bag. This is actually the first bag that i ever made, using a tea towel. it just took me until a few days ago to figure out an interior fabric that would work to go with it and not take away from it's vintage feel.

more to come...