Anais Nin and The Common Ground Fair

Dear blog and readers,
I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. I've been doing a lot more writing in my journal lately and spending my other free moments with the New Yorker and Anais Nin's Henry and June. I'm a bit obsessed with both. Anais Nin was so cool and it is her writing that has inspired me to journal again. I think she began writing at age 9 and kept at it until her passing in 1977. Henry and June is like a high brow beach read, filled with exciting affairs (many at once), and vivid sex scenes, as well as detailed discussions on writing and art. She uses the "f" word a lot, which surprised me. I didn't realize it was already widely used in the 30s. Now I know. More on Anais here.


Sunday, I bathed in a lake. That was just one highlight in a fun-filled weekend in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, the childhood home of my roommate Veronica. We were joined by Emily and Wyatt, and had a wicked good time with her ever welcoming and entertaining parents. They sent us home with homegrown squash, local apples, cookies, and all kinds of pickles and relishes.

Part of the impetus for the journey was attending the Common Ground Fair, one of the largest and oldest agricultural fairs in New England. Mostly we just ate until we couldn't eat anymore. If you ever have a chance to go the fair, try a pie cone and/or the fried shitake mushrooms. The fair is run my MOFGA, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardners Association, so everything at the fair is organic and, for the most part, local. For example, there is no sugar at the fair but they've made an exception for coffee. The fair offers countless workshops on everything from beekeeping to the benefits of keeping and eating your own placenta. (I'm not joking.) There were also all kinds of demonstrations and juried exhibitions of livestock, vegetables, and flowers. I especially enjoyed hanging out with the mules and squishing their noses. I spent much of the weekend trying to imagine how I might make enough money to start a farming operation large enough to necessitate a mule, especially a Percheron-donkey cross like this one.


More photos soon.

Jeff Mangum in Boston and Cambridge + Aloe Blacc

"...the most arresting lyricist of his generation" - Carly Carioli, The Phoenix, 9/11/2011



After years and years underground, Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel went on tour this summer and fall, and graced the Greater Boston area with two shows on September 9 and 10.The video above is from the show I saw with K-Moms at Sanders Theatre at Harvard on the 9th. This Phoenix review is from the next night. At both shows he opened with "Oh Comely," led the crowd in several sing-a-longs, and was coaxed into a second encore. Good stuff Jeff. Thank you. If you want to make more music now, that's fine with me.

I also saw Aloe Blacc at Brighton Music Hall last week and would definitely put that show in my top 10 best ever. Someone in the crowd got it right when they said, "That motherfucker is gonna be filling coliseums someday." Blacc did some of his hip hop and a whole lotta soul. He's a great dancer, political, and relentlessly positive. I got to give him a hug after the show. I'm never washing the sweater I wore that night. My show-going partner was distracted by the super polished nature of his backing band, presumably a group of studio musicians Blacc plucked for his album and then took on the road. I felt like that was to be expected for a Los Angeles band and it didn't bother me. If anyone out there has thoughts on the matter, let a girl know in the comments section.


See what I mean with the dancing?

He also performed this and it was hot.

Sculpture

The DeCordova Sculpture Park is cool.