Hint hint

Hello, beautiful potential wedding rings. After looking at some jewelry today, I checked out the Conroy & Wilcox store at Erie Basin and then in their own website. I found some really charming rings. Some are reasonably priced. Some are not. And that's OK. Because I'm not about to get anything right now, but it's good to know good design is out there.

Random thoughts

It's so sweet how a bird singing in the nearest tree can add so much to a moment. I'm tired. We're going scrapbooking Saturday. How can I feel so tired when I was perfectly OK not long ago? I love the sun here and how clear the air is. Feels like crystal clear waters. I want to be on a school trip. To Saklikent. To Hillside. To Didim. To Kalkan.


picture: encyclopedia britannica

Princesses

It was a busy day of going to meetings and then coming home to type up the analyses. Nothing feels better than feeling useful and productive, plus the learning experience. And now on tv there is a show about moms making their 3 to 6 year-olds compete in 'pageant's - honestly I hadn't really heard about them before. This one they're talking about is 'Miss Georgia'. The categories go on like 'best hair', 'best dress', 'best smile', etc. They put make up on the baby girls, even fake tans on (some of) them! They practice for days with coaches and all. The moms are apparently preparing the girls as the 'Miss America's of tomorrow. It's so weird. But I'm watching it. It's a cultural observation project for me. I am guessing their argument is that it's a good way for girls to build confidence and learn how to present themselves, which looks good on paper (or the screen) but seeing the heavy make-up on a 3-year-old to make her look like the mother of the bride at a wedding party or a little girl not wanting to go out on the stage, it gives me mixed feelings. What's funny is, I've known people who would have loved to be on a competition like that as a little girl.
And now they're changing into swimsuits. Oh God.

Kindness of Strangers

There was this Aimee Mann song, that said, 'I keep going round and round on the same old circuit' and then went on to say, 'and here i'm sitting in my car at the same old stoplight' and I felt I could relate to the lyrics until now that I think about it... well I don't go round and round on the same old circuit or sit in my car at the same old stoplight, because nothing is the same anymore. I enter a building and the smell is different. The size of cucumbers is different. The way people pronounce my name, the speed they drive on the highway, the jokes on the tv, the prices on the tags, the objects decorating shelves are different. I realized recently that since I moved to the US, I haven't walked on the street or gone anywhere on my own for that matter, certainly my basic independence levels are different (working on that driver's license). I'll admit once and for all that I really, really miss home. I miss the little streets that are crooked and disorganized. I miss my cellphone and my ringtone, and how happy I could be when a friend called out of the blue. I miss cooking in my kitchen and being absolutely obsessive about keeping it clean. And our little songs at work. Hey, I didn't complain publicly since I got here and today, I just am.
The restaurants are hopeless, by the way (except Farmer's Kitchen, but then I'm never a customer there).

Rie Munoz

I came across Rie Munoz's prints at Portland Expo Antique & Collectibles Show and warmed up to it rightaway. The colors, the way daily life is portrayed and the sincerity, the humor even, impressed me so much. Like the Northwest artist Paul A. Lanquist I featured earlier on my blog, she has a day-to-day, next-door sincerity that gives joy to my heart. Just like art should. With all due respect to artists, I believe that art should be close to people's hearts and minds rather than installations of cold materials in empty rooms. But that's just me and my opinion. Enjoy Rie Munoz's warmth and colors.

Pico de Gallo

We've just got done making pico de gallo, apparently a Mexican shepherd's salad. I had tasted it back in the summer here, when our Texan relatives made a huge, and I mean huge bowl of it. I couldn't forget the taste of it, but the recipe called for cilantro, something we don't really have in Turkey except for an outrageously expensive sampling at Makro. Anyway, I knew I had to make some when I got here, and I did. My version turned out just as right as the one I tasted before. For curious ones, here are the ingredients: Tomatoes, red onion, lime juice, cilantro, hot green peppers or jalapenos, crushed garlic, salt to taste. I found a recipe on food network, but can't say I followed it to a T. My Turkish readers will know how to proportion their ingredients as they are used to making shepherd's salads.
Thanks for reading!

PS. Eat with tortilla chips.