What's in a Name - Second Chapter

We have had several requests for another list of names.  So, here is a list of eight potential names for Little Two, in no particular order:

Natalia

Elise

Penelope

Eden

Lydia

Clara

Ella

Adeline

The due date is May 20th, which is seemingly closer than we could ever hope to manage well.  We are left to prayers of trust and hope ... Let her be well, let us enjoy thy goodness.

~Wes and Anna

NEIL DIAMOND - I AM...I SAID - BBC CONCERT

Food in America

David Beckmann from Bread for the World was on PBS last night - being interviewed by Bill Moyers.  You can see the interview at the following link:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04112008/watch3.html

Congress and the Bush Administration are currently working a new farm bill.  The old farm bill is set to expire on April 18, 2008.  Hopefully, the new farm bill will cut some of the farming subsidies that go towards large farmers and begin to help smaller, locally focused farmers.  

Watching the video will help you understand more of the current American food/farming realities.

Wes

32 weeks and up to...

...finally getting this piece signed and mounted.

What you see above is perhaps the perfect melding of my love for found objects, fibers and paper...  The photograph looks a little washed out, but you get the idea.  This one is a gift, meant for the music director (one of the few souls I had found here who appreciates the arts) who recently left the church Wes and I are with.  It feels like her, if I do say so myself.  This is actually the second woven mixed media collage I've completed; the first was also a gift, done completely in cremes and whites with a little gold to accent and given as a wedding gift to my mother-in-law.  I wish I would have taken a picture of that one, too, but alas, I never think of these things.  In order to keep these looking minimal and in line with my more modern style tastes overall (a difficult merging, really), I've mounted them in very simple shadow box frames -- this one in black.    

The key you see was from the old organ the music director played for nine years before her departure; the small violin 'charm' I found in some old stuff that I think belonged to my great grandmother; the various beads, fibers, etc.? Picked up here and there.

~Anna

Momofuku Noodle Bar

Many of you may recall that I have sworn off Ramen for a few years now (although, I must confess that I fell off the rickshaw a few weeks ago, since there was some extra ramen laying around after we made an Asian cabbage salad).  Well, hallelujah, my life may yet end with a heaping bowl of noodles to close out my winter days.  

I read an article recently in The New Yorker about chef David Chang, who has successfully opened a number of eateries in New York, including the one showcased below, "Momofuku Noodle Bar."  Be careful when you say that (by the way, "Momofuku" means lucky peach in I'm-not-sure-what language; it also happens to be the last name of the man who invented packaged ramen noodles, which again is like crack).  You can discover more about Chang's restaurants by clicking here.

For a quick tour of the way ramen should be prepared and served, just click play.