The 2010 World Cup: John Versus Grampa's Gut

John wins!

John, July 5, 2010 ~ VT

One Year Ago This Week

Me and People, Vermont ~ March, 2009

I celebrated my birthday in Vermont with cross country skiing and my ritualistic ragging on the obnoxious folks listed in The New York Times Wedding Announcements. No cross country skiing for me this year; these days if I find myself on my back I scrabble around like a cockroach struggling to flip myself over. I can't sit for very long in one position either. I can, however, still read.

Doodle Went to Vermont and All She Got Were These Lousy Cob Webs

Doodle, VT ~ December, 2009

Not true! As a matter of fact, Doodle took some amazing photographs of her Christmastime in Vermont. I'll post some of the highlights when I get them. The snap she snagged of me and my arse bending over to get gifts under the Christmas tree is a remarkable beauty.

Happy New Year's Eve, Kids

Self Portrait, Anne in VT at the snow-c0vered Lake.

Christmas Day, 2009
_____

Remember when I said that 2007 was going to be my year? And when it wasn't, 2008, and 2009 were going to be my years?

2010 is my year.

I also hope it's yours!

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone!

Love,

Anne 2.0 and Doodle

The Artist

Doodle the Artist, posing in front of her photograph "Farm Bell."

NYC ~ August, 2008

These Boots Were Made for Whatevs

Anne's Boots on Caspian Lake ~ Greensboro, VT~ March 8, 2009.

Photo by Tuna the Fish.

Magical Mushrooms, a Morris Minor Traveller, and 4 Moos 4 U

Inky Cap mushrooms.

A spin in the ol' Traveller on a stormy day. The grass is green in Vermont for a reason.

Whitecaps on Caspian Lake.

Moo x4.

October, 2006 ~ Greensboro, Vermont

What's Doin' Right This Very Minute in Cole's Pond, Vermont?

Oh, just this. And this. Depending on when you check it out. Dig it! Viva Vermont!

Anne's New Favorite Blog: Painting Each Day

Making art--even if it's crap--is fun. When Tuna and I went up to Vermont a few weeks ago, I made sure that we set aside a few hours for painting. Tuna, a talented but in my opinion, seriously egregiously lapsed artist who doesn't make time for it in his life anymore, knocked out his first-ever beautiful watercolor of a wonderful Autumn still life. We assembled it together on the back steps using most of the things we picked up from that morning's trip to Hazendale Farm. It consisted of a large, tall pumpkin, a ceramic pitcher and a bunch of multi-colored gourds crammed next to it. 

As beautiful as Squash Town was, I was more drawn to the two ancient wooden storage sheds which line our side yard, Doodle's favorite places to hide. I've been studying the way the light and the seasons change around them for years with my camera. Since I lost the camera, I figured it was time to challenge myself and interpret the shapes in another medium. So after lunch, we set up our studio on the October Sun-drenched back porch with the house's assortment of random art supplies and shoddy brushes, a bottle of wine, 1950's Italian love ballads on the Bose, and I too painted a couple water colors--one traditional, the other very abstract-- and another somewhere in between with oil pastels. A triptych, if you will. 

None are them are particularly strong on their own, but they look nice together (especially if you stand on the other side of the room. And squint. And jump up and down with your pants down) and more importantly, it was fun making them. Painting can be frustrating if you're too concerned with your picture being perfect, but the process can be very relaxing if you let go. It's a very special way to spend time with someone.  And instead of a photograph I'd most likely save on a hard drive, never to be printed, I have 3 pictures instantly in my hands, made by my own hands, with which to remember that lovely afternoon with Tuna. Let's hope he thinks that helping me paint my apartment is just as fun. Come on! Tell him I have a case of wine. 

Obvs, I'm in love with this blog, Painting Each Day. Ann Elizabeth Schlegel's little paintings are fabulous, affordable, and daily, like she says. I'm loving this lemon! Nothing sour about a piece of original art for $100. 

photo from  www.PaintingEachDay.blogspot.com

ORIGINAL OIL PAINTINGS - PAINTED EACH DAY - BY ARTIST ANN ELIZABETH SCHLEGEL

Ruff Hour

Greensboro, Vermont

Christmastime, 2004

Tonight I'll Be in 1986

ROCK OF AGES MUSICAL!

That's right, The Rock of Ages Musical Off Broadway is in previews and I'm going tonight! Read this synopsis and tell me you're not a little jelly that I'm goin' and you're not. You know you're a little jelly...

It’s the late 1980s and the final countdown is on for a legendary Hollywood rock club facing its demise at the hands of eager developers. When a young rocker hungry for his big break and a small town girl chasing her dreams land on the scene at this infamous venue, how far will ambition drive them? And will it be lights out for the club and all the regulars and rockers who have made it their home?


ROCK OF AGES takes you on a musical trip with a story set to blazing hits from such iconic rockers as Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and many more.

Plus, it's starring Constantine Maroulis. You know, that dude with the hair. From American Idol. The one you don't remember.

Speaking of Rock of Ages, here's another fun fact: If you Google Rock of Ages, the first two results are for Rock of Ages Granite Memorials in Barre, Vermont which I've been to and is extremely cool---as is Hope Cemetery, a veritable art exhibit of the granite artisans' work. I blogged all about it a few summers ago. Before I threw my camera into the ocean.

Let's Talk About a Baby Vanilla Cone with Plastic Rainbow Sprinkles, Please

Hardwick, Vermont Pizza Place

August, 2007

Greensboro Grasshopper

Greensboro, Vermont ~ 08/21/08

One Man's Junk is My Dad's Treasure

Milwaukee Boneyard, 1936.

from shorpy.com

The junkyard for my Dad is nothing short of paradise on a chrome platter. I spent three years one day in a huge scrap metal yard with him in Vermont last summer. Or was it the summer before? It was blazing hot. He climbed in, around, on top of and under no less than 30 cars (and what used to be cars) mining them for parts while I wandered around behind him taking pictures. He spent over an hour wrestling a window off of a convertible. Or was it the flashing around the window that he needed? I was fine the first few hours, but I wasn't prepared for the elements. I was dying of thirst. The sun was relentless, and in the shade where the trees, weeds, and vines grew up through the cars themselves, the mosquitoes were even more relentless. At one point I couldn't even find my Dad he was so lost in the car sauce, loving every single minute of it. The only reason we eventually left was because of my begging. And there may have been some whining. We paid for our scraps, and then we got some ice cream. When we got home, we jumped in the lake. It was a great day.

Knee High by the Fourth of July

Vermont corn,

Greensboro, VT ~ August 2007

Greensboro, VT

August, 2007

Get Some Jerky, Jerks!

Rosie's Vermont Made Beef Jerky from Swanton, VT, is indeed, quite possibly, the world's finest tasting beef jerky. I can vouch for that. I wasn't able to get back Vermont at the end of the summer, so I ordered some jerky, whoopie pies (I know, don't judge) and their hot and spicy barbeque sauce which is kick ass. If you're jonseing for a little jerk, get your jerk on at Rosie's online store. Mmmmm. And what a great gift idea! Right, folks? Right.

Craftsbury, Vermont

8/18/07