eat a peach

Autumn Table

2011-11-14T21:07:00.001-08:00

Since I haven't posted in ages, I'm posting twice today (about three different meals). Playing catch-up is what school is all about, right? I'm learning, I'm learning...

Kale and thinly-sliced parsnip sautéed in apple cider;

Red rice-chestnut-eggplant pilaf;

Some sprouted tofu that had been frozen and de-frosted (for texture), marinated in Aminos, apple cider, vinegar, nutritional yeast, cinnamon, and cumin...then lightly fried;

All accompanied by a bit of spiced pumpkin purée.

Black and Orange, Black and White

2011-11-14T20:41:00.000-08:00

For Halloween, my friends and I cooked a dinner of entirely black or orange food.

That was the goal, at least. We definitely had some other colors in there, but it was a fun idea. It was a bit hard to think of black foods, at first, but we came up with quite a few things once we started brainstorming. We actually came up with more dishes than we got to make.

Our menu featured:

2 Roast Silkie Chickens, whose skin and flesh is often a deep indigo. These two had the dark skin, but lighter-than-typical meat. I didn't try them, but they smelled like top-notch birds;

Vegan maki, with forbidden rice, grilled eggplant, carrot and beet. The rice was made stickier thanks to a black bean hummus, with a bit of agave and Bragg's Aminos;

Hijiki-Wakame salad with black sesame seeds;

Linguine with squid-ink sauce;

Roasted acorn squash;

and dessert (not pictured) included vegan black-bean brownies, grayish blondies, a chocolate ganache cake, and fruit salad (of the appropriate colors).

____________

Then, a few weeks later, another friend of mine thought to make another dinner in a similar vein. This time, though, we'd focus on black and white foods. The White Russian that preceded dinner ultimately prevented me from photographing it at the time of serving, but I got a picture of the leftovers on the bus to Philly:

To the left are barely-recognizable spring rolls with bean sprouts, marinated sprouted tofu, and a parsnip-pinto bean paté. Nuzzled against their rice-paper skin are some more sprouts, followed by simple steamed cauliflower. All the way to the right is the star of the show, a wild rice-black lentil-grilled eggplant-date pilaf, which was the perfect blend of sweet and savory.

I don't have recipes for any of these dishes, since they were all cooked by ear (?), but the ideas are simple enough, I think!

Petit Déjeuner

2011-09-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

Banana-tofu pudding with raw buckwheat groats and fresh raspberries.

Yessss.

The pudding recipe is laughably simple, and you can add anything you'd like into it.

1/2 block tofu (I used TJ's Organic Sprouted Tofu)

1 banana

5-6 dates

teeny-tiny splash of non-dairy milk, if your blender needs some help getting things moving

Blend all of the ingredients, perhaps adding a touch of lemon juice, cinnamon, or anything else your heart desires. It's especially good if left overnight, because the flavors get a bit richer (and the texture improves a bit).

Vegan Waffle with Mango and Matcha Mousse

2011-06-18T04:54:00.001-07:00

Interestingly enough, these vegan waffles came out more perfectly waffle-y than my previous attempts at non-vegan waffles. They were light, crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. I adapted the recipe from here ...and by "adapted" I mean "eyeballed". I used a mix of TJ's light coconut milk and Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk for the liquid, and used only whole wheat flour. I also omitted the sugar, and added a drop of vanilla extract.

The matcha mousse is also super-simple: tofu, agave nectar, matcha powder, and a hint of vanilla. You can also add a touch of lemon/lime juice to round out the flavor a bit, since most tofu mousses have something of a signature tofu flatness that acids round out nicely. Silken tofu would be ideal, but I actually used firm tofu with decent results.

And, of course, this wouldn't be complete without a super-ripe mango...and some cacao nibs.

Sweet Potato?

2011-05-18T10:11:00.000-07:00

A white sweet potato?

Edit: I found out later that this is a yucca!

Totem

2011-04-24T03:01:00.000-07:00

Cocoa-Nut Fudge Cookies

2011-04-24T02:34:00.000-07:00

These are probably my most successful vegan cookies to date. I think my previous attempts had been less successful due to their relative fat-less-ness, whereas these are made mostly of nut butter =D.

I used:

~10 pitted dates

2 tbsp peanut butter

a handful of mixed nuts (almonds, walnuts, and hazelnuts)

~75-100 mL soymilk

1/2 cup mixed-grain breakfast cereal*

1-2 tbsp dried unsweetened coconut

about 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

a dash of cinnamon

*This stuff is like finely ground oatmeal, but with mixed grains. It's pretty much in between the consistency of flour and rolled oats/grains. I'm sure flour, whole rolled oats, quick-cooking oats, or any combination of that could be substituted. Maybe even almond meal, if you're going for grain-free.

I combined the dates, nut butter, and soymilk in a tall container and blended using a handheld stick blender. Then, I added the nuts (processed some more), followed by the coconut, cocoa, and mixed-grain meal, and then by the dash of cinnamon. Careful to add the dry ingredients a bit at a time if using a handheld blender- otherwise you'll have various powders flying up into your face.

When well blended, I transferred the dough to a bowl and refrigerated for a few hours. I don't know if this is necessary, but I thought I'd give the dough a rest before baking it.

Then, after placing teaspoonfuls of the dough onto a sheet of baking paper (and flattening them a bit), I baked them at 162 degrees C ( about 325 F) for about 15 minutes. After letting them cool, I wrapped them up and put them in this box. The texture and flavor are much better after the cookies have rested for a few hours.

The real test will be how non-vegans will receive them, especially kids! I'm bringing these to Easter dinner at Diederik's grandmother's house tonight, to share with Diederik's uncles and young cousins, so I guess I'll find out soon enough.

UPDATE: Success, though not a trumpets-blaring one. Everyone grabbed a second or third, or even fourth cookie, but I have a feeling the unfamiliar texture (and lack of dessert-y sweetness) gave people reason for pause.

Handgemaakt Vegetarisch Pizza!

2011-04-23T00:08:00.000-07:00

This was a treat for a friend's visit last weekend. I based the pizza dough recipe off of the one found here. I love, love, LOVE the whole-wheat flour here in the Netherlands, because it has so much more bran in it. It makes for super-nice, sweet and chunky baked goods.

The tomato sauce was made using one can of peeled tomatoes, one clove of garlic, a sprinkle of raw cane sugar, and salt to taste. I also added a bit of cayenne pepper and paprika.

The toppings? Tomato, spinach, garlic, sliced fennel, and a bit of shaved aged goat's cheese. I also sprinkled some red pepper flakes and dried oregano on top.

This was a really tasty, easy, and really inexpensive meal for two. I don't think it gets much better than that.

Zen Snack

2011-04-23T00:05:00.000-07:00

Foamy soymilk matcha and a mixed-nut-butter-topped rice cracker. So, so nice!

Super-Simple Early Spring Dinner

2011-04-22T23:52:00.001-07:00

...or lunch!

What's in the picture? Lightly steamed beets, steamed and toasted brussels sprouts, and brown lentils served on a bed of baby spinach, with a dash of salt and balsamic vinegar.

Yogayogayogayogayogayoga

2011-04-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

(source)

When I first got to Amsterdam, I was worried that I would lose track of my fitness a bit, since I wasn't sure I'd be able to find ways to be active every day. Back home, I walked everywhere, and went to Yoga To The People's Bikram practices at least once a week.

However, I have been doing more while here then I had ever done back home, all thanks to YouTube! I found a bunch of power yoga videos and put them together into a playlist, which I have diligently been doing at least 5 days a week. In addition to that, I have 45 minutes to an hour of mandatory cycling every day, since the bicycle is THE vehicle of choice in these parts.

Here's the playlist of champions:

The two teachers are Sadie Nardini and Tara Stiles, both of whom have come under criticism for what some may call "un-yogic" practices or behavior (you can read a bit more here and here, respectively). Whatever the case may be, I really enjoy the three routines I've combined, and I find that the repetition of certain postures and movements really makes for one great yoga workout.

Visitor

2011-03-06T08:27:00.001-08:00

No, it's been too long!

2011-02-21T00:48:00.001-08:00

Not that anyone's counting.

Anyway, this last month has seen me get more and more accustomed to living here. I actually don't miss anything about New York, (except the people and animals left behind), though this might just be because I know I'll be going back very soon.

Diederik is coming tomorrow, and then my dad and brother will be dropping in over the next week.

I have my first job here on Wednesday.

AND! I finally have some new music in my mix.

New favorite drink?

2011-01-27T02:56:00.001-08:00

I just made myself an orzo-hot cocoa with quinoa milk and maple syrup.

Yep.

Dreams

2011-01-26T02:42:00.000-08:00

My dreams the past few nights have been so intense that I've woken up feeling more tired than rested. I've been sleeping 9, sometimes 10 hours, which used to be impossible for me, but I'm living such a vivid dream-life that it's becoming a bit hard to decide which self-space is more important: the one here, or the one there.

Unfortunately, I often forget most of the details by the time I've regained consciousness.

From last night's dream, though, I remember quite a few things.

It began with me being here, in Amsterdam, on an exchange program with several other girls. At some point, we decided to be part of a program from here that would send us to Lebanon. The timing was awful, and there was a lot of confusion with packing and travel, but we finally got there and were preparing to rent an apartment (which neither of us could afford). From there, we somehow got involved with a reality TV program that had us joining a pair of sailors, off to explore little-seen parts of the world. I don't remember exactly what went down, but the last thing I do remember is landing on an island populated by lawless bands of ruffians, that had a gigantic opal at the heart of its main mountain. The mountain cracked open and the opal rolled down, right into the middle of a gang-battle between us (girl students and sailors) and the island ruffians.

I'm definitely forgetting something important...

Newbie Revision

2011-01-24T05:05:00.000-08:00

So---

I didn't even get through one day of the big bad cleanse.

Yesterday was alright, with juices and fruits, but this morning, with just lemonade, was awful.

I would really like to follow through with it later this year, probably over summer, when there's no real need to eat very much anyway. However, for the time being, I think I will just have to content myself with making conscious, healthy choices every day. I do this to a huge degree anyway, but I need to remind myself to take it slow, especially when it comes to eating.

I failed this particular self-imposed challenge, but I think it may be for the best.

For now.

Happy 3 Years!

2011-01-23T00:04:00.001-08:00

Happy 3 years, Diederik!

Newbie

2011-01-22T23:45:00.000-08:00

So I'm ready to begin my own, slightly altered version of the big bad cleanse. I'll be doing it for 5-7 days, instead of 10, since I haven never done it before. I also think I eat cleanly enough as it is that I don't need to purge my system of as much. I also don't have a lot of body fat, to begin with, so losing too much could be quite dangerous.

I eased into it by gradually cutting out refined sugars, animal fats, grains, and animal proteins. I'll be having the last of the animal protein today, with breakfast (along with fruit). The rest of the day will be fruits, veggies, juices, and the lemonade. Tomorrow will be just a lemonade day, and from then until either Friday or Sunday, depending on how quickly I get clean. I will also include other, fresh juices in with the lemonade to provide some variety. I plan to do yoga every day, to help get myself detoxed and balanced.

To ease out, I will gradually add back more various juices, fresh fruits, and fresh vegetables. I'll be eating a hearty vegetable soup for about 3 days, and plan to get myself on a healthier track.

Like I said, I already eat very cleanly, with lots of plant-based foods and healthy fats. However, I find myself craving cookies and muffins and all sorts of refined sugars, and I hope I can minimize those cravings through the cleanse.

I also find that my relationship to food is a bit weird; for example, I'll eat way more than I need to- to the point of being uncomfortable- just because food is there. It may be healthy food, sure, but it's still too much, and it ends up taking up more energy to digest than is reasonable. I get this frantic "must eat food!!" angle in my brain, which shows how out of touch my head is with my body.

I'll post news and reviews every day.

The Beach

2011-01-16T05:18:00.000-08:00

Today's weather was quite possibly the loveliest it's been since I've come here. In honor of this, I thought I'd take a little bike-adventure to the coast. I tried to do this on Friday, but it was raining, and windy, and I was on my bike for about 2 hours and have honestly no idea where I ended up. I think it was somewhere in the dunes near Zandvoort...either way, I came home completely soaked to the bone, but with the new resolution to have at least one adventure a week.

Adventure number two was much more fruitful, and pleasant...not to mention significantly drier! I biked out to Bloemendaal and walked along the shore for a little while. I wish I'd had a camera, because the light was really exquisite. Next time!

Belated New Year's Resolutions:

2011-01-15T02:58:00.000-08:00

Have at least one adventure a week...preferably two.

Smile more, scowl less.

Work more, sit less.

Nether-Nether-land

2011-01-02T16:55:00.000-08:00

Arrived in Amsterdam yesterday afternoon. I'm losing track of time a bit, since it's 2am of January 3rd here in Amsterdam, but 8 pm of January 2nd back home.
Just discovered I can't watch Netflix movies from here, which is a huge bummer. Then again, I guess it'll make me be more productive, out of necessity.
I'm staying at citizenM, a funny, ultra-modern hotel on Prinses Irenestraat. The rooms have 'moodpads', which let you pick different settings based on what you're doing. Say, if you're showering, it will dim certain lights but brighten those nearest the shower--or if you're sleeping, it shuts off all the lights except the glowy nightlight ones above the shower and toilet chambers. "Chambers", because they're cylindrical areas right in the hotel room, not together in a separate room.
The bed is huge, and makes up a whole third of the hotel room, which is not too difficult, since the room is quite small. In all honesty, though, it doesn't need to be any bigger.

Tomorrow/later today I'm going to visit my new school, and meet the fellow who will be lending me his apartment for the semester, while he's in NY at Pratt.

I finally jumped on the bandwagon, super-super late, and started reading 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'. It's surprisingly good, and so far has barely been about the girl at all. I was expecting something much more tragic and dramatic, but so far I've mostly been reading about financial correspondents and investment fraud- though it is just getting into a murder mystery (ooooh!). Definitely not what I expected, which is a good thing, given that my expectations were quite low.

The flights here were not very nice, due to grumpy Frenchmen and almost missing my connecting flight. The nicest part was arriving in Amsterdam and being greeted by two pretty girls in costumes, handing out free Dutch donuts (which made up my breakfast).
My bags are very, very, very heavy, and I made a few mistakes getting to the hotel from the airport. I took the wrong train, at first, and so had to go back and get on another train.
I haven't eaten much, aside from the donut, two of my homemade energy bars, and a small vegetarian curry from the hotel (which was very good, but not very big). Tomorrow/later today I should finally eat properly.

I unfortunately didn't bring a camera because I couldn't find the charger. I'll have to change that, somehow.

Finally, something to justify the cold!

2010-12-27T10:07:00.000-08:00

Snow!!

I know, I know- Europe has been getting tons and tons of it all month, and there are parts of the world that rarely have days without it. However, none of this dampened my excitement when I heard about the 10-20 inches of snow NY was to receive, and my excitement only grew when it finally came!

We spent yesterday walking around the city

in it, and then went to dinner at Diederik's mom's house and ended up having to spend the night there (which was quite lovely, I must say). After a nice breakfast, we thought we could get some errands done in the garment district, and headed uptown---only to discover the city to be completely deserted, at an utter standstill. We headed home to Clinton Hill and saw snow inside the subway (on the

platform), and overflowing in past the turnstiles. We got out and beheld this (viewed from the safety of our home):

Ziggy looks quite bemused.

Another Day in the Life

2010-12-06T16:37:00.000-08:00

Morning: shoot with VPL for WWD, followed by a coffee and two oatmeal chocolate truffles from Le Pain Quotidien.

Afternoon: welding a balcony for my parents' house.
Evening: painting the floor in the sculpture studio for Friday's show, retouching images from Sunday's shoot, playing with the cat, and writing 3 essays (or pretending to) for various finals. The main one has to do with recent advances in neuroscience.Did you know that the areas of the somatosensory cortex responsible for genitals and feet are very close together? That definitely explains the relative commonness of foot fetishes.

Days in the Life

2010-10-08T17:30:00.001-07:00

It's been a very, very long time.

I spend my evenings in my studio, my days cycling around, cheffing up delicious meals, sweating my ass off at Bikram, choosing fabrics and buttons, playing with Ziggy-the-kitten.

I guess that's pretty much it.

More to come, though.

See this:

2009-12-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

Fischli and Weiss at Matthew Marks Gallery:

http://www.matthewmarks.com/current-exhibitions/

Sun, Moon, and Stars is a brilliant reflection on the presence of advertising in our lives, beginning from even before we are born. It's ridiculous.

And Sleeping Puppets is simple, but just fantastic.

Advent of Autumn

2009-11-05T06:13:00.000-08:00

photo (c) Alisa Nadolishny. Amsterdam, June 2009

September was full of tricks and October was beautifully balmy, but now November is bringing the first chill. I'm wearing 3 or 4 layers (especially at night, on the way home from work), and have my gloves on at all times, virtually.
The sad thing is, though, that the temperature is only in the 40s and 50s, which doesn't exactly necessitate such multilevel ensembles. What can I say? I don't have enough body fat to keep me warm, I suppose?

Every autumn, I get the uncontrollable urge to hibernate. It usually comes around this time, in early November, when the weather outlook is getting increasingly bleak. Why even bother being awake? There isn't much to see, anyway.
I did begin to get this urge this past week, but this year is a little bit different. I'm noticing, more and more, the subtle beauty of autumn afternoons; not even the "pretty" ones, at that. The ones that stick out in my mind are those that throw the setting sun and graying sky into sharp contrast with one another. The dreary, lazy-stormy clouds parting (only slightly) to reveal a bright, fiery orange orb of a sun, steadily swinging towards the horizon.
The sun is lower in the sky this time of year, so the daylight looks more like that of Amsterdam. It's amazing what a difference relative latitude makes.

Talk about making the most of your resources...

2009-10-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8299780.stm

Reading the above article made me so ashamed of the millions of things I haven't done.

Babar Ali, at the age of sixteen, has shown to be far wiser than most of the people I have ever met. Through personally recognizing the importance of a proper education, he has helped better the lives-and undoubtedly brighten the futures- of 800 Indian children, which just goes to show, once again, how absolutely inexcusable the attitudes of America's schoolchildren are.

We no longer value knowledge in this country. For several years, people have been condemning the recently-developed "Google Reflex", which many believe has begun to serve as an excuse for not retaining factual information. Many have also presented the counter-argument that this reflex, instead of serving as a replacement for individual memory, has actually served to supplement it. In many ways, I have always agreed with the latter argument, because the availability of such an incalculable myriad of information should function as a tool for people's self-education. In many cases, too, it still does. However, there are tremendous groups of people who do not hold factual information in very high esteem at all. Unfortunately for the American nation, these groups are hardly limited to the 13-24 age group; for example, you can find individuals blatantly disregarding fact on every news station.

News anchors, politicians, educators, legislators, police officers- people from all walks of life, including walks of authority, simply do not care about facts.
This undisguised disregard trickles down to the youth, and considering today's young people are tomorrow's news anchors, politicians, and educators, this really is utterly unacceptable.
We, as a nation, should be fostering a love of knowledge and a love of truth. Especially considering how much is literally at America's fingertips, there can be no excuse for ignorance or undeserved complacency.

Many of us could be doing so much, and we aren't.

Most of us have nothing to be proud of.

Creative Juicer

2009-09-21T17:02:00.000-07:00

The school year just began, and with it came the beginning of an entirely new creative odyssey. It's funny- on the one hand, being given assignments is like a gift: it gives you an excuse to spend time on things that you like to do without feeling like an unproductive dilly-dallier. On the other hand, it can be the curse of all curses: you suddenly have a schedule, an agenda, parameters, limitations, grades, classmates, professors of variable quality, assignments of various relevance to your personal preferences, and above all, you suddenly have no time.

They say strict limitations inspire, and help breed creativity. Partially, it's because you try to find the most creative way to solve a strict, specific problem, and push the imposed limits as far as you can. You try to make the product look the part of a difficult assignment, while trying every which way possible to make it easier for yourself. At the same time, you're also itching to rebel, and rebelling's no fun if you've got nothing to fight against.

It's always interesting to see where all the good and bad will leave you come May.

Simplicity

2009-08-24T08:38:00.001-07:00

When Are We?

2009-07-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

image (c) Hiram Chapman

Fashion- what an industry!

Everything happens so far in advance of real time, and yet, when the real time comes around- there's hustle, bustle, scramble, and it's somehow already too late.

I'm already tired of everything "happening" right now...but that might be because I've been following all the blogs and magazines like a hound.
I'm almost tired of the obsession with vintage...but that might be because I've worn "vintage" all my life, though the greater part of it was because I had no choice. Hand-me-downs defined my childhood, and continue to define my adult wardrobe (and not because I buy them).

Being fashion-forward means almost nothing. Being advanced in personal style, however, means a lot.
I admire the people who always look like a million bucks without having spent that legendary amount.
I admire those who look flawless in the way as if they had just stepped into the happiest, most glorious day of their life, rather than out of a magazine spread.
A well-tuned eye can spot a contrived, affected look from a mile away; the same goes for natural style.
The most important thing is that it's not about the way it looks, but about the way it is.

Peach, by D.H. Lawrence

2009-05-12T16:17:00.001-07:00

artwork (c) Alisa Nadolishny

Would you like to throw a stone at me?
Here, take all that's left of my peach.

Blood-red, deep:
Heaven knows how it came to pass.
Somebody's pound of flesh rendered up.

Wrinkled with secrets
And hard with the intention to keep them.

Why, from silvery peach-bloom,
From that shallow-silvery wine-glass on a short stem
This rolling, dropping, heavy globule?

I am thinking, of course, of the peach before I ate it.

Why so velvety, why so voluptuous heavy?
Why hanging with such inordinate weight?
Why so indented?

Why the groove?
Why the lovely, bivalve roundnesses?
Why the ripple down the sphere?
Why the suggestion of incision?

Why was not my peach round and finished like a billiard ball?
It would have been if man had made it.
Though I've eaten it now.

But it wasn't round and finished like a billiard ball.
And because I say so, you would like to throw something at me.

Here, you can have my peach stone.

Ayn Rand

2009-05-07T10:26:00.000-07:00

The above mentioned woman is one who has sparked an absurd amount of debate over the last 60 years.
I was first introduced to her ideas in my sophomore year of high school, when Anthem was assigned as a book for summer reading. The following year, my teacher (a textbook Libertarian) suggested I read The Fountainhead - apparently I reminded him of Howard Roark. By the end of the book, though, I found I heartily disagreed with him. Although Rand's philosophy was fascinating to me at the time, there are many things I've learned since that have altered my view- in particular, from reading Atlas Shrugged.
What appealed most to me was her support of un-bridling the human capacity for creation. This idea permeated every element of The Fountainhead, where her argument basically came to say that success is measured by how willingly people allow you to do what you do best, and that money means nothing if it is earned in a means that is dishonest, either to others or to yourself. However, in Atlas Shrugged, she made some sort of big deal about the dollar sign and the power of money, which I somehow felt wasn't the point.

Her books are of the kind that if you don't take them too seriously, they make a lot of good sense.

I wasn't ever able to completely connect her economic ideas with her philosophy, because on the one hand she argues that money doesn't matter, but on the other- that it's the only thing that matters. She was rooting for the people of ability whose work resulted in the creation of something, not just the creation of wealth (because you really can't create wealth- you can only earn it). Stock brokers and bankers were not amongst those she praised. According to The Week, Alan Greenspan was a huge Randian, and his belief in her way of thinking led to the deregulation of the economy and, ultimately, the crisis we're facing today. But, like he recently said, there was a "flaw" in the system- namely, the fact that people are douchebags.
Many people found her ideas appealing, and that led to many of them becoming the exact kind of people that Rand was against. You have smart young people reading her books, connecting with the characters, defining themselves by the same standards as her heroes when in all honesty, the readers and heroes have nothing in common- and that's what's dangerous. Her movement created a group of people with a much larger sense of entitlement than they ever would have had, had she not indirectly provided them with reassurance of their worth.
The philosophy Rand expresses is something much larger than I feel she could ever comprehend, and it has less to do with money and more to do with the standards of the individual vs. the standards of society. In many cases, what's good for one is not good for many, and in any system you will have groups whose interests are neglected or simply not addressed. However, if people are honestly taught their own potential from a young age, and taught to make up their own minds, that would undermine the power of any large-scale moral or philosophical preaching and would virtually erase "masses" from existence. Oprah and Dr. Phil would not exist in this world; neither would Jerry Springer or anyone else from that category. Yes, large groups of people would still exist, and yes, they'd all agree on some things and disagree on others, but they would do so as groups of individuals, rather than just groups. In fact, the only reason they would be defined as "groups" at all would be for cultural, geographic, or social reasons, and not for their status as "followers".

Art for the Masses

2009-05-02T05:46:00.000-07:00

When creating a work of art meant for public consumption, an artist can go in two directions- either they create a piece of art for the general public (with an easily discernable meaning), or they create art for an artistically educated audience (in which the meaning may also be rather easily discernable; or, could be absurdly abstract, where the only possible meaning to be gleaned from it centers around the visual elements that can only be named and recognised by those who know what they're talking about.) The Renaissance had many examples of the latter; the Rococo had many examples of the former.

To be honest, I hate Rococo.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. T.S. Eliot

2009-04-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

artwork (c) Alisa Nadolishny

LET us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question …
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.

And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

And indeed there will be time
To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—
[They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”]
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
[They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”]
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

For I have known them all already, known them all:—
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
So how should I presume?

And I have known the eyes already, known them all—
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?
And how should I presume?

And I have known the arms already, known them all—
Arms that are braceleted and white and bare
[But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!]
It is perfume from a dress
That makes me so digress?
Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl.
And should I then presume?
And how should I begin?
. . . . .
Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets
And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?…

I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
. . . . .
And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!
Smoothed by long fingers,
Asleep … tired … or it malingers,
Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,
Though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet—and here’s no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.

And would it have been worth it, after all,
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
Would it have been worth while, 90
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it toward some overwhelming question,
To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”—
If one, settling a pillow by her head,
Should say: “That is not what I meant at all.
That is not it, at all.”

And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,
And turning toward the window, should say:
“That is not it at all,
That is not what I meant, at all.”
. . . . .
No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool.

I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.