LaLa Land

Yeah, um, so... I've been busy! We're in the full throb of summer, Lola just turned 9 months old, the produce is yummy, and the days are finally warm! Lots of work, thesis time, friends, gardening (well, at least Steve is getting something done), and time with Lola. What could be better?

On Friday, November 2, 2007 at 4:50 AM, Lola Annalise Starcevich was born! She weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. and was 22 inches long. The labor lasted a delightful 50 hours. We are adjusting to our new schedule and enjoying this beautiful little girl very much!

I just had to post this link -- Steve and I have been watching it a bit obsessively. I've been a fan of Nina Simone since the early 1990's when Flemming Tyler Wilson introduced me to her. He asked me one night at the Chukker if I had heard her and, when he learned that I had not, invited me to his house for an afternoon the following week for tea. Flemming was an artist and an antique dealer in Chicago before returning to Tuscaloosa where his family lived. His home was full of beautiful and eclectic art and fabulous furniture. He made tea and little treats to eat and it was all so posh for a young Alabama girl. Then he played Nina Simone for me and my mind was subsequently blown. I've been finding fragments ever since. I remember being most struck by her renditions of Bessie Smith's "A Little Sugar in My Bowl" and Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne." I think of Flemming whenever I hear those songs. You never forget the people who introduce you to great, life-changing art. One of my biggest music-related regrets is not seeing Nina Simone in concert before she died. The other is missing three straight nights of Sun Ra at the Chukker (not realizing as a very-recent employee that I could get in for free). Enjoy this clip of Nina Simone in her prime, in a sheen of youth and ability, at the berry-ripe age of 32 at the Festival Jazz di Antibes in 1965, becoming Four Women.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCwME6Jpn3s

...rocks!

Steve and I have had a great first two months as a married couple. Our honeymoon in Mexico was fun. We'd thought we would be adventurous, maybe traveling to Chiapas, but we did a lot of relaxing, reading, and resting after the hectic holidays and wedding. We visited several Mayan ruins, such as Ek Balam, Tulum, and the requisite Chichen Itza. Not the fondest memories of Tulum -- arriving on New Year's Day without hotel reservations proved to be a mistake when we woke up one morning in our primitive palapa-roof cabana to find a rat hanging from the inside of the mosquito netting over our bed. Not conducive to proper honeymooning...

However, we rallied! A highlight was a day trip to Celestun where we saw thousands of pink flamingos and an alligator! Steve was convinced it was a large model to impress the tourists because we never actually saw it move.









We spent the last five days on Isla Mujeres, relaxing on the beach and swimming in the gentle waves. It was a very relaxing time but we were also glad to get home and get back to work (why we felt that way is a bit of a mystery NOW).

We had two lovely days of snow last week! It just makes me want to snowboard...







Steve and I had a great week visiting his parents, Pat and Jay Perkins, in Green Valley, Arizona. Pat and Jay showed us a great time, taking us to play golf, hosting a fabulous dinner party, introducing us to their wonderful friends, feeding us constantly (Jay called us "The Hungries"), and celebrating our engagement with us! Pat's proposal to me made it official! Happy times!

Pat, Steve, and I visited the Sonoran Desert and saw a forest of saguaro cactus and visited the Sonoran Desert Mueseum where we saw a black bear, ocelot (how DO you titillate an ocelot, Steve?), javelina, and Harris hawks. Steve and I did some birding and took a short, breath-taking, high-elevation hike at nearby Madera Canyon. We also visited the Kitt Peak Observatory and saw galaxies, a nebula, and Uranus. What a great week!




















Steve and I spent Thanksigiving with his sister Jodi, her husband Pat, their two sassy-and-super-fun daughters Amber and Maura, Steve and Jodi's father Max, Pat's mother Margaret (who makes some mean rolls, cornbread dressing, turkey, etc.), and their friends Andy, Lisa, and their sweet dancing daughter Addie. At this home a serious Thanksgiving dinner was enjoyed by all. The next morning we went to Port Angeles to visit Steve's college friends, Erin and Brian with their daughter Isabella, where some more delicious food and a soccer game were ingested. Then onto Hood Canal to visit his grandmother Starcevich (a wonderful painter) and Uncle Al, where leftovers and a bowl of gravy were consumed.







































Steve and I took the ferry to Seattle and met up with the spicy-yet-sweet Bob Beer, who is visiting from Istanbul. I had the pleasure of crashing a saz party and also seeing Amelia and Emre who have married and moved to Seattle from Istanbul. Between taking the ferry, seeing these lovely faces from Istanbul, and hearing about 8 saz players play music for hours, I thought I'd been transported to Beyoğlu. It was sweet to hear Bob and Emre play together again -- I could listen for days. No photos --> dead batteries.

Has anyone seen summer? I just had it RIGHT HERE...

What a blur! It was a great summer, full of friends, work, canvassing, weddings, festivals, and music.

These lovely trees are across the street from my house in a beautiful park.




I worked a plot in the Corvallis Community Garden and tried some Alabama favorites: purple-hull peas, okra (cow horn and dwarf red), and Dixie butterpeas. The okra did well when we had those few days of 106 degree heat but was otherwise the stunted plant I remember from the last time I tried to grow okra in Oregon. Those African vegetables just need more heat (but the flowers are so lovely). However, the purple-hull peas were a grand success and I managed to even freeze a few messes!




























There were some lovely weddings this summer:

Bruce and Jessica! Brussica! Juce!




































Peggy and Justin!


























I had a great birthday camping at Waldo Lake with Steve and the Riverstones. Our friends Anna and Abe came up for the day. We canoed, ate some wonderful brook trout that Mike caught, played music, read, and hung in the hammock -- it was a VERY successful birthday!




































In October I spent a week in Alabama visiting my family. It was too short a visit! I didn't get to see enough of everyone. Wiley and I had a few days at home together and passed the time eating snacks, singing "The Banana Boat Song," watching Alabama football, and taking walks on the pine loop. I visited my grandmother in Curry, Alabama (where I'm pretty sure no one cooks with curry) and she cooked one heckuva meal for me. Then my mother cooked me a mean meal of everything yummy and fried. I only gained 4 lbs. in 6 days -- not bad!





































Halloween was spent on a Trick or Vote canvass that Steve helped organize with the Bus Project. Earlier in the day there was a Democratic rally featuring our governor, Ted Kulongoski, and congressmen Pete DeFazio and Ron Wyden. We are really hoping for some change this Tuesday -- dare we hope????