Category Archives: General

Halloween is traditionally my day off as far as costumes and get-ups go. I do enough of that throughout the year (recent baseball photos for example).  However, in honor of the holiday, and the very first sneak peek of this year’s Holiday Card, I’m putting out this early promo to give you a bloody taste of what’s in store for those on my Christmas Card list. Having been family-friendly and too-damn-safe-for-work these past two years, I decided to do something different and slightly edgy. Not exactly Christmas-like, unless we’re talking Christmas massacre, which was one of the inspirations. That and a little Janis Joplin were all that I needed.

Though these days it’s all about a bunch of annoying brats ringing the doorbell right in the midst of cocktail time, I once enjoyed Halloween as much as any kid. Oddly enough, I didn’t do anything over-the-top or all that unusual as far as costumes go (again, Halloween has always been a sort of day-off for someone who dresses costume-like on any given day). I was a devil (duh), an old man (save it), a pirate, and the Phantom of the Opera – but it was my younger costumes that I enjoyed the most – particularly my year as a skunk (with a white marabou boa as my stripe, and pink make-up on my nose) – my year as Winnie-the-Pooh – and… wait for the irony… my year as a beaver.

As a kid, I adored beavers – I was as obsessed with them then as I am by Madonna now. Every school report, every diorama, every book I read had something to do with a beaver. For my birthday we went to Beaversprite. So it was only fitting that for Halloween I would be a beaver. Strangely enough, there weren’t many readily-available pre-made costumes for those of us looking to transform into the supersize rodent, so Mom had to make the outfit. The most important part was the tail – a wide, flat bit of fluffy fur that served as the sole bit of glamourous trapping in an otherwise rather-drab brown outfit. I didn’t care – I loved it. Further proof that it’s not what you wear that counts, but how what you’re wearing makes you feel. Even if you’re a gay boy pretending to be a beaver.

We returned from a wonderful weekend at the amazing American Hotel in Sharon Springs, just in time for the arrival of Sandy. Who the hell knows what she will bring to these parts – I only know that last time we lost power for any length of time, I high-tailed it to Boston, which is where I’m scheduled to be on Friday anyway, so perhaps this will force an earlier trip than planned. (I don’t do well without electricity or heat.) A full write-up of the wonder of Sharon Springs will be coming up later this week, but anyone who’s been to the American Hotel knows that is is absolutely enchanting.

As far as the storm goes, I’ve got something in the crock-pot that will be done by the time it arrives, and that’s about it. We’ve also baked a pie that my Mom brought over before we left, so we should be set for provisions. (All that matters is that the bar is full.) As for possible storm activities, I suggest you procure a libation of your choosing, get comfortable, and check out a few things that you may have missed in the revamp of this site, starting with The Pictures, moving through  The Writings, and winding up with the temporary (and admittedly incomplete) Projects page that we will hopefully be updating very shortly.

These photos were taken one right after the other, with an accidental shift of the focus. On their own, neither of them particularly speaks to me, but taken together they work. I like the metaphor invoked by that. As the great A.A. Milne wrote, “It’s so much friendlier with two.” Or, in modern-pop-rap vernacular, “It takes two to make a thing go right, it takes two to make it out of sight.” Hit the beat now, Mr. Bass.

It looks so strange to be open at this time of the season. No stranger than it looked after last year’s snowstorm, which surrounded the blue water with a blanket of white, but odd enough in the Fall light. Tinged with sadness, it’s almost worse than if it were covered. Fall, like the Spring, moves too quickly, shuffling by before we really get to enjoy it. Only the oak trees hold onto their carriage a little longer, the brittle brown leaves hanging tenaciously on almost into winter. Theirs is a noble, if futile, effort.

There’s a dirty limerick waiting to be made out of every childhood rhyme, but I’m not up for it today. Instead, let’s make a concerted effort to rise above the gutter until the next Hunk of the Day rears his head. (See, I can’t even write up a nice pumpkin post without a ‘rear’ and some ‘head’.) The best I can do is offer this seasonal picture of some pumpkins. It sets the scene better than a Witch’s tit.

The art of reading tea-leaves is one of those mystical things in which a very small part of me sometimes, somewhat believes. I put as much stock in it as I do in the Ouija board or Tarot cards, but if everything happens for a reason, perhaps there’s something to be said in the way the universe designs its spent tea leaves, some story to be told in the arrangement left behind. When a bag of green tea suddenly split open the other day, instead of throwing it out, I finished it (and the few tea leaves that made it into my mouth), turned the cup upside down, and then righted it, looking for the pattern that remained. Here it is. No clue what on earth I’m supposed to see in it. Any tea-leaf diviners out there?

Behold the autumnal glory of the red bark maple. Its current sunny yellow disposition is almost matched by its Spring show, in which the earliest leaves are a bright chartreuse, but I think this has the slightest edge, especially in the low angle of the Fall sunlight. If you look closely, you’ll notice that even the stems of the leaves are red – not only the bark – a whimsical detail that escaped me until this year. Even at this late stage, there are still surprises to be found in the garden – and beautiful ones at that.

Andy’s birthday was marked with this beautiful bouquet of red roses from our friends JoAnn, Wally, Carolyn, Laurie, Ali, & Kim ~ and a dinner cooked by yours truly.

The simple pepperoni Italian sauce was a variation on a basic tomato sauce recipe taught to me by an Italian friend almost fifteen years ago. It’s something I used to cook whenever I felt down, and was the first dish I ever made for Andy. Here it is, in rough form:

Pepperoni Sauce with Rigatoni

Splash of olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, chopped finely

1 pepperoni stick, casing removed and chopped into bite size half-moon pieces

2 cans crushed tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

3/4 cup water

1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 small bottle capers, drained

This colorful panoply of leaves is the seasonably ceremonial garb of the Chinese dogwood tree. While this particular specimen in our front yard has yet to flower with any real exuberance, it makes up for such a drawback with this autumn display of foliage. Sometimes the trade-off is worth it.