ABJ gave me Just Kids because she knew I arrived in New York at the same time that Patti and Robert did. They were two years older than me, but reading the first few chapters made me feel like they were much younger. The1967-69 narratives totally distracted me because I kept recognizing what they experienced.....opening of Filmore East, Doors Concert, Electric Circus, Janis Joplin. But I got really distracted wondering why they couldn't find jobs ( I had no trouble finding jobs but I always checked the want ads, which doesn't seem to have occured to them). And why did they pay so much for their accomodations - I had a $37/ month (yeah there were rats and holes in the walls) and then a very nice $45/month appartment on 2nd street between 1st and 2nd Ave. And why were they always hungry and short of money? I had minimum wage jobs but there were lots of cheap places to buy food - day old bread in bakeries, bargaining with the street vendors, and I even managed to save money.
And the biggest question which was the huge preoccupation of my generation - how on earth did Robert escape the draft?
I finally came to the conclusion that what I found in New York, after leaving Chicago during the riots while National Guard tanks were rolling down the streets of the West Side and barely escaping my building as the supermarket next door burned - was peace and normalcy. And that was what I found. Sounds strange, but after the terrors I had lived through, the Lower East Side seemed quite peaceful and both the neighbors and the police, very benign. I really wasn't looking for more novelty and my life coping skills, honed in a hostile environment, were pretty darned good for someone who had just turned 19. I suffered from a bit of PTSD, now that I think back, but Chicago honed my survival skills. One of these was deciding to leave in 1969 when the drugs and craziness around me became too intense. I never doubted for a moment that I could cope and do it quite well.
As I read through the book, however, I came to respect Patti tremendously. No celebrity posturing or bragging, but an incredibly humble, honest, real person who was perpetually suprised by her own success, supported her dearest friend through thick and thin, and didn't allow herself to get seduced by the glitter of celebrity or become a victim of all the drugs and crazed life of the 60's and 70's. The book isn't the anguished attention-seeking of another celebrity seeking to make herself the center of attention, but a simple story of Patti and her best friend. I wish I had the opportunity to know her back then.
I found these amazing yams in the Amish market this morning. They are a lot more orange than what you see in the supermarket and I can't wait to see what they taste like. Bought a few for ABJ too.....
And after two weeks of pouring rain, the sun came out today so I ventured into my garden to find this lovely eggplant, huge basil leaves and a tangy baby lettuce misture, all of which seem to love this muggy weather.
So this morning, my inspiration continued with Fluffy Eggs - my dad's unique Sunday breakfast dish.
And made a huge discovery that two-pronged lobster picks are the perfect thing for turning the little pancake over. to brown on the other side. Great recipe - creamy light and cheesy in the middle. Kudos to the person who adapted these from the Williams Sonoma catalogue picture (they use their own cornmeal pancake mix).
And the really amazing news is that I found this Michael Graves tea kettle, which was commissioned by Alessi that I have been lusting over since it came out in the early 80's, in Ebay , for $45. It is still being made and the new one retails for $175 minimum. :)
But who said that life was fair?
And then I got this lovely much smaller wool butterfly piece from a lady in New Zealand who only ships one day a week because she has 4 kids.
And this small one as well. She is a very poor photographer and puts the little origami's on the fabric to "help focus the camera" (??) so I am sort of wondering what the rest of this one looks like.
Then I wandered into Kimono fabrics in general and turned up these completely fantastic abstract Obi's. This one is called a Suminogashi dye and unfortunately I lost the bidding on it because all the darned auctions are on Japanese time and finish up at around 3AM.
So here I am, getting ready for a birthday lunch with my 90 year old mom on the hottest day of the year. I made the top last weekend from some lovely Indian fabric that I had bought at John Lewis in 1998. Picture is a bit blurry, but taking self-portraits is not one of my talents. 
When I got home, after I took the picture of the plums, I arranged my huge plum tomatoes and tiny sweet orange paruche tomatoes with a deep violet prosperosa eggplant from my garden.
It hit 102 in the afternoon and after my mom and I had lunch (transported by my highly air conditioned Camry) I found that she hadn't been to pick up her mail for three days because it was too hot for her to leave the house. So we stopped by the main building of her community and I waited outside of the door while she dashed inside. It just started raining this evening, so I hope it cools off to 90 or so tomorrow.
Local peaches (and tomatoes :) have started appearing at the Amish market.
So last weekend I made a quick tart. 
And, after wondering for two weeks what the slowly forming little white globes were (pumpkins? cantelope?), I finally identified the 'volunteer' next to my compost bin - several lovely perfectly formed white acorn squash. We must have eaten them last fall and the seeds survived the composting process. 
And, speaking of red - in my quest for the perfect sandals - a new pair which is promising to be comfy.
ABJ helped a bit and commissioned a new dress, but I found a group of patterns that can be transformed into my visions with a little creativity. 
..... and stumbled across this great one yard remnant of taupey crepe for $2.50, which promises to be a drapey blouse. Looks quite nice just sitting on my dress makers form. Hmmm.. only one has any buttons, so that has to be the next order of business.
5 meters, 36" wide for 19 pounds. Hope it lives up to it's promise because I think it would make a lovely dress.
My black raspberries are delivering about a pint of darkly purple, seedy, flavorful fruit a day this week....
So it is time to kick into jam-making mode so I can capture the goodness in etables my family and I can enjoy all winter.
