Started reading Border Country by Raymond Wallace. So far so good. Early on there was a reference to wheat wine which caught my eye. Tonight another reference made me look it up:
Wheat wine is considered to be a traditional beverage of Wales, and while it is not commonly drunk anymore, there are still winemakers there who specialize in producing it. This wine lends itself very well to home winemaking, as it requires few ingredients and little effort. Yet, the results are surprisingly good. Here are two simple wheat wine recipes that are definitely worth a try. Both produce hearty blends that are well worth the wait.
Speaking of defining moments, today I actually did get asked to list (among other things) my top favorite apps. I asked if they meant computer or iOS – either was the answer. That made it easy. Into the #1 slot went BBEdit. Tonight I sent this message out into the world
Dear Bare Bones Software Today at work I was asked to list my #1 fav app. I went with #BBEdit. Because, it doesn’t suck.
I got a nice thanks message back but seriously – I’ve used BBEdit for so long and for so many things – HTML, data massage, working on my NaNoWriMo novel – I don’t think I could live without it.
So anyway, a little geek joy thrown out into the world. Let the ripples commence.
I got, among other things today, an email that proclaimed that an organization I belong to, Studio Art Quilt Associates, has released a new definition of what an art quilt is:
…the SAQA Board has adopted the following definition of the art quilt:
The art quilt is a creative visual work that is layered and stitched or that references this form of stitched layered structure.
The Board sees the revised definition as a visionary
statement.
I will not mention that this was declared on a PDF, not an actual web page or that the title was some MS naming standard. Never mind about all that trivia.
I never got past the structure of the sentence. My brain stopped to ask “which form is ‘this form’?” I just couldn’t sort it out and neither could my favorite grammazon. Never mind that.
I think the inclusion of the word “creative” is just silly. Why include that in a description about art? So not just any visual work, but creative visual work. As opposed to non-visual work. (um like music or smellophones?)
The only good thing I can see here is that there is zero, zilch, nada to exclude the quilts that I make. And I’ll thank you not to sneer at my little squares.
Never mind that my experience in the world says that if you have to declare what you’ve done visionary, it’s probably… I’ll just say it’s probably not.
I spent today talking with co-workers about who we are and what we do. Several had been told various things about themselves that just didn’t really jive and they came to me for advice. I found this flattering and yet alarming and bordering on disturbing in some ways. I’ve been pondering similar things and I did my best to offer advice that wasn’t too motherly. I wonder about systems that allow other people to judge our individual qualities rather than the work we do. Nothing like hitting people where they’re least confident.
The question I ask the universe – why all the naval gazing and scrabbling for definitions of who we are and what we do. Just live it – Just do it. Shut up about it.
Talking with Ira Glass about studying with Nadia Boulange and the relationship between technique and style:
In order to arrive at a personal style you have to have a technique to begin with. In other words, when I say that style is a special case of technique… you have to have the technique. You have to have the place to make the choices from. If you don’t have a basis on which to make the choice, you don’t have a style at all; you have a series of accidents.
