12-15-19. Happy 5th Birthday, Benjamin!

12-07-19. Maxwell working on his art.

Suspenseful Night

TASTE - Blood red cocktails and animal sacrifices (meat). A murder mystery dinner. 

Martha Stewart channels Martha Rosler's "Semiotics of the Kitchen" (1975) in a promo for the movie "Knives Out".

Tropical Fruits

SCENT - A variety of tropical fruit fragrances by Demeter Fragrance Library, including Banana Flambee, Dragon Fruit, and Orange Cream Pop. Today I'm wearing Pink Grapefruit and Fuzzy Navel.

Picnic Party

SPACE - A picnic party. For ideas (even while it's cold here in the northern hemisphere), try A Year of Picnics by Ashley English. 

My drawing is a copy of "Picnic", a 2002 painting by Fernando Botero.

I'm also thinking about Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, 1863, Édouard Manet, at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. I just learned about the 1981 album cover for See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy! by Bow Wow Wow (possibly best known for the song "I Want Candy"). For more picnic-related art, try this link from Artsy.net.

  

11-15-19. Benjamin playing with our Fortnite flip-sequin pillow.

Scenery of Japan (Autumn)

SOUND - Japan in Autumn playlist by Andrew Cantella which includes the Sam Feldt & Bloombox remix of "On Trees And Birds And Fire" by I Am Oak. I'm guessing that maybe the playlist was made for an autumn trip to Japan. There's nothing particularly Japanese about it. I like it anyway. It has hours and hours of the kinds of music I like to listen to.

11-07-19. Pumpkin-Foot Maxwell.

RUN!

SPACE -  A marathon, a jog on Waikiki Beach, a run near wherever you happen to be, or, if you can't make it outside and you own a Nintendo Switch, try Ring Fit Adventure. My drawing today is of my son Maxwell enthusiastically playing this unique new game. It'll get your kid (or yourself) off the couch.

Marie Laurencin

SCENT - Turpentine by Demeter Fragrance Library ~ Demeter's description: "That odorous ointment for bad paintings." Heh. Exactly.

My drawing is a copy of "L'Eventail (The Fan)", a circa 1919 painting by Marie Laurencin owned by Tate London but not on display (like a lot of her works owned by museums worldwide...).

Night of the Full Moon

SOUND - Twilight Saga - Complete Soundtrack playlist by vic_s, including "Shooting the Moon", a 2009 song by OK Go, first released on the soundtrack for Twilight: New Moon, then re-released on the Extra Nice Edition of their 2010 album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky.

This is about Twilight because the color scheme makes direct references to the Twilight Saga (colors #2, Twilight, a soft blue, and #4, Breaking Dawn, a sky blue). I do not like Twilight. I finally read the first book earlier this year, and it only confirmed my distaste for the whole thing. That being said, some of the movie soundtracks seem to be okay, though if you agree with this Pitchfork review, it might be better to listen to other, stronger music by the various included artists.

Hors d'œuvres

TASTE - Assorted hors d'œuvres. Restaurant appetizers or tapas (and sometimes even sushi) are close enough if you don't have a dinner party or well-stocked gallery opening to attend. 

A bunch of hors d'œuvre recipes from Saveur: https://www.saveur.com/best-one-bite-hors-doeuvres/

Hors D'Oeuvres, 2019, photo by Jasmine Soto

Indigo

SCENT - Linen by Demeter Fragrance Library ~ I'm thinking of the scent of indigo-dyed linen and, if you squint a bit, a pair of blue jeans.

Macaron Party

macarons at Farina Bakery in Portland, Oregon

SPACE - a bakery that sells good macarons
Examples:
Indianapolis - Macaron Bar
United States - Portland, Oregon - Farina Bakery - I won't have enough time to visit Farina Bakery during my first trip to Portland in early November. Maybe next time. My goal during this trip is to spend as much time as possible in Powell's City of Books, of course.
World - Paris - Ladurée

Arabian Nights

TASTE - Fried kibbeh (ground meat & bulgur wheat with spices) with Harold at Al Bawadi Grill in Bridgeview, IL, a suburb of Chicago.

Terrace Brunch

SOUND - Sunday Brunch playlist by Starbucks, which includes "Black Coffee" from The Great Ray Charles (1957 album).

 

Dandelion Seeds (Puffball)

CLOTHING - A blouse with a dandelion-ish print, like this one from ModCloth. ModCloth clothes have names that sound like they were chosen by an algorithm. Yes, I'm aware that ModCloth is owned by Wal-Mart. I own one amazing ModCloth dress that fits perfectly, which can be a tricky thing when you're near plus-size like I am.

Art Deco Glassware

SCENT - Amber by Demeter Fragrance Library ~ I'm wearing Amber today, along with Vanilla Cake Batter (which smells like Rice Krispie treats in a good way). One of Demeter's better scents, imo (along with aphrodisiac Pumpkin Pie...).

Cocktail

SPACE - A great cocktail bar, e.g. Lost Lake Tiki in Logan Square, Chicago. 

Great cocktail bars of Indianapolis (Food & Wine)

Great cocktail bars of the US (Thrillist) 

Great cocktail bars of the world (Time Out)