Thursday, October 22, 2009

Suggest-Fest

Yerba Matte
Specifically, LaMerced Organic, is good for fall. I have the door open and can hear the leaves skitter across the back porch; the dog sits beneath the tree hoping for a chase with a squirrel. I put a dash of honey in it and get out the ole bombilla and watch the earthy magic as the tea floats on the top of the hot water. This particular blend is from Argentina and produced by Las Marias. The package says, “Hand harvested, special aged, Soft Character.” I call it comfort. (And it gets you jazzed without caffeine!)

Suites by Federico Garcia Lorca
Short poems by a master of prose. I loved this little volume and have taken snippets of them and painted them upon wood pieces. He has an insane sensuality with his sparse words. “I know now why/cicadas are made of/solid gold and how/a song can turn/to ashes in olive/groves” & “waves/rhyme with sighs/and stars with/crickets.”

Hashbrowns
I made some with caramelized onions and garlic on our flat top the other day and they were to die for. I love potatoes. I love hashbrowns even more.

College Football
This time last year I wrote a lot on this blog about college football - but I have not this time around. Superstitious, maybe, but it is a reality that the Crimson Tide at #2 in the BCS and #1 in the AP polls. I foresee a national championship, but I don’t want to jinx it...

Rupa & the April Fishes, ExtraOrdinary Rendition
Found this in the World section at the library, and got it purely for the illustrative cover art. As it turned out, it’s quite good. Sort of jangly and French and filled with accordions. (Yea!) I really like it and loved the paintings inside the cd sleeve. The music really transports you to another time, but whatever that time is, it has carnivals and singing beautiful women and mirrors and dancing, lots of dancing!

Chili
Because it makes you warm and I live in a cold house.

Mowing the Grass for the First Time in Your Life
Yes, as sad as it sounds, I recommend it. I have a younger brother and a father who always took care of the lawn, and I never had to do it because I’ve lived on rental properties that take care of it, or Judge would just do it. It’s pretty late in the season for grass-cutting, but it has been raining so much and then Judge couldn’t do it because his foot and his back have been hurting (besides the fact that he is working double time since I am out of work.) So I went out to the shed, cranked up the lawnmower and had my first ever experience cutting the grass. And I loved it.

Gilberto Gil, Gil Luminoso
Wow. I love this album. It is on par with Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, at least in its tone and it totally sweeps me off my feet. It creates a mood for me like a warm bath. Warm tea. Warm Brazilian days.

2 comments:

The Blonde Mule said...

What is matte? I saw it on your Facebook status the other day & wondered about it. Is it tea? I'm intrigued....

I've never cut the grass either & probably won't anytime soon since our yard is on a hill & we don't have a self-propelled mower. John's convinced I'll somehow mow over myself & lose a limb, which actually, is highly likely.

Rachel Joiner said...

Yerba Matte is a plant that is made into a tea and used in South American countries as a replacement for coffee. It's really earthy tasting but can be good if you get the mixture right. Wiki it - it's pretty intriguing the health benefits it has - but it's fun because you buy this little silver straw and it strains the loose tea out. It feels like an event when you drink it.