Food

My job keeps me very busy (thus the no-posting since December), and guests help me decompress. It has been sheer pleasure to learn that I am an amazing chef. My closest Carbondale friend, Erin, told me all the best food she's eaten in Carbondale has been served at my table.
More than two years have passed since I went meat-free on weekdays, and I eat better than ever. This image is a meal I cooked this summer...

Here's a plate of food I ate in Kenya...

I will post more...with recipes...if you'd like (so tell me!)...
*This post is dedicated to Paige Mary-Jane.

Jack Mackenroth Day!

After six weeks of collaborating, fund-raising, publicizing and all the other unsexy things that accompany programming, Jack Mackenroth came to campus to speak about his life with HIV. The GLBT Resource Center sponsored his lecture for World AIDS Day, and nearly 300 people attended his discussion. Jack was funny and honest, and feedback from the event has been very positive.
I got to play taxi and dinner companion, and it was a delight to get to Jack's inside perspective on Project Runway. Jack Mackenroth Day was a success, and it was fun for all who helped out and got involved in the very important effort to educate people about HIV. Thanks to Alan Rogers for making and sending me this swell photo of me and Jack at the AIDS walk!
If you want to learn more about Jack, his HIV-positive work, and his wit, follow him on twitter or via his website, www.jackmackenroth.com.

Halloween a little late

Because I enjoyed this Halloween costume so very, very much, I have to post photos of me as The Queen of Hearts (won a costume contest even! Thanks to Bunny for crafting the bulk of this amazing dress):

I have to go back to New Orleans

This blog began with lists, so it seems relevant to note that New Orleans has been #2 on my list of places I want to visit (topped only by India) for something like 10 years. I finally got to visit this past weekend, and three days there assured me that:
1. My travel instincts are well-honed by this point;
2. Jessie Stewart is a fabulous travel companion;
3. It's possible to combine vacation and academic rigour (yes, for this list I reserve the right to use British spelling);
4. The best places are the most complicated; and
5. I have to go back to New Orleans.

Here are a few pictures of my escapades in the French Quarter...

Fun with a street performer:

Jessie trying on a mask:

Me looking a little phased and masked:

In my opinion, the coolest mask in the shop:

Me with my best New Orleans smirk:

Jessie and Naida at Muriel's (yummy):

Me and Naida at Muriel's:

It didn't seem right to smile while posing with Fats Domino's piano, which was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina and on display at the Louisiana State Museum:

With Lindsay, pre-absinthe, in a pirate-themed bar in the French Quarter that was part of the "scandalous stories" tour on which we drank ourselves silly:

Me+absinthe=warm and fuzzies and later some tears too:

I am an upholstering genius!

Maybe it's  because my father wished me "ultimate and complete victory" (no kidding--that's a direct quotation) on this chair re-upholstery project,  or maybe it's beginner's luck, but I am so utterly satisfied by the outcome of this five-day (plus the occasional days of half-hearted poking) effort. Drum roll, please...

The new chair:

From the back:

I now have a pair of chairs and kitten helpers:

Awwww. So pretty:

New life for an old chair

Sometime in June or July, I rescued this poor, filthy, old chair from an equally abysmal thrift stop in Johnston City. It has since sat in my living room and waited for me to tackle my first attempt at reupholstery.
I selected a very fanciful birds of paradise print for the chair and am so thrilled with how Anthropology-esque it is turning out. Hooray for vibrant colors and birds!
After a few starts and stops and allergy attacks from all the dust and mold, I devoted the past three days to getting things going. Last night I finished the seat portion and felt like a superstar. Piping is hard, and I have a much deeper appreciation for why expensive furniture is so expensive. More pictures when the final product is produced!

The original chair:

The stripped frame:

The re-upholstered seat:

The immensity of change

It's hard to believe nearly a year has passed since I last blogged. Sure, I have not been a remarkably steady or prolific blogger, but whoa. There is some more recent content on the second (or is it the third since some woman named Wendy Ness seized the first blog I created and then let go of in 2005?) incarnation of Wendyness. But if you don't actually know me, you have no clue as to the tremendous ruptures in my life.