Wonder no more

I know! All of you have been wondering what happened! To the Traveling NaBloWriMo Masterpiece, of course! Well, wonder no more.

It's not done yet. Far from it! Almost all the Boulder/Denver bloggers have added their touch. Jen showed her love for the mountains and drew them right onto the canvas. Kitt added some lovely squiggly line art to the canvas and handed it to Amy, who did her thing and added bling. Once Amy was done, Danette drew a gorgeous palm tree on it and we're not surprised, given her love for Key West! We lost a couple of bloggers along the way but now it's on its way to Seriously Wonderful in Boulder. That will be the last stop in Colorado! It's taken much longer than anticipated but there's something called life that gets in the way from time to time.

The same thing happened to me! Nirmala is, of course, so right when she says that I shouldn't blog just for NaBloWriMo. Believe me, I considered doing NaBloPoMo again but it was time to acknowledge that I was in over my head with my commitments already. I did a quiet NaBloSiMo sans any announcements. (Enough with the links already? OK!)

November was a truly crazy month. I haven't met or entertained as many people in such a short period. And I cooked. A lot. Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures to show for it so I am just going to have to re-create those dishes one by one. But it's great when another food blogger is there for the meal because she takes all the pictures! And, honestly, when it's someone as talented as Jen, there's really no need to bother taking any as she makes everything look really good! A fun time was had by all at the Girls' Lunch I hosted. We missed Kitt as she had to bee elsewhere. She made up for it by taking herMom and I out to lunch at Louisville's The Huckleberry, a tea house and café.


I know it doesn't look very appetizing but this is the best burger in town. It's a veggie garden burger with all kinds of seeds, melted jack cheese, and slices of avocado. And, yes, I ate all those fries. Again, because Huckleberry's fries are the best thin fries I have ever eaten!

The horrific events in Bombay wiped me out as I watched my stomping grounds attacked, and innocent people killed and injured senselessly. Luckily, all my family and friends were safe but many others were not so lucky.


I feel guilty when life goes on like normal when others' world in what used to be my world has been turned upside down. When you no longer feel safe in your hometown.

Moments like this - a man wearing skis on wheels on a major arterial road - make me smile.


I look in my (dirty) rear view mirror and see the mountains in the distance, standing tall as if to say that all will be well. No matter how much I want to believe that, it is not all well, is it? The economy is spiraling downward - it has been for over a year now. A record number of jobs are lost on a daily basis and it has hit home with several friends being laid off. I pulled myself out of the general despair I was feeling to write an article for The Daily Tiffin called Nail Those Invisible Expenses. We survived the dotcom bust but this is worse as it is not restricted to just one industry. Being frugal and living a simple life seems to be the answer in these trying times.

I have been finding peace in working with my hands. My yard could have done with a good dose of that but I sprained my back a couple of weeks ago and that became the perfect excuse for not doing anything to prepare my poor neglected plants and trees for this brutal winter that is upon us now. I finally finished the lacy scarf I was knitting. Yes, I frogged it and started over with US #11 needles. I made a ton of mistakes along the way but the net result is a beautiful airy scarf that is going to my friend, Gabi.


I also made her a beaded bracelet that I am quite thrilled about.

The Holidays are almost here and my friend Dhana will be here with her family for a week. I am looking forward to her visit, and perhaps some snowshoeing in the mountains. I have a great excuse for not skiing - my back, you know!

I'm sorry I've been away for so long but there were too many things all happening at the same time and something had to give, along with my back. It's good to be posting again and I hope to be back with recipes, beginning with the yummies I cooked for the Girls' Lunch with four other fabulous women!

Onward

I am no artist. That is for sure. I must also admit that the blank canvas was very intimidating. If someone else had put paint to it before me, I think I would have been fine. I walked around it, I touched it, I pondered on it but I just could not bring myself to pick up a paintbrush. After a few hours of this, I decided to skip the paintbrush and use my fingers instead. I have never done finger-painting before and it is very liberating! I was not necessarily impressed or convinced with the results but my worst and best critic gave me a thumbs up, so this is it!

I met Jen and Kitt, two totally awesome women, for lunch today and to hand over the Traveling NaBloWriMo Masterpiece to one of them. They dueled with swords and words while I referreed and Jen must have won because she went home with it. The masterpiece is now up in the mountains - in Nederland, Colorado, also home to the Frozen Dead Guy. Seriously, it is.


So yeah, we ate at The Kitchen. If you missed Jen's post on the Community Night at The Kitchen, you missed a great deal more than a review of a truly green restaurant in downtown Boulder. Go read Jen's post as she explains how she takes pictures in a restaurant.

Kitt came with the cutest pumpkin candles for Jen and I

Once our food arrived, we each pulled out our cameras and moved our plates to the center of the table because after all, that is the most natural thing to do. The light was not great even though we chose the better of the two tables that were offered to us. You will, no doubt, see better pictures from Jen but here are some of my attempts. I forgot to adjust my WB and I can't shoot RAW because my computer has been freezing up when I try to import pics in the RAW format. And my hand was not particularly steady today.

The yummy fare at The Kitchen, Pearl Street, Boulder

Bloggers in action

I had a delicious grilled veggie sandwich with layers of grilled eggplant, squash and mozarella cheese with the best potato salad I have ever eaten. Jen had the crab salad with avocado and lime and Kitt had terrine with dijon, cornichons & toast. The food definitely did not disappoint! I carried half my sandwich home as I am trying to train my stomach to learn that I do not need to feel stuffed in order for my mind to understand that I am no longer hungry. Kitt said that the remaining half would probably be good for another meal for me; it sure was, but not for me. It was wolfed down as soon as I got home and received a second seal of approval from my husband! We shared a Sticky Toffee Pudding with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

The Traveling NaBloWriMo Masterpiece will wend its way to Denver from Nederland, with a brief stop at Seriously Wonderful, once we figure out the logistics. I am still waiting for a couple more bloggers to respond, after which I will try to map out the best possible route to send the canvas on its way.

So woohoo! It's on its way!

Basking in the Sun

This is probably the last of the fall colors we will get to see around here. The gorgeous warming sunshine and the Colorado blue skies begged to be enjoyed in their full fall glory.


The response to The Traveling NaBloWriMo Masterpiece has been phenomenal! You folks are a grand set of people!

To all those who want to play with paint on the traveling canvas, please send me your mailing address if you haven't already. My email address is polarmate at gmail dot com. The first hand-off is tomorrow when I meet Jen and Kitt for lunch in downtown Boulder! Woo hoo!!

The Traveling NaBloWriMo Masterpiece

It's kind of tough to come up with something to write about every single day. I wish my life and my thoughts were so interesting that I could! Instead, I indulged in some deep meditative brainstorming - yeah, I slept - and came up with a very creative idea that I copied from this Flickr group.


I bought a canvas that is 11x14" in size. I am going to put my mark on it and then I am going to send it out to a NaBloWriMoer who is willing to be next. I'd like to ensure that this collaborative piece of art does not end up with a large carbon footprint so routing is going to be important. Since I am in Colorado, I'd prefer that it did the tour of Colorado first before heading out of the state. Shipping within the US could be about $10 or more, based on the description of the Flickr group. There is one NaBloWriMoer who is not in the USA, and unless someone is willing to mail this package at international rates, I'm afraid that Nags may not be able to put her mark on this Traveling NaBloWriMo Masterpiece.

These are the NaBloWriMo bloggers with their locations:

1. Indian Food Rocks - Louisville, CO
   
2. Culinary Colorado - Boulder, CO
   
3. Use Real Butter - Nederland, CO
   
4. groovygrrl - Denver, CO
   
5. The Kittalog - Denver, CO
   
6. Digging In - Denver, CO
   
7. Conch-to-be - Denver, CO
   
8. Aaron Delay - Denver, CO
   
9. Seriously Wonderful - Denver, CO
   
10. Fun Climbs Around the World - Silverthorne, CO
    
11. Jugalbandi - Boise, Idaho
12. Nags of a Similar Ilk - CA
13. I'm Not Hannah - GA
    
14. Thistle Dew Farm - Knoxville, TN
15. Akshayapatram - OH (Priya's included in this list even though she's not on the official list.)
16. Mimi On The Move - Brooklyn, NY
17. Damn Yankee, Vermont - VT
18. Enjoy Indian Food - US
    
19. Siri's Corner - US
    
20. Straight From Hel - US
    
21. Here it is!!! - TX
    
22. Cooking and Me - Singapore
    

Please do not feel you have to participate just because you are doing NaBloWriMo and your blog is on this list. But it would be great if you did!

Some guidelines:

1. Use oil paints, acrylic paints or even a Sharpie.
2. Doodle, paint, write. Just remember to leave some space for those on the list after you!
   
3. Let the paint dry and send it out to the next person on the list as soon as possible - like that very day or the next day. I'll create a document on Google Docs and share it with all of those who wish to participate.
   
4. No nudity or profanity allowed. Any art that is family and kid-friendly is welcome.
5. Own it when it is with you and make it colorful.
6. Take a picture of it, a self-portrait if you wish, before you send it on to the next person on the list. Post this picture on your blog. See? I am giving you fodder for a post! If you're creative, you could have at least two posts from it!
7. There's no need for link love but that, too, is always welcome. Link to this post or to the post of the blogger who sent it to you and to the blogger you will send it to.
8. Please do not disclose email addresses and snail mail addresses that you may be privy to because of this travelin masterpiece, to the world or the general public without the explicit permission of the person concerned.
9. Most of all, have fun!
   

Be aware that this may go well into November, long after NaBloWriMo is over. Once everyone has had their chance to collaborate on this traveling masterpiece of art, we will pick a random number and that person can have the painting! How does that sound?

It makes most sense for me to mail it to Jen Yu or to Claire Walter, if they are keen on joining in, and then have it go to Denver as there are so many NaBloWriMoers there. Suggestions are welcome!

If you read this before you hear from me either via a comment on your blog or by email, please write to me at polarmate at gmail dot com letting me know if you are in or out. If you are in, please include your mailing address. I'd like to mail this out tomorrow or latest by Friday morning.

I'm hoping you will like this idea! Any takers?

For non-NaBloWriMoers: sorry to leave you out but you can do what you do anyway: cheer us on!