7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #84: Featuring Sher Fick

h1 October 12th, 2008 by Eisha and Jules

'Birthday Girl,' 2007

Jules: Welcome to our weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week—whether book-related or not—that happened to you.

This week we’re going to take a break from featuring a children’s book illustrator (but will get back on the illustration track next week with Dan Santat) and feature the work of Nashville artist (and serious Haven Kimmel fan), Sher Fick. To the left here is her self-portrait. Sher, who received her B.F.A. in Fine Art (Painting/Sculpture/Art History), has worked as an art teacher, muralist, freelance artist, and museum curator. She has also worked on projects with Nashville artist Adrienne Outlaw.

“One of my greatest joys as an artist,” Sher says, “has been creating art specifically for children — especially interactive work. In 2007, I was on a team of artists that created Mr. McGregor’s Garden for Cheekwood Art & Museum’s ‘Once Upon a Garden’ exhibition. We created an oversized vegetable garden where children could interact as if they were Peter Rabbit. In late 2007, I was asked to create my own sculpture for this year’s ‘Happily Ever After’ exhibition. The design, building of the model, and construction of my Rapunzel Tower took up a total of seven months. After the exhibition ended in September, we have installed the tower in our backyard as my daughter’s play castle.”

Here is Sher’s picture of the tower below, complete with a crowd of onlookers, and you may remember, dear readers, that I shared a picture of the tower back in June when I stumbled upon it at Cheekwood (I’ll re-post that pic below as well). I’m so glad to now know the artist behind it. Isn’t it lovely? And how lucky is her daughter that it’s now her play castle? Very.

encaustic paintings and images, a style in which she often likes to work. Here’s how she explains it:

Encaustic Paintings and Mixed Media Constructions…{are} an ancient form of art experiencing a revival thanks to Jasper Johns and a few other Modern {Artists} brave enough to explore the media. Encaustic = beeswax, damar crystals (not resin!), pigment, and a fusing implement to create luminous works of art.

If you let your mouse sit on the image, you’ll see the title.

'Three Sisters,' 2007

'My Kindergarten Progress,' 2006

This is Sher’s contribution to Cheekwood’s current scarecrow exhibit, which I posted about last week as well. Meet Vincent Van Crogh:

And here’s a sample of Sher’s line work:

There’s more information on Sher and her work here, and one upcoming traveling museum exhibition in which she’ll be participating (2009-2011) will be TAKE CARE: The Art & Science of Bioethics, which includes several other Nashville area artists. Many thanks to Sher for stopping by and sharing her work!

* * * eisha’s kicks * * *

Suffer Jets rule!1* That Adrienne! I lent her my ARC of Octavian Nothing Volume 2 when she came to visit this summer. She just mailed it back to me with M.T. Anderson’s autograph in it. I’m certain it wasn’t there before. Thanks, Adrienne (and Tobin)!

2* Speaking of books, I just checked out Linn Ullmann’s new one, A Blessed Child. I really loved Before You Sleep (it’s kind of magical realism, Norway-style), and liked her other two fairly well, so I’m eager to see what this one’s like.

3* Also speaking of books, I’m on the judging panel for Science Fiction and Fantasy for this year’s Cybil Awards. Woo!

4* I started working on the Lead Belly archival collection at work, and it’s fascinating.

5* I went to a “happy hour” for Cornell library employees and met some new peeps.

6* Saturday afternoon I went with some new co-worker friends to an Apple Harvest Festival at a local nursery/orchard, complete with a little petting zoo (alpacas are so soft!). We strolled around the orchards and I ate a wicked good piece of apple pie.

7* And after that, the husband and I went to see the Suffer Jets, Ithaca’s roller derby team, narrowly defeat the Hellions of Troy. It was my first live roller derby meet, and I am smitten.

* * * Jules’ kicks * * *

1). Friday night, I attended what could be described as none other than a fancypants dinner (as Laurel Snyder very amusingly called it) for select authors at this weekend’s Southern Festival of Books. I was quite nervous but survived. I met up with my former grad school prof/advisor, whose name is Jinx, whom I adore, and from whom brilliance and warmth and kindness just radiate. Hadn’t seen her in a while, so that was fun. And I got to meet the new prof who took her position after she retired, who is very wonderful and very fun. We enjoyed wine and a deliciable (as my daughter would say) dinner and lots of laughs at the lovely War Memorial Auditorium. At one point, we were standing next to Patricia and Fred McKissack, yet I didn’t have a chance to speak with them. Can anyone give me a loud and resounding “D’OH!”? I believe Ann Patchett might have also been in the room. I adore her books.

2). On Saturday at the same festival, I hosted the session of children’s poet Charles Ghigna, a.k.a. “Father Goose.” He and his wife were tremendously lovely people, and I enjoyed introducing him and hearing him speak. I invited him to share some poetry one Friday here at 7-Imp, and I hope he does so. I meant to get a picture of us and forgot altogether, but here he is at his session:

And then…

3). I headed on over to hear Sherman Alexie speak. He was a big ‘ol hoot, as in, MY GOD, HE WAS FUNNY, and I finally got a copy of this, which everyone in the world but me has read, I think, and got it autographed for my daughters (for when they’re older). I also asked him about his World Heavyweight Champion Poetry Bout title (remember Sara’s post about it?) to which he replied with pride, “four years in a row.” Here’s my not-so-impressive (too far away) picture of him speaking:

I also got to see some former Knoxville peeps, including (briefly) author Alan Gratz. There were all kinds of great sessions I had to miss, all kinds of talented authors there. Ah well. One year, perhaps the festival will not coincide with my kick #6.

4). I finally saw “Iron Man.” Duuuuuuuude. Now those are some super special powers. Makes the other superheroes look like punks. And how perfectly cast is Robert Downey, Jr. in that role?

5). Look at this nice thing illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka said about us. And thanks also to Janet Lee Carey for the same nomination.

The last two kicks, which really should be the first:

6). My youngest turns three on Tuesday, and we’re partying down this weekend (we’re partying hearty today, in fact. Wish you could all come over for PUNCH and CAKE. I’m yelling these with much enthusiasm, ’cause they’re TWO OF THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE). This is, selfishly, why I opened this post with Sher’s “Birthday Girl” piece of art work! And…

7). Because she is not unlike a monkey on crack, unlike my very cautious first child, and likes to dive over and into furniture and such, she got this doozy of a goose-egg bump on her forehead the other night after standing backwards in a rocking chair and flipping foreword into the leg of an end table. Just in time for her birthday party. SCORE. This picture doesn’t do justice to the sheer size of that thing. I know she looks drunk here, but fear not.

The kick here is that she’s healing and, amazingly, that bruise turned out to be pretty negligible the next day. I’m very grateful she’s okay.

HERE’S A GREAT KICK THAT, YES, I’M YELLING AND DESERVES A MARQUEE TAG:

Jone’s granddaughter is here in the world now! Click here!

(There’s also this post.) Congrats, Jone!

What are everyone else’s kicks this week?





30 comments to “7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #84: Featuring Sher Fick”

  1. Hello to Sher! Kudos for the tower. The Peter Rabbit display sounds great as well.

    eisha: Go Cybils! Go apples! Go alpacas!

    Jules: Happy almost birthday (and healing vibes) to the littlest! Three was an awesome year. It sounds as if you had a lot of fun at the various events. 🙂 I read the phrase “Father Goose” and immediately thought of the Cary Grant film.

    Welcome to the world, Jone’s granddaughter!


  2. I forgot to post my own kicks. Here we go:

    1) Getting called in for something against type (and auditioning)
    2) Rehearsals (3 in a row)
    3) Filming a very exciting audition
    4) Editing and submitting the footage
    5) Little touches and touchstones
    6) Sharing the excitement
    7) Bouncing up and down


  3. Wow! Love Sher’s work. The encaustic pieces are amazing — so different, and the tower is wonderful.

    Congrats, Jone, on your new granddaughter!

    What a riot, Eisha, on the roller derby! I used to be a big fan back in the day. And Leadbelly and apple pie’s not too shabby either.

    Happy Birthday to the little one! Glad her bruise is goin’ away (lots of cake helps with these things). And Jules, all those literary luminaries. Hob nob. Hob nob. 🙂

    A few kicks:

    Jules’ PF post with her two brothers. Melt-away loveliness.

    Elaine’s Sarah Palin poem. We need humor to break all the tension and release some of the frustration!

    Gorgeous, gorgeous fall weather for the duration of my parents’ visit (they left the other day).

    Visiting Charlottesville, eating the world’s best fried chicken at the Michie Tavern, and hanging out at Ashlawn (James Monroe’s digs).

    Mr. Donnelly ambled up our front walk and posed on the porch. He stated a preference for spy mysteries.

    Saw “Down to You” again, and thought of Jules when the Sam Phillips song came on near the end.

    Reading all about the favorite foods of our presidents and first ladies.

    Happy week, all.


  4. Little Willow, you must elaborate on #3 (and 4)!

    Jama, I never actually hob-nobbed. I wallflower’ed. I was so nervous I’d get seated next to some author whose works I didn’t know, but it ended up just being like girls’ night out with my former prof and such. Plus, I was also nervous, seeing as how I mostly work at home in my PJs anymore, and I had to clean myself up for this. But it was fun.

    Plus, my former prof wants me to help on a project for Humanities Tennessee, which is what she wanted to ask me about and the only reason I was there at a fancypants dinner, so if that pans out, it’ll be fun. And different. And something new to do.

    And, as for the festival itself, I just know there are other kidlitosphere authors there, but I couldn’t stay long yesterday and can’t attend today. What a great festival every year, and it always coincides with my daughter’s b’day.

    I missed Elaine’s poem, so thanks for the tip. And WHO KNEW that Mr. Donnelly liked spy mysteries? Hee hee.

    Hope the visit with your parents was great!


  5. My big kick is that my niece is arriving today with her mom and dad (my brother.) She got the LAST SPOT in a clinical drug trial that we hope will kick cancer’s butt once and for all. What a surprise that the trial is here, where I live! So for awhile, I will finally be able to help out.

    And the weather is gorgeous. And we are taking her straight to the National Zoo today before she gets tired.

    Jules, rock on for your Sherman Alexie question! I wish I could’ve sent you some boxing gloves for him to sign or something. 🙂 Happy birthday to your bruised up baby. (I remember those days. My son cracked his head on a church pew at my brother’s wedding.)

    Eisha, are you sure you don’t want to be on a roller derby team? Because that would be some kind of awesome to cheer for you…


  6. I’m not sure why that smiley face appeared where it did. I’m not smiley about my son cracking his head.


  7. Oh wow, Jules, thank you for the shout out, marquee style! Thank you to all for their jind words.
    Sher’s scarecrow reminds me that our other granddaughter wants Chuck and I to be scarecrows for Halloween.
    Eisha, roller derby? How fun!
    It has been an intense week. Amid the joy, my daughter’s granddad on their mother’s side is dying and so time was spent yesterday at the hospital. I have been tearful much of the week.
    1. My grannddughter, the birth, seeing her sister be a proud big sister.
    2. Picking up Naomi Shihab Nye, going to her workshop, and hearing her speak at the librarian’s lunch yesterday.
    3. Meeting Readergirl: Justina Headley Chen who also was at the conference. She had ARC copies of North of Beautiful.
    4. Chatting with Lorie Ann Grover who was a great friend and came with Justina. (Justina flew in from China to be here and drove down from the Seattle-Tacoma area).
    5. All the fabulous authors at the conference: Frank McCourt, John Green, Pete Hautman, Nicole Rubel, Deb Lund, and Nina Laden and a few more.
    6. Having the autographing and book sales for the conference run smoothly. (this was my job for the conference, working with Powells.)
    7. Autumn weather, first frost.
    Have a great week.


  8. Hey, Little Willow – I’m curious about 3 and 4 too. Congrats on all fronts.

    Jama, I’m so glad Mr. Donnelly survived your parents’ visit without becoming the world’s best fried groundhog.

    Sara, I wish and hope the very best for your niece. And OF COURSE I want to be a roller derby girl, my low threshhold for pain notwithstanding. I spent most of the half-time break coming up with roller-derby aliases for myself and mentally designing my uniform. I’m leaning toward “Delta O’Venus,” but my husband’s suggested “Penalty Box” is also hilariously raunchy.

    Jone, my goodness, you have had quite a roller coaster of a week. Best wishes for your family. Congrats on a BEAUTIFUL grandbaby.


  9. Sara, great news that you’ll get to see your family. I will hope and wish and wish and hope and wish some more that this drug trial is successful.

    Jone, yes, roller coaster. Tears of happiness and then sorrow. I second the best wishes for your family.

    Eisha, I vote for “Penalty Box.” Good one.


  10. Lead Belly, roller derby, Sherman Alexie and a birthday! What great kicks! And really, can anyone top Jone’s? New babies are such a blessing.

    Here are my kicks for the week.
    1. William had his third art exhibition this weekend with the end of this round of Art School. He made some very interesting pieces out of recyclable materials, some pinch pots, a t-shirt, Escher-like prints and much more! What fun it was to see the work of all the kids displayed. It was even more fun listening to them explain their pieces.

    2. I am only teaching one class this semester, but it is going really well. I so missed teaching it last fall.

    3. The Cybils nominees are piling up. I love watching the lists come together. I can’t wait to see what the final group of nominees will look like.

    4. Started and finished The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly this weekend. I loved it!

    5. Reread Little Women this week. My husband walked in while I was sobbing over Beth. He just rolled his eyes and walked on. Okay, is there anyone who hasn’t cried buckets over her death?

    6. William had two days off school for teacher professional development, so we got to spend lots of time together. He came to the office with me on Thursday and drew pictures for everyone on my hall. He was so good! For a seven-year old with oodles of energy, this is a major accomplishment.

    7. Reading Bunnicula with William. We are having such fun with this. We’re also reading (over and over) Spooky ABC by EVe Merriam.

    I could go on. So many good kicks related to books this time around. Have a great week all!


  11. Update: My daugthers’s granddad (their mother’s dad) did pass away this AM. I am so sorry for their loss, it is the last of the grandparents for them.
    Pkau, so sorry to share sad news. But on a happier note…I just came for the local farmer’s market and tried out some wine from a local small winery. Book club will be happy next week as I am in charge of wine. We are reading Patry Francis’ Liar’s Diary.


  12. Eisha, I’ve been hearing a bit about this roller derby business recently. I’ve just found out there’s a team in North Brisbane so maybe I’ll get to check them out when I’m home in Feb (so soon!!!)

    Jules, I’m with you on the punch and cake. Hope the partying is going well!

    Jone, your granddaughter is lovely (as is her name)! Congrats! I’m sorry about the death in the family.

    Sara, that’s great news for your niece!

    Little Willow I think bouncing up and down is an underrated activity. I indulged in some during my list item 7 today.

    Tricia, your week seems like it’s contained lots of great books!

    1. We FINALLY got around to sticking some enlargements of photos (generally pretty ones from Australia and elsewhere) in frames and up on the walls, which is a relatively inexpensive way of decorating. They look great!

    2. Some friends came over for dinner last night, and we had a fun time. My chocolate mousse was yummy (I was worried as I’d never made it before) and I found out that a workmate is fantasy/SF fan who’s never seen Firefly or read some of my favourite authors. NEW VICTIM!

    3. Leftovers for dinner tonight

    4. Lots of stimulating discussions at conferences in the last few weeks.

    5. I’m around this whole week, hopefully I’ll get lots of lovely autumn lunchtime walks

    6. I volunteered at our member’s day at work (for those who don’t know, I work for an environmental NGO) and it was fun meeting people and talking about what we do. The two ladies I sat next to at lunch were 88 and 90, and one of them had lived in Westminster her whole life, so they had great stories to tell.

    7. A twilight walk was rewarded with a close up sight of some pipstrelle bats (those cute little ones).


  13. And for people who want even MORE happy things the BBC has posted a whole heap of their reader’s comments on what makes them happy over here.


  14. Eisha: That roller-derby team name just cracked, me, UP. And I can barely — I mean infinitesimally — believe that I quote-unquote “know” somebody who’s working on Lead-freaking-Belly’s archival collection, whatever that might be.

    Jules: Dang. You saw Iron Man, too — I was gonna claim that as one of MY kicks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Downey in a role in which he didn’t fascinate, but IM was sensational. (And how bizarre did Jeff Bridges look?!?)

    I read Sher’s contributions to Haven K’s blog ravenously, although I have to, umm, raven after them by the handful sometimes ’cause they come one after another after another… The woman doesn’t seem to sleep! It’s wonderful and not at all surprising that she’s such a talented artist, to boot; the encaustic works especially grabbed me. (Do you know the original cover of the book Monkeys, by Susan Minot? (Here‘s a shot of it from the Amazon UK site.) Sher’s encaustics haunt similarly.)

    A few other kicks…

    1. Learning that there’s a phrase, “penultimate note,” to describe a musical thingum that I’ve been puzzling over for months. So I wasn’t just imagining it.
    2. Finally starting to launch an updated and slicker version of a poetry press’s Web site which I administer. (Been working on it for months now.)
    3. Haven K’s magical reappearance on her blog.
    4. It’s kinda involved, so I’ll just put it out there in shorthand: FINALLY, after 5 years’ travels (including to BC and Hawaii!), got a geocaching “Travel Bug” to western Kentucky — within about 90 miles of its destination, in the Central City area.


  15. P.S. Emmaco — THANK YOU for the link to the BBC “what makes you happy?” feature. Love it!


  16. Jules: What a week! Happy birthday to your monkey on caffeine (which might be more accurate, considering whose daughter she is!). Eisha: I think I have job envy. And yes, that Adrienne is sneaky.;)

    Here are my kicks:
    1) We have Swedish meatballs from IKEA in our freezer.

    2) We attended a concert of a local musician (Brian Vogan) and found out that there were so many people that the concert had to be held outdoors in the parking lot. Fortunately, today was cool but sunny.

    3) A program I was going to this weekend had to be rescheduled, so we actually got to sleep in a little bit yesterday morning. Well, my daughter didn’t sleep in, but still…

    4) I pulled up the rest of the carrots from the garden. They’re yummy. (The leeks, however, never got any bigger than scallions!)

    5) There are flowers blooming from plants I thought would be done by now.

    6) I’m grateful that we can pay the bills.

    7) Coffee.


  17. My kicks:

    #1 Aunt Annie! We got to spend time with my husband’s sister for her birthday on Wednesday. Here what my 5-year-old said: “As high as I can spike my hair, that’s how much I love Aunt Annie. And when it grows, I will love her that much more!” Here are a few things about Aunt Annie: She has a Ramona tattoo. She totally nails this one line in Traction Man that Mama can’t wrap her voice around. She will knit you a special brown hat for your owl costume. She will not give you the last bite of her birthday cheesecake.

    #2 My mother-in-law made this sophisticated, mouthwatering, I-just-can’t-stop-scooping-just-a-little-more-and-a-little-more-onto-my-plate potato salad: baby red potatoes, pine nuts, mint, and goat cheese.

    #3 Chicago-style veggie dogs at D’s 6-Pack

    #4 Spirit-lifting perfect weather for a spontaneous stop at Frick Park as a family

    #5 My husband made me an omelet that rocked! Omelet du fromage!

    #6 I have had opportunities this week to use a bunch of generally useless French phrases I know: omelet du fromage, raison d’etre, une femme d’un certain age, and le petit jesus en culotte de velour.

    #7 The best kick of all: The boys and I picked up a wooden bed frame from the side of the road. It’s worn but sturdy, and that just makes it look more like it belongs in our home. Samuel really needed a new bed because his painted-sterile-white metal daybed was falling apart. Here is the most awesome things about it: It has a BOOKSHELF in the headboard! Samuel could hardly wait to make his new bed and put his new birthday books from Aunt Annie on the bookshelf. Yay!


  18. Well, I don’t really have any kicks to post this week because I would rather like to forget the past week. Can I post my anti-kicks instead?

    We almost didn’t have a babysitter for Ruby because somebody called DHHS and told them Miss Judy was watching too many babies, and so she had to let go of 4 (she and her daughter were looking after 8, but because she is unlicensed, she could only watch 4, even though her daughter is with her all day). Luckily, Ruby got to stay. Miss Judy has been doing this for 20 years, and is well known as the best babysitter in town. This is the first time DHHS has ever had cause to come visit. They even said that she was doing a wonderful job, but rules are rules. Also, we have an ongoing flea problem in the house. They are persistent little buggers. Since Monday, they have been bombed and sprayed by a professional, yet everyday, two or three show up. We are going crazy!! And worst of all, our dog just died. He collapsed on Monday, went to the vet on Tuesday where he was diagnosed with cancer, came home on Wednesday, and went under the deck on Thursday evening and didn’t come out. We got Gus as a stray four years ago, and he was the laziest, sweetest golden retriever you could ever wish to meet. The house feels a whole lot emptier without him.

    Well, enough of my woes. I am cheered up by the fact that there is another baby in the world – congratulations, Jone.

    And Kathe, I want an Aunt Annie. Are you willing to share?

    Alkelda, I hear you on #6. Things could be a lot worse.

    Happy birthday to the little one, Jules. A 3 year old and a 4 year old – what a treat.

    Oh, and the Three Sisters artwork would look wonderful in Ruby’s room. They are beautiful pieces.


  19. My kicks this week:

    1. BEING ON JULE’S KICKS!!! The article is gorgeous!
    2. Attending a fabulous workshop at Nashville Public Library with a poet/Educator, Ellen B. Rust (www.awakening the writer.com) and Sue Mulcahy, visual artist (her exhibition at the Gallery at the NPL is titled “Open to the Night”).

    Both of these facilitators used a free-style in mark making and responding through word. My favorite quote of the day from Ellen Rust “If you write, you are a writer.”

    Will post some of my workshop work on the blog in next few days . . .

    3. Finding the most exquisite Italian wine grown near Amalfi, and it was only $11.99 per bottle: PRIMITIVO, highly recommended and very close to the real thing (i.e., sitting at an outdoor trattoria overlooking the Bay of Naples . . . memories)!

    4. Watching my 14 year-old daughter, Lauren, and her friend, Shelby, dress up as aliens (complete with green faces, glitter eyeshadow and springy antennae) and lipsync/dance for videos to post on youTube. I just about peed my pants from laughing so hard.

    5. Getting to the advanced level of Table Tilt on the wii FIT, and watching my mii slim down! Yippee!

    6. Having my 6 year-old daughter tell me “You are beautiful, Mommy!”

    7. Haven Kimmel is back on the blog scene and actually discussing with us lowly blog babies the intricacies of IODINE . . .
    http://www.havenkimmel.com, click on blog!

    My life is complete . . .


  20. Jama: Have we had any vegetarian presidents yet?

    Jules and eisha: If I get an interview, I’ll tell you more! It’s something I would really love to do. I’m very excited, very hopeful, and very anxious.

    Jone: Glad that you got to meet Justina and Lorie Ann. I’m sorry to hear of the loss in your extended family.

    Sara: WOO HOO! for your niece getting the spot. Healthy vibes and strength to her.

    emmaco: Bouncing up and down rules. Enjoy the leftovers, the photos, and the friends!

    Alkelda: Say hello to the beautiful flowers for me!

    Kathe: Adorable reaction from your munchkin.

    Zoe: Oh, no. I am so sorry. Your family is in my thoughts.


  21. Tricia, fabulous kicks! I am hoping to get my oldest into a (public) magnet school for art (when it’s time for her to enter kindergarten). William’s art sounds wonderful, as well as the exhibition.

    I remember interpreting Bunnicula when I was the librarian at the Tennessee School for the Deaf. The class would come in, the teacher would read aloud, and I’d start hand-flapping. That was fun. Great book. And do you know I’ve never read Little Women? Damn shame, I know.

    Jone, so sorry about the loss in your family.

    Emmaco, congrats on your new victim, and are you gonna share that chocolate mousse recipe? Oh, and enjoy your lunch-time walks.

    Thanks from me, too, for that BBC link. I love Neil’s story, the stressed-out CEO and the old home-made swing. Rockin’. I also love that phrase, “audit your happiness.”

    JES, yes, I’d agree with “sensational” to describe “Iron Man.” I like my superhero movies, but that one almost left me breathless. I wanna be able to fly around like that.

    And geocaching — who knew? I just learned something new. Have too much fun.

    Alkelda, I like kicks #6 and 7, too. And I’m glad your gig got re-scheduled so that you can have more time to heal from your laryngitis and such.

    Kathe, what great kicks! May I adopt Aunt Annie, too? I love how you described her. And congrats on your omelette-that-rocked.

    Zoe, oh my. What a week! I’m so sorry, especially about Gus. I think golden retrievers are so beautiful, very special dogs. What sad news. I hope Cy’s doing okay with it. And that really sucks, to be frank, about Miss Judy. But I’m glad Ruby gets to stay. I hope this week is better for you, and please know you’re welcome to come vent and post anti-kicks any time. Don’t look at them as anti-kicks, but instead a place to come and commiserate with friends who care to listen. That sounds very Dr.-Phil, but you know what I mean, I hope.

    Here’s to a better week for you.

    Sher, thanks for letting us feature you. What a busy, fullfilling week it sounds like you had. I am so behind on Haven’s blog, but I know she’s discussing Iodine with fans (which I think is so fascinating — I mean, how many authors do that?), and so I need to go check it out.


  22. Tricia, Little Women was my favorite book for a couple of years around middle school, and that dang Beth broke me up every time. *sniffle* Did you ever see the Friends episode where Rachel and Joey read each other’s favorite books, and Joey was crying so hard over Beth he had to put the book in the freezer?

    jone, please give your daughter all our love and best wishes.

    emmaco, you saw pipistrelles up close?! How amazing! Did they make that little chirpy noise?

    JES, the Lead Belly collection isn’t quite as cool as it sounds – it’s a research collection assembled by a guy who wrote the Lead Belly newsletter for years and was writing a biography of LB when he died. So there’s not a lot of stuff that LB actually touched – but there’s tons of cool stuff about him, like copies of his prison records and correspondence and stuff. Oh, and I totally don’t understand geocaching – some day please send me an email and explain what your kick means.

    Alkelda, yay for carrots and sleeping in. And double-yay for being able to pay the bills. Certainly can’t take that for granted right now.

    Kathe, I want to hang out with Aunt Annie. Anyone with a Ramona tatttoo kicks serious ass in my book.

    Aw, Zoe, that is a rough week. So sorry about your dog, but I’m glad the last few years of his life were spent in the care of your awesome family.

    Hey, Sher! Thanks for hanging with us today. And uber-thanks for the wine recommendation!

    Oh, and jules and JES, I saw Iron Man last night! What are the odds? Well, I guess pretty good since it just came out on DVD. But I absolutely LOVED it – best action movie I’ve seen in years.


  23. What a great castle! Love the art this week!

    Eisha – I second (or third) Penalty Box. My friend that does roller derby here is named Willful MissConduct. Derby rocks!

    Jules – hope y’all had plenty of punch and cake today!

    I am later than usual – my computer died. Not crashed – died. (Borrowing the bf’s.) So I am a little in line with Zoe today – and Zoe I am so very sorry for your loss of your dog – goldens are great, with great big hearts.

    Congrats jone on the new grandbaby!

    And Little Willow, congrats on all the good things coming your way!

    Sara – good thoughts for your neice!

    I only have a couple of kicks this week:
    1. Having access to another computer to get here to see everyone else’s kicks. I have to say, my Sundays are not complete anymore unless I swing by here and read everyone’s kicks. They are always such a bright spot.
    2. The bf is far away on business. There is nothing like those long-distance phone calls to bring up the bittersweet ache of missing someone. Makes me appreciate me more.
    3. A big achivement at work on Wednesday that took 2 years to happen – very exciting!
    4. Back-to-back episodes of The Wire while snuggled with the dogs.
    5. Crisp fall weather with sunshine and turning leaves.
    Hope everyone has a good week!

    PS – Iron Man was pretty damn close to perfect – but I will watch RDJr in anything.


  24. OOPS! On kick #2 it should’ve said “makes me appreciate HIM more!”

    I can’t watch multitask online very well!


  25. Ya’all rock and are so welcoming!

    Now I can’t wait to get Iron Man (which I missed at the theatre) and I love Robert Downey JR . . .

    Ah, Little Women – what a jewel.

    The power of writing is amazing. The fact that Haven Kimmel is right in the trenches with her readers is just amazing! Wow! Not to mention all the other illustrious folk that pop in and out of her blog . . .

    Eisha – you will LOVE the Primotivo! I promise, if not I will buy it back from you! Just imagine a drippy Margarita pizza and cantaloupe gelato (Nucci’s in Cool Springs is the closest you will get to the real thing) . . . sip the Primotivo and, voila – you are there in Italia!

    I don’t know if I can keep up with too many more blogs, plus mine, but this one is divine and I have to bring my notebook with me so I can jot down all the great recommendations.

    for art’s sake,
    sher


  26. P.P.S. Clearly, 7-Imp needs a “7 Impossible Actors” category, for which Downey would be the first nominee. 🙂


  27. RM, sorry you’re missing your boyfriend. And I hope you get your computer up and running soon — or can easily get a new one.

    And I hear ya on the reading-kicks thing. It’s like our own mini-Facebook world every Sunday — a way to keep up with people we care about. If our “regulars” don’t come and kick, I start worrying about them! I’ve been known to email someone and ask if they’re okay, since they didn’t share their kicks. Now, well, that makes me sound like a stalker and I know sometimes you just need blog-free days, but you know what I mean.

    Sher, you’ll love “Iron Man” if you love Robert Downey, Jr. My husband saw it in the theater on a work trip out of town when it first came out and kept saying it was wonderful. Now that I’ve seen it for myself finally, I see what he meant.


  28. Eisha, I’m pretty good at hearing high pitched noises but couldn’t hear the pipistrelles! They must be super squeeky.

    Jules, I am happy to share the recipe as it only has three ingredients! Which is why I was nervous, in my experience recipes with only a few ingredients are tricksie. But this one wasn’t!

    225g chocolate
    25g butter
    4 eggs

    Melt chocolate (carefully in bowl over steaming water/in microwave etc)
    Mix in butter once chocolate runny and make sure it all melts
    Add four egg yolks to chocolate mixture
    Whisk egg whites into stiff peaks, then carefully fold into chocolate mixture.
    Chill for at least three hours in fridge.

    So easy! So very yummy!


  29. Mmmm, emmaco. Thanks.


  30. Glad you liked the bout! I’m sure the SufferJets would love to have you on their team. Pain is temporary. The benefits of derby are fitness, teamwork, camaraderie, friendship, strength, and self-esteem.

    I’ve been announcing at SufferJets bouts all summer and was so happy to get out there and skate for once. The fans were fantastic. We love you all!

    hugs – kisses – bruises,
    Bitches Bruze
    http://hellionsoftroy.com


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