the rendering of defunct

the assignment was to combine two opposing things into one art piece. I understand that hammers are not the polar opposite of nails, in fact, they are more complementary as stand alone objects, but I couldn't quite let it go. the result is what you see here. the reversal of roles on both the hammer and nail's behalf. the decommissioning of a rather functional object (er, my only hammer) to something essentially fragile (the severed nail is seated in thin corrugated cardboard which is elmer's glued on and masked with thin drawing paper). there's a certain David/Goliath feel to it, I was told. for me, it has a stronger unnerving feeling than one of triumph (the hammer and nail were always cohorts of sorts, existing more fully in each other's presence), of something gone not quite right. the transformation of strength to weakness, the transference of weakness on the strong, tempered with the cleverness of disguise.
lemme know what you think.

new haunts.

so while I was in the midst of teching, prepping, palpitating for my show at OTB last last weekend, I also decided that it would be a good a time as any to move. so I did. 8 blocks SE from old digs.
my new place - studio, efficient, bathroom down the hall - has, as of this feb posting, no direct sunlight, the kitchen is a closet and the giant window I do have faces neighbors who play the radio LOUD during the mostly acceptable hours of ALL DAY.
on the flip side, I have a loft bed, two giant armoire-y closets, which, if I didn't have a loft, I would be tempted to rig the bigger of the two into a MurfyBed, tiny (in comparison) cats down the hall, and neighbors who do not play COUNTRY MUSIC or MUSICALS. either of which would drive me, like a nail into still soft plaster, totally, unflinchingly, batty.
also, borrowing the slight irony found in a certain women's only lounge in Chicago's Hancock building, the view from the bathroom is outstanding.

putting the lax in flax.

I have acquired a food dehydrator. this is exciting to me/how I spend my last Thursday night. I bought it cuz I'm on this raw foods kick. not that I'm following a raw foods diet 100 or even 50 per cent, but the idea of it interests me. as does the good for you desserts you can make. like raw ginger oat cookies. ok, I actually made those before the dehydrator moved in and subsequently ate them before I got around to plugging it in/turning it on.
so, instead, I broke my dehydrator in with a little treat called flax crackers. not a dessert but still fun! the recipe is super simple and time consuming (step one: soaking things for entire half days. step two: dry for twice as long). the results of my cracker making undertaking were somewhere between soft and crunchy, depending on how patient I was with step two, and not too bad in the taste category, hovering, like a 3 day old helium balloon, a little bit below some store bought ones I've had.
if you were to come over, I would offer you not one but three. not only did the recipe I followed result in the largest batch of soaked flax I have ever laid eyes upon, but I am currently refraining from them for several days. why, you may ask, am I on day two of no intake of this amazing, healthy snack that I personally made and am proud of? well, it's a little thing called too much of a good little thing.
flax seeds are bursting with all kinds of healthy buzz words: omega-3, lignans, alpha linolenic acids, fiber, to name a few. they are purported to fight cancer. diabetes, cholesterol, inflammation, constipation, heart disease - wait, go back, what was that second to last one? ah ha. . . . so I got a little excited when I was making them and ate a ton of crackers (quality assurance, people). so now for sure I don't have any of those illnesses that I didn't have prior to cracker making. and then some. it's like I ate so many that it pushed all those properties to the extreme. allow me to lift text directly off some flax loving website:

Flax is high in both soluble and insoluble fiber. One ounce of flax provides 32% of the USDA’s reference daily intake of fiber. Flax promotes regular bowel movements because it is high in insoluble fiber. Flaxseed's all natural fiber helps to absorb water, thereby softening the stool and allowing it to pass through the colon quickly.

other adverbs that could be used at the end of that sentence are: surprisingly, swiftly, speedily, briskly, posthaste, straight away, untimely, unfortunately, uncomfortably, unpredictably, embarrassingly. . .