WW5: Ah, Motherland!

If you got any good potluck recipes, bring them on.  Strong candidates are those dishes that can be made in advance, transported easily and don’t need to be heated.  There’s a new category for ww$ recipes too, so we can have a cookbook if we get a few of them.

Quinoa-Sweet Potato Salad
(serves 2-3)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup quinoa
1 medium sweet potato
1/2 onion, diced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

At home: Mix olive oil, vinegar, salt, and nutmeg in a leak-proof, screw-top container. Put the raisins and pecans in a zipper-lock plastic bag.

In camp: Rinse the quinoa well, then combine with 3/4 cup water and simmer, covered, for 12 to 15 minutes. Peel and cube sweet potato and place in a separate pot. Cover potato with water and bring to a boil. Slightly reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes or until somewhat tender. Discard the water and combine the sweet potato and the cooked quinoa. Add onion and ginger. Stir in the oil and vinegar mixture and the raisins and pecans. Mix well and cool in a creek or snow bank, or eat warm.

For those of you who don’t live near the Gowanus Canal — here’s a snap of some graffiti that always cracks me up.

The worms seem to be doing fine. No more escapees. I hope they are comfortable in their warm, moist bed of cash and happy with the food scraps we toss their way. They’ve been fed about a pound and half of vegetable scraps so far. In the meantime I got a call from the US Treasury saying that they would give me shredded currency for my project. I am waiting for the official letter and then I guess I need to go to the Fed with it. Also in the meantime I submitted some formal questions in writing to the Fed, asking the following questions: How much currency is destroyed and deposited in landfill each year? Monetary amount and/or pounds? Is any of the currency recycled (besides as souvenirs)?  And if no, why not? If there are toxic chemicals in the money is it safe to bury it in landfill?  Is it possible to find out what kind of toxins are in the ink?

So we’ll see what they come back with. They said they should respond in 5 business days. I’m still unclear how this information will factor into the piece in general. I’m keeping a worm diary of the whole project — what I feed the worms, how they are doing, my  correspondence with the Fed and Treasury,etc.  I’m also still trying to work in this butterflies-in-the-bank vault image, somehow, because I keep coming back to it.  I’m also going to experiment with making a non-toxic, compostable dollar bill.

See you tomorrow

Hey guys,

So, the photo I posted shows the new blocks that I’ve made with clay. I have also created all the resource tiles. The game, as it now stands, works so that a player moves around the board according to the role of a die. When you land on a resource tile, you receive blocks to place on the grid. The goal of the game is to fill the board, effectively building a city. Tomorrow, I am going to Michael’s in Queens, where I hope to get some more materials for blocks.

I am also working on creating a loose form narrative for the game.

See you all on Sunday!

Hey Wonderlasses,
I’ve been thinking about wealth aside from monetary wealth, but within the realm of wealth in goods. And I’m am thinking of filling my “currency” tea bag bills with a specific spice for each family member. I’m looking into the history of each and seems appropriate to use herbs and spices that are common to Cajun cooking. Also, I’m envisioning all these spice-and-herb-filled tea bag bills posted/displayed on panel covered in old wallpaper from my parents’ house and cut in the shape of the towns/parishes/counties we live in. I’m still collecting items from family members, and these may still be incorporated.

And still working out how this addresses the graphing of how my parents’s views of and attitudes toward money trickle down through us kids.

Hi. I was wodering if anyone knows how to setup a template in photoshop? easy? hard? basic steps?

Any advice would be appreciated…Michelle

hi ladies…

one new idea i had was to draw inspiration from depression quilts that were usually made from recycled clothing..so i am thinking of making a border out of recycled clothing items, sheets etc..

i have a side  idea of also having a small taping of recorded snippets of interviews about foreclosures, depression era in jersey city, and depression quilts..i have to think it through….find experts…if i have the time?.. but i think it maybe a nice compliment to the visual.

enjoy the snow and the rest of your week, m

That piece I mentioned on Sunday in the context of the discussion on gifts is called Feed Me, by Barbara T. Smith (1973). For the piece she set herself up in the bathroom of an art museum. She brought supplies like wine, cheese, incense, massage oil and marijuana. The museum goers could enter the bathroom, one at a time and have a sensual experience with her. They could feed her. Smoke with her. Have sex with her… And they did

Love and Death. Same coin. Same feeling. different side.

I’ve been researching for an image to represent Love and Death in a coin. This image by Jesus Helguera is a classic calendar painting..

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