The Littlest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs

That is the title of a song sung by a band called the BeGoodTanyas.  One time I listened to only it on the hour and a half trip to the Ville of Steuben.  One reason I love it so much is that to me it sounds like they are singing The Little Assed Birds Sing the Pretty Assed Songs.

Drknitnightjustine- also known as the sender of surprise gifts- is one of the friends on the planet who gets and encourages me in all of my quirkiness.

The next bird will be either a large one done in bulky yarn with peacock feathers eventually added- thanks to another friend who has easy access to such accouterments- or an installation of blackbirds either to be attached to a stick to be hung on a wall or as a mobile.  There are bird cages to be searched out at flea markets.  There is a fake fica tree at school to be adorned.  The theme for the start of the school year will be birds.

While it is difficult to see, I love the idea of duplicate stitches, sequins, feathers and beads.  My fingers are very happy as they try to sew on  sequins.

Baby birds in lace weight and size below zero needles.  It just feels like the possibilities are endless.

In other future adventures, said drknitnightjustine and I have the first weekend in August blocked out as a train ride to NYC.  I've done some research on off the beaten path possibilities.

I'm thinking one of the above in lieu of the more standard Broadway show.  And while still interested in the kosher vegan chinese dumplings that can be found in Chinatown and some people watching while enjoying cannolis and macaroons in Little Italy, we also may want to expand our horizons and take the subway to Red Hook in Brooklyn which advertises the highest population of hipsters in NYC  (along with independent shops and art galleries.)

Any one of the below for dining possibilities-

And possibly this store of curiosities from the natural world as a stepping off point-

It is a collection of events that have made me want to be a writer in the world.  The apple pen is foremost among  them.  It writes on the ipad and I use it in an app called NotesPlus.  I've always loved the feel of writing.  This makes that happen without having to keep track of notebooks.  The feel is amazing.

Gail Sher speaks to writing with an eastern philosophical slant (One Continuous Mistake: the Four Noble Truths of Writing and The Intuitive Writer: Listening to Your Own Voice)  The latter was an airport bookstore purchase on the way home from South Africa.  One of the first paragraphs in this book was about how South Africans frequent the phrase "Is it?" in response to conversation rather than "Really?" Finding such an obscure conversation at the right place at the right time has always seemed significant to me and I often find myself going toward it without knowing what to do.

One of the suggestions to get started writing in a less intimidating way is to write a haiku a day.  I've always been a fan of the haiku. I have written three-

writing a novel

autobiographical

about someone else.

Losing all the words

Not to be found in the trash

read it again

(this one came about after accidentally deleting all of the notes I had taken while reading her book)

from the apple pen

words flow like juice from the fruit

getting to the core.

I must say, this has been one of the most productive summers to date.