Monday, May 27, 2013

From princess to punk

Twelve years ago, when the girls turned two and four, I surprised them with a castle cake. (Stayed up until the wee hours making it while they were asleep.) Inverted ice cream cones form the towers. I made a second castle cake two years later, for their 4th and 6th birthdays, upon request.





This year, for Annabelle's fourteenth birthday, she wanted to make a castle cake with three of her friends. They were not as concerned about adhering to the formal lines of traditional castle architecture as they would  have been as toddlers. They were each more interested in expressing their individual proclivities. One drew a penguin, another a dolphin. In spasms of adolescent glee, they set upon the cake with gel tubes to create a frenzied graffiti. As Roger said, the contrast between the cake made for the two-year-old and the cake made by the 14-year old shows the evolution from princess to punk.

Each girl decorated her own tower, and I found these especially inspired. One of the towers was topped with a lateral Oreo that made it look like something from out of the Jetsons.  Since the cookie sheet we had wasn't big enough, they weren't able to affix the towers to the four corners, so they just used them to construct a battlement instead.

Their finished product was a colorful, crazy mash-up of frosting and whimsy:










Saturday, May 25, 2013

They let me be on the radio!

It was a thrill this past Wednesday to do a guest DJ spot on community radio station 90.1 KKFI!  Mark Manning graciously allowed me to do an hour on his show, Midday Medley. I didn't get invited because I'm so awesome, but because I had donated to the station.

I was a little nervous about speaking on the air and having my words traveling through radio speakers all over the city --and potentially streaming all over the world!!---but what helped was my enthusiasm for the songs I chose to play. Once I got the mike in front of me I couldn't resist sharing why I liked them. Plus I had typed up notes on each song, and highlighted key phrases in case I blanked out. I had practiced talking about them in the car on the way to work that morning!

 I'm posting one of the songs here in honor of my lovely daughters Lilah and Annabelle, who both have birthdays this month.

This clip of Grace Slick's song "China" shows a montage of her daughter China from baby to grown woman. Seeing the images and hearing the song always makes me cry!



Below is my playlist:

Lose this skin - The Clash
Ruby --Kristin Hersh
Hello Lemon --Mike Andrews
Silver Spoon - Grace Slick and Paul Kantner
China ---Grace Slick and Paul Kantner
Love - Victoria Williams
I can't stand it --The Specials
The call up --The Clash
Perpetual motion machine ---Modest Mouse
Dark Matter --Bjork
A day ---Inara George
I can hear you --They might be giants

Friday, May 17, 2013

Wilma is a Capricorn

It's Flintstones Friday! In this clip, Wilma's in a rut, Betty reads her horoscope, and a sudden phone call sends them racing for the clothing rack of the nearest ski shop. They can't afford it, but no matter. They plan to "charge it....!"