The Sacred and the Profane

Would you like to follow me on a journey 

into The Festival of the Sacred and the Profane?

It's just over there on the other side of the marsh

in that old World War II bunker.

Let's hike in to take a look.

No one advertises the festival.

There are no posters or fliers.  

It just appears each year 

on one day in October,

and so you find yourself there

among the graffiti and mud. 

And you ask yourself, 

"Where have I seen this bike before?"

To attend this festival, 

you've really got to want it.

But once we arrive, there's crowds and warm food

and aliens to show us the way.

Let's go inside.

We've entered a sort of subterranean Moulin Rouge

full of wonderful characters

and neon umbrellas to light the way

if not to keep us dry.

There's sex

and strange music pulsing through the near total darkness.

Stick close to me so you don't get lost in the chambers.

I thought I saw Todd pass by,

or maybe I just dreamed it.

You don't know who or what you'll meet,

or how they will greet you,

or when you'll find your way back out to the light.

The Festival of the Sacred and the Profane is an annual tradition on Peaks Island, and I was thrilled that we were able to attend it today.  As you could tell from the photos, it was pouring rain, but that didn't stop anyone from going.  It's a strange blend of heartwarming community (think Steampunk Saturday bean supper) and very dark, often edgy or eerie art installations and performances--a complete blast.  

Tagged Times Two

A little gift tag I made several months back from some vintage paper and a Victorian button

What a Friday!  I've been tagged by two creative and lovely friends, Nicolette of Simply Colette and Carolyn of Pretty Pink Rat.  Here are Colette's questions:

1. What books are on your favorite shelf?  

Oh, wow.  That's a hard one.  I teach literature and creative writing for a living, so I have a teensy obsession with books.   Among my all-time favorites are Jane Eyre, The Magic Mountain, Mrs. Dalloway, and To Kill a Mockingbird.  I also adore children's books like The Secret Garden and Charlotte's Web.  Honestly, though, I'll read the back of a cereal box or a shampoo bottle when there's nothing else available.  Anyone else out there have this same addiction to words on the page/box/bottle?

2. What DVD's are on your favorite shelf?

I love vintage classics like The Thin Man with Myrna Loy and William Powell.  I also love, love, love Moonstruck.  La bella luna!  Food movies like Big Night are high on my list.  I adore Tim Burton's films, too, oh and I almost forgot one of the best heartwarming films ever: The Secret of Roan Inish.  A few more recent films I like are The Station Agent, Stranger than Fiction, and Lars and the Real Girl.

3. What are your two favorite cookbooks?

Just two?  Oh, I have a wee addiction to cookbooks, too.  Man, these questions are tough.  Can I go with three?  Two classics and a new treat:  The Joy of Cooking, Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and a recent favorite is Sophie Dahl's new book called Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights.  I bought it in London, but it's available on Amazon now.  Delicious recipes, good writing, and GORGEOUS photos of the the food and of pretty Sophie!

4. Select 1-3 recipes you would cook for guests.

It's fall, so I'll go with autumnal, homey favorites: corn spoon pudding, my roast chicken (I don't eat meat, but I make it for other people), apples and onions sauteed in butter, brown sugar, and pomegranate balsamic vinegar.  For dessert, a flourless chocolate torte with creme fraiche.  I hope everyone's hungry.

5. What will we be drinking?

These days I'll probably be drinking San Pellegrino, but I always have a selection of white and red wines for my friends.  Malbec is always nice in the fall.

Carolyn's tag is much harder.  I'm supposed to list 10 random things about myself.  I hope I don't put you to sleep, my friends! 

1. I love thunderstorms.  When we lived in Indiana, I used to adore the almost daily boomers we'd get in spring and summer--real crashing, wrath of the gods kind of stuff.  

  

2. If I were to choose another career, I'd be an architect or a landscape designer.  

3.  I'm a terrible singer, but I sing all the time anyway.  I also make up my own lyrics to popular songs.  

4.  I actually like cleaning the bathroom.  Nothing cheers me up like a sparkling bathtub.  

5.  Vacuuming, on the other hand, I loathe.  Good thing my husband doesn't mind vacuuming or we'd be up to our eyes in dust bunnies.

6.  One of my favorite treats is to take a nap.  I don't do it very often, but I can think of few things more delicious.

7.  I make a mean eggplant parmesan.  

8.  When I was little I secretly wanted to be a professional figure skater.  I, like a million other girls in the seventies, had my hair cut in a "Dorothy Hamill"--not a good look for me, I'm afraid.  

9.  I'm addicted to the show Glee.  This relates back to random fact #3.  When I was in high school I wanted to be in the movie Fame (which relates back to #8: the ice-skating fantasy had morphed into the singer-dancer dream by that point).  Imagine how excited I am that there's a new Fame movie.

10.  One of my favorite places on the planet is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.  Think they'd notice if I just sort of moved in?  

Rather than choose a few individuals, I'll pass this tag along to any of my blogging friends who'd like to play along.  I love learning new things about the people I meet online.  Thanks so much Carolyn and Nicolette for tagging me!

Happy weekend!  

Gigi

 

October

Before the frost--

one last reach,

one breath,

the air cold,

but still gold enough at its edges

to singe the senses.

Here on the cusp

we watch green burn to rust,

watch every last flower

reveal yet another 

gold, another promise

that from each ending a beginning will unfold.