My Palette Signpost

I have had this palette sitting in my shed for months. Brandon kept asking about it: "What are you going to paint on that?" "Still thinking of good quotes?" "Want me to pull it out for you to work on?" Finally, two weekends ago, I was inspired. I pulled the palette out of the shed. Sadly, it was COVERED in roaches.

(Those of you who do not live in SC might think this is disgusting. You are probably even judging me right now. But let me tell you, there is absolutely NOTHING you can do about the infestation of roaches in the summer here. It is disgusting and creepy and awful. My least favorite thing about this place.)

I killed ten myself. That does not count the ones B killed after he saw the battle I was waging and came to rescue me. (I need rescuing when it comes to roaches.) But I was determined. I love this palette, you see. And I had great plans for it. One by one the roaches were killed and I started whitewashing the whole thing in the summer sun and heat. When it dried, we coated the thing in roach killer and let it sit overnight. Then, rinsed it down and brought it inside. From my kitchen table, I planned and sorted and coordinated. I calculated and matched and sketched and painted. Until, I was satisfied...

The Places each represent somewhere either of us have been or would like to go one day:

1. Carnoustie, Scotland- (Claire) one of my favorite little towns not too far from Dundee (where I lived for a year); also, there is a nice golf course there.
2. Mackworth Island- (both) a small island north of Portland, Maine. In the woods, locals build faerie houses of stones and sticks, leaves and bark to welcome them.
3. Kuzbass, Russia- (both) if it is cold, we call it the Kuzbass. I don't know where this quirk of ours came from, except Siberia.
4. Mokule'ia Beach- (Brandon) Location of the crash site from the (most amazing) TV series, LOST.
5. Sint Maarten- (both) our honeymoon destination.
6. Mountains of Mourne- (Claire) a line of poetry quoted to me by Lysa Owen ("where the mountains of mourn sweep down to the sea") will always haunt my first Northern Ireland September visit
7. Zanzibar- (Claire) please, may I go?
8. Frydlant- (both) Brandon's brother and sister-in-law (Justin and Andra plus 3 little ones!) live there... far away in the Czech Republic. 4945 miles away to be exact.
9. Stone Harbor- (Brandon) location of childhood vacations and many happy memories for the Loy family
10. Carlingford Lough- (Brandon) Warrenpoint, a lovely Northern Irish village, sits along the banks of Carlingford Lough
11. Walls of Benin- (Claire) In another life, I might have preserved these ancient structures in West Africa.

He likes it. Just thinks its really heavy. I am trying to convince him we can hang it on the wall :)

My inspiration for the sign came from this photo I took in Kennebunkport, ME:

Summer Reading {Novelized History}

I sort of stumbled on my first reading series of the summer. I was lent the CDs for an Erik Larson audiobook for a road trip that I took in early May. I was so intrigued that I often found myself sitting in my car at my destination, listening. The Devil in the White City was both fascinating from an architectural/ structural view but also intriguing and suspenseful. After completion, I started In the Garden of Beasts. Both books were extremely interesting and varied in their subject matter. What impressed me the most was the whole concept of "novelized history." The stories are still told with the typical arch of a novel's plot development. But Larson sticks closely to history, littering his work with historic trivia...

Pabst Blue Ribbon is called such because it won the First Place Blue Ribbon at the Chicago World's Fair. Walt Disney's father was a construction worker at the fair and told his son stories of the "White City." The enchanted boy would dream of "other worlds and fairy kingdoms" until one day, he would make it a reality for everyone else. Helen Keller met the man who created the first braille typewriter at a booth in the fair.

Hitler's favorite movie was King Kong. During the Night of Long Knives, an unfortunate cellist had the same last name as an "enemy of the state." Apparently Schmidt and Schmitt are interchangeable to SS men. Goring was an eccentric child and Diels had a remarkable sense of morality (in comparison to his compatriots).

What struck me most about the style was Larson's insistence on sticking to primary sources for dialogue. He clearly spent hours in libraries, archives and private collections pouring over diaries, letters, official memos, court notes. Each story is told compellingly backed by the certainty of truth. I did not know such a thing was possible and I applaud Larson for it. I would not recommend these books to everyone. They are oftentimes bogged down in facts and very detailed. I think you need to be very interested in the subject matter, very interested in the historic process that such a work takes, or Larson's own mother to truly appreciate these works. 

As I have satisfied my interest on the process and exhausted his collection of subjects that interest me, I am going to move on to my second summer series: The Game of Thrones.Maybe I'll scheme up some novelized history books of my own... The Boer War, anyone?