Tootsie

"It was at that moment I had an epiphany, and I went home and started crying, talking to my wife. And I said I have to make this picture, and she said, 'Why?' And I said, 'Because I think I am an interesting woman when I look at myself on screen. And I know that if I met myself at a party, I would never talk to that character because she doesn't fulfill physically the demands that we're brought up to think women have to have in order for us to ask them out. She says, 'What are you saying?'"

Fighting back tears, Hoffman continues: "I said, 'There's too many interesting women I have not had the experience to know in this life because I have been brainwashed. That ['Tootsie'] was never a comedy for me."

Credit

Insta-lately

A few summer photos from instagram.  

Pretty Amy enjoying beers, BBQ, and live music at Hill Country/The Building Museum

Mananas Battlefield - a little history lesson.

Lavender picking - Amy plans the best dates!  haha.

Birthday pie for Mr. Rickard.

IKEA journeys must be completed with frozen yogurt.

More birthday celebrations - a cocktail tasting at the Living Social Speakeasy.  He was grinding nutmeg so fast my phone couldn't keep up!

Gem of a building on F street.  

Its not about the nail.

For Monkey.





#DCflowers

What.a.weekend.  I went to a bridal shower, a Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers concert, and spent time with some friends that now live in Takoma, MD.  Their house is adorable, filled with charm and light.  The boys played/watched football, and the girls went for tea.  I ordered a sweet potato pie chai, and liked it so much I finally bought my first loose leaves to steep in my infuser.

I've decided to dedicate a series of posts to identifying interesting flowers found around DC; #DCflowers (if I decide to figure out what a #hashtag actually is). Bear with me, as I become a less-than-part-time botanist.  It might be a mistake to start this research project in the fall, but we'll push through.

*C just pointed out that my first entry isn't really about a flower, but I think the Maculra Pomifera tree and its fruit are pretty interesting.*  

Monkey Brains?

I found these beauties as my friend's house this weekend.  They had found the fruit on the ground after falling from the tree (likely story).  They thought their common name was "monkey brains" (yikes); so I did a little googling.  

Vocab lesson of the day: The Maculra Pomifera or Osage Orange tree is a dioecious tree, or one that has male and female flowers on different trees.  The fruit turns a bright green/yellow in fall - so my friends caught them at just the right time!  Wikipedia also tells me that the fruit was once believed to ward off insects - so people would place the fruit underneath their bed to repel spiders and other bugs.  Some recent studies have tested the fruit's repellancy of cockroaches.  

Some other interesting factoids: 

• The fruit is a compound fruit, or a syncarp.  That means that the carpels or orvaries have grown together - so the fruit isn't one giant fruit ball but many fruits smooshed together.  
• Although the tree is dioecious, it will still produce these fruits, just without seeds. 
• Eating the fruit could cause vomiting.  
• The trees are commonly used as a hedge row windbreak in prairie states.
• The branches can grow 3-6 feet in a single year, so pruning is necessary.
• Historically, the trees could be found in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and in the prairies; however, because of its hardiness, they can now be found throughout the US and Ontario.  

Information from wikipedia.  

And then, I fell in love with their cat who fell asleep being cocooned in a blanket.  

Emerson

Sundays.  Sigh.

Metro-ing with flowers.

For three Tuesday nights in September, I'm taking a flower arranging class through the Arlington Adult Education program.  No, I'm not approaching 85....but sometimes it feels that way.

First, we learned how to make a grid on the vase with tape to help set up a structure for the flowers to stand in.  Martha is way ahead of me - you can see one here.  While the owner talked a lot about her past and her family, and we did learn a little about the flowers in the arrangement.  We used roses, irises, alstroemeria, wax flowers, and greens in a tall cylinder glass vase.  All I can remember about the lilies is that they are not asiatic lilies.  Maybe I should take notes next week?

I ended up taking the metro home from the class, and it was so cute to see how people respond to fresh flowers.  Almost everyone I saw during the trip smiled at me; it was like we were all a part of a happy little secret!  Or maybe they just thought someone did something nice for me that day.  Either way, their smiles made me smile.

I had a conversation with a man about how nice it would be if there were plants and flowers in the train stations.  We would have to think through that idea, but flowers would add some cheeriness to some pretty dark, dreary corners.  Also, one elderly lady on my train wanted to smell the lilies.  I let her.

"Be curious, not judgmental"  - Walt Whitman

Words to remember while interacting with friends, coworkers, and relatives.  We can't know what is going on in their lives, what is behind their decisions, or their reasoning for their actions.  We can try to understand their perspective.

**Also, I thought of this quote when on a run today and a blind (?) lady wound up and slapped me with her cane....**

This is Basil.  She is sort of in charge of my condo.  She likes hunting birds from behind the glass, eating fancy feast, taking long naps, warming herself in sun patches, chasing lasers, and cuddling under my duvet.