At this moment

At this moment, I am thinking about the importance and the difficulty of being in the present. A good way to check yourself out of the past or the future or wherever you typically dwell is to finish the sentence "At this moment..." Repeat this as many times as it takes to be exactly where you are, because only when we are still are we still moving into another intensity (ref. Eliot).

At this moment, I am sitting at a small table in the wood lodge style restaurant bar The Korner Market, drinking stale coffee with a combo of Amaretto, French Vanilla, and Irish Cream Coffee-mates. This goes against all my coffee philosophies, but since I am in Priest Lake, Idaho, the paradise of my childhood summers that has likely never seen the polished steel of an espresso machine and hopefully never will, I am content.

At this moment, the book "Life of Pi" is sitting in my purse under my chair with an imaginary bookmark in the middle. I am eager to return to it.

At this moment, I am surrounded by four flat screen tvs mounted on the wood-paneled walls, surrounded by the array of hunting photographs, american flags, ancient logging gear, and animal body parts that make up the Idaho aesthetic. Clockwise, the tvs are playing the Nascar race, the Tampa Bay and Houston someones football game, Tiger Woods putting, and the weather channel. It is difficult for me to think of four subjects that I am less interested in. The drone of a Nascar race, however, is familiar background music to my Sunday afternoons, and if I thought hard enough I may be able to find some Taoist philosophy in the circular track. For that, though, I require better coffee.

At this moment, for all of my teasing, I am grateful for the rustic simplicity and beauty of life here in Northern Idaho. I feel parts of myself, long denied or buried, stirred to life with the taste of huckleberries, the smell of wet cedar, and a smile from my slow-speaking, flannel-wearing waiter.

2am obsessions

It's 2am, I should be asleep, but instead I am window shopping online. You know how it is more fun to shop with a buddy? Well, given the circumstances, my buddy is Blogger. Here are a few of my favorite finds.

First, a gorgeous asymmetrical bookshelf from www.lavindo.com. In the past year or so, I've somehow transitioned from an aesthetic driven by color to one driven by line. Naturally, this leads me to the pieces that capture the calligraphic simplicity of asian art.

And there you have it, a Chinese serving tray with actual engraved calligraphy. Not so sure I'd like this as well in person, it would have to be really matte and I'd want a translation before I set it in front of my guests for tea.
This necklace from www.imooi.com also has lovely simple lines, and I love the contrast of the unfinished wood against the silver. Although there are other pieces on the site that I prefer to this, I do like birds, which represents another emerging motif in my style. I realized that, subconsciously, the last few things I have purchased for myself have been feather shaped earrings, a dress with a feather print, and a henna tattoo of a bird. Symbolic? C'est possible.
I found this remarkable piece on n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com, an experimental jewelry company. They use nontraditional materials, like this necklace of silicone rubber, and draw inspiration for designs from both nature and computation. This necklace reminds me of a picture in my high school Biology book that I should have been learning about but was drawing instead. Plant cells or art--you decide!

If you like "modern organic living" then you will love www.amenityhome.com. Again, with the simple lines, plus, I've always had a soft spot for soft things. Their pillows are especially pretty.