nigel

[nigel]

I had a copy of this book as a child. The full-color photography is a buzzkill, but the illustrations and all the simple, two- and three-ink print areas are spectacular examples of beautiful mid-century efficiency.

It’s getting toasty out there. Luckily, July is National Ice Cream Month and we’ve found a few easy-to-follow recipes for ice cold beverages in the circa 1965 Betty Crocker’s New boys and girls cookbook. It includes recipes for such drinks as a Molasses Soda (molasses, milk, vanilla ice cream, and club soda), Choc-o-Nut milk (peanut butter, chocolate syrup, and milk) and Woodsman’s Refresher (milk, maple syrup, and cinnamon). 

This is TX652.2 .C76 in Hagley’s Published Collections.

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The silhouette.

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I researched, created, and designed a 200-page book about the history and culture of my alma mater, the Columbus College of Art & Design. Today, I launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund a print run of this very cool, very niche project.

Check it out, help tell local history, and get a cool book!

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Popping out from my tumblr hibernation to repost this picture of a fantastic workwear smock.

Arquitecto Raul Lino (1879-1974)

[nigel]

We had fun in Chicago, which was in the upper 70s when we arrived friday afternoon. Our Airbnb was just a few short blocks away from the lake, so we dropped off our bags and then spent some time at the shore. Lake Michigan looked suspiciously like the ocean. We had dinner at a Korean-fusion place called Del Seoul (the kimchi fried rice with spam was fantastic). After Lambchop, Karen and I took a short bus ride to visit Billy Sunday, a cocktail bar with a vast collection of vintage and contemporary amari. This was a beautiful place that surprised me with its lack of pretentiousness.

When we woke up saturday morning, it was pouring down rain and in the low 40s, but we nevertheless had a delightful and leisurely morning, eating a very pleasant brunch then walking around Lincoln Park Zoo and Lincoln Park Conservatory. (The rain kept the crowds away, and I’ll take rain over crowds any day.)

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Karen and I made a trip to Chicago last weekend to see Lambchop touring in support of FLOTUS, and of course it was a wonderful time—about as weirdly-laid-back as the other time I've seen Lambchop play, and about one hundred times more laid-back than any other show by any other band I've ever seen. Delightfully quiet—quiet to a point where you begin appreciating the band's musicianship in an uncommon way. They played (nearly?) everything on FLOTUS, plus a few Is a Woman-era selections, and finished with that great cover of "When You Were Mine". Sui generis.

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I'm enamored with every part of this video for the single from The Furrow Collective’s new-ish LP.

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A very nicely carved plaque on the wall of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

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Most of the churches we visited had plain stone floors. Not St. Patrick's Cathedral, no sir-ee bob.

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I'm pleased with the way this panorama of Trinity College Library's Long Room turned out. There were so many people blazing through this place it was hard to enjoy it.

[nigel]

Nigel and Karen in Scotland and Ireland: Day 11

Part of a series.

Though Karen and I had been planning to take a bus from County Waterford to Dublin, John and (aunt) Karen generously offered to drive us themselves. We fly out of Dublin tomorrow morning, so we just have the tiniest amount of time to explore this place. The familiar old experience of toting around our heavy bags and wandering around trying to find yet another strange Airbnb makes it feel like we’ve been traveling for an eternity. This day in Dublin will be fun, but we’re both ready to be back home. So we dropped off our bags at our new Airbnb, which is close to the city center on the north side of the Liffey. This place is weird—it’s a big downtown apartment complex built in the 1980s, and it feels like a college dorm. Our room is clean and sparsely furnished, but the place is messy and uncomfortable. Just one night here, then I’ll be in my own bed!

We made a short to-do list for Dublin, and at the top of it is the Book of Kells. So after setting down our bags, we walked straight to Trinity College (did I mention it’s cooooooold here?). The Book of Kells is located on the lower floor of the old library building. The exhibition itself, once we got through past the gift shop and ticket counter, consisted of a dimly-lit room with about five separate zones of minor artifacts on display, all things relating to the scribal tradition. This room opened onto an even darker room, empty except for a display case housing the manuscripts themselves. Each of the four gospels was rebound as separate books in the 1950s, and two of these are visible here. Seeing these pages—even just these two spreads—was the fulfilment of a childhood dream for me. The exhibition opened out into the old library’s Long Room—one of those places I've seen pictures of all my life. It was surreal to stand there. All the wood felt ricketier than I pictured it being.

After looking around Trinity for a bit, we walked farther west through Temple Bar and along the Liffey. It would be fun to come back here when we have more time. Our next destination was Kilmanhiam Gaol, situated on what is basically the other side of town. Along the way, we stopped to look at the Church of St. Augustine and John (a terrifyingly ornate Roman Catholic church in the middle of a very Catholic country, fulfilling all sorts of romish clichés), the old archway of the Great Music Hall on Fishamble Street (all that remains of the venue which hosted the first public performance of Handel’s Messiah), and the Irish Museum of Modern Art (situated on a beautiful piece of land but unfortunately closed on mondays). When we finally got to the Gaol, we bought tickets for the next available tour (2:30 pm), then ate a late lunch at a nearby pub while we waited.

The Kilmanhiam Gaol tour, along with some exhibitions in the neighboring courthouse, was very slick. Our tour guide gave off a theater-school graduate vibe, and as we toured the building, he told human interest stories relating to the events of the Easter Rising. I’d recommend the tour to anyone with some time to spend in Dublin. The only terrible thing about it was its size: there were something like 35 people in the tour group. They’re really raking in the cash with this thing!

By now, the sun was setting. We stopped at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on the way back to our place. This is the largest church building in Ireland. And the tile floor is to die for. St. Patrick’s is the only church we paid to see during our trip, but it was worth the price of admission. But at this point we were so tired and cold. After a pit stop back at our Airbnb to put on some more layers, we ended up in a burrito place in Temple Bar, and the food was great. Just up the road, we stopped in at the Palace Bar. Although selected mostly on a whim, it turned out to be a great choice. Though there was no music going (it was a monday), the back room of this place was the coziest place on the planet at that particular point.

Tomorrow we fly home. Tonight we sleep in this weird, vaguely uncomfortable Airbnb.

[nigel]

The main drag in Rathgormack: John and Karen's house to the left, the local Roman Catholic church across the street.

[nigel]

Nigel and Karen in Scotland and Ireland: Day 10

Part of a series.

Early sunday morning, Karen and I woke early and piled in John’s car for a short early-morning hike through the wilderness camp that he and (aunt) Karen work to support, located just a few miles from their home, near the foot of the Comeragh Mountains. Even in deep autumn, the campgrounds were lovely. I can only imagine what a charming place this is during the growing season.

We headed home, switched into some nicer clothes, and drove another 45 minutes to the Beachy Amish Mennonite church in Dunmore East (the only such church in Ireland). After worship, John, Karen, Karen, and I had a lasagna lunch in the church’s multipurpose room (so we didn’t have to go all the way home just to eat!). After lunch, we drove through Dunmore East itself, a fishing village with an attractive harbor. John parked the car and we walked along the coast on a narrow but well-beaten path. What is it with the grass here? It’s literally like a trampoline. Like the grass has covered itself with protective cushion of grass. It’s literally emerald-colored, and the sky is sapphire, and it’s all wonderful.

We traced our way back home along the coast, stopping a few times to take in the sights and the. I’ve missed seeing great works of culture during our time in the Irish countryside, but the beauty of God’s creation here cannot be overstated. Back home, Karen made us hot soft pretzels, which we washed down with milk (by the way, plain old commodity milk here tastes grassy and buttery—nothing like the stuff back home). Tomorrow we bid adieu to our family and head to Dublin.

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Nigel and Karen in Scotland and Ireland: Day 9

Part of a series.

Today was our most relaxed yet. It was a bit of a forced relaxation, since we are staying with Karen’s aunt and uncle in rural Ireland with no transportation. But we had a nice morning exploring Rathgormack, which isn’t much larger than the one street and the few buildings on it. We visited a nearby graveyard (the town’s “old graveyard”). Someone was clearly mowing the place, which must have been a tough job given the abundance of broken and out-of-place headstones. The odd thing about this graveyard wasn’t the old headstones—it was the fact that, given some of the new headstones, people were clearly still being buried there. Past and present in close and strangely beautiful quarters.

The shop that John and (aunt) Karen manage was having a “customer appreciation day” with a cookout and a little outdoor party, so Karen and I walked over there and visited for a while. I think all the village residents were out and about! We ate lunch at the party before hitting the road for a little outing with John and Karen.

They took us to Hook Lighthouse, the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the world. We had a tour of the old structure (led by a guy named Jamie—one of the kindest and most gregarious people I’ve ever encountered) which consisted of a walk up the spiral staircase with stops on each floor. The view from near the top is spectacular.

And then the sun set. Wow, was this a whole day? Another sleepy ride home and another great time of visiting around John and Karen’s kitchen table. Then, sleep.

[nigel]

Nigel and Karen in Scotland and Ireland: Day 8

Part of a series.

We woke up in Glasgow and touched down in Dublin by 10 am, where we were met at the airport by Karen and John, my wife’s aunt and uncle. (Yes, the two Karens thing never stops being confusing.) It was wonderful to claim our bags, throw them in John’s trunk, and hop in their car. John and Karen, Amish Mennonites from Plain City, Ohio, have been living in Ireland for a little over a year now, working to support a number of Mennonite ministries in the country. What fun to have family members over here to take care of us and host us for a few days!

John and Karen wanted to grab coffee and discuss the day’s plans, so we stopped at the Dublin Ikea. It’s good to know that Ikea feels the exact same in Europe. Knock me unconscious, cover up all the _€_s with _$_s, and I’d think I was back home. Anyway, we had a leisurely time sipping our beverages and discussing plans. It’s only about a two-hour drive back to their place, but they had some things they wanted to show us on the way. From there, John took a scenic route through the Wicklow mountains, because he said he’d only seen them once and wanted another look. Landscapes in Scotland were mostly brown and grey, due to the autumnal-colored plants, but here in Ireland things were a bit greener. We stopped at a lookout spot with a breathtaking view of the valley below. Though it wasn’t a particularly cold day, the wind at the top of the mountain felt like it would blow us away.

Next, we stopped at the headquarters of Avoca Handweavers, the oldest working woolen mill in Ireland. This was a beautiful place—a functioning mill with machines whirring away. The production area, which consisted of two levels, was open to the public to just walk in and explore. We had a nice lunch at the café there.

From here, we drove for what felt like a very long time. I hadn’t been a backseat passenger in a car in a long time, and I guess this, combined with the twisty Irish roads and the lilt of John’s laid-back gear-shifting made me pretty sleepy. We next stopped in Kilkenny, because John and Karen wanted us to see the castle there. Sadly, it was by now already approaching sunset and the castle was closed for the day. Wait, what? It only takes two hours to get to your house from the Dublin airport—how did we use up the whole afternoon in the car already? John and Karen are fantastic—and so much calmer than I am. These next few days are going to be a great exercise in learning to relax. We had a great Thai dinner in Kilkenny then hit the road again, this time headed for home.

John and Karen live in the tiny village of Rathgormack, situated in an area John tells me is “about as rural as Ireland gets”. Their house, on the main road, is across the street from the Catholic church and just a few doors down from the village’s only store, which John and Karen manage. It’s all very picturesque. The four of us enjoyed a delightful time of conversation and hospitality around the dining room table before setting off to bed. Thanks to our hosts, this dark and sleepy Irish village feels more like home than anywhere else we’ve been on our trip.