Making Grandmother Proud

I have always tried to have some type of garden. This year, however, I really tried to put it in high gear. I have planted a lot more vegetables and really tried to eat everything that came out of my garden. My tomatoes have done well this year; I have gotten a lot off a lot of fruit off my tomato plants. Bell peppers are starting to produce, so I will be making some nice salads soon. And yes, I even have some corn. I ate my first ear of my home grown corn last night and it was good. I have around six more ears I will get to eat soon. A friend of mine told me how to get the corn to grow. I was told to go masturbate the corn. It did it and I have corn! If you really are interested in the process of masturbating corn get with me and I will explain.

I did not have good luck with carrots and squash. I am going to try the carrots again. My Grandmother told me I could grow these all summer long. So I am going to try one more time and see what results I get.

This weekend, I planted more tomatoes, cucumbers, and okra. I talked with my grandmother and she said I would be ok planting these vegetables this late in the year. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

My plum tree has exploded with fruit. I have been eating lots of plums and last night I made plum jelly. This is the first time I have made jelly so I was a little unsure of the results. I ate some of my plum jelly this morning and it was really good. I did a great job. I called my Grandmother to tell her the news and she was all excited for me. She said she was proud of me. Thanks Grandmother!

My Grandmother and I talked for around fifteen minutes planning out my fall garden. I went and bought a book on South Carolina Vegetable gardens as well. I am really excited and plan on continuing my garden.

Keller

To and Fro - the trip to Florence

For Father's Day I took the train home to Florence as planned. I was dropped off at the train station around 15 minutes before the train was to depart. The station in Charleston is old and has not been updated in a very long time but it was clean. I boarded the train and was very pleased at how clean and nice the Amatrak train was. The seats are comfortable and very roomy. Each seat reclines and has a foot rest so you can easily lean back and go to sleep if needed.

The ride to Florence was a little less than an hour and a half with only one stop in Kingstree. I have lived in Charleston now for over 12 years and have travelled home by car so often that I just about have every tree memorized. Now everything is different. I was very interested by the route the train took and all the surroundings along the way. I got to see all kinds of new places.

My parents picked me up in Florence and I spent the day with them celebrating Father's day. It was a nice visit. I stayed longer than I normally would have if I had driven but there are no complaints about spending time with my family.

I was dropped off at the Train Station in Florence around 20 minutes before the train was to depart. It was once inside that I found out that the train was going to be 40 minutes late. Not really a big deal, I just sat and read. The station in Florence is fairly new and also very clean so it made for a nice wait.

The trip back was very similar to the trip up. All was well and all was clean. I was very concerned about the cleanliness of the train. I had heard stories in the past so I was concerned. Once home I got off the train and walked home. It was a nice walk, a little less than a mile from the station to my house.

After this experience I will take the train home again. If not cheaper, it is as cheap as driving. On the train I get to relax and read and the end result is better on me and the environment. I will just have to adjust to being on the train schedule and not mine.

k

End of the season

I have reached the end of another season of Spoleto. This was a good season this year. I really didn't have any regrets. Friday night I went and saw Laurie Anderson. I have seen her in New York several years ago so I knew what I was going to experience. She was very good and the last two songs she asked her husband, Lou Reed, to come up and perform with her. Saturday night I went to an incredible play called The Great War. The entire play was done with miniatures and puppets that were projected on a screen. The play was about War World One. The actors read actual letters from soldiers of the war and animated them with the puppets and miniatures. It was really amazing how they pulled it off. It made for a great final to the festival.

The Train to Florence

Last night I went and purchased train tickets to go home to Florence. I have actually been thinking about doing this for some time. It is now to the point where it is better for me to take mass transit home. As gas prices have gone higher and higher I can now take the train for the same amount of money it would cost me to drive or even end up saving a little. I got round trip tickets to Florence for $40.00. To fill my car up with gas I will pay close to $50.00 when my car is on empty. Driving home I normally use 3/4 of a tank of gas. So I figure I am saving on the out of pocket expense of the trip.

In addition if I was to drive I would have a two hour trip from my house to my parents house. According to Amtrak, the trip to the Florence train station is one hour and 38 minutes. I should save a couple of minutes there. Also I will not put miles and wear and tear on my car. And I will help the environment. The train runs with or with out me, so I will use less of our natural resources on my trip home.

Also, I can walk to the train station in Charleston. It is around a mile from my house, so if I am really feeling green. I am going to walk it and walk the return trip as well.

And the last plus to the trip. I can read the entire way home. I am way behind on my book for this months book club so this down time will really come in handy.

k

Red Room

So seven years later I am still working on my house. I have repainted my dinning room. It is a tile red room now. I have always wanted a red room but just was not sure how I was going to pull it off. I like the look of this paint. As the sun light changes through out the day the color of the room seems to change as well. It goes from a slight orange red in the morning; red in the mid day; to a brownish red at night. I still have to put molding down on the bottom of the walls and then i will be done. This weekend I am going to purchase a rug and possible see what light fixtures are out there. Next project I am going to work on the hallway.

k

Amistad

Last night I went to the opera Amistad. I will start off by saying that opera is really not my thing, so I determined last night. This was the first opera I have ever been too. I will say that it was very well done and very interesting to watch. The cast was big and they did a very good job. The production was done in a black box style setting with the stage in the middle of the theater. The cast did a great job on performing to all sides. But overall I am not a fan of the use of opera to tell the story. Maybe it is something that will grow on me over time. I was also told that this was not the tradition opera and if the occasion occurs I am sure I would give opera another try. These tickets were a gift from a friend so I was pleased with the experience and very grateful for them as well.

Amistad was held in the Memminger Auditorium which was just renovated. It is a very impressive theater setting. I was very excited to check it out. I have never been in the Memminger so I do not have a comparison of the old to new, but what I saw was impressive indeed.

Spoleto-ing it!

This weekend I continued with Spoleto. I did not have as good as a time this weekend as last, but it was still a good time.

DANIEL MILLE. Danile Mille is a French accordion jazz performer. He is very talented, but to be honest I was glad when this one finally ended. It was supposed to be an hour long performance but this one ended up being close to an hour and a half. There is only so much accordion playing I think I can handle. On top of that, Daniel Mille really was into his music a bit to much and made these really odd orgasmic faces while he played.

THE BE(A)ST OF TAYLOR MAC This was an interesting performance. Taylor Mac is a drag queen. He put on a drag show that was mixed with social and political commentaries. It was very interesting and very entertaining. I did enjoy it.

THE BURIAL AT THEBES A really good play performed at the Cistern at the College of Charleston. I really enjoyed this one. It was performed outside and the sky was a little stormy at times so as they were talking about Zeus and other Greek gods it was cool to see lightening in the back ground. The play is a Greek tragedy performed by a British cast. It was very good.

Spoleto Festival USA

For the past seven years or more I have been a devoted participant in the Spoleto Festival that is held each year in Charleston. Each year during the 17 day long festival, audience members experience a broad range of artistic styles and forms, including classical ballet; modern and post-modern dance; opera; chamber, symphonic, and choral music; jazz; theater; and visual arts. Residence of Charleston are very fortunate to have so much art and culture at their door steps. This year's festival has not let me down so far.

Below are the shows I saw in the first weekend of the festival.

Paula West performed at the Cistern and was very good. I had not heard of her before but always loving a good jazz diva I took my chances and was not let down. What I really liked about her was that she took some not so standard jazz songs and put her own twist to them. I simply loved her rendition of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone."

Between The Devil And the Deep Blue Sea was very good. It is a play to mixes film through out to make a dark homage to the silent film era. It had an Adam's Family / Tim Burton feel to it. I really enjoyed it.

MONKEY: JOURNEY TO THE WEST was Amazing. I read that it cost over one and a half million dollars to produce. It is a mix of circus meets opera all performed in Chinese. I was in awe the entire time. The play was subtitled and my only criticism is that the subtitle were at the top of the stage and it was hard to go back and forth from looking at the stage to looking up to read the subtitles. But even with that, this play was AMAZING!

Fred and Ginger watching

I have two new additions to my family. Two squirrels that have taken up residence in the oak tree in my front yard. Over the seven years that I have lived here many squirrels have hung around my yard and in the park across the street from my house, but none have been so friendly and brave as these two squirrels. I have named them Fred and Ginger. They will run right up to you with no fear in them at all. I think they are very cute and they are so so frisky. All day long they run and play. It is a trip how fast they circle the tree as the chase each other. I love to sit and watch them. I even don't mind that they are eating out of my bird feeder. I hope these guys stick around for a while.

k

Lesson Learned!

OK so I have been doing my apple cider vinegar rinses and I will say it does work. My condition has been improving. I am sold that this will be a good thing. I had a busy weekend so I did not get my rinse done on Sunday as planned. This morning I got up early and decided I would do it before work. I had read that once your hair dries you will not have a problem with the smell. So I was not concerned. And all during work I did not have any problems at all. At one point I even asked people if they could smell anything and everyone said no. After work I came home feed the dogs and then went straight to the gym. That is where it happened, once I started working up a sweat I could taste the vinegar on my face and then the smell hit. It was not long before Michael who I work out with could smell it as well. He told me I smelled like I was dyeing Easter eggs. So lesson learned......don't work up a sweat until you have washed your hair with a good shampoo when you have done an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse. It was not a good thing.

My Body PH

Some how during the course of my hectic life I have thrown my body chemistry a little off whack. Yesterday was an indicator of how bad my body chemistry has gotten. Over the last couple of weeks I have developed a bad case of dandruff. Yesterday my head was just one big itch. It was driving me crazy. It was not an itch like I had stuff crawling around up there, it was more internal.

I started doing some research on line and discovered that dandruff can be caused by a series of issues. The main one being stress. Stress can really kill you. Bacteria is another cause of dandruff. Who knew that we have a fungus among us on our heads that was caused by bacteria? Another cause was simply our body pH is off balance.

From the research I found that Apple Cider Vinegar is the cure for all my troubles. It seems that the vinegar can help correct my body pH and if it is a bacteria problem it can correct that as well. Last night I went to the store and purchased some Apple Cider Vinegar. I made an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse and after washing my hair I slowly pour the rinse over my head and messaged it in. After letting it sit for five minutes I washed out my hair. This morning, I am feeling much better. I still have a slight itch but it is so much better than yesterday. I am going to repeat the treatment tonight and see where that goes.

I will keep you posted to how things go. Right now I am loving some Apple Cider Vinegar.

k

Enchanted April

I Just finished reading the book Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim for my book club. When Joe selected this book for the club I was very excited. I thought it would take me back to my vacation in Italy. It is almost two years ago that I left for Rome. For fifteen days it was a non stop adventure exploring the beautiful cities and villages of Italy.

I simply fell in love with Italy and its people. Even though my trip was non stop I found a sense of peace and calmness. I can see why so many people have written about escaping to Italy. If I could, I would pick up and move there in a flash.

The book Enchanted April is all about four women who answer and add in the paper to rent a villa in Italy for a month. The women are strangers and all have one thing in common. Along the way in their life they have lost themselves and have lost love in their lives. I love the cattiness and bitchiness of the women as their personalities clash at first. Then it happens, Italy takes over and their lives change forever. With out a doubt, this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I recommend it, you should read it.

While reading the book some interesting things happened. First I found out that the author once lived here in Charleston. In fact she spent her last days in "The Holy City," this is where she died. In addition, we just found out that the Village Theater is doing the play version of the book at the end of the month. I have already purchased my tickets. It is interesting how the universe works sometimes. There are just so many connections in life, often you just have to look for them. I wonder what my enchanted April holds for me?

k

The After

I got the call from Blue Heron Studio today about my last two pieces I dropped off last week. This was a call of mixed blessings. I was told that one piece was ready while the other they wanted me to look at, there had been some trouble with it. I am still in the learning stages so I expect to make some mistakes. That is all a part of growing and learning something new. Both pieces had some issues with them. The yellow piece looks great but it has some glue marks on it. I got a little heavy handed with the glue and it did not completely burn off. It still is a great looking platter.

As for the White piece, something I used in the cleaning processes left a residue on the glass. They are going to sand blast it to see if that will correct the problem. The design of this one is my favorite so far. I can not wait to pick it up. Wish me luck!

Here's to the learning process

k

The Before

Yesterday I felt pretty creative so I worked with my glass. Before all was done, I had created two pieces. I really enjoy this process of being creative. I walk around during the course of my day and images pop into my head of the patterns and designs I would like to create. I need to start walking around with a pad so I can sketch out my designs so I do not forget them.

After work tomorrow I will take the two pieces by the glass studio to be fused. What happens is I create the design and then pay the glass studio to fire the pieces in the kiln for me. The glass goes through two firings. The first firing is the fusing of the glass. There are also two types of fusings. You have tack fusing where you will end up with a bumpy glass. The two pieces do not completely melt into each other. The other type of fusing is called full fusing where you heat the glass up enough so that they melt into one sheet of glass. After that has been done and the glass cools down you go through the slumping phase. This is second firing where you take your glass and place it on top of a mold. It is then heated again in the kiln long enough so that it takes the shape of the mold.

I am slowly learning and getting more and more creative with each piece I create. The two photos shown in this blog show how the two pieces I have made look before I have sent them to be fired. I will do a full fuse on these and slump them into a small platter. Glass is not always predictable, a lot of variation can occur. And glass can change color once it is heated up, so the color you start off with could end up being something else.

Once I pick up the pieces from the studio I will show you what the end result turned out to be.

k

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday and what a good Friday it is. I did not have to go into work. I slept till 9:00 am. It is spring, sunny, and absolutely beautiful outside. The temperature is supposed to get up to 71 degrees today. What a great day!

I feel very rested this morning. I needed that extra sleep. I want to work outside today in my garden if I get the chance. Yesterday when I got home from work I started in the back yard, but I have a lot of work. There are weeds every where. I was lazy last year and let things go and I guess I will pay for it this year. Spring has sprung around my neighborhood. The Azaleas are in full bloom and all the trees are budding. Color is popping up every where.

My Plum tree is absolutely incredible looking. It is simply full of flowers. I think this year I might try to make plum jams and preserves. Not sure exactly what the difference is between jam, jellies, and preserves but I plan I making one or some of them. I will have to ask my grandmother for her recipes when I see her this Sunday for Easter.

Well I am off to start the day. Have a great Good Friday!

In Bad Taste

I just recently put a land line back in after just using my cell phone for several years. I had forgotten how irritating it is to have all the telemarketing calls. When the phone recently started ringing off the hook I quickly put my number on the do not call list. But I understand it takes a while to get removed off all the lists.

Tonight my phone rang and I answered it and sure enough it was a telemarketer. This one was for the Sheriff's Department or something like that. They were raising money to help support the families of the Sheriff's Department in a time of need. The very first thing the gentleman on the phone said to me was that just tonight an officer died. I was told he has a wife and little kids who know were left in peril.

Now come on, Isn't this a bit much. Trying to give me a guilt trip into giving up money. This in my opinion was in very bad taste. Good cause or not, this really turned me off. I just hung up.

k

Second Glass

I just got back with my latest creation. I am still using the white glass but I think I am getting better with my designs. I am tyring to keep it simply but with a retro look to the piece. I have just tons of ideas in my head and I can not wait until this weekend. My goal is to try to do at least two pieces. I have one more of the white platters to do and then on to something new. I purchased some new material tonight and I am going to make some smaller platters but this time with some colors. I am having a blast and I hope people will enjoy them come gift giving time.

k

The Book Club

Long story short............I tried to join a book club and I couldn't get the president of the club to return my calls or emails, so I created my own club!

We had our first meeting at my house this past Monday. For this meeting we read the book "Wicked Charleston: The Dark Side of the Holy City" by Mark R. Jones. If you are not a fan of history or do not have an interest in the city of Charleston, SC then this book is most likely not for you. I found it interesting overall, but at times it got a little boring and did not always keep my interest. I will say by far my favorite part was reading about boo hags.

I was very surprised to be honest with you about how much fun I actually had with the club. The mix of the people was great and every one had some great comments about the book. I am very excited about the club overall and can not wait till next month.

Happy reading.

Time for a change

Just recently I decided to make some evaluations in my life and make some changes. This is a practice that I do once in a while to help improve myself. I do not like getting stuck in a rut so to speak. I want to learn and grow and become a better person.

One of the changes was the amount of time I spend on line. Long ago I broke my addiction to television and now suddenly I have replaced it with something just as evil, the Internet. I spend way to much time on the computer surfing the web and doing various things. And to what gain? There is none. It has just become time filler, just as television has done in the past.

I was actually amazed at how much time I spent on MySpace. I have wasted a lot of time that I could have devoted to reading, learning, or working on some artistic adventure of mine. It has not been all bad, I have made some really interesting cyber friends through my time with MySpace and I hope they continue on as I down grade myself with the entire MySpace world.

I just need to focus the time and energy I was spending on line in other directions. I no longer want to be tied down to a computer on my lap. I want to control the time I spend and not be controlled by it. I have such a compulsive and obsessive personality. When I get into something I tend to really get into it. With that said, this is a positive move for me.

One of my dear friends laughed at me and told me she was calling me out on this one. She said that I was just moving from one thing on to another, and by creating this blog I would be doing the same thing only on another website. I see things differently with this blog site. In this blog that I have created, I still get to express myself and write but outside interest and factors are completely taken out of the factor.

This blog forum is about what I write. It is not about the number of friends I have, the comments, the bulletins, or the emails you get from people. I get to express my views and thoughts and if there is a comment it is about what I have written. It is not about what I look like, or who I know, or what have you. It is only about the written word. I can post these blogs and walk away and do other things. And this is what I want and need at this point in my life.

First Glass

I just got my very first piece of glass work outside of glass class. When Blue Heron Glass called to tell me my piece was ready I was supper excited. I went straight to the studio to pick it up.

Just getting back from my vacation in Miami I created this platter. I was inspired by the Art Deco design of the hotels in South Beach. Very simplistic in design but the color and lines do remind me of the patterns you find along South Beach.

My goal is to created at least one of these each month and give them out as Christmas gifts to my family and friends. Who knows I might even sell a few of these along the way.

"Don't let de Hag ride ya"

The legend of the Boo Hags comes from South Carolina Gullah Culture. Boo Hag legend is similar to that of the vampire. Unlike vampires, the Boo Hag does not get its strength from the victims blood but from their breath.

When a Boo Hag attacks a victim it is known as 'ridin." They positions themselves over a sleeping victim and sucks on their breath. During the attach the Boo Hag puts the victim in a dream like sleep.

Boo Hags have no skin, so they are red in appearances. In order to blend in they will steal a victims skin and wear it like clothing as long as it holds up. Before a Boo Hag attacks, it removes and hides its skin until after the feeding. Normally Boo Hags do not kill their victims they keep them alive so they can use them again and again for energy. When the victim wakes, struggles, and fights back, the Boo Hag will kill them for a new skin. After taking the victims energy the Boo Hag must flee because it must be in its skin before the sun rises or it will forever be trapped without skin.

The next morning the victim awakes very tired and short of breath. They know they have been 'ridin" by a Boo Hag. To help protect you against further attack, you can place a broom by your bed. The Boo Hag gets distracting and has to count all the straws in the broom. They run out of time to ride you before the sun comes up.

So the next time you wake up very tired and short of breath, you might want to put a broom by your bed the next morning. You have just been "ridin" by a Boo Hag.

Le Petit Keller

Over the course of my life I have had many nick names. Some of these nick names I like and some of them are just hateful and probably should not be mentioned on this blog. Growing up with the name Keller Lavon Lee gave many people a lot of material to come up with all kinds of nick names. "Killer" would have to be the most common nick name I was called through out my school years. I never really cared for it much, but I have endured it for a long time. By the time I graduated from high school I was 5'5'' and only weighed a 100lbs, so for me to be called 'Killer" was a little on the sarcastic side.


Another name I was called is "Kelly." This is really not a nick name, it is just a result of ignorance. For some reason people are just lazy and do not actually read what is printed on paper. I hate being called "Kelly." There is nothing wrong with the name "Kelly," but it is not my name so don't call me "Kelly." When I graduated high school and the principle of my school called my name to come up and get my diploma, what does he call me? He calls me "Kelly." Just damn lazy is what I say, read the damn name as it is printed on your list. The same thing happened to me when I graduated college. I was called "Kelly" once again. What was up with that? Here are these educated people who can not read a name off a piece of paper. Go get yourself a new pair of glasses will ya!


Later in life, when I was hired by Revco Drug Stores to manage some of their stores I got the nick name "KillerBee." I love the story behind this name, for those of you who know me you will agree that it is truly a Keller story. My district manager told me to call the Trainer to set up a time to meet with her to begin my training. I called her and got her voice mail. I was nervous and hyper and blurted out my message about who I was and what I needed from her. When she called me back she told me she could not tell what I said on my message and it sounded like I said my name was "KillerBee." That nick name has stuck with me ever since and I use it a lot with my artistic creations.


My favorite nickname is by far "Le Petit Keller." It is used a lot by my friends. I got this name traveling in Paris. We found in a guide book a restaurant that was highly recommended. The restaurant was called Le Petit Keller and it was on Rue De Keller in the Bastille area of Paris. The restaurant ended up being one of the best places to eat on our trip. The owners were so warm and friendly and really took time to talk with us. They were great and made the experience at Le Petit Keller even better. I took a photo of the sign of the restaurant and it is framed and hangs in my kitchen.



Lets now sum up what we have learned here today. My name is Keller Lavon Lee. I have had over the years many nick names. You can use a nick name if you like, but let's stick to the approved list. 'KillerBee" is OK, but I prefer "Le Petit Keller." If you call me "Killer," you will get a little look from me. And don't even think about calling me "Kelly." I will set you straight and most likely use very foul language that might hurt your feelings.


That's my story. Be good.


Keller