Seven Joys for February 2023
One. Reina del Cid
Elle Cordova, lead singer and songwriter for Reina del Cid
Reina del Cid is a folk singer, songwriter, and leader of a folk rock band that carries her name. Reina del Cid records new music and covers classics, folk, and folk rock music. Her song-a-week video series, Sunday Mornings with Reina del Cid, enjoys a cult following. Her lead guitarist, Toni Lindgren, is featured on all three of del Cid’s albums and is a frequent guest on the Sunday Morning video series.
In addition to YouTube, you can find her music on SoundCloud, Spotify, or wherever you get your music. Also, check Reina del Cid’s website for tour dates, CDs, vinyl, and their newsletter.
Two. Kintsugi (金継ぎ, "golden joinery"): Japan’s Art of Embracing Imperfection
In Japan, broken objects are often repaired with gold — an art form known as Kintsugi. The artist will mend the areas of breakage with a liquid mixed with gold, silver or platinum, creating a design from the breakage.
The breaks in the pottery are seen as a unique part of its history, adding to its beauty. Rather than trying to hide these flaws, the art form embraces them. Every imperfection contributes to the strength and character of the pottery — their highlighted scars add value. - Louise Morris writing on Medium.
Those who know me know of my love for California pottery from the early to mid-20th Century. At its height, commercial California potteries number over 300, with names familiar to obscure—Catalina Island Pottery, Vernon Kilns, Franciscan, Bauer, Pacific, and Harold Johnson, to name a few.
But my love of pottery came long before we moved to California. It started with the local artisans around Nashville, Tenn, who displayed their crafts at the Centennial Artisan Festival in Centennial Park. One artisan, Marissa Tobler, had an aesthetic that connected with my soul. Marissa used dark glazes and threw substantial but elegant pieces of pottery. Over the years, I bought a lot of Marissa’s work, and for my 25th birthday, Daniel had my friends pitch in and buy me place settings of Marissa’s dinnerware in a black glaze with gold specks. One piece that Marissa made for us was a covered casserole with a twisted handle—a cherished piece in the collection.
You know where this story is going…Yes, one Thanksgiving, some years ago, we broke the lid to the casserole dish. Because of its importance in our family, we held onto the casserole and broken lid for years when I realized I could find a kintsugi artist to repair it. The casserole is now elevated and cherished in our collection.
Three. How Vinyl Records are Made
Daniel and I have close to 1000 vinyl records in our collection, and we love listening to vinyl almost daily. My whole life, the pressing of records has been a mystery. How do they trap people’s voices in those tiny groves? Wired visited Jack White’s Third Man Records vinyl pressing plant in Detroit, Michigan, to find out what goes into creating a vinyl record, from cutting and pressing to making sure they sound great.
Diagram from Third Man Pressings
Four. Unbuilt Frank Lloyd Wright Designs
Roy Wetmore car repair and showroom
Beautiful design, especially in architecture definitely brings me joy. Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe are few favorites. For all the amazing structures they built, there are many more that were never created. Spanish architect David Romero has rendered more than 20 of Frank Lloyd Wright’s unbuilt designs using computer-generated models. He showcases his work on his website, Hooked on the Past. While I find joy in many of his renderings, such as the Pink Guggenheim, one of the colors considered for the project, being a San Francisco boy, I have to showcase the Morris House, designed for V.C and Lillian Morris in the 1940s to be built in San Francisco’s exclusive seaside neighborhood of Sea Cliff.
The location was a coastal rocky outcropping overlooking San Francisco Bay. Unable to afford the house, they returned to Wright several years later to design a less expensive version, but the Morris’s could never afford to build their dream home.
V.C. Morris did build a Frank Lloyd Wright building in downtown San Francisco. Opened in 1948, the V.C. Morris Gift Shop was a prototype for the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Interior of the V.C. Morris Gift Shop located at 140 Maiden Lane, San Francisco.
READ: Hundreds of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Designs Were Never Built. Here’s What They Might Have Looked Like by Molly Enking on Smithsonian. 5-minute read.
READ: Frank Lloyd Wright Hated New York, Thought About Making the Guggenheim Pink, and Still Dreamed of Mile-High Skyscrapers by Michael Kimmelman for the New York Times. 5-minute read.
VISIT: Hooked on the Past to see additional renderings by David Romero.
Five. “I Walked 600 Miles Across Japan for Pizza Toast”
WATCH: Pizza Toast & Coffee: Kissa Būgen by Craig Mod.
READ: Craig’s article, “I Walked 600 Miles Across Japan for Pizza Toast,” on Eater.com. 25-minute read.
This short documentary is so peaceful and reminds me of a good cup of “handmade” coffee in the early morning. Sitting alone.
“Pizza Toast & Coffee (2021) is a short documentary about kissaten — Showa-era (1926-1989) Japanese cafe — culture. Būgen is a small kissa in a suburb south of Tokyo. It was featured in the book Kissa by Kissa. Proprietor Yamane-san has survived four bouts of cancer and has run his cafe for close to forty-five years. He makes a mean pizza toast with a unique cutting style. Pizza toast is a staple of kissa culinary culture.
Check out plenty of great writing, photography, and videos by Craig Mod at https://craigmod.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/@CraigMod.
Six. Brunch at Chef Michele McQueen’s Town Fare Restaurant in the Oakland Museum of California.
Oakland native and master of local interpretations of Southern foods, Chef Michele McQueen’s Sunday brunch at her Town Fare restaurant is a treat. Whether shrimp or blackened catfish on a bed of grits or delicious fried chicken on sweet potato waffles, Chef McQueen’s food delivers. Being southern boys we are transported to a place of joy bliss when we get to eat good food like this.
To make this experience even more joyful, our son, Chef Z, has been working with Chef McQueen for the past six months, and his dads are happy to enjoy the foods delivered from Town Fare’s kitchen.
Kevin, Chef McQueen, and Daniel
Seven. Richard Diebenkorn in Color at Crown Point Press, on Exhibition at the de Young
High Green Version I by Richard Diebenkorn (1992)
Feeling stressed, spend an afternoon on a chronological survey featuring 20 of Richard Diebenkorn’s color prints as part of a yearlong exhibition celebrating the Bay Area artist’s centennial. This rotating collection of works is on view at San Francisco’s de Young Fine Arts Museum. I recently visited with my dear friend, Helen, and I plan to return throughout the year as the collection changes. Lose yourself in the abstract visions and colors that Richard Diebenkorn produced at Crown Point Press between 1980 and 1993. Crown Point Press was established in 1962 in Richmond, California, by Kathan Brown and works with artists by invitation only.
Well, that’s all for now, folks. I hope this brought you a few minutes of joy.
Be grateful, live in the moment, and seek joy. - Kevin