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Posts tagged as “The Lebanese Connection”

[drawing every day 2024 post one four four]: mom, back in the day

Published May 23, 2024 by centaur
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It's late, and I anticipated a cat would end up in my lap, so just a quick sketch for you. This is Mom, from a photograph back in the day - this is actually the photo we used for her funeral. We think the photograph was colorized and retouched, which was the style back in the day.

Interestingly, the photo was so blurry due to movement that I had to retroject the cleaned sketch back onto the notebook page, which I think turned out pretty well, though you can see a bit of the blurriness left in the notebook page texture. (Update: hit post too soon, thanks to cat, fixed now).

-the Centaur

[twenty twenty-four day ninety-three]: family

Published April 2, 2024 by centaur
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So today, I found out that Uncle Paul back there is the same age my dad would have been, were he living - forty years older than me. But Dad died almost twenty-five years ago, and Uncle Paul looks younger than my dad did when he died. Which is amazing, because Uncle Paul is about to turn ninety-five. And he's still clear, active, getting around - and even driving. As my Uncle Bill put it once as we were leaving a Thanksgiving dinner, "Wait up. You're ninety, and I'm seventy, and I can't keep up with you? This is bullshit."

Here's to family.

-the Centaur

Pictured: Me and Uncle Paul at Easter lunch.

[twenty twenty-four day ninety-two]: that which was foretold has come to pass

Published April 1, 2024 by centaur
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Tabbouleh has indeed been made from the tomatoes. I have always been self-conscious about what I cook - I rarely do traditional recipes on the nose, for example using heirloom tomatoes and cinnamon, cumin, allspice and nutmeg in addition to salt and pepper - but I do work at them. I'm using Aunt Nagla's parsley cutting technique and chef Nicola's lemon-soaked bulgur wheat technique and my wife's green onion recommendations to leave in the leafy greens and the traditional lighter olive oil that my parents used. And I spice to taste before finishing - the last bite of which literally made me stagger, it was so good, to me at least.

But whether people actually like it is an open question. This time, for Easter, on the potluck planning thread, someone asked for it specifically, someone else gave me the thumbs up when I said yes, several people complimented me while we were eating - and the family ate almost the whole bowl.

So they didn't NOT like it, impostor syndrome be damned.

-the Centaur

Day 6

Published December 31, 2020 by centaur
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Tony Francis at Meteor Crater Tony Francis at Meteor Crater. Sure was windy that day. Oddly, this is one of the best pictures I have taken of my dad. Guess I enjoyed spending time with him more than taking photos! Drawing every day. -the Centaur

Day 5

Published December 31, 2020 by centaur
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Uncle Boo, Hand Sketch Ran out of time unpacking and organizing my library, so no digital sketch today. All I had time to do was a hand sketch of Uncle Boo, which I took on in hopes that I'd do better than the digital one (or at least figure out where I went wrong). Other than imagining connections instead of seeing and drawing them, the number one thing I walked away with was, man, I need to find and unpack my art supplies. Though the resemblance to my dad is more striking in a drawing ... Closeup of Dad at Meteor Crater. Perhaps I've found my next drawing subject ... Still, drawing every day. -the Centaur  

Bleak

Published December 29, 2020 by centaur
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a bleak winter day Well, today I found out one of my dearest relatives, Uncle Boo, my dad's Mini-Me, so close to him that they took each other's driver's license pictures as a joke - though I could always tell them apart - just died of coronavirus at the age of 90. He hadn't been doing well and this was the final cruel blow.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/greenvilleonline/obituary.aspx?n=james-francis-boo&pid=197376995 His pride and joy was his family, and when not spending time with them, he was an avid golfer and sports enthusiast. Boo loved people and never met a stranger. Quick-witted and beloved by many, there was always a story ready to be told. He was a generous, kind-hearted man, and will be dearly missed by his family and all who knew him.
Boo always had stories to tell - some about my dad which made my hair stand on end! I'll always remember the calming presence he had after my dad's funeral, sitting at our breakfast table at the chair Dad always sat at, telling us stories of the Francis family of long ago. We'll miss you, Boo. I don't even have any good pictures of him. Thanks, 2020. -the Centaur Pictured: a bleak view out our window, all the leaves fallen.