Friday, December 2, 2022

The confraternity of puzzlers

I returned the butterfly puzzle yesterday and borrowed this one.


I think the man at the circ. desk checking me out must like puzzles. He loved the butterfly one, thanked me for the note about the missing piece, and he certainly, well, he works with books, approved my current choice and we got into a discussion of this library in China

So I think there may be a social subgroup of people who puzzle.  Who knew? I have run briefly into a certain competitive spirit about the size of the puzzle, thousand piecers being a bit all that about five hundred piecers like me. Too funny. 

Back home I remembered the tofu in the fridge and about stirfry, which I never seem to think about, and it's a good veggie treatment. So I rolled the tofu, extra firm, in Old Bay, I really wonder what I'd do without Old Bay, like 42 it seems to be the answer to everything, and stirfried it with broccoli. 





This looks like a small meal, but it was very filling, tofu, you know. And enough for another go today.

Today's art was from honorary Canadian granddaughter, who sends art cards weekly and emphasizes Canadian artists at my request, since I don't know enough about them.


This artist was Caribbean-Canadian, stunning from an early age, Yale, everything, and was teaching at Rutgers, the NJ State University, just a few miles from here, when she died suddenly,  tragically, very young, from a  freak allergic reaction. But the work that survives is as full and powerful as that of much longer lived  painters, so there's that.

This piece is one of a series reflecting on dissolution, social systems and current issues. Stay with it a while. It's saying a lot.

And happy day, everyone. I think everyone's life is the length and width and weight it's meant to be. So enjoy! 

Oh, and the answer to the puzzle, a couple of people got it, is STOWAWAY.



28 comments:

  1. When the twins were coming for their summer visits we would always have a jigsaw puzzle on the table. Started with 500, then 750, then 1,000 pieces. Your current one looks like it will be harder than some of the others.

    I like tofu but the husband hates all things soy, says it upsets his stomach but I've found it only upsets his stomach if he knows he's eating it. Anyway, your stir fry looks good.

    And that Chinese library is visually stunning but I would think it makes it hard to peruse the stacks looking for something to read.

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    1. People are funny about tofu, either they complain it doesn't taste of anything, or they complain they don't like the taste! I agree about that library being a bit of a challenge to browse in, a lot of mileage, not very accessible.

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  2. That is one very interesting puzzle you picked -- should be fun to do! Don't feel bad about not knowing Canadian artists -- most Canadians don't know our artists either. And STOWAWAY -- I would never have gotten that -- it's a real toughie!

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    1. My knowledge of Canadian art was limited to Emily Carr and the Group of Seven, so I needed a bit of expansion. I doubt if the US population in general knows much about our artists either, outside of Andy Warhol and the Wyeths, maybe Jackson Pollock.

      I was messing about with words like castaway, not enough ws, and throwaway, too many letters, until I finally hit on stowaway I'll only use a puzzle I could solve, seems only fair.

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  3. I would suffer vertigo in that library. It's lovely to look at but someone would be picking me up off the floor. I am one of those people who do not like tofu. The texture is my biggest problem. I think your new puzzle looks like a challenge!

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    1. I think the library is more about art than reading. I hear you on the vertigo idea!

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  4. When I’m bored I do online puzzles. But only 36 pieces no way would I be able to do five hundred or a thousand pieces

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    1. I've done online puzzles now and then, usually only small quick ones, too.

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  5. That jigsaw puzzle is the sort I love. Damned cats.

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  6. The painting is quite incredible. It really draws you in…tragic loss of the artist! Thank you for sharing.

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    1. I'm so glad to have been introduced to her, too.

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  7. I remember when my mother used to leave my brother and me in the care of my grandparents to go to summer school to work on her education degree and I was beyond scared and sad and my grandmother would get jigsaw puzzles from the community center which was also the library in Roseland and we would do them together. She was very "hard of hearing" as we said then but over the puzzle we could communicate. I am not sure if we ever put together an entire puzzle but I know that she was trying to help me get through a very hard time.

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    1. There's something very meditative and comforting in puzzles. She had a good idea.

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  8. Tomasos #2 would go with me to a desert island.

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    1. You could look at it a lot without tiring or feeling you'd got it all.

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  9. MooMoo the cowcat steals jigsaw pieces so I’m content with tyree or four online NYT puzzles daily. 😹 Thanks for the Old Bay/tofu pairing! I’ll be trying that! xx Mare

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    1. It's pretty good against the broccoli cooked but still crunchy.

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  10. Belated White Rabbits from a fellow Sag. We're back in Boise after an adventuresome road trip to Milwaukee for Thanksgiving. It's fun to see you enjoying jigsaws; as soon as we move the last of the flats of green-turning-to-red tomatoes from the card tables, I'm going to allocate one for a jigsaw puzzle here.

    Chris from Boise

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    1. Well, dang, you should have been on my Sag list. Happy birthday, dear Sag! And welcome home after your wandering.

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  11. Once we get past the Group of Seven I am pretty well lost about Canadian art. Well, there is Emily Carr and a few others

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  12. The tofu/broccoli combo looks yummy. That's one of my favorite meals, actually, over rice. I haven't made it with Old Bay, though!

    So sad about that artist. Such interesting work. I've seen pictures of that Chinese library but it seems a case of overambitious architecture -- the books are purely secondary!

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  13. Been lurking for a long time, but love, love love the 42 reference! Greetings from Switzerland a

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    1. Thank you so much for commenting! I think the 42 reference is a bit niche -- some people not quite seeing it.

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  14. I didn't get the puzzle this time because my brain stuck itself on the fact that we have a city called 'Wawa' in Ontario and I couldn't seem to get that out of my mind. As for jigsaw puzzles I think I could get 'in' to them but I leave them for Resident Chef because I know if I once started I wouldn't want to quit. He didn't do any last winter at all so hopefully he'll go back to them after Christmas. The fist thing I thought when I saw your newest puzzle was how those books are arranged in such a way as to show how a library is really a window to the world.

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    1. It's a nice puzzle. I think it's one of those miniature set ups on the shelf. I've seen photos of them, a room in miniature, here a library. Lovely concept, as you say.

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