Touchstone 2022

Touchstone 2022

Art Center

July 2022

Farmington, PA

This is my 4th time here. In the past, I took weaving, painting on fabric and mosaic design.  I loved all of htese courses.

This time, I took African Indigo Dye-tie Techniques for five days in July.

It rained every day.  I was soggy.

My instructor was a master from Nigeria. One day he is going to be king of his tribe.

This is the first summer since the pandemic that this organizaiton has been open.  Consequently, only 2  of the 5 art studios had participants.

There were 5 of us in our studio.  There should have been between 8-12 participants.

I stayed in one of the rustic cabins on site.  It was a short distance to the latrine.  Next time, I am going to pay a little extra and get a room with an indorr bathroom. im getting too old for this shit.

One of the participants never bothered to learn our names. On the last day she refreed to me as "you-ho" and I was insulted.

My classmates all came with 12" sqares of fabric to work on.  I brought a big assed, queen sized flat sheet to dye.  My project was ambitious and foolish.

Coming to this place, in the woods, with no interruptions from the outside world, to work solely on art for a week, soothes my soul.

Bangladesh: ten things

Bangladesh

November 2019- January 2020

They eat lunch at 2PM and I didn't realize this until my 4th week there.  I could never understand why no one was in the restaurants with me at that time.  And I could never understand where everyone in my office was a 2 PM.

Their weekend is Friday and Saturday.  I never got used to working on a Sunday.

They pray all damn day.

I was there for six weeks and didn't have any alcohol the whole time. I didn't see a bar or any place that sold alcohol.

Some of my female students dressed in western clothing.  Some wore eastern saris.  Some wore scarves and a few came to class fully covered from head to toe.

One of my students was Catholic.  The rest of them were all Muslim.

Most people move through the city on rickshaws, powered by men on bikes. It seemed as if the standard fare was about $1 no matter where you were going.

I was in Dhaka for Christmas and went to Christmas Mass. And while I couldn't  understand what prayers the people were reciting, I knew by the cadence of their recitation, where we were in the universal mass.

Traffic is a fucking mess.  It takes forever to get through the city.

There is a huge problem of domestic violence. There is little to no effort to hold men accountable.

Road Trip 2023 #5

Road Trip 2023 # 5

West Chester County, NY

April 22-23

I went to visit Kathy and her family in Larchmont, NY

In the afternoon, we went to the Decadent Brewery for a few beers.  Kevin, John, Danny and Danielle joined us.

I had a flight of 4 pours but them I ordered 3 more small pours as the afternoon progress.

In the late afternoon, we returned home and Kevin and Emily came over with their adorable little girls.

All conversation centered on these little girls.

Kathy ordered tacos for dinner and they were the best tacos I ever had and I think I can never eat another taco anywhere in the world again.

Quentin and Brielle joined us for dinner.

On Sunday, Jim wanted to show me his photos of his recent trip to the Camino in Spain.  But the little girls showed up unexpectedly and all adult conversations ended right then and there.

 the little girls showed up in the mid morning.  Their every move entertained the hell out of us.

Jim took a professional headshot photo of me and I wished I had had my hair cut last week  I was too shaggy.

Ireland 2022

 

Ireland 2022

And Belfast

September 21-30, 2022

With Sally's Friends

But Sally Broke Her Hip and Couldn't Go

21- W- Dublin/Belfast

I arrived in Dublin at 8:45 AM and made my way to Belfast by bus. I get off the bus station and quickly discover that my hotel is just a little ways up the street.  What luck!  I am staying at a boutique hotel right in the thick of the city. My room isn't ready because I am there before noon.  But the waitresses, in the bar, at my hotel find me a place to rest in the corner.  I order lunch and a delicious beer and wait, filled with exhaustion, until I can check in to my room and rest. I have been up over 24 hours now.

22- TH- Belfast

I take a Black Cab taxi tour and the moment was grand.  I had a guide who looked like a human form of Dumphy in the Harry Potter series.  He addresses me by my name each time he talks to me but he just cant seem to remember my name.  So I am Bernadette, Brenda, Barbara and Betty but never Bridget.

23- F- Belfast/Dublin

I leave Belfast and make my way to Dublin by train.  It is stunning to ride public transportation without any effort and so reasonably.

24- SA- Dublin

Our tour starts today with a tour of the city and Dublin Castle.

We have dinner at the Merry Ploughboy Pub that offers lots s Irish music and dancing and a banquet of food, stouts and Irish coffee.  I roll out of there like a stuffed, bloated pig.

25- SU- Ireland

We go to the Blarney Castle and I do not climb those damn steps up to the stupid stone.  I was here over 20 years ago and once was enough.  Most of my group do climb the steps and I can hear them as they shriek when they realize that they have to lay flat on their backs and then shimmy down between and narrow opening just to kiss the stone.  A few of them pass on this opportunity.

I went sweater shopping and I started out with a commitment to myself that I would not buy a sweater.  But I leave with  a blue sweater that is more like a jacket and it is beautiful and I know I am getting a good price so I buy yet another sweater that I just don't need.

I buy Sally a tee shirt and I wish I had purchased one for me.  It is silhouette of a glass and Guinness and it says "hello darkness, my old friend."  I will just have to look for it elsewhere.

26- M- Ireland

Today we drove around the Ring of Kerry, 100 miles of beautiful scenery.  We stopped in a few small towns and went to Moll's Gap to see a panoramic view of Ireland.  But it was so windy up there that we almost blew away.

The highlight of the day was the demonstration of the sheepdogs as they herded sheep.  All of the commands are given through various whistles that the dog learns to identify.

27- TU- Ireland

We travel to the Cliffs of Moher but it is raining so hard that the fog lays heavy on everything. We cant see two feet in front of us.  I use most of my time to find the coffee shop to grab a cup of soup and a coffee in hopes that it will take the chill out of me.

We go to a medieval banquet and it is just OK. I don't particularly like this time period and I would have preferred more of what we saw the other night.

28- W- /Galway Bay

We head to Galway today and our driver said he would take us back to the Cliffs of Maher.

29- TH- Galway Bay

I am sick today.  I am afraid that I have covid.  We have a free day and the others were going to go back in to town and drink.  I wanted to make my way to a brewery but I don't have the energy to take on such an ambitious trip.  I am afraid of getting somewhere and not being able to get back.

30- F- Ireland/USA

It's a travel day today. We head home in the late afternoon and will arrive in Philly around 730 PM. It's a day of hurry up and wait. Dublin airport is a shithole.

Gordon Lightfoot

Facebook Post 

Bridget E Kelly is with Susan Descano and Ruth Snyder at The Colonial Theatre.

April 6, 2022  · Phoenixville  · 

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49You, Rosemary Touhill, Lisa Madzin and 46 others

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14 comments

• Amy Jenceleski

  Nice!
• Ruth Snyder

  He is 84 yrs old…!!

  

  • Haha
  
  
• Raymond Brown

  Incredible. Hope he played the wreck of the edmund fitzgerald
  • Ruth Snyder

    Raymond Brown sadly, someone should have tapped him out yrs ago - note to self: don’t see an icon much over 70yrs - much better to keep the great version of memories than this train wreck
    • Raymond Brown

      Ruth Snyder oh boy. Well I hope he is doing it for fun and not because he has to.
• Richard Staneski

  I saw him in San Jose in 1973! Lol

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• Steve Shur

  Very cool. I bet the concert was great
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• 1y

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  Bridget E Kelly

  Steve Shur no, it was comical dreadful.

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  • 1y
  • Joe Cassidy

    Bridget E Kelly Too bad. I saw him way back when (30+ years ago) at the Valley Forge Music Fair before Father Time took his toll.
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    Bridget E Kelly

    Joe Cassidy omg, he was awful.

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  • Joe Cassidy

    Bridget E Kelly That’s really sad. Sounds like it’s time for Gordon to set aside his stage show and stick to song writin

Nat Rose  I’m seeing him next  Wednesday

 

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