There are moments in our lives that we feel tethered to, where nostalgia plants its roots, and the associated memories bundle into tidy decades where we can easily revisit them. VH-1 churned out hours of content so we could revel in our past. Portlandia turned a decade into a song (raise your hand if you went to the Jim Rose Circus). Fashion trends are cut from the past and sewn into something new (or turned into chokers).

In June we went to Hawaii, the Big Island specifically. Once again, my fascination with volcanoes stirred. WE WERE ON A VOLCANO. Not even one, but multiple ones, jutted up against each other making an island puzzle. In Volcano National Park I witnessed a live volcano with its pocket of steam reminding us that nothing is as docile as it appears.

So many of my favorite things are rooted in childhood memories. I am built and maintained by how I choose to remember the past. Little purses remind me of grandmothers and souvenir shops, a small space for treasures and secrets.

Looney Tunes is synonymous with slapstick. Watching any episode I can’t imagine that many kids took / take much notice of the backgrounds in which Elmer hopelessly hunted, the Road Runner pummeled, Pepe p.u.’d, and Bugs Bunny said “What’s Up”.

Come for the whimsy. Stay for the message. I’m immediately drawn to Angela Deane’s work — taking found photos and transforming them into surreal otherworldly oddities through selective painting (now that’s some old school photoshop).

Today is National Macaroni Day, but in my world really every day is macaroni day. Even if when it’s not in my belly, it’s in my mind (and my heart?).

For as long as I can remember I’ve loved horror movies. Maybe like a lot of kids the interest was born of morbid fascination — forbidden fruit as I walked down the video store isle and we as a family consistently walked briskly passed. I would occasionally take a detour back through the array of suggestive covers and imagine storylines based on the still sneak preview. So much to imagine and the 80’s were ripe with potential.