- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here are notes I made about personal projects in my post-college time in New Haven, when, besides my more 'serious' work in design and photography, I sought to be creative in living life. I learned to garden, knit and bookbind; invented new recipes in the kitchen; got involved with bikes and public art; and continued to printmake and silkscreen. When I was particularly excited about a project, I posted it here.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The New Green Goddess Salad: June 05

A good farmer's market is a major criterion on my quality-o'-life meter for a city, and last year, New Haven finally achieved this with the founding of City Seed. The Saturday morning market in Wooster Square is now the place to see, be seen, and take a chance on new kinds of vegetables you've never tasted.

Today, I found myself back at home pulling exotic things out of my canvas bag, including long, wiry garlic scapes (the flowering shoot of young garlic) and teeny, tender heads of a lettuce called Little Gem, grown by my friends at the Yale Sustainable Food Project.

The newcomers to my kitchen deserved a new recipe, and so I invented one.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Making Damngood Hummus: June 05

-----------------------------
From: james.laakso@yale.edu
Subject: Re:
Date: August 16, 2002 3:24:45 PM EDT
To: leslie.kuo@yale.edu

hey leslie:
i was wondrin... could i STEAL yes STEAL the recipe for your hummus? it
was damngood.
------------------------------

I found this old email that reminded me how, three summers ago, I got really good at making hummus. It was all thanks to my then-roommate, the talented and dear Brett Budde, who showed me how to 'roast' garlic on a stovetop. One night I invited our local AM radio dj / rock critic boys over for dinner and I guess the hummus was a hit. Well, it's been a long time since my last hummus-making efforts. So I devoted this evening to recreating the damngood recipe.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Posted found type on Typophile : April 05

Just started reading this endearing design geek website and discovered that they have a fantastic collaborative "found type" collection. So I submitted a few Pismo Beach snapshots that I had on hand to the public forum. Hope they get picked for the gallery. I might also start a small found type gallery here.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Happy Birthday Tiffany : Jan 05

I promised to make my sister mittens for her birthday but real mittens just take too long so I made these.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Happy Birthday Jeff : Oct 04

Jeff turned 24 on September 28. So I made him this card.

Note of explanation: For the past 5 years we've had a running joke about how people toss in a candle when they're not sure if they bought you a big enough gift.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Bookbinding Class : June - July 04

I made these books in an introductory bookbinding class at Creative Arts Workshop, a great community art school open to all hobbyists and serious artists, kids and grownups. It is affordable and offers scholarships, and the teachers are great. I highly recommend it!

Anyway the summer term is short, so the bookbinding class was only six weeks. My teacher, Paulette Rosen (an amazing book artist), taught us to make softcover pamphlets, hardcover cases, accordion books, and perfect-bound books (books that are not sewn, but are simply glued along the spine, like most paperbacks). Time was tight, so we only made blank books. Now I just need to start making books with words and pictures.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Skill Trade / The Vultures Website : Apr - May 04

I re-designed the website for The Vultures, New Haven's finest surf punk band, in exchange for guitar lessons from a Vulture. Doing skill trades like this is what keeps the DIY world going 'round. We don't need money, we need to share skills. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Everybody, scratch each other's backs!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Lamppost Banners on Democracy : Dec 03 - Jan 04

An incredible public art project took over downtown New Haven in January, in the form of lamppost banners, thanks to my friend Joann's organization rePublicArt. The banners are now touring the country, including a stop in Cambridge during the Democratic National Convention in Boston. The project is growing as new people create banners. Anyone can pick up some blank recycled banners from Joann and paint a design about this theme: "We the People: democracy = participation." Click here to get involved!

I made several banners. I painted a pair with my friend Ralph Ferrucci, a local artist, celebrating Food Not Bombs, a group that feeds the hungry with gleaned food. I also created two banner of my own using sticky vinyl donated by the nice guys at Arcadia Signs in East Haven.

Unfortunately I did not get to snap pictures of our banners before they left for the tour, but you can see other banners at RepublicArt.org.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Having discovered that we each had many friends who are budding knitters, my friend Ahree and I decided to form a knitting circle. Ahree is a graphic designer too and after meeting through work, our love for knitting made us fast friends. Ahree devised the structure of our meetings (gather at a different member's house each week for a potluck dinner followed by knitting, wine, and gossip), I created an email list, and New Haven Knits was born.

If you are young, if you are hip, if you have big needles and chunky yarn, we would love to have you join us!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -