Mankind has been looking at the night skies for thousands of years and have found it in both a source of curiosity and of enjoyment. Long before the technology was available to take the pictures we are familiar with today, artists and scientists have been drawing depictions of our universe ranging from the most accurate to the most absurd. Cosmigraphics, recenty published by Michael Benson, is a collection of such drawings

While some of those document natural occurrences such as galaxies or the transit of Venus, others are attempts at showing the strucure and layering of the universe – as it was perceived at the time. One of the most striking piece is the painting of the rings of Saturn by Maria Clara Einmart. The colors, the arrangement and the various shapes fit perfectly together in a way that can only be called beautiful.

Via Brainpickings

I suppose every person has those bands, those “you know by name” – those you have gotten recommendations for, those you have read about, those that are within a one-click purchase that never happens. Bands you feel like you already know except there’s just this one detail: you’ve never gotten around to listen to their music.

On the other hand, I have always much preferred being surprised by artists in a live performance. And so, tonight was kinda special for me in both those respects. I’m just back from a concert by French singer Yelle who is currently touring the U.S. and was at the Regency Ballroom tonight.

I had no idea what I was going to find, except for a friend telling me their music was very dance-y. And dance-y it was. From the beginning to the end, the audience was jumping up and down, faster and with more drive than I have seen in a lot of other shows. My ignorance of the tunes was in no way an issue – getting into the groove was easy as pie – it’s always better when there is company.

The french lyrics were not a deterrent to the crowd, au contraire. A lot of people in the audience tonight were of course French but not overwhelming. As such, it was quite a surprise to see a crowd in SF singing the chorus of À cause des Garçons — a cover of an old cheeky ‘80’s song.

As a bonus, the band stuck around for over an hour after the show to meet and greet the fans, take pictures, and sign posters. Complètement fou! It’s the kind of little things that easily wins me over.

For the past two months, I’ve been experimenting with the process of making fruit jam, which is something that turns out to be both very easy and very enjoyable. Not that I’m a master cook but I think jams are a very approachable way for people new to cooking to play with a recipe and deliver something that is almost universally appreciated.

Jam is really just a matter of combining fruit, sugar, heat and time. I started with a small batch of apricots and literally no idea what I was doing. I boiled sugared water and added the diced fruits, let simmer under low heat and added sugar until the acidity was gone. This resulted in a considerably less sweet product than what may be found in the store. I moved on to trying with peaches (which resulted in a sauce since peaches do not turn into a gel) and pluots (which I came across at the store and had no idea existed before then).

Last week, I picked up three flats of strawberries at the Alemany farmer’s market, for under $60. Each yielded about 10 large jars, which makes each jar about 6 or 7 times as cheap as one the organic one from the store. I brought a set of 10 jars to participate in the most recent Strava Jam. With a little help from my designer friend Anastasia, the jars came out looking fantastically fancy:

The recipe for the strawberry jam is up on my cooking blog.