born a girl

King of the Woods

2011-11-02T23:47:00.008-06:00

After a long day at work I was driving home through the dark on the quiet county road. The 30 mile commute on this cool autumn night was fairly uneventful until I neared the river bottoms. Approaching the river is my cue to perk up and force my tired eyes to scan the ditches closely for deer. As I started down the hill carrying me into the valley, I spotted you...an unusual movement off to the right side of the road. I slowed to almost a stop. You turned and I saw you in your grandeur; wearing your antlers like a proud crown of years upon your head. With no hesitation in your purposeful stride, in a seemingly slow-motion and fluid gesture, you turned your crowning glory and leapt over the fence as you had done a hundred times before, disappearing into the black of night. As I drove home, I silently sent you good wishes and a prayer of invisibility that you could hide from the cars, arrows and bullets for the rest of your years. A hope for a lifelong monarchy for this king of the woods.

Here we go again

2011-04-13T21:47:00.002-06:00

Giving the blog another shot. Life's made some changes in the past year and good ones at that. Listed our house for sale, it sold to a wonderful couple that will be great caretakers. We moved to our new community in SW Minnesota that we absolutely love and say it out loud several times a week. We both have new jobs that are going great. It sounds just too nice right? I know! I keep waiting for the hammer to fall but apparently we keep seeing the positives around us and maybe the hammers falling, we just don't care. Life is good.

I look forward to writing about our discoveries in this "new land" of ours. There is an abundance of good people, beautiful scenery, creative souls and great reminders that the important things in life are not things.

We've made many friends here in town and one very good friend is the city clerk. Another one of those creative souls I was talking about. Well, every month she sends out the bill for city utilities to everyone. I'm not sure why I did, probably to brighten her day at work a bit, but I started "decorating" the envelopes that contain our check and invoice stub for the monthly utility bill. It's usually a combination of a poem and some drawings. She says she's been saving them. That doesn't surprise me as she's a scrapbooker. It is expected now so it got me into a creative schedule again. At least once a month I do something creative. I hope she enjoys getting it as much as I enjoy doodling it out. This month I wrote a poem and a few doodles...thought I'd share it with you. Enjoy!

Skeleton-Skeletoff

2009-12-07T17:41:00.002-06:00

I need to make one of these next Halloween. Found this over at a fun blog called ubersuper...

Where the Sidewalk Ends

2009-12-06T14:00:00.000-06:00

Where the Sidewalk Ends
by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Oldelaf - le Café (english subtitles)

2009-06-27T03:02:00.001-06:00

Been a while

2009-06-18T11:53:00.003-06:00

I've escaped for a moment to make sure I still have a blog account. It's here. I'm here. I've been kidnapped by Facebook and have been brainwashed into thinking and writing in two or three sentence blurts. It's wearing off a bit now and I miss catching up with my blogroll.

Why Facebook? All the nieces and nephews are on it and since they're in the early 20's, they don't mind having old Aunt Balou on their friends list. Why addicted? Not sure, but I thought this little girl said it better than I ever could...

Chocolate Fun

2009-04-11T18:05:00.001-06:00

I've posted this before - but I don't care. It's still funny...

Searched and Found

2009-04-06T18:36:00.003-06:00

It's almost Easter again but I don't need a calendar to inform me of this. Other than the special Easter candy showing up in the stores, my signal is the keywords sending new visitors to my blog. For one specific keyword search on Google, a born-a-girl post is #1 in the Google search and the other is #2. It's amazing to me that out of all the websites the Google spiders crawl through in the "interwebosphere," that my 'lil old posts would come up so high on any list.

When you type in the keywords "leftover easter egg dye," this post comes up as the #2 choice. It was a fun improvisation my nephew and I dreamt up and I think I'll need to go get some dye, eggs and Bounty paper towels just to play again.

And, when you type in the keywords "easter bells" I come up number one because of this post. Instead of an Easter bunny, Europeans have Easter bells. I only found out about the tradition from the David Sedaris essay from "I Talk Pretty One Day" which I quote on the page. It's a fun read if you have a few minutes.

How about you? What Google keywords bring new visitors to your blog?

Hello to Birds

2009-04-06T07:20:00.006-06:00

Yet another sign of spring, some of my old bird friends are returning. The starlings have made their home yet again in the two unused chimneys on the hill. They make the strangest noises and must have a vast vocabulary compared to most birds. Either that or maybe, like some people, they feel it necessary to chatter on about nothing and fill the quiet moments with jibber jabber. I've known some featherless two-leggeds with similar traits.

The purple finches have been busy working on the plethora of pine cones our pine trees dropped this winter. This is the heaviest drop of cones we've noticed in the 20 years we've been here. I recall a few winter mornings where the white snow under the pines transformed into a round carpet of little brown pine cones. It's fun to watch them work at getting their seedy rewards.

Back to featherless two-leggeds...there's a new "bird-song" I've been enjoying. I was just introduced to the beautiful, haunting music of Andrew Bird. I am admittedly infatuated. He is a "Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and whistler." It was the whistling that sealed the deal. A good whistler will always turn my head.

When I went to the show listing on his website, I was excited to see that he is playing in Minneapolis April 11th. Only to be followed with quick disappointment when reading the show was sold out. I'll be on the watch-out for future local performances.

Here are a couple of videos. Enjoy!

Oh Happy Day!

2009-04-03T20:38:00.004-06:00

The hubby walked outside with the phone when the call came. At the first interview the week before, he came home with the gut feeling that he was their top pick. He's pretty savvy with those gut feelings. After the second interview, he said he was pretty sure he had the job but they hadn't said the words yet. Owner had to talk to the #2 guy yet. I was listening as hard as I could to hear the conversation outside but my walls are too well insulated. I refocused on my work. He came in, ignoring my "tell me right now or I will die" gaze, sat down at the computer and plinked at the keyboard and said "So I suppose I better send an email to cancel that test I was scheduled to take for that other job." His jokester way of saying he got the job! There was much hugging and my waterworks turned on.

Watching the news I feel like we won the lottery in finding a new job in just two months. There are so many out of work for months and months not finding jobs. Although, hubby assured me time and time again that he was never worried and just knew his amazing talents, good looks and winning personality would win everyone over. Always the modest one in the crowd. ;)

He just finished his first week at the new job and is in the midst of learning all about the intricate workings of hydraulic systems and air compressors. He worked with heavy equipment before but his mechanical know-how translates to many platforms. It took him a while to realize he needed to open his horizons and not focus on one industry when searching for job openings.

We're breathing easier here on the hill, breaking out in an occasional happy dance and realizing we need to count our lucky stars hubby was blessed with amazing talents, good looks and a winning personality. And because the job is within an easy commute, we won't have to worry about selling this place right now. Thanks to all for your concern and kind words. Let's keep all of those still searching in our thoughts and help others as we can.

Hudson River Flight Animation

2009-03-07T06:15:00.005-06:00

A harrowing reminder on how quickly life can change. These people are so very lucky to be alive. And what an amazing pilot to have kept his composure to land as he did.

Big To Do

2009-03-05T19:10:00.003-06:00

Big "To Do" list that is. I haven't been around here as much lately because of it. That list doesn't seem to be getting any shorter. And just when I need more hours in the day, we get one taken away this weekend.

Luckily, my work has been picking up and when I'm not working, I'm searching the gazillion, billion internet job sites out there helping the hubby look for work. He's been finding some jobs to apply for but no calls yet for interviews. He has received a few rejection notices and not surprisingly, they all say "we have had an unusually large response". Something will come through.

We have decided to try to sell our home in this horrible market. It's a fixer upper but has some pretty special good points too. This adds yet another chapter to the "To Do" list...fixing some things we've been letting slide. We also need to do some major downsizing. It's amazing the amount of "stuff" that has "appeared" over the years. If it sells, it frees us up to go anywhere for work. Hopefully, it will lead us to the town we want to move to. We'll see what fate has in store for us.

In the meantime, I'll keep plugging away at the list.

An Interesting Job Listing on Craigslist

2009-02-24T10:32:00.001-06:00

As seen on Craigslist...

Chisago County Sheriff (Center City, MN)

Reply to: jglassel@yahoo.com [?]
Date: 2009-02-09, 5:55PM CST

Wanted-One competent individual to lead the Chisago County Sheriff's Department. Good pay and benefits.

Good Old Boy Politicans need not apply. Chisago County needs a strong individual capable of providing Public Safety on a budget. Don't expect a jail to be named in your honor as Law Enforcement in Chisago County has nearly bankrupted the local citizenry.

This is an elected position which will require facing current Chisago County Sheriff Todd Rivard in the 2010 general election. I can provide positive name recognition throughout the County, but you will have to provide "boots on the ground."

Must relocate to Chisago County before October, 2010.

Your mission, should you accept it, is to run the drug dealers out of Chisago County and develop a comprehensive plan to eliminate deaths from drunken drivers in Chisago County. In doing so, you may let some jaywalkers off the hook.

Must be willing to ticket and jail County Commissioners arrested for drunk driving. It is not required to investigate the political enemies of those board members that support the new jail, nor are you required to cover up harrassment and stalking charges levied against a county commissioner.

Must gain control over the 911 call center to assure tapes are not lost.

You may not run up the score against the poor or collude with the county attorney and judges in an attempt to coerce the taxpayers into building a new jail.

My name is Jonathan P. Glassel. I publish the South County Epitaph. We are the "Last Word in Local News."

Serious inquiries only. Email jglassel@yahoo.com

Location: Center City, MN
Compensation: 100K Salary and percs equals a million dollars per term!
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

I Hate Sandcastles

2009-02-17T13:22:00.004-06:00

Just a funny pic floating around on the interwebs...

And a funny pic a friend sent of her daugher a while back...

You think these two wee ones are meant for each other?

Knit-Out & Crochet 2009

2009-02-16T07:32:00.002-06:00

Saturday morning I picked up my friend Ingrid and we headed off to the Knit-Out & Crochet Show put on the by the Yarn Council of America at the Mall of America. Our first clue that the mall was busy were the clogged up exits from the freeway. I'm not a mall person by nature, but have been to the Mall of America on several occasions. We were impressed that a yarn show could attract this many people.

We drove around parking lot after parking lot never finding an open spot. We'd spy cars back out only to have some other car waiting with their blinkers on to get into that space. Tried the outer lots, tried the ramp and finally ended up parking far back into a large open field on the north side of the mall and hiked in. Even after all that, we were still looking forward to the show. Although, I have to admit, if Ingrid were not along, I would've left after the 20 minute search in the parking ramp.

We walked in and found the beginning of the Knit-Out which had a couple of demo's going on. We stopped and watched for a bit but all seats were taken and they were well into the demo. We picked up a map of the booth locations and started in.

The first thing we noticed is the huge amount of shoppers carrying multiple bags. We both commented that if the economists would come here, they might change their story about an ailing retail market. We waited in line for the first few booths and then were herded through to look at the sample projects with no time to stop and talk or ask questions. Most all booths had flyers and free patterns. The Patons booth gave out a nice bag with two skeins of yarn, patterns and a crochet hook. Clover gave out free lighted knitting needles. After visiting a booth we would find an opening of the river of shoppers walking by and make our way to the next booth.

It was apparent that the majority of the mall population was not there for the Knit-Out show. It was also apparent that parents of teenage daughters should go wash their girls mouths out with soap right now. I've never heard such foul language as what was coming out of those girls mouths. And loud. It wasn't just one group, but several. There were also several groups young men of 10 and more strong standing around like columns in the mall. They wouldn't move but at least were not shouting expletives at each other as we walked by.

The booths had lots of interesting samples of projects and I would've loved to stop and talk more with Fran Ortmeyer at the Clover booth. She is a blogger and the communications director for the company. But, as with all the booths, if you stopped to chat, you were holding up 20+ people behind you.

I'm glad we went but only return if was held at a different location. This show screams for a convention center room rather than a public mall. Canterbury Downs would be a great spot for this type of show. It's not like people could just stop by the booths while they were shopping. If you had a family of four and were shopping, would you herd the family through a line to see a booth you were vaguely interested in?

I've written a letter to the Yarn Council of America and will send copies to the sponsors that had booths at the show. But, until they move the show, I'll say "been there, done that" when it comes back in town next year.

XOXOXO

2009-02-14T10:07:00.006-06:00

We recently had a new cat show up at our place. He and Rico are learning to co-exist but Big Cat has not learned that Rico's goal in life is to make things run so he can chase them. He is a herding dog after all. Big Cat fits his name - he is the largest cat I have ever seen. He isn't fat, just big. He's a neutered male, super lovey and is a gray tiger stripe but his black stripes are very wide. I know there's a name for the coloring but can't recall. I'll get a picture of him soon.

I was outside and kept hearing two cats meowing. One of them was our cat Crash, who as soon as I started calling "kitty, kitty, kitty", came running to me. But there was still one cat meowing. I happened to look up and low and behold, there was Big Cat, on top of the roof of our round barn. See the photo of the barn up in the header? Just above the big doorway, there is an old ladder nailed to the steep part of the roof. And where that ends, just to the right, there is a hole in the roof. That's where Big Cat was sitting. I can't imagine how the heck he got up there.

I told hubby last night and he left the office after a little while. About 10 minutes later he comes back with Big Cat in his arms. He had taken the big aluminum ladder, propped it up next to the barn by the old wooden ladder and coaxed Big Cat down. Super guy cat rescuer heart stealer. Big Cat was very appreciative, and so was balou.

Then, this morning, we were sleeping in late and I woke up to hubby touching the end of my nose. "Good morning, whatchya doin?" I asked. He said, "I've just been looking at how pretty you are." Heart melts, then I said, "What a nice way to be woken up on Valentines Day." And then he said, "Oh yeah! I forgot, it's Valentines Day isn't it?" Better than any old Hallmark and bouquet of flowers. I am a very lucky girl indeed.

Random Thoughts #4

2009-02-13T08:52:00.004-06:00

• Friday the 13th is a lucky day in the balou househould. The hubby and I first met on a Friday the 13th one June long ago.

• Haiku for Lexi (my great-niece):
Girl with sharp scissors
Clip, clip, clip, hide strands
fast trip to salon

• Lexi's Dad (my niece's husband) is on his way home from an 18 month tour in Iraq. I'm so happy their little family will be reunited again. I wish that he never goes back again. Two times is enough already.

• Going to a yarn show with my friend tomorrow at the Mall of America. Willing to deal with the crowds for some free yarny goodness. I hear they hand out some great stuff. I'm all about the free things right now.

• OK balou, you can stop buying groceries and toilet paper. Even though hubby is jobless right now, you will have food and tp for months. It's enough already!

• I watched the movie "Chocolat" again last night. I always like the quote made by the preacher in the film: "We can't go around measuring our goodness by what we don't do, by what we deny ourselves, by what we resist, and who we exclude. I think we've got to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include."

New Pepsi Logo

2009-02-11T12:43:00.005-06:00

Lawrence Yang of San Francisco posted an interesting illustration of what he thinks of when he sees the new Pepsi logo. Hilarious!

Worth the Work

2009-02-08T20:17:00.003-06:00

The hubby and I have been volunteers with the Hudson Hot Air Affair for eight years. We initially volunteered to learn the ropes of what it takes to put on a hot air balloon rally. We had toyed with the idea of holding a balloon rally for the public at our farm. We were going to call it the "Round Barn Rally." We had one meeting on it and realized the huge liability and risk we would have to expose our home to and that idea was put to rest.

Our duties as Hot Air Affair volunteers have evolved over the years. John is usually a pilot in the event but this year we opted to keep the balloon parked for the winter. So John was put in charge of the scoring committee. The balloons participate in a "Hare & Hound" game where the lead balloon lands, the scoring committee lays out a 100 foot fabric X and the other balloons try to throw 4 oz. bean bags with streamers as close to the target center as possible. The scoring committee then is responsible for measuring and reporting the scoring results. The closest this year was 5'9" from center. It takes piloting skill and a bit of luck to get that close.

The bulk of my duties take place before the event. I do a lot of graphic design work; update logos, design the brochure and this year my button design ended up on the t-shirts as well. I also designed and update their website, hudsonhotairaffair.com. My other responsibility is coordinating the Minnesota Kite Society to come to the Hot Air Affair. They sell kites and fly some beauties in the air on Saturday of the event.

One of my other jobs is assembling the pilot manual. It's a folder with instructions, maps, itinerary, forms, official regulations and such. It's a bear and I'm usually in a big panic Thursday before the event putting it all together. Hubby got to experience my fervor first hand this year. It was not pretty but he was a trooper helping out with everything.

Every year I get stressed out and wonder if it is worth it. But then something like this happens...

Friday night is the Hot Air Affair torchlight parade in downtown Hudson. I've spent the last few years on the sidelines enjoying the parade as a spectator with friends. We started watching and an older man stood beside us to watch the parade. He had a young man with him. He started talking with me and asking about the parade. He learned quickly that he found the right person to ask questions; an event volunteer and the wife of a hot air balloon pilot. I felt bad neglecting my friends but I do enjoy talking to newcomers about the event and hot air ballooning.

He and his grandson had traveled across the state of Wisconsin from Milwaukee for the event after seeing an article on the Hot Air Affair in the Milwaukee Journal. We had a fun conversation about the Hot Air Affair, ballooning, the 1920's (which was the event theme) and his hobby of model trains. I gave him some hints of fun things to do over the weekend and when the parade was over, we parted ways. I kept an eye out for he and his grandson over the weekend but didn't see them.

On Sunday mornings after the balloon launch, we always have a breakfast and awards ceremony for the pilots, sponsors and crew. I had walked up to get some orange juice and there they were, in line to have breakfast. I wondered how they came to be at the breakfast which isn't open to the public. Turns out they took my advice and volunteered to be balloon crew. One of the people that was going to ride in the balloon decided to give up their spot for the Milwaukee man's mentally handicapped grandson. I got goosebumps. That's what this event is all about. Helping people like them take home memories they will cherish for a lifetime.

Hot Air Affair Mass Ascension: 2.8.09

2009-02-08T20:02:00.003-06:00

30 balloons launched Sunday morning at the Hudson Hot Air Affair. I was lucky enough to be able to walk around the launch field and shoot photos. It was beautiful!

Hot Air Affair

2009-02-01T23:13:00.004-06:00

It's that time of year again. The Hudson Hot Air Affair is this coming weekend. The town of Hudson, Wisconsin is abuzz with activity all weekend. Some of the outdoor activities (yes, it's cold but we dress warm) include a parade, pond hockey on the river, volleyball tournament in the snow, smooshboarding (4 people strapped to one pair of ski-like wooden planks racing another group of the same), a kite fly and of course hot air balloon launches if the weather cooperates with us. The unique shops downtown have sales and the school where the center of activity takes place has an art & craft sale. On Saturday night, there is a balloon glow at the school. If the winds are calm, 30+ balloons inflate and light up the night sky. It is a sight to behold when they all light up their burners at the same time.

The hub and I have been volunteering for the Hudson Hot Air Affair for 8 years now. It's an organizational feat to pull this event off every year. There are a few key players coordinating and a whole lot of volunteers pitching in to make it happen. I take care of the majority of their graphic design needs and coordinate the Minnesota Kite Society kite fly. The hub has been involved with the ballooning duties including flying the event in past years and one year he was the balloonmeister (the main poo-pah of the balloonists). We have the balloon parked this winter so will enjoy being spectators when we are not on duty.

It's a fun outing if you're in the Minneapolis/St. Paul/West Central Wisconsin area. There are no admissions for the different events, parking is free and it is all kid friendly. There's a full schedule and info at their website, hudsonhotairaffair.com.

Routines

2009-01-27T18:09:00.004-06:00

I didn't realize what a rut our daily path of routine had dredged out over the years. Now that we're out of that ditch and on a new road, I'm appreciating some of those changes.

On Monday morning, the first day of unemployment for the hub, I groaned a little when the alarm clock went off and he nudged me saying "that's for you." I was the first out of bed and had to get up three times to hit the snooze button instead of the guy. I was also the one to visit the cold bathroom first (one of the joys of owning a 113 year old home.) Usually hub had the space heater turned on and the room was all snuggly warm by the time I got in there. A small pleasure that I didn't appreciate enough before. After umpteen years of getting up at 4:45 a.m. for work, the hub is enjoying sleeping until he wakes up. It's also nice that he's able to stay awake past 9:00 pm.

It's nice having the guy around all day. We're talking more. Granted it's about things like filing for unemployment, searching for jobs and details of the severance package but I didn't realize how little we talked with each other on a daily basis. This is something that I want to work on. See? There are good things coming out of this mess.

The scary world behind the smile

2009-01-25T20:15:00.007-06:00

We've been watching the news and hearing of all the large companies laying off hundreds of employees at a time. Businesses closing their doors and others cutting back to bare bones because of the dwindling demand of products and services.

Then we hear about the greedy executives using bailout money intended to be made available as loans to businesses to help invigorate the economy but rather choosing to use it for redecorating bathrooms or holding on to the money to help their institution "weather out the recession." Does no one with decision power have a the ability to do the right thing without thinking of themselves first? I know there has to be stories of good being done with the bailout money but we don't hear about those. It's not as shocking as the media's focus of the dirty rotten scoundrel story.

And then there's health care. This government has dragged it's feet for decades on the need for universal healthcare for all US citizens. Now it's crisis time and they haven't even started. There are so many things needing to be fixed.

It's hard not to get caught up in the storm of these times. You can ignore it for small bits of time, but it's still the dark cloud looming in the distance. You turn your head occasionally and peek at it from the corner of your eye. We pretend that it won't effect us too much but we really know we can't be so sure. Attempting to think we will be prepared for when and if it does hit us. Thinking that saving a few bucks a month by cutting back on lunch outings or buying the bologna instead of the sliced roast beef is going to be enough. But thinking it most likely won't effect us. We're safe from the storm..aren't we?

It can happen in the blink of an eye. Or, in a few minutes in the bosses office, being told on a Friday morning that after 25 years, his position has been eliminated. Not a layoff, eliminated. Gone forever. This is your last day. We're so sorry - it's not because of your work performance, you're an outstanding employee, but each department had to make cut backs and this is the hardest decision we've had to make.

Then the phone call to his wife, me, that was cut short by my sobs. In a moment the storm is overhead and on top of us without warning. I'm crying in fear for what is to come. Knowing what we've seen on the news. All the bad news. That companies are firing, not hiring. What about our health insurance? If one of us gets sick, will we be destitute paying off some medical emergency debt for the rest of our life? It's hard not to go down the dark road. It sucks you in.

I put on a smile and tell all it will be alright while behind the smile my worry deepens. I keep thinking of all the things I need to learn. What happens when we can't pay the bills? How are we supposed to buy our own health insurance at 2 to 3 times more cost on an unemployment income of 30% less? The numbers don't add up. How do people do it?

Behind the smile I wonder if we will be like so many others and have to hand over the house keys to the mortgage company. Will we have to find homes for our cats and dog? That unthinkable loss of our Rico, it's too hard to go there. That dark road, it sucks you in.

Behind the smile I wonder if he will find work. Will he go on interview after interview and be looked over because he's 53? If he's not chosen time after time will it change him? Will it make him laugh less? Will this hurt him? I want to protect him from any hurt that may come his way. Will they know that he used to bring smiles to so many he worked with or that he was called the chocolate fairy by the receptionists? That he found joy in his work of solving the tough questions their experts couldn't figure out. Will they know how many cried or sought him out to say goodbye and shake his hand the day he left? Those aren't questions they ask on an interview.

He is optimistic and confident we will be fine. I need to catch a ride on his flight and stop crawling down the dark hole of mourning. I'll get there eventually. It's hard to be sad for too long when you live with a 6 foot 3 inch tall chocolate fairy who flies through the air in a tutu after all (see photo to right).

We will be OK.

Taking Flight

2009-01-21T08:56:00.010-06:00

Last night I finally made time to begin creating something non-yarn related. I purchased the book "Taking Flight" by Kelly Rae Roberts on mixed media collage and have been reading and staring at it for over a month. I've always loved the look, artistic freedom and layers upon layers of creativity of collage art. I've been a long time admirer of magazines such as Somerset Studio; ooohing and aaahing over the beautiful creations within it's pages. I knew I wanted to give it a try but wasn't sure where to begin. This book explains step by step a few artists techniques.

As a graphic designer, I was intimidated by the photoshopped digital collages using photos and textures that started gaining popularity in the late 90's. How did they achieve the right balance? How do they choose color adjustments? How do they make it look so right and not clumsy? I had a project that forced me to dive in and start experimenting with the digital piecework. It was all about trial and error. Even after this, the non-digital version of collage art seemed overwhelmingly difficult.

I wish I just dived into new creative projects without thinking about them too much. But I tend to read, observe, google, plan, learn and generally roll it around in my head far too long. So long that it becomes all the more of a daunting undertaking. Is my perfectionism slip showing? Then there's the tendency to think that I have to try to sell what I make. Why do I do that? Why not create for the sake of creating?

I want to change, really. At least I took a first step last night and finally started on some small collage projects for practice. (See, there I go again, "for practice" because practice makes perfect. Ugh.) I finished one up this morning while having my coffee. My sister and her husband are flying to their vacation spot in Mexico which inspired me for the first one. After I finished, I glued it onto a card and am mailing it off to her today. It is far from perfect, looks nothing like the images in the book, is a bit strange looking and was just for fun. It's a start! And sometimes just getting started is the biggest step in "taking flight."

I have a few more projects started so will be making time to experiment and play with mixed media collage...finally!

History

2009-01-20T08:35:00.005-06:00

"nothing can stand in the way of the power of

millions of voices calling for change..."

- Barack Obama

"Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world."

- Abraham Lincoln

A good read

2009-01-19T04:00:00.000-06:00

Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I Have a Dream"
delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

She's the one

2009-01-15T21:42:00.009-06:00

She's the one I talk to every day, sometimes twice a day. If I haven't heard from her in two days, I have to call to see if she's OK and her dogs didn't chew up the phones. We've been friends for 26 years. She's the one that introduced me to my husband.

She's the one I can talk to about absolutely anything and I believe she knows me better than anyone else in this world. She's the one that can call me on the carpet and I don't go into defense mode. She's the one I can call and do weird, interesting things with and she'll always be game. She's the one I can trust with my life. She's the one who's parents home became my home away from home.

She's the one that can always make me laugh. She's the one that understands that sometimes urge to just run away in a motor home. She's the one I called on 9/11, when the 35W bridge collapsed and when Barack won. There is never a dull moment with her.

She's the one that has scrimped by for a year while looking for a job. She's the one that has had to endure the calls from bill collectors to work out deals. Whose husband's hours were just cut back. She's gone on interview after interview to be beat out by the one with the penis. She's the one that is probably going to be offered the job tomorrow. The great job. The one she deserves. The job fate has been holding for her until the last possible minute. The job that's going to take her to St. Louis. And it's hitting me. She's the one I'm going to miss.

Questions Answered

2009-01-11T13:40:00.008-06:00

I've been MIA on my blog this week. A combination of being busy with my graphic design work (a good problem to have) and a glitch with Blogger. I recently uploaded an update for Firefox that decided my blog posts should be in an Arabic font. I messed around with it and now it's just doing the titles in a font that has squares in it. What the heck?! I decided to try a different browser, Safari, and it seems to be doing the trick for now.

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Bill over at Just A Moment Of Miscellany posted an interview in which questions were asked of him by another blogger. Here's five questions Bill asked of me when I requested to be interviewed. (If you'd like to be interviewed by me, see instructions at the end of this post.)

1. If you were to do a summer weekend excursion, which would you choose - Baraboo or Door County? Tell why you pick one over the other.

Definitely Door County. It would have to be a long weekend though as it is on the opposite side of the state. I've been there only once. I was with an artist friend that had an art show in nearby Sheboygan. On our way home, we took a detour and spent the hottest day of the year visiting a few places. I would love to rent a cozy Door County cabin on Lake Michigan for a week or two. Take in the architecture, shopping, food and do some painting and sketching along the way.

2. You've mentioned hot air ballooning. Have you gone to the Oshkosh air show?

We have not been the the Oshkosh air show. When we first got into hot air ballooning, we went to several balloon rallies in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We've kept the ballooning in our own area for the past few years. After visiting those other locations, the hubby has decided that we have some of the best flying right in our own backyard.

3. Why don't you have blogs in the the month of June, and why so few in May?

You know, I don't know why. I didn't realize the trend until you mentioned it. Probably the best explanation would be that I start spending a lot more time outside. It's the time of year when the days start getting longer and I get the urge to garden and tend to things in the dirt once I've finished my graphic design work in the office.

4. Do you have favorite places to visit in Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Chicago? Please mention a few.

I get to Minneapolis quite often since we live only 45 miles away. I don't really have a favorite place in Minneapolis but rather like to discover new places. One of these days I'll find that one thing that I have to revisit again and again. One place I've enjoyed on several occasions is the Como Park Conservatory in St. Paul. It's a wonderful dose of green and flowers and humidity when the winter drearies set in.

I've been to Chicago and Milwaukee each once. Both are places I'd like to spend more time exploring. I absolutely loved the Art Institute of Chicago when there last summer. Again, I was only there for one day so was limited on what I experienced. I need to take longer vacations!

5. Has blogging offered you any surprises? Spurred you to try something new or different? Think different thoughts

Absolutely, all of the above! The biggest surprise was discovering how much I enjoy writing and telling stories. I haven't written much other than letters since I was in school. I would start journals but abandon them within a week or two. I'm not sure exactly what made me start a blog and am also not sure why I've stuck with it. I think it's probably the readers and the sense of community that has developed. I have met up and made friends with some local bloggers which I'm sure our paths would've never crossed if it weren't for blogging. And there are many others that I would definitely get in contact with if visiting their area. Blogging has made me realize the world is a small place and we all have a lot in common.

I am trying new things because of blogging. Most recently I've been intrigued with the guerilla art knit-ups. In fact I'm working on one and will be putting it up, and blogging about it soon. The list is endless though...books, art, destinations. Most of all, it has made me a better observer of everyday happenings, my surroundings and thoughts.

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If you'd like to be interviewed by me, here's the instructions:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me" with your email address or send me an email at talk2balou at gmail dot com.
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

2009-01-05T02:38:00.007-06:00

I used to be an avid book reader in my younger years. Somewhere along the way, I lost the patience to just sit and read for more than thirty minutes at a time. This explains my tendency to read poetry, short stories and magazines. It was the discovery of audiobooks that brought me back to enjoying books. I often will strap on a fanny pack with a cassette player or CD Player or hang my ipod around my neck and listen to books while I do other things. It makes the time fly by while driving down the road, tackling piles of dishes, doing loads of laundry, pulling weeds in the garden or scrubbing floors.

This weekend I listened to "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I admit, the title piqued my interest when I saw it in my iTunes audiobook fiction section. The reviews were wonderful and the audio sampling was acceptable so I downloaded the book. The narration talent of audiobooks is so important. This book is narrated by a team of five talented voices that bring the characters to life. I half-wish I owned the printed version of this book simply for the beautiful cover design. I washed the dishes, scrubbed the bathroom, folded clothes and finished knitting a scarf while "reading" my book.

The story is written as a series of letters to and from an author set in 1946. It took me a little bit to get used to this letter writing style, but after a while it seemed very natural and the characters came to life. The letters focus around post WWII England and especially, the quirky and charming residents of the channel island of Guernsey and it's unusual members of the literary society. Guernsey was occupied by the Germans during World War II. This book brings to light some of the conditions and hardships the islanders must have experienced during the occupation.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it's cast of characters. It had me laughing and crying. I look forward to listening in again. I'd highly recommend either the audio or written version.

Moon Doggie

2009-01-02T20:23:00.005-06:00

Last night I let Rico (the fur child) outside to do his duty. I usually have him on leash at night but he's been so good lately I let him out without clipping it on. My mistake. There must have been a rabbit or something at the edge of the woods because he took off like a speeding bullet after the critter. Most likely a rabbit finding tidbits under the pine trees behind the house.

After a few minutes of calling for him, I went in and got my boots and coat on to walk over to the woods and listen for him. Often I can hear him rustling through the woods, ignoring my requests to return. I walked to the edge of the woods and listened. I took a moment to stop worrying about the dog and admire the view. The moon was bright and cast indigo shadows on the light blue snow. It made me think of a poem by Robert Frost.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though.
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Rico did return about 20 minutes later with tail between legs and head held down low. His way of asking forgiveness rather than permission. Maybe he too was drawn to the woods lovely, dark and deep. Regardless, a promise I need to keep...to take a moment to clip on the leash.

The New Year Intents (not in tents)

2008-12-31T09:40:00.008-06:00

We'll be ringing in the new year with a few friends tonight. Maybe we'll actually see midnight this year. Any bets?

Resolutions suck. I'm tired of being disappointed when another year has slipped by without accomplishing the tough resolutions. I am looking forward to 2009 and have made a few very attainable resolutions for the upcoming year. Wait, I'm not even going to call them resolutions and have that stigma placed upon them. Rather, here are my intents for 2009:

1. I will say "ott nine" as much as possible as it's the last of the "ott" years this century.

2. I will bring my re-usable shopping bags to ALL stores, not only the grocery store.

3. I will listen to ALL the songs in my iTunes folder and remove the ones I always skip over. According to iTunes, it will take me 12.2 days to listen to them all. Yikes!

4. I will continue to drive the hubby (a.k.a. the prince of darkness) crazy by leaving lights on around the house in rooms I am no longer in and blame it on the ghosts.

5. Rico and his kitties will receive lots of love and TLC.

6. I will not plant 23 tomato plants in our garden as I did last year. I will also not attempt to make homemade ketchup again. Blech.

7. And last but not least, I will grow taller to lower the body mass index number. Oh damn.

Have a safe and happy new year all!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-24T10:51:00.003-06:00

A vintage photo from six Christmases ago. At the print shop I was working at, jobs were stored on CD's and stacked up quickly.

Hubby and I will be doing some traveling for the holidays but I'll be back soon. Enjoy the holidays and peace to you all.

Adorned Pole

2008-12-23T11:47:00.003-06:00

This Disordered Life received the knit-up I sent for her guerilla art project. Since it's in the UK, does this make me an international guerilla artist? ;)

Photos courtesy of notmassproduced.

Have a Barney of a Christmas

2008-12-22T04:00:00.000-06:00

1. Get a ruler.

2. Watch this:

3. Quickly, measure how far your jaw dropped. I had 3 inches.

4. Please tell me this is not our tax dollars hard at work.

Collaboration defined

2008-12-20T04:00:00.000-06:00

Fellow blogger KMKat posted these videos on her blog the other day. They moved me so am sharing with you. View top one first.

whoisamy.wordpress.com

Fame

2008-12-18T04:33:00.017-06:00

Below is an email I received from a friend/former co-worker who should have her own blog because she is a great story teller with a wicked sense of humor. With four very amusing kids, a husband, a job and a farm with interesting critters, she has great fodder for entertaining stories. I can't imagine how she gets everything done on a daily basis and fitting in time to sleep. Maybe a blog will come later when a few more kidlets get into school full-time. I'll keep working on her. Her oldest son, Cody, is nine years old...

Cody had a little buddy call him tonight. They are busy making big plans about how they are going to start to save $100 a year so when they are 17 they will have $1,700 and will be able to buy a big truck and have enough gas that they can travel all over the US to go hunting for big animals.... blah, blah. Very detailed oriented. Anyway, Brandon (his friend) had to "call Cody back" cuz he had to eat supper. In the meantime, Chuck asked Cody what Brandon's last name was and Chuck said, "Ooooohhhhhh.... that must be balou & her hubby's neighbors." So fast forward 15 minutes... Cody was just sitting here gabbing with Brandon again and as I walk by I hear him say...

"Hey, do the people who live by you have a round shaped barn that has a round shaped roof with an antenna or spear thingy on top of it?"
[pause]
"Yeah? Well that is my Mom's friend!"
[pause]
"Yeah. My dad likes to go in their hot air balloon that has all the rainbow colors in it."
[long pause]
"HEY! Did you know that that lady that lives by you is missing a FINGER?!!"
[short pause]
"YEAH!!! Only 4... but you can't really tell. She showed me."
[pause]
"No, I am totally serious dude."
[pause]
"I WAS counting her thumb. Geez!"
[pause]
"No, she didn't care. She showed me and my brother. And she was laughing. Aaaaaannnnd.... SHE HAS A CONVERTIBLE!!!"

Oh balou, your legend lives on here! :-)

I am big with nine year olds. I wonder if I added another chapter to the legend of balou after a school bus full of kids drove by a couple of days ago. It was -10˚ and I was walking outside from my office to the house...in my purple wizard bathrobe...wearing snow boots...and a stocking cap...with a cat on my shoulder. By now I am probably known as "that fingerless crazy cat lady who does magic in the round barn."

Wordless Wednesday: Nosy Co-worker

2008-12-17T04:00:00.002-06:00

The northerner instinct

2008-12-16T00:33:00.009-06:00

Salmon are born with the instinct to return to their freshwater birthplace to mate and die. Dogs are born with instincts - like my German Shepherd that needs to know where his humans are at all times. Sea turtles that hatch on the beach follow their natural urge to run towards the water. Humans, now there's a different lot.

I am not well read on the subject of human instinct but it seems we know very little of it. The only studies I've heard of, which doesn't surprise me, involve human sexual attraction. I do think there is one non-sexual human trait worthy of study. It appears in many of the human species born in snow country and is one I've found myself taking note of and checking in on frequently. It was happening this past weekend with the threat of snow storms and sub zero weather. What is this urge you ask? It is to stock up on bread, milk, eggs and toilet paper with impending bad weather approaching. Is this desire to make, consume and digest French toast during snow storms instinct or learned behavior? I'm going with instinct, pure as the driven snow instinct. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Pop!! go the bloggers

2008-12-15T12:09:00.007-06:00

I had the opportunity to meet several other bloggers on Saturday night at the Pop!! restaurant in St. Paul, MN. Minnesota Matron did a fine job of organizing the get-together. The restaurant was a pleasure; good food, great service and a very patient young waiter dealing with a bunch of flirty cougars. Downtown St. Paul is a beautiful sight with wonderful light displays to celebrate the season. I took some photos but the camera wasn't cooperating and everything turned out too blurry to share. (Typical, blame the equipment, not the operator.)

I've always wondered about other bloggers. Are they the same people in the real world as they are in the virtual world? I think writing down the words describing inner thoughts surrounding our life moments makes us more interesting to our readers. This group proved to be just as entertaining as their blogs. We agreed not to blog about specific conversations but the topics ranged from everyday humor to our deep, inner workings. It was a great evening and I look forward to future get-togethers.

Here is a list of the folks that were there - give them a visit.

Minnesota Matron
Are we there yet
Licking Calcutta
The Philosophy Factory
Stitch Simple
Standing Still!
Sozzled

Guerilla Art Appreciation & Knit-Ups

2008-12-11T13:06:00.007-06:00

There are as many reasons to perform or install guerilla art as there are forms in which it takes. For most of us, the first form that pops into mind is graffiti. Some of the other forms of guerilla art, at least the ones I have heard of include: sidewalk chalk, stickers, stenciled art, sculptures, flyers & posters, postcards, leave behinds such as art or gifts or money, inserts in books at libraries or book stores, or the well known message in a bottle. Subject matters of guerilla art are just as varied including: drawings, collage, doodles, paintings, beaded sticks, recipes, photos, good luck charms, secrets, humor, fortunes, quotes, poems, political or activist messages.

I recently discovered a new form of guerilla art from the talented Susan Sanford's blog, ArtSpark Theatre. Susan is a extraordinary illustrator and the creator of the art sticks I've mentioned in previous posts. She also brought to my attention another blogger, Grrl+Dog from Australia.

Grrl+Dog's blogger profile reads, "Grrl + Dog runs with scissors, colors outside the lines and barks with her own voice. She commits random acts of guerrilla knitting in the inner west of Sydney and is growing old disgracefully." She creates and installs wonderful guerilla art "knit-ups" in public places for all to enjoy. How could you not smile when coming upon a sign post wearing a knit-up. She usually has tags with notes on them as well. Here are a few examples of her installations from her blog (photos courtesy of grrl):

It's the blogger way to go from blog to blog to blog isn't it? ArtSpark posted a call for knit-ups to go to an Arts & Crafts Centre for people with learning disabilites in the UK. Another blogger, this disordered life, works at the center. Since I am a faster and more talented crocheter than knitter, I put together a piece of guerilla art/knit-up/crochet-up/graknitti for a pole at the center and sent it off yesterday. They requested the pieces have varied textures as some of the visitors have low or no vision so I added ruffles and bells. Here's some music (hit play) & a show:

After my Christmas gifts are made up, I'll be working on an installation for the 4"x4" post under the stop sign at the end of our road. Although trying to figure out how to add a 'from the car readable' version of "& smell the roses" to it is becoming a challenge.

Here's a video of some Guerilla Art Knitters from the U.S.:

Be on the lookout. You may be passing by a form of guerilla art every day and not even notice it. And if you see a funky stop sign post on County Road J, know balou is not too far away.

Wordless Wednesday: Play

2008-12-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

Bug Eyed Pajama Day

2008-12-08T09:58:00.005-06:00

I had an installer here all day Friday to install two additional satellite receivers. It was interesting to watch how he handled our situation with an old house. He had to run some long lengths of wire and drill through 112 years of layers to get us up and running. There is some wire laying on the yard that will need to be buried by more than just snow. We will take care of that when the ground thaws in the spring.

As a bonus for the add-ons, we are getting HBO and Starz movie channels free of charge for three months. We subscribe to the basic channels along with our local TV stations. The movie channels are a big treat. So guess what we did yesterday? We stoked up the wood stove, wrapped up in blankets and watched movies all day in pajamas. Hubby did sacrifice himself and put real clothes on to go outside and play with Rico and do outside things for a bit. All I accomplished besides movie watching was to make one meal and finish up a guerrilla art project that's going over to the UK (more on that tomorrow).

What movies did we watch? After a while they all become this pixelated blur in the memory but I think we watched "National Treasure Book of Secrets" twice, "American Gangster", "The Last Mimsy" and bits and pieces of others. I feel like a bug eyed slug this morning. Is there such a thing as TV overdose?

Hands and Mourning Doves

2008-12-05T00:01:00.007-06:00

My Dad would've celebrated his 80th birthday last week. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him. I've been feeling guilty because I can't remember the exact date of his birthday. I couldn't bring myself to ask Mom...it's something I should never forget. And I have. Hanging on to the too few memories and it hurts that even one little piece went missing. I was nine years old when Dad died from a heart attack at the age of 44.

Little things will trigger memories of him. Yesterday it was hearing the coos of a pair of mourning doves. I always think of Dad when I hear mourning doves. I'll imagine that it's his voice and he's reminding me that he's not too far away. Who knows? Maybe it is him. And maybe it's just the little girl inside needing to be comforted. She's never very far from the surface.

One of my most vivid memories of Dad is from church on Sunday mornings. Being the youngest of five, I think it was his job to keep me occupied and quiet during the Sunday morning sermons in our little Methodist church. I would sit in his lap and he would hold my hand in his big, tanned, calloused farmer hands. Ever so gently with his fingernail, he would push the cuticles back on each of my small fingernails. I can picture this so clearly. We always sat in the pews on the north side of church. Often the windows would be open. There were trees outside the windows and the mourning doves would be coo-coo-cooing outside. If all the other memories slowly disappear, this memory of touching hands and mourning dove songs will never be forgotten.

Oh them DTV no signal blues

2008-12-04T06:00:00.008-06:00

Is anyone else feeling the DTV switchover blues? It hit the balou household full force this week. The TV ads and booklets make it all sound so simple. That is until you have problems or questions.

We own three televisions; one in my office (in a separate building), one in the kitchen (a tiny 20 yr. old black & white TV/Radio), and one in our living room which is connected to a Dish Network satellite. I braved Black Friday and picked up a small 10" digital to replace my kitchen set and a $40 antenna from Radio Shack. They said I wouldn't need a more powerful antenna unless I lived in a valley or a hollow. Which we don't. We live on top of a hill and as a crow flies, about 45 miles from the major TV transmission towers.

We got a converter box and hooked it up to the TV in my office. We're fairly technologically savvy and made sure connections were correct. There's a very large antenna in the attic of my office which pulls in the current analog signals just fine. When we turned on the TV and converter box, a real pretty blue box with "No Signal" popped up. Wait! Excitement! There was a blip of football! Oh. Disappointment. Back to the blue "no signal" box. This was the same with all the stations we tried. My PBS station didn't come in at all. No blips even. Only the blue "no signal" box. Unacceptable. This was the same scenario when I connected the new digital TV to the new indoor antenna. I searched the internet looking for answers and made some phone calls. The only answer I got was that we would have to adjust our TV antennas for each station and possibly put it in a higher location and perhaps buy a new antenna. Way back in the anals of the documentation were the words "digital TV signals can be finicky." Well. They don't tell you THAT in those nice TV announcements aired on our local stations.

Would we have to tune the antenna to each station? I had visions of my childhood. Oh the horror! First we had to WALK to the TV set and TURN the dial WITH OUR HANDS to change a station. Then we had to turn the dial of the contraption on top of the TV - again, WITH OUR HANDS. This tuned the antenna so we could receive signal from one of the, hang on, THREE stations we had to choose from. I can remember being scolded for turning the antenna rotator too far and having visions of the it's wiry arms spinning out of control on top of the metal pole that was strapped to our old farmhouse.

I thought digital TV is "the way of the future." I guess it is as long as you have cable, live directly under the TV transmission towers, have satellite TV or have wiry antenna arms reaching into commercial air space. I think this is close to the end of free TV. It is for us anyways. Tomorrow morning an installer from Dish Network will be here to wire up this 1896 house and my just as old "pump house turned office." Dish Network will get $10 more a month from us, all three TV's will get their signal beamed in from contraptions spinning in space above our big blue ball and there will be PBS.

Wordless Wednesday: born a girl headquarters

2008-12-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

Star Gazer

2008-12-02T09:09:00.006-06:00

When I stepped out of my office last night, my eyes immediately raised into the night sky to see a beautiful crescent moon flanked by two very bright planets. I'm used to seeing Venus sitting alongside the moon but the second one was a surprise. Hubby said that this is the brightest we will see these for a very long time and the second illumination was Jupiter.

The three-way conjunction of Jupiter, Venus and the crescent moon will be visible to all around the world during the next few days. It's so bright that even light polluted city dwellers will see it depending upon clear skies. In Europe they'll get a special treat as for an hour the crescent moon will eclipse Venus. They say Venus reappearing on the border of the dark side of the moon is beautiful. I can only imagine.

One of the perks of living in the country is our bright starry nights. I'll often walk to the part of the yard obscured by the beaming yard light and stare into the depths of the universe. Usually with Rico on the end of a leash doing his business. The winter sky also opens up more of the stars to our eyes. I suppose the lack of humidity in the air plays a part in that. It seems that the more you stare, the further you can see beyond the obvious. Then the shivers set in and Rico pulls me towards the door which ends the gazing. Small pleasures.

Laughter and Tears

2008-11-29T14:21:00.012-06:00

Friday night my niece and I met in Minneapolis and went to see "All I Want For Christmas Is 700 Billion Dollars," Brave New Workshop's latest, and 50th, holiday comedy show. If you're in Minneapolis, you should get tickets now. It was a great performance. This troop of performers never fails to make us laugh hysterically - and rather loudly apparently. It seems one of the performers, Mike Fotis, mentioned to my niece in a Facebook conversation that they noticed the crazy laughter coming from the piano section.

One of my favorite bits was a video they had produced portraying parents learning how to use their webcam. It ended in a rather, well, a situation you wouldn't want to see your parents in - computer screen or not. It brought me to that crazy silent air laugh with tears streaming down my face. You know, when you laugh so hard all that comes out is air and you have to cover your face with hands to hide the weird distorted facial gestures and the only way you can tell you're laughing is by the shaking of your shoulders and the tears ruining your eye makeup? Um, no? Oh. Well then. That's just me I guess. There were a few other skits that did the same. Then there was the one where I did the crazy laugh and no one else did. It involved a dolphin voice imitation and the troop singing a version of the 12 days of Christmas. Laughed 'til I cried.

But those aren't the tears I'm talking about in my title. This was our last get-together before Rose moves to Portland next week. I've convinced her to start a blog to document her new adventures and will link to it when she gets it up and running. I've also decided I need to learn about iChat as there's a built-in camera in my iMac. (I promise to put a post-it over the lens if things get a bit jiggy in the office with your uncle and I.) Oh dear. Too much information yet again.

(Rose - have a great trip to Portland and thanks again for last night.)

Last Minute Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T14:05:00.004-06:00

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. Hubby and I invited his parents to spend the day with us. They obliged and brought offerings of apple pie, cranberry wine, a cheese ball and the most beautiful home-made dinner rolls I've laid eyes on. We had initially planned on going to our neighbors for the T-day meal. On Wednesday I received a call with the news that my neighbor had come down with the flu and the dinner was off. My neighbor, a perfect southern belle, is a master at entertaining and always cooks enough for a small army. It is a labor of love so was sad to hear she had fallen ill. I'm sure she was disappointed.

I surprisingly didn't go into my usual flurry of worry over the last minute meal I had to prepare. We went to the grocery store on Wednesday night and picked up a thawed turkey, ingredients for dressing and ice cream for the pie. Turkey was in the oven by 9:00am on Thursday. My Mother-in-law taught me how to make the best dressing - bonus! And the timing was right on - everything was done at the same time.

I think these meals are getting easier with age. I can remember stressing and fussing for a week beforehand only to be disappointed when it took a mere 20 minutes to devour the food. So I've decided these family meals are going to be easy like this from now on. No huge planning. No having 4 different vegetables. No more 3 different flavors of pie. Be prepared family because from now on, you gets what you gets. Oh, and from now on, after the dishes are done, I'm disappearing for an hour to take a nap.

Free Holiday Music

2008-11-26T17:00:00.010-06:00

aI was watching Oprah today and she had a good freebie I thought I'd share. For the next 48 hours (until Friday afternoon), go to this link and you can download 8 holiday songs courtesy of Oprah.

The songs are:
Faith Hill, "Joy to the World"
Tony Bennett, "I'll be Home for Christmas"
Il Divo, "O Holy Night"
Josh Groban, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"
Brian McKnight, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"
Amy Grant, "O Come All Ye Faithful"
Harry Connick Jr., "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
Aretha Franklin, "Silent Night"

Wordless Wednesday: Enquiring minds want to know

2008-11-26T07:33:00.008-06:00

Big Ole is NOT anatomically correct.

(OK, so I suck at Wordless Wednesday. I need words
and now apparently, I need sound effects too.)

The yarn is calling me

2008-11-24T21:30:00.005-06:00

It's shivery outside. A speckle of snow falls now and then. The wood stove is filled steadily. I need a coat to walk between the house and my office. It's time. The yarn and crocheting and knitting projects are calling me from their tidy bins up in the sewing room closet. They were packed away last spring when my attentions turned to digging in the dirt. Soon my living room chair will be surrounded by baskets and tubs full of balls of yarn and boxes with hooks and needles and books and magazines filled with ideas and patterns. After our Thanksgiving company leaves, I'll build my nest of yarn-y goodness.

Guerrilla art under foot

2008-11-23T17:15:00.011-06:00

Susan Sanford of the blog ArtSpark Theatre inspired me. Susan created some wonderful art sticks with the intention of sending them to other bloggers and documenting their placement for others to find. What a great idea. She calls it "guerrilla art." I've just recently discovered Susan's blog and in a recent post, one of the art stick recipients shared her story of it's placement. Susan is an extremely talented illustrator and sells some of her designs on wearable art through redbubble.

Since I was going up to visit my family this weekend in Alexandria, Minnesota, I thought I'd make my own art stick (no where near the quality of Susan's) and perform a random act of art or guerrilla art. I decided to leave it "under foot" at a fairly well known landmark which is frequented by visitors to the area.

He's their 28 foot tall Nordic superman known as Big Ole.

Note: Birthplace of America you ask? An interesting claim from a town in central Minnesota. The claim is based on a rock discovered near Alexandria with cryptic carvings, the "Kensington Runestone." The 200-pound stone, was supposedly "placed in Douglas County by the Vikings in 1362," according to the Kensington Runestone Museum. It hasn't been proven to be authentic, nor disproven. But it may explain the stories of the blue eyed Mandan Indians living in ancient Norwegian-style structures and having knowledge of Christianity before the settlers arrived. It is thought the ancient Nordic mariners traveled to Minnesota via the Hudson Bay and great lakes. Why they kept hiking from Lake Superior all the way to west central Minnesota with this big rock though... (wink, wink)

Sleepus Interruptus

2008-11-19T22:04:00.004-06:00

I can't seem to get a good nights sleep lately. I'll lay in bed and if my mind eventually quiets down, I sleep for a couple of hours. Then it's a progression of flip-flopping, sleep a bit, getting up and go downstairs to use the facilities, go down to the basement and put a couple of logs in the woodstove, dog is sitting by door with his longing look so I take him outside to do his duty, go back upstairs to bed, sleep a bit, wake up to rearrange pillows or move to the other bedroom, sleep a bit, etc. Sometimes I'll wake up with my to do list running through my head. I haven't been dreaming much lately. I miss my dreams.

That's why I'm here blogging tonight. I went to bed, got all comfy and started running through things in my head. I remembered I made an error on something for work and I had to go downstairs, outside to my office to fix it. And since I'm here...I might as well blog. At least "what to blog about tomorrow" will be one thing off the list that runs through my head when I go back in the house and upstairs to bed.

Here's what will be running through my head in a few minutes when I lay my head on my pillow: work projects #1-7, things to do before I take off up north this weekend, when am I going to clean house for Thanksgiving guests with this work, remember to pay the bills, I need to get the fixings for pumpkin pies, what's for dinner tomorrow, take the movies back to the library, make phone call to the state about that tax thing, I need to clean my office and find the top of my desk, which holiday song should I learn on the concertina for Neil's Holiday Concert on Citizen of the Month, need to go to the bank, don't forget to keep the Saturday after Thanksgiving open for dinner and comedy club with my niece, need to do laundry, how can I help my friend that's going through a rough patch, and on and on. Ugh! Maybe I should start drinking.

Wordless Wednesday: In Flight

2008-11-19T06:07:00.005-06:00

In flight over Pierce County Wisconsin.
Click on photo for a larger view.

What is Wordless Wednesday?

Jam packed Saturday

2008-11-17T15:02:00.002-06:00

Riley and I had a great time on Saturday and packed a lot into our afternoon. It had been far too long since I had seen my friend of 25 years. We only live 90 miles apart but it worked out that we hadn't gotten together since August. I don't know how she grew her hair so long in those few months. I need to figure out her secret. Maybe it's her "flexitarian" (mostly vegetarian) food choices as of late.

We first had a great lunch at the "Taste of India." I enjoy Indian food and have had a couple of successful attempts making dishes at home. But as usual, it's always better when someone else makes it.

Then is was off to the Minneapolis Central Library for the PostSecret traveling display. It is there until November 30th. I was impressed with the artwork and range of emotions; humorous to heart-wrenching. Both Riley and I made the comment that "there are far too many sad people in the world."

Next stop was the Twin Cities Chocolate Extravaganza. The best part was the wine tasting seminar we attended. We discovered that any booth giving out free samples had a good ten minute wait in line. We weren't in the standing in line mood so we visited the booths that weren't busy. Luckily I had received free tickets. We both agreed that if we had purchased our tickets at $25.00 each, we would've been extremely disappointed. We left with the decision that once is enough for that event. I'd advise anyone to go spend $20.00 at your local chocolatier, sit down and enjoy every piece in peace.

Since there was still daylight and we were so close, we made a stop at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It's been around since the mid 1980's and I had never been there before. I'd like to go back in the summer when it's warmer and greener and sunnier.

On the way back to the restaurant to pick up my car, we detoured around a few of the lakes of Minneapolis and oohed and aahed at the beautiful homes surrounding the lake.

Thanks Riley! Had a super fun day!

That's my story - here's the slideshow...

Natalie Dee: Failed Jelly Belly Flavors

2008-11-17T05:00:00.000-06:00

nataliedee.com

Do you Haiku?

2008-11-16T05:00:00.002-06:00

LILACS ARE CONFUSED
OLD MAN WEATHER TRICKING THEM
NOVEMBER, NOT MAY

Little Potato

2008-11-14T05:00:00.009-06:00

Great Aunt Balou got a picture in the mail the other day. This is Campbell. Don't you just want to cuddle her and squeeze her and love her and tickle her toes and blow a raspberry on her belly and pinch her cheeks and blow her kisses and play so big?

(Press play below to play a song that goes with this post.)

PostSecret dipped in Chocolate

2008-11-13T08:18:00.007-06:00

While watching a segment on the local morning news program, I discovered there is a PostSecret exhibition on display at the library in downtown Minneapolis. It is a traveling exhibition of 400 postcards illustrating people's innermost secrets. Often, the artwork is just as compelling as the secret.

For those not familiar, PostSecret is a community art project started by Frank Warren. It invites people to anonymously share a secret on a postcard and send it to him. Mr. Warren has published several books of select "secrets." He also posts several of the postcards on his PostSecret blog each Sunday.

I've often heard of people bringing in their own secrets to these displays and even placing their postcard secrets in the PostSecret books in bookstores and libraries. I think I have to get busy and bring a secret along.

I don't get into the big city very often so I'm excited to be adding the PostSecret exhibition to my previously scheduled attendance of the Twin Cities Chocolate Extravaganza. Lucky me, I am receiving two free tickets from a client to the show. I wonder if they are golden. A fellow chocolate lover and I are going to luxuriate in an exhibition hall full of chocolatiers and purveyors of chocolatey goodness. I am imagining the smell I will encounter once walking through the doorway to the chocolate room. I guess it's no secret that I love chocolate.

You Just Never Know #3

2008-11-12T06:00:00.002-06:00

You just never know what you're going to find when searching for a turkey video...

FWC U21 Turkey 7
Uploaded by ARCHENDER

I had to stay up for it...

2008-11-11T23:11:00.004-06:00

...just in case something important happened. It was an uneventful minute.

Veterans Day

2008-11-11T09:02:00.005-06:00

Unlike todays soldiers abroad with internet hook-ups, video chatting and email, in wars of past, paper, pencil and mailed packages were the links to home. I've found a few blogs that have posted letters from WWI and WWII veterans. They are interesting reading.

WWI: Experiences of an English Soldier is a series of letters from an English Soldier writing home to his brother, wife and other family members. It is an awesome collection of letters and notes regarding WWI. Eventually a book was created from the blog.

Here's one from privateletters.net, the letters of US Private Melvin Johnson.

May 18, 1944

Dearest,

Got a letter from you today; dated May 1st and May 3rd. I expect to hear from you more often now. It certainly revived my spirits to get some mail - especially from you. I'll build my letter around some of the topics mentioned in yours.

About spring fever - it's too cold for that here. The only thing that's warm in this country is the sun and it's Brrrrr. Did I tell you we sleep in tents? But we sleep warm. Of course it's a bit rough getting out of that warm bed in the morning.

About that book "Nana". The reason I want it is that I've partly read it and want to finish it. It doesn't seem to me to be such an improper book as you intimate. It's more of a social case study than anything else. Whether I will find time to read it or not is an open question. I may or I may not have the time.

Glad Elaine likes to be out of doors. Like to see her tottling about on the lawn. Bet she goes down on her sitter every now and then. Do you suppose Tony is a little on the outs with you and didn't take you to town just to be spiteful? I suppose it's quite a problem to you to know what to do this summer. Also whether to teach next year or not. I'll leave those problems to you. I don't want you to over-tax yourself. And take good care of the baby.

What's the present bond balance? You never said whether you got that bond I sent you or not? It's possible too that I may send a little money home now and then. No promises of course, but if I do, put it in bonds or use as you see fit. Never mind the prescription for glasses. I think the reading may be taken from the broken lens. I nevr thought of that before.

Read a newspaper article the other day describing the tense atmosphere of invasion expectancy that prevails everywhere in America. Of such things I'm not allowed to say a thing.

Thanks a lot for your generous attitude toward me in your plans for the future. I've some ideas regarding a book cabinet and a record album cabinet too. You know, we used to have a lot of fun together. I don't think we sufficiently appreciated those Sundays and Saturday afternoons. Sleeping late, eating a breakfast of what you wanted to eat, reading, and listening to the radio. You know, one thing I miss a lot is, music. There's little opportunity of hearing the music you like here. Even then it wouldn't be like hearing it at home. You know, I'm thinking a lot about that translator position in the Maritime Service. Maybe a job like that would give us a little more free time and a chance to take a vacation once in a while. We can go to California or Colorado or some such thing. Well, some day I believe all our dreams will come true.

Lots of love, Melvin

Tear Jerker

2008-11-09T13:47:00.003-06:00

I have a strange affliction. I can't seem to go to a movie without crying at the cheesiest of sentimental moments. I mean when I finish "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" with a cry tally of three, there is something wrong with me. My friend (whom I might add is the one that wanted to see that movie, not me) just laughed at me and I laughed along wondering why I cry at every B movie cornball moment. Next week "Madagascar 2" is playing at our local theatre so I expect I'll need to buy a new mini pack of tissues for my purse. Aren't hormones fun?

First Snow

2008-11-07T08:41:00.007-06:00

I'm glad we have wood stacked and the smell of burning wood
will be wafting through the house.
I'm sad that this means the convertible goes into hibernation.
I'm glad I get to wear my wooly sweaters, stocking caps and scarves.
I'm sad I won't be able to walk barefoot in the grass for months.
I'm glad I still think the snow is beautiful.
I'm glad that there's more glad than sad.

One Minute Writer: Jeopardy

2008-11-06T09:20:00.005-06:00

Trish from Pendill Pages brought to my attention a recent blog of note called One Minute Writer. I love the concept. C. Beth posts daily blogging fodder which come from readers suggestions. You are challenged to write about the subject within one minute. I liked today's subject so thought I'd give it a shot.

If you were on the game show Jeopardy!, what interesting story would you tell to introduce yourself?

I used to tattoo dogs. Before the days of micro chips and identity theft, a friend and I would travel around the area and tattoo identification numbers on dogs inner thighs. The ID numbers were usually the owners social security number which was then registered at a central dog registry. I was only asked to get creative once by the owner of a weimaraner. I tattooed a heart with an arrow going through it under the ID number.

ABC3D - Marion Bataille

2008-11-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

American History - The Good Kind

2008-11-05T07:43:00.003-06:00

President-elect Senator Barack Obama stands with his wife Michelle and their daughters Malia (2nd R) and Sasha as they face supporters at his election night rally after being declared the winner of the 2008 presidential election in Chicago, November 4, 2008. (Jim Bourg/Reuters)

Sweet Meat Vote Tee

2008-11-04T08:11:00.004-06:00

I'm excited to see the results of todays election. I'm going to the polls in a couple of hours to cast my vote. That way I get the right to complain if my guy doesn't win. Either way, the next president has a heaping bin of stinking mess to clean up.

Saw this t-shirt at zazzle.com and thought it was weird enough to share...

Get out and VOTE!

Desiderata

2008-11-01T20:42:00.004-06:00

Desiderata
written by Max Ehrmann, 1927

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Sticker Shock

2008-10-31T06:00:00.002-06:00

It's been about 2 years since I've gone to a mainstream movie theater. I usually frequent the family owned, single screen theater in a nearby town that shows new movies for a $3.00 ticket. For an additional $1.75 I can buy a medium buttered popcorn and a large soda.

Last week, a friend and I went to see "The Secret Life of Bees." I thoroughly enjoyed the book and had heard good things about the film. I was not disappointed. When reading the words and forming pictures in my head, they were so similar to the film makers interpretations - it was uncanny. The screen writers stuck to the book and it didn't feel like much was dropped from the story. The acting was exceptional.

I was disappointed in one thing - the prices. We went to a 4:00 pm showing so got the discounted mattinee rate of $5.75 per ticket. I think I saw $9.00 for a regular ticket price. Yikes. Then on to the snack counter. A small popcorn was $5.10! A SMALL popcorn. I had to check it three times because I thought I was reading it wrong. Nope, $5.10 for a small popcorn. I wondered why the .10 at the end bit when I saw the price of the small soda, it made sense. A small fountain soda was $3.90! And after all that, with the small army of teenagers working at the theater, the bathrooms were atrocious. All I could think about was for $4.75, less than a small popcorn at this 12+ screen behemoth, I could get a ticket, a medium popcorn, a large soda, see a neighbor or two, a clean bathroom and a good feeling knowing that I'm keeping my money in the community. I'll stick to my local theater.

The next day I heard on the news that Jennifer Hudson's family members were killed. She was in the movie, "The Secret Life of Bees" and I had thought how much her life must have changed in the few years she's been in the public eye since being on "American Idol." My heart goes out to her and her family, what an unimaginable loss they've suffered.

I Never Thought I'd Miss These

2008-10-30T07:29:00.007-06:00

I never thought I'd miss TV commercials. At least the non-political genre advertisements. I'm so tired of the political jabbing ads and the fake sentimental ads of one senator holding the hand of a boy who suffered from a rare disease or another candidate apologizing for "getting her words wrong" and calling her fellow politicians anti-American. Or candidates mispronouncing nuclear and purposefully dumbing down their language skills by forgetting the "g" in words ending with "ing." Listen up you political handlers, I want someone smarter than me running the show - not a dumbed down version of the average Joe or Josephine out to run our government. Hey, I can pronounce nuclear and words ending in "ing", maybe I should run?

I heard someone had an idea to limit the amount of political TV advertisements allowed in a 24 hour period and only starting 6 months before elections. I'm all for government censorship in that case. Think that bill would get passed? Maybe if it had 140 billion dollars of pork tacked on.

Five days. Only five more days until it's back to the good old Pillsbury dough boy giggling, bears using Charmin in the woods, Mothers washing their soccer playing kids clothes in Tide, Diet Coke artistically bubbling into the surreal sky, super mega shrimp specials at Red Lobster, iPhone commercials making me drool and the list goes on and on and on.

So, next time you're cussing out the large amount of commercials plugging their goods before Drew Carey tells you who won the showcase showdown, remember those political ads of 2008. Or, better yet, turn the damn thing off.

Fashion faux pas?

2008-10-28T06:14:00.004-06:00

Photo by Max Whittaker/Getty Images

I couldn't decide on the caption so choose your favorite or add your own:

1. I think there's probably an opening for a Republican power shopper.

2. Looks like there's an infiltrator in the Republican personal shopper brigade.

3. I think we know who Sarah's secretly votin' for. She's a maverick.

4. On sale now at a Goodwill near you.

Here's a little more info on the scarf from Newsweek blog.

"Words of my Heart" by Irene Kennedy

2008-10-27T07:50:00.009-06:00

I recently ordered this book of poetry and am so glad I did. The author, Irene Kennedy, is the ninety-something year old grandmother of one of my graphic designer friends. Clint worked with his grandmother, gathered her wonderful poetry which she's been writing as a hobby since the 1940's, and designed a book that's available for purchase on lulu.com (link below.) What a talented wordsmith she is. Here are a few examples:

(below are copyright Irene Kennedy)

Step by Irene Kennedy

Part way up the stair
On that step
That is neither here nor there
She squats.
Topaz-colored head
Presses against the spindles
That the small hands grasp.

I do not say a word
But smile into those
Blue-green eyes staring down.

There's something about that step
Part way up the stair
That's neither here nor there.
Her thought brings forth a sigh from that sturdy little chest,
"Mother, do cows cry?"

-------

I Sit Beside You by Irene Kennedy

I sit beside you,
Your hand in mine,
And watch you breathing
Shallow and slow.
I felt your tired spirit
Tugging to let go.
For one precious moment
I held your life to mine;
And your great love
Burst around me,
For all time.

When we at the altar
Said our "I Do's"
You were very much aware.
When our babies were born,
You were there.
When they went out on their own,
You were there.
When they returned,
Their ventures to tell,
You were there.

You rejoiced with me
In all our happiness,
And comforted me in sorrow.
When at times, my anger did unfurl,
You were there,
Saying in your quiet voice, "Down Girl."
You laughed at all my schemes and quirks.
But at the same time
Helped me to make them work.

Now as your hand slides
Slowly out of mine,
I see you through a fallen tear.
Your spirit says to mine,
"I am always here."

-------

Lydia "Rangar's Wife" by Irene Kennedy

Oh, Lydia's tall and handsome
Of lovely eye and hair
But she can wield the woodman's axe
And shoot the eye of a bear.

Oh, Lydia's cakes are fluffy
Her sewing even and fine
But she can portage her own canoe
And cast a good trout line.

Oh, Lydia's like a forest tree
Sturdy and straight and strong
But she can dance like a gypsy
And sing a glorious song.

-------

I greatly admire people with the talent to use words so eloquently to paint the picture of an emotion, person, experience or place. There are over a hundred other poems in the book. The website, lulu.com, is a self publishing service and you'd be buying direct from the author. Here's a link: http://stores.lulu.com/irenekennedy

Karen Armstrong - TED Talks

2008-10-24T09:03:00.002-06:00

I subscribe to a podcast from TED.com. TED is short for Technology, Entertainment and Design. These TED talks are inspiring, educating, new idea generating, studies on humanity, thought provoking and the list goes on. I thoroughly enjoy listening to the speakers and their ideas worth spreading. Every year TED talks awards prizes to visionaries. One of the three 2008 TED Prize winners is Karen Armstrong.

Karen Armstrong, a former nun, has written many books on the major monotheistic religions; Islam, Judaism and Christianity. She is a visionary who is observing their common grounds and how they can work together for a common world peace. An idea worth spreading.

I do not belong to one religious group as I don't think one group is right and another group is wrong. Her speech struck home with me as I've always thought there must be similarities in religious doctrines/beliefs and those are what we should focus on, not the differences. I do believe there is something beyond this life but I do not know what it is and do not believe one book or group of people know what it is. I'm content in being surprised when/if I ever find out. In the meantime I'll treat others as I would want to be treated, be compassionate and have an open mind.

You can watch Karen Armstrong's speech here: http://www.tedprize.org/video-talk-karen-armstrong/

Mankind is No Island

2008-10-24T08:26:00.000-06:00

This beautiful video titled “Mankind is No Island” recently won first prize at Tropfest NY. Directed by Jason van Genderen, it was shot entirely on a cell phone with a budget of $57.

Ron Howard Video

2008-10-23T21:11:00.008-06:00

OK, so I haven't talked about politics on here. I had chose to abstain from the political viewpoints as I don't think letting you know who I am voting for will change anyone's choice. But I had to share the video below that Riley over at Licking Calcutta posted.

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Dream a little debt free dream

2008-10-22T18:30:00.011-06:00

Three years after we moved here, we purchased an additional 20 acres directly behind our property. We were able to purchase it with the equity in our home so we own it free and clear and have the deed in hand. It always felt good to have that piece of land. We baled hay on it for 4 years and have rented it to a local farmer since. There are about 6 acres of woods on one side along the dry run and a 3 acre spot that we call the balloonport where we launch the hot air balloons. This spot is mowed and groomed and perfect for a building site.

We decided to put it up for sale in this crazy real estate market. Who knows if it will sell. It's a beautiful, private spot on a quiet road so it has it's advantages. And then there's the awesome neighbors they'd have ;). If it does sell, we plan on using the proceeds to pay off our mortgage. A little dream...to be debt free. In these unsettling economic times, it makes a lot of sense to us.

Hubby is 53 and has been with the same company for 24 years. His company is directly involved with the construction industry so things are slowing down. What would we do if he was laid off or let go? It's unfortunately not unheard of for companies to think of their bottom line and let the older, higher paid employees go. My sister is a prime example of this having been let go for a minor infraction after 30+ years at the same employer. We need to be prepared for the worst.

I have a friend that has been unemployed since February. A talented sales person who has an average of 2 interviews a week and hasn't been hired. Finding work right now is not an easy task. The unemployment percentages are hugely inaccurate. They don't count the people that are still unemployed after their unemployment benefits run out. I wouldn't doubt that the numbers are double what you hear on the news.

So the thought of not having that mortgage payment looming overhead is occupying our minds right now. Send us some good "real estate selling vibes" and let's hope someone out there is ready to buy.

(Note: This is the 200th post on born a girl. Who knew I had all these words inside of me?)

TFD Cracks me up

2008-10-22T09:52:00.005-06:00

toothpastefordinner.com

Make a Wish

2008-10-20T16:24:00.002-06:00

Have a wish that needs to be made? Over the next few nights, the Orionids meteor shower, second of the year, will be producing the most shooting stars October 20-22. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, we'll see about 20 meteors per hour in the Southern Hemisphere, 40 per hour. They will be most visible in the Eastern/Southeastern night time skies. 20 per hour? Hmmm. I better go get started on my wish list.

Around the Yard

2008-10-17T17:26:00.007-06:00

Before all the leaves drop to the ground, thought I'd get a few shots around the yard of the changing foilage. And then there's that creative bit that dwells within...

A Letter to Aunt Lorraine

2008-10-16T08:16:00.006-06:00

Dear Aunt Lorraine,

I knew the last time I saw you, you were not much longer for this world. It's still hard to fathom that you are gone forever. I have so many good memories, those will never leave.

I've been thinking of you all day. Reminiscing and remembering little things; facial gestures, your hairstyle that never changed, the way you'd grab onto my hand and hold it for a long time, that funny wiggle walk you'd do sometimes and sticking your tongue out when you laughed. But it's the laughter. I will always hear the laughter when I think of you.

Will love you always,

B.

Goodbye Flowers

2008-10-16T06:55:00.004-06:00

We had a hard frost last night as can be seen on our zinnias. So, no more pretty flowers & foilage until next spring. *le sigh*

Catholics have all the fun

2008-10-15T05:25:00.000-06:00

As a young child, I attended the Methodist church with my family. Even though I currently choose not to be part of an organized religion, I am most familiar with the Methodist church when it comes to such things.

I can remember growing up being a bit jealous of the Catholics in my small town. They had the fanciest church. Most of the popular kids attended the Catholic church. They also had the most population of kids (duh), with the Lutherans close behind. Then there was the little white Methodist church with maybe 10 kids in total. It's just a fact, when you're a kid, you want to be around other kids.

I used to spend some time with a neighbor friend who's family was Catholic. They were a large family (duh) and when they gathered for a meal, it was an impressive crowd. This was also the first place I saw people recite a prayer, all together, and perform strange, synchronized hand movements. I remember feeling very awkward and out of place. I think it was my first culture shock. In our small, very caucasion community, religion, income, townies or farmers were pretty much the only differences among us.

Later, as I learned more about religions and the Catholic practices and rituals, I thought the Methodists were even more uninteresting. We only talked about Mary around Christmas. We didn't have rituals or synchronized prayers during our service. I take that back, the Methodists recite the Lord's prayer together and I guess their ritual was passing the donation plate; just not as fascinating as the Catholics. Then there was the Catholic stuff: the saints, the necklaces/rosaries, the cards, the statues on the dashboards, the swinging smoke thing and lighting candles. The Methodists didn't have any cool stuff.

Now, after all these years, those old "Catholics are cool" thoughts came streaming back. And it was because of the bowling ball rosary story from Herald & Review in Central Illinois...

Monday, October 2, 2006 8:43 AM CDT

1,000-pound rosary sends heavy message:
By TONY REID - H&R Staff Writer

Photo by Herald & Review/Kelly J. Huff

NOKOMIS, ILLINOIS - Hail Mary, full of grace ? and if you sinners out there try to pray this particular rosary, you are going to need a back brace.

Not that fingering the 59 beads is the point here, of course. The rosary that retired quarry worker Bernard "Chub" Clark has created in his rural three acre yard near Nokomis is made of old bowling balls and probably weighs close to 1,000 pounds, give or take.

Behind the rosary is a cautionary sign, stark black letters against a white backdrop: "You know not the hour Jesus will come - please pray." Clark hopes the message rather than the rosary will weigh heavily on the conscience of rubber-necking motorists passing by on Hillside Avenue. Clark believes mankind has strayed further and further into the gutter and our Father, who art displeased in heaven, is getting ready to bowl us over for our wickedness.

"People have got no respect for themselves or anybody else," laments Clark, 73, a faithful Catholic. "And I do think, if we don't change the ways of the world, then the good Lord one of these days is going to say 'The hell with you' and stick a match to it."

He's convinced his 65-year-old Lutheran wife, Wilma, who has a 500-plus collection of angel figurines and thinks her husband is on to something: "The signs aren't good," she says. "Things just seem to be getting worse and worse all the time."

So, what to do? Her husband took the view, supported by his wife, that if people aren't taking much notice of God, you can at least remind them that he's out there in the great alley of sin, keeping score. Clark, who has bowled a fair bit in his time and fingered a personal rosary so fervently over the years he had to replace the worn-out beads with lead shot fishing weights, decided he could combine bowling and the rosary to make a striking statement about salvation.

He got it all done four years ago, linking each ball by 1/4-inch log chain and attaching a 2-foot by 16-inch cross hewn from 4-by-4 treated lumber at the center. Word of his creation has gradually spread among the multitude, and various priests have dropped by for a visitation, too. In July, it made the front page of the Catholic Times, the official newspaper for the Catholic Diocese of Springfield, no less.

"After it came out in the Catholic Times, I don't know how many phone calls we got about it," says Wilma. "We've had a lot of people coming out here to take pictures of it."

Her husband even encountered a passer-by who confessed up front he was an atheist but, despite himself, couldn't hide his admiration for the bold handiwork wrought by a true believer. "He said he thought the rosary was really neat," recalls Clark, smiling. "So maybe it might be turning him around a little bit towards God, I don't know. It can't hurt, though, can it?"

Fall Colors Drive

2008-10-14T12:20:00.004-06:00

The hubby and I took the convertible out last Saturday (October 12th) and drove around in the hills in Buffalo County, Wisconsin. The colors were not quite peak but we were able to cruise around with the top down so it was close enough. We had a fun day. Enjoy the slideshow...

You Just Never Know #2

2008-10-13T22:20:00.000-06:00

You just never know what's going to come up in an iTunes search involving the word "concertina"...

You Just Never Know #1

2008-10-12T08:42:00.004-06:00

You just never know what you're going to find when you Google Christopher Walken...

Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice
Video
Envoyé par JapanManiak sur wat.tv

Strange Tastes

2008-10-10T08:47:00.004-06:00

I wonder why it is I like the foods that most people wrinkle their noses at? Is it some sort of genetic thing? I know my love for stinky fish comes from my family. We all love a good smoked whitefish and pickled herring. Oyster stew is also a family holiday tradition. It's the good Norwegian in us don'tchya know.

When shopping for groceries, I can't seem to pass up the smoked oysters or the kipper snacks. I was strangely excited while at Trader Joe's the other day I found smoked oysters and smoked herring at a better price than my local store! See? Even now when I'm writing about it I want to use an exclamation point! That's weird isn't it? And when I discovered they were of much better quality than my local stores' options, I was beyond myself ecstatic! I wanted to call someone with my great news but knew no one that would appreciate it.

I also love cooked spinach, brussel sprouts, liver and onions (with mustard) and blue cheese. I've never tried it but I'm guessing I would love that stinkiest of cheeses, Limburger. And then there's my spicy factor...I love spicy foods too. Anything with Szechuan in front of it is my choice at Asian restaurants. Chili, the spicier the better. Although I have to calm down my chili since the hubby doesn't have the same love of spicy foods. I have brought tears to his eyes a few times with my chili.

What strange food tastes do you have?

UP

2008-10-08T19:13:00.003-06:00

Hubby sent an email with this snippet about the word "UP"....

There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.' It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm-up the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

And this up is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP !

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP , look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now...my time is UP,so time to shut UP!

Psychic, Clue or Pumpkin

2008-10-07T16:28:00.014-06:00

Hubby read my mind this past Saturday. He did! Really! It's actually not such an unusual event in our household. The guy has some extra receptors in his brain that tune him in to things. I admit though, I did help this one along a bit. I made a grocery store run earlier in the day and left the convertible parked in the driveway rather than putting it in the garage. I hoped hubby would see it and suggest a drive. It was a beautiful, cool but sunny day. With too few of these days left before the snow flies, he "read my mind" and we hopped into the convertible and put the top down and started wandering around the back country roads.

We are blessed here in Western Wisconsin with mostly paved back roads. We drove along and decided to go to a little town called Elmwood. North of Elmwood is County Road P. It's a gorgeous drive surrounded by tree covered hills jutting up around the river valley. The sugar maple trees are just on the verge of showing us their true, glorious colors. This area will be dazzling with hills of color in a week or two. We still enjoyed our ride and found some cool smaller back roads.

Along the way we came upon a trailer loaded with giant pumpkins some skilled gardeners had grown over the summer. I've always wondered how they do this. I'm sure it takes a great deal of TLC and even more fertilizer. Then I wondered...maybe it wasn't the hubbies psychic abilities, or even my subtle clue that initiated our afternoon drive...rather, I'm thinking it might have been the gravitational pull of those gargantuan gourds that drew us out that day.

Left to right: 533 lbs./126" circumference, 492 lbs./124" circ. and 642 lbs./142" circ. If you're in the area, these are located at County Road G and County Road C in Pierce County, Wisconsin (east of El Paso and west of Elmwood.) These folks have a large pumpkin field and have larger than normal pumpkins for sale.

Shhhh...tomatoes are sleeping.

2008-10-02T09:12:00.004-06:00

You know winter is coming when we have to snuggle up our plants and flowers for the evening frost. You can see in the hill behind us the fall colors are just starting to show themselves. I hope we have a long autumn.

Twenty Years Ago

2008-10-01T22:00:00.000-06:00

Today was our 20th Wedding Anniversary. Man, where has the time gone? Hubby said we beat the odds and I think we're still good together after all this time. I couldn't have found a better match.

I went looking through wedding photos this morning with my coffee and walked down memory lane. When I watch my nieces and nephews getting married, I wonder how we pulled off our wedding. The details that go into their weddings today are amazing. I look back at our wedding and I can't remember doing any of those things. Was I clueless or is more expected of weddings today? I have come to the conclusion that my florist was amazing and covered my taffeta covered butt on a lot of details. She basically decorated the church and the restaurant where we had our reception. The details may not have been covered but we had a wonderful wedding day and night all around with great memories.

Ballooning over Belview

2008-09-30T12:03:00.001-06:00

Hubby and a two other pilots were scheduled to fly at the Belview, MN SOD Days celebration on Saturday, September 13th. Weather was looking bad for the 13th so the guys went out a day early and flew Friday morning and evening then had a glow in the park after dark with two of the balloons. We love Belview and want to make it our home some day. Enjoy the slide show...

Fruits of our labor

2008-09-28T16:23:00.000-06:00

We planted a vegetable garden for the first time in quite a few years. The place we used to have a garden became too shaded as the trees got taller. We picked out a new spot by the round barn. A friend turned the soil and hubby dug holes for fenceposts and we put up chicken wire to keep the bunnies out.

We decided to plant beets, tomatoes, cabbage, jalapenos and cilantro. 27 tomato plants found their way into our garden. Everything was great although I won't plant cilantro again - the timing was all off.

I've been busy with canning the tomatoes and am now getting to the point that I'm giving away tomatoes. I tried making catsup last night. I've never made it before but we'll see how it turns out when the Heinz bottle runs out.

Here's the tally so far: 16 quarts whole tomatoes, 8 pints tomato sauce, 9 jars salsa, 16 pints beets, 4 pints pickled beets and 5 pints ketchup.

Bailout Alternative

2008-09-25T15:41:00.003-06:00

I took down this post because the math was all wrong. Curse the calculators that don't go past a million. I need a government issued calculator that figures into the billions and trillions and gazillions. Dang.

Escape to the Momish

2008-09-24T15:43:00.004-06:00

Some days, when I'm stressed out over the huge list of things to be done and not enough time to do it, I fantasize about escaping to a stress-free life. Doesn't everyone do this? My fantasy usually involves selling everything and loading up the dog and hubbie into a Winnebago and wandering around aimlessly. I start thinking about all the beautiful things we'd see and people we'd meet. Then I start thinking about the high price of gas and how would we pay for everything and what if we got into an accident and then we'd be bumming because we didn't have health insurance.... OK, that fantasy is over, get back to work.

Today while talking to my friend who's having a hard time finding a job and is feeling the financial strain, we fantasized together for a bit. We talked about joining the Amish community. And, as usual, the negative thought about how it would be pretty cool until we were shunned for doing something a woman is not supposed to do. We decided we needed to start our own community and would be a matriarchal community and we would call ourselves the "Momish". It's actually perfect. It would be made up of mother aged women who aren't mothers. You know, not moms but mom-ish. They could bring along their men if they wanted. We'd all share the work and make the major decisions. Wait. That sounds kind of stressful - to be in charge of that many people and make decisions for everyone and soothe hormone induced tempers... well crap. Get back to work balou.

Dramatic Critters.

2008-09-08T18:02:00.001-06:00

She said YES!

2008-07-28T05:37:00.003-06:00

This Saturday, my nephew proposed to his wonderful girlfriend while riding in our hot air balloon. Uncle John (my hub), was the pilot. We're so happy for them and honored to be a part of their special day.

Ewe rang?

2008-07-25T10:58:00.003-06:00

I love artwork made from re-used/recycled items. I think these made the email rounds a while back but they're worth another look. The artist is Jean-Luc Cornec and his telephone sheep are appropriately displayed at the Museum of Telecommunication in Frankfurt.

A Whirlwind Chicago Trip (a not so whirlwind story)

2008-07-17T20:55:00.019-06:00

When the hubby told me about a business trip he would be taking to Chicago for a week, I did some looking around for a way to get down there and take advantage of a free hotel room. I had heard of the Megabus from a friend a few weeks earlier. It's an express bus that goes from Minneapolis to Madison, Milwaukee and then to Chicago. Round trips are $25.00. You just can't beat that price.

I thought it over for a few days then one day I was looking around on Craigslist in the rideshare category and lo and behold, someone was giving away two Megabus tickets to Chicago going down on Thursday of the week hubby would be there. Definitely a sign that I needed to go.

I emailed them and she said she had reserved the tickets a while back and her plans had changed so she wanted someone to use the tickets. She forwarded the ticket reservations for the trip to Chicago and better yet, she said she only paid $2.50 for both tickets so consider it a gift. I guess the first few reservations made for a Megabus trip are only $1.00 plus a $.50 reservation fee!

I called a couple of friends and my friend Ingrid was able to come along on short notice. Another friend brought us to the bus stop in downtown Minneapolis to catch the 7am Megabus. We got there a few minutes early but others knew about the first come, first serve policy and a line had already formed. We were at about the 2/3 point of the line. The first ones in line get get first seat choice. The bus was a double decker so you can imagine everyone hiked upstairs first. There were two sweet seats at the very front of the top level that were all window in front. Ingrid and I sat on the bottom level in a pair of seats next to each other.

I was apalled at the number of people texting while driving. There they were, passing a bus full of people, looking at their cell phone screen and peeking up at the road now and then! There was even a semi-truck driver texting while passing us in Chicago freeway traffic. I decided that next time I ride the bus, I'm going to bring along my laser pointer. Yep. I'm going to point my laser on their texting thumbs. It will be fun...I think.

We made a couple of stops along the way, dropped off/picked up some folks in Milwaukee and headed down to Chicago. We were supposed to arrive at 2:45 but we didn't arrive at Union Station in Chicago until 6:00 pm. Traffic was awful. Someone had talked to the bus driver and she said they never arrive at 2:45pm, it's always 5:30 to 6:30pm. She said the most reliable timed trip to Chicago is the overnight; get on in Mpls at 10pm and arrive in Chicago at 6am.

We arrived on the street beside Union Station and walked out onto the street into the rain. We bee-lined it to a Walgreen's a block and a half away to get umbrellas since we had decided to leave our umbrellas behind. We thought the universe would listen to our message and it would keep the rain away. Didn't work.

Our first order of business was to purchase two-day visitor passes for the Chicago Transit system. For $9.00 you can get a two day pass valid on all CTA trains and buses. I knew you could get them at Union Station so we hung on tight to our umbrellas and walked back. The windy city made quick business of welcoming us by turning our umbrellas into rain collecting bowls. Union station was a buzz of activity. We wandered around a bit, found the CTA vending machines and purchased our two day visitor passes. On the way back out we discovered the heart of Union Station. We walked into the massive open area with ornately decorated walls and ceilings with nothing but wooden benches on the floors. I think after that I spent most of my time downtown with my eyes wide open and mouth hanging open in awe of the architecture.

We wanted to do some more walking downtown but with the rain and late arrival time, we headed directly to the Art Institute of Chicago. This was another freebie. Memorial Day through Labor Day, the Art Institute has free admission on Thursday and Friday from 5pm to 9pm.

We first checked out the famed pair of lions in front of the museum. From listening to a podcast, I learned that these are not identical. One is claimed to be on the prowl and the other is said to have a stance of dignity.

We went inside and got to the end of the long line to check in our bags. We walked up the grand staircase and entered room after room of breath-taking artwork. Again, I'm sure my eyes were twice as big as normal and my mouth was hanging open the entire time. Some of the paintings stopped me in my tracks and the more I looked into them, the more detail showed itself. I'm not very good with artists names but when I walked into this one hallway and looked at the four small paintings on the wall, I didn't need to look at the wall plate for the name. There in front of me were four Degas ballerina paintings. I was overcome and tears started running down my cheeks! In the next room was a massive painting by Georges Seurat which I had seen before in books but never imagined would be that large. I wanted to spend all day in these rooms admiring the beauty those talented hands and minds created. It would have to be another day.

We then went to the Thorne Miniature Rooms area. You wouldn't believe the detail that goes into these. There are many rows of small glass paned windows framing a miniature room decorated with miniature everything. I felt like a giant peeking into a home. The designer went so far as to add rooms to the side and you could see "sunlight" pouring into windows. While we were looking at these, an announcement was made that the museum would be closing in 15 minutes. We zoomed through one more area of collage pieces and then went to reclaim our bags and go find the blue line train.

It was 9pm, and dark in downtown Chicago. I thought this little country mouse would be scared but I felt very safe. There were lots of people around and we found our way to the blue line subway. It was an interesting observation of human behavior on the subway. No one made eye contact. No one made conversation with anyone unless it was someone they arrived with. I found that no eye contact thing hard. There was nothing else to look at. Since Ingrid and I weren't sitting next to each other, we couldn't just talk with each other. It was better once we got out of downtown and there were sights out the windows as the train came up out of the ground to the raised tracks to become "the el." I enjoyed looking at the neighborhoods and backs of buildings with wet roofs and apartments that must rattle when the train goes by. Living with so many people in that close of quarters all the time must be such a test in one's trust in your fellow humans. Yet people work to preserve their small, transparent bubble of privacy by not touching others with their eyes, voice or bodies. It reminded me of being a child and pretending you're invisible. 45 minutes later we arrived at our stop. We got off the train and walked the three blocks to the hotel hubby was staying at.

Next morning we headed back downtown on the el. Ingrid wanted to visit the American Girl Place. We came up out of the blue line subway and sat down on a bench in a large open area in front of a building to get our bearings and check out the map on how to get to the red line train. Ingrid's husband had said we should try to see the Picasso statue so we asked a woman while waiting for a light at the corner if she could tell us where the Picasso statue was. She turned around and pointed. We were practically sitting underneath it when we were map reading! We got a quick glance at it and the light turned so we kept walking. (That's my little drawing at the beginning of this dissertation.)

Across the street a woman was walking down the street waving her arms wildly and screaming at the top of her lungs. Right above her was the Oriental Theatre sign and on the marquis, Wicked. That woman along with the old guys shaking their cups at you on the street corners and two guys almost getting into a fist fight over a taxi cab they both wanted were the only ugly things I saw while downtown. One of my goals was to get a picture of the Chicago theater which I did.

The location of the American Girl place was easily found by following the loads of little girls walking around with American Girl dolls in their arms. It was a fun store. They had oodles of accessories for the dolls and books to go along. It is quite the marketing machine. There is also a doll hair salon and a photo studio. I was so tempted to buy a pair of tortoise-shell plastic rimmed doll glasses but didn't think they would last long enough on any of our cats faces to get a photo. Ingrid found a gift for her friend that has an American Girl doll.

We needed to get back to the hotel by noon to meet the hubby and hop in the car for the long drive home. Six hours later we arrived home and dragged our sore butts out of the car. We were already planning another trip to Chicago. We'll probably take the Amtrak train next time and stay downtown. I can't wait to go back in a not so hurried way!

Bus Tickets: $0
Thursday & Friday Meals: $20
Umbrella: $6.00
CTA Visitor Pass: $9.00
Check In Bag at Art Institute: $1
Hotel Room and Fuel for ride home courtesy of the hubbies workplace.

Kitty Love

2008-05-27T12:12:00.005-06:00

I spent my early years on a farm with a barn full of cats. My sister and I looked forward to searching for litters of kittens tucked between the bales of straw in the hay mow of the barn. We'd watch for mama kitty to come out when we'd bring food to them and then go searching.

Sticking your hand into the dark hole to feel for kittens was done with trepidation. You knew eventually the kittens would sense a stranger and start hissing. They were harmless but had an instinct built in to scare off predators by hissing. The sound was intimidating and would make us quickly pull our hands out the first couple of times. We'd laugh and eventually realize it wouldn't hurt and start pulling out kittens one by one. They were each little presents. What color were they going to be? What patterns would they have? How many were there?

It didn't take long before the kittens eyes would open and hours would be spent playing with them and making toys out of sticks and twine string. SisterJ and I usually had scratched up hands and arms from playful kittens. What great memories.

Now we take care to make sure our barn cats are spayed, neutered and vaccinated yearly. They also know about life indoors since on cold nights they get to stay toasty warm in my office. Crash (a.k.a. Little Man, Itchy and Ouch!) & Burn (a.k.a. Sissy, Naughty McSnotty and Tweetie) are our two outside cats. They usually come by my office door and meow to come in for a visit and to play with their bowl of toys.

Here's some kitty love for you. Having a bad day? Feeling stressed? Blood pressure on the rise? Hit play on the video below and listen to the kitten's purr. You'll be breathing normal in no time...