11.08.09
Pacman
11.01.09
Halloweeeeeeen
Truth be told, I was not as excited about Halloween this year as I have been in past years. I missed my friends, and thought about how much fun they were probably having in their far-flung locales. Me? I dressed up as a Persian cat: I wore a gold brocade dress, and cat ears that I made out of silk shantung. Black eyeliner worked well to create whiskers and a black nose. Mars was kinda freaked out when I put on the ears–suddenly, he didn’t know what to make of me.
During the morning, I passed out bookmarks and stickers to the parade of little dinosaurs and monkeys that were trick-or-treating downtown. My favorite costume was the baby dressed like a lobster, sitting in a stock pot and pushed along in a stroller by his/her parents, who were dressed like chefs. In the evening, we went out to eat–in costume–and then heard a few bands at a bar. It was alright. Nothing too amazing. Lots of Maxes from Where the Wild Things Are, so I’m glad I nixed that idea. There was an awesome bridezilla: a bride/Godzilla hybrid.
10.28.09
DIY Tarot Deck
Learning how to read Tarot cards has been an intention of mine for a few years. It just seems like a fun thing to be able to do. I decided to start by making my own deck, beginning with the 22 cards of the Major Arcana. Now, here is where knowing the symbolism in each traditional card would help. I started with a base image for each concept, and can add symbols as I learn about each card.
I cut 2.5″ x 3.5″ cards out of cardstock, sifted through my substantial collection of magazines for appropriate images, and rubber cemented those suckers on.
10.26.09
Roadtrip: Final Leg
Mount Rushmore is one of those ubiquities in American culture that I was not too keen on visiting, but it was right there, and my mom wanted to visit. The one aspect that I was interested in was its inclusion in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, but it’s not mentioned within the park itself. I did have to visit the dining room, and of course it’s totally different now. The U.S. government promised these lands to the Native Americans, then carved the faces of 4 U.S. presidents into that same land, using rocks that Native Americans find sacred. That encapsulates U.S. history pretty well, I think.
What really shocked me was that I had never heard of or seen pictures of Crazy Horse Monument until this trip. Really? The world’s largest mountain carving, just a few miles from Mount Rushmore, and I’ve remained unaware of it for 30 years? It’s an interesting story: they refuse to accept any funding from the government for the project, so it is funded entirely by donations and profits from admissions and concessions.
10.24.09
Overrated
Seriously?
100 comments (so far) about how amazing these acid-washed cutoff mom jeans are? I’m going to puke.
Check it out for yourself at http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/ It’s the post made on October 23, 2009.
10.22.09
Roadtrip, Part 3
We came across this lovely little campground outside of Mitchell, SD. They have an antique store adjacent to the campground store, and have incorporated glass dishes into their benches and fences to create lovely little works of art. I felt the calmness and beauty of the prarie, admired the waving sheaths of Naples Yellow grain, the landscape dotted here and there by lonely houses and barns. I was looking forward to getting closer to home.
But first: the Badlands. Like an inverted Grand Canyon crossed with a lunar landscape. Breathtaking. Next time I’m doing some hiking there.
10.18.09
The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later
This was the first year that I’ve lived in Laramie during the anniversary of the Matthew Shepard murder. I was curious to see what the town did to commemorate the brutal event–often the one thing that the rest of the country knows about Laramie. The University of Wyoming Theater Department was one of 150 theaters to simultaneously debut “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later” last week. I think that the play did an excellent job of summarizing the range of reactions that have populated not just Laramie, but the country as well. As in life, there are no tidy conclusions.
I was 19 when the murder happened, and living in Ohio. It was sickening then, and it’s sickening now. Laramie had the opportunity to host a panel discussion after the play, which included friends of Matthew, a police officer who worked on the case, and advocates in the community. I learned that the local newspaper propagated the theory, dismantled during the trial, that it was not a hate crime, but a “robbery gone wrong.” And that when scores of people wrote letters to the editor to provide the factual counterpoint, the newspaper declined to print a single one of them. I learned that the bar where the murderers conspired is still in existence, but under a new name and ownership. The interior is the same–I don’t think that I can go in there and enjoy myself, knowing what transpired there. I learned that at the University of Wyoming, same-sex couples have been promised domestic partner benefits–once the budget cuts have passed.
Citizens of Laramie are understandably sensitive about how this town is portrayed. As a newcomer, I can’t remark on the state of community relations. The advisor for Spectrum, the LGBT group on campus, commented that he’s seen a lot of improvement in the past 5 years. The conclusion is the same as in any place: things have improved in recent years, but there’s always work to do.
09.28.09
Roadtrip, Part 2
We followed the Mississippi River towards Minneapolis, and stopped at the sculpture garden outside of the Walker Art Center. My favorite work was Dan Graham’s Two-way Mirror Punched Steel Hedge Labyrinth (fourth image): depending on which side you were looking at, you could see other viewers, a reflection of yourself, or a combination of the two in varying levels of translucence. Aside from being a technical marvel, I loved what I perceived to be the commentary on surveillance and self-absorption inherent in the work. Later, I ate the most amazing portobello mushrooms with toasted goat cheese and balsamic vinegar reduction…mmm….
We continued on to Pipestone National Monument, with a lovely walk around the area where Native Americans still quarry for the stone that they use to make pipes. There are offerings of tobacco tied to trees, gorgeous prarie grass, and gorgeous pinkish-red stone walls jutting towards the sky.
09.24.09
Roadtrip, Part 1
In the crapshoot that is the family to whom you’ve been assigned, I got really lucky. Everyone in my family is very interesting, talented, and artistic. So I was really looking forward to a 10-day roadtrip with my mom, from Ohio to Wyoming. We set out in her teardrop trailer, which is a super-cushy way to camp for this tent-and-an-outhouse girl. We crossed Lake Michigan on a giant steamship, visited Madison, Minnesota, Pipestone, the Corn Palace, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, the Badlands, Wall Drug, and Deadwood.
What’s that? You want photos? Very well:
Madison was beautiful; my favorite part was waiting at a red light on my bike, and at least four other bicyclists queued up behind me. It’s the sort of bike traffic that I’ve never experienced before, outside of races I used to participate in.
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