Archive for the ‘Bric-a-Brac’ Category
November 13, 2011 – Take Your Crane to Work Day
Sometimes we humans think we’re the only ones that nurture our children and prepare them for a life of future emotional and financial success.
Evidently, as Emma noted as we were driving down highway 30 near Nevada, IA – it must have been “Take Your Crane to Work Day.” I sure hope the child crane enjoyed the day with its parent on the job site.
November 5, 2011 – Iowa State Varsity Marching Band
Broke down and attended the Iowa State football game this weekend. Brought the kids along and sat in the cheap seats, er cheap grass, 4 tix, 4 dogs, 4 pops, for 40 bills for hillside seating. Two of us found a couple of seats at midfield and the rest stayed on the hillside.
Before the game, the ISU band invited the KU band over for some pre-game frivolity, one section at a time.
At halftime, got to see over 600 marching band members from the combined bands play the 1812 overture!
October 29, 2011 – Rocky Horror
Claire was home for a short break and was excited to go to a midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Guess I’ll let the picture speak for itself! Evidently a good time was had by all, with props provided by the theatre.
one year ago…”Signs of the Times”
October 22, 2011 – Higher Ground
It’s not often a colleague publishes a memoir, writes a screenplay based on the memoir, gets a film made, film gets selected for Sundance, and then gets picked up by a major studio! The creative writing teacher at Marshalltown Community College did just this. The movie stars Vera Farminga (Up in the Air) and Joshua Leonard (Blair Witch Project).
We went to see it the night Carolyn made comments and asked questions, and then dragged our daughters and others the following week. I’m guessing while it is a heartfelt exploration of faith and personal choice, it might not last long at the box office as the movie relies as much on non-verbal cues as the script itself and does not contain explosions or full frontal.
October 11, 2011 – Today’s Facebook Steal
one year ago…”Lovin’ the Garden Chickens”
October 5, 2011 – Shout out to the Sista!
I miss my sister – it’s been too long since I heard her laugh!
Here’s a photo of her doing one thing that she loves – in front of the microphone – she’s a throwback to the old style DJ who connected to her listeners and city. Despite the corporate programming, she keeps as much of that as she can and listeners love her.
Here’s another group of people that love her. She works at a group home and can’t believe she gets paid to hang out with some of her friends and take them out to the movies, park, or wherever.
one year ago…”Time to Pick Squash”
September 25, 2011 – Claire Update
Claire is now starting her Sophomore year at Macalester in St. Paul, MN.
Photo Credit Macalester College
The year-opening convocation is opened by a piper, in the Scottish tradition of the school.
Photo Credit Macalester College
The guest speakers were a couple of Minnesota natives, Garrison Kellior, waxing about life and politics. A belated 19th birthday to Claire!
one year ago…”Doing the Parade Thing”
September 11, 2011 – 10 Years After
I do not know any of the victims of 9/11 or their families. However, the day should not pass with out a pause and remembrance. To try to bring it home, I thought I’d just profile one, Janat Alonso.
Her profile from the New York Times:
The next-to-last phone call Janet Alonso made on the morning of Sept. 11 was typical: its genesis was maternal anxiety, and its focal point was her second child, Robbie, born with Down syndrome 18 months ago. She was not only checking in with her mother-in-law, Margaret Alonso, who handled the baby-sitting during the three days each week that Janet spent as an e-mail analyst for Marsh & McLennan. She was also making sure Robbie’s foot braces, misplaced on Monday, had been located and returned to him; he finds it impossible to take his baby steps without them.
“Check his stroller,” Janet suggested. Bingo. Grandma discovered the braces. Janet and Robert Alonso were also the parents of Victoria, 2, a miracle baby of sorts. After 10 years of trying to conceive, using methods increasingly clinical, Ms. Alonso had all but surrendered her dream of becoming a mother when Victoria was conceived — surprise — the natural way. Ms. Alonso was so ecstatic she wrote her husband a letter, thanking him for this greatest gift. He was so moved he put the letter in a safe to preserve it.
Though her children were her passion, Janet was a diligent homemaker — literally. She loved painting and refinishing furniture, and spent the weekend before the disaster sanding the porch they had added to their house in Stony Point, N.Y. Her final phone call was to her husband; she told him that the office was filling with smoke and that she could not breathe. And she told him she loved him.
A profile of all the victims is at this CNN page.
one year ago…”Graphic of Obesity Epidemic”
September 10, 2011 – Cardiac Clones!
Just Because.
Iowa State 44 – Iowa 41 in 3 OT.
Here’s the prediction from the “experts” before the game:
Sure the Cyclones opened the year with a win, but it was not an impressive decision. Now the Hawkeyes come to Ames and they will likely follow Northern Iowa’s foot steps and use a heavy dose of their rushing attack. Look for Iowa to run away with this contest. Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Iowa 31, Iowa State 9
Photo of Jack Trice Stadium courtesy of Iowa State Football Facebook.
one year ago…”Beautiful Celosia”
September 9, 2011 – Hawk Stuck in Corn Crib
A hawk is in the corn crib and its instincts are working against it. Usually, to escape danger, it flies up. Well, in this case, it needs to fly down to get out the door. Also, the natural lighting I added with translucent panels near the top of the walls give it another false exit point.
I’m not sure I could catch it without injuring myself or it, so I’m hoping it finds a way out at dusk or at night.
one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #224″
August 26, 2011 – Garden Spider (Argiope)
One of the annual visitors to the farm is the garden spider (argiope aurantia). This harmless (to humans) is a good
predator. We usually have a few in the raspberry rows. An interesting fact about these spiders is that each night they eat the inner part of their web and remake it daily.
one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #222″
August 1, 2011 – Prairie in Bloom
I mentioned that there were many flowers in bloom adjacent to the beehives – here’s just a few.
Grey-headed coneflower.
Cupflower.
Behind the blossom of a cupflower.
Wild Bergamot.
Blazing Star.
Compass Plant leaf.
one year ago…”From the “You’ve go to be Kidding Dept”
July 29, 2011 – Exploding CDs!
When I was trying to burn the CD by Warren Zevon entitled “A Quiet Normal Life” to my Itunes, when it reached the song “Excitable Boy” it was all that as what sounded like a gunshot came from the PC. I was ready for smoke and flames to start pouring out, but instead I found a CD drive that was locked up.
After removing the CD drive and disassembling it – this is what’s left of the CD. Always the optimist, Martin wanted to try to super glue it together! It’s time to order a new one from Newegg.
one year ago…”Buckwheat Cover Crop”
June 11, 2011 – Gibson B-25 Falls in Your Lap
You hear all the time about great finds at garage sales and in hoarder houses, but my sister found the best deal anybody in my circle of acquaintances ever happened upon. It’s not a lost Picasso or letter from George Washington, so she won’t be able to retire, or even go on a luxury cruise, but for her, it was a great find.
She’s a country DJ and has her basement decorated with posters and pictures of everyone in country music posed with her – Alan Jackson, Keith Urban, Garth Brooks, Brad Paisley, and the list goes on. She stumbled on this mid 60′s to early 70′s Gibson acoustic guitar – a B-25 in a Sunburst pattern and picked it up for next to nothing.
Given her connections, she thought she should have it signed by an accomplished country guitarist, so she waited until she met up with Vince Gill and had him sign the Gibson.
one year ago…”She’s Gone to the World”
