Hello Again!

Happy Halloween! --a day late, but I still mean it! I'm back from my trip, and obviously I wasn't able to keep up with my blogging. I just started going through all of my pictures and hopefully I'll be able to put some up tomorrow to share.

He Llegado!

Hello from Colombia!

That's right...I have arrived! The internet is really spotty, so I'm going to keep this post short, but I thought I'd just send out a little hello and say that I made it safely! The city is really remarkable, and I'm excited to go do some more exploring today. Yesterday was a bit of a lazier day since I arrived at 5am after only about 4 hours of sleep. I surprisingly made it until about 10 or 11, but we just walked around La Candeleria for the day, so I didn't do anything too strenuous.

I'll try to post at least a few updates while I'm here, but I'm not sure how it'll all work with pictures and the internet posing as slight obstacles. We shall have to see!

On a quick note, to all of those who have asked--which there have been many--my spanish is actually coming back to me rather nicely. I have yet to run into any major difficulties in both speaking and understanding. Hopefully this means that my language skills will simply improve during my trip instead of requiring the time to resurface and then leaving me with no time to improve. Yay me!

Hopefully I'll have more for you soon!

Leaving on a jet plane

I'm off to the airport in a few, but I wanted to share the pictures from pumpkin picking before I left. Enjoy! and I'll see you in Colombia!

Shhhh...It's A Surprise

I painted a couple of cards with scenes from South America for the people I'm going to visit in Colombia. Here's a peek at two of them.
Just don't tell...they're a surprise!

Getting A Closer Look

I'm currently finishing putting together the dvd of my trip to Chile! I'm rather excited to burn it and throw it in the TV!

Joe and I went to pick pumpkins Sunday, but since I'm bit busy at the moment, I'll give you some fun pictures from the drive there. We got stuck behind an accident that blocked the road for a while and entertained ourselves using binoculars...

Getting Excited!

I'm starting to get rather excited for my trip! Yay!

I haven't quite started packing, but I've got my suitcase and a few random articles of clothing spread out in the spare bedroom. Tomorrow is serious packing day. I like packing, but the whole airport security thing still gets me. I'm a nervous person, and even though I don't carry anything I shouldn't, I still get nervous passing through customs and security.

I bought a slew of tiny bathroom supplies yesterday. Oh tiny bottles.

Instead of sharing some nonsensical, excited babble, I think I'll just share some of my favorite photos of the people I'll be visiting soon...enjoy!

Bienvenidos

This is Colombia.

I'd like to presume that everyone knows that, but I have to admit, that I actually forget where it's located sometimes myself, so I won't presume anything.

I'm going to travel here in 9 days.

I haven't posted much about Colombia, because I've been having mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I'm determined to go. The three people I lived with two years ago in Chile will all be there for my two week hiatus, and I'm thrilled to get a chance to see them again after so long. But I have to admit that I've been a bit nervous. If you go onto any United States Government web page, you'll see nothing but warnings about the unstable and unsafe nature of the country. There is so much literature warning against traveling to the country, that I can't help but be a bit nervous. But at the same time, I have complete faith in Paula and Mark, my ever so gracious and fantastic hosts. After all, Paula is Colombian. She lives in Bogota. And Mark now lives there too, at least for the next year. And Mark is foreign too. Granted his Mexican heritage shows a bit more than his English half, but he's still foreign, and according to my government, that makes you target #1 in Colombia. If there was any way I was in danger visiting them, I'm sure they would tell me to stay home.

I honestly can't help but that think that the US government is just covering its behind. I'm sure the extremely rural areas of Colombia are not somewhere you want to be wandering alone, but I don't think I'd do that anywhere, FARC or no FARC. And yeah, the city has its bad parts, but again, what big city doesn't. I'm not planning on running around by myself, so I'm pretty sure, I'll be okay (famous last words). It's a foreign country, you just have to be smart about where you go and who you're with. Walking down the streets of Santiago after Pinochet died wasn't always the safest thing. You had to be smart about what areas to stay out of in order to avoid a violent riot. It's just about being smart.

Also, I have to admit, that the government warning almost makes me want to go even more. True, if I thought there was an extreme threat (meaning even entering the capitol was a bad idea), I wouldn't be able to scrounge up the nerve-and recklessness-to go, but doesn't a warning of danger make things sound that much more appealing? I think so. I'm a rather cautious individual though, so diving head first into something that really isn't safe, isn't something I'm going to do. I trust my gut, and it says I'll be okay provided I'm smart about things.

Needless to say, I'm trusting my gut.

I guess I'd better start packing.

The Sun Is Shining

Today was one of those days that you wish would go on forever. Well, maybe not. I suppose without the more mundane and unpleasant days, ones like these wouldn't seem as pleasant.

Nothing particularly exciting or fantastic happened, but I think that was exactly the point. I had the entire day off work after a string of 12 hour work days. That was point number one for the good day side. I slept in until 11, with no electronic assistance I might add, and went for a bike ride through the park with Joe. The leaves are changing, the air was crisp, and the sun graced us with rays requiring sunglasses.

After the bike ride and a shower, we went down town, did a bit of quick shopping and errands, got some groceries, and spent the rest of the day at home, cooking and relaxing. I made caramel apple cupcakes and then we fondued shrimp and chicken. It was great. And the best thing is the thought of being able to have a lot more of those days when I return from Colombia. The gallery is closing at the end of the month, and that means I'll have weekends off. Yay! My hours at the paper are also cutting down to 30 a week, so I'll have Wednesdays off and a short Thursday and Friday. The thought of having days to relax and work on my own projects is thrilling. In case you couldn't tell, I'm excited. I'm going to Colombia in a week and a half, and when I return, I get to relax...while still working. What could be better!

Playing Judge

I'm back again, this time with some thoughts on an article in the New York Times. The American Craft Museum in New York just relocated and subsequently changed its name to the Museum of Art and Design and the Times is giving its opening exhibition and attempt to revamp its image of craft mixed reviews.


I have to agree.

The new name alone gives me mixed thoughts. Maybe it's simply the fact that it's so similar to the name of the art school I graduated from "U of M School of Art and Design" that frustrates me, but I think it might be something a bit deeper. This is supposed to be a museum, a well established foundation; a place filled with thought provoking and inspirational art work, and the title is a bit...bland. I'm not inspired. Heck, I'm not even really interested. If you're going to go through the trouble of changing your name to catch some new attention, you should be a bit more creative. Sure, you've got a cute acronym now: MAD, but I don't think that's enough these days. There are so many museums and galleries out there that already have a similar title. If you're going to change it, you'd better have something creative to change it to, otherwise, don't bother.

Name aside, I also agree with the Times' thoughts on the contents of the show. Granted I haven't been, and I'm basing my thoughts on a few images and descriptions, but I'm feeling rather hot and cold. Looking at the museum's website, the past exhibitions show some stuff that I don't find worthy of distinction. You could come back by saying "Who are you to judge", but as far as I'm concerned, everyone is, and should be, an art critic to a certain extent. Why else would you create work and display it in such a prominent location if you didn't want others to see it and respond?

Now I feel guilty. I've been ranting and criticizing when I was rather inspired by one of the exhibitions they had: "Second Lives." It resonates with a lot of my tendencies toward using found objects.

Again, the Times brought up some good criticism about some of the pieces: "Are you really giving the objects you’re using a second life, or just enabling them to last longer and take up more space?" Good question. Maybe some of the intentions were to get viewers to think about just that. And maybe that's enough of a reason to keep them from falling into the category of "just taking up space." The question even got me thinking about my own work (a sign of a good critique), and I'm really glad it did.
Food for thought I suppose.

All criticisms aside, I found some of the pieces really beautiful. Here are some photos. I'll let you judge for yourself.




Michael, this one with the transformed LPs taking flight as butterflies made me think of your flying bread installation - which I don't think was just taking up space :)

Feelings of Fall

This morning I had a particularly difficult time getting into work mode and found myself dozing off at my desk. I decided to sneak out of the office for a walk down the street to get some coffee. Everything about this morning reminds me of the fall that is all to familiar, but often times elusive.

The smell of smoke and fire as restaurants start up their grills for the day. Mind you this smell is normally attributed to campfires on a cool morning at the campground, but if I close my eyes, I can almost pretend I just crawled out of the steamy tent to see the beginnings of a fire that will soon cook breakfast. Oh wait...my family didn't do that. We had a portable grill so I could have my bacon :) But the fire was still there, and thus, the smell.

The smell and feel of the cool air mixed with damp earth. I actually noticed for the first time a significant number of leaves gather on the sidewalk, although most of the trees are still fighting to keep their green color.

The familiar feel of a warm drink in my cold hands as I walk briskly down the sidewalk, wrapped up tightly in my fleece. This used to be me rushing to catch a bus to north campus with a mug of coffee or tea. I miss those days, but I'm enjoying the feeling of meandering and not worrying about catching the 7:28 bus in order to make my 8:00 class. Now I can lazily stroll to get some coffee and lazily stroll back to the office. My job may not satisfy my needs as an artist, but it does allow me a schedule that I rather enjoy.

Joe and I are going to try to spend the evening tonight down at our clamming spot, playing around in the water for one last time before winter. We're also going to try to squeeze in a biking trip on Saturday to catch a glimpse of some of the foliage in the park. I'm hoping we can get pumpkins in the next couple of weeks as well since I'll soon be heading off to Colombia and won't return with enough time to get one before Halloween hits.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures to put up in the next couple of days. I've been a bit detached from my camera lately.

Leaves and Fog

It's officially fall. The trees are changing, and I've been to the orchard. My fridge is full of apple crisp, applesauce, and of course just plain apples. I've also got apples softening in the crock pot as we speak which will soon become apple butter...Tasty.











This morning Joe and I drove off the island to pick my car up from the shop and we got a glimpse of some of the truly beautiful trees that line Rte 1. There's still a lot of green around, but the more anxious leaves are starting to show their colors. The peak of colors should come in the next two or three weeks, and I can't imagine what they'll look like then if they already look this gorgeous now. The grey skies and drizzly fog just add to the beauty of the ambiance.

Joe informed me this morning that we're under a hurricane watch. Apparently Kyle has made his way up the coast and is supposed to give us a bit of a storm this weekend. It's nothing worrisome, and I'm actually okay with a bit of a rain storm.

Cough

I've been sick. For the past week. Basically, since I posted last. I think the universe is trying to tell me something. Maybe that I shouldn't post anything about how my body isn't being enough of a germ warrior. I don't really know. But I do know that I've felt miserable for the past week, and am only now starting to feel a bit better. Of course this has been fantastic timing since I can't take off work on Mondays and Tuesdays and also since I'm supposed to be working on the "possible big thing" project that I'm still extremely nervous about jinxing myself over (especially after the whole sickness after posting thing).

So I've been a puddle of Jell-o for a few days now, letting Joe spoon feed me applecrisp. Well not really, but I think you can appreciate the idea.

I did feel better last Saturday and managed to get to the apple orchard with Joe and then back apple crisp and make some applesauce. So that's positive. I also made it through my much needed and much anticipated shopping trip! yay! (I know you were all worried I didn't make it) I got myself some things to keep me warm, and thank goodness I did! It's been rather chilly at night ane my sniveling and sneezing self needs a bit more than a t-shirt to keep me warm.

I have some pictures from the orchard, but seeing as how I'm at work - surprise surprise - and they're at home, they'll have to wait for another time. For now, this is all you get.

My Body Says "Rawr Rawr!"

The evil headache monster reared its ugly head again on Tuesday, leaving me in a pathetic state for the majority of the day. Boo.

Wednesday passed without any ailments, but then yesterday I started getting the sore throat that everyone else seems to have. Gross. It would appear that my body needs to fight a bit harder against the evil-doer germs and such that are trying to bring me down. Well "Rawr!" I say to them!


I'm making it through the week by thinking about my shopping trip tomorrow! Yay! And as a special present to myself, I ordered some shoes from DSW.



Aren't they just ridiculous and adorable at the same time? Well I thought so at least. (and even if you don't agree, they were less than $10, so hush) I need shoes that aren't flip flops to wear to work, and from the sounds of things around here, I won't make it very far on the icy winter sidewalks in a pair of my heals. So I'm looking for new shoes.

I'm currently working on some sketches for what could be an exciting project. I'm not going to say much to avoid jinxing myself, and I'm not going to post any pictures because I'm not sure if I'm allowed to. Basically, if you hear about it again in the next week or so, you'll get all the details. If you hear nothing...don't ask. I'll probably still be sensitive about the disappointment. Just kidding. Or maybe I'm not.

Ouch!

Today I had an extremely debilitating headache. I'm talking awful. Not quite migraine status, but pretty close. I stayed in bed for an extra two hours and drove into work for the first time in months. I was honestly a little worried that I might not make it to work if I had to walk. Monday's aren't days I can call in sick. Tuesday's aren't either. There's no one else to do my job in the office, and without a head's up, there's no way to get all the ad orders down to someone else who can do my job.

Thankfully, with the help of some advil, and then some more advil, my headache subsided enough to make it through the day and even leave me with the energy and drive to cook something for dinner. All morning I thought of nothing but crawling home and into bed with a big bowl of french onion soup, but half way through the day I started looking at recipes online and couldn't help myself. I settled on a ricotta and bacon pasta, to which I decided to add some chicken. I cheated a bit and got one of those rotisserie chickens from the store, but I figured I was allowed some cheating since I'd felt terrible all day, plus I find them pretty tasty. So I made some tasty dinner...and I feel content.

I actually wanted to cook some sort of dessert, but there are still a couple of white-chocolate raspberry bars hiding in the fridge form my last cooking endeavor, so I decided to hold off. Although I think I might dig into something either tomorrow or Wednesday.

I'm also looking forward to a trip to the mall this weekend. I missed the whole "back to school shopping" and I'm just dying for some new fall clothes. Plus I could use some cute flats and whatever else I might find! Come on...I've been so good about shopping. Mostly because there's no where to really shop around here, but still. I think I deserve to indulge myself just a little bit.

Now I think it's time for some goat's milk gelato - my latest purchase from this weeks farmer's market. I wanted something still summery and light, and lemon zest gelato sounded perfect!

Change in the Winds

As if you couldn't tell, I gave my blog a bit of a make-over. I needed some space; some fresh air. We'll see if I stick with it, but for now, I'm feeling good about it.

As of right now, I'm going to choose to not mention the horrific football game that is currently being played by my alma mater and simply continue on with better things that are happening in my life.

Well, actually, I'm not so sure I have anything overly interesting to discuss. It's starting to get a little cool here, feeling more and more like fall. I'm getting excited to visit an apple orchard and maybe try my hand at a caramel apple pie. I've also started investigating pumpkin patches and am excited for baked pumpkin seeds. But then I remember that snow shall soon follow, and I get a bit upset. Hopefully fall will extend itself over a longer string of months this year. Everything is still very green, and I'm rather excited to see the landscape change through shades of orange and red. Hopefully the brown phase will hold off a bit for my sake.

I'll leave you with some images from a recent hike. The Precipice Trail is supposed to be hardest here at Acadia, and I must admit, it was a bit taxing. Nothing unmanageable, but the many ladders and high steps don't make it an easy trek to the top. Despite my slight fear of heights, I made it to the top in one piece.