Monday, December 29, 2008

The MeMe-iest thing I did today

A blogger friend of mine did this 5 question interview meme and I decided to take her up on it. I was very curious about what she would ask; her questions and my responses are below.

Here are the rules if you want to participate in 5 Questions.

  1. Say ”Hey! Interview Me!” in the comments
  2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
  3. You can then answer the questions on your blog.
  4. You should also post these rules along with an offer to interview anyone else who emails you wanting to be interviewed.
  5. Anyone who asks to be interviewed should be sent 5 questions to answer on their blog. It would be nice if the questions were individualized for each blogger.

1. Is your house usually messy or tidy?

Messy! I am great at creating piles, and then piling up upon those piles. I am also fantastic at procrastinating about things like washing dishes, "Life is so short, let's go for a walk instead of washing dishes!".

I wish I could blame it all on my cluttered partner, but I am just as bad as him.

2. When was the last time you shaved your legs?

In September, for a friend's wedding. It is cold here! I need all the insulation I can get! Ha! Actually, here are my real excuses:

    1. I have very sensitive skin and it hurts to shave it.
    2. I am married.
    3. I have super light blonde hair, no one can see it except my sister, she can always spot it and harass me about it.

3. If you could be queen of the world for 1 hour what would you do?

First I would see if there was any loophole to extend my hour of power to at least an afternoon.

Second, I would call Oprah and give her flack about not using her money to pay people to keep her fit and/or tell she should just share her some of her fitness/diet staff to work with less fortunate people with obesity/diabetes/etc problems. Sigh, Oprah. Seriously though, it is hard to struggle with weight. See my blog about trying to go to the gym...trying.

Third, I would somehow rule that banks had to forgive a certain percentage of peoples' debts, across the board. Not all of their debts, just some, like 30%. I believe we all have to be accountable for our choices, but it is pretty obvious that the world economy needs a boost, or some sort of new beginning or a sense of hope that there is a way to get out of the debt darkness. I am not sure what I would do with people who do not have any debt...but they deserve many kudos. I suppose this action would require a lot of planning and thinking, so I hope I get notice before I am given my power.

Fourth, I would start the ball rolling on requiring everyone to work in food service for at least 1 day of their lives. I think this could have a ripple effect to remind us all that service employees A. Are human too. B. Deserve respect and gratitude. C. Perform sometimes demeaning and/or messy jobs and that they are working hard for little.


Lastly, I would give all undocumented and legal immigrants the afternoon off- hopefully this would fall on a busy business day and other citizens would notice the absence of the immigrant population. This would be a reminder that they are hardworking and a vital part of all of our lives, and also that even though they may not speak English the best or have the most important of jobs, they are valuable and deserve respect and gratitude.

On a selfish note, I would try to work in a really nice meal with friends and maybe a pedicure or a shoe shine. And I would tip BIG with my own pre-power money.



4. When you have to make a dinner to impress someone what favorite dish do you prepare?

People always seem pleased with this salsa that I "make" (or mix) that consists of a can of corn, a jar of salsa, and a can of black beans. So, I would make that as an appetizer with blue corn chips. I would make some deviled eggs too, some with red pepper "horns". Ok, maybe something fancier. Who am I impressing here?

I would probably serve broiled pork chops as the main dish with steamed vegetables. I might season the chops with some Old Bay or this salt-free Spike that I have. I love to eat sauce, but I usually prepare foods myself as simple as possible- perhaps to make up for all the sauces I eat elsewhere? I would steam some broccoli and pea pods on the side and order the anti-pasta salad from Jakeeno's, because they make a fine salad and I would be busy cleaning, conversing or running behind. I would either back some rolls or serve some olive bread and multigrain bread from Rustica.

I would have some beautiful fruit too, maybe berries (a valued item in the north). The fruit and berries would be from Byerly's or Lund's, local upscale grocery stores where the fruits are so perfect that one barely needs to look at them before buying them. (Do they have upscale grocery chains by you? With carpeted floors, neatly stocked shelves ready to be photographed at anytime, plentiful samples and drive-up car loading? with baggers who know the fine art of bagging groceries? Note that in the Twin Cities bagging is not a customary grocery service and when places like Target bag your groceries, they do a crap job. I actually prefer to bag my own groceries.)

For dessert I would make this pudding/cake thing that I am not sure I am at liberty to share the recipe to,
but it is great with vanilla ice cream.


5. Who is the most obnoxious person you know?

Oh man. What if they read this blog?? What if it is me?? I talk A LOT! And I am not always entertaining to listen to!

I guess I would say it is a person, or people, who lack empathy, thoughtfulness, and generosity. They complain a lot over things that no one can fix: like the past and the weather. They complain and do not offer suggestions or take action to make change. They are more self-centered and selfish. They do things like nickle and dime things like splitting the bill between 7 people even though we all spent roughly the same amount, the difference between tabs is mere cents, and it would be SO much easier just to split it evenly. They also are poor tippers and like to tell me that I am tipping too much in a smug way, as if I am some sort of tipping chump being taken for a ride by a greedy server.

Monday, December 15, 2008

The Bow Wowiest thing I saw today!

I love holiday decorations! I do!

We all know about houses that go crazy filling their yards and homes with props and lights, and then more props and lights!

Well, this house in my neighborhood had a different vision than most and I love it! I salute it!:



I hope it is clear that they gave their house jowls and a red tongue so that it looked like a dog, because that is just what they did!

The varying sizes in the upper windows make the dog that much more charming, in my opinion.

I cannot wait until I have a house to decorate. Bravo!

Monday, December 8, 2008

This is the way my brain is feeling today!

I am on a grueling phone call and just drew this quick!


Stress! Antsy! Excitement! Overwhelmed! Over-caffeinated!

I should add that I am normally a wiggly and fidgety person, so today that is amplified! Just image in imagine never sitting still, I didn't want to make anyone nauseous!

I just thought I would draw it and share with you! Everything is fine, just a hectic week at work is all. A hectic week now visually expressed!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

The sing-a-long-iest thing I saw today.

Saturday night, and friend and I were visiting a burrito place in Dinkytown. Dinkytown is adjacent to my employer and alma mater; as well as the alleged haunt of Bob Dylan and myself when we went there (years apart).

Like any college neighborhood, the place was packed with and staffed by twenty somethings.

While my meal was prepared, a beloved Weezer song came on, and we all started singing along.


That's me in the maroon shoes.

It was fantastic! Everyone kept about their business and we all carried the tune at the same time.

Aw yeah. "That'll be $6.75" All right. "Did you need extra sauce?" Feels good, "No thanks", inside.

If we started a choreographed dance number it would have been just like a sketch on the muppet show!

Friday, November 28, 2008

The Advertainment-iest video I watched today.

I do not even know where to begin with this. It is happy and silly and sort of depressing all at once.

Happy because it is a marriage proposal video

Silly because it took place live on the morning news at a Best Buy Store on "Black Friday".

Sad because it took place live on the morning news at a Best Buy Store on "Black Friday".



Just the term "Black Friday" is silly to me. I mean, sales are awesome! Sales are red!

Proposals are very personal and to mazal tov them!

And congrats on those values that Best Buy. I hate that store, but it is a local business and we need all those jobs. That'll be $10 for the advertising, Best Buy.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The Turkiest Thing I saw today

Oh wait, I did not see this, I just drew it.



I drew it a few weeks ago, not 23 years ago, as you might be thinking.

I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Gooble! Gobble!

Monday, November 24, 2008

The listiest thing I saw today

A friend of mine made a list of 100 things that she loves. I thought this was a nice activity for this week of Thanksgiving, plus it is just nice to remember the things in life that make us happy. There are so many.

So here ya be:
1 111 bus


2 Advances in cardiovascular medicine

3 Aidan's chatterbox

4 American Elf

5 Antibiotic ointment

6 Apples to Apples

7 Aprons

8 Arthur Miller

9 Band Aids

10 Barefeet

11 BBQ sauce

12 Bean strainer

13 Bed

14 Bittersweet Chocolate Chip Cookies at Rustica

15 Black Beans


16 Blueberries

17 Bricks

18 Buddy Holly

19 Burritos

20 Café Miel

21 Cardigans

22 Carmex

23 Cast iron skillet

24 Chickens

25 Club Neo in Chicago

26 Colored paper

27 Contemporary art

28 Crop art

29 Daddy

30 Dancing

31 Deep bowls

32 Double features with Todd

33 Drawings by children

34 Effort

35 Ellie's excitement

36 etsy.com

37 Evan Dando

38 Fans

39 Father Hennepin

40 Floaties

41 Foam pillow

42 Fresh cut grass

43 Fresh snow mornings

44 Gift Shops

45 Ginger

46 Gingher Shears

47 Glue gun

48 Google Reader

49 Guernseys

50 Halloween

51 Jalapenos

52 Kemps Rocky Road Ice Cream

53 Listening

54 Lists

55 Local pizza joints

56 Louise Erdrich

57 Mad Men

58 Madonna

59 Magnets

60 Marge Gunderson

61 Maria's Corn Pancakes

62 Mary Janes

63 Maturing

64 Midtown YWCA

65 Mittens

66 Mono Correction Tape

67 Mother's stuffing

68 Motown

69 Naps in the park

70 Navy blue

71 New socks

72 Noah's sensitivity

73 Online chess

(my chess friend Jeff and I)

74 Online dating

75 Ornaments

76 Pint glasses

77 Polka

78 Postal workers

79 Pronto pups

80 Quarters

81 Re-purposing

82 Scandinavian design

83 Sea and Cake

84 Sewing machine

85 Sharing

86 Sharpie markers

87 Smiles

88 Target

89 Tartar Sauce

90 The Movies on 35th Street

91 Thermos

92 Todd's patience

93 Trails

94 Tweezers

95 Volunteers

96 Walking through dry leaves

97 Water

98 Wild Wild Life music video

99 Woody Allen

100 You

Awww!

Friday, November 14, 2008

The Forearm-iest things I saw today.

I was wondering if this post does not really fit into my own blog premise, or if it is something that will only entertain me, but I keep thinking about it, so here goes....

Walking out of a building the other day, I thought I saw a young woman who was an amputee. It looked like she did not have the lower half of her right arm

My mind started whirring, "Huh, it is rare to see a young woman missing her arm. I wonder what happened. She is so young. I hope she was not in the war or in a terrible farm accident. Maybe it was a genetic thing. Wow Genetics are amazing, it is a miracle all the things they can do these days to work with genetics.... "

But my quick train (trains?) of thought were stopped when I realized at second glance that she did have two full length arms.


Oh, never mind, mind.

Then I was thinking, "What an interesting optical illusion, I totally did not see evidence of her full arm. Good thing she was not in an accident. Speaking of accidents, I have been meaning to draw a bike on bike accident I saw....."

My thoughts stopped because within 10 feet of the 2 armed woman, I passed by:

This time I made several glance to confirm that this young woman was missing her right forearm and hand.

My mind was blown, so it took another 10 feet before I started speculating about her story.

Did the Universe send the first woman as foreshadowing for the second woman?? Should I be learning some lesson here? Is it just coincidence? Should I try to reach Art Bell?

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The proudest result I saw today!

Of course I am THRILLED with the results of the Presidential election...I am beside myself with pride and joy!

But I wanted to post about another race that I am beaming for; a victory that my dear friend, my soul sister, Skylark contributed to with her whole heart and being...even though she did not live in the person's district! May I present to you:


Mike Obermueller is a stand up hardworking guy. He won in an exciting rematch of a very close race in 2006.

District 38B is the town where I went to high school, where my parents live still, and is the very "Red" home district of our(cough*wretched*cough) governor, Tim Pawlenty, who you may have seen talking to Diane Sawyer last night spewing apologetic rhetoric for his own party as Obama slam dunked last night.

Lynn Wardlow was a math teacher at my middle school and I went to school with one of his sons. I was never impressed with his skills in the Legislature (a pretty pathetic moment in his life and in the life of politics that you may want to watch).

When I last lived in Eagan, I would write Lynn Wardlow often about issues I cared about as his constituent, issues that I knew he disagreed with me on. He responded personally to the emails, but his responses were very closed minded and upsetting to me. I wish I had kept them, but I erased them because they made me so angry.

ANYWAY! Skylark and Mike and their friends have been working their buns off for two years to gain this house seat. I think they knocked on every door in Eagan thrice! And they did it! They earned that seat!

Hip Hip Hooray!!!!



Skylark, I am oh-so proud of you, I do not even have the words. You turned 38B BLUE!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The voting-est thing I saw today!

Today is election day! Hoorah!

I love voting. I love the power. I love the camaraderie of voting with my neighbors at the polling place.


I did not draw this, this child did.

And I love kids voting!!!

I love watching the kids go over to their special voting booth and getting their sticker. Inspiring!



When I was a kid, our school was a polling place and I was in awe of the grown-ups voting. Now I am in awe of the kids voting! Will nothing satiate me??

Monday, October 20, 2008

The un-deadest thing I saw today!

Over the weekend my friends and I hit the town in our best back from the grave or recently attacked zombie attire.


Here is my husband and I- my husband the werewolf....

There were hundreds and hundreds of undead roaming around. I loved how creative people were with the assignment.

This was me favorite:



She was a zombie stock broker and had great visual aids.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The saddest thing I heard about today- Blog Action Day.

Today is Blog Action Day and the topic is Poverty. My friend N just returned from over a month in Patna, India, which is in the state of Bihar. Bihar is located in the northeastern part of India near Nepal. She is a nurse and she volunteered at an eye clinic through an organization called Unite for Sight. I am very proud of her!

She has countless stories of the struggle and poverty that she witnessed on her trip, things that I cannot even begin to wrap my head around. One thing she saw has stuck in my head and I drew what I imagine it to look like for today:



What she witnessed is hundreds of people gathered to sleep on the median dividing traffic on a very busy road. She said that the median was the only place to lay down and sleep that was not filthy with waste. The alleys and sidewalks are frequented by cows, dogs, pigs, and other humans, who all leave messes behind. There is less of that traffic on the concrete median, so people with no where to go home to sleep there to be cleaner.

Remember, I did not see this, so I cannot do this sad reality justice. I have never seen anything like this, not so many and not the dangerous median of a busy thoroughfare. I cannot fathom being so desperate to rest on a clean surface. Unfortunatly so many around the world can and do every day; even here in Minneapolis where the nighttime temperatures reach below freezing much of the winter.

I have been looking into new volunteer opportunities, both short and long term, as a way to contribute to helping those in my community who struggle. There are so many ways to help, it is overwhelming!

Of course there are always fundraisers to attend, including the Empty Bowls Project, there will be one of these in my neighborhood on November 7th. Maybe I will see you there? Maybe there is one near you?

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

I am behind, I'm sorry


I have so many things to draw, please come back!

Here is a picture of me in silly glasses, if that helps.

Friday, September 5, 2008

The Jumbotron-iest thing I saw today!

When visiting the area in St. Paul near the RNC Convention, I saw this large monstrosity perched between the Cathedral of Saint Paul and the Minnesota State Capitol, right on the last leg of the route the delegates took to their convention site:


What cracked me up at the time was that I instantly assumed that this eye sore was an installment by the GOP for their convention...

WRONG!

It was the work of True Blue Minnesota, who took the opportunity to exercise their free speech with constant footage of things like post-Katrina media coverage and Frontline exposes on prominent Republicans.

I suppose that is excessive technology that I can get behind...and under!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

The nosy-est thing I saw today

When I was at the protests on Monday, I was humored by the three lines of participants; like a layered cake they spanned the street:


The 3 P's:
Police
Press
Protesters

The Press filled the space between the riot police and the protesters. They spent most of the time watching the police. In this shot the press are running to catch up with the deviating anarchist group.

I also noted that all of the 3 P's had camera and video equipment. All three layers were documenting the happenings, all for varying reasons, I think.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

The cat and mouse-iest thing I saw today!

On Monday, a friend and I went to St. Paul to check out the big anti-war march on the RNC.

We grew impatient waiting at the rally for the march to start, so we headed into downtown St. Paul to witness what else was going on.

Prior to the start of the big march, we saw a lot of the anarchist crowd during their approved protest and the trouble they stirred up when they reached the end of their approved route and kept right on marching.

They splintered off into little groups like a bunch of mice. We saw them running up and down side streets followed by law enforcement. It was comical and disturbing all at the same time.

We saw a lot of police in riot gear and even some police horses in riot gear.



We saw this guy get pepper sprayed.

Many anarchists went off and broke windows and damaged other property. 200-some were eventually arrested that day.

Then they came out again yesterday and did it all again.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

The kickin'-est thing I saw today.

I was stuck on a slow-and-go bus out of downtown the other day, thankfully this guy was walking in tandem to entertain me:He kicked that shoe steady-on for a good 4 blocks before the bus finally broke free of the downtown stop and go bubble.

Do you suppose he was trying to understand someone better by walking a mile kicking their shoes? Or was he breaking a shiny new pair of sneakers in?

Thursday, August 21, 2008

The No Rush-iest thing I saw today!

I love checking out garage sales, especially on a whim as I drive around town. I am a sucker for signage like: "MOVING SALE!" or "Multi-Family Sale!" and the best is "Estate Sale!". I will follow those signs around and see what kind of treasures they lead me towards.

I saw a sign in my neighborhood the other day that was not nearly as enticing:


Isn't a perpetual sale actually a STORE?

On another note, the Great Minnesota Get Together starts today! Yes, the Minnesota State Fair is now open for business. I love the fair and I hope to find lots of fodder for drawing when I go on Sunday.

If you love the fair too, or if you need to be educated about the MN State Fair, I recommend the blog My Pronto Pup. The mere fact that someone has a year round blog dedicated to the Fair should be a big clue as to how much people here love the Fair. The author is one of MANY people who go every day of the fair (August 21-Labor Day).

Also, I saw this crazy article in the Strib today about a family from NW MN who walked 400 miles to the fair with an ox cart. What?!?!? I am not sure if the pronto pups and cheese curds are THAT good!

Friday, August 1, 2008

The Team workiest thing I saw today

Today is the one year anniversary of the I-35W Bridge Collapsing here in Minneapolis.

I live and work near the bridge, so I have been watching how hard all the bridge builders have been working ever since that day one year ago.

There are people working on the bridge 24 hours a day. They worked through bitter cold in the winter and hot humid days in the summer. There are all kinds of cool trucks and cranes and barges getting things done.

You may not know this if you don't live here, but they have already made the bridge connect across the river:

It is scheduled to open in September.

I am very impressed at how fast all the legislators and what not worked to get organized and get the project going, I mean, if they had just decided to replace the bridge it probably would have taken a year just to narrow down a design and decide who would pay for the bridge. am I right?

Then of course the people working on the bridge are amazing. I have seriously driven by around 1am on cold winter night and seen people out working on the bridge. BRRR!


Oh and the people who survived the collapse! They are out of this world. For example, the kids that were on the school bus made this mural together:

The mural is right by my house, so I can go by and think of how brave they are all the time!

Lastly I am proud of the community-at-large for supporting the victims and for dealing with the lost bridge very patiently. If you do not live here, then you probably do not know that this bridge is a major freeway artery and also that a long stretch of freeway just south of the bridge had already been under major construction before the collapse (and still is today- FYI 35W will be closed this weekend between 494 and 94). I have not heard people complain about having to detour around the bridge...but they do complain about the "normal" construction!

Way to be a little patient, community-at-large!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Goal-iest Thing I Accomplished Today!

Around 6 years ago I went to a motivation workshop at work and we had to draw a long term goal for ourselves on a note card. I drew this:It is hard to make out via the scan, but this goal card is the goal to earn a Master's degree. In the bottom right I have drawn myself stressed, but in a good academic sort of way. In the upper right there is a lecturer.

I have had this card posted at my desk ever since, it has followed me through 4 jobs, buying my home, meeting and marrying my partner, and meeting so many wonderful friends.

Today my thesis project was approved! I am DONE. I have met my goal. My work is off to be bound.

I am a Master.

The sick thing is....now I want to draw a new card about me working for a PhD!

Ha!

I am so thrilled to be done.

I hope that you keep your goals posted somewhere and that you can work towards being done too!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Contradiction-iest Things I Saw Today

I drove by this house in Nordeast Minneapolis a couple weeks ago. I feel like they are sending a mixed message of hopefulness and reactionary-ness:


PS: I loved their homemade sign! Homemade signs say so much more to me than a factory pressed official sign. It says "I am so much behind this idea that I took the time to make a sign myself." I suppose it could also mean "I am to shy (or cheap) to approach the campaign for a sign."

You know, the way that I drew the picture it looks almost like they are asking Obama to stay out of their yard. Ha! I don't think that is what they meant, but I could be wrong!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The [fill in the prefix]est All Stars!

Just quickly-

Yesterday I ran into not one, not two, but THREE of the people I have highlighted in this blog.

Here's the rundown:

First I saw "The Sharped Dressed Man" and he was wearing a pastel turquoise suit. It was a very Easter-style ensemble.

Then I saw "Pen Neck Guy". He only had 3 pens in his stretched out tee-shirt collar though.

Finally I saw "Shiny car guy", he was out with the weed whacker right near his car.

In other news, our new tree is not doing so great. We have been taking turns watering it, but it has been so so hot.

I am almost done with my master's thesis...that is where my blogging time has been going, so you better watch out for more drawings. I have some already done and a list of topics!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

The Humbugiest Things I saw today

We got our new license plates in the mail today. I laughed our loud and beamed with pride when I saw them:

Bah ha ha ha ha!!!

Meanwhile, did you know there are actually more than 10,000 lakes in MN?

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The Sickest thing I saw today.

I left my liberal nest in Minneapolis for my home suburb of Eagan on the 4th of July.

Eagan is a nice middle to upper-middle class 2nd ring suburb that is home to offices of several major companies, including the headquarters of West Publishing, Old Country Buffet, U-Line shipping products and Northwest Airlines plus outposts of Coca Cola, Tastee Bread, Unisys, EcoLab, and every big box chain store one could name.

Guess which company had the most American flags out for the holiday:

Why it was the world's largest defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

Fantastic.

Friday, June 27, 2008

The sharp dressed man struck again!

You may or may not recall this post from the past, but it was very popular one because people I know tell me they see this guy all the time. I have seen him a few times since the blog even.

The other day I was on a crabby backslide and my friend M to the P took me out for some pomegranate juice and venting.

There I was crabbing away and M to the P says "LOOK! There's that suit guy!"

And there he was:He helped to cheer me right up! Where does he get those suits? Where does he go dressed like that? What is in that suitcase? Why is he always in a hurry?

There are too many questions like this in life to be crabby!

Friday, June 13, 2008

The perfect matchiest thing I saw today.

Look who else was climbing Crazy Horse:

This cute very elderly couple (I am guessing mid-80's) wearing totally matching outfits!

Yeah, I am not very good at drawing elderly people, so just bear with me. Imagine some more wrinkles and their bodies a little frail looking.

These two were walking arm and arm through the woods in their darling matching duds. Insoirational love and commitment!