Category Archives: See the Sights

Randonymity, See the Sights

TGIF

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Whew! It sure seems like this has been a busy week and I am definitely looking forward to a relaxing weekend of knitting (I’ll finally finish my purple Trekking socks!), reading (hopefully I’ll finish my second non-fiction book), cleaning, biking or walking, playing with the cat, catching up on blogs… Hmm, that sounds pretty busy, too, doesn’t it?!

Anyway. Crampy crabbiness is curbing my creativity this morning, so here are a few random bits. First, a cereal box that sends me into fits of giggles everytime I see it (click on the picture to see a larger version). Check out the list of allergens not contained in this cereal. I do recognize that they’ve simply reproduced the list of the eight most common allergens covered by new labelling laws – but, really, how many times have fish or shellfish in cereal been a concern for you?! Ewwwwww…

Curious what the Chaos Kitty is up to in the background? (Ignore the jungle pouch action there – he’s trim and muscley, but that darn jungle pouch has been there since he was born.)

“Clean toes are very important. I’m glad you recognize that, Mom, but if you try to paint my claws to match your toenails…….”

Last night I went to a St Paul Saints baseball game – I’m not a baseball fan, but it was one of those work “team building” events… I knit about 1/4″ of a new sock (more on that when there’s something to actually look at) and got a few cool sky pictures. Can anyone figure out what that unidentified flying object is in the first picture?? At first I thought it might be a helicopter or a bird, but now I’m wondering if it was a mosquito flying past my camera!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Contests, Randonymity, Reading, See the Sights

Pretend it’s a Random Wednesday…

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TB is having a contest in which you send her a picture of the weirdest thing on display in your house. Photos must be received by midnight, August 13. I don’t think she says what the prize is – hopefully not the weirdest thing on display from her house! 😉

SRP update:
The Apostrophe Thief by Barbara Paul, 247 pages. I’m reading the Marian Larch (NYPD) mysteries totally out of order – it’s an older series and the library doesn’t have all of the books.
A Deadly Yarn by Maggie Sefton, 259 pages. The third mystery about Fort “Connor” (Colorado) CPA and new knitter Kelly Flynn and her friends is another light and speedy read.

As part of my ongoing series of unusually colored Minneapolis architecture, here’s a purple house/business that I missed in July…

…and a house of a different color – you definitely want to click on this picture to get a better look!

The Crafty Modster held her final Project Spectrum mix giveaway and I won; actually, everyone who entered won something! Look at all those PS neutrals:

I’m all set, aren’t I? Thread, embroidery floss, tasty chocolate, a very cool flower pin (with the button in the middle) that now graces my cube…

…the mix, of course…

…and a card for Chaos! (Interestingly, that’s similar to a favorite Chaos pose that I haven’t managed to get a picture of.) Thank you so much, Anjo!

Speaking of Chaos…

“Good grief, there are other vegetables besides the Evil Zucchini Monster?! That’s just not right.”

Randonymity, Reading, See the Sights

At the Fringe of the Wacky Chicken Show

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Don’t forget, today is the last day of my Official Blog Opening Contest! Leave a haiku comment before 6 pm CDT (um, that’s six hours behind GMT/UTC) to participate. Thanks for everyone who’s already left a haiku – they are witty and funny and wise and I love them all!

Knittymama’s greyhound happily models a bib…

I finished my first non-fiction book for SRP!
Downhill: The Life Story of a Gravity Goddess by Marla Streb, 326 pages. I really like to read about cyclists’ lives and inspirations. Altough I have absolutely no interest in mountain biking (I have a hybrid and prefer paved trails), I found Marla’s tale of leaving the safe life to follow her dream really resonated.

And two more fiction…
Murder by the Glass: A Wine Lover’s Mystery by Michele Scott, 246 pages. Isn’t it a little amazing how many targeted mystery series exist? This series features vineyard manager and oenophile (i.e., wine lover) Nikki Sands, who does a bit of amateur sleuthing in the Napa and Sonoma Vallies. As per usual, our intrepid sleuth is torn between two handsome men…
Children of the Storm by Elizabeth Peters, 416 pages. I was actually looking to reread the first Amelia Peabody mystery, but it wasn’t on the shelf at the library.

Monday evening, my friend Lisa and her two kids took me to dinner at True Thai (yummy tofu pad thai!) and then to see The Wacky Chicken Show: Modern Vaudeville, which was part of the Minnesota Fringe Festival.

I finished turning the heel of my second Trekking sock while we waited for the show to begin. The Wacky Chicken Show was a mixture of slapstick silliness, magic, and poignant interludes about lost eggs. By skillfully not making eye contact, I managed to avoid going having to lay an egg onstage… You can see a video clip here, if you’re curious.

I loved the words on the fence at the the Playwright’s Center – here are a few more:

And I threw together a little collage of some of the postcards I picked up for other Fringe Festival productions:

Once again, Chaos held down the home front:

“A cat’s work is never done! Wait a minute – what do you mean, what work??!”
Alongs, See the Sights

P is for…

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Powderhorn Art Fair. (Let’s just move right along and ignore the fact that I’ve skipped “O,” shall we?)

I posted Saturday about the crowds of the Uptown Art Fair. If crowds aren’t your thing, you have two additional art fair options on the same weekend. The first is the Loring Park Art Festival, which is located around the shores of the lake in Loring Park. I haven’t been to that festival for a few years, mostly because I can only handle one art fair in a weekend.The second alternative is the Powderhorn Art Fair, which is located around the shores of a lake in Powderhorn Park. I love this art fair! I think it’s much more pleasant wandering around a lake looking at art than it is shoving your way along a crowded street looking at art. Your mileage may vary (YMMV).

So on Saturday, Jeanne and I headed over to Powderhorn Park. (Look! More Saturday skies!) This picture was taken facing away from downtown (click on any picture to see a larger version):

And this picture was taken from the other side of the lake, facing downtown with the Midtown Market (a renovated old Sears building) looming between downtown and the park:

A band played jazzy oompa music, which provided the perfect soundtrack for art shopping.

We saw some wildlife…

Although we couldn’t figure out what that turtle (on the far left) and the ducks were sitting on – a submarine seemed unlikely!

This puzzled me no end – if you can’t read the lettering, it says “ICE WATER DEVICE.” Huh.

Sorry – no pictures of my purchases, since most of them were birthday and Christmas presents for my family!

Chaos kept busy while I was gone:

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…”
Randonymity, Reading, See the Sights

Wandering through Wednesday

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Thanks for all the kind words about the new look! Things are mostly as they will be, although the banner isn’t displaying correctly in Firefox yet. Soon.

EDIT: I think it’s all set. If things look odd, please try hitting your reload button. If they still look odd, please drop me an email and let me know the details. Thanks!

The heat finally broke yesterday! It’s been raining off and on ever since. Hopefully the humidity breaks soon…

Scout’s challenged us to out our UFOs. *gulp* I posted about UFOs/WIPs back in December. Scarily, everything I mentioned in that post remains a UFO! Whoops… Sounds like I need to rip a few things out, doesn’t it?! And of course, I have new UFOs/WIPs, too. I’ll look around today and take some pictures.

SRP update: I made my fiction goal of 30 books! However, I still need to read two non-fiction books this month to meet my bonus goal.
Unhinged by Sarah Graves, 332 pages. Yet another Home Repair Is Homicide mystery! I’m not reading these cozies in order, but I’m enjoying them anyway.
Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter by Blaze Clement, 261 pages. This is the first (and only, so far) book about former sheriff’s deputy, now petsitter, Dixie Hemingway of Sarasota, FL. I’ll definitely be on the look out for additions to this series – it was more compelling than many such mysteries and kept me guessing up to the end.

I finally got a picture of the “Gateway to the North of Nashwauk” sign last weekend! What I find very interesting about this sign is that you see it when you are driving south, not north. Hmm.

I’m a sucker for amusing wine labels, so how could I resist this one?

Chaos apparently wonders why “smell no evil” wasn’t addressed in the pictorial proverb.

*sniff sniff* “I sure hope you weren’t hoping for great taste from this wine, Mom…”
Alongs, See the Sights

N is for…

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Nashwauk, Minnesota. Can you see me in the first picture?! (Clicking on a picture will open a new window with a larger version of the pictures.)

Nashwauk is located about four hours north of the Twin Cities between Hibbing (boyhood home of Bob Dylan) and Grand Rapids (birthplace of Judy Garland). It’s deep in the heart of “Da Range” (aka Minnesota’s Iron Range), which you can tell by the “From Timber to Taconite” bit on the sign below:

The Hawkins mine, which abuts the eastern edge of the town, was the first mine in Itasca County.

The old mine is surprisingly beautiful. They didn’t fill in the huge open pit when they closed the mine; instead, they turned off the pumps that were keeping it dry.

Some of the hills of taconite tailings are not quite so lovely, alas.

Just outside of town, this structure always mystifies me – some sort of radar installation?

Isn’t it amazing how different the sky looks in those two pictures? Yet they were taken within a few hundred feet of each other.

Edit: I was just informed that I somehow missed the wonderful sign “Nashwauk, Gateway to North of Nashwauk.” (The Boundary Waters? Canada? The North Pole? The mind boggles.) Drat!

See the Sights

Walk(er)ing

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Several weeks ago, when I went to the Sculpture Garden, I took a few more pictures but never got around to posting them. Whoops. Anyway, the Sculpture Garden is located on the north side of the Walker Art Center. Here’s a picture of both the old and the new parts of the Walker – can you tell which is which?!

I love reading this every day on my way to and from work:

Remember the stone bench in the Sculpture Garden with the very odd saying on it? It’s only one of the 28 benches that make up Selections From the Living Series by Jenny Holzer. Here’s another bench:

And another… (Please note that I have finally turned the heel on my purple Trekking sock but that’s about it – those bibs have been taking up all my sock knitting time!)

Speaking of bibs, Chaos still seems wary of me…

“I’m keeping an eye on you until that bib is out of the condo. Just in case.”
Alongs, Reading, See the Sights

Pride trekketh

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I’ll start with a quick SRP update…

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher. Book 6 of the Dresden Files. 372 pages. Once again, Chicago wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden faces tough enemies and deals with startling revelations. I love this series.
Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson. 284 pages. The latest mystery about Colorado caterer Goldy Schultz – what else can I say? 🙂 It’s light reading with recipes.

Amy of Knit Think sent me an email a few days ago, mentioning that she would working at the Mother Bear Project booth at the GLBT Pride Festival in Loring Park yesterday and that, since I live in the neighborhood, I should stop by and say hi. Okey dokey.

I haven’t ever been to the Pride Festival before. I was amazed at how large it was. Thousands of people and hundreds of booths surrounded the lake in Loring Park – this picture is only a tiny portion of the Festival.

Fortunately, I stumbled on the Mother Bear booth very quickly. I saw Amy (left) and met another local blogger, Julie (right).

The Mother Bear Project has sent nearly 11,000 bears to children in emerging nations whose lives have been touched by HIV/AIDS. There’s definitely going to be some bear knitting here at Casa de Chaos over the winter! It doesn’t hurt that these bears are seriously cute. If you’re interested in helping the project in some way other than by knitting a bear, there’s information here.

I had my purple Trekking socks with me, so I snapped a few pictures in the lovely Loring Park garden. Yes, I finally made it past the yarn vomit!

Out of all the benches in the garden, I was pleased and saddened to chance across this one:

I know you’re all worried about Chaos. He wasn’t too happy with the Pride Festival’s fireworks, but I did come back from the festival with a silly little toy that seems to have puzzled him…

“You’re not going to make me play with this in the tub, are you?!!”
Personal history, See the Sights

A season of egrets

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I saw the first egret of the year last Friday.

Egrets are important to me – the first egret of the year marks the true beginning of spring and hints at the promise of summer. In honor of this year’s first egret, I thought I would share with you an essay I wrote several years ago:

There’s a part of the summer that feels like a special separate season – a season of egrets is how I think of it. Sometime between midsummer and late summer, I slowly realize that I’m seeing egrets almost every day – in cloverleaves, along the shore of Lake of the Isles, in the stream running through the golf course I drive by, in the pond at General Mills. Egrets everywhere, every day.

Each time I see one, I feel a tiny burst of joy. I get excited when I see herons and cranes and other wading birds, too, but it isn’t the same as when I see an egret.

The elegant lines? The dignified yet vaguely silly locomotion? The intense white plumage? Or a more immediate and direct spiritual connection? I haven’t figured it out completely, and am not sure that I want to – if you try too hard to grasp magic, can it stay magical? Or does it become mundane?

My first season of egrets occurred in 1992, when I was working as a recreation survey assistant for Hennepin Parks. I was driving to Elm Creek and across from the park entrance in a shallow lake bisected by many powerlines, I saw hundreds of egrets – more egrets than I had seen before or have seen since. What is the group noun for egrets? Surely not a leap or a gaggle, but maybe an exclamation, or an exultation (like larks), or an entirety, or an enigma, or an elucidation… Whatever it is, seeing those egrets stunned me, left me mute, still, changed.

That day I saw the embodiment of joy, comparable only to the miracle of a monarch migration. I regretted that I did not have a camera, and have carried one ceaselessly since, just in case… but surely a photograph couldn’t have done justice to the event… and the image remains with me, vivid, intense, and immediate all these years later. My photograph is my memory, the capacity for joy that I gained at that moment and have been working toward embodying ever since.

And each summer, during the season of egrets, my capacity for joy and stillness are renewed, reborn, revitalized, refreshed, carrying me through the year until the next such season arrives.

– Chris, 8/17/2000

Some egrets in the New Orleans zoo, from January 2001…

Project Spectrum, See the Sights

The Midwest Master’s Seminar

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April 29 – 30, 2006, will find me in Neenah, Wisconsin, participating in the Midwest Master’s Seminar. I’ll be taking Rainbow Dyeing in the Microwave (Merike Saarniit), Exotic Stitches for More than One Color (Anna Zilboorg), and Twisted Traveling Stitches (Anna Zilboorg). I’ve taken a class from Anna Zilboorg before, right after Knitting for Anarchists came out, and learned a lot. Looking foward to learning even more this time!

Is anyone else going to be at the Midwest Master’s? Anyone need a roommate?!

Yesterday I drove to St. Peter, Minnesota, for the day to visit a friend. It wasn’t the greatest driving weather. Although the roads were just wet and not slippery, it was very foggy coming home last night.

The view from my front window right before I got on the road yesterday.

While I was in St. Peter, I stopped at Mary Lue’s Yarn and Quilt Shop, which has a cute shop cat:

Here’s a picture for the spinners:

And these made me think of Project Spectrum:

“What’s with all this being gone?! I’m starting to think this knitting stuff is not in my best interest.”