moving

Moving to:

http://stromsensuisse.blogspot.com/


The moment we've all been waiting for...well I have anyway: Derek and I are beginning a new journey in Europe. You can follow our adventures and see pictures of some of the yummy things I imagine we will be doing, seeing, and eating in this exciting new phase of our lives together. We are spending our final days in DeKalb packing and hurrying around, but are grateful we were able to see many friends and family members this summer. If we missed you, we will be back briefly in mid-September before the actual move and hope to see you then.

I had planned to have a big farewell DeKalb- all the things I will miss and lots of sentimentality, but time is getting short (maybe it's still coming). Anyway, I hope we will keep in touch. My posts on this blog may be limited at this time, but you can see what we are up to at our new shared blog stroms en suisse.

Uf Widerluege

by the mighty mississippi...

Derek, Justin, Phil, Elizabeth, Greta and I all left for the Quad Cities for a long anticipated Augustana road trip/reunion. We e set out Friday evening for a fun filled 24 hours- I can't remember when I've laughed so much. First stop Village Inn- that's after two hours of walkies-talkie banter, checking into our hotel room, and braving flash floods. The torrential rains cleared while we enjoyed a late night breakfast at our table tucked away in the back corner of the VI, Rock Island. Then a visit to an empty Blue Cat and the rangoon man in the District before utter silliness broke out.































Saturday we enjoyed a complementary breakfast at our hotel before making our rounds through the QCA to reminisce and recreate old photos. Festivities were going on at the John Deer Pavilion. Justin and I got "Corn is Amaizing" tattoos.





















Photo Reenactment: D + J 2000














D + J 2009















We did some thrifting/antiquing and then to Arther's Deli- I have waited years for a cheesy potato. We spent the afternoon walking through campus and took some group photos at some of our favorite spots donning our Augustana T's. Maybe Augustana could put us in a student life ad...
















Finally to another college frequent: Whitey's Ice Cream to top off a great afternoon. And then it was already to drive back home too soon.


















Good times.

master pieces

Although I didn't make it to Cincinnati this weekend, Friday was the opening for Master Pieces at Manifest Gallery. After seeing photos courtesy curator Jason Franz, I really wish I would have had a way to get there. It looks like a fantastic show. Again I am impressed by the quality of all the work, and it looks like a great space and a good time.










































The gallery also sent out the catalog for proofing this week. It was great to see reproductions of all the works and read some similar interests and themes in each artist's statement connecting our concerns from across the country. I can't wait to get a copy. If you are interested, the 44 page stellar catalog will be available for $9.39 at the gallery bookstore soon (I think in September). Here is a look at an introductory page discussing the premise of the show. I have copied the text below the image:















A Question of Mastery: Curator, Jason Franz

"What is it? Where do masterpieces come from? What do we do in society to promote such high achievement - the production of singularly qualified works of skill, imagination, intellect, craftsmanship, and commitment? Manifest realizes that the answers to these questions are varied. Mastery occurs in many ways, sometimes even by way of circumstances out of our control. However, we also understand that society is often disassociated from one of the primary sources of mastery today, that it does not have access to, or understanding of the academic MFA process. We feel this is to the detriment of both parties.

Therefore with the annual Master Pieces project we invite graduate students, and those having attained the degree of Master within the past year, to submit works for consideration by our jury, in order to share this realm of academic pursuit, and these artists' efforts to attain a terminal degree in the practice of visual art.

Manifest’s goal has been to select works that in the truest sense of the word are contemporary masterpieces – works that set the standard of quality that the artist is expected to maintain throughout his or her professional career. This exhibit catalog will serve as an historic documentation of the artists’ professional benchmarks for years to come.

With Master Pieces Manifest takes a stand for the importance of what these artists are doing, the system by which they are trained and proclaimed 'master', and for the objects they have made to establish their place and role in the world."

This third annual Master Pieces project received 400 entries from 139 artists. The final selection includes 16 works by thirteen new masters from across the U.S.:

Meredith Adamisin (Northville, Michigan)
John Carrasco III (Lincoln, Nebraska)
Kyle Chaput (Corpus Christi, Texas)
Hima Chennamaraju (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Benjamin Clore (East Lansing, Michigan)
Rachel Heberling (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania)
Robert Hernandez (Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts)
Josh Johnson (Lincoln, Nebraska)
Sonia Lea (Bloomington, Indiana)
Robert Minervini (San Francisco, California)
Travis Shaffer (Nicholasville, Kentucky)
Japheth Storlie (Maquoketa, Iowa)
Kimberly Strom (DeKalb, Illinois)

works on paper

Saturday night was the opening at Around the Coyote in Wicker park for the Joseph Frasca Memorial Works on Paper Competition.
The show runs through August 15, so if you happen to be in the area, it is worth stopping. I was impressed by the overall quality of the work and excited to be one of the artists included. I knew two of the artists that were selected for the show and was happy to find that my piece was hung next to one of them.

Awesome layered drawing and photograph by Deb Rockman left, one of my trees right.














Here are a few photos from the opening:




































































This is the second exhibition in Around the Coyote's new space- behind a lumber yard. As you can see, it is a fun space with cement floors, brick walls, exposed ceiling, and open garage door for fresh air- I love it, and it was a beautiful evening.

berries

This evening I picked a few wild black raspberries by the park (ripe a few weeks later than normal). I associate raspberries with scratches and mosquito bites, and although I tried to pick from the perimeter rather than climbing through the bushes like usual, I still managed to get a few of both. But the berries are always worth it. Normally I would pick as many as I could carry home and then go back for more, but I don't plan on making jam this summer- just some fresh ones to eat tonight on vanilla ice cream and pancakes in the morning.

summer goals

One of my "goals" this summer was to watch all four seasons of Doogie Howser, M.D. Yes, I can already cross this one off the list. I didn't watched the show 20 years ago when it aired-except I remember watching one episode at a friend's house- the episode where Doogie and Vinnie are held hostage at the convenience store. Although It took me a few episodes to get into it, I was completely hooked. This show is still great! I feel like I can relate better now to the early nineties - I also have a list of movies I never saw that are considered essential to anyone growing up in the 80's. I've still got some catching up to do. Derek recently made me see the Terminator for the first time and last summer I saw my first Indiana Jones movie.

I wish I had some clever way to express the lessons I learned watching Doogie (pause, glance up and to the left, smirk signalling I just had a revelation, and begin typing again), but mostly I mostly I just enjoy watching Neil Patrick Harris. Guess what Derek's nick-name was as a kid...

madison, wi

Derek attended a summer session at UW, Madison for almost 2 weeks at the end of June. I rode up with our friends Pete and Janean to spend a weekend eating good food, birding, and visiting Derek for a bit, but then I ended up staying for a whole week. My week in Madison was chilly, but I found plenty to keep busy, long, long walks along the lakes: Mendota, Monona, and Wingra, museum visits, lots to eat, and plenty of resale shops and bookstores to browse. I had a majority of the days to wander, but Derek had a 3 hour lunch break, so we also got to do a little exploring together.

Wisconsin State Capitol building: (above photo- inside the dome).



















The night before we left for home, there was an orchestra concert on the lawn around the capitol. We stopped at a nearby shop, Fromagination, a cheese and things that go with cheese store, and bought cheese, of course, a hot baguette, and chocolate to picnic at the concert. We enjoyed the 1812 Overture with blasting cannons.

madison: food

One of my favorite things to do in Madison is eat. There is no shortage of great vegetarian restaurants, street vendors, cafes, and a large local co-op. We made the necessary stop at the Blue Plate Diner- always a favorite, but had the opportunity to share a truly fabulous dinner at L'Etoile with Pete and Janean when we arrived on Saturday night. L'Etoile is a beautiful restaurant that serves seasonal, locally grown food from small farms. We had a cheese tasting with our meals and even sprung for dessert, but I think the best part may have been my rhubarb/mint mojito- YUM. Everyone there was delightful and generous with sampling between courses. They also have a breakfast/lunch cafe where Derek and I stopped for a great lunch and beverages one afternoon. I was fond of the copper bars and details.






















Another day, we shared a pasty from Teddy Wedgers in this tiny corner front. Good crust, warm and filling on a nippy day.

madison: green things

We traveled to Horicon marsh on Sunday with Pete and Janean for a full day of birdwatching. We saw over 50 species of birds including yellow-headed black birds that Derek and I had not seen before.

Madison is known for being a "green" city- bike lanes and pedestrian friendly. I found plenty of great places to walk and to walk to. Each morning during the week, I went for long walks, usually along a lakefront trail. One day I visited the arboretum and another, I found my way out to the botanic garden. Derek and I stopped at both these places again on our way back home on Friday.

This is the conservatory at the botanical gardens (free admission to the gardens and $1 for the conservatory).

















A kaleidoscopic view of potted succulents, and bears picnicking at the gardens:









































Here come a lot of flower photos- who can resist:


























































































Some of these large pelican orchids were nearly the size of a soccer ball when blooming.

madison: museums

Although it didn't rain much, it looked like it was about to rain most of the time. Wile I spent most of the week outside anyway, enjoying a break from the sudden summer heat, walking, or watching sailing lessons, I also found some fun museums to visit on cooler afternoons.

One of my favorites was the Odd Wisconsin exhibit at the History Museum displaying a variety of artifacts and objects loaded with local and national history. Each object was accompanied by a unique story. Some favorites: paint-gallon size fall-out food from General Mills, an x-ray machine for custom-fit shoes, Wisconsin Death Trip photos, shoe molds for a giant, skunk oil, an early perm machine- yikes, and all sorts of other oddities that seemed to make sense in some other time.

Outside this exhibit was also a two room set-up showing how we use objects to understand something about a culture and a specific time: a 1990's kitchen and living room! How funny to see a Nintendo, cassette tapes, teenage mutant ninja turtles, a wall-mounted corded telephone, a blue corduroy reclining chair, even a computer like the one Doogie Howser typed on at the end of each episode. It really was like looking into our own homes not too many years ago, and realizing how different everyday objects have become in such a short time.
























Derek and I also visited the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art to see Return to Function, an interesting look at art objects exploring ideas of transportation, shelter, clothing, and commodity.

We are sitting at the rooftop sculpture garden, and the view of the street below:

madison: etc

I also had plenty of time to wander trough shops and book stores. I like the loose paper at Pop Deluxe. They also carried some great jewelry, pantone color coffee mugs, and other fun designy things. Papers:





















































I even got a few treats-

Sweet: Candinas chocolates (all for me).


















Cheap: 2 Vera scarves from Goodwill $2 each, earrings $4, used paperback, Willa Cather's first novel $3, and a beautiful field guide to the birds of Europe for Derek $6.95.



















Free: an origami crane I found on one of my walks.

2009 (miles)

One year ago, I began the walking project and have accumulated 2,009 miles commuting by foot to school, work, the grocery store, and anywhere else I needed to get to. Coincidentally, I walked 2009 miles from July 2008-June 2009- that's kind of weird.

haircut

Bathroom glamor shot of my fun new haircut. Perfect timing for the first warm days of summer. I love having short hair now for a full day, still getting used to it. No blow drying or even brushing required!

good-bye pony tail

Today I had this removed... So I have never before had short hair, but a recent photo prompted me to realize it was time to loose several inches. This morning I walked to Super Cuts, nervous, but I didn't want my sudden burst of courage to pass, so one quick pass with the scissors and it was gone. This is just a teaser, I'll have to take an "after" photo maybe tomorrow. I have to say, besides feeling much lighter and cooler, it is no maintenance- it looked the same after swimming.

storm

More storms and rain yesterday. I went out for a walk as soon as it stopped raining last night. The sky was awesome. I was especially fascinated by this low dark cloud that made a ring about 3 miles around.