I Scream

I finished a batch of Blueberry Lavender Ice Cream for tomorrow night. Now I have the base for Burnt Sugar Ice Cream cooling in the fridge and will make that tomorrow when I get home from work. I steeped cinnamon sticks and ginger in it for just 15 minutes and then I will fold in some fresh chopped dates at the end of the churning. The Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker is a dream come true.

I heard about Jeni's Fresh Ice Creams located Columbus, Ohio on The Splendid Table a couple of weeks ago. Her flavors are so unique--Sweet Corn with Blackberries! I love trying stuff like this. I may have reasons to road trip to Columbus soon anyway, as my friends Leslie and Scott are moving back to the states after a four year stint in Japan, where Scott was teaching glass blowing. He was offered a job in Columbus. Plus, Marc Syp recently moved to Columbus for grad school. I think I've been to Columbus. I think.

OCD

I cannot sleep. It is 12:48am. These are the things buzzing through my head keeping me awake.

1. Loretta Lynn tickets went on sale Tuesday.
2. I need to call Betsy.
3. What kind of ice cream am I going to make for Jess & Mike's social on Friday? I have a new ice cream maker I can't wait to try. I want to experiment with the herbals...I have recipe for Blueberry Lavender.
4. Should I try to have a show at Mad Art in November? Can I be ready? Can I?
5. Mad Art. Mad Art. What to do about Mad Art?
6. Should I get my haircut or let it grow? It is getting on my nerves. Everything about the way I look these days is getting on my nerves because the office building where I now work seems to be constructed of a cruel series of mirrors and reflective surfaces. I don't want to see myself this often in a day.
7. SharePoint or Stellent?
8. Don't forget Free Candy on Sunday.
9. Mini-grocery list for parties on Friday and Saturday: whole milk, cream, eggs, coconut, vanilla, vanilla bean. My grandma requested I make a coconut cream pie, plus I have to make ice cream in the new maker.
10. Did I win the lottery? Don't forget to check tickets.
11. Stupid MG didn't take my $10 gift certificate off the tab tonight and I didn't realize it until I was in bed. Which got me antsy and unable to sleep.
12. Invitation to high school reunion came in mail yesterday. Do I attend? The flyer had a list of people they were unable to locate and I was one of them. Ever heard of google folks?
13. What is today? Tuesday?
14. I need to pick up painting supplies from SKif basement.
15. Email Third Degree Glass about GAS conference next year.
16. How come I'm not an expert at anything? I want to be. The only thing people call me for is recipes.
17. Future topic: origin of "twank"

Movie Maven

The one major outdoor activity I took advantage of over the weekend was the Festival of Nations at Tower Grove on Saturday. Great dancing and food. Seeing so many eager kids and parents excited, even in the 100+ heat was something. That night, did potluck at Tracy's (fresh pesto!) followed by a smokin' game of dice. My 4-day weekend happened to fall on the hottest weekend of the year so I stayed indoors most of the time, watching movies while doing mindless chores. (Ah, the joys of my new Netflix membership!) A few movie pointers:

• The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: I wanted to like this so much more than I did. Bill Murray and Owen Wilson, for cripes sakes. But I fell asleep both times I tried to watch it. Granted the first time was after 10:30pm and the second time was on a Sunday afternoon, which is hardly giving it a fair chance. There were a few magical moments, but most of those had to do with cinematography, rather than a real interest in the characters. It just didn't come together for me. (Rating: B)
• My Architect: Ccompletely mesmerizing and fascinating biography of notedarchitect, Louis Kahn. Highly recommended. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Kahn. (Rating: A-)
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: More enjoyable than I anticipated in spite of seeing it at a mega movie complex. Veruca's squirrel scenes were wicked fun. I liked the choreography of the oompah loompah scenes, but didn't like that the oompahs were all the same computer-animated figure. In fact, I think the film would have benefited from less computer-animation. The boat scene(s) were really weak, the boat uninspired. Depp's Wonka was too reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands. (Rating: B)
• American Beauty: I forgot how great this movie is. Refreshing dialogue and Kevin Spacey is fabulous, although his infatuation with the enormously foreheaded Angela truly creeps me out. Favorite scene: when Annette Benning falls into the Lester's shirts in the closet at the end. Every time I see a crappy plastic grocery bag flying in the wind or caught in a tree, I think of this film. (Rating: A-)
• Beyond the Sea: Awful. Just awful. Bobby Darin didn't deserve this kind of treatment. Hell, no one deserves this kind of treament. Kevin Spacey got so in the way here. That whole "young Bobby" gimmick, puh-lease. Too corny. The dialogue is unbearable. (Rating: D-)

On the way from Netflix...The Incredibles and Office Space. I haven't seen either. But I won't be writing more reviews. I don't why I did it here.

Drowning

I feel so special, being the first "associate" TC had a meeting with in his new office, upstairs from Hartford Coffee. The space is great. We discussed the upcoming Trivia Night at Mad Art along with several other project ideas, which have me excited. Things are rolling and the new blog site should be up next week. I have to contribute some artwork to those walls though.

Jan told me yesterday that Ron doesn't think I'm marketing myself enough within the company. I've only been back 15 days. I've intentionally been keeping a low profile so I could work on on a new intranet site, which we successfully launched yesterday. If everyone knows what I can do, I'll never get any work done. Now that the site is live, people will be crawling out of the woodwork with new projects for me.

Feel a little like I'm drowning at Mad Art.
Franktacular!

Itching

I finally got some of the link kinks worked out on this blog. I keep debating whether I should just move my entire online existence over to a blog, but I’m not ready for the learning curve…moving all my photos, deciding what to keep and discard from the old site. The pack rat in me prevents progress.

I went to the Belleville Flea Market with Ron, Tracy, and Lindsey over the weekend. Found two great aprons and a super give-away for the Mad Art Trivia night coming up August 26th. Actually, I’ve got a quite a collection of goodies to give away—all top secret though.

Since I cancelled the potato show, I’ve been itching to challenge myself on the creative front. I’m eager to be a contributor to the pop culture blog Thomas is starting. And I’ve really wanted to start some new artwork. I have about half a dozen ideas, but many of them involve elaborate installations not conducive to the Mad Art private event schedule. Cleaning my studio would be a good place to start, I suppose. With a four day weekend on the horizon, there should be no excuses. I have a new set of gouaches to experiment with. Ever since seeing some gouache on paper paintings from Lauren McIntosh, I’ve wanted to try them. I think they will be better suited for smaller works, but I’m very interested in trying to do some huge landscape inspired constructions. Stay tuned.

New things I love:

• Crocs (Arrived today and I’m feeling more scrubby dutch than ever.)
• Netflix (So many documentaries, so little time.)
• Saying the word “wiki” (Which I have ample opportunity to do at my new job.)

Things I’ve always hated, but have been newly reintroduced into my life:

• Loud phones. I can’t figure out how to turn the ringer down on the phone at my new job. I’m too embarrassed to ask. It scares the crap out of me every time it rings. And if that weren’t bad enough, before 8:30am and after 5pm, the “night ringer” is activated, which means the main phone line rings at decibel levels high enough so that anyone in the 14 story building could hear (and theoretically answer). Loud noises are definitely on my all time shit list.

ISO The Perfect Journal
I’ve been looking for years. As it stands, I carry a book bag with an unmanageable assortment of journals, tablets, planners, etc. (No, I’m not going to consider a PDA.)
Requirements:

• 8-1/2 x 11 format
• Spiral bound or a binder so that it opens flat.
• No zippers but some sort of cool tab closure.
• Halfway decent exterior. Not leather, maybe canvas covered.
• Quality acid free paper pad, without lines, for drawing. The paper should be perforated so drawings can be pulled cleanly.
• Ruled paper, for note taking and journal keeping.
• Weekly calendar pages (full week on 2 page spread).
• Address section.
• Folders on both inside cover/back for miscellaneous items.
  
  That is enough chit chat for the night.

Hon

I don't mind being called "hon" by bartenders or my grandma. But being called "hon" by Tiffany, my 27-year-old dentist hygentist, doesn't really work for me. Especially when it is between eager jabs with that sharp metal pick she uses to clean my teeth. "I'm almost done, hon." Plus, she shared the diagnosis, "your tongue has a mind of its own." Thanks, Tiffany. Like I need to feel insecure about yet another body part. Now even the inside of my own mouth isn't safe from self scrutiny. I get to return next week for a filling. I will require extra shots. This is written in my chart because the last time I had a filling, I felt the drill after two shots and almost jumped out of the chair. I'm not going to think about it anymore. It is bumming me out.

Worked most of the afternoon at Mad Art trying to schedule 2006 exhibitions and events. I'd rather do one show every 6-8 weeks, but it looks like we have something every month, at least through August. It will be a lot of work.

Going to see March of the Penguins tonight...gotta run.