Beats and Brushstrokes

Last Saturday Cliff and I left the house for a nighttime social event.  Over the past few weeks I have been reconnecting with faculty and staff from the Arts Administration Program (AAD).  It has been really wonderful.  On several occasions I've had a chance to sit, chat, and drink tea with people who really made our first years here special.  My former research advisor let me know that the Emerging Leaders in the Arts Network (ELAN) was having a fundraiser at that we should come.  And by gosh....we went!

The event was called Beats and Brushstrokes.  It was a silent auction of recycled art made from old records and record sleeves.  All of the works were made by local art-loving people.  It was at the old firehouse in the Whitaker (eclectic Eugene neighborhood) which was fun.  For a $5 cover we got two free beers from Ninkasi Brewing, pizza, Voodoo Doughnut bits, other snacks, and a chance to look at some pretty fun local art.  There was a DJ and band with an accordion.  We left early so sadly we missed the accordion fun time.  Cliff and I felt pretty cool. Or at least I did. It was really nice as the place was packed by the time that we left and the bids were starting to pick-up.  Way to go AAD and ELAN!  You make me proud.

A majority of the works started at $5 with a minimum $1 bid increase.  The one piece that Cliff and I both liked initially had a robot on it.  Apparently alot of other folks liked that one too as the first bid went directly to $25 bucks.  Welp, that meant that we were out.  I bid $6 on another record and was quickly outdone within five minutes.  Oh well.  There were quite a few records that I thought were pretty cool but one in particular was real creepy.  So creepy in fact that over the night I slowly grew to love it but couldn't bring myself to bid on it.  I just kept thinking "What would I do with it?  Where would we put it?  Ah I'm so creeped out.  I think it's watching me!  Oh I think I might like it though.  It has that folksy quality that I like. Huummm."  What do you think?  I have named it Sir Creepy Turkey Head.

In the end we left empty handed.  We had a fun night out on the town and Sir Creepy Turkey Head will forever haunt my dreams.

Happy Leap Day!

Why I Love Movies

Mom and me pose for a picture shortly after the store opened.

I spent the first nine years of my life (more or less) in a video store.  My parents owned their own store, Video Adventures, and I would end up there everyday for obvious reasons.  There was a little mattress in the back office where I would take naps.  I didn't mind being at the store.  I filled my time playing with Barbies in hand-built structures made entirely out of plastic VHS cases and honing my skills as a skee-ball player.  That's right....we had a skee-ball game... in the store!  It wasn't a good idea for my parents to show me where they kept the tokens as I frequently would nab them to play with customers.  I don't think anyone ever paid to play that game because I always had them on hand (sorry Mom and Dad!).  In fact, I loved spending time at the store.  All of the employees became an extended family, customers became friends, and we always had something good to watch.  Plus, I got to work a pricing gun and use the register. When the stores closed we liquidated all of the videos except for our favorites. This meant that we got to keep goodies like: Mannequin, Adventures in Babysitting, The Gnome Mobile, Troop Beverly Hills, Just One of the Guys, The Parent Trap (the first one), The Absent Minded Professor, Hairspray (again, the first one), Sleepless in Seattle, The Mighty Ducks, Coming to America, well....I could go on and on.  I'm probably one of few people my age who brags about their impressive VHS collection.  I just can't let them go.

Growing up I got to see alot of movies.  I mean alot of movies.  The store would get preview tapes so that we could watch them before we ordered.  Mom and Dad would have to watch them and I would always be right between them on the couch.  It was pretty great.  Because of the store I got to see movies that most kids my age weren't allowed to see.  We had a pretty strict rule about not repeating bad words and whenever anything would get too mature Dad's hands would go over my eyes and Mom's hands would go over my ears.  This was a pretty good system.  It took me a while to figure out the actual story behind Pretty Woman.  I just thought it was a movie about a lady who learned to shop and live in Beverly Hills. I'm happy my parents let me watch movies with them.  I learned a lot. In the end no harm, no foul.  I turned out just fine.  In fact, I think I turned out pretty awesome.  Movies introduced me to acting, music, design, and a world outside of Southern Maryland. For this I am very thankful. 

The reason I am bringing this up is because tonight is the Academy Awards.  I always get excited for the awards despite only ever seeing one or two that are nominated.  The main reason being that I grew up in a family that watched movies at home not in the theater.  I do enjoy going to the movie theater but I generally only go for two types of movies: Will Smith action films and comedies.  It is incredibly enjoyable to laugh out loud with people or scream and cheer for Will Smith's victory over aliens/the wicki-wild wild west/whatever he is conquering.  Otherwise, why spend all that money when you can pig out in your pajamas on your own couch?  I never see movies in a timely manner but I'm ok with that because I love renting and watching movies at home.   These days I am a big fan on Redbox and the library.  The library gives me access to the classics while Redbox helps me stay in touch about relatively new films (and pop culture).

This year I saw 17 movies; meaning movies that were released to a wide audience in 2011.  I saw eight with the help from Redbox, three in the theater, three via cable at the Lyddane's house, two via United flying cross country, and one via the library.  I'm pretty proud as I have seen three of the films nominated for best picture: Moneyball, The Help, and Midnight in Paris.  All three were very enjoyable but I have to go with Moneyball.  I love sports movies to begin with but Moneyball takes it to the next level.  It is a candid look inside the world of major league sports.  It is intelligently written and well acted.  If you haven't seen it please go to Redbox and treat yourself.

In honor of the awards, I decided to nerd out a bit and serve food and beverage inspired by the three nominated movies that I have seen.  We are having Moneyball meatballs.  They are meatballs in a spinach and cream sauce.  How does this relate to the movie?  Well, because money is green and so is spinach. We are having green meatballs so in my simple mind they are kinda like Moneyballs.  Stop laughing.  We are also having The Help malted chocolate pudding pie parfaits but without the special ingredient. To drink we are having red wine to honor Midnight in Paris.  Kinda lame I know but we needed a beverage and red wine is very French.  Oh and a salad because it is important to eat your veggies.

Are you doing anything fun to celebrate?  Enjoy the show!

In case any of you were wondering, below is a list of the 17 movies from 2011 that I saw this year.  My taste in movies can be questionable at times (note that I love romantic comedies, frat boy humor, and musicals) so please don't judge me too harshly.  Also if you have any suggestions of other 2011 movies I should see please send them my way and hopefully they will have them at Redbox.  Here we go: Midnight in Paris, The Change Up, A Better Life, The Way, Country Strong, The Green Hornet, Soul Surfer, Gnomeo and Juliette, Paul, The King's Speech, Arthur, Water For Elephants, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, The Help, Bridesmaids, Crazy Stupid Love, and Moneyball.

Two Bridesmaids And A Blog

This weekend Cliff and I traveled up to Portland to see our amazing friends, Kathy and Jill.  The three of us are in a wedding (yay Sam and Steve!) and it was time to try on some bridesmaid dresses.  I know... it's exciting.  I love weddings and nothing makes me happier than being in full-on wedding mode.  We were pretty much the only folks in the store which was good as we laughed alot...oh and loudly.  It was a great time.

While the three of us were posing in front of really sparkly dresses at the wedding store, Cliff was at their apartment playing with their awesome cat, Cleveland.  He kept taunting it with a cat toy.  Both Cliff and cat enjoyed the activity. Cliff loves this cat. Honestly.


While we were up there Kathy introduced me to an amazing blog.  She introduced it by saying "I read this blog and the dog in it reminds me a lot of Rudy".  'Nuff said.  I'm sold.  The blog is Hyperbole and a Half.  You should check out this posting about one of her dogs.  It is amazing because it is Rudy.  The drawings, the thought bubbles, everything.  Her special dog is our special dog.  I think she just found herself another avid reader.

The Gnome

This year for Christmas Andrea and Joe gave us a garden gnome.  They bought it from Etsy.com (an amazing website of handmade goodies).  Each one is cast and painted individually so it takes a little time to get your order in the mail.  We have been anxiously awaiting its arrival so we were really excited when our gnome friend came yesterday!  We have decided to keep him inside until we find a nice, more permanent spot for him out in the yard.  Once the daffodils, crocuses, and lilies start to come up I'm sure we will be able to find a lovely place for him to hangout and enjoy the view.  Until then he is chillin' by the amaryllis and staring out our window.

This little guy is our third garden gnome and the other two both have names and duties.  Steve, one of our friends from college, gave me my first one for Christmas one year.  His name is Fritz.  He likes to protect our cactus and watch for ant invasions.  That is his job.  The one in our window box is named Hans.  He is a hearty little guys who just likes to tend to the plants and make sure they have enough water.  The new guy looks to be the kind of gnome that just likes to sit back and enjoy life.  Maybe his duty is to look after our bird feeder?  Maybe he is always on the lookout for nice weather? Who knows?  One thing is for sure and that is he needs a name.  Any suggestions?

Now, I sense some of you are thinking "Oh my goodness.  Kim has lost it.  She is naming garden gnomes.  We need to get her help."  Don't worry.  This is normal.  I'm an only child and this is what only children do.  We name inanimate objects and give them litter personalities.  It makes us happy.  So chill out....it is totally fine.

Things That Make Me Laugh

Two things happened yesterday that made me laugh.

As you may know our landlords have chickens....well....had chickens.  Last week they decided to give them to a friend as the whole chicken thing wasn't working for them.  It was sad to see them go.  Rudy is particularly sad now that his chicken friends are gone.  He really loved to charge the pen and then sniff around to get them all excited.  First I need to give you a little back information: the chicken coop and run connects to a large garden and the chickens were free to range in the large, fenced in area.  Yesterday I went out to put stuff in the compost pile and Rudy came out with me.  The gate to the garden and chicken run was left open for the first time ever (as there aren't any chickens around).  Rudy ran in, explored the garden, and then charged into the smaller chicken run/coop area.  When I noticed where he was I told him to get out and come.  He tried but for the life of him he could not figure out how to get from the run to the garden to the outside world.  A chicken could figure it out but Rudy couldn't. He was so confused.  He just kept running towards me in the pen instead of backtracking to get out.  The look in his little confused eyes said "What is happening???".  I had to go in to retrieve him as he was that stuck.  I love our dopey dog.

Last night Cliff and I went to the library to return books and pick up a few holds (we are frequent flyers at the library).  We were stopped at a stop light in the left hand lane about three or four cars from the front of the line.  The right hand lane was totally empty.  A white BMW pulls up right next to our car, honks, and then gives us the creepy eyebrow shrug, a goofy smile, and the peace sign.  Apparently he knew us but let me assure you that we did not know this guy.  After about 15 seconds of weirdness, he finally realized that we were in fact not the folks he thought we were and then drives through the red light.  Fortunately there wasn't anyone coming and no one got hurt.  Weird, right?  Cliff and I thought that the whole thing was pretty fantastic and we were thankful for his shenanigans as it gave us something to laugh about.

It's Sushi Time

Inspired by last week's sushi feast Cliff and I headed to the local Asian supermarket to see what we could pick up to help spice up our nightly meals.  Cliff went straight for the mushrooms and red bean items and I went looking for sushi supplies.  Two years ago Stephen and Nicole got us a sushi mat for Christmas yet we sadly never got a chance to try it out.  That was going to change. 

Tonight we made our very first homemade sushi roll!  I mixed up some wasabi, made some miso soup, and Cliff and I put together three different rolls.  We made a cucumber roll, carrot and daikon radish roll, and a BLT roll.  They turned out really well.  I'm pretty proud of us.  We are already brainstorming different things to put in our next set.  If you have any suggestions please let us know!

Rowing

In the month of December Kim and I started rowing in the Concept2 Holiday Challenge. Kim's knee started bothering her so she decided to pursue other forms of exercise for the time being, but my knees seem to prefer rowing to running. Because we bought tickets back to visit family I didn't have the full time to complete the challenge. I rowed for an hour four day out of five until I almost met the goal of 200 kilometers. I was very excited to complete the challenge. Immediately after completing it I PRd in the 2k and half marathon. Regular exercise leads to improvement. Go figure. A week or so ago I received the pin that you see on the stuffed dinosaur to the right.


In an unrelated note: we received an amaryllis bulb. We planted it a little deep so some of the early leaves came up with wilted edges. I was worried that we weren't going to see any flowers. Obviously it did flower. It is beautiful. 

Tom Hanks and Cheesecake

What do Tom Hanks and Red Hot Chocolate Cheesecake have in common?  Well, let me tell you...

Eleven years ago today Cliff and I went on our very first date.  We went to the movies to see Castaway (thanks IMDb for the photo).  It was the first time that Cliff got to see me bawl my eyes out as I just couldn't handle myself when Wilson floated away.  Looking back this should have been a waring sign to Cliff of the many years to come.  I tend to get a little emotional.  I cry sometimes.  I just can't help it.  To celebrate our first date anniversary we decided to treat ourselves to a sushi feast for lunch and a decadent dessert for dinner.

 

For lunch we went to a local sushi place and ordered a few different rolls.  Two years ago on our anniversary we ordered one of those big sushi boats.  I was just starting my sushi education and wanted to try a little of everything.  Cliff was more than happy to oblige.  I was so embarrassed when they brought it to the table as it was huge.  Well....we didn't get the boat today but we still pigged out.  We ordered six different rolls! Besides the standard California roll (really good at the place we went today), cucumber roll, avocado roll, and spicy tuna roll we also tried two new ones.  We ordered another veggie roll that had avocado, cucumber, shitaki, cilantro, and a spicy red sauce.  But my favorite was the calamari tempura roll that had deep fried calamari, avocado, cucumber, radish flower, and some pretty amazing brown sauce on top.  So good.  I wish I was eating it again right now.  It was the type of meal that makes you thankful for deciding to be a more adventurous eater.  We can't wait for another special occasion to come around so that we can go back again.

Last week in the Eugene Weekly I read about a variety of local spiced desserts.  A little bit of warm spice is making its way into truffles, cheesecakes, drinks, cupcakes, and pretty much anything else that one likes to eat when they have a sweet tooth.  I decided we were going to go to Sweet Life (the place you go in Eugene for really good desserts) and get a piece of their Red Hot Chocolate Cheesecake.  It is their featured Dessert of the Month.  The cheesecake was mentioned in an article and the writer made it sound pretty darn appealing.  Besides being a rich chocolate cheesecake topped with ganache it also incorporated a hint of cinnamon and cayenne.  It was also was dusted with edible glitter which made it feel even fancier.  You know....worthy of an anniversary date.  The heat was the kind that made your stomach feel really warm, tingly, and happy.  I love food that gives you that feeling.

To bring it full circle...Tom Hanks really is an amazing actor.  I'm glad he was the center of our first date movie.  He is enjoyable to watch.  He has been in a lot of movies.  From time to time I will challenge those around me to name all of the Tom Hanks movies they can think of.  Always an enjoyable game (to me at least).   My favorite Tom Hanks movie is  A League of Their Own.  That movie produced a majority of my all time favorite movie quotes.

Well I am going to go as our North Dakota rhubarb wine is calling.  Just curious, what is your favorite Tom Hanks movie?