28 March 2012
22 March 2012
21 March 2012
"Water Lore & Water History"
"Once the world was nothing but water, he explained, and you wouldn't think it to
look at us, but human beings were mostly water. The miraculous thing about water, he said, was that it never came to an end. All the water on the earth had been here since the beginning of time, it had just moved around from rivers and lakes and oceans to clouds and rain and puddles and then sunk through the soil to underground streams, to springs and wells, where it got drunk by people and animals and went back to rivers and lakes and oceans.
The water you kids were playing in, he said, had probably been to Africa and the North Pole. Genghis Khan or Saint Peter or even Jesus himself might have drunk it. Cleopatra might have bathed in it. Crazy Horse might have watered his pony with it. Sometimes water was liquid. Sometimes it was rock hard-- ice. Sometimes it was soft-- snow. Sometimes it was visible but weightless-- clouds. And sometimes it was completely invisible-- vapor --floating up into the sky like the souls of dead people. There was nothing like water in the world, Jim said. It made the desert bloom but also turned rich bottomland into swamp. Without it we'd die, but it could also kill us, and that was why we loved it, even craved it, but also feared it. Never take water for granted, Jim said. Always cherish it. Always beware of it."
- Jeannette Walls, Half Broke Horses
Documented Water:
16 March 2012
Guttenberg
Back home for Spring Break! Yesterday evening my parents dropped me off next to the Mississippi and I adventured around Guttenberg. Above are some photos from my walk. It's a town that stirs significant memories like league soccer games, picnics with my grandparents, and my brother skipping rocks at waterside. Mom and dad treated me to a huge cheeseburger and chocolate shake afterwards at the Pup Hut on the way out of town.
It's a day like this-- with temperature and sunshine of summertime, of waking at sunrise to watch it and listen to the birds rise too-- that readies me to move back here in a few months.
...Only then will fish flies be infesting Guttenberg... Can't have the river to ourselves I guess!
08 March 2012
Their Lonely Betters
As I listened from a beach-chair in the shade
To all the noises that my garden made,
It seemed to me only proper that words
Should be withheld from vegetables and birds.
To all the noises that my garden made,
It seemed to me only proper that words
Should be withheld from vegetables and birds.
A robin with no Christian name ran through
The Robin-Anthem which was all it knew,
And rustling flowers for some third party waited
To say which pairs, if any, should get mated.
The Robin-Anthem which was all it knew,
And rustling flowers for some third party waited
To say which pairs, if any, should get mated.
Not one of them was capable of lying,
There was not one which knew that it was dying
Or could have with a rhythm or a rhyme
Assumed responsibility for time.
There was not one which knew that it was dying
Or could have with a rhythm or a rhyme
Assumed responsibility for time.
Let them leave language to their lonely betters
Who count some days and long for certain letters;
We, too, make noises when we laugh or weep:
Words are for those with promises to keep.
Who count some days and long for certain letters;
We, too, make noises when we laugh or weep:
Words are for those with promises to keep.
W.H. Auden - Their Lonely Betters
Today
Happy International Women's Day, everybody! Above are photos from an annual International Women's Day party I've worked at now for three years. Each year for this, a different country is chosen and a ton of traditional food from that country is made. My favorite... the big bowl of cilantro rice, starfruit, and the coconut tres leches cake.
Who's going out tonight? Or just staying in their bedroom? Whatevs, R0CKTH3LIP$... http://rockthelips.tumblr.com/
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For day three of workshop today, the students made backdrops, wrote scripts, and chose music for their short video performances they'll be doing with their puppets. One puppet's t-shirt reads "FCC TAKE A HIKE" and the performance is entitled "What Do You Want?". The other performance is entitled "Never Betray Lent" and is about a puppet named Joey who drinks too much pop in his bedroom. Fantashtishk!
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"Brewed
at one of Europe's last farmhouse breweries, in Hainaut province...
This increasingly rare specialty originated before the age of
refrigeration as a beer to be brewed in winter for summer drinking. The
style required a beer sturdy enough to age in the bottle but refreshing
enough to be enjoyed in warm weather. Saison Dupont fits this
description perfectly, it has a big fruity bouquet, and dense head. The
taste starts fruity but ends dry and very clean with a light, refreshing
body."
So
with an open night ahead of me, will I fall asleep watching the first
season of the Simpsons? Will I go soul dancing at dance party? Will I
just sit on my floor in the silence of Spring Break? WHO KNOWS... CHEERS!!!
02 March 2012
Prairie Forge
"Nestled in the timbers of northeast Iowa, Ted Schuster of Prairie Forge
crafts world class custom metal work. From custom made furniture to
elegant wine racks, Prairie Forge puts the marks of a master craftsman
into every piece."- Accent Studio
My dad had worked at Prairie Forge with Ted for five years, and this is how I was introduced to it. It is a wonderful place and business. Whether you're there in the middle of a cold Iowa winter or hot Iowa summer, you leave with rosy cheeks and a sweaty forehead from the heat of the metal all around you. I guarantee you also leave in a good mood because of how special the place is and the people are. Here is a nice video that Accent Studio made of Prairie Forge:
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