Frida Kahlo exhibit

This weekend, Joe and I went to the Walker Art Center to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit. It was incredible. I have been familiar with her work, her vibrant use of colors, and all the self portraits she had done, but I had no idea about her personal life and all the pain she had in life. She was in a terrible trolley car accident that doctors thought she would never walk again, and in her recovery she had an easel propped upon her cast as she lie there, and she painted some of her most amazing works. At the Walker they have these great audio guides, that work like a PDA so you don't have to "follow the person speaking" from painting to painting, but rather use a keypad to enter the number of the painting you're standing near to hear about it, and also see video and get much more information. I recommend this exhibit very highly, if you get a chance, go see it.

Meet the new guy! Leo!

Joe and I have been thinking about getting another dog for Max, and preferably another dachshund. Well, yesterday Joe was looking at the Humane Society website and lo and behold, there was a dachshund out there! So, we drove to Golden Valley to take a look at him, and the time we spent with him in the Visitation Room, we knew he was coming home with us. So, here he is. Leo (Leonardo). He's a standard size blue dapper with tan colorings, and he's just been awesome. He didn't have any "issues" adjusting to a new home, it's like he's always been here. Max is a bit "indifferent" towards him, hasn't taken on that alpha male side of him yet. They get along pretty well. Leo is 3 years old, Max is now 10, so this should help Max become more energized as well. I'll try to get a good photo of the two of them together, but here he is... Leo.

Two shows make for interesting dynamics!

We have two shows of very different themes running currently at the Ordway. The show in our main hall is "Whistle Down the Wind" which has a sort of Christian theme to it. The other in our smaller cabaret theatre is "The Rocky Horror Show." It amuses me, and my staff, to see the audience of both shows converge, since they have the same start time. One audience is a lot of church ladies, the other is a more "goth" crowd, with audience members dressing up as characters in the show. Can you guess which is which? :) Here are a couple of photos of the difference between the two shows' audiences. (the one from Rocky Horror is the actual cast we have).

New Favorite TV Program

I enjoy trying to catch the new fall TV programs, and to find something that really really grabs me and reigns me in. "Alias" had done that, "Six Feet Under" had done that. My new favorite show this fall is on ABC and called "Pushing Daisies." For one thing, it has a narration by the incomparable Jim Dale, a British "voice" who recorded/read all the Harry Potter books for CDs and Book on Tapes. The cinematography is very cool, the script is really fun and smart. It's about a man named Ned, who discovers as a small boy that he can "raise the dead" by touching them. BUT for only one minute, if longer that "being" will stay alive, but someone else will die. It's not morbid or sad, it's very intriguing and thoughtful and funny. And it has Kristen Chenoweth! Gotta love that! She sings in episode two! Hurrah! Try it out if you haven't yet. Then switch to NBC for "Bionic Woman", and then back to ABC for Peter Krause in "Dirty Sexy Money." Ahhh, television.... (the photo is from "Pushing Daisies" Ned runs a pie shop called, very humourously, The Pie Hole - how clever is that!)

White Picket Fence - Be Gone!

Long time no blog, sorry about that. Well, we have been a-fence painting. The fence around our house has been white, presumably for some time, and was probably just the primer. So we chose a lighter green color, painted the front gate only to test it, and being on a busy street, got a lot of comments about the color from neighbors walking by, and even people in cars stopping at the stoplight. The color was too light and pastel-like, which really didn't go well with the colors of the house. Then we remembered we had some green paint the same color as the house itrim, and tried that...and people loved it. Including us, it just makes everything "pop." Take a look at the house with the green after... Looks pretty good, doesn't it?

Bridge Collapse

Been a long time since I've written anything, not sure why...maybe just the fact that summer is winding down, not a lot new to say, I'm not sure. I'm going to try to be better, though, and keep this up more. We did go look at the 35W bridge today, that collapsed a week ago already! It's pretty profound, and sad, and scary. Knowing people who travel over it on a daily basis, as well as us crossing it probably weekly, it's a bit unnerving. Thankfully everyone we know who may have been near it (especially Debbie, Jeremy and Rachel who live right near it) are okay. Here's a photo Joe took today as we stopped by the Guthrie Theater to go out onto their cantilever bridge to take it in. Very tragic.

More of the Clintons

Here are a few more photos from the 4th of July and chatting with Bill and Hillary Clinton. One is of my cousin's husband Casey holding the sign Debbie made that said "Hillary - My Baby *hearts* you!" which drew them our way.

Hillary Clinton, meet baby Rachel

We were in Clear Lake, Iowa for the Fourth of July, as we normally do most summers, staying at the homestead. This year, an extra fun for us in the Fourth of July parade, as I mentioned in previous posting, Bill and Hillary Clinton were walking in our little ol' parade! How fun! Well, we were able to get the attention of Mrs Clinton's press rep who had Hillary and Bill come over to our little group and Hillary saw Rachel and held out her arms and took her up in the air and said at least three times "She's soo adorable." So, it's official. Rachel is adorable. :) It was a very very cool few minutes, with Hillary talking to us, and then Bill comes over and is shaking hands, puts his arm around Hillary while she's holding Rachel. I'm not kidding when I say we were literally shaking the whole time, it was so amazing and intense. Here are three photos from that day. One of the Clintons taking notice of Rachel and coming over to us, the other of Hillary with Rachel. What an incredible day.

Upcoming Fourth of July

We will be heading to Clear Lake again this Fourth of July, and Joe just found out that there will be "special guests" in the 4th of July parade - none other than Bill and Hillary Clinton! Wow, this is huge. I'll be curious to see the response they get. Of course little Rachel will have her "I love Hillary '08" shirt on! We foresee a great photo op, baby kissin' from a presidential candidate! Stay tuned for more upon our return late next week.

Update on Max dog

Thanks to people who inquired about little Max dog. He spent most of the day Friday at the University Animal Clinic, and the tests all went well and all came back negative. What we learned was that he doesn't have anything bad like bacterial infection, fungus or cancer. He basically has rhinitis, an inflammation in his nose that could be caused by any number of things such as smoke, incense, perfumes, carpet smells...all of which we have none. So he goes back to his regular vet this evening to get probably some more intense steroids to get the inflammation down. Let's hope this helps! On another note, my friend and co-worker Kasey has a friend who does anesthesia at the U of M and was there with Max when he went under, and she said how much everyone at the clinic just loved carrying Max around like a little baby, and how good he behaved. :)

Max

Our little dog, Max, as some of you know, has been having quite the nasal problems in the past few months. Lots of intense, almost "violent" sneezes, mucus flying out of his nose when he sneezes, and recently a sort of 'hacking' of mucus in his throat by trying to get it out of his nasal passage. He's been on a couple of different types of allergy medicine, which didn't really help. So our vet said he may have possibly fungus in his nose, or an infection, or even (heaven forbid, and it's doubtful) a tumor of some sort in there. So we took him this week to the Univ of MN Animal Clinic, and now tomorrow he has to go back to put under anesthesia so they can do a CT Scan and if they don't find anything from that, then a rhinosocpy (spelling?) where they would put a tube with a little camera in his nose to search for what may be causing this. We are very hopeful that they will find something that is easily cleared up. It makes me sad like crazy. I know that obviously the clinic is extremely professional and I have no need to worry, but I do. He's just our cute, helpless little dog who can't speak for himself. He can't tell us what's wrong. He may have to stay overnight in case there is bleeding in his nose from being poked with a tube up there, but I hope not. I hope he's back home with us Friday night...a bit groggy from the anesthesia...but at least at home.

Late in posting

I've been a bit remiss in my posting lately. What's been happening...Joe, I and Max went to Clear Lake over the Memorial Day holiday to spend it with Debbie, Jeremy, Rachel and of course, Daisy dawg. The weather was great, we fixed these awesome peach glazed pork chops with a peach salsa, yum yum. This week is the International Children's Festival at my job at the Ordway. So, lots of school children this week, and then the weekend is family weekend, so it will be very hectic. Monday night Annemarie stayed with us, and we watched this terrific Will Ferrell film "Stranger than Fiction." Not a typical Will Ferrell film at all, this was just wonderful. Very touching, good humour, rather poignant. If you haven't seen it, rent it.

Gyuto Monks

Saturday night we went to a Tantric chant concert with our great friends Lynn and Gene. It was performed by a group of Gyuto Tibetan monks, and was completely fascinating and meditative. Where this sound comes from within each of the monks I do not know. It's a very deep chant from within them. To quote their website "The monks of Gyuto have perfected a special type of chant in which each monk sings not a single note but an entire chord. “This remarkable, transcendentally beautiful sound,” notes Robert Thurman, Chair of the Dept. of Religion, Columbia University, “is thought to arise only from the throat of a person who has realized selfless wisdom.”" Check out their website here

The "Find of the Week!"

This last weekend was the annual "Tangletown Garage Sale" weekend, so Joe and I went exploring the sales in our neighborhood. Didn't find a lot, but we did find this Italian print from an exhibit in Verona, Italy of the work of one Pisanello. It's very cool and sort of large. It completely fits right in to our decor and on a big space in our house. And it was a find at only $10. Can't go wrong there, am I right?

"My Dinner with Rachel"

I just think this is the cutest picture, doesn't it look like Rachel is completely having a conversation with her daddy?

Virginia Tech Killings

The news has, of course, been horrid this week. The killing of the 33 people at Virginia Tech is a terrible, violent, and tragic event. Why is it, then, that it doesn't seem that people (myself included) are as shocked about this as we were eight years ago when the Columbine shootings occured? Have we as people and a society become so de-sensitized from all the killings everywhere, the war in Iraq...that this sort of massacre isn't shocking to us anymore? How terrible if so. It makes me sad for the state of our society.

Taking A Stand

I receive email updates from the United States Humane Society, and have recently received updates about the atrocities that happen in Canada this time of year, the slaughter of thousands of baby seal pups. I have and do donate to this organization, as well as a specific organization that is fighting this slaughter, http://www.ProtectSeals.org Go to their website and sign the petition that you are opposed to this horrific abuse and killing. Boycott Canadian fish products and seafood. Take a stand with me!

What I've Read Recently

Over the weekend (yes I read it almost non-stop, it was that good) I read the latest book by Cormac McCarthy called "The Road." I've been a fan of his since "All the Pretty Horses" back in the 1980's, but this is one of his best I say. It's a story about a man and the boy (father and son) who are survivors in a post-apocalyptic world. We aren't really told what exactly has done all the destruction of living trees, grass, wildlife and most of human life. Whether it be nuclear disaster or ultimately the devastation of the earth by global warming, we just know that all these things no longer exist. As the man and the boy (they don't have names, making this even more real like it could happen to me) fight starvation, cold and "the bad guys" (cannibalistic thugs) this is ultimately a story of a father's love for his son and what all we would do to keep him alive. This is a great read, a haunting novel about civilization's slow death after the lights go out.

Life imitates Art; or Art imitates Life?

It was a splendid weekend this past weekend. Spent some good time outside doing some clean up in the yard, taking long walks...Joe took this cute photo of Max and "a look alike" we have on our front porch. Max was feeling left out from the blog recently.

Sesame Street and Bird Flu Oh My!

This is very funny from MAD TV. Click here to view.

Snow No More!

We just got through two lovely snowstorms, the most recent on Thursday and Friday. I spent most of that time indoors unfortunately, with a bad sore throat and cold symptoms. Joe did a lot of shoveling and some guy with a snow blower helped out (our neighbor Gale enlisted his help), but here are a couple of good photos that Joe took from this last snowstorm. Max looks so tiny with all that whiteness around him, and the house is practically buried with all the snow! It's lovely, but it was sure messy. It's fun, though, to have a house and sidewalk and driveway of one's own to maintain.

Problems with Photos

So for some reason I haven't been able to change the "Cute Rachel Photo of the Week" but here is what I intended to put in that spot, this cute photo taken yesterday at Debbie and Jeremy's. Joe and I took some yummy homemade chili over for lunch, and brought Max so he could play with Daisy. Isn't the purple outfit just too cute?

R.I.P. Anna Nicole Smith

I have an Anna Nicole Smith bobblehead in my office (don't ask) that we made a little shrine with since her death yesterday, here's a photo.

Houston, Conference Day Four

This morning I am moderating a session on "Innovations in Direct Marketing and E-Mail Marketing." I'm sort of nervous about it, hence why I haven't told hardly anyone about it. Basically I am sort of just the emcee for the workshop, introductions of the panelists, keeping them on a timeline and running the Q & A session. I met one of the speakers yesterday by happenstance, she was at the table I sat at for lunch, and she was pretty cool and funny. So, just having some coffee to keep me alert and I hope my nerves stabilize. I don't much like talking "in public" not sure why I have that fear, but hey...gotta face it sometime I suppose. Wish me luck!

Houston Day Two

Today was "Venue Tour" day, we get to choose between different types of tours, like theater tour or sports venue tours. Hmmm...wonder which one I chose? Well, that would be Theater tour for me. First stop was the Alley Theater (click here) and the two photos here are from a current production in their smaller black box theater called "Subject to Fits: Reflections on Dostoevsky's "The Idiot." Of course I had to take a photo of the "body" on the side stage. They are the first regional theater of the country (or maybe second) founded in something like 1947. The theater shown in these photos was completely underwater during one of the past hurricanes, losing pretty much all their space, seating, etc. Next post will be about the Wortham Theater.

Houston, Texas - that's where I am!

I'm in Houston for a conference this week. The conference is downtown at the Hilton, that's where I'll be through Friday. The hotel is lovely, the rooms are lovely, but...the area around is um, boring and sort of scary. Took a little walk to explore and see what there is to see around this part of downtown, and well...not too much. Basically right across the street from the Toyota Center, home of the Houston Rockets, etc. To start, here's a photo of my room, and the 'lovely' view out of my room! Sighhh... I'll take photos this week, mostly of folks here at the conference, but maybe some tomorrow of our theater district tour. More later in the week!

Slowly but Surely...Winter has Arrived

It took awhile up north here for winter to arrive, but at last it has. We have snow and we have a cold snap. Here are a couple of photos I took from our back/side porch. The structure in the background is this old, historic water tower. Around this tower there are twelve (I think twelve) large "soldiers" with swords, whom are the "Guardians of the Bacteria" - they are there to protect the water from bad bacteria. Of course, there is no water in the tower any longer, it is now just a lovely piece of historical architecture. UPDATE: Joe did some research on this water tower, and apparently it IS in use. Who'd of thunk it?

New Baby Photos

Today I took lunch to Debbie and Jeremy's, Joe has a cold so stayed home today, didn't want to spread germs. Here are some new photos of baby Rachel, a day from her one week birthday tomorrow! :)

Photos of Rachel Part Trois

Here is a very proud uncle Ken with Rachel, and a photo from yesterday of Rachel getting her first shampoo! :)

More Rachel Photos!

We were at the hospital this morning, and baby and Mom and Dad are doing great. Here are three photos, Mom and Rachel, Joe and Rachel and the Fisher family - Natalie and Morris (Jeremy's parents) and the new family. Somewhere there is a photo of me and Rachel which I will post soon, so look for that. She is just a little angel, and it's so amazing to see how much her face has changed in a day. She's just a beauty.