Blazing

Tonight, David and I are going to see the Blazers* play the Timberwolves at the Target Center downtown! The tickets were his IQD present, but they're as much for me as for him. The Blazers are the sports team with whom I've felt the most affinity; although I'm told that as a three year old, I used to cheer, along with my 49ers fan father, "Go nine-ohs!", some of my fondest televised sports memories involve floor picnics in front of the TV with my family in the early 90s, watching the Blazers.

Yesterday, NPR had a story about "the Michael Jordan of curling," and it brought back memories of that basketball giant. The Bulls were the Blazers' greatest nemeses when I was a fan, and yet none of us could truly hate Michael Jordan, even when he was single-handedly beating us. When I heard the line in yesterday's story, "The dunks, the championships, the awe-inspiring shots with the tongue hanging out," I remembered my dad doing his "Michael Jordan impression," which made us kids giggle uncontrollably even before we knew who the Chicago star was. Dad used to stick his tongue way out and then leap to dunk the ball in my brother's miniature plastic backboard stand (which would occasionally topple over at the assault), and we would fall about the place.

Needless to say, Michael Jordan won't be playing tonight, nor will any of the Blazers that I grew up watching (though I could still probably tell you most of the 1992 starting line-up). Still, it's exciting to see the "home" team (admittedly more of David's than mine, since he was an Oregonian until much more recently than me) and to be in the Target Center again (the last time I was there was to see candidate Obama almost exactly two years ago).

Go Blazers!

*That'd be the Portland Trailblazers for those of you who aren't golfers; at least one local friend had no idea what I was talking about when I said we were going to see them play.

Giveaways!

Erin has extended the deadline on her giveaway to FRIDAY, so go enter! Even if you don't know her, who doesn't love beautiful handmade gifts, mailed right to your door? You have nothing to lose. Do it.

In related news, there is currently another giveaway underway on Ashley's immensely charming blog! The prize on this one is a bustle skirt by Miss Becca, proprietress of Bunny & Pear Clothing on Etsy. Becca is really an amazing and creative seamstress, and although I would love that skirt, I won't hate you if you win it instead of me, because both it and she are awesome. Go therefore and enter.

Photo Dump

So I finally took several months' worth of pictures off my camera phone today, partly because I wanted to see the bunch that I had taken this evening on my walk from the West Bank to downtown. There were photos from Las Vegas, Seattle, Port Orchard, and Walla Walla, but for today I wanted to post just pictures of Mpls. Here are some of my favorites, starting with the most recent. (Click here to visit the entire album, for larger versions and to comment on individual pictures.)

Today:



February 19:

February 14: (A few more from this adventure)




February 12:






February 11:

February 10:

January 13:

January 12: (Yes, that is the Mississippi River, frozen and snowed-upon)


January 8: (This is what 1.0 °F looks like)

December 10: (This is what -5.1 °F looks like)

November 16:

November 7:


October 27: (I was actually startled to see green grass in these photos; it's been so long!)







October 26:


October 21:

It's a good city. Cold, definitely. But, as shown in just a few examples here, it has great art, architecture, and outdoor opportunities. And spring really is on its way! Although we're headed for a low of around 15° tonight, and lows of -5° to 0° by tomorrow, with more snow, last week was positively balmy, with a couple of (sunny!) days that topped 33°. The worst of the cold is over, although I sometimes wonder whether the bitter temps are actually worse than the simple duration of winter. We are, after all, guaranteed at least another month of the latter.

Gifts

**Update: Erin is running a giveaway right now! Go here to leave a comment by noon FRIDAY and be entered in the drawing to win!**

Guys! I won a drawing over at Good Morning Grumpy, which you should obviously check out if you haven't. These are the lovely handmade goods the talented Miss Erin (whose prowess you may remember from earlier) sent:

A pillow sham that matches my living room perfectly

Adorable floral-themed magnets in a little tin

I didn't have any pillows lying around, but I was pretty proud of myself for buying a pillowcase at Savers for $0.99 and turning it into an (albeit slightly asymmetrical and lumpy) throw pillow in about 10 minutes with two quick seams and the last of the leftover dummy stuffing. I seriously love the sham. She has more for sale over at her Etsy store!

Should I do a craft giveaway here at the Kitchen? I probably should, since I love it so much when other people do them. But, then, there are so many other things I should also probably do (including updating the book blog, on which I am currently four reviews behind: Pattern Recognition, If On a Winter's Night a Traveler, Jitterbug Perfume, and Half the Sky)--and, of course, writing that pesky dissertation.

In the meantime, thanks again, Erin!

Get Excited!

My new shirt, modeled by something I got excited about and made:
I wish her shoulders weren't quite so lumpy. I wonder if I can fix that?

Falls Again!

You may recall that last year for IQD, David and I visited Minnehaha Falls, although it was so dark that we didn't see all that much of it. We returned about a month ago and saw it in its fully-frozen splendor.

But this weekend, revisiting a few of the scenes of a year ago, we actually went behind the falls, and it was one of the most spectacular sights of my life!

Again this time, the stairs were the most treacherous part of the trip. There was a well-worn path through the snow to the falls, easy to follow once one jumped the gate. (The top of the stairs were chained off with a "do not enter" sign, and the path to the falls themselves was blocked with a low gate, but it was clear that few regarded those dicta: the crowd behind the falls by the time we left was almost as numerous as the one at the top. The city doesn't clear the stairs, and presumably doesn't want to be held liable for any accidents, but apparently knows that Minneapolitans will get their ice climbing on, and doesn't seem to guard the site.) Behind the falls, there was a bit of ice, but it was mostly bare dirt (the first I'd seen since November, and exciting in the oddest of ways).

David made a video to document the experience. He shot all the footage and stills on his phone, as neither of us managed to grab the camera:


Here are all his photos. I took a few, too, but they're still on my phone at the moment. Also: somehow I can't find my sunglasses, so I'm wearing the emergency pair from David's glove box. It is not a fashion statement.

Shirt Refashion

So, my first project with the duct tape dummy wasn't entirely successful, but it was good practice for the refashion I want to do with another of David's castoff shirts that I like even better. It also took kind of a ridiculously long time; later projects should go faster.

Before:

After:

And some in-between: (pinning, wonky sleeves before I fixed them [sort of], prior to shortening, and cuff detail)

Sadly, I am a laughably bad seamstress. As in, I laugh at myself as I'm sewing (on my hand-me-down machine, which screams, clatters, and generally makes noise David refers to as the tortured screams of the souls of dead babies) because I'm such a mess. And although I spent the aforementioned ridiculous amount of time on this shirt, repositioning buttons, sewing double seams, securing the belt with hidden snaps (!), etc., major problems remain, such as that the sleeves are still kind of crazy, there's a bulge in the left hip, and it doesn't fit comfortably across my chest unless I undo several buttons.

However, I think I may still actually wear it when the weather warms up (with a shirt under it, thanks to that button problem). And in the meantime, I'm looking forward to revamping another of his shirts into something sort of like this. Actually, the Anthropologie web site is quite inspiring for refashion ideas. They make the shirt I just finished look pretty pathetic (though generally about $100 cheaper)--but inspire hopes for future projects!

Fungus, Flowers, Freezing

This afternoon David and I went to see Pilobolus, and it was fantastic: in turns startlingly beautiful, surprisingly moving, and funny enough to get the children in the audience (and thus me) giggling in absolute glee. The Nutcracker last December was David's first ballet, and this was his his first performance of modern dance. I teased him that I'm getting even for the firsts to which he has introduced me, including the rodeo and ATVing. (Of course, I'm very glad for those firsts--and I think he really dug Pilobolus, too). They started with this piece; if you don't have time for all three minutes, at least start at the halfway point and see some of their amazing swimming illusions.

Then this evening we've pretty much just sat around watching The Empire Strikes Back (another first for me--really!), trying out Chatroulette (crazy), reading (Tom Robbins and Terry Pratchett), eating Tots, and then (true story) running to the grocery store for more Tots.

We're wild and crazy like that on Valentine's Day Eve! Of course, I wouldn't complain anyway, but it doesn't hurt that David surprised me with flowers earlier today. He admits that red roses are clichéd, but there's a reason that they're so popular, and these are absolutely stunning.
In case that's too mushy (eww), here are more pictures of ice: my frozen back porch, the handle of my screen door almost entirely encased in ice, and icicle daggers:

Happy IQD, all.