Pattern ID Review

Check out my review of the Pattern ID show, on exhibit at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art through May.

Pause

Sunday brought warm weather to KC again, but it seems that this will be the last of it for a few weeks. In the afternoon we sat outside for a bit, watching people walk by, smelling the scent of barbecue from our neighbors and taking a minute to relax amidst a hectic day.

A rainy Saturday evening

Saturday was stormy and chilly, what better excuse to stay home and simmer a pot of Arrabiata?

First signs of Spring

All week we have been enjoying the bird song as we eat breakfast and get ready in the morning, a sign that spring is just around the corner. On Friday as I walked around the yard, enjoying the lovely weather after work, this appeared. The first little sign of the bulbs that we planted last fall, a tiny bit of green signaling that the daffodils and tulips are on their way.

Warmth!

Thursday saw a record high of 73 degrees in Kansas City. The unseasonable warmth was a welcome change from all the cold and snow, even if it was fluke and even if it will go back to winter temperatures in a few days. We seized the opportunity to take a long walk on the Trolley Track Trail after work, enjoying the smiling faces of our neighbors and the masses of jolly dogs out for a snow free warm weather walk.

Cake

Valentines Day came and went on Monday and I didn't say anything about it because in all honesty I'm not a fan of the holiday. I find it to be contrived and commercial and pink is one of my least favorite colors. We did however, bake a cake for the occasion. So all week we've been enjoying a homemade organic cake. No flowers flown in from South America, no overcrowded restaurants with awkward people who only go on a date a few times a year, no processed chocolates made with cacao picked by child labor in Africa. And after a long Wednesday it was a nice treat to indulge in a slice of cake after dinner.

New Boots!

With the snow melting away and rainy Spring days ahead, I got me some new boots.

Watson Library

Watson Library on a sunny Monday morning.

Warmer days ahead

On Saturday and Sunday the weather started to warm up and the snow began to melt, so Sunday was a great day for a long afternoon walk with the baby and the dog. After getting back home she proceeded to roll around in the remaining snow, cooling off and seemingly enjoying the warm sun on the cool and melting snow. A good reminder to take joy in such a lovely day...

Nabe

A trip to the Asian market out in the suburbs yielded all the collected ingredients for a pot of Saturday evening nabe, plus a little mini sake on the side.

Music and Mexican Food

On Friday night we decided to try Chelly's Cafe, a local Mexican restaurant. Tasty margaritas and live music made for a great meal that exceeded our expectations.

Jeff Koons

A regular Thursday, but thinking about how wacky Jeff Koons is after watching a film about the artist.... This isn't my photo, but how could one not love Puppy?

Fresh snow and a view of the Campanile on a Wednesday afternoon.

Snowy Crossroads on a Tuesday

I was in the Crossroads on Tuesday for a haircut at Skyline. While I should have had a great photo of the skyline of downtown KC from this spot just outside the old Firestone building, instead I had a view of blowing snow, as we got another inch of fluffy snow overnight on Tuesday.

Zhang Hongtu

Thinking about this Zhang Hongtu image for my seminar that addresses hybridity in contemporary art. Zhang Hongtu was born in China, but moved to the U.S. in the 1980s. His work typically combines styles from China and Europe, as in his 1999 painting Zhao Mengfu-Monet (pictured below) which appropriates the composition of the famous Yuan dynasty Zhao Mengfu painting Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains in the style of French Impressionist Claude Monet. I really love his work, and I'd be curious to know what others think about this type of hybridity in art. Opinions?

Biscuits and Gravy

Homemade Organic Buttermilk Biscuits and Veggie Mushroom Gravy to start out a busy Sunday of museum-going, work, writing, errands, reading, and Super Bowl watching. Go Packers!

Diapers

It occurred to me on Saturday that we haven't bought diapers in 2011. Thanks to my friend Abby and her business Itsy Bitsy Bums we have been using cloth diapers for the last few weeks. We wanted to use cloth before the baby was born, but due to the crazy moving around the world that we did in the first few months of little man's life, we didn't feel that it was possible for us. Since December though, we've been using cloth, and it is so fantastic that I can't imagine returning to disposables. Cloth feels cleaner for our household (no nasty trash), for the environment, and for the baby's health. Even though we used chlorine free Seventh Generation disposables, studies show that disposable diapers can harm the fertility of baby boys in the long term, and while I trust Seventh Generation for household cleaners and laundry detergents, there is no way to create a disposable diaper without using some chemicals. Laundering the diapers is far easier than I imagined, and with the designs of cloth diapers now they are just as convenient as disposables- no pins or folding, just a snap and some velcro. Plus the diapers adjust to grow with baby, so the set of three daytime shells, nine daytime inserts and two sets of overnights can be used until we start toilet training, which saves us tons of money and saves piles of diapers from sitting in a landfill. We are complete converts to cloth, and I hope that more people will try it out, it is one of the greatest switches that we've made!

February First Friday

February fourth was a cold and snowy First Friday, but a good one, particularly at H & R Block Artspace and Cocoon, where this photo was taken. The gallery was showing Jodi Lightner (reflected in the photo), and also had students from the KCAI Printmaking Department selling their work to raise money for a trip to the Southern Graphics Council annual meeting. We purchased a four prints for only $22, and were able to help out some aspiring art students. A win-win situation.

(Mis)representation

Lately I've been thinking about how people use social networking and online media to represent or misrepresent themselves. A friend of mine posted an article to Facebook that discussed how the site (and other social networking sites) make people less happy. We see what friends post, which is usually a cheery or upbeat view of their lives, and assume that they have it better than we do. By contrast I am also fascinated with those who are constantly using social networking sites to complain about their lives or to whine about their perceived circumstances. Do we really need someone to tell us that the online world isn't an accurate representation of reality? Do people really believe that what doesn't get posted to Facebook doesn't happen? A week ago Thursday I had an interesting work day, interacted with many people, had lunch with friends, had drinks with other friends, hung out with family, made dinner, read about the news in the paper (though online) among other things, yet all of this was personally experienced. The photo of my cat that I'm posting is certainly not a realistic representation of that Thursday, but it represents a part of my day. How quickly we forget about the complexities of life...

Lunar New Year Feast

On Wednesday evening we shared a fantastic Lunar New Year dinner at Bo Ling's with my family, who have been so amazing in helping us to take care of a sick kiddo for the last week. Our feast of Veggie Spring Rolls, Sichuan Green Beans, Veggie Fried Rice, Cantonese Noodles, and Orange Shrimp, as well as an outstanding Plum Wine and some tasty deserts was a nice celebration at the end of a long week and a half of illness and blizzards. Thanks for all the help, guys!

Snowpocalypse

Tuesday brought blizzard conditions and about a foot of snow to Kansas City. Because KU closed campus, I was able to stay close to home and get some work done at a local coffee shop, but because of the crazy blowing snow, even the cafes and restaurants closed early. I took this photo leaving One More Cup at noon, when about 5-6 inches had fallen. It wasn't too bad to walk through, but driving seemed rather difficult as the plow crews had a hard time keeping up with the windy conditions. The state went so far as to close Interstate 70 across Missouri for the afternoon and overnight, and Joe was sent home from work early. A dramatic start to February!