Slippery when icy
January 22, 2010
Last week we had 48 hours of freezing drizzle. The first wave during the day on Thursday wasn’t so bad. The thin glaze that I had to chisel off my car to be able to drive it to bowling wasn’t too much of an inconvenience, all things considered. And it was a little tricky walking, but nothing too untoward.
Friday was a somewhat different story. The temperature was just above freezing during the daylight, so it was just an annoying steady drizzle. But in the space of a couple of hours in the evening that all changed. When I came outside after my evening activities of hanging out with friends at the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball game and refreshments afterwards, the world was glazed anew. This time it was downright treacherous and dangerous. While I was waiting to catch the train home, I lost count of how many people slipped and fell, thereby getting an embarrassing worm’s eye view of the world. But it was Friday night and because people were in booze-inspired good humor, everyone was pretty jovial and helpful. Said the transit cop to one fellow who took a particularly nasty spill, “Nice recovery. You got up just like Brett Favre.” Okay, so that’s American football humor about a 40-year-old quarterback who plays better than peers half his age and has superhuman abilities to come right back after hard hits. It was funny. When I got to my home neighborhood, though, it was no laughing matter. In about three places I had to take the long way in order to avoid even a slight grade in the sidewalk which would have been impossible to negotiate while remaining upright. Fortunately, the next day temperatures were once again above freezing and all’s well that ends well.The roaring silence
January 21, 2010
I don’t remember ever not liking music. One of my earliest music memories is from when I was probably about four and my mom parked me in front of the console stereo (you know, the big hulking piece of furniture with AM/FM tuner and room to store some records all under a lid or sliding doors) to listen to Peter and the Wolf.
My parents held on to first that, and then a newer, console stereo. It was at least the mid-1980s, perhaps later, before they bit the bullet and got components instead.
As a kid, I was glued to the transistor radio. Initially, I listened to a small turquoise model that lived on the kitchen table. That was eventually supplanted by a larger (though still single speaker) model. This was during the time that “shoebox” portable cassette recorders were popular. I would cozy up the cassette recorder to the front of the radio and record my favorite songs. When I was a kid, I listened to CKLW on AM from Windsor, Ontario, during its Top 40 days. They tuned The Big 8 in at the swimming pool, too.
The radio/cassette pairing gave way to record albums of my own. I don’t remember doing too much recording off the radio once I got into records. That took me through high school.
Then I got my first stereo components. I still have the gigantic floor speakers. Generally gigantic, not guy audiophile gigantic. I was never much of an audiophile. I just enjoy listening. That’s sort of why I was never a good English major either. I like reading, but I don’t have to analyze every nuance to derive pleasure from it.
I returned to recording off the radio, this time FM and in stereo. I still have a lot of those tapes. I continued to buy records, but I never embraced the prerecorded cassette tape.Then compact discs came along. I rebought many of my favorite record albums on CD, though many more simply were never manufactured. It is for that reason that I must acquire one of those turntable-to-digital deals one of these days.
And, of course, I made the inevitable migration to mp3s on first my iPod and now my computer and a little bit on my iPhone. Most of my music listening is done on either my work or home computer, and these days, it’s just as likely to be a music streaming service such as Pandora or the streaming audio of a radio station, as something my lowly mp3 collection (the majority of which is, by the way, all of my CDs ripped).
The devices I have listened with the most all of these years are my good old ears.
Reliving childhood through art
January 20, 2010
This could sort of be considered the prequel to my horse notebook entry. Before I got the horse thing going, I occupied my child self with other forms of artwork. As an only child, I was always good at keeping myself busy. This was back in the days before, you know, Pong.
I spent considerable time making paper cutout pictures. I don’t really remember my favorite subject; it was probably just trees and flowers and houses—pretty easy stuff. Today in an homage to those days, I created the two things pictured here. Whatever else I did, nothing could compare with the time and effort I put into making paper chains. It probably started out as a homemade Christmas tree decoration, but by the end, it was a minor obsession. My parents were very good to let me waste paper and either Scotch tape or glue (I don’t remember which) in these endeavors. Length became everything. At a minimum, a chain had to stretch from one end of the house to the other. If it was long enough to go back again, so much the better. I have no recollection of what, if any, displaying we did of these chains. I think sometimes we might have taped them to the ceiling with graceful swags. And I always just used white office paper; today I used the leftover colored paper from my rabbit picture. I think today’s chain adds a nice bit of extra color to my kitchen window.
I love my branded glassware!
January 19, 2010
Yeah, whatever. I love having branded glassware from which to enjoy my beer. You may think it kooky, but it tastes twice as good from a heavy glass pint glass with the same name.
It has been pretty easy collecting these. If I were 20, I would stash them in my bag and steal them from bars. But I am not 20 and I don’t usually carry anything remotely close to being large enough to hide a glass. I have discovered a different tactic which seems to work quite well—I ask the bartender if I can have the glass. A lot of the time they’re so astounded that they grunt and gesture in my general direction to go ahead, and frequently are nice enough to rinse the glass out for me. At one other place, I am happy to pay $2. That’s sure better than the $5–$10 that I’d have to pay retail. I have a glass for each of my five favorite breweries (Bell’s, Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, Summit, and Surly), but on my wish list are non-varietal pint glasses for Bell’s and Sierra Nevada. Picky, picky. So, from left to right: front: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Summit Extra Pale Ale, Surly, Lagunitas. back: Newcastle, Grumpy’s Bar (the place where I pay $2, and Grainbelt Premium, a local brew that I don’t drink), Minnesota Twins (oh yeah, and Bud Light, but that doesn’t count as beer in my book), Point (my hometown), and Guinness. Missing due to oversight: Bell’s 12oz snifter, Pilsner Urquell 12oz fluted-ish stemmed glass. I also have a 22oz version of the PU glass.I should get rid of it
January 16, 2010
My first home computer was this Macintosh Performa 631CD. You can see how much I still use it. So I ought to get rid of it, right? I don’t hang on to it because I’m overly sentimental or because I like to keep stuff. I hang on to it mostly because it came to rest in a place that doesn’t inconvenience me. Therefore, it requires no immediate action. And I’m all about not taking immediate action.
I should take action though. I have so many things that, well, let’s face it, I haven’t thought about at least since I moved over four years ago. If I haven’t needed it, let alone thought about it, in four years, I ought to just get rid of it, right?
What sorts of thing are taking up space in my place?
Old electronics. The Performa, an old CD stereo component, various small things such as extra headphones, cables, and so on.
Clothing. Oh, don’t even get me started. When I was packing up my old place, I made one separate box of shirts and too-small jeans that I will never wear again. Where is that box? In my bedroom closet. And speaking of my closet, most of the other clothes hanging in it I never wear. Some of the items are too small to be sure, but the collection also includes many shirts with collars. I have developed an aversion to wearing things that give my hair space to go into and bug me.
Cookware. I could lighten that load by about two-thirds, probably. Again, there are things in my cupboards that I can’t even think of the last time I used them, but some of them are specialized and you never know when you will need them, such as the bundt cake pan, Grandma’s apple masher, the springform pan. The only square/rectangular pans I use anymore are the Pyrex ones. The metal ones suck.
Miscellaneous. In the back of one of my walk-in closets is a box of fabric and patterns that I will never make. My bookcases are full of useless and/or meaningless books (except, of course, for the ones I wrote). My other bookcases are full of cookbooks that I never consult.
So on and so forth.
I am shaping the youth of tomorrow
January 14, 2010
Once again, It???s a Baby Gazelle has come up in conversation. Really. For those of you who don???t know, I am a graphic designer and author. My writing audience is that discerning group in the U.S. who is being forced to learn to read words in books when they are six or seven years old.
The publisher who is our main client puts out books in series of six or more???eight or twelve sometimes, 26 if it???s, say, the alphabet. It???s the Alphabet series consumed the previous year of my life. But they???re damned cute books.
It???s a Baby Gazelle came in the second baby animals series, ???Baby African Animals.??? When I concepted and designed the first series, ???Baby Mammals??? (basically, middle Northern Hemisphere animals), I came up with a writing template and a design format with the intention of banging out more and more of the same, because at the time we were advised ???more animals, more animals!???
The graphic design elements were based on the flora of the physical environment in question. ???Baby Mammals??? (blue) was deciduous leaves, rivers, and dirt. ???Baby African Animals??? (orange) was safari???ambiguous animal spots, sand, acacia trees, and grass. ???Baby Australian Animals??? (ochre) was the outback???the red of Ayers Rock/Uluru, eucalyptus leaves, and the golden wattle. Sure, it looks like awesome design, but there???s actually purpose behind the elements.
You can???t see the interior designs here (though those of you in the know will eventually get a secret URL sometime before the next millennium) but they were every bit as intentional as the cover designs. And I had several more environs envisioned for addtional series???arctic, tropical, desert, underwater, so on and so forth. It???s too bad for us that the publisher has not, as yet, given the go-ahead for more of these series. The format is established and we can bang them out and make money on them. I was looking forward to arctic in particular.
Oh well, I???m not in charge.
A symbol of my heritage
January 12, 2010
I can think of no better thing than my cuckoo clock to represent my general and personal heritage. I am 15/16 German and the fourth generation to possess this clock. Like many a family history tale, my clock’s backstory involves immigrants and sending help to relatives still in the old country.
From the sounds of it, my Great Grandpa Gross came to America and his brother Herman stayed in Germany. During World War II, Grandpa Gross sent care packages back to Herman and his family. My mom was a little girl and remembers helping. When the war was over, Uncle Herman sent four cuckoo clocks to Grandpa Gross in appreciation. Grandpa and Grandma Gross got the largest one and each of their three children, including my Grandma H, got smaller ones. When Grandpa and Grandma Gross died, their large clock went to my grandmother, who eventually gave it to my mom, her only child. When my grandma died, my mom kept my grandma’s smaller clock. She doesn’t know where her aunt and uncle’s clocks ended up. Four years ago when I bought my place, my mom had the large clock restored and passed it down to me. The clock actually isn’t as old as I thought it was, being “only” from the late 1940s or so. Apparently Uncle Herman was a clockmaker of some sort, though he did not make the cuckoo clocks; my mom thinks he was a watchmaker. During my first trip to Europe with my parents which involved a lot of time in then West Germany, we were fortunate to have the time and be close enough to get together with Cousins Christian and Ute and Christian’s family, who still live in the Black Forest in the Furtwangen and Vöhrenbach area. It is a joy to hear cuckoos every 30 minutes—it’s so quaint in this digital, beepy age. Though a lot of the time, even when I’m sitting in the same room with it, I don’t even notice it. If I’m fully asleep, I don’t hear it at all. If I’m fading in and out, I hear the tinny gong that goes off with the cuckoo which I never notice when I’m awake and which sounds like someone banging a pot around my head. That other 1/16? Scotch and Irish.
My friend Green Robot
January 11, 2010
This is Green Robot. He and I made our debuts on Tweak Today on the same day. He was one of five random things of the same color that I scrounged up at my office on that fateful day. He has since made several appearances.
1. July 20: Photograph five things that are your favorite color. I would probably say that black is more my favorite color, but I do like lime green and chartreuse quite a bit, too. On that day, green was simply the color that I found five things of first at my office. Green Robot was actually the last to join the group. I guess technically, Green Robot is stolen property. He doesn’t seem to mind.
2. August 22: Photograph the same thing in three different places. It was a hot day, so this was all not too far from my front door. Then Green Robot told me he’d like to be in a movie. That’s at the bottom of the page.
3. October 10: Play copy cat. We looked at the photos of stuff that were posted before we made our submission, and assembled our own versions of previous seen items. Somebody else had already included both a rabbit and a robot. Green Robot was chuffed.
4. November 29: Photograph something in different places around town. Again, Green Robot was most pleased to be out and about. It was a raw November day and the outing didn’t last very long or go very far afield. The close-up on the fire hydrant at the top of the page was used in a special Advent calendar mission.
5. January 10: Take an inanimate object to a meal with you. That was today’s mission. Green Robot and I enjoyed a nice smoked salmon frittata and tomato juice for breakfast.
I am certain Green Robot will find a way to appear in many more missions.
The genuine article
January 6, 2010
Genuine Pooh is something from my childhood that I would never part with. This is not that bear; it is Green Genuine who stood in for Genuine for this photo because Genuine is at my mom’s house and wasn’t available. So I guess technically I have parted with Genuine, even though I know exactly where he is.
Genuine is an old Steiff bear that was my Grandma H’s and that she gave to me when I was a youngster. I named him Genuine because he reminded me of the original Winnie-the-Pooh illustrations. I loved that bear hard. After he had been dragged around for years, my mom got into Teddy bear collecting and we began to realize that he actually had some collectable value. Fortunately, I was older by then and didn’t mind treating him more reverently.
He wasn’t my first Teddy bear. When I was really small, I had an amorphous brown thing that I was attached to. When he became threadbare and ratty, he was replaced with what was purported to be an exact replica. My mom tried to convince me that it was just as good, but New Teddy was nothing like Old Teddy. I continued my devotion to Old Teddy, and New Teddy sat alone off to the side. I also had Big Teddy who, at the time, was almost as big as I was.
Genuine became a minor celebrity in the bear world, or rather a photo of my grandmother as a girl clutching him did. Among other places, it appeared in Peter Bull’s 1984 book A Hug of Teddy Bears. I don’t have a copy of the photo, so this poor drawing will have to do.
In doing a little research this evening to find a photo of a similar bear to Genuine, I figured he’s a 1905, 1908 or 1920 Steiff. There were similar and different looking bears for all three years, so I don’t know exactly which it would be. The two above look most like I remember Genuine, and I think he looks more like the one on the left with the pointier snout, smaller nose, and more slender limbs. Grandma was born in 1903, so maybe it was a 1908 bear as she would have been about five or six as I remember the photo.
(I haven’t seen Genuine for many, many years as he has been residing in my mom’s bear room, which, incidentally used to be my bedroom.)
Green Genuine is a souvenir from my first trip to England, which was with my mom on a group Teddy bear tour. I found him at Teddy Bears of Whitney. He was a one-of-a-kind prototype by bear artist Sue Lain (hence the odd color of mohair) and he reminded me of Genuine, so I bought him. Now that I see him next to the Steiff bears, he doesn’t really look that much like Genuine. I think we have a photo of the two bears together.
And now that I think about a photo of Genuine and Green Genuine together, I remember that my mom also bought a Second Genuine that was in better condition than Original Genuine. So there are two Genuines and one Green Genuine.
And now I have to stop, because the letters that spell G-e-n-u-i-n-e are beginning to take on a life of their own and look weird.
Bucket list item #1
January 4, 2010
I have always thought it would be interesting to see the stars in the other sky, though until I became a fan of Anthony Bourdain, there was never any Southern Hemisphere destination that particularly appealed to me. Now I think it would be quite nice to visit Melbourne or Montevideo or Buenos Aires. When my dad was a boy, my grandparents took the family to Lima for a year, but that’s practically equatorial. I find the notion of the extremes more intriguing, with the lopsided daylight/darkness ratios—as long as it’s long daylight!
There would also be penguins. Image from, and an interesting article, here.
Kelly’s Unnecessary Blog 