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Hot Dog!

One thing I have been looking forward to ever since I heard about it last January is the Frankfort Hot Dog Festival. This has seriously been on my mind for months, and I had visions of small town Main Street lined with classic hot dog vending carts (like you would see in Chicago or New York) and maybe an awesome folk band playing and a man dressed up in a hot dog costume (a la that adorable Pepsi commercial). It just seemed magical. So it was with great expectations that Erica and I drove to Frankfort on Saturday afternoon.

It took about half an hour to get to Frankfort. I love driving in Indiana because you can see all around you. I used to think that I wanted to live back East because more trees, but lately I realize more and more how much I love being able to look out and see long distances rather than be constrained by the trees tunneling the road. We passed through a small town called Mulberry, which made both of us pause for just a moment as we questioned - isn't that where Andy Griffith was from? But then we remembered - that was Mayberry. Anyway, this town had a pretty obvious landmark.

Erica prepared herself for the festival by sporting a sidy pony.

Here it is in action!

We finally got to Frankfort. I think it's so awesome that the mascot of the high school here is also the hot dog. Again, I pictured a hot dog in a bun looking fierce. So you can imagine my disappointment when the logo was a fierce looking wiener dog.

This was just the first of many disappointments.

Here's a nice town square in Frankfort. Main Street, where the festival was, was all blocked off, so we had to park down another street and cross over some railroad tracks to get into town.

For some reason, all small towns in Indiana have amazing courthouses.

I hadn't eaten all morning because I was making room for all the delicious hot dogs, so of course that was the first order of business. Sadly, my vision of a street lined with hot dog carts was shattered when we only found one cart-like vendor and then a large tent with the official Frankfort hot dogs. We ate at the official place because it was shaded.

I really hate this picture, but for the integrity of sharing my hot dog festival experience, I feel compelled to post it.

Here's Erica truly enjoying her frank.

After our delicious coney-style dogs, we decided to check out Frankfort and some of the vendors. I really liked these windows.

This booth had everything made out of baskets! You could get a basket mailbox, basket trash can, basket bread box, basket chairs, etc.

If you couldn't already tell how classy this festival was, this next item will leave you without doubt.

As we walked around the vendors, we finally came across a little eating station that was more what I pictured. Brightly painted and festive. They were selling Lemon Shake-ups, which Erica had heard from a local girl that they were awesome and you just had to get one.

Sadly, like so much else this day, the Lemon Shake-up was a little disappointing. It was sugar, water, ice, and a lemon wedge all shook up.

We continued to browse an antique booth, and came across a couple choice items. I never thought about turning that old crib into a chair, but hey, it works.

Or you've heard of having a time out chair for the naughty kids, but how about a God time chair?

As we were walking out of town, we enjoyed some showcased portraits at a photographer's studio. Except for this one, which is really creepy.

Frankfort apparently has a lot going on. I might have to come back some time and check out this night club (although, I'm wondering if it's more a "lady of the" night club).

And one final picture. I just really liked the red of this wall.

So there you have it. I wouldn't make a special trip for the Hot Dog Festival, but I'm glad I went at least once.

Job Update:

I finally got the call about the job. I didn't get it. I mean, I had pretty much assumed that was the case since it took them 13 days to call about it, so I wasn't terribly surprised when they finally did call. So I guess I still have to be a lay-byway specialist rather than a professional one for right now. It's cool, though. I don't think I really wanted to live in Duluth anyway.

The other update is that I've decided to finish up here at Purdue. It's only another 8 months. This is good news for people who really wanted to come visit me in Indiana but just haven't made it out yet. You should still come. But not next week because I will be in Utah. Yay!

The Stacks

Yesterday I had to retrieve an article from the stacks. There's something there that I like. Maybe it's the congestion of books, the low ceilings, the stairs that lead to half stories, the dim lights. I don't know. But I paused in my academic endeavors and took pictures.

(You would have to be crazy to study in the stacks. It's about 120º in there.)

Michigan City

On Saturday I drove up to Michigan City and the sandy shores of Lake Michigan with friends from church. It was a lovely drive up. And the scenery at the lake was amazing.

Well, that was just what I saw at first. After I crossed the bridge and walked through the park, it was much more what I expected.

There was a concrete arm jutting out with a lighthouse at the end. I tip-toed along the edge and felt the seaspray against my legs and feet and sometimes against my cheek.

Lighthouses look really pretty from far away, but they are more industrial up close. I wish I had brought a marker. Next time.

When I was done feeling all romantic (not in the lovey way), I meandered back to the beach, which wasn't romantic.

For some reason, even though I have fair skin and a history of sunburns, I decided I didn't need to put on sunscreen while I laid out on the blanket in the sun. For the past two days, I've been putting on lots of aloe instead because apparently I still burn.

I like that I have taught Liz the fun of the self-portrait.

I know I post lots of self-portraits and I promise I'm not vain. Sometimes it's just fun.

On our way home, we stopped at blueberry farm and picked a bucketfull. It, too, was rather romantic. It just seemed like a perfect summer day - spend the morning at the beach and the afternoon picking blueberries.

Shuffled

Sometimes I think my little shuffle is not so random. I always listen to it when I'm walking from the parking lot to my class on Tuesdays and Thursday. Last Tuesday, it happened to play the perfect song. I thought maybe it was a fluke, but today it did it again.

It's rainy and warm. The campus seemed empty, but all the fountains were still on. I was melancholy, but the good kind of melancholy. And then Joanna Newsom. "En Gallop"

Lyrics:

This place is damp and ghostly
I am already gone.
And the halls were lined with the disembodied
and dustly wings, which fell from flesh
gasplessly.

And I go where the trees go,
and I walk from a higher education
(for now, for hire)

And it beats me, but I do not know.

Palaces and stormclouds
the rought, straggly sage, and the smoke
and the way it will all come together
(in quietness, in time)

And you laws of property
you free economy
you unending afterthoughts,
you could've told me before -

Never get so attached to a poem
you forget truth that lacks lyricism;
never draw so close to the heat
that you forget that you must eat.

Strays

I have a stray cat at my house. It showed up at the end of June. For weeks, I am ashamed to say, I walked past it. I knew it was hungry, but I didn't want to encourage it to stick around. Also, as some of you know, I just cannot stand walking down the pet food aisle at the grocery store. It stinks. It makes me gag it stinks so much. But every day, several times during the day, I would walk out my back door and there was my stray, mewing for food and attention. Eventually I broke down and gave it (I don't know if it's a boy or a girl) a can of tuna. After that, I couldn't help it. I had to do something, so during one of my frequent trips to Target, I picked up some cat food and a dish. Now I call him/her Mew-Mew. I've been meaning to take some pictures of Mew for a while now, but it seems like whenever I see it, I'm always passing through. This evening, though, I was waiting on my porch for Erica, so I got to spend some quality time with my stray cat.

Here s/he is looking pensive:

Mew has beautiful eyes.

Here's an irresistable face:

And here's another one:

Ok, ok... after a while I started taking pictures of myself.

And this is where I live:

At least, I live there for another two weeks. After that, who knows... Guess I'll be a stray, too.

My New Career

No, I haven't heard back about the job, but I've discovered that if that doesn't work out, I totally already have a successful career going as a wedding singer. That's right, today I sang at my second wedding. The first was as a missionary in Montana. I was asked two days before the big event, and I hardly had any time to prepare (think 15 minutes). I ended up singing Annie's Song (by John Denver) and even though my voice kind of cracked at the beginning (nervous!), it still was awesome.

About 10 days ago, I was approached to sing at yet another wedding. That's 2 weddings in 6 years! Things are really rolling. I asked if they had a song picked out, but they trust my skills so much that they said I could choose a selection from my repertoire. Sadly, because my career is still in the early stages, my repertoire was lacking in music. The other hitch to this event was that the ceremony was to take place in a park where there was no piano. When I asked about accompaniment, the couple said they loved my voice so much that they didn't want to ruin it with any other music. While I was very flattered by this, I also insisted on having some sort of back-up. Karaoke was suggested. I also recruited the very talented Ms. Dixon to join my firm. Sure, she's already got a successful career as teacher and newspaper editor, but I figured a little side glory (because I couldn't taint my talent with money) couldn't hurt. She... uh... enthusiastically agreed.

We searched through some karaoke CDs sorting the good from the bad. Many people suggested "The Rose." Others jokingly said "Beauty and the Beast" (ha!). We almost settled for "Til There Was You," but we just couldn't handle the cheesy background singers. We decided we had to take pride in our craft. So we hit the stores for some sheet music. The problem of the piano (or alternative accompinament) still remained. Not to be deterred, Liz came up with the brilliant plan of recording our own accompaniment (performed by her) onto a CD and then playing that on the groom's laptop (with some speakers). So we found a relatively un-cheesy song ("O Perfect Love") and played through it once before I had to take off for Minnesota. Then we practiced quite a bit last night and this morning and everything seemed ready to go.

Here we are at the wedding:

The song came from a book entitled Popular Love Songs & Wedding Marches so we knew it had to be awesome, even though we had never heard of it before. We like to go with the least popular.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous. I mean, even though I 've sung at a wedding before, I'm still pretty new to this. My heart was thumping right along with the processional as the maid of honor started down the sidewalk which served as an aisle.

It was a pretty short processional. Before I knew it, the bride came walking down.

And then it was time for us to sing. I was planning on asking someone to take a picture or possibly even record the whole song, but I never did. So there's no visual or aural record. Let me just say, the laptop with the speakers plugged into it was kinda far away, and it was a little difficult to hear the accompaniment, but I still think it went pretty well.

Then the ceremony.

It's so strange to me how quickly it happens. In less than twenty minutes, Chi and Michelle were married and everyone was clapping. And even though it seems like nothing had changed, it really had.

One thing is for sure though, it may seem like the marriage happens in an instant but becoming a wedding singer takes a lot more work. I don't know if I'm ready to put in that much effort. Maybe once every 5 years is good enough.

MIA

I really should go home and practice the song for the wedding I am singing in tomorrow, but I just want to get these other pictures put up really quick. They're from the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

I love the expressions on this sculpture.

Every time I see a Bouguereau, I love to look at the hands and eyes.

I don't know why, but I think I want to be a woman like this. Formidable.

I love the preciseness in Girard's work.

This is a picture I totally want to inhabit. Yes, I want to gather flowers and wear a pink gown. My heart longs for it.

I'm not exactly sure why, but somehow I dislike Gauguin. I think I resent him for taking off to Tahiti and leaving his wife and family behind. Still... his work is kind of growing on me. I like this one a lot, but especially because of the cat.

I thought this was pretty effective curacy, hanging three works of trees by Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Cezanne right next to each other so you can see how each approaches the same topic with a different technique.

Gauguin's take:

Van Gogh:

And Cezanne:

I really like the lighting in this piece by Sargent.

I really need to start bringing a little notebook with me when I go to museums so I can write down names I am unfamiliar with. For instance, I cannot remember who did this next one, and I love it.

Mondrian:

Kandinsky:

Another artist I can't remember, but love the texture!

A still life (or two) with fruit.

I want to be friends with an eagle.

There's also a great view of the Minneapolis skyline from within the museum.

This is a blend of art with advertising. Totally makes me want some cream of wheat.

For some reason, when I walk around a museum, I scowl. Guess I'm just taking things seriously and solemnly.

Here's the painting without me blocking it.

A detail from a Chagall work. I just loved the tree and birds and clouds.

The MIA has a great collection of furniture and other decorative arts. I liked this umbrella stand.

And I wish we all drove around in cars like this. The dashboard is the best part.

Thanks for joining me on this tour of the MIA. I'll close this entry with some pop art pieces.

Minnesota, Don'tcha Know

On Tuesday morning, I flew out to Minnesota for my interview. It was a very long day. It started with me waking up late. When I was planning out my trip, I figured I should leave the house at 6 am in order to make it to the airport in Indy on time. Somehow, when I was setting my alarm (both clock and cell phone), I translated leave at 6 to wake up at 6. I was about half way to Indy, when I realized my mistake. Luckily (despite a sudden rainstorm and rush hour traffic), I made it to my gate in time. I love the Indy airport. It's very accessible and never has long lines. My flight was full of little pit stops. After a thirty minute flight, I stopped in Chicago. Then I waited around for 2.5 hours. I finally boarded for the longest part of the journey, an hour's flight in to Minneapolis. Then, I waited around for another 2.5 hours. They overbooked the flight and were asking for volunteers to take the later one. I was sorely tempted by the voucher for free roundtrip domestic ticket, but I was anxious to actually see Duluth in the sunlight. Not to mention, I had a rental car to pick up and I didn't want to get there after the store closed. So, I stuck to my original ticket. After another short 26 minute flight (it took longer to taxi in and out), I landed in Duluth.

As soon as I finished picking up the car rental and checking into the hotel, I was out the door to explore my possible new home. First thing I found out - Duluth is actually very hilly. Don't know why I didn't expect it, but it was a pleasant surprise, especially because it made for a great view of Lake Superior as I coasted down some hills.

I parked the car and tried to insert some coins, but neither dimes nor nickels set the meter rolling, and I noticed that none of the other meters were working. I figured maybe they were just there for looks. I wandered the streets a bit and took a few pictures. I always feel awkward taking photos, so these aren't too great, but here's what Duluth (kind of) looks like:

It has these great run-down but hip feel to it. I don't know how to describe it. Maybe a little bohemian? I dunno, but I could totally picture myself living there. I saw several used books and cd stores, along with some great boutiques. It actually reminded me a lot of Montana, and according to the bumper stickers I saw, it seems pretty liberal and green. Here's some of the rundown-ness that charmed me.

The city (which is bigger than Lafayette, I think) is right next to Lake Superior and has a Lake Walk that runs along the shore. I strolled along it for a while and climbed on the rocks.

(The bridge in the distance in the last picture is at Canal Park. It links the city with a little strip on land called Park Point, which is full of charming tall and skinny houses that overlook the lake and have boats moored nearby. I want to live there.)

After I walked around for a while, I decided to drive because that way I could cover more distance. I love the houses in Duluth. They have so much character. I wish I had taken pictures of them. I really should get over this awkwardness I feel at being seen in public with a camera. It often leads to covert and haphazard results, but I didn't even have those this time.

Also, I just want to say that I will never buy a Dodge Stratus. That's the car they had me driving and while the ride was pretty smooth, it was missing something more essential - a large windshield. The windshield was so narrow, I kept trying to peer around and would only catch my eyes in the rearview mirror (which can be quite disconcerting).

Somehow, I stumbled upon a park up in the hills. It had beautiful flowers and a beautiful view.

Here's a view of the city:

Here's that little strip of land I mentioned earlier:

And this bridge leads into Superior:

I went across the bridge into Superior, by the way, but mostly just to say I had been to Wisconsin. I didn't know what to do there, so I promptly crossed a different bridge and went back to Duluth.

I really wanted to see University of Minnesota - Duluth because it's possible I might take some classes there to finish up my degree. Normally when I visit campuses, I get a bad case of campus envy and swiftly picture myself transferring. Not so with UMD. I think it is one of the ugliest campuses I've ever seen. It's full of buildings from the 70s (the 1970s, that is) made from brown brick. These are the only interesting things on campus, and they are horrible.

I guess school isn't all about the campus, though. I mean, isn't it about learning? There is another college in Duluth and it looked a little more collegiate.

It even has a very collegiate name - St. Scholastica. Of course, the name is also its downfall. I mean, can you seriously imagine going to a school called St. Scholastica and being taken seriously?

Eventually, I had to lay off the exploring in order to prepare for the whole purpose of my trip - the interview. I went back to the Days Inn, made some phone calls, and practiced, practiced, practiced my little presentation. I practiced so much, I couldn't sleep. I was up and ready to go about one and half hours before I had to be there. Oh good, more time to stress. Anyway, the interview seemed to go well. It was really hard to tell how they were responding to things and I felt really insignificant when I left. Mostly, I just felt really young and inexperienced. They said they'd let me know sometime next week.

Ok, back to adventuring. After the interview, I drove along the strip and went to Canal Park, but I didn't get out and wander because I was still all dressed up and wearing high heels. It looked fantastic, though. I went back to the hotel and changed because I wanted to drive down to Minneapolis. I figured, if I did take the job and moved there, I would doubtless be going to Minneapolis for concerts and such, so I wanted to experience the drive. Man, that is a long, long drive. Really, it's only 2 (and some more) hours, but it just felt really long. I had directions to the Minneapolis Art Institute, so I went there first (pictures in upcoming entry). Afterwards, I knew I wanted to see Spoonbridge and Cherry (a Claus Oldenburg sculpture) at the Walker Art Center, but I had no idea where that was. Well, I did have the address, but I couldn't find it on the map anywhere. Mostly I drove around and got a lot lost. I did drive by the real Univ. of Minnesota, and it seemed nice. I had meant to find the bookstore and get some shirts as per my desire to get a shirt from each Big 10 school, but I wasn't in the mood. Actually, I was in a pretty cranky mood during that whole little adventure. Mostly from being lost. And having a headache. I finally had to get some gas, so I asked the attendant how to get to the Walker Center. After a dinner detour, I found the only Minneapolis landmark I know of - the spoonbridge and cherry.

And here are some other pictures from Minneapolis:

After another very long drive back to Duluth (but made shorter through the miracle of cell phones which made it possible to chat with friends), I went straight back to the hotel and packed up. I'd like to say I went to bed, but since I had to wake up at 3 am, really I just took a nice little nap. I almost made the same mistake again, though. I almost set my alarm (both of them) for 4 am since that's what time I had to leave. Luckily, I caught myself this time. I got up very early, returned the rental car and called a cab to take me to the airport. This cab driver was fantastic! He was so talkative and told me all about his big plans for making his cab company a huge success. Apparently, he just started it four months ago and was very excited that his ad in the yellow pages which boasted the best service to and from the airport had worked to pull me in. (I didn't tell him that I had already tried another cab company.) Anyway, it would've been a better experience, but it cost $12 (instead of the $4 I had expected), and that made me sad. It was another long bunch of short flights back home, but I did get to see the sunrise over Minneapolis.

All and all, it was a fun experience. And hey, even if I'm not offered the job, at least I got a relatively free trip to Minnesota.

Getting Closer

My interview is coming up. I fly to Duluth tomorrow and interview on Wednesday morning. Today I am running all sorts of errands for my little trip, and I just printed off directions to all sorts of fun places in Minnesota. But right now, I gotta go practice my presentation. I mostly just can't wait to get this interview out of the way, so i can finally make some sort of decision!

The Kids!

Here's my siblings and me at the beach in California circa 1983. That was my favorite swimsuit, and I love us all holding hands.

My mom makes a special appearance in this one. We were standing by the person who held the same position in the family, ie oldest boy, youngest girl, etc. My cowgirl outfit is totally awesome. And I am digging Amanda's shorts and knee-highs.

Mom

I love these pictures of my mom.

The Fourth

Happy Birthday America! In honor of my nation's birth, I ate dinner with friends, lounged on comfy couches and chatted, went to campus to watch some fireworks, and played the love game. Pictures? Voila!

I had no idea what the multi-burst function on my camera meant. I thought it would take lots of pictures really quick, but no. I mean, yes, in a way... but it puts them all onto a big grid so you can kind of see the progress of the firework.

Kind of cool. I also took normal pictures for a while. I think this looks kind of like a jellyfish (an exploding jellyfish).

And of course, the grand finale (back in multi-burst form)!

Normally there's always a big crush to get out of places like this after the fireworks. I love how people will go and sit there for hours, but the minute the smoke from the grand finale fades, they are gone lightning quick. That is, until they get to their car and then they wait in traffic. Well, we came up with a much better alternative. We brought out the cards and played "the love game."

So here's how this works. You have four jacks (I used to use kings, but as Liz pointed out, the jacks are much younger and cuter). Each jack represents a potential match. Jack of Hearts = Love. Jack of Diamonds = Lust. Jack of Clubs = Platonic Friend. Jack of Spades = Creepy/Annoying.

My Jack of Hearts (and I'm totally not telling who it was).

But I was pretty intent on the cards' answers... although they've never really been right before.

You pick out your marriage cards from the desk, safely tuck them away, and then ask questions. You can be whistfully romantic ("Who is daydreaming about me right now?"), practical ("Who would get along best with my family?"), or a little randy (I won't give an example for this one). But you never know who will be the answer to your question. The cards tell you this, and sometimes it's really not who you want. Thus, my favorite part of the game is the reaction. Observe.

Liz anticipates the answer to a very important question.

She was very pleased with the response.

Jenn is a fantastic fortune-teller, by the way. She takes great pleasure in giving all the lurid details.

Ooh... this one made Liz wince.

By the time they turned the stadium lights off, the traffic jam had abated. But best of all, we had positive (or not so much) futures all planned out for us.

Independence

The way this day is going is exactly what I worry about when I worry about moving to Duluth. I don't think I've spoken to anyone (save the cashier at Target) all day. I'm all for independence. But sometimes I just have too much of it.

Miscellany

Sometimes I take pictures and I don't really have a post to write about them but I still like the pictures, so here they are.

The sunset on my way home from the movies:

The sky yesterday evening after a torrential thunderstorm:

I met up with friends at Hunter's Down Under on Friday night to celebrate Brian and Laura's engagement. It's "downtown" but not too far from my apartment, so I strolled along and tried to catch a firefly in my hand. I never did. But here are some pictures I took:

Yesterday was the first time in a month that I actually liked my hair.

And my new high heels. I'm wearing them for my interview next week, so I practiced on Saturday. I successfully drove to MCL Cafeteria and carried my tray to my table without incident.