Carbon Copy

M. Ward in Chicago

Ok, let's set a little mood music.

M. Ward: Undertaker

The evening began, really, with a lie. Kind of. Because the doors opened at 6:00 and it's kind of a first-come, first-served seating venue, Tom and I wanted to get to Chicago at a goodly hour. This meant ditching out on my Monday afternoon class a little early. It's a three hour class, and I left at the break. I told my professor before class that I had to leave at the break and she asked me why. "An appointment," I said, with a note of insecurity. I think she could tell it was a lie (kind of). I felt guilty.

But soon after that I felt the excitement of being on the road. The trip to Chicago is long. It must be at least 5 miles longer than the 127 miles it says on the sign leaving Lafayette. And those last five miles make all the difference. Luckily, good conversation, nice scenery, and excellent music make the miles (up until the last 5) inconsequential.

I love heading into the city. It's my favorite part of the trip. Since we got there in the dark, the lights greeted us first. Chicago's all excited about the Super Bowl, as is Indiana.... oooh, I smell rivalry! Some subtle, like the guard at ParkWest who almost didn't give Tom his 21+ bracelet because he's a hoosier, to the not so subtle.

City lights. I love them. Even if they spell out sports references that I don't understand. And even when they're blurry because I'm trying to take pictures of them as I drive. Tom tried to get a good one of Navy Pier all lit up, but traffic (both moving and in a standstill) got in the way.

We found the venue easily, thanks to Tom's good sense of direction. Amazingly, I found a parking spot really close to the venue, and then we went in search of some food. The venue, ParkWest, was in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. I want to live there. Somehow, when I'm all graduated, I need to get some kind of great job where I can afford to live in an awesome townhome with an iron fire escape. And maybe a brick fence with a pair of bronze reliefs in them. Like these:

Then on Monday nights, I can stick a book in my back pocket and head over to the local new Mexican restaurant, like the one Tom and I ate at called Zia's. It was full of successful young people wearing dark clothing and dark-rimmed glasses. The food was good, although I'm not really sure what was "new" about it.

I like this little patio underneath the restaurant.

After dinner, we walked over to ParkWest for the show. The venue was chill. It had black leather booths, silver balconies, and a disco ball. It also had about five bars, so no matter where you sat, a drink was close at hand. Tom and I pulled up some barstools on the balcony where we had a great view. You can't tell, really, from the pictures. My view was much better than the pictures let on. Here are a couple pictures of ParkWest.

We were getting excited for M. Ward. Unfortunately, we had to sit through Freakwater first. I had never heard of Freakwater, and I didn't know what to expect. I mean, if they were opening for M. Ward, they had to be pretty good. But then the name Freakwater... I don't know what I expected really, but it wasn't what I found. Tom described it as a Patsy Cline duet. It wasn't horrible, but man, was it annoying to me. I just wanted some M. Ward. The best part, though, was one of the player's suit. This picture doesn't do it justice. It was either sparkly or velvet, and it shimmered.

Ok, here's what we've all been waiting for. M. Ward!

We weren't really supposed to take pictures or video, but I did anyway. I wanted to get some video, but it was harder to do. First of all, you couldn't see anything because of the lighting. Second of all, because we weren't supposed to take videos, I didn't want to keep my camera out in the open for long periods of time. I know, I know.. probably nothing would've happened, but still... (I keep trying to upload the video, but I think the file is too big. Like I said, it's not very good anyway.)

After the concert, we exited into the cold Chicago night only to find it had snowed. At first it was no big deal. In fact, it was rather lovely. But then (after finding a $50 ticket on my windshield), the drive home turned treacherous. The roads were covered in snow and slush. My winter driving skills clicked in, and we drove slowly and cautiously while semis and SUVs rushed past. Later, we saw a couple of these off the side of the road (prob ably not the same ones) and I felt vindicated.

Cash Cab Update

On Wednesday, I was dismayed to find that Cash Cab had been replaced by How It's Made. I thought maybe it was just a fluke because the TV Journal still listed Cash Cab in that timeslot. Unfortunately, How It's Made is on right now instead of Cash Cab. I'll admit, I'm disappointed. It's not that How It's Made isn't a good show. So far I've learned how they make RV trailers, mass-produced pottery, erasers, apple juice, yogurt, and steel. It's just that I don't really want to learn things. I want to show what I already know by answering a series of trivia questions with a dollar amount attached. It makes me feel smart when I get the answer and the contestants don't.

Nothing says classy like.... unicorns?

Ok. So sometimes my search for fashionable and stylish products to post on the Snapdragon blog yields something awesome, but in a carbon copy way, not a snap'd way. Such as this collection of unicorn-themed cloisonne jewelry. I don't even know how I stumbled across it, but I couldn't resist sharing it with others. It's not necessarily my thing, but if you're interested, check out this site.

M. Ward

One week from right now, I will be in Chicago seeing this guy. It will be awesome.

Gifts for the Naughty-cal

In case you're ever in the market for some nautical gifts, Barnes and Noble has quite a selection. You could choose from a spyglass, barometer, or even a porthole mirror.

Don't ask me how I came to find these gift ideas. I was really looking for a cute little sketchbook (with colored pencils) that I could post on the other blog, but came across these instead.

Cash Cab

My new routine this semester has me watching Cash Cab on Wednesday and Friday mornings before I head off to campus for conferences. It's the best part of my day. I was hoping to step into the cash cab when I was in NYC, but since we didn't take any cabs (relying on our own two feet or the subway), it wasn't to be.

Fireworks of Glass!

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Most museums are closed on Monday. I know this because I looked at the websites for several of them, including the art museums at Notre Dame and DePauw. The Children's Museum is also closed on Mondays. However, this last Monday was not an ordinary one. It was also Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (or Civil Rights Day - I never know what the official name is), so not only was the museum open, it was FREE! I don't think that's what Dr. King had in mind when he declared "Free at last!" but as poor grad students, we certainly appreciated the word, free. Apparently, so did the cash-strapped parents of the greater Indianapolis area who also heard the ring of "free" and brought their children to the museum. I can't blame them. It's awesome, and normally kind of on the pricey side. Other than about a million children running free from their parents, Erica, Cristen, and I also saw some pretty fascinating things.

First off, there was this clock. I think I overheard the clock smock-bedecked tour guide say it was the fourth largest one in the world! We had heard that the best time to view the clock was at the top of the hour, so we just took a picture when we first got there and synchronized our watches for our return visit.

We were also really excited to see the Fireworks of Glass exhibit by Dale Chihuly. We saw the tower, and at first I was a little disappointed. I mean, it was dusty, and I thought that was all there was, but then we discovered the glass ceiling (not in the feminist sense, although we were already familiar with that) and the glass garden. Here's one shot of the tower, but I'm going to save my myriad of other pictures for another entry.

Of course, there was a train exhibit, complete with tiny little houses. It reminds me of the Donald Duck cartoon where Chip and Dale live in the little models. I've always wanted to do that.

Here is one of the many stroller lots full to capacity.

And there was a hall of mirrors leading into a psychedelic room. I'm not sure what it was supposed to teach kids.

It would be great to be a kid again and come here to climb all over things. Even though the kids were screaming and running all around, sometimes they just looked so cute as they played. We couldn't help but take pictures, especially of this adorable little girl in a kid-scaled soda shop.

Sometimes I feel strange taking pictures of other people's children, but then I see something like this, and I feel less weird.

The line for the carousel was impossibly long. We had to satisfy our nostalgia with mere pictures.

There were snowflakes in the lobby. Very large ones.

But one of my favorites were the dollhouse rooms. I still really want a dollhouse.

Here's another picture of the Chihuly tower from the top floor of the museum.

You could also travel around the world and see how people from all different cultures live their lives.

Here are some folk scenes:

Wait, wait... step back. Let's look a little closer at that last one. Who is that in the frame behind the man who appears to be dancing? Is it possible? What a strange coincidence - it's Martin Luther King Jr! I wonder if they changed the little scene just for that day or if he is there permanently.

Museums can be difficult, especially when dealing with culture. How do you determine which aspects of a culture will be represented? What one snapshot or genre scene will be used to characterize a complex and diverse people? That's always an issue with exhibits like those above, but here we come to one that, frankly, made us all uncomfortable. Maybe it's our academic training that has made us so sensitive to these issues, but still... Story Avenue appeared to encapsulate all the negative stereotypes of African Americans we are trained to spot.

I didn't even get a picture of the beat up car in the alley.

But at least they got the dinosaur exhibit right. Or at least, to my untrained eye it seemed just fine. Mostly, I liked the sky. They took a cue from Caesar's Palace and created a sky that changes from night to morning, with sound effects of thunder and rain.

Here are some dinosaurs!

I love us. We are just too awesome!

Barbie is amazing. She does everything, including paleontology.

And finally, there's nothing cuter than kids dressing up like dinosaurs and nesting. Aww...

Snow

It snowed for the first time today, obviously taking Indiana by surprise (even though it was on the weather forecast for a week before it happened). The roads were unplowed. I was not pleased. And let me tell you a little something - my apartment complex wants to kill us all. At least, that's the message the parking lot is sending across. It'd be nice if they at least put some salt near the stop signs. That's all I'm gonna say.

Coming up (but not today because I have class till 9:30) are pictures from our MLK Day visit to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis.

Taking the Bus

I realized this morning what my life last semester missed, taking the bus. I had to drop my car off at the mechanics today (the Autotorium), so I took the bus to campus. I didn't realize how much I had missed it. There's something about staring out the window only to catch glimpses of the reflection from inside the bus - a double world. And then listening to my iPod seems to create a third world so that there I am, inhabitant of three and feeling completely separate from each of them. There's something I really like about that.

Plus, it reminds me of Austria, and I miss that.

Today is...

the last day before the semester starts up again. Lame.

But more importantly, and certainly not lame, it is also my brother-in-law's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mike! If you were around, I'd make you this delicious cake.

At least, I like to think I would.

Home

I love seeing these mountains everywhere I go. It just feels like home. Sad to think that after tomorrow, I have to wait 6 months before I see them again.

The Anticipation Builds...

Tonight I will be playing for this:

We're starting a new family tradition. A championship game of Monopoly to be played each new year. The winner gets to keep the trophy for a year. I played Isabelle last week as a practice game. It was really tight, but I was weak. I showed mercy and it came back to haunt me. However, the real confidence-shaker was my game with Tanker last weekend. I got greedy with property, even mortgaging to buy more and more until I was spread so thin that I had nothing left to build with. It was probably one of the shortest games I've ever played.

But I've learned from my mistakes, and I will come back tomorrow the Armstrong Family Monopoly Champion!

The Snapdragon Blog

Something new that I'll be doing in 2007 is contributing to

(you can click on the image for a link - or it's on my links list)

I've been scoping out magazines and websites and backyards for inspiration. This will be another way for me to procrastinate and not write my non-thesis this semester. Can't wait!

Yay for 2007!

Happy New Year everyone (well, all five of you that read this)!

This New Year's Eve was perfect because the new year totally snuck up on me. I didn't even know it came. Then all of a sudden there were fireworks in the distance and the clock read five after. Seriously, perfect. Avoided all that crappy expectation stuff. I can tell this year will be awesome.