Wednesday, November 30, 2005

knitting pretty -- thanksgiving fun


Thanksgiving was a typical day-o-fun at my mom's.... we ate our traditional turkey fare at 1 pm and by 2:30 almost everyone was snoozing... I, on the other hand, was oddly awake and trying hard to learn how to knit. I discovered that I am total crap at figuring out how to do things with my hands based on drawings... I truly need a live teacher who can observe and correct me... I think I have a left-right deficiency or something. I need remedial knitting class. Hmmm....

I tired of my "knot" so great efforts and hit the theatre in order to see RENT. I loved it. Of course, by this point I knew the story well, and the songs too... so it was just a treat to see another version of a musical I like. And it's about friends. It made me miss mine. Though, I have had the rare treat of having two far away visits in the past month.... Heather from Portland and Cindy and Cathy (and Shane) from Big Timber, Montana ......... as well as a couple long and satisfying conversations with my friend Julie in Ohio. Reading E's "Town and Country" blog entry today made me rather nostalgic. (I'm the girl in green... ) Sigh.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Fan-panda-tastic!

In honor of my panda-obsession dating back to late summer, here's a family picture of the lil guy with his mummy at the Smithsonian Zoo. I haven't watched the panda cam in awhile... but Tai Shan always makes me smile when I do.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Autumn Art Auction

A few weeks ago I had a rare opportunity to attend the North Dakota Museum of Art's annual autumn art auction (How's that for alliterative?) with my friend Barb. It was a switch from my typical Saturday night and I was surprised to discover how many people I actually knew there. Approximately 35 original works of art were auctioned. Of course my budget didn't allow for me to pick up any pieces for my home but I had my eye on a few. Some of the pieces are pictured here.

Beginning at 6:30 PM with live music, hor d'ouevres and wine, Barb and I mingled and took in the art and atmosphere.

Full Moon, the wood, paper, paint piece featured in the wall's center is a creation by the Bemidji artists picured below.

I had the pleasure of sitting next to Marlon Davidson and Don Knudson and taking in the auction experience while chatting with them. What a rare treat.

A view from above.

Fixed Growth by Greg Blair (cottonwood framed by poplar)


Sunday, November 13, 2005

Remembrance Day Poppy-ular in Canada

On Friday, when faced with a day off, my friend Tara and I decided to head north to Winnipeg. Our first taste of Canada was at the border. And I think the guard would have been happy to see us turn around and head home. I realize, of course, that the border guards are not there to promote tourism...... it's not like they say, "Do you have any mace, knives, or firearms?" Any tobacco or alcohol which you intend to sell and by the way, here's a lovely little tourism gift pack complete with a chocolate sample and coupons for dinner." Instead when she asked the destination and duration of our trip to Canada, she paused and looked down her nose at us and said, "You realize there's a holiday on? There's nothing open." We smiled bravely as panic seized us, nodded and drove on through. This may be true but she really didn't need to be such a bitch about it.

Our first few minutes in the city were a search for signs of life... I mean EVERYTHING is open in the U. S. and so we couldn't believe an entire Canadian city could shut down. We decided as long as we could eat we didn't care. So we scanned the shops on Pembina Highway... "Hey Burger King is open.... I think that hair salon is open.... Value Village is open... Oooohhh Bank. Closed. Hmmmm....

Well, it turned out the lady at the border was half-right. A lot of businesses didn't open until noon or 1 pm. Still we had lunch at a Greek place on Corydon avenue that was new to me... Nikos.

We drove to the Forks and though we weren't really up for any shopping we strolled along the river.... this was the first time in years that the river has been low enough to permit that river walk. If we'd been ambitious we could have walked all the way to the legislative building.

Once the shops opened we made up for lost time, beginning with the Exchange District. I took Tara to Red River Books so she could bear witness to the mess and marvel over the stacks, the smell, the men looking at the used pornographic magazines. Yum. Of course I still bought stuff.... mostly so I could listen the sales staff once again. Apparently their foreign language section is upstairs and we were told we could look through the books up there though many of them are in boxes... the terror in Tara's eyes spoke volumes and I declined and then the man behind the counter made a joke about how maybe the next time we come they'll have an escalator going up there. Not likely, I'm afraid. At Into the Music I picked up a Harry Nilsson Greatest Hits CD and we hit a few clothing shops for skinny rich people and then decided it was time to head in the direction of Baked Expecations.

Before we got there though I had to stop at the Indian grocery store for some cooking supplies and I'm happy to say the store was easy to find and the items were inexpensive. I now own a rolling pin for making roti and one of those over the burner metal screens for "fluffing" the roti.

Then on Osborne we stopped at Safeway so we could "legally" park in their lot while we shopped. I picked my supply of Aero bars and Smarties and Macintosh toffee. I love my Canadian candy. Our next stop Kustom Kulture was worth the stop though neither of us bought anything. Their products were a little edgy but cool... and if you were in need of a bong.. apparently you can buy one there. The main focus for this series of stops was to have that coffee and dessert break, without which a trip to Winnipeg would be pointless. Baked Expectations continues to deliver rich and delicious desserts. I got the crazy chocolate.... Tara got the mocha torte. Neither lasted long.

Next stop.... The Bay department store and a clothing store called Nygard which sells reduced price Zara clothing.... I managed to restrain myself, but I loved Zara when I was in Spain.

For our evening meal, we were in the mood for pizza or some kind of drippy cheesy dish and couldn't think of anywhere to go for that so we asked around... our response? Pizza Hut? No thanks. However, after we gave up on our original idea, we decided to stop at A & W and I had poutin. Apparently this is not a familiar concept to Tara and she almost had a heart attack when I told her what it was I wanted... Is this a Canadian thing? Or an A & W thing? Do people not know what poutin is?

Finally, we stopped at Value Village in an effort to replace my holey black cardigan sweater that I insist on wearing constantly, yet there was nothing quite like it. And so we drove home. A friendly welcome at the US Border.... Today was a day that defied stereotypes--Friendly Manitobans, not so friendly... but full of remembrance. Yes, all day poppies were in abundance and we learned that this was a day Canadians took very seriously.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Knit to be Square

A few weeks ago I was inspired by a coworker to seek out some knitting remediation. I learned to knit in 5th grade (yes, all the cool kids were doing it!) from my Grandma. Unfortunately all I could manage to do was create little scarves for my Cabbage Patch Kid. I rediscovered the love in an instructional article in Rosie magazine several years ago. Since then I have progressed to making rather ugly scarves for adults. I have only bestowed one of these on anyone... It served as an amusing gift for a friend whose birthday is May 30. I am reluctant to invest in "nice yarn" or buy any other supplies until I am certain I can handle the challenge. Thus, the book. I purchased it online almost two weeks ago. Yet I am still waiting for it to arrive. The anticipation is killing me. Soon I will put my meager knitting & purling skills to some purpose and maybe I'll cross this off my 101 list. Just for fun.... Here are some famous knitters: (see it is cool to knit!)

Audrey Hepburn

Gromit (Wallace and Gromit)

Frances McDormand

Eartha Kitt

Katharine Hepburn

Madame DeFarge

Dorothy Parker

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Roti-Rama.... My Indian Cooking Class

Today was class number two. I was surrounded by people who actually can cook and do in clever and daring ways. I dream of one day being able to cook something other than macaroni and cheese, but I suspect there is the possibility I will end up with someone (dare I hope) who cooks all our meals while I smile encouragingly. Still I press on.

A month ago I learned how to prepare Basmati rice, Moong beans with gravy, Cucumber Raita, and Cauliflower with potatoes and we discovered that the recipes for these were each fairly versatile.... We also learned lots of cool facts about spices.

This time we learned how to make Spinach Dal, Baingan Bherta, and Roti. We also got to eat a cabbage version of the cauliflower dish we made last time and we tried Dahi Wada (sp?). Since I really like Indian food and there is no restaurant nearby I figure this knowledge will serve me well, if I actually try to make the foods before I forget all I've learned. Roti is the thing I want to master first. We got to try it ourselves and I was rather impressed with the whole process. There are all sorts of fun new kitchen equipment items I now "need," however... I particularly like the rolling pins that look like drumsticks... the pictures below detail the steps in making roti once the dough is mixed up.

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Halloween -- the party -- the costume

Things have been busy.... It turns out I DO have a life outside of the blogger sphere... Finally this week might be a chance to catch my breath. First thing. Halloween. A terrific holiday. I love an opportunity to "play dress-up" as an adult. I planned to see Corpse Bride as a way of celebrating but that didn't happen and then it was gone from our theatre... perhaps I should get over to see Wallace and Grommit before it gets away too.... I struggled with the costume idea... might not have bothered at all but I was invited to a party so it was a must. In the past I have pulled off Mary Poppins, Princess Leia, a nurse, Miss Towner County, and more... This year I contemplated Lucille Ball (no shirtwaist dress or red wig), Olive Oyl (decided I'm not skinny enough), and finally settled on Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love.... Here's a pic.

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