Thursday Ten: Okay That’s Enough Now edition

1. I mean, that title probably could apply to a lot of things right now: Congress, stress levels, Grand Rapids traffic (both auto and pedestrian) due to ArtPrize. Okay, I’m mostly referring to ArtPrize. I LOVE ARTPRIZE, but now that they’ve announced the Top Ten and the Top Ten consists mostly of underwhelming pieces that I don’t love, I’m over it. Okay people, if you’re not going to learn to walk faster just PACK IT UP AND GO HOME. Get outta my way. I have places to be (no I don’t).

2. This piece was made out of CRAYOLA CRAYONS? How does it not make the Top Ten?
Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me | Michael Peoples

3. I’ve started reading Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” and so far, I’m enjoying it – mostly because I’ve been in the work force for over a dozen years and find a lot of what she’s saying to be true. It’s an easy read so far, so I’ll keep on keeping on.

4. Every now and again I buy a totally junky thing at the grocery store thinking, “Oh this will make a fun treat” because Cocoa Krispies are on sale for $2.50 a box and who doesn’t love that bowl of chocolate milk you have when all the cereal is gone? And then… the kids find it and it turns out that they love the bowl of chocolate milk when the cereal is gone as much as I do. I think that box didn’t even make it 48 hours. That could be a record.

5. OMG THE FINALE OF BREAKING BAD. Initially I wasn’t sure what I thought of the way it ended – but days later, I think they went the right route.

6. Look at me not spoiling it for y’all (Honestly, it’s been days, though, if it gets spoiled for you now, you only have yourself to blame).

7. It’s October which means it’s officially my birthday month! I am not sure how I’m feeling about my birthday this year. It’s been a year – full of great things and not so great things. Even when life is throwing drama at me like a poo-flinging monkey, I’m still glad to be on this earth (and also glad that life is not actually throwing poo). So, now that I’ve ruined mention of my birthday… it IS my month. And we’ll see how 37 goes. When I get there. And not a second before that.

8. October and temps near 80, by the way. I like fall! Mother Nature better not take away my favorite season! If we go from 80 to snowstorms, I’m gonna be sad.

9. I spent all day yesterday craving a sandwich from Potbelly. Sometimes I am glad that the places I love aren’t convenient otherwise I’d need to buy stretchier pants.

10. I always tell myself I’m going to go to bed earlier. And then every night I stay up too late. That will be my goal for the next week: To try to be in bed by ten. Not sleeping, necessarily – hell, maybe I’ll get some more reading done – but I have got to work towards not staying up so late. (My second goal will be to not miss that spot on my left knee when I shave my legs. Okay fine. My right knee also.)

Thursday Ten: BRING ON THE POPSICLES Edition

1. I’m getting sick. Nothing too crazy – just a fall cold – you know, the typical kid goes back to school and the germs have a chance to incubate and turn to a fantastic phlegm fest and the kids pass it on to mom cold. Yeah. That. I have a runny nose and a sore throat and I feel like my head is going to pop right open. So, bring on the popsicles. I cater to the popsicle-soothe-the-throat method of killing the cooties.

2. My hard drive went kablooey over the weekend. Want a rude awakening as to how bad you are at backing up your photographs? That was definitely a rude awakening. BUT, I was fortunate to have lost NOTHING. Nothing but my sanity and several hours trying to get the new hard drive up and running. I’m still finding random things I forgot to install (Adobe Reader, anyone?) – but for the most part, it’s good. And I did it myself versus paying the big box store nerds $130 to set it all back up — though I can see where it’d be worth it, what a time consuming pain in the heinie.

3. I complained about last week’s episode of Glee, but I have to say – this week’s ep was much better. I actually missed the first half (so that could have been totally craptastic, I don’t know), but when I remembered to turn the television on, Kurt was singing, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” I got goosebumps. And yeah, I DL’d the song from iTunes. My only music purchase of the week so far. His voice is ah-maze-ing.

4. Last week, we took Sir Pups A Lot (name changed to protect the not-so-innocent) to get neutered. And THEN, because he’s a rowdy active puppy, he managed to pop a stitch. We noticed after this not-so-fresh smell started radiating from his incision. The vet says it’s not infected, and has instructed us to keep putting Neosporin on the surgery site – but WHOA NELLY – that’s one stanky dog.

5. Last night, I watched two episodes in a row of “Top Chef: Just Desserts” (HEY! I’m sick, I can be lazy if I wanna). If ever there was a reality show after my own heart – this is it. Nothing but desserts FOR AN HOUR (actually, plus some – last night’s ep was long).

6. I really DISLIKE the “I like it…” Facebook meme. I am a tremendous fan of raising money and awareness for breast cancer, and love all endeavors to think pink and make people realize just how serious this disease is… except… How does the location of your purse do that? If you would like to raise awareness, there are other ways to do so. My heart is with two of my friends who will be walking SIXTY miles for breast cancer this weekend. And I’ll be walking forty again next summer (as always, feel free to click this link and donate to the Avon Walk).

7. Because I have teh cooties – I decided today I would up my water consumption, by… A LOT. I filled up my 32 ounce water bottle when running errands this morning and I DRANK IT ALL. I then hit every stupid red light on the way home. Sometimes, it just doesn’t pay to hydrate.

8. Last night at 11:59 p.m. was the deadline to vote for ArtPrize. It was a VERY difficult decision for me, and I was torn between Beili Liu’s “Lure/Wave” and Mia Tavonatti’s “Svelata”. Both were tremendously amazing pieces of art – both moved me so much. BUT, I only had one vote. I’m not telling you which one I voted for (well, unless you ask – in which case, I probably would), but it was one that I kept returning to. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I am grateful for the weeks we get to spend immersed in art and the opportunity to expose my kids to it. Brings me huge joy.

9. My list of books I want to read keeps growing and I get so frustrated because just when I’m finally getting caught up, I go to the library to return some books and leave with four more. I love reading. Currently, I’m reading two books: Lit: A Memoir (P.S.)* by Mary Karr and Little Bee* by Chris Cleave. Little Bee is our latest book club pic and I haven’t gotten far into it yet.

10. This weekend: Michigan versus Michigan State. Kind of a big deal in this neck of the woods. GO BLUE!

*Affiliate links

Thursday Ten: Art and Music and Onion Rings, Oh My! Edition

1.  Last week, I posted a review of Maroon 5’s new album, “Hands All Over”. This week, I’m letting you know that A&M is letting me giveaway an autographed copy of this album. You want it? Leave a comment for me telling me so. I’ll randomly pick a winner next week Thursday.

2. I’ve been still hooked on visiting ArtPrize. I had a two day span where I didn’t go see art, and I was starting to get a little bit TWITCHY. It’s one of the coolest things Grand Rapids has to offer, and I look forward to them announcing the Top Ten pieces later today. The public votes on the winner.

One of the pieces I love is made entirely out of wine corks. Wonder if the artist drank all the wine himself?

3. During ArtPrize, I’ve been loading all my pictures into a Flickr – it’s been fun to see other people’s shots of ArtPrize and to share my own. The downside? Even though I do not have my photos labeled with a Creative Commons license, I’ve noticed that a few of my pictures have been used on other blogs. And it’s a weird feeling – I want to be flattered that someone liked it enough to use it but… That’s Stealing. Odds are, if someone had asked, I’d have said okay. Please pay attention when you’re taking images from Flickr to see if the owner of that picture has authorized its use. If he/she hasn’t, try asking them if you can use it. (Okay, off my soapbox)

4. As I type this, the dog is at the vet getting neutered. Poor little dude – not. Meanwhile, while he’s not underfoot, I have vacuumed and scrubbed my floors. Having the dog not in the house is not unlike when your toddler takes a nap at the crucial point where you need to get a lot of stuff done. Yes, I’m saying dogs and toddlers are similar… except I’ve never REALLY been allergic to a toddler.

5. Music of the week — My friend Lotus clued me in to the free single on iTunes this week, Cory Morrow’s “Second Chance”. Loter’s hubby plays guitar for Cory, and though country music is not usually my thing, the song is pretty good and hey, it’s Lotus-by-proxy. And that’s a good thing. Other recent downloads include (blush) a few of the Glee renditions of Britney songs.

6. Let’s talk about Glee for a second, why don’t we? I like the show – a lot. But I’m beginning to hate these themed episodes. It feels like all the dialogue in between is just filler to get to the next themed song. And while Britney’s music doesn’t annoy me, this episode kind of did and not just because of that BIG EFFING SNAKE. Of all the Britney things to copy, they had to copy the snake? Why didn’t they copy the ratty jean shorts with the gas station bathroom key in one hand and a bag of Cheetos in the other? MUCH less freak-outty than the snake.

7. I saw this clip posted of Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake and The Roots with the History of Rap. Starting and ending with Sugarhill Gang, this is a pretty awesome clip. (If the embedding doesn’t work, it’s worth the click through)

8. After three days of craving onion rings and a failed attempt making healthy oven baked onion rings at home, I caved and ordered them in a restaurant last night. They were SO GOOD, as I knew they would be. They also made my stomach hurty later. Me and fried foods? Not friends.

9. Tomorrow is the FIRST DAY OF OCTOBER. And you know what that means? My birthday month. Yes, month. Eventually, I will get to hate my birthday and won’t celebrate it (no, I won’t) and won’t require a whole month of celebration, but for now? OCTOBER’S (almost) IN THE HOUSE!

10. And since October is traditional Breast Cancer Awareness month, I want to remind you to not limit your awareness of this disease to a mere 31 days a year. So many amazing groups doing great things. My friend Rachel and her friend Tricia are working on a Saving 2nd Base project – also, if at any time you feel like donating to support me in my 2011 Avon Walk, my donation link can be found HERE.

Weekly Winners: Art Prize Style

Some of my favorite shots this week have been from Grand Rapids’ Art Prize competition which is ongoing. I’ve been twice – and will likely go several more times before it’s over.

For more weekly winners, visit LOTUS.

Memorial for Stephanie J Tubbs (Artist: M. Murphy)

Street Pianos, Luke Jerram

Lure/Forest (Artist: Beili Liu)

Collage of "Seven Days of Creation" (Artist: Suzi Furtwangler) - this is made entirely of crayons!

Vessel (Artist: Amanda Katz)

Dream Big (Artist: Pete Fecteu) - made entirely out of Rubik's Cubes

Dream Big (detail)

Dream Collection (Artist: Heather Holloman)

Dream Collection

Thursday Ten: What A WEEK! Edition

1. I think I overscheduled this week. I know, I was complaining about it in last night’s post – but back to back back-to-school nights… well, that may have pushed me over the edge. The plus side is that I am really digging both of my daughters’ teachers, and I am crossing my fingers that both my girls have an amazing school year.

2. I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to dog saliva. How fabulous is that? I was so giddy that I wasn’t actually allergic to Sir Doggy Dog, but… I think his spit makes me itch. And he’s teething so he’s constantly trying to mouth people’s arms (specifically MINE) and ugh. I’m not sure what to do now!

3. Grand Rapids’ Art Prize started yesterday. I’m hoping to get out this week and see some of the fantastic art and support some local businesses downtown. I’m not always the biggest fan of west Michigan – but I really dig Art Prize, what it’s about and getting a chance to expose my kids to some really creative minds and fabulous sights.

4. Storms in Grand Rapids knocked out a lot of power… including many many traffic lights. It’s amazing how many people have forgotten that when the light is out, the intersection should be treated as a four-way stop. Driving around yesterday was kind of scary – since most of Michigan has evidently forgotten driver’s training.

5. Music of the week… I already talked about Maroon 5, but Michael Franti and Spearhead had a new album released on Tuesday and it’s FANTASTIC. It’s a little more pop and a little less political than some of their previous albums, but I still have crazy crazy love for this collection. “Hey Hey Hey” is on repeat right now, and the song makes me so totally happy, I could listen to it all day.

6. In guitar class, we’re working on open seventh chords and I hate them. I hate them big time. But we’re swinging back around to work on “Black Horse and a Cherry Tree” by KT Tunstall to utilize some of those ugly chords.

7. I spent forty minutes on the phone with an insurance company today and got absolutely nowhere. I am so grateful that I have insurance. I’m not grateful for how tedious the process is. Surely, surely, surely it could be a little less of a mess. Right?

8. My sister and I went shopping the other day and were lured into Victoria’s Secret, drawn in by their Collegiate Collection.  You’re not a true fan if you don’t have game day undies (GO BLUE!). I even bought a Michigan State pair for my sister, though it somewhat pained me to do so. But clearly, I’m a nice big sister.

9. Halloween decorations and stuff are starting to come out at stores (Starting? I kid. I know they’ve been out since August). Do you like Halloween? Do you get into it and dress up along with your kids or do you think it’s a silly “holiday”? I’m not a fan. Except for the candy part.

10. Glee is back and they sang a bunch of songs I don’t like. Sigh. I don’t like Lea Michele’s bangs, either. I did love all the plastic surgery jokes, though. If you’re a Glee nerd like me, what’d you think?