Why you should leave town when you plan, and not wait a day.

Yesterday was the first day it wasn't 70 degrees and beautifully comfy. It was 85 in the shade, with something like 90% humidity. Do you know what happens when a cool area gets that hot and humid that fast? It's like rubbing your socked feet on the carpet. Only bigger.
C'ville, in the middle. That's us. See the red thing moving east? That's a tornado forming. Those little white dots? Lightning strikes.

We sat in the basement and did Saduko puzzles. The tornado siren made the most hauntingly beautiful sounds. Nothing happened. At least the basement was cool and less humid. When we came out, we saw it went around us and took out part of Indianapolis instead.

Pushed out of the earth

Road trip

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The road trip-- it is the symbolic act of chasing the American Dream. When you go to Europe, you go back packing. When you go to South America, you bike. Australia, a walkabout. Africa, a safari. America, it is the road trip. It was America that put the auto into mass-production. Thousands of miles of highway, by sea, through desert, over mountain's majesty. Over the river and through the woods. For this, Americans also produce more waste, more carbon emissions, more smog, and we have the rear ends to show for it.

*(Now there are hybrid cars and developments in biodiesel, all of which sounds like a mistake to me. I vote for more solar cars with better batteries, and maybe they run on dirty shower water or something. Temporarily, I think all Americans should be required to drive cars that burn CO2 into O2 to offset all our other gluttons. But I digress...)*

So I am about to embark on a mini-trip. What to bring, what to take, what to think... Which museums to go to? Where to find WiFi connections?

Another version of the story

Here is another article written by my college. Please disregard the photo though. It was taken against my will!
And another.
The local paper wrote something up on Tuesday, but they do not post their articles online, nor do they archive their briefs. Missed opportunity.
It's old news already. That's okay. There are all these big, terrible things happening in the world.

On the Banks of the Wabash-- that didn't really happen

I have this saying I like to use in a joking manner, whenever you see t.v. or movies give you obvious foreshadowing-- "This can only end in tears." But I wouldn't think that in real life, no sir, never. But you wouldn't believe what did actually happen yesterday, and everything miraculously turned out all right. For a moment, I did think it. My brain whispered, "This can only end...", and I had to say, "Shh. I'm busy right now."

Which is probably why I am convinced it couldn't have possibly happened-- no one is this lucky.

We are still parsing the information. More soon. Let's say, we made the cover of the local section of the paper. And the grass is very green today. The sky is very blue.

link to music to accompany this post

wildflower medly

what spring means

Imagine when this was significant, when it meant work would be hard, and food would be plentiful.

Now it's plentiful all the time, and makes people miserable.

Click for texture.

Blogging Kitsch.

I know my faithful readers are entertained by my entries, but would like to know more about the woman behind the art. I would like to speak directly to them and answer some of their questions.

What are you reading right now?
I am reading several books right now, depending on which room I am in, how much stamina I have, and what mood I am in. These include:

• "Montgomery County Remembers" by Constance Riggs
• "Montgomery County: Legends and Lore" by Pat Cline
• "Freckles" by Gene Stratton-Porter
• "Life, Death, and the Ladies Drill Team" by Jessamyn West
• "Memories: 1816-1916" by Bina Thomson Sarver
• "Work, for the Night is Coming" by Jared Carter
• "Plain Talk" by Carol Burke
• "Making a performance : devising histories and contemporary practices" by Emma Govan

I just finished

• "Girl of the Limberlost" by Gene Stratton-Porter
• "The Witch Diggers" by Jessamyn West
• "After the Rain" by Jared Carter

What did you do today?
Excellent question. I bought cat food, drove to work (for the first time in a long time-- it was raining and I was running late), met with a student about their summer photo project, ordered Photoshop CS3 (I'm behind, I know), scanned negatives, made some (large) prints, came home, returned some library books and picked up some new ones, made dinner, then watched the movie "300." I gathered some files for my website, but will not be updating it for a few more days. I skimmed some of my favorite blogs: Dooce, Go Fug Yourself, Boing Boing, Tree Hugger, and We Make Money Not Art. I am too lazy, however, to make the links for you. They are easy enough to find.

What is the most recent camera you used?
I used a scanner to make images of negatives. I think that counts. It is an Epson Expression 10000.

What music are you listening to right now?
I just bought the "Rihanna" album on iTunes. I just want to say, please don't stop the music.

Who is the last person you emailed in California?
My step-father, and before that, my grad school adviser. He was asking about training cats, and she is retiring.

Speaking of cats, how are they? What are they doing?
They are sleeping right now. Preparing for another early morning of stealing my pillow from under my head.

Speaking for retiring, any future plans of that?
I don't see retirement being much different from now, except for the added bonus my grandma always told me about-- ogling young fellows without consequence!

safety nets

cinco sound experiement

Actual sounds from Indiana. Even though I think they sound like a meditation CD.