ladyslipper, i bid thee farewell

The ladyslipper is not destined for much longer. We are going out of town for one week and I expect it to be done by the time we return. So, here are two final photos. 

Grand Finale: Ladyslipper 16

Stem height: 8"
Bloom width: 4"
Bloom height: 3"
Gestation: 5+ weeks
Anticipated lifespan of full bloom: +/- 1 week.

coyotes

I have always really loved coyotes. Hardly anyone does, it seems. Just found this blog by a woman in Wyoming who rescued a coyote pup (whose parents were shot) and raised it. Really amazing. Things like this make me want to return to rural life.

ladyslipper 15

3/4 open.

ladyslipper 14

overnight change.

L.M., can you build this for me?


Private Library from A Space In Time on Vimeo.

lucky ladyslipper 13

more opening.

ladyslipper 12

starting to open...

ladyslipper 11

This bloom has grown for over a month.

ladyslipper 10

BIRTH OF THE LADY SLIPPER. (This is taking forever!)

zumba!

I walked out of my office on Wednesday to go to the bathroom. Laurie and Stevie will really appreciate this post because they used to work in McNeal hall. I heard music, then I saw lots of people dancing in the atrium on all three floors. This is usually a very quiet building. I was confused and amazed! Laurie figured out what it was. Fun!

ladyslipper 9

Huge: the bud is almost 2 inches long and the stem is about 5 inches tall.

ladyslipper 8

Such a long gestation. Such dramatic change. Careful observers will notice how its head has turned around.

anti gravity snow man

Sanguinetti A! and I just returned from Wisconsin where we spotted this snowman near my parents' house. Is this an anti gravity snowman or, was it tanked during the football game like so many other Wisconsinites?

ladyslipper 7

Beginning to rotate toward the front of the plant.

IKEA

This is so weird.

IKEA!

ladyslipper 6

So close I can hardly stand it.

ladyslipper 5

Larger and hairier. Someday soon, it'll pop open!

ladyslipper 4

lady slipper 3

Click on the image and you'll see how hairy it is.

lady slipper 2

Here's an "I don't have children so I document the growth of my plants" photo.
Not much bigger, though a little more open, than the last time. Too great not to post.

animated gif time!

I unknowingly broke the rules when I made this series of photographs of Brian Knep's piece "Healing #1" at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Ooopsie, but they are too cool not to turn into an animated gif. The installation was incredible to interact with.

lady slipper photo 1

I'm an orchid lover.
This is an orchid I rescued in 2004 from someone who'd received it as a gift and had nearly killed it from neglect.
It's a lady slipper. It's a very slow grower and only blooms one purple brown slipper about every two years.
You can imagine my delight a week ago when I noticed a bud emerging out of the center.
I'll chronicle its brief life here. This is what it looks like today.

last produce of the season - from the garden

I posted the first produce of the season, so here's the last. Brussels sprouts!

crazy old people

Hugo and I have long yearned for old age and our expectations that it will allow us complete and total freedom from the self consciousness so characteristic of youth.

It's happening - slowly, as it should. As we age, we increasingly lean toward wearing whatever we damn please and acting however we damn want. It is safe to say, however, that we're far from our ideals.

So, in the sprint of being (finally) in our third decade of life, let this blog be our guiding light: Advanced Style. It's a chronicle of what old people wear, and I really love it.

bonsai

I got a ficus bonsai for my 30th. It's 21 years old. I dote over it (no surprise) nearly daily. It's definitely a family member. We've got two adults, a betta fish named Michael Phelps, an army of orchids, and now bonsai. My family is almost complete.

Just look at that root system!

tagline?

Can anyone help me come up with a tagline for this puppy?

OMFG!

Prince music videos!

Accidental Cell Phone Image

My cell phone randomly takes photos. Here's another one that I really liked. Every time I look at it, I discern something slightly different.

Franconia Sculpture Garden

A month or so ago, we went to the Franconia Sculpture Park. This was my favorite piece - a dilapidated structure hanging from ropes. The inside is just a massive web of rope.

Laurie preferred a large metal structure that resembled fecal matter. Is anyone surprised?

Rubik's Cube modification

I've been taunting Hugo Minor with the stencils I used to make this cube. It was remarkably satisfying to make this.

WINDOW SILL

THE COLLECTION

Here they all are. Aren't they strange? And some of them got beat up. And, I'm not sure - but am I supposed to be missing the card of 5s? I put the receipt in place of them.

WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE???

They just keep coming. WHAT are they??

WHAT ARE THESE?

concrete formwork to die for

I learned about Peter Zumthor's Earth and Fire chapel today. I cannot stop thinking about it. Thomas Mayer photographed it and it is stunning.

The Butter Heads

I saw the Butter Heads for the first time yesterday. I had the good fortune to arrive when one of the dairy princesses was having her portrait sculpted in a 90 pound block of butter.

I might cry

I just watched the last episode of Twin Peaks.

legwarmers

I finished knitting these tonight. My mother bought the wool yarn in Santa Fe at least four years ago and just this year did I get around to using it. I'm deeply in love with them! Bring it on, winter!

It's August! Finally!

We have an experimental garden this summer. "Experimental" because I've never gardened in Minnesota before, so I'm making all sorts of trial-and-error mistakes. We've had these huge, winding cucumber plants for weeks and I just hadn't seen any cucumbers yet. I was being so patient and watering dilligently. Underneath all those leaves, though, were two HUGE cukes hiding from visibility. I just cut them this morning. I was so shocked to see them nestled to the ground under the dark canopy of scratchy cucumber leaves. Oh my gosh, I'm such a happy mama right now.

We've been getting these banana peppers for awhile now, and the cherry tomatoes are to die for. It's pretty good considering it's "experimental," and considering I've only ever gardened in Texas and El Salvador before.

11 am sun through the blinds

Laura Palmer's Theme on Piano

What a strange video! The cat is really cute, though. Do those hands look familiar?

second half of season two

Warning: this post contains spoilers for episodes 210-212.

Just when I realized that there are no kids in Twin Peaks, Little Nicky is introduced. He's got a case worker, two dead parents, a self-centered role model of an "uncle," and is now suspected for having homicidal supernatural powers? Goodness, Lynch, your childhood must've been a hard one.

Just when I realized that there were no black people in Twin Peaks, Roger Hardy is introduced. He's gruff and stern and suspends Coop from the FBI. I don't know what to make of this, except the obvious? The American Indian and black characters just seem bit stunted, undeveloped, two-dimensional. If only I could know if Lynch did this intentionally or subconsciously.

Just when I realized that everyone is straight in Twin Peaks, they introduce Denise. Denise might be straight, still, it's hard to tell. It's hard to tell because Lynch obviously didn't get the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation. For the late 80's, I suppose David Duchovny does a moderately okay job of depicting a transvestite. Perhaps I'm a harsh critic for this arena, but I was tisk-tisking Dale when he told Denise that he assumes she no longer is attracted to men. I loved her bizarre comeback! "Even though I wear a dress, I still put my panties on one leg at a time." So odd.

Just when I started to doubt my diagnosis of Audrey with histrionic personality disorder because she seemed to be learning her lesson, she goes and tempts Bobby Briggs! Goodness, that girl always is way smarter than the rest.

And just when I felt relieved to verify Laura's killer, I began to feel the intensity of my interest in the show wane just a bit. The episodes feel different now. All sorts of other bizarre supernatural things are going on, and there's still the problem of BOB floating around the universe, but I'm less tense. I'm laughing more and holding my breath less. I can definitely tell the series is about to end. I'm disappointed that viewers had given up at this point, and that the producers were planning for its exit. I would've been one of those fans to hold on for seven seasons.

I am quite curious to find out if the series ends with a tidy knot, or if it leaves me with a bunch of questions and a furrowed brow. I'm betting on the latter.

Hedwig

Laurie and I saw a local production of Hedwig and The Angry Inch last night. Wow! It was good - it made me roar with laughter and get a little choked up. All in all, it rocked our cocks off. Here's the star.

second favorite Twin Peaks quote

James in episode 209: "It doesn't matter if we're happy when the whole world goes to hell."

txt

Kelly Shimoda's blog is addictive.



Link: Kelly Shimoda
Via: 20x200

The Good Old Days

I am now on episode 207 of Twin Peaks. One thing I was enjoying in the show is that they don't use computers or cell phones. Laura keeps a written diary, and now there is the hint of a second, secret diary. When the book is shown, it is soft, like a paperback composition book. The police can't call the sheriff's office from their cars (maybe they don't have radios?) - instead they have to drive really fast to get there and deliver their messages.

In episode 206, though, this lack of technology was broken when a guy whipped out what appeared to be a cell phone of the 1990s. Or maybe it was a type of radio phone. When I saw it, the phone shocked me because I had just minutes before been loving the fact that not even Lucy uses a computer to store information. Instead, she uses pencils and paper.

Also, in good old David Lynch fashion, there's always the hope for pure love. James (who is so adorable) was telling Maddy about how this love he has for Donna is like a pure white light, and he's afraid that light won't always be on. Teenagers!

sighting

(I can't believe I forgot to tell you.)

I heard, and then saw Tay Zonday, the Chocolate Rain guy, in the parking lot of Menards about a month ago. He was talking on his cell phone and I knew that voice immediately. I scanned and scanned the parking lot. Alas! He appeared, and in plain view, I watched him walk through the sliding double doors. It was definitely a celebrity sighting.

Full of Secrets

Today I came across a book about Twin Peaks. I can't wait to read it cover to cover. We can all read it here!

On another note: For a psychopathology course assignment, I've chosen to create a diagnostic assessment of Audrey. So far, I'm going with histrionic personality disorder.

Laura Palmer's killer

I am more and more suspicious that Donna is Laura Palmer's killer. I've wondered if she wanted James all to herself and/or for other jealousy reasons. Donna definitely has a mysterious side to her that comes out every once in a while (when she visited James in jail, when she delivered the Meals on Wheels, and when she freaked out during the strange song in the living room with James and Maddie, for instance.)

I am definitely creeped out by the grey-haired older man who appears in visions, but I'm not sure he's Laura's killer exactly.

If you have seen the entire series, PLEASE DO NOT REVEAL WHO IS THE ACTUAL KILLER, OR IF DONNA IS OR IS NOT!

If you are watching Twin Peaks now, who do you suspect?

a little gift for Hugo

Books on the iPhone

Yes, I was one of the people who waited in line for an iPhone. It's so amazing! It's something that is really going to change how we live.

One thing I wanted to share was that you can buy electronic books. Ulysses is only 99 cents. Can you believe that? The entire book. In the palm of your hand.

Diagram

Their summer fiction issue is available. It's fantastic.

Go here.

Western Spaghetti

Via: YouTube

favorites

Who are your favorite Twin Peaks characters?

I'm very intrigued by the duo of James and Donna, Laura's "best friends." Duality is curious to me in this series - many things comes in pairs, everyone leads a double life. Any thoughts about that?

Lucy the receptionist gets me every time with her conversation skills. I'm a sucker for the comic relief.

The log lady still has me riveted but I'm leaning toward "number 10 eccentric" rather than "delusional."

I'm heading into episode 6.

Discuss!

Turismo para escoger

I'd forgotten about a photo shoot I did while working at elsalvador.com until I stumbled across it today on Octo Media.

This is the cover design for a magazine that had an article about tourism in El Salvador.

pastries

I'm only halfway through the second episode, but there seems to be a pastry theme in Twin Peaks. Lots of donuts around. And pie - cherry pie and huckleberry pie. There's a scene in episode one where they have a hard time chewing donuts. And the opening scene in episode two shows two characters passionately struggling to chew a baguette. What's with the white bread and the near choking?

hang out with the log lady

In 2004, it was Janet Jackson.
In 2007, it was Prince.
This year, I think we're switching media. Hugo and I seem to be approaching our next duo cult obsession: Twin Peaks episodes, in order.
Feel free to join us: link. However, you can't watch the hour-and-a-half long pilot on cbs.com, and it's really worth starting there. You can Netflix it, though. Do it - the pilot is really informative and great and creepy and bizarre and will make you think about the log lady for days to come.
Log lady.

first produce of the season from the garden

paraphernalia

Delicious. I'd like this one to be mine.

Question

Question - Why is it that exotic mosquito born diseases are ripe for comedy and yet local mosquito born diseases are not? Discuss.

message board

I made this in about 3 hours with about $20 worth of materials. It's so amazing. It contains:
two pockets for incoming mail
four key hooks
cork board surface
a roll of scratch paper for lists
a saw blade to cut the paper
and the tape measure on the right will be for attaching a carpenter's pencil

I used a recycled frame, scrap fabric, salvaged hardware, and $.10 ceiling hooks.

Take that, Martha Stewart.

new shirt

I bought this new shirt. The tag says "design of this garment is under copyright." I love it.

Monterey animation

painted-wall animation

Now this is cool. Also, clever. Also, creepy. (But less creepy than cool + clever.)

null

The photo button on my cell phone is sensitive and goes off when it's confined within a bag or pocket. Usually, the result is a black image. Yesterday, it went off while inside a mesh pocket on my bag. The result is this. I think that's my silhouette or shadow? I sure do like it.

manbabies

As a long-time poor-excuse-of-a-photoshop-user morph maker, I just had to share these manbabies.

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

green porno

Isabella Rossellini made Green Porno, a series strange, dramatic and hilarious theatrical shorts with bug sex themes. I just love them.

hey!

I'm getting sick of being nice, thinking linearly and outputting research papers and I fantasize about gorging myself on McSweeneys merchandise a I have bizarre urges to slowly devour Ulysses in bed for days at a time without stopping (no showering, frequent naps, lots of cookies, no phone calls and license to emit an occasional whooping noise).

irresistible animated GIF

Loopable has an amazing collection of animated gifs. I simply cannot stop watching this one loop.



Link: Loopable
Via: Monoscope

The van walk comes in as a close second.