remembering spring

I heard a bird yesterday.I realize this may not be alarming to many of you, but as I sat in an airport shuttle van with the sliding door open to the warm Dallas air, the chirp smacked me square in the forehead – as sounds do when you hear them for the first time in five months.Five months. Five solid months of snowfall. Five months of lifeless outdoor landscapes. Five months of keeping two small, male children mostly indoors and going positively stir-crazy.That’s not to say that beautiful, crisp winter mornings don’t have their place. They certainly do. On Christmas.So birds. They have those here in Texas right now, apparently. Which shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did considering that the first 18 years of my life I lived in a climate so moderate and constantly alive that moss growing on people’s roof shingles is a legitimate problem. There’s moss on everything in Oregon, as if the whole state were that part of the woods that’s far enough in so no one goes and disturbs it and moss and such feels safe enough to grow. At least that’s how I remember it.In Minnesota, everything dies. I guess this comes in handy in the area of moss and bugs and other things it’s nice to kill out once a year, but it is positively devastating for the humans that live through it. It seems like every year I make it through January in Minnesota and think that I’ve made it. I’ve survived negative temperature highs; the dead of winter is behind me. But then I get to March and I’ll be darned if it’s not 38 times longer than January ever was. March holds the promise (and even the delivery) of spring for so much of the country. Birds chirp from California to DC. Moms instagram pictures of their kids in shorts, outside digging in the sandbox.Meanwhile, I have 10 inches of snow in my yard. March makes me dig way, way down deep to this treasure trove of memories. I remember that last summer it was gorgeous and hot and sunny and my kids were the ones playing in the kiddie pool in the back yard. I think through the fog about the days out on a boat on the St. Croix river. I will myself to recall the afternoons we spent in the strawberry fields as a family.And sometimes, I fly to Dallas and hear a bird chirp just to get me through.I will make it. Spring will come. It will.

i can't save you..

jeez, i don't know about you but i think i may need one of those sun lamps from sharper image. man! this winter is intense! woooh. i went out tonight, and was like, wow there's a whole world out here that i almost forgot about! it's so easy to hunker down, batten down the hatches and just hibernate the shit out of this place. luckily, we have the world wide intra webs to keep us keepin' on. take for instance this fine pin by richard barlow from red cake gallery, save your own soul. it kind of has new england smack dab in the dead of winter written all over it. am i right? add to cart, pretty please.

3 millions de Gears of War 2

A l’image de son prédécesseur, rien ne semble arrêter le succès de Gears of War 2, et Microsoft est bien évidemment aux anges. C’est ainsi que Phil Spencer (directeur de "Microsoft Games Studios") a annoncé dans un podcast de Major Nelson, que le titre d’Epic est proche des trois millions d’unités vendues. Une bien belle mais finalement peu étonnante performance, étant donné le succès critique et public du jeu.

· Forum Gears of War 2

to my one year old

Good morning Buddy!You are one year old today. A year ago this morning you were born. It was such a great morning, and I will always remember that those last moments right before you were born, my midwife told me to stop pushing, so you and my body did the work together. You worked hard that morning, OBaby. We worked hard together.A year later, as amazing as your birth was, it has been even more amazing to watch you grow.God blessed you with a healthy body this year, one that was able to grow and learn and develop. You have gone from a 7lb 11oz little newborn to a 18lb 5oz one year old boy. That in and of itself amazes me, but there has been so much more growth this year, too. You have learned to hold your head up, roll over, roll over again, scoot on your belly, crawl with a surprising amount of speed, sit up, feed yourself meals, drink from a straw cup, pull up on things, stand on your own, sign some words, say mama and dada, and walk.I am so, so proud of you, buddy.It’s funny, I guess, to feel such swelling pride at what you have learned to do, because, well, isn’t that just what babies do? They learn things and grow? Yes, bud, you did exactly what God designed you to do this year as you developed by His grace.You have traveled to 3 other states and learned that being on a plane really just means having a *very* captive audience. You have certainly made countless friends, smiling at everyone you meet eyes with in the grocery store, restaurant, or park. I have watched you learn how the world around you works, and as a result you have become more comfortable with it.And while it may seem trite or silly to be near-exploding with pride over you growing as you naturally should, I know that it is right. I have watched God work, create you from the tiniest seed in my tummy, and teach you to grow all the way into a boy who can take his own steps. It has been a joy to watch you grow as He intended.For the rest of your life, may it be as natural for you to follow God as he teaches you and shows you which way to go as it has been this year – rolling, scooting, sitting, crawling, standing, walking. While natural, it has not always been easy. Learning those kind of big things is hard work. I imagine God has more hard work and big things in store for you. On the other side of it, though, as you look back at how much you’ve grown, you will know that the hard work had to be, and that it was worth it.This year it was moving and standing and eating that God taught you how to do, but someday it will be doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with your God.What an exciting road you have before you! This year has only been the beginning.For each year from here on out, OBaby, may God bless me with that same joy and pride at watching my little boy follow His path and grow exactly as God has designed you to.I love you to the moon and back,Mama

Aarons Birthday PART 1

The morning started off nice.. We got to sleep in a little!! And to top things off, I even slept through the entire night!! That only happens about once a month, so it was very much needed!!

I drank my glucose drink a little late. I was pretty scared.. but decided to fill up a glass all the way with crushed ice, pour it in and drink it was a straw really quickly. Surprisingly.. It wasn’t bad at all! It tastes EXACTLY like fruit punch. There wasn’t anything too weird about it. (Except the after taste) By the time we got to the doctors office (an hour later) I was pretty shaky… and felt very wired! My blood was drawn.. and I survived… (and Aaron didn’t pass out!! Yippee for him!) I begged the lady taking my weight to just write.. House or Boat or Wale and let me skip that part, but she wouldn’t. (I didn’t look!) The pee test.. that didn’t go so well. There was apparently a lot of glucose. Which I assumed would be normal. Apparently it’s not. The doctor thinks I’ll have to take the 3 hour test.. :( Soooooooooo not looking forward to that.

We’ll find out on Monday.

She did suggest that maybe I lay off the cheeseburgers a little!!! :) Usually at my monthly appointments I gain about 2-4 pounds since the last appointment. I gained 10 this time. But I knew that! I weigh myself every week! The week after my last appointment I gained 2 pounds.. the week after that was my horrible 8 lbs week!! Then the past two weeks I haven’t even gained an ounce. So far I have gained a total of 19 pounds. BUT ..if you look at it the other way.. I only gained 9 pounds in the first 24 weeks and 10 pounds in the last 4 weeks!! I think that is where her concern is! I really don’t think that’s too bad. I was aiming for no more than 30.. Don’t think I’ll actually get to that goal… but we’ll see.

I took the dog for a walk last night.. and it was really nice. Maybe I’ll keep doing that (We both slept like babies!!)

Anyway.. I was STARVING after our appointment. We were just going to grab something fast foody to take to work but I told Aaron we should go somewhere and sit down. So we went to Village Inn. It was really good… and a nice way to start his Birthday Day!

Oh…and since we have freshly charged batteries I decided to update with a tummy picture. (I also happen to be wearing the same black shirt I normally do when I take pictures.) I thought.. might as well update with a 28 week picture since I’ll be 28 weeks tomorrow..

GUESS WHAT?? I’ll be 29 weeks tomorrow!!! Holy cow.. where do the weeks go???

So this is officially 7.25 months along….
(please remind me to crop my head out of these pictures from now on!!)

Just for reference.. this was 26 weeks… so 3 weeks ago.. There is actually some change this time!! :)

Oh ..and she told me we get one more ultrasound at 36 weeks!!! She wants to check the placenta one more time and check the size of the baby.. So right around Thanksgiving we get one more look before we meet him! (I’m still really hoping $100 will fall out of the sky because I’d really love to go do the 3D ultrasound sometime…)

Umm… I think that is all that has happened so far.. oh.. and I got the A-O-K to fly to Dallas for the business trip! Good thing since we already bought Aaron’s ticket!

So this pictures really doesn’t have anything to do with anything.. But I found it the other day..and just think it’s cute! This Riddick (the much much more shaggy version) probably about … 3 (?) years ago.. He came to work one Saturday with me.. (Don’t tell my boss!) That was my desk at the time (we’re in a different building now..) And I love how he’s looking at me..and how there is a picture of him taped to the monitor and how he’s the backdrop on the monitor!
Again.. has absolutely nothing to do with anything.. just cute! :)

double your fun

I have a son who rolls over. And it’s not like this illusive Big Foot of an activity that you want to capture on film every time in case it never happens again. It happens every 2 minutes. Then every 28 seconds. And then 4 times back to back (well, back to tummy to back to… you get the point).The fun part is when he puts himself on his tummy, he totally loves tummy time. Before it was this thing that the crazy lady with the milk stores made him do for his motor shmevelopment or whatever. But now? ‘Check this out milk lady! Look what I did! I can look around the room this way! Why didn’t you ever show me this?!’I imagine this phenomenon will be a staple of our relationship for quite some time. I shovel the broccoli onto his plate for years and then he meets some nice girlie who likes to eat healthy and SHAM-WOW, the kid adores his greens. But I digress.I think I figured out the reason behind his rolls (no, not the ones in the back of his knees, I mean the activity):The kid wants to eat the carpet.It’s a beautiful coincidence, really, this teething stage commencing at exactly the time when he learns that if he moves his arm just so and pushes off of that leg, he COULD TOTALLY GNAW ON THE FLOOR.What’s really great about this teething/rolling partnership is that I won’t even have to buy those fancy Little Aloutte wooden natural teethers that I love so much. We’ve got a thousand square feet of oak flooring!Perfect.

allan ludwig..

i've got the flu...so i bring you less words more art. alan ludwig enjoys getting lost and feeling good, and i can't say i blame him. i was recently in touch w/ alan and he explained his work to me like this: "it's an exploration into a fictitious wilderness, its aboutorganization, destinations, growth, and in this setting develops thenarratives. which mostly don't follow the linear tradition ofstorytelling."

Android Ice Cream Sandwich sera bien présenté la semaine prochaine

La firme californienne lèvera le voile sur Android 4.0 en direct sur YouTube. Ice Cream Sandwich devrait être présenté le 11 octobre comme prévu.

C’est via la chaîne YouTube consacrée au développement d’Android que l’on a eu la confirmation de la date de lancement de la version Ice Cream Sandwich du système d’exploitation mobile Android de Google. Un compte à rebours était affiché (il a depuis été retiré…mais Cnet.com en gardé une trace), et il prouvait que la diffusion de la présentation était prévue pour dans quatre jours.

Quatre jours, c’est-à-dire le 11 octobre, date de la conférence de Samsung pour dévoiler le Nexus Prime. La boucle est bouclée.

 

Capture : mobilissimo

Côté Google, on n’a pas souhaité s’exprimer sur le sujet, mais il ne fait donc plus aucun doute que Android 4.0 sera présenté la semaine prochaine. On rappelle qu’il s’agit du remplaçant d’Honeycomb et de Gingerbread. En clair, il fonctionnera à la fois sur les smartphones et les tablettes. (EP)
 

New Shop New Work Susie Wright..

Susie Wright just updated her website and added a new shop where you can buy her prints, artwork and publications Yes! I'm digging her South African birds made entirely of weapons. And the lone pidgeon. Pidgeon's are the new owl, the new black. You heard it here first. I threw in the chicken to even it all out. Who doesn't love a fat hen?

jaakko pallasvuo..

I'm really digging Jaakko Pallasvuo's drawings and paintings, they have a medieval, apocalyptic edge that I can really appreciate. Plus, I'm kind of partial to an artist who calls one of his pieces Cattitude. But that's just me.

and of course, thats icky

We keep our feet on the ground.Let’s be gentle with that, please.We need to share, and it’s ______’s turn right now.That’s not for OBaby.Can you show me your indoor voice?Let’s leave that there, please.Ouch! That hurts Mommy!Make good choices.Show me how you do that gently.Can you find something better to play with?We don’t touch that.If you _____, you are going to need to have a time-out.Nuh-uh, not for us.Let’s keep the water in the bathtub.No thank you to that. (usually whining or fitting)That’s not how we treat our friends/toys/mommy/cups/doors/books/furniture/floor/shoes/walls/dog.That stays on the ground.If you are all done, you need to tell me (instead of throwing your food on the ground).Let’s leave that where it belongs.We stay in the bathroom when we brush our teeth.This is Mommy’s.On your bottom, please.Can you set that down nicely? Banging hurts Mommy’s ears.Nope, we don’t need to touch that right now.Not for little fingers/hands/mouths.Our plate stays on our tray.O, that’s not safe.I will wait until you ask nicely.We’re going to eat lunch/dinner very soon and if you still want that after, then we can have some.Let’s keep our hands to ourselves, please.We can drink that in the kitchen.>>And lastly, but used with surprising frequency:We don’t let doggies kiss inside our mouths.

placenta is the new black pinar yolacan's maria..

one of the major reasons i love art (and why i write this blog) is for the very fact that art moves me. whether it is amazingly beautiful or god awful or just plain disturbing. art almost always elicits some sort of a response w/in my visceral, emotional being and if it's done a really good job, my cerebral, thinking side as well. it gets me talking, thinking, wanting to discuss w/ those around me. pinar yolacan's exhibit maria has done that to me recently.

maria, is a group of 22 photographs of afro-brazilian women dressed in clothing made by pinar and inspired by local architecture. however, not all the fabric is man made, each woman is outfitted somehow in animal flesh, placenta to be exact and it blends in almost perfectly w/ the effervescent velvet. the photos are equally stunning as they are disturbing.

i've become really enthralled w/ this exhibit. many things come up for me as i look at the photographs online, subjects such as race, class, beauty and fashion are amongst some. the women themselves are from itaparica, bahia, an island off of brazil, not far from one of thebiggest slave ports in the world. you can read the press release here to read in pinar's own words her inspirations. her ideas behind it are all very interesting. i'd love to hear what others think on this exhibit.

rivington arms has extendedthe show through january 10th. i hope to get down to nyc to see it. iam really interested in experiencing the photographs in person. theyare quite large and i imagine really demand one's attention.

** all images used courtesy of the artist and rivington arms.

give away pdf magazine!!.

i mentioned a little while back that i was asked to interview hannah stouffer for the twenty 2wo blog pdf magazine. well! it's been launched and you guys can check it out and download it here. i'm really pleased w/ how well the magazine came out, adam did an amazing job. i'm really honored that he asked me to be a part of it! hannah sent me some goodies (two rad totes and little bits!) so to get you all excited about the twenty 2wo magazine and the interview, i'm going to give them away to the two lucky commenters. you know the drill, leave a comment and i'll pick the winner on wednesday! yay! hurry before i decide to keep one for myself, i LOVE the 18k jungle tote bag but the featherweight tote is just as sweet!