Como Conservatory

As a kid, I hated going to the Como Conservatory. I mean, how much fun is it to look at pretty flowers and plants? For a kid, not much. I wanted to run, to play, to go next door and see the animals at the Como Zoo. Well, as an adult, I find that I enjoy it much more than I used to.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures;

Fun in downtown Minneapolis

A testament to the hardiness of Minnesotans, during the month of December, there is a parade Wednesday-Sunday evenings down Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. It does occasionally get cancelled due to snowy, icy, or cold conditions, but that’s unusual. The Holidazzle Parade is marked by brightly lit floats and characters. Most of the floats are of storybook characters and settings. The princess and the pea (sponsored, this year at least, by a mattress company 🙂 is one of my favorites.

This year, Andrew and I were joined by Dave, Jen and Kira, Kevin and my parents. It wasn’t too cold out, though Andrew pointed out that earlier this month we got sick after a trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin. Perhaps this would be reason to get sick on this trip. I took a few pictures, but they didn’t really turn out.

Afterwards we rushed up to the Marshall Field’s 8th floor auditorium. The display this year was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — each year they put up a display, usually based on a children’s book. The display was quite fun, though crowded as always (though in the past, it wasn’t nearly as busy after Christmas, so I was hoping it wouldn’t be too bad).

Though, more fun that the display itself, was watching Kira. She was on Dad’s shoulders, and started to imitate some of the characters. One of the displays showed the winner of a golden ticket raising her hands above her head, so Kira raised her hands, too.

Yet Another Craft Show

I got a post card from Moonlite Air Krafts , a vendor who makes very cute kids clothing, that she was going to be at a craft show at the Fairfax High School this weekend. I was a bit surprised, because last year I had seen her at the Dulles Expo Center (the show we went to yesterday). I love her clothes, though (and so do Dave and Jen and Mom and Dad), so I knew I had to go get something for my niece, Kira.

The show was a lot bigger than I was expecting. Since it was at a high school, I expected something relatively small, but the web page says that there were over 200 crafters there! I found an outfit for Kira, but also found something for my sister-in-law, and for a graduation present for my good friend Suzanne (who successfully defended her PhD dissertation last Monday). Andrew didn’t find anything to buy this time, but did look carefully at some oriental paintings.

Another Craft Sale

As far as gifts are concerned, we did a lot better than the craft sale we went to last month. I found something for Grandma Mattson and Kira, and Andrew found some things for his parents. That means my list is just down to Kevin, David, Jennifer, Brock, Sweetie, and Melissa. Cool!

I, of course, found some things for myself, too. One thing was a folding table made of oak. It’s perfect for doing crafts, sewing, or wrapping presents, and then folds up and is quite portable. We also got a set of cat ornaments personalized with the names of our cats on them — a black one for Ares, tabby cat for Duncan, and a gray cat for Artemis. I’ve actually wanted these for a while, so it was nice to finally find ones that looked reasonably like our cats (usually I can’t find a solid black cat — they always have white “socks” and nose).

Bike Ride

It was 36 degrees (F) when we got up, which was just a bit cold for me, but we waited until the sun came up before we went. I’m thinking that this will be our last bike ride of the year — I was chilled. I know that some people like the feeling of cold air in their lungs as they exercise outside on a cold day. However, I find it painful. I had learned this long ago about myself when my family used to cross-country ski in the woods behind our house, but in my long years trying to forget winter, I had forgotten. Oh well, the bike ride was fun anyway. It was good to get out one last time.

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been out on the bikes. I do bike about four times a week on our stationary bike, but of course it’s not the same. I started to get disappointed on this ride, because I found myself tiring out after just a couple miles. Just six weeks ago I was ready to do the WABA 12 mile ride, and today I could barely do a few miles. In the end, we did 5 miles.

Then I started to think about it more, and recalled that when we started biking this spring, I was barely able to do 2 miles. So, frankly, if 5 miles is now a “bad day”, I think I can be pretty darned proud of that.

Craft Sale

I nearly fell over when Andrew said that he wanted to go to the craft show with Stef and me. I figured he’d be bored out of his mind, but he did want to look for a magazine basket for our living room, and thought he’d keep an eye out for gifts for his mom. So, Stef, Andrew and I went off to the Craftsmen Classic Craft Sale at the Dulles Expo Center this weekend. I spent way too much money, and only came home with one gift (unless you count the rest as a gift for myself).

Stef and I mostly led the way, with Andrew trying to keep track of the both of us. Stef was looking at pottery, natural wood items, and jewelry. I jumped from jewelry sites to wood furniture and painted items to anything that caught my eye. I hoped to find a cute outfit for my niece, since her birthday is in a couple weeks, but the lady I’ve bought from in the past was not at this sale — I think she might be at the one next month, so I can get a Christmas present.

The most fun item I found was a CD rack painted with stars and moons, by Sassafras Designs. This, I thought, would be the perfect thing to keep my data CDs in for my thesis. After traversing the rest of the sale, I dragged Andrew back, and we picked it up. He also got me a clock there, which was what had drawn me to the booth in the first place.

In the end, I don’t think Andrew was too bored, and I walked out with a fun haul. Andrew also found a nice basket and some hazelnut hot chocolate. Stef bought a few things, too, but I forgot to make her show me everything….oops, what kind of girl friend am I??

Here’s a picture of the CD rack, complete with my data CDs:

Arlington Planetarium

We went to see Just Imagine, a show at the Arlington Planetarium. I frankly wasn’t expecting much from such a small planetarium, but the show was quite good! It is broken up into four parts, each asking the viewer to explore different areas of astronomy.

The first section, Just Imagine A Sky Full of Stars, talks about the stars in the night sky, and the constellations. It points out that the pictures seen in various star groupings vary from place to place, and that no one way of describing those constellations is better than another. Astronomers have chosen 87 standard constellations, but only for convenience.

The second section, Just Imagine The Earth Without the Moon, discusses the effects that the moon has had on the Earth over it’s lifetime. The Moon caused the Earth’s rotation to slow, and also causes our tides. In addition, the Moon was our first target for extraterrestrial travel — perhaps without such a close extraterrestrial body, we would not have been so driven to travel off of our world.

The third section, Just Imagine The Last Days of the Universe, introduces the two main theories of the fate of the Universe: infinite expansion or eventual collapse. In the course, dark matter is briefly discussed, and a picture of what the night sky might look like in both scenarios is presented on some future world 15 billion years from now.

Finally, the fourth section, Just Imagine Our sun as a Different Star, talks about the different classes of stars, and how life might be different if our sun was not a run of the mill yellow star.

Overall it was an excellent show.

It also gave me the idea to explore how to fund a planetarium show that either focuses on women in astronomy or somehow relates to the missions I work on. I’m certain there could be a way to develop such a show through an E/PO grant through NASA.

Maryland Renaissance Faire

We decided to skip last year’s Renaissance Festival, because we’d burned out a bit the previous two years. But this year, we were ready to go back! Mushi brought along a new costume that she had sewn, and the rest of us wore our old costumes.

We didn’t end up spending as much time at the shows as we have in past years. I was worried that this would bore Andrew, but he seemed to have a good time shopping with us. The shows we did see were Renaissance Man: Stand-up Tragedy – Act I and Hilby the Skinny German Juggle Boy. I recommend both shows, but particularly Hilby. I think the best part of his act were his facial expressions — they reminded me a bit of my brother David when he and I used to practice funny faces together in front of the mirror. His finale was on a 9-foot tall unicycle, juggling a knife (with gum on the end that he was supposed to grab at some point and chew), a plunger and something else (can’t remember).

Melissa had never seen a joust, so we also went to one of the three jousts. The MD Ren Fest’s jousting arena is far from ideal, though. It’s only about two-thirds as long as it should be, causing the riders to have to stop short at either end. Of course, I love watching the horses — I’ve been a horse lover (though without the means to actually have horses, or the time to take care of any) for as long as I can remember.

Much of the day was spend shopping. We bought Andrew a print of an old map, which even I thought was really nice. The map is done in the shape of a lion, with the eastern-edge as the lion’s back (so north points to the right). We also got a new lamp for our guest room — the base has stars and moons carved into it, so will fit in with the decor perfectly. I got a new barrette for myself at a brass dealer, with a fairy and moon on it.

Mushi and I also catapulted frogs in one game, and threw knives at another game. Though, frankly we weren’t playing to win anything — just for the joy of throwing things.

I took only one picture the entire day — here is Mushi getting burned at the stake:

Como Park and Cafesjians Carousel

Early fall is about the best time in Minnesota for a picnic. The humidity is usually at a comfortable level, along with the temperature. While rain can’t be ruled out, at least snow is only a remote possibility. It was with this in mind that Dad decided that we should have a picnic with my brothers and their families while I was home. We decided on Como Park , perhaps because I had yet to visit Cafesjians Carousel in its new location.

Side note: I love carousels, and am a collector of all things carousel-related. I hope to one day have a full-sized, wood-carved, carousel animal in my house (don’t tell Andrew…). Cafesjians Carousel was originally build in the 1910s for the Minnesota State Fair. In 1988 it went to the auction block. A group (calling themselves “Our Fair Carousel”) raised money to purchase the carousel whole. They then went about trying to find a new home for it. For a while it resided in a mall in downtown St. Paul, but it was hard to get to (parking and all). In 2000, it was moved to a better location at Como Park. Como also has a free zoo and conservatory, which both draw a lot of people each year. Hopefully that will mean that the carousel will be able to get enough ridership and donations to continue operating for years to come.

Anyway, we had a nice picnic with Mom, Dad, Kevin, Brock, David, Jennifer, and Kira. Brock’s birthday is in a few days, so we also incorporated a birthday party for him. After that we went up to the carousel, which everyone knew that I would have to ride — everyone else rode too.

Here’s a not-too-great picture of the carousel, and a picture of Dad on his horse.

After riding the carousel, we walked through the zoo. I can’t remember the last time I went to the zoo, but it must be at least 10 years. It was fun to watch Kira (my 22-month-old niece) watch the animals. She’s still at the point where she’s discovering a lot of things for the first time. Since my brother, David, doesn’t like the idea of zoos (I can’t say I like it much, either, but I still go), Kira hadn’t been to one yet.

All-in-all, a great time with the family.

MN State Fair — Butter Sculptures

Every year counties across Minnesota crown dairy princesses. At the state fair, each princess has her bust done in butter. What other material would you use to sculpt the bust of a dairy princess??

I have pictures to prove it:
   

Both are pictures of the cooler in which the sculptures are made and displayed. The sculptures take about 6-8 hours each are are done with a 90-pound block of butter. In the first picture, there is a completed sculpture facing out of the cooler. In the second picture is the princess (on the left) and the sculptor (on the right), both wearing jackets to keep warm.

So, what do they do with the butter that is sculpted off of the 90-pound block? In past years I have been around when someone brought out trays of the butter on crackers. I assume that they still do that, though not while we were watching.

The princesses each take home their own bust at the end of the fair.