I love you guys

I am on way to the lovely Colleen's for the weekend, with a BBQ detour at the Palmateers, but i need to post 2 quick shout outs from this week. Thanks to Ron for recording and producing my reading of The Paper Bag Princess for a CD Francie (Belgium, not high school) is compiling of children's stories. There will be more about this project later, when it is available to the public. Ron gladly gave me his time and use of his studio - i even had a cool spit-screen on my mike! Thanks to Mike and Melanie for buying me a AAA membership. My July 4th debacle was apparently funny and horrifying; they don't want me stranded on the side of the road again. I finally got around to signing up this week and my card will be here soon. Thanks guys!

Bad Influence

So i'm not working today, but i had to go to the office to drop off some stuff i did at home and to turn in my timesheet. On the way out I stopped by Erin's desk to say goodbye and talked her into going out to lunch with me. In Pennsylvania. She resisted at first, but when i loudly announced how proud i was of her for diligently doing her work, her boss called over the wall, "I don't care if you go." Man, i love where i work. In fact, i asked her boss if she wanted to come with, though it would mean a 3-hour lunch, and she said, "No, but give me a little warning and i'll go the next time." So we drove to York to have lunch at Isaac's, home of the fabulous hot pretzel sandwiches. I love that place. If you are ever in York or Lancaster County try it; you'll be happy. Especially if you order a Fudgie Wugdie. YUM!

Life is a Musical

At least, my life is a musical. I know many people find musicals ridiculous, with the characters bursting into song and dance about every day occurrences, but that it what it is like in the Nikiverse. There is a constant soundtrack playing in my head and many of you know that i often -and unfortunately for you- allow it to spill out of my mouth. There is a fair amount of dancing as well, when no one is around. For that reason i LOVE musicals – they seem closer to reality to me than the mundane real world. (let's not psychoanalyze that statement too much, 'mkay?) However, despite my love of the musical, i have had no real desire to see the movie Hairspray. I don't know i was reluctant to go see this movie based on a play based on a movie. Erin has been extolling its virtues for weeks and played the soundtrack for me in the car Friday. She was going to see it for the third time with her mom and sister Saturday morning. Movies before noon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are only $5 at Owings Mills, so i relented. This movie is toe-tapping, hip-shaking, make-your-soul-smile awesome! Thank you, Erin for convincing me to go. How good is this movie? I went to see it again by myself at a different theater later in the day and bought the soundtrack in between showings. Before i deconstruct all of the reasons you should go see Hairspray, there are some things i need to acknowledge: - obviously i will be biased towards anything where the first song is “Good Morning, Baltimore” that talks about dancing rats (awwwww... look at the pretty city kitties) and has the line “I love you, Baltimore” - if you are looking for the quirky eccentricity of the John Waters original you will be disappointed at the complete lack of cockroach dresses (though John Waters himself makes a hilarious cameo as a flasher) - if you don't like music from the early 60s; that is, you mourn the inception of the Motown sound and doo-wop makes you wish you were deaf, you will not like this movie no matter how good it is otherwise Taking a Broadway play and filming it is always a tricky proposition; music on the stage is very different from music on the screen. But since this story started life as a movie, it works. The story of the overweight Tracy Turblad who dreams of dancing on TV with the beyond beautiful crooner, Link and who doesn't understand the enforced segregation of the 60s stands intact from the original, but this version is all about the music. The director shot it beautifully with vibracolors and nice edits (check out the singing billboards and Link's duet with a picture) and he uses the lyrics of the songs to move the plot along. Often in musicals there are numbers that kill the action and bring the story to a screaming halt. Hairspray luckily doesn't suffer from this fate. The lovely, but deathly slow “It Takes Two” is only included for about 10 seconds; instead, Link is given the new up-tempo “Ladies Choice” to showcase why he is the coolest of the cool kids. Tracy's lovesick “I Can Hear the Bells” could have been overwrought, but was played with such great physical comedy that you have to laugh. The only really slow song appears about two-thirds of the way through the movie. “I Know Where I've Been” does stop the action dead in its tracks, but not in a detrimental way; it is the emotional center of the film. Anything originally born of John Waters is about outsiders from the establishment and this number brings home that Hairspray is less about dancing than it is about equality in society. This incredible song of hope performed by the equally incredible Queen Latifah moves me tears every time i hear it. I was jaw-dropped astounded the first time i saw it. Speaking of Queen Latifah, did i mention that she is incredible? I love her, but continue to wonder how she can make crap like Bringing Down the House when she proves that she can act as well as anyone around her and sings better than most of them. (mayhaps i should pen a strongly worded e-mail to Hollywood). The real strength of this movie is in the superlative cast – they are all-around great singers, dancers, actors and could be the most ridiculously good-looking group of people put on film. James Marsden is a surprise – who knew Cyclops could sing? (short intermission while i fantasize about him and Hugh Jackman in a singing competition while wearing those leather costumes - okay, i'm okay) The other adults – Christopher Walken, Michelle Pffeiffer and Queen Latifah – are each amazing in roles they are obviously enjoying. Watch for the fabulous Allison Janney and a wink-n-nod cameo from the original Tracy, Ricki Lake. The kids are sensational. Discovered singing in a Coldstone Creamery, Nikki Blonsky has the raw enthusiasm of Tracy, brown eyes the size of your fist and a voice to die for. Especially watch for Elijah Kelley's dancing as Seaweed (man, i hope that boy is legal cause he makes me tingle) and Taylor Parks as Little Inez with a voice that is way bigger then her body. I wish she was in more songs. Everyone is amazing, except perhaps John Travolta, whose Edna is less homage to Divine than it is caricature. His blue-collar Baltimore accent is distractingly painful; every fourth word is perfect, but the other three are like fuzzy marbles in his mouth. He looks unbelievable in his fat-suit, and i don't mean in the way Amanda Bynes is unbelievably adorable as Penny. I will give you that Travolta still has his voice and certainly can dance – there is a great moment when he drops character for the briefest second and acknowledges that he is Travolta about to dance. And even I have to admit that you really haven't lived until you've seen Christoper Walken tango with Travolta in drag. The costume are excellent and there are nice little touches like Penny's last dress being made from her bedroom curtains. Ohh, and as a vintage jewelry collector, there are several felonies i would consider committing to get a hold of the jewelry Michelle Pffeiffer wears through out the film. Overall, this movie made me happy. It will make you happy, too, if you give it a chance.

Glazed to Perfection

Friday was Paint Your Own Pottery Day. Erin and I skipped worked, had lunch at Smokey's (mmmmmmm... pit beef) and went to the Glazed to Perfection in Sykesville/ Eldersburg. She picked out a little canister for her mom and i went with a shallow tool tray for my desk. Erin had painted a little pitcher for herself 2 weeks prior and her mom wanted the same floral design, so she had to figure out what colors she had used before Meanwhile i got cracking on a double-stippled speckled base for my tray. Once the outside was done i was stumped for what to do for the interior design. It is kinda hard to visualize when none of the glazes look like what they will turn into in the kiln. I wanted bold colors and Matisse-like rounded patterns. After applying a pink speckled base I decided on blue and wine stripes behind a purple speckled “N” with an irregular black speckled edge. Finally i went with thin black outlining that I think really made the design pop. I don't have a very steady hand so it took a while for me to build up the courage to do the outlining, but with Erin's encouragement (read: cajoling, teasing and outright badgering) I did it. Our finished pieces really reflect our personalities: the crazy-bold Matisse of mine and the intricate watercolored Monet of hers - She will pick up the fired pieces next week. Keep your fingers crossed that my tray doesn't suck when its done; i'll post it once i get it back. This is only the second time i have gone to one of these pottery shops (the first being a few years ago with Douglas in FL) and it was fun and creatively challenging. Now that i have a “frequent firer” card, perhaps i will go more often. Anyone have any pottery requests?

Swap Jack

Over at Red Velvet Art, Rachel started a “Your Favorite Things” swap; you get the name and address of someone and send them a few of your favorite things. We had about a week to put something together and get it in the mail, postmarked by today. Everyone in the swap had to have a blog or Flickr account so that we can share with each other what we received. Yesterday i mailed my package to Joy in Virginia (codename: Ninja Princess – how cool is that?) in the afternoon (a full 24 hours before deadline) and returned to find her box for me waiting on the doorstep. First of all, applause for how ahead of deadline SHE was and secondly, PRESENTS!!!!! You know how i love pres-nents. I had planned out the step-by-step photos i was going to take for this entry to document me opening my box. I have to admit that i started tearing through the box and unwrapping things before i even remembered that i was supposed to be taking pictures. Oh well, even I don't let taking pictures come between me and pres-nents. We were supposed to put in about 3 of our favorite things and like most creative people Joy ignored the directions and sent MORE. It is amazing how some of her favorite things are some of my favorite things as well. Here's the list: ~ glitter soap from http://www.lush.com/ [since half of the inhabitants of the Nikiverse are glitter-ponies...] ~ spiral mini notebook with shiny pink butterflies on the front [i was just talking to Jonah's wife Kristie about the fact that i always carry pen and paper with me everywhere i go] ~ CD of String Cheese Incident recorded live in Maine [i've heard them on WTMD, but this is the first time i've listened to multiple songs in a row – i'm listening to it as i type and they are covering the Police; this is awesome] ~ a parcel of the entire rainbow of Tazo teas [mmmmmmm... tea] ~ a pair of handmade decoupaged plaid magnets of ninjas with glitter trim [yep – you read that right, but mere words do not convey the COOLNESS of my new magnets; if you aren't feeling a little twinge of jealousy, check your pulse] ~ and marked as her most favorite thing, polished ammonite fossils [okay, now it is getting creepy how much we like the same things; how many of you know that i have a collection of trilobite fossils? Joy says she likes to use them as eyes on heads that she makes; i will definitely be putting one of them on the inspiration-sill, perhaps to symbolize Community] Thank you, Ninja Princess, for my wonderful, inspirational box. Your favorite things are beautiful!

Porch Picnic

I am taking some time off from work. Of course that means that i have been nursing a cold since Sunday (thanks for sharing, Matt) – i just don't understand how my body can possibly tell when i am going to be able to stay in bed and hold off getting sick until then. Sure, it is convenient for work, but means i always spend the first few days of vacation feeling lousy. I woke up feeling a bit better (10 hours of sleep will do that) and decided that i wanted to drive to one of my favorite parks – a little over an hour away, near Clarksburg – and have a picnic lunch while reading some of the 24 books i checked out of the library yesterday. Then i noticed the rain. Sigh. Refusing to be thwarted I packed my Madagascar bag with books, towels, camera and water. I went to the grocery store and bought picnic food – blueberries and yogurt, watermelon and cantaloupe, pretzels and cheese, salad, artichokes and egg salad, apples and pepperoni (yes, i have odd ideas about picnic food, but i like to be able to eat little bits of this and that and to use my hands). Off i drove, into the rain telling myself that it might be better where i was going and that as long as it wasn't actively raining at the park i'd be fine. I got about 2 miles before i came to my senses – i've been sick for goodness sakes! Feeling a bit dejected i went home. But i was all packed for a picnic; i didn't want to eat it at the dining room table. So i set myself up for a porch picnic. Settling in with music and Over Sea, Under Stone (i'm rereading the Dark is Rising series) i proceeded with my lunch, including my one concession to the weather – Italian wedding soup, which was not only fabulous, but had the greatest little pasta shapes, which i've never seen before they are somewhere between peonies and Stars of David. I looked up from my book thinking a bit wistfully of my original plan and noticed that the rain falling through the trees around my house was washing away the thickness and oppressive humidity of August in Maryland. The view of my pollen-covered porch and broken drain pipe might not be Little Seneca Lake, but it was still better than sitting at my desk or being cooped up inside after 2 sick days. Eventually a chill crept into the air, but a sweatshirt, thick butterfly socks and some hot raspberry tea took care of that. Despite the rain -or because of it- it turned out to be a perfectly lovely day for a picnic after all.

I heart giant robots

If there is a bright and shiny house of hipness, i live about 3 miles away from it - close enough to be in the same zip code, but not really walking distance on a hot afternoon. For that reason, i just got around to seeing Transformers this weekend. My brother took me to see it on Friday night. My expectations weren't real high. When i first heard about a live action Transformers movie i was appalled. When i saw the trailer i thought it might be okay. Various people have told me they liked it. But really, i just wanted some giant robots beating the crap out of each other. I LOVED THIS MOVIE! Plenty of metallic booty kicking, but it was actually funny and kinda smart as well. It looked good. It sounded good. The ex-Disney kid, Shia Lebeouf was good - i mean he even sold the line "Satan's Camaro is stalking me" without it sounding like a line. How can you go wrong with a car that speaks through songs on the radio and tries to get its driver hooked up? I was frankly amazed at how good this movie was; i'm considering going to see it again. And the best part of being a few degrees from hip? I got a great seat in a not too crowded theater with hardly any kids. Rock on.

Creeeeepy.

Perhaps you've seen them : the modern sculptures of kids doing "ordinary kid activities" like reading or playing or climbing trees.
They are made of some sort of greenish metal and are creepy beyond the knowing.
These darn things are cropping up all over the place.
Did i mention that they creep me out?
I found where they are made or, more likely, are distributed.
I was driving into the parking lot at Savage Mill (going to the awesomely cool Queen's Ink) when i see a bunch of creepy greenish heads peeking over the bushes
 
Upon inspection i found a gaggle of these kids.
 
WHO would buy one and put it in their yard?
And if you don't think they are creepy from a distance, look at the soulless, mirthless features close up
 
STAY AWAY!

Pig-tastic

I am taking a few days off since yesterday was the last day of summer programming, so Kate and Jason and I tried the BBQ at Andy Nelson's in Cockeysville. It was yummy. I realized that you can always tell if a BBQ place is going to be good if there is a giant concrete pig on the roof!

Window Dressings

My brother is crashing at my place while he does a job in Baltimore. I decided i should clean up the apartment a bit before he came. Now, you know me. You know that means i ended up taking on a major scale project instead of just doing the dusting. I, in my infinite wisdom, decided to redo and reorganize the entire studio. At 11:30pm, the night before he came. Smart, no? Months ago Kaaren asked for a picture of my ribbon racks, which i love, love, love, love, love. It only took forever, but here they are: You can also see the very edge of the paints and one of the 2 bookshelves full of marked Sterilite containers of Goodness. In the studio at the old house - i miss you, Blue Room - there were shelves over my desk where i had accumulated (over 15 years) little scraps and pieces of inspiration. When i moved I carefully pulled them all down and packed them for safe keeping; so i just found them a month ago. My desk now faces the window into the sunroom and i have put my inspiration ephemera there. Along with a piece i did on universal beauty called "Animal, Vegetable and Mineral" (the blue piece on the left - pics did not turn out well cause of a very shiny surface treatment), my deadline board - guarded by My Ugly Boyfriend Henry - and my embossing tool the window has four of my favorite stamps (1 Bible verse, 2 Mother Teresa quotes and CREATE) lined on the top. Along the edge are my inspirations for faith and family (an angel bookmark made by my Grandma), whimsy (Suzy's Zoo snails that crack me up every time i look at them), love and friendship (a sticker that reminds me of me and Rea), texture (a make-n-take star that rea and i made at some scrapbooking store in AZ back in the day that demoed terrifically tacky with beads), imagination (Suzy's Zoo sticker that makes me smile), texture (an experiment with wire and UTEE and platinum embossing powder), pattern (a pink version of my favorite closed-shape doodle) recycling (a pottery shard stamped, embossed and wire wrapped -you can't really see it cause of the flash, sorry), shape (a flowering cut), team (a smashed penny with a loooong story behind it that makes me teary) and color (a Matt creation from a table drawing at a restaurant). On the bookshelf right next to my desk i hung my first Chesapeake Croppers nametag, my first paper piecing (made by Eastern Shore Shannen - remember her, Kathy?) and my birthday card from JP and Kate about roadtrips that makes me laugh out loud every time i look at the dog's expression and on top of that bookshelf i have my inspiration plate (received for my hmmmmm... 16th birthday, maybe; from Mary Kingsley) Finally i made sure i had the ONE THING every studio must have a Garfield and Pookie trach can, of course. Now i feel inspired!

Dixie Dumplings

Matt has been in town from CA during his short break from school and work. I took Friday off so that we could hang out and he wanted apple dumplings from the Dixie Eatery. It is a lovely 1.5 hour drive into the foothills of western MD to get to the tiny town of Smithsburg. This diner is a favorite of the team and we go there whenever we are close to Washington County. The food is yummy and cheap. The employees are nice. This is the kind of place that is so little and quaint that you have to walk through the kitchen to get to the bathroom. You would love this place; i mean if you have a heartbeat you'd love this place. It is small town Americana personified. For goodness sake's, it's address is: That's right, 4. And dontcha love the colored bricks? One of our favorite things is the homemeade apple dumplings, hot with homemade carmel sauce and vanilla ice cream. It tastes like happiness. When he comes home, Matt always wants one. So off we drove on Friday. After our chesseburgers (on potato rolls, of course - this is the Dixie Eatery after all) we looked at the desert menu - written on a hanging dry erase board by the kitchen. No apple dumpling. ?!?!?!?!?!?! Apperantly all the deserts are homemade and they don't make everything every day. This is only the second time in memory that there has been no apple dumpling. So we settled for apple pie a la mode. Made by the same person as the dumplings, it was excellent. I highly suggest if you are ever on I-70 in western MD that you take a little side trip to the Dixie Eatery. But be aware that it is closed on Mondays (we found that out the hard way).

Confession

My name is Niki, and I'm an idiot. I have spoken before about the monthly charity crop i go to, run by my croppin' crony Anne, that is the third Saturday of every month. This morning i got up early and spent a few hours going through my supplies to winnow out things to get rid of. There is a swap table at the crop where you can buy and sell things for ridiculously cheap. I gathered items, priced them, marked them, packed them and set off for Parkville at 11:00. Imagine my surprise when i arrived at the church and no one was there. As i was sitting in my car i started to realize that perhaps today is the SECOND Saturday of the month, not the third. What was really alarming, though, was that i really couldn't figure out what the date was - i was quite sure that it was August 16th. Then i started to convince myself that perhaps it wasn't even Saturday (i took yesterday off - more about that later). I drove home in a state of confusion; I honestly had no idea what day it was until i looked at my date book. I think that maybe, just maybe, I might be working too much and might need a vacation. BTW, in case you are confused today is Saturday, August 11, 2007.

Trash Dogs

At today's library in Virginia, we were greeted in the lobby by three large pieces of art in the glass room in the lobby. Each was over four feet long or wide, portrayed a dog and appeared to be made of trash. Needless to say, i was transfixed. After the show i asked our librarian about them. It was a community project that they had done with the local children to talk about recycling. Almost everything in the collages could NOT be recycled, so this was another way to reuse the products. Virginia's Summer Reading theme is "Sit, Stay, Read" so they made dogs. She was so happy that i was really interested in them that she unlocked the room so that i could get a closer look. The first one - the running dog - is outlined in bead necklaces, textured with cups and bowls and has a collar and leash made from bags. [look for the pig-shaped puzzle piece] The second one - sitting dog - was mostly made of styrofoam peanuts and plastic caps, though check out the random mitten button and the sunglasses. And my favorite - shaggy dog - was made of hanging layers of bubble wrap.

Now for something completely different..

I need to make a quick, serious interruption to this otherwise sparkle-pony blog. It seems like we have entered another doom bubble for people i love. My grandmother is in the hospital. I got a "suicide hotline" call from a friend at midnight. My mother is in the hospital. My bestest friend, Rickki, goes under the knife tomorrow for her back. I am fine, but it is like everyone around me is falling to pieces, so here is a request - okay, make that 2 requests: 1. could we have a little sound off here so that i know you are alive, or e-mail/call/text me to tell me you are okay, 2. could you hold my family (and their doctors) in your belief system - prayers, kind thoughts, candle lighting, chanting, whatever - since apparently we could use all the help we can get right now. Thanks!

Community Art

I like to support arts in our community. I also like cheap or (even better) free entertainment. On Sunday I had quite the fill of both. In the afternoon i went to see The Nightingale Dream at Open Space Arts in Reisterstown. This community arts center has been a mainstay for TSP for several years. This particular play was written by team member Annie and co-directed by Annie and former-team member Diane. The cast also has a former team member, his daughter and a team member's boyfriend. I was very impressed with both the play itself, which is a traditional comedy sort of in the vein of Two Gentlemen of Verona (Annie rocks) and the cast, most of whom are teenagers. It will be staged 3 more times - Friday and Saturday at 7:00 and Sunday at 2:00. It is fun and a great way to support art. After the play i stopped to pick up Chinese food (Hunan Joy on Edmonson Ave makes the best flat noodles with beef and is 1 block from my house!) and went to the Lurman Woodland Theater in Catonsville. This outdoor theater offers free concerts Saturday and Sunday night throughout the summer. They had moved the band to an indoor venue cause of the threatening rain and there was some confusion about where exactly to go, but i eventually found them. Project Natale is a jazz ensemble with an apparently ever-changing line-up. On Sunday they had electric keys, double bass, saxophone (Oh, how i love the saxophone), drum kit and hand percussion; you know I am gonna dig any band that is two-fifths percussion! They were really good and it was a lovely, relaxing way to spend an evening. There are several more weekends of free outdoor music at the Lurman. Go support some local art in your community (and take me with you)!

"only the curious have something to find"

This was a week of anniversaries for me. Wednesday marked 6 years of me being Supervisor of Outreach Services and Thursday was the 14th anniversary of me starting at MSC. Sometimes it doesn't feel that long and sometimes it feels like i've been here my entire life (actually it is 38% of my life, in case you were wondering). To celebrate i took myself to Nickel Creek's Farewell (for now) Tour with special guest Fionna Apple at Pier 6 Pavillion on Thursday night. Nickel Creeek's last album Why Should the Fire Die? has been living in my studio CD player for about 2 months now. I really like it, a lot. I have always been impressed with the talent of all 3 members of the band and have wanted to see them live for several years. It looked like this might be my last chance, so off I went. What an amazing concert. The band consists of Sara Watkins on violin, Chris Thille on mandolin and Sean Watkins on guitar and they all do vocals. There was also a stand-up bass player for the tour. The talent level verges on ridiculous, especially if you consider that all 3 of them are still in their 20s. They played songs from all three of their albums, mixing near CD reproductions and drawn out improvisations. This was the first night of their tour and they sounded well practiced and seemed to be having a lot of fun. It was cool that instead of having Fionna Apple start the show, they had her come out and sing with them several times during the 2.5 hour concert. Her voice is amazing, especially coming out of such a tiny body (somebody give that girl a sandwich for goodness sakes). It was interesting to see Nickel Creek play the part of her back-up band, but it was unbelievable when they mixed their genres or did covers. The bluegrass version of Fionna's hit "Criminal" was crazy fun and i have NEVER heard a better cover of Patsy Cline by anyone. On the way back to the car i saw people standing by stantions by the buses waiting to meet the band. Eventually they all showed and here are pictures of Sara talking to fans, Sean scamming the phone number of 2 girls from Columbia and Chris singing a capella with some fans: And here is me with Sara and Chris: If you have any chance to see Nickel Creek in these last 3 weeks before they go their seperate ways, GO - it was amazing.