crayola madness

Ever been to the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA? It's kinda hard to miss, what with the giant crayons raining down the building. For our August Team Day we came in early and made the drive north for some team-building. Team members AJ, Lindsey, Amy, Felicia and I were ready for some fun. love the matching outfits This is not the actual factory where they manufacture Crayola products (that's up the street), but a hands-on museum of the history of the company, a showcase for new products, (Felicia drawing on color-expose paper) and a place for rampant creativity. When you pay the $10 admission they give you a map, a plastic bag and three tokens. Working in a museum i love, loved that they gave each person a bag because the whole time you are collecting products and making projects. The tokens are to use in machines that give you either a four-pack of crayons, a magic marker or some model magic paper clay. I really liked that instead of just giving you the samples you could choose which three you wanted; if you wanted different colored markers, or lots of crayons or three sets of model magic that was up to you. I did not get any markers because i wanted to spend my tokens on this a chance to visit the actual factory! There was a lot of anticipation, but alas, it was not to be. This summer they had an Under the Sea theme going in the museum with many of the projects being about sea creatures and fun sea-themed decorations Lindsey as Nemo and Amy as a slow, sad turtle except that she couldn't hold the face There was a demo stage/theater that did demonstrations on crayon and marker manufacturing so we went to the 11:40 show. To get in we had to pass a giant wall mural where every single member of my team pointed out the same figure and wondered exactly what drug this volunteer was taking cause even as people who enjoy our museum jobs we never have this expression of sheer ecstasy on our faces. The theater itself was cool and produces the crayons and markers that are in the token machines. It was interesting to learn see how clear, liquid wax becomes red crayons, but i gotta say that our performer was like the most boring guy ever. My job is to train people in public speaking and informal education and I needed to spend about 3 days with this guy. Yikes. It was bad. Though he was terrible, the process was amazing and i'm glad we endured his presentation. There was one thing in the theater that held everyone's rapt attention the digital crayon counter numbering the crayons produced at the actual factory. The numbers turned so fast it was nearly a blur. After the theater we wandered over a clear bridge into the studio space (where AJ randomly saw one of his close friends from New Jersey and his family; small world, right) which was a high-ceilinged, warehouse space that was filled with sunlight and huge art projects. There were multiple classes that you could pay extra to do, but there was a free craft as well using watercolors. Each one of use were given a turtle to paint. We were one of the few (possibly only) groups present without children. That did not deter us at all from getting into the spirit of creating. You have never seen a group of adults so intent on painting little turtles with dry-cake watercolors Here is my little guy, all bright-eyed and purple-shelled It was interesting to listen to the parents and grandparents around us "helping" their charges with the paints. Some were really encouraging and fun, but it was alarming to hear more than one person say Turtles are supposed to be green when the kids went for some other color - way to squelch creativity and completely miss the point of the museum, people. We made up stories about our turtles as we painted and had a blast. (l to r) AJ's Schizo, Felicia's Homer, Lindsey's Guillermo, Niki's Jasper and Amy's Milton Back across the bridge and into the lower galleries where there were every Crayola product you could imagine to play with : Amy and street chalk, AJ using a light pen, Amy and Lindsey using window markers in a plexi hallway while Felicia take pictures and then AJ draws outlines of the girls drawing on the outside of the wall, and lots of crayons The undersea theme was maintained with the coloring pages and a multi-media project Plus there was fish-printing We didn't get to use real fish, but you could still get the gist of the artform with rubber fish, brayers and printing ink. My fishy goes into the drying oven and voila! This is my favorite picture from this part of the museum cause AJ is hard at work with crayons, Amy has been captivated by something hanging from the ceiling, Felicia is taking pictures and Lindsey is still working on her seahorse someplace. What a fun place. And we still had to see The Crayola store is adjacent to the museum and filled with a bajillion Crayola products. I bought postcards and a fridge magnet, but i resisted everything else. What i was really interested in was Big Blue 15 ft long and 1500 pounds of crayon Kinda takes your breath away, no? Man i want to try to color with that. Time for lunch and then on to the next museum on the tour.

It's a miracle!

Wait... what's that? OMG... that's something growing and alive in the blue tin. Yes, indeedy. I managed to somehow not kill everything and a marigold actually blossomed.

CHALLENGE!

Perhaps you recall that i was a dedicated gym go-er with a personal trainer until a few months ago. Between being sick, stupid doctor ordered restrictions and losing my trainer I have been lax all summer about the gym. And by lax i mean didn't go for 2 months. I feel like a lazy, shiftless blob. blech We are only 22 days away from restrictions being lifted (assuming 3 months of enforced sloth and vitamin regiments has restored my metabolism and blood pressure to normal levels; and yes, i am assuming that cause i am so done with being sick) so i need to get back into good habits of exercise. But honestly, without a trainer to motivate me and make me accountable I'm kind of at a loss. Therefore, i have devised a CHALLENGE. Starting today and running for 4 weeks, former team member and current friend Erin and I are going to record the time we spend in cardio-training. At the end of the CHALLENGE the loser has to make the winner a sumptuous dinner. If I were a betting man, i'd put money on... hmmmm... actually we are pretty evenly matched. We each have a disadvantage : - Erin is taking medication that makes her sometimes, well, cranky - I might go on vacation next week But we each have an advantage as well : - Erin has an exercise bike in her house - I am uber-competitive Win or lose i am setting a reasonable goal for myself to average 20 minutes a day or 560 minutes over the 4 week period. I will update the Nikiverse weekly for added accountability. Ready... Set... GO! *post addition* Given Erin's reasonable comment that we should have one mandatory day of rest i am revising my personal goal to 480 minutes.

Recieving some art

There's nothing i love more than coming home to find a package by my door. Oh, how i love parcel posts! This particular package contained a watercolor and ink painting by Joe Swanson called Grief. A few weeks ago i became aware of the Retrieval Project. You can read the whole story here, but the gist of it is that a family moved halfway across the country to pursue a dream, things went very bad and they had to move back to the west coast. Unfortunately they had to abandon most of their possessions and it will cost $4000 to get everything back. To raise the money, every day for 50 days Joe and Jenny are each going to do a painting on the same word or phrase and sell than for $40; after the originals sell there will be prints of each available for $20. Firstly, i know a little something about making life-altering plans that go horribly wrong. Secondly, i love the ingenuity of the project, of being pro-active in the face of adversity. Lastly, i was fascinated by the prospect of seeing 2 very different artists tackle the same idea; seeing the diversity. So every day i started checking the site. There were some pieces i liked and some i didn't; it was all academically interesting until Day 9 - Grief I was smitten. Even now i can't fully describe why i am captivated by her. The sword slices her in half, but doesn't kill her; she still wears flowers in her hair and has color in her cheeks. The eye on the sword is cool. The blue shadow adds just enough color. That jaunty scarf. And the look on her face... I just love it. I waited and waited for someone to buy the original so that i could get a half-priced print, but alas, no one did. Finally, i talked myself into it, Really, Niki; you are going to have to use savings to get the print anyway and for only $20 more you get the original. Just bite the bullet and buy it. So i did. I am so glad that i did. After she arrived and i saw the exquisite ink lines and the watercolor gradients, i knew that the print would be nice, but not as breathtaking as the original. It came matted in black and now i have to decide how i will frame her and where to hang her. Of course, my Gorvensky and my Max are still sitting in my living room waiting to find wall space, so it might be awhile. Amazingly, i was so taken with her loveliness when i first saw her that i never clicked on the image to see it larger, so the most tell detail of the work completely escaped me. It looks like the sword is edged in red, but actually it is the word GRIEF, over and over again. Wow. The painting is based on tragedy, but to me it is hopeful, beautiful, life affirming. Check out the Retrieval Project (linked above) and follow along as a family uses their talent to turn lemons into lemonade. I am already in love with another painting -today's in fact- of Joe's version of Surprise. A tiger in a rose; dang, that's cool.

edible Evil Genius

As the Great Exodus continues, team member AJ's last day was Friday. Since no one was going to be working that day we had his celebration on Wednesday. He and I had been talking about the ridiculous double cookie cake that i'd seen at Sam's Club so that is what i was going to get him. Except they didn't have any.
Why didn't they have any?
Because no one ordered the containers they go in after baking.
sigh
Filled with disappointment i decided that we would make our own double cookie sandwiches, though they wouldn't be cake sized of course.
  Cookies and icing were bought and quickly consumed. I have to say that the double cookie sandwich was quite a hit at the gathering. AJ was so pleased that he proclaimed They need a good name; something that captures how wonderful they are, but how wrong it is to love them. I suggest Evil Genius.
Generally people put fluffy white icing (that is its actual name) on the chocolate chip cookies and milk chocolate icing on the peanut butter cookie, but there was some variety and experimentation. After most of us were done AJ decided to make the Evil Genius that would rule all cookie sandwiches forever :
chocolate chip cookie, fluffy white icing, peanut butter cookie, milk chocolate icing, chocolate chip cookie. It was a sight to behold, especially when he tried to eat it.
Now that is a special, evil treat. In AJ's own words, That was so delicious, but so wrong. I don't think i'll ever want another cookie again.
Good luck, AJ and stay away from evil cookies.

brookside gardens

For a lovely afternoon of botany try Brookside Gardens.
This 50-acre public display garden is situated within Wheaton Regional Park in Montgomery County, Maryland. There are two enclosed conservatories for year-round enjoyment. This summer, one building has a butterfly exhibit called "Wings of Fancy" which i'm sure is cool, but had an admission fee so we didn't go into it.
The other conservatory is free, so team members Felicia, Amy and I visited during lunch.
I visited here one other time -years ago- and it was nice to see features that i remembered, like a variety of non-indigenous plants.
I was impressed by the Bird of Paradise
that was taller than me until i realized the towering plant behind it
was also a Bird of Paradise -
i had no idea they could grow so large.
(i also have no idea why Felicia looks like she wants to throw herself off of this bridge; it must just be the picture cause we were having a great time)
 Speaking of bridges, there is water flowing through much of the building. This summer they are featuring an art exhibit called "The Vine of the Times"; Drs Seth Goldstein and Paula Stone created sculptures from invasive Oriental bittersweet that they pulled from local parks as part of the Weed Warriors program.
  Goldilocks
Vinosaur
  Jaws
Insectosaurus 
and my personal favorite, Cello
The outside gardens are divided into several distinct areas.
  We didn't have time to see all of them, but we trekked through what we could. The Trial Garden is where historically the staff has tried various plantings, hence the name. There was an amazing bed planted as a dragon that was too large to get a good picture of and a profusion of colors
Towards the entrance of the Trial Garden there is a large sundial with planted time lines
 How big is that gnomon? you ask.
Really big.
There was an expansive rose garden
that smelled so good in the summer heat. It was hard to pick a favorite rose, but i decided on this one.
The various gardens flowed from one to the other with walkways between the planted beds. I liked that they featured large planted pots, as well. There were lots of benches and places to rest with water features upon which to turn an introspective gaze
  sigh...

and even a gazebo
Did you know that i love gazebos?
We were walking down some steps when i noticed this little pine tree that was sloping in a cool way, almost like a house from Alice in Wonderland.
I was pointing it out when Amy and Felicia squealed Look at the baby bunny!
Holy crap!
 Have you ever seen anything as cute as that little bunny hiding in the pine tree house?
There was other fauna to be found around the gardens. Amy spotted this cool insect buzzing around several beds
 
It looked like a hummingbird/moth/lobster/crayfish and was super fast. After i finally got a good look at it i remembered that former team member Rob had photos of a similar creature on his site; it is a bee hawk moth.
Of course there were butterflies galore
 
  I thought they were mostly regular yellow swallowtails until i saw these great blue markings.
We didn't get to the children's garden, the Japanese garden or the smell garden, though there were several pots marked Smell Me
There was also this water fountain that was being slowly reclaimed by nature.
I dared the girls to try to get a drink from it, but when we got close we found
No kidding; thanks for the helpful sign.
I really want to go back when there is time to explore everything, maybe take a picnic lunch, maybe pay for the butterfly exhibit. And certainly i want to revisit my favorite plant of the day, Brugmansia - the Angel's Trumpet.

Do i have a sign around my neck

... that says Let me help you empty your house?
I have fun posts to do about a garden, 2 museums and a piece of art i recently acquired, but alas i am slaving away in my friend Justin's apartment instead. When he left at the beginning of the summer he only took what he could fit in his car. He came back to move out of his apartment and will return to Louisville tomorrow with a car load.
We've had 3 days to get rid of basically everything he owns.
Anyone need a full-sized box slat bed?
Or a full set of the 1906 Encyclopedia Britannica?
Or 3 metric tons of Legos? Jeez, how do i get myself into these situations?
 Today's Public Service Announcement - Don't leave a Bag O' Salad in the fridge for 3 months. It turns into vile black liquid that makes Niki want to hurl.
Thank You.

fancy lunch

As should be evident from nearly every post here about work, I only hire characters for my team. As we come to the end of the summer season people are finding themselves in the office more than any of them really enjoy. People who like being at a desk don't really end up on my team. Case in point - it is lunchtime and i hear team member Amy rustling about a lot over in her space: there are drawers being opened, multiple trips to the kitchen, the clank of dinnerware and finally a decidedly contented sigh from Amy herself. I felt it my duty to investigate. She knew that she'd be eating at her desk for the next few weeks so she went to the dollar store and bought herself a table-setting for work. Complete with a placemat, people. I love the floating strawberries in the sparkling water in the daiquiri glass and the single Lindt truffle. We are a collection of freaks. I love us.

does it even count as seafood?

I am a born and bred Marylander. I have a degree in marine science. I don't like seafood. Which of those statements doesn't seem to match the others? I've just never really liked fish or shellfish. I've tried it sporadically through my life with varied results. For awhile, right after college, i didn't even want to see anything that could pass as a lab dissection. I'm willing to try stuff, but not real hopeful about the results. The only seafood i've consistently liked is tuna fish, but that is pretty far removed from actual fish. Oh, and i love this place What is it about the LJS that keeps me coming back? (besides the memory of me and Mel sitting in the LJS as a car drove into the parking lot ON FIRE?) When i was a kid i loved Arthur Treacher's, but once they went away i came to know Long John Silvers. And i really do love their fish ; i'll even eat it without tartar sauce. It is fricking yumtastic. But look at it. It doesn't even resemble fish. It is to seafood what the chicken mcnugget (which i also love) is to poultry. LJS has the best batter i have ever tasted and the fish is flaky, but firm. I actually prefer their fish to their chicken - how crazy is that? Someone needs to figure out how to make real fish taste as delicious as this without 563,000 calories and 49g of fat per bite.