May's Machete

Seen Around Midtown: Walgreens' Electric Vehicle Charger

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:12:00 +0000

I recently noticed that my corner Walgreens re-painted one of their parking spots as an electric vehicle charging spot.

The hook-up at the spot wasn't actually installed until later, though. I finally noticed it was all set up when I went there yesterday.

It made me wonder: is this something Walgreens is doing across the country? A quick Google search quickly proved that it is. According to Consumer Reports, Walgreens started installing the first of 800 electric vehicle chargers at stores across the nation last summer.

And according to the Walgreens website, the company has way more green cred than I realized:

Walgreens has a long-standing commitment to reducing energy usage and expanding its renewable energy initiatives. The company became the nation’s first drugstore chain to install a geothermal energy system at one of its stores in Oak Park, Ill., last November. The company’s Mira Mesa, Calif., location became the first drugstore to receive LEED gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Walgreens also plans to have more than 130 rooftop solar installations at stores and distribution centers by the end of the year. In addition, the company utilizes an energy management system that monitors electricity, water, heating and cooling and waste management at more than 3,000 stores to help reduce energy usage and maintenance costs while extending equipment life.

Which is all well and good, but now I can't help but wondering... How many electric vehicles are there in Kansas City?

Seen Around Midtown: Big Brothers, Big Sisters

Seen Around Midtown: Graffiti

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Feast of the Kitchen God (Little Chinese New Year)

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:37:00 +0000

Image via Dragon Myths

Happy Chinese New Year! (It was actually yesterday, but what the heck.) We're now in the year of the Water Dragon. I hear it's a good year for having babies and getting married - both of which I plan to do by year's end.

This past Friday, Matt and I celebrated what is sometimes called Little New Year by the Chinese aka the Feast of the Kitchen God. It's part of my whole start-traditions-now-that-we're-having-a-baby deal. We're going to be celebrating select holidays from around the world throughout the year - one for each month.

Zao Jun, the Kitchen God - Image via Wikipedia

For January, I chose the Feast of the Kitchen God mostly because Matt LOVES food and cooking and anything related to it (just one reason he's so excellent at being Head of Gourmet at World Market) and the celebration is supposed to be led by the "man of the house." And you're supposed to go out to eat to give the god the night off, which just sounds like a great way to celebrate anything.

In the Chinese tradition, the Kitchen God watches over the kitchen of the family all year, watching to see who's naughty & who's nice. The feast celebrates his going to heaven to report on what he's seen & is also an opportunity to convince him to say nice things about the family.

Since this is our first time celebrating the feast, we didn't have a picture up all year, but Matt hung one up across from the stove. Then he put an offering of sweet stuff out, covered it in honey, and augmented it with candles.

They burned while we went out with our roomie and some friends to eat at a local buffet. After we stuffed our faces for about an hour, we came home. The three of us who live in the apartment "fed" the offering to the image, smearing honey on his lips so he'll say sweet things.

Then we burnt the image out on the porch, which symbolically sent him up to heaven.

We all agreed that burning stuff is a great way to celebrate and should be done more often.

The next random holiday we'll be celebrating is a Roman holiday called Terminalia, which honors the boundaries of home and land.

Related posts:

What to Watch for the Holidays

I'm Thankful for my Baby Bump

Halloween High Jinks

Read My Latest Arts America Post

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:45:00 +0000

Yesterday my fourth post for Arts America went up! It's about a ~4 minute stop-motion animated video made by artist Allison Schulnik which I saw at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art on a HUGE screen that covered an entire gallery wall.

Here's a excerpt:

“Mound” features intriguing figures, some of which retain their individuality throughout the film, while others morph into each other, or are never fully separate from other clay creatures. The movements among the the conjoined figures mirror the movements of the clay within the figures, creating an overall impression of agitation and transformation.

Read the rest right here!

Related posts:

May's Blogging for Arts America!

May's Machete is 4 Years Old!

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Event Pics: Troost Art Hop (Jan 2012)

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:40:00 +0000

I'll keep this short since I'm suffering with a head cold at the moment. Here's some pics from Friday's Art Hop (during which I felt fine, happily). Enjoy!

(That's my stuff)

(As are these)

May's Heavenly Creations Now Exclusively on Etsy

Be Sure to See 'Cut & Paste' While You Can!

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Come See Me at Tomorrow's Troost Art Hop

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:06:00 +0000

Sparkling Spiral by ~readheadgirl on deviantART
I'm excited to tell you that I'll be part of the Troost Art Hop tomorrow, Friday the 13th from 7-10 PM! I'll be showing a few paintings (including the one above, which I made at a local music show over 4 hours) and several collages. My stuff will be at the Ubuntu Village Community Center (4327 Troost) with two other local artists and where the local KC Drum Tribe will be playing. You can also see more art at the Emerald City Welcome Center (4334 Troost) and the Jason Turner Gallery right beside it.

The Troost Art Hop is part of the Emerald City revitalization project. Crystal K. Wiebe described it in January 2012 issue of local women-focused magazine her this way:

Kansas City's most notorious street [Troost Avenue] is a boundary line for Emerald City, an area where, a a community organizer, [Franny] Knight would find it very cool for you to invest your dollars, sweat and creative energy. Better known as the Manheim Historic Park Neighborhood, this impoverished section of Kansas City's urban core extends from 39th and 46th streets between Troost and Paseo, and contains about 60 boarded up houses and 50 vacant lots.

The area lies within the 150 square blocks of blight that US Rep Emanuel Cleaver II has identified as the Green Impact Zone. His related initiatives involved some federal and local revitalization money, but Knight, a 46-year-old Wichita native and former motivational speaker and corporate trainer, sees the potential for greater transformation. She wants to create an intentional community in the heart of Kansas City where all kinds of people coexist and cooperate in an artful, safe and sustainable setting. Think community gardening, bicycle sharing, holistic health care, alternative education programs and a functioning "Earth Ship" -- an environmentally friendly demonstration home that functions completely off the grid.

Knight's Emerald City dream already is underway in the form of monthly second Friday art walks along Troost and a couple of neglected houses that are once again liveable.

I'm excited to be part of such an ambitious project & look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

By the way, if you missed it, my latest post for Arts America went up last week. Read it here.

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May's Heavenly Creations Now Exclusively on Etsy

Event Pics: Slutwalk / Chalk Drawing Demo

"While I Was Young and Hot"

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Tank Girl: Apocalypse Now

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:40:00 +0000

Image via My Comic Shop

Due to a recent haircut (the result of a mishap I had with the clippers), I find myself more than slightly resembling pregnant Tank Girl from the Apocalypse storyline.

Many thanks to Matt for helping me homage the cover art!

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My Fictional Female Role Models

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365 Self-Portrait Wrap-Up

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Andi's Travel Journal & Bedouin Thoughts on Women

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Wadi Rum Formation
By David Bjorgen (Own work)

[GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0]

via Wikimedia Commons

A friend's friend's daughter, Andi Enns is a Park University student currently traveling in Jordan, "on grants from America’s Unofficial Ambassadors and United Planet, doing research and marketing work to prevent malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS with Friends of the Global Fund."

She's got some very interesting posts up on Andi's Travel Journal, recording her experiences and impressions. Her most recent post, "Lessons of the Bedouin" chronicles her journey to Wadi Rum and Wadi Musa, where she met Bedouins, "a tribe of desert dwelling people with two recognizable sects in this area: the Nomads and the Gypsies."

She particularly noted the Bedouins' opinions of women:

It’s hard to find a female Nomad in the area – in fact, I never met one. Abdullah said this is because they believe women are weaker than men, and so they must be protected. He said it would be very unattractive if a woman insisted on taking care of herself, because he doesn’t want to court another man. He said he believes in treating women like princesses or like they’re delicate, and he believes this puts women on a socially superior level to men. He is never protected when he goes out, after all.

Another Nomad Bedouin I met in town, Ahmed, also talked at length about women and men. First, he asked me to marry him. (I declined.) Then he asked if it was because I assumed he couldn’t afford my dowry because he is a shopkeeper – he assured me he could pay my family at least 20 racing camels for my hand in marriage. (That’s about $150,000 worth of camel.) He told me that westerners don’t understand the dowry – we think it’s paying for a bride. He said the Bedouins consider a dowry to be a gift of gratitude to a woman’s parents for all of effort they’ve put into raising their daughter.

...

Mahmoud told me that Gypsy Bedouins believe in having fun, that life is a party. They are not strict Muslims, he said, and they like to drink, smoke, and get rowdy. They believe women are the same as men – in fact, that all people are the same... He said he doesn’t like the Nomad way of life, and thinks they take themselves too seriously. He said he thinks their way of treating women is archaic, and he invites any woman to challenge him on any front.

For more of Andi's first-hand accounts of her travels, click on over!

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Goods 4 Girls

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Vulcan's Forge, Your Local Jewelers

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:03:00 +0000

I was hired for seasonal help at Vulcan's Forge, a locally-owned & operated jewelry shop that emphasizes sterling silver and gemstones, offers repairs and incredible custom work. I just found out that they're keeping me on for a while longer and am very happy about it!

I really enjoy the employees and customers that I interact with, AND I get to model super pretty jewelry while I'm there! (That's what all these pictures are about).

I have to admit, I've already sold myself 4 rings while I've been there - and had my little brother buy me yet another one for Xmas. But soon I'll have run out of fingers to put them on, so that's a problem that will take care of itself.

It's really been intriguing to see what the jewelers, or "the magicians in the back" as we call them, can create (and alter.) Check out the Vulcan's Forge website for images of some of their custom work. Theirs also several photo albums full of more pictures at the store, as well as a couple cases of custom pieces that weren't immediately taken home by someone.

Vulcan's Forge is located on Broadway Road between 39th and Westport. If you stop by to see me and mention this post, you'll get a free pair of $3 sterling silver earrings with purchase. Free is neat, right?

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Whimsical Recycled Necklaces

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No More Regrets

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 02:20:00 +0000

Image via Moderate Voice

Wow! This is the last time I'll post in 2011... strange how quickly this year passed but how slowly it seemed to go some days!

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to leave behind this new year because my friend Darcy invited me to a Burning Bowl Ceremony at Unity Church of Overland Park. Apparently, participants burn a piece of paper with a word on it describing what they want to let go of in the coming year. After putting a great deal of reflection into what I would write, I finally realized there's just one thing I want/need to let go of:

REGRETS.

If there's anything that keeps me from being my happiest, healthiest self, it's beating myself up for mistakes I made years and years ago when I was quite a different person. So my New Year's resolution is to let go of regrets and to be joyfully present wherever I find myself to be (which I figure is the exact opposite of living in the past).

And on a totally different topic, I posted my second article for Arts America yesterday. Click the linkage to give it a read.

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New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!

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Baby's First Xmas (Sort of)

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:10:00 +0000

Images from baby's last ultrasound

I was happily surprised by the friends & family who gave me Xmas gifts for the baby, though he's not here quite yet to enjoy them.

He received an Ugly Doll,

a teddy bear,

a set of embroidered burp cloths,

an embroidered hoodie towel,

and a knitted blanket

with matching set of booties, hat and a sweater (not pictured cause my aunt still has to put the buttons on it so she kept it).

Now I just need to get the closet I've assigned for baby stuff cleaned out, so I can start putting his stuff away! Right now it's full of art and other random bits & bobs....

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May's Having a Boy

I'm Thankful for my Baby Bump

May's Got a Prize Inside

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What To Watch for the Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:34:00 +0000

Since we're having a baby & have been together for nearly 5 years, I've been thinking about establishing our own traditions. So for the holiday season, Matt & I started a tradition of watching a crapton of Christmas movies & episodes from TV shows. It's not a fancy tradition, but we like the ridiculousness of things made for the Xmas season.

Some of the things we've been watching are:

Gremlins (& Gremlins 2)

Image via Peony Lim

Community Christmas episodes, "Comparative Religion"

Image via El Dia De La Tromba

"Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas"

Image via Televisionary

"Regional Holiday Music"

Image via SpoilerTV

The Santa Clause (& The Santa Clause 2)

Image via ABC Family

The Little Drummer Boy

Image via Wikia

"A Charlie Brown Christmas"

Image via ABC

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas

Image via Patrick Willems

A Muppet Christmas Carol

Image via Adventures of a Lost Boy

Jingle All The Way

Image via Signal Bleed

Die Hard

Image via Orlando Weekly

"A Pinky and the Brain Christmas"

Image via Black Wolf Images

Animaniacs Christmas Specials, "A Christmas Plotz / Little Drummer Warners"

Image via J.E. Daniels

"Twas the Day Before Christmas / Jingle Boo / The Great Wakkorotti: The Holiday Concert / Toy Shop Terror / Yakko's Universe"

Image via J.E. Daniels

Some we still plan on watching before the month is over include:

Home Alone (& Home Alone 2)

Image via Listal

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Image via SpyHunter007

The Shop Around the Corner

Image via Movies Over Matter

While You Were Sleeping

Image via BillPullman.org

White Christmas

Image via Cocktails, 365

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Image via Basement Rejects

The Snowman

Image via Doc Smartypants

Babes in Toyland

Image via Bad Movies

How are you/have you been celebrating your Hanukkah, Yule, Solstice, Christmas or whatever?

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Merry Xmas Y'all

Happy Holidays

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May's Heavenly Creations Now Exclusively on Etsy

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:01:00 +0000

Sadly, Stone Spirit Lodge is closing down at the end of this month, despite winning the Pitch's Best New Age Business award this year. So that means you can ONLY buy my feather earrings on Etsy now.

I just posted the few pairs that hadn't sold at the Lodge yet:

As well as a couple feather fascinators I whipped up last week (modeled by my dear friend Darcy):

Click here to see more feathery things.

If you live locally & would like to avoid the shipping fee, feel free to hit me up at reddvenus AT gmail DOT com and we can talk options.

Related posts:
May's Heavenly Creations - Now On Etsy!
May's Heavenly Creations Available Now!

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Clive Barker's Absolute Midnight

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:04:00 +0000

Image via Shockya.com

I recently finished the 3rd in the Abarat trilogy by Clive Barker - Absolute Midnight - which was published earlier this year. Barker is best known for his horror, but the Abarat series is young adult fantasy, though still quite dark.

The Abarat trilogy follows the adventures of Candy Quackenbush, a young woman from Chickentown who is swept into the Abarat by a mysterious wave that overtakes the town one day. She is taken to the Abarat - a world where each hour of the day is an island unto itself. In the first two books her journeys take her all around the islands, to Chickentown, and back again. She makes both friends and enemies, all of which play a part in Absolute Midnight.

Image via CliveBarker.Info

In this final book, Candy and her friends must defend the islands against a darkness that would envelop the Abarat, brought about by a wicked sorceress and her mysterious allies. Candy has mastered some magic in her journeys; it enables her to fight not only the enemies of the Abarat but also her abusive, alcoholic father who (with the help of some washed-up Abarat magic) attacks Candy as she dreams.

One of the very interesting aspects of the series is how Barker creates many paintings for each one, showing pictorially the places and persons that can be somewhat difficult to imagine as they are so out of this world.

Image via Fuck Yeah Clive Barker

I have to say, I found the ending of Absolute Midnight somewhat dissatisfying... but maybe that's because I sound the story so fascinating that I just didn't want it to end. Seems like he's gearing up for a sequel? As if waiting for THIS to come out wasn't torture enough!

This trailer for Absolute Midnight shows some of the imagery from it - though the first part gets kinds boring so you might want to skip forward:

(Click here for embedded video)

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2 Fantasy-Filled Web Comics
Summer Reading: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

May's Blogging for Arts America!

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:00:00 +0000

I'm excited that I was hired recently as the Arts America Kansas City arts museum blogger. I'll be writing at least 2 posts a month for them, starting now! Check out my short, spiffy bio:

(Click to see it larger)

They asked that my first post be a summary of the local art museum scene. I put it up earlier this week and hope you'll take a moment to check it out:

(Click image or this link)

May's Machete is 4 Years Old!

8 Questions about Art and America

3 Visions in Glass Now @ the Nelson-Atkins

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May's Having a Boy

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:36:00 +0000

Wow.. I have been running around all day! Let's see if I can collect myself enough to write a coherent post.

I'm 20 weeks along now so Tuesday morning I had an ultrasound to check on the baby and also to determine its sex. Now, I've been assuming this entire time that I would be having a girl. I assumed this because 1) any time I've imagined myself as a parent, I imagined myself with a girl, 2) I had dreams where I saw/talked to my future child and she was a girl, and 3) my intuition (which had never failed me) was totally pointing to a girl.

So when the ultrasound technician said "Do you see that? Right there between the legs?" and I saw what was unmistakably a penis, I felt somewhat devastated. On the one hand, I was thrilled at the cute little face and body I was seeing on the screen. On the other hand, I had so many dreams and hopes pinned on having a girl that it was like experiencing a death.

When I *finally* got home after a ridiculous mix-up that had me waiting for my prenatal appointment for 3 hours, I had myself a good bawl. Yesterday and today I've been grieving a bit for the girl I thought I'd have. But I was also talking to my boy (since he can hear now that his ears are developed) and giving him my love. It's a huge mental adjustment for me to make, but I'm actually moving through it faster than I expected. I hung out with a friend who has a baby girl today and I didn't feel jealous or upset or sad or anything.

I'm overjoyed that my baby is healthy and growing. I love the little guy. I don't know how I couldn't. I just need to realign my dreams to reality - and get over my disappointment over how much less cute clothes for boys are versus clothes for girls.

So in April, I'll be having a baby boy. (I'm still getting used to saying that.)

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I'm Thankful for my Baby Bump

May's Got a Prize Inside

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Concert Review: Florence + The Machine

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:30:00 +0000

I meant to post this yesterday, but yesterday wasn't my day so I let myself be late on this... Tho I kind of doubt anyone is really paying close attention to my posting schedule. Anyhoo... on with the show!

My fabulous friend Darcy treated me to the Night the Buzz Stole Xmas Florence + The Machine show at the lovely Midland. We arrived just in time to see the second opener, a band from Ireland called Two Door Cinema Club.

I'd never heard of them before this show, but I will definitely be on the lookout for them in the future. I love their sound. It's infectious, danceable and reminds me of OK Go. I enjoyed their set a lot.

Here's a taste of what they have to offer:

(Click here for embedded video)

After Two Door Cinema Club, the curtain went down and the anticipation became palpable. Darcy & I were in the back part of the section closest to the stage, which rapidly filled with more and more people. I was surprised by the age range of Florence fans (from teens to middle aged folks) and even more surprised later on how many of the guys weren't just there to be with their girlfriends. They were into it.

When Florence + The Machine came on, the reek of weed & the body heat made me feel swoon-y (being pregnant & dehydrated making me extra sensitive to both) so I listened to three of the first four songs while sitting on the little ledge that was the next stage of the floor up from us.

Then we moved back, which was great because we got a better view of Florence, who was wearing a gorgeous red dress. Apparently all of the tallest people were on the lowest level cause we had a crap view there (of course, made worse when you're sitting down!).

I've enjoyed listening to Florence + The Machine while hanging out with friends, but never really listened to it by myself, because there was something about the quality of her voice that I found a bit stressful to her ears. I now know that that quality is completely due to the recording process, because in person, her voice was FREAKING INCREDIBLE! It blew my mind how much better she sounded. I definitely didn't fully appreciated her talent before. Florence kept up her adorable cheeriness despite the microphones giving her a hard time - so much so that she had to re-start one of her songs.

The band and the back-up singers were also incredible performers. The entire hour and a half or so that they performed was an absolute delight to the ears. One of the songs I particularly enjoyed was "Shake It Out":

(Click here for embedded video)

If/when they come back to town, I highly recommend you buy a ticket.

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May's Scent Mixology

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:00:00 +0000

(Click to see larger size)

I love my dresser. Not only does it give my clothes a home, but the shelves along the sides of the mirror also allow space for me to store the ridiculous amount of accessories I have.

The lower right section is what I think of as my "mixing station" because it's where I keep the many scents I combine in various ways to make my own personal scent (though it's also where I stow my rings).

From left to right:

Lavender oil

Lotus Blossom oil

Rose water

Gardenia oil (front)

Orange Blossom water (in the tall perfume dauber)

Jovan Individuality Earth

Jovan Individuality Fire

Harajuko Lovers Love (front)

All the scents mix well together, and I enjoy the many combinations I can create from them. I most often use the floral scents, layering them together and occasionally adding a dab or two of the perfumes if I'm feeling it.

What's your personal scent?

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Concert Review: Celtic Soul Experience

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:46:00 +0000

Isidoro & I flashing our volunteer badges
I went to/volunteered at an awesome concert last night at St. Mary's Episcopal Church downtown. I'd never been there before and I was delighted at the medieval feel of the place (due to the evening darkness & mostly brick construction).

It's 125 years old and smells like OLD building. The altar was freaking gorgeous, and surprisingly had primarily female figures on it, which I haven't seen before.

The show was altered from the original format, because two of the artists weren't allowed to leave Ireland to perform! But some local artists stepped up to help at the last minute, and we all had 3 hours of listening enjoyment.

Noirin Ni Riain

The first performer was Noirin Ni Riain, an Irish Spiritual Singer, who sang in both Irish and English - sometimes within the same song. Her voice was incredible. She sang a mixture of spiritual and folk tunes from Ireland, often sharing the story of how she learned the song from another performer. I'm not really sure what the instruments she played are called, but they both bore a striking resemblance to accordions.

Margaret Waddell

Following Noirin was local singer Margaret Waddell, who performed songs by Hildegard von Bingen, who was a nun/visionary/authoress/artist/song-writer in the Middle Ages. I had recently listened to a few CDs of Hildegard's music and was entranced, so I was excited to hear some performed live. Margaret accompanied herself with bells and a variety of singing bowls.

Gerald Trimble, et al

The last set was another local performer, Gerald Trimble, who plays a very old instrument that's like a cross between a cello and a lute, and was backed up by 4 other musicians on a variety of common and unusual instruments (including a bass mandolin). They played traditional Irish & English songs in a jazz-like fashion.

All together now!
And, finally, everyone performed a couple songs together to end the evening.

Click here for embedded video
(The chorus was a sing-along, and unfortunately
the woman beside me was often off-key).

I enjoyed this beautiful musical evening full of obscure and familiar songs. If you're in Columbia* or St. Louis, you have the opportunity to see the show as well.

*Tonight only!

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I'm Thankful for My Baby Bump

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:49:00 +0000

I'm thankful for many things this year, but what I'm most thankful for is currently distending my belly:

(18 weeks pregnant)

Happy Thanksgiving!

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I'm Thankful For...

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May's Heavenly Creations - Now on Etsy!

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:31:00 +0000

I'm posting late cause I spent a most of the day posting items on my brand new Etsy shop.

Find these on Etsy

That's right... Just in time for the holidays!

Find these on Etsy

My feather earrings make great presents - I know cause I've gifted quite a few of them.

Find these on Etsy

Each pair is unique (though a few are similar), and each one was handmade by little ole me.

Find these on Etsy

Get 'em while you can!

Find these on Etsy

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Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty, Little Singing Plush!

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:13:00 +0000

I totally squeed when my sample "Soft Kitty" t-shirt & plush combo came in the mail from Stylin Online. Based on the adorable song from Big Bang Theory (video here), the soft kitty shirt features a cute kitteh and the lyrics of the song:

The plush itself IS a cute kitteh that plays the song in Penny's voice, like so:

(Click here for embedded video)

I'm not the kind of girl who's really into stuffed animals, but this cat is so freaking cute, that I keep cuddling with it and carrying it around the house with me so I can look at its adorable face.

You can buy the plush kitty separately or with the t-shirt; they offer styles for women and for men.

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In Which We Find Pinky a New Home

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:11:00 +0000

We recently decided to find a new home for Pinky, our second oldest cat. He was kinda dumb and stubborn as hell, but sweet, if annoying. He and I didn't get along great, but he LOVED Matt and adored sleeping in his lap. He started having dominance issues when my little bro and his 2 cats lived with us temporarily (6 cats in a smallish apartment was hellish BTW) and he's been acting out by pooping & peeing outside the litter box ever since.

With me being pregnant, that was presenting a health hazard to me & the baby, and we didn't think Pinky would be happy competing with yet another small life form in the apartment when the baby's born - though he was always pretty sweet to the other cats. He was always cuddling them, but he was obviously upset at not being able to go outside as often as he wanted (we only take them on occasional "walks") and wanted to be in his own space.

So we found a home for him at a farm 45 minutes away, where there's 3 barns, 2 other cats, and an elderly couple who wanted a cuddly cat. They picked him up this past weekend, which we had mixed feelings about. We know he'll love being outside and having tons of space (He already set himself up in the best cat shelter, kicking the other cats out as soon as he arrived), and we know it's less stress (for me especially), but we can't help missing him and feeling there's suddenly a lot more space in the apartment than there used to be.

Here's a brief pictoral history of our time with Pinky, whom we adopted as a kitten from one of my ex-coworkers.

(Click her for embedded video)

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Inky Cat's Sock Obsession

Stray Cat Love

Cat House at the Friends of Parkville Animal Shelter

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Style Inspiration: Fashion Bloggers

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:43:00 +0000

I've been following several inspiring fashion blogs & thought I'd share my favorites today. (The funniest part is that these bloggers keep featuring each other. The most surprising one so far? Susie Bubble's feature on Tokyo Fashion. Read on to find out who they are...).

Calur Villade

This 16 year-old fashionista designs her own clothes and is so freaking weird and talented that I'm slightly obsessed with her.

Tokyo Fashion

While this blog occasionally posts fashion news, most of its posts are shots of street fashion that just make my heart happy. And really makes me want to visit Tokyo, as well...

Vixen Vintage

Solanah wears vintage clothing exclusively, and it's so interesting to see... She's like a slightly less glamorous Dita Von Teese.

Advanced Style

This blog is dedicated to the glamorously dressed elderly women in New York that photographer Ari Seth Cohan meets there. He likes to share their style as well as their life philosophies.

The Fashion Turd

This adorable British red-headed lesbian wears the weirdest things and totally makes them work.

Style Bubble

I'll admit, I often skip through the wordy bits in Londoner & full-time blogger Susie Bubble's posts, but she has an interesting sense of personal style and far more knowledge about fashion than I ever will.

Ms. Fitz

This is the blog of an energetic New York stylist who designs clothing and jewelry and likes ridiculously colorful outfits. She also seems to know/meet a shit ton of fabulous people.

Self-Constructed Freak

This small town teen creates adorable girly looks and posts loads of inspiration pictures that intrigue me.

Vintage Summer Fun

Sex and Fashion

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Seen Around Midtown: Strange Street Art

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:57:00 +0000

Over the past few months I've noticed the appearance of painted wooden plaques with lettering that were drilled or glued up in places near & around Westport. It's interesting to me that instead of creating his/her art on the street, this person makes theirs at home ahead of time. I don't see any particular rhyme or reason to the messages, except that 3 say "LOVE" so that's obviously an important concept to this painter.

Have you perchance seen any plaques that I haven't? I'm interested to see what else this person's done.

Related posts:

Girls Who Graffiti

Street Art from Guatemala

Seen Around Midtown: Graffiti

You Should Watch: Misfits

noreply@blogger.com (May) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:29:00 +0000

Image via KillYourDarlingsJournal.com

I just watched the first episode of Misfit's 3rd season and it was quite surprising! The writers sure know how to keep an audience on their toes!

Misfits is a British sci-fi dramedy about five young people who are doing community service when a strange electrical storm gives them a variety of supernatural powers. Nathan is immortal (or at least comes back to life when killed), Alishia makes anyone who touches her turn into a sex-crazed maniac, Simon can turn invisible, Curtis can time-travel, and Kelly can hear other people's thoughts.

The group initially bonds, despite their many differences, through having to kill their social worker, who, having also been effected by the lightening storm, turns into a murderous angry sociopath. This shared secret as well as the community service keeps them, for better or worse, in each other's lives, and gradually makes them friends. Eventually we discover that there are more people with powers than just the 5 friends, which alters their reality in more ways than I'm going to tell you.

Misfits is, in my opinion, a far more down-to-Earth & gritty imagining of people with super-powers than Heroes was, and the writing is sharper and more surprising. Plus, since it's a British show, there's the added advantage of adorable (if sometimes difficult-to-follow) accents.

Image via The Guardian

Plus, Nathan is the most adorkable "super hero" EVAR! He is full of total bullshit & talks non-stop, but it is so freaking adorable to watch him babble. He is doing community service for stealing candy from a supermarket and is the most immature one of the group. He sucks at taking care of himself. For instance, he starts squatting in a community center when his mother kicks him out of the house instead of finding a regular place to live. Unfortunately, he's not in season 3 (he got a web special explaining why), but I'm way too invested in the story to stop watching. Though I'm not very interested in the new guy in the group. He's just a twat without any cuteness to make him interesting.

They're making a US version of Misfits and Matt & I can't help thinking that it will totally not be able to compare to the British version, simply because the actor who plays Nathan is so stellar in his performances that we can't imagine another actor doing it better or as well. Plus, no cute British accents. Matt's still excited to see what they do with it tho.

You can watch the Misfits seasons 1 and 2 on Hulu, though they don't have the Christmas special on there, which is pretty important to the plot of season 3.

Related posts:

You Should Watch: Coffee Prince

Red Dwarf: Camp In Space

Why I Love Comic Books

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