civil war muster and ice cream

I was up until early, yesterday morning, working on a costume/fashion project for Hobbs and Black so I wasn't sure about my plans for today. Sleeping seemed a priority but... Today there was a Civil War muster in Jackson and it is great fodder for photography and I couldn't resist. Although I am not feeling well, I went and got some great shots. On the way back home, Denis and I stopped in Chelsea for an ice cream splurge. He had the mint ice cream/hot fudge/cream puff/whipped cream special and I stuffed myself with black cherry ice cream topped with hot fudge and a waffle cone. It may be the reason I feel a bit nauseous but it was so worth it!

keeping it too light

Parking in Ann Arbor is always an unknown factor when trying to plan travel time to a job so I left 50 minutes before I had to be at work and arrived 35 minutes early. I parked across the street from the Michigan and loaded my tool belt with the necessities. In an effort to keep it as light as possible I left my camera in the car. I took a seat on the back stage steps to listen to Rufus Wainwright and wait for the show to end. The music was wonderful and the musicians than ran back and forth from the stage were friendly and entertaining. One of the band members laughed so loud that the stage manager came off-stage to "shush" him but ended up laughing himself. I turned around to see a tuxedo-ed man standing, facing into a corner of the stairway with an orange traffic cone on his head. Slowly her turned around to reveal a large, protruding cucumber...
Note to self: Leave the wrench, bring the camera.

it's dry in the horse barn

Darkened skies lowered on the fair as we laid down the $14.00 admission and hoped we hadn't wasted the money. 40 yards into the fairgrounds and a loud rolling groan shook the air, the wind picked up and rain poured down. People frantically gathered into their small groups and headed for either the parking lots or, if daring, for one of the large metal barns. I chose the pecked horse barn. The wind whipped through the place as though both doors were still wide open. People made new friends or ran into old ones and chattered away through the 15 minute downpour.
After the danger was passed, we enjoyed the thinned out fair. The rides weren't running but a lively animal auction was taking place in the auction barn where small children paraded their 3 and 4 hundred pound projects out to be bid on by local markets, restaurants and livestock enthusiasts.
The silent rides stood eerie and garish as we made our way past them to the other end of the fairground where the demolition derby cars were sliding through thick, sticky mud and throwing it on anyone wanting to get close enough to take a good photo. We sat the the stands enjoying the show until we both had our limit of mud.

3.5 miles!!!

Today, I went out for a run with the idea of running absolutely no more than a mile. After running down Cushing Court and back up toward my house I decided to cut up toward the school administration building and then onto the post office. At that point, running felt effortless and I changed my goal. Up to the middle school, through their drive and rounded past the upper middle school, I was smokin'. The run was easy with the exception of the last four blocks and then I pushed it, pushed it all the back home. This 3.5 mile run is 1 mile longer than the run I took last week. It was great! and... I hope just the beginning of my build to be able to run 10 miles.

more wedding photos

This evening, I will be working in Detroit at Ford Field, tearing down the Kenny Chesney concert. It looks as though it may rain at any moment and I am praying it doesn't. This will be a huge, messy job without the presence of rain. Starting time is 10:30p and we should be done ... ??? maybe, 3a. Wish me luck.

Errin's Wedding

Saturday, Greg and I made the trek across the state for my niece's wedding. The wedding was scheduled to take place outside and the weather was beautiful. Errin had asked me and another woman to do photography. Although I loved the opportunity to take photos I found it difficult to eat during the reception and found myself and Denis' camera covered in frosting at one point. Although my brother and nephew did a wonderful job cleaning the camera I felt compelled to tell Denis about the incident. Not entirely to my surprise he wasn't that concerned. His response, "Well, if a camera dies in the line of duty it is a good death....." What a guy!

it's raining

Thursday evenings during the summer, Ypsilanti's Heritage Town holds a vintage car event and Denis loves to take photos there. Sometimes I tag along, snap some shots and enjoy the cars and music. The evening light holds magic but only last a short time so we usually put off dinner so that we don't miss any of it and when it wanes we head for a restaurant.
Last week, we ate at Sidetracks. Anyone looking for an interesting menu without being wallet emptying should check out Ypsilanti's Sidetracks. Although they don't appear to have air-conditioning they draw a large crowd and pack their patios. I had the Goat Farm Burritos with marinated portobello mushrooms and goat cheese (of course). Although I would rather not have my plate covered with nachos chips it was delicious and went well with my Cosmo.

working on the show

It's difficult to say, "no" to friends and fun but I am serious about getting this gallery show up and I want to put a huge of myself into it and be proud to show it. Today, I turned down going to Lansing for a Jazz Concert with Denis and a movie with Greg so that I could work.
I sketched and redrew and rethought my ideas for the "eating disorder" corset but I am sure, now, of what I am doing and I am anxious to get on with it. The back ground of the fabric I am making to sew it out of will be comprised of my scanned notes on my personal experience with bulimia. I don't want to give too much away as this is a public forum but will have photos when everything is up and in the show. No advanced peeks.

genius idea... NOT!

The roof isn't complete but it already looks fabulous and the yard has been cleaned up. Greg hired a large dumpster to be dropped of for a few days so that we could fill it with roof refuse and then be hauled off. Unfortunately, it was too heavy to move around the yard and there were several piles in various parts of the lawn. Greg thought to chain it to the back of my old Mazda, put a board under the resting leg at the front of the dumpster and pull. It would not budge! What to do? What to do? The obvious answer: Use Greg's old skateboard under the leg and on the board. It worked for about 3 inches and then, "CRACK, SNAP, BANG!!!!" The skateboard didn't make it.