Weekend in Iowa City

Nov 24, 2008
Categories: road trips

First of all, i’m very excited to finally have a somewhat decent photo of me and Nathan to post on the blog. We went ice skating on Friday and met up briefly with two different groups of friends of mine. I’d never been ice skating outdoors before, and although the rink was a little bit small and crowded i thought it was nice not to be tripping over little kids the whole time. I didn’t fall once!

Awww!

Go cameraphone! I’m feeling a little more comfortable with my electronic gadgets lately, since i’ve figured out how to make the iPod shuffle, and the cameraphone flash. I can’t get the G1 for less than $400 because i’m one of a few people T-Mobile doesn’t feel they need to impress, so i’m thinking of switching providers for a while to show them…

Back to the story. We headed to Iowa City on Saturday so that Nathan could show me what his college life was like. He took me around the parts of campus that weren’t damaged by the flood, including the Natural History Museum, the old capitol building and the library. Then my feet started to hurt, because i didn’t happen to have the foresight to wear or bring shoes that i can walk in for more than an hour. We went to get lunch and the first two places Nathan tried to take me to were not there anymore, so we settled for pizza-by-the-slice and were both feeling rather grumpy.

We decided the best thing to do was head back to Coral Ridge mall and get me some new shoes. I bought running shoes, since that was the only comfortable shoe i could sorta chalk up to need. They’re ugly, but functional. Then we went to Nina & Karl’s place. We got to see their apartment all pretty and clean before it got flooded on Sunday, but i’m getting ahead of myself. The four of us visited for a while and then headed to the Vine downtown, where i remembered that a restaurant’s appeal is sometimes not its atmosphere. Hawkeye fans apparently CLAP at football games on TV… i thought that was odd. The burgers were fantastic and the beer got us sufficiently tipsy, but it was only seven when we finished and so we headed to one more bar. Nathan showed me the proper Iowa way to push and kick and swing on things whilst running from one location to the next. Nina and Karl drove.

Sunday morning Nathan and i had breakfast at Hamburg Inn, where apparently a lot of U.S. Presidents have dined. We finished up the tour of downtown Iowa City and headed back to Des Moines. All in all, i think Iowa State’s campus is prettier, but Iowa City is a much cooler town than Ames. It was great to see Nina and Karl and their place, and to get a taste of what life is like for Hawkeyes. I’m not a traitor, i promise - i’m just getting to know the other side a little better.

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Vacay

Aug 10, 2008
Categories: family, vacation, iowa floods, art, travel, road trips

Mom and i went on a little vacation last week, which i shall proceed to tell the story of in photos.

The first stop has no photos though, so um, just kidding. We went to Cedar Rapids to spend a night with Tim, Angie and Jamie (my brother & his fam) and stopped to see Nina & Karl’s new place in Coralville along the way. It’s nice, i’m jealous. Tim and Jamie showed us all the flood damage in their neighborhood, which was amazing to see. Almost every house has a big orange X on it, meaning nobody can enter. There’s just stuff all along the curbs in the residential area, and there was even a house that had been carried halfway into the street by the flood waters. WAY worse than the damage in Des Moines.

From there we headed toward Uncle Dave’s house and stopped at a lake on the way out of CR.

Ladies at the Lake
I look goofy in this pic. We were afraid the water was contaminated, so we didn’t get in.

We’ve stayed with Dave three times in the last month now, which is probably more than in the past eight years or so. It was good to visit again. From Dave’s place in Long Grove, IA we headed North to the Maquoketa Caves. We only went as far as the mouth of the big one, however, because the lights had been turned off and we had no lamp. Also, it looked extremely muddy and scary.

Maquoketa CavesThe mouth of Dancehall Cave

We decided to proceed to Crystal Lake Cave, just south of Dubuque, which is well-lit and clean and illuminated by a young tour guide so disenchanted with his job that he jokes frequently about how lame it is to come all the way to Dubuque, Iowa just to see that particular cave. The “Crystal Lake” was pretty silly; it looked more like a puddle that a few people had chucked coins into like an out-of-service mall fountain. I didn’t bother to try to photograph it.

Crystal Lake Cave 1
I don’t remember what the different formations were called. Soda straws, maybe?

Crystal Lake Cave 4
Bacon strips..?

Then we went to the Mississippi River historical museum in Dubuque. I liked the animals. I’m still much like a little kid when it comes to museums.

Friendly Gators
Not doing it, just friendly.

Frog

We stayed in a cute little town called Mineral Point, Wisconsin that night at a bed & breakfast that made me wish i had a boyfriend. It was up above a brewery/restaurant which had really nice beer and food. The next morning we went to the Land’s End warehouse clearance event a few miles north. It was huge and crowded and insane, and i didn’t buy anything.

Land's End Feeding Frenzy

We drove all the way down to Kalona, Iowa that evening and stopped at President Herbert Hoover’s birthplace along the way. Turns out he was only in Iowa until he was eleven, at which point he moved to Oregon. Kinda like my life, but backwards. We had dinner in Iowa City and then headed down to Kalona, and caught an amazing sunset while driving. I couldn’t even begin to capture it, because out there in the country i could see the horizon all the way around us, 360 degrees, and it was all just beautiful.

Iowa Sunset 2

We walked around Kalona a little the next day but decided against taking a tour of the Amish community there. I probably should have taken it, since i have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to live like that. No internet? Come on. What would i do with my Saturday nights?

Going back through Iowa City the next day, we stopped to see the legendary Black Angel at one of the old cemeteries. Supposedly people tell stories of how a man commissioned the statue for his deceased wife and it turned black in a day because of her infidelity. The truth is that a woman commissioned it for her husband’s grave, refused to pay for it because she thought it was ugly, and was sued by the artist and made to pay $5,000 which back in those days was a lot of money. Her name is on the grave and the birth date is 1830something, but there’s no death date. Like maybe she refused to be buried under that thing.

The Black Angel 2
It’s not nearly as beautiful as the one i photographed in Rome. Few things are, i suppose.

After that we went shopping and headed home. It was nice to go on a little adventure for a while, but i always feel pretty relieved to be home again after a vacation. We’re settling back in now and will probably be heading to the Iowa State Fair before returning to the grind on Monday. Also rooting for Shawn Johnson tomorrow in the women’s gymnastics competition–representing iowa! Go team USA!

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Growing

Jul 21, 2008
Categories: des moines, cellphones, family, apartment hunting, art, concerts, photography, shopping, road trips, life

First of all, thanks for leaving so many wonderful comments on my last post. It meant a lot to me.

My sister Amy and her son Harper are visiting from Oregon right now. They arrived on Wednesday and the three of us and Mom had fun shopping around the East Village of Des Moines, going to see WALL-E, reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and generally hanging out. Friday evening Uncle Doug and Aunt Vicki had a little BBQ to celebrate, and of course their whole branch of the family was there. Saturday we drove out to Uncle Dave’s and visited with that bunch and Harper had fun playing with his second cousins. It had been a couple years since most of us had seen each other, and it was nice to be able to catch up.

That evening Mom, Amy and I went to see Ani DiFranco at The Capitol Theater in Davenport. I never cease to be amazed by how much she rocks. She was a little less talkative than the last time i saw her over in Iowa City with Emily last summer, but that’s okay.

I wish i’d taken pictures of all this stuff. :( Next time.

Yesterday Amy & Harps headed for Cedar Rapids and Mom & I came back to DM. On our way we stopped at the Amana colonies for lunch and picked up some blueberry wine. I hadn’t been around there in quite a few years. It’s really well-maintained and cute, but it was so hot that we didn’t stick around for long.

My Mama in Amana

Bumble Bee

I saw some paintings by this Chicago artist Laura Lee Junge in a little gallery there, and i thought they were really neat:

On an unrelated note, my current goal in life is to decide on an apartment to move to in Des Moines, which is proving to be a major headache. But i got my new camera phone today, so playing with that should relieve some stress for sure.

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Rainbows and Darkness

May 15, 2008
Categories: concerts, music, road trips, job hunting, jobs, life

I have been in the presence of gods, my friends. Gods whom some refer to as Radiohead. Yesterday we made our pilgrimage to the holy land of St Louis, where Radiohead descended to the earth to bestow upon us their glorious sounds. And thus they spake:

“Do i smell doughnuts? Who could eat a doughnut at a time like this?”
(imagine the Geiko gecko saying it–that’s what Thom Yorke sounds like.)

They didn’t say much more than that, but they played probably every In Rainbows song and most of Kid A, along with a few older songs. Fake Plastic Trees was my favorite. I can die happy now, i told Dan.

It was worth the twelve hours in my tiny car, especially since Dan drove the whole way home through the night and let me sleep. Not worth the effort, though, was getting my ass out of bed and to work this morning, only to be promptly canned. Given the pink slip. Laid off. Not fired, exactly, they didn’t want to have to let me go (quote unquote) but times are hard and there’s this block and well, someone had to get chopped.

Whew. Just like that. Two weeks severance pay and then i’m on my own. I’m a full-time job seeker now, and i don’t figure i can be picky anymore. I’ll be pretty much applying all over the country, i think, and let my career take me where it will.

I’m scared, but this is probably the kick in the ass i needed to really make a change. And–hey, at least i get to sleep in. A LOT.

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