Random act of kindness?

[duh, what am i good for?]

Have you seen one of these before? I did, at IKEA once. But you know the worst part, I bought it. Now I know what you're saying, "In the name of all that's good, why did you buy one?" And my answer is, "I don't know." IKEA's like that to people - isn't it? You see something on the shelf that seems kinda quirky and cool (sometimes it's pedestrian and uncool too, ahem)... and you stick it in your big yellow bag, or normal-sized cart or side-ways moving large item cart.

So, I've had this dumb thing sitting on my bookcase for years now. It's never done anything. I think someone commented on it or touched it once. Well, I had a better idea for it - but you be the judge, won't you?

I decided to leave it in the bathroom at my favorite coffee shop. I didn't ask them if I could, I didn't ask them if they wanted it. I just used the restroom on the way out and left it on the toilet tank. I'll keep checking in on it (her? him?) and see how long it stays there. It fits in with the kitch and quirkiness of this particular coffeeshop, or I wouldn't have thought of doing it. Who knows, maybe this is the IKEA fit model art posing doll's ultimate purpose. Sure as shootin it's a better purpose than sitting on my bookshelf.

[ahh, it's new home]

Minneapolis Institute of Art, Large Art, IV.

[perhaps the biggest, scariest Pokemon/Hello Kitty object I've ever seen. It's easily about eight feet tall)

There were many big items in the museum. I was taken aback by many of them, but more interesting was seeing some of the little kids walking up to them or sitting in front of them. Everything on this page is taller/wider/bigger than I am, easily:


[this whimsical hanging object is above the children's wing/theater. i thought it was a perfect item for kids to stare up at - what it's made of? looked like recycled yellow stuff]


[this is the one that a little girl just said 'wow' to herself/outloud. it was really big and very interesting to catch a glimpse of while walking through other sections - right after this photo, i drew a text bubble out of one side, they did not find my comment/graffiti amusing]


[how about a car?!]



[this was in the modern collection and it seemed rather fitting. great lines, very big presence, and I think it was rolling on twenty-twos - ya hear!?]

Minneapolis Institute of Art, More Art, III.

A collection of items I couldn't quite categorize into the other posts, but should be interesting to see:


[like alot of the items in the collections, something would catch your eye as you looked at pieces in another room or walked by, unaware. this room was dark except for the lit bulbs over each portrait. the artist described/titled this a memorial for all the children. not because they were no longer alive, but because at the time of the photo, they were children. since that time, they would all grow up and never be as they once were in the photos. a large 20x30' room was used for this collection. must have been 12-18 pictures, all lit like these. i could not walk by the room without going in - yes, if you unscrew one bulb, they all go out]


[hand blown glass from early America, just so hard not too see out of the corner of your eye and then walk up to to see close-up. really nice glass and the display was perfect - don't try to blow into them to make the empty bottle whistle though]


[a huge, wonderfully rich, warm armoire - it's better in person and no, they do not like it if you try to see if you can fit yourself inside]


[this was my lunch from that day - a combo of roasted golden beet salad and half a oven roasted turkey-bacon sandwich, chips, limonata, and a small lemon bar for dessert. it complimented the art very well and tasted great too. it wasn't terribly expensive and powered me through my whole tour. they have a local restaurant run a nice cafe - notice the little "can cover" on the Peligrino Limonata? Those Italians are so clean, could be where i get it from]

Use Somebody - Acoustic Cover - Lynzie Kent and Rich G

not too long ago i'd heard an interesting voice on tv. it was the lead singer of 'kings of leon', performing this song, 'use somebody', in a live concert. (you can easily google for that version too) well, i did google for that version and also found this one. the voices and acoustic vs. electric version couldn't be any different, but what a great contrast.

i don't know what it is, but this woman can really make some goosebumps. perhaps the functionality of YouTube at its best use?

Minneapolis Institute of Art, Modern, II.

My taste in art has leaned towards modern for as long as I can remember. It must be something about the clean lines, natural materials, and minimal accents that blend well with my anal retentive tendencies. Let's take a look at some of the pieces at MIA:

[they actually showcased a large amount of tea/coffee sets, but this one definitely falls into the modern era - I'd rinse it all out before serving out of them, looks like they've been there awhile]

[simple, yet intricate design, interesting material, very pretty to look at - they did not let me "test drive" the desk and seemed annoyed that I would ask]
[they showcased about 16 Swiss poster designs from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. All follow a fairly rigid style, even down to the placing if objects on the print and the font used - and they were not willing to sell me any for my apartment]






[even a Swiss poster for the French - mon Dieu!]


*If you want more info on anything you see in any of the MIA posts, please ask me. I took pics of most of the info cards and could easily go back and get more info, if needed.

Minneapolis Institute of Art, Intro, I.

We do get some interesting perks through our office. Not only can I buy small-batch maple syrup, and volunteer at PBS, but we were notified about some free passes to special exhibits at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (heretofore, MIA).

Having been in the city some time now and also being a city-dweller that prides himself on knowing about said city, I thought it was high-time I check out this place. It's the museum in town that everyone seems to have something good to say. It also happens to be surprisingly close to my house (like less than 10 blocks). And it's a good thing, because the passes that were being handed out at work are only good if you ride to the museum. Perfect-a-mundo.

I ventured out on a recent Saturday right about noon. I wanted to beat the hot & humid heat in my apartment, get some lunch, not spend lots of money, and be close to home (rain was approaching). This fit the bill nicely. I was also very pleasantly surprised by what the MIA had in store for me. I didn't have any expectations going in, but the MIA blew any I could have had out of the water.

What follows is a short, four-part series on the MIA. You'll get the intro here, then a short look at their modern collection (my personal favorites), a bit of their other collections, and then a look at what I'm calling their "Large Art" - these are literally large items I found (and couldn't really miss). Please join me on this short trip.






[what struck me right off the bat is the amount of natural light and outdoor landscaping that has gone into the rather large property. it's a nice place in a kinda weird part of town and I didn't expect that.]


[the reason you can see the outside and all the natural light can come in is something else I didn't expect - three floors. the place is rather large. three floors of exhibits, both permanent and revolving. from almost all the stairways and landings, you see much more interesting viewpoints. i really liked this "height".]


[just one of the large stairway and landing areas]


[you can look up the landings, and down too. some of the larger hanging pieces were great to see from this vantage point.]

Please check back soon for MIA, Part II, the Modern wing.

Texting.

I'm not sure you all know how much I love text messaging - do you? I believe I've been texting since about 1999 or 2000. Back then it seemed to be pretty unpopular. A few people I knew used it and I had to introduce it to others (or force it on them). It is officially known as a 'short message service' or SMS for short (ba-dump-bump) and it now seems to have really hit the mainstream. Commercially SMS is a massive industry, worth over 81 billion dollars globally as of 2006. That seems big.

I was out with a former co-worker the other night and she mentioned that she hates texting. After the paramedics got my heart beating again, she thought a poll about texting might be in order. I thought it was a great idea, and the poll is up now (please vote)

The real reason to talk about text messages, for me at least, is to let everyone know that I'd love to hear from you via text (or any other method for that matter). It doesn't have to be long (I mean, it's called SMS for a reason), but maybe just to say 'hello', send me a joke, tell me traffic sucks, or that you saw someone on a bike get doored and thought of me.

Finally, though I can usually come up with the polls on my own (and this is the first instance of someone else suggesting a poll), I would be very very happy to entertain poll ideas from the t.c readership. If you have a poll suggestion, please let me know (by text). You could get some really rich data about a topic you're interested in. I often get at least 8-12 people for each poll - I know, it's as big as texting now.