Another big adventure

Last weekend is a total blur. Actually, it blurred right into yesterday.

Check out this bike I found at a garage sale Saturday morning for Megan. Note the "rock'n'roll saw blades" inside the wheel spokes. I'm calling it the Super-Awesome-Rad, Power Bike. It makes anyone who sees it need to ride it. It has wicked front shocks too.

Here's me trying to convince Meg (photographically) of it's coolness. Hoping she just goes with it even though it's not "girly." If it was my size I'd ride it around town for sure. I might anyway!

Saturday afternoon I helped over at the trail, getting ready for a "duathelon" race Sunday. Racers ran a 5k through the hilly woods, then biked two continuous laps through the toughest half of the course, then ran the first leg of the race again--- in 90 degree super humid temps. ~crazy~

I wasn't racing (thank god! - Blech-- I hate running in heat!) but I like the vibe over there, with all the racers, and really like the people running the trail. They're my friends now and I love helping out friends. :)

To recap, so so far my weekend has gone like this:

Sat morning: Procure Super Awesome Rad Power Bike
Sat afternoon: Help set up for Sunday's race
Sat night: Double feature rentals that kept us up until about 1 a.m.
Sunday: Got to the trail about 6:30 a.m. to help with race which went until about 2:00 p.m.

By this time I was kind of on fumes. I got home and hit the couch and almost instantly fell asleep. But it didn't last long. Dan woke me up. There was something he wanted, badly. (Get your minds out of the gutter people-- I'm talking about a Honda trail bike.)

Remember my weekend of sue-point-oh and being all open to trying new things that led to me deciding it would probably be fun to find myself a little Trail-90 somewhere? Yeah-- When Dan saw a crack in the motorcycle door he quickly rammed his foot right in it. Like any guy, he's always wanted one, but it was "verboten". No kids, no motorcycles was part of "the deal."

Now that I've rationalized the little non-threatening, not very fast and rather cute trail bikes aren't really motorcycle motorcycles... well, in classic Dan fashion he's decided he needs the slightly more fancy, more expensive version of what I am looking at-- a Honda Trail 110. He found one, in Janesville WI.

A spur of the moment 12 hour road trip was on. Here's me at the beginning. Yeah, I'm already tired, and it's 4:00 Sunday afternoon, and the car has no AC and it's super hot and humid. My hair is NOT awesome. At all. But what the hell?--- We've got a cooler, and a tool box--let's hit it!

It was pretty fun at first-- a last minute adventure! So what I was kind of spaced-out from sleep deprivation and still wearing the same sweaty clothes from being at the hot trail all day and hadn't really eaten anything all day? "Road-trip, road-trip, road-trip!"

At one point Dan looked over and goes, "Ugh. There's cat hair all over your boobs." Me, "Why are you looking at my boobs instead of the road? You're supposed to be driving." (inattentive driving = major pet peeve of mine.) Him, in his dorky "I am super awesome" voice- "Because it pleases me." Me, "Yeah? Well check it out buddy." ~moosh~ Him- "Sorry officer, I was distracted by my wife's cat hair encrusted cleavage."

Yup, tons of joking around, arguing about who should have extra straws with their DQ shake. "You def need like, 5, because that's how much you suck!" Tons of laughing at all the cheese and fireworks billboards. Tons of beautiful, rolling WI scenery. But like any long road trip, it got old.

Here's me about 11 hours later, somewhere in WI. Driving had become like playing some intense video game at this point. I was craning forward trying to keep it between the dotted and solid lines, seemingly unable to predict curves. Dan had to take over for the last leg. I was def impaired.

But-- it was worth it. Dan got his 110, and want to know something kind of freaky? This is basically Dan's birthday gift (mine will be mine). The guy we bought it from got it from the original owner-- his uncle. That guy dutifully filled-out all the info in the little owner's manual as soon as he got it--- on 6/7/84. Dan's B'day is 6/7. (The year is different, but still-- his birthday and the bike's are the same!!)


He was understandably trashed three hours after we got home, when he was supposed to get up for work, so for the first time in 15 years, he called in sick. He really did feel like crap and had a GIANT headache that had been building all night.  When we finally got up, we went out and played with his new toy. He was a happy dude.

After taking turns zooming (okay, in my case-- putting tentatively) around the house (literally- we just drove it around the yard, down the driveway, making a circle around our house), we decided to go kayaking. So we spent a few hours on the river. Dan admitted skipping IS pretty awesome. (He never does this-- nevar.)

And our garage now looks like this. Actually, it gets worse. On the other side are my kayak, and the Super Awesome Rad Bike, plus art supplies, plus all the regular "garage-y" stuff.

All in all, not a bad weekend, even if it lasted three days.

Field Trip!

Hey people. Last week an old art pal of mine (okay- she's not old, but we're pretty good buds is what I mean) came up to my place and we went on a little expedition to a junk yard one town over.

For those of you who've never been to a junk yard-- if you're going (for art purposes anyway), be sure to bring a couple buckets, some gloves, shoes you don't care about getting dirty (this actually goes for all your clothing), a camera, and a big smile-- because until you win them over the junk yard guys are going to think you're a total weirdo & not want to let you in.

You need to convince them you aren't going to be a big pain in the butt, or try to make off with any saleable parts, or sue them if you get a scratch or whatever, and you aren't going to be high maintenance and need a whole bunch of help that will take them away from their actual work.

Once we convinced them to let us into the inner sanctum (the main yard), and that we were only after basically garbage (to them)-- little rusty do-dahs laying around on the ground etc, we began scavenging. That's when I first saw her---

The first thing I said was, "Oh honey..." because to me she was beautiful, and a little dangerous looking, with her chicken wire windshield. What kind of a life did she live before winding up here? Then I saw the remains of her race number.

Her and everybody else probably thought she was done for. End of the line. Wrong. Not now that I've seen her. WAY too cool to let her just up and die in a field somewhere. I'm plotting how to haul her to my place, maybe in one piece, maybe in sections. The junk yard main cog told me I can have her cheap. She's not restorable. All I see is beauty here-- and stories.

She has friends too. Check out this crackling paint. Pretty cool huh?

Hmm. Same age as me. Maybe it's no coincidence I find all the "flaws" and "destruction" on these old beauties are what makes them the most interesting. The broken glass shone like jewels.

Look at this design. You just don't see this anymore-- well, that's not totally true-- there is good design out there, but it's kind of like music I guess-- I have a deep appreciation of the roots, even as I enjoy the new. Look at the moss growing on the frame. Cool.

When I saw this hood I thought "Blue Roan." I've got a big horse in my brain right now. I recently saw a half-Percheron, half-Frisian-- huge and gorgeous-- thick arched neck, sculpted muscular legs, kind of a short back for his height, compact head. I see it dappled-- blue, white, & blue-gray steel. But roan would be cool too.

Look at this transformation-- the bleached paint with rust coming through, like a beach-- waves on a beach.

After filling our buckets we headed over to some other art bud's place to see what they've been up to. There was so much more awsomeness it won't all fit in one post. I decided to do a whole post just dedicated to that visit over on the art blog, so check over there later today.

In other SueNews:

Around the old hacienda it's the cat's favorite time of year-- when they find little spots in the perennials or underbrush to take a nap jungle style.

That is when they're not sacking-out on the deck...
(This is Ray.)

Rough life huh?
(This is Tootie, Mike's main squeeze- Yes, they're still a "thing".)

This was funny-- the other day me and Trusty Pam went up to St. Cloud to check out the "Jail Trail". (We're trying to expand our horizons.) No sooner had we got the bikes off the car than this young guy, about 20 or so, goes, "I think I've heard of you-- Is that Penny?"

I almost died laughing! "Yep-- this is her. You can touch her for a quarter." That's right, Penny is now famous.

The Jail Trail was fun, interesting, lots flatter than our normal trail (Hillside), but TONS of trees super tight against the trail, and tons of twists etc. Very, very tight trail. Pam was in the lead, and I was just thinking how she should probably always lead when we check out a new trail because I'm way more cautious and it would probably frustrate her to follow me. I'd for sure do a slow recon run, then maybe hit it again if I still had any gas in the tank, or just come back and be bolder next time.

I was just thinking of some witty remark to make like, "I may be more cautious, but you def get more bloody," (I have the record for the most spectacular, bone breaking crash, but Pam def has the record for the most blood spilled, and most "dismounts.")-- when WHAM. She totally nailed a tree with her knee. She got a point-- blood all the way to the sock = 1 point.

We walked for a while until it seemed to bleed a little slower at least. We didn't get very far before we got to this weird rickety bridge with no sides and missing boards going through a swamp. At the end it dropped off into a patch of really gnarly, super bumpy roots. I was leading now and Penny bucked like a champ but we made it. A little while along I go, "Wow-- those were bumpy huh?" -- Nothing.

I look back and no Pam. I stop and wait. No Pam. I get off my bike and jog back down the trail-- here comes Pam, looking a little shaky-- she went over the bars into the roots. By now she was kind of a wreck, so we walked a bunch more. Of course we had no bug spray. Eventually she felt up to riding again and we took whatever shortcuts we could find back to the lot. We'll have to go back and try for a clean run someday.

My times at the trail are stuck at the 55 minute mark. I can now ride some stuff I couldn't last year, so there is progress being made, but I am not in great shape yet, and probably carrying some extra weight. Next week I'll weigh in and face the music.

Kate though--- sent me this awesome pic of her and Megan riding in a 30 mile ride at their place! They've never ever tried anything like this so it was huge for them. They actually made it the whole ride. Megan said after she probably could have had a better time on her own bike, not having to wait for her mom. (Hmm, not too sure about that, but approve of her spirit.) She's the kid I never had-- she got all riled-up when people would pass them and want to pour it on. Next year she may get a chance to try it on her own bike.

I think it's awesome they were both willing to go outside the box and risk failure to try something new. I'm so glad they had a good experience! Kate-- your seats are kind of low for road riding though! (God-- everyone in this pic's are.)

Honda Ho-down

Hey people. So, I'm still drooling over that little Honda. I called the seller again and left a message saying "Please, please, please don't sell it to anyone else and call me as soon as you get the title." Now Dan wants one too (maybe). He likes cool old stuff too, and has this idea of us taking them on vacations with us to go exploring around together. That sounds super fun.

Here is a video of some of the exploits last weekend. You can see my bro-in-law John tooling around on my future ride, at one point Dan almost hits him on the ATV. Craziness!



In other SueNews:
Super excited about going to the junkyard today. Another art pal is coming along. She's changing mediums-- going from stained glass to metals. She's working in a number of ways with her art and is super talented. I can't wait to see what she comes up with. Anyway, it will be fun going to troll through junked-out cars etc.

Trusty Pam got herself a road bike a couple weeks ago and has been putting on beaucoupe miles. Tonight it's FINALLY going to not be raining. (There have been three times it literally started raining the minute we were ready to go ride or run in the last week-- sucks!) I'm going to attempt to keep her in sight on my Hula Bike (aka- the dork).

I am so out of shape it's not even funny right now. Such a disappointing turn-around from late winter when I was confident I'd be 10lbs lighter, in super shape, and maybe even entering mountain bike RACES this spring. Now I'm just struggling to get back into reasonable condition so stuff feels doable and fun again.

I can tell my mood has been dragged down by not being able to get out and move as much. Maybe in a couple weeks (if the weather cooperates) I'll be playing a different tune.

Taking Texas

Hey people. You know I have only one reason to set foot in the lone star state, and here she is, mah seestah-- Katie. (Isn't she cute??) ~hugs~ This is where I've been for the last couple of weeks, visiting her and her brood.

I've bagged on Texas plenty in the past, and God knows there's tons of material-- the flatness, the hotness, the boringness, the redneckiness. (It was in the nineties, both temp AND dewpoint when I was there, with 20-30 mph winds. Yes, my hair was awesome the entire time. Not.) But I have to admit this time, there was also some pretty...

Wild flowers planted along the highways by Ladybird Johnson were in full bloom on our drive up to the hill country (what they call the San Antonio / Austin region-- the only coolness I've seen so far in the entire state.) (Figuratively and literally. It's about 10 degrees cooler up there than where she lives.)

We've been planning a girl get-away for, not kidding people-- eight years! Finally, the kids are old enough to leave for a weekend, the stars aligned, we both had a little cash, and our plan, albeit scaled down from our dreams of a week at a spa, came together.

This was the view from our eff-you-money hotel room on the riverwalk in San Antonio. I usually opt for budget lodging, but this trip was different. Let the hedonism begin!

This place was fancy. Click on the pic so you can read this. It's the pet room service menu. "All pet meals are served with Fiji water on appropriate petware."

Yeah. Good thing. Serving the Contessa Salmon on regular old peopleware would be tacky central.

The Riverwalk is super cool. It's a river that runs right through downtown San Antonio, and there are sidewalks on both sides, lined with hotels, shops, and restaurants, and little bridges to cross back and forth. There are also tons of huge trees and garden areas. We strolled for hours and had an awesome four-star dinner out.

After our all girl weekend, it was time for some serious family time. The following week was a blur of errands, piano lessons, dance classes, t-ball games, & soccer, but later in the week Dan flew down to join me, and we all (me, Dan, & Kate's family) drove back up to their lake home in the hill country for the weekend.

This was at this really cool restaurant we went to that was like eating in a tree house.

Me and the boy have had our issues in the past, but now he seems to get that my intentions are good. He still doesn't like to be told what to do, but doesn't resent it as much, and seems to really like me, and know I like him too. The kid has music in his soul. He wanted me to take pics of him busting out some "moves". Ta-Daaah.

Cute little fart isn't he?

He's almost six, and scary smart. This takes almost everyone off guard because half the time he's in his own world, or acting like a little monkey boy. He'll be spazzing out about some dumb thing, like wanting to sit in the seat his sister is already occupying one minute, and you're going, "Oh boy, this kid acts more like a 3 year old than nearly six," but five minutes later he's whipping through his homework like it's nothing. Ho-hum. Too easy. Boring stuff.

I can't wait to see how he turns out. He's funny and definitely his own little dude. I would not be a bit surprised if he's some kind of musical prodigy. I want to buy him drums.

Him and Megan are usually at each other's throats, but have moments of fun goofing around, or joining forces against the evil overlords (their parents.) Here Megan is dipping him a-la dancing with the stars. He always gives it all he's got, arm flourish and all.

Meg and I have always had a big connection, and still do. Our relationship is changing as she gets older. We had our first big altercation this trip, but got through it. She knows, for a fact, I'll always, always be in her corner.

She's turning out to be a little adventurer. Feels very familiar. Loves the water.

This is a friend of hers-- she wanted to make sure that part was clear, a friend-- (she like likes another boy. What does that mean when you're eight? I think that you enjoy imagining dramas playing out involving you, the boy, and other classmates whispering about the status of your liking of each other.) Anyway, they were seeing who could do the best armpit farts right before I shot this. ~sigh~ Ahh the good old days. Mini me.

Look out world.

Me and sis, of course have our own thing. We manage to maintain a pretty close relationship even though we're miles apart and our lives could not be more different. When we get together we go right back into dork mode. We watched Charlie's Angels- Full Throttle on our girl weekend, but I really can't use that as much of an excuse for these pics. We always seem to adopt ass-kicking poses when there's a camera around.

Quake in fear people. It's the finger twist of doom! Don't mess with Kate or she will beat you senseless with those Grover arms of hers.

Sorry about the acres of forty and over skin showing in these next two. Avert your eyes, get therapy, or whatever you have to do to get through this trauma. For the poolside antics we somehow began dancing like robots when Dan got the camera out. We were excited about going to see "Date Night" later-- "Sex robots!" (go see it to get the joke.)

We amuse ourselves to no end. Someone's got to.

Having Dan along was fun for Katie (she calls him the third sister. He's not very into that nickname not surprisingly) and medicinal for me. Katie said I seemed way less stressed this trip. He tempers me. I get super pissed at her control-freaky, patriarchal hubs, but I can't say stuff like, "OMG pull the stick out!" or "For shit's sake-- they're only PLACEMATS dude, shut up and let your wife pick them out!" without making life much harder for her. If I lived down there we'd have to have a war and he'd now be calling me "your highness" or something and quivering with subservience every time I came around, but alas.

It helps to have Dan around to vent to, and remind me how good I have it. Here I'm helpfully instructing him on how to clean the pool so no icky things threaten to float near me on my giant pool toy. He's way up on my care and feeding.

Katie, meanwhile, finds little ways to preserve her Katieness, and expose her kids to ideas like recycling (which is considered extremist down there-- they don't have pick up or anything, and no one does it) and kindness to animals, and volunteering, and being creative and tolerant. She is a very cool woman. I could not thrive in her life, but she manages to.

I was ready to come home by the end, as usual. I get very wiped-out by the mini-van lifestyle, even though I love seeing those guys. This is what greeted me the morning after we got back.

and this

and this.

It's good to be home.

Hitting the panic button

Hey people. Stuff like this makes me very happy. It's what I call "primo rust."

Work (visual art) is going really well right now. The other day someone asked me if I'm ready for my next show (in 2 weeks!) and I laughed and was like, "No- Of course not!"

I always tell myself I'm going to pace myself and plan ahead so I won't be panicking at the last minute, but no matter when I start preparing, it's always the same-- working like a maniac right up to the last second. All my artist friends are exactly the same way.

Last week, I heard the best explanation to date for that. I wish I could remember where I saw or heard this, but the theory was-- artists thrive under pressure, because when you hit panic mode, you stop thinking. This allows the creative part of your brain to take over. I've always wished I had all my great last minute ideas earlier on. Now I know why I don't get them until those last weeks before a deadline I guess.

In other SueNews:

Somehow my efforts to lose 10 pounds by spring have failed miserably. I've GAINED 5 despite making the delicious cookies I made around the holidays go live in the woods where I'd have to go running to get at them.

The last time this happened (gaining 5 pounds), by the following week I'd lost 8, so, fingers crossed. Ugh! My ass fat confounds me people!

You know that study that came out last week that said women over 40 have to work-out for an hour a day just to maintain? I completely believe it. That's how I am anyway. I think I'm going to try to squeeze in lunchtime runs for a while. I mean, spring is basically HERE, and I now have 15 pounds to lose!

~panics!~ ~Stops thinking!~ ~Goes out to make more art!~

New mode

Hey people. It's totally become spring around here. This weekend it actually got up to 64! If it snows next week that will seem like a pretty dirty trick at this point, but anything's possible. People are talking about record flooding this year. Our river is a little high, but actually, so far, not as high as other years. (This is a deck down by the river's edge, not our house or anything.)

One time when there was a "100 year flood" a few years ago, the water got all the way through the fifteen or so acres of woods behind our house up to our back yard, but has never made it to our house. We're not really worried.

Last night after work me and Dan went down to the river and had a couple beers with the next door neighbors we share the woods with. Here's me with massive helmet head.

They are artists too, so are their two grown daughters-- an artist & a writer. We feel pretty lucky, to live here, and with such cool people.

I have a show in less than four weeks now. I have a commission waiting and my best gallery is calling for more work, and the others have told me they're waiting too. I'm also planning another open-studio this summer. I'm going into a heavy art making phase. This weekend though, all I wanted to work on was the lady I'm making for the trail-- whose name, turns out, is Tina.

Sometimes things just reveal themselves. This was painted on the race car chassis I'm using to cover her with. So Tina it is.

She also got a job.

And a sponsor! Hmm. I guess she's a racer. How did that happen?

Some of you may have noticed me referring to a girl racer named Sam in a few of the race posts. She's the pretty blond who's been starring in the "move it" Blue Cross/Blue Shield t.v. ads. Now they're sponsoring her and her hubs for the 2010 mtb race season. They'll probably be helicoptered in to races now and have "people" and stuff.

I have to admit this racing idea is getting to me. I'd like to try it some more, but there is the whole fear of failure thing to contend with. I'd have to work really hard to improve to become good enough. Def not there yet. We'll see.

I'm pretty into her. It took me three days to finish framing her out-- (she was just roughed in before), and cover most of her jersey, but I have to put her aside again now. I'd like to have her completely finished in time for the show and bring her to show off. You never know-- might get a commission off her.

After that she can go to her new home at the trail. She represents a new level in my work. I have a few other large human figures kicking around. Now when I look at them compared to her-- they don't really hold up.

I love the trail. It's more than a place to me. It's like a power cord-- a life line. It's opened up so many possibilities in the last couple of years-- given me a sport I'm getting pretty passionate about, that has really leveled me out, and introduced me to a bunch of new friends too. It makes me feel good that I can contribute something to the park that other people will be able to enjoy. Plus-- selfishly, I don't really want to give this one up. I'm really attached. This way I can kind of keep her too.

I'm going to really get cranking now, on "work work", and try to finish her on weekends and after the whistle blows. Time to weld. Have a good one people.