Another fun weekend in Columbus

Another busy weekend largely spent near the OSU campus and the edge of Short North.

 

Saturday afternoon we drove to the Gateway Film Center with the intention of seeing yet another Studio Ghibli film - this time, "Princess Mononoke." However, as sometimes happens, the dubbed version proved to be very popular. In spite of arriving somewhat early (since I wanted to stop in to Cold Stone Creamery for some ice cream), it was already sold out, so we went to Plan B - see "Zootopia" instead. We were going to see it the next morning while having brunch at The Movie Tavern, but nixed that plan in light of the current situation.

In spite of seeing the same trailer for "Zootopia" over and over again, it still proved to be a delightful film with lots of surprises (including an ending I definitely didn't see coming). My favorite scene was when Judy's parents were telling her how it's good to have dreams, but you don't necessarily have to follow them. Sometimes you have to settle, and settle hard, like we did! Laughable, but true, so true...

After the film we still had over an hour to kill before we had to be in Short North for our 5pm meadery tour and tasting at Drake Brothers. I think the first store we went into was the Hippie Hut - Guitars and Things. The 'and things' refers to pipes (for a "special" kind of smoking), record albums (hopefully I'm not the only one out there who still remembers wax?), t-shirts, etc. I actually purchased a cool-looking b/w t-shirt that has an overlay of circles on it - much like lots of little record albums. For $10 I couldn't resist.

Next door is a similar shop, but with more clothing and novelty-themed items (in addition to more pipes and little hand-made cloth bags to store them in). I loved their awesome collection of retro patches, many with a sort of 'Peace and Love' message. I will definitely have to come back once I decide what to sew them on. The store mascot appears to be a very mellow (female) bulldog who delighted in waddling around the store to personally greet to each of the customers. I liked the necklaces, tie-dyed hoodies and hand made purses. Except for the necklaces, most of these items would have pushed my budget, so we ended up leaving empty-handed.

Across the street and down a little ways we stopped into a retro toy store (called "Evil Twin") that sells pop culture items from perhaps as far back as "Scooby Doo" up to more recent cult favorites like "Walking Dead." A slice of my childhood definitely resided in that store. That's the first time I have ever seen box upon box of movie/TV trading cards like I used to collect. I think I donated my collection to Goodwill, but if I am wrong about that, I know where to take them! Although I would have liked the funky "Partridge Family" lunchbox ($90), I settled instead for a miniature Ms. Easter Bunny Potato Head knick-knack and some McDonald's Happy Meal transformers to add to my collection.

Next door to that is an interesting store that sells a lot of Japanese toys that reference unfamiliar- to-me TV programs or movies? but are super cute (and not cheap!). Had we had more time to kill, I might have selected something. They even had sheets of puffy stickers ($2) for those on a more modest budget.

I also want to give a shout-out to 'Out of the Closet' second-hand store, which we definitely didn't have time to visit (but I stuck my head in briefly to see what it was like inside), but I'd quite like to go there when I have more time to shop. It's a thrift store which benefits an Aids charity, something we don't seem to talk about much today since Aids publicity seemed to go out of vogue once the 80s ended, but sadly the disease still hasn't been eradicated (especially in Africa). There are worse places your money could be spent (I'm looking at you Walmart).

A little before 5pm we made our way over to the Brothers Drake Meadery tucked away behind Out of the Closet. Since our tour included a sampling of the mead, they gave us our glasses (shot-glass size) and filled them up while we waited for our group to gather. Since it was a warm day, the patio was open, so people congregated out there as well as near the Japanese food truck on the other side. After a few sips of mead, all was well with the world!

Eventually our group was shown to the back where the mead is processed and bottled. Since there's lots of different flavors incorporated into the mead, Andrew and I wondered at which point those flavors (like lemon, blueberry, apple, etc.) are added, so I asked when the opportunity presented itself. Turns out it is added early on, left to age a bit, then more flavor is added later. Like many companies in Columbus, they use locally sourced products (the honey, water and whatever other fruit or herbs). However, they did say they're owned by the San Francisco Mead Company, so that's probably how they maintain financial stability.

During the tour we got to sample the Bergamot Blue (which we later purchased), the Apple Pie, Ginger Verve, and either the Blueberry Chai or Scarlet Solstice. I forget which. By this point I was in such good spirits the thought never occurred to me to take notes (or photos). Afterwards we sampled another mead with a very strong coffee flavor. Although interesting, not sure it's one I'd care to have on its own (though they are excellent when mixed with other liquors to create exotic cocktails). It would probably work well in Tiramisu.

We later plan to buy a bottle of the Apple Pie since we think that would be a fun one to share with the family in the autumn. I did learn that mead can be both sweet or dry, depending on how long you age it and what you add (I'm just guessing there since I really have no idea). We sampled both sweet and dry mead and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the samples. I had expected them to all be sickly sweet, but they definitely weren't.

While walking down High Street looking for somewhere to have dinner, I spotted a shop I've always wanted to browse in called "Flower Child." It's an antique store. Half is clothing and accessories (including lots of train cases and other misc. luggage and purses) and the other half is household items. I heard more than one person (including myself) say their grandma had this or that item. Now I know where to take Grandma Goff's salt and pepper shakers. I bought a little handmade (leather?) purse for $10 to add to my "little purses" collection.

Love the funky hat!

We ended up having dinner at Basil (Thai) Restaurant since it wasn't busy enough to require reservations. It certainly lived up to its excellent reputation as both the food and ambiance was good. We split an order of crab cream cheese wontons; Andrew had the pepper steak while I had the pineapple (chicken) curry. They even gave us extra rice to take home with our leftovers.

While walking back to the car I told Andrew how much I missed walking places all the time, like we did in the UK. Of course the novelty eventually wears off and you start to appreciate having a car, but it was still fun walking up and down High Street on the 65+ degree sunny/cloudy day.

I also decided this was going to be like day #2 of my birthday weekend (since we already celebrated day #1 a few weeks ago when we went to the Wex and then to the cinema). Who says you actually have to celebrate your birthday on the actual day? (especially since, so far, the weather is supposed to be total crap on my actual birthday). We did that at Christmas, so I think we're going to keep up this tradition. After all, it is a free country.

To finish off the day we watched another installment of "Back in Time for the Weekend - the 1980s," which was somewhat appropriate having spent so much time browsing in antique stores earlier in the day. This seems to be the decade where electronics took over and put a fracture in quality family time. I love when the Ashby-Hawkins' received their VCR and the two kids (12 and 17) weren't quite sure what it was. Later in the episode 12-year-old Seth and his friend rent a couple movies from a local Blockbuster, which neither Andrew, nor I, are quite certain even still exist in the UK since the last one closed stateside probably half a decade or so ago. Definitely an enjoyable episode with lots of color (blue eye shadow), funky patterns (which I still miss), and a power suit with big shoulder pads (remove the shoulder pads and the suit would still work today).

Daisy, stop stenciling your brother!

We'll probably finish off the series next weekend since the 90s is the last decade covered.

Have a good week everyone!

Declutter for Charity...

 I had quite a busy weekend. (first weekend in March 2016)

Friday night Andrew and I went to the Sideswipe Brewery so he could finally cash in his Groupon which was good for a tasting for two, with free pint glasses and growlers to go. Even though I'm not a beer drinker, there were a few flavors that really weren't too bad.* One had a slightly fruity taste while the other was a little coffee-like. He were lucky to get a table since it's a pretty small place and it was pretty busy. I think it's a favorite Friday night hang-out for people. I just wish I liked beer so I could have enjoyed myself more. However, I took my job as designated driver very seriously and Andrew was grateful that I did since he didn't feel up to driving home. I like how the brewery had games you could play, so we took one down and looked at it. It was a very "adult" game similar to Apples to Apples, but strictly 'R' rated. Andrew ended up purchasing one of the beers he sampled, so we left with one full growler in addition to our other three souvenirs (of which I had to do a little rearranging of the contents of our cupboard to accommodate).

* My two favs - Defaced Imperial Red Ale and Coffee Mastermind

Saturday I was at St. Brendan's to help add some faux flowers to the altar for Laetare Sunday, then I volunteered to do the grocery shopping since Andrew was feeling a little hung over : P About mid afternoon I rolled up my sleeves and decided to finally tackle the basement with the goal to separate empty cardboard boxes from empty containers from seasonal decorations and whatever else I had stacked in the middle of the room. I was mostly done by the time I had to leave for church, but I finished up the last of it today.

I ended up with (2) bags and (2) boxes of stuffed animals, (2) boxes of toys/games, one box of misc. stuff, and one bag of material: all to go to different charities. The toys and games went to Westside Free Store Ministries. A girl a few streets away volunteered there recently and said they were greatly in need of many things including toys. I also went to Giant Eagle on Tuesday and bought a cart load of stuff (which I think I told you about already), so I tried to be generous. The box of miscellaneous stuff was dropped off at Goodwill and the bag of material went to my church. Sister Joanne is currently collecting mason jars and cotton material to make  chocolate chip cookie mix in a jar for new members of our parish. I went through my stash of material and found some great big swatches that I think will look fabulous, so I cut her several pieces and dropped them off earlier this afternoon.

Now I am just waiting on someone to come pick up the cardboard boxes on our front porch (all of which I collected from work over the last couple of months). I feel a lot lighter, but I still have lots of boxes of stuff to sort, but at least now everything looks all tidy. I also have a whole bunch of empty containers I plan to sell at Karen's garage sale this summer (unless I decided to sell them on Craig's List first). I have a bunch of papers to sort that I plan to divide into 7 different folders so I have one folder to go through every night. I think that's doable.

I almost forgot - at work I got a sort of promotion, or at least a new responsibility. For the past few years, on and off, I have been inputting the billing totals for our region and the Cincinnati region (which is only about 7 people). Starting Monday I will be doing it for our other two regions as well, so that's at least another 8-10 people. I think I also have to compile a monthly report, which I will be shown how to do.

Tomorrow we have a new part time regional secretary (whose job this would have been, but they've decided to just let me do it since I'm more stable and already know how to do it) starting, so I have to train her on how to answer the phones, etc. I always dread this because it doesn't take very long, then I'm left just making small talk to kill time. Also, my lunch hour has been bumped up an hour so I will eat at noon now instead of 1pm, making a very long afternoon, so kind of dreading that. However, my friend from upstairs has an early lunch too, so we might take walks together, which will be nice. When I was in England my lunch hour was 11:45-1pm (and I often worked til 5:45pm), so I have had earlier lunches previously (and Andrew has his early too).

Well, hope you (mom and dad) enjoyed Jay Leno on Friday. I think I will postpone watching the final episode of "Downton Abbey" since it's scheduled from 9-11pm, and that's past my bedtime. Instead we'll probably watch the 70's episode of this show: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06zyt4z and then "Walking Dead" before calling it a day.

"Back in Time for the Weekend" (the 70s)

Have a good week everyone!

A (sort of) Time Travel Weekend...

Saturday February 27, 2016
My friend and I who are both proud members of Generation X decided to watch the pilot episode of "Fuller House," a spin-off of "Full House" which graced the airways 25 years ago. Hard to believe that much time has passed. Deep sigh. Anyway, all the former cast members were back for the episode minus Mary Kate/Ashley Olsen who played the adorable baby, Michelle. This didn't go unnoticed or unmentioned by the cast who all stared into the camera after it was said that Michelle couldn't be there because she was in NYC managing her successful fashion career (which is entirely true as the twins have their own clothing line). One couldn't really blame them since they were both only babies when the series started, so they didn't have the same bonding experience the rest of the cast had. Still, it would have been nice if one of them could have at least skyped in for the pilot.

Later that day Andrew and I went to see the studio Ghibli film, "Only Yesterday," which is about a young woman who grew up in the big city (and still lives there) but spends her vacation time helping out at a farm so she can spend time in the countryside. While there she reminisces quite a lot about her ten year old self. I could definitely sympathize with her difficulties with math, though for me it was seventh grade when I felt like the class dunce (that was the year we were introduced to geometry).

In the evening we watched a program on the BBC i-Player called "Back in Time for the Weekend." I wasn't sure quite what to expect when I saw the program description, but was pleasantly surprised after watching the first episode. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06zyt4z

It's a bit of reality TV where a London-based family of four agrees to take part in a social experiment where they have to spend one week living life in another decade. Part of that entails letting their house undergo transformation (this means gutting their kitchen, living room and downstairs loo) rather than moving the family to another location.

This episode was set in the 1950s, so we got to see lots of cool mid-century modern wallpaper, textiles, and furniture, in addition to clothing and food choices. I agree with their 12 year old son, Seth, who said he had the easiest experience because so little was expected of him. Aside from attending school and Sunday school, he didn't have to do any chores, and he and his mates even got to go camping. His sixteen year old sister was a housewife-in-training who had a ballroom dancing lesson as her one extra-curricular activity. The father had to learn basic carpentry and install a doorbell and build a little table while the mother was left to cook and clean and do all the grocery shopping. Yes, life definitely sucked for women until the invention of modern appliances to help with some of the more grueling chores.

I can't wait to watch the next episode where they're put through the paces of life in the 1960s.

Have a good week everyone!

An Art Themed Weekend

Friday February 19, 2016
I recently received this invitation:

I'm excited to announce and invite you to my upcoming exhibition Brownie In Motion: Traveling Picture Show at the Columbus Cultural Art Center (CAC). The show will feature B&W photographs of crafts people made with Brownie in Motion, as well as color photographs that document our travels during the last three years (which was made possible thanks to your support!)

Please consider joining me, The Brownie, and your fellow supporters of the project at the opening reception this Friday 2/19 from 6-8pm. We will be serving complimentary drinks and snacks until they are gone!

Hence, Andrew and I (who donated to the Kickstarter campaign on this) decided to attend. 

We haven't been to many gallery opening evenings, but I can honestly say there was more food on offer at this one than at any other (except for perhaps one at the UA municipal center) I've attended. Sadly, I wasn't able to eat most of it due to my slow recovery after my recent gum grafts. Andrew said he felt funny taking a plate full of food. I agreed it does always feel awkward, but we made a considerable donation, so it's only right that at least one of us should be able to partake.

Anyway, the evening wasn't about the food (but I spend way too much time fixated on it these days). The spotlight was on Stephen Takacs, the artist and the inspiration behind the whole Brownie in Motion traveling picture show. The oversized Brownie is a camera obscura which Takacs used to take photos while on the road, in addition to pictures of the Brownie in front of various places (including famous landmarks - see below).

Takacs was pretty busy so we had to wait our turn to have a brief chat before heading home to grab some dinner (me, leftovers). Here he is getting interviewed (though by whom I do not know).

Anyway, I'm really glad we attended and I'm glad it was a fairly warm evening (at least by February standards). If it had been as cold as it was the previous weekend, we probably would have stayed home.

Saturday February 20, 2016
Today Andrew and I decided to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather (a high of around 70 degrees, but quite windy!) to park at the Gateway Film Center and walk the few blocks to the Wexner Center to see the current Noah Purifoy Junk Dada exhibit. This is the first show since the "After Picasso" exhibit last fall where a tragedy took place inside the gallery space (and some of the art was badly damaged). Hence, there are new restrictions on what you can and cannot bring into the gallery, so I left most of the contents of my purse at home traveling light with just my wallet, phone, and a bag in which to put any extraneous reading material I might pick up. Honestly, it felt liberating, though I can't imagine traveling that way all the time.

We definitely feel like we got our money's worth (first time in a long time we've not gone on the free first Sunday) and pretty much had the place to ourselves since the warm weather obviously kept people away.

I'm not sure what my favorite piece was, but here are some of my favorites:

"The Last Supper"

"The Crucifixion"

Although we were running a bit late getting to the Wexner Center (we wanted to make sure we had enough time to have lunch before our 2pm film at the Gateway FC), we ended up having plenty of time without having to rush. We had lunch at Panera Bread (one of the few places where I could get soup), and still had almost an hour to kill, so we got ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, then spent the rest of our spare time at Barnes & Noble.

I told Andrew I decided to just celebrate my birthday today since it's exactly one month away, because I know that no matter what we end up doing then (on Palm Sunday), it won't be nearly as fun as it was today.

We both very much enjoyed the Studio Ghibli film, "Pom Poko" which is about a herd of raccoons living in Japan struggling to coexist with humans. The urban sprawl finally becomes too much for the raccoons (who are also shape shifters and can turn into humans), and they wage war with the humans by sabotaging construction sites. Lives are lost on both sides, but in the end, the raccoons are able to at least partially restore their habitat and reach an amicable living arrangement with the humans. Although it's quite a good film, it's a bit long at best part of two hours and I feel some of it could have easily been cut out without losing the essence of the story.

After the movie I went to church, then had dinner with Andrew before sitting down to watch an oldie, but a goodie, "Amelie," probably my favorite French film of all time (followed by "Chocolat" which I hope to watch some time between now and Easter).

Sunday February 21, 2016
Though it wasn't as warm as Saturday, it was still pretty sunny and nice. Our little outing of the day was a trip to Barry's Bagels to claim our freebies (only to discover you can only use one coupon at a time). Andrew claimed the free bagel with cream cheese while I got a cup of chicken noodle matzo ball soup (surprise surprise!).

Otherwise, the rest of the day was nothing special with just the usual list of chores, though we are planning on going to see "The Lady in the Van" tonight.

 

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

me holding a bouquet of tulips from Andrew

Having been married now for just over 17 years, Valentine's Day isn't exactly a very big deal to us. Some years we celebrate more than others. This year we had a nice lie-in where we literally just cuddled under the covers until we started feeling guilty about not letting the kitty out of the basement.

We had a slow breakfast of steel cut oats (along with several side dishes), while reading the Sunday paper and soaking up the sunshine in the kitchen. Afterwards Andrew phoned his parents who had just returned from their trip down under (which went well he reported).

About mid afternoon we went to the Gateway Film Center to see the anime film, "Ocean Waves," produced by what would later become Studio Ghibli. It was as good a choice of movie as any other since it was about two (male) friends who let their efforts to romance a new girl get in the way of their friendship, but they make up at the end of the film. I don't think either successfully wooed the girl, and there was certainly a lot of slaps and even a punch or two thrown. Not my favorite Ghibli film by any means, but not my least favorite either.

After the film, I dropped off Andrew and headed over to Target to pick up some lunch meat for him, and some cheese cubes in spinach for me. While there I also picked up a fun dessert for us:

While writing this, Andrew shouted to me that a skunk was in our back garden. I saw it run past, head to our neighbor's, then do an about face and head back our way ending up near our other neighbor's shed. Having lived in our house now for just over 10 years, we have yet to actually see a skunk (though we're aware that they're around), so today was a first!

Plans for after dinner include watching "Downton Abbey" and whatever else before calling it a day. Have a good week everyone!

Photo(shop) of the Week

Have a good week everyone!

Friday January 29, 2016

We had another busy weekend. My parents drove down from Northeast Ohio on Friday and were staying with us, so we all went out to dinner. It was a toss-up between Matt the Miller’s or J. Liu’s, but J. Liu’s won because they accept reservations (though we’ve actually managed to get in on a Friday night without one). I’m glad we did reserve ahead because it got busier and busier the longer we sat there.

After we got back to the house, mom requested I pull out some of grandpa’s old slides, which are currently somewhat disorganized. I’m not quite sure how they got that way since it’s unlike me to have things out of order (except for when it comes to papers), but nonetheless. It took mom and I a little while to put some slides in empty containers, and of course they were all upside down so we had to take them out and put them in all over again. Lesson learned. Maybe next time I’ll put a ‘T’ for top or something.

We closed out the evening with a Johnny Carson “Tonight Show” marathon starting with an episode from some time in the mid 80s when Johnny invited David Letterman on the show so they could settle their dispute (with Judge Wapner) over a broken headlight on David’s rusty pick-up truck that Johnny once “borrowed” as a practical joke. In case you’re wondering, Judge Wapner awarded Johnny damages in the amount of $24.95.

Saturday January 30, 2016

Today was a big day for Carter and Grandpa who were racing in the annual Pinewood Derby being held at a local church in Hilliard. Grandpa brought his vintage car which was engineered and raced about 30 years ago (when Jim was a boy scout) we figure.

I think there were something like 30 races maybe because each child’s car got to race in 3 heats due to any discrepancies that may occur during any one race (like the car being put on the track facing in the wrong direction, a wonky wheel, etc.).

Carter’s car and Grandpa’s car didn’t get off to a very good start as both stalled about halfway down the track not crossing the finish line. However, both improved in their second and third races, though neither took home a trophy that day. The highlight for Grandpa was when they let him press the release button to start the race.

 

Carter's car is the multi-colored car on the right.

Grandpa's car (on far left) crosses the finish line!

By the way, Grandpa’s car raced in a “Classic Cars” race where other parents/grandparents brought in their vintage cars. There was also a sibling race where a few sisters got in on the action. I don’t think that was an option 30 years ago, because if it was, I might have been interested in participating. After all, even though I played with dolls, I was still a bit of a tomboy who also liked cars and some other boy toys.

If nothing else, for those of us who are nonparents, it was an interesting study in what names are current among 8-10 year old boys.

We wrapped up the day with Ashley’s 15^th birthday party. Unlike at most social occasions held during the last few years, the guest of honor was actually present accompanied by her friend, Gabby. In fact, that’s the most I’ve probably seen of Ashley in a long while.

Cute little kids have been replaced by pets at these parties as Jeannie and Lloyd always bring their miniature poodle, Lilly. It’s funny to watch how she behaves around Lucy, whose house it is she’s invading. However, all Lilly has to do is snap at Lucy and Lucy quickly cowers and retreats. This was particularly funny at Christmas when Lilly took possession of Lucy’s abandoned bone. All Lucy could do was watch from across the room while Lilly licked her bone gleefully.

After dinner we enjoyed cupcakes, ice cream, and rice krispie treats (thanks Karen!). After one of Ashley’s candles failed to go out, Carter was called in as the designated blower (he has a healthy pair of lungs from blowing up balloons to make animals, etc.). He blew so hard that he accidentally blew the icing right off one of the cupcakes. It was okay since Karen keeps a pretty clean counter, so we just scooped up the frosting and put it right back on the cupcake (like a man missing his toupe!).

Later in the evening Ashley opened her presents (which is a dying tradition as money seems to be the #1 gift for tweens and teens). I bought her a NYC Times Square panoramic puzzle, and a NYC coloring book (which had more lame pictures than good ones, but I didn’t really look through it much before purchasing it). Mom bought her a Disney Mickey-Mouse ear themed glasses case stuffed with cash, and one of her other grandmas bought her a beautiful bracelet. Ashley seemed grateful for the gifts, or was at least gracious about receiving them.

Sunday January 31, 2016

Today was a movie marathon day as we decided to cram two movies into one day (because of trying to keep up with the amount of movies coming out). Actually, one of the movies was a series of (Oscar nominated animated) shorts that spanned nearly two hours followed an hour later by another nearly two hour movie (“Kiki’s Delivery Service”), so all total we sat for about 3½ hrs, but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

I am grateful to Andrew for braving the long line for popcorn just so he could treat me. It was my fault we were so late to get back in line after popping next door to Barnes & Noble to kill time between films. I didn’t count on there being such a long line to the concession stand (since we almost never buy food or drink at the movies), so we probably should have come back about 10-15 minutes sooner.

All in all a pretty good weekend definitely jam-packed with activity!