crafty time stuff
Disregard that shoddy wire connect, I just cleaned that up a bit. I wanna try some wire wrapping sometime.
Also, wanna try and make a buncha earrings to sell or commission or something. Maybe.
Regardless. Rattlesnake earring!
SHKKkkKKkkKkkKkKkKKKKKkkk
12/18
crafty time stuff
Disregard that shoddy wire connect, I just cleaned that up a bit. I wanna try some wire wrapping sometime.
Also, wanna try and make a buncha earrings to sell or commission or something. Maybe.
Regardless. Rattlesnake earring!
crafty time stuff
Disregard that shoddy wire connect, I just cleaned that up a bit. I wanna try some wire wrapping sometime.
Also, wanna try and make a buncha earrings to sell or commission or something. Maybe.
Regardless. Rattlesnake earring!
Begin Epic Drive to Seattle
12/7
Today is the beginning of an epic drive to Seattle from Chicago. We have a 24 hour break in Denver but then quickly moving onward to our final destination.
Luckily I found someone looking to share gas costs and a small portion of the driving on the way there.
2pm-Left Chicago
The Illinois countryside.
Sunset approaching. Damn camera insists on focusing on the dirty window instead of the awesome colors and stuff.
4:30pm-Dark time
Some one was not thinking when the made this name up. Really, how is this a good name in any way, shape or form? You subtracted one character from the length of the original spelling and then botched it all up. Ugh.
9:45pm-We pick up Eli and his mega cute dog, Dharma, in Des Moines. After some serious Tetris packing of the car we all fit back into it and get back on the road. Eli turns out to be an interesting character who seems to have done a bit of traveling in his time and proceeds to regale us with many a tale, in addition to generally good conversation overall. Dharma is the best, she just snuggles and naps.
12:30am-Eli drives for a spell so I can nap.
3:00am-We stop at the most extreme truck stop ever. I think it was somewhere outside or nearby Omaha,NE. There is a life sized Predator, a smaller 'Grey' type alien, and a piece of the World Trade Center.
James vs Predator, coming summer of 2012
Evidently this is a piece of the World Trade Center. There is a sign that says that although there is possibly a way to authenticate that this piece of metal is indeed from the WTC they have done no such thing and you should just accept it and be in awe, or something like that.
A crane.
Soon after leaving this truckstop a low moaning sound begins to emanate from the road. It isn't the car and it sounds like chanting. Eventually we pass a sign stating that this section of the road has been produced from 40.000 old tires. Perhaps it is the ghosts of all those tires crying out... or something.
6:45am-Just crossed the border into Colorado. This is the first sunrise I have witnessed in a long time. The landscape here is completely alien to me. Low hills and snow. Very few trees, some cows. In a few hours we spot some antelope looking animals and I begin seeing these large black and white birds resembling mockingbirds.
Ah, here it is.
I didn't get a picture of the antelope but here's one I found.
Sunrise. I think that squiggle is Mars.
EAT BEEF
7:45am-I have to take another short nap. Slightly hallucinating searchlights on the horizon even though it is broad daylight by now.
10:00am-We dropped Eli off at a hotel and met up with Cat, James's friend and began hanging out with her. Got some breakfast and another 20 minute nap. Then we headed off into the mountains to take a gander. On the way I spied some rad lenticular clouds.
This is not a very good picture but here is some more info.
Heading into the foothills.
I saw some big horn sheep soon after this picture.
Cat took us to a little town up in the mountains, about an hour outside of Denver, by the name of George Town. It is a tiny cowboy style place. Not a single stop light.
Just down the road is this small lake which was completely frozen over. Even though it was 60 degrees in Denver. It was very windy and kind of cold.
There were two people out on these skate/sail boat things. They looked to be alot of fun and went pretty fast.
Free coffee from visitor center
A small graveyard we stopped at for a minute. There were some really old gravestones dating back to the late 1800's. There were also a few from the 2000's. There were sall animal tracks all over the place in the snow.
So by now I'm about to die from hunger but we get a nice tour of downtown Denver, find some falafel and go back to Cat's.
James and Cat and her friends go out to drink and stuff. I stay at the apartment to catch up on sleep. It had been about 36 hours since I had actually done more than a 20 minute nap.
End Stage one of epic hauling ass trip across the country.
Today is the beginning of an epic drive to Seattle from Chicago. We have a 24 hour break in Denver but then quickly moving onward to our final destination.
Luckily I found someone looking to share gas costs and a small portion of the driving on the way there.
2pm-Left Chicago
The Illinois countryside.
Sunset approaching. Damn camera insists on focusing on the dirty window instead of the awesome colors and stuff.
4:30pm-Dark time
Some one was not thinking when the made this name up. Really, how is this a good name in any way, shape or form? You subtracted one character from the length of the original spelling and then botched it all up. Ugh.
9:45pm-We pick up Eli and his mega cute dog, Dharma, in Des Moines. After some serious Tetris packing of the car we all fit back into it and get back on the road. Eli turns out to be an interesting character who seems to have done a bit of traveling in his time and proceeds to regale us with many a tale, in addition to generally good conversation overall. Dharma is the best, she just snuggles and naps.
12:30am-Eli drives for a spell so I can nap.
3:00am-We stop at the most extreme truck stop ever. I think it was somewhere outside or nearby Omaha,NE. There is a life sized Predator, a smaller 'Grey' type alien, and a piece of the World Trade Center.
James vs Predator, coming summer of 2012
Evidently this is a piece of the World Trade Center. There is a sign that says that although there is possibly a way to authenticate that this piece of metal is indeed from the WTC they have done no such thing and you should just accept it and be in awe, or something like that.
A crane.
Soon after leaving this truckstop a low moaning sound begins to emanate from the road. It isn't the car and it sounds like chanting. Eventually we pass a sign stating that this section of the road has been produced from 40.000 old tires. Perhaps it is the ghosts of all those tires crying out... or something.
6:45am-Just crossed the border into Colorado. This is the first sunrise I have witnessed in a long time. The landscape here is completely alien to me. Low hills and snow. Very few trees, some cows. In a few hours we spot some antelope looking animals and I begin seeing these large black and white birds resembling mockingbirds.
Ah, here it is.
I didn't get a picture of the antelope but here's one I found.
Sunrise. I think that squiggle is Mars.
EAT BEEF
7:45am-I have to take another short nap. Slightly hallucinating searchlights on the horizon even though it is broad daylight by now.
10:00am-We dropped Eli off at a hotel and met up with Cat, James's friend and began hanging out with her. Got some breakfast and another 20 minute nap. Then we headed off into the mountains to take a gander. On the way I spied some rad lenticular clouds.
This is not a very good picture but here is some more info.
Heading into the foothills.
I saw some big horn sheep soon after this picture.
Cat took us to a little town up in the mountains, about an hour outside of Denver, by the name of George Town. It is a tiny cowboy style place. Not a single stop light.
Just down the road is this small lake which was completely frozen over. Even though it was 60 degrees in Denver. It was very windy and kind of cold.
There were two people out on these skate/sail boat things. They looked to be alot of fun and went pretty fast.
Free coffee from visitor center
A small graveyard we stopped at for a minute. There were some really old gravestones dating back to the late 1800's. There were also a few from the 2000's. There were sall animal tracks all over the place in the snow.
So by now I'm about to die from hunger but we get a nice tour of downtown Denver, find some falafel and go back to Cat's.
James and Cat and her friends go out to drink and stuff. I stay at the apartment to catch up on sleep. It had been about 36 hours since I had actually done more than a 20 minute nap.
End Stage one of epic hauling ass trip across the country.
Chicago Part Deuce
12/5
In the evening there was a performance event in the gallery space at the Roxaboxen. An atmosphere of a ritual nature was maintained throughout. It was pretty good overall and went off without a hitch. At one point a smoke detector went off but it sort of worked with what was going on for the most part. There was also a giant white pod filled with compost in the middle of the room which was the focus of one point of the performance. Additionally someone was sealed in a canvas bag, plastered to the wall, which they later exited with knife and walked out of room covered in paint/glue.
Candle Lighting
There was pollen cookies and honey drink served after this. The cookies were exquisite.
There was a droning noise portion. The guy was using something along the lines of a light reactive synth. The light source being a flickering electric candle and a flashlight.
Close to the end of the performance.
A golden diamond hotdog. Vegan I presume...
Later...
James as a Beetle
12/6
Today we took an outing and found the Museum of Contemporary Photography.
This involved taking the elevated train which, in my opinion, is way more fun to ride than the New York City subway due to the fact that you get to see ALOT more of the city.
Getting off the train.
We walked by Millenium Park and checked out the giant silver bean. It's huge and the underside is highly confusing to look at.
So we walked a little too far down the street and missed the MoCP. This was in part of the park.
A shadow of a building.
So eventually we made it to the MoCP. The focus of the works present had a strong Hispanic theme. It was mostly about people migrating from Mexico and attempting to cross the border, but also a comparison between the 80's and 2000's Hispanic culture of Chicago.
This was in the rear/left section of the gallery space. It was a video installation about canned laughter. The video was of laugh track voice actors. They all looked very uncomfortable.
By the time we finished there we were all starving and found some delicious pizza. This Chicago pizza was square, but not deep dish.
Then we checked out the Chicago Public Library. This place is HUGE. It has 9 or 10 floors, although only 6 seem to contain books and other materials. But whatever, its big. And full of escalators. And there are at least 8 elevators. And a fountain.
And several galleries.
Wow.
An escalator never breaks, it just turns into stairs.
This is the top floor. It is very quite and only two people were in here.
We abandoned the guidance of Kyle after the library and decided to go find Sultan's for one last falafel sammich before we left Chicago. Paired with a 4-pack of Brooklyn Chocolate Stout, things couldn't have gone better.
In the evening there was a performance event in the gallery space at the Roxaboxen. An atmosphere of a ritual nature was maintained throughout. It was pretty good overall and went off without a hitch. At one point a smoke detector went off but it sort of worked with what was going on for the most part. There was also a giant white pod filled with compost in the middle of the room which was the focus of one point of the performance. Additionally someone was sealed in a canvas bag, plastered to the wall, which they later exited with knife and walked out of room covered in paint/glue.
Candle Lighting
There was pollen cookies and honey drink served after this. The cookies were exquisite.
There was a droning noise portion. The guy was using something along the lines of a light reactive synth. The light source being a flickering electric candle and a flashlight.
Close to the end of the performance.
A golden diamond hotdog. Vegan I presume...
Later...
James as a Beetle
12/6
Today we took an outing and found the Museum of Contemporary Photography.
This involved taking the elevated train which, in my opinion, is way more fun to ride than the New York City subway due to the fact that you get to see ALOT more of the city.
Getting off the train.
We walked by Millenium Park and checked out the giant silver bean. It's huge and the underside is highly confusing to look at.
So we walked a little too far down the street and missed the MoCP. This was in part of the park.
A shadow of a building.
So eventually we made it to the MoCP. The focus of the works present had a strong Hispanic theme. It was mostly about people migrating from Mexico and attempting to cross the border, but also a comparison between the 80's and 2000's Hispanic culture of Chicago.
This was in the rear/left section of the gallery space. It was a video installation about canned laughter. The video was of laugh track voice actors. They all looked very uncomfortable.
By the time we finished there we were all starving and found some delicious pizza. This Chicago pizza was square, but not deep dish.
Then we checked out the Chicago Public Library. This place is HUGE. It has 9 or 10 floors, although only 6 seem to contain books and other materials. But whatever, its big. And full of escalators. And there are at least 8 elevators. And a fountain.
And several galleries.
Wow.
An escalator never breaks, it just turns into stairs.
This is the top floor. It is very quite and only two people were in here.
We abandoned the guidance of Kyle after the library and decided to go find Sultan's for one last falafel sammich before we left Chicago. Paired with a 4-pack of Brooklyn Chocolate Stout, things couldn't have gone better.
We bring the snow, to Chicago
12/3
Today began a bit slow but eventually we went on a bit of a bike ride with the superlative Kyle Stephens. After visiting the local Target, and then with hunger in the mind, we biked to Sultan's Market. This was a bit of a ride across town but the weather wasn't all that bad and after a mile or so it stopped being so cold.
Proceed to have the best falafel sammich in recent history. One thing about Chicago to not be overlooked is that alot of restaurants are BYOB.
Next on the agenda is Myopic Books. It's not as large as John K King but has a much more navigable selection with alot of new and used items. Lots of browsing occurred and I eventually found a few good one's such as 'Naked in the Woods:Joseph Knowles and the Legacy of Frontier Fakery' by Jim Matavalli, and 'Kavalier and Clay' by Micheal Chabon.
Cue more chilling, biking, and the first real snow of our trip. Approximately 4 inches.
Dumptruck Lady Kitty. The sweetest cat EVAR. <3
12/4
Cold weather promoted a bit of indoor nesting for the better part of the morning.
Lots of cat sleeping on belly while internetting and drinking tea.
There was success in finding someone to rideshare with us from Des Moines, Iowa to Seattle...
Later myself, James, and Kyle assembled the most killingest falafel combo to date. Homemade ultra garlic-blackbean-spicy hummus, deadly tzaziki, and way-the-hell-better-than-last-time-we-tried-to-make-falafel falafel. Sadly we ran out of pita but just made delicious salad stuff instead. The hummus, all 30+ ounces of it, did not make it 24 hours before being consumed.
After the feast we walked over to a house show. I cannot recall the names of any of the bands that played but it was billed as psych rock. None of that happened.
Today began a bit slow but eventually we went on a bit of a bike ride with the superlative Kyle Stephens. After visiting the local Target, and then with hunger in the mind, we biked to Sultan's Market. This was a bit of a ride across town but the weather wasn't all that bad and after a mile or so it stopped being so cold.
Proceed to have the best falafel sammich in recent history. One thing about Chicago to not be overlooked is that alot of restaurants are BYOB.
Next on the agenda is Myopic Books. It's not as large as John K King but has a much more navigable selection with alot of new and used items. Lots of browsing occurred and I eventually found a few good one's such as 'Naked in the Woods:Joseph Knowles and the Legacy of Frontier Fakery' by Jim Matavalli, and 'Kavalier and Clay' by Micheal Chabon.
Cue more chilling, biking, and the first real snow of our trip. Approximately 4 inches.
Dumptruck Lady Kitty. The sweetest cat EVAR. <3
12/4
Cold weather promoted a bit of indoor nesting for the better part of the morning.
Lots of cat sleeping on belly while internetting and drinking tea.
There was success in finding someone to rideshare with us from Des Moines, Iowa to Seattle...
Later myself, James, and Kyle assembled the most killingest falafel combo to date. Homemade ultra garlic-blackbean-spicy hummus, deadly tzaziki, and way-the-hell-better-than-last-time-we-tried-to-make-falafel falafel. Sadly we ran out of pita but just made delicious salad stuff instead. The hummus, all 30+ ounces of it, did not make it 24 hours before being consumed.
After the feast we walked over to a house show. I cannot recall the names of any of the bands that played but it was billed as psych rock. None of that happened.
Final Days in Destroit
11/30
Explored Woodbridge for a bit. It was overcast and rainy but not all that bad.
Found the post office, library, and a place to develop some film. I got some digital photos made for free at CVS and it turns out they also make great postcards. The library was not terribly exceptional.
I found this building while I was searching for the post office.
Later I went by Cass Cafe and had one of their lentil burgers, which are quite delicious. Met up with James there later and he became consumed by the internet.
We eventually did some cross town biking in the sleet and that was fun. Cold, but fun.
12/1
Today had some notable accomplishments. A plan a man, panama. No but we actually got a bit of an itinerary together and did some stuff.
Goal one was to procure some coffee, so we visited La Petite Zinc, a cafe we had previously visited on the day of Belle Isle.
Then a quick browsing of the Dry Goods store for some rain gear, gloves, and long underwear. I did not purchase any of these things; I should have at least gotten some gloves. Then a short stop at the Post Office for James to mail a flashlight back to Caitlin, our host in NYC. This is where I discovered that I had somehow left the memory card to my camera back at Erin's or something. Thus I just adjusted the resolution to 5MP instead of 10. Not that it's really noticeable.
A small run through the Salvation Army store did not find me any overall or gloves.
I can haz subs & salads?
Quickly we ran around the corner to our highly anticipated destination, John K King Books.
This place is gigantic. It is four stories high with approximately 100+ rows of shelves per floor. All of it is used and many of them are first edition. I wanted to find either some Gabriel Garcia Marquez or 'Kavalier and Clay' by Micheal Chabon. Alas, no Chabon, and all the Marquez was 1st edition and thus $30+.
I did find some sci-fi anthologies for about $2 total, and when I was attempting to check out I noticed a big stack of old stereo-photo cards. I got a good one of some stalagmites.
Labyrinth level 1, section 10
Eventually we made it out of John K King's by 5pm. We decided to go to Hammtramck which is a small town within Detroit, to the north west side of town. I had noticed a fun looking greenway trail called the Dequindre Cut Greenway which used to be an old railway. Along the way we got to go down the Detroit Riverwalk, but went about a mile too far and had to turn around to find the Dequindre Cut.
Eventually we made it there and grabbed a bite to eat at this restaurant called Three Star BBQ. We got some rad polish porter's and some sammiches. Hammtramck seems to have a large polish population.
We were planning on meeting up with our friend Alx of Ann Arbor who was going to be doing some karaoke at a bar around the area but we had gotten there wayyyy to early. So we hung out there (The Belmont) and played pool until the festivities began.
There were shenanigans and such late into the evening.
Hall & Oates "No Can Do"
Someone showed up around last call with a bag of candy. This is the result of an unattended drink.
A Christmas tree we stumbled upon later
12/2
The idea was to leave at 12 but this was evidently not going to happen. James and Alx had carried on with shenanigans late into the evening while I had gone back to the casa around 3am.
We eventually regrouped around 4pm and left Detroit at 5.
The drive to Chicago wasn't all that bad. We made it there by 10pm.
The place we're staying is called the Roxaboxen/Minicastle and is populated by quite a few former-Ashevillians.
A good evening overall.
Explored Woodbridge for a bit. It was overcast and rainy but not all that bad.
Found the post office, library, and a place to develop some film. I got some digital photos made for free at CVS and it turns out they also make great postcards. The library was not terribly exceptional.
I found this building while I was searching for the post office.
Later I went by Cass Cafe and had one of their lentil burgers, which are quite delicious. Met up with James there later and he became consumed by the internet.
We eventually did some cross town biking in the sleet and that was fun. Cold, but fun.
12/1
Today had some notable accomplishments. A plan a man, panama. No but we actually got a bit of an itinerary together and did some stuff.
Goal one was to procure some coffee, so we visited La Petite Zinc, a cafe we had previously visited on the day of Belle Isle.
Then a quick browsing of the Dry Goods store for some rain gear, gloves, and long underwear. I did not purchase any of these things; I should have at least gotten some gloves. Then a short stop at the Post Office for James to mail a flashlight back to Caitlin, our host in NYC. This is where I discovered that I had somehow left the memory card to my camera back at Erin's or something. Thus I just adjusted the resolution to 5MP instead of 10. Not that it's really noticeable.
A small run through the Salvation Army store did not find me any overall or gloves.
I can haz subs & salads?
Quickly we ran around the corner to our highly anticipated destination, John K King Books.
This place is gigantic. It is four stories high with approximately 100+ rows of shelves per floor. All of it is used and many of them are first edition. I wanted to find either some Gabriel Garcia Marquez or 'Kavalier and Clay' by Micheal Chabon. Alas, no Chabon, and all the Marquez was 1st edition and thus $30+.
I did find some sci-fi anthologies for about $2 total, and when I was attempting to check out I noticed a big stack of old stereo-photo cards. I got a good one of some stalagmites.
Labyrinth level 1, section 10
Eventually we made it out of John K King's by 5pm. We decided to go to Hammtramck which is a small town within Detroit, to the north west side of town. I had noticed a fun looking greenway trail called the Dequindre Cut Greenway which used to be an old railway. Along the way we got to go down the Detroit Riverwalk, but went about a mile too far and had to turn around to find the Dequindre Cut.
Eventually we made it there and grabbed a bite to eat at this restaurant called Three Star BBQ. We got some rad polish porter's and some sammiches. Hammtramck seems to have a large polish population.
We were planning on meeting up with our friend Alx of Ann Arbor who was going to be doing some karaoke at a bar around the area but we had gotten there wayyyy to early. So we hung out there (The Belmont) and played pool until the festivities began.
There were shenanigans and such late into the evening.
Hall & Oates "No Can Do"
Someone showed up around last call with a bag of candy. This is the result of an unattended drink.
A Christmas tree we stumbled upon later
12/2
The idea was to leave at 12 but this was evidently not going to happen. James and Alx had carried on with shenanigans late into the evening while I had gone back to the casa around 3am.
We eventually regrouped around 4pm and left Detroit at 5.
The drive to Chicago wasn't all that bad. We made it there by 10pm.
The place we're staying is called the Roxaboxen/Minicastle and is populated by quite a few former-Ashevillians.
A good evening overall.
I Have a Crad Ear
12/4
Made a crad earring from one of the crab claws I found on the pier in Detroit.
I also have been meaning to make another earring from a rattlesnake rattle I recieved a few months ago. Perhaps I'll make it tonight.
Made a crad earring from one of the crab claws I found on the pier in Detroit.
I also have been meaning to make another earring from a rattlesnake rattle I recieved a few months ago. Perhaps I'll make it tonight.
Belle Isle, Belial
11/29
Today's plan is to check out Belle Isle, an island that lies on the US/Canada border in the middle of the Detroit river. I was doing some research last night on urban exploring in Detroit and it was mentioned that there is an abandoned zoo on Belle Isle.
Well, that is only part of the attraction, it's also pretty bike friendly and there's some good stuff to look at.
Here's some history
Canada on left, Destroit on right
Nancy Brown Peace Carillon Clock
The Conservatory wasn't open that day but it looks to be interesting.
A frozen fountain
Nor was the Aquarium open...
So. More biking and exploring.
Broken stuff
Venturing down a disappearing paved path with the occasional tree crossing
hmmm, some stuff found nearby
Former Tiger cage
Other parts of the zoo
There's a raised walkway around the whole thing that would be interesting to check out
After a bit of biking through the woods on the main road we eventually came across the 'Nature Center' and took a look inside.
Gar
Snapping Turtle
Bees
Alright, moving onward a bit...
There's a golf course here too. So a bit of investigating found a weird chair...
A water slide that operates during nicer weather
Went over to the pier. Found some crab claws!
Detroit kills
James dancing on the pier
Whew! Lots of biking and exploring, so we went to find some decent groceries.
Honey Bee had been recommended as a better place to find food so we searched around for awhile and eventually found it. It's right by the Michigan Central Station, an old abandoned train station that is frequently featured as a symbol of the decay of Detroit although it is not a casualty of the recent recession.
A Vice article on it that is slightly amusing
And some more accurate history
Later there was a spelling bee at Cass Cafe and somehow I screwed up on 'appalled'
what.the.hell.
Today's plan is to check out Belle Isle, an island that lies on the US/Canada border in the middle of the Detroit river. I was doing some research last night on urban exploring in Detroit and it was mentioned that there is an abandoned zoo on Belle Isle.
Well, that is only part of the attraction, it's also pretty bike friendly and there's some good stuff to look at.
Here's some history
Canada on left, Destroit on right
Nancy Brown Peace Carillon Clock
The Conservatory wasn't open that day but it looks to be interesting.
A frozen fountain
Nor was the Aquarium open...
So. More biking and exploring.
Broken stuff
Venturing down a disappearing paved path with the occasional tree crossing
hmmm, some stuff found nearby
Former Tiger cage
Other parts of the zoo
There's a raised walkway around the whole thing that would be interesting to check out
After a bit of biking through the woods on the main road we eventually came across the 'Nature Center' and took a look inside.
Gar
Snapping Turtle
Bees
Alright, moving onward a bit...
There's a golf course here too. So a bit of investigating found a weird chair...
A water slide that operates during nicer weather
Went over to the pier. Found some crab claws!
Detroit kills
James dancing on the pier
Whew! Lots of biking and exploring, so we went to find some decent groceries.
Honey Bee had been recommended as a better place to find food so we searched around for awhile and eventually found it. It's right by the Michigan Central Station, an old abandoned train station that is frequently featured as a symbol of the decay of Detroit although it is not a casualty of the recent recession.
A Vice article on it that is slightly amusing
And some more accurate history
Later there was a spelling bee at Cass Cafe and somehow I screwed up on 'appalled'
what.the.hell.
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