Weekend Teaser

Whew! Isn't it funny how sometimes it seems like the weekend wears you out more than the actual week does? The weekend was full of fun things: A trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, hanging out with my brother, and going to see Wall-E. And a few not-as-fun things, namely, homework. Which is why I'm still working on my post from the Minn. Inst. of Arts (lots of photos to sort through).

Luckily I have a few non-museum pics that I wanted to share. I LOVE this one. My brother has the goofiest look on his face and my dog looks like he's ready to jump out of his skin, he's so happy.

This one is of some random guy we spotted on the sidewalk the other day. Unfortunately I couldn't get a full shot, but he's riding down the street in a reclining bicycle with nothing but Richard Simmons short shorts and Bono glasses on. My sister and I were seriously cracking up. If only he had had a Gorilla trailing him like this guy

The World's Best Cracker (and Cupcakes)

I was going through old files on my computer and I came across this photo and it made me laugh. That must have been one tasty cracker for all the effort he was putting into it.

In other news, I found a cupcake blog that made my mouth water uncontrollably. She's on a posting hiatus, but there are so many amazing creations in the archives. When I'm rich maybe I can hire a cupcake chef to come work for me...

The Ballad of Sven the Svede

Last week, I dragged my sister and my sister dragged her friend "Emily" to the Swedish festival in Minneapolis. I didn't really do a whole lot of research so we didn't know what to expect, but in my opinion that's half the fun of going to events like these. We did know that there would be ample people-watching opportunities available since Minnesota has a large Swedish-American population.

At the entrance we found a Swedish flag:

And inside there was an exhibit of dresses. Not just any dresses, but ones that a QUEEN named Silvia had worn to the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE ceremonies. We had no idea we were going to be treated to such a fantastic exhibit, but it was quite a pleasant surprise.

There were dresses clearly dating from the 70's like this paisley chiffon gown:

But other dresses were timeless and beautifully designed. The next two were my favorites and the photos don't come close to doing them justice. This green silk taffeta gown was stunning:

This white one was SPARKLY all over! If anything would make you feel royal it would be this dress. The bodice was pearl encrusted and the tulle skirt had little crystals sewn all over in between the layers. (I could probably get rid of the bow, but maybe I just don't like it because bows aren't really my thing). But seriously, I think we were all mesmerized by the sparkles. I've just decided that when I get married I want a wedding dress encrusted with pearls and crystals. I wonder how much that would cost...

When we stepped outside the Swedish museum, we were treated with the sight of honest to goodness Swedish people. His coat was so regal blowing in the wind that we decided to channel our paperazzi selves:

After we snapped a couple, he started to notice and stare at us a bit. I figured he wasn't used to American customs like stalking, so I made Lizzie and "Emily" go over and ask for a picture.

Apparently he was smitten by "Emily" because he came over and tried to chat with her.

I thought he said: "Do you want to hang out with some Swedish people?"

"Emily" thought he said: "Have you ever danced with a Swedish guy before?"

Apparently he really said: "Have you ever gone on a date with a Swedish guy?"

She shook her head no and in a heavily accented voice he asked for her number. Apparently this really freaked her out because she panicked and gave him a fake name (Emily) and her real number. Which made me laugh... a LOT. Who gives someone a fake name but a real number?

After he walked off to go fiddle or something, my sister and "Emily" commenced a long freak out session.

L- You just got hit on by a 30 year old!

Me- I'm pretty sure he was at most 22

E- Oh my gosh! What am I going to do if he calls? He's as old as my dad! Eww! Couldn't he tell I wasn't even 18? Why was he hitting on young girls?

L- Crap! When he calls and gets you voice message, he's going to know your name isn't Emily! You need to rerecord it so it says hi this is petticoat or something!

Me- (Laughing like crazy) Petticoat? Seriously?

E- Yeah! Or something like that! What am I going to do guys? Oh my gosh! He's probably following us right now! We need to go or he's going to stalk me! What if he finds out where I live?!

This continued for a while longer, with me laughing for most of it...

Presenting Sven the Svede

I was going to blog about what I would have liked to ask John McCain at his "town hall meeting" last night in St. Paul (if I had been willing to brave the people swarming everywhere for a candidate I don't even support), but IT'S FRIDAY and I don't have school and I don't feel like ranting. So instead, I will leave you with a picture of Sven the Svede (That's Sven's mother, Svenetta in the foreground). More about Sven on Monday:

Catch Up: Installment the Third

(If you didn't get a chance, you can read my first and second installations here and here.)

A couple of weeks ago, Lizzie and I went to the Minneapolis Mosaic Festival. It's a celebration of different cultures and their traditional forms of art and dance. And it's FREE! Which is always fabulous. We'd never been in previous years so we weren't sure to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the performances. It was held in Minneapolis's theater district and each theater held different kinds of artists.

One of our favorites was the Flamenco dancer and her band:


And the children loved it enough to shake it up in front of the stage:



Besides the actual performances, we love going to things like this to do some serious people-watching. We found this lady who was so tan that her skin looked like leather. Honestly, this picture is flattering compared to real life:

We also found this ADORABLE patriotic couple. I especially love the fringe on her boots (The person in the foreground on the left side is my little sister pretending to pose for a picture. We try to be so sneaky):

The most mockworthy performance of the night were these Japanese drummer/dancers. You may or may not notice that none of them are actually Japanese. Pay special attention to the man in the back. He had some interesting moves that led us to call him "praying mantis man."

And last but not least, we saw this guy on our way back to the parking garage. Sorry it's so blurry, but we were walking and it was dark. Gotta love a guy in a feather hat and stohl :)

Ick...

I got into rush hour traffic today and half-way home I started to feel incredibly nauseous. It went away briefly, but I am starting to feel like I'm on a downward spiral of sudden sickness. Let's hope I feel good enough to go to school tomorrow.

Cue Lee Greenwood singing...

Can I just share with you guys how much I've been geeking out over the Guantanamo Bay Supreme Court ruling last week? Justice Kennedy has never been my favorite Justice (or least favorite), but reading his opinion on the Boumediene v. Bush case brought serious tears to my eyes (Yep, I know I'm a dork). While a lot of it is written in legalese mumbo jumbo that's hard to understand completely, these two paragraphs are clear and beautiful as can be:

"Officials charged with daily operational responsibility for our security may consider a judicial discourse on the history of the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 and like matters to be far removed from the Nation’s present, urgent concerns. Established legal doctrine, however, must be consulted for its teaching. Remote in time it may be; irrelevant to the present it is not. Security depends upon a sophisticated intelligence apparatus and the ability of our Armed Forces to act and to interdict. There are further considerations, however. Security subsists, too, in fidelity to freedom’s first principles. Chief among these are freedom from arbitrary and unlawful restraint and the personal liberty that is secured by adherence to the separation of powers. It is from these principles that the judicial authority to consider petitions for habeas corpus relief derives.

Our opinion does not undermine the Executive’s powers as Commander in Chief. On the contrary, the exercise of those powers is vindicated, not eroded, when confirmed by the Judicial Branch. Within the Constitution’s separation-of-powers structure, few exercises of judicial power are as legitimate or as necessary as the responsibility to hear challenges to the authority of the Executive to imprison a person. . . The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times. Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law. The Framers decided that habeas corpus, a right of first importance, must be a part of that framework, a part of that law."

Reading that statement makes me SO proud to be American. Yes, the world is crazy. Yes, there are "dangerous enemy combatants." But the framer's of our constitution were not dumb when they provided the privilege of habeas corpus. Even foreign criminals have a right to challenge the legality of their detention. It is truly one of the things that make our country different from many others.

Catch Up: Installment the Second

In continuation of my first installment, I've been writing about what I've been up to instead of blogging the last few months.


3) Spent a few days taking self portraits through a make-shift fish-eye lens. Fish-eye lenses let photographers take those photos that are distorted so it looks as if you're seeing the picture through a bubble or raindrop. Unfortunately those lens attachments are expensive and I was (am) somewhat poor so buying one was a no-go. Instead I bought one of those peep holes that go in doors and attached it to my point-n-shoot camera. The results were not as drastic as I had hoped, but still fun:

I look like I have a HUGE nose in this next one! I bet you'll all enjoy the lovely view :)

4) I applied to, interviewed for, and started attending school again. Woohoo! I'm doing an accelerated program that lets me accomplish a year's worth of work in 4 months. Afterwards I have high hopes I'll be able to start a career instead of just having a job. I've also been dreaming about where to move after I finish. I'll probably stay in the Twin Cities, but I've been considering other options as well (feel free to give me suggestions). I know I move more than the average person, but I feel liberated by my singleness and lack of ties. I could go anywhere and meet anyone. I love that feeling more than almost anything else. Some places I've been thinking about:

And if McCain wins the 2008 election:

Catch Up: Installment the First

The few readers I have left know that my blog has been missing something lately. What would that be? If you guessed consistent and frequent posts you would be correct. Call it writer's block or call it laziness, the result is the same. A boring blog.


I would, however, like to share with you what I've been doing the last few months before getting in the groove of blogging about things happening in the present.


1) I finally moved all my furniture and said goodbye to Colorado. Although I technically moved to Minnesota in January, it was such a sudden move that the best option was to move my essentials in my little Sentra and leave the rest of my crap in my apartment until my lease was up and I could take a few days off work. It wasn't easy to let go of a place I loved so much, but getting the rest of my stuff did help with closure. Kind of like giving all your ex's stuff back after a break up. Here's the apartment in its almost empty stage:

We packed all my stuff into a defunct U-Haul with a broken cigarette lighter and a broken radio that would only play AM stations. Rush Limbaugh and the Disney channel? Let me tell you my ears were in tremendous pain after an hour or two. Not exactly the road trip dreams are made of.

2) I attended a LOT of ski meets and concerts. My siblings and I are all spaced out by 4 years so I've never been able to attend their sporting activities or performances because I've been living in places like Hawaii, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. My conclusions: Ski meets in Minnesota are colder than I thought was possible, my little sis looks a LOT better in Spandex than most people, and piano concerts are mostly painful until the last few students get to play.

More to come...

Piglet Much?

Oh. My. Gosh.

This has to be the most adorable thing I have ever seen. Their little piglet is afraid of the mud, so she gets little Wellington boots put on every morning.

CHECK IT OUT ------------>

I've got myself a new Register to Vote Widget. Now, most of you are probably registered already. But if you're not... take this opportunity to do it. It'll take 2 minutes. Tops. And you'll feel better about yourself. Even if you're a republican :)

Deranged Kitty and a Cute Puppy

My little Baerli was being so cute this morning frolicking in the backyard with his beloved bone that I had to share some pics with all of you. I also was able to snap a picture of my somewhat deranged kitty. Have you ever seen that movie "Everything is Illuminated?" My cat is the feline version of the Ukrainians' family dog.

Ready to pounce on the closest bird or squirrel:

Protecting his treasured bone:

And last but not least, my deranged kitty: