Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Nope, I’m not quite ready for menopause yet. I figure I have another good 30-35 years before that happens? Especially considering I hit puberty at about 22…

I’m talking about little changes, day to day items that are evolving before our very eyes, if we are looking for them. I used to live life on warp speed- working three jobs whilst tackling 20 credits and staying up all night to be with friends in the “down time.” One ingests a certain toxic level of caffeine to maintain this for very long, and it was only a matter of time before I grew up, settled down a bit, and finally gave myself a break.

That is the precise moment I started to notice things. Birds in our hilly backyard (I do already miss the “treehouse” a little…), garbage on the streets and discarded treasures, and the clouds and sky. Architecture, nature, and other people sharing my world.

This coincided with my graduation present- my canon powershot. As I started to look around more and more, I started to enjoy taking pictures of what I saw. And as I looked for pictures to take, I started to see things more and more on a daily basis.

The results? Some of the more subtle and natural changes in my immediate environment. Things I see when I walk around my neighborhood. I notice, with a simple joy, when they change- whether that is from morning to afternoon, autumn to spring, or somewhere in between.

Enjoy!

so now that I’ve shared my daily musings, fess up! Do you live the crazy rat race life I described above? Or do you stop to smell the roses? (Or photograph them, rather)? Even though this post is pretty lighthearted in nature, I do think it is important to slow down and enjoy the little things! That’s what this month’s topic is all about, after all!

Meri

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Food with ‘tude

Why, hello there! I have the most deliciously juvenile post for you all today!

It’s about food. As I sat in a meeting with a family today discussing social skills, table manners, and visuals to help their child behave more appropriate at the table, I felt like the most hideous, horrible hypocrite.

Because I love to play with my food… making designs with my m&ms before I eat them, making ketchup faces, and using props to dress up my produce in the time they sit ripening on the counter…

Fun with Plumpkins!
Ketchup egg face version 1... with grilled cheese ears.
Ketchup egg face 2.0... I won't try to kid myself that that is all of the ketchup I eat with that much egg... we're talking sodium overload people.
Radishes! Radishes! Barely even human...
First they march across my computer screen... then I EATS em! I guess I'm not such a good vegetarian after all!

So there you have it! A small sampling of my immaturity, captured by my ever playful camera lens.

I’m also taking this opportunity to actually remember a What I Ate Wednesday over at Jenn’s blog! I haven’t figured out links in wordpress yet, so I’m gonna be oldschool and type the link here. www.peasandcrayons.com . Let me state for the record that if you can let me know how to do this, it’d be beyond neat…Anyway I only remember WIAW about 1 out of 5 times, because apparently I’m too busy playing with my food, or taking pictures of it, or entertaining myself in a similarly ridiculous way…

What about you all? Do you play with your food or take great pains to make beautiful presentation? My meal food usually looks like pig slop with no care whatsoever taken to beauty, so no judgment here! Do tell!

Meri

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Word Up

Hello and Happy Monday, Friends! As the gleeful month of November, 2010 showed you all, I sure do love to delve into the sheer nerdery of words. I like to know their meanings, etymologies, and translations to other languages. I love crosswords, puns, and learning new words.

That said, sometimes I truly enjoy a standalone word, seen on streets or signs. Sometimes the meaning is clear, and sometimes I can’t for the life of me figure out what the point is. But here are a few of my favorites from around the globe!

St. Paul… All you need is love, right?

Franklin Bridge, Minneapolis… a duck was here?

San Francisco. I just like this shot.

Not sure I get this one… Man-go-round thinks it’s the artist’s name

Eat your oats! St. Paul

Madrid, circa 2006. Love it.

Dinkytown Minneapolis. It says “more bikes, less war…” in the bike lane… Not the most profound sentiment I’ve ever seen, but fairly benign I suppose.
And finally, a bit of my own work- Venice Beach
How do you all leave your mark? Ever written on a bathroom stall or carved your name in a tree or picnic bench? Do you have the standard name in the sand picture like me?
For the record, there is a rickety old bathroom on Route 66 with the message carved, “the higher it flies, the much.” If you don’t get that, I’m not surprised. And if you do, its likely I love you.
Words now fail me, so I’ll let the pictures do the talkin’.
Goodnight!
Meri
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Paws for Reflection

Hi all!

Thanks for joining me here on the new page…please update your readers, if you haven’t already, so I don’t lose you! I cherish all of varied, unique, and incredible individuals I’ve met through blogging and my one fear in switching over to my own site was that I would let people fall through the cracks. Note I’m not talking about followers, I’m talking about people. You people!

Today I spent the day with Man-go-round and friends and family members at the MN zoo. I hadn’t been there except for the odd concert here and there for years! And lucky for you people… I was my usual photo-happy self.

I was filled with awe and wonder at the different life forms I encountered. Some were ones I had seen before (the ever famous monkeys, turtles, leopards), and some were new to me (sea dragons and sea horses, otters, and the tiny lion tamarins).

Here is a sampling!

So that’s the gist of it! A day at the zoo, a day with creatures large and small, cute and… stinky…
What is your favorite animal? Do you like to go to the zoo or do you try to see animals in their natural habitat? I sure like to see animals in “the wild” if I can, but I don’t know where I would ever have seen a sea dragon, so sometimes I think the zoo is just the bees knees!
Rock on you party “animals”
Meri
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Working out the Kinks… seeing lots of “pinks”…

Greetings my lovely, loyal, and beautiful friends and readers.

The migration is going… okay. I now have imported my blogger blog into wordpress, and if you are here at the new site you can see it is, in fact, working, but I still have a lot of work to get the other links to previous posts/ comments to work. I’m trying to enjoy a good portion of this beautiful weekend and not spend it in front of the computer, so the process might be a bit belabored…

Please have patience and continue to visit! And please update your google readers to my new site!

Cheers!

Meri

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MIA Meri

Hey guys- 
Just wanted to send a quick note to say that I’m beginning to migrate over to the almighty custom domain/ wordpress. I will be MIA for a few days but will still be reading all of your lovely blogs.

The sunshine vs. the cigarette butt… I’m optimistic!



Get psyched to come visit merigoesround.com! I’m so excited! Please update your google readers so I don’t miss you on the other side!


And as my last blogger words, I just want to say that I am so incredibly appreciative and grateful for all of the readers, comments, followers, and support since starting meri-goes-round last October. I’m really looking forward to the next step!


Cheers!
Meri

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My (Drinking) Glass Menagerie

Good evening pals and gals!

Tonight’s post is about drankin. It is Thirsty Thursday after all!

While I’ve definitely consumed my share of wine out of an old coffee mug, vodka straight out of the bottle (sorry mom, sorry dad), and have only nearly escaped botulism from less than hygienic plastic keg cups, in my more advanced age I have started to truly appreciate the ritual of a nice presentation for my beverages!

Thus, in the spirit of fancy barware, celebrating at fancy restaurants, and making cheap booze or other beverages more fancy in general, a bev montage:

This past Christmas. Dig my parents classy goblets!

sake from beautiful stoneware at a Thai restaurant.

Hollywood Blonde overlooking Venice Beach

Champagne in a mini bottle. The day I learned what
a champagne “split” is.

My favorite mug! I’m not only talking booze here, people…

white wine flight in lowball glasses

Favorite beer glasses- this beer was not worth the glasses, but they helped!

Fancy espresso at mom and dads’ house. I love their mugs. 

Frankly, I’d drink champagne out of anything, but my friends’ glasses are so pretty!
CERTAINLY this junk was not worth my favorite (handled)
shot glasses from Madrid with the flamenco dancers and
bullfighters. But again, the presentation helps with cheap crap…

Mismatched stems? Why not, I said I would drink champagne from anything!
I like beer in a glass so I can see the bubbles and have fun pouring

I use these for smoothies and soft serve, since I don’t like Irish creme.
But who doesn’t like drinking something with their name on it?

So there you have it. Wow, now I’m kind of thirsty. Perhaps I will dig out some of that huge box of booze I showed you guys a few weeks ago and pour it into something fancy!


Do you make an effort with presentation and using the right type of glass with your beverages? Or do you just grab the first thing that will hold the right amount of liquid? 


What do you like to drink? Ever order anything just because of how it looked? Yeah, me too 🙂


Cheers!
Meri

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White Out

Tonight I was walking to the liquor store with Man-go-round. I came across this seriously lame graffiti on a bus stop. While I loathe (when I say the word loathe, I make it 3-4 syllables for emphasis) lame graffiti, I started to think about what makes art.

A few days ago I talked about public art. There is also performance art, the fine arts, and “modern art,” of dubious quality, which tends to come under a pretty critical eye most of the time.


Now I will be the first to say that I love modern art. I love abstract art. I prefer the expressionist, color bomb modern art. But I sometimes take it to another level. Beyond weird crap in a museum (ever  seen the episode of Sex and the City where the movie star thinks the fire hydrant in Charlotte’s gallery is a piece and wants to buy it???).

The abstract art in the every day. We’re talking about garbage again, people, garbage and nature.

Hang on for the ride…

Cottonwood, or “ghost poop” as my brother-in-law calls it

Unhappy accident in the Rainbow Foods parking lot for someone…
Jackson Pollock for the rest of us

I finally tried the white eggplant over the weekend. It was better than
typical eggplant, I think. Less bitter. Here it is, salting away…

Flower power

Yes, I stare not only at sunsets, but just at the clouds some days!

As tired as I get of snow by March…April… May, an unblemished snowy
walk is a sight to enjoy. And I call it art.

How do you all feel about “modern art,” whether it be an installation at a gallery, a student art show, or performances you see in public squares or arenas? Do you buy it or are you cynical about it?


And am I the only one that thinks this crap is beautiful? Its okay to say yes… I’ll still love ya!


Meri

Posted in nature, photography | Tagged , , , , | 20 Comments

Eyes on the Prize… in the Skies

As I was driving home tonight, I saw the most incredible fireball in the sky. My camera doesn’t really do it justice, but it was a sight- enough to make me pull over and get somewhere high up to capture it.



Given my mood once I saw this, I was reminded of how just one amazing sunset can sort of change your whole day. There are the sunsets you are prepared for, sitting out with loved ones with a beer or a blanket. Then there are the ones that take you totally by surprise, driving or walking down the road, coming out of a store or work or school, and bam- nature awes us once again.

Tonight was one of those humbled by Mother Nature experiences. In honor of the beautiful skies, the sun, and the world we live in, I give you a photo bomb of some I’ve tried my darnedest to photograph. We all know that a Canon Powershot cannot do justice to the skies, so cut me some slack and enjoy!

Arizona, near Scottsdale, Spring

Lake of the Isles, Minneapolis, Winter. Find the skiier!

Arizona, Spring

Minneapolis, Summer

San Francisco, Fall

Minnesota Lake Country, Fall

Minneapolis, Summer

Minneapolis, Fall

Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Winter

Los Angeles, Winter

Los Angeles, Winter

Los Angeles, Winter

Venice, CA, Winter

Circa Phoenix, Early Spring

Phoenix, Early Spring

Minneapolis, Late Spring

Cheesy as it may be, do you like sitting and watching the sunset? I think it might be the only activity I can sit still for for an extended amount of time without attention deficits. Where is the best sunset you’ve ever seen?


Here’s hoping your day is sunny side up, except on its way down 🙂


Meri

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Culture Shock Absorption

Today’s topic is something I’m pretty opinionated about, pretty into, and find is often written off as frivolous, which I believe is HOOEY!

I call it, simply, START SEEING PUBLIC ART! In any of its’ many forms. A few of my favorites…

Fish near the water, Barcelona

Amsterdam

Midtown, NYC

in the village, NYC

Venice, CA


Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice CA

St. Paul, MN

Seward, Minneapolis

San Sebastian, Spain

Cedar Rapids, Iowa


Chihuly Glass- Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix
Overlooking the REAL sailboats on Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis

Near Uptown, Minneapolis


Do you have any public art or sculptures in your city that you love? Does it matter to you if you “get it,” or do you just enjoy it for its’ aesthetic charms (or lack thereof…)?

Let’s get arty, people…

And on a totally unrelated subject, I’m very likely to attempt the great blogger-to-wordpress conversion challenge this week. Any last minute words of wisdom for a technophobe like moi? DO TELL!

-Meri
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