AFOS 2010 Roundup

The annual Art Fair on the Square has come and gone. A quick summary is warranted.

The good:

• The people. The museum staff is full of incredible individuals, and I feel absolutely privileged to have had the opportunity to work with them again this year.
• Those rare but oh-so-precious Judy moments that most people don’t get to witness.
• Food. Food. Food.
• A tan!
• Judy and the Bank Girls, featuring André.
• A great leg workout while marking booths on the South Hamilton quad.
• The 200 block was filled with the most sociable, friendly artists, which made for great conversations while directing traffic and fun booth visits during the actual event.
• I placed the highest bid on a fantastic wooden sculpture/vase at the silent auction.
• Picking up full trash bags and driving them to the dumpster (and playing “guess the mysterious liquid that’s seeping out of the bag”) was so much better and so much more fun that just picking up trash.
• Caitlin and I scouted an awesome jeweler for the museum store.
• I got a picture with Piccolo Pete!
• Goofing around with Fleischman, including throwing ice cubes, racing golf carts and making fun of my trash-throwing abilities.

The bad:

• It was the last Art Fair for Peter, Bethany, and Katie…and most likely for me as well.
• Concession-wise, the Fair didn’t bring in as much money as we were hoping.
• One hour before the Art Fair was supposed to close, it poured –> general panic among the artists.
• I was guilty of flirting with a married man — one of the artists on my block. I couldn’t resist the lost puppy look. Wait, maybe that should go under “the good.”
• Pepsi boys? No Pepsi boys!
• No gloves for our trash adventures.

The ugly:

• 6-person “limo” golf carts. Seriously, they were bad enough to warrant the “ugly” label.
• That awful feeling I get every time the Art Fair is over.
• An unwelcome and unexpected encounter with MSB during setup on Friday. It had the potential to ruin my mood for the rest of the weekend — and very nearly did so, in fact. Thank goodness that the Art Fair, being the absolutely amazing event that it is, quickly made me forget my sorrows.

What are the chances that my employer next summer will let me have a three-day weekend for AFOS 2011?

 

Lettin’ those good times roll and roll

Reflections on our recent trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras:

• Beignets are delicious and well worth the 45 minute wait at Café du Monde.
• Beads are not the only thing they throw from the floats; apparently, they throw decorated shoes and coconuts, too.
• Some people can function on next to no sleep. Phil is one of those people; Steve and I are not.
• The French Quarter is positively stunning. As for the rest of New Orleans…The aftermath of Katrina aside, the whole city has a gray, dusty, depressing feel to it, in stark contrast with all the Mardi Gras festivities. Also, trash cans. Need more trash cans.
• I wonder what the budget is for some of the floats. The fiber optics are insane, and don’t even get me started on the costumes.
• It was a tad (okay, more than a tad) disappointing to see that most people were considerably more interested in the partying that goes along with Mardi Gras than in the actual beauty of it. On a related note, Steve and I, being the only two newcomers to New Orleans out of the whole group, did not get to do as much exploring as we would have liked.
• If the boys suggest making a quick food run at 1 in the afternoon, be sure to shower and apply your makeup, because you’ll end up staying out until 3 in the morning.
• Even if you don’t, in fact, shower and apply your makeup, men will still be utterly inappropriate to the point of making you want to throw a punch or two.
• I’m proud to be friends with people who are willing to buy food for a homeless man at a drive-through.
• Ten+ people sharing a single bathroom. Does. Not. Work.
• The Hurricane, despite being one of New Orleans’ signature drinks, fails to live up to my standards. But Pat O’Brien’s, where the Hurricane was born, is one of the most charming bars I’ve ever seen.
• I thought I had seen it all when it comes to football madness, but no crazed Green Bay Packers fan even comes close to the insanity in New Orleans after the Saints won the Super Bowl.
• There’s a certain quaintness about old-fashioned trolleys. More cities ought to have them.
• Alligator sausage!!!

 

Like Christmas in July for an art ho

The Art Fair on the Square is less than two weeks away! Some things to look forward to:

- Driving the golf cart with Caitlin yet again!
- If we’re lucky, driving the Bobcat.
- Rent-A-Cop. Enough said.
- Listening to Judy complain about getting blisters from “all that walking.”
- Beer, courtesy of Claire, who is working the beer stand this year.
- Petergate: Part II, with a slightly modified cast.
- Funnel cake!!!
- As usual, seeing Fleischman in cut-offs, grilling some brats.

The pickles on a stick will be sorely missed.

 

Прощай…

Нина Валериановна Закруткина
8 ноября, 1922 – 9 февраля, 2008
В теплую память…

 

Yes we did!

I’m not kind of person to be moved by politics and mass reactions to current events, but I have to admit — as do most people in the United States — that last night was amazing. This year was the first time I could cast my presidential ballot, and it truly is a pleasure to know that I was part of something of such epic proportions. It was likewise a pleasure to share the moment with the lovely people of 104. Counting down the minutes until the polls closed in the western states, cheering when CNN announced Obama’s victory right at 10:00 before they even showed the audience the numbers, making frantic phone calls and writing text messages to friends and family, hearing a roar rise above the downtown area and joining in from the balcony…that’s not something to do in isolation. Hence, I am deeply grateful to 104 for the opportunity to be with them during that time.

It was also quite amazing, upon my return home, to hear the crowds continue cheering. Apparently there was a parade down State Street that brought more than 3000 people together. Amazing.

Although I am absolutely ecstatic that Obama won, I still can’t help but feel a bit sorry for McCain, though. Granted, I did not agree with his policies at all, but it’s somewhat sad to see someone lose such a great and important race, especially when he’s got the whole “sad grandpa” thing going for him. Moreover, his concession speech was very gracious and touching. My hat goes off to him for taking his loss with such dignity and for reminding his supporters that this country ought to be finally united. I do hope that his political expertise will prove itself useful during Obama’s presidency.

That little bit of sympathy aside, however…WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!

 

Mischief managed!

Billy and I finally climbed a certain building tonight — after about a year of talking about doing it. Let me tell you, there’s nothing quite like ledge-walking while wearing heeled flip-flops.

Must do it again!

 

Blue skies!

So, that bucket list I posted a while ago…I can now check off one of the items.

That’s right, kids. This weekend I went skydiving!!! Moreover, I have every intention of doing it again, because it was such a thrilling experience. How cool would it be to have a parachuting license? My one regret is that I can’t do the whole AFP sequence this summer, because my weekends are usually booked solid with work, and I always feel bad asking for days off. But maybe by the time they shut down the place for the winter, I will have had passed at least a couple of levels. Too bad it’s so expensive…but totally worth every cent.

The irony of this past weekend, however, is killing me. I survived my first jump without a scratch (not that I was expecting to get hurt)…and then a few hours later sprained my ankle while running through a campfire. Yeah, yeah, I know, bad decision on my part. I suppose I could have fallen into the flames and gotten burned alive. Oh well. I won’t let one bad ankle get me down. Not my style. But even though I’m taking my injury in good stride (well, a limping stride, at any rate), it was mighty embarrassing to be carried back from the campfire to our table by Jordan and Billy. I would have rather crawled on all fours or hopped on my good leg instead of having to endure that kind of damsel in distress treatment. Also not my style.

 

Brain bus time

The Jeopardy Brain Bus came to campus today, and, since I wasn’t able to get tickets to the taping of Jeopardy at the Kohl Center, I decided (with some urging from a couple of friends) to try out. Well, I passed the 10-question pre-test, and went on to the second round with about 120 other people. There were about 60 people taking the 50-question second round test at the same time as I was, and I couldn’t help but notice that only 5 of them were girls, including myself. Food for thought.

I didn’t get through to the third round, of course…only 5 people from my group did, and I’m not even going to pretend that I’m as insane as they are. Kudos to them! Plus, I resent the pop culture questions. Blah!