More Pumpkins

Halloween has come and is almost gone and soon Christmas decorations will be going up (I've already seen hints of Christmas here and there)...So, before we move on I just wanted to share this one last Halloween nugget. Here is the pumpkin I carved today, gutted by Pa Cartwright, but the face and carving was all me, can you tell? Yes, I am an art major.

Which brings me to my next point...How cool would it have been to have an art department pumpkin carving contest except instead of carving the actual gourd each department would fabricate pumpkins in their celebrated medium (ceramics would make clay pumpkins, metals would make metal pumpkins and so on). Fun!

I Want to Go to There

Yes, so this is the name of my blog I guess, and yes it is a phrase I borrowed from 30 Rock (Thursday nights @ 9:30 on NBC, great show)...but I suppose there are some places that I do want to go to. Several of the places that I would like to visit are museums such as the Winchester Mystery House in California. It is a house that never stopped being built. It has staircases that go nowhere, doors on the second floor that open to nothing, passage ways and all sorts of odd fixtures. And of course it's haunted. Also, some museums I would like to visit are the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore and the Museum of Medical Oddities in Philadelphia also known as the Mutter Museum.
Of course there are cities and states and countries and all sorts of other places that I would like to go to that aren't museums such as Alaska...exotic Alaska. But for now Dayton will do.

Punkies!

Creative
TraditionalObscure

How are you going to carve your pumpkin?

Also Brought to You by I75

Shout Out

This week's shout out goes to I75 connecting retired Canadians to vacation homes in Florida. The best part of this highway is definitely the drive through southern Kentucky into northern Tennessee, through the mountains. Also, going north bound when you can see Cincinnati from Kentucky is awesome. There are other good parts and really really boring parts of this highway, but you'll just have to travel on it to find out.

I found this on the Internets

Here is a picture of the Smokies for you to enjoy!

Oral Care

My toothbrush is made out of recycled yogurt containers, what's yours made out of? I came across such a toothbrush when I was at the Kroger's shopping for...a toothbrush, imagine that. I found myself in the health food section as I often do. Mostly, I was there to look at their selection of ginger ales when I saw that they had a healthy alternative to a toothbrush. How could I resist it with its funky shape and quirky color selection? I couldn't. In the literature provided I learned that its packaging is reusable as a carrying case, it's made from old yogurt containers (yum), and when you're done with it you can send it back in and they will make it into a bench or something. Fun! And after all that I can't remember what the brand is. Oh well, just check out the health food section at your local Kroger's, but beware of the sugar free ginger ale. That stuff is not as fun as the regular kind which brings me to my next point...always double check your purchases, sometimes sugar free is not the way to be.

A Visual

For this poll it might help to visualize Phineas in a sailor outfit. Just a fun suggestion.

Road Trips aren't just for Sing Alongs

So I have been doing a lot of driving over great distances recently which means two things. 1) I am consuming many Red Bulls and 2) I have a lot of time to think. Today I was thinking about my metal work and what I want to do with it. I have been making a lot of jewelry for selling and that's wonderful, but I need to get back into making Art. For a while now I've been thinking about doing something with masks. When I would doodle I would draw masks, when I couldn't think of things to cast or enamel I would design masks (all about 1.5" tall)...but as I was expertly navigating my way north on 75 today I was thinking of a new project focusing on making a larger, perhaps even life size mask. That's all I have to say about that right now...stay tuned.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

I'm starting to see Halloween decorations being put up...in the suburbs and in expanded aisles of grocery stores. I'm a big fan of this holiday especially the movies and poorly acted ghost hunter themed programs on the cable. But what you may not realize is that there is also music appropriate for this holiday as well. Here is a fun Halloween play list I put together (last year actually).

Herald! Frankenstein by Cursive
Dig Up Her Bones by The Misfits
This is Halloween by Marylin Manson (cover from the Nightmare Before Christmas)
Devil Town by Bright Eyes
John Wayne Gacy, Jr. by Sufjan Stevens
Deeper Well by Emmylou Harris
Angry Chair by Alice in Chains
We Are the Dead by David Bowie
Ghosts of Memory by Tiger Army
Your Neck by Alkaline Trio
Michael by Son of Sam
Bleed Black by AFI
How Long is the Night by Thursday
Halloween by The Misfits

These songs are a creepy collection about vampires, serial killers, things that go bump in the night and other dark scary things...you get the idea. Check them out if you are compelled, or make your own bone chilling playlist for some extra holiday fun

Success!

Yesterday, was a successful day all around. The weather was a bit overcast and chilly in the begininng, but then the sky cleared up and the sun came out. I had quite a few sales which is always nice, and I did my fare share of spending as well. There was a new vendor there selling screen printed clothes and accessories. I got two of her shirts. She hand prints everything and all of her cloth is organic (in case you were wondering).
Check out her stuff at vivisect-apparel.com.
Thanks to all who came out to support the craft fair!

It's that time of Year

Yes, tomorrow is the Yellow Springs Street Fair and if you are in the greater Dayton area I encourage you to come out and see the sights and eat some funnel cakes and all that. There are a lot of quality vendors that show up to this thing. My personal favorites are of course Urban Handmade specializing in everything handmade from soap to jewelry and lots of stuff in between. I also like Basho, they're a clothing store in YS and have some really nice screen printed numbers. There are also several pottery vendors if you're into that sort of thing and a lady who sells fused glass pendants. I can't remember her name or the name of her operation, but I see her at all of the time at craft fairs and she has nice things.
Of course I will be there in all of my metallic glory. I spent all this week getting stuff together. I got through three seasons of "30 Rock" and many delicious programs on the Food Network while in the process of getting everything together. Nothing really new although I will be featuring silver cancer awareness ribbons to benefit Making Strides (woot woot!!). Hope to see you out there!

I Almost Forgot

I forgot about my weekly "Shout Outs" that I was doing on this blog. This week I would like to give a "Shout Out" to the Canadian province of Alberta, capital Edmonton. I was driving along today in quaint downtown Centerville and saw a car with a license plate from Alberta. If I had to live in Canada it probably would not be there, it would probably be in British Colombia. However, I think it's important to be able to recognize a Canadian province when you see one. That's all, just remember Canada exists and has places too.

Don't Judge

It's 2:30 am and I should be asleep right now. I still have the lingering traces of a cold, I have to get up early tomorrow to finish making jewelries to deliver to Urban Handmade (also tomorrow), and dang it I'm just tired...and a little cold and nothing sounds nicer than curling up in my covers and drifting off.

Well, the reason I'm awake is because I just got back from the AFI show in Cincinnati (and I saw them in Columbus the night before). I know some people don't like AFI and think they're lame or they aren't hardcore anymore or any of that business, and I've been given shit for liking them, but whatever I still like their music and they do put on a great show. The opening band for AFI was a band called the Gallows. These guys are from England and they are ridiculous. The lead singer performed the majority of their set down on the floor among the crowd. He stood in the center of the circle screaming while thrashing dancers buzzed about him. It was awesome. I had only read about them in magazines and hadn't heard any of their music until just yesterday, but I want to hear more and you should check them out if you're into that sort of thing.
AFI's set was also ridiculously good. I was right at the front, about three rows away from the stage. It was packed, personal space did not exist. They played a lot of newer stuff, especially off their new album which only makes sense, and they also played a couple of my favorite songs which was a bonus! It was high energy all the way and by the end of the concert I was soaking wet and looking like I had just taken a shower, but in a gross kind of way. It was super hot inside, but pretty cold outside which felt good for about five minutes.
After the show in Columbus the drummer, Adam, came out and took pictures and signed autographs at the show tonight I got to meet Adam again and also the bassist, Hunter and the lead singer, Davey. Of course this was after everything was taken down and packed up which took a while, but it was really cool to meet them.
Wow, I'm really tired and it's 3:05 am.
Also, Cincinnati is a really pretty city and continues to be one of my favorites.

Not Your Grandma's Reading Rainbow

I've been doing a lot of reading lately...mostly because I've been spending long hours traveling, but I do enjoy a good read and should be better about reading even when I'm not going anywhere. I've recently been interested in two specific authors 1) Chuck Palahnuik and 2) Haruki Murakami. I've only read about two books by both of these guys but they were really good. I also read this book called "Shadow of the Wind" that's like on the top of all these best seller lists...I haven't seen Oprah say anything about it though, so I don't really know how legit it can be if it doesn't have her stamp of approval.
So yeah, for a good read...and sometimes for a disturbing read (especially with Chuck Palahnuik) check out these books

Haunted by Chuck Palahnuik
Lullaby by Chuck Palahnuik
Dance! Dance! Dance! by Haruki Murakami
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles By Haruki Murakami
Shadow of the Wind By Carlos Ruiz Zafon

There are plenty of other quality books out there, but these are just the ones I have read recently. Pretty dang good.