A Queer Mobile

We install a Samurai table

Just before the Marion Arts Festival John received a call from someone who wanted to commission a Samurai table. John created this series with proportions for displaying a Samurai sword; he's built several with varying designs to very good reception. I took the day off yesterday and John and I headed to Des Moines to install the piece.

Here it is installed in the home of a collector of Asian art. (Click on the image for a larger view.) It stands before a huge antique thangka of the Buddha, and a bronze of the Buddha sits serenely on the table's top.

John at the Marion Arts Festival

I rushed back from California on 18 May so I'd be around to help John set up at the Marion Arts Festival. Marion is Cedar Rapids's twin city, and the Chamber of Commerce sponsors an art faire in the middle of May each year. John's participated in about fifteen of them. Each year it's the same: anxiety around the weather, then a rush to set up. Fortunately this year we had a surpassingly beautiful day.

We headed over to the Marion Town Square just after 6AM to set up John's booth. I snapped some shots of the setup process and of the booth. Take a look in this photo gallery.

The Festival boasted huge crowds and John was busy most of the day. We're hoping for some commission work, but he's already sold one piece with a lead on a second.

Peonies riot in the garden

Peonies always go crazy around Memorial Day. We've had a mix of warm Spring days and goodly amounts of rain. This year's crop is exquisite. Take a look in my new photo gallery.

Ki gives us another scare

Ki, our fourteen-year-old puppy, gave us another scare last week. I got back from California a week ago yesterday. The following day, Ki and I had just gotten back from a very nice walk. I settled into my afternoon's work and he crashed on the floor in the music room just behind me. Maybe an hour after our walk I heard a strange scuffling. I turned around to see him trying to stand up, his head cocked to one side, and his arms outstretched and paddling. I picked him up; after a moment he relaxed. He wasn't walking too steadily for a while, so John and I ran him out to our emergency vet clinic.

Fortunately the same wonderful vet was on duty who cared for him last December. She did a complete workup on him. She never discovered anything that directly explained the seizure, but she did find out that his white cell count was low, and he was showing some signs of kidney problems. She also discovered a bladder parasite that we've now treated. What was strange is that a follow-up blood draw the next day showed the white cell count back to normal.

I'll head him back to the vet next week for another check. He's not shown any sign of other weird behavior. It does make me realize that none of us - puppy or human - is around forever...

The carbon quiz

Wired Magazine has a online interactive version of this test to measure your carbon footprint. I took it. We did pretty well until I got down to the air travel portion. I was astonished at how much carbon dioxide air travel puts out. All of John and my ground activities net out at about 13000 pounds of carbon dioxide, which is actually pretty good. But that's the end of the good news. When you account for my twelve round-trips between Iowa and California each year, the air travel alone accounts for 17,000 pounds of carbon dioxide! So travel isn't so good for the planet.

One thing John and I did a year ago was to take advantage of a program our electrical utility provides. We pay them an additional $12 a month and they acquire from wind energy sources enough power to cover our electrical use. This program isn't too common, but you might want to check with your utility to see if there's an option to buy green power for your electrical needs.

For me - I need to travel less to make a dent in my numbers...

Over the 100,000 mile mark

John told me the Explorer was about to turn over the 100K mile mark when I was in California in April. He didn't drive it much. When I got back we hopped in and scurried off for lunch - and to turn over the odometer. It's the first time I've ever turned the 100K mile mark in any of my vehicles; I don't drive that much and I usually trade them in before I get much mileage on them. This Explorer is one of my very favorite vehicles, though, and it's served us well for eleven years. It doesn't get much use now because we have the new Escape Hybrid. The trade-in value was so low, though, that we decided to keep the Explorer as a backup in case we need it.

More Queer Eats cooking videos

I just posted three new cooking videos to my new video podcast site. It's still called Queer Eats, though, and I transferred the two previous episodes there. The new videos are:

• Grilled portobello mushrooms
• Grilled asparagus
• Shrimp salad

The shrimp salad uses the mushrooms and the asparagus. It's a favorite of ours when it's spring and asparagus is fresh and plentiful.

May flowering trees in the front garden

One more image gallery. This one is of our front garden late last month at the peak of the crab apple, apple, and lilac blossoms. Click to view...

Mostly May Tulips

John planted hundreds of unusual tulips. We've been floored by the display. Click here to see a gallery of photos...

Cedar River Photos

I've just moved my photo collection to Apple's new Aperture 1.1. I posted my not-so-good experiences with Aperture 1.0 several months ago. Apple clearly listened to feedback from its users and released a substantial upgrade that fixes literally all the problems I had with the earlier release. I've sucked in about eight thousand shots. They're not classified in any decent way, but I'll work on that.

John and I had the best time walking along the Cedar River yesterday. I took advantage of Aperture's publish-to-web features to create a gallery. Take a look...