Pollock No. 3

The good thing about abstract art its use of color, philosophy, different mediums and neutral subject matter.   I feel like the great thing about abstract art is that it's very forgiving of mediocre talent.

Jackson Pollock created a style of painting where colored paint was poured onto a canvas, not applied with a brush.   He was supposed to have exquisite control over his pouring, to specifically create thick or thin lines, with many or just a few colors, with a lot of free space or with just a little.   Also, he didn't title his paintings but numbered them, so it didn't devolve into a giant Rorschach test with viewers projecting their world-views onto it.  Rather, he wanted to let the painting inspire the viewers.

Anyway, hardware stores have cheaper paint and a better range of colors than an artist's store, so I bought a few different tubs of paint samples and made my masterpiece on some foam board.  Super fun, but kind of messy. This website is pretty awesome.  Less messy too. http://jacksonpollock.org/

No. 3

Engaged!

Dan was very devious this weekend.  Its very out of character for him to not answer his phone, and if I wasn't busy lazing around, then I might have wondered a bit more about it. Besides, the friend who was staying with me suddenly "had to go" elsewhere, so I was free to watch as many murder mysteries as I liked.  When Dan did call me back in the evening I didn't even hear all the unusual street sounds in the background because he said that the care package he had sent was delivered.  Everyone likes a care package, so I shuffled out to go get it... 

Now, this would be a very mysterious story if everyone except for me hadn't already known the ending

Moving to Seattle

Dan and I packed up my little Jetta until it was bursting with boxes and space bags (these are amazing, btw). We left right on July 4th and made our first stop at Devil's tower. The next day we stayed at a KOA campsite in Missoula, which had a slightly less inspiring view of the neighbor's backyards and the campsite swimming pool. The town itself was actually quite cool - kind of like Madison. The next night we reached Seattle.

 At the Reptile Gardens near Rapid City, SD

Devil's Tower, WY

Berkeley Pit is an open pit copper mine in Butte, Montana, that closed in the early 80s. Surrounding groundwater is seeping into the pit, getting more acidic as heavy metals and minerals dissolve into it.  Its could be a huge environmental problem if the toxic water starts seeping back into the ground water reservoirs, so there are several plans in place to take care of the problem.  In the meantime, the Pit is a hub for studies surrounding bacterial extremophiles. 

Mount Rainier in Seattle. Taken from the plane as Dan went home

Goodbye Rochester

I will miss Rochester a lot.  No traffic, low cost of living, close friends, great health care, awesome public library, outdoor activities and so on.  What's not to love?!

Badminton group good-bye party

The Barry Lab goodbye party: We went to Welch Village for some canoeing and kayaking - on a Wednesday! Catie and I had a canoe together and were by far the funnest canoe, even though we got stuck on a sandbar, on a rock, in some trees...  At least we didn't tip over, like Mike and Mary did! We did not bring any cameras to this event for obvious reasons. 

Goodbye party/B'day party with my favorite ladies. Chris, Rahul and Dan were there too.

Soccer folks goodbye party: Bluecardi and Bluecardi Gold

Mallory, Catie, Bess and me at our annual puzzle competition during RochesterFest

Sean's goodbye party: Sean, Bess, and their daughter Sophie moved to Washington DC on the 29th of June.  We all hung out downtown at Kathy's to say bye.  Sniff, I will miss them!

Goodbye DumSum: I finally parted with a very shabby DumSum, who has been with me since the first day of boarding school.  That's a 16-year relationship!