Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001
Dogs Shows and Art Galleries
Last night I watched the first half of the Westminster Kennel Club's show. It was on from 7 until 10pm and Sienna, my dog, didn't get used to it once. You would think... at least *I* would think the dog would eventually be like, "Hey, okay, it's on TV, not in my living room. I can sit down now."
But no. All night long, whenever Sienna would enter the living room she would bark and howl and run at the screen. If we could get her to settle a bit, she'd sit in our laps growling and moaning and emitting other odd noises.
But I guess we're into torturing our dog because we didn't turn it off once no matter how irate or annoyed she became. The show was entertaining and the host sounded eerily similar to Fred Willard's portrayal of a dog show commentator in "Best in Show."
I love dogs.
I suppose the coolest part of the evening was when "Champion Storybook Rip it Up," a Boxer, came in second in the Working class. You see, Storybook Rip it Up, aka Jake, is the brother of my manager's dog, Wally. I guess Wally was bred to be a show dog as well, but unfortunately, has only one testicle and is therefore exempt.
Poor Wally.
During the show, I prepared dinner: Chicken Fried (Brown) Rice and steamed Brussel Sprouts. Before hand, I did 25 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of weight training. Getting back into my exercise schedule has really been energizing. It also motivates me to eat better. Usually when I arrive home in a hunger, I eat before considering what it is I'm eating. Too many nights, I have scarfed down chips and salsa while not even considering the clementines in the fridge. But last night, after weight training, I had a few slices of turkey breast instead. Not only is the protein great within 30 minutes of a weight training, but the calorie content is much less, as well as the fat.
Tortilla chips, no matter how organic or baked, can really become addictive when you're hungry.
At any rate, I am doing much better. I think regular exercise has actually enlighten my spirits. And getting to watch cute dogs on TV for 3 hours helps as well. I can only imagine what I'd do if I got to watch doggies and exercise at the same time -- but that is probably asking for a little too
much. After all, not everyone is a freak like me.
- - - -
James and I had a great weekend. On Friday night we went to a preview party after hours at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. The party previewed the "Painting at the Edge of the World" exhibition which started on Saturday and features many 20th century painters as well as sculptors, performance artists, photographers and more. It was an enjoyable evening. The center was full of arty folk, some trying to hard, some who didn't try at all. There were appetizers are the floor and a bar at the entrance. We arrived around 9:15pm, had a glass of wine and toured the exhibits. I saw a lot of amazing work and some puzzling creations. I found myself both drawn and taken aback by the performance art particularly. There was one man, Paul McCarthy, who filmed "The Painter" which featured life-size walking tubes of paint in a bedroom shared with the Painter who had a fat cartoon nose and hands. At one point, he spend probably five minutes just hacking at one of his cartoon fingers with a butcher knife. From time to time he would examine the wound and then continue to hack. And I sat there and watched almost as if I were in a daze.
One of the most impressive pieces of art we saw was a fiberglass replica of a totaled Grand Am. The artist had gone to a junk yard and found this vehicle which had just been involved in an accident and purchased it. He then completely dismantled the vehicle, cast each piece individually in molds to replicated them in fiberglass and then reassembled the fiberglass vehicle. The end result was stunning. The detail was so explicit, yet the grey fiberglass cast to the vehicle was really desensitizing. I starred at that thing forever. It was really amazing.
After wandering through the galleries, we finally made it to the Art Lab only to discover that it it was closed. Before we knew it, it was 11:30 pm. Bummer. The Art Lab at the after hours party allows you to play on particular projects themed for the show. This one featured paining "balls."
It looked like fun, but we were late. The lady at the lab told us to come to the next one, though, because they'll be doing something "fun with paper." Whatever that means. "Oh, and be sure to get here before 11pm." Yes maam.
Because of the late night at the Walker, James and I slept very late on Saturday. We had a lazy morning and finally left the house at 1pm to do some shopping. I had to pick up a birthday present for my little sister. I also wanted to look for new cross trainers and purchase some bath towels. I didn't get the sneakers, but I got some great deal at Daytons, soon to be Marshall Fields, for both my sister and on some Ralph Lauren towels. I also picked up some make-up from Clinique, because... well, because I'm a girl.
The reason we didn't get to the shoe shopping was that we went and saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon instead and I will agree with everyone else, it really was great. I enjoyed it very much even though I can't stand Kung Fu movies. I wasn't even that bitter that Shadow of the Vampire was playing just next door.
The only annoying thing about the movie, though, was that we went at 4pm to get the matinee price only to discover that theatre doesn't have matinees. What? The Lagoon Cinema is the only really good art house in the Twin Cities and it's $7.50/ticket no matter what time you go. Bummer. It's a pretty theatre, though. And they got me because they play some the movies that no one else well, like Shadow and Quills. I suppose we could have shopped around for Crouching Tiger, but who knew?
After the movie, James and I checked out "The Wedge," the grocery coop in Minneapolis. We'd heard a lot of good things about it. But honestly, it's not much better than the Mississippi Market coop that we joined in Saint Paul. The biggest difference was the prices which were WAY higher at The Wedge. Earlier in the day, I had decided to splurge on dinner. I'd been craving asparagus and James and I decided to go ahead and spend the $4/pound on a Mahi Mahi with Asparagus and Cashews dinner we had discovered in Cooking Light. However, the $4 asparagus was more like $6 at The Wedge. 2 whole dollars more.. why? We did get some good gourmet cheeses and some gelato (they do have a great ice cream selection at The Wedge -- but that's the last thing I need!).
And our $6 asparagus turned out just great so I wasn't *that* bitter about it. We even picked up a bottle of Viognier, a white wine we discovered at the Wine Tasting we attended just a week or so ago. It was a nice night.
On Sunday, James and I met a friend with her dog at the dog park near Woodbury. Battle Creek is a great park for the pups. There are trails and lots of other dogs to play with. And my friend, the one I went to the park with last time, had a great experience. I, honestly, think it's because her other "annoying" friend wasn't there. But I'd never say that to her face. (Of course, my luck, she's reading this right now!).
Regardless, the freezing, almost-below-zero temperatures made the walk a little treacherous. We only lasted about 45 minutes, but the dogs had a great time and I feel a little less guilty for bringing Sienna to the city.
Afterwards, James and I did various errands which included shopping at 3 different grocery stores. This occurrence really did validate my fear that we really are freaks. I wanted to stop at Rainbow Foods for the $5.99 shrimp I saw advertised in the paper. Then I stopped at Cub Foods for the $1.28 asparagus and $1.99 lean sirloin they were advertising. Then we stopped at our coop for the rest of our vegetables. If you add The Wedge the night before, that is 4 grocery stores in 24-hours. I'm thinking we're a little too obsessed with food.
But I have asparagus.
And shrimp.
Sunday night, I stayed home. I finished up Harry Potter 2, which was excellent. I also did some cardio at the gym in our building. James went to a team meeting for the cycling team he's joining. It was a good experience for him. He's excited about the upcoming session and is already coming up with training schedules and planning out rides.
I suppose things are falling into place. I still have some reservations about my job. But if you don't count that, we're keeping active here, finding our grooves and making lives for ourselves. For a while, our weekends had been actually too busy, if that makes sense. We were running around to events and what not, but they didn't seem to be as much "fun" as they should. The think mainly James and I were just getting sick of each other. Moving to a new city away from our friends has placed us together 24/7 -- and especially after living apart for 2 months, well... that's a lot. But now that we're starting to mingle and meet people, things are feeling better. Then combining that with actual routine in our lives makes things feel much more comfortable and home-like. This weekend reminded me of the weekends we used to have and that makes me happy. We layed around, we did a few interesting things, we cooked and we played with our dog. It's not much, but it's us and it's our life and that's what I've felt I've been missing. It's nice to see it's back.
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Questions? Concerns? Email me at heather@funnymoods.com
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