Art

First of May

Usually on May Day, I post a link to the lyrics of my favorite May Day song — the Lusty Month of May, from Camelot:

Tra la, it’s May, the lusty Month of May
That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray
Tra la, it’s here, that shocking time of year,
when tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear.
It’s May, It’s May, that gorgeous holiday,
when every maiden prays that her lad will be a cad
It’s mad, it’s gay, a libelous display,
Those dreary vows that everyone takes, everyone breaks,
everyone makes divine mistakes
The Lusty Month of May

Nowadays, there’s a newer, similar song by Jonathan Couton, along with a lovely WOW like video. Fair warning: if you’re offended by the word FUCK, you probably shouldn’t watch the video. Or read this blog.

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Cool Artist – Little Robot

I happened to be looking on etsy.com for a daniel striped tiger hand puppet (don’t ask – I’ll get around to explaining it later) and stumbled on this really marvelous artist’s store – Little Robot – AKA Lindsey Carr.

Little Robot Artwork on Etsy
Little Robot Artwork on Etsy

Little Robot Artwork on Etsy
Little Robot Artwork on Etsy

I have to count my pennies before I buy any prints with the wedding coming up, but this is definitely going in my “to buy” wishlist, for sure.

She also has a website and a blog, too.

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“Reading Is Fundamental” Literacy Program in Danger

If you’re about my age (39, that is) the commercials and reading programs for the nonprofit program RIF – Reading is Fundamental – are probably as vivid a childhood memory for you as they are for me. Not only were they played during Sesame Street and the Electric Company, but they were part of the reading films we saw in class in our Elementary School.

Reading is Fundamental is the oldest and largest children’s and family nonprofit literacy organization in the United States; they actively foster a love of reading, involvement in children’s literacy by families and community, and donations of books to children that need and love them.

RIF regularly visited our school and gave us free books; for us that was an awesome bonus since we had tons from our parents and grandparents, but for some kids, RIF is a reading lifeline that makes a huge impact on how they succeed as adults.

Now for the first time since 1975, the Bush Administration has decided to cut funding for RIF completely. When I read that I was stunned – I can’t imagine a program that had such a large footprint in my childhood consciousness disappearing.
Please follow the link to send a message to our elected officials asking them not to allow a program that has had such a large impact on the lives of several generations of Americans to evaporate.

UPDATE – Due to the large outcry against cutting funding, RIF’s program was added back into the federal budget. If you were one of the kind folks who wrote to your elected officials, please thank them for stepping up on behalf of RIF.

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Bottle Cap Art Car Project – Ready, Steady, Go!

This weekend we worked on a couple of big things — lots of lawn and garden work, and the beginnings of the art car.

Dunno if I’ve written much about the Art Car Project – it’s something Stephanie has been wanting to do for a long time, and now is a great opportunity for her to tackle it. She has a couple friends who have Art Cars, and in 2005, we visited Louisville, Kentucky for their annual Art Car Weekend:

"That Car!"

[ See the whole set of photos ]

We’re replacing Stephanie’s 1993 Honda Accord, which is her currently daily driver, with a new little Smart Car, which should arrive sometime here in April. The Honda is in pretty good shape, but just turned 200,000 miles and essentially has no trade-in value.

So it make sense for her to hold on to it and have some fun doing something creative. Stephanie toyed with several different design ideas, but finally arrived at an intersection of the art car she’s always wanted, and her childhood love of bottle caps. Her dad even dug her original collection out of the garage attic and brought them to us.

We’ve been collecting and sorting bottle caps all winter long, with the help of friends and the nice folks at the restaurant Ralph’s Great Divide, who have contributed many of the caps.

Stephanie prepped and adhered the first 70 caps to the car. This was basically a test run to see if the adhesive works and if the caps stay on; so far, so good. They stayed overnight an were still there this morning.

70 down, 12,000 to go.

[ See the whole set of photos ]

Since they seem to be holding up quite well, we’re getting ready to scale up production; I’ll prepare the caps with Rustoleum, while Stephanie uses a high temperature glue to secure them in place.

We also did a ton of raking (our leaves come down in mid-December, so we never got them completely raked last year), bought 20 bags of mulch and started spreading it in the front flower beds, and mowed the lawn for the first time. We did a lot of physical work this weekend, it was very nice out and felt good.

Continue ReadingBottle Cap Art Car Project – Ready, Steady, Go!