kän-'krēt

Me, Myself, and I – Update

kankret — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:15:10 +0000

Loads of things have happened in the 23 weeks that have elapsed. My son graduated from high school and was accepted to both EMU and CMU as a music education major (he had to audition for placement, winning a spot at both universities over a group of others, in addition to meeting the standard school criteria) as a euphonium principal. After much thought he selected CMU.

Months upon months of preparation, private lessons, rehearsals with his pianist, and practice took place to ready himself for a senior recital (typically done at the college level, not high school!). He actually arranged and edited some of the music himself! I put in weeks of preparation in order to pull the reception off (I made all of the food, laid out and printed both invitations and program, grew table decorations – wheatgrass – and created custom metal photo holders for display). The level of music that he played was astonishing and his selections were varied and sophisticated. Needless to say I’m one proud momma!

Just a few days following the graduation celebrations we were packed and headed off to Racine, Wisconsin to leave him for the summer with the Racine Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps, for whom he plays marching baritone (this is his second year). They’ve been practicing, travelling, and performing in preparation for the DCI quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals this upcoming week in Michigan City and Indianapolis. I’ve been creating a menu plan, compiling lists (grocery and packing), and cooking what I can in advance – my sister, my dog, and I will be staying in cabins and following the Racine Scouts from performance to performance. When we return I’ll have six days to be his personal laundress, shopper, chef, friend, confidante, and mom before he heads off to marching band camp at CMU. 6 days. That’s all I get! It’s been a very lonely summer without him. I was fortunate to be able to make it to two of their performances this summer, however. Before you know it we’ll be knee deep in tailgating season again, only this time with a two hour drive each way rather than the 15 minutes to high school!

Little has happened on the business front. I’ve learned that I am a master at occupying myself with other things. Need to break that nasty habit – and quick!

Posted in business, CMU, Me Myself and I, Off Topic, Racine Scouts Tagged: CMU, DCI, Racine Scouts

Texture of the Week #8

kankret — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:26:18 +0000

Ok, so it’s been more than a week since my last post. Almost 23 weeks? It’s absolutely amazing to me that people still click through here when there haven’t been updates in so long. Now that I’ve finally upgraded my internet connection from the dial-up that I had (thank goodness), trying to deal with a BLOG should be much easier!

This texture comes from Boston University’s Chrysalis: Science Transforms site and has a very informative article about researchers that are taking two different approaches – chemical and biological – to create concrete that willl self-heal. Love, love, love the idea!

What I like about the image above are the visible broom strokes, the web-like cracking, and the evident gravel.

Posted in concrete, concrete texture, texture of the week Tagged: Boston University, Chrysalis: Science Transforms

Texture of the Week #7

kankret — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:14:40 +0000

Titled the “most popular texture on the web”, this comes from Travis Altadena’s TextureBin blog. With it’s striations and rust this texture shows endless variety and gravity hard at work.

Posted in concrete, concrete texture, texture of the week Tagged: concrete, concrete texture, TextureBin, Travis Altadena

Texture of the Week #6

kankret — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:37:45 +0000

Today’s concrete texture comes from wayfaring.wanderer’s photostream on flickr and shows absolutely beautiful striations and patchwork. There is a nice overlay of texture, and the depth of color is fascinating. What really intrigues me is the rougher, broomed texture with it’s scaly effect. This shot takes me straight to the beach, combing the sand for shells.

You may also want to check out wayfaring.wanderer’s blog, with a photo journal for each day of 2008.

Posted in concrete, concrete texture, texture of the week Tagged: concrete, concrete texture, wayfaring.wanderer

Texture of the Week #5

kankret — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:41:20 +0000

Check out this fascinating basketweave concrete texture found here.

I really like the interplay of rough and smooth texture with the weave. Probably because it makes me think that I could knit or crochet this!

Posted in concrete, concrete texture, crochet, knit, texture of the week Tagged: concrete, concrete texture, crochet, knit

AWOL

kankret — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:39:10 +0000

Shame on me. I’ve not kept up with my BLOG, nor working with concrete.

I allowed myself to become bogged down with crafting (3 pair of felted slippers, the completion of my son’s afghan, and three scarves – one still not complete) and cooking (3 parties, plus food to take to relatives’ gatherings) for the holidays.

On top of that, I’ve had problems with my sump pump YET AGAIN and had to deal with water seeping into my basement. I’m not convinced that it’s totally repaired, so I wait…..

In the meantime, I’ve hatched plans for alternative goods and products that I can make to try and get posted to my Etsy site and start selling.

Stay posted!

Posted in business, etsy Tagged: AWOL, etsy

Texture of the Week #4

kankret — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:37:18 +0000

This texture comes from Craig Jewell’s flickr site and shows what he calls “a grungy concrete texture”. I just love the color variations and watercolor effect. Craig has a great photostream with loads of gorgeous textures and beautiful images – check them out!

The original image can be found here: www.flickr.com/photos/craigjewell/503067549/

Posted in concrete, concrete texture, texture of the week Tagged: concrete, concrete texture, Craig Jewell

Sidewalk Poetry

kankret — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:36:05 +0000

Sidewalk Poetry

MPR photo by Euan Kerr

The Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) website posted an article 1 October 2008 about poems that the city of St. Paul has been stamping into concrete all around town. Supposedly “the public art project is designed to bring more poetry into everyday life.”

What I really love about this is that it’s a totally unexpected part of your day – a little surprise that can be experienced by and shared with all. The poetry will carry a different meaning for each who reads it and it highlights concrete as the truly blank canvas that it is.

Marcus Young, St. Paul’s Artist-in Residence, originated the idea, arranging a city-wide poetry contest, then choosing 20 winners from the more than 2000 submissions. “…Poetry stamping work will continue through October. Then there’s the question of whether the poems can survive the freeze/thaw cycle of a Minnesota winter. But organizer Marcus Young says the project has already come up with a new way to look at sidewalks as blank pages. ‘And if you accept that the sidewalk panel is a blank page, then we have this amazing book in our city that is our city,’ Young said.”

The complete article can be found here.

Posted in concrete, concrete art, stamped concrete Tagged: concrete, concrete art, Marcus Young, MPR, poetry contest, sidewalk poetry, stamped concrete

Texture of the Week #3

kankret — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:21:25 +0000

This week’s texture can be found at Eli the Bearded’s Flickr page and is a photo of the 16th and Mission BART station.

The original image can be found here: flickr.com/photos/elithebearded/2667347558/

It gives the appearance as if someone sprayed a concrete texture over an air filter, with the overlayment of the finer texture over the ribs.

Posted in concrete, concrete texture, texture of the week Tagged: concrete, concrete texture, Eli the Bearded

The Small House Movement

kankret — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:48:38 +0000

08 October 2008 Today Show: With all the financial uncertainty, more people are opting for smaller houses to cut their costs. NBC’s Chris Jansing reports.

The small house movement“>

As far as I’m concerned, the phenomenon of tiny houses is not so much outfall of the economy, but rather a desire for a home that doesn’t make as many demands on the owner, truly maximizes the use of space, reduces housing, maintenance, and energy costs, and minimizes its impact on the environment. There was a “Small House Movement” long before the economy turned south – it’s a state of mind.

Posted in tiny house Tagged: green, tiny house