It's been almost four years since I last posted an update on this blog. In that time I've had two babies, proving the adage about small children that the days are long but the years are short. Almost four years! I have to admit that I've wanted to blog during that time but had forgotten my Blogger password. And what with taking care of little ones, blogging has taken a backseat along with a lot of other things -- it's a pretty crowded backseat at this point. Not that I regret putting any of those things aside in favor of what I've been doing, but I do miss certain things. Like theatre. And concerts. And art exhibits. And more than five hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Now that my littler little one is moving out of infancy and into toddlerhood and I'm gaining just a smidge more time to myself, the new year has brought with it feelings of wanting to move ahead and explore. We are still pretty broke with no change to our fortunes in the foreseeable future. Which is OK (I think) as long as we confront it and approach it creatively, not in a reactionary fashion as we have the past few years. It is possible to be broke and not be, think, or feel poor. There has to be a way to live a sparse financial life but a rich cultural life -- there are just too many of us who were impacted in the long-term by the recent (because it's supposed to be over, you know) recession to be permanently cut-off. If we -- the marginally middle class -- view ourselves as part of the disenfranchised underclass, then... well, I don't know enough about economics or sociology to be able to predict the impact that will have on U.S. society at large.
And here is where I should stop for the night. I can't count how many times I was interrupted just trying to write that much, and now I've lost my train of thought. Suffice it to say, here's to a lively, invigorating, creative and joy-filled 2013.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Don't let me down like this!
I just checked the SCFD Free Days webpage and was disappointed to see that next week's free performance of "Sunsets and Margaritas" at the Denver Center has been cancelled. I was really hoping to make it out for that, as work got in the way of getting out in time to see last week's "Radio Golf," and this week's busy-ness will likely keep me from "A Prayer for Owen Meaney." I don't have much time here, people! Don't do this to me!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
recap 1/3/09 -- Keeping It Local
There's something about the new year that makes me itchy to get out of the house for some non-Christmas activities. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. We decorate our house, pull out our substantial CD & DVD collection, decorate sugar cookies -- I even sang at Midnight Mass at our local church. I love Christmas. But just as the lifestyle industry can't wait to dispense with holiday recipes and "sparkling decorating tips" and start talking about diets, gym memberships, and comforting one-pot meals at the stroke of Jan. 1st, I similarly am eager to stretch out beyond Rankin-Bass specials and and innumerable versions of "The Christmas Song" for my cultural fix as New Year's approaches. And so, on Saturday, January 3, I organized my itinerary, loaded my car up with items appropriate to my different stops, and bade the guitarhero "see ya' later" shortly before noon.
My first stop was Samadhi Yoga for a prenatal yoga class, my first. While Samadhi is not a budget-friendly location ($17/drop-in class), it was paid for out of Christmas money I received for that specific purpose so it didn't feel so much like money out of my pocket. I hadn't attended a class in, oh, a very long time and my home practice has been negligible, so the class was still challenging despite not being ass-kicking. A couple of times when Warrior pose got uncomfortable and I found myself looking forward to moving out of it, I thought, "Dude, you might as well get used to discomfort and then some." Find ease in the pose, indeed.
From Samadhi, I went down to Twist & Shout on Colfax to sell some CDs. While I haven't gone into full-on nesting mode, I have started to de-clutter where posible and get together enough inventory to warrant holding a garage sale in the spring. But in the meantime, I hoped that Twist & Shout might be interested in some of the CDs that no longer interest me. They didn't take all of them (what? no love for Dionne Farris?) but I got enough back in cash to finance the rest of my afternoon. Next stop was the Tattered Cover next door to buy a new calendar for the kitchen -- we tend toward nature scenes, so I opted for one featuring pictures of the Colorado landscape taken by a well-known local photographer.
I don't think I had a very substantial breakfast that morning, so by 3:00 p.m. or so I was starving. Well, let's be honest, I was hungry during yoga class. (I'm hungry as I write this, having just eaten. I was hungry at 4:00 this morning. I. Am. Hungry.) It was the perfect opportunity to give the SAME Cafe a try. I first heard about the Cafe a few months ago on NPR's The Splendid Table and had added it to the list of things to do. SAME stands for So All May Eat, and is strategically located on East Colfax, probably the area of Denver most similar to Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood for its mix of clubs, bars, and shops peopled by young hipsters, transients, and everyone in between. The founders believe strongly that everyone has a right and should have access to healthy food regardless of their means. They aim to use organic and locally sourced ingredients whenever possible; portions are small but you may have as many servings as you like; and you pay what you can by slipping cash into a little envelope and putting it in the donation box when you're finished. If you can't pay you may volunteer for an hour or so, but I can't imagine that they'd refuse food to anyone for any reason. It all seems too good and idealistic to succeed, like the Amsterdam White Bicycle program back in the 1960s. I sincerely hope SAME Cafe doesn't suffer the same fate, but the owners claim to come out even at the end of each day, so perhaps there's hope after all.
The cold, damp weather made the Cafe particularly welcoming that day. I got myself a glass of iced tea and ordered up a cup of butternut squash soup, spinach and pear salad, and vegetarian pizza. I didn't linger over my lunch too long as I still had a couple stops left on my schedule, but I savored every bite of the homey and tasty meal, topped off by a frosted sugar cookie for dessert. As I noted above, I Am Hungry most of the time and probably could have eaten more, but since my cash was limited and I didn't want to be a complete mooch, I thought it best to quit before I was stuffed. So I moved along.
With barely 90 minutes to spare before closing time, I headed over to the Denver Art Museum for Free First Saturday admission. Because the parking garage was charging a flat rate higher than my cash on hand, I sought out meter-free parking a few blocks away -- it made me wish I'd known that in advance so I could have eaten more at the Cafe. Once inside the museum I headed straight for the temporary exhibits, of which I saw four. The disadvantage of having planned such a busy day meant that I felt rushed to consume as much art as possible -- to get the most bang for my non-existent buck if you will. The first exhibit I visited, The Art of Ernest l. Blumenschein , was the largest and would have benefitted from a more leisurely pace. I also apparently picked the wrong side of the room to start viewing the collection and ended up seeing the 66 works in reverse chronological order. I was immediately engaged in a short conversation with a woman who seemed eager to talk about what she'd just seen -- I think she compared Blumenschein to Thomas Hart Benton and also gave me a short history of artists' pigments. (Whether it was a function of the free admission, the cold and overcast day, or the late hour, the entire museum was packed. Conversations, intentional or overheard, were inevitable.) The enormous contemporary paintings by Daniel Richter left me relying a bit too much on the curator's descriptions to inform my own reactions to the work -- perhaps I could have understood it better had I seen it back in high school when I was still studying art history, but I'm not as smart now as I was then. The small gallery hosting a handful of abstract expressionist works by Clyfford Still functioned mainly as a teaser for the Still Museum set to open next year. And last but certainly not least, I caught the Houdon sculpture exhibit the day before it closed. The familiar medium of realistic, Enlightenment-era sculptures of mythological and towering historical figures, such as Voltaire and Washington, made this the most accessible collection for my harried mindset. I probably should have gone to the February First Saturday if only to give the Blumenschein another shot before it closed.
My very last stop was decidedly unlocal and non-cultural, but a co-worker had given me a Kohl's $10 coupon and I was in dire need of another pair of maternity pants (which are not as comfortable as you might think but are better than trying to wear your regular jeans with the help of a rubber band holding them closed). Luckily there was a nice pair of cords that fit well and were on sale to boot. Not a thrilling end to an otherwise varied and busy day, but considering that free time as I've known it will soon be a thing of the past, I have absolutely no complaints.
My first stop was Samadhi Yoga for a prenatal yoga class, my first. While Samadhi is not a budget-friendly location ($17/drop-in class), it was paid for out of Christmas money I received for that specific purpose so it didn't feel so much like money out of my pocket. I hadn't attended a class in, oh, a very long time and my home practice has been negligible, so the class was still challenging despite not being ass-kicking. A couple of times when Warrior pose got uncomfortable and I found myself looking forward to moving out of it, I thought, "Dude, you might as well get used to discomfort and then some." Find ease in the pose, indeed.
From Samadhi, I went down to Twist & Shout on Colfax to sell some CDs. While I haven't gone into full-on nesting mode, I have started to de-clutter where posible and get together enough inventory to warrant holding a garage sale in the spring. But in the meantime, I hoped that Twist & Shout might be interested in some of the CDs that no longer interest me. They didn't take all of them (what? no love for Dionne Farris?) but I got enough back in cash to finance the rest of my afternoon. Next stop was the Tattered Cover next door to buy a new calendar for the kitchen -- we tend toward nature scenes, so I opted for one featuring pictures of the Colorado landscape taken by a well-known local photographer.
I don't think I had a very substantial breakfast that morning, so by 3:00 p.m. or so I was starving. Well, let's be honest, I was hungry during yoga class. (I'm hungry as I write this, having just eaten. I was hungry at 4:00 this morning. I. Am. Hungry.) It was the perfect opportunity to give the SAME Cafe a try. I first heard about the Cafe a few months ago on NPR's The Splendid Table and had added it to the list of things to do. SAME stands for So All May Eat, and is strategically located on East Colfax, probably the area of Denver most similar to Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood for its mix of clubs, bars, and shops peopled by young hipsters, transients, and everyone in between. The founders believe strongly that everyone has a right and should have access to healthy food regardless of their means. They aim to use organic and locally sourced ingredients whenever possible; portions are small but you may have as many servings as you like; and you pay what you can by slipping cash into a little envelope and putting it in the donation box when you're finished. If you can't pay you may volunteer for an hour or so, but I can't imagine that they'd refuse food to anyone for any reason. It all seems too good and idealistic to succeed, like the Amsterdam White Bicycle program back in the 1960s. I sincerely hope SAME Cafe doesn't suffer the same fate, but the owners claim to come out even at the end of each day, so perhaps there's hope after all.
The cold, damp weather made the Cafe particularly welcoming that day. I got myself a glass of iced tea and ordered up a cup of butternut squash soup, spinach and pear salad, and vegetarian pizza. I didn't linger over my lunch too long as I still had a couple stops left on my schedule, but I savored every bite of the homey and tasty meal, topped off by a frosted sugar cookie for dessert. As I noted above, I Am Hungry most of the time and probably could have eaten more, but since my cash was limited and I didn't want to be a complete mooch, I thought it best to quit before I was stuffed. So I moved along.
With barely 90 minutes to spare before closing time, I headed over to the Denver Art Museum for Free First Saturday admission. Because the parking garage was charging a flat rate higher than my cash on hand, I sought out meter-free parking a few blocks away -- it made me wish I'd known that in advance so I could have eaten more at the Cafe. Once inside the museum I headed straight for the temporary exhibits, of which I saw four. The disadvantage of having planned such a busy day meant that I felt rushed to consume as much art as possible -- to get the most bang for my non-existent buck if you will. The first exhibit I visited, The Art of Ernest l. Blumenschein , was the largest and would have benefitted from a more leisurely pace. I also apparently picked the wrong side of the room to start viewing the collection and ended up seeing the 66 works in reverse chronological order. I was immediately engaged in a short conversation with a woman who seemed eager to talk about what she'd just seen -- I think she compared Blumenschein to Thomas Hart Benton and also gave me a short history of artists' pigments. (Whether it was a function of the free admission, the cold and overcast day, or the late hour, the entire museum was packed. Conversations, intentional or overheard, were inevitable.) The enormous contemporary paintings by Daniel Richter left me relying a bit too much on the curator's descriptions to inform my own reactions to the work -- perhaps I could have understood it better had I seen it back in high school when I was still studying art history, but I'm not as smart now as I was then. The small gallery hosting a handful of abstract expressionist works by Clyfford Still functioned mainly as a teaser for the Still Museum set to open next year. And last but certainly not least, I caught the Houdon sculpture exhibit the day before it closed. The familiar medium of realistic, Enlightenment-era sculptures of mythological and towering historical figures, such as Voltaire and Washington, made this the most accessible collection for my harried mindset. I probably should have gone to the February First Saturday if only to give the Blumenschein another shot before it closed.
My very last stop was decidedly unlocal and non-cultural, but a co-worker had given me a Kohl's $10 coupon and I was in dire need of another pair of maternity pants (which are not as comfortable as you might think but are better than trying to wear your regular jeans with the help of a rubber band holding them closed). Luckily there was a nice pair of cords that fit well and were on sale to boot. Not a thrilling end to an otherwise varied and busy day, but considering that free time as I've known it will soon be a thing of the past, I have absolutely no complaints.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
We'll drink a cup of kindness yet...
But before the weekend arrives, I guess we should actually ring in the new year, right? If I were back in the LaLa Land of my birth today, I would be heading down to M & L's house for their New Year's extravaganza (read: copious amounts of vin rouge from Trader Joe's and snax consumed in the company of a few handfuls of friends). But since we're here in Denver and still have yet to forge any new friendships strong enough to warrant venturing out on New Year's Eve, and since I am Not Drinking* these days, we will observe the most overplayed holiday of the year in our own quiet way.
But hey! If you're the type who likes to get out and revel amongst anonymous revelers, you've got choices. There will be fireworks downtown, not to mention free bus and light rail service from 7:00 tonight until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. It's sad that I'm tempted to leave the house if only to take advantage of free public transport.
So Happy New Year, y'all! Even if 2009 doesn't spring back from this recession with the elasticity of Nellie Oleson's curls, let's just act as if it has (perhaps with less borrowing and spending).
* Although I have discovered that St. Pauli Girl makes a rather respectable non-alcoholic malt beverage.
But hey! If you're the type who likes to get out and revel amongst anonymous revelers, you've got choices. There will be fireworks downtown, not to mention free bus and light rail service from 7:00 tonight until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. It's sad that I'm tempted to leave the house if only to take advantage of free public transport.
So Happy New Year, y'all! Even if 2009 doesn't spring back from this recession with the elasticity of Nellie Oleson's curls, let's just act as if it has (perhaps with less borrowing and spending).
* Although I have discovered that St. Pauli Girl makes a rather respectable non-alcoholic malt beverage.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Jan. 2-3 "First Weekend" Art Galleries & Museums
Just because I've taken a long break from tracking this stuff doesn't mean that much has changed. There are still plenty of arts to see this coming First Friday and First Saturday to ring in the New Year!
First Friday Art Walk @ RiNo
First Friday Art Walk @ Santa Fe Arts District
Free First Saturday @ Denver Art Museum
Penny Saturday @ Museum of Contemporary Art Denver
First Friday Art Walk @ RiNo
First Friday Art Walk @ Santa Fe Arts District
Free First Saturday @ Denver Art Museum
Penny Saturday @ Museum of Contemporary Art Denver
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Oct. 20 Free Day @ Denver Zoo
Saturday, October 20 is an SCFD-funded day of free admission to the Denver Zoo.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
June 1 Art Walk @ RiNo
The RiNo Arts District is billing the June First Friday as an evening in rino , featuring quite a few opening receptions. The weather should be great, so why not get out for a walk?
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