So much has been going on. We've had our first non-relative visitors. Three in a week. Right now we have a Welsh soccer coach staying with us. Zach is doing a British Soccer camp and we volunteered to have one of the coaches stay with us for the week. So far it is working out well. The kids love him, but he has to coach from 8:30am-8:30pm. They are all over him though when he is here.
Last weekend Barry and I and a friend of his from work went to an art gallery opening. Very cool. Check out this blog about it. In the top picture we bought the fuzzy yellow framed piece. It's by an artist named Chris Lawson who went to Haiti and worked with some students at an art center there. He showed them the beauty in found objects and how they could be manipulated to tell stories with themes of Christianity, Voodoo, and Imperialism. Two local artists Orenda and Todd Fink did an audio installation of found sounds of Haiti. It was really nice, I felt like it was my first crack in to the Omaha art scene and I met the woman who started Filmstreams , Omaha's first independent theater, that I read about in the NY Times prior to moving here.
Since I last posted we also took the kids to the Jonas brothers concert. The kids had a great time, but with a 7pm opening act, they couldn't last to the end. Which was fine by me. I think the overly long and downbeat song about the youngest Jonas brother's diabetes might have been what did them in. I feel terrible about the diabetes and all, especially knowing people who suffer from it, but 30 minutes including a video montage was just a little much. I'm sure no one want to bag on it and seem like an uncaring jerk (00ps!), but really someone should say something.
--Kelly
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Day 83 - PS
I just had my first real grease fire in a frying pan. I was amazingly calm and didn't do any of the things they show you not to do. I'm kind of picturing in my my mind a sort of cartoon like instructions like the airplanes have for in case of a crash. I just turned off the fire and put a lid over the pan and it went out.
I was cooking Buffalo Bleu Cheese Chicken Sausages from Whole Foods. They weren't very good.
I was cooking Buffalo Bleu Cheese Chicken Sausages from Whole Foods. They weren't very good.
Day 83
Omaha as a paradise for artists? That's what I read today in the Omaha World-Herald. Apparently The Artist's Magazine has said that Omaha (along with Bucks County, PA(!), Taos, NM, and Jerome, AZ) has a real appreciation for the arts and artists. Could Omaha be the next Austin/Seattle/Athens? Could Omaha someday inspire another small city to be the next Omaha?
In other news, our pool has become the local hangout for frogs. Each morning we rescue several (live and dead) frogs from the chlorine pond. According to the previous owner, the next critter we have to look forward to our moles. Lovely.
Feeling Green,
Kelly
In other news, our pool has become the local hangout for frogs. Each morning we rescue several (live and dead) frogs from the chlorine pond. According to the previous owner, the next critter we have to look forward to our moles. Lovely.
Feeling Green,
Kelly
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Day 79
Had a really good weekend. Omaha sponsored a free concert in Memorial Park. Feist was the headliner. She was also my least favorite, she kept expecting the crowd to do stuff. Sing along, whistle like a bird, pat your head and rub your tummy while hopping down on one foot! Plus, the kids just wanted to hear 1234, and by 10pm they were done, so we left (she didn't play that song until 10:45). Her music is ok, but a little mellow for my mood that night. I was energized by the first act of the night, The Good Life. When the lead singer exhorted the crowd to show the older generation that young people will vote and to have the most Democratic votes in Nebraskan history, it sealed the deal.
The crowd was mostly young with various archetypes of outdoor concerts - the hacky sack guys, the devil stick person (this time in the guise of Chloë Sevigny), and a gaggle of self absorbed adolescent girls. Missing was the smell of pot (or even very much patchouli.)
On Sunday we went to Dixie Quicks for breakfast. It far surpassed my expectations. Upon entering it kind of reminded me of The Lucky Platter in Evanston. When told it would be 15 minutes for a table we were invited to wait in the gallery. The restaurant has a contemporary art gallery attached! The food wasn't bad either.
Maybe Omaha isn't too bad...
Except for that night when the kid's listed their litany of complaints against their elementary school. Some of them were minor, but it kind of reinforced my questions about how good the school was. I guess I didn't appreciate Romona enough when I was there. For instance, in Piper's Spanish class (which all grades get only twice a week) they watched a Dora the Explorer video. The school just doesn't seem very progressive.
So now I've started thinking about private school. Their is a Jewish day school here called Friedel Jewish Academy. It is very small only 50 or students in K-6, but they have a good emphasis on art and music (two complaints against the school from the kids and when I toured the facilities were a little underwhelming). I think we could get in for this year, and bonus of no Sunday school.
or, we could wait out a year and do and open enrollment for next year at a different district that I liked better, but I'm nervous about waiting a year and 3rd and 1st grade seem like such watershed years. And we did only give the school 3 weeks.
I've been reduced to reading Have You No Shame? by Rachel Shukert, a memoir about growing up Jewish in Omaha (perfect huh?), for clues about Friedel. (She went there). On the negative side, she says that school population is split among, "...children of harried yuppies" wanting an all-day Kindergarten, the ultra religious, and the borderline autistic. We fall in none of those categories. (Ms. Shukert didn't mention which group she fell in to, so maybe there are some others?) On the plus side she says, "It felt more like a large odd family than a school...the experience was a extraordinarily kind one, free from bullies and cruel, rough play, remarkably lacking in cliques and cattiness."
Undecided,
Kelly
The crowd was mostly young with various archetypes of outdoor concerts - the hacky sack guys, the devil stick person (this time in the guise of Chloë Sevigny), and a gaggle of self absorbed adolescent girls. Missing was the smell of pot (or even very much patchouli.)
On Sunday we went to Dixie Quicks for breakfast. It far surpassed my expectations. Upon entering it kind of reminded me of The Lucky Platter in Evanston. When told it would be 15 minutes for a table we were invited to wait in the gallery. The restaurant has a contemporary art gallery attached! The food wasn't bad either.
Maybe Omaha isn't too bad...
Except for that night when the kid's listed their litany of complaints against their elementary school. Some of them were minor, but it kind of reinforced my questions about how good the school was. I guess I didn't appreciate Romona enough when I was there. For instance, in Piper's Spanish class (which all grades get only twice a week) they watched a Dora the Explorer video. The school just doesn't seem very progressive.
So now I've started thinking about private school. Their is a Jewish day school here called Friedel Jewish Academy. It is very small only 50 or students in K-6, but they have a good emphasis on art and music (two complaints against the school from the kids and when I toured the facilities were a little underwhelming). I think we could get in for this year, and bonus of no Sunday school.
or, we could wait out a year and do and open enrollment for next year at a different district that I liked better, but I'm nervous about waiting a year and 3rd and 1st grade seem like such watershed years. And we did only give the school 3 weeks.
I've been reduced to reading Have You No Shame? by Rachel Shukert, a memoir about growing up Jewish in Omaha (perfect huh?), for clues about Friedel. (She went there). On the negative side, she says that school population is split among, "...children of harried yuppies" wanting an all-day Kindergarten, the ultra religious, and the borderline autistic. We fall in none of those categories. (Ms. Shukert didn't mention which group she fell in to, so maybe there are some others?) On the plus side she says, "It felt more like a large odd family than a school...the experience was a extraordinarily kind one, free from bullies and cruel, rough play, remarkably lacking in cliques and cattiness."
Undecided,
Kelly
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Day 76
OK, I am so embarrassed by the 3:10 to Yumma crack since seeing that Darian Strauss left a comment on the blog. I wonder if it was really him, or if he has an intern looking through google and technocrati and leaving comments. Hmmm.
It worked though, I bought his book today. I went to the Elkhorn Library yesterday to see if that had it, of course they didn't. Nor did they have:
OBD: Obsessive Branding Disorder: The Illusion of Business and the Business of Illusion by Lucas Conley
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor
The Film Club: A Memoir by David Gilmour
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hami
or about 10 other books that were on my list. Luckily Elkhorn is now part of Omaha, so I was able to request books from the other Omaha libraries and have them sent to the Elkhorn branch. The only book on my list that they had was What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman. I started it last night, and so far so good.
We're going to see a free Feist concert tonight. I hope it doesn't rain! Right now, it is sunny and nicely cool. There was a storm last night that kind of broke the heat. So, I made matzo ball soup today. Yummy. No good deli here. I miss Max and Benny's!
Wishing I were chopped liver,
Kelly
It worked though, I bought his book today. I went to the Elkhorn Library yesterday to see if that had it, of course they didn't. Nor did they have:
OBD: Obsessive Branding Disorder: The Illusion of Business and the Business of Illusion by Lucas Conley
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor
The Film Club: A Memoir by David Gilmour
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hami
or about 10 other books that were on my list. Luckily Elkhorn is now part of Omaha, so I was able to request books from the other Omaha libraries and have them sent to the Elkhorn branch. The only book on my list that they had was What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman. I started it last night, and so far so good.
We're going to see a free Feist concert tonight. I hope it doesn't rain! Right now, it is sunny and nicely cool. There was a storm last night that kind of broke the heat. So, I made matzo ball soup today. Yummy. No good deli here. I miss Max and Benny's!
Wishing I were chopped liver,
Kelly
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Would the Real Day 74 Please Stand Up
I finished Lonesome Dove. It was really really good, much better than I thought it was going to be. Now I feel in the Western mode. I want to read the sequel and to see 3:10 to Yuma (especially since I LOVE Christian Bale, more like 3:10 to Yumma! - that was so adolescent I know.)
The 900+ pages went by really quickly. Now I need a new book to read, I was going to read Brothers Karamazov or The Idiot, but I think I might need something shorter. I saw two good books reviewed in The NYT a couple of weeks ago. Apples and Oranges by Marie Brenner; a memoir about sibling relationships and More than it Hurts You by Darin Strauss - a novel about child abuse (sounds uplifting, no?). In the meantime, I've renewed my Harpers subscription and I've been getting depressed reading that. Two really good articles. One called Democracy and Deference by Mark Slouka, and another called Our Phony Economy by Jonathan Rowe. Really interesting. I'd like to have a Harpers Magazine Club.
That would be fun.
The 900+ pages went by really quickly. Now I need a new book to read, I was going to read Brothers Karamazov or The Idiot, but I think I might need something shorter. I saw two good books reviewed in The NYT a couple of weeks ago. Apples and Oranges by Marie Brenner; a memoir about sibling relationships and More than it Hurts You by Darin Strauss - a novel about child abuse (sounds uplifting, no?). In the meantime, I've renewed my Harpers subscription and I've been getting depressed reading that. Two really good articles. One called Democracy and Deference by Mark Slouka, and another called Our Phony Economy by Jonathan Rowe. Really interesting. I'd like to have a Harpers Magazine Club.
That would be fun.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Day 74 or thereabouts
I miss my friends.
I want to see the movie American Teen. I don't want to force Barry to watch it, I want to watch it with someone who wants to watch it as much as I do. Will I ever find someone in Omaha? I need to find someone who hates here as much as I do. The more I hear from people about how nice it is here, the more that I hate it. I think that's part of what made me dislike Santa Barbara so much. People there are so in love in with Santa Barbara that they can't imagine anyone not loving it. Then I found (or to give credit where credit is due - Barry found) Melanie.
Wilmette was easy. Sure a lot of people there are in love with The North Shore, but there are plenty of naysayers so it was easy to have a nice balanced love/hate relationship with it. Barry bought me a sign that said "Wilmette Home Sweet Home" I would change its prominence in the house according to my feelings on any particular day. Sort of like my Omahameter. (Wilmeter?)
Everyone in San Francisco loved San Francisco, including me. Otherwise why else would you pay $750/square foot to share a garage and laundry with your upstairs neighbor?
Grandma made it back to Mississippi. She'll be back for Thanksgiving (dare I ask her to stay a month for Christmas?) She loves it here, though I guess compared to Gulfport, I'm not surprised. I think she likes it because it is way nicer than Gulfport, MS (what isn't?), but is less threatening than San Francisco and not as snobby or big (in a beautiful way that I totally miss) than Chicago.
It will be interesting (for me at least) to see how I feel about the whole thing on Day 374.
I want to see the movie American Teen. I don't want to force Barry to watch it, I want to watch it with someone who wants to watch it as much as I do. Will I ever find someone in Omaha? I need to find someone who hates here as much as I do. The more I hear from people about how nice it is here, the more that I hate it. I think that's part of what made me dislike Santa Barbara so much. People there are so in love in with Santa Barbara that they can't imagine anyone not loving it. Then I found (or to give credit where credit is due - Barry found) Melanie.
Wilmette was easy. Sure a lot of people there are in love with The North Shore, but there are plenty of naysayers so it was easy to have a nice balanced love/hate relationship with it. Barry bought me a sign that said "Wilmette Home Sweet Home" I would change its prominence in the house according to my feelings on any particular day. Sort of like my Omahameter. (Wilmeter?)
Everyone in San Francisco loved San Francisco, including me. Otherwise why else would you pay $750/square foot to share a garage and laundry with your upstairs neighbor?
Grandma made it back to Mississippi. She'll be back for Thanksgiving (dare I ask her to stay a month for Christmas?) She loves it here, though I guess compared to Gulfport, I'm not surprised. I think she likes it because it is way nicer than Gulfport, MS (what isn't?), but is less threatening than San Francisco and not as snobby or big (in a beautiful way that I totally miss) than Chicago.
It will be interesting (for me at least) to see how I feel about the whole thing on Day 374.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Day 71 (or so)
Somebody stole my Obama bumper sticker.
It might have been at the uber-Republican 4th of July Parade that we went to in Ralston. (Small town just south of Omaha.) Of course, the republican candidate for senate had plenty of supporters out trying to replace my bumper sticker with a "Johanns" sticker for my kids. "Just say no thank you." It was certainly a long way from the Evanston Parade.
Omaha does love fireworks though. There were more firework displays over the weekend than I've ever seen anywhere. On the 3rd, we could see them to the west from our deck. On the 4th we could see two other displays besides the one we were actually watching. And on the drive home there were fireworks all over the horizon.
By Sunday, the fireworks had stopped, so we went to the firecracker of a store - Nebraska Furniture Mart. Enormous would be an understatement. Though it didn't quite have the bells and whistles of Abt (no big bubble maker or free cookies).
Grandma is finishing up her visit here and will be leaving on Wednesday. She still seems interested in moving here and is planning on coming again for Thanksgiving to give the cold weather a try.
No cold weather today, 94 degrees. Now I have two reasons to sweat.
Smelling like Teen Spirit,
Kelly
It might have been at the uber-Republican 4th of July Parade that we went to in Ralston. (Small town just south of Omaha.) Of course, the republican candidate for senate had plenty of supporters out trying to replace my bumper sticker with a "Johanns" sticker for my kids. "Just say no thank you." It was certainly a long way from the Evanston Parade.
Omaha does love fireworks though. There were more firework displays over the weekend than I've ever seen anywhere. On the 3rd, we could see them to the west from our deck. On the 4th we could see two other displays besides the one we were actually watching. And on the drive home there were fireworks all over the horizon.
By Sunday, the fireworks had stopped, so we went to the firecracker of a store - Nebraska Furniture Mart. Enormous would be an understatement. Though it didn't quite have the bells and whistles of Abt (no big bubble maker or free cookies).
Grandma is finishing up her visit here and will be leaving on Wednesday. She still seems interested in moving here and is planning on coming again for Thanksgiving to give the cold weather a try.
No cold weather today, 94 degrees. Now I have two reasons to sweat.
Smelling like Teen Spirit,
Kelly
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