So, Spring is here! The weather has been getting warm and the trees and plant life have been exploding all over the place (as my allergies can attest). Though the semester has been keeping us hella busy, we've managed to turn some of our attention to gardening and built our first raised bed in the
back yard. Bet you didn't know I could handle power tools! Either did I but all
fingers and toes are still accounted for so...success! Now we can put that huge pile of horse poop we had delivered to use! But before we actually can grow anything in that bed, we need soil that actually grows stuff. The soil around here is so full of clay you could pretty much make p
ots
from it straight out of the ground. That's why we went with the raised bed in the first place, you need some serious muscle to till this soil. It gives one a new appreciation for what the pioneers must have gone through. And we are not that tough. 
We're moving into the home stretch of the
semester now. One or two more projects to go in each class and then
we'll be done. In drawing I wanted to do my landscape assignment in the
format of a Chinese landscape scroll painting. The style as it turned out
isn't really Chinese and though it's hard to tell from the picture, I gave it a little bit of a 3-D look by putting the different parts on different panels separated by foam board. I still have some issues with it but it was a fun experiment. The title, written in Chinese at the bottom says
"Central New York State." Also completed for my Typography class, a funky calender page. Obviously it didn't have to be functional as a calender, just an interesting design. By the way, this one was rendered on the computer, not by hand. Next assignments include designing a wine label and I have a couple abstract self portraits to whip up also.
Last weekend, Newman held its annual Literary Festival. This year's theme was Sci-Fi, and the main topic was about the future of literature in a digital world. I divided my time between my projects and the festival but Sue ended up having to introduce and manage most of the panels so she was there all weekend. I thought the keynote speakers were very interesting but there were some issues with turnout a
nd ideas are already being tossed around about how to make next years event more exciting.
Bryan, the english faculty who usually throws the fest will be
on sabbatical next year which means Sue and her fellow faculty will be taking a more
active role in planning it.
We were also happy to have our friends Deborah and Neil out for a visit so that Deborah could present some of her fantastic poetry at the festival. Though the fest dominated our time, we did get to hang out with them a little and show them the house when it was over.
We're excited that our good friends Sonja and Michael (Sonja shown here cuddling Kirk) have bought a home right here in College Hill, just on the other side of the park from us, practically neighbors! Our evil plans are coming to fruition, one by one we will lure them all here! Hmmahahaah! From all appearances they too found themselves a pretty sweet deal, a lovely house and the closing process appeared to go quickly with no major snags.
A few weeks ago we celebrated our friend Kelly's birthday at a place just around the corner from us, called Margarita's. It's a mexican restaurant and dance club that looks a little run down though festive, from the outside but is a popular local spot, packed on the weekends mainly because of the fun atmosphere and the live cover bands that play Friday and Saturday night. Its popularity probably isn't because of the food, which is pretty bland as mexicana goes. And yes, cover bands play a pretty prominent roll in the local music scene, but it was a fun evening
with friends listening to the greatest hits of the 70's, 80's, 90's and today!
Oooh, speaking of cool music, we did discover a great local joint just a little further down Douglas Ave from us called Let's be Frank, or Get Franked, or whatever the name is this week. It's a specialty hot dog shop that serves a crazy array a wacky dogs ranging from the traditional New York and Coney Island dogs to the bizarre caramel and other desert dogs. They load these puppies up with so
much toping that rest assured you'll be wearing half of it, but mmmm, it's sloppy good! The atmosphere is urban and hip, the walls covered in neat graffiti and stencil art and it may be the only place in town were you can chill listening to cool indie music. The word on the street is they're moving soon, noooooo! Just to Old Town a little further down Douglas, yaaaay!
I hate to end this blog on a sad note, but it seemed the most appropriate place to bring this up. This weekend I received word that my grandpa who lives in Puerto Rico has been taken to the hospital for a kidney infection. He was diagnosed a few years back with Parkinson's and has been getting progressively worse since. They don't expect him to last very long so I'm hoping to catch a flight to PR for at least a couple days this week. The last few times I'd seen him, he wasn't himself. First of all he could hardly speak, and the man loved to talk. He loved to tell stories and laugh about them, always good natured and fun. It was hard to watch him deteriorate and I'm sure it was especially hard for grandma who cared for him day and night, staying up all night with him if he couldn't sleep. He was born and raised in Cabo Rojo PR, and worked on a cane plantation when he was a teen. After highschool he moved to New York where he met grandma. She was ten
years younger than him, not even a teen yet when they first met but obviously they didn't get together until later on, after grandpa had spent some time in California trying to break into acting and then joining the military. World War II ended before he could be deployed and he returned to New York, married grandma and lived in Spanish Harlem where my dad and aunt Nancy were born. They moved to Long Island when my Dad was in his early teens around the time that Maryann and Ruby, my younger aunts, were born. In their later years they moved back to Cabo and I'm glad that I got to visit them a couple times there. I'm sure that grandpa, Roger Laracuente Rodriguez, will be content to pass on in the place where he was born. I already miss him.
