FamiLee Life

Reuben, Ry, and NYC

Sometimes I wish I lived in NYC. I hate the big city crowds, but I occasionally miss the Korean food, the Jewish delis, the open all-night atmosphere, and the art. Oh, the art. Minneapolis has great art too, as evinced in all my blog entries on the subject, but NYC has Reuben Cox. I blogged about my purchase of one of Reuben's photograph as part of the Art-A-Month effort. He now has a new show on "Portraits of Musicians" in NYC. If you live in or near the city, check out the show and let me know about it!

Karaoke Will Make You Happy

The original fitness guru, Jack Lalanne, provides us with the three things to bring happiness in life which includes karaoke. Well, okay, he said "bursting into song" but it's close enough! Plus, check out this great website. It's gotta be the coolest website out there for a 90+ year old man. Sure, it's probably not maintained by him but still...

Professors Strike Back....sort of

John Houseman, “The Paper Chase,” 20th Century Fox/Kobal Collection

The NYTimes has an amusing article on professors who are tired of the RateMyProfessor rants of students and have decided to "strike back" so to speak. There is a new blog on mtvu.com called ProfessorsStrikeBack in which professors respond to student comments on RMP.

The more interesting part of the article, however, is the rising number of professors who have gone online to reveal more about themselves than previous generations. Is it really more than in the past or is it just a different medium?

Take Professor Kingsfield from Paper Chase (anyone under 34 likely does not remember this tv show). In the show, he's demanding and tough on the law students. However, as the show progresses, life lessons are learned through the students interactions with the professor - both in the classroom and outside.

In the old days, professors felt comfortable and were more free to mingle with students outside of the classroom. Inviting them over for dinners or having a happy hour with them on Fridays. Such activities are discouraged or frowned upon at many institutions these days (although some small, liberal arts colleges still encourage this type of faculty-student interaction). So what is a professor to do? Perhaps it is this conundrum that has led some professors to move their interactions online?

Inspiring Determination

Photograph of Scott Cutshall from the Star Tribune

There is an amazing story in the Star Tribune. It is about a man named Scott Cutshall who decided to save his life by riding a bicycle and maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle. I have never met Scott, but I suspect I have seen him around at local bike jaunts like CRC Coffee. Dang, it makes me want to ride.

UPDATE: Check out his narrated photographic slide show.

UPDATE 2: The Cutshall Meal Plan

BREAKFAST
1 organic banana; 1 bowl of vegan soup (vegetable stock, dried herbs, rice noodles, pepper sauce, lime juice); 1 espresso.
Calories: Approximately 250.

LUNCH
Homemade hummus on pita wrap with pan-seared Portobello mushrooms, alfalfa sprouts and mustard; water to drink.
Calories: Approximately 400.

DINNER
"The Mega Salad" (1 to 2 pounds of organic romaine lettuce, 2 organic tomatoes, 1 medium bunch of organic spring onions, organic garlic powder, pepper, Caesar croutons); Newman's Own "Lighten Up" Caesar dressing cut 50/50 with water; 1 1/2 cups of pasta with red sauce; 1 glass of wine.
Calories: Approximately 600

Back on the Saddle...Then Off, Then Back On

During a brief warm-up during the past week, I got it in the head to organize a bike-food ride for Saturday with the anticipation that it would continue to be mild winter-to-spring transition weather. Hm. The weather did not fully cooperate as the temps dipped a bit below freezing at night on Friday, resulting in slick black ice on the roadways in the morning. Still, a group of us (Hapa9, PhT, Vucci, BenB, and I) were undeterred despite a long night of karaoke singing for some at the 55408 art exhibit opening (but, alas, not me).

Of course, my planned trip was nearly completely scrapped for an alternative route thanks to meddling riding friends with ideas of their own, but it was still perfect. Given the late night festivities for the others, we decided to meet at PhT's for coffee and donuts. I rode out along Lake Harriet toward Uptown to buy donuts at Wuollet's. I was taking the turn off the bike path onto the parkway when I took a spill on the black ice in front of a parked police car (who was there to block off traffic for some marathon!). The officer got out of the car and asked if I was okay. I smiled and responded, "I thought you all were going to salt the road for me this morning?" To which he responded in good spirits, "We got out here too late to call in for some salt." With that, I got back on the saddle and made my way to Wuollet's.

With a dozen donuts in the front rack of the B'stone Amnesty, I sped off to PhT's where just Sarah and PhT were awaiting. Slowly, more folks trickled in (Ben, Hapa9, Kurt). Sarah left to go to work and so did Kurt. After gorging on donuts, the rest of us took a short ride over to the MIA to see Andrea Stanislav's exhibit. From there, we decided we needed more caffeine (well, Hapa9 did), so we rode along the greenway to Blue Moon Coffee Cafe on Lake St. After watching Hapa9 consume 24+ ounces of coffee in a mere 20 minutes, we headed back onto the greenway and then onto West River Road Parkway toward the university and northeast Mpls.

We stopped on the bike bridge which runs parallel to the 10th Ave bridge to survey the remains of the I-35 bridge and the new construction. Then, we cut through campus toward 4th St and eventually arrived at Brasa. We ordered lots of free-refill lemonade (homemade!) and then lots of food. Sarah and Emily joined us for the feast. It was the perfect meal after a cold ride. Mmmmm.

Stomach's full, the day ended with us leaving in different directions to spend the rest of the day working, shopping, studying, and resting. Sergio, Ben, and I rode home together until Sergio got a flat tire. Ben had to heed nature's call and split. Sergio and I walked our bikes a mile plus to the Alt to repair the flat. Finally, we made our way to our respective homes.

Ah, nice to be back on the saddle again....Until it snowed again! Geesh.

Lift off!

Photo courtesy of Ted Hall Photography

After a week of conference travel, I hit the court on Monday night to play my weekly game of basketball. It felt good to get exercise, although I am admittedly feeling sore today. We had around 10 players throughout the night with a couple leaving early due to age-related injuries (sore back, knee pains). Some guys have played their whole lives, while others of us (including me) have only played in the last few years. A good example is the photographed match-up of Wing and Warren. Wing is a well-known local photographer whose been playing weekly ball for over 20+ year. Warren who is a lead designer at BluDot has been playing for far fewer years. Still it does not stop us all from hitting the court, driving the lane, defending the jump shot. Ted snapped this photograph after we finished playing for the night and they were still energetic enough to play one-on-one. Great shot. If you look to the far right, you will see another player (Steve) engaging in old-age gymnastics/calisthenics.

Revisiting Art of the Month

from Gabriele Stabile for The New York Times

A while back, I mentioned in FamiLee that I had initiated an "Art a Month" effort whereby I would attempt to buy art from artist friends on a monthly basis. My AaM effort has been sporadic at best, although I have made numerous purchases. Some still need to be framed, but many are now featured in my home. I also had gotten tuned into a unique, affordable way to collect art from my photographer friend, PhT, whose work is shown at the Jen Bekman gallery in NYC. Jen Bekman recently created a website called 20x200 which showcases artists work at the affordable price of $20 for a small print. I already have purchased two prints. Below is one of these purchases.

Daisy by Christina Muraczewski

Well, lo and behold, the New York Times has just featured Jen Bekman and her rise to gallery fame, including 20x200 (read here). I like to consider myself ahead of the curve on this one, albeit thanks to PhT.

Sick Again

Not much to say today except that I have been fighting another cold. ARGH! No rising temperature or hacking cough. Just have a stuffy nose and feeling a tad achy and tired. No fun. I've been taking it easy the last week so I can recover enough to enjoy the upcoming trip to Chicago for three conferences in one weekend!