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What: #16 Read a novel I haven’t read from Amazon’s Top 100 Book list  

When: Finished May 29, 2016
Where: AADL
Why: As the daughter of a librarian, a love of stories and books is in my blood. I recall nights of listening to my mom read the Little House on the Prairie series, and afternoons spent in the library looking for my own stories to choose, and summers spent getting stamps for each new book that I finished. Even now, I usually have at least five library books sitting on my shelf waiting to be opened to enjoy the new story as it unfolds. Sometimes, I read the latest popular books, and more often, I tend towards obscure books - because really, there are so many authors producing so many stories these days that it's hard to always find a book that someone else has enjoyed. For me, I like to read before I go to bed, so that puts a wrinkle in my selections, steering clear of anything too dark or depressing, so some of my choices are fluffy, or interesting non-fiction, or young adult books.

The Top 100 List I used to find a new book was published in 2014 when this item made its debut on that year's list of new things, and every year, I've tried to read another book from it. My conquests have included books I've read over and over again (Pride and Prejudice), a book I've read in French (The Little Prince), a book I read for the first year of this blog, and 21 others that I've enjoyed over the years. 

Before I started reading this year's choice, The Phantom Tollbooth, I imagined it was something like "Rip Van Winkle" or "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," but with a Scooby Doo twist on it to make it more modern. I have often seen pre-teens reading this book, and have heard it as an answer on Jeopardy more than once, so that dichotomy had me baffled, and intrigued, so I picked it up from the library to see what was really going on betwixt the covers. 

Once I started reading, I couldn’t NOT see Donald in Mathmagic Land, the learning tool used to connect math to the real world for students since the 1950s. It includes a narrator helping Donald to see the importance of numbers and patterns in the world, similar to the quest the main character Milo goes on in The Phantom Tollbooth. Eventually, the story reminded me of the allegorical The Alchemist, too, altho perhaps because of it's young reader audience, The Phantom Tollbooth was written with a much heavier-hand than The Alchemist, using characters like "The Threadbare Excuse" and settings like the Land of Ignorance to drive home the message.

34 done ... 18 to go...

What: #58 Draw in the gallery at the DIA

When: May 27, 2016
Where: Detroit Institute of Arts
Why: A few years ago, I attended the DIA's evening program on a Friday night and among the other great activities happening in the museum - live music, dance performances, docent tours - there were areas set up in various galleries for artists to draw. Except, I realized they weren't professional artists, but anyone could come in on those nights and sit down to try their hand at pencil drawings. So, on a lovely Friday evening, my friend Sara bravely left her adorable 2-month-old daughter at home with her (very capable!) husband, and joined me for a night of art.

We had a choice between setting up in the Greek & Roman exhibit hall or the African art wing, and we chose the latter, focusing on this wooden Royal Figure from the 1800s.

As we settled into our benches - locally handmade and now copied around the world - with our sharpened pencils and our gummy erasers, we tried to capture the essence of the figure before us.

I tried to just see geometric shapes from my angle, to just look for lines disconnected from their intended body part or object, and sketch the outline to start. Then, I wanted to do some shading, which I thought would help me block off the proportions. I was trying to stay focused in our hour on just the left half of what I could see, leaving the right half unfinished, but one line blended into the next, so I found myself completing the sketch. For the first time, I took a look at what Sara was drawing, and realized how much I liked her shading skills, and also how different it was for us to be seated at different angles looking at the same figure! 

My finished sketch had some strengths, particularly the leg and hands. The head and torso were really difficult to get right. When I showed my sketch at home later, guesses of its origin were anywhere from an Ewok to an abstract Native American print, but when I compared it with the original figure, I was told that it was actually closer than would have been expected!

I wonder if with more time, I could have done more, felt more free to erase and start over on the face and torso, and with Sara's guidance, do a better job of shading. I guess that can always happen the next time I go back to draw in the gallery!

33 done ... 19 to go...

What: #56 Do a paint-n-pour outing

When: May 21, 2016
Where: The local Paint and Pour studio

Why: For special lady night!! The idea started when my friend Susie suggested a girlie weekend in Ann Arbor, doing the things we miss doing now that she lives on the east side of the state. As we were planning our list of fun outings, getting to check off this item seemed like a good idea and so we invited a few of our other friends to join us.

Our painting instruction started with wetting the canvas, then painting it white. I was feeling pretty competent at that start, so handled those two steps with ease. Then, we had to create the sky for our background by blending blue into our white canvas, and I feel like I had a pretty good handle on that, too. In fact, that was probably the part I was the best at doing, so if you ever need a sky painted on a ceiling or a mural, let me know!

Next, we had to put on the tree trunk and main branches, and here is where my intense rule-following tendencies really went to battle with the artistic flow of the instructions. I tried to copy the exact pattern of the example painting, altho I did try to break the mold by doing it in brown instead of black.

It turns out, however, that making brown is REALLY difficult! I started with orange, and tried to add blue to make it brown, but it kept looking green-ish. I finally got it right, but hadn't made enough in that batch, so I didn't feel like I could add much to my tree without the colors being very different. I know in real life, tree trunks are many colors, but this tree needed just one similar tone, and I couldn't get it.

Then, we were told to add leaves. A woman behind me asked "How many?" and as I strained to hear the answer, I caught the instructor saying that it did not matter. Obviously, the woman behind me was of the same rule-following mindset as me, and we needed parameters! Alas, we had to just go for it.

Then, we added flowers. Most people chose pink or white, but I went for orange! See, I'm already breaking rules!

Our finished products all have similar features, but I loved seeing how we each interpreted the assignment just a little bit differently based on our skills and personalities!

I know that many people have already done similar events - in fact, 4 of the 6 of us had done one before - but it was still a lot of fun to spend a night out, letting our creative minds take over, drinking to the word "moist", and generally having a great time out together!
 

32 done ... 20 to go...

What: #66 Go to a salon for only a shampoo/blow dry

When: May 21, 2016
Where: Aveda Institute
Why: For many years, I had my hair highlighted. It made me happy to be a bit blonder and brighter, and it was a nice way to pamper myself every couple of months. For almost 2 years now, I've let all of the artificial coloring grow out and return to my natural hue ('meh), which means that I get to pamper myself in this way with much less frequency, only returning to the salon for the occasional trim. So, in the spirit of celebrating ME one weekend, my friend Susie and I made appointments at a local salon to get pedicures (fancy toes never go out of style!) and blowouts. 

First came the shampoo. It was ok. I have had shampoos in other salons where I thought I would black-out from the sheer heavenly joy of having my hair washed and lovingly conditioned without having to exert any of my own energy. People with short hair and most men have no idea what a chore it can be to simply wash and condition long hair. So, while this particular shampoo wasn't mindblowing, it was still pleasant.

Then, the stylist asked me what look I was going for with my blowout, and I indicated I'd love something pretty similar to my natural style (wavy hair) but with a bit more volume. She began soliciting information about my normal hair routine. This is where it gets good (or embarrassing, depending on your take). She asks how often I use a straightener ("I don't have one"). She inquires if I use a round or paddle brush ("Neither, I use a large black comb that I've had for years"). She doesn't give up, and tosses me what she must surely think is an easy one about my curling iron ("Nope, I don't have that"). And then you can see that she is not giving up when she asks me about products, to which I reply "I wasn't being flippant when I said my hair is low maintenance. I own a comb and a hair dryer, which I rarely use, and mostly let my hair air dry and comb it out with my fingers." She seemed unsure of her next move. She timidly asked if she could change the part in my hair, which was her way of adding volume (didn't work). Then she went to town, adding phomollient (hipster-talk for mousse, by the way) and confixor (still don't know what this is) and for the next hour, she dried and curled my hair. 

I personally do not have an hour to spend to make my hair look pretty. But, I can appreciate the artistry and concern for my hair's health, and it was pretty nice for my head, too...the blowout included a sweet lil' scalp/neck/shoulder massage!

31 done ... 21 to go...

What: #55 Get one of my own photographs professionally matted and framed

When: February 2nd, 2016
Where: Art.com
Why: For years, I've loved taking photographs of my travels, and on occasion, I will peruse my iPhoto library and sometimes subject my friends and family to viewing my pictures. There are certain images I've captured that I come back to time and again, and I finally decided it was worth the cost to start getting those photographs off my computer screen and onto the walls of my home.  

In redecorating the guest room, I went with blues and oranges, hoping for an exotic beach theme to evolve from that choice. For my first-ever professionally matted and framed photograph, I chose a picture I took of the Mediterranean Sea while hiking in Cinque Terre, Italy. This photograph, taken in Monterosso Al Mare, reminds me of the warm morning sunshine I felt on my skin, the taste of fresh grapes the size of my thumbs, the smell of olive groves around every turn, and the sensation of jumping into the refreshing water to rinse off the dust at the end of a long and amazing hot summer day.

My hope is that this photograph helps to develop a similar vibe of contentment and adventure for any guests who are staying in that room in the future!