I don’t watch the Oscars, but I follow them enough to be kinda sorta aware of what’s going on. And I’ve been reading the hubbub about the switch of hosts to the young (James Franco and Anne Hathaway) from the old (Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, etc.). How young are they, I wondered? Well, Franco is 32 and Hathaway is 28. Sorry folks but 32 isn’t that young, when you consider the median age in the U.S. in 2000 was 35.3. That means exactly half the people in the U.S. were older than 35.3 and half were younger. True, a lot of the people 35.3 and younger (like 6-year-olds) aren’t watching the Oscars. The point is that 40-somethings like me should stop being surprised when someone in their 20s or 30s is doing something like hosting the Oscars. Many aspects of the torch have been passed to a new generation, like it or not. If you want to feel relatively young, however, try to be a senator. Their average age is 61 years, 205 days.
Archive for February, 2011
Do you feel old yet?
Monday, February 28th, 2011The Facebook majority
Monday, February 28th, 2011Aack! It’s taking over the world!! I do not have a Facebook page for business or personal use and have no intention of having one. But apparently I’m in the minority now because a poll published in yesterday’s Parade magazine said 52% of the people they surveyed were on Facebook. To each his own; it’s just not my thing.
Blossom expands free ticket program
Monday, February 28th, 2011This summer, Blossom Music Center will be offering free lawn seats for orchestra performances for kids under 18. It used to be under 7, then two years ago it switched to under 13. Now it’s under 18, making it a great opportunity to let your kids experience one of the world’s best orchestras. Sure, the adult lawn tickets are still $20 or so a piece, but still, for a family of 5 it’s worth doing if you can.
An “areal flood watch” explained
Monday, February 28th, 2011If you saw this term and were as confused as I, here’s what it means: that there is potential for flooding over a large area. The word “areal” is the adjective version of the noun “area”. Speaking of floods, did you have a fear your house would be swept away by one when you were a kid? My parents would reassure me that our house wasn’t in a low-lying area so we didn’t need to worry, but I never quite believed them. Of course now my kids have the same fears, and I tell them the same thing, and they don’t quite believe me either. Good thing we don’t live along the Mississippi.
MC Escher show draws crowd to Akron Art Museum
Sunday, February 27th, 2011I read in the paper that 2,000 people came to the opening weekend of MC Escher’s show at the Akron Art Museum. 2,000! We took the kids there today and got there about 10 minutes after the museum opened, and stayed for about an hour. There were already people in the Escher exhibit when we got there, and it just got more and more and more crowded. It was crazy. In fact, the two previous exhibits I saw there were pretty crowded too. It’s great — just weird that there were all these people in an art museum. In Akron. Anyhow, my daughters were not interested much in the exhibit, so I didn’t get time to really study the pieces. But here are my quick impressions: Escher’s artistic skill was amazing — that he could do these woodcuts like he does — and his imagination was amazing. But other than the portrait of him and his wife, all the work struck me as kind of cold and lacking emotion. I mean, you look at the pieces and go, “Wow, cool” but I wasn’t moved. Art, of course, doesn’t have to move you. But — and I’m going to stereotype here – I can see why this art would be more appealing to men.
Great cookies, really easy
Saturday, February 26th, 2011Buy the Betty Crocker “Double Chocolate Chunk” cookie pouch. Make the cookies. Try not to eat all the cookies.
A child’s “SOS”
Friday, February 25th, 2011
My youngest has some wild tantrums and thought she’d grace us with one of them this morning (aren’t snow days great?). I sent her to her room to write “I will behave” five times before she could come out. Of course she’s having more fits because she can’t find a pencil, can’t find suitable paper, can’t find a book big enough to put her paper on, doesn’t know what to write, has to blow her nose, etc. etc. She even wrote “I WILL” in huge letters about six times and slipped it under the door, thinking that would be sufficient (it wasn’t). Finally, she scrawled “I will behave” one, then two times. Then she takes a break to wail, “I am hungry. I AM HUNGRY!!” Fine, I said. Write “I will behave” three more times and you can come out. A minute later I hear, “Okay, mom, I wrote it.” I walk over and see “I am hungry” on a piece of paper. Despite the blistering headache I now have, I had to laugh.
4 new card designs added …
Thursday, February 24th, 2011
… and that makes 22 different blank notecards for sale at my studio/gallery, located at Summit Artspace, 140 E. Market St. in Akron. The unique cards are $2 each or 4 for $7 (less than a card at Hallmark, plus, you’re supporting local art). I also have sets of six related cards (i.e. all suns) packaged for $11. I use the notecards all the time for birthdays, thank you’s and “thinking of you’s”. As techie as everyone can be, I think most of us still like to get a handwritten card. I know I do!
Everyone (well, almost everyone) loves gift cards …
Thursday, February 24th, 2011
And now you can get some from Sunthing Special! I created clay suns in $5, $10, $20 and $25 denominations and packaged them in these pretty little bags. It’s a great way to support local art and brighten someone’s day!
March 11: three art show openings, two free receptions!
Thursday, February 24th, 2011
What more could you want? From 5-7 p.m. at Summit Artspace, 140 E. Market St. in Akron, I’ll be showing 12 works of art created in 2011 and 2010, all using recycled stuff, in the smaller BOX gallery on the third floor. I’ve been working crazily trying to finish pieces for this show and can’t wait to relax at the reception! There will be live music, refreshments and lots of people because the “Fresh and Current” show on the first floor in the Summit Artspace Gallery and the Ohio Collage Society Show in the bigger BOX gallery on the third floor also open that night. My studio’s right next to the BOX, so be sure to stop by. If you can’t make the reception, the exhibits will be up until April 16. Check out my Web site at www.sunthingspecial.com to see when I’ll be around.