Another Needtobreathe concert

It was September 16, 2008 the last time I saw Needtobreathe in Grand Rapids. They released their new album on August 25th, 2009. I am not a critic and cannot pretend to write like one. I love their new album as much as the last, which I love as much as their first. Their sound is fresh, it's southern but not country. They share their roots (listen to Washed By the Water, which Bear wrote about their father) and I find their lyrics to be honest. If you haven't heard them before, check out the video from the concert. It's the last song of their encore, "Something Beautiful" or go to their website and listen to the featured song. I hope you enjoy it at least half as much as I do!!!

the last of fall

With Halloween comes the end of fall. At least it seems like it in Michigan. Happy end of Autumn!

Find what you want

At any given time someone is out there conducting a study about what is bad for you. At the same time somewhere else someone is conducting the same study on the same thing only why it is good for you. One example, Coffee. Is it bad for you? Or good for you? I just read that an Alzheimer's study was done in mice. The Alzheimer's symptoms were directly reduced when the mice were given coffee. The article goes on to say that five cups of coffee may treat as well as prevent memory loss. Five cups of coffee. I know someone who is trying to stop drinking coffee because three cups everyday were going to cause cancer.

I decided that in moderation, everything is good. Do I want potato chips? Yes. Are they bad for me? Only when I eat the entire bag. Are they healthy for me? As a serving of vegetables, yes. The same goes for coffee. Now that I drink it, I don't plan on giving it up anytime soon.

I just thought I'd share that in case you were thinking of giving up coffee because it's bad for you.

The Living Room Project

Since we moved in three years ago we knew we wanted to paint the living room. For three years we had not done anything to this house. Every room was pretty much colors we would have chosen, or at least weren't hideous enough that we didn't feel it necessary to do anything right away. As our three year anniversary came and went, we received news that Bill's parents would be coming back to visit. Their first visit was July after we first moved in. That kicked me into gear.
"We haven't done anything!" We have to get going. The other thing that was holding us back was choosing the right color for the living room. The dingy beige had to go. Especially after Bill did some patching and painted with the existing paint did we realize how dingy and dirty the walls really were!

I quickly took down the wallpaper in the bathroom and painted the walls there. You can see a picture here. Maybe in that post I mentioned how we came to chose the new color; if not here is the reason. I was reading about the difference between old Colonial Revival interiors and Craftsman interiors. Colonial interiors were often white walls. While Craftsman interiors reflected colors in nature, typically green. That was also the opposite color [on the color wheel] of the natural wood trim found in these style homes. That was my "ah ha!" moment. The unpainted trim in our living room has orange hints in it. Blue is opposite orange on the color wheel. That was it. Blue walls would enhance the wood trim that is throughout the first floor. In my mind I knew what color blue I wanted. Bill and I thought we found the right shade and bought a quart to try out. Thank goodness we did that. It was too blue. Smurf blue! Yikes. Back to the paint store. We finally found the right shade with the right tones. It's really difficult to tell in the photos, but the blue has hints of gray. It may still be a little too blue, but the white molding helps offset the walls.

But that's just the beginning. As we started stripping the paint off the trim, the paint started peeling off the walls in sheets. We don't think there's wallpaper under all the layers of paint. We think that there are just too many layers, latex over oil-based, and eighty years worth of paint on the walls.

We're working in sections. Or at least we started that way. We have the one corner finished, with the exception of the trim being painted. We worked from Bill's week off while his parents were here until Labor Day weekend. We took a break and are back at it. We hope to be finished by Christmas! I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, if you come and visit, please pardon the dust!

Over the framed opening into the Dining Room.

The fireplace and framed opening into the Dining Room.

Looking back at the finished half.

Art in Grand Rapids

Art has taken over the city of Grand Rapids. In an amazing contest, over 1200 artists have set up work in more than 150 venues. Grand Rapids has embraced art since the Endowment for the Arts funded the sculpture La Grande Vitesse in 1969 by Alexander Calder. You can take a sculpture tour of the city, click here for a map. Perhaps all this existing art is why I like Grand Rapids so much. Whatever the reason, I am inspired to be downtown and to be creative. Last spring this Art Prize event was announced. I think it is bigger than anyone could have imagined. The first day of Art Prize, I went along with Sami and the "Whatever Wednesdays" group as they looked at the art. Here is a little sampling of what we saw, and what is out there.

Venue signs are outside of the buildings hosting art work. (By the way, the sculpture used in this sign is at Meijer Gardens.)


This sculpture didn't look like anything as we walked up to it, it was in front of an art studio. But if you walked around, the light came through the glass and it suddenly looked more like a stained glass window when the sun shines through it.


The table and chairs on top of the pedestrian bridge.


The big bench with the sign that read, "Have a seat". We did, thank you very much. The bench was all carved wood. The scale was amazing!


Nessie.


A cool piece of sculpture hanging on the wall inside the old Federal Building.


Okay, so here is a stamp of the Michael Jordon logo. Remember that? Well, this is up close, the stamp was about six inches.

This is what it looked like when you stood back. I stopped reading the info from the artist when I realized what it was. So I don't know who the portrait is supposed to be. Does it really matter? It's created by all those stamps. On the drywall.


Here is another installation piece inside the Old Federal Building.


These "quilt" panels were actually tiles, hand-painted by different people. Up close you could see all the different details in the tiles.


If you want to see more, check out the website Art Prize. I find it interesting to see what 1200 artists consider art. From what I've seen all you had to do was sign up. Your art could be whatever you consider to be art. I think Greg could bring a collage here next year!

So again, I ask; what inspires you?