Happy Holidays

Here we are, at the end of the year... It was great to visit with everyone when we were in Spokane earlier this month. I have pictures to post, but have to actually get them off my phone/camera for posting, so they'll be up hopefully soon.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas, and that New Year will be good, as well. We're heading up to the company cabin for our annual New Year's short trip, and it should be a good time.

Does anybody have any particular traditions or resolutions they're planning on making?

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

To everyone out there, I hope you had a good, safe, and happy Thanksgiving. There's lots of good stuff coming up, so stay tuned...

Salon Z

At a building downtown, once a month, they have a monthly composers' salon called Salon Z at Studio Z. Last night, Connor performed his latest composition there, entitled Minnesota Project VII. Here's the grainy and short video I shot with my camera:

Sometime soon, I'll post photos of Connor's birthday dinner and party... Until then, cheers!

Central Library

I'm not sure if I've posted about this before, but there's a really nice library here in Saint Paul called the Central Library. It's big, has four floors (three of which are usable to the public), two intra-floor mezzanines, an underground tie-in to the skybridge (yes, it's called a skybridge here, not a skywalk) system, and it's made of marble and granite throughout, with some wrought iron thrown in for good measure. It was made in the early 1900s by J. J. Hill (of Great Northern Railway and Hillyard fame).

Without further ado, here are some pictures (sorry about the quality - they were mostly low-light cell phone pictures):

Quick Post about New Stuff

Hey everyone... Just a quick post to say that we made it to and from Texas just fine, and it was a great. It was really good to visit everyone and take some time off from work and everything else. We might even go next year, if everything works out.

Oh, one more thing - Tiffany found out today that she won a grant to work on a piece, and she's very excited. Her piece will be debuting May 18th, 2011. I'll post more details as they're available.

Texas

Today, we're getting ready to go down to Texas... Dallas, that is. There's an OFLAG 64 reunion happening, and it'll also be a family reunion, so that's the reason. We'll drive down in a day, then take a couple days to get back.

So, if you're in Texas, and want to say howdy, let me know - we'll see what we can do.

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden (from end of July)

So, this is a primarily picture post about the outdoor garden at the Walker Art Center, more specifically the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. What is it, exactly? Pretty much what it sounds like - an outdoor garden at the Walker dedicated to sculpture, and including a lot of good ones. It's quite an interesting place, and includes such works as the Spoonbridge and Cherry. Here's Willow at that sculpture:

There isn't a whole lot else to say - if you visit the area, the sculpture garden is a great place to check out. Some more pictures:

Flooding and whatnot

We were walking tonight down on the "frog path," and the path going the other way, and noticed that something was up - the river seemed quite a bit higher than normal. "A couple more feet, and the path would be flooded," I brightly pointed out. After going a couple hundred more feet, we found out that the path was, indeed, flooded out, and in a major way. Check it out:

So, we headed back the other way, and found that there was a barricade blocking the path. We would have seen it, had we gone the normal way and not taken a shortcut because it was starting to get dark. After passing the barricade, we came across another one on the other arm of the trail, the actual "frog path." Wanting to see what that part looked like, we went past that barricade, as well, and went to where the trail should be. No trail - just more river.

Just another one of the many differences between here and Spokane. It makes things more interesting. We don't have to worry about flooding where we are, so no problem there, but we've at least seen evidence to go along with all of the flood warnings the National Weather Service has been putting out over the last few days. It's a different place...

Lions, Tigers, and Unschooling, oh my…

So, this last week, we decided to change our approach to homeschooling and go in more of an unschooling direction. We figure that even if it doesn’t go to plan, and they end up a bit behind at the end of the year, they’ll still be at least where the publicly-schooled kids their age are, if not ahead. So far, they enjoy being able to decide what they’ll work on, they’re still learning quite a bit, and there’s less stress overall. Plus, school isn’t dragging on past dinner, trying to get everything on the schedule in. We’ll see how it all goes, but for now, it seems good.

In other news, I’m withdrawing from Facebook, for the most part. Why’s that, you didn’t ask? It’s not as much of a time sink as it used to be, now that I don’t really do any of the apps or games, but it more has to do with taking a step back and trying to reorganize myself and my thinking. Now that we’re in St Paul, we are more isolated, and social pressures are different. I find myself with more free time, and not so much to fill it with, and looking to Facebook to be that filler is just not a good strategy. At some point, I’m hoping that I feel creative again, and get back on the (ha ha) composition horse, but until then… Oh, along with this, Tensionitis (if any of you have heard of it) is officially done – I’ll be going in different directions, if I do anything.

Thanks for reading, and welcome to anyone who’s never been here before.

Happy Haps

So, it’s been a bit… We have lots of pictures to share, but today is not that day. Hopefully, though, that day will be soon.

Over just the last few days, we started school, like everyone else. Willow started ballet this last Saturday, and Tyler and I started the Twin Cities Harmonica Society tonight. Other than that, there was the Minnesota State Fair last Monday. We’ve been trying to get as much time outside before the weather turns (though they drained the pool today).

Oh, and then there are the toads that Tyler has been catching. He’s been very happy. Just one picture, just for fun, though this was a frog, not a toad:

Good times, indeed.

Quick Song Idea Renderer

Catchy name, right? As I’ve been “on the bench” at work, one of the things that I’ve been doing to further develop my development skills is to write an application that takes text files and turns them into music. For years, whenever I get a song idea at work, I’ll pop open a text editor and write down just what the chords are, or the melody, or whatever, and usually email it to myself, as well. Now, I can take those files, and run them through this application, and hear what I put down. In the last couple days, I also added MIDI file export, so in addition to hearing the song, I can also export it as something that can be imported into any music notation software or sequencing software, and go from there. Lots of good fun…

If you want to take a look at it, it’s out there at http://morchiba.elementfx.com. I wrote it in Silverlight, so anyone with an internet connection can use it. Here’s a screenshot:

Sometime soon, I’ll post another more characteristic post about other goings on. Until then, feel free to leave comments.

Highland Fest and Beyond

So, this last weekend was the Highland Fest... It's a bit like Valleyfest in the Spokane Valley, but it's for our neighborhood over here. There was a 1k run that the kids did on Sunday morning, and here they are lining up:

Another shot of them as they're about to start the run:

So, as I said, the Highland Fest is quite a bit like Valleyfest, only without all of the activities for kids. Still, what's more fun than posing in front of a local weinermobile?

On the way back from the festival, we took a more scenic route, along the trail that goes next to the river. If you go down some stairs by one of the scenic overlooks, you get to the actual "Hidden Falls." Here it is, in all its glory:

Now, for the last bit - tonight, we went on a Mississippi River History Walk, courtesy of Smart Trips... They're an organization that is all about promoting alternative modes of transportation, including walking, biking, mass transit, and so forth. Every couple weeks or so, they have some sort of activity. For the one tonight, we learned some about the history of the Mississippi River in the area and other fun facts. This is a picture taken from the top of the locks, over at the Ford Dam:

Sometime I might post something just about the Ford factory and the history of all of that... From the economic aspects to the community aspects, and including the sandstone mine, it's quite interesting.

The first event with Smart Trips was a Highland Park garden walk, and that was fun... Highland Park, for those not familiar with the area, is our neighborhood, not an actual park. At any rate, they've posted some pictures from the event, and they can be found on their Facebook gallery.

The Trail (and surrounding stuff)

This is mostly a gallery post... I've been talking about the trail, but haven't actually shown anything. So, without further ado, here are some pictures I took with my cell phone (sorry about the quality) on our walk yesterday. One more thing - we found a nice non-paved trail around the side of the lake, complete with rickety bridge, caves, a small canyon, and lots of scenery. It's hard to believe it's this green, without sprinklers, in July.

I have more, too, but 5 is all that they let you put up on one post, apparently. I'm sure there will be more to come...

The question of milk

So, since we've been here, we've started going to the Farmers Market. It was ranked as one of the top 5 markets in the country, if I remember right - who knew? At any rate, it's fun to get stuff there, and try to plan meals around whatever seasonal fruits and veggies we pick up, and it's healthy and helps the local farmers, of course. We haven't found a good option for milk yet, though.

When we were in Spokane, we got our milk from Spokane Family Farms - not organic, but vat-pasteurized and non-homogenized. Very good stuff, and pretty reasonably priced for what you get ($3.33 a gallon direct from the farm when bought in threes, or $5 a gallon from Rosauers, Yokes, or Huckleberries). So far, we haven't found anything like it over here - at least, not for the same price. The closest they get for the same thing here works out to about $8 a gallon, which puts it outside the range. Sure, it comes in glass bottles, like milk used to, but that's too much.

The search continues... In a place this big, there has to be something...

Parks and Whatnot

St. Paul has a lot of good parks... The last couple days, we've been walking and/or biking on some of the many paths near our apartment, mainly in Crosby Farms Park. Everything here is so lush and green, and the paths are great - it's like the Centennial Trail, only it's two blocks away instead of something we have to drive to. It's amazing how green and lush things are, too... Oh, did I mention that it's lush and green? Oh, and the river...

The kids (Tyler especially) have been going to the various swamps and drainage ditches in the apartment complex, and have been having fun looking at bugs. We have a bug catcher (formerly a toad tank) full of snails on our back patio, and Tyler is itching to go back for more. He loves the bugs... I don't think it's every kid that, when faced with going for a nice walk or bike ride, would rather go to the drainage ditch. That's Tyler for you, though.

Hello from Saint Paul

Well, hello there... If you're reading this, you found our blog. Of course, we probably gave you the address, but welcome, anyway.

So, here we are in Saint Paul, Minnesota. How is it, you ask? It's been great. We like the area, the apartment, jobs, and everything, so far. The move was good - a bit slower going than we had hoped, due to the amount of stuff, towing, and the abilities of the truck, but it was good. We even got the truck back a day early (big thanks to Ryan for making that possible).

There's more weather here and more bugs, but that's not a bad thing. There are also more opportunities, activities, and things in general.

I'll try to post things as they come up... Feel free to put any questions or comments below.