I run 35 miles and my car dies.

This blog post is a two-fer. I have two pieces of incredible news. As my title suggests, the first is that I ran 35 miles in 72 hours. The second is that my polka-dot car bit the dust.
Item #1: The reason I ran so much is because I had the privilege of running on an all-woman team, called Jungle Rot, at the Great Lakes Relay last weekend.It is a 10 person team but we only added up to 8 this year. Yikes! That meant we had to split the approximately 270 miles of the course between ourselves over 3 days. It started in Rogers City, MI Friday Morning near Lake Huron and ended in Empire at Lake Michigan on Sunday. Add to that lots of mosquitos, an average of 4 hours of sleep per night, the chance of getting lost in the woods... and hitchhiking your way back (which happened to someone this year), shampooing your hair in Lake Huron, and spending lots of time with other crazy runner types who put sea salt under their tongues to re-hydrate (delicious!), ...and you have the making for an unforgettable weekend. I think my official mileage may have been 34.9 miles but I'm tacking on .1 miles for running (or should I say hobbling) out of the way of a bee attracted to my neon shirt. On day 3 with no sleep, there is nothing funnier than trying to run (on locked up quads) away from a bee. I also thought I was truly crazy when I saw this hill I was voluntarily running up on my 34th mile:

Certifiably Crazy!
I later realized I was following runners who had taken a wrong turn on the course, making my 5.6 leg into 6.3 miles. Ouch. But, I can't wait til next year!

So onto my second item of the blog: THE POLKA DOT CAR (aka Polkie) has died. Her final resting place is in Orland Park, Illinois. I was on a lunch break from painting at the Orland Park Library and heard massive amounts of squealing (more than I've heard in the past year-which is saying a lot) and pulled over into a parking spot right in front of --very appropriately-- Michaels Crafts Store. I even called Michaels to tell them not to tow away my craft project stuck in their lot. On that fated Friday, only one week after a cross-state trip to Kalamazoo, my wheel stopped moving apparently and was skidding along the lot making a beautiful final arc on the asphalt, leaving its last mark on this world. Contrary to family members who think it might just be something easy to fix...IT IS DEAD! I'm taking it off my life support.


A full memorial in the form of a short film will fully commemorate the car this summer. Stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, I'd like to dunk my head in one of the Great Lakes again:

Jean, the sign painter

I painted this sign (BY HAND!) for a show in Hyde Park at the Experimental Station today:
"After the Wars is a multimedia documentary project that combines photographs and recordings of ten veterans. The goal is to learn how war changed their lives and what their unique experiences can tell us about the country they served."

"After the Wars" is on exhibit at the Experimental Station, 6100 S. Blackstone Ave., through July 16. Admission is free.

Weekdays: 12:00 - 4:00 pm.
Wednesday evenings: 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Saturdays and Sundays: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm.

Photographs by Paul Calhoun. Audio by Ben Calhoun. Edited by Cate Cahan.

CHECK IT OUT! http://afterthewars.wbez.org/

How Many Lives Does a Polkie Have?

So I was driving to the grocery store. Actually, let's back up a bit. I was exiting the driveway in reverse. I think I haven't fully recovered from the big apartment move and maybe I shouldn't have left the house today but well, I did...and I knocked off my side-view mirror. Dang it!

So before I walk into the grocery store, I walk into the Target on Howard street and get some duct tape. I went back to my car in the parking lot to tape my side-view mirror back on. Now I realize that these car parts are fairly easy to replace but, well, I'm probably getting rid of Polkie very soon.
GASP! The village weeps.
There was a family of four in their mini-van next to me looking out their windows. I could just picture them thinking, "White girl, what are you doing to your car?"
For the record, I have never noticed more people staring and pointing at the polka-dot car than today. Evanston, I think much more highly of you. You are a tolerant bunch, no? Maybe people are always like this and I just started noticing people's reactions while duct taping my mirror back on a polka-dot car...I mean, what were people staring at?
Anyway...
The duct tape worked for a minute but it's not perfect and I'm afraid of going over 30 mph.
I've been saying this for the past two years but I really mean it this time: Polkie is on her last legs. I'm not going to put any more money into her. This means June is look for a car month! I'm now taking suggestions.

Mural inside an animoto!

My cyberpedagogy class would be proud. This DIY video template gets a little too fancy , but hey, the internets are so easy these days!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Does anyone know how to simplify animoto without paying for the upgrade? I want my mural to actually "animate"!