Joyland Bowl & Park

Tonight I went bowling with Sarah and Erik. When trying to decide if Southland or Eastland Lanes were closer, it occurred to us that there was another bowling alley that is almost always forgotten. Joyland Bowl & Park is an alley on the north side of town past the interstate. We would always try to go there for there cosmic bowling night in high school, but no matter how early we arrived, all of the lanes were booked. Well, tonight was a totally different story. The place was almost empty, no more than 6 lanes were in use. They still had the glow lights and the disco balls, but my guess is that the ever growing suburban community is looking for a more homogeneous bowling experience. It is really sad since Joyland is part of our community's history and I am willing to bet that most Lexington residents don't even know what was once there.

The Joyland Bowl & Park was built in the former site of the Joyland Park, an amusement park that opened its doors on May 30, 1923.

In 1926, they added a wooden roller coaster called the Wildcat; my dad used to tell me stories about riding this roller coaster as a teen.

There were other rides such as a carousel and the Pretzel which was described as "that funny mysterious dark ride." I can only wonder what went on behind those doors.

There was also a scenic train tour around the park.

In the 1930's and 1940's its open aired dance hall played host to some big names such as Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Cab Calloway, it was quite the place to take a date.


Joyland Park closed in 1964. In the place where this area's great amusement park once stood there is now a school and an empty bowling alley. Now you know.

More t-shirt madness

Possibly inspired by yesterday's t-shirt scores or maybe the warm weather, I found myself at the bookstore today drawn to the books on t-shirt reconstruction. There are a bunch of new books all about creating something new from your old tees. After looking through a few different titles, I decided on Tease. Tease is a collection of designs from various craft all-stars including Todd Oldham and Debbie Stoller. My favorite part about Tease is that the designs work with any t-shirt, not just shirts that already have cool logos and designs. I also liked the variety of techniques used in the book, from knitting to crochet to embroidery to stenciling- there is something for everyone. Philip and I are going to make t-shirts on Thursday as a reward for finishing our Spring cleaning.

Cute new tees

For those of you who missed it, the Peace Fair was a lot of fun. Since this is the first year, it was relatively small, but despite that we did more business than the two days we worked at Mayfest which was huge. There weren't a lot of vendors, but there were some hidden treasures. There was a guy who had about 30 shirts laying out on one of the walls. All of the shirts were from area thrift stores and he created designs on them by doing a reverse stencil and spraying them with a bleach mixture. He had some really cool designs and he was selling them two for $12 so Philip and I both bought one.


This is the shirt that Philip got and it is my favorite one he had. In case you can't tell there is a lighter on the front and a campfire with marshmallows on the back.

This is the shirt that I ended up getting and a close second for my favorite design. The front has a tape and cross bones surrounded by lots of stars and the back just has stars. He had other shirts in this design with the phrase "kill corporate music" on the back which were also pretty cool.

Speaking of cool shirts, I saw a girl with a really cute t-shirt with an embroidered leaf (think Jenny Hart, not grandma) and the words "me alone." It was super cute and just as I got ready to ask her if she made it herself, she turned around to reveal the American Eagle logo. Too bad, it was a great shirt.

After an extensive internet search for the shirt I discovered that the shirt has been discontinued, but I did find this picture from an ebay auction. I am considering stealing the idea and creating my own sweatshop-free version of the tee.

Fire!

Tonight Philip and I went down to the Third Street Stuff coffeeshop for their anniversary celebration. It was a really nice night so we decided to walk around downtown a bit on our way to the festivities. While I love Third Street Stuff, the real reason I wanted to go is to see the fire dancers.




I still want to take poi spinning classes so that someday I will be able to work up to fire spinning, but since the classes are on Saturdays and I am vending every Saturday until September they will just have to wait until the fall.

In addition to fire dancers there was a DJ and lots of colorful chalk for decorating the sidewalks.


Philip drew a few characters, but about two minutes after I took this picture it started pouring thus erasing all of his work. Since we walked to the coffeeshop we had to hide inside playing Scategories with some friends until the rain let up. All-in-all it was a great night.

Lexington Peace Fair

Tomorrow is the first annual Lexington Peace Fair put on by the Central Kentucky Council for Peace & Justice. In addition to some great speakers, music, and workshops, Sarah and I will have a booth to sell our stuff. Below is the official news release for the event if anyone is interested.

Release Date: 05/04/2006

Our Little World: The First Annual Lexington Peace Fair

LEXINGTON, KY (May 4, 2006)- Sustainability, Justice, and Urban Gardening are just a few of the workshops being held at "“Our Little World" Lexington'’s First Annual Peace Fair. The Fair will be held Saturday May 20, 2006 from 11:00-7:00 p.m. at Bluegrass Community & Technical College, 470 Cooper Drive.

Rebecca Glasscock Faculty Advisor of the Bluegrass Community & Technical College Peace and Justice Coalition said of the Fair, "We are seeking to model a joyful alternative to exploitation, corporatization, and consumerism. For our fair, we will bring together the global with the local through music, art, locally grown food, workshops, and the raising of awareness of the peaceful possibilities for a socially, ecologically, and economically sustainable future."”

The Reel World String Band, Water, Pangaea Drums, and La Branda will perform a selection of Bluegrass, Latino, Jazz and African Soul music will be offered in addition to workshops.

The Fair is free and open to the public; a schedule of Fair workshops is as follows:

11:00 a.m. until noon: Peace...Let it begin with me, taught by Anita Courtney, Certified Kripalu Yoga Instructor. Come and practice the art of cultivating inner peace through yoga postures, breathing and visualization. You will feel relaxed and energized for the rest of the day and learn some tools for incorporating relaxation into your daily life. Suitable for those who have never tried yoga, as well as experienced practitioners.

12:10-1:10: The Hidden Destruction of the Appalachian Mountains, by Dave Cooper, mechanical engineer turned social/environmental activist. The program includes a 22-minute slide show featuring traditional Appalachian mountain music and aerial photographs of Eastern Kentucky Mountains. After discussing the impacts of mountaintop removal on coalfield communities, attention will focus on ways to reduce personal consumption of electricity from coal-fired power plants.

1:20-2:20: Towards a Justice, that Heals, by Marilyn Huegerich, OSF, and Patricia Griffin, Franciscan Peace Center. In the face of crime or conflict, restorative justice is a philosophy and approach that views these matters as primarily harm done to people and relationships. Restorative justice is a process that offers support and provides opportunities for voluntary participation and communication between those affected (victims, offenders, community). The process strives towards a conversion from the spirit of punishment to the spirit of healing.

2:30-3:30: Living in a Sustainability-Oriented Community, by Mary Ann Ghosal and Thyne Rutrough, Curtis Pike Community, Richmond, KY. At this time, when human impact on the environment is increasingly harmful, a small group of Christians has come together to pray and to work for environmental sustainability and peace. Members of the community will share information about their identity and their current environmental efforts, accomplishments, and future goals.

3:40-4:45: Small-scale Urban Gardening, by Derek Law, UK Horticulture Research Analyst. Production of vegetable crops in densely populated urban areas to supplement our diets will be the focus of this presentation. Topics to be discussed will be site evaluation, container gardening, composting, Bio-intensive gardening techniques, and edible landscaping. Examples of containers and gardening tools will be on display and free vegetable starts will be given to participants.

5:00-6:30: Organizing 101, by Dave Newton, Organizer for Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. This workshop is designed to help us understand how to use our collective power for positive change in our community. We will identify problems in our community, examine the root causes of those problems, and explore several different approaches to change.

For further information on the fair or to reserve a space at a workshop, please call Rebecca Glasscock at (859) 246-6319.

Tonight, Philip and I are heading down to Third Street Stuff for their anniversary party. There will be fire spinning so hopefully I will have some pictures to post tomorrow.

A little update

Sorry about the lack of posting lately, things have been crazy.

I have been doing a little knitting here and there between activities. First, I made this headband with some extra yarn. The stitch pattern is from knit and tonic's dream swatch head wrap. Since I only had a little bit of yarn I decided to make my version 12 stitches wide and make it a band by grafting the ends together. The stitch pattern was super easy and the headband took me about an hour to finish.


I also started these simple armwarmers for Philip while sitting at Mayfest. They are simple stockinette stitch tubes with a thumb gusset. I needed something really simple so that I could watch the booth and not mess up. It looks too big on my arm, but it fits Philip's hand perfectly. The first one is finished and I should complete the second one during the Peace Fair this weekend.


Finally, I turned the heal on the Moda Dea socks that I started a million years ago. They fell on the back burner and never found their way back into my hands. I am hoping to finish them within the next few weeks.

Mayfest

Last weekend, Sarah and I started our festival season. We set up our booth, after a six-year hiatus, at the annual Mayfest. We are a little out of practice, but it was a great start to a summer of vending. Here's a picture of our booth.

Adventures in Real Estate

Last weekend Philip and I decided to do something that we though we wouldn't start doing for years. We started looking at houses- to buy. It seemed like a crazy idea until we figured out how much house we can get for the same amount we are paying in rent. Our lease expires in July so we only have a few weeks to find something before we get locked into another year so we are going to try and look at a few houses every night after work. We are really excited about the prospect of having our own place where we can do anything we want. If we want to paint the dining room orange with a red ceiling, we can. Just the idea of having that kind of freedom really excites us. We have since looked at several houses, some good and some horrible. We really like older buildings so you get a lot of surprises. There was the bungalow with a huge apartment built in the backyard out of the garage or the Victorian cottage with only one closet or the amazing restoration that ended up being $100K out of our price range. I have always had such good luck with apartments and I thought that a house would be just as easy, but that is not the case.

We saw a house tonight that was perfect for us. It is a major fixer upper and has the potential to become a time and money pit so we are a little scared to make the jump. Another thing that scares us is that this house is in a historic district so we have to get permission from the city to do any exterior work and if anything goes wrong we have to use approved materials to make repairs which can get really expensive. On the other hand, the house is in our current neighborhood and we couldn't afford to buy into this neighborhood if the place didn't need so much work. Also, other than the repairs, this house is everything that we want. It's such a difficult decision, I don't know how anyone does it.

Garage Sale Saturday

A few months ago, Philip decided that we should have a garage sale to weed out some of our excess stuff. We are huge packrats and have more stuff than most people we know. A garage sale is a great way to sit outside drinking beer and make money from it. We aren't expecting to make much, but we have some really great stuff for sale including lots of books, movies, movies, some of my old photo gear, crafty goodness, a ton of random stuff and even a serger with all the fixins. If you live in the area, please stop by. We will go until about 2pm and after that everything is shipping over to the Goodwill on Leestown.

SP8 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Since it is summer I am mainly knitting with cottons. I love Manos cotton stria, Blue sky cottons, and Tahki cotton classic. I am not a big fan of novelty yarns, but I do use fun fur scraps to make hair for my husband's sock creatures.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
In or on every surface in my apartment. I will get organized someday.

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I consider myself intermediate, but I like the challenge of more advanced projects. Skill level never determines which projects I do.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
My Amazon Wishlist is here.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I like fruit scents that aren't too sweet and I love spicy scents.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
I love candy, but I am not a big fan of chocolate. My favorite sweet treats are the coconut macaroons from the Alternative Baking Company.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I spin a little, but I am not skilled enough yet to do the kind of things I want to do. I also crochet, sew, embroider, and repurpose furniture.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
My musical taste is pretty diverse. I love indie pop, especially j-pop. For a list of some of the bands I really like, please checkout Myspace.

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love color, especially very saturated colors. Right now I am leaning toward blues and greens and blacks and whites.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I live with my husband and our dog Astrid.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I don't really wear ponchos, but in the winter I wear scarves, hats, and mittens.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Right now I am really in to knitting socks. I also really like to knit foods and silly things that have no function.

13. What are you knitting right now?
Right now I am finishing a pair of socks using the magic loop. When they are done I am going to start some knee socks.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
I love handmade gifts!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
For circular knitting I am starting to prefer dpns, but for straight knitting I like 10" straight needles. I like wooden needles, but not bamboo.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yes to both.

17. How did you learn to knit?
I taught myself from the worst learn to knit book ever written.

18. How old is your oldest UFO?
I just purged my stash and frogged any UFO that was not going to get finished. Now my oldest UFO is only a few months old.

19. What is your favorite holiday?
Halloween

20. Is there anything that you collect?
Tiki paraphernalia, vintage cookbooks, and 1950's kitchen accessories.

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I really want the Vintage sock book and the Loop-d-loop book. As for needles, I really want a pair of 40" Addi Turbos in sizes US0 and US1. I have a subscription to Vogue Knitting and Cast-on.

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I would like to learn to do some entrelac.

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes. Ankle and foot- 8.5", Foot length- 10"

24. When is your birthday?
January 19