More Adventures

Abby's visit this past weekend was the stuff of dreams: food, downtown Goshen, movie-watching, Sharon, Better World Books and more food. It was such a relaxing weekend... I'm so glad she was able to visit!

In other news, this week Mr. Ross and I are planning our one year wedding anniversary (!!!). We've taken Tuesday and Wednesday off of work next week (in addition to Monday... oh, the beauty of being married on Labor Day weekend) to celebrate and spend time with each other doing the things we love.

Illustration by Nicole Ray for Design*Sponge

Over the weekend, we will be taking a mini vacation in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This will be a first-time trip for both of us and we're excited to spend time exploring the historic college town. I doubt we'll be able to scratch the surface of everything the city has to offer, but we plan on visiting some of Ann Arbor's numerous attractions. A few ideas: a trip to author Dave Egger's  Robot Supply and Repair, exploring one (or two) of the many UofM museums and the Henry Ford, finding all the Fairy Doors, and perhaps taking a culinary tour of the city with Savor Ann Arbor. Bonus: Ann Arbor is only 20 minutes from Ikea Michigan.

I don't know if I have very many Michigan readers, but has anyone ever visited Ann Arbor? I'm using the Design*Sponge city guide as a reference as well as the Ann Arbor calendar of events, but if you have any tips or restaurant recommendations, let me know!

Please Don't Go...

Photo by Meyer Felix

I've seen a lot of blog posts wishing for fall lately, and even though fall is my favorite season, summer is a close second. I'm just not ready to give her up yet. Anyone else with me? I still need to adsorb as much sun as possible to keep my bones warm through the winter. That means another trip to the beach, canoeing, lots of grilled food, starry nights, ice cream, and as many other adventures as Christopher and I can squeeze in before the air becomes crisp and the apples ripen.

Sorry in advance if my posting is sparse in the next few weeks... I plan on spending as much time outside with family and friends as possible. This weekend Abby is coming for a visit! Most of our time together will be spent making and eating food, discussing life and pretty things, and enjoying an outdoor art show at Wellfield Botanic Gardens with Sharon. It's going to be a great weekend.

The Four Icon Challenge

Things have been so busy at work lately... Bethel's students have officially moved to campus and the back-to-school rush of last minute projects is hitting our department full-force. Whew.

I'm currently working on promotional material for the Theatre Department's upcoming production of The Hobbit (which I'm excited to see since it's one of my favorite books), and while doing a little visual research, I ran across this image:

The Hobbit, iconized. The limited color palette, the strong lines and distinct shapes, the pop culture meets Tolkein aspect... amazing. After a bit more googling, I found that it was the work of graphic designer Kyle Tezak.

Tezak actually has an entire series of movies-as-icons called the Four Icon Challenge, an ongoing project in which Tezak takes his favorite movies and books and tries "to reduce them to a few icons." Solid, simple, effective design.

It's always nice to see work that isn't crammed with information or treated with grunge Photoshop effects. Smart and simple design gets me every time. My favorite icon is the dagger and poison for Romeo and Juliet. Clever representation, Tezak, clever.

Tezak has prints of The Big Lebowski and The Life Aquatic available for purchase online, and for more information visit his online portfolio.

Wild Winds Buffalo Preserve

Although this past weekend's meteor shower was a bust due to cloud cover and a full moon (my father-in-law was the only one to see a shooting star), it was still filled with awesomeness. Awesomeness being buffalo, of course.

Remember Christopher & Katherine's Summertime Adventures that I shared at the beginning of July? On Saturday we crossed Wild Winds Buffalo Preserve off our list. It was a gorgeous day for buffalo watching, and although we were skeptical of the quiet preserve at first, it turned out to be a ton of fun.

The reserve sits on 400 acres of field and woodland and is home to over a hundred buffalo living in two herds. There were also winding trails, a lodge-style Bed and Breakfast, and what appeared to be a vineyard. Our tour truck took us directly into the field with the larger herd, where we met the the oldest buffalo and father of the tribe, Bosco, and were able to watch the month-old babies frolic around. Another favorite of ours was Blackstone, a woodland buffalo who had a huge, curly buffalo 'fro.

The trails leading to Wild Winds' welcome center were lined with buffalo skulls, quartz, and other large geodes. The purple one on the left was almost as long as me, nearly 6 feet tall, and could be purchased for $350.

I wish I would have snapped a few more photos of their gift shop. They sold every buffalo-related item you could imagine -- bones, teeth, skins and meat, as well as many other Native American-influenced treasures. They even have a cafe, which features an array of buffalo burgers, buffalo chili, and "nachalos."

 

Our tour guide was the real deal, my friends. Silver ponytail, bandana, cut-off shirt and all. And yes, that is a corn-husk pipe in his pocket, presumably a homemade one. He was very knowledgeable, answered all our questions and provided a lot of interesting information about Wild Winds, the herd, and the sacredness of the buffalo within Native American culture. A few fun facts for you: the babies born last month already weight over a hundred pounds. In three steps, a typical buffalo can reach speeds of 35-45 mph. Bosco's head? It weighs 300 pounds alone.

Due to some roadwork in Fremont, we missed our original planned 2:00 tour, which was actually pretty full. The 3:00 tour, however, was just the two of us and our friend Eldridge. Although there were a few awkward silences during the tour, we got a lot of interaction with our guide and the buffalo and were able to ask all the questions we wanted. For being such large and powerful beasts, the buffalo were actually very quiet and peaceful animals. I can see why the Native Americans believe them to be sacred.

Obviously, we gave Wild Winds Buffalo Preserve a big thumbs up. If you're ever in the Fremont Indiana area and enjoy outdoorsy adventures, I definitely recommend a visit. It may not be the most glamorous of stops (the outhouse stench will getcha), but we had a lot of fun. This summertime adventure was definitely a success.

Kiera Rathbone Typewriter Art

Thanks to Sharon's Manual Typewriter Rescue Society, I am the proud owner of two lovely typewriters: a solid blue beauty and a dainty, cream-colored cursive one. Trendy as they may be, I think typewriters are beautiful pieces of history. So when I stumbled upon the artwork of UK artist Kiera Rathbone, I was floored.

 Portrait of author Bonnie Greer

Rathbone uses vintage typewriters to create layers of dashes, letters and numbers to slowly build up her image. Each piece takes approximately 90 hours. Rathbone's passion for typewriter art began when she found an old orange 1960s typewriter in a thrift shop. She now has 30 different typewriters, each one with their own unique characteristics.

Rathbone at work

 

Detail of Wimborne Minister, and the piece in progress

I love the detail shown above -- the typewriter's alphanumeric shapes form such intricate textures... it almost looks like pen & ink stroke marks and hatches. This video shows Rathbone at work -- I'm amazed how quickly she types out each mark! To see more of Rathbone's work, visit www.kierarathbone.com or her Facebook page.

All images via Kiera Rathborne's Facebook page.