The octagon is finished:
It’s now Mindy’s new window
The winter basement project is now complete. There is another stained glass project in the works, but it’s not an octagon so I don’t had to mess with any special angles other than 90 degrees.
Here’s the glass mounted in Mindy’s window:
View from indoors
View from outdoors
Hey!–This blog is 5 years old today! How is that possible?
Our first post was February 12, 2008; It was VERY basic, see the link HERE to see what it looked like. At that time we didn’t know where we would end up but we knew we were going on a road trip to search for a place to live so that’s how ROADSIDE MYSTERIES was born.
In that first year we searched for the best place to live; We sold our house in Arlington heights and bought a house in Fort Collins; The Red Herring had a reunion; We attended many events like Tour de Fat and the Symphony for 1000 drums. It was all good!
By February 12, 2009 we were really getting to know the area and meet all sorts of great friends. There were science fairs and hospitals to visit, washing machine museums, trolley rides, and lots of music everywhere. Became part of a Samba band. Oh, we went to Denver for the first time too.
On our second birthday we changed our blog format and switched to something called WordPress. More stuff, like a cruise vacation and more in-depth music locations. More coverage of RAGBRAI, or not and ventures outside of Larimer County by bike and/or bus happened.
Our Third Year we checked out southern parts of Colorado, and our first Frozen Dead Guy Day. I drummed for 3 days with Arthur Hull; Traded my car for a bicycle at the Tour de Fat;
… And by Year Number Four we slimmed down a bunch. This was the year of the iPad and because of this device, some methods for getting pictures to the blog have influenced how this blog looks… and typing on the iPad is not that easy– but I practice often. By year four I became more involved with the start-up of the new museum, more involved with the entomology department at CSU, and it seems that I have attend a lot of parties featuring belly dancers??
And of course there was a
Fat Tuesday Party:
Food and Floats
Red beans and rice, Jambalaya and miniature Mardi Gras float building
Not many bike rides in the snow. Why not another stained glass project:
Water color painted copy of an octagon window
A new glass project (The last one was here, in April of 2009) assuming the old parts on hand still work. Lets see if I can finish this by the start of classes at CSU (January 21st).
At last count there were at least 22 parlors in town where one or more tattoo artists apply their trade. I plan to visit them all some day just to add what I find on Roadside Mysteries because it is a mystery why there are really 22 tattoo parlors in a town with a population of a little over 140,000. While I have yet to visit any tattoo parlor I am fairly certain that if and when it happens I will not subject myself to indelible markings. Think Department of Corrections Category: Cross/Trible Tattoo on Right Forearm, Dragon Tattoo on Right Arm, D.C. Tattoo on Back. Identifying marks on the body. No! I won’t do it! However:
In the interest of science, I recently submitted to a rather unusual marking of my skin.
It’s a Bed Bug Tattoo!
I decided to get a tattoo of my favorite local bike shop brand : Black Sheep Bikes. Their logo is a sheep. Yes, I know it’s supposed to be a BLACK sheep, but red is the only color a bed bug knows. So, what are Bed Bugs?
Bed Bug Tattoo artist of the genus Cimex
A bite from a bed bug can cause skin rashes (the redness in color important for tattoos), various allergic symptoms (it’s a chance you have to take) and possible psychological effects (who could tell?) . The little buggers need human blood to survive and after their bite and the resulting color change due to irritation on the skin the markings could be used as body art to some extent: It’s a Win – Win situation. Bugs get fed, You get art!
If you would like to have a bed bug tattoo I have illustrated some steps you will have to follow in order to do this right.
1) Select the artwork
I have chosen to get a tattoo of the company logo for the Black Sheep Bike Company located right here in Fort Collins, Colorado. If you go to the website of the Black Sheep company, at the top of the site are the words “Black Sheep” and there’s a little graphic of a sheep. It’s kind of cool, and only those that are “in” to custom bikes will recognize it for what it is. There are other logos out there, but some are easier to work with than others, so read further before you choose the artwork for your tattoo.
2) Choose a suitable mask material
Here’s the thing: The bed bugs are going to have to bite in specific areas of your skin in order to create an image that is recognizable. The mask allows the bugs to do their work in the interest of art and science. In this case I am using an Avery Badge Label #5895 for the mask material. The adhesive backing on the Avery label will help keep the mask in place during feeding and it will also help keep the label on the computer screen if you carefully remove the backing on each corner of the label before attaching it to the screen.
3) Trace the artwork onto the label
This is fairly easy. The label paper is thin enough that you can see the screen image through the paper. A pencil works well for this purpose.
4) Cut the mask
This is the hard part. You have to cut away the part of the image that you want to transfer to your skin. It’s best not to choose a logo that is too complicated. Also, if your image includes any kind of lettering (text), the cutout on the non-adhesive side should be a mirror image of the text.
In the above example, I used a single edge razor blade. You may find it easier to use one of those X-Acto type cutting knifes; I couldn’t find mine, so I used a razor blade.
5) Find the place where bed bugs live
In most developed countries in the 1950’s, bed bugs were almost unknown as human pests due to the use of strong insecticides such as DDT. Now you can find them lots of places in the U.S. but since some say that bed bugs could be infected by as many as 28 human pathogens, you may want to check out a few “clean” bugs from your local entomologist. Hey, I know where there are clean bugs! They live at the Insectary of course. We visited there in 2011. Time to go back and check out some bugs.
6) Prepare yourself for the bite of your life!
Here I am in the entomology lab with my right arm exposed. In my left hand is a Mason Jar full of little starving bed bugs who haven’t had a good blood meal in months! The top of the jar is covered with a light mesh material and on top of the mesh is the finished Avery label with the black Sheep logo cut out. Check the clock! You need to hold the inverted jar on your arm for at least 25 minutes to ensure that all the bed bugs get at least one bite!
7) Pain in the Name of Science
No, not too bad actually. You can feel the little buggers bite into your skin, but it’s not anything that I would consider painful. Bed bugs are typically night feeders, so their bites usually will not wake you while you are asleep. These guys were very hungry and they got down to business right away. In 25 minutes it was over!
‘8) OK, so where’s the tattoo?
After the required 25 minute ordeal, you must slowly and carefully lift the jar off your skin to make sure that the bed bugs have time to remove their blood sucking sippy straws. This is a critical step as you don’t want to harm the bugs and you don’t want used insect mouth parts left in your skin.
So, where is the tattoo? As far as the bug art is concerned, it is up to YOU to get your skin rash on. Any number of things could happen. It might take a few days for the full color to develop. It might itch like crazy. Don’t scratch the tattoo as it might become infected!! Wash your arm thoroughly in the area of the bites just to stave off infection.
If I get any weird skin reactions, I shall report them, otherwise, I’m out of here for now. Damn, the Tour de Fat was last week and I haven’t bloggered it yet!
Clarence Preston Gillette Approves this message.
As part of the Art in Public Places Program (APP):
Designs for storm drain markers
I somehow missed this one. The APP requested drawings from local residents for new designs of the city’s storm drain markers.
Featuring aquatic insects
to help educate the public regarding the maintenance of water quality in local streams.
The Order Plecoptera
While other orders like Odonata and Ephemeroptera were represented above, its the Plecopterons or stoneflies that have the most to tell about the quality of our water.
Finally, the Order Coleoptera
These winning entries were shown at the latest “2012 Residential Environmental Program Series” sponsored by the Fort Collins Utilities and Natural Resources Department.
It’s the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival at CSU’s UCA:
Irene Ryan was there? What?
No. Irene Ryan, the woman who played “Granny” on the Beverly Hillbillies died 39 years ago! …and for that many years, the Irene Ryan Foundation has been awarding scholarships to acting students around the country. This week the presentations were made at CSU.
A video about the event
Something about Kafka
Our past fascination with Kafka might be found here. I saw a blurb about something called “The Kafka Project” (the roach got my attention) in November and it turns out that it was a play featuring various works of Franz Kafka: It was selected to compete at this year’s festival.
Josephine the Singer, or, the Mouse Folk, or Something like that
This photo came out strange, maybe Kafkaesque even. Very well done by the students, fantastic sets and well directed (not always the case we have found) and we were fortunate to attend this new work by Walt Jones and the Company.
And then “Something”
Yes, the keynote performance was presented by the Canadian clown duo Mump & Smoot . Evil clowns, Cockroach stories: what’s not to like?
Yes, it’s still open and it’s not dead yet as these pictures attest from last week before the 8 inches of snow fell:
Even my parking space is still there!
This Just in! An old photo of Swets’ 10 seat bike:
Photo taken maybe 1973?
KRFC ?
It’s a music, art and film SPECTACULAR sponsored by KRFC 88.9FM radio
Music By WhiteCatPink below an anti-drug movie playing on screen
Perhaps Byllynsgate is the new independent film answer to Lionsgate Films and/or the area that was the old fish market in London. The “Ball” goes on every other Thursday at the Lyric Cinema where this evening the feature was WhiteCatPink who is this drummer who is always seen around town dressed in a white cat outfit. As noted by this I-Am-Bored blogsite, it really *is* difficult to explain. One thing for sure is that he is not from the planet Saturn; I know beings from Saturn and he’s not one of them!
By some guy with a funny bicycle:
A stretch beach cruiser bike
on the Mason bike trail you might see artists painting those ugly transformer boxes. Here is one of the artists and his bicycle.
Francisco at work
painting “Bikes and More Bikes” as part of the Art in Public Places program of Fort Collins. If you look at the current members of the board of the APP you can see someone listed as simply “York” whose term expires in 2014. What’s with that?
There is this unassuming little sculpture studio:
On 4th Street in Loveland
Where you can buy small table-top sculptures of sporting figures or famous presidents and/or presidents involved in some sort of sporting activity.
Not so small sculpture out back
On the flatbed getting ready for delivery is “Rock ‘n Roll”, the original stands about 36 inches but this one is about 11 feet tall. In the back is another sculpture that is supposed to be Ronald Reagan fly fishing; Didn’t Jimmy Carter do more of that than Reagan?
Detail of the mountain bike
indicates that it is the work of the Loveland sculptor George Lundeen of the famous Lundeen Famly of artists.
“Up for Grabs”
Just another back alley where art was found similar to this situation a few years ago. These works of art were first cast here before the finishing touches were applied in back of this gallery.