Megan Coleman

Last weekend I went to two amazing events.

The Chicago International Miniatures Show

I’ve always adored tiny things, and when I was little I loved my dollhouse and collecting miniatures to put in it. I had no idea there was a traveling international expo just to showcase miniatures. But last weekend it was in Chicago!

There were three large rooms (one just for dolls – yikes!) and a long hallway filled with booths. The sellers were from all over the world. They were ALL about business, most of them wouldn’t even crack a smile at us. When we walked in, the first thing we noticed was that the crowd was mostly between the ages of 50-80. A fair amount of people had walkers or were in wheelchairs. I kid you not. We thought we were at a nursing home. The “young” ladies were the artsy type with the colorful quilted/embroidered jackets and handbags, highlighted hair and surprisingly bright eye shadow.

We walked around squealing and going “AH! That is so cute!” but every one else was just there to buy. Some people had photos with them of their houses to make sure what they were buying was perfect. It felt like we didn’t belong there, but I snuck as many pictures as I could.

We saw so many mini things: chandeliers, food, electronics, books with actual text in them, paintings of the masters that were actually painted, mini miniatures for your dollhouse (quarter scale), working model train sets, gardens and even a tiny trunk with sex toys in it. Oh, and the clothing designer for Coraline was there!

It was truly unbelievable. If it’s ever in a city near you, go. You won’t be disappointed.

More photos here.

Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman

Sunday, Gabe and I traveled to Madison to see this particular film at the Wisconsin Film Festival. It was about the incredible life’s work of the modern architectural photographer Julius Shulman. I’d never seen his work before, but I’m a huge fan of modern architecture, and when I saw stills from the film, I knew I had to see it. Not only is the architecture stunning (it almost brought me to tears), but Shulman’s way of capturing the beauty of it on film is just amazing. The film was very well done (with help from narrator Dustin Hoffman) and left me wishing I lived in the era of Neutra and Schindler. If this is your kind of thing, I highly recommend it. The film is still screening across the country and hopefully will be available to rent/buy someday soon.

Most of my friends know that I don’t have the broadest food tastes, and they would also assume that I am not much of a cook. And they’re probably right. But I’ve decided that at some point (for the sake of my future children), I will need to change that. Don’t worry, I will always love Pizza and Mac & Cheese (and Mac & Cheese Pizza!), but I think it’s time that I learn a few new things.

I’ve gathered some cookbooks (only one I really use so far – thanks Mandy!) but what I’ve found the most useful are online recipe sites. My favorite is All Recipes. I love that you can save recipes you like into your “recipe box”, you can search for all types of ingredients you like, and you can read about what everyone thought of the recipe and how they made it better.

So far I’ve found some really good ones (starting simple for now):

• White Bread (for bread machines)
• Strawberry, Spinach and Pear Salad
• Roasted Lemon Herb Chicken
• Greek Salad
• Baked Potato Soup (this one might kill you)
• Herb Bread (for bread machines)
• Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (this one will definitely kill you)

Anyone have any recommendations or tips for the novice who’s scared of cooking?

Okay folks, I’m going to try this again. I’ve missed writing this past year, but just never got around to starting again. Sort of like that gym membership I’ve been meaning to sign up for. Anyway, I’m hoping to get back into it and let you know when exciting things are happening in my life. Since you are my friends and family, hopefully you will be somewhat interested in hearing about them!

First of all, if you don’t know this yet, I started my own freelance web design business back in August of last year. So far it’s been wonderful. I’ve worked on some great projects so far and have some interesting ones coming up. The flexibility and freedom of working at home is so nice. Also I have a fantastic network of people that have been here for me every step of the way. I’ve been very lucky so far.

Second, I decided to join my sister-in-law in a book challenge this year. The goal is to only read books that you already own, all year long. I was a bit freaked out to agree to this, until I remembered that I read about 5 books a year. So I think this will actually get me to read more books than usual. I’m already getting psyched again about all my poor books that have been gathering up dust. So far I’ve only finished one (The Book of Lost Things – John Connelly), but I started that before the new year, so it may not count.

Anyway, that’s it for now! Stay tuned for more about freelancing, books, movies and other fun times. You can check out my recent flickr photos here, and feel free to subscribe on the right via RSS or Email.

PS: If you haven’t yet, go see Coraline. Now.
PPS: If you want to comment on this post or in the future and would like to have a nifty photo appear by your name, make sure to sign up for a Gravatar account. It’s free and they only need your email (the one you would use to make a comment).

So, it’s been more than a year. I think there are two people subscribed to my feed, one is me. Anyone still out there? Do you miss me? I’m not sure what I should blog about this year, but I think maybe I will start again. Suggestions? Requests?

I don’t normally post youtube videos, but these are the most humorous/enjoyable that I’ve seen all last year.

The last three movies I saw:

No Country for Old Men: This film made me sick to my stomach, at one point I almost walked out. I’m not sure if I’m just too sensitive or old fashioned (or that I was in the fourth row at the theater), but I am appalled that no one else seems to be upset by this movie. Are we that desensitized to violence? Anyway, I will say that it was brilliantly shot, smartly written and well cast. It was also horrifying, brutally violent, bleak, and portrayed one of the most evil characters I’ve seen in a movie. I still get chills when I think about it.

Romance & Cigarettes: Written and directed by the humorous, John Turturro. I saw this recently because he was at the screening answering questions (and I adore him). Man was this movie strange, but awesome, and the cast was quite impressive (see for yourself). The best thing about it was that it was a musical, but not a typical one. The singers were mostly regular actors that you wouldn’t expect to be singing, but it seemed natural for them to break out into song. Tururro mentioned at the QA that “everyone sings”, and that’s what it was like. As if you were to catch the garbage man singing while he was taking out the trash.

Sweeney Todd: Wow. Tim Burton was born to direct this musical. I was so excited to see this, and was not disappointed. Steven Sondheim is my favorite musical writer, Tim Burton is one of my favorite directors, and Johnny Depp… well, you know. Strange how this was kind of a mix of the previous types of movies I saw. It’s about a brutal murderer (and it’s pretty bloody) and it’s also a musical (although more typical than the last movie). Anyway, Johnny sang beautifully and Helena’s voice was very fitting even though she’s not much of a singer. And they are just so perfect together. It was everything I had hoped for.

Okay, so it’s been about 8 months since my last post. But I’ve been busy! As you can see, I’ve redesigned my blog, and my whole website. My main goal was to create a site that focused on my web design work (and not the work I did in college), so I would have something to show people who were interested in hiring me for freelance work. I decided to keep it very professional, and in doing so, moved my photos and journal out of my main site. Only people who know how to get here (or guess the obvious url) can find my most secret internet thoughts. Don’t you feel special?

Anyway, please let me know what you think of the new site. And stay tuned for more about celebrities, hotties, and other silly stuff I like to rant about!

Should I be concerned that the Social Security website’s SECURITY certificate has expired? I think they renewed it now, but it was a pretty funny thing to encounter.

Here’s another one of my favorites:

Nothing is as crazy as those good ol’ cryptic PC error messages one can encounter (Computer Cart video) though.

So, I am probably one of the few remaining people who still listens to cassette tapes in their car. Not as often as I used to (what with the iPod and all), but I still do every so often. A few days ago I decided to clean out my car and check my tape situation. They were filling up every nook and cranny of the car, so I had to do something. I found them in the compartment under the stereo, in the door pockets, shoved next to the seats, inside the arm rest compartment, and finally, in the cassette carrying case which I threw in the back (under the rear window).

Have you ever left cassette tapes under the rear window during many months of sunny weather? Well, I’ll tell you, it’s not a good idea. Apparently plastic melts in the sun. Couldn’t someone have warned me of this insanity? Most of my tapes survived, but as you can see below. Two of my favorites (yes, I will admit it) are ruined. Sure, I have “Forever Your Girl” on my iPod. But what fun is that when you can just leave the cassette in the deck and play it over and over again?

I saw Justin Timberlake live on Tuesday (with Pink) at the Allstate Arena. Hot!

We (my friend Kate and I) missed most of Pink’s set, but what we saw was pretty good. She sang and had a bunch of dancers follow her around the stage (which was open all around so the whole audience could see everything). The best part was when she flipped around on silken fabric hanging from the ceiling (a la Cirque du Soleil). I was quite impressed. No strings attached!

Justin obviously had more money, since he had the large screens (for video projection) and many more dancers/back up singers. One thing you may not know about Justin is that he actually plays instruments. Yeah, that’s right. The piano, guitar and get this…. the KEYTAR. Oh yes. They actually had three of those on stage at one point. Anyway, I was impressed with his musical talent. He’s also the hottest dancer since M.J. Boy, can he dance.

A few other things to point out:

1. I felt overdressed amongst all the halter/tube top wearing ladies
2. I saw two girls with puffy paint made shirts saying “justin timberlake march 13th” etc on them
3. Shorts with “sexyback” on the you know where were going for $45
4. One of the preshow songs played on the loudspeakers was Closer. WTF??
5. Justin is hot. Britney should beg for another chance

Check out my awesome camera pictures here.