House Hunting

Or is that House Haunting. Tis the season, after all.

We have been looking for a house. Something tres modern, preferably. But this new listing may be one to consider. If the price was just a bit lower; current listing price is $1.75 million.

More information here.

What's the opposite of color blind?

Answer: Tetrachromat---a woman who can see four distinct ranges of color, instead of the three that most of us live with.


Found this at Mirabilis---

"Dr. Neitz, who conducts his research with his wife Maureen, said only women have the potential for super color vision.

That's because the genes for the pigments in green and red cones lie on the X chromosome, and only women have two X chromosomes, creating the opportunity for one type of red cone to be activated on one X chromosome and the other type of red cone on the other one. In a few cases, women may have two distinct green cones on either X chromosome.

But it's unlikely, Dr. Neitz said, that all of the women with four types of color cones will have the potential for superior color vision, because for many, their two red cones will be so close to each other in the wavelengths they detect that they won't see things much differently than a three-color person does.

He estimated that 2 percent to 3 percent of the world's women may have the kind of fourth cone that lies smack between the standard red and green cones, which could give them a colossal range."

Interesting but it gets me not closer to knowing why my husband can NOT tell when I get my hair cut. It does explain other things...like knowing what ties go with what shirts.

Slow Movin' Money

My $5 bill came from Montana. It took 187 Days, 16 hrs, 41 mins. to travel a distance of 942 at an average speed of 5 miles per day.

Now I have to say goodbye to Abe and spend him wisely. I shouldn't be thinking about where to spend him, such that he will travel someplace far away and fast. The rules of Where's George strictly prohibit artificial spending to speed George, Abe, and gang around the country.

This particular $5 bill has a stamped message on it which reads:
See Where I've Been
Track Where I Go Next!
www.wheresgeorge.com

And the message is in red on the back near the left side of DI10724322A series 2003. If you happen to see Abe, say hello for me. Don't send him back.

Monday in My Dull Life

You know life is really dull when the most exciting thing you can do on a Monday is track your money via the internet to see WHERE GEORGE has been.

That's right. Little George on the $5 bill we received in Minnesota can be tracked online.
WHERE's GEORGE at its very own .com
Actually, in the case of my bill, it's Where's Abe?, but no one seems to care.

The site is very slow and almost causes me to lose patience and give up. But I wait.....
The rules for tracking George or Abe are specific. You can't go to the bank get a wad of bills and copy the serial numbers to the WG.com site. Nope. That's cheating. Where's George only wants to know where George goes in an organic, natural course of events. You can't mail George to arelative or friend across the country. That's cheating, too. Unless, I suppose it's the money you are sending to your nephew in Alaska.

Can't wait to see Where George goes from here~!

Visiting Gunther's World

The Minniapolis Science Center is one of the view venues for BodyWorlds.
An amazing exhibit. I spent the first half-hour trying not faint. Breathe! Breathe! In a crowded exhibitions hall, one room after another, people filed by the mannequin-esque figures. The silence of the crowd was noticeable, leading me to wonder if everyone was thinking what I was thinking: These people were once alive. And now they're....plastic.

The bodies are skin-less, posed, and artificial looking. Except they are not artificial and something about them is too real. One body is only muscles on a skeleton; another is only the nerves. In the middle of the rooms are glass cases showing organs, limbs, bones, tumorous ridden stomachs, black lungs, and babies of varying womb-ages. No one speaks, except quietly. In hushed tones they tell each other that Uncle Clinton has the same arthritic knees and Aunt Sally has a new hip just like that one. Most people just stare.

You can't touch, not that many people would probably. The muscles, arteries, and bones are plasticized anyway. The cadavers frozen and sliced look like giant slides of the body. They would feel like glass plates no doubt, too. One slice is a fat man next to a slice of a thin man. Notice the thick layer of FAT around the first man. Like the fat on pig when you buy pork at the story, only thicker.

I was not hungry when I left. I'd show you photos, so you could start a diet this week, but they don't let you take photos. You can buy a DVD. Or a book. The photos online are scant. You can google Body Worlds Gunther and sites pop up but none are worthy of the exhibit. I will find out if it is coming to town and let you know.

Read the original blog on Body Worlds here.

Down Iowa

The Walters home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and rests on an overlook with great view of the Quasqueton river.

Check out the space saving bathroom! Obviously NOT a priority for Mr. Wright. The sink slides over on top of the toilet and frees up space in the bathtub/shower. It is not much bigger than a bathroom on a train. And those are the smalles bathrooms EVER.

At the river's edge is a boat house, also Wright designed. The property is vast and surrounded by woods for lots of privacy. Actually, the whole town of Quasqueton is a pretty private place. Took two phone calls from the highway and roads to find this place.















For views from someone else's trip go here:
http://www.peterbeers.net/interests/flw_rt/Iowa/Cedar_Rock/cedar_rock.htm

Up Iowa

Stopped along the route north in Iowa because we happened to see a sign for the Frank Lloyd Wright house. They have moved the Stockman/Wright house from its original site (white square house). We took the tour, but first we skipped across the street to the little village of Mission Style houses built along a creek. The owners share an idealic park-like setting joining their yards and the view of a waterfall. The homes were designed by like-minded architects in the Mission/Wright style. We found these quite by accident and thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

Minnie-Me in Minneapolis

In the lobby of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minnie-Me poses with minnie art.

Minnie-Me enjoyed a tour of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design with current grad-art student, Kelley. In this photo, Minnie-Me is having a close look at the process for print making in the studio.