Indypendence Day

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I’ve got a family reunion coming up in Indiana over the 4th of July weekend.

I tend to spend a fair amount of time while I’m there sitting on porches, catching up with great aunts and uncles and cousins, sipping sweet tea and eating really delicious pie.

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This time, we’ll also be checking out some local sights and craft – and keeping an eye out for sweet corn stands.

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If I don’t drown in the humidity, it should be a nice time.

I have posts scheduled to go up here while I’m gone, and you can follow our Indiana fun on Instagram (#heartlandiana).


Microblog Mondays: Write in your own space

Week of Makers

To celebrate the Week of Making, I highlighted a different maker each day on Twitter. In case you missed it, here’s the wrap up:

Nancy Heinrich of Fun Junk upcycles vintage finds into jewelry, bags, and postcards.

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Ian Martin made a moving, laughing Star Wars puppet.

Salacious Crumb puppet

Cosplayers Heather Ann, Straykat, and Whitney each had a different take on the Wonder Woman costumes they created.

Wonder Woman panel

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Waffle-party-throwers Chocolade van Brugge and Peixoto Coffee craft food and beverages with attention to detail.  

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Gordon Paul Mischke, who we met during a Sonoran Arts League Hidden in the Hills Tour a few years ago, creates large-scale metal art.

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Who do you know who has made something cool?

Microblog Mondays: Write in your own space

Visit the Dinosaurs (They Won’t Bite)

From: Stephanie
To: Phillip
Date: April 22, 2014
Subject: I FOUND THE DINOSAURS!!
 
You know how when we go to California I’m always like “where are the dinosaurs?”, and you’re like “what?”
 
Well, add this to the list of things I was not making up: http://retroroadmap.com/spot/giant-dinosaurs-in-the-desert-cabazon-ca/
 
YEAH!!
 
We need to go visit them.

 

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I misremembered the location of the life-sized T-Rex and Brontosaurus that had always been a landmark on childhood road trips to California, and I was beginning to think they’d gone extinct.

Clicking around on travel blogs one day, I ended up at Retro Roadmap, which happened to have a post about the Cabazon Dinosaurs right on the front page. It was the classic concrete odd couple I remembered – predator and prey permananetly locked in unmoving tension – about 15 miles outside Palm Springs. I was irrationally excited.

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Obviously, this would be a mandatory stop on the way to Star Wars Celebration Anaheim.

After closing time, you can’t go inside or see the new “museum” of animatronic dinosaurs, but you can walk around outside and even picnic under the belly of the Brontosaurus. So we took silly photos, and I did that thing you do as you get older (hey, let’s face it, I’m old enough to have childhood memories of dinosaurs) of telling Phillip exactly what did and didn’t use to be there.

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Then we lumbered down the road to hunt for date shakes.

Microblog Mondays: Write in your own space

Puppet Maker

We were waiting to cross the street at a busy intersection when a maniacal laugh came from the center of the crowd.

It turned out to be coming from Salacious Crumb, the small monkey-lizard creature you may have seen hanging out with Jabba the Hut in Return of the Jedi.

Salacious Crumb puppet

Actually, it was a Salacious Crumb puppet, created by fellow Star Wars Celebration attendee Ian Martin.

Ian made the puppet from Latex and attached a sound board to the bottom, so he could make him laugh or shriek. I believe he said this was the first puppet he’s made. Impressive.

If you can’t see the short video I posted above of Salacious Crumb in action, you can find it on my Instagram.

Also, check out Ian’s YouTube channel for more on how he made the puppet.

 


Microblog Mondays: Write in your own space

2 Day

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With all the Phoenix Comicon stuff going on Thursday through Saturday, I almost forgot that today Travelcraft Journal turns 2!

I’ll share some highlights with you another day, but it’s Microblog Monday, so I’ll keep this post short.

Thanks to all of you for being a part of this community and sticking around another year. You are a bunch of inspiring makers and explorers, and I’m excited to see where the next year takes us!

Microblog Mondays: Write in your own space