More from Kansas City

These dark photos were taken at T-Rex, a dinosaur themed restaurant in the KC area. The decor was amazing and the food was surprisingly good.

We were seated in the undersea portion of the Mesozoic era; the giant tentacles you see here belong to a  massive purple octopus that hovers over the bar.

Don’t you love the jellyfish lamps? I  spent half the meal staring at them and trying to figure out how to make one for my bedroom. I’m thinking some type of papier mache using Diamond Glaze instead of paste, but I have no idea what to use instead of newspaper, to get that amazingly clear appearance... maybe cellophane gift wrap? Hmm, it's sounding more and more flammable by the minute. Maybe I should just save my energy and save my spare change (ha) to buy a Chihuly instead.

Upstairs is the arctic region complete with woolly mammoths, giant insects and "real" snow (weekends only).

Before traveling to Kansas City I did some research and decided that what I really wanted to see in Kansas was the World’s Largest Ball of Twine. Turns out there are two of them and they are embroiled in a bitter feud, and they are rather far from Kansas City in any case, so they must wait for another time.

As a consolation, Jennifer took me to see the World’s Largest Badminton Shuttlecock! Yup, it’s pretty damn big. I think it is on the university campus somewhere. Well worth a visit if you are fascinated by pointlessly large objects.

On the facade of the  building upon whose lush lawn the World’s Largest Shuttlecock rests, I found the text shown below. In case you cannot read it, it says: Art deals with things forever incapable of definition and that belong to love, beauty, joy and worship. The shapes, powers and glory of which are ever building, unbuilding and rebuilding in each man’s soul and in the soul of the whole world. (Edward Austin Abbey)

Another art message found me the next day at the Crayola store, in the form of one of those wonderful Fred Babb t-shirts (left). Word, Fred!

It goes to show you that creative sparks are all around you if you just keep your eyes open. I went to Kansas City without my usual crafty work-in-progress because I knew I’d be busy proofreading. But I gleaned a ton of little ideas and snippets of design without even trying, while relaxing and playing with the boys and chatting with Jennifer about family memories and Project Runway. It had been a long time since I’d taken a vacation that didn’t include an art workshop. I must remember to make time for more periods of aimless replenishment like this one.

Comments

[Jenn]

you didn't mention the barbeque!!!