travel. ringling museum of art in sarasota, fl.

proud geek moment. 

Ringling [yes, as in circus-known Ringling] Museum of Art

Can you believe that this building almost didn't make it? And I'm not referring to hurricane-type destruction. The Ringling property underwent years of neglect under the hands of Florida government's care. A theater on the property was actually condemned in the 90's.  But after the estate's governance was handed over to the Florida State University in 2000, the estate is making a comeback. Funding for restoration was secured in 2007 & is open to the public daily now. Read more about the estate here.

So, I'm spotlighting the Ringling Museum because I came across an article on artdaily.org [article here] regarding the latest exhibition: 

Splendid Treasures of the Turkomen Tribes from Central Asia

The exhibit highlights how the nomadic tribes created these amazing pieces of jewelry essentially as portable wealth. I'm all gaga over the intricacy of the pieces; I think that they are absolutely splendid. I would love to be down there to check it out. 

As a believer in supporting the arts, I shouldn't advise this...but I noticed on the admissions/hours page that the museum claims free admission to the public on Mondays. I'd most definitely call beforehand to confirm if that's still true &/or if there are any specific stipulations.

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As a side note: 

I know that the High Museum of Art here in Atlanta also does a free admission day for Fulton county residents [1st Sat./every month...info here]....so I recommend that you check with your local museums about any such deals. 

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Enjoy!

♥ -Kat.

[images from respective website(s)]

Widgets......très cool or waste of time? Side order of Russian Speak.

So I am new to the world of blog. I only follow a handful & that 's only from the past 6ish months. I've not had much time for playing around with the various features; tonight I have a worse case of insomnia than normal, so play around I must. There are widgets for just about anything you can think of, but it serves me right that I find the ones that don't work!

Pardon me, I'm an absolute geek. I had a mother that praised everything Italian (we lived there until I was about school age) & shipped me off there for a summer when I was old enough. Architecture, languages, history, art, culture, oh my........yes I love it all. So, I think that all of these widgets showcasing these things are NIFTO & serves me right that some of them don't seem to work.

Please, if anybody reads this: Personal Service Announcement for Kat Request:
let me know if the damn "listen" buttons on these word of the day widgets work.

I think that they would be très cool if they did because I am horrible about breaking out the tapes & discs with the language books.




FYI: the two kiddie language CD's in picture are from a Chick-Fil-A kid's meal. Okay, I was excited. RUSSIAN. I think it is safe to say that for an average English speaking adult, Russian is a difficult study.....this CD was geared towards kids still young enough to be satisfied by 4 chicken nuggets & 5 waffle fries. We played both of these in the car after pulling them out of the kids meal. Spanish was cool; I was full of what I call "mommy magic" that day. Mom knew the Spanish equivalent before they spoke. Then the Russians came....& mommy was a jerk. "Uh....I'm not sure what they said". Repeat & spit out something that restores Alex's confidence in his mom.

Kat/ Cardinal House
http://www.cardinalhouse.etsy.com/

PS- For any of you clueless "frenglish" speakers (err..typers..bloggers), check out this site for the keystrokes to make all of the accents:
http://www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au/la/lote/french/materials/accents.htm