BRITISH ROYALTY ... versus ... ... ...THE RAMSAY CLAN

Oh, let's see...

2010-11-12T11:29:00.005-06:00

So much has gone on lately...

Susan painted some flower cards and sent one to her mom (post mom's total knee-replacement surgery) and the others to the ladies she visit-teaches at church:

Raisa, our niece, took some photos shown below at Susan's brother Steve's 1st annual Heathfest (music fest and homemade beer tasting) at his home in Riverfalls, WI this past September:

Sue sang harmony on a couple songs with Jon after he dragged her up there:

Raisa with Luci:

Congratulations to Raisa for managing to snap a candid photo of Jon:

Raisa's bro, Brenden:

Sue posing for Raisa's photo shoot:

Brenden and his dad Steve (Sue's brother) tuning for their band performance:

Raisa's coolest friend, Emily in the background:

Brad & Steve's acoustic group (Steve is an amAzing guitar player and singer):

In other newz...

We moved to an apartment and it is lovely.
Susan is a busy bee working on finishing her "thesis" for her Masters, with the help of Courtney's genius tip of "just do 15 minutes each day" and it is working (which is a godsend after a year of feeling no motivation to finish it).
Jon is awesome and always right.
Margie wears a no-bark shock collar while the humans are away, and it finally worked after a whole day of it not working - whew!
and the cats are weird and meaowy (two of which will find new homes soon, as the apartment only allows two pets total).

that's our update!

peace out.

Fall Foliage & Feistiness

2010-09-20T15:50:00.010-05:00

Susan's favorite colors as a little girl were pink & purple... Mother Nature gave her a present this year:

...which the bumblebees partook of gratefully:

vibrant colors in autumn look so lovely along Susan's hand-laid stone path leading up to the back door of the house:

...as the bunny rabbit wind vein points the way to the colors:

Meanwhile... Margie plays a game with our backyard wheelbarrow and her ball to entertain herself when her "sticks" (fallen tree branches) are resting... or boring...

she places her ball atop the push-cart wheelbarrow:

pretends that the wheelbarrow has stolen her ball and begins a repetitive shrieking scold:

she then manages to rescue her ball from the criminal cart:

and then howls at the wheelbarrow for accosting her and her favorite toy:

...a quick pose for wheelbarrow advertisement in Sears catalogue:

...the ball goes to the other side of the wheelbarrow and she continues to bark:

Our neighbours on the other side of the white picket fence (who gave us our pumpkin recently that was growing on their side), came home during this dog game and the lady asked, "Is that Margie barking???!! Wow, I've never heard her bark before!" And Susan laughed and explained the game as best she could over Margie's shrill vocals.

The Art Crawl

2010-09-17T21:53:00.014-05:00

Susan was invited to be a featured artist at The Paper Collector Art Gallery & Professional Framing for the Saint Cloud Art Crawl, September 17th, 2010, which was open to the public this evening from 5-9pm...

Jon's mother, Pat Ramsey, attendee of the Art Crawl, is surprised by a painting Susan did of her granddaughter a few years ago with requests to please pass on to the artwork's muse:

Susan painted her "mom's home" as a birthday gift to her mom (September 23rd) which she showed at the Art Crawl before her mom got to take it home:
"

"Smokey" a favorite old painting (painted 16 years ago of pet cat) was shown there:

an artist's Wizard of Oz hand-sewn doll creations:

Susan really liked this artist's sea creatures paintings hung on a different wall:

art viewers:

A tipsy lady married to a lawyer who was interested in two of Susan's paintings:

art crawl wanderers who are probably more interested in the wine and cheese:

The most popular of Susan's work amongst the public:

susan with Ben's friend from high school, Adam Seutter:

artist angst:

Long, long ago (in a galaxy around the corner)...

2010-09-02T21:53:00.010-05:00

We, Susan & Jon (awkwardly pictured below) went on a trip to Duluth this past June:

While there, we saw beautiful scenery (Canal Park lighthouse):

(ship coming into Canal Park harbour):

("sea"-gulls):

...and on the way home, Susan played "self-portraits" with their camera, a game which Jon does not love very much:

1

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3

4

5

6

7

...and the sun shined over a field of windmills on the way home:

Later in June, we went to Susan's niece's wedding where there were pretty flowers:

In July, Jon played a beautiful Nina Simone song at his in-law's 50th Wedding Anniversary Party:

Susan inherited her Grandmother Miranda Henrietta Rose Denbrooke Heath's skill for horticulturing african violets (the trick is to not get the leaves wet, ever):

Susan made her ward's YW girl's camp flag:

...and did NOT act like a camp leader - she's the 2nd one in from the left:

(note: Susan got asked daily at camp if she was a leader or a camper).

A Monarch visited the Ramsey house of royalty:

Bonnie Wright stole Susan's face:

(screen still from a new film to be released soon).

Our neighbour gave us our pumpkin that was growing on their side of the fence; it is turning a nice bright orange on the kitchen table now:

and Susan colored her hair red:

In other non-photographed newz:

Susan's art will be published next month in Melvin Lans' online art magazine (Jon's artist friend from Colombia, South America)

Jon has been patiently teaching Susan quantum mechanics (while enduring her lack of basic math skills)

Jon started helping coach his niece Breanna's soccer team

and Susan started leaving fewer carbon footprints on the planet by taking the bus to work, which she likes because it feels like school.

dogs in springtime...

2010-05-09T12:05:00.003-05:00

susan and margie like to cuddle and watch tv:

Piper, not understanding the game of "fetch the ball", fetches Margie instead:

...and is pleased with herself when she feels she has successfully fetched Margie:

Margie offers the ball to anyone willing to throw it for her again:

susan planted holly bushes last summer, and this year they are blooming, which brings so many possibilities for christmas decorations:

susan never noticed how the quaking aspens budded like pussy willows in early spring:

Stuff only my Mom would care about:

2010-04-29T16:59:00.004-05:00

AAAhhh, the family blog update. It will be severely boring to you unless you are my mother. So, Margie and Piper will try to take you along on a journey through our latest happenings...

Here we are waiting for Sue to throw the ball. She makes us wait too long, But we'll stand here forever, drooling, until she does:

One evening, she made an oven-roasted chicken and we couldn't stand the torture of being forced to smell it all night without being able to eat all of it. A lousy small treat portion was given:

Here's Leo who, just as he got good at climbing trees, has been quarantined inside after a neighbour complained of the cats pooping in their flower beds:

Here's sassy, jerk Napoleon. He whines a lot when he can't go outside. and whaps us and bites sometimes. what a jerk. but Susan seems to like cuddling with him for some reason:

Here's fat cat Phineas who lies around, eats, and meaows when he gets lost in the basement every 5 minutes:

Here we are running the ball back to susan so she'll throw it again to us for us to chase. our job is hard, but we love doing it:

We got to poop in this area of the yard for a year to get susan's garden all fertilized. then we got to eat all the grass out for her. then she planted her seeds yesterday, so we don't get to go in there anymore. But we do still have to eat all the grass around the fence, so our work is never complete, until winter (then we have the "stick project" to worry about):

Here's soem Spring litter susan found in our front yard after the snow melted. It was the most interesting as of yet! Half a Cinderella doll, a kid army jacket, energy drinks, and meat sticks... mmm, good stuff to chew on i'd say:

Here's all of us pets lying on susan as jon takes the picture. we like to all lie on her because she gets really warm and scratches our backs:

here's the front yard flowers this year. some sort of animal must've eaten all the Black Beauty tulips this year:

but here was a stray black beauty:

and an orange spikey one:

the parrot kind:

purple:

and a home-made hybrid:

The End. We hope you enjoyed our update... Do we get a treat now???

my big fat update

2009-07-22T11:27:00.006-05:00

last weekend brought heavenly treats of scones with devonshire cream for tea time along with grandmother denbrooke heath's english bone china.
thank you, sharon young!

napoleon liked it too:

Piper (aka Pipermint after she eats my burt's bees peppermint chapstick) gets bored when left out alone at home. Who wouldn't with NOTHING to do besides bark muffledly at passersby through windows while the humans are away?
SO... why not metamorphosize into the tazmanian devil and tornado-ify the entire house?! Yes. Plan made. And, abra-cadabra... Garbage EVERYWheRE! --->

knawed off plunger handle ^

bathroom trash ^

can't quite get to main garbage can! ^

trash be free!!! ^

pyrex measuring cup amongst boxes ^

that lemonade cookbook's gotta be around here somewhere! ^

trying to call for help with recipe ^

all we have is powder mix?!! ^

living room tornado! ^

broken glass in bathtub, broken hearts. ^

luckily, no injuries were sustained.

Piper loves her kennel while humans are away.

and we all need an extra relaxing tea time with scones and cream!

a great blue heron summer

2009-05-26T22:39:00.003-05:00

Susan's been published!
& her great blue heron painting is the Cover Art for this season's
Minneapolis Observer Quarterly!

To read whole interview, visit http://www.mplsobserver.com/

Painting With Words: Artist Susan Heath Talks About Art, Nature, and Place

May 24, 2009

The Great Blue Heron on the cover of the summer issue of MOQ was painted by Minneapolis artist Susan Heath. We asked Susan to tell us more about what inspires her and to share her thoughts about art, artmaking, and being a nature-loving artist in the city.

april shower, may flowers

2009-05-25T02:26:00.002-05:00

Hi. I'm Leonardo. Leo for short. Lucky Leo sometimes as well. I was out on the front step the other day when i discovered what good my claws are for as i abruptly ran up the front tree.

Piper underwent horticultural training and failed when she achieved mere hole-digging and seed-unearthing, but won the Canine award for "Places to hide a Bone" contest.

After an honest day's work of instigating trouble with Margie, drinking all the water, and stepping all over human's sensitive parts, Piper likes to curl up with Susan (her chosen favorite) and hoard the blankets and bed space.

We all like to go outside and enjoy the miracles of nature, including these lilacs...

Even Napoleon takes time out of his pain-causing-jerk-stuff activities to enjoy the wonders of lawn-munching...

these Bleeding Hearts spouted poetry and prose about the romance of Spring sun...

Phineas watched for birds and whined at the neighbors in his old man voice...

While the rainbows of tulips stood around, wondering which colors would be added to the mix next year.

2009-04-20T11:59:00.015-05:00

one morning, when all the animals of the house had finally quieted down from their endless play throughout the night, enough for jon to fall asleep... a man came to our neighbourhood and decided to flush out the fire hydrant in front of our bedroom window:

Margie invited her new friend Piper (Tim's pup) over and showed her her favorite toy ball to play with in the backyard:

Piper begged Margie to show her how to play:

So, Margie brought the ball to Susan, to which Susan said, "Drop it!" and Margie did so. The Susan threw the ball all the way across the yard and Margie began to chase after it... Piper saw the chasing and decided to race Margie:

The exhilerating thrill of running... Piper ran...

and ran...

and ran...

To which Margie said, "That's not how we play the ball game."

So, Piper asked Susan if she could help her with gardening, to which Susan said, "no, get out of the dirt!"

So, Piper ran through the sprinkler, biting at the water sprays, and Susan again said, "No!" And Piper cried, "I was only trying to help."

So, Piper went back to Margie's ball, and Margie growled... so she got put in the kennel. But Piper, loyal to their new friendship, went into the cell as well to show her support:

The next day, Margie showed Piper how to play the play fighting game and said, "If you want to be a true Boxer, you need to learn to fight right!"

To which Piper replied, "Look - Predator attacking Godzilla!" and with her distraction techniques and quick lightness of her feet, won the fight.

Then they all went inside for some treats and lied down for a long nap. The only trouble was, by then, it was night, and Jon's sleeping time was long gone.

balloon animals

2009-04-02T13:36:00.004-05:00

jon recently turned brenden and raisa into his marionette zombies, pretending he had friends for the afternoon:

then... signs of life appeared outside after an unbelievably long winter:

tulips that susan planted six inches underground last fall serendipitously one day before the first november snow.

iris plants reaching for the first april sun and sending their prayers to heaven for the end of the six-month glacial weather.

if only susan could have hibernated along with nature all winter. if only. (only 2 more months of feeling like a balloon animal, twisted, stretched, pulled, poked at, thrown up and down, withering over time, used up, and tossed in the trash. hooray!).

A Golden Opportunity

2009-03-14T18:59:00.002-05:00

a new warm spring-feeling day lead us to a nearby asian grocery store... we stopped in...and our jaws dropped in amazement. fresh produce and herbs, an aquarium of fish, aisles of mouth-watering sauces, treats, and grains, and a multitude of frozen vegetables, animals and animal parts including fish (millions of kinds), whole hens and geese, many cow organs, and crab legs.

Jon's favorite item was REAL rice wine vinegar for about a dollar. Susan's favorite: big bag of sea salt for 5 bucks. And the duo's together-favorite: Hello Panda chocolate-filled mini cookies. (We also noticed the nice thing about the sweets is they're made with raw ingredients including cane sugar)!

The bundle of groceries at a regular corporate grocery store would have cost, we're guessing, $130. This trip, it cost us a whopping FIFTY dollars, plus we got advice on the mangos for free from the nice check-out lady.

We are SOOOOOO shopping there from now on!!!

random things happen...

2009-03-03T15:21:00.003-06:00

bratty napoleon has survived another month without being sequestered or killed. the 3 cats can now eat together peacefully. the rest of the day... fights. napoleon is seeking help through psychopharmaceuticals for his aggressive attitude.

the mississippi river from our neighbourhood looking toward downtown minneapolis was viewed on one of susan and margie's walks.

margie enjoys walking the tracks and watching for birds on these walks; however she has learned not to chase flying objects while on the leash because her mother will put her in the kennel straightaway.

she also enjoys hopping through the snowy weeds along the bank of Shingle Creek during late winter walks.

After a looooooooong and difficult day at work, Susan came home to a clean house (ALL the piles of dishes done, ALL laundry washed, dried, folded, and put away, etc.) and the bedroom rearranged in the way she had been talking about. This was the best anniversary gift ever. 4 years!

the new cat

2009-01-22T23:15:00.006-06:00

on my way home from a long day at school,
i stopped to pick up some dog food. in the store
there was a tiny little black cat in a cage. i grabbed
an oversized bag of dog food, walked over to
the cat cage and stuck my hand through the bars
to say hello. he stared at me with severe depression.
i read that he was rescued from the roadside at only
4 weeks old after his mother and siblings had been
killed by a car. he then had an owner for 6
years but couldn't go with her when she moved.
he then spent a couple weeks in foster care and
made his way toward adoption, wanting a forever
home. well, i couldn't take it ... and adopted him
(with cat-allergy jon's permission).

Leonardo Xavier Rutherford.

Leo settled in very quickly, begged for milk
and didn't get any more when it gave him diarrhea,
and made jon his new buddy, following him around
and turning jon into a cat lover.

Leo is the nicest cat ever born. Jon now hates our
other cats (more than before) compared to Leo who
has had a crap life, gets attacked by our other animals,
and refuses to protect or retaliate with violence, using
his claws only for playing with toys. what a good cat.

...now, how do we get rid of the other ones!?

Thanks giving & receiving

2008-12-05T09:25:00.002-06:00

Susan & Raisa went into a post-turkey stupor. Well, that's what they'll tell you
about this photo, but the real story is their faces were portrayals of boredom
from listening to the boys arogantly ranting about their retro Nintendo Anticipation
skillz...

Brenden adoringly objectified Jon after losing to him at Blades of Steel.
Jon is his eternal idol.

At home, the cats caught a delicious dinner for their thankxgiving meal.
But with the economy as poor as it is, Jon and Susan partook of the feline
gift for their evening snack... Mmmm, tasty!

A Retrospective

2008-11-25T09:28:00.009-06:00

Thanksgiving ... a time to remember our slaughtered ancestors...

and a time to remember family ...

and LOOK how cute we were!!!

Liz Heath after Rick's birth 1961

Dad & Rick Heath at the lake 1961

Heath boys ready for church 1965

Liz Heath at Halloween 1969

Heath family Christmas 1979

Benjamin Thomas 1981

Susie Heath on back yard swing 1982

Susan Marie (aka Punky Brewster) 1982

Susie & Benji Heath in Mississippi 1984

...If Jon would ever let himself be photographed, we could post some of his old photos.
(*hint hint* Jon's family!) But as he himself said in protest at having his school photo
taken for his elementary school yearbook, "You don't need a picture of me, you already
know what i look like!" Sooooooooooo Jon.

Asian Sunday Dinner

2008-11-09T20:47:00.002-06:00

Shiitake & Tatake !!!

This Sunday evening, we gathered around the geeked out table of nerd games
to partake in Jon's Iron Chef Challenge-winning Chilled Beef Tatake
and Susan's (stolen recipe) Asperagus-shiitake seasame stirfry. Now, one of my
least favorite things is half-cooked (or as fancy people call it "medium rare") meat,
nor do i like cold meat when not in the middle of two pieces of bread with mustard
and all the veggie fixings... But, i ate the CRAP out of this beef tenderloin marinaded
for hours. It was truly tender and flavor-bursting. Compliments to the chef!

Anyone can cook!

Flaming Fall

2008-11-02T20:59:00.001-06:00

The best part of the year is when the leaves unmask and reveal their true colors.

Sweaters, fires in fireplaces, crisp blue skies, red crunchy apples, pumkin spice candles...

Here are some snapshots of our Lind-Bohanon neighborhood:

Look how red this bush is!

A bouquet of red maple leaves.

My favorite ... Fall. The beginning of the best time of year and all the best holidays.

And smells.

Bratty catty & Good dog

2008-10-29T17:55:00.007-05:00

This one (aka Napoleon) nearly bit the dust last week when he almost bit my face off.

For the FIFTIETH TIME!!!

It was "new home" or "death" ...

Not even Margie's sheparding skillz worked.

...He seemed to sense that something was up and had a cat conference about it over dinner one day.

...afterwhich he seemed unbelievably cuddly, as if to prove himself to me.

And i decided that he could stay. How could i break these two up?

Or these two?

Jon's Beloved.

Another Sunday Dinner

2008-10-26T19:41:00.001-05:00

This was Chicken with apple, pear, and Camembert potatoes.

It was screamingly delicious.

pretty pictures

2008-10-02T22:39:00.001-05:00

little italy

dragonfly dusk

...favorites...

2008-09-27T12:14:00.014-05:00

Currently, Susan's favorite picture is
"Summer at the Lake."
She has even installed it as her background
wallpaper on her pc.
Aubrey and Ben lead the way down the lakefront street
as Sophie and Drew watch Anji perfectly toss a frisbee
caught on digifilm gloriously in midair; tall trees waving
lazily in the wind, wild tall grasses growing alongside;
notice the retro 1960s flair of the composition
(minus modern car in background); a carefree
warm mid-Minnesota summer day.

Her favorite current food is the caterpillar roll.
Just can't bring herself to order anything
else because the eel-cuc-avocado-rice-seaweed
combination dipped in pickled-ginger-and-(heavy
on the)-wasabi-flavoured soy sauce held by chopsticks
is just too good to pass up. Like soft, nutty velvet
floating over a sea of thankful tastebuds. mmm.

Her current favorite tv find: The Lost Room.
A delightful surprise return of "Nate" from her
former favorite show Six Feet Under plays a
father in desperate search of his daughter who
disappeared behind the door to a mysterious
hotel room. Only one key can open the door,
and along with it are other objects which posess
unsual powers. Extremely well-written, acted,
and filmed. With the horribly forced boredom that is
on tv lately, this was a refreshing, actually-interesting find.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhAGrJW2Tos

...And current favorite drink:
Calypso Natural Lemonade, with real lemon bits!
This taste of the islands is a heavenly idyllic balance
of sweet and tart. Susan believes one of the most difficult culinary feats
to achieve is making a good lemonade - and Calypso has done it.

things that have been going on...

2008-09-21T21:11:00.004-05:00

Susan recently got diagnosed with Pascophos Disorder:
those riddled with obsession of taking pictures of food they make.

CAPONATA:

ZUCCHINI SUPRIMI:

[the first meal made of vegetables and herbs all from the garden]

SUMMER FISH SALAD:

TOO MANY TOMATOES!
[that didn't ripen in time for summer's end]

jon's first movie premiere THE ART OF WAR was presented at
a theatre on the U of M campus... here he is giving a speech
before the showing:

...And Susan has been getting use out of her Vibram Five Fingers
"barefoot" shoes this summer. Not too comfortable at first, but a
good breaking-in is worth the wait. Much walking the dog has followed
these shoes around, each morning before the day of WORK begins.
Very zen.

Stitches are ... Delicious ... ?

2008-09-09T09:32:00.000-05:00

Both Margie and her parents had a mouthful of stitches this month when Margie
decided to eat her bandages and tear out her stitches ... a total of three times.

This left Jon and Susan with a dinner plate full of vet bills in lieu of groceries.

Dee-lish-usss!

The Real Story: One gardening day, Margie

went outside and was playing around in the backyard as usual. Margie knocked at the backdoor when she was ready to come in, so Susan opened the door. It was early morning, and Jon was still in bed with his head softly laid on a comforting pillow, catching up on sleep from a long week of Insomnia. After a few minutes in the living room, Susan noticed several drops of crimson liquid on the 1942 bright ochre hardwood floor and said, "Alright... Who's bleeding!!?" She grabbed Margie's foot and noticed a two-inch flap of skin on the back of her front right paw and guessed that Margie had tried to hurddle the tall wooden privacy fence (again... and again... and again) and didn't accomplish a very happy landing.

Susan grabbed the nearest "junk" towel (OCPD skills still mentally intact) and achieved her most glorious First Responder performance. Susan's parents had come to help with yard work for the day, which had been planned around Susan's Surgical-Intern-Like schedule (her only day off in a month) and she was not about to abandon her guests or give up her one day of freedom by sitting in a vet hospital... so a split-second decision was made to wake the sleeping dead...
she yelled, "...JON!!! ...Emergency! 911!" ...and some stumbling and fabric shuffling of the quick-throwing-clothes-on act was heard ... and Jon came out of his den with eyes growling like a bear that seemed to say, "No. Not today."

The vet said Margie was very lucky, being a mere millimeter away from slicing two major arteries - a feat that even Susan's Sniper-vigilance Skillz couldn't have saved.

A few hours later, Margie snuggled up with

her pack leader on the bed in a glossy-eyed stupor from left over general anesthesia.

In her latest statement, Susan remarked, "Dogs are cute, but they cost a lot." A lot of physical, emotional and mental currencies too.

the darker side of margie

2008-08-17T22:58:00.003-05:00

The hospitalization this week of Majory Stewart Baxter, 10 (in human years), after police responded to a report of a suicide attempt at her Camden Minneapolis home, astonished anyone who knows her simply as the affable, boxer-german shepard mix around town.

To us outsiders, Baxter's partying seemed to be of the happy-go-lucky, nobody-gets-hurt variety. While other canines got kenneled, Baxter always appeared to have a healthy penchant for following the rules. When she wasn't busy taming her rambunctious backyard sticks, Baxter's life consisted of licking faces, riding in the car, and practicing her bark.

Obviously something darker was going on amidst all those brindle-furred mellow good times. The only comment from Baxter, who's said to be in good condition at an undisclosed healing facility, has been to issue this statement: "I respectfully ask that the media allow me to receive care and heal in private during this difficult time."

It's unusual that a dog in her prime should suffer such a dramatic meltdown. A suicide attempt, if in fact that's what happened, signals that a person is in the deepest kind of pain. While it may be a surprise to those of us who know her only by her twinkly-eyed jumpy persona, Baxter's crisis probably didn't sneak up on those close to her. And the canine and her loved ones likely won't return to the good life quickly, either.

growing

2008-08-16T19:41:00.000-05:00

sour grapes growing on our backyard trellis:

the meyer lemon tree Ben sent yields green lemons:

mum & dad put in 7 hours of gardening work around our house:

Napoleon, too afraid to go outside, watched through the window:

a summer story

2008-08-10T20:03:00.004-05:00

one summer day, susan spent the five seconds

that she had free in her garden

carrying basil in her mouth to keep hands free:

margie chased a big blue plastic ball,

begging anyone to throw it across the yard again...

and again... and again...

...and played charades (this one was "kangaroo"):

susan picked the first two zucchinis of the season

as margie made sure they were ok to eat.

susan remarked, "wow i've gained a lot of weight!"

to which margie replied, "you ain't fat! you beautiful!"

then, susan went inside and modeled

some of late grandma patricia's jewelry

(and found out those 5 holes up one earlobe still can hold an earring!)

at last, they snuggled up on the bed

and had a good sleep

(while the mischievous man of the house

snapped photos and sat insomniatically awake all night).

...the end.

a very Zombie birthday

2008-07-29T10:30:00.003-05:00

WHO: all zombie fans, family, friends, aquaintances

WHAT: Susan & Raisa's Joint Birthday Party + Zombie Movie afterwards

WHERE: Susan & Jon's house / then uptown theatre

WHEN: September 13th of this year, 3pm party, 7pm movie

WHY: to celebrate birth into life, and the living dead.

That's right - the Movie premier has been changed to Sept 13th all!

RSVP email Susan or Raisa if you will be there or square.

You have our emails. Fabulous food & drinks provided. Amen.

A Formal Apology In Advance:

2008-06-26T08:52:00.003-05:00

If Susan doesn't see you, talk to you, or reply to your emails for the next year,

she's sorry in advance.

Here commences her 60-hour work weeks + homework + eating + sleeping + breathing.

(And for a girl who prefers 4-hour work weeks and lounging on beaches, this will be busy).

Expect much isolation and crabbiness. See you next year!

You Look Just Like... !

2008-06-25T09:12:00.000-05:00

About once a year, Susan is told that she looks

JUST LIKE that one celebrity!

You know, because of the white skin

and dark hair.

Here are some of her lookalikes:

[natalie imbruglia]

[helena bonham carter]

[juliette binoche]

"that girl from the breakfast club!" -some random guy

[ally sheedy]

[snow white]

[bonnie wright]

And, yes...

[elvira!]

If you ask me, Steve Buscemi is really more of a match:

good acting. weird face. both have that in common.

tiki

2008-06-24T08:50:00.001-05:00

MY NEW FAVORITE TREAT PET FOOD:

http://www.petropics.com/

Looks good enough to eat it myself!

REaLly!

...boring updates...

2008-06-16T19:06:00.001-05:00

ants like peonies:

all of my irises turned out to be purple:

the cats (phineas & napoleon) nap on our bed, choosing their side carefully (knowing the wrath of jon's allergic reactions). they're lucky he lets them live here.

Jon's Beloved:

dog boarding

2008-06-15T19:21:00.002-05:00

A year ago, margie went to stay at

for the weekend and came back with ripped, bloody paws, depression, and exhastion. Although an open boarding area sounds nice in theory, the neglect of the irresponsible staff doesn't balance the cons. Her owners were not happy, to say the least, and Jon almost called Child Protection Services [canine division] on their A$#es !

...

We just got back from Duluth.

While we were gone, this time Margie stayed at

in White Bear Lake, MN.
She had her own 2-room kennel, outings, friendly staff (who treat the dogs like their own pets) and a bath that has made her fur smell soooooo good.

She came back to us happy, albeit grumpy for being left behind for 2 days, and very healthy-looking! Sadly, she almost looked better than when we left her!

The point? We HIGHLY recommend Goldwood Kennels!!!

It's worth the extra 10-20 miles out of your way. (and cheaper!)!

Knowing that the dog (who is a family member) won't be beaten, neglected, and catch a case of dysthymia is a comfort. aaaaaaah, breathe easily. The dog is safe. And pampered!

hilarious

2008-06-12T09:18:00.000-05:00

McCain Vows To Replace Secret Service With His Own Bare Fists

Art of War (Arthur DeGuerra) THE MOVIE

2008-06-06T11:33:00.016-05:00

Through the lense of Jon's cinematic eye, we catch here a glimpse into the behind scenes of the making of Art of War the movie (a zombie comedy... zomedie). This movie will premier this August 23rd, at an uptown theatre in Minneapolis. Come Join us! Because if you don't, no one else will.

no one had their lines memorized; quick script reading before takes was common:

Zombie Drew:

Val (played by susan) kicks some zombies in the bollocks:

the blood:

Insane office workers band together planning to overtake the living dead:

their Honorable Office Master (flanked by the office scanks) agrees to go to war against the zombies:
the stars of the story fuel up on prison burritos and load their weapons:
Beardo takes a quick moment to write in his diary. Keep Out!

Dave, the sound guy, records the sound:
Darryl. That is all. Darryl.

a good combination: psychotic individuals with weaponry:

And... Action!

more stars of the film look motivated as they wait four hundred years for planes to stop flying overhead in order to get a good shot of one lousy scene:
Arthur DeGuerra: armed and ready:
Holly Golightly showed up to help out with acting and motivation:
Jon directs as the actors listen intently:

THE ZOMBIES:

(alison feigh)
.

[[Police ask: What are the living dead doing on your front lawn???]]
Jon directs some more while Dustin produced:
Wendy (carrie) gets her arm eaten by her boyfriend--turned-zombie, as her brother Art, waits with ax in hand:

white boards were needed for lighting purposes:
WHEN ZOMBIES ATTACK... ... ... SLOWLY:

(sam meyer)

(kristin)

On Location in a Parking Ramp...
Susan helps zombie-make-up-ify Tom Butler:

Krista Stocks, the true make-up artist on set, paints Josh Feit:

Josh after a kill:

Zombie Alison (who in her personal life writes safety books for children) killed several people on this particular day:

"AChkGHLOUGHccckkkAahh":
Let me eat you:
(paul robbinson)

(holly & nataly)

KING OF ZOMBIES in the zombie-alien lair:

If you choose to not attend the premier of this homemade movie...

You will be eaten alive.

(more details to follow).

food(ies)

2008-06-05T18:48:00.002-05:00

Jon loves his new ginormous charcoal grill/smoker. Last Sunday he made the most delectable mesquite smoked pork tenderloin.

Now, Susan does not like pork tenderloins (unless made by her gourmet chef friend Meredyth who puts it with herbed chevre cheese and rosemary garlic mashed potatoes), so had a hard time eating it - very picky about meats - but even she had to admit its mouth-watering flavour. The grill was one of our best buys this summer (as we are often obsessed with cooking and dining).

Today, Susan wanted chocolate cake. She had been reminiscing about her mother-in-law's infamous chocolate-chocolatechip-bundt cake and got a craving.

And today, a new cake was born: Chocolate Hug cake: devil's food hugged by raspberry wine chocolate sauce, and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. So rich and delicious you might get a little dizzy.

After dinner, Margie and Jon played: who can bark louder at one another?

It was quite delightful to listen to.

remodeling the kitchen

2008-06-04T19:33:00.005-05:00

this was our kitchen when we first moved in:

shortly before we officially moved in (during painting week) we painted the walls a rich sunset yellow color. apparently no photos were taken of it during this phase (phase 1: obsession with a yellow kitchen), but here is a shot of the wall indicating the color:

phase three, entitled: obsession with black and white kitchen, came to fruition today. a week ago, susan became obsessed with re-redoing the kitchen in black and white (having attained a love for the colors [or absence/presence of all color] several months ago). she quit her job last friday (think, if you will, back to a time when jon once wrote to an evil company he worked for: "i'm going to lunch...and never coming back.")... quite abruptly due to their lack of ethical practices and professionalism, and decided to use her time wisely - creative home improvment project. so, without further ado, here is the black and white kitchen!!!

...and yes, i know you are judging me in your head, or perhaps outloud while your spouse in the other room says, "did you say something dear?" while you mutter: "black walls??!" And to this i respond: YES! Black walls! I Love them! I love my black and white kitchen. I should be a designer on Trading Spaces (the materials here only cost $70 for new hardware and paint). You might note it's a bit reminiscent of an italian restaurant mixed with the 1960s pop culture. And I'm in LOVE.

meals not included (unless you come over).

lilacs

2008-05-22T20:32:00.003-05:00

thanks to jon's transplanting skillz, we now have four lilac bushes in the front yard. thus, my first lilac bouquet from my first owned lilac bushes:

As i was plucking the violet bundles off the bushes, jon remarked, "what's the point of having the bushes if you pluck off all the flowers?" and then belched loud enough to scare birds out of the neighbouring trees...

...then we went inside to find Margie modeling some lilac petals on her collar for us with a big toothy grin:

what a weird family i have.

susan's tulips

2008-05-18T19:25:00.001-05:00

Black Beauty

red & yellow parrot

dandelion, dandelion

2008-05-17T16:02:00.003-05:00

Because of this children's nursery rhyme:

...

"Oh dandelion, yellow as gold,What do you do all day?"

"I just wait here in the tall green grass

Till the children come out to play."

"O dandelion, yellow as gold,What do you do all night?"

"I wait and wait til the cold dews fall

And my hair grows long and white."

"And what do you do when your hair is white

And the children come out to play?"

"They take me up in their dimpled hands

And blow my hair away."

...

Susan will spend her adult life with a yellow lawn. She has a hard time thinking of those golden flowers as weeds. Goodbye lush grassy lawn.

sculpting fun out of stones

2008-05-10T19:41:00.001-05:00

since jon is poor, he has to play with rocks.

here he is building a sculpture...

and then bowling margie over with his mad backyard games skillz.

elbow

2008-05-03T19:48:00.001-05:00

why are susan & jon so happy?

because they had delicious sushi and went to an Elbow show...

cheers!

the other day...

2008-05-02T20:38:00.000-05:00

when margie and i were looking at the great blue heron nests up in the treetops by the mississippi river...

she decided she needed to jump in.

nature walks

2008-05-01T16:29:00.001-05:00

in stead of sitting inside all day, susan braved the freezing cold "spring" weather
and went for a walk in the chilly sunshine...

sunday dinner

2008-04-27T21:08:00.005-05:00

for sunday dinner, susan made her first ever chicken pot pie (with a little help from tyler florence) - how very minnesotan of her...

...and margie helped with the dishes...

mmmm - you know it's good when you lick your plate clean.

jon's world

2008-04-26T21:04:00.003-05:00

happiness is working on music.

perhaps someday fulltime.

...

laundry

2008-04-26T20:41:00.002-05:00

a painting susan did the other day for fun. josh's two great danes hold up the laundry line while the items dry in the wind.

sunday dinners

2008-04-20T18:09:00.002-05:00

i grew up having guests over for sunday dinner each sunday. my mom would cook a huge meal and we'd all sit around the dining room table and eat together and talk about life.

continuing this tradition, some of jon's friends come over each sunday to visit and we frequently cook a big meal and fill ourselves with food and conversation.

this sunday's dinner was beef & spinach & four cheese lasagna with homemade buttery garlic bread.

outsider art

2008-04-02T18:31:00.002-05:00

susan works at a day training program for adults with developmental disabilities. here is some work from individuals who participate in an art group at the center... my favorite paintings... that fill the halls and rooms of the building:

[angels & stained glass]

[calla lilies and abstract art]

[abstract geometries]

[blow art]

[combined project]

Hurray ART!

narnia

2008-03-31T22:37:00.003-05:00

just when we thought it was spring...

the ice queen had a tantrum

and spit her cold fury all over the last day of march.

(tim burton designed our front railing)

Do you hear what i hear ... Hmmm?

2008-03-29T10:20:00.000-05:00

Do you hear that?

...probably not as well as Margie does.

Her ears and coloring often prompt strangers in public to ask us what kind of dog she is - we answer: Boxer-German Shepard mix... And they always answer back, "Oh, I thought it was a hyena, African Wild Dog, or a Dingo!"

Family Portrait

2008-03-04T19:22:00.001-06:00

Margie's Stick Project

2007-12-15T15:58:00.003-06:00

margie has four sticks, fallen branches, in her backyard. these sticks often misbehave and she is forced to bark at them incessantly. at times, she likes them to line up in a row, at times she likes to carry them in her mouth across the yard to a different spot, and at times she likes to bite, drag, gnaw, and throw them up in the air. Little girls have dolls. Little Margies have sticks.

first christmas, first house

2007-12-04T19:24:00.001-06:00

Harvest Party IV

2007-10-29T19:42:00.000-05:00

Iron Chef Challenge

2007-08-17T19:29:00.003-05:00

Kitchen Stadium Masters, Jon & Meredyth took on the challenge of creating edible dishes with ginger in front of an audience of 12 of their peers. All were surprised when Jon took the title. Meredyth's food was much more presentable, but i guess the crowd went wild for Jon's chilled beef tatake which melted in their mouths like bovine velvet.

ocean over @ station 4, st. paul, mn

2007-06-09T20:23:00.003-05:00

[jon is in a band] Before their base-player quit his job and moved to new zealand to eat kiwi fruit and stare at the ocean, this band was known to play in public.

time has dissolved the leftover three into the basement where they record in private.

the brats... uh, cats.

2007-05-16T19:53:00.000-05:00

Napoleon Humphrey Tate Meaowington (9/27/06)

Phineas T. Chesterfield III (9/14/06)

white... trash.

2007-04-29T18:11:00.000-05:00

Yes, Easter Holiday often commemorates the Resurrection of the Christ.

But it's also a time to rummage through your stash of candy beans, use them as teeth, and inspire new tv sitcoms like My Name Is Earl.

We're very proud.

true story

2007-04-19T17:12:00.000-05:00

jon ramsey. direct descendant of the ramsay clan of scottland. you know, braveheart. william wallace. ramsay was one of the three clans hated by the english.

susan heath. direct descendant of king edward the second. you know, ole eddie the longshanks from the same movie, the one who sent orders for his english army to kill off those mangy scottish people.

put the two together, and you have a marriage made in heaven. jon and i spend most of our time planning wars against each other. i usually rape, pillage, and quarter him, while he takes his recourse by throwing rocks and sticks at me, being poor, cussing, and riding his horses all up on my front lawn with his shield and sword, screaming, "FREEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOMM!"

other than that we're pretty boring. introverted. and artsy.

we have three kids named phineas, napoleon, and marjory. cat, cat, dog.

the end.

We got a new puppy!

2007-04-09T19:48:00.000-05:00

Marjory Stewart Baxter: born 8 January 2007