As you can see, it's late in the day and still stifling.
Even making sure to hydrate and running after 8:00pm didn't seem to be working. I would still see little sparkly stars every now & then mid-run, which I guessed weren't a good sign. But then, like a miracle, a weird cool front of sorts swept into Texas and gave us some brief relief. Thank you, strange weather gods - nearly zero humidity and temps in the mid-80's. Yesssssssssss.
What a difference 20° can make! No more heat stroke - hurrah!
Before the strange cool front hit, though, we had to find ways to live our lives and not be miserable. So, we went to view an amazing exhibit at The Blanton Museum of Art on UT campus called Lifelike. What a mind-blowing afternoon! These pieces were startlingly real and, well, lifelike. Check out some of our faves:
An old granny, hunched over in deep thought.
A Hefty garbage bag, stuffed full - made out of marble.
Small weeds, "growing" up a wall. The artist's way of showing the beauty in everyday things,
as well as the stark contrast of life outdoors vs life indoors.
This wall-mounted piece titled "(Old) No One In Particular #6". This one BLEW our minds.
First of all, the sheer size of it ...
This is a random woman standing next to it, for comparison.
Then the strange depth it had to it. Looking on, it was 3D, but it was nearly flat from the side. Amazing.
Then the teeny tiny, mouse-sized functioning elevators.
There were even buttons inside.
The elevators, in action. Did you see the lights above the doors illuminating like they were on actual floors? Ha!
Then there was this amazing, large piece that is an exact replica of the artist's kitchen in his childhood home. Every single detail is the same as the original - the doorknobs, flooring, appliances, everything. It was pretty cool to walk around in - and it was like going into a time warp.
He couldn't find the exact table to match, so he sculpted one. No problem. (!!)
To do the flooring, he scanned one single linoleum tile from the original floor, then laser-etched it into composite tile to complete it.
And the wallpaper was hand-drawn from photographs, then re-silkscreened. Unbelievable!
Another favorite - the sculpture of someone sleeping in a sleeping bag.
The giant paper bag.
The giant milk carton.
And the giant portrait this artist drew of himself.
After checking out that exhibit, we walked upstairs to see if some of the old-standby favorites of ours were still there. And surprisingly, some of them were!
Like two different replicas of Z's namesake.
The wonderful and strange pennies and bones piece.
It makes my heart soar to see him analyzing and discussing art.
One of my personal favorites over the years.
And Z's favorite wooden sculpture from when he was little. He even remembered how much
he loved this piece years ago, he brought it up this time. He's always had a love for all things art.
Smart dog.
The wonderful and strange pennies and bones piece.
It makes my heart soar to see him analyzing and discussing art.
One of my personal favorites over the years.
And Z's favorite wooden sculpture from when he was little. He even remembered how much
he loved this piece years ago, he brought it up this time. He's always had a love for all things art.
Staring at other people's creativity sure can make you hungry, so we ventured out for a late afternoon snack. In doing so, I had the profound pleasure of introducing my husband to Lucky J's, the home of the utterly divine chicken and waffle taco. I have only shared in this debauchery one time prior, but it made a profound impact on my soul. Fried chicken, wrapped in a fluffy waffle, topped with spicy hot sauce and syrup - sweet Lawd. No matter what craving you are having, this satisfies them all - sweet, salty, hot, fried, breakfast, lunch ... it's one helluva winner winner chicken dinner. And I am happy to add that all of the following items were shared -- only one of each were ordered. Did you think we would each get our own? C'mon, we're not THAT bad.
Started with the fried green tomatoes, topped with a cajun remoulade. These do not appear on the online menu, but they are present in all their glory if you dine-in. As a general rule, if there are fried green tomatoes on a menu, Aaron and I will order them. These made us glad we have that weird rule.
The shining star -- the chicken waffle taco. Stop what you are doing and find one of these immediately. It is soul food & comfort food, at it's best. These tacos are one of the reasons I run.
We washed it all down with a locally made soda. It was pretty good.
I will say, after this weekend, it's been decided we need to regroup and focus on doing another cleanse. As much fun as it is to be eating out on the weekends, we're beginning to feel awfully weighted down and blah. But, that's another post.
As for Cody, this is what he did all weekend:
Smart dog.
I've been trying to finish this blog post for a few days now - started it Tuesday, but kept getting distracted (had a busy day at both jobs, then an epic bad day at the office Wednesday, then July 4th yesterday). But, now it's finished, and I'll post next about finally receiving my Foodie PenPal box from Michelle in Wisconsin (yay!). As for now, time to go squeeze in a run before we head out to the drive-in theater tonight.
Until next time ...
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