Holli Rausch

I was asked to create these three vector portraits yesterday. I spent 4.5 hrs yesterday and 7.5 hrs today working on them. While they aren’t exactly spitting images of the persons, they are pretty darn close and take on some of their characteristics. I’m pretty proud of them.

I’m having issues with using black in Illustrator. For some reason, the default black swatch isn’t true black and so after I’m all done with an image, I realize that the “black” I used is actually slightly grey or purple. I’ve had this issue on two separate computers, so I know it’s not how I have the swatches set up. But it might be something with the color mode – anyone out there know what the issue might be? I only notice it once I save as a .jpg, never while I’m creating.

As many of you know, the Rausch Reunion is held every even year over the 4th of July holiday. This year was my second time in attendance and it was in Bismarck, ND. On Thursday, we picked up cousin Dan, cousin Amy, sister Molly and sister Brenna at the Summit exit and drove Val and Paula’s suburban the rest of the way. That night, along with 13 other relatives, we went to Hancock, which I found disappointing. Late night, but we were able to sleep in on Friday morning. After a jog/walk, we (Miles, sister Molly and I) met up with cousins Molly and Jenny and headed to Art in the Park in a nearby town. Then we hung out at the pool and headed to a park for a family picnic, then Cold Stone and then to the capital mall area for fireworks.

Saturday was the golf tournament for most of the group. About 18 of us had an alternative tournament for disc golf, which was started as a tradition at the last reunion. Cousin Brenna had put together the teams, and though I wasn’t originally, I ended up on the same team as Miles, which worked out quite well since we brought our own discs and could share. That night was Mass and the awards banquet. And let me tell you, it was long. My hips and back started hurting from sitting for so long, so I moved to the lobby where all the little kids were playing. At the time, the children were beginning to overthrow the leader of the games because they didn’t like all her rules. Ahh, to be young again and thwarting “the man”.

At the end of the banquet, they try to determine where the next reunion will be. They seemed to be pushing for the Colorado group, but they said they needed 4 years to plan it, so they’ll be hosting in 2012. It kind of got shoved on to Sioux Falls after that and last I’ve heard, that’s where it will be in 2010. So we’ll be a large part of the planning committee, since there are only a couple Rausch families living here.

After that, we all hung out in one small hotel room, which I quickly removed myself from. Cousin Chad let us pick out a wedding present from his collection of glass sculptures (many are vases, but not all) and we’re excited about the one we got! On Sunday, we all packed up and made our way back home. A great reunion, I’d say about 125+ Rausch family members, which is intense. On to 2010.

When we arrived at the Rausch Reunion on Thursday, about 18 cousins (and 2nd/3rd cousins) were set to go see Hancock, so we joined them. I enjoyed the first half of the movie. I hated the second half. And it seemed like pretty much all of the first half I’d already seen in previews. The second half had this odd twist that 1) I saw coming with the first very slight indication and 2) did not add depth to the movie, nor improved it.

I did enjoy the story and struggle of Hancock. I was also really pleased to find that Jason Bateman, playing Ray, has a much large role in this film than I thought. But of course, the story of Hancock and Ray trying to help his image, wasn’t the main plot in this movie and that left me highly disappointed.

The visual effects were less than satisfactory. The compositing of Hancock flying through a city was a wreck and the only way they could hide it was by shaking the camera and adding a motion blur to his image.

I’d like to get more in depth with this, but this is truly all I can say without spoiling it.

The first half of Hancock gets a 4 out of 5 stars. The second half gets a 2. So all together, Hancock gets a 3 out of 5 stars.

As kids, Dad would take us to Sioux Falls in August to go shopping for school supplies.  (He’s a teacher, so he had summers off too.) Then we’d get to eat out for supper and do something fun. It was called “Kids’ Day”, (since our parents each had their own parental day). More often than not, our Kids’ Day celebration was at Gigglebees. As my brother, Adam, and I got older, we ventured on to other things like Thunder Road or a movie, but since my sister, Marissa, was 5 years younger than me (8 years for my brother), we still went to Gigglebees every few years, and still enjoyed it. We all had birthdays in April, and we’d get a coupon in the mail from Wilbur, so many of our early birthdays were spent there as well.

I was fascinated by the robotic raccoon-like animal on the tricycle. I remember the day I figured out that the robot was controlled by the guy behind the mirror – and that was a sad day. I had grown up. I also remember all the useless trinkets I would get as prizes for games like skee ball. Like the chinese finger trap I accidentally broke many years after I forgot I had it.

Dad recalls memories of Gigglebees adventures: “I remember the tradition of going to Gigglebees on many birthdays. The video games and bumper cars were fun. And you kids either loved or were terrified of Wilbur!” Our feelings toward Wilbur are confusing for us too, Dad.

Adam remembers, fondly: “My Gigglebees memory is when dad was playing a racecar driving game and I needed money. So he gave me his wallet and I took out some money. Then I put his wallet on the floor next to him. Well, either he forgot this or he never knew I put it there, but anyway after we left Gigglebees he realized he didn’t have it, so we went back to that spot and the wallet was still there. Unfortunately, none of his cash was.” What a great place.

Marissa struggles: “I tried to think but I can’t remember any.” It’s OK, sister. Life’s tough.

I’m sure Mom would have something to share, but I’m too impatient for her to get home from work and reply to my email for memories. She’ll comment if she has any to share.

The last day Gigglebees is open is Thursday, July 3rd. According to local blogs I have been reading, the land is being redeveloped and so the building will be gone soon. They are looking for someone to purchase the entire business and those persons would need to find a new building to restart Gigglebees in. We ate there today for lunch. It wasn’t like I remembered it, and I probably shouldn’t have gone because of that.

I wonder what they’ll do with the games. And if they’ll be selling Wilbur.

Photo courtesy of Adam Bubolz.

Inspired by World News with Charlie Gibson and Jackie’s posts about the EF-5 tornado to hit Iowa, it’s made me wonder what one thing I would search for in the wreckage of my home (or save, if time allows to grab it).  As someone who’s so fearful of severe weather I can’t even look outside during a storm, I’m surprised I’ve never really thought hard about it before. A few items have come to mind. As I write this post, I haven’t made my decision so I’m going to write out things I’d like to save and any explanation behind it or a reason for it not being the ‘one item’. I think by the time I finish it, I’ll have an answer.

• Photos/Wedding photos – While these are sentimental, they are archived online with Flickr. While it would be time consuming and painful to reprint and redownload to my computer, they’re safe and sound.
• Wedding ring – Chances are, it wouldn’t be off my finger, but if it were, it is covered by insurance.
• My grandmothers’ jewelry – Sentimental items more for the sake of passing on to daughters, but finding something from both grandmothers that can travel through history would be worth it.
• Camera – To document the story for a grieving outlet and for remembering.
• iMac – It’s one of our most prized possessions because it’s really the first large item we bought together. We unplug it when there’s a threat of severe weather, so it would be easy to grab.
• Our backup drive – While losing our iMac would be very sad, it’s covered by insurance. Losing our data would be more sad, because you can’t just buy your files and time back with your insurance check.
• Haji – We took her with us to safety the last time weather threatened, but only because time was on our side. Admittedly, she’s not first on my list since she came with her owner by default.
• Cell phone – Not only to see if others are OK or to have others be able to reach me to see if we’re OK, but to have for neighbors who don’t have a way of getting hold of their family. I probably would already have it, and if not, someone would.

Of all these items, and I’m sure I’ve missed some since I didn’t put a lot of thought into it, I’d probably go for the backup drive. I have a lot of files I’d miss if tragedy struck us, because my passion is design – and losing my archive of what I’ve done would be nearly devastating. I’m sure it would be for Miles, too. We should have a backup somewhere other than our home, but we don’t, and so that is why it wins.  Severe weather predicted for today…

What would be the one item you’d search for (or save)?