It's smashed penny time!

My buddy, Victoria and her lovely family, are always kind enough to think of me whenever they see a smashed penny machine.  They recently visited Colorado and brought me back this lovely, tiger-centric smashed penny from the Cheyenne Zoo.  I love it when the machines have animal designs.  I'm a sucker for that.

I have also gotten my pal, Enza and her husband, addicted to collecting.  Enza is so into it that she bought a smashed penny passport.  I love that the nerdiness is spreading.  Smashed pennies are the best.

I Went to the Iowa State Fair.

Things I accomplished at the Iowa State Fair.

I held an alligator.

I added to my smashed penny collection.

We watched a professional flint knapper make this knife out of flint.  AMAZING.

Comprehensive list:  Hand fed zebra, saw the world's smallest horse (30 pounds, squeeeee!), got harassed by a carnie, rode horrifying fair rides at the midway, ate a deep friend snicker bar and a GIANT turkey leg, found the world's grossest port-o-potty and decided I could hold it, saw a life sized cow carved out of butter, pet a baby cow for five minutes, drank at the Iowa craft beer tent, watched several bands preform, heat exhaustion, watched my friends and family throw axes, bought two beaver skulls for 7 bucks, found out that baby camels are possibly the most awkward looking animal on god's green earth.  OUT.  Peace. 

Smashed Pennies from the Glen Oak Zoo.

Juice, Barton, and I went to Glen Oak Zoo on Saturday.  It was an eventful trip, I watched a zookeeper feed a mandrill some lettuce.  Whoa.  It was pretty intense.  I also purchased these beautiful smashed pennies and have a new favorite animal : The Red River Hog (So CUTE).

A Cropped Image of a New Painting.

smashed penny from greenmama!  thanks, Carmers!

It was a busy weekend but I managed to get a lot of painting done.  I've cropped this image to let the painting remain mysterious.  I still want the magic to be there for it's real unveiling in a week.  If I finish it, that is.  Damn holidays.

Artifacts, Iowa. Bird Point.

1.  KP, Mudd, and I went on an artifact hunt ton Saturday. Check out what Kyle found, a perfect birdpoint.    It was hidden in tall weeds and he still managed to sniff it out.

2.  My buddy and her family just got back from an amazing California themed vacation.  They brought me back these wonderful smashed pennies.  This is my first smashed penny that proudly features a bottle of booze!  I'm pretty excited about that.

3. Mudd got a bite of the garden carrots.  Look at that face...awwwwwww.

Smashed pennies!

I love it when my friends travel, see a smashed penny machine, and KNOW that I would appreciate the gift.  So, a big thanks to V. Farmer for the Navy pier penny and the Iowa 80 Truck Stop penny. Also, a big thanks to "Sorry Charlie" for the Iowa Hall of Pride penny and the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Factory pennies.  And last but least, thanks, E-Daz for the Omaha Zoo Seahorse Penny. 

Let's See How Much Money I Can Waste.

I'll admit it, I'm obsessed.  For the past few weeks I've been walking to the train tracks with one thing in mind...wasting money.  All I want to do is smash change.  I don't want to spend my hard earned loose coinage on candy or pop, I just want to put it on the train tracks and make it worthless.

There's something totally wonderful about my most recent obsession.  A giant train runs over your coins, flattens them, and turns them into a new and wonderful object.  The sound three smashed quarters makes when you jingle them in your hands is hypnotic.  Each coin reacts differently to the weight of the Union Pacific...older coins are sturdier and produce a more satisfying impression and sound.  New coins, pennies especially, will shred under the intense pressure and leave razor sharp edges.  I've cut my hand while jingling the 2012 train track smashed pennies.

I have ideas for these objects.  The sounds they make begs me to turn them into some kind of a wind chime for my garden.  I have a drill, I know how to link objects together, perhaps I'll do that after a few more trips to the tracks.

Anyone who has followed my blog knows I've been obsessed with collecting smashed pennies from tourist attractions.  Now I can finally do it myself.  I dub this summer, The Summer of Loose Change and Heavy Trains, and its going to be a good season.

Enjoy your Friday.

Train Track Nickel and Dime Smashing.

Want some wholesome/dangerous fun.  Here's the rules.

1. Find a rural train track. If you are in the city/suburbs and the track has a third rail....back off.    Electrocution is imminent.
2. Look both ways to make sure a Union Pacific isn't going to hit you in the face.
3. Place your change on the rail and make note of where you put the stuff.  The change will move a bit when the train smashes them.
4. Return in the morning.  You'll have a bunch of wonderful trinkets.  Also, your money is now useless.  

Yup.  I've been a busy girl.  Today I'm thinking about smashing a quarter, a Susan b. Anthony, a gold dollar with stupid Andrew Jackson on it, and maybe a fork.  Happy smashing, folks. 

A Smashed Penny from Minnestoa!

My good buddy, Big T, just got back from a school trip.  Where were they? Minneapolis.  Damn, I love that city.  And since T's a good guy he already knew that I collect smashed pennies. He brought me back one that prominently features a moose and another with a wolf.  That made me a happy Jane.  I love animal themed smashed pennies.

Jane Battles the Storm.

I don't know what I was thinking...perhaps it was something like, "I'll just drive home Saturday night so I'll have all of Sunday to relax and drink a light beer of some sort." I knew there was a storm headed for South Central Iowa and I knew that the meteorologists were predicting a doozy.  Maybe it's good that I have no sense of impending doom but I'm pretty sure that it's not.  To drive or not to drive?

Ok.  Getting the story started.  I left the party in Darien at about 6:30 which would put me at my house in Iowa around 11:45pm, give or take a bathroom break or two.  I hopped in the Honda, took a glug of coffee, and was on my merry way.  My mother called two hours into the drive to tell me about the big storm.  The point she tried to drive home?

"get a hotel you idiot.  i've heard there's hail."

Of course I didn't listen, she's my mother.  But I was getting close to the World's Largest Truck Stop and decided to pull over to hear what all the truck drivers were talking about.  Once again, I'm an idiot...real truck drivers don't go to tourist traps, they go to the Flying J.  I had to ask the 17 year old in charge of the cigarettes for her thoughts on the storm.  Yeah, bad idea.  I received a vacant stare followed by a "I haven't heard a thing."

That was good enough for me.  I ran to the smashed penny machine and was delighted to find out that the tourist trap had two new designs.  Way to be, Iowa Truck Stop.  Then I left...unafraid of the impending storm.

 

 I should have been afraid as I drove west on I-80 and into the lighting.  I should have been afraid when I heard the thunder clapping after 1-mississippi, 2- Mississippi.  And I should have been especially afraid when I realized there were only a handful of us idiots left driving on the road.  The sky opened up.  I've never seen anything like it in my life...sheets of rain, nothing but rain.  I lost any kind of visual besides wavy red lights in front of me.  Then hazard lights.  Then lights pulling off to the side of the road...and I'm one of those lights.  

I put my car into park and prepared to hunker down.  Before I could figure out what was going on I went blind and deaf.  Lighting struck the middle of the road half a mile in front of me.  Then the thunder clapped above my head and it felt like I was punched in the chest.  I tried to recover but was blinded again, this time closer and to my right.  Lightning was hitting left and right, thunder booming, booming, booming.  I was in shock. 

If I wrote about everything that happened this post would be far too long to keep your interest.  I'm shocked if you're still reading.  I got out safe.  The storm only lasted about 30 minutes but caused devastation throughout Iowa.  75 % of a town was damaged and there were a few tornadoes.  I was so fuzzy from the storm I drove 25 miles in the wrong direction and tacked an hour onto my trip.  I was home by 1:30 am.  Moral of the story:  When your mother tells you to get a hotel room DO IT!  Don't think you're more clever then nature, damnit.  You'll lose every time.

more souveneirs.

Wow, I have way too many smashed pennies. And by way too many I mean not enough. In all seriousness, if I took all of my sp's and multiplied each of them by 51 cents I'd be in the red well over 200 bucks. Oh well. I found these guys in my Tupperware full of random souvenirs...I realized I have over 4 Iowa Truck Stop pennies...I must smash one whenever I drive across 80.

smashed pennies.

Obsession runs deep in this kid. I can't get enough of these smashed pennies. Its gotten to the point where weekend trips will revolve around whether or not a smashed penny machine exists at the location. Unfortunately for me, both of the penny machines at the Blank Park Zoo were out of order (it didn't stop me from trying, I lost two bucks. Damnit)...I was a little disappointed.

But the the Botanical Center had a machine. Thank goodness. I bought all four and couldn't be happier with the beautiful penny designs. But it gets even better. You may notice the penny on the top right has no design. Trevor made me a smashed penny...he laid some pennies on a train track and went back the next day to collect the cool objects. Old school smashed penny, not too shabby.

the mall of america.

We left Peoria and drove to see Matt in Minneapolis. Minneapolis is a great city for smashed penny collectors mostly because of the Mall of America...sort of because of the State Fair. Before I left on the trip I went to www.pennycollector.com and looked up all of the pennies available at the Mall of America...I was hell bent on collecting all of them. We walked around the mall for hours...we went through a mirror maze (baffling ordeal), rode a roller coaster (horrifying) and a mechanical bull (i stayed on for 11 seconds), all the while collecting smashed pennies. I ended up with well over 25 and for some reason they had a "I love Canada" machine. I know Minnesota is close to Canada but Minneapolis isn't...what's the deal? Mostly, there are a lot of Rainforest Cafe pennies. That place sucks.

As for the fair, it boasted something I've never seen. A free, FREE smashed penny machine. The only problem with that is the line. A huge line full of children, inept at smashing, stood behind the machine. Of course I waited, they were free.

penny time.

I went to Adventureland park over the weekend and had a damn fine time. I rode some roller coasters, drank a warm beer while eating an overpriced Phili cheese steak, screamed a lot, almost threw up on a spinney ride, and did some excellent people watching. I saw three people with one leg, two people with one arm, one woman who was covered in warts, and I observed the obesity epidemic while waiting in line.

My one beef about the park is that they didn't have a smashed penny machine. Its an old, historic park...it should have had a smashed penny machine. Well, since they didn't have one I decided to post more of my collection.

p.s. I just found a comprehensive list of all of the penny smashing machines in the united states.

http://pennycollector.com/

penny. penny!

I'm a collector. I collect rocks, bone china, books, fossils, postcards, nick-knacks, and basically any other small (and interesting) souvenirs. People know this about me and when my friends travel around this beautiful country they'll make me smashed pennies. I love smashed penny machines, they're classic Americana. Any good tourist trap will have a penny smashing machine. They're cheaper then anything(51 cents), even a postcard. So, why not get one? I'm planning on making a giant shadow box frame to display my amazing collection that would only partially exist without the help of my worldly, road tripping, pals.