Meanderings and Musings

A few videos for your day

2009-03-29T19:56:00.002-04:00

A prime example of those that take the bible too literally - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7h08RDYA5E. Apparently we can't possibly be experiencing climate change because god is the only one who can end the world... Actually, the logic on this one is a bit fuzzy for me. Climate change isn't necessarily the end of the world so the argument that god is the only one that can end the world/that he promises in the bible never to do the flood again doesn't really follow. Anyway, its tough to see people so tied to the letter of their faith that they won't listen to scientific studies or consider that science and faith can coexist.

Another interesting one on the subject of evolution - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO9IPoAdct8&feature=response_watch. Apparently everything the three guys say was taken from christian fundamentalist forums. ::Shakes Head::

Good Stuff - http://www.buzzfeed.com/lebuzzodrome/los-colorados-hot-and-cold-9ht/

and something for the nerd in all of us - http://andyfarrell.blogspot.com/2009/03/cannonball-in-mercury.html

Green Shrug

2009-02-02T20:55:00.003-05:00

My latest finished project in the yarn realm is the "Chunky Alpaca Shrug" from Sensual Crochet by Amy Swenson. I used Baby Alpaca Grande by Plymouth Yarn in (excitingly named) color # 798. The color is a piney green with a little bit of reddish brown mixed in. This crocheted up very quickly because of the open pattern and the fact that its simply a rectangle that you sew partway together for arms. The yarn was great to work with and is really soft. I tried to get a good picture of the shrug, but failed miserably. If I can ever figure out what to wear this with I'll try to get an actual picture of me wearing it. For now, enjoy the below.

There are a number of things in this book that I'd like to try, however, I'm not thrilled with the pattern directions throughout. They are not super intuitive and take a lot of reading and pondering - at least for someone like me who is on the intermediate/beginner borderline. Next project that is likely to be revealed on here will be a shrug in my own pattern. I hope it comes out well!

Yay for Science

2008-12-21T11:03:00.003-05:00

A quote from Obama on science:

"The truth is that promoting science isn't just about providing resources," he said. "It's about protecting free and open inquiry. It's about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology. It's about listening to what our scientists have to say. Even when it's inconvenient."

And here is the article on npr that it came from should you wish to read the whole thing: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98564233

I'm just happy that it looks like we are actually going to turn back towards science and rationality with the next administration. Maybe we can turn all the bad around, at least to some extent instead of watching ourselves continue to spiral downward.

TDTESS

2008-12-19T14:53:00.002-05:00

A few notes on The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951 vs. 2008 for those of you interested. First things first. Should you go see the new version? Well, its not the best movie ever, but it certainly isn't the worst. If there is nothing at the theatre you'd like to see more, then TDTESS is a fine option, but if you are debating, probably go ahead and see the other movie on your list and save this one for dvd. That said, the movie is interesting to compare to its 1951 counterpart. There is a lot about the two movies that is very different, however a lot of that is more surface and of the times than the main underlying themes. In both the death of the human species is impending because of our own actions. The reason that we are found to be a threat by the alien species is different between the two movies and is a really great example of what was on the mind of the collective conscious in 1951 and what is on our minds now. In 1951 it was nuclear war (the aliens were worried we might cause extraterrestrial destruction with our new rocket power), now its environmental degradation of the Earth (the aliens won't let us continue to destroy life on Earth so we have to go). Although I think the switch in focus is interesting and the environmental state of the Earth is an issue of concern, they could have stayed with nuclear power as a threat because it certainly still is.

A second similarity is the ineptitude of the American government in each movie. Both the 1951 and 2008 government react with force and it just makes things worse. Instead both movies hold up the world's scientists as the light of hope and reason amongst the thugs who run the government. One possible problem with this classification of people is that the scientists were the ones who actually created the nuclear and rocket power of concern in the first version...and science and tech is responsible for a lot of the emissions/pollution etc. threatening our world. So, perhaps scientists are not as pure as the world of this movie suggests.

Differences of interest - The role of women in the two movies. In the first, the main woman is a secretary to a scientist. In the 2008 our main women are a top scientist and the secretary of state or defense...I don't remember which. Obviously women are more liberated in the roles that they are allowed to have in modern society. We don't have to be secretaries or teachers or nurses. Also of interest is the makeup of the two families who figure in the storylines. In the 1950s we have a white mother with biological son. In the new version we have a white mother with a black step son. Family structure has become non-traditional (almost to an extreme in that the author has decided on both a step and interracial family) in the modern movie, reflecting the modern world. Then there is, of course, the tech. The modern robot is a lot more versatile (although I didn't really like the initial design when it appears on the screen). Instead of having a beam of light that turns things to slag, it dissolves into microbugs that devour through man and man-made objects.

In the end, I'll give them points for reinventing the classic, however, I do wish that there was more new stuff instead of vaguely recycled content available.

Cables

2008-11-15T17:36:00.002-05:00

First cabled scarf - was tons of fun to make. Not sure who its for though....

Plan 9.2

2008-11-14T16:59:00.002-05:00

I looked the movie up on wikipedia to see if they had some info on why its the worst movie ever made. Now that I've read about all the mistakes - which I did notice some of - I'm starting to agree that maybe its the worst...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_9_from_Outer_Space

My favorite oops which I noticed but didn't really grasp is that the resurrected old man is actually played by someone other than Bela Lugosi for most of the film and that's why he walks around with a Dracula cape raised over his arm and covering his face half the time!

Plan 9

2008-11-13T21:27:00.003-05:00

So...last night I watched Plan Nine from Outer Space. It's a movie whose description on netflix includes the following: "one of the most popular cult classics of the 20th century, a two-time winner of the Golden Turkey Award for Worst Film and Worst Director of all time." So, I was really excited for something awesomely terrible...instead it was just random and rather boring. I'm not sure why this is a cult classic or why its considered one of the worst films ever. Sure its pretty bad in many many ways - script, acting, screen composition - but I'm actually surprised that people give it as much notice as it gets. To me its the kind of movie that would just fade away into obscurity, bad enough to be forgotten, but the bad wasn't really interesting enough to be remembered. But hey, that's just my thought on the matter. Maybe there are some special reasons why this one has been remembered.

I'm sitting here trying to think of the worst or most random scene in the movie and I'm not coming up with anything too vividly. I did spend most of the movie wondering why the supposed corpse of the old man's bride is so young compared to him...also, why were they buried in vampire clothes? And why do the corpses, who are not vampires, move around like vampires. (The answer to this one is probably because two of the corpses are played by Bela Lugosi and Vampira who usually did play vampires - but still, they aren't vampires in this one and shouldn't have moved like them.) So, yes, it really is bad, nothing works quite right. Ed Wood really was not meant to write or direct or produce.

SFX

2008-11-06T21:19:00.002-05:00

I think the reason that I love old scifi and b-horror movies is the special effects. It's amazing what they were able to do without the aid of computers in the decades before computer generated effects and characters became the norm. Tonight I watched the Invisible Man which was based on H.G. Well's novel. It was made in 1933 and the effects are simply amazing. How do they turn a man invisible? Not with the aid of a computer which I think often results in an effect too perfect, not gritty enough to be real, but by erasing the head and hands of an actor wearing pajamas. I suppose that it involved a green screen etc. The effects certainly weren't state of the art, but I find them more realistic in the end.

One of my favorite movies of this old scifi/fantasy/mythic genre is Clash of the Titans. The stop-motion claymation monsters that special effects wiz Ray Harryhausen was able to conjure up for this and many other movies of the period are simly amazing. Sure they aren't smooth and perfect, but the fact that its clay and someone spent that much time painstakingly making it work is amazing. One of the things that I strongly believe made LOTR work as well as it did is that so many of the effects are either not done with CGI or are based on the work of real actors who are then translated into CGI characters. Gollum works because he was based on a real actor who acted out the scenes while his motions were captured for the computer. Pans over scenery like the tower of orthanc work because its actually a big model with intricate detail not computer generated scenery.

I do appreciate a lot of what modern technology can give to the realm of movies, but am certainly attracted to the way that things used to be done. It's so much more fun to be amazed by the sophistication of effects that were created without the aid of computers and try to figure out exactly how they were accomplished. And yes, sometimes the effects are quite terrible and that makes the experience of watching these kinds of movies even more fun. You can shake your head at the sheer campiness of the monsters and the acting. So whether the stories are great and the acting good, or the stories mediocre with laugh-out-loud "scary" monsters, I declare my love for pre-computer scifi movies!

Business Witch

2008-10-31T15:00:00.003-04:00

Today, in honor of Halloween and to protest the fact that our Museum is having its board meeting on this most fantastic of holidays, I'm sitting at work in a business suit and a witch hat. I put it on upon arrival this morning and am not taking it off until I have to get into my car again much much later this evening....and then it'll go back on again for a party, but then I'll be party witch instead of business witch. Much more fun.

Book Catch Up:

1. Blindness - I actually took this one to Europe with me this summer and spent a good bit of bus time reading it. Not my most favorite book, but an interesting exploration of humanity and what might potentially happen to it in the face of a debilitating epidemic. I'm not sure that if the world were struck by sudden blindness people would really react the way that they do in the book, I guess I hope that most people have more goodness in them and more bravery. It seems to take an awful lot for some of the characters to react to some of the terrible things happening to them, but I have never been and hope to never be in situations they find themselves in, so I cannot really say what the normal reaction would be. A note on the structure of the book - there are no quotation marks or paragraph brakes to show when people are speaking so its a little hard to follow at points, you just really need to be paying attention. Oh, and despite its very crappy reviews, I actually thought the movie did a pretty good job at capturing the book. I am not sure that it would be appreciated as much by non-readers of the book though.

2. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Okay, so I'd heard from a few people that this book was fabulous so I decided to give it a try. Honestly, I was so put off by the pretentiousness of the title that I wasn't really into reading. If someone is going to call their work this, it better damn well be good. And....it was alright. I had trouble with the narrator - I wanted to feel sympathy for him because of the loss of his parents and his being left to raise his younger brother, and sometimes I did, but sometimes I just really disliked him. Again perhaps its a problem of never having been in similar situations, but I suspect my reactions to it all would have been significantly different. So maybe it was a difficult read because the narrator and I are at different places on the personality spectrum. Definitely some interesting writing techniques where he weaves fiction into the nonfiction (in ways that you can tell its fiction so it works just fine).

3. The Twilight Series - I really enjoyed this series and would recommend to fans of young adult fiction and/or vampires. I felt a connection to a number of the characters throughout the books and was pleased that the series ended with more than what could have been the obvious conclusion - the main character becoming a vampire - there is a lot more there which is nice. I'm not saying that the book doesn't have its obvious moments - you definitely can see a number of things coming before the characters identify them themselves. Fun and fast, of all three here, my favorite.

I can't remember if there was anything else in there so I guess we are all up to date!

Design Work

2008-10-23T13:58:00.002-04:00

I'm feeling a little guilty for not posting in forever, so I thought I'd take a moment at work to post and let you all bask in the glory that is designing fun things like booklets and postcards and all the other weird things I get asked to do. Today's and yesterday's project was turning a very boring two-page text heavy list of PRI facts into a nice little booklet that someone might actually be inclined to read.

Voila -

Just a few more changes to make. Oh and the pics in the document are by Rachel Philipson, J. Casciano, and others. Wheee!

Giving in

2008-10-06T18:35:00.002-04:00

Soo....turns out that M wanted to color her hair too....so I gave in and now I'm a kind of red that sometimes appears purply or coppery depending on the light. It's called "rosewood." I probably should have left it, but too late now. It'll wash out in about a month which is good because I'm not sure I'm in love with it.

In other news....um...got a whole lotta nothin. Maybe later!

Saturday

2008-10-04T20:41:00.003-04:00

It was beautiful this morning, so after dragging myself out of bed and through the shower, I decided to take a walk down to the lakeshore. It turned out to be a bit chilly sitting around by the water, but it was definitely worth it. At a leisurely pace it takes me round about a half hour to walk down. Wish I could have been on one of those sailboats!

After returning from the lake, I decided that it was project time - I've been itching to dye my hair or rearrange furniture or redecorate. Dyeing the hair is out for now because it really is a nice color right now and I really should stop going random colors because of a seeming need for change. Number two was out because, well, there really isn't any other possible way to arrange the furniture in my apartment because of the placement of doors and windows. So number three it was. This is what I accomplished -

1. All my knitting/crochet in a nice new green bin. Also moved a huge pile of books off the table I'm sitting at to my bookshelf which I opened up a shelf of by putting a bunch of old college stuff into another bin.

2. Scrumptious dinner - Chili Chicken Tacos with a few modifications i.e. keeping most of the spicy out of the recipe. The chicken was cooked in my dutch oven for two hours and it shredded apart superbly! Yum. The Heineken is for another recipe that I'll probably make tomorrow but it only calls for one bottle, so I guess I'll just have to drink the other five - oh darn!

3. Stripped a wall in the main room to ready it for new wall decorations - looks kinda lonely right now... This was accomplished while listening/watching to Fellowship. Wizards and Hobbits and Dwarves, oh my!

4. Also put together this little beauty - collage o' my Europe trip. Yay!

Seriously Fantastic

2008-10-01T22:29:00.001-04:00

Home-made convertible Renault Espace:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOIrEyAvot8&NR=1

Thanks, T!

Table for One

2008-10-01T19:57:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I actually went to the gym and then came home and cooked for myself. It hasn't been easy to cook for myself lately, its just not as fun to cook and eat alone as it is to do so with other people, so I'm likely to just pop something frozen into the microwave, but I'm trying to do better and last night was a success. I had salmon, potatoes and onion, and green beans. I even had a glass of red wine and dessert - no fat chocolate pudding with peaches. And I stayed within my weight watchers points limit for the day! Pat on the back for myself.

I think I was going to write more, but I got sidetracked (nicely) with an hour long chat with my college bud, M, so I think that is it for tonight - more later!

Gala the third

2008-09-23T18:54:00.002-04:00

This week is lead up to the gala week...and overall things are falling into place pretty well. There are, as always, a few loose ends that threaten to drive me absolutely crazy, but I'm trying to keep the scorpion queen reined in unless absolutely necessary. Let's see how well I do.

This will be my third gala with the Museum and, as my office wife can attest, things are more organized than ever. I can't help it, I just want everything to be organized, where it needs to be, easy, and perfect. The gala is never perfect, but I do my best to try and make it so. This year marks a number of interesting firsts for the gala - we are having an open instead of cash bar, having a magician and caricature artist, starting earlier in the evening....and we still have plenty of tickets left for sale. Ouch. Anyway, for those that are there, it should be a great time and although we may not quite reach our goal short of miracles, we have made a profit for the annual fund, so that is good!

I think one of the major problems that we face in this town is the sheer number of non-profit organizations out there looking for a piece of the donor pie...and right around this time of year is when the largest all tend to hold their big fancy galas. I imagine that if I was in the position to be a donor I wouldn't particularly desire to go to a fundraiser every weekend. So, we'll be looking for new ideas about the event and possibly investigate a change of season as we debrief after this year's event.

It's so strange that we haven't even had the event and I'm already beginning to move on from it. At work, I seem to be doing more related to the November board meeting and other upcoming projects than I am for the gala. Time never stops in anticipation of a big event, there is always something else to get started on.

Quest...

2008-09-21T20:15:00.002-04:00

...for happiness. Life has been tough this summer and fall, but I'm ready to stop moping and be a happier healthier self. So, here's to October being my birthday month and the birthday month of some of my favorite ladies. Lets make it awesome.

European Wonder - Part 5

2008-09-13T10:46:00.004-04:00

Day 10 - The Sea!

In the morning we hop on a bus that will take us across a very long bridge to the islands that make up the city of Venice. As we reach the outskirts, the bus parks and we get off to wend our way through the labyrinthine streets and bridges to St. Mark's Square. Our tour leader tells us that maps are fairly useless here, instead we should try to follow the occasional signs to Venice's landmarks and let ourselves get lost. There are no road vehicles in this city, traffic is by foot and by water only. In St. Mark's square we catch our gondola ride. The gondolier takes us through small roadless canals, under bridges, and through the grand canal. He even sings a little. The gondoliers strike me as a funny lot, chatting to each other as they pass, taking cell phone calls, all while maneuvering between other boats and down narrow ways.

Candice tells us that not too many people actually live in Venice anymore, mostly tourist wander the streets which are lined with shops selling Venetian lace, blown glass, and fancy masks. After the gondola ride, we take a guided tour of the main island, mostly just around the central square. We keep to the shade as much as possible because it is still boiling hot. We see the Bridge of Sighs, the basilica, and the sea. Just seeing salt water in motion makes me me relax. After the tour we see a short lace making demonstration and then head to the Rialto bridge for shopping and lunch. Later, we take a crowded vaporetto on the grand canal back to where the shuttle bus will meet us and return to the campground.

Day 11 - Clouds arrive

It's an early morning on the bus. We are headed to Austria and there are a lot of people hoping to sky dive, so we hope to arrive early enough to let them. Unfortunately, as we travel north we encounter the first poor weather of the trip. It begins to cloud over, get windy, and then the rain starts. By the time we get to Austria, skydiving has been canceled and paragliding is in jeopardy. It turns out that the only extreme sport to go forward, the cheapest option, is Canyoning...and I am signed up. We take two van taxis out to the shop where they dress us in wet suits and climbing gear. Then we head up to a gorge...and rappel down into it next to a waterfall. We jump into plunge pools, slide through chutes, and rappel some more. Cold, scary, and too short, but overall fun. I, of course, had been getting a cold on the way to Austria and now it begins to take over. After a few whiskey cokes in the basement bar, I turn in somewhat early.

I found my pirate in the Austrian Gasthof

Day 12 - The Rhine

It is again a bus day, this time we are off to the Rhine Valley in Germany. When we arrive, we check into a medieval castle that has been transformed into a modern hostel. It is actually a bit strange, the outside and inside do not match whatsoever. The view from the castle hill is quite lovely. We are surrounded by vineyards that cling to the steep slopes. In the evening, we get back on our bus which drives us down the river a ways to a beer stein shop and a cuckoo clock shop. On the way we see a number of other castles, some in use, some in ruins. I would have loved to have time to explore them. But, alas, the rhine is just a way-stop to our real destination, Amsterdam. We spend some time in the stein shop where Steph spends an absolute fortune. I just get a large one for me and a smaller one for my dad. After shopping, the bus takes us on to a campsite where the proprietor, Hermy, is going to have us do a wine tasting of local wines. We sip out of large shot glasses. H. turns out to be a riot. After that we head back up the river to the narrow streets of the town we are staying in and are off to bed.

Day 13 - Cheese & Windmills

Off to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The weather clears up for a bit as we arrive at our cheese & clog making demonstration just outside of the city. I revel in the cool crisp breeze as we step off the bus. The temperature has plummeted as we have moved northwards through Europe. The farmer who gives the demonstration is quite a character. As with all the men in Europe who have given us demonstration, he invites all the ladies to the front and wants us to get up nice and close. He also speaks a dozen or more languages, making us feel rather uneducated. The cheese is quite tasty but I opt out of purchasing anything at the shop and instead go back outside to wait for everyone else to finish up.

We head onward to our hostel where we check in and then have some free time to explore and get dinner before heading on to our evening entertainment. We soon learn that walking in Amsterdam can be hazardous to your health. The roads are shared with bicycles, cars, and trams. The bikers are particularly crazy. We head down to a touristy district and have dinner at an irish pub. Amsterdam feels a lot more like a city in America to us than some of the other places we have been, still it is quite different from home.

For our evening, we are taking a quick tour with Candace through Amsterdam with our final destination a sex show in the red light district. Two drinks are included with admission which is probably a good idea because I end up right in the front row next to the stage where the ladies proceed to do their acts including a candle show, writing on an audience member holding the marker down below, pulling a ribbon out of it, live sex with one of the ugliest men I have seen, and a banana show. More than anything else, it was funny. Then we wended our way through skinny alley to see the ladies in windows and that was about it for the night.

Day 14 - Iffy weather

In the morning we take a bike tour of the city. I think I am going to be run over several times, especially when I get stuck behind some of the people from our group who really cannot ride bikes. It starts to rain about halfway through and I am the only one whose bike is not equipped with a rain jacket. Thanks. So, I get wet along with having a head cold. Not my favorite excursion. The guide tells us that it rains almost every day in Amsterdam. Would have been nice to know before going out.

After the bike tour, we head out to the Anne Frank House where we have to wait in line for some time. But, the wait is worth it. The museum is laid out extremely well. Definitely a must see for those visiting the city. We also visit the Van Gogh Museum which is also interesting but way too crowded with people. For dinner we meet up with our group again and head to the Sea Palace, a floating chinese restaurant. Dinner is followed up by a canal cruise where I proceed to get incredibly toasted on red wine. When we alight from the cruise, we head to a bar where it happens to be karaoke night. We meet a fellow guy from CT, drink more, and I am eventually left behind when Sarah decides that she needs to take the also incredibly toasted Steph home. Luckily, some of the other tour girls are still in the bar and I make my drunken way home with Candace.

Day 15 - Ick

Bus to Brugges then to Calais and the ferry back to Dover. Incredibly hung over, I barely make it through the day alive.

Day 16 - London Part 2

We wander London for the second time and see the outside of the Tower of London, the Globe Theatre, and a few other highlights. We wander over the London Bridge, by the London Dungeon where tons of people are lined up the street in both directions to get spooked. Funds are running low, so we don't actually do much, just walk around. We end the day by walking through Trafalgar square, having dinner, and heading back to the hostel.

Day 17 - Flight

Flight from hell, well, ok, not quite that bad, but we leave an hour late because of problems packing the plane. When we reach America, there are terrible thunderstorms in New York and JFK has been closed, so we end up landing at a smaller airport where we get refueled and wait. After a few hours we take off again and are finally able to land at JFK. All in all, we spend about and extra four hours on the plane. Fun. But, we are back.

European Wonder - Part 4

2008-09-02T19:38:00.004-04:00

Day 8 - Whirlwind Roma

In the morning we catch the bus into Rome as far as it is allowed to go then hop onto the city's underground system to travel the rest of the way to Vatican City, our first stop of the day. Rome's subway system is extremely simple compared to most other big European cities we have visited, just two lines that cross in a t. Apparently, there are far too many ruins that one would run into in the process of trying to create more lines. We emerge outside the Vatican walls and head over to the Museum for our early morning walking tour. After a short wait (sorry all in the non-group line which we bypassed) we were issued ear buds and receivers and were off on our marathon. Our guide turns out to be an Aussie and quite cute, but he rushes us through two hours of halls. Tomb, statue, tapestry, ceiling, mural, trompe l'oeil, it all passes in a whirl.

We finally arrive outside the Sistine Chapel and prepare to go inside. The floor is absolutely mobbed with people craning back for a good view of the famous ceiling. The chapel is actually quite small and is impressive, but you can certainly see more detail from looking at close range photography of the images than from standing far below. After the chapel we head on over to St. Peters Basilica. I take a look at Michelangelo's famous Pieta which is now behind glass because it was smashed by someone several years ago and subsequently repaired, do a quick circuit of the basilica, and exit to wait for my clan. After 15 minutes I'm beginning to seriously wonder if I've been left behind but it turns out that SB, SJ, and K can spend a rather long time wandering around a church. We take a quick look into the shops, pose in front of some Vatican guards in over the top costuming, then hop in a taxi to get over to the Colosseum.

At the Colosseum, we join a tour group to gain faster access to the place and learn some interesting tidbits...all of which are later contradicted by what our Top Deck tour guide tells us about the Colosseum on our walking tour of Rome...who to believe? Our walking tour after the Colosseum consists of seeing the ruins of the Roman forum, the Victor Emmanuel II monument (the man who united all the italian city states into Italy), the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain, and the Spanish Steps. We throw coins over our shoulder into the fountain, the first for a wish, the second which means we will come back to Rome, and a third if you want to marry a Roman. I opt out of throwing the third coin.

Oh, and did I mention the absolutely wilting heat? All of Italy turns out to be a sauna. My suggestion is certainly to go in a cooler part of the season!

Day Nine - Where art thou Romeo?

We board the bus for another day of travel, this time to Venice with a stop in Verona. Verona is a cute town with a working coliseum - they stage plays etc. in it. We wend through the streets filled with designer shops to a small courtyard which purports itself to be the home of Juliet's balcony. I have no idea of the historic accuracy of this claim...apparently the play was based on actual families from Verona...but lets just say I'm a tad bit skeptical.

Anyway, the courtyard features a statue of Juliet with rather shiny breasts. Legend has it that if you rub her breast, you'll find your true love. So, of course I did it. Who doesn't want to find that true love...of course I'd rather not end up all star-crossed and dead over it! Then on to Venice where we arrive at our campground on the mainland and are introduced to Venice's persistent mosquitoes. Bug spray most definitely required. A novelty of the cabins here turns out to be air-conditioning our first and last of all our accommodations. In the evening we dress in toga for a "toga party" at the bar. The party is interesting but after a short while I retire from dancing for a cold shower and sleep. One can only take so much dancing in weather that is bordering on the heat of hellfire.

Full pics (of which there are many from Rome) available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/atreides22/sets/

European Wonder - Part 3

2008-08-25T17:06:00.005-04:00

Day 5 - The Jungfrau

Today, Aug 2, is my brother, B's, birthday. Instead of being home to celebrate and/or give him a singing telegram phonecall, we are ready to take our optional excursion up the Jungfrau - the highest peak in Europe. Candace tells us that it'll be cold up there so we all bundle up with a ton of layers, tanktops, tshirts, longsleeve shirt, light fleece, and rainjacket. I even use my sarong as a scarf. We catch the cog railway in Lauterbrunnen and begin our 1.5 hour ascent. As we get farther and farther up the temperature does indeed begin to plummet and we are all grateful for the extra layers not necessary down below.

We travel through Alpine meadows amidst the sound of chiming bells, cowbells that is. The meadows are littered with cows out to pasture, each one with a large bell fastened around its neck. The meadows are beautiful with all sort of small wildflowers. The views are amazing as well. Eventually the train enters a tunnel into the mountains and we continue on in semi-darkness until we reach our destination perched at the top of the mountain.

We emerge into glaring sunlight bouncing off the glacial snows and marvel at the fact that its the middle of summer and we are surrounded by a winter vista. We spend some time sledding, wander through an "ice castle", take tons of photos from above the clouds, and send postcards from the top of Europe. A truly lovely way to spend the day. After descending on the train we went through town where S&S bought Swiss Army Knives - apparently you can only get them in green in Switzerland. Then back to the camp where we had a dinner of fondue, pork chops, divine potatoes, and veggies.

Day 6 - Its Leaning...

Another day of much driving - we are on the way to Italy. In the afternoon we end up in Pisa to see the leaning tower. The stop will last about a half hour so its run off the bus, run through the bathrooms, and run to take a few pictures of the tower. SJ takes the quintessential tourist photo of herself "holding up" the tower. Back to the bus and we continue on to Florence, or Firenze, as it seems to be called here.

We are staying in a camping village where we are staying in metal cabins. Not too bad, but certainly not the kind of camping I am used to out amongst the trees. In addition to the tents, campers, and cabins, there are several restaurants, a pool, dance hall, bars, and more. Truly a city unto itself.

Day 7 - Florence then to Roma, no Firenze, no Roma...are we going the right way?

We begin the day with a walking tour of Florence which is interesting, but most of the details slip before I have a chance to write them down. The center of the city is very beautiful with old buildings and statues throughout. We see the Medici palace and a copy of the David statue. Because its a Monday all of the Museums are closed, not that we really have enough time to explore any. The Duomo in Florence is the most ornate thing I've ever seen in my life. Impressive, but almost like marble threw up all over the structure. (Sorry for those of you who love this type of decoration, its just not my cup of tea).

A quick lunch followed up by more piling back onto the bus to move on towards Rome. We are scheduled to have an evening walking tour of the city. After a while we get off the highway, turn around and head back toward Firenze (Florence), then we get off again and go back towards Roma....after a good deal of circling we end up in a parking lot near Rome's airport. Our driver is lost and out of driving hours. Wonderful. Needless to say, we miss the walking tour and after some cell phone discussions acquire directions to the campsite. This turns out to be the last straw directions wise and we'll receive a new driver for the rest of the tour...one who manages to not get lost a single time.

European Wonder - Part 2

2008-08-24T09:59:00.007-04:00

Day 3 - Parisian Adventures

Today we experience our first trip breakfast, which will come to be fairly representative of the entire trip. Croissants, bread, and ham and cheese....a little strange, and monotonous by the end of the trip, but not overly bad. All of us are wishing for smoothies or egg sandwiches or sugared cereal by the end of the adventure. After breakfast, we all pile onto the bus to be dropped off either in the Place de la Concorde or by the Eiffel Tower. We choose the latter because we are taking a bike tour that begins from the tower. Our first task upon arriving is to supplement breakfast with crepes. The man makes them fresh right in front of us, absolutely delicious!

The bike tour turns out to be led by a young guy from Texas and partway in Steph points out that all of the bikes has little name tags. Turns out I'd picked the Guinness bike :-) We see everything from the Eiffel Tower to les Invalides, to a thrilling ride in front of traffic at the Place de la Concorde, to the Tuileries and the Louvre. We stop for lunch in the Tuileries gardens at a garden cafe. Expensive, but lovely. Biking is actually a really nice way to see the sights in Paris, I'd recommend it to anyone going there.

After the bike tour, we decide upon a trip out to Notre Dame Cathedral which seemed easy enough. Unfortunately the line was partially closed and we had to try for a bus and some walking. We make it eventually and spend some time wandering around the cathedral. My favorite thing about cathedrals is usually the ceilings. I love to look at the arches and how they constructed the huge vaults. The buildings are so impressive, especially because they were constructed so long ago.

Once finished with Notre Dame, we decide to head on over to the Rhodin Museum. It doesn't look all that far on the map and the metro we'd need is the closed one, so we decide to walk. An hour and a half later we arrive. Ooops! At least I navigated successfully and we didn't get lost once...it just took longer than expected. The ladies I'm with take a wander around the gardens and then sit down while I continue to explore and take pics. We think with the Thinker too. The hands on many of the statues are so real. The Gates of Hell was another impressive piece. They were just writhing with images.

Then we were off to the Champs de Mars to meet up with our tour group for a picnic by the Eiffel Tower followed up by a Cabaret performance at the Paradis Latin. This was seriously amusing, especially after the half bottle of red wine I consumed. Topless ladies prancing around the stage singing, a trapeze artist hanging over the heads of the audience, buff guys in ridiculous costumes, and a ton of random settings and props. The most memorable is a future number where an alien comes down from the ceiling in a full on space ship. Magnificently Crazy.

Day 4 - The Road to Switzerland...is confusing

We rise early to hop on the bus for the rather long trip through France to Switzerland. Actually there will be a number of days devoted almost entierly to the bus, a fact that none of us really thought about when we booked the tour. Of course, a number of the trips end up being longer than expected because we have been given a green driver with a propensity for getting lost. We end up having to backtrack in Switzerland and arrive at the campground at least an hour overdue.

When we do arrive, we discover that we are staying in some lovely cabins in a breathtaking Alpine Valley. Dinner is amazing, some Swiss dish I've forgotten the name of. Its also Swiss National Day so there are fireworks which boom off the surrounding mountains. The group retires to the campground bar after dinner to celebrate and a good number procees to get completely trashed. Apparently in Europe, music is a good 10-20 years behind what we tend to listen to over here. All they had in the juke box was 90s techno, which although amusing quickly got old and I soon escaped to sleep. That is until the arrival of our more lively roommate who stumbled in sometime in the wee hours of the morn.

For more photos, visit my flikr site here http://www.flickr.com/photos/atreides22/sets/

Pics!

2008-08-23T15:26:00.002-04:00

Ok, here's Days 1-3 of the tour (London, Dover, and Paris).

Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/atreides22/sets/

I hope the link works right - lemme know if there are problems seeing things!

European Wonder - Part 1

2008-08-20T20:36:00.007-04:00

Day One – Get to London

We arrive at Newark airport in the later afternoon, anxious for our plane that is scheduled to leave around 9 p.m. It is my second time traveling across the Atlantic, SJ’s too, but for SB it is a first. Waiting is my least favorite of activities. I always just want to get it over with, unfortunately a plane ride is nothing but waiting – waiting to get on the plane, waiting to take off, waiting to land. The trip was not the best – I was unable to sleep and when we had a turbulent landing after a less than appetizing in-flight dinner I almost spewed.

Nevertheless, the three of us emerged into London alive and exhausted at about 9:30 a.m. local time. We were determined to get on local time despite it being the wee hours of the morn at home so we tubed up to the hostel, dropped our bags, and were off to lunch at Wetherspoon. Now, in London instead of finding a nice sign that tells you to either seat yourself or wait, like at most places at home, the restaurants we ate at in Europe left this particular piece of information a guessing game. It turned out here that you seated yourself and ordered at the bar. So, to start things off right I had a strongbow cider, burger, and “chips” aka “fries” if you live in America.

A tangent on money for a moment – what’s with all the coins England? Pounds, two pounds, 50 pence, 20 pence, the list goes on and on. I still have pounds of pounds in coinage left kicking around because no one will change them back! It was certainly different to be somewhere where coinage is still a big part of money transactions, not at all like here where the most common thing is to use plastic or throw a 20 at the cashier.

After lunch, we headed back to the tube to travel off to Westminster. We managed to make it off the tube despite all falling asleep at different moments because of the soothing motion. Our first stop was Buckingham palace which I wasn’t all that impressed by. It was no medieval castle – more businessey, modern, and stiff looking to me. But we did see some guards in funny hats. Completing our photo ops there, we moved off in the direction of Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Parliament. We also took a trip on the London Eye – a massive ferris wheel giving great views of Westminster and the city. It was a bit of an adventure to get on and off – the wheel doesn’t stop so you just have to leap on while its going around…don’t trip! After the eye it was back to the Globetrotter hostel for dinner and sleep because of exhaustion and a very early 5 a.m. wakeup in order to meet up with the tour group.

Day Two - Hellllo Ladies!

Up early to meet the tour group and get on the road - first stop, Paris! The three of us drag our bags down to reception, check out, and discover that our tour group is made up of 40 girls and 6 boys, two of whom proceed to seemingly not speak for the rest of the tour (they were Korean and I don't think their English was all that great). Anyway, I hadn't realized that I'd signed up for the sorority tour. So much for vacation romance :-P

The tour participants are Americans, Aussies, Kiwis, Koreans, Vietnamese, English, Canadian, and more. Our trip leader, Candace turns out to be a delight, fun and infinitely patient with the a group of sometimes rowdy 17-30 somethings.

The bus takes us from London to Dover where we board a ferry for Calais. The cliffs are pure white, amazing. During one of the world wars the people burrowed caves into the cliffs to hide people and even a hospital. We land in Calais, France an hour and half later where we all pile onto the coach that will be our second home for the next two weeks. We choose the back of the bus for our slot. After a full day of travel, we arrive in Paris around 6 p.m. We "enjoy" a rather poor dinner - the vegetarian option turned out to be just Green beans and fries - then take a bus tour of the city. Our first stop is Monmartre where we ascend the steps to the Sacre Couer. Magnificent views. We also see the Opera House, Place de la Concorde, Champs D'elysees, Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge etc.

Full on pics soon to be available via flickr once I figure everything out! Stay tuned.

Europe!!!

2008-07-25T21:42:00.002-04:00

Going to Europe on Monday!! Wheeee! I am sooo excited to have three weeks off from work. I even left early today. I haven't had this luxurious a vacation in two years and I have missed having a summer. Updates upon my return with lots o' pics!

Book catch up

2008-07-10T20:47:00.004-04:00

It's been awhile since my last book post, so here's a quick run down of what I've been reading:

The Dark Labyrinth by Lawrence Durrell - I really enjoyed this one. The novel is very much character driven rather than plot driven. We meet and explore the histories of a diverse group of people drawn together by a vacation to the island of Crete...where disaster awaits. A book sale find I was very happy with!

The Society of S by Susan Hubbard - Readable but not great - its a twist on vampire lore. Unexceptional and I can see why it was on the sale rack at Borders. If you are into vampires, give it a go as light summer reading. If you aren't into vampires don't bother.

The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant - This was really great. Sad, but well written and I was drawn through the text. As with Labyrinth, the tale is a collection of character's personal histories all drawn together by the locale - Dogtown. For those against any type of supernatural happenings in their reading, this one would be my recommendation for you - its straight up historical fiction.

Anthem by Ayn Rand - This was a short read that I accomplished in the park this evening - I think it took about an hour and a half. Interesting but not my favorite - its in the 1984 genre. It also gets preachy at the end. I'm all for individualism and wouldn't want to live in a world with a collective "we" like in the book - but it is interesting to think about. Is giving up a self worth ending war, inequality, and strife? Do the benefits of security outweigh the monotony and seeming meaninglessness of the lifestyle described in the book? Pluses and minuses on both sides of the equation.

I've also been reading Mythology by Edith Hamilton - learning about Greek Gods etc.

That's it for now, ta!

Meme

2008-07-01T17:32:00.002-04:00

Ms. Doublegknits posted this and told us readers to consider ourselves tagged - so here are my answers.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

Lets see - 10 years ago was 1998 so I was in the summer between high school and middle school. I recall nothing specific about this summer. Ooo...wait, later in the summer would be my first experience with marching band - the show was a couple of Chuck Mangione songs - I can still hum the theme of one of them. :-)

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?

Well, the day is almost over so for the rest of the evening my to do list will be

1. go home
2. make dinner
3. hang out with T
4. surf the internet
5. go to bed

3) Snacks I enjoy

Oh man, snacks are awesome - chips and salsa, ice cream, cookies, saltines, cheese, hummus

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. not work a regular job
2. buy a house - preferably on some kind of waterfront
3. support museums
4. travel everywhere
5. Take all kinds of music/art/design/whatever seems interesting at the moment classes

5) Places I have lived:

South Windsor, CT
Ithaca, NY

I have not moved much.

6) Jobs I have had:

Sandwich Maker - Blimpies
Sales Associate - Linens and Things
Sales Associate - Sears
File Runner - Curtis 1000
Dining Hall Wench - Ithaca College
Technology & Writing Consultant - IC
Research Dept intern - National Geographic
Development intern - PRI
Development Operations Manager & Membership Coordinator - PRI

Consider yourself tagged.

the Ander-Berry Wedding

2008-06-30T19:06:00.003-04:00

So, last weekend (June 21) a group of us PRI peeps caravaned off to Canandaigua, NY to celebrate the mariage of Scarlet Lily and her beau. I was feeling a little anxious because of work and all on my way out, but the simply gorgeous surroundings soon put me at ease and let me relax. The setting really was lovely.

The view from our condo - just lake forever, we were right on the water. I wanted to stay for the rest of the summer, but they made us checkout on sunday! I arrived Friday afternoon, having left work early and spent some time chilling with Ben watching Lost Boys before the rest of the crew showed up. We had a lovely "welcome" party at the hotel later in the evening with the engaged couple.

Then Saturday, after a somewhat late rise, we headed out to Canadaigua center to tour some fancy gardens. It was a lovely day until just about an hour and a half before the wedding when we all watched a great big thunder storm work its way down the lake. Luckily it was short lived and the wedding was saved! Everyone looked lovely including the bride:

They were both so smiley - a great couple! I'm so glad I got to go and share the day with them. Here is a view from the wedding location - I think I might steal it when I get married!

Good food, good drinks, great dancing! Here is Alicia and my first pic with Mrs. Berry!

tonight

2008-06-16T23:11:00.001-04:00

Sushi, plum wine, and kung fu panda = the perfect evening

seriously, the movie is hilarious - go see it and laugh

Short

2008-06-13T20:41:00.000-04:00

Hair

2008-06-02T20:00:00.003-04:00

Alright readers, its time for me to have a haircut, but how short to go???? Here are a few pics I'm considering as inspiration for a cut - lemme know what you think.

The last haircut I really liked on myself -

Some mediumy short looks:

C.

Some uber short looks:

Thoughts? Opinions? What do you think I can pull off?

Weddings, Beaches, Knives, and Books

2008-06-01T14:52:00.007-04:00

Hi all! So, I'll be doing a bit of a recap of the week past because I've not been updating much. For those of you anxiously awaiting pictures, there will be some! Where to begin...

Memorial day weekend was spent with some of my favorite people in the world at the wedding of my highschool friend, Gavin, up in New Hampshire. I got to spend the whole weekend with Sarah, Steph, Travis and EMILY!!! It was so great to see all of them, especially E. because she had literally dropped off the face of the Earth for a few years. Now she's back home in CT and it was absolutely fab to have her back as part of the crew. Here's a pic of us ladies at the reception site. It was really pretty, but there were these awful flies...I still have spots from their bites!

The bride is allergic to gluten and I think maybe also to dairy so they had a gluten free, dairy free cake - here it is:

It didn't really taste like cake....

The following day, we went to the beach where I managed not to get sunburned - I have no idea how but am thankful.

So much fun! Can't wait to see all my ladies again for our outing to Europe this summer! We are also considering some kind of rent a house somewhere cool like Cape Cod for a week next summer :-)

After a fab weekend, it was back to reality at work where I now have a new boss. He seems pretty chill - I am interested to see how things shape up as the weeks progress. He has already told me that I am never allowed to leave because I know all kinds of small details and where everything is and how to use everything... I told him that I just resigned my lease, so he has me for at least a year. After that, we'll see....maybe Boston where the high school crew seems to be migrating?

This week also marked some geeked-outness with T in the form of some medieval thrown weapons and archery practice. I was pretty awful at throwing the hatchets and the archery, but it was tons of fun. Here are some pics for ya!

Yesterday T. and I went off the visit the Corning Museum of Glass. It was pretty cool - the modern and the ancient glass was the most interesting...but there was soooooo much! Halfway through the exhibits, we were both pretty much over it and kind of breezed through the rest so we could see the Hot Glass show and check out the gift shop. Def worth a go, especially because its only $5 for those of us who live within the right zip codes. Most annoying thing of the day - being constantly run over by people giving tours to groups of foreigners. It was way too crowded with all the bus tours!! I forgot my camera, so no pics from the trip :-(

In book news, finally finished Njal's saga and breezed through a trashy romance, Noble Intentions, and am now reading the Dark Labyrinth. This is suitably long. I'll try to update a bit more often to keep the length down!

Brrrr

2008-05-22T12:52:00.000-04:00

It's cold.

There is no heat on in the office.

It is rainy.

Bleck

Geeked Out!

2008-05-18T14:04:00.005-04:00

I found another bag of books....now I have an extra pile from those you see in the last pic...teehee! I'm a book whore.

Anyway, the M. is off to Michigan after a wonderful 5 day visit. Despite mostly iffy weather throughout the week, we managed to keep ourselves entertained with a number of projects and visits to various places. Friday was to be hike day, but given the rain, it became a visit to the Johnson Museum and craft and game day. Our craft of the day was.....

DRAGON SHOES!! Yes, we are dorks, I have come to terms with this fact. However, you can't deny that the shoes are dorkalicously cool.

The initial drawing and the puffy paint....

M. in action while my shoes begin the drying process....

Nothing says bff like matching dragon shoes!

A close-up of M.'s super cute shoes.

I have plenty of left over paint if you too feel the desire to spice up some shoes! :-)

Book Replenishment

2008-05-16T09:20:00.003-04:00

So....I have a book problem....when they are 10 cents apiece or a dollar a bag or free I take them ALL! Here's my haul from the last few days, a combination of book sale, cheap borders rack, and the back of M's oh-so-stylish mom van. Yikes! This should keep me occupied for awhile...oh and I totally deserve the trashy romances in the pile after getting through Njal's Saga...almost finished with it!

The Triumphant Return...

2008-05-14T09:04:00.002-04:00

...of Doublegknits! Sooooooo happy that M. has come to town once again, we've been friends since freshman year of college. I met her the first week I was there when I heard the theme song from Gilmore Girls wafting down the hall. We spent the next four years watching it together and doing a host of other fun things! Since graduation, M. has come every May to stay with me. Yesterday, after a five o'clock arrival, we hit up the book sale, sushi, bubble tea, walked around town, and watched Ratatouille, oh and chatted up a storm. WONDERFUL!! I can't wait to go hiking and sit out reading and everything else we like to do together. I totally wish she still lived in town. Anyway, in lieu of convincing her to come back here, I'll just have to enjoy the rest of the week before she returns home :-)

Goal Outfits

2008-04-29T21:52:00.006-04:00

So, a bit ago, a coworker asked me if I had a goal outfit in my closet that I am working towards with the weight loss I've achieving lately. I couldn't really think of anything at the time, but I went in there today and pulled out my old senior reception gown. I had tried it on for the gala last September and it did not fit at all, so I thought this might be a goal outfit. Here's a pic of me wearing it when I was a high school senior. Blast from the past, don't get too scared!

And here is what it looked like today:

SUCCESS! Woohoo! (Please excuse the rather odd expression, it being in my bathroom (the only place I have a big mirror), and the bra straps) Actually, I think I look better in it now than I did senior year! My body has become a lot more shapely since then. So yay! Goal outfit number one reached. Now to see what else is in that closet o' mine that I haven't been able to fit into but might have a chance at now!

What is the World Coming to?

2008-04-22T20:56:00.003-04:00

Today's wiki how:

"How to think before speaking"

Really? Do people really need a wikihow on this particular topic?

Here are the directions in case you think you need them http://www.wikihow.com/Think-Before-Speaking.

In other news, the Mavicat attempted an escape this evening as I came home late from the PRI dinner with my bubble tea in hand. Typically he ran to the right as you come out the door instead of straight and then down the stairs. I'm not sure why he always picks this direction as it clearly leads to a dead end, but hey, I totally appreciate the easiness of catching the little bugger.

I'm currently reading Njal's saga which I am thoroughly enjoying, I'll write more after I finish it. I'll probably also start up on the history of PRI book which I really should read for work!

ok, I lied

2008-04-13T23:50:00.002-04:00

It wasn't really a quiet weekend after all. And I had quite a bit of fun. Sorry T! I know I told you I'd try not too have too much without you. Anyway, today I saw two concerts, Verdi's Requiem up at IC and then this evening, M had an extra ticket for Okkervil River and the New Pornographers. Both bands were good, although TNP were by far the better of the two. It was fun to see the State Theatre full of young people instead of the usual older crowd that I've see there. I hope the State does well in the coming season, it would really be terrible to lose the place! So, all you Ithacans and peeps who come to town, support the State!

Oh, btw, the soprano for the Verdi piece was quite a surprise. She was this really large lady who couldn't even stand to sing, but, the voice, magnificent!

Night

BSG and Camels

2008-04-13T13:07:00.005-04:00

This weekend is finding it difficult to decide whether it is sunny or cloudy...I do think Sunday has settled on cold though. An unfortunate decision. Anywho, this weekend has been low key. Friday night I was inducted into season 4 of BSG over at Moody's apt. We had brownies...yum...oh, and the show was good too. Although, I must say that Starbuck's character has become really melodramatic since returning from the supposed grave. I look forward to seeing what happens. Too bad I have to actually wait a week to see each episode now, I was getting so used to the instant gratification of having everything on disc!

Yesterday, Moody texted up with an invite to CU Vet School's open house which was a hoot. We saw llamas and camels, Moody milked a cow and held snakes, we watched some dogs do agility courses, hung out with some big owls. Awesomness all around. Here is a pic of me with the camel - I look a little bit high or something, I swear I'm not though!

Finally watched Fight Club last night. I was alright, I was kinda tired, so I sorta kinda almost napped through parts - then I did fall asleep on the couch for a while before getting up and going to actual bed. Today I think I'm off to IC for the Verdi's Requiem Concert.

In book news, finished Pandora - now to decide what to read next.

Pic of the Day

2008-04-09T22:15:00.004-04:00

Welcome to Carcasonne....in France. I cannot wait to go back to Europe this summer. We have nothing like this in America. I remember our guide showing us the different layers in the walls where you could distinctly see what was built by the Romans and what was rebuilt in later times. Very cool.

Old Goddesses

2008-04-09T21:56:00.004-04:00

Good evening loves,

I have just finished watching season three of battlestar galactica which means after a whirlwind of watching, I'm all caught up and am now ready (a week late) to watch season four. If you think that I'm nerdy for watching BSG, let me remind you that this show is terrific (and its more fun to be nerdy than not!) Anywho, I look forward to finding out what the writers have up their sleeves for the final explanation. They had better have one, and one not as convoluted and huh?ish as Alias ended up before I stopped watching.

In other news, I've been doing a smidge of research on Inanna, a Sumerian goddess who has been popping up in a number of books that I've read over the last year. She most recently made a brief appearance as an alternate name for Isis/Akasha in Pandora. The other two mentions (where the Inanna story was much more fleshed out and intertwined with the tale) were in Stephenson's Snow Crash and in Duncan's Ink and Vellum. From initial reading, it seems like the latter two are using her legends more faithfully than the first. For y'all who have no idea who Inanna was (and I don't know a whole lot yet either), she was a Sumerian goddess of fertility, war, wisdom etc, but I guess not a mother type goddess. It is this that she is being likened to in Pandora. I'm interested to learn more about her and see where else she emerges in modern lit. I know that a lot of people don't like scifi or think that its a genre like trashy romance to be sneered at, but I find many of the stories incredibly rich with references to old gods and legends, explorations of political structure, and examination of culture. Yes, a good portion of it is trash or just fun storylines, but you have your 1984s and Brave New Worlds that have become a part of the popular imagination. Besides, a number of the stories have sent me enquiring in different directions, so I say, scifi is good for the brain.

Anyway, I've found a new project for a bit in Inanna, I'll let you know if anything interesting emerges. Oh, and I found a book about Sumerian lit that I'd like to get....anyone want to fork over $40? Stupid textbook prices! Oh, and this is totally off topic but I continue to be mad at myself that I sold back my art history book. What was I thinking? I thought I kept it but I can't find it anywhere here or back at my parent's so it must have gone back to the store. Stupid!!

The weekly roundup

2008-04-07T21:55:00.005-04:00

I am sorely tempted to purchase the Scarlet Sins cd...its only $10 right? Hrmm...kinda obsessed with their Drown song...I find myself singing the chorus in my head at random moments throughout the day. I feel like I should be saving money for all the things that I unavoidably have to pay for - going to Europe, wedding presents, upcoming doctor checkups (thank god most is covered by insurance, otherwise I wouldn't bother with the periodic checkups), wedding hotels... I'm sure that I'm forgetting other things. Oh, and I'm sure I'll spend plenty on going to movies as usual. I'll have to see what this next credit card bill looks like and then make a decision.

Anyway, this evening I went up to the ol' stomping ground of IC, even back to familiar old William 314 where I had about a billion writing classes. I was supposed to be on a panel workshop of people who had taken the grants class and had applied it in internships and jobs. No one showed up to listen, so instead I got to spend an hour catching up with two of my professors and talking with the other two kids (seniors) who were on the panel. I like talking about my job in this kind of atmosphere because I have to focus on the good parts and it reminds me that I really do have a pretty cool job most of the time. I get to do a lot and have learned alot since I started with the museum. Poor Pat was getting sick though, I'm glad she stuck it out to chat, its always a pleasure. I feel like everyone around here is getting sick, it must be the weather change. I've managed to hold off symptoms so far and am crossing fingers and knocking on wood that I stay healthy. Eating lots and lots and lots of veggies too!

In book news, I started on a book of tales from European history. Kinda interesting, but not superbly written. Will continue with sporadically. Reading Ann Rice's Pandora. It was on my shelf from one of the book sales. It's turning out to be a nice quick read - what I was looking for. Nothing too Earth shattering about it, but enjoyable and satisfying the need to see a hundred pages be conquered in a day. I read a bunch of it yesterday down by the lake because it was gorgeous out. Looking forward to more warm sunny days. Yay for spring and summer!

And....here is your pic of the day

This is Tasha. She belongs to my parents. She is a nut job. Beware!

Image of the Day

2008-03-30T18:42:00.000-04:00

Dorm Kitties!

Spring 2005

Sunday

2008-03-30T18:36:00.002-04:00

I finished my book! Woohoo! Finally.

I feel like I was reading that cloud book for ages. It was pretty good, but I'm ready for something different. Not sure what is up next, but I'll let you know soon enough. It could be anything from greek tragedy to oceanography to civil war...thats what is in the pile of library books etc. that I'm working through.

Today was a lovely day. It is beginning to maybe kinda get like spring. Very sunny this weekend and not too cold today. I gymmed it, napped with a cat on my belly, and went for a walk...and I even did some dishes!

Now I am enjoying a beer and its worth each and every one of the three points its costing me - I'm doing weight watchers (although not officially because I can't afford that - my mom gave me the literature and a calculator because she is doing it with friends from work). It may be too early to tell, but the scale is down 2.5 pounds from tuesday... :-) Here's hoping its not just normal fluctuation!

Hiya

2008-03-20T17:01:00.002-04:00

Jello - I am posting because I have not posted in some time and I know that all one of you who read this will very excited for news...even though I see you every day. So, here goes.

Um....

Well....

Haha! I guess I don't have all that much to say. Life has been pretty satisfactory lately, including a new old friend who is turning out to be a blast to hang with. I'm thinking I'll be pretty sad when he leaves in August to move abroad, I'll just have to console myself with good weather because we should have some by then...right? I can't wait for warm weather. I totally LOVE prowling around town and that is so much more fun when its not freezing and snowing and raining and being icily windy. However, summer is also going to mark some sad occasions, the aforementioned leaving of T, but also the leaving of my dear SA and AK at work. Ithaca really is a transient place. We'll see how much longer I am here, probably at least another year.

In other news, I finished reading the first five books of the Amber series by Zelazny. This was lent to me by someone from okcupid that I had coffee with and have never heard from again...I guess I'll have to try emailing him through the site so I can get the book back to him...or if I were mean I'd just add it to my collection. I don't really like it enough to be that catty though. Anyway, the series is pretty good once you get past the first book.

I'm now reading "The Invention of Clouds" which is about Luke Howard who came up with cloud classification (cirrus, stratus etc.) and also the time period. It's really interesting despite how dorky it sounds. Learning alot about the time period and how science was kind of a free for all citizen thing back at the start of the 1800s. People went to lectures for fun!

Well, I'm going to go home now, so ciao!

Image of the Day

2008-03-06T21:24:00.005-05:00

Ithaca at Night

I spent many nights wandering campus so I have a whole series of these type shots...if I had a steadier hand or the inclination to lug around a tripod, there would be more and they'd probably have come out better. This one has some cool colors though.

Huh?

2008-03-06T21:24:00.001-05:00

Tipping stoves??

http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/?hp

Things to Come

2008-03-02T10:21:00.002-05:00

Orange Cups

Ithaca Falls

Summer 2006

An Afternoon of Articles

2008-03-01T14:24:00.002-05:00

Some interesting tidbits from articles I've been perusing this morning:

"Barack Obama has made a clear political choice during the presidential campaign. Guided by his palpable yen for consensus as well as his own polyglot sense of identity, Obama has chosen to speak a transracial, indeed a nonracial, language — and endured a good deal of criticism from old-line black leaders for doing so. Nor has he made any attempt to woo Hispanics as part of a “black-brown” coalition. He has, by and large, addressed minority voters not as minorities but as Americans. And it may be no coincidence that Obama has not been hindered in the past by ethnic rivalry: in his 2004 Senate primary, Obama took 70 percent of the Hispanic vote — even though one of his opponents was Hispanic. And his standing among such voters this time around has steadily improved, perhaps as they have come to know more about him.

Paradoxically, it has been the Clinton camp that with an increasing feel of desperation has tried to make Obama into a black candidate, whether by comparing his political success with Jackson’s, as President Clinton has done, or by insinuating that Hispanics will balk at his candidacy. (“I want to say this very carefully,” Bendixen cautioned.) It’s the white candidate, that is, who has stirred the pot of identity politics. And perhaps it will take a black candidate to lay some of the shibboleths of identity politics to rest."

-"The Emerging Minority" by James Traub, NYTimes Magazine

I think its fantastic that someone is trying to treat voters less as groups to attract, but as one group to speak to: Americans. Focus on who we all are instead of the differences...unity. People complain about racism and try to make things more equal, but I can't help but think part of the problem comes from each group wanting to be seen as a group. Whites are willing to be identified as whites, blacks as blacks, hispanics as hispanics. As long as this segmentation continues, there will continue to be inequalities and problems. It is not bringing each group to an equal footing that needs to occur, instead it is a blending of the groups that I believe is needed.

Next quote:

“If she does not win on Tuesday — and I’m confident she will — I am not voting for president in November.”

-quote in the article "In ’08 Politics, Rhode Island Defies Its Size"

Oh please, if your candidate doesn't get the nomination, you are just going to sit back and say to hell with it? This is the next four years of your life that we are talking about. If my candidate doesn't make it, I'll sure as heck be looking at who is left, making a decision, and going to the polls!

And another one:

"Fewer than half of American teenagers who were asked basic history and literature questions in a phone survey knew when the Civil War was fought, and one in four said Columbus sailed to the New World some time after 1750, not in 1492."

-"Survey Finds Teenagers Ignorant on Basic History and Literature Questions"

Um...wow...this article makes me want to be a teacher and get something through to the youth of the country. I'm not overly well versed in history, but at least I know when the civil war was...what are they studying in school these days?

Image of the Day

2008-02-27T22:02:00.002-05:00

Root

Ithaca Falls

Winter 2008

Image of the Day

2008-02-21T22:01:00.001-05:00

Shadows

Steppenwolf and Black Sun

2008-02-10T20:14:00.000-05:00

Both of these novels, Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse and Black Sun by Edward Abbey, were aquired at the Ithaca Book Sale. Perhaps at the same time, but just as likely not. I've gotten so many books there that I don't remember when each made its way onto my shelf. For that matter, the stories of many of the books on my shelf have faded into obscurity, I do not remember where or when I purchased them, but for many there is a why. Some have specific whys, I've read it before and liked it enough to add to the collection, I know the author and am eager for more, for others, the blurb on the back cover or on the jacket flap have evoked an interest, a desire to read on. For many like this, the first hint of friendship, the reason they came off the shelf to be examined more fully lies in the spine. A strong spine, bold and pleasing, can be the mark of a good book. From the spine to the cover. Bad cover art can kill a book before it has a chance to breathe.

For these two in question, I was probably drawn because of the familiarity of the authors. I have read both Hesse and Abbey before. However, both were rather different texts. But, let me move to thoughts on the two at hand. Steppenwolf - wolf of the steppes - is I suppose at its heart the tale of a man who is not happy with his life, and cannot be regardless of the opportunities given to go down different avenues. The ultimate depressive, pessimist, even when happy he is sad. Did I truly understand this novel? Perhaps not.

An interesting line to ponder "Human life is reduced to real suffering, to hell, only when two ages, two cultures and religions overlap." Science and fundamentalism?

Black Sun is a love story...not a romance...but a love story. A rather haunting and sad one too. I am always captured by the way that he describes the western canyon landscapes. Makes me want to go experience it for myself...except for the creepy crawlies like snakes and scorpions.

Image of the Day

2008-01-31T21:18:00.000-05:00

Delicate

Wildflower Preserve, Ithaca, NY

Spring 2007

Image of the Day

2008-01-29T22:43:00.001-05:00

Exuberance

Ithaca College

Spring 2006

Image of the Day

2008-01-28T21:28:00.001-05:00

Stillness

Ithaca, NY

April 2003

Stardust and Envelopes

2008-01-27T18:02:00.000-05:00

This was a rather uneventful and workful weekend. I spent most of it with butt firmly planted in chair stuffing about 1200 invitations to Darwin Days happening from Feb 11-17. For those of you not in the know, Darwin Days is the Museum of the Earth's weeklong celebration of Charles Darwin's birthday (Feb 12) and the theory of evolution. We're having a host of events up at Cornell and at the Museum, including a birthday party reception on the evening of Feb. 16. Hence, the invitations. I think it took me about 12, 13? hours to do them all...anyway, it was most of the useful hours of the weekend.

One upshot of doing them at home was that I got to do it in front of the tv and with music instead of staring at our cubicle wall at work. In that time stuffing envelopes, I watched the movie Stardust which was based on Neil Gaiman's novel of the same name. It was truly delightful. I highly recommend it to everyone. Fun, but not silly. Romantic, but not corny. It's just a fun little adventure that doesn't take itself too seriously. I think I might even watch it again before sending it back to netflix.

Image of the Day

2008-01-27T18:01:00.000-05:00

Delight

Image of the Day

2008-01-26T19:09:00.001-05:00

Cascade

Watkins Glen

Summer 2007

Image of the Day

2008-01-24T19:46:00.000-05:00

Balancing Act

Lovell Pond, Fryeberg, ME

Image of the Day

2008-01-23T19:19:00.001-05:00

Panda Popsicles

Washington, DC

Image of the Day

2008-01-22T18:33:00.000-05:00

Russel Pond - Summer 2007

Soylent Green

2008-01-21T22:14:00.000-05:00

So...I just finished watching the movie Soylent Green starring Charlton Heston. It's a 1973 scifi flick set in the year 2022 (which is really funny because all the tech like tvs look like they are straight out of the 70s, not at all what modern electronics look like and certainly not what they'll look like in 2022 even if the world stops progressing at this very moment.) Heston's character is a detective who is investigating a mysterious assassination. It turns out that the guy who has been killed was on the board of directors for a company called Soylent that makes these colored rectangle slabs people eat in lieu of real food that is no longer available to most of the masses. The big mystery, stop reading now if you don't want to know, is that Soylent Green is made out of dead people. Now, I found myself watching and thinking, so? In this future world, the oceans are dying, there isn't farmland, there are too many people (masses sleep on all the stairwells for some reason, so Heston is always jumping over them to get anywhere). Now, if there were no other source of food and the makers of Soylent weren't killing people, just using people who either died naturally, were murdered/had an accident/etc., or chose to euthanize themselves, why not eat it?

This big secret was the least disturbing thing that happens in the movie in my estimation. I was more horrified at the way women are treated. If you want to have a nice place to live, you basically become a glorified prostitute and come with the apartment that a man might move into, you are referred to as furniture. The man can choose to keep you or get a new piece of furniture. You cook, clean, and service the man's needs, he can even beat you if he so chooses. Heston pretty much immediately makes the dead man's furniture have sex with him and she is ok with it because that's just how things are. The movie makes absolutely no mention of men being furniture, apparently women, who were definitely moving towards liberation in the 70s have taken a good leap backwards.

Another disturbing aspect of this movie is what seems to be the cause of this messed up future. At one point, for about one sentence, Heston cites global warming as the cause of the unnaturally hot weather. People are constantly complaining of the heat and cozying up to air conditioners throughout the movie. Thirty five years ago people were already worried about global warming and climate change. And yet, its often feels like climate change is a relatively new idea with the way our government and the population as a whole treat the issue. Hey, maybe if we don't shape up and stop potential climate shifts, we'll end up eating Soylent Green too.

A Little More Illumination

2008-01-21T19:26:00.000-05:00

Light in Winter Festival weekend is over. I had a blast! Day three was fabulous. Overall, I think that Fri and Sunday rocked and Saturday was still fun, but not as good as the other days. So, Sunday the day started with a trip out to good ol' PRI for a talk by our Artist-in-Residence, Mr. John Gurche. It was similar to some of his other talks I've been to, but it was still fun to be there just to see the crowd we drew. There were 80-90 people!! Go PRI!

Then I was off to Ithaca College. It was nice to be back on old familiar turf. I should get up there for lectures etc. more often. We started with a performance of works composed by Bruce Adolphe that were inspired by the artwork of Gaugin. The lecture parts were interesting and the music was good, enjoyable all around. Then we had a really spectac performance and lecture by David Sloan Wilson on evolution and the musical group Water Bear. Everything David had to say was fascinating and I'll have to go check out his book, Evolution for Everyone I believe it was called. One interesting tidbit from him was about the evolution of personalities. David gave an example that two sisters in a family of bush babies had completely different personalities, one was outgoing and went off to establish its own range, the other was shyer and stayed with the mother, and probably would inherit her range. By having these different personalities, the sisters were occupying different niches. I'm not sure I'm explaining it correctly... Have to get the book to remember correctly. Anyway, the musical portion of the presentation expressed some of David's ideas in a really interesting way. The group's founder has a system where each note on the instrument is assigned to a different letter of the alphabet, A-Z. Then she takes the notes that correspond to a word, in this case, the player's names, and makes a piece around these series of notes. So, each instrumentalist was playing their name and it was really fascinating to see these disparate sequences weave together to make a pleasing song. Really great.

Next up, symphony pieces inspired by The Garden of Cosmic Speculation in Scotland (or Ireland...I can't remember). And finished off with Cyro Baptista and Beat the Donkey. This one was pure Ithaca....dirty hippie Ithaca. They were good, but sometimes the percussion heavy sound devolved into pure noise. I think they would have been more fun at Grassroots were there are no seats and you are just freer to move with the music and really get into it. A bit too free spirited for the State theatre.

A nice surprise was that my old boss and friend, Bridget came to town. It was fun to catch up and have a drink with everyone after the performance. Nice to have someone I knew come to the events instead of continuing to be surrounded by a sea of strangers!

A Little Illumination

2008-01-19T17:51:00.000-05:00

Day two of the Light in Winter festival is drawing to a close...and I think I just may have decided that I'll be skipping out on the final evening performance of the day. A girl can only take so much illumination, and I've already been to three performances today! So far, I'd have to say that day one of the festival was my favorite. I started with the Ying Quartet performance of music written mostly by Chinese Americans. The program explored the meeting of Eastern music with Western instruments and musical styles. The music was truly innovative, one piece was entirely plucked instead of performed with bows. Both pleasing musically and educationally.

The evening's performance of Voices from the Edge of the World was really magical. I find pieces that combine music, narration, and images very powerful. Neil Conan and the whole cast were great. I especially liked the piece from Jacques Costeau which was performed with drunken watery sounds made by the percussionist on this exceedingly odd looking instrument. I have no idea what it was, but the sound effects and the reading were just perfect.

After the show, it was on to the after party which I attended as a dutiful board member even though I'm not all that comfortable at parties where I am the youngest person present, usually by far! But, it wasn't too painful :-) The party was held in the penthouse of the old Dewitt Mall building. It was hard to imagine that the building used to be a school. Truly a lovely apartment. Being the person who generally finds it difficult to mingle, I was proud of myself that I didn't spend too much time by myself looking out windows. I met Neil Conan, spoke with a few of the musicians, and chatted with some of the other board members, so I felt it was an evening well done.

Saturday started off early with a yoga dance workshop which was fun, then a presentation loosely based around the "identities" of super heroes. This one didn't really seem to me to follow the theme or the title of the talk too much, but it was a lot of fun, especially the last presenter who talked about the biology of b-movie monsters. He even made a plug for Museum of the Earth when he talked a little about the evolution of dinosaurs through time in the movies. Actually, its been really amusing to see how much of what we talk about at the Museum made its way into the presentations. On Fri, one of the pieces narrated was Darwin's letters (if you want more, come to Darwin's Birthday Party at the Museum in Feb), and today, we had the dino posture stuff (come to the Museum and check out our temporary exhibit for more), and then in the last panel, one guy who works with robots talked about letting robots learn and evolve through natural selection. Funny how themes follow you around!

Wise Blood

2008-01-17T20:52:00.000-05:00

I posted earlier about several top 100 novels lists. Well, I finally got around to picking out something from them to read and that happened to be Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor. I had read a short story by her in college, "A Good Man is Hard to Find", I believe it was called and I'd really liked it. It was really disturbing and messed up, but quite deep and interesting to discuss. So, hence the choice of a familiar author to try a book from. After having read the novel, I'm a bit disappointed. It's definitely not on my top 100 novels of all time. It's not bad, it was just....odd. The characters were all significantly flawed and unlikable and I didn't really get what the novel was about. I'm not really saying that it was poorly written or anything, just that I was unable to really get into it, to fully appreciate it. It seems to me the kind of book that might flourish under discussion but that read alone can be rather confusing and depressing. Or maybe I'm just not that interested in thinking about faith and religion right now.

Anyway, I'm on to Steppenwolf which I picked up at a booksale awhile back and hadn't gotten around to yet. So far I like it, lots of interesting passages, but I haven't been able to read more than a few pages at a time. I think this may be another long haul kind of book for me.

In other news, I've decided to look into what it means to be a librarian and what goes into earning a masters of library science. I am fairly certain that fundraising and development is not really where I want to stay. I'm not really comfortable asking people for money and its just depressing that when we do make money, we are thanked a little, but mostly just asked to produce more. If I did stay, I'd really need to learn more because I just don't know what else to do to bring more gifts through the door. Being a librarian has sounded attractive at different points in my life, so its time to see if it really might be for me. My mom and Anders at work both find the idea of me as a librarian as a natural fit, and something about it feels right to me, but I'm not really sure what librarians do other than stuff with books, so some research is required before hasty decisions are made.

I <3 Bowling

2008-01-13T15:32:00.000-05:00

I bowled a 144. Woot Woot! Of course, that was in the first game and I got progressivley worse from there. A bit stiff from slinging a bowling ball around and walking up at Sapsucker woods yesterday, so taking the day off from the gym in anticipation of my first personal training session tomorrow. Very excited!

Past is present

2008-01-08T20:30:00.001-05:00

A rare entry from my paper journal - it seemed to apply to today.

1/6/2007 1:15 pm

I am at the lake sitting on a rock wearing my jean jacket, sleeves rolled into cuffs mid forearm. Perhaps 100 Canadian geese honk just offshore, migration is no longer a necessity. I cannot say that I abhor this kind of weather in January, but despite this balminess of an early spring day in the depths of winter, we must not forget that there may be, will be, other more unpleasant consequences around the world. Record snows have hit random places, shutting down livelihoods. In the summer, livestock drops dead of the heat, people do too. Climate is shifting and I don't doubt that we can meet many of the changes, but at what cost to third world nations and to ourselves? The issues of this world are interrelated. In solving energy use, perhaps we could solve some of Iraq. In some ways I fear we will destroy ourselves before the climate has its chance. What, really, are they doing abroad in war torn countries? What are they fighting for? Walking away can't be the answer, who is to say they will not follow our retreat? Is the world we are making a world that we desire to have?

A Book Heavy Entry

2008-01-05T12:50:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

Let's begin with the books.

1. I finally finished Cryptonomicon while I was home for Christmas. It took me about a full month to finish which for me is a rather long time. This is not to say that the book was bad, it was just dense and I had two crocheted blankets to finish between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I've enjoyed all of the books by Neal Stephenson that I've read so far, but I am going to agree with a review I read which stated that Stephenson can't find the ending of his novels. The book was an intruiging blend of WWII history, techie math, how computers work, and treasure hunting. Really enjoyed some of the characters, but the book ends so far away from where it starts that I was left a bit puzzled. He probably could have slimmed the book down a good deal and had a tighter storyline, but I still enjoyed. Go ahead and read, but be prepared for a significant time investment and don't read for the ending, read for the book.

2. The Coelura by Anne McCaffrey. This was a couple hour reread of a novella to shake off Cryptonomicon. I was obsessed with McCaffrey's books in middle and high school, thus I have an entire shelf and have read most of what she's written. I've moved on to other faves, but still enjoy a return every once in a while. (Crystal Singer and Killashandra are still on my top books list and have been read many many times though!) Anyway, this one is a quickie with some interesting illustrations. Light and fast reading for those in between big books or not willing to commit a lot of time.

3. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. I discovered via Netflix that this book had been made into a movie and watched it about a week ago. I liked the movie, but....I'm left wondering why they said it was based on the book. In the book the main character is a teenager living in suburban Maryland and goes to high school. She is a werewolf. She begins going out with a human, Aiden who is a poet while she is an artist. I won't say much more in case you decide to read for yourself. In the movie, she's a bit older and its in some middle eastern country. She works in a chocolate shop and one night she is in a church and meets Aiden. He's older than in the book and is a comic book artist who came to the area to do research on loup-garou (werewolves) which his next book is going to be about. Um...when did Aiden become the artist in the storyline? And how did we switch up entire continents? Not to mention that she ends up with a completely different character at the end of the movie as she does at the end of the book. So, both are enjoyable, just completely different. The reread over the last two days was another quick one just to see how different the two in fact were.

Up next is undecided, in fact, I think I'm off to the library today and maybe I'll stop in at Starbucks to use my gift card that I acquired for watching a friend's puppy. I finally saw Atonement last night and I have to say that I'm feeling a bit depressed about it. Some shots were amazing, especially one done on a beach in France full of soldiers waiting to be evacuated. It's a continuous shot that goes on for several minutes. The beginning was a bit slow, but once James McAvoy ships out to war, it gets better. Not sure why everyone was blown away by the performances, but definitely worth seeing. Oh, and could Hollywood's leading ladies please gain a smidge more fat? Kiera just looked unhealthy.

On calling someone English

2007-12-20T12:39:00.000-05:00

Wow, I totally suck at understanding people with accents over the phone. I just made an ass of myself trying to book a trip to Europe by having to go "huh?" "pardon?" quite a few times. I think I rely on watching a person speak as part of the whole hearing experience a lot of the time. I've always found it easier to understand someone when I can see them talking...maybe this is another reason that I don't especially enjoy calling people on the phone!

Anyway, I have booked my trip to Europe for this summer. Haven't actually paid anything yet, but I'm at least moving in the right direction. Woohoo!

Now...if only I had some of that chocolate M. sent to me yesterday...too bad I left it all at home!

Larry, Moe, & ....

2007-12-09T22:10:00.001-05:00

Curly!

And this is what I look like without glasses.

Had some time on my hands, decided to see how this hairstyle behaves curled...not too bad. Still working on reading Cryptonomicon...its really long!

Rearranging

2007-12-06T20:26:00.001-05:00

So, yesterday I promised myself that I would clean up the main room in my apartment, and for once I kept the promise. I put on the soundtrack to Across the Universe and got to it. First task was to clean up the mess from pulling everything off my wall and reorganizing it which occurred earlier in the week. Then, I thought, what else can I do with this space, so it ended up in more of a reorganization than a clean. The ugly blue chair thing that folds into a bed is now hidden in the closet, the table is up against the wall, and the chest that was in the closet is out as a cat perch under the window. I think I'll have to find something better to cover it over, but for now tis covered with a pretty sheet. The results:

And here is my tiny Christmas tree, given to me in college by Auntie C. Thanks!

Here's a close up on part of the wall...if you didn't know already, I have issue with white walls, this is my cheap solution. Some are my photos, others are calendars, copies of book covers, etc. I'm having some problems with the photo paper curling, but hope that with a bit more double sided tape, things will stay in place better.

And here is a close up on the blanket currently in progress. I put the blue and white one on hold because I think that this one will be a Christmas present, although it's so pretty that I am tempted to keep it for myself! This is about 3 days in...maybe about 10 hours total?

Life

2007-12-04T20:30:00.000-05:00

My car is still broken, cost for parts: round $400

My computer doesn't always work right, its probably the hardware...or maybe the software...I've already had it "fixed" once and its two years old....cost of new computer: several hundred $

Sarah J. probably wants to book our trip to Europe this summer soon. Cost: $2000 for the tour. Another $1000 for the plane.

It's going on Christmas and presents are needed, cost: another several hundred probably.

Being Sarah: pricey

P&C and the Top 100 Novels

2007-11-26T22:31:00.000-05:00

So, today on the way home I suddenly realized that I was nearly out of toilet paper and if I didn't go to the store, things would not be good. Having just been to the gym, I was not really feeling like stopping and I was already nearly home, so weggies was feeling just too far. Then I remembered the P&C. I've been driving by it on my way home for a year and a half now and I hadn't yet been in because from the outside it looks awfully sketch. But, in the interest of going new places (and in having toilet paper) I stopped....and was pleasantly surprised. It was bright and clean. Now I know that I can run in there for emergencies, but I'll not be likely to give up wegs!

On to the Top 100 Novels. For some reason, I decided to look up a list of the top 100 novels yesterday. I found several and printed off three just to see how I rated. My poorest is 9 out of 100 on "The Board's List" from the Modern Library. Next was 15 out of 100 on Time's top 100. Finally, best score was 19 out of 100 on "The Reader's List" from the Modern Library. I guess I have some reading to do! Most surprising Top 100 was Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash on Time's list. I didn't realize that novel was so well known and respected.

Excellent Progress

2007-11-18T22:13:00.000-05:00

The blanket grows steadily...actually, its pretty much all I've done this weekend aside from a very tasty dinner out with H. and D. and a trip to see their new house. I'm pleased with the way the project is coming...nice and warm and fuzzy!

Best Haircut Ever

2007-11-17T16:48:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I guess it really pays off to actually go to a salon and pay good money for haircuts and eyebrow waxing.

Love it! Love CityStyles too! A big thanks to scarletlily for finally making me go there. Today Jemima cut my hair instead of Michaela who hurt her arm this week, and though both were great, I think I might go back to Jemima next time. I like actually feel hip or something.

A New Look

2007-11-16T21:16:00.001-05:00

Decided to go a little more dramatic on the look, like? Actually, I started a different blog and liked that setup better, so I just replicated it here. Now, if I'm going to continue with the other one, I guess I'll have to change it....hmmm.

Tonight I went to JoAnn Fabric in Triphammer Mall, which I've never been to before and let me say, that place is in need of help. It was REALLY sketch. They def had a lot of fabric, good for my quiliting friend A., but as I don't have a sewing machine, I fell back upon yarn. I discovered a pattern book for "24 hour afghans." HA! 24 hours? I doubt I'll finish so fast, but I picked one out, and got yarn, and started! Woot! The yarn selection was a bit dissapointing, but I managed to find some stuff that'll work. Now to see if I have the stamina to get through the project. At least now that its winter, its nice to be working on things like blankets.

In other news, I want to dye my hair red...it means I'm bored. Crap. Will I give in this season? I should probably wait until after the holidays? My mom thinks its silly to color hair at my age...but I probably will again. Goals for this weekend include Le Gym, some Christmas Shopping, and apparently not going out for drinks...awesome. I guess now I'll be looking for something to do tomorrow evening. Maybe there is a cool band playing somewhere. But, oh yeah, Ithaca forgot what rock bands were didn't they? Ooo...but maybe Castaways has something good this weekend. We shall see.

Are you happy now that I posted? :-)

November

2007-11-06T20:29:00.000-05:00

There were totally some snow flurries today. I guess that means its heading on towards winter. I can't say that I am totally ready. Summer and fall just slipped by me. Now that the nights are longer and earlier, there will be an immense amount of time freed up for more reading! I just recently finished off The Assistant by Malamud. I found this one at one of Ithaca's delightful quirks, the massive book sale that the friends of the library hold twice a year. It's the kind of booksale that puts other sales at local libraries to shame. If you haven't been, imagine a warehouse full of books with attendants constantly restocking shelves for two weeks. People come on the first days with empty boxes to cart away their finds. They wait in line for hours to get it. It's insane...it's Ithaca.

Anyway, The Assistant was decent, but did not really live up to its cover which proclaimed "Not to be missed!" I could have missed it, I would have been fine. I read a review by one reader on facebook's "i-read" which summed up the book as having dropped the reader at the end. I totally agree. We are led into the story, get somewhat attached to the characters and then its over. The writer decided that was good, he was finished, and sent us off into the world once more. Still, the book was worth the small sum that I paid for it.

Next up are the host of books currently populating the bedroom floor, including Vol1 of the Absolute Sandman, The Cryptonomicon, and Medea.

In other news, my car is still not fixed, sigh, wrong parts again. My friend's menagerie of pets continues to grow. And other things...

The Birthday

2007-10-28T14:26:00.000-04:00

The office baby has now turned 23...and still remains the office baby. Honestly, I find it hilarious every time someone re-realizes how young I am. I guess I'm just grown-up for my age? Or maybe at this point in life age lines are just starting to soften and blur. Twas a good birthday weekend and I got lots of cool stuff from family and friends including this:

Swanky, isn't it? I discovered The Sandman about four years ago in a DIY Scifi class in college. The class was run as a typical lecture/discussion format for a few weeks and then we all broke out into small groups to study an area of science fiction that we were interested in. One group looked at science fiction in comics and used an issue of The Sandman in their final presentation. I'm not sure that they actually cited who the writer had been, but I remembered the storyline and a while later when I found out that Neil Gaiman (the writer) had done a series of comics, I set out to read it. Lo and behold, a few issues in, I came across the issue from the scifi class again. Instant love!

If you haven't read anything by Neil Gaiman, I highly recommend it. My first venture into his work was coincidentally enough also in that DIY Scifi class, which I think may have been the best class I took at IC. (That and a more traditional format scifi class with the same professor, kathryn, who was one of the best teachers I encountered there). Gaiman has a way with weaving together all sorts of old myths and modern day that never ceases to fascinate. For the class, we read American Gods, as I was in the group taking a peek into the role that religion plays in science fiction novels. Although I don't consider myself to be very religious, its fascinating to see how religions morph in the hands of scifi writers.

The Legacy of Gird...

2007-10-22T14:23:00.000-04:00

...was not a great book. I feel a little let down by Elizabeth Moon with this one. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading (and rereading) many of her other fic, but this book was not that exciting. I think one of the major flaws in the book is that though a normal length, the action takes place over one man's lifetime. Too much going on with too many jump gaps to accelerate through unimportant bits of time. Also, some of the important moments that occur in the book come out of nowhere and happen too quickly to grasp what just happened. Other things that happen are awfully convenient to propelling the story line forward. For example, the Gods play an active role in the book, but did they simply latch onto Gird to further their ends or did they choose him beforehand to get change rolling? Not enough explanation. Many of the characters are necessarily thin because of the number of them and the limited time to go into depth because of the stretched out nature of the tale. In the end, this book just took too long to read for the benefit reaped. Hopefully on to better tales.

2007-10-11T19:25:00.001-04:00

ok, so, I'm getting flack for not updating, so I'm updating. See, are you happy now?

The past month can very nicely be rounded up as insane...and well, October is shaping up to be just a hair less! Why you may ask? Well, lets see September was gala month at the museum which meant a whole lot of planning, replanning, making items, remaking items, dealing with fun people, dealing with difficult people, and topping it off with five hours of fancy dress, silent auction, good tapas, and dancing. Plus, I had the added mental insanity of being offered a new position a goodly distance from Ithaca and the challenge of deciding whether or not to leave PRI behind for new adventures. Well...after a great deal of thought (and tears, cause that's how I tend to deal with stress) most of you will probably be glad to hear that I'll be remaining an ithaca chick. If you haven't already heard the whole story and want to be filled in, gimme a ring.

On to October. Membership brochure, annual fund mailing, grants due, gala cleanup....thank god for helpful interns! I confess that I stayed until 7 tonight cause I'm behind where I want to be. zoinks!

But, I'm still getting some time in for reading amongst the crazy. Since last posting, I think I've read Dune Messiah, Persuasion by Jane Austen, The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery, and Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut. Let's see Dune Messiah was better this time around, Persuasion was really enjoyable which was surprising because I wasn't sure I'd like reading Jane Austen, The Blue Castle is an all time favorite...I've probably read it a dozen times by now, Slaughterhouse 5 was okay but I much preferred Cat's Cradle. I'm really interested to see how well or terribly this book translated to screen when I get the movie version of it on netflix. The time travel in it is actually similar to the time travel in Time Traveler's Wife. Def very different from a man in a time machine!

Dune

2007-09-05T22:53:00.000-04:00

Amidst a busy time in work and life (our boss just left the organization! zoinks!) I managed to finish my rereading of Dune and make a trip to see my best, doublegknits, out in Michigan. Both were fantastic. I have met numerous people who never touch a book again once they have read it, but I am very much not one of these people. I'll read books many times and always enjoy. I think that this was my third reading of Dune, in prep for reading the rest of the series which I have only managed to get through once quite a few years ago. Now that I am reading the series again with a much older viewpoint, I'm getting a lot more out of it and catching/remembering things that I've forgotten. For example, I didn't remember the part in Dune about the Bene Gesserit sisterhood wanting to create the Kwisatz Haderach in part to create Jihad across the universe which would mix stagnant bloodlines. I guess I missed that in the greater storyline. For those of you to whom that sentence was gobbledygook, sorry, but do consider reading the book. It's a fascinating mix of politics, religion, technology (and anti-technology), addiction, and culture. If you are willing to get totally geeked up on the Dune universe, you now have the option of reading all six originals, two three-book prequels, and a seventh to the original series. Maybe a few more, I'm not entierly sure. If you make it through all (the new stuff is quite excellent) you'll have such a fuller understanding of the universe and the storylines. Learn why the Harkonnen family and the Atreides family are at odds, how the Fremen originated on Arrakis, what happened to the Earth, why thinking machines are so hated...

Anyway, a few favorite quotes from Dune:

"If you rely only on your eyes, your other senses weaken"

"A leader, you see, is one of the things that distinguishes a mob from a people. He maintains the level of individuals. Too few individuals and a people reverts to a mob."

"When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movement becomes headlong - faster and faster and faster. They put aside all thought of obstacles and forget that a precipice does not show itself to the man in a blind rush until it's too late."

"Worry saps the strength"

"The Guild navigators, gifted with limited prescience, had made the fatal decision: they'd chosen always the clear, safe course that leads ever downward into stagnation."

"The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it."

2007-08-20T18:06:00.000-04:00

Zoinks! It looks like I've been rather remiss in updating my blog. Oh well. Let's play a little catch up. So, I was on vacation to the wonderful state of New Hampshire for a week with the 'rents and my brother. It was nice and relaxing and good to be away from the crazy museum life. Plus, I got to go kayaking which I absolutely love to do.

Kayaking took place on Squam (sp?) lake and it was a beautiful day. The lake is large, but has a number of small islands and not too many motorboats, so it was very kayak friendly. That evening, my parents had two of their friends who'd joined us for kayaking come over where we had dinner and drinks. Three bottles of Ithaca wine later, the elders were definitely tipsy, if not downright drunk. Most amusing.

Here is a pic of our campsite at Russell Pond Campground. It's one of our favorites because it's away from noisy roads and has a nice little pond to swim and kayak around in.

We also were often visited by this little chipmunk. He got very bold by the end of our stay and almost climbed up onto our chairs a couple of times. We also had a red squirrel visit often and he actually tried to get into a plastic container of trail mix left out on the picnic table one day. It was quite funny to watch.

The lake. This was taken from the kayak.

In addition to kayaking and swimming, my father and I climed a mountain. Breathtaking views...pics of which are on his camera. Will post if I can get my hands on them. And I spent a good deal of time reading. By the end of the week, I finished Salt: A World History by Kurlansky and Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut. Salt was interesting, I definitely enjoyed some parts of the book more than others (some of the beginning portions can get a bit repetitive...i.e. these people made salt...and so did these people...and these...) but I got a few interesting tidbits out of it. For example, in older times, soldiers were often paid in salt, from which comes the expression "worth his salt" and in the 1700s and 1800s some royalty used to have parties down in salt mines. The salt was carved into spectacular and ornate ballrooms and dining rooms. Cool huh?

Cat's Cradle was a quick read (about 5 or 6 hours one day) and it was great. Scary, but great. Read it, think about it, and wonder if science is really going in good directions.

2007-07-25T12:10:00.000-04:00

So...its been a busy few days. This weekend, instead of sitting around twiddling my thumbs as can happen, I was out and about for the most part. Friday night I saw Hairspray with two friends. The movie turned out to be a good surprise. Although, I must say that while John Travolta was funny in his role, it was more of a "I'm laughing because John Travolta as a woman is ridiculous" than "I'm laughing because this movie is genuinely funny and well written." In other words, for the integrity of the play, I don't think he should have been cast in it, but forgetting anything other than the experience of the movie, it was amusing.

Saturday, one of the most gorgeous days ever, was spent with a visit to the farmer's market (more lovely flowers) and helping out with a party for Light In Winter, an organization that I am now a board member for. I was, probably by far, the youngest person at the party, but it was still mostly fun. The party was hosted at the home of two local big philanthropists and it was certainly impressive. They have a lakeview and some lakefront property, all that a girl could want. The owners also had four birds which were a delight. Ever since I've met my friend H. and her five birds, I've learned to appreciate these guys as pets. I never ever thought I'd be interested in getting a bird, but maybe someday.

And Sunday was the Grassroots festival. I never managed to locate A., but still had a fab time. Thoroughly enjoyed the set by The Duhks, the main reason I decided to head over to the fairgrounds on Sunday. The hippies were out in full force at the festival with all their long skirts, batik sundresses, bralessness, and long loose hair. Twas rather amusing.

I also managed to finish SnowCrash after the festival. It wasn't a super favorite, but it definitely was worth the read. The first sequence is really well written and throws you into the novel well, but then the novel slows down, get a little heavy handed, and mixed up chronologically for a bit. For example, Stephenson takes a while to explain what avatars are, which may have been necessary in 1992, but for me in 2007 seemed annoying. I prefer Gibson who throws you into the tech landscape and expects you to figure it out. The novel speeds up again though and gets into some interesting ideas : i.e. viruses as ideas and religions. Stephenson also makes use of an ancient Sumerian myth featuring Enki, Inanna, and others which was a thread in the Book of All Hours. I was surprised to encounter the myth again so shortly after having discovered it for the first time with Hal Duncan. I don't actually have SnowCrash with me, or I'd write a bit more, but I'm writing on my lunch break at work as my computer at home is crashing on me and I don't really feel like paying to have it fixed again!

Flowers

2007-07-16T22:15:00.000-04:00

This weekend the parental units came for a visit, its been a few months since they were up to Ithaca, so they finally got to see Maverick on his own turf. He was his usually charming self, so I think the parents fell in love more than ever, but I made sure they didn't try to take the little guy home with them. Anyway, the weekend was a full one. We made a stop by the farmer's market where I got these:

This bouquet of loveliness (enough for two vases) cost $10. That's it! I love the farmer's market. Here are some more shots of some of the lilies in the bouquets.

After the farmer's market, my dad and I took a turn around the lake in my parent's new kayak. It's always enjoyable to be out on the water, however, I think I prefer to have my own boat than to go in tandem. I like to be able to have more control over where I am going than I do when there is someone else in the back of the boat. We paddled out past the Cornell sailboat docks and discovered that all of their little racing craft are named after the callsigns in Top Gun. There was a Maverick boat and a Goose boat and Viper and Jester and Iceman.

In the evening, we went to see Hair at the Hanger theatre. I thouroughly enjoyed the show and recommend seeing it to everyone. IY was great and the three main leads were fantastic. The theatre was turned into a theatre in the round for the performance which was quite unique.

We spent Sunday wandering around town and discovered this house :http://www.warrenhomes.com/index.cfm?action=detailed_listing&mls=123725&menu=0. Now, if only I had $350,000.

Snow Crash

2007-07-12T21:42:00.000-04:00

So...last Friday, about halfway through the day, I began to get chills and thought I might be coming down with something. Turns out I was right and had a fever by the time I made my way home from the office at 5. Needless to say, the weekend was left largely to eating saltines and lounging around wishing it were cooler outside. I finally made an emergency emergence on Saturday for some grocery shopping to replenish my empty refridgerator. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was bored of the telly and GASP! out of things that I wanted to read! So, feeling better, I made my way to Barnes & Noble. A mistake for people trying to save some cash. But, I thought perhaps I'd browse and pick out on or two.

I left with five books. I couldn't help myself. Wandering through the ailes I came face to face with Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. It's a book I've been looking for idly for about four years. Obviously I had to get that one. It's going well, although so far I prefer The Diamond Age, which I read earlier this year. I also emerged with Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky, The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennett (these three were a buy two get one free deal!) and Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. This last will necessitate a complete rereading of the Dune series because I can barely remember what happened in the last few books of the series. A daunting task, considering there are six of them, but I shall prevail!

The Truth and Of Love and other Demons

2007-06-16T18:10:00.000-04:00

Two fast reads, the first, The Truth, from Terry Pratchett, a growing favorite of mine, and the second, Of Love and other Demons, from Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Pratchett's novel was another fun and sometimes biting romp through Discworld, where dwarves, reformed vampires, and regular folk attempt to uncover the truth, or at least the interesting bits, and inform the citizens through Ankh-Morpork's first newspaper. Highly enjoyable. If you haven't discovered this writer yet, what are you waiting for?

Of Love and other Demons was my second encounter with Garcia Marquez and I actually enjoyed this second read more than the first (Love in the Time of Cholera which was also great). Demons was sweet and very creepy all at the same time. Was the young girl really possessed? Nearly impossible to tell and as impossible to accept all the cruelties committed by the other characters whose behaviors were often more demonic that that of the "possessed." An insight into how inhuman people become when faced with someone they believe is not human.

Ink: The Book of All Hours

2007-06-06T21:08:00.001-04:00

The second installment of Hal Duncan's Book of All Hours was unfortunately a letdown. The first and much of the second had so much promise, I really wanted to like it, and I did enjoy most of the books, but it really never delivered a full story. The characters, scenes, themes, were all intriguing, but they never really came together into a coherent whole. What really did each section of the two books (four in all) have to do with each other? There is no cohesive storyline, just a lot of interesting imagery and snippets of lives that never seem to come to an understandable whole.

I did really love a number of the characters, however, I felt that some lacked depth because of the way that we were constantly moving from one version of a character to another through the different folds (worlds) of the Vellum. We get to know surface info on a dozen different Phree/Anna/Inannas, but never really get to know any of them. Another intriguing portion of the book is when it's revealed that the seven central characters are supposedly different aspects of one soul. For me, this did not work. And, I do wonder why only one portion of this soul was portrayed by a woman and why the woman's role in the soul was a stereotypically male role, the fighter.

Duncan is a really interesting writer and a lot of the text really lives, but I had a difficult time understanding the final point of the story, if there was one. I would have liked more information on the portion of the novel where the angels are attempting to create God, this seemed really interesting but I needed more to get it.

Still, it was worth the read for the style and ideas. Reminiscent of some cyberpunk I've read. Perhaps if I return for a second read I'll understand it more as I did with Gibson's Neuromancer.

The Book of All Hours : Vellum

2007-05-13T21:14:00.000-04:00

One review of this novel by Hal Duncan calls the writing style "kaleidoscopic" and the analogy is apt. But being kaleidoscopic, I am left at the end still wondering what is going on and if the rotating scenes will finally resolve into an understandable whole. The second installment, Ink, has a major task ahead of itself, many of the scenes in the first novel hang together only because of a common cast of characters. But, how the discovery of Kur by one aspect of Jack Carter fits into another scene with the interrogation of seemingly mad Jack "Flash" Carter fits into another scene where Jack is something akin to a proto-human traveling an empty trashed landscape of worlds remains to be seen. I found the novel incredibly intriguing and definitely intend to read the second, but I am left with more of a sense or feeling of what happened in Vellum than an actual understanding. Duncan unabashedly breaks all rules of linearity, jumps from third person to first person back to third and then to another character's first, the present occurs before the past or in the future or beside it.

Interesting is the use of myth and legend that anchors this novel to our world although it is most definitely not set in it, or at least most of the novel is not set in our plane of existence. His use of characters like Prometheus, Inanna, Satan, Metatron, Jack Flash, Guy Fox... reminds me of much of Neil Gaiman's work, especially American Gods. That novel drew from a different pantheon of gods than Vellum does.

Most nagging question after reading this novel: How are Guy Reynard who is sometimes called Reynard Carter related to Jack Carter? When they appear together they are always separate and do not share the Carter name, but when apart the line between them blurs. Is this because in some of the realities within the book they are the same person? What is the reason for Guy's shifting name towards and away from Carter?