I feel like I have so much to tell and yet not much to say.
bk and I made our first plans for an extended trip (four days!) and we're pretty excited about that. The trip is to to Mahtomedi and I know that Susie will be pretty upset about it (that she doesn't get to meet him first), but she's in Mexico now so it's hard to get her riled.
I managed to avoid Halloween costumes for another year.
And, happily, I arranged for some pumpkin carving (although I can't figure what happened to the pictures I took of the carver!).
Oh, yeah, and I came across two cd's I should have been listening to before...
{Darn, how did I delete those pics from my camera?!?!?!}
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Traffic Widget
Maintenance note:
I just added a traffic feed that I would probably have made private if I was techier and could figure that out. I'm thinking about making the blog itself private (which would make it harder for people that I want to have read it, to find it), but I wanted to get a feel for how much traffic the blog gets in the meantime, anyway.
Please tell me if you think the new widget is too intrusive. It's a new gadget that I can easily take down. Should blend into the woodwork since I think what I'm getting is mostly folks who click "Next Blog" -- plus my adored family members. ;-)
For what it's worth, I think it's kind of weird anyway. It thinks I live in Versailles (go ahead, pronounce that correctly, non-locals).
I just added a traffic feed that I would probably have made private if I was techier and could figure that out. I'm thinking about making the blog itself private (which would make it harder for people that I want to have read it, to find it), but I wanted to get a feel for how much traffic the blog gets in the meantime, anyway.
Please tell me if you think the new widget is too intrusive. It's a new gadget that I can easily take down. Should blend into the woodwork since I think what I'm getting is mostly folks who click "Next Blog" -- plus my adored family members. ;-)
For what it's worth, I think it's kind of weird anyway. It thinks I live in Versailles (go ahead, pronounce that correctly, non-locals).
Allergies
This post probably has a lot more detail about what's wrong with me than you want. I'd move on to that article about NPR if I was you.
Jus' sayin'.
From the time I was small I have always been allergic to something. Initially, it was milk (I drank soy before it was cool!), eggs, and a variety of growing things ... along with stuff they could never pinpoint (I once had an allergy test that looked like a long string of mosquito bites). Then I grew and got over it and the frequency eased to once or twice a year. And then about ten years ago I moved to Kentucky.
Since then I have had two serious bouts with allergies:
While flying from Sky Harbor to Blue Grass yesterday, everyone I looked at gave a glance and decided they wanted absolutely no part of what I had going on. Both eyes were swollen and watering, my nose was rubbed raw, and I had this weird dry cough.
This morning, I woke with one eye sealed shut and mid-size drifts of aloe-infused tissue surrounding my bed. Ech. I feel everything in my head. I know where my brain is and I feel the roots of my teeth. If I breathe like a normal person I feel cool air swirl through the middle of my skull with every breath, and my eyes are crying to get out -- so I breathe through my mouth. I'm not stuffed so much as empty and I am constantly 40-60% about to sneeze.
I seriously mean this: I don't know who they are, but god bless the folks who invented Puffs Plus and Benadryl.
I can't wait for tomorrow. I know it will be better then.
Jus' sayin'.
From the time I was small I have always been allergic to something. Initially, it was milk (I drank soy before it was cool!), eggs, and a variety of growing things ... along with stuff they could never pinpoint (I once had an allergy test that looked like a long string of mosquito bites). Then I grew and got over it and the frequency eased to once or twice a year. And then about ten years ago I moved to Kentucky.
Since then I have had two serious bouts with allergies:
- February, 2002, while returning from a trip to Arizona
- October, 2008, while returning from a trip to Arizona
While flying from Sky Harbor to Blue Grass yesterday, everyone I looked at gave a glance and decided they wanted absolutely no part of what I had going on. Both eyes were swollen and watering, my nose was rubbed raw, and I had this weird dry cough.
This morning, I woke with one eye sealed shut and mid-size drifts of aloe-infused tissue surrounding my bed. Ech. I feel everything in my head. I know where my brain is and I feel the roots of my teeth. If I breathe like a normal person I feel cool air swirl through the middle of my skull with every breath, and my eyes are crying to get out -- so I breathe through my mouth. I'm not stuffed so much as empty and I am constantly 40-60% about to sneeze.
I seriously mean this: I don't know who they are, but god bless the folks who invented Puffs Plus and Benadryl.
I can't wait for tomorrow. I know it will be better then.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
NPR Music
It isn't like it used to be, when you heard great music on the radio during the drive to the lake -- and then that song became emblematic of the day or the whole summer and then just hearing it again made you lighter. I think the music that makes you feel like that is still out there, it's just so much harder to concentrate on it or find the time for it, or sometimes just to recognize it when you hear it.
Anyway, that's why it's such a happy thing that someone points that stuff out.
Songs for a Drab and Unfulfilling Existence is a great article by one of the staffers at NPR.org, and the first couple of songs it links sound like the first weekend of the summer.
Kind of nice on a fall day.
(Here's a sample, if you don't want to follow the links. Just click.)
I recommend NPR's page: Discover Songs. Not everything's a home run, but you'll find things you might not have found otherwise.
Anyway, that's why it's such a happy thing that someone points that stuff out.
Songs for a Drab and Unfulfilling Existence is a great article by one of the staffers at NPR.org, and the first couple of songs it links sound like the first weekend of the summer.
Kind of nice on a fall day.
(Here's a sample, if you don't want to follow the links. Just click.)
I recommend NPR's page: Discover Songs. Not everything's a home run, but you'll find things you might not have found otherwise.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
My Ben Folds Weekend!
Ben Folds played in Louisville last weekend and bk bought tickets a couple of months ago (because he's awesome) so we went. The show was great, not least in part because the Louisville Symphony -- the backup band for the evening -- is familiar with Folds's work with Shatner and did a really lovely, geeky tribute to the six Star Trek franchises. And because their conductor is so enthusiastic you just want to run down to the stage and high five him most of the time.
The weekend was also fabulous because we found some really fun geo-caches. One of them involved us driving to the top of a nine-story parking garage, dashing from corner to corner -- lining up various landmarks with various other landmarks -- and then driving down to the bottom and through the "chimes of freedom" to a lovely place where we logged our names and said thanks for the cache.
The weekend was also fabulous because bk and I had a picnic lunch across the street from the Louisville Metro Correctional Center and it was romantic and pretty (unless you're a man, it was pleasant and eco-friendly, then, damn it).
Finally, the weekend was fabulous because of the hotel. We stayed at 21c Museum Hotel (I should mention -- because we are poor people -- this was an extravagance). The hotel has a theme, which should be clear from perusing this photograph (there are at least 20 more penguins perched on the eaves of the building, and at least 20 more stationed at various locations throughout the hotel):
(bk and I have a wonderful series of photographs of the penguin that became enamored with bk and left to join the circus...) ...but, I digress.
The hotel's larger theme is art for art's sake. It's not confrontational, it doesn't make you angry, it makes you laugh. For the most part it makes you say, Oh, honey, look at that! bk took this photograph at the elevators and I wish I'd looked smarter or prettier or something. The letters of the words fall from the ceiling and if you step into the frame, the words pause at your silhouette. It's hard to tell from the pic.
The hotel's art makes it really special. Moments I remember include:
"Hey, she's moving!"
"Wasn't that penguin over there earlier?"
"Bill, wake up, come look at this!"
The weekend was also fabulous because we found some really fun geo-caches. One of them involved us driving to the top of a nine-story parking garage, dashing from corner to corner -- lining up various landmarks with various other landmarks -- and then driving down to the bottom and through the "chimes of freedom" to a lovely place where we logged our names and said thanks for the cache.
The weekend was also fabulous because bk and I had a picnic lunch across the street from the Louisville Metro Correctional Center and it was romantic and pretty (unless you're a man, it was pleasant and eco-friendly, then, damn it).
Finally, the weekend was fabulous because of the hotel. We stayed at 21c Museum Hotel (I should mention -- because we are poor people -- this was an extravagance). The hotel has a theme, which should be clear from perusing this photograph (there are at least 20 more penguins perched on the eaves of the building, and at least 20 more stationed at various locations throughout the hotel):
(bk and I have a wonderful series of photographs of the penguin that became enamored with bk and left to join the circus...) ...but, I digress.
The hotel's larger theme is art for art's sake. It's not confrontational, it doesn't make you angry, it makes you laugh. For the most part it makes you say, Oh, honey, look at that! bk took this photograph at the elevators and I wish I'd looked smarter or prettier or something. The letters of the words fall from the ceiling and if you step into the frame, the words pause at your silhouette. It's hard to tell from the pic.
The hotel's art makes it really special. Moments I remember include:
"Hey, she's moving!"
"Wasn't that penguin over there earlier?"
"Bill, wake up, come look at this!"
Thursday, October 2, 2008
San Diego
San Diego was the site for my company's most recent client forum -- sort of a convention where we get our clients to talk about what they like, see what's new, hang out, and generally have a good time. It's something many of us dread (including me), but I always have fun.
This year we had a great speaker in Brett Leake, who is both a comedian and a motivational speaker -- emphasis on the comedy (I laughed until I cried). Here's a link to his website. He's very inspirational in that he has some significant health issues that are a big part of his act, but he presents his material in such a way that you end up thinking not about his story so much as your own. It was a very touching (and, again, very funny) talk.
My flight home was at around nine in the morning and I enjoyed the airport so much that I wanted to share. These are some things that were right around my departure gate. The fountain with the "sun" above it is quite stunning in real life.
Pictures I Like
This post is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some depictions of lawlessness.
Last week, I came back after picking up lunch one day to find that someone had been at my desk, messing with the breakfast item I had brought but not eaten. The usual suspect was laughing so hard he couldn't even defend himself.
"I can't believe how filthy it looks," he giggled. Son of a preacher man, my eye. (OK, well, it is very funny. Go ahead and click to see it better. You know you want to.)
* * *
We had a social event at work last October with much dressing up and merriment. I've already shared the winning pumpkin's photograph (check the archives to see Nascar Cindy, carved by Farmer's Wife and me). I was looking through another collection of pictures from that event and came across this gorgeous version of bk.
Best prison girlfriend ever.
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