This shot seems to be the favorite of my flickr friends. Wish more of my real friends were also my flickr friends. Believe me, it's the coolest online photo gallery ever.
Two Pair
This is my favorite picture from my photo shoot with Lydia and Jeb. I was awkward about bossing them around, but it was fun, anyway. I got some pretty good shots. You can check them out here.
I don't know what inspired me, but I just told them to put their heads down together on the picnic table and this is what we got. I love their eyes.
After
Jordan's brother let me cut his hair while we were at the shore. He went to a real barber later because I sort of made him look like a girl. Making him look like a girl was not my plan, having him get his hair cut shorter may have been in the back of my mind...
Pink Flowers
I'm not sure what type of tree this is, but the blossoms smell wonderful and look like lace. To get the black and white effect I just desaturated every color but red and magenta.
No More Paradigms!
As I mentioned in my last post, I have a Greek exam in the morning. It's not cumulative, but it is our last exam of the summer. From here on out, we will be translating a bunch of 1 Corinthians and maybe a little bit of John. I still have about twelve paradigms to learn tonight and I'm pooped. My motivation is gone. I want it to be the weekend because I am totally distracted by other things right now. So, whether I'm done learning the paradigms or not, quittin' time is 10 o'clock.
Master Lock
Took this yesterday while I was scoping out a location for a photo shoot I'm going to do this weekend of my friends, Lydia and Jeb. Photos with people are not my forte, so I'm going to start practicing at it. Imagine that...practicing.
Now I am going to practice some Greek paradigms because I haven't studied much this week and I have an exam tomorrow morning at 8:45.
Spray
The beach was a good time. It would have been great if I could have stayed longer, but that was not in the cards. Jordan's uncle offered to pay for my train ticket back to school at the end of the week, but missing 5 days of class was never going to be a possibility.
Driving to Maryland on Saturday morning took half an hour more than driving to Princeton on Sunday evening, despite the fact that on the way home we stopped for dinner. Moral of the story: Traffic sucks going to the shore on a beautiful weekend.
The weather was perfect the entire time. Saturday was actually a little on the cool side because of some cloud cover, but all of us appreciated that. Sunday was hotter, but Jordan's uncle rented some umbrellas to take care of that. Since I'm pretty fair-skinned, one of my least favorite things at the beach is the lack of natural shade. The other thing I don't like is the sand, which is unfortunate, since it's unavoidable.
The house we stayed at was less than half a block from the beach. It was one of thousands of condos and apartments and hotel rooms lining the shore. It was a lovely little place meant to sleep fourteen people, but you could fit more if you wanted. For a rental, it was generously appointed. Some of the decorating wasn't to my taste, but it certainly made the place interesting and who needs a rental to be "to her taste."
Anyway, a good time was had by all.
I didn't take as many pictures as I normally would, but there are twenty or so on flickr. Click on the crashing wave above in order to see a slideshow, which includes pictures of me cutting Jordan's brother's hair.
Two for the Price of One
OR Things About Me #21 and #22
My first car was a powder blue, soft-top 1984 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, for which I paid $500.
Said car died on the highway, at rush hour, in subzero weather, eight months after I purchased it.
It was probably the coolest first car I could have ever hoped to own. It was completely rusting out, the tire treads were completely gone, the muffler fell off, it had power everything, but none of it worked, and the driver's side door didn't open, but it was still totally awesome.
The first thing Andrea said when she saw it was something about how the back seat was made for sex. She was probably right. I could have fit four people across that back seat, which was upholstered in leather.
Unfortunately, I only ever got one picture of the beauty and it's not digital. Perhaps one day I will scan it and show everyone my old boat in all its glory, but for now, sleep well and dream of large gas guzzlers.
My first car was a powder blue, soft-top 1984 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, for which I paid $500.
Said car died on the highway, at rush hour, in subzero weather, eight months after I purchased it.
It was probably the coolest first car I could have ever hoped to own. It was completely rusting out, the tire treads were completely gone, the muffler fell off, it had power everything, but none of it worked, and the driver's side door didn't open, but it was still totally awesome.
The first thing Andrea said when she saw it was something about how the back seat was made for sex. She was probably right. I could have fit four people across that back seat, which was upholstered in leather.
Unfortunately, I only ever got one picture of the beauty and it's not digital. Perhaps one day I will scan it and show everyone my old boat in all its glory, but for now, sleep well and dream of large gas guzzlers.
Coke and a Gull
From my weekend at the shore. Don't worry; we picked up all the litter we found. As stencils on all of the trash cans urged, we left only our footprints.
Head and Shoulders (and Wings?!)
This little guy is a key chain I bought over seven years ago at Hampton Court Palace. He was supposed to be a gift for a friend but, clearly, I couldn't give him up...
Beau-tiful
This tiny kitten's name is Beau. His playmate is named Belle. His parents are tres creative.
As of today, I have begun a new blog. It's going to be my photoblog. I haven't decided yet whether my photo of the day feature is going to be moved to that venue or if I will continue posting it here. I'm considering keeping the other blog mostly for shots that I think are extra good, even to the point of having some sort of resale value.
Thing about me 101 (no, it's not on the list): In the past I've taken up many hobbies and dropped them when I got to the point where I needed to actually do hard work in order to get better.
With knitting, I started with scarves and ended when I got to hats.
With sewing, I made a couple dresses for a friend's wedding and then decided it wasn't worth it, except for the occasional crafty skirt or bag.
With guitar, I got good enough to play about 10 chords using a whopping three finger-picking patterns and, although unsatisfied with my accomplishment, I gave up.
I won't continue with the list. It could probably include more things than I'd like to mention. With photography, I don't want it to be like that. My goal is to push on to the next level. In fact, before I die, I would like to have at least one paying photography gig. It doesn't need to turn into a career, I just want to be good enough that someone with good taste would be willing to buy what I produce. I want to be good enough that the possibility of spending a couple thousand dollars on good equipment isn't a foolhardy wish.
Anyway, I'll let you know if the photos are going to make a permanent switch. For now, most of them will stay right here.
Tickle My Nose
OR Thing About Me #89
One of the things I got most excited about during my first visit to PTS was the fizzy water on tap in the cafeteria.
I wrote that in April '06 and it still holds true today. Almost every meal I eat in the cafeteria includes a glass of fizzy water, sometimes two.
One of the things I got most excited about during my first visit to PTS was the fizzy water on tap in the cafeteria.
I wrote that in April '06 and it still holds true today. Almost every meal I eat in the cafeteria includes a glass of fizzy water, sometimes two.
Sky Shadows
Goody! I haven't posted this one yet. I took this shot at the XPoNential Music Festival a couple weeks ago. Fully manual and no editing, straight from my eye to yours!
Greek Speak
OR Thing About Me #70
In junior high, my friends and I learned the Greek alphabet and wrote notes to each other using the characters as rough equivalents for the Western alphabet.
Now I'm relearning the Greek alphabet in order to read the New Testament. It still seems like I'm trying to crack some sort of secret code, especially when we start talking about manuscript variations and such.
In junior high, my friends and I learned the Greek alphabet and wrote notes to each other using the characters as rough equivalents for the Western alphabet.
Now I'm relearning the Greek alphabet in order to read the New Testament. It still seems like I'm trying to crack some sort of secret code, especially when we start talking about manuscript variations and such.
Brown Eyed Girl???
I have blue eyes. My driver's license attests to this fact, as does the mirror every time I look at myself. Somehow, though, without any manipulation, the camera turned my eyes brown.
Big Figures OR Thing About Me #27
Every time I go to a modern art gallery, I search for pieces by David Smith. Artists are not supposed to have mundane names like "David Smith."
A few of his pieces were in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo and it always struck me as incredibly funny that a man with such a name was creating modern art. I think there were also a few of his sculptures in the Hirshhorn Museum in DC.
The sculpture pictured above is not by David Smith, but rather an artist with a much more artistic name, Magdalena Abakanowicz. The piece is entitled "Big Figures" and stands in front of the Princeton University Art Gallery. Apparently, there was quite a bit of controversy when the sculpture was first installed, but that has all quieted down.
If you're ever in Princeton, it's truly worth a look. Twenty figures around seven feet tall, just marching.
Blogging about Blogging
You've probably noticed this already, but sometimes I struggle with topics to blog. It's easy when you have a boss about whom you can complain or you're completely anonymous and can write about anything as long as you don't give out the personal details or you have a niche blog with new material cropping up every day. But when your life is fairly calm and you don't have the blanket of anonymity, blogging can become a struggle.
Anyway, I found something yesterday that very well may save me from this struggle for the next few months, at least. Some of my time spent not working while on the job in DC was spent making a list of 100 things about me. Some of them are unique, some of them are quirky, some of them are downright boring, but all of them are going to be posted...one by one. Sometimes with a picture, sometimes without. Sometimes with an explanation or a story, sometimes not.
The list was completed on April 18, 2006. Since then, quite a few things in my life have changed. I'll post the original list items and provide editorial comment as necessary. You get to join me on this introspective journey whether you like it or not. Oh wait, it's a blog. You can stop reading. Don't stop reading! Please, oh please, don't stop reading.
Without further ado, here you have the first item on my list:
Anyway, I found something yesterday that very well may save me from this struggle for the next few months, at least. Some of my time spent not working while on the job in DC was spent making a list of 100 things about me. Some of them are unique, some of them are quirky, some of them are downright boring, but all of them are going to be posted...one by one. Sometimes with a picture, sometimes without. Sometimes with an explanation or a story, sometimes not.
The list was completed on April 18, 2006. Since then, quite a few things in my life have changed. I'll post the original list items and provide editorial comment as necessary. You get to join me on this introspective journey whether you like it or not. Oh wait, it's a blog. You can stop reading. Don't stop reading! Please, oh please, don't stop reading.
Without further ado, here you have the first item on my list:
My favorite color is blue; always has been, always will be. Once I tried to change it to red, it just didn't stick.
What's your favorite color? Has it ever changed? Have you ever tried to change it?
Halfway Through
The fourth week of Greek has now come and gone. Our third exam, which I finished in half an hour, was this morning. I like to think it only took me half an hour because I'm brilliant, but it's really just because the exams are completely predictable, thus easily studied.
I've always thought that taking Hebrew over the summer was a bad idea because it wouldn't really stick, but I'm beginning to think that, for me, an intensive course is a good way to learn a language. It's amazing how much more smoothly it's all going since I get to completely focus on one class rather than trying to juggle all the reading and assignments for five other classes while cramming vocab and grammar into my brain.
In my free time, I've been playing around with photography a lot. With the help of some white posterboard and my dresser, I've set up a makeshift "studio." Mostly, I've been shooting some nail polish bottles, a piggy bank and a little key chain I bought in London, but it's been fun. We have Christmas break on Monday. Some friends and I might be heading to the shore for a day along the sea, so that would give me a great opportunity for some outdoor shots.
I may have said this before, but I'm coveting a digital SLR. Reading Understanding Exposure has made me wish for one even more. After some discussion with friends who are into photography here at Princeton, I've decided not to purchase a DSLR until I can afford a used professional grade camera. In the meantime, I will practice my technique with the camera that has served me well for over a year.
Blah blah blah...there I go blathering. Anyway, now I'm going to read some politically correct fairy tales. Have a great day!
I've always thought that taking Hebrew over the summer was a bad idea because it wouldn't really stick, but I'm beginning to think that, for me, an intensive course is a good way to learn a language. It's amazing how much more smoothly it's all going since I get to completely focus on one class rather than trying to juggle all the reading and assignments for five other classes while cramming vocab and grammar into my brain.
In my free time, I've been playing around with photography a lot. With the help of some white posterboard and my dresser, I've set up a makeshift "studio." Mostly, I've been shooting some nail polish bottles, a piggy bank and a little key chain I bought in London, but it's been fun. We have Christmas break on Monday. Some friends and I might be heading to the shore for a day along the sea, so that would give me a great opportunity for some outdoor shots.
I may have said this before, but I'm coveting a digital SLR. Reading Understanding Exposure has made me wish for one even more. After some discussion with friends who are into photography here at Princeton, I've decided not to purchase a DSLR until I can afford a used professional grade camera. In the meantime, I will practice my technique with the camera that has served me well for over a year.
Blah blah blah...there I go blathering. Anyway, now I'm going to read some politically correct fairy tales. Have a great day!
Overexposed
This shot is overexposed, but I think it's also one of my best of late. The colors are true to life and the shadows are fun, except for the one in the bottom left corner.
This Little Piggy Needs a Rescue
I've got a piggy. I've got a piggy. I've got a piggy. Hey hey hey hey!!
Cottonball Clouds
The day Jordan and I were in Camden for the music festival, the clouds were just amazing. I took a lot of pictures of them, but this is one of two that I liked best. I took this shot in full manual and didn't post-process it one bit. It's straight off the camera. Woot!
600!
One of these days I'm going to set up the tripod and use the self-timer to take some good shots of Jordan and me. For now, this one will have to do. I love the way his sunburned face and beautiful blue eyes turned out here. My double chin, on the other hand, I tried to crop out.
Hey! Stop looking at it!!
This shot was taken at the XPoNential Music Festival in Camden, NJ, just as the sun was setting.
I got a haircut today. It's fabulous! I'll post a picture tomorrow or something.
Coffee Roaster 3
I don't like coffee, but this picture of a roaster at a coffee shop I recently hung out in turned out nicely.
I recently got a book called "Understanding Exposure," which I've been getting great advice from on how to use the manual settings on my camera. Hopefully, my shots will just get better and better. Keep an eye out!
Greek Shirt
Each year, the Hebrew and Greek students face-off weekly in an ultimate frisbee game. As part of this tradition, each class designs a t-shirt to wear during the matches. This year, I got to be an integral part of designing the shirt for the Greek class. I'll post pictures when we get the shirts back because I don't want to ruin the effect by showing it in black and white instead of white on green.
Anyway, the school normally orders these shirts from the same vendor every year. This vendor charges approximately $10 a shirt. Having some experience ordering screen printed shirts, I can tell you that this price is too high, several dollars too high, in fact. So, I priced shirts on the interweb and came up with $6.50 a shirt for high quality 100% cotton with printing on the front and back.
To be a team player (and comparison shopper), I sent our designs to the school employee in charge of ordering these shirts to let her know our plan and to ask her to get a quote for us, just in case we could get a better deal from the school's vendor. She sent back an email telling me not to order the shirts from a different vendor because the school would take care of that. I wonder if the people over in the "summer session" office realize that ordering t-shirts from the internet is fairly simple and it would be almost impossible for them to stop us from doing business elsewhere.
Basically, I think this is an issue of stewardship. If we can save $3.50 a shirt, we should do it. And, I think that I'll have enough support from my classmates that we will. It's amazing the things that school politics can affect.
Anyway, the school normally orders these shirts from the same vendor every year. This vendor charges approximately $10 a shirt. Having some experience ordering screen printed shirts, I can tell you that this price is too high, several dollars too high, in fact. So, I priced shirts on the interweb and came up with $6.50 a shirt for high quality 100% cotton with printing on the front and back.
To be a team player (and comparison shopper), I sent our designs to the school employee in charge of ordering these shirts to let her know our plan and to ask her to get a quote for us, just in case we could get a better deal from the school's vendor. She sent back an email telling me not to order the shirts from a different vendor because the school would take care of that. I wonder if the people over in the "summer session" office realize that ordering t-shirts from the internet is fairly simple and it would be almost impossible for them to stop us from doing business elsewhere.
Basically, I think this is an issue of stewardship. If we can save $3.50 a shirt, we should do it. And, I think that I'll have enough support from my classmates that we will. It's amazing the things that school politics can affect.
Primroses
There are several primrose bushes along the border of a garden on the PTS campus. The blooms are currently covering the bushes. I got a few good shots, but I think this one was my favorite.
H to the A to the R R Y
Given that there are so many people here at PTS who were crazy enough to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in one day or less, I am currently in possession of a borrowed copy of the book. Thus begins the struggle between what I ought to do and what I want to do...
Fourth of July
It's taken a while for me to get them all up, but I finally have a slideshow of our Iowa City - St. Louis trip. Click on the photo to see the show.
Skeksi
This shot was taken at the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis. Rachel, Jordan's sister, thinks these birds are "so ugly they're cute," but I think they're just ugly. They remind me of the evil skekses from Jim Henson's "The Dark Crystal."
P.S. I didn't get mugged on New Jersey Transit last night.
Plans for the Day
Today should be an adventure. I'll be meeting Jordan in Camden, NJ, around 3 p.m. to attend the WXPN XPoNential Music Festival, where we will have the chance to sample music from about ten different artists, including Los Lonely Boys and Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. Before I hop on the train around 12:45, I need to make a trip to Wachovia to get some cash, continue down Nassau to Hoagie Haven where I will purchase dinner for two for $5+tax (; ), decide which book I want to bring with me on the trip, and settle on which bag would be best suited for the trip (green shoulder bag or huge orange backpack?).
The trip down isn't daunting in the least, but I am a little worried about the trip back. Depending when I leave, I may be arriving in Princeton as late as 12:45 a.m. Such an itinerary would involve waiting at a bus stop in Trenton for half an hour, really late at night, by myself. I could leave the festival before it ends, but this is the last time I'm going to see Jordan for at least two weeks and he plans on staying until the last concert is over. I guess I'll leave my iPod at home and hope that no one thinks my ratty green bag from Target or strange orange Jansport is worth stealing.
Which book to bring is an altogether more pleasant question. I just finished The Omnivore's Dilemma (post upcoming), so I won't be taking that along. I just started Understanding Exposure, but I don't know if I will be able to read that straight through as it contains a lot of information, all of which I want to absorb completely. So, do I risk the possibility of running out of reading material for the six hours of train and bus rides, do I bring along something light and fluffy for mind-clearing after gorging on information about photography, or do I grab Thomas Merton like a good seminary student in search of a Ph.D. would do? Too bad I don't know anyone who's already finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows...
Anyway, enjoy your Saturday. With any luck, I'll be back posting tomorrow about my non-harrowing adventure on New Jersey Transit.
Turn Out the Lights
Someone left a message at a scenic lookout at the Mississippi River for the rest of us to find. My other favorite was "Z boy + Z girl = <3.">
With Dad
Jordan's family definitely has fun when they get together. During the entire ten minutes people were taking pictures, Jordan, Rachel and Jesse were struggling to hold back riotous laughter.
Coriopsis
Here is another shot from my time in Iowa City. These coriopsis were growing in Jacinda (Jordan's cousin) and Dave's front yard. It was dusk when we arrived and the humidity was near zero, so the shots I took turned out pretty nicely.
On the Whole (Foods)
When I returned to PTS, I noticed that there were several books on the "free shelf" in my hall. Upon closer inspection I noticed that someone had placed The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, on said shelf. As I'd heard about this book from several different friends, I decided it would be a good read when Greek wasn't taking my time. Since Greek has been taking very little of my time, I'm already halfway through the book.
Anyway, the simplest way to describe the book is to say it's about America's broken relationship with food. Pollan takes the time to follow several different meals from start to finish - from a fast food hamburger to a hunted and gathered feast. I've only read about two of the meals so far, fast food and "industrial organic." Reading about the industrial organic meal led me to make my first trip to Whole Foods ever. I'll write more about the book when I finish it, but for now it's the grocery store.
It was an interesting and strange experience. It's definitely a niche market. Whole Foods wouldn't last a week in a low income neighborhood where people are feeding themselves on a couple dollars a day. When I was a kid, my mother had about $300 a month to feed three people. That's just a little more than $3 a day for each of us. Organic gooseberries and whole wheat bread were definitely not on the menu.
I splurged a little, buying root beer made with real cane sugar, a .4 ounce piece of "organic smooshed" raspberries, some freshly made pico de gallo and a bag of fancy potato chips cooked in olive oil and topped with parmesan and garlic. The lowbrow version probably would have cost me less than $5, but at Whole Foods I spent over $12. (And, let me tell you, those chips and pico de gallo will last all week.) It's infuriating to me that the more nutritious a food is, the more it costs. And people wonder why poor people are also fat people.
Whole Foods is sort of a bittersweet place. It's wonderful to have access to organic fruits and vegetables, but buying from a place like Whole Foods does very little to support local growers and is only marginally more sustainable than conventional mega-farms where the cows are pumped full of hormones or chickens are fed beef fat to make them bigger faster. They still use just as much petroleum for transporting and processing their foods which grow in huge monocultures instead of polycultures, which is what nature intended.
All this makes me committed to growing as much of my own food as possible when I have a place to grow it. I'm also considering becoming a de facto vegetarian, eating meat only when it's served to me at someone's house or when I can get it from a farm that grazes its livestock. Eggs and dairy products present a products present more of a problem because I love both of them and don't know how easily I will be able to move away from eating them... Of course, the whole vegetarian idea is still an idea. We'll see.
Anyway, rant over for now.
Anyway, the simplest way to describe the book is to say it's about America's broken relationship with food. Pollan takes the time to follow several different meals from start to finish - from a fast food hamburger to a hunted and gathered feast. I've only read about two of the meals so far, fast food and "industrial organic." Reading about the industrial organic meal led me to make my first trip to Whole Foods ever. I'll write more about the book when I finish it, but for now it's the grocery store.
It was an interesting and strange experience. It's definitely a niche market. Whole Foods wouldn't last a week in a low income neighborhood where people are feeding themselves on a couple dollars a day. When I was a kid, my mother had about $300 a month to feed three people. That's just a little more than $3 a day for each of us. Organic gooseberries and whole wheat bread were definitely not on the menu.
I splurged a little, buying root beer made with real cane sugar, a .4 ounce piece of "organic smooshed" raspberries, some freshly made pico de gallo and a bag of fancy potato chips cooked in olive oil and topped with parmesan and garlic. The lowbrow version probably would have cost me less than $5, but at Whole Foods I spent over $12. (And, let me tell you, those chips and pico de gallo will last all week.) It's infuriating to me that the more nutritious a food is, the more it costs. And people wonder why poor people are also fat people.
Whole Foods is sort of a bittersweet place. It's wonderful to have access to organic fruits and vegetables, but buying from a place like Whole Foods does very little to support local growers and is only marginally more sustainable than conventional mega-farms where the cows are pumped full of hormones or chickens are fed beef fat to make them bigger faster. They still use just as much petroleum for transporting and processing their foods which grow in huge monocultures instead of polycultures, which is what nature intended.
All this makes me committed to growing as much of my own food as possible when I have a place to grow it. I'm also considering becoming a de facto vegetarian, eating meat only when it's served to me at someone's house or when I can get it from a farm that grazes its livestock. Eggs and dairy products present a products present more of a problem because I love both of them and don't know how easily I will be able to move away from eating them... Of course, the whole vegetarian idea is still an idea. We'll see.
Anyway, rant over for now.
Hemerocallis
If you know Greek, you should be able to figure out what this flower is without even looking at it. If you don't know Greek...learn. ;)
Jazz Guitar 2
This is one of my favorite photos from the time we spent in Iowa City. Apparently, the organist was the lead in this band, but the guitarist was easier to photograph.
It's 7:40 a.m.
Do you know where your driver's license is?
Well, I don't. In fact, the last time I definitely remember having it was in the St. Louis airport. After the ordeal with Jordan's wallet, this situation seems tame by comparison, since I don't have anywhere to drive and I don't buy much alcohol, but it's still irritating because I don't want to pay for a new one.
Oh well, it certainly could be a lot worse.
Well, I don't. In fact, the last time I definitely remember having it was in the St. Louis airport. After the ordeal with Jordan's wallet, this situation seems tame by comparison, since I don't have anywhere to drive and I don't buy much alcohol, but it's still irritating because I don't want to pay for a new one.
Oh well, it certainly could be a lot worse.
One Down
One week of Greek done, seven more to go. I'm not going to say Greek is easy but I do find it rather simple. Simple meaning I don't feel like beating myself over the head with a heavy, metal object whenever we learn a new grammar rule, as I sometimes did while learning Hebrew. There are rules. The rules are consistent. It gets boring at times, but I didn't really expect Greek to be exciting.
For the first few days of class, I was waiting for Dr. Parsenios to throw a curve ball, something unexpected and strange. Around Wednesday, I finally realized that even if he throws something more difficult at us, it's still going to follow the rules because the Greeks loved logic.
Anyway, campus is quiet during the summer, not much to report.
For the first few days of class, I was waiting for Dr. Parsenios to throw a curve ball, something unexpected and strange. Around Wednesday, I finally realized that even if he throws something more difficult at us, it's still going to follow the rules because the Greeks loved logic.
Anyway, campus is quiet during the summer, not much to report.
WARNING!!!
As has been requested by my roommate (a.k.a. RGR), I am giving you all fair warning that there are cute puppy faces in my picture of the day and you may want to skip this post if you don't want to be tempted to go rescue a mutt from the local ASPCA in the next ten minutes.
Look at Us, originally uploaded by kate e. did.
Look at Us, originally uploaded by kate e. did.
Black and White Visitor
Monarch butterflies always lay their eggs on milkweed leaves. I suppose that's why it's also sometimes called butterflyweed.
Going Under
I spent nearly half an hour on Jordan's back patio getting dozens of shots of this insect. Look at it. It's just creepy. It has a proboscis like a butterfly or moth, but no wings. We couldn't figure out what it was, so if anyone reading this has any insights, let me know.
Back to School Edition
Butterflyweed, originally uploaded by kate e. did.
It's my first day back at Princeton for the summer. Seems like Greek is going to be pretty easy compared to Hebrew, so I'm not too worried. I think the people taking Hebrew over the summer are completely insane, but I guess it's the way to do it if you're just fulfilling a requirement to be ordained.
My room is a huge mess. I don't want to finish unpacking, but if I don't, I will have to sleep on my couch tonight...not a terrible option. Getting my stuff out of storage was interesting. It was like one of those sliding puzzles we all played with when we were kids. You know the ones; sixteen spaces, fifteen pieces, only one piece can be moved at a time. If you still don't remember, check out Wikipedia on the subject. The point is that I could only move my things a few feet at a time because I left early and it was all behind everybody else's stuff. Needless to say, it was a hot, sweaty endeavor.
The housing office put me in the wrong room at first. They gave me the room next to my room... Fortunately, it didn't take long to get that straightened out.
And, for a final bit of trivia, one of the guys in my precept played professional football for four years, has two master's degrees, one of which is from Oxford, and studied classical Greek in undergrad. Sometimes I wonder what I've been doing with my life. ;)
Time to learn the Greek alphabet...
I promised you, my faithful readers, that I would post about our adventures in Iowa City and St. Louis and here I am, doing just that.
Those of you who think Iowa City sounds lame as a vacation destination, think again. I guess it could be under most circumstances, but when you are staying in the Sheraton downtown, which has the most comfortable beds you've ever slept in, and there is a free Jazz Festival going on a few blocks away and someone else is paying for everything and the weather is perfect, it's worth spending a few days. We spent our days wandering around town, listening to music and dining at local restaurants and our evenings hanging out with Jordan's cousins, all of whom he'd never met before. No crazy stories, but plenty of fun.
St. Louis was fun in its own way, but included a hefty dose of stress. (As an aside, if you're ever thinking about going to St. Louis for the Fourth of July, it's not worth it...really.) We arrived on the third around 2. Jordan noticed that his wallet was missing around 5, when we were headed out the door for dinner. The car was checked and rechecked. Jordan was convinced that it must be at his sister's house, but Rachel, her husband, Nate, and Jordan's brother, Jesse, were already on their way to meet us for dinner and a ballgame, so there was no way to find out.
We talked about it over dinner, but it didn't seem dire, so we went ahead with our plans and Rachel promised to check around her house upon her return. Jesse called around midnight to tell us that the wallet wasn't found. *sinking feelings all around*
The next morning, I used the hotel's computers to look up the number for the Quiznos where we'd had lunch the day before. I recognized the voice of the woman who'd made our sandwiches right away. Had they found a wallet? Why, yes, they had. Was it Jordan Burdge's? Yes, it was!
BUT! His wife had already come in to pick up the wallet... HIS WIFE!?! I quickly informed Patty, our helpful Quiznos employee, that Jordan had no wife.
So, Patty called Jessica, the woman who'd left the note about Jordan's wife coming to get the wallet, and then called me back. Jessica denied it, but Patty was sure that she had taken the wallet. While Patty was dealing with Jessica, Jordan and I were trying to figure out how we would get him home. Turns out you need government-issued picture i.d. to get on a Greyhound bus these days. If we didn't get his license back, he was going to be in St. Louis until his brother drove home in two weeks or more. Lori and Ernie found out from the airline that it might be possible to get on the plane with Jordan's boarding pass from the flight in and a police report stating his identification had been lost or stolen...
Before taking that step, though, Jordan made one last ditch effort to find out if he could get the wallet back without involving the police. We found out from Patty that Jessica was at the Quiznos and Jordan called to confront her. He told her that he wouldn't rat her out to the police or Quiznos, but he needed the wallet to get on our plane. She admitted that she took the wallet because she needed the money for a "friend's" pregnancy test and agreed to meet us at noon near the Quiznos.
So, we all hopped in the car and headed to Troy, Missouri, about an hour away from St. Louis. It was a stressful trip, all of us thinking that Jessica may or may not show up, but in the end she was there waiting for us. After retrieving the license, I suddenly realized I hadn't eaten all day and we went to Quiznos for lunch. :)
Through a tricky turn of events, I let the cat out of the bag about Jessica having the wallet. Even if I hadn't, though, she was going to lose her job for not getting ID from Jordan's wife when she claimed the wallet.
It's difficult to know how to feel about Jessica. She certainly wasn't an experienced pilferer, otherwise she wouldn't have kept the wallet. She wasn't thinking rationally and she got herself into a situation much bigger than she expected. We feel compassion because there was obviously some reason she needed the money, but it's hard to feel badly about her losing her job since what she did was wrong and could have caused serious problems for Jordan and his dad and stepmom. Of course, after all of this happened, we all stopped to wonder whether we would have given her the money had she just asked for it...
Those of you who think Iowa City sounds lame as a vacation destination, think again. I guess it could be under most circumstances, but when you are staying in the Sheraton downtown, which has the most comfortable beds you've ever slept in, and there is a free Jazz Festival going on a few blocks away and someone else is paying for everything and the weather is perfect, it's worth spending a few days. We spent our days wandering around town, listening to music and dining at local restaurants and our evenings hanging out with Jordan's cousins, all of whom he'd never met before. No crazy stories, but plenty of fun.
St. Louis was fun in its own way, but included a hefty dose of stress. (As an aside, if you're ever thinking about going to St. Louis for the Fourth of July, it's not worth it...really.) We arrived on the third around 2. Jordan noticed that his wallet was missing around 5, when we were headed out the door for dinner. The car was checked and rechecked. Jordan was convinced that it must be at his sister's house, but Rachel, her husband, Nate, and Jordan's brother, Jesse, were already on their way to meet us for dinner and a ballgame, so there was no way to find out.
We talked about it over dinner, but it didn't seem dire, so we went ahead with our plans and Rachel promised to check around her house upon her return. Jesse called around midnight to tell us that the wallet wasn't found. *sinking feelings all around*
The next morning, I used the hotel's computers to look up the number for the Quiznos where we'd had lunch the day before. I recognized the voice of the woman who'd made our sandwiches right away. Had they found a wallet? Why, yes, they had. Was it Jordan Burdge's? Yes, it was!
BUT! His wife had already come in to pick up the wallet... HIS WIFE!?! I quickly informed Patty, our helpful Quiznos employee, that Jordan had no wife.
So, Patty called Jessica, the woman who'd left the note about Jordan's wife coming to get the wallet, and then called me back. Jessica denied it, but Patty was sure that she had taken the wallet. While Patty was dealing with Jessica, Jordan and I were trying to figure out how we would get him home. Turns out you need government-issued picture i.d. to get on a Greyhound bus these days. If we didn't get his license back, he was going to be in St. Louis until his brother drove home in two weeks or more. Lori and Ernie found out from the airline that it might be possible to get on the plane with Jordan's boarding pass from the flight in and a police report stating his identification had been lost or stolen...
Before taking that step, though, Jordan made one last ditch effort to find out if he could get the wallet back without involving the police. We found out from Patty that Jessica was at the Quiznos and Jordan called to confront her. He told her that he wouldn't rat her out to the police or Quiznos, but he needed the wallet to get on our plane. She admitted that she took the wallet because she needed the money for a "friend's" pregnancy test and agreed to meet us at noon near the Quiznos.
So, we all hopped in the car and headed to Troy, Missouri, about an hour away from St. Louis. It was a stressful trip, all of us thinking that Jessica may or may not show up, but in the end she was there waiting for us. After retrieving the license, I suddenly realized I hadn't eaten all day and we went to Quiznos for lunch. :)
Through a tricky turn of events, I let the cat out of the bag about Jessica having the wallet. Even if I hadn't, though, she was going to lose her job for not getting ID from Jordan's wife when she claimed the wallet.
It's difficult to know how to feel about Jessica. She certainly wasn't an experienced pilferer, otherwise she wouldn't have kept the wallet. She wasn't thinking rationally and she got herself into a situation much bigger than she expected. We feel compassion because there was obviously some reason she needed the money, but it's hard to feel badly about her losing her job since what she did was wrong and could have caused serious problems for Jordan and his dad and stepmom. Of course, after all of this happened, we all stopped to wonder whether we would have given her the money had she just asked for it...
Wait for it...
There will definitely be a blog post about our adventures west of the Mississippi posted tomorrow. Have patience, my child.
River of Rocks
Here is a shot from the trek to Hawk Mountain that Jordan and I took with Laura. The trail was really difficult, but we made it safe and sound and got to see some amazing views.
This particular photo was taken in a section called the River of Rocks. I'm sure you can see how it got that name.
So Long For Now
Jordan and I are going to Iowa City and St. Louis with his father and stepmother, so I won't be looking at my computer screen for a week... I might start suffering from withdrawal symptoms, but other than that, it should be a great time.
Have a good week, loyal readers!
Which One?
I posted these two photos in a group on flickr. They are a couple of my favorites from blueberry picking earlier this week. A lot of people seem to prefer the one on the left, but I really like the one on the right. What do you think? You can click on the photos to see a bigger copy.
Public Makeout!
Sarah and I took a trip to Michael's today to buy some picture frames for a set of photos she's been meaning to re-accessorize. On the way, we were discussing relationships, as we are wont to do, and she told me that the-guy-who-lives-in-the-basement thinks it's worrisome that Jordan and I aren't crawling all over each other continually. Our lack of public displays of affection bodes ill for our future. Hmmm... Makes me wonder what he would say if we were being gooey and affectionate all the time.
We just aren't those people. I would be comfortable with more affection when other people are around, but I know that Jordan wouldn't and it doesn't bother me.
Any thoughts, friends? Should Jordan and I be shnogging in public?
We just aren't those people. I would be comfortable with more affection when other people are around, but I know that Jordan wouldn't and it doesn't bother me.
Any thoughts, friends? Should Jordan and I be shnogging in public?
A Few Favorites
It's sort of hokey to make mosaics, but I thought this one turned out nicely. These are a few of my favorite photos from the past two months or so. To see the full photos, you can click these links:
1. One Orange Milkweed, 2. Blown, 3. Lady's Thumb, 4. I Don't Think It's a Daisy
One Orange Milkweed
One Orange Milkweed, originally uploaded by kate e. did.
I am very proud of this picture. This is exactly the way it came out of the camera; thoughtful composition, nice depth-of-field, vibrant colors, and several non-distracting points of interest. Not to blow my own trumpet, but I think it's a lovely shot. It's hard to believe that this beautiful flower is considered a weed by some.
Wikipedia tells me that Carolus Linnaeus named this flower after the Greek god of healing because of all the folk remedies for which milkweed was used.
New to Monday
So, I took the weekend off because I had a visitor and wasn't spending that much time with my computer. Little Miss Laura, my college roommate, made the drive up from Lancaster County to enjoy the Pennsburg hospitality.
On Friday, the most exciting thing we did was go to Wegman's. THAT'S EXCITING!!! Have you seen the international foods section of that store? We actually had a fun time walking around the store discovering lots of interesting foods and, of course, getting the items on my shopping list. We also got lost on the way to lunch, but that's not a very interesting story.
Saturday, we drove up to Hawk Mountain to go for a hike. Our trail began going down down down to a rock field. It was lovely, but all that down meant a whole lot of up. When you look at a map and see a 175 foot increase in altitude over a mile, that's a lot. The beginning of the trail wasn't that bad, but as we continued, it continued...to get steeper and steeper. Since Laura and Jordan are both in better shape than I, they were up the hill 5 or 10 minutes before I made it, but I made it (and identified a couple flowers along the way).
Getting to the top was a relief. We rested for about 10 minutes and then headed out along the Skyline Trail. Lovely views and lots of rocks. Near the end, we were having difficulty finding the blue blazes (haha!). That's when we realized they were going straight over the top of 15 foot rock faces. "Rock face" may be an exaggeration, but there was definitely climbing involved.
As we were clambering over various rock formations, I was still carrying my flower ID book. I tossed it to a rock further on once and it came to a rest, waiting patiently for me to retrieve it. The second time I tossed it, the book tried to make an escape down a hole between two boulders. Immediately ready to give it up for lost, I shouted to Laura and Jordan that I lost my book. They were not so easily daunted. Jordan spotted the bright green cover and Laura wriggled her tiny body into the crack to get it. The book was rescued and we moved on.
Shortly after that, we arrived at the North Lookout, also known as the end of the Skyline Trail. There we found a sign that read: "Skyline Trail: Most Difficult. Rocky and rugged throughout, need to climb up or down rocks, MUST HAVE HANDS FREE. Stay on trail." Not only did we finish the most difficult trail, but I did most of it carrying a book!
We were all famished after our three-hour tour, so we took the nice, easy touristy trail back to our car to get our lunch, which we ate at the South Lookout, where our hike had begun. It was the perfect day for a hike. I saw new flowers, Jordan saw new birds, Laura rescued my book. We had a great time.
Next time, though, I'm taking my backpack...and maybe an easier trail.
On Friday, the most exciting thing we did was go to Wegman's. THAT'S EXCITING!!! Have you seen the international foods section of that store? We actually had a fun time walking around the store discovering lots of interesting foods and, of course, getting the items on my shopping list. We also got lost on the way to lunch, but that's not a very interesting story.
Saturday, we drove up to Hawk Mountain to go for a hike. Our trail began going down down down to a rock field. It was lovely, but all that down meant a whole lot of up. When you look at a map and see a 175 foot increase in altitude over a mile, that's a lot. The beginning of the trail wasn't that bad, but as we continued, it continued...to get steeper and steeper. Since Laura and Jordan are both in better shape than I, they were up the hill 5 or 10 minutes before I made it, but I made it (and identified a couple flowers along the way).
Getting to the top was a relief. We rested for about 10 minutes and then headed out along the Skyline Trail. Lovely views and lots of rocks. Near the end, we were having difficulty finding the blue blazes (haha!). That's when we realized they were going straight over the top of 15 foot rock faces. "Rock face" may be an exaggeration, but there was definitely climbing involved.
As we were clambering over various rock formations, I was still carrying my flower ID book. I tossed it to a rock further on once and it came to a rest, waiting patiently for me to retrieve it. The second time I tossed it, the book tried to make an escape down a hole between two boulders. Immediately ready to give it up for lost, I shouted to Laura and Jordan that I lost my book. They were not so easily daunted. Jordan spotted the bright green cover and Laura wriggled her tiny body into the crack to get it. The book was rescued and we moved on.
Shortly after that, we arrived at the North Lookout, also known as the end of the Skyline Trail. There we found a sign that read: "Skyline Trail: Most Difficult. Rocky and rugged throughout, need to climb up or down rocks, MUST HAVE HANDS FREE. Stay on trail." Not only did we finish the most difficult trail, but I did most of it carrying a book!
We were all famished after our three-hour tour, so we took the nice, easy touristy trail back to our car to get our lunch, which we ate at the South Lookout, where our hike had begun. It was the perfect day for a hike. I saw new flowers, Jordan saw new birds, Laura rescued my book. We had a great time.
Next time, though, I'm taking my backpack...and maybe an easier trail.
Flax Flower
There are many varieties of flax flowers (the plant from which linen is made), but I would have to say this is the prettiest. Blue is my favorite color, so I'm always glad to stumble across blue petals.
Flax Flower, originally uploaded by kate e. did.
Flax Flower, originally uploaded by kate e. did.
They Do Look Like Little Monsters or Something...
My mother worked the very early opening shift at a convenience store for much of my childhood. She was usually home from work well before I got home from school. Oftentimes, dinner would already be on the table when I walked through the door at three o'clock. We had the same eating schedule as old people who go to sleep before it's dark outside because my mother took to bed fairly early.
Jordan's house is just the opposite, especially when the whole crew is home. Usually we eat around 7, which is my preferred time; not too late and not too early. There have been times, however, when our meals weren't ready until 8 or 9 o'clock. Sometimes it's because the guys will suddenly decide to leave at 7 and we try to keep dinner for their return. Sometimes it's because we (read "I") don't read the recipe through all the way and miss the fact that whatever meal I'm putting in the oven needs to bake for two hours. But, one time, we didn't eat until nearly 10 p.m. just because our food hadn't arrived.
A family friend went to the Jersey shore for the day and promised to bring back crabs for our supper. So we had a late lunch and went about the rest of our day anticipating the arrival of our clawed meal. Josh is notorious around here for being late, so his promised arrival at 8 happened around 9. Pots of water were already boiling on the stove, full of Old Bay seasoning. Within minutes of their arrival, at least a dozen of our crustacean friends had met their fate, but only after giving our chefs a few love bites with their powerful pincers.
To eat, we dumped the cooked crabs on a newspaper covered patio table. The porch light was dim, but everybody (except) me could have torn apart and eaten their crabs without any help from the sun. They dove in. I was slightly more reluctant. In the low light, the crabs looked as if they were still alive. Their beady eyes stared at me, their claws appeared at the ready. With a little help from Jordan, I managed to eat one whole crab, but after the first one, I couldn't bring myself to touch another, so I stuck with the legs that had fallen off and were scattered about the table. I promised I'd try again...in daylight.
For now, I'll content myself with the pictures I got of these little monsters before they went into the pot. Just look at that blue. And, I'll give you a gold star if you know what movie I'm quoting in my title.
Before the Water, originally uploaded by kate e. did.
Jordan's house is just the opposite, especially when the whole crew is home. Usually we eat around 7, which is my preferred time; not too late and not too early. There have been times, however, when our meals weren't ready until 8 or 9 o'clock. Sometimes it's because the guys will suddenly decide to leave at 7 and we try to keep dinner for their return. Sometimes it's because we (read "I") don't read the recipe through all the way and miss the fact that whatever meal I'm putting in the oven needs to bake for two hours. But, one time, we didn't eat until nearly 10 p.m. just because our food hadn't arrived.
A family friend went to the Jersey shore for the day and promised to bring back crabs for our supper. So we had a late lunch and went about the rest of our day anticipating the arrival of our clawed meal. Josh is notorious around here for being late, so his promised arrival at 8 happened around 9. Pots of water were already boiling on the stove, full of Old Bay seasoning. Within minutes of their arrival, at least a dozen of our crustacean friends had met their fate, but only after giving our chefs a few love bites with their powerful pincers.
To eat, we dumped the cooked crabs on a newspaper covered patio table. The porch light was dim, but everybody (except) me could have torn apart and eaten their crabs without any help from the sun. They dove in. I was slightly more reluctant. In the low light, the crabs looked as if they were still alive. Their beady eyes stared at me, their claws appeared at the ready. With a little help from Jordan, I managed to eat one whole crab, but after the first one, I couldn't bring myself to touch another, so I stuck with the legs that had fallen off and were scattered about the table. I promised I'd try again...in daylight.
For now, I'll content myself with the pictures I got of these little monsters before they went into the pot. Just look at that blue. And, I'll give you a gold star if you know what movie I'm quoting in my title.
Before the Water, originally uploaded by kate e. did.
Pink Spike
I'm trying to avoid the puppy pictures because I don't want to hurt rgr's heart anymore than I already have. So, here is an unidentified flower. Enjoy!
Redeye Daisy
I like the naturally yellow center of oxeye daisies, but I've been taking so many pictures of yellow flowers lately that I've been getting a bit bored. So, I used my free trial of Photoshop CS3 to change the hue of this little flower. I also did a little cropping, but mostly so that the flowers looked bigger.
Resolution
I detest how anti-climactic conflict is. So much loudness, so much tension, so much emotional energy for nothing much. Not that I'm saying I want more blood, I'm saying I don't want the build up in the first place.
Conflict has puzzled me since childhood. My mom and brother would get into these knock-down-drag-out fights over nothing. Then there would be a time of tense silence. This was generally followed by a time of stilted conversation during which we carefully avoided talking about the elephant in the room and nervously laughed about only moderately funny things. Finally, everyone would realize that it was alright to breathe and things would go back to normal. My family's process normally skipped the step wherein we dealt with whatever freaking HUGE elephant we were housing.
Even if the issue is addressed, most of the time, life just goes back to the way it was before, maybe with some minor change. Deep inside me, I always wish for something bigger, something more noticeable. Imperceptible change infuriates me. Basically, I want a bigger payoff for the emotional energy invested in living.
Perhaps this is why I furiously cling to the idea of an afterlife. I want the not joyful times in life to mean more, be more important, have some kind of impact that lasts. Of course, saying such a thing makes me wonder if there is something in my life that should be changed to make what's happening here and now mean more.
Angst angst angst!
Conflict has puzzled me since childhood. My mom and brother would get into these knock-down-drag-out fights over nothing. Then there would be a time of tense silence. This was generally followed by a time of stilted conversation during which we carefully avoided talking about the elephant in the room and nervously laughed about only moderately funny things. Finally, everyone would realize that it was alright to breathe and things would go back to normal. My family's process normally skipped the step wherein we dealt with whatever freaking HUGE elephant we were housing.
Even if the issue is addressed, most of the time, life just goes back to the way it was before, maybe with some minor change. Deep inside me, I always wish for something bigger, something more noticeable. Imperceptible change infuriates me. Basically, I want a bigger payoff for the emotional energy invested in living.
Perhaps this is why I furiously cling to the idea of an afterlife. I want the not joyful times in life to mean more, be more important, have some kind of impact that lasts. Of course, saying such a thing makes me wonder if there is something in my life that should be changed to make what's happening here and now mean more.
Angst angst angst!
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