Sunday, June 29, 2008

Hail and Shakespeare

Yesterday Russ and I decided to take Bravo for a walk in a nearby neighborhood. As we parked, we noticed there was a very dark cloud off to the west, but it looked as if it could just skip over us, so we decided to continue walking. Of course, in about 3 blocks, it started to rain. We considered running back to the car, but again, there just the one cloud, and we figured it would be over soon, so we huddled underneath a tree in the park. Well, it POURED. And then it HAILED. I don't believe I'd ever been out in hail before. It wasn't more than pea size, but still, it HURT. The storm didn't last terribly long, but of course we were totally drenched. Intrepid souls that we are, we still took our walk. And it was a nice neighborhood, but I was really glad to get home to a hot shower and a cup of hot tea.

I'm a little unhappy with B&N right now. I ordered some bargain books from their website. When they came, most of them were fine, but one book was missing, and I had a book about WWII instead of the humorous murder mystery I expected. I went to my local store, and they did have the bargain book I wanted, and were willing to make the exchange. But since I had only paid $3.49 online, and the book I was returning was priced at $4.98, they charged me an extra $1.48. Now 1) the book I was returning also showed a cover price of $4.98, and 2) I had already paid for the book I was getting. But it seemed too much effort to cancel the transaction and deal with returns by mail, so I paid it. I wonder - if I had just returned the book saying I didn't have a receipt, would they have just made the swap at face value?

Then last evening, I went to The Cromulent Shakespeare Company's production of Love's Labour's Lost. It was a free production in the park, and they did a really good job. Of course, there were the usual issues with outdoor events - noise from other people in the park, planes overhead, and at the end, several very loud sirens on the nearest street. But they didn't let any of that phase them, and I enjoyed the play very much. The weather report still said scattered showers, but this time my luck held and there was no rain.

All in all, it was a fun day yesterday!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Blogthings quizzes

Quiz day! I thought these were fun.




You Are 30% Boyish and 70% Girlish



Even if you're not a girl, you're very feminine.

You're in touch with your feelings, and your heart rules you.

A bit of a emotional roller coaster, one moment you're up and the next you're down.

But no matter what, you try to be as cute and perky as possible.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

Not sure how accurate that was, thought the emotional roller coaster is often part of my life.




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Your Personality Profile



You are dependable, popular, and observant.

Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness.

In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do.



You are unique, creative, and expressive.

You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.

And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!



Moodiness and emotions again. Maybe that does describe me. Not so sure about the creative and "freak flag" parts.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Better chocolate?

An article in the Star Tribune today says that Mars Inc has funded a project to analyze the cocoa genome. A process they say will "help battle crop diseases and even lead to better-tasting chocolate".

I'm sorry -- better tasting chocolate? I'm not sure that's possible, or even desirable. I have trouble enough resisting it now...

Now if they could remove the calories and keep the taste and the heart benefits, that I could get behind.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Mosaic meme

I copied this from Deb, who copied it from several other people. Deb's was so pretty I had to try it. The rules are:
  • type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search.
  • using only the first page, choose an image.
  • copy and paste each of the URL’s into the mosaic maker over at FD’s image maker.
The questions:
  1. What is your first name?
  2. What is your favorite food?
  3. What high school did you attend?
  4. What is your favorite color?
  5. Who is your celebrity crush?
  6. Favorite drink?
  7. Dream vacation?
  8. Favorite dessert?
  9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
  10. What do you love most in life?
  11. One word to describe you.
  12. Your Flickr name.
Here's what I came up with (clickable for a larger version).

Credits:
1. Hi Julie!, 2. Untitled, 3. Everything is in Bloom, 4. llibreria - bookstore - Amsterdam, 5. pierce brosnan, 6. Gravity, 7. Totaranui, 8. Bad News Ice Cream, 9. I See You, 10. Last day in Paris, 11. Running ahead of oneself, 12. Liffey Sunset a la Nokia

I really like it - but if I could change one thing, I would re-arrange the photos so the colors balanced better.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Wahoo Wa!

Last week was my 30th reunion at UVA. Charlottesville was incredibly hot and humid, which made all the outdoor events a trial, but it was still great to be back there and re-connect with friends and acquaintances. The seminars were pretty interesting as well. And I kept telling myself - at least it didn't rain.

To see some of my photos, click on the Rotunda below.
UVA Reunion