Piffle

Reading variety

2011-09-24T08:51:00.001-05:00

I used to read only one book at a time. In the last few years, though, I've changed that habit. I listen to books in the car (currently a mystery), read on my Kindle when I'm out of the house (currently a romance, plus occasional snippets of Self-Reliance by Emerson), and typically read paper books at home (just finished a fantasy novel). Yeah, that's most of the genres I read. Throw in a little biography and sometimes general fiction.

The fantasy, by the way, was Ravenous, first in the Dark Forgotten series by Sharon Ashwood (library classifies it as romance, but I really think of it as fantasy). A witch and a vampire team up to defeat a demon - with help from werewolves and hellhounds. Yeah, NOT my usual fare. But I read about the series on a blog I frequent, and started with the third book - Unchained. I liked it a lot and so now I'm reading the rest of the series. Now on to the next book on my vast to-read pile!

By dawn's early light

2011-09-20T07:31:00.001-05:00

I really do like walking at dawn. Even though there are inconveniences (like I need to take a flashlight and why did my tiny flashlight disappear over the summer so now I have to carry a honking big one?). And even though it was raining today (which made it darker than usual at this time of day).

But the streets are mostly empty and the streetlights make the scene prettier.

And there's always the chance of seeing some animals that are nocturnal or crepuscular (though not today). But the sky did turn pink. No, the sky doesn't really look pink in this picture, but it really was, and the street reflection kind of shows how pink it was.

And yes it was raining. I didn't take a long walk, but I did enjoy going out and seeing how the light changed and the reflections on the wet streets.

Doubly grateful

2011-09-17T21:30:00.003-05:00

Ok, so obviously I'm not going to manage a daily post. The last post was a little weird. The ubiquitous 9/11 hype was annoying me, and I didn't want to mention it. But the post did have to do with some of my feelings about the event and .... never mind, I don't want to go there.

Anyway, I'm still going to try to post, but I'm going to give myself a break by not expecting it will be every day.

Since it's been a while - or just because I feel like it - today is a two-fer. The first thing is that I love the light rail. I wish I lived closer to the line. I'd like to ride it more often. If I move to another city that has a subway/light rail, I'm going to try to find a place to live close to a station. As it is, I usually have to make an occasion to use it, as I did today. I did a little shopping at the Mall of America, then took the light rail to Franklin Avenue and walked to Mezzanine for a haircut.

(I tried to get a picture including the train, but the phone was slow to respond and I missed the shot. Good thing I'd taken this one as practice. I also like that you can see downtown in the background.) By the way, today was the first time that I have been asked for my light rail ticket. I was actually happy to see them checking.

Today I am also grateful for Carly. She's been cutting my hair for quite a few years now - 7 maybe? I've followed her to a couple of different salons, and introduced Jason and Karis to her. I really enjoy chatting with her. I can tell her things I haven't told anyone else. It was a relief to talk to her today. Plus I got a great haircut, and it gave me an excuse to ride the light rail!

Thank you, Mr Jefferson

2011-09-11T22:22:00.000-05:00

Today I am grateful for the words from the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I bought a book some months ago called The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew - Three Women Search for Understanding. I'm reminding myself that I should read the book, and embrace and celebrate the differences between us.

It was hard to think of a photo to illustrate this post, but I decided on this one taken from the steps of the Capitol.

Playtime with dogs

2011-09-10T22:42:00.000-05:00

Today, I am grateful for agility, and particularly for the CPE organization. There are many different "venues" in which to compete in agility - AKC, NADAC, USDAA, etc. I'm only competing in CPE. I like it because everyone makes such a point of having a good time, not stressing too much about competition, and celebrating achievements, no matter how small. Everyone has been welcoming and helpful. Also, there are 7 different games, so a lot of variety.

This is a photo from today's trial. The little white dog at the far end is a Papillon belonging to my trainer. This particular game is called Jackpot. The setup here is more difficult than what I am working so far. This is the end of the game where the handler has to stay to the left of the yellow line while guiding the dog through 4 obstacles. I need to work on my distance handling...

Another way to read

2011-09-09T21:59:00.002-05:00

Much as I love "real" books, I now do a lot of my reading on my Kindle. To me, the biggest advantages are that I don't need reading glasses (I can just increase font size if necessary) and that when I finish a book, I have a lot of choices of what to read next. Also when I fall asleep reading, I don't lose my place.

This is my setup when I read at work during lunch time. Propped up on my purse, it's at just the right angle. And I've dressed it up with a pretty decal and a purple cover.

Books and bookshelves

2011-09-08T22:52:00.001-05:00

On design shows, you always see bookshelves with a lot of art objects and a few books. Um, excuse me? They're called BOOK shelves. They're meant to hold as many books as possible. As you can see, this one is stuffed and I had to use the top surfaces as well. I've got a few more shelves and a bunch of books in boxes and drawers. My ideal would be a library with one of those rolling ladders.

Or with less space, maybe I could have a bookshelf stairwell like this one:

I mean, why waste that space? I could get used to always making the first step up with my left foot.

PS I found the bookshelf stairwell online at Apartment Therapy.

My hero!

2011-09-07T21:57:00.000-05:00

I expect Russ will appear often in these posts, but today I am grateful that he is willing and able to tackle the dirty jobs I really don't want to do. Like dealing with dead animals. Thanks, Russ!

Morning indulgence

2011-09-06T18:46:00.000-05:00

Occasionally I like to treat myself to hot tea on my way to work. Thank goodness Starbucks still has Awake hot tea.

Lark - Happy Birthday!

2011-09-04T21:41:00.002-05:00

Lark is 22 today. I am grateful for all that he taught Karis - and me, too. He was the first horse I ever owned, and he'll always have a special place in my heart.

Roses and walks

2011-09-04T21:28:00.000-05:00

Took a walk to the rose garden near Lake Harriet today. I'm grateful for the variety of colors and the sheer mass of flowers in the garden.

Libraries

2011-09-03T20:36:00.001-05:00

I love libraries. And particularly this one, with its openness and soaring beautiful ceiling. It's not the biggest library in the area, but I'm thankful that I can reserve books online and visit this beautiful space to pick them up.

Leaving early

2011-09-02T19:32:00.001-05:00

On the last work day before a holiday, we get to leave work early. I'm grateful for that one extra hour off!

365 Grateful

2011-09-01T19:13:00.000-05:00

I recently ran across a project called 365 Grateful (http://365grateful.com/). The idea is that every day, you record something for which you are grateful. You can do it in a variety of ways, but as with the creator, photography was the medium that spoke to me so I decided to try it on this blog.

I'd actually been thinking about this concept since I listened to Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson while I was traveling with Karis in California. In one section of the book, he talked about the British capacity for making the best of things. I think of this concept as "Ooh tea! Lovely!". (That might not mean much to you if you haven't read the book.)

So in no particular order, here goes.

I'm grateful for a freshly groomed Bravo, with his gorgeous fluffy tail and wide smile, and what Russ refers to as his "ascot".

New camera!

2011-05-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I got a new camera. My old one that was small and traveled with me most of the time had developed an issue where every time I turned it on, it wanted me to set the date. Perhaps I could have gotten around that, but I used it as an excuse to replace that camera. I spent some time thinking about what to get - DSLR? Small camera with longer zoom than the 5x I had? In the end, I decided that I might not carry a DSLR often enough.

So I got a Canon Powershot G12. It's small, but has a larger sensor than many point-and-shoot cameras. Still only a 5x zoom, but with 10MP, I can crop on the computer for a closer shot and not lose too much. And it has tons of features. Hopefully I will take a lot more pictures and get better at going beyond the basics.

Here's an example of the "Color Accent" feature:

Snow and Ice

2010-02-10T07:31:00.005-06:00

This is for Karis, enjoying the heat and humidity in Queensland. See what you are missing?

Seems to me we have more snow this year than we have for several years. Of course, the bottom layer here came before you left, but it just keeps piling up. Snowed from Sunday night until Tuesday midday. Very light snow, so not really that bad. I think we got maybe 14 inches total. But on top of what was already there...

Anyway, this is the back deck, before I walked on it to get the closeup of the icicles below. I thought ours was in bad shape, but I looked over at our neighbors, and saw it had collapsed. Oops!

I'm a bit worried about ice damming. Once many years ago, we had drips coming down the wall in the family room during the thaw. Hope this melts slowly and doesn't cause a problem!

This is the front from the street. All the snow from the driveway had to go somewhere!

Thought this picture would best show the depth.

Walking today was not so much fun. The city had plowed the nearby walking path yesterday morning (after I slogged through it). But that wasn't as much help as it might have been since the road plow came by later and threw chunks back on the path. Which of course was more difficult to navigate than the fresh, light snow had been. Sigh. Thanks so much for pulling the path closer to the street when they redesigned it a couple of years ago!

Then when I tried to cross the street at a low point in the plowed-up snow, I sank in past my knee and fell. And got a cramp in my left calf so that I couldn't immediately get up again. Fortunately, it was soft snow where I fell, I wasn't quite in the street, and the cramp passed fairly quickly (though Bravo standing on that foot didn't help).

Also, it was only 2 degrees on my walk. I made Bravo wear his booties:

In a Sunburned Country

2010-01-22T14:05:00.002-06:00

I've been in Australia for 3 days now - this is day 4. I'm borrowing Karis' computer for a quick update. We've climbed the Harbour Bridge, toured the Opera House, seen tons of flying foxes in the Royal Botanical Gardens, and took the ferry to Manly to hit the beach. Karis has blogged about all of it at karisdownunder.blogspot.com. And I have some pictures up on Picasa online. I'll add yesterday' pictures later. Now I have to cede the computer to Karis.

Off for another day of adventure!

Snow Sparkles

2010-01-12T07:10:00.002-06:00

Light snow - that's what Intellicast says about the current conditions. But the "flakes" are so small they are really just sparkles. Really beautiful in the light of the street lamps.

It's 4 degrees this morning - much colder and I wouldn't take my morning walk. Hard to believe that in just a few days, I'll be experiencing summer in Sydney. It's 79 there now. And Intellicast must be confused because under "Current Conditions" it says Thunderstorm, but the Hourly Forecast and the Observations for the last 48 hours indicate it's clear. Scattered Clouds at the most. Wonder if I should believe the temperature, then?

Morning walk

2009-12-18T07:17:00.003-06:00

One of the good things about winter is that the snowy woods path is bright enough to follow on my pre-dawn walk. That's what I did this morning. I really wanted to pause for a while and just take in the frozen lake, the peaceful woods, the call of the owl and the hint of aqua-and-pink at the horizon without the crunch of my boots on the snow. However, I was too cold to stay still for long it was 13F this morning, and I haven't quite worked out the layers under my new, highly visible but not very warm walking jacket. My torso, head and feet were warm enough, and my legs only slightly chilly, but my arms were frozen...

Gifts for pets

2009-12-12T17:11:00.012-06:00

Watching Your Pet Wants This on Animal Planet.

1. Sha-Poopie - telescopic poop catcher invented by Tony Shaloub's brother Dan. And it made it on to a Monk episode

2. Hamster car and race track

3. Go Dog Go - automatic fetch machine

4. Pet Cell Phone with GPS

5. Snuggie for dogs Actually not much different from a dog sweater.

6. Fling-a-ma-string for cats

7. Bird Diaper

8. Automatic cat laser toy.

9. Humunga Tongue - ball with attached tongue - for laughs

10. And of course, Pet Airways. So your dog doesn't have to fly as
baggage.

But the best? A prosthetic leg for three-legged dog Cassidy. Here's the youtube video.

Book ad

2009-11-19T18:43:00.005-06:00

This is a first for me. I just saw an ad on TV for a BOOK! James Patterson's I Alex Cross. It's kind of a cute ad, too - you can see it on the author's website.

Interesting marketing ploy...

I don't think I've read any James Patterson. Are his books overly violent? Any advice for me?

Wildlife

2009-11-16T07:17:00.002-06:00

Walking along the border of Bush Lake Park this morning I heard an owl call several times. Then just as we turned into the park, a deer darted across and paused at the edge of Bush Lake Rd. I froze and signaled Bravo to stop as well - I certainly didn't want to spook the doe into darting out in front of a car. But as car after car went by, I started to try to figure out when would be a good time to move so she would run into a safe gap. My timing's not great, so I was worried. Turned out her timing wasn't tons better, but fortunately the driver saw her and slowed while she crossed safely.

The lake itself was beautiful - smooth mirror surface with a little mist rising. A bit more frost on the trees and it would have been perfect. Maybe I'll get a good picture soon.

It's not exactly wildlife, but Bravo and I did meet a basset hound yesterday at the dog park. He stood there looking at me until I leaned down and then he lalloped over to be petted. When he shook his head, the lower half of those huge ears got covered in drool. He was just so adorable to watch. His name was Chumley - isn't that perfect for a basset?

Timing

2009-11-11T07:26:00.003-06:00

Several times recently I have walked by the lake near sunrise and thought of photos. But it's never been quite right. I was a little early, or late. Or not enough clouds to get much color. But oh well, I didn't have my camera anyway.

Today it all came together. The perfect time, right amount of clouds. And the camera.

Human on a Stick

2009-11-01T14:59:00.005-06:00

Today I saw a Smart Car that was a mobile advertisement for Segway Tours. Their website is http://HumanOnAStick.com/ and their logo is

It made me smile. And also, it reminded me of the Segway Tour we took with the McFarlands at Segs in the City in DC:

It was a lot of fun, but harder than I thought it would be. There's a constant vibration that bothered me a bit. Still, great way to see the sites around the Mall. At the end of the tour, we got cards saying we had "Segsy Legs" (so we can come back and just rent a segway on our own if we want).

Poor Bravo...

2009-10-21T12:38:00.003-05:00

While at the kennel (just a few days!) he licked all the fur off 3 of his toes on a rear paw. Took him to the vet on Monday, and he's on steroids and antibiotics. But he also has to wear one of those cone collars.

He's actually gotten pretty used to it now. The first 24 hours, he had a lot of trouble with stairs - he'd catch the cone on every other step - and even just the step up to the house from the back yard was difficult. But this morning, he got up the stairs in one smooth ascent. And maybe he likes not sleeping in his crate (I figured the cone wouldn't really fit).

And he is so good about everything! Giving him medicine is the easiest thing in the world - just put the pill in a bit of butter or peanut butter, and he swallows it with no problem. I take the collar off at meal times. To put it back on, all I have to do is hold a treat on the other side, and he sticks his head right in. What a sweetheart.

Travel tales

2009-10-18T22:38:00.002-05:00

Just got back from the trip to DC for my nephew's wedding. The time in DC was great - got to see almost all the family - just missed one nephew on Russ' side. Great to see everyone, and we really had good visits. We also accomplished the 2 main goals of introducing new members of the family, since Gaea hadn't met any of them except my nephew and his (now) wife. Needless to say, everyone loved her.

Travel was a different story. For Russ and Karis and me, the trip out wasn't bad - delayed flight in the morning, but we still made the connection in Chicago and got in on time. Jason and Gaea had a harder time - their outbound flight was delayed longer, and missed a couple of connections, so they got in 4 hours late.

Then there was driving in DC area traffic. It was raining all weekend, and of course, traffic there is usually horrible. Everything took quite a bit longer than expected.

But the trip back was the worst. It sounded pretty good at first - Jason and Gaea got on our outbound flight as standby. But then, they got taken off again and put back on their original flight. Then we were told our flight might be cancelled and we should all line up to re-book flights in case it was. Next they told us they were cancelling the flight because a toilet and backed up and they were worried about unsanitary conditions. So we started working on rebooking. They told us they could get all 3 of us (Russ, Karis and me) on a flight to Chicago out of BWI, but couldn't get Russ and me back to Chicago. And the flights tomorrow were booked, too. So we got a taxi voucher, gave Jason the keys to my car that was in the airport lot, and started to leave.

Jason came after us and told us they had fixed our plane, and now it would just leave late. So we got back on the original flight, which now left about 1 1/2 hours late. Worked well for Karis - she caught her bus at 2:30 and got back to Beloit at a decent time. Russ and I raced from B terminal to C to try to catch our flight home, but they had already filled all the seats and closed the doors.

They had already told us all flights were booked solid, and the lines at all the Customer Service counters were very long. We thought about putting our names on stand-by list after stand-by list, but then decided it would be less frustrating to just rent a car one-way to Minneapolis and drive. So we left Chicago at 2:30, stopped at Jason's to pick up my car, and got home about 10:30. Just 14 hours after we left DC.... No, 15 - I forgot about the time change.

I'm tired and think I'll go to bed now... Wish I could take tomorrow off!

Stilting at RenFest

2009-10-03T11:38:00.008-05:00

Last weekend, we discovered that Gaea poses for pictures quite readily when she's on stilts.

Here's a height comparison with Russ:

I think the guy on the left is one of her spotters. Jason says the spotters' main job is to move people out of the way if she starts to fall.

Yes, we went to the Renaissance Festival again - this time without the dog. Mostly we browsed in shops (Russ was very patient). We did see two I Arroganti plays (the second time for Two Weddings), but unfortunately they had moved the improv show from afternoon to morning, so we didn't get to see that. Jason has a mask, now:

I have to say, my favorite part of the play is Jason's line: "Wuv, twue wuv..."

Another eagle?

2009-09-27T07:57:00.007-05:00

On our recent trip, we stayed with some friends at Lake Anna. There's an eagle sanctuary there, and we did manage to spot one of the birds. Doesn't look like the eagle I saw in Wisconsin, but maybe it's a juvenile? I was on a boat, so some of the pictures are a little fuzzy. Click any of them to view larger size.

We found this one later. Russ swears it had a white head, so maybe it was the same bird.

Adventures with wine

2009-09-24T18:21:00.005-05:00

It all started back in June, when Russ and I stopped on the way to a lake house in Wisconsin to buy some wine as a host gift. We bought a bottle from the Coppola vineyards, and got to taste it while we were visiting. I really liked it, and it was a variety I had never heard of, so I did some research on the internet. I found it online and 2 weeks ago, I ordered some. Coppola Winery, Diamond Collection, Alicante Bouschet.

When I got the email with the UPS tracking number, I realized it would arrive while we were out of town, and someone over 21 needed to sign for it. And the information I had from UPS said we couldn't change anything until after the first delivery attempt. So we told a neighbor about it, and left a note on the door asking UPS to deliver to the neighbor. Then I checked on it from Virginia. UPS procedures did not allow me to redirect the shipment. So I called them from Virginia and asked them to hold it for me.

So far so good. But when I got back, I forgot about it for a couple of days. Last night I remembered, and printed out a map to the UPS location. I went out there at lunch today. I was almost there when I realized I had nothing with me that contained the tracking number. I was positive they needed this, so I drove towards Eagan looking for a FedEx Kinko's. I finally found it through 411 on my cell phone. Went in, got on a computer, signed into my email and printed out one of the notices. Paying for the privilege, of course.

When I finally got to the UPS building and gave them my printed email, they barely looked at it. Just asked for the street name, then went back and brought out my box.

Moral: Don't order stuff just before you go on a trip. If you do, have it delivered to work where someone can sign for it. And don't make assumptions about what will be required...

PS: We opened a bottle tonight, and I just went back and ordered more.

Obama's House

2009-09-22T22:49:00.005-05:00

Here's my picture-postcard view of the White House (south side), taken on Sunday morning:

About 5 hours later, we walked back by, and there was more security. We had to stay across the road from the fence this time.

My story is that I saw the Obamas walking towards the trees on the left, and heard kids calling out from the grounds. (Really, I was too far away to tell who the couple was, and I wasn't positive the call I heard came from the White House grounds. But I like my story, and the enhanced security backs it up).

On the north side, there was a mounted patrolman. He was alert, but his horse looked fairly relaxed.

Hotel Helix

2009-09-21T23:01:00.004-05:00

Seems I'm only getting around to blogging when I go on a trip. Just got back from a trip to Virginia and DC. Our hotel in DC was very different. I really liked it - inventive, but functional. And they had free champagne or red wine every evening!

More trip photos later...

Sky with palms

2009-07-31T22:38:00.002-05:00

One last picture from California, in honor of Skywatch Friday.

Anniversary 32

2009-07-30T23:30:00.003-05:00

Today is our anniversary. We basically spent it travelling home, but we celebrated early with a dinner in Anaheim a few days ago. I liked the little shiny stuff they scattered on our table, though it's hard to read the "Happy Anniversary" in the picture above. It was a very nice dinner.

As for the traveling, if you ever have to go through LAX, leave LOTS of time. First you get your boarding pass at the little kiosk. Then you get in the long line to go up to the counter to drop off your bags - and when you get to the counter, you have to wait while the staff person goes to the other end of the line to get your luggage tags. After that, you get in line for security - which goes all the way outside. When you get to the front of that line, they let you into the maze that takes you to the people who check your boarding pass and id. And then you get to go up the stairs to get in the maze for the security screening. Including the long wait for the rental car bus to take us to the airport, I think it took over an hour and a half from getting out of the rental car to clearing security. We're really spoiled at MSP.

Beach adventures

2009-07-30T00:39:00.006-05:00

Today, Russ and I had planned to go whale-watching. The concierge told us about this cool tour where they pick you up at the hotel, take you to Newport Beach, you go out on a morning boat tour for 2 1/2 hours, then they bring you back. Sounded great, and we signed up. When the bus comes, it's the "OC Cruiser" and it has this surfing theme (Beach Boy music, old surfing photos, etc.). After the last hotel stop, they tell us what's going on. It's a 3-hour circuit tour of 3 beach towns (Huntington, Newport, and Laguna) with the ability to get off, spend a few hours at one of the beaches, then get back on the next loop. For the whale-watching, we can take a noon tour instead of the morning one, and get back around 5.

Well, Russ had plans for the afternoon, so he decided to go back to the hotel. I went ahead with the trip, even though it was far from what we'd planned. The first stop was Huntington Beach - Surf City. The US Open of surfing had just finished there, and we had about a half-hour stop. So I took some photos.

Then on to Newport Beach. The driver showed me where to check in for the whale-watching and gave me his cell phone number to call when I was done, so we could figure out when he would meet me. The whale-watching people wanted some kind of card from the tour people. So I hurried back to the bus, which was on a 10-minute stop. The driver had no idea what they wanted, but filled in the slip I had gotten from the concierge and gave me a phone number to pass on if the whale-watching people had any trouble. They looked at the numbers he'd filled in and told me I was way over-charged, and lent me binoculars instead of making me rent them. I was almost 2 hours early for the noon trip. We didn't see any whales, but did see the expected pods of dolphins:

The surprise was the sea lions. They were laying in a pile on someone's boat dock on the way out, and then we saw this pile on the buoy on the way back into the harbor.

Anyway, I thought I might have to wait another 2 hours to get back on the bus. But when I called, the driver said he was headed back, so if I would spend $1 to take the ferry across, he'd pick me up on the way instead. I was glad to get back earlier. And then I could have taken the ferry for free - apparently the crew thought I was part of a different group.

So it ended up being an ok day for me. I did stop to let the concierge know about the problems, though.

Hollywood

2009-07-27T23:25:00.006-05:00

Today I took a Grand Tour of LA. While we saw some historical sites (first street, first fire station, first mission) and some beach areas (Santa Monica Beach, Venice Beach), a lot of time was spent on things:

The above picture was taken from the Hollywood Bowl overlook off Mulholland Drive. We drove down the twisty canyon roads, and we also drove through some of the residential sections of Beverley Hills and Bel Air. We saw Aaron Spelling's 36,000 square foot, $50,000,000 house, the house where Michael Jackson died, and several others. Even in other parts of the city, we ended up talking about movies (went over the 8-layer interchange featured in Speed, saw Mel's Diner and the Rodeo Drive shop that wouldn't sell clothes to Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, etc.). We also stopped near Grauman's Chinese Theater, so I took some pictures:

Someone asked about seeing stars on the tours. The driver said that once he was stopped at a red light and the passengers started screaming. There on the sidewalk was Tom Hanks. The driver opened the door, and Tom Hanks got on the bus. He took some pictures with the passengers, then said he had to go and got off. Nothing so interesting happened on our tour - the closest I came was this:

More pictures from the tour later.

World Championships

2009-07-26T23:49:00.003-05:00

Today we drove up to LA to watch Jason compete in the World Hwa Rang Do Championships. It's always fun to watch him, and it was nice to meet some of the people he's talked about from out here. Several people told us how much they liked him. And he did a great job, too. He won sparring, placed third in Kumdo and was part of the winning Midwest sparring team. In a couple other events, he was beaten in an earlier round by the person who went on to win the event. All in all, we were very proud.

Staying cool in LA

2009-07-26T08:25:00.004-05:00

We spent yesterday just wandering around the area and relaxing in our room. It was quite hot in the afternoon, so we got Slurpees (sorry Jason) on our way back to the hotel. Then we saw this hotel. Should have stayed there - it's obviously cooler in the Alpine Inn than in the surrounding area.
Still, our hotel has a really great view. This is from the OTHER side, looking north (our room looks south).

Yes, that's the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and the Tower of Terror at Disneyland. Would have been nice to be on the north side - they had fireworks last night.

Livin' it up at the Hotel California

2009-07-25T12:43:00.006-05:00

Well, actually it's the Hilton Anaheim. Got in late last night. L.A. isn't great on the street signage - we had to do a couple of U-turn maneuvers because we missed an on ramp. But all in all, it wasn't too bad. Drove right past Disneyland just before we got to the hotel. The checkin line was surprisingly long at 10:30 at night. Chatted with a couple from New Zealand about temperature conversion (70 F is about 21 C).

Nice room with 2 queen beds on the 14th floor - the Executive floor which includes some food and its own bar in the evenings. This morning we had breakfast in the room while looking out at the rather smoggy view:

Now off to check Russ in for the conference. And then? Not sure. Update later...

Milk Carton Boat Race

2009-07-19T21:23:00.004-05:00

Today was the Milk Carton Boat Race, part of Minneapolis' annual Aquatennial festival. Jason, Gaea, Karis and Bobby all worked on a boat together. They used about 275 milk cartons. Apparently, one milk carton can support about 4 pounds, so the 200 used in the flotation portion should support 800 pounds.

The boat is "Queen of Lake Calhoun - Whey Down Yonder in New Orleans".

They had a bike frame attached to run the paddlewheel. Unfortunately, the chain kept slipping and Gaea had to try to make repairs. But they made it to the finish line!

All of us also handed out lots of beads to onlookers. For more pictures, including some of the other boats, see my web album.

Cabin with flowers

2009-07-17T23:00:00.002-05:00

It seemed this used to be a little inn - there were a few small cabins in a semi-circle behind it. Now the wildflowers have taken over.

I believe this will be my last post from the trip to Ely. Now I'll have to make sure I take more pictures.

Wildflowers 2 - Lupines

2009-07-16T06:35:00.000-05:00

There were drifts of lupines all along the route from Duluth to Ely. I kept looking at them on the way up and deciding not to stop. Then on the way back, I finally stopped for photos. These were taken along Highway 61. Karis took the photo above. And since I had 2 cameras with me, I also took photos - like the one below.

Lake view

2009-07-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

This lake caught my eye on the drive between Finland and Ely. I admit I enhanced it a little - the clouds were gorgeous, but the sun wasn't fully cooperating. The result makes me think of the jigsaw puzzles I used to put together with my family.

Split Rock

2009-07-14T06:01:00.000-05:00

The Split Rock Lighthouse from the rest area on Highway 61. The rest area was actually closed - they were doing construction there. But I parked nearby and squeezed past the barriers and climbed over the cement forms. It was worth it for this view.

Wildflowers

2009-07-13T05:38:00.000-05:00

Taken at a lake on Route 1 north of Finland, MN.

Up North

2009-07-12T00:13:00.003-05:00

I drove to Ely Friday and brought Karis home on Saturday. I took a lot of pictures on the way up, and will post some of the best over the next few days.

This was taken in Duluth, at Canal Park.

The crane

2009-06-22T22:35:00.002-05:00

Here's another couple of photos from my weekend trip.

He let us get quite close in the boat. When he did fly, it was just a short distance to a dock, where he posed again (but I liked the wading photos better). This picture of him taking off is a little blurry, but I was very happy to catch the moment.

Encounters with an eagle

2009-06-21T22:34:00.005-05:00

Russ and I went to a friend's lake cabin in Wisconsin this weekend. It rained (quite hard at times) on both the drive down and the drive home. But it stopped just after we got there, and didn't start again until we were halfway back. Had a great time, and took lots of pictures. Went out on the lake in a pontoon boat three times, and once in a paddle boat. It's a nice quiet no-wake lake. And the friends actually own 2 cabins side-by-side, so Russ and I slept in the guest cabin all by ourselves.

Every day, we saw a bald eagle. The first couple of times, he was flying by and there was no chance for me to get a picture. I tried on one flyover, and couldn't even find him. Saturday evening we were out on the lake watching the sunset and found him in a tree. But it was too dark to get anything but a very blurry picture, especially as I had to use maximum telephoto length. But finally this morning we were just about to give up when he flew over us once more. He landed in a tree and posed magnificently while I took about 20 pics. Here are the best two. You can click on them to see a larger version.

I'll post more photos from the trip in the coming days. (I'm going to try to post more regularly.) Right now, I should head to bed.

Teeth

2009-05-12T21:48:00.002-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, the cap on my front tooth chipped. (Yes, I was using my teeth as a tool. Just to open a sugar packet, but still, bad idea.) Now, the history of that cap was not pleasant. The last time it was replaced, I was 21. The dentist took off the temporary cap to match the color, and the pain was excruciating. That was when I fainted, and woke to find the chair reclined far enough for my head to be lower than the rest of my body.

So today when my dentist told me that replacing the temporary cap with a permanent one was the easy part, no novocain needed, I was a trifle... shall we say, concerned. Much to my surprise, it was pretty easy. It took an hour and a half, but much of that time I was calmly reading while the lab was adjusting the tint on the new cap.

It looks great! Matches nicely, with no more dark line around the top. And I love my dentist!

Pedaling to Hawaii

2009-05-06T18:14:00.003-05:00

Of all the trips into the wild that I find hard to imagine, setting out in a pedal-boat to cross an ocean has to be the at the top of the "Are you CRAZY?" list. And yet it's been done. Successfully. Both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

The author of this book got the idea back in 1991 to circumnavigate the globe using only human power. He enlisted a friend, they scraped up funds and donations to have pedal boat Moksha custom-built, and left Greenwich in July of 1994. Biked to the coast, took the pedal boat across the channel, biked to Portugal, then headed out across the Atlantic. The Atlantic crossing took something like 110 days, October 1994 to February 1995. They used a hand-operated desalination device to get fresh water, and ate lots of freeze-dried food (but were lucky enough to come across a cable boat on Christmas day and have a turkey dinner).

They crossed the US separately on bikes and roller blades. After a long break for repairs, fund raising, and recovering from an accident with a car, they pedaled Moksha from San Francisco to Hilo, Hawaii in 54 days in the fall of 1998. After that, the author dropped out and his friend carried on alone from Hawaii to the Kiribati islands, then with other people by bike, kayak and pedal boat. The book was published in 2006, but according to the Expedition 360 website, the circumnavigation was finally completed in October 2007.

I find the whole idea just incredible. I would have said impossible, but obviously it wasn't. I can't begin to imagine what would drive a person to take on this kind of a task. It was quite an interesting read.

May Day 2009

2009-05-03T17:47:00.004-05:00

Went to see Jason and Gaea in the May Day parade. It was a beautiful day, and I rode up on the light rail, then walked over to the parade route. As Jason told me, it wasn't hard to find them. It's easy to spot 15-foot long stilting pigs.

Gaea and her mom are in the pig in front, and Jason's job is to make sure they have space, since they can't see very well. Gaea controls the pig's tongue, too.

Here are the stilters at the end of the parade.

More photos here.

Afterwards, I walked all around Powderhorn Lake, and finally back to the light rail. So I got a bit of exercise...

More photos

2009-04-25T19:25:00.011-05:00

Today Bravo and I took a walk around Lake of the Isles. It's been a while since I walked there. Here's downtown from the south side of the lake:

Here's a guy who has the above as a permanent view, and the wood ducks who were ignoring it.

And finally, when we got home, Bravo played with his own duck for a while, but then decided on a nap.

This is currently his favorite toy. He knows it's called "Duck". He likes me to throw it, and then he pounces on it and makes it quack.

Out of the freezer, into the frying pan

2009-04-23T18:22:00.004-05:00

It was very hot when I got home today. Depending on where you looked, it was 86, 89 or even 92. I took Bravo to the dog park, but he wasn't too excited about it. He did not understand why I wanted to walk out in the sun when there was a lot of nice new grass to eat in the shade under the trees. And chasing the ball was kind of fun, but he refused to bring it back to me. If I wanted to go to him (where he was lying down, usually in the shade of a tree) he would happily chase it again. But he preferred that I didn't throw it too far.

Most of all, though, he did not understand why we had gone out to the dog park before he was fed.

Thought I would include a photo of the new 35W bridge. I went down to Nicollet Island and the Stone Arch Bridge on Saturday and took quite a few pics. Maybe I'll post more in the next few days....Behind the bridge, you can see some of the University of Minnesota buildings. Just around the corner from the red brick building on the left was the lab run by one of Russ' colleagues. It got shut down after the bridge collapse, and during the construction. For a while, there was a chance the University could lose a profitable research facility. Fortunately, though, the lab found a new home on the west side of the city.

Headed home

2009-04-17T22:17:00.003-05:00

It was almost too dark to get a decent picture, but I like the way it turned out.

Book notes

2009-04-16T18:21:00.005-05:00

I've heard a lot about Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell in the last 5 years. I bought a copy a few years ago, and slogged through 163 pages (out of 846) before giving up. It is rare that I do not finish a book, but I just couldn't make myself read this one. However, a couple of weeks ago I found the recorded version at the library. It is read by my favorite narrator so I thought I'd give it a try. I still find it excruciatingly slow, but I've said before that I could listen to Simon Prebble read the phone book, and so it is. I'm on CD #11 out of 26 - 32 total hours of narration.

Not that it doesn't have redeeming features. Ms. Clarke's writing has a very sly, dry wit. Today, there was actually a passage that made me laugh - Jonathan Strange has been performing magic for Lord Wellington in the Peninsular Wars. After he moved a river to a different location, Lord Wellington remarked that "there was nothing so wearying for troops and horses as constant marching about and that in future he thought it would be better to keep them all standing still, while Mr. Strange moved Spain about like a carpet beneath their feet." (If you don't find that funny, don't bother trying the book.)

I believe I would greatly enjoy the story if it were about 300 pages. But 3 times that long - most of the time there isn't enough going on to hold my attention. Still, thanks to Mr. Prebble, I believe I will finish it this time...

Playing with photos

2009-04-05T17:39:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Russ and I took a walk at Staring Lake. The path had huge oak trees leaning over it, and Russ commented that it looked like we were descending into a scary forest. So I went back today and took photos. Here's my "scary forest" photo:

I was a little handicapped in getting a spooky effect, because really this afternoon was bright and sunny. Here's the original:

It was a nice long walk. And I was very happy that I met a family playing PoohSticks. Wish I had taken a picture, but I didn't think of it until it was a little late.

Here's another photo from the walk that I particularly liked.

A lovely day

2009-04-04T08:09:00.004-05:00

I had a lovely birthday yesterday. I took the day off, just because. Loitered around in the morning, and Russ cooked breakfast for me. Then I took Bravo to the dog park. It's rather muddy right now, and he always comes back with filthy paws and feathers. Yesterday he decided to roll in a slightly muddy patch. So after playing with the Chuck-It for a while (I am so glad I bought that!) I brought him home and we took a shower together. He doesn't like being bathed, but he gets cheese, so it's all good.

Then I went to the mall, shopped a bit, saw Duplicity with Russ and shopped some more. I came home with 5 tops and a pair of pants - birthday presents to myself.

It was such a beautiful day, in a way it was too bad I spent several hours indoors. But I did take Bravo for a walk when I got home. I wished I'd taken my camera along - the evening light on the trees was just gorgeous with the beautiful blue sky and the half-moon. So I took some photos when I got home. Here's my favorite:

I like the buds on the trees - spring may yet come! I know it's cherry blossom time in DC, but it's still a ways off here.

To top off the day, we had dinner with Jason and Gaea at the Malt Shop (I love malts!). And then I had a nice long talk with my sister, and also with Karis. A great birthday! Thanks, everyone!

Bad dog

2009-03-29T08:19:00.002-05:00

Bravo is usually very good, but every once in a while he eats something strange. The first time it was ties to Russ' kumdo armor. Then it was a set of headphones from Karis' room. Last night it was a box.

I'd taken him to the dog park in the afternoon, and he'd chased a lot of balls. Then Russ and I went out to dinner - but we fed him first! Later in the evening, when Russ went upstairs, he found pieces of something scattered all over at the top of the stairs. Took us a while to realize it was a little wooden box covered in material that held those Chinese balls with the bell thing inside. Jason had left it in his room, and we'd left the door at least cracked. The balls are fine, but the box is history. Now I'll have to watch him to make sure there aren't any health consequences.

Frozen dog tales

2009-03-27T07:35:00.004-05:00

I took Bravo walking by Bush Lake this morning. We met some other dogs (more about them later) and I let him off leash to socialize. After the other dogs left, he proved why I shouldn't let him off leash - he decided to go wade in the lake. He was surprised when the water crunched. I don't think he really liked breaking through the film of ice, because he came back to me right away. (Yes, the lake was frozen again - it was 16 this morning.)

And the interesting thing about frozen dog hair - at least when it's long like Bravo's - is that it acts kind of like velcro. It picks up all sorts of leaves, twigs, etc. I stopped several times to pull leaves off his frozen feathers, and he'd just pick up more.

About the other dogs - a German short-hair puppy and an older Golden. The puppy was really full of energy, and kind of annoyed Bravo. He'd picked up an old broken tennis ball earlier in the walk, and when we first met the other dogs, he dropped it as he usually does. But later, after the puppy had played with it a while and then dropped it, Bravo got it again. The puppy came up to try to get the ball back and Bravo snarled at her just a little. That's unusual for Bravo - he's so submissive - but I guess he'd decided the puppy needed to be put in her place.

Here's the photo I took just before all this happened - I was interested to see the slabs of ice piled up at the edge of the lake.

Have a great weekend!

Quote of the day

2009-03-26T20:21:00.002-05:00

To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage. - Lao Tzu

I heard this quote in a book-on-tape as I was coming home today. I liked it and thought I would share.

Dog jokes

2009-03-20T18:40:00.002-05:00

Dinner conversation tonight turned to inside jokes, and Russ said dogs have inside jokes. When I said that I wasn't sure dogs laugh, he went off on a whole riff about dogs laughing.

He said (I'm paraphrasing a bit): When dogs appear to be sniffing each other's bums, they are really communicating in frequencies outside our range of hearing. Things like: Is your owner crazy? Yeah, mine is too. And then they laugh. Or Does your owner have crazy rules like only feeding you in the morning and when they come home? Don't they know that dogs eat all the time? And then they laugh.

Here are dog jokes according to Russ:

How high does a chihuahau pee? Not very high.

How does the squirrel cross the road? He's chased by a dog.

That last one would be Bravo's favorite, if he actually did tell jokes.

Column of light

2009-02-16T07:42:00.003-06:00

I happened to be in the park up by the water tower at sunrise this morning, and I thought it was rather unusual.

It's also interesting that the photo shows yellow at the horizon when all I saw was shades of red.

Beautiful day for a walk

2009-02-15T13:05:00.001-06:00

What a lovely morning! Bravo and I and these mallards were enjoying the day.

A higher standard

2009-02-12T18:57:00.002-06:00

I was just browsing articles on Huffington Post when I found this one from Mark Nickolas. He took the answers Obama gave at his first press conference, and used Word's readability tool to compare them to the answers W gave at his first press conference. The results? W's answers were at a 7th grade reading level, and Obama's were at a 10th grade level.

Now, I'm not familiar with Word's "readability", but I'm not at all surprised at those statistics. Bush did a lot of things I didn't like, but what I found unforgiveable was his disdain for intellectualism. Even if I don't agree with them, I can respect someone who seeks the advice of experts, especially if that person listens to experts on both sides of a question. Someone who just listens to his cronies does not deserve any position of authority, much less the Presidency.

Photos

2009-02-08T18:55:00.005-06:00

I bought myself a new camera today. After taking that photo with my cell phone a couple of days ago, I decided it was time I had a small camera that would easily go with me on walks. Then I took Bravo and went to Lake Harriet and the dog park to try it out. Here's downtown Minneapolis from the south side of the lake:

I follow a blog called Riviera Dogs, and I've thought of specializing in dog photos. But I can't seem to go up to people and request permission to photograph their dogs. I took a couple of dog photos at the lake, but they were from the back, and were just bad. At the dog park, I did slightly better, capturing the cute dog below. Looks like a fox, don't you think? The owners said it was part Golden.

But even with this photo - I got it in the background of another photo I was trying to take, so it isn't the best. And I neglected to get the dog's name. I'm going to try to work on this.

Sunrise

2009-02-06T07:39:00.003-06:00

Taken with my cell phone on this morning's walk

Just another winter day...

2009-02-04T21:53:00.002-06:00

here in the frozen north. It didn't get above 20, the heat was off in my office most of the day, and the agility class room wasn't warm either. Is it weird that even though I was cold all day, I still want ice cream now? Doesn't matter, though, because we're out.

Also, you know you've lived in Minnesota too long when you come home from work, see that it's 14, and expect it to feel warm. Well, at least warm-er.

Afterlife Telegrams

2009-01-23T17:35:00.004-06:00

I've been listening to Alan Alda's Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself (read by Alan Alda). A lot of amusing stories, mostly about talks he gave at graduation ceremonies, funerals, etc. On the way home, I was listening to a section from a speech he gave at Rockefeller University, about how many Americans believe in magic, how more Americans believe in the devil than believe in evolution, etc. And then he mentioned the website AfterlifeTelegrams.com. You can write a telegram to someone who has died, and for a fee, this company will have a terminally ill volunteer memorize your telegram so they can deliver it AFTER they have passed away. The website does note that they currently have only one volunteer - but that may have been years ago! Who knows if the volunteer has died, or if they have recruited more?

The site was created by cartoonist Paul Kinsella, and contains an FAQ section (e.g. they only accept telegrams in English, but if you specify that the recipient doesn't speak English, the messenger will try to find a translator on the other side), a series of newspaper articles about the service, and an online cemetary.

If you are thinking of trying this service, please note that they admit they cannot guarantee delivery, nor prove that a message has been delivered.

Inauguration Day!

2009-01-20T18:01:00.002-06:00

Yes, I watched the inauguration on streaming video - I had to work :-). Great speech - I want to listen to it again and/or read it. Could not believe the crowds! I even kept the video on until the parade was over, though I had to cover it up sometimes so I could actually get work done. I haven't watched very many inaugurations - Carter's, as he was the first president I voted for. A bit of Clinton's first one, I think. But most of the presidents elected since I became an adult were NOT those for whom I voted.

Which brings me to the one time I went to Washington on Inauguration Day. It was 1973, and I was NOT there to celebrate the president. I was there for the Counter-Inauguration. I went with Russ and some other people. My brother Scott was there, too, but I never did see him (he'd come from college in Ohio). We gathered at the Lincoln Memorial. Somehow, our group got included in the honor guard, and we ended up being part of the human square at the head of the parade, surrounding the major protesters such as Daniel Berrigan. I believe some of them were carrying coffins. We marched over to Constitution Avenue, then east on Constitution, ending up below the Washington Monument.

There, we sat for several hours and listened to speakers (of whom I remember Bella Abzug and Ted Kennedy). At one point, the mounted police rode towards some of the protesters, I think trying to push them down the hill, away from the Monument and towards Constitution. Other than that, it was pretty peaceful.

While writing this, I did some google searches trying to find reports of this protest. One says there were about 75,000 of us. Interestingly, the image search found several entries on Flickr, all of which were "currently unavailable". (Must be a conspiracy!) Wish I had some photos, but I don't think I do.

Anyway, that was the highlight of my political life.

Ice stories

2009-01-15T17:40:00.002-06:00

I don't think it got above zero today. It was -23 when I got up this morning. It was so cold that my car seemed to be complaining about starting.

Actually, I don't mean any of those statements as serious whining - it's really kind of boasting. I mean, us Minnesotans ain't no wimps! Look at what we deal with!

By the way, there was an interesting item in the paper last weekend. Just an ordinary robbery - they stole a flat screen TV. The twist is, they stole it from an ice house. Yep, one of those temporary structures that gets hauled out onto the frozen lakes so folks can be protected from the elements while they drill a hole in the ice in order to fish. By definition they cannot be completely secured, since the whole point is to get to the ice (so one assumes they don't have a full floor, and they have to be light enough to be movable).

The whole concept of ice fishing is absurd to me. Seems to me that if you fit it up with a TV and I assume a generator, maybe a stereo? Wii? computer? - you are really making clear the true purpose of the building - it's a "man cave". At least you won't need a refrigerator for the beer.

End of year book review

2009-01-01T17:34:00.003-06:00

In 2008, I started keeping an online record of the books I read. Well, 2 online records actually. I use LibraryThing for books I own, and Goodreads for those I borrow and ones I want to read. The counts show that in 2008 I read 55 borrowed books and 56 books that I own. 40 of those were books I had read before. And I already have 1 counted as read in 2009 - I started it in 2008.

I know, it's kind of silly to keep two separate lists. I really like different things about both sites, and couldn't make a decision (which shouldn't surprise those of you who know me). Of course, now that I've joined Facebook, I find there ways of keeping track of books there, too. But I'm resisting. Two sites is plenty.

Actually, when I look at the numbers, I feel they are low. Only 111? I thought I read more than that. Though I guess it is more than 2 books a week...

Why so many re-reads? Well, I decided to read some of the Judy Bolton series again - originally read when I was a kid. And then I read a biography of Georgette Heyer, and that made me want to read her books again. Plus I counted the audiobooks I listened to - mostly on the trips to and from Beloit - and many of them I had read before.

Favorites over the year?
- The Elemental Master series by Mercedes Lackey (thanks for mentioning these, Gaea! - I hadn't read her books before).
- The Sebastien St. Cyr mystery series set in Regency England - I was at Uncle Hugo's, and just wandered into the Uncle Edgar's side and noticed one of them. Once I borrowed one from the library, I started reading the whole series.
- Best of Friends by Sara James and Ginger Mauney - which I bought because Sara spoke at my UVA reunion
- New Robin McKinley books, and ones I had missed (Dragonhaven, Sunshine, Deerskin, Chalice) - because I found her blog
- The Family Tree by Sheri Tepper - thanks, Jason!

And obviously, my old favorites - Georgette Heyer's romances.

On to 2009. I'll see if I can read more books than I acquire. Maybe not a good start today - I finished one book and bought 3...

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T18:03:00.002-06:00

Judging from our fortune cookies tonight, it should be a good year. Russ got 2 in one cookie - "You will have many friends when you need them" and "You will soon get something you have always desired". Mine was "You will be traveling and coming into a fortune".

Good fortune to you in 2009.

A world sprinkled with glitter

2008-12-24T06:56:00.003-06:00

Every so often, there's a moment that makes me appreciate even the things I've been complaining about. This morning's walk was one of those moments. It was cold, but I have a clothing system that works down to about zero, and it was 7 or 9 this morning, depending on where you look. It was snowing again, but most of the sidewalks had been shoveled after yesterday's snow, and not much had fallen yet, so walking was not difficult. It was still dark, but the streetlights shining on the fresh snowfall made everything sparkle.

I did just walk around the neighborhood, and then through the woods, but it was beautiful and quiet. Did not see any people, animals or traffic, just me and the dog in a glittery world.

Shopping is almost done and I only work until noon today. Days are getting longer and it will definitely be a White Christmas. Best of all the whole family will be together this evening.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Cold and snowy Minnesota

2008-12-15T21:09:00.004-06:00

This morning I put boots on Bravo and walked just to the fire station and back. We had 2-3 inches of fresh snow, and it was -8, plus wind chill. (Yes, that's Fahrenheit.) Actually it didn't feel too bad except when I was facing in to the wind - because really only a small section around my eyes was exposed. Bravo was funny about the boots. When I put them on in the house, he acted like he couldn't walk in them. Then he just bounded around when he got outside.

Tomorrow it's supposed to snow again. Starting in the afternoon, which is when I leave for Wisconsin. I don't have a hotel yet - I'm going to wait and see how bad the weather looks and then decide how far I'll drive. Hopefully, it won't be too bad...

Decadent comfort food

2008-12-13T16:54:00.003-06:00

I probably shouldn't have had dessert today, but I decided to splurge when I saw the menu (and I did have just a salad for lunch). The dessert was "Warm Chocolate Chip Lava Cookie".

It was at least as yummy as it looks, but I should have had someone to share it with. Oh well, it was my reward for doing some Christmas shopping today. And anyway, there really wasn't much of anything else on the Red Lobster menu that I wanted....

Other than that, I enjoyed having temperatures above freezing. Walked the dog this morning, and went to the dog park this afternoon.

Sunrise, Sunset

2008-12-10T08:18:00.004-06:00

So everyone knows the winter solstice is on December 21st. But probably not everyone knows that the earliest sunset and latest sunrise are not on the day of winter solstice. So some details for Minneapolis courtesy of TimeAndDate.com:

Earliest sunset is at 4:31 December 6th through 12th (the website doesn't give the seconds). According to WGN, that day is December 8th for Chicago, with sunset at 4:19:46. I was surprised, that Chicago has an earlier "earliest sunset" than Minneapolis, since they are farther south, but I guess it has more to do with the fact that they are on the eastern side of the Central Time Zone.

Shortest day is December 21st - 8h 45m 56s, 1 second shorter than December 20th, and 3 seconds shorter than December 22nd.

Latest sunrise is 7:51 am December 27th - January 7th.

To round out the summary, let's look at the other end of the spectrum:

Earliest sunrise is at 5:26 June 9-21, 2009.

Longest day - according to Time and Date . com, both June 20 and June 21 2009 come in at 15h 37m 06s. June 19 and June 22 are both 4 seconds longer.

Latest sunset is at 9:04 June 22-30, 2009.

For Karis, I tried to come close to the times for Beloit: shortest day in Madison is 8h 59m 36s, and in Chicago it's 9h 07m 53s. I'd guess Beloit is somewhere in between. Of course, you'll be home on the actual shortest day, but in the meantime, your days are slightly longer than here.

For those in other states, Richmond, VA (closest I could come) has 20 minutes more on the shortest day, but almost an hour less on the the longest (9:34:12 and 14:45:29). Dallas Texas has more than an hour extra on the shortest day and almost an hour and 20 minutes less on the longest day (9:59:26 and 14:18:50).

And now it's time for me to go back to work. I for one am looking forward to a later sunset very soon. The rest of you are probably asleep by now.

Walking through woods on a snowy evening*

2008-12-09T18:26:00.002-06:00

It snowed yesterday. Right at rush hour. Took me over an hour to go 3 miles, just because people were all traveling at the same time, all going quite slowly, and all had only a few routes available to cross 494. After I got to Highwood, past the backup, everything moved freely and I went to pick up Chinese and get gas. I did not appreciate the snow last night.

This morning, when I walked the dog, the sidewalks hadn't been plowed. And those by 86th were in snowplow wake, making it even harder to walk. It was really slogging progress, and we didn't go very far before I was entirely too tired to go any further. I did not appreciate the snow this morning.

When I got home, there was the faintest sign of the setting sun still on the horizon, which encouraged me to get out and walk Bravo again. The sidewalks in our neighborhood were all shoveled, but I decided not to go up to 86th again, in case the city hadn't gotten to those yet. So I walked down to the nearby woods. There hadn't been much traffic, but the snow really wasn't very deep. Aside from the snowplow mounds at the entrance and exit of the path (where my foot sank in and I got snow in my boots since they weren't hard yet), it really wasn't bad walking.

In the woods, it was quiet and beautiful. And with a nearly full moon and all that fresh white snow, it was plenty light enough to do without my flashlight. Bravo and I enjoyed the night (sights for me, smells for him). I finally appreciated the snowfall.

*with apologies to Robert Frost.

3 days in Obamaland

2008-12-03T19:25:00.002-06:00

Just got back from 3 days in Chicago. It hadn't occurred to me that this is an exciting time to be there. But on Monday, Obama's press conference with Hilary Clinton took place at the Hilton where we stayed last year and the year before. Monday night we walked by the Federal building and it was surrounded by what looked like police cars, but they had "Homeland Security" on the sides. One of the cab drivers pointed out to Russ where there was a lot of activity on a nearby street - where Obama's headquarters was located. And today as I left, some of the streets were blocked off. I assume it was due to traffic coming in for today's press conference announcing the Commerce Secretary. That press conference was at the Hilton again.

This year, though, we were staying at the Palmer House. None of it actually inconvenienced me. In a way, I wish it had. It's not very interesting to be saying "I was a few blocks away" and "It was nearby, but I didn't know anything until it was all over". Having trouble getting out of your hotel, being checked by the Secret Service - that would have been interesting. A few days of being inconvenienced would have been kind of exciting. After all, I didn't really have to be anywhere at a particular time.

But I imagine people trying to get around Chicago might get a little annoyed.

Bravo portrait

2008-11-15T20:48:00.003-06:00

I don't have a lot to say today, but I wanted to post this photo of Bravo, taken today at the Carver dog park.

Bravo didn't meet any dogs he wanted to play with, but he did find a little girl who loved him. And I spent a few minutes talking to the owners of a Great Dane while I rubbed the Dane's ears and he leaned against me. He was just a comfortable size - his back falling at the right place to make petting him very easy when standing next to him. I think Bravo is a little intimidated by dogs that much bigger than he is. His favorite part of the visit was when we were out all by ourselves on the back side of the fenced area. He really likes racing through the tall grasses and following almost-indistinguishable paths.

Tournament

2008-11-09T09:06:00.006-06:00

The Hwa Rang Do tournament yesterday was scheduled to have kids competing in the morning, adults starting about 1, finishing about 6 and party starting at 7. Yeah, right. Adults didn't start too terribly late - maybe 2? But the competition went until about 11:30. I got there at 1, went home about 5 for an hour or so, and finally left at 10.

HRD devotees are very proud of the variety their particular martial arts style includes. And this tournament certainly showcased a wide variety. Jason competed in pretty much every category.

Weapons form. Jason did a terrific form and placed second out of about 14.

This is from his open-had form. The only event in which he did not place (but then, he will tell you forms are not his strong suit).

Sparring. He took second in a really close championship match.

Grappling. It was amusing because both of them were smiling. This was the championship bout, and it was a rematch from last year. Brett won last year, Jason took it this year. With the same ankle lock.

This is fighting with (bamboo) swords - wearing gear reminiscent of samurai. Jason took second. I believe he's on the right, but it's kind of hard to tell.

This is the multiple sword event. Jason (on the right) has 2 short swords while his opponent has one short and one long. He won this match. I left after that, but I understand he took 3rd place in this, and in the event that followed, where he fought with the same type of staff that he used in the weapons form.

I have to end with one of the medal photos since Jason made quite a few trips to this stand. And by the way, he and Russ built the stand for tournament last year.

Tomorrow I'm taking the day off for no apparent reason, except that I have to use up some vacation time before the end of the year.

The power of blogging

2008-11-07T07:22:00.004-06:00

I came home from work yesterday to find an email from the BBC. They'd seen my blog and wanted to know if they could talk to me on their World Have Your Say "conversation show" (I guess that's "talk radio" in Brit-speak). The email had arrived at 8:30, and the show was on at noon my time, so of course I missed it. But wow! How else would I have even been contacted if I didn't blog?

Anyway, the topic was "whether the fact that Obama won the US election means we live in a more equal world", according to the email. On the website they unfortunately changed it to the more succinct, but rather silly, "Has Obama created a more equal world?”.

My response: The election indicates that we have at least moved beyond the Bradley effect, where a highly qualified candidate found that people "just couldn't bring themselves to vote for a black man". We did see that a majority of American voters could bring themselves to cast a vote for Obama despite his darker skin. But note that the election was still cast in terms of race. And as the soldier in Doonesbury said "he's half white, you know". And he was raised in a white family. In Hawaii, which does not seem to me as if it would be a center of Black culture (but I may be wrong on this - unfortunately not that familiar with "real" Hawaii.) Given the mess we are in after 8 years of Bush, with the opposition a 72-year-old cancer patient who makes reckless choices such as... no, I'm not even going to go there again. Anyway, I would have expected the popular-vote to be the landslide the electoral vote was, instead of less than 7%.

So yeah, we're further along than we were in 1970 in terms of race. And having an African-American family in the White House is GREAT! But I think we can all agree that Obama is an EXCEPTIONAL man. And in 1960 the big news was that another EXCEPTIONAL man had been elected despite the fact that he was a Catholic. Have there been any Catholic presidents since Kennedy? We have never elected a President who was not Christian. Or who was female. Or Asian. Or homosexual (at least as far as we know). And in day-to-day life, women get paid less, more blacks go to jail, most homosexuals cannot get married. There are plenty of inequalities to go around.

All that being said, I am "cautiously optimistic". I do think we are moving in the right direction in terms of tolerance, at least, for a variety of differences.

Enough being serious. I hope the Obama girls enjoy their puppy. I hear it will be a shelter dog, which is really cool. I saw a post where someone suggested they should get an Alaskan Malamute bitch. That made me laugh.

And this morning I was walking in the snow. Not sticking to the roads, and will soon change to rain, I'm sure, but for now - it's snowing. Bravo went racing around like a nut-case more often than usual as a result.

Have a great day, everyone!

The GOOD and the bad of the election news

2008-11-06T07:09:00.002-06:00

So overall YEA!!!! Democrats took the White House and extended their majorities in Congress. And the first African American President! Restores a little of my faith in America.

The bad:

My Senate race is too close to call, which means the nasty brawl between Franken and Coleman will continue. The ads in this campaign were almost overwhelmingly negative, and they were also ubiquitous. Made me glad that I watch most TV from recordings, so I didn't have to listen. Original results have Coleman ahead by less than 500 votes out of nearly 3 million. So there will be an automatic recall and it will be weeks if not months before the result is final. D**m you Independence Party! Once again, your candidate stole our votes!

California voters chose to end gay marriage. And 2 other states also chose to define marriage as between a man and a woman. I feel very sad for all those committed couples who no longer have the choice to make their commitment in such an open, public, recognized manner. I do have hope that the tide will turn eventually, as there are indications that kids in high school and college are much more tolerant. But for now, there is still inequality. Obama's stand on this issue also disappointed me - he said he did not support gay marriage, but thought they should have equal legal rights. Geez, you'd think that if anyone understood the soul-destroying implications of "separate but equal", it would be Obama.

GOOD again, though:

Victory for the pro-choice side! We have a pro-choice President and pro-choice gains in Congress. South Dakota defeated an abortion ban for the second time - this one included more exceptions, but the voters still said no. California defeated a parental-notification measure. And to me, the most important win was in Colorado. That initiative would have defined a fertilized egg as a person, and could have made many forms of contraception illegal. Would have made me very sad if my former state had not rejected that extreme measure.

As I said, definitely a celebration moment. I can't expect all the races to go the way I think they should. But all the states where I have lived - Virginia, Colorado and Minnesota - are blue this year! And Virginia and Colorado have been quite Republican in the past.

I hope that Obama didn't wake up yesterday thinking Oh no, what have I done! Though with the issues facing him, I wouldn't blame him. Still, I have confidence that the calm, disciplined, thoughtful, strategic approach that helped him run such a perfect campaign will help him work with Congress to bring us solutions. Dave Letterman certainly spoke for me last night when he said, "I think I speak for most Americans when I say, anybody mind if he starts a little early?"

Voter stories

2008-11-04T18:34:00.003-06:00

I just saw a news report from polling places here in Minnesota. They said one woman came in this morning and said her daughter-in-law was in the car, 5 centimeters dilated and wanted to vote. She got curb-side service.

Clinton and McCain

2008-11-03T18:40:00.003-06:00

So much of my mail these days consists of campaign flyers. I usually flip through on the way from the mailbox to the house, and immediately toss them all in the recycling bin. Today, though, it was dark by the time I got home (grumble, grouse), so I had to bring them inside. And one caught my eye.

It was a tribute to Hillary Clinton, with a picture of her and John McCain on the front, and a statement about how she had cracked the glass ceiling. Inside, the photo was of McCain and Palin, with text linking her views to McCain's and promising that HE would make sure "Hillary's efforts are not forgotten". And on the back, a quote from Joe Biden, saying that Hillary "might have been a better pick than me" for VP.

So let me get this straight: I am supposed to think that McCain is more like Clinton than he is like, say Bush, right? And that since he picked a woman as his running mate while Obama passed over Clinton, he cares more for women's issues? So obviously, if I supported Clinton, then the logical person to vote for is McCain.

Yeah, right. We all know that the main reason he picked Palin was because he thought it would get the Clinton vote. Palin, with her right-wing, conservative Christian, pro-gun, anti-choice views, her pride in "being a maverick" and her inexperience in any political arena with a population larger than 700,000, is not anywhere close to Clinton by any measure. Being female is about all they have in common, and I am insulted that McCain and the Republicans believe I should consider that sufficient.

Beta portrait

2008-11-02T13:34:00.002-06:00

As promised, here is a photo of the pastel portrait of Beta (clickable for a larger view).

My friend did this in "payment" for keeping her dog while she went on a long trip. That was some years ago, and I did not actually do it for payment. J was a really nice little dog and the kids and I (and Beta) enjoyed having her. But I am still very happy to have this portrait, and looking forward to getting it framed and hung on a wall. I just need to figure out which wall...

Halloween and other piffle

2008-10-31T12:50:00.002-05:00

So I am posting this on my lunch hour, and I am not at home. I am sitting in a Brueggers and using my laptop, just like all the cool busy people. Of course, I had no real reason to need to do this. But I have a laptop and I can!

Halloween blew up into a real issue at work. An email came out yesterday saying that anyone who had children trick-or-treating could leave at 4 today. I thought I'd be a smart-ass and replied that my daughter was trick-or-treating, so I thought I should leave early. Even though she's in college in another state. So then my manager talked to the VP and he said maybe they should just not let anyone leave early. And then my local boss talked to my manager and ... it was just suddenly a big issue. A later email came from the President saying essentially the same thing, though, so it's not like my region can just change a Home Office rule.

I didn't mean it to be a big issue - it wasn't that important to me. But I do think it is discriminatory, and contrary to best HR practices. After all, when they say we can leave early for Christmas holiday, they don't limit that to just the Christians. Oh well, I guess it will blow over.

Jason came over last night and borrowed a white shirt and tie so he can dress up "as something really scary - the Geek Squad!" The amusing thing is that he borrowed the tie from his sister. She still had a plain black tie from her Saddle-Seat competition days. She has also taught some of the boys she knows to tie them. It amuses me.

It's a lovely day today, so maybe I'll sit out on the front porch to hand out candy. The last time I remember doing that was the year before the Halloween blizzard. I'm VERY glad we don't have to worry about 3 feet of snow this year.

Nothing much going on this weekend. Russ has a meeting most of the day on Saturday. I do have plans to take my new picture of Beta to be framed. I'm so excited about that. It's a pastel portrait from a photo - my friend did a really good job and he looks awesome. I'll have to take a photo of it to post. I had totally given up on ever getting the portrait, so it was quite a shock when she left a message that it was done.

And since it's supposed to be a really nice weekend, I am looking forward to long walks, and possibly a dog park...

Happy Halloween!

7 more days

2008-10-28T07:24:00.003-05:00

We've gone from that beautiful fall on Saturday to snowflakes on Sunday, 40 degree highs, 28 and frosty when I walked this morning.

And now it's only one more week to the election. Yes, as my acquaintances recently said, I'm tired of this election. Tired of the leaflets stuffing my mailbox and especially all the negative ads on TV. However, an acquaintance also said "I don't know anything about [candidate] but I would never vote for him because of all the leaflets he sends me". My response - don't vote, then.

Ok, if you are a party-liner, yes, I support you voting for your party's candidate. I may not like your party's candidate, but I understand voting on party lines. But you should still know something about your party's candidate, or at least your party's philosophy. If you're going to vote, know why you are voting.

And voting for the independent candidate because you don't like the party candidates' ads - well, I don't think that message will get to the candidates, but at least it's a reason. I don't like the negative ads either, and I take all of the allegations (on both sides) with a very large grain of salt. But I think elections are extremely important, and worthy of thoughtful decision.

By the way, that response of "Don't vote"? That's what I SHOULD have said. What did I actually say? A couple of party-bashing statements. That when I get the RNC robo-calls, I pick up, set the phone down on the couch, and wait until it asks me if I want to make a call - because I figure that if I just don't pick up, the RNC doesn't have to pay for the call. That I can't imagine voting for a 72-year-old cancer patient when it would put that nut-job "mavericky" colossally inexperienced and unfit-for-office Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the Oval Office. Both are true, but unlikely to change anyone's mind. When I get annoyed at other people's attitudes, I tend to say either too much or too little. Or both.

And by election day, it will be light during my morning walk! Yea! But dark by the time I get home from work. :-(
Short days make me sad. Good thing I don't live any farther north.

Dog Park

2008-10-25T19:37:00.006-05:00

It was a gorgeous fall day today. Bright blue sky, perfect temperature, just a little wind.

I decided it was a great day to go to the dog park. I have recently found that the park district has set up off-leash areas at several parks. I went to Bryant Lake last weekend, and Carver today. Both were fully fenced, with a double-gate entry system to foil escapees, and a small-dog section available. Bryant is much smaller - about the size of the Bloomington park we'd been using, but nicely laid out. Carver is huge - about 27 acres, I think it said. Mostly grass land, but there is a hill in the middle, and they've mowed paths through the grass. Bravo just loved it, yet he didn't want to be too far out of my sight.

We started walking around the park with a younger Golden and his owners. About halfway around, I had lagged a little behind and Bravo was around the bend, and ahead of the other two people. When he spotted me coming around the corner, he got quite excited. He did his little racing-around-in-circles-at-full-speed thing, and got both the Golden and a Great Dane to chase him. He can be FAST when he goes all out. After that, I continued to be behind the mother and daughter who were with the Golden, and Bravo kept running ahead, and then checking back to be sure I was there. It was quite cute.

After one circuit, though, Bravo decided we were going to leave. This has been his habit at the other dog park, as well. Today he actually got out into the exit area when another dog was leaving. I had to go get him, and then we went walking some more, while I took more pictures.

He found a tennis ball along the trail, and I threw that for him a bit. And when we got back to the entrance, I made sure that I took him well away from the gate to put on the leash. And that he waited nicely to be invited through.

Hope you all enjoyed the day, too.

Mankind in its infancy

2008-10-23T19:22:00.001-05:00

Guest blogger Russ is back...

For no apparent reason I recalled today that I've heard somewhere that
"mankind is in its infancy". I don't know why it occurred to me, but I was
struck by how much that phrase explains. It explains all the yelling, all
the fighting, the inability to settle disputes, the selfishness, the
recklessness and, above all, why we make messes and don't seem to have the
ability to clean them up ourselves. Now, please don't think I'm being sexist
by referring to "mankind". I am being literal. I think womankind is much
farther along in its maturity. I think of womankind as the responsible teen
age baby-sitters for mankind and it's a shame they're not in charge more
often.

Big Read redux

2008-10-22T17:53:00.002-05:00

After I posted the book list recently, it was bugging me that I couldn't find anything about it on the NEA and Big Read websites, as noted in the source. I did some more searching today. At first, I found only copies of the list on blogs with similar attributions. Finally, a comment on one of the blogs led me, not quite directly, to this article from guardian.co.uk. Apparently, the list was compiled in March, 2007 with input from "The 2,000 people who took part in the poll online at worldbookday.com [and] nominated their top 10 titles that they could not live without." So perhaps that explains why there are some anomalies, like Chronicles of Narnia plus The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

No, Karis, reading does not make you a nerd, but perhaps the need to track down such details does. Not that being a nerd is a bad thing...

In other news, I just heard from Jason, and he is back in the US. Apparently they had a great time, and only a very short bout with intestinal difficulties (less than a day). I hope to find out more this weekend, and he says there will be pictures at some point...

Bravo and the park

2008-10-21T17:53:00.003-05:00

Bravo here. I wanted to tell you all about this park near our house. It has a really big green thing and a playground and other stuff. Julie takes me up there sometimes, but not very often. A long time ago (Julie says it was months ago, whatever that means. I don't really do time well), we went up there and since there was no one else around, she let me off lead. She doesn't do that very often, let me tell you.

Well, I ran across the field and there was a fence and a BIG patch of dirt and right by the fence there was a box with a ball next to it. Naturally I picked up the ball. It was different from the ones at home, though - heavier and not at all squishy. But still, it was a ball and I'd found it and I was going to have a lot of fun with it! Except, of course, Julie took it away from me and left it there. She can be a real spoil-sport sometimes.

Then not quite so long ago, Julie let me run at the park again. As soon as I got off lead, I went straight to the box and looked for the ball she made me leave there. I sniffed all around the box, but couldn't find it anywhere. Julie was really surprised that I found the same box so fast! So then she called me and we went to where there was another space completely surrounded by a tall fence. I'd seen a place like that before, and it had been covered with tennis balls. This one didn't have any balls inside the fence, but I did manage to find one under a tree nearby. It was nice and light and squishy, just right to chomp on. Julie threw it for me a few times, and then I carried it all the way home.

This morning we walked in that same park again. But this time, I didn't get to go off lead. And there were no balls to be found anywhere. Found balls are my favorite thing! Well, except food. And getting to meet new people.

New toy

2008-10-19T10:46:00.005-05:00

I haven't been posting much lately. But for the last several days, I have an excuse. On Tuesday, I my laptop arrived! No, I didn't really NEED a laptop. But my Dell desktop was pretty old (I checked - we got it in 2001). It was making funny noises, especially at startup, that made me worry about the hard drive. And it was slow! The last straw was when Jason checked it out and found out the memory was at 512MB, and it was MAXED OUT, and the processor was running at under 1 GHz. Of course, I do have a Mac desktop as well, that I was actually using for most things. But I liked my Windows version of Quicken, and I had one or two other programs that had no Mac equivalent. Yes, I could put Windows on the Mac. But frankly, I just wanted a laptop. My excuse is, now I can do the bills while watching television, so it won't be such a horrible chore.

Anyway, it's a shiny new Dell with 3 MB RAM, 2 GHz processor speed, and a 250 GB hard drive. (Well, not actually shiny on the outside; shiny in the Firefly sense. I got the blue color. Which is a little dark, but it's cool that it looks different when it's in the light.)

And I've spent tons of time this last week getting it set up. Loading the programs I want or need (which does not include most of the programs that were on the desktop, actually!) Transferring data from the old Dell and the Mac. Which was easy from the Dell (I had an external hard drive to use), but much more difficult from the Mac (couldn't connect the external drive too it, and for a long time, couldn't find it on the network). I'm proud that I was able to do all of that on my own. Of course, my tech support person was (IS) in Nicaragua, so I had to either do it myself or wait. And I don't do waiting well.

Now all my photos and music are nicely organized on the new computer. I have all the programs I need, and most of the ones I want, set up and ready to go. And have tried out all the important ones. I'm still using the Mac, but it is fun to play on the computer during commercial breaks, or like now, just sitting on the couch with the computer on my lap.

Yes, it was self-indulgent and unnecessary. I don't care. Another instance when I am not acting like an adult. (Oh yeah, I haven't actually posted the entry about being an adult yet. Maybe soon. Not sure it's ready for publication.)

I'm having fun with it. It's a new toy!

The Big Read

2008-10-18T23:04:00.004-05:00

Saw this on Deb's blog, and of course I had to do it.

“The Big Read is an NEA program designed to encourage community reading initiatives. Of their top 100 books, they estimate the average adult has read only six.” (I couldn't find the list at either of these links, but I just copied and pasted this.)

The idea is to mark in bold the ones you’ve read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible - parts if it
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare - Most of the comedies and tragedies, some of the histories
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis - the first 3 or so
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

So there’s my list. I've read 53, and parts of 3 others. Some of them (like the Austen novels) I have read multiple times.

I do think it's strange that they list "complete works of Shakespeare" and also "Hamlet", and "Chronicles of Narnia" and also "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe". I have never heard of some of these books, and don't want to read some of the others, but I've added quite a few books to my "to-read" list. Just what I needed - as if it wasn't already a really long list!

Elect Obama -- I need a break

2008-09-20T20:58:00.002-05:00

I started this post a while ago, and decided to hold it until shortly before the election. So here you go:

I was having a small political exchange with a friend, and she came up with the slogan that furnishes this post title. It perfectly expresses how I feel after so many years of "43" in the White House. We need a break from the war in Iraq. We need a break from the handouts, favors and tax breaks for big business. But most of all, we need a break from the endless attacks on our freedoms and rights - the right to choose, the rights of gays, the right to privacy, etc. We need someone in the White House who does not believe that torture is a valid interrogation technique, or that 9/11 justifies random intrusions into our privacy. And we need someone who will appoint Supreme Court Justices who will uphold those rights far beyond a White House term or two.

I also find it interesting that Senator Obama, in the prime of life, chose a running mate who has knowledge and experience, while Senator McCain, a cancer patient past retirement age, chose someone who is basically window dressing. The idea of Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the White House scares me senseless. And the idea that some women see this as a reason to vote for the Republican ticket horrifies me.

Some of the best articles I have seen on this election are on the website of Elizabeth George, one of my favorite authors. She has written a series on various topics that are well-thought-out and thoroughly researched. I read the first few some time ago, and just read her article on being Pro-Life, which was excellent. (A definition of Pro-Life that I can support, as opposed to those people who call themselves Pro-Life, but are actually Anti-Choice.) I look forward to reading the rest of them. She is far more eloquent than I could ever be - I think you will enjoy the articles, and would be glad to hear your comments on them.

Eva

2008-09-18T17:40:00.003-05:00

I am reading a very intriguing book called Eva, by Peter Dickinson. I found it via a booklist that is posted on Robin McKinley's blog. (Peter Dickinson is Robin McKinley's husband.) Robin and her blog readers have all posted to this booklist. WARNING: if you like fantasy, you are liable to find hundreds of books to interest you on this list. You may never dig yourself out of the pile of books-to-be-read...

Anyway, back to the book, which was written in 1988. It is set in the future, when the world is grossly overpopulated, and there are very few animals left. Eva is very badly injured in an automobile accident, and to save her, they implant her consciousness into the body of a chimpanzee.

I haven't gotten very far in the book, but there are a wide variety of themes here: the definition of "self"; ethics of medical experimentation, especially on animals; corporate sponsorship and exploitation (yep, that's how they paid for her treatment); etc. I'm looking forward to finding out how these themes develop.

We interrupt this blog for a political message

2008-09-10T21:52:00.003-05:00

Yes, I voted in the primary yesterday. I can't say that I am truly excited about Al Franken, and I'm not exactly sure why not. So I guess I need to learn more about his stance on issues.

In the meantime, however, I have to plug my district's terrific candidate for the House, Ashwin Madia. Yes, he's a lawyer, a Marine, and a former Republican. BUT he saw the light on the party issue, and while in the military, he successfully defended a homosexual man against discrimination. He has served in Iraq. He's a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. He's pro-choice and supports full GLBT rights including marriage. His top issues:

End the Iraq war responsibly
Create and implement solutions to global warming
Balance the budget
Expand access to health care
Renew federal commitment to education
Safeguard our fundamental freedoms

That might not be the order I'd put them in, but I can't argue with those goals. I'm looking forward to voting for him in November, and I'm really hoping we can move this district back to the Blue side.

You may not be able to vote for him in the general election, but you can vote for him now:

J-Street PAC is having an online contest. People can visit a website and vote for their favorite house challenger. The candidate who receives the most votes will receive a check for FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Please click this link and vote for Ash. Then send the link to some of your friends and ask them to vote for Ash.

Bravo's latest obsession

2008-09-05T22:08:00.002-05:00

Bravo is now obsessed with tomatoes. I discovered this one day when I realized he'd been out for quite some time while I played on the computer, and he hadn't yet appeared on the deck asking to come back in. Usually this takes only a couple of minutes - 5 at the most. So I went out to look for him and found him digging at the fence line. Apparently, a squirrel had been eating a tomato and left it in full view on the other side of the fence. Fortunately, our neighbors had installed edging, so the only damage was a little depression on our side.

A couple of days later, we found he was digging a little to one side of the first location. Yes, there was another tomato looking very tantalizing on the other side of the fence. And then yesterday, he had a new location and I realized that the neighbor's tomato plant is right next to the fence. It seems Bravo didn't really notice them until they turned bright red. Though since he is supposed to be color-blind, perhaps it is their scent as they ripen that he notices, rather than the color. In any event, it is driving him crazy to see (smell) them practically touching the fence, and the spaces in the chain link are too small for him to bite them.

The neighbors came to sell gift wrap for the school tonight, and the mom said that Bravo could have the tomatoes. I'm not sure that's a good idea. Russ doesn't think he'll like them, but I'm not so sure.

So now I watch him when I let him out. He always goes directly to the fence, and if he appears too intent, I bang on the door or make my "admonishing" sound. He stops immediately. Though he usually moves behind the tree, then, and I can't tell if he's digging or not. If he is, it can't be much, because I don't let him stay out too long. OOPS, he's still out - I'd better go let him in!

Barn visit

2008-08-31T22:22:00.004-05:00

Now that Karis is back at college, I wanted to go out and see her horse this weekend. I was trying to decide when I should go. It's too hot in the middle of the day, and I didn't really want to have to go to the far end of the field to catch him, because it's a LARGE field. So I decided my best bet would be to get there close to dusk, since I was sure they'd have to come in by then - you wouldn't want to go get them in the dark.

Therefore, I set out this evening right after dinner, about 7 pm. When I got to the barn, I saw one of the mares being led in, so I thought, great, I'm right on time. Lark wasn't in his stall, so I got his grooming box and lead rope and walked out towards the fields, figuring they'd be at the gate because they'd all be coming in soon. The stable owner was out there. She told me she'd just LET THEM OUT because it was such a nice night, so I could go TRY and catch him, but she didn't think it would be easy. Oh yay, I thought. But I'd come all the way out, so I figured I'd go get him. He was in approximately the same place as in the picture below from about this time last year (though earlier in the day, obviously):

As I walked out, I whistled. The other two chestnut horses looked up and moved toward me a little. But not Lark. He stayed there grazing. I called and called. He didn't look up. Finally when I was just a few yards away, he did come to me - probably knew I had a peppermint. So it wasn't really hard to catch him, I just had to walk a long way.

That decided what I would do with him, though. Since I didn't want to find my way back in the dark to let him out, I didn't have time for more than grooming. I did a pretty thorough job, though. Picked his feet, brushed out his tail, put Cowboy Magic in both the mane and the tail. I love the fact that his tail is shorter now - it's really staying in great shape. When I was done, I gave him the apple I'd brought. He totally slobbered ALL over my hands. What a messy eater!

So then I took him back out. When I brought him through the gate, I thought for a minute I had made a really bad mistake, because he made a movement as if to run off and I hadn't yet taken the lead off. It would NOT have been fun to try to find him out there in the dark, to remove the lead before he tripped on it. Fortunately, he did wait for me - a little impatiently - and I got to see him run back down the hill to his friends.

All in all, it was a satisfactory visit, even if it didn't go as planned. Of course, I forgot to take out the fly spray and horse treats I'd bought at Fleet Farm on the way home last weekend. Maybe next time I'll remember...

Farmers Market

2008-08-30T13:29:00.005-05:00

Today, Russ and I decided to go to the Lyndale Farmers Market. We'd been to the Bloomington one, and I'd been to the one in Beloit, but we were totally unprepared for the scope of this one. The first clue was how hard it was to park. We got lucky, and only circled one and a half parking lots before we were in the right place at the right time. And only a block and a half away.

The first section surprised us a little, because it was mostly clothes, sunglasses, jewelry and decorative items. Almost the first thing we saw was a gorgeous iron bench that I really wanted to take home. If we ever get around to extending our porch, it would look lovely there. And it was quite comfortable and reasonably priced, too. But we didn't succumb to temptation. Not this time.

After that section, there was row after row of gorgeous fruit, vegetables and flowers. The smells were wonderful as well. Made me wish I could cook. Though a lot of it came in quantities that were too large for just the two of us. We bought: Raspberry Blues jam, local honey (from Jordan Minnesota - hope that's local enough), eggplant so Russ can make eggplant parmesan, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries because Russ wanted to make blueberry soda, corn, and garlic. Oh, and a banana chocolate chip muffin that I ate right there.

We didn't stay quite as long as I would have liked, and a bit longer than Russ would have liked, so it all worked out pretty well. I was surprised to find that it is open every day during the season (until mid-November!). May have to go back...

It does remind me of the first time we went to the Bloomington Farmers Market. It is really small in comparison, and doesn't offer a ton of variety. The most memorable thing to me was the watercolor exhibit. You see, the market is on the east side of the City Hall building, and parking is on the west side, so the easiest route is through the building. After we bought a few things at the market, we wandered into the exhibit from the Transparent Watercolor Society of America. There were some nice pieces, but to my surprise, my favorite was a still life. Which is NOT usually my favorite art form. But this one just spoke to me. It was of silver bowls and luscious red cherries. In fact, you can see it here. Isn't it gorgeous? It's the first still life I can recall wanting to own.

As I write this, I am listening to the classical music I have downloaded into iTunes. And wondering why I haven't been playing this music - or other music - in the hours and hours I've been spending on the computer lately...

On a final note, I had to laugh at this quote that I ran across on Robin McKinley's blog (speaking of the hours and hours I spend at the computer - much of which is reading back entries on her blog):

Ever notice that 'what the hell' is always the right decision?
-- Marilyn Monroe

Olympics and other games

2008-08-21T07:26:00.002-05:00

I've been sucked into watching a LOT of Olympics. Again. Every time - both summer and winter - I think there isn't going to be much I want to watch. And every time, I end up spending hours watching stuff like track. Of course, I admit I do fast forward through quite a bit (what's Tivo for, after all?). And sometimes I have it on in the family room while I read my email, etc. in the kitchen. But I also watch more of it than I thought I would.

I do wish prime time would show just a little more variety. I'd rather watch highlights of the shooting, or just a couple of minutes of the open water swim, or the kayaking, than endless preliminaries of track events. I saw just a glimpse of the archery early on, and thought that was quite interesting. I do realize there's a lot more than prime time. I've recorded a lot of the Oxygen shows (largely equestrian and gymnastics so far) and I have watched a little of the online coverage (mostly dressage and a little fencing). But even though the commentary often annoys me, without any commentary at all, you have to know a lot about the sport to enjoy the online coverage.

Anyway, yesterday I let the Tivo run and went out with Bravo. After we picked up library books, we went to a park and wandered through. Past the playground (lots of kids calling "doggie", but no petting), past the tiny kids in huge helmets at football practice, up to the frisbee golf field. Decided that was too dangerous to walk through, so we turned around.

Then we paused on a hill overlooking several courts for a sport I did not recognize. Long narrow dirt courts - 6 of them. Several had games going on. They threw a little white ball out in the middle, and then seemed to be trying to get close to it with larger colored balls. Is this bocce? I had no idea, but we watched for a while. Bravo was interested, looking very regal with his ears up and following the movements.

But what really interested him was the tennis court. Two men were playing. And they had left dozens of balls all over their court. (I don't think Bravo noticed the bucket of balls at the back.) At first he continued walking, but every time the closest guy hit the ball, he'd turn and start toward it. Finally he stopped and just stared. He stayed that way for several minutes. I guess he thought the fence MIGHT dissolve so he could go get those balls. Or one of them might somehow get past the fence. It COULD happen. Finally, I asked him if he was ready to go, and he immediately turned and came away. I could just see him shaking his head and thinking "what a waste". I mean, he's not a REAL tennis ball nut. (Our first dog Jenny was, and he's NOTHING like that. She would chase tennis balls until she dropped from heat exhaustion. Literally. He reserves that sort of intensity for squirrels.) But he LOVES to hold them in his mouth. (And chomp on them. Or tear the covers off.) Two balls in the mouth are even better. He's tried for three, but that goal still eludes him. And there were ALL those beautiful, bright green, quite new tennis balls. Just sitting there! And no one had put a mouth on them to feel that luscious give of a fresh springy ball in strong jaws. You could see, he thought human games were weird.

Here's another gull picture. I like the reflection in the wet sand.

Life's a beach

2008-08-06T22:36:00.002-05:00

I had a great weekend in Philly when Karis and I went to visit my sister and her husband. We shopped a little, drove around a lot, watched a lot of movies (mostly on DVD). And for the finale, we spent the last day on the beach. I took tons of seagull pictures, and I thought this one turned out quite well. It's not retouched at all, honest.