Weight Loss Wednesday, August 20

 

Sad to say, it’s my first backward week in a while, but only by just over a pound.  A weekend full of three big meals—even dessert several times—and swapping the gym for hours in a car definitely took its toll.  But I’m not too worried about it, even though I haven’t really gotten back into the swing of things just yet.   I still know where my goals are, and I’ve still got my plexus to help me out when I stray, so it’s all good.

	STEPS	ACTIVITIES
Wednesday	6,021
Thursday	6,872
Friday	7,663
Saturday	6,906
Sunday	2,987
Monday	6,789
Tuesday	5,237

Snapshot Sunday, August 17

 

The makings of a good birthday?  (Or a good any day, really.)  Good times with the one you love, and surrounded by the beauty of nature.  Couldn’t ask for more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                      

Feel Good Friday, August 15

 

You know what this Friday’s feel good is all about?  I started my three day weekend!  It’s such a simple thing, you would not think that would bring me such a feeling of euphoria, but it really, really does. 

So, Brian and I made a short road trip, had a nice dinner, and then strolled around a quaint little town.  Perfect way to spend a day.  Tomorrow we’ll explore a little more and see what there is to see.  I have to say, I do not miss work at all!

Weight Loss Wednesday, August 13

 

Still very slow; another half a pound down this week, but inches held steady.  Overall I’m satisfied, though, so just gotta keep doing what I’m doing—except maybe a few more steps.  Going to be out of town this weekend, so the challenge will be not only to get in some activity, but also to keep from groing food crazy, which is one of the hardest things about traveling.

 

	STEPS	ACTIVITIES
Wednesday	5,824
Thursday	6,649
Friday	6,320
Saturday	8,318	27 minute treadmill; 2.4 miles
Sunday	9,959	48 minutes treadmill, 3.4 miles
Monday	6,243
Tuesday	8,435

Facebook Friday, July 11

 

Like a lot of people, I have a love-hate relationship with Facebook.  I love that it helps me stay in touch with people that I would otherwise lose track of, and love that it entertains me.  All while hating the drama that is so common and certainly the way that it can be the most enormous time suck ever. 

However, a big plus on the “love” side is the way it shows me things that I might never have known existed and gives me new things to dream about.  Most recently, I’ve learned that I really need to add the Maldives to my travel bucket list, because there seems to be an island resort there called Kandolhu that I really need to see.  Who knew you could stay in a hotel room that looked like this?

And, apparently this particular villa will only set you back about a thousand bucks a night.  And that’s after I spend roughly $2500 bucks per person on a flight to get there.  This one might have to stay in my bucket for a while.

Come to think of it, this entry might have to go onto the “hate” column. 

Make Up Monday

 

You know that saying about needing a vacation to recover from vacation?  Yeah.  That.

I always enjoy traveling, but I’m also always glad to be back home, even if it does take a few days to get caught back up on sleep and get back into the swing of things.  We had a good time at the Phi Theta Kappa Nerd Nation in Orlando, and I hope I get to do it again next year, though it will have to be on my dime next time around.  I think it’s the sort of thing college days were made for, even if I am getting started about three decades too late.

Anyway, today I’ve got a few photos from the trip that should have gone up yesterday, but for the fact that I was exhausted and fell asleep with a laptop open and waiting for me to do something with it.  Oh, well.  Better late than never, I always say.

So, the pictures.  And, yes, it was a national gathering of honor society students, but who says nerds can’t have fun?

I’m Tired Already

 

It’s kind of amazing how you can go from a slow-moving, not much to do week to an OH MY GOSH, I’LL NEVER GET IT ALL DONE week in just the space of a few hours. 

I’ve been planning a trip to Orlando with my PTK peeps for a few months now (really, just the possibility of being able to make this trip was one of the factors last year when I was considering whether or not to take more classes this semester!), but with the blood clot and the hospitalization and all, lately I’d been preparing myself for the idea that I probably would not be able to go.  Consequently, I have not been getting ready to go.  Like packing.  Or even laundry. 

So when my doctor cleared me today to travel, I was both elated and just a little bit panic-stricken.  Then, I looked more closely at my class schedule and realized that homework I thought was due next week is actually due tomorrow, which means that the quiz that follows that homework is also due this week rather than next.  Panic isn’t even the right word.

And, add to that the fact that the trade-off for not having to drive myself to the airport tomorrow and leave my car there all week (and pay ridiculous parking fees), is that Brian has to take me to work tomorrow before he goes to his own job, which means I have to be at work about an hour early.  After being there two and a half hours late today. 

All of this means I will be going in to my fun-filled trip already at a sleep deficit, so I should be completely wiped out by the time I return home Sunday evening.  If I was heading off anywhere but the Land of Mickey, I’d give serious consideration to just calling the whole thing off, but turning down a free trip to Florida?  Nah, I don’t think I can do that.

So, dream of me tonight, since I won’t be getting much sleep of my own, and I’ll wish upon a star for you once I get where I’m going. 

Snapshot Sunday, January 26

 

So, I don’t think that I’ve taken a single photograph since we returned from vacation, though I have seen a couple of beautiful sunsets and one morning the lake looked very picturesque with a sheen of ice covering it.

But, as I always do, I have seen many wonderful photographs.  (StumbleUpon, anyone?)  Really, I should share more of the pictures I come across here and there, not only because so many of them are simply stunning works of art, but because if you’re anything like me, they could take you so many places.

The one that really moved me this week came from this Stumble, which was actually full of really spectacular pictures.  But this one in particular spoke to me, inviting me to a world of endless possibilities. 

It’s called the tunnel of love, and it’s in Ukraine.  But what lies at the end of that train track?  A medieval castle?  An ice cold lake surrounded by an enchanted forest?  Another world?

In truth, the tracks run to some sort of wood factory, but that’s not nearly as romantic as the other ideas, right?  I can’t say that I’ve ever had reason to want to travel to Ukraine (and certainly not lately), but this one place could make me change my mind.  I’d love to stand in this magnificent tunnel, even if only for a moment.  I’m quite certain the moment would be magic.

Snapshot Sunday, January 19

 

They say pictures tell a story, but today, let me tell you a story about some pictures.

First, a little background.  For our vacation, I rented a Hero GoPro.  I’ve always thought they were pretty cool cameras, but I couldn’t really justify spending a few hundred dollars on yet another piece of photography equipment.  But they’re small, and come in a waterproof case, so having one on a vacation where we might be on beaches and in water seemed like a neat idea.  As it turned out, one of the main activities where I had hoped to put it to use got cancelled because of weather, but it could still come in handy at other times. 

One of those times was a tour while in Belize, when we drove out to visit a site of Mayan ruins at Altun Ha.  Like every other day of our vacation, it was raining during our visit to the site, so we took a few pics with our regular cameras, but eventually pulled out the GoPro to snap a few others once the rain really started coming down.  One of the downsides of the small camera, though, is that it has no view finder, so there’s no way to really frame your photos—you just sort of aim and hope.  And, of course, they’re really created for extreme sport type usages, so for the most part, they’re attached somewhere to sort of capture whatever the user is seeing from a unique POV; just holding them and kind of looking around isn’t really the best use of the technology.  Here’s an idea of what I mean:

There’s nothing particularly wrong with this photo, but it might have looked a little different had I been able to see what I was actually shooting.  But, this picture does give us a starting point for the actual story . . . See that temple in the background, the taller structure?  It’s just over fifty feet high, which doesn’t really look all that high from the ground, especially since they’ve put a hand rail along the steps, so it seemed like it would be pretty simple to get to the top.  I thought that even though I’m pretty much a baby when it comes to heights; I really thought it would be okay.

However, the steps themselves were pretty deep, making for a more difficult climb than I had anticipated, giving me crucial additional seconds to think about how much higher up we were getting with every passing step.  So, when we got to a landing not too far from the top, I thought that might be a fine stopping point for me, and I’d leave Brian to go on up to the top and take a look around.  So, I waited in an out of the way tiny corner and sent Brian up top with the GoPro to snap a few photos so I could at least see the view after the fact.

But, a lot of plans didn’t work out on this trip, and this was one of them.  A tour guide came by while I was waiting and asked if I needed help with the camera backpack I was holding (no need for Brian to lug it to the top when he was only going to be using the tiny waterproof camera).  When I explained I was just waiting, he explained that the stair traffic was one-way, and I was going to have to go to the top in order to get to the downward steps on the other side.  Well, hell.

So, long story short, I trudged up the last few stairs, stood very briefly in the very center of the temple and looked around (can’t get too close to the edge, you know), then proceeded to have a small panic attack before I could bring myself to step off to the first stair and then climb down.  For the record, sometimes living with a phobia really sucks.

I can’t say that stands as one of the high points of the vacation, but it does have a rather amusing ending.  Later, when I pulled the memory card out of the GoPro to see what the terrifying vista looked like when not in a state of panic, I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.  Remember, I’d sent Brian on the photo assignment with a rented camera with no viewfinder, so I guess I can’t entirely blame him for what happened, but when I opened the files, this is a sampling of what I saw:

I can’t deny I was initially disappointed with these results. And, besides being just a little bit angry with him—who can’t recognize the lens of a camera, even when it’s brand new and encased in a plastic box?—I was also annoyed with myself.  After all, if I hadn’t had a melt down, I would’ve been in charge of the pictures myself, so there’s really no one else to blame.  But, I saved all the pictures because I knew someday they would make me laugh.  And I was right.  They may not be the scenery I had hoped to capture from that afternoon, but I’m pretty sure a quick Google search can show me the view.  (Sure enough, though I’m more intrigued with how someone managed to capture a photo with no people in it!):

                                                                    This photo of Altun Ha Ruins is courtesy of TripAdvisor


But, Brian’s pictures are more than scenery, they’re a memory, which is the whole point of taking pictures in the first place, right?  And, of course, they’re a story.

Weight Loss Wednesday, January 15

 

Well, it wasn’t a very active week.  I packed my workout clothes with the best intentions of making it to the gym at least every other day while we were away; I made it once, while we were still at the hotel before embarking on the cruise.  Best laid plans, and all that.  Of course, it was a really bad time to turn into a complete slug, what with taking in about ten times more calories than a reasonable person should consume, but sometimes that’s the way vacations go. 

Sadly, the convergence of sitting on my butt while shoveling in treats from the all-you-can-eat buffet led to a gain of about 4.5 pounds over the course of ten days, but I’m hopeful that it won’t take long to get rid of it again, now that I won’t be eating three huge meals a day (plus snacks!).  I’ve dropped one already, which means it’s coming off more slowly than it went on, but that’s certainly not a surprise.  All that’s left to do is move on.

	Steps	Activities
Wednesday	9,063
Thursday	4,098
Friday	6,185
Saturday	5,277
Sunday	2,104
Monday	3,156
Tuesday	4,579

Making Another Run

 

My husband and I spent last week on a Caribbean cruise in celebration of my recent paralegal degree completion.  It was nice to get away, and spend some uninterrupted time together, though everything didn’t really go as planned, primarily because it rained just about every single day.  Still, I’m well aware that a complaint regarding the weather on a cruise vacation falls squarely into the domain of First World Problems, and it’s not really what I want to chat about today, anyway. 

But, because of the uncooperative weather, we spent more time than anticipated sitting in our stateroom staring at a television screen.  You’d think this might not be much of a problem for such a self-professed TV junkie as myself, but even I have my limits.  And, besides, as you can imagine, live television broadcasts are a pretty rare commodity in the middle of the ocean, or even the gulf.  But you know what could be found on television every single day?  The Love Boat. 

   

Of course, we were sailing Princess Cruises, so The Love Boat is really just a glorified commercial, but I have to admit there was something a little surreal watching the old episodes while gazing out the balcony door to the rolling waves. 

And, as I was watching, I was thinking about a couple of things.  First, of course, was that I always liked the show.  Sure, it was cheesy and trite, but I’m pretty sure that was it’s primary charm.  There might be shows like that today, but any that exist are firmly locked into the half-hour sitcom format; nowadays you don’t find networks devoting an hour of airtime to cheesy, feel good programming.  No, hour long programming blocks are reserved for drama, and the grittier, the better.  That’s not exactly a complaint.  I’ve said many times that I’d take an average drama over a good comedy just about any day of the week, but that doesn’t mean I don’t recognize that our television seems to have lost some of its innocence, and its fun.

I was also thinking about how they say The Love Boat sort of launched the cruising industry into the success that it is today, and I was wondering if that’s really true.  I mean, it’s certainly what made me first think that I’d like to take a cruise someday, but I was a young teenager at the time; what did I know about world travel?  And many years went by in my adult life before I took my first cruise, but I don’t remember spending those years thinking, “I’d sure like to sail on a ship like the Pacific Princess.”  On the other hand, back in those days, I didn’t know anyone who’d taken a cruise; now I know lots of people who have.  There’s no doubt that cruising is a much larger industry than it was back in the days of Captain Stubing and the crew, but who knows if the show really played a part in its growth?

But, they say countless people have been found to pursue careers in various sciences because of Star Trek, forensics because of CSI.  If people can build their entire life around something on a television program, it doesn’t seem all that farfetched that some would plan a vacation because of it.  In fact, I’m pretty sure the Travel Channel counts on it.

But, whether The Love Boat actually launched a thousand ships (or even a hundred), it was still a fun and relaxing way to spend an hour, with people who laughed a lot, and always had things worked out by the end of the voyage; that’s definitely a voyage worth remembering.

Snapshot Sunday, January 12

 

There should be photos today from vacation, since we just returned yesterday.  And there probably will be at some point.  But right now, most of them are still on a memory card, in the camera.  This is probably the surest sign that things did not go according to plan on our trip, since returning home with thousands of photos already transferred to the computer and ready to go is the norm for us.  I am sad to report that in addition to an unreliable (read: often non-existent) internet connection, our travels also offered unreliable sunshine and warm temperatures.  Consequently, the opportunities for photo taking that we’d hoped to encounter did not really materialize. 

However, vacations are always fun, and I’ll gladly take any opportunity to travel, even if the weather doesn’t cooperate.  And, besides, we could’ve been someplace that looked like this:

Image credit: AP Photo/The Niagara Gazette, James Neiss

This is beautiful and all, and an image that should be seen and admired, but not where I would’ve wanted to spend my vacation.  It’s the kind of thing that puts our constant rainy days in perspective!

Six Word Return

Vacation over, back to real world.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Six Word (x Two) Vacation Planning

 

Booked hotel for nights before cruise. 

Nothing fancy, but everything we need.

 

Snapshot Sunday, June 30

 

It’s sort of hard for me to believe, but another entire week has gone by without taking a picture of anything.  I know for a lot of people, that’s pretty much the norm—only taking photos at special events and such—but I don’t want to be that.  I want to snap pictures of daily life, whatever and whenever strikes my fancy.  But even though I usually have my camera with me (and always have my phone with me), I rarely seem to take pictures these days.  Certainly it’s a function of time and energy; I’m always either doing something, or preparing to do something, or crashing into a stupor from pure exhaustion.  Still, what kind of fun is that? 

So, even though I failed miserably at this month’s photo a day challenge, I’ve downloaded the July list, and hope to be at least a little more successful this time around.  We’ll see.

 

But, while I was reminiscing this past week about the whole STAR saga, I was also browsing through some old photos.  I logged into my SmugMug account to look at the Hollywood pictures, but took a couple of minutes to look over some of my other galleries too.  (As a quick aside, if you’re looking for a good online hosting site for your photos, SmugMug gets my vote for sure:  easy to use, nice features, and unlimited storage, all at a very reasonable price.  And, no, I don’t get anything for that little blurb, either, just an honest opinion of a service I enjoy.) 

Anyway, I was looking at some of my pictures, including an album from a trip we took to Minnesota three or four years ago.  There are a lot of scenery pictures—some of them pretty decent, if I do say so myself—and even some family photos, but the one that jumped out at me was something silly.  We were just driving around town in Duluth and seeing what there was to see, and I was snapping a few pictures here and there. Of course, photos snapped from the passenger seat of a moving vehicle typically don’t turn out all that great—and this one’s not really an exception to that rule—but they often capture simple moments that would otherwise be forgotten in the midst of all the “real” things that were seen along the way. 

So it is with this quick shot that caught my attention when I saw it in real life, and has brought back the moment each time I’ve looked at the picture.  There was just something about this pensive face, looking out the window of a rundown building, watching to see what was going on in the world outside.  I wondered what he was thinking about, if he would rather have been outside chasing our passing car, if he knew we were strangers in his town, if he preferred that upstairs vantage point to something on the first floor or that’s just where he happened to be.  Maybe he was waiting for his owner to come home; that would explain why he barely moved when we drove by; he would know the car he was waiting to see.  Maybe when that particular car pulls onto the street, the pensive face takes on a whole new expression and the eyes light up while the tail starts wagging and he runs from the window, bounding joyfully down the steps to greet his owner at the door.  I like to think that’s what happens, but even if it does, I still wonder what he thinks about until that special car pulls into view, and what sorts of things has he seen from his upstairs perch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have simple snapshots that capture your imagination?  What stories do they tell you?

 

Open Mic Night—Travel Bucket List

 

Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tonight, while I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed, mindlessly browsing (likely an unnecessary redundancy; who is ever fully engaged while browsing Facebook?), I happened upon an interesting status update.  Someone had posted a link to a ProBlogger article suggesting kind of a community-building idea of a “discussion post”—just something simple designed to get folks talking.  And, even though my readership can’t compare with the discussions being generated at a site like ProBlogger, I still thought it sounded like a fun thing to do.

Of course, that meant I had to think of some sort of question that accommodated two needs:  something I’d like to know the answer to and also something many folks would be willing to give an answer to.  I thought about a few, but given that I just recently returned home from a mini-vacation and have been thinking ahead to when the next one might be, travel has been on my mind.  And, when thinking about travel, my mind always turns to the big stuff:  dream vacations and bucket list destinations. 

In my very early years, my bucket list destination (though I hadn’t yet learned the term “bucket list”) was England.  I don’t even really know why, but I’d always wanted to go there, as long as I could remember.  Maybe because I thought the English people had wonderful accents. (Confession: I still think that.)  Or maybe it’s because that’s where the Doctor was always showing up, though I’m pretty sure my fascination with the country pre-dated my fascination with the wandering Time Lord.  At any rate, I was very fortunate and got to visit London when I was 18, so cross one travel dream off the list.

Of course, there are lots of places I’d gladly visit, and a great many items on my current bucket list have to do with travel.  One of the others was not so much a destination as a mode of transport; I wanted to take a cruise.  A couple of years ago, I got to check that one off the list, too.

But, ever since I visited England, one place has remained at the top of my Places To Go list:  Australia.  It’s a big place, of course, but I’ve never really narrowed it down any more than just “Australia”.  Take me to the city and show me an opera house, or the outback and show me a kangaroo, or take me out in the ocean and show me the Great Barrier Reef.  Honestly, I don’t care.  Heck, just get me to the continent, and I’ll take it from there. 

One of these days, I’ll get there; I’m sure of it.  Until then, it stays at the top of my travel bucket list.

And what about you?  Where’s your number one travel destination?  Tell me all about it in the comments below. 

Song of Life

 

Now that our ΦΘΚ group has returned from the national convention, it’s time to start putting together whatever we might have learned and trying to put it to use for our chapter.  Of course, it’s also time to take a look back and remember the fun we had.  As the media officer for our group, I need to put together a newsletter about both this most recent gathering, as well as our regional convention a few weeks ago.  But I have another job to tackle, as well.

The other thing I am tasked with is sorting through the hundreds of photos we took while in San Jose and putting together a slide show.  It seemed like a simple enough request when our advisor tossed it out, until I sat down to plan it out and immediately realized I’d need music to go along with the pictures.  That part didn’t seem so simple at all.  Music seems like such a fundamental part of life, and it always seems to make everything better, but how do you pick a single song to represent a feeling, philosophy, or event?  Or even a life.

On the plane home, the in-flight magazine was dedicated to baseball, and it had a small blurb about major league players and their walk-up songs.  You know, those snippets of songs that play as a hitter comes up to bat, or a relieving pitcher makes his way to the mound?  Well, the article said that some of the players just choose a song that they really like, but some really try to choose something that fits their personality.  Even then, I was thinking how hard that would be.  I’ve wondered a time or two what my own personality would sound like set to music, but I’m not sure I’ve ever come up with an answer that completely satisfies.

You may be wondering what would make someone think about a personal theme song if they weren’t reading some random magazine article, though I’d propose that more people have probably wondered about that than you might think.  But, also, as I’ve probably mentioned before, I’m a huge fan of The Big Bang Theory, and during one episode, Raj had a theme song tee shirt.  It’s a real thing, and it can be personalized with whatever music you’d like.  Of course I had to wonder about what kind of song I’d want following me around on a piece of clothing. 

Anyway, while for myself I would probably choose something with a happy, hopeful message in its lyrics, deciding what might work best for the PTK slideshow was a tricky thing.  I looked through lists of friendship songs, fun songs, travel songs, popular songs, school songs.  I read song lyrics, browsed through YouTube, and just plain racked my brain.  I just couldn’t decide what I wanted to use.  You’d think I’d been asked to create the soundtrack for a major motion picture or something.

Finally, I made a decision, or at least a preliminary one.  I won’t know for sure, of course, until I get all the photos selected and everything put together.  But I think I’m going with “These Are the Days”, by 10,000 Maniacs.  It’s got mostly appropriate lyrics, a good tempo for such a project, and doesn’t sound too old for a group of college kids.  At least, that’s my hope.  If you’re not familiar with it, take a listen and let me know what you think.

Oh, and by the way, while I’m not absolutely certain, I think if I had to pick my own theme song right this minute, I might go with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.  What about you?  What’s your song?

Snapshot Sunday, April 7

 

Man, it has been a whirlwind week.  Travel is often like that, especially when you’re trying to combine work with some fun slipped in.  But it has been a fun week, no matter how busy we were or how much sleep I missed out on—which was a lot. 

I got to know my fellow PTK officers so much better, and we all agreed it was a shame we couldn’t have done something like this earlier, rather than when so many of them are getting ready to graduate and move on.  Still, I’m grateful we had the time now, and we really did have a great time.

And, I think we even managed to learn some stuff, too, so we’re hopeful that we’re ready to make some positive changes to our chapter when we get back to the grind at school.

In our week away, we saw some sights, studied a little, and laughed a lot, all while growing closer together.  At some point, I may be able to write more in depth about some of the things we did, but for now, just a few pictures from the past few days. 

And now, I am off to bed.  Not only were our hours of sleep limited this week, but I slept in a chair the entire time, so I am ready to stretch out in an actual bed, and maybe even get a full 8-10 hours of shut-eye.  I think that would still give me time to study for my test tomorrow night, so it seems like the best plan going.  Good night.

Six Word Bonding

 

 

Arrived as classmates; leaving as friends.

 

Check out the six words that are important to people this week at Show My Face.   

Snapshot Sunday, March 10

 

Well, I survived my weekend away.  And while I can’t report that it was a particularly productive weekend, I can say that we had some fun, and that’s always worthwhile.  Still, even after only a couple of days away, it will be good to sleep in my own bed again—which I’m looking forward to very soon. 

One of the other girls and I did go ahead and opt out of the group sleep and we got our own room for the weekend; much more comfortable with only one to a bed.  Though, we’re traveling again in a few weeks, and this time it’s to an expensive hotel, so we won’t be able to do that.  Guess I better get used to sleeping in a tiny space!

Anyway, we kept pretty busy, listening to some speakers, meeting fellow Kappans, electing regional officers—you know, the stuff organizations do when they gather.  There was also an awards portion of the evening, and our chapter was proud to bring home one trophy last night.  Go Alpha Eta Alpha!

Which brings us to today.  I hate to admit it, but I’ve abandoned the daily photo challenge, at least for the time being.  In a month or two I may feel like giving it another go, but not this month.  My philosophy is that things that are supposed to be fun should never feel like work, so I let it go for now.

So tonight I’ll share a small collage of a few of the pictures from the weekend. A couple of group photos from our convention—including one with our entire group along with the Executive Director of Phi Theta Kappa, Dr. Rod Risley.  He seemed like a nice enough guy, and all the old timers seemed to think it was a really big deal to have him at a regional gathering, especially such a small region as ours. 

We also visited an art museum over the weekend, Crystal Bridges.  One of our advisors is an art professor, and the other is a humanities professor, so they were thrilled with the opportunity.  I wouldn’t really label myself an art fan, so I can get bored pretty easily just looking at things on the wall, and it was too cold and rainy to go outside and walk along what seem to be lovely paths on their grounds.  So, the first day, I kind of lost interest, though there were certainly some pieces I enjoyed.  Today, though, we toured through the Norman Rockwell exhibit they have on display, and I really enjoyed that.  Maybe that’s the ticket to art for me: I like it to look like life that I can recognize.  Old and stuffy formal paintings can be beautiful, but I don’t connect with them.  Abstract art is mostly just weird to me.  And a lot of sculptures just look unnatural.  But Rockwell’s stuff just looks like people, doing the things that people do.  I’m good with that.  So, we spent a few hours there this morning before coming home.  They had a really nice audio tour on iPhones to go through the collection; I wish I could buy the app, because I enjoyed hearing all the stories and such.  Sadly, no photography allowed, but I’ve got my memories.

 

And now, I must off to bed.  The separate room did mostly accomplish my primary purpose of staying caught up on my schoolwork, but the wifi went out last night, so one online assignment could not be undertaken.  So, that’s first on tomorrow’s agenda, and then studying for a mid-term tomorrow night.  Plus, like many folks, I need to make up for that hour of sleep I lost out on last night.

Sweet dreams and pleasant Mondays to you all.