.
It doesn't surprise me that this genre exists, but I had no idea it did, until this morning....
Watch the outside drummers as they move up and down and around. Cool.
Love watching the balls go, as well as seeing what they hit, and listening to the music.
.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
music machine
.
A Glowing Ember turned me on to this.
Love it.
Even though it is computer-generated rather than made from John Deere tractor parts.
.
A Glowing Ember turned me on to this.
Love it.
Even though it is computer-generated rather than made from John Deere tractor parts.
.
house cleaning -- part 20 of 487
.
Just because we were spending time in Baltimore, enjoying the weather (and the flowers) and eating our way through its culinary delights, doesn't mean that we have come to a dead halt on the house-cleaning front.
This weekend we took a load to the not-dump. Some of these bags were ours (and we got rid of a lot of dead cardboard, too).
Then comes the "fun" part -- shopping for furniture to replace the furniture that has become unacceptably ragged.
There is so much hideous furniture. Astonishing quantities of hideous furniture. Mind-boggling amounts of hideous furniture.
Here are a couple of couches that don't make me actually retch.
We are trying to be very cautious of "furniture-store syndrome." You know -- when you are in the (huge, enormous, cavernous) furniture store, and you look at a nice little 8'-square coffee table and think "this would be fine, in our 10'x18' living room"? Then you go home, and get out the tape measure, and realize that what looks just fine in that very (very) large space would be absurd in your room?
This couch is 44"x98". That is a Really Big couch, and almost certainly TOO big..... Seriously -- 44" depth???
We wandered into the clearance section. It's hard to say it's the "comic relief" when there is so much comically horrible stuff in the regular-price section.....
Can you even believe these lamps?
I mean -- would someone take them, for free, as a joke? Surely (SURELY) no one would pay $58 dollars for one????????????
A closeup of the shade. I am not making this up.
We are finding this whole furniture-shopping thing to be an ordeal. In addition to difficulty of finding anything one might actually find tolerable in one's home (that would fit!), and the prices desired for most of same, is the way the salespern Will. Not. Leave. You. Alone.
Even after you've said, repeatedly, that you will ask if you have any questions.
Oy.
This is another reason we love IKEA. They seem to only ask you if you actually HAVE questions. They don't pester, the way the people pester in other furniture stores.
While I can understand the reasons furniture salespern are anxious to make sales, we are more likely to flee than buy if they pester, and this is something we seem to be unable to communicate.
Alas.
.
Just because we were spending time in Baltimore, enjoying the weather (and the flowers) and eating our way through its culinary delights, doesn't mean that we have come to a dead halt on the house-cleaning front.
This weekend we took a load to the not-dump. Some of these bags were ours (and we got rid of a lot of dead cardboard, too).
Then comes the "fun" part -- shopping for furniture to replace the furniture that has become unacceptably ragged.
There is so much hideous furniture. Astonishing quantities of hideous furniture. Mind-boggling amounts of hideous furniture.
Here are a couple of couches that don't make me actually retch.
We are trying to be very cautious of "furniture-store syndrome." You know -- when you are in the (huge, enormous, cavernous) furniture store, and you look at a nice little 8'-square coffee table and think "this would be fine, in our 10'x18' living room"? Then you go home, and get out the tape measure, and realize that what looks just fine in that very (very) large space would be absurd in your room?
This couch is 44"x98". That is a Really Big couch, and almost certainly TOO big..... Seriously -- 44" depth???
We wandered into the clearance section. It's hard to say it's the "comic relief" when there is so much comically horrible stuff in the regular-price section.....
Can you even believe these lamps?
I mean -- would someone take them, for free, as a joke? Surely (SURELY) no one would pay $58 dollars for one????????????
A closeup of the shade. I am not making this up.
We are finding this whole furniture-shopping thing to be an ordeal. In addition to difficulty of finding anything one might actually find tolerable in one's home (that would fit!), and the prices desired for most of same, is the way the salespern Will. Not. Leave. You. Alone.
Even after you've said, repeatedly, that you will ask if you have any questions.
Oy.
This is another reason we love IKEA. They seem to only ask you if you actually HAVE questions. They don't pester, the way the people pester in other furniture stores.
While I can understand the reasons furniture salespern are anxious to make sales, we are more likely to flee than buy if they pester, and this is something we seem to be unable to communicate.
Alas.
.
May 22, part 2
.
Calder. This one is called "100 Yard Dash."
Azalea. (Or rhododendron?)
Calder, with grandparents. (See Mom on the bench under the arbor, a bit southeast of center?)
Virginia creeper. I like the diagonals...... Contrasted with the curvy tendrils.
Mahonia. (Thanks Leslie!) Lots of drama here!
Love the orange with the dusty teal and yellow green. Look at the swirly texture (where the blush has rubbed off????) on some of the berries.
Even the bark is cool.
Peony.
More mahonia, with Calder.
This is the closest to a yellow peony I've ever seen.
Peonies are (essentially) always in the white/pink/fuchsia color range. With a shot of yellow from the pollen.
We were struck by these two trees, so close together. Is the one on the right a beech, perhaps? I looked up to see if I could get a clue as to the identity of the other by looking at the leaves, but all I saw were beech-like shapes....
They were touching, up higher, and I think had grown together to the point that they'd be injured if a mammoth gardener tried to separate them.
I hope they are friends.....
Contrast of curvy sculpture bits with the building's utilitarian lines and angles.
One last look at the Calder.
Lots of contrast with the stone building behind, but look how the circle traced by the Calder mirrors the windows on the building..... As though they found something to agree on, after all......
I bet this is wisteria. This is one serious arbor, sturdy enough to hold up several mature wisterias. I bet it is intoxicating when they all bloom.....
Fallen nest, under the arbor.
Mom and Dad, you are an inspiration. In a lot of ways, but what I'm thinking of right now is that after almost 60 married years you are still, so obviously, friends.
Thanks for being such good role models!
.
Calder. This one is called "100 Yard Dash."
Azalea. (Or rhododendron?)
Calder, with grandparents. (See Mom on the bench under the arbor, a bit southeast of center?)
Virginia creeper. I like the diagonals...... Contrasted with the curvy tendrils.
Mahonia. (Thanks Leslie!) Lots of drama here!
Love the orange with the dusty teal and yellow green. Look at the swirly texture (where the blush has rubbed off????) on some of the berries.
Even the bark is cool.
Peony.
More mahonia, with Calder.
This is the closest to a yellow peony I've ever seen.
Peonies are (essentially) always in the white/pink/fuchsia color range. With a shot of yellow from the pollen.
We were struck by these two trees, so close together. Is the one on the right a beech, perhaps? I looked up to see if I could get a clue as to the identity of the other by looking at the leaves, but all I saw were beech-like shapes....
They were touching, up higher, and I think had grown together to the point that they'd be injured if a mammoth gardener tried to separate them.
I hope they are friends.....
Contrast of curvy sculpture bits with the building's utilitarian lines and angles.
One last look at the Calder.
Lots of contrast with the stone building behind, but look how the circle traced by the Calder mirrors the windows on the building..... As though they found something to agree on, after all......
I bet this is wisteria. This is one serious arbor, sturdy enough to hold up several mature wisterias. I bet it is intoxicating when they all bloom.....
Fallen nest, under the arbor.
Mom and Dad, you are an inspiration. In a lot of ways, but what I'm thinking of right now is that after almost 60 married years you are still, so obviously, friends.
Thanks for being such good role models!
.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
another one of those WTF? moments....
.
As I have mentioned before, our dog-management routine is detailed and complex.
Pills, supplements, food, administered at intervals.........
This evening I went down to give pumpkin, pills, and supplement.
I pull out the drawer with the phone book in it, to use as a prep shelf for the dog dishes. Wilbur's dish was on the "shelf", and I went to reach for Buzz's dish.
WTF?
Can you tell what is going on? Here is a mise-en-scene pic.
This is a chartreuse dog dish (an IKEA find) face down in the dog water (which is a pyrex bowl).
The dog dish's handy cut-outs facilitate a person picking up the dish. They are so big that it is not terribly uncommon for bits of kibble to get under the dish, and so big that it is not hard for a dog to nose under them and lift the dish.
The dish doesn't usually end up upside-down, and this is, for sure, the first time it's ever ended up in the water...........
I was mildly amused.
And since I had the camera right there, here's a glimpse of my world.
Pills, pills, and more pills, marked up to try to prevent giving the wrong thing to the wrong dog (or to the right dog at the wrong time). Supplements. Treats (milkbones and k/d). Fish oil ready for Buzz's breakfast tomorrow. Buzz's night-time enalapril on the pill splitter (which does a crappy job, hence the little bit broken off the morning "half" which was larger than this evening "half"). A pencil to mark Buzz's "pills, etc" chart.
The white pill by the fish oil capsule is Wilbur's Claritin. He's been taking Tavist, but the last time I had him in, I was told that the latest research shows no appreciable level of drug in a dog's system with Tavist, and we should try Claritin. (You can't find Tavist on the shelf any more, though you can ask a pharmacist to order it for you, which makes me wonder if it works for people, either.....)
Burt's congestion varies so much from day to day that it is very hard to separate out the effects of pills from the effects of weather/pressure/mold/dust/?????.
Sigh.
This pic doesn't even show the blister pack for the Claritin, nor the heartworm pills sitting out ready to give in a few days.........
.
As I have mentioned before, our dog-management routine is detailed and complex.
Pills, supplements, food, administered at intervals.........
This evening I went down to give pumpkin, pills, and supplement.
I pull out the drawer with the phone book in it, to use as a prep shelf for the dog dishes. Wilbur's dish was on the "shelf", and I went to reach for Buzz's dish.
WTF?
Can you tell what is going on? Here is a mise-en-scene pic.
This is a chartreuse dog dish (an IKEA find) face down in the dog water (which is a pyrex bowl).
The dog dish's handy cut-outs facilitate a person picking up the dish. They are so big that it is not terribly uncommon for bits of kibble to get under the dish, and so big that it is not hard for a dog to nose under them and lift the dish.
The dish doesn't usually end up upside-down, and this is, for sure, the first time it's ever ended up in the water...........
I was mildly amused.
And since I had the camera right there, here's a glimpse of my world.
Pills, pills, and more pills, marked up to try to prevent giving the wrong thing to the wrong dog (or to the right dog at the wrong time). Supplements. Treats (milkbones and k/d). Fish oil ready for Buzz's breakfast tomorrow. Buzz's night-time enalapril on the pill splitter (which does a crappy job, hence the little bit broken off the morning "half" which was larger than this evening "half"). A pencil to mark Buzz's "pills, etc" chart.
The white pill by the fish oil capsule is Wilbur's Claritin. He's been taking Tavist, but the last time I had him in, I was told that the latest research shows no appreciable level of drug in a dog's system with Tavist, and we should try Claritin. (You can't find Tavist on the shelf any more, though you can ask a pharmacist to order it for you, which makes me wonder if it works for people, either.....)
Burt's congestion varies so much from day to day that it is very hard to separate out the effects of pills from the effects of weather/pressure/mold/dust/?????.
Sigh.
This pic doesn't even show the blister pack for the Claritin, nor the heartworm pills sitting out ready to give in a few days.........
.
May 22, part 1
.
The 22nd was another beautiful day. It was a bit warmer than the 21st, and noticeably more humid. We were so lucky to get the cooler, drier, breezier weather on the day we sat in the sun for hours!
Driving toward campus.
Our grad had some things she needed to do in the morning, so we decided to find a pleasant place to sit until she was ready for us.
We happened to drive by the BMA's sculpture garden, and decided we couldn't beat that as a good place to hang out.
Azaleas are about done here in A2, so I was surprised to see so many gorgeous ones still going in Baltimore. (Likewise with magnolia! Must be different varieties that don't do well up here.....)
Loved this stone mobius strip. Of course one doesn't touch art, but I wanted to trace its curve all the way around......
Love this bark. I wonder if it's the same exact kind of tree found outside the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center in Charlotte, NC........
Aliums.
Note a much larger variety, which is finished, around the lower left corner. Wish I could have seen that one blooming!
This sculpture rotated, slowly.
Doesn't this look like a reptilian eye? I didn't even notice the smaller eye until I got it up on "the big screen."
.
The 22nd was another beautiful day. It was a bit warmer than the 21st, and noticeably more humid. We were so lucky to get the cooler, drier, breezier weather on the day we sat in the sun for hours!
Driving toward campus.
Our grad had some things she needed to do in the morning, so we decided to find a pleasant place to sit until she was ready for us.
We happened to drive by the BMA's sculpture garden, and decided we couldn't beat that as a good place to hang out.
Azaleas are about done here in A2, so I was surprised to see so many gorgeous ones still going in Baltimore. (Likewise with magnolia! Must be different varieties that don't do well up here.....)
Loved this stone mobius strip. Of course one doesn't touch art, but I wanted to trace its curve all the way around......
Love this bark. I wonder if it's the same exact kind of tree found outside the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center in Charlotte, NC........
Aliums.
Note a much larger variety, which is finished, around the lower left corner. Wish I could have seen that one blooming!
This sculpture rotated, slowly.
Doesn't this look like a reptilian eye? I didn't even notice the smaller eye until I got it up on "the big screen."
.
Friday, May 29, 2009
May 21
.
On the 21st we began with brunch at this bright and lively place. My daughter's good friend and roommate's family joined us. We were glad to get to enjoy Miss Shirley's with them.
Everything was delicious.
"Breakfast Banana Split" -- yogurt instead of ice cream, and granola instead of chocolate syrup or whipped cream.
Gorgeous fruit plate.
Blueberry pancakes.
Chocolate chip pancakes.
After brunch, we went back to the apartment to get ready for graduation. Many pics of happy girls, which you'll just have to imagine.
Walking over to the stadium. Another gorgeous day. Around 80, dry, breezy. It could so easily have been 20 degrees hotter, and much more humid. We were so glad for the lovely weather.
Having been to many swim meets, we know to sit at the top of the bleachers. There is something to lean back against (other than the knees of the person in the row above you!), you can put up your umbrella without worrying about blocking someone's view, and the breeze is better.
The dark rectangles on the tall things beside the stage are big screens. (One of them is in the center of the right edge of the pic.)
The action was displayed on the screens, big enough to actually see what was going on.
On Thursday afternoon, the colleges of engineering, and arts and sciences were recognized. The engineers marched in first. I was very happy to see so many girls in the engin school!
Here some the arts and science graduates. This was a very diverse class, I am glad to be able to say.
Here comes my daughter!
She is sitting on the far side of that left-most V of seats.
You can see the girl in the yellow boa in the prev as a speck of yellow, so you can tell more or less where my kid was.
My bigger camera's 12x zoom could see what was happening on stage. Here they are awarding honorary degrees. This preceded most of the speeches, and allllll the marching up to get one's hand shaken.
If I wanted to record sound with my video, I needed to be using the bigger camera. So I had to choose, when she actually went up (a long time after the prev!), video or a still....... I went for video, and recorded the image on the big screen rather than the actual event.
You will have to imagine the rest of the afternoon in the sun. It was hot. All those "civilians" on the sides (closer to the bleachers than the kids in those HOT black gowns) are people with mobility issues. Grandparents, mostly. Sitting, roasting......
Thank goodness it wasn't hotter!
My mom spent part of the afternoon in the nice hotel lobby across the street, with glasses of ice water. Very smart!
At least they had two name readers, so the walking up and shaking hands part moved right along. They had somewhere between 1000 and 1200, I think, and got through them all in less than two hours. The whole shebang started a bit after 1:20, and they didn't start reading names until quarter to three, so I was wondering how long it would all take. But we were out of there before 5:00. I guess they've done it before..........
(topical side note: Someone asked me if they still shook hands, despite swine flu. Yep, they did. We didn't know until we were told afterwards, but there was hand sanitizer, and everyone was expected to use it -- just as we did before boarding the cruise ship in Alaska -- before walking up and shaking hands.)
Eventually the very last kid went up, shook hands, and went back to his seat. We stood while the grads walked out of the stadium (en route to the gym to get their actual diplomas -- which are huge, go figure).
We joined my mom in the hotel's a/c and got started on rehydration.
The kid and her dad went to a reception at the president's house. I had been outside longer than I prefer to be outside, so I passed on the reception. My parents and I went back to the apartment, happy to sit inside with glasses of water.
After a while, we went to dinner. A French restaurant this time.
Nice whole wheat bread preceded dinner.
Spring vegetable soup.
Asparagus.
Zuchini.
Duck confit, with spaetzle.
Quiche Lorraine.
Reputed to be the best French fries in Baltimore. Isn't this a cute presentation?
Chevre -- Bouche de Poitou.
Cherry sorbet.
Espresso, with madeleine.
Everything was very good.
.
On the 21st we began with brunch at this bright and lively place. My daughter's good friend and roommate's family joined us. We were glad to get to enjoy Miss Shirley's with them.
Everything was delicious.
"Breakfast Banana Split" -- yogurt instead of ice cream, and granola instead of chocolate syrup or whipped cream.
Gorgeous fruit plate.
Blueberry pancakes.
Chocolate chip pancakes.
After brunch, we went back to the apartment to get ready for graduation. Many pics of happy girls, which you'll just have to imagine.
Walking over to the stadium. Another gorgeous day. Around 80, dry, breezy. It could so easily have been 20 degrees hotter, and much more humid. We were so glad for the lovely weather.
Having been to many swim meets, we know to sit at the top of the bleachers. There is something to lean back against (other than the knees of the person in the row above you!), you can put up your umbrella without worrying about blocking someone's view, and the breeze is better.
The dark rectangles on the tall things beside the stage are big screens. (One of them is in the center of the right edge of the pic.)
The action was displayed on the screens, big enough to actually see what was going on.
On Thursday afternoon, the colleges of engineering, and arts and sciences were recognized. The engineers marched in first. I was very happy to see so many girls in the engin school!
Here some the arts and science graduates. This was a very diverse class, I am glad to be able to say.
Here comes my daughter!
She is sitting on the far side of that left-most V of seats.
You can see the girl in the yellow boa in the prev as a speck of yellow, so you can tell more or less where my kid was.
My bigger camera's 12x zoom could see what was happening on stage. Here they are awarding honorary degrees. This preceded most of the speeches, and allllll the marching up to get one's hand shaken.
If I wanted to record sound with my video, I needed to be using the bigger camera. So I had to choose, when she actually went up (a long time after the prev!), video or a still....... I went for video, and recorded the image on the big screen rather than the actual event.
You will have to imagine the rest of the afternoon in the sun. It was hot. All those "civilians" on the sides (closer to the bleachers than the kids in those HOT black gowns) are people with mobility issues. Grandparents, mostly. Sitting, roasting......
Thank goodness it wasn't hotter!
My mom spent part of the afternoon in the nice hotel lobby across the street, with glasses of ice water. Very smart!
At least they had two name readers, so the walking up and shaking hands part moved right along. They had somewhere between 1000 and 1200, I think, and got through them all in less than two hours. The whole shebang started a bit after 1:20, and they didn't start reading names until quarter to three, so I was wondering how long it would all take. But we were out of there before 5:00. I guess they've done it before..........
(topical side note: Someone asked me if they still shook hands, despite swine flu. Yep, they did. We didn't know until we were told afterwards, but there was hand sanitizer, and everyone was expected to use it -- just as we did before boarding the cruise ship in Alaska -- before walking up and shaking hands.)
Eventually the very last kid went up, shook hands, and went back to his seat. We stood while the grads walked out of the stadium (en route to the gym to get their actual diplomas -- which are huge, go figure).
We joined my mom in the hotel's a/c and got started on rehydration.
The kid and her dad went to a reception at the president's house. I had been outside longer than I prefer to be outside, so I passed on the reception. My parents and I went back to the apartment, happy to sit inside with glasses of water.
After a while, we went to dinner. A French restaurant this time.
Nice whole wheat bread preceded dinner.
Spring vegetable soup.
Asparagus.
Zuchini.
Duck confit, with spaetzle.
Quiche Lorraine.
Reputed to be the best French fries in Baltimore. Isn't this a cute presentation?
Chevre -- Bouche de Poitou.
Cherry sorbet.
Espresso, with madeleine.
Everything was very good.
.
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