Happy Halloween!

Here are our contributions to the pumpkin carving experience for 2006:


(L) My spider and (R) Chris' unhappy face.


(L) Glen's Maleficent and (R) Garrett's elaborate eyes.

Here's to all treats and no tricks this year.

Wedding Pictures

I've finally gotten the weekend wedding pictures into Flickr - here's the set. They won't be entertaining to most of you, those who don't know any of the people involved, but they're fun for anyone who's familiar with the players... They're especially fun for anyone who knows Stephanie, who isn't one to do glam - we now know she does glam really well!

Some favorites - I got a great shot of Kim as Toni was lacing up her gown, Toni did a little self-snap with Steph's camera, the hysterical flower girls, and the happy couple in front of lovely scenery. It was a great weekend. Thanks, Kim, for gettin' hitched.

Photos from Europe

There has been much futzing going on at Flickr with the photos from our September trip... And while the photoset will no doubt be further futzed with eventually, here's a link to the whole thing for your perusing pleasure. I've whittled it down dramatically, and it's still 420+ pictures, so proceed with caution. If you want to go straight to a self-running slide show (without captions or notes) you can also go here. Enjoy!

Autumn Trees

I've been noticing the lovely fall colors for the past few weeks, thinking, "I should really get outside with my camera before the rain knocks all those purdy leaves off the trees..." And have I gotten outside? No. Well, yes, but not with my camera. The good news is that Will has, and he posted a lovely shot on his photo blog.

2007 Tour de France Route Announced

Let the healing begin.

What a Wedding

Had a blast at my friend Kim's wedding over the weekend, mostly hanging out with two other college girlfriends (Kim was, understandably, busy). I was reminded how nice it is to spend time with people who know you and love you for who you are... People who've known you for long enough to accept your oddities (sometimes even find them endearing) and around whom you can absolutely be yourself. Whoever that is.

The four of us have known each other since our freshman year of college, and even though it's unlikely we would have ever met - let alone become friends - if we hadn't all been living on the same hall that first term, we've maintained a close friendship over the years. I love my friends with all my heart, and am so glad I got to spend a little time with them this past weekend. Now we just have to plot the next girls' weekend - one where someone's not getting married, so all four of us can participate.

Guns, Smugglers & Bombs

I've mentioned my coworker Court before, who's on a two-month sojourn through Eastern Europe. She posted a four-part entry about her overnight train trip from Sofia to Belgrade, and I just got done reading it. I'm just glad she made it through okay... You can start the journey here.

Weekend Getaway

I haven't had a good excuse for the irregular posting pattern on the blog lately, but I finally have one - at least for why I won't be posting anything for the next few days. I'm leaving tomorrow to fly to California for the wedding of a dear friend from college. She's the second of our group of four college friends to get married, but since I eloped she's the first to have a "real" wedding - and since all four of us will be there, it's going to be a fun girls' weekend, too. (Chris is, understandably, staying home.)

The three non-brides are already plotting to kidnap the bride after her wedding for an all-night gab session. The groom will get her for the rest of their lives - I think we have every reason to assume we get dibs for one night. Besides, it'll be three against one. I don't think he stands a chance.

Bloglines Roundup

It's been awhile since my last roundup of what's in my Bloglines queue, so let's have at it... In no particular order...

• My old favorite world-traveler-turned-world-saver Conor had a few interesting escapades before he headed back to Nepal last month. This was my favorite, and had me in tears as I read it, doubled over with laughter, unable to focus on the screen. At work.
  
• I've always wanted to visit the Winchester Mystery House.
• While the title of this post amused me, the text alternately horrified me and made me think, "This is a joke, right?" I kept checking the date to be sure it wasn't April 1st. I just can't believe this is actually true...
• I'm not sure at all what this means, but it had me howling when I first read it.
• I know everyone's seen this by now, but it still makes me smile each time.
• This little video is pretty amusing - it goes by too fast for me to count, but it was fun spotting the albums I have in my collection.
• I'm glad I don't have to be the one in the classroom, as I'm not sure I'd find the humor in the things Miss Bright experiences... But I sure do giggle when I read about them.
• Dirty Car Art, courtesy of Frytopia. Maybe it's because I wasn't expecting much, but I was nearly bowled-over impressed at some of the art.
• Also via Frytopia, this cat absolutely cracks me up. So does the owner's voice that pops in the video.
• Finally from Frytopia (the girl is prolific, what can I say?) comes the Icelandic Phallological Museum. Yes, it's a penis museum. In Iceland. You want to go to Iceland now, don't you? I thought so.
  

1000 Wines on the Road

BootsnAll members & bloggers Bri & C.J. just took off today on their round-the-world trip. The most recent posts on the blog are great - I'm particularly fond of this one from yesterday. This excerpt is fabulous:

I wonder if this is something like what astronauts feel before a launch, an internal battle of excitement, fear, and the reality that you’ll soon leave everything and everyone you know behind. The astronaut’s dilemma is this: do you sacrifice your dreams for safety, or leave the life you knew for a glimpse of the fantastic? Looking up at the moon or down at a map, I think the realization that you must at least try to go eventually becomes inescapable. To paraphrase Roosevelt, to fail while daring greatly ensures that one’s place will never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. And while we certainly don’t anticipate failure, the risk we are now prepared to take is tied directly to the regret we would feel for not daring at all.

Amen.

Buon viaggio, you two. I'm excited to follow your travels!

What a Difference a Year Makes

So, it's actually not even a year between these photos - and that makes it even more interesting to me.


This is me and BootsnAll Travel Writer Court at the BootsnAll party last December. I'd been a BnA member for almost a year by that point, and finally met a few folks at the party - but still didn't have a clue that I'd be working for them less then four months later.


Here we are last month in Salzburg, hanging out on my final night of vacation.

Last year we were making small talk and trying to figure out what to say to each other... This year, we hugged when we saw each other and gabbed like longtime girlfriends. Court returns from her two-month sojourn around Eastern Europe at the end of this month, and I'm looking forward to seeing her again.

Too Busy to Read?

I'm a lifelong reader. I began reading while still in preschool (my father puffs with pride when he tells people I read to my own preschool class), and as far back as I can remember I've always been in the middle of a book. As soon as I finish one, I choose my next victim. I've always got a book on my nightstand. Always.

It's not that anything has changed, at least not on the surface. I'm definitely in the middle of a book (I'm actually in the middle of two, as I brought a different book on vacation last month than was on my nightstand - the nightstand book's a hardcover, and I don't like to travel with those). I've absolutely got a book on my nightstand, and I've had one there for every night in my memory.

So what's different? The book on my nightstand has been there since at least January, I think, and it's not a long book. What's different is that I haven't been reading.

I used to read a few pages every night before turning off the light - and I can't even remember the last time I did that. I used to read during down-time on trips - now I mess with photographs or write trip notes on the laptop. I cannot remember the last book I even finished.

My rationalizing includes that I'm busy with three jobs and personal and professional obligations, and I'm just freaking exhausted when I crawl into bed at night - so that even reading a few pages is a futile effort, since I'll forget it all anyway and have to re-read it later. And while there's some very real truth to all of that, I'm kind of wondering if something more is going on. Am I just not enthusiastic about the book I've had on the nightstand? That's possible. Have I lost interest in reading? Also possible, though somehow I think that's less likely. (I still like reading blogs and news online, for instance, so I can't be totally fed up with reading, can I?)

Anyway, I'm not that far from the end of the nightstand book, though I've been at this point in the book for months. If I can get through this book and pick up a real page-turner, maybe I'll get past this. We'll see.

Sometimes it's good to not follow directions

I saw a story online today that reminded me of my 2004 trip to France & Italy with Chris & my mom. We had a GPS navigational system in the car, and for the most part - like, probably 95% of the time - it was an absolute dream. We'd just get ourselves lost on purpose in Tuscany, taking turns we thought looked interesting and often ending up on dirt or gravel roads, and then just plug in the address of our hotel and we'd be guided safely home.

There were a couple of glitches, however, which we just laughed about once we realized what was going on. In one instance, at a roundabout just outside San Gimignano, our guide (who Chris nicknamed "Hunny") had us going around in circles - never taking any of the turns. After the first couple go-rounds we just laughed and took the turn we thought was right (it was) and she guided us from there. Another issue, also outside San Gimignano, was that every time we'd pass by a certain highway on-ramp Hunny would try to get us to use it as if it were an exit. We didn't listen to her.

This article makes me think GPS systems should only be given to people after some kind of basic intelligence test is applied, however, for the safety of everyone involved.

Court's in Albania

My coworker, Court, has been traveling Eastern Europe for the last month and a half - I met up with her briefly in Salzburg on the last night of my trip last month, and I've been enjoying keeping up with her travels on her blog. She's in Albania right now, and after a tough first day in the country she had a wonderful time in Kruje. I love the story of the interaction with the shopkeeper, and am looking forward to seeing the baubles she picked up.

If only we'd gone last week...

...the lotus flowers might still have been in bloom. Damn.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from our visit to the Classical Chinese Garden in Portland on Saturday. It was a gorgeous day, and the garden was lovely as always - even when the place seems full of people, I can still manage to get a few pictures that make it seem like we had it all to ourselves. (Cue wild, self-satisfied, cackling laughter.)

There are more of my photos from the garden, both from this past weekend and previous trips, over at Flickr, but here's one from this last trip that makes me smile.

Daisy?

When I went out today to get the mail, I noticed a few of the flowers in my garden... So, in lieu of trip photos (soon!), here's one I took not two hours ago.

Whew... Some Highlights Reel

So, I finally moved all the "highlight" photos of our Euro trip onto Flickr. They're not annotated yet, so the tour isn't exactly user-friendly, but just getting them onto the site was a damned chore. Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. It's because there are 522 pictures in the set.

Yes, this "highlights" reel ain't for the faint of heart. Frankly, it's probably not really for anyone other than Chris and me. I mean, I can imagine plenty of people who'd enjoy bits and pieces of it, but the whole thing? For some, I figure it'd be like looking at 522 pictures of someone's new pet gerbil. And we all know how many kinds of fun that would be.

When I've got the annotations done, I'll put a link here to the set, for anyone who's intensely bored or whatever.

The Hazards of Working at Home

Let this serve as a public announcement to anyone who might want to ring my doorbell during working hours:

No, I do not want to receive a "comforting message" from the Bible.

I'm so glad I looked at the calendar...

I was operating under the (as I know now) false impression that my class started on Tuesday. I casually checked this morning, and am glad I did - it begins tomorrow. Well. So, I've now been in a semi-panic about getting the program ready, and remembering to bring the appropriate things with me tomorrow so I can photocopy them. The good news - and it's quite good, actually - is that I've done most of the prep work already, so all I need to do is make the requisite photocopies and get to the room on time. But I'm extremely glad I looked at the calendar...

All this to say that I'm rather behind on my to-do list, although I'm making headway on a couple of the items, and I'm off this afternoon to my alma mater to try and help the current crop of seniors understand what life after college is really like. Yes, all that writing your professors are making you do is going to come in very handy - much more so than that theory class they make you take, but don't tell them I said so.