Month: July 2007

Photography

Lake Michigan

Shelly

IMG_5454.JPG
Frozen Wave
Credit: karen ybanez, published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license

I mentioned that we used to live in Michigan City? We moved around quite a bit, but during our time there, we stayed for awhile in a little bungalow just a block from the beach. There were white concrete lions flanking the front steps, and a couple of concrete statues in the yard, which was surrounded by a low hedge of some sort. I remember the lake in winter being icy and magical. Summer was equally amazing. We could run down to the beach in the mornings, or go to the park or zoo, which were just a few blocks down Lake Shore Drive. And, even though I was only in kindergarten, I walked to school by myself.

On the way to school, there was an enormous sand dune we used to climb up, then roll down. It was right across the street from Les’ candy store. Les was a grumpy old guy. I don’t think he liked kids very much. There was a car repair garage connected to the candy store, and for some reason, I recall that his brother ran it. The giant sand dune has been paved over and built up, and I assume Les is long gone.

There was also a fire station on the way to school. Sometimes, when they weren’t busy, the fire fighters would talk to the kids and let them climb around on the trucks. They also sold candy. Lifesaver swirly lollipops.

Ice Feathers
Michigan City Lighthouse
Credit: Mike Lavoie, published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license

Altered Books, Art, Collage

The Terrible Hours: Title Page & Table of Contents

Shelly

The Terrible Hours: Title Page
The Terrible Hours: Title Page
collage (altered Polaroid, anatomical illustration, and yearbook photos)
9 1/4 x 5 7/8 inches

100_3933
collage (anatomical illustration, map, child’s dress pattern, and fragment from old book) with Neocolors II and pencil
9 1/4 x 5 7/8 inches

I’m not going to do anything to the cover. I sort of like the idea of altered books sitting on the shelf, looking “normal” on the outside.

Now, what next? I’m going to have to find a new project.

Uncategorized

Much Reading (No Spoilers)

Shelly

I didn’t end up starting the new Harry Potter book until nearly 11pm last night. I stayed up until about 3am, reading. There’s just not a good place to pause and put it down, but I finally had to go to sleep. I was able to finish it this evening. Hoo-boy. It was much better than I’d anticipated. Much. I think Joseph Campbell would have approved. It was also much more intense than the other books, though I was expecting that.

The plot point that I was most worried might be mangled was the Snape story. I don’t know why that one was important to me, but it was a relief to get to the end and to know that I was right, dammit. I was also concerned about what might happen with Dumbledore. I think I would have felt cheated if the Dumbledore story had gone wrong, but it didn’t.

The writing itself seemed a little better, too. It may be that I was too engrossed in the story to be critical, so we’ll see, on re-reading, if the same sorts of things distract me in this book as in some of the other books.

Letters to Esther

New Letters to Esther

Shelly

Instead of starting the new Harry Potter book, I thought I’d try to be a little bit productive, so I worked for a while on Esther’s letters. But, it’s been raining all afternoon, and I think it’s about time to quit for the day, because I’m starting to feel like I might need a nap.

Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that the stack of letters I did last time were out of order until after I’d finished and uploaded them. Because of that, the new letters are sandwiched between dates I’ve already done.

January 16, 1921 from Orlie Penwitt

January 17, 1921 from Clark

January 19, from 1921 Mrs. Whitsel

January 30, 1921 from Mamma

I also fixed a couple of links on the 1921 page that were pointing to the wrong letters.

Crankypantsing

Update

Shelly

I have returned from hunting and gathering, and I have acquired the new Harry Potter book. In doing so, I managed to break a nail. Shopping is hard work. Y’all remember that the next time you are tempted to pick on Paris Hilton.

Now, do I try to finish re-reading the 5th and 6th books, or do I just dive into the new one?

Also, there is more Hoovering going on upstairs. How much vacuuming does a 700 square foot apartment require? A lot, apparently.

Crankypantsing, Music

Bad Touch Bob

Shelly

I woke up this morning to someone out in the parking lot singing–at the top of his lungs–the chorus from Bob Seger’s Fire Down Below. Oh my. I really, really, really do not like Bob Seger. He grosses me out in a greasy, foul, lecherous old guy way. Bad touch!

Anyway, that wasn’t such a good way to wake up. I am hopeful that a little Harry Potter therapy will bleach the memory from my brain.

In other news, I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of much vacuuming, stomping, and hammering. I can’t imagine why anyone would suddenly get the urge to start hammering at midnight on a Thursday. The mind, it doth wobble.

That is all. As you were, comrades.

Photography

Sunrise

Shelly

100_3924

I was late for work on Wednesday, which turned out to be a good thing, because it gave me a chance to catch the sun coming up.

I went on a three month long Netflix sabbatical last spring, and my account is set to reactivate tomorrow. With cable, I really haven’t missed it, though I am glad that season two of Rome is coming out soon. I’m dying to see that, as well as a couple of movies that I missed at the theater (300!). I’m switching to a mini-subscription, though. Three-at-a-time should be more than sufficient to keep me entertained, I think.

Altered Books, Art, Collage

The Terrible Hours: FINISHED!

Shelly

The Terrible Hours: The Man in the Moon
The Terrible Hours: The Man in the Moon
collage (text book illustrations, pennies, and maps)
9 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches

That’s Mercury, actually, but it’s close enough to moon-like to work, I think.

The Terrible Hours: Epilogue
The Terrible Hours: Epilogue
collage (text book illustrations, map, library catalog card, buttons, and sand paper) with ink\
9 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches

These are the final two spreads from the book. I still have to do the table of contents, but other than that, it’s finished. There are sixteen two-page spreads plus one single page. It took took exactly 20 days, which is pretty darned quick for me.

Crankypantsing

Smell-O-Vision

Shelly

This is the week of the big outside consultants’ evaluation. This means there are lots of meetings and lots of people to-ing and fro-ing and wandering through our department on their way to and from the conference room. Not at all distracting! Ahem.

Anyway, the consultants began the week with a library-wide presentation. I hate being crammed into a huge lecture hall with a bunch of strangers, mostly because it’s inevitable that someone obnoxious will sit next to me. I thought I was going to be lucky this time, though. There were a few stragglers, but no one took the seat next to mine. And then, about halfway through the presentation, it happened. There was one last straggler.

Oh. My. God. I have never smelled anything quite like the olfactory cloud enveloping the woman who sat next to me. It was a mixture of rancid onions and garlic, with an undertone of something equally rank but unidentifiable. I turned half-way toward the person on my other side, covered my nose with my hand, and I still could not escape the smell. It was just awful.

But, wait, it gets worse! I was crammed all the way into the far side of my seat, but the woman kept elbowing me and hitting me with her foot. I’m sorry, but she had no business invading my seat space. She was in the end seat and had plenty of room to lean out into the aisle, so there was no need for her to take up any of my space. Hrmf!

Later in the day, I walked past the cubicle cluster where she works, and the same smell was present. It had radiated a full 15-20 feet from were she was sitting. I feel sorry for her cube neighbors.

As for the presentation, the first half was fine. I have absolutely no idea what was covered in the second half. I was a little distracted.

Also, y’all should be thankful that there is no smell-o-vision. My eyes were literally watering.