A Colorado Drive...and survival tips.

Our first major adventure into the wilds of Colorado involved a four hour car ride in the Rocky Mountains. It was terribly exciting to 1) finally get sequential hours in place for such a journey, and 2) be close enough to such beauty that it's actually not a full day trip!

First, however, we must establish some important survival tips for such journies.

For those of you like me, you may not realise that mobile phone service is not accessible in the mountains. My Pandora station playing from my iPhone and through my car speakers suddenly stopped. It was at this point I was informed that we were back in the days of the Constoga wagons and service was not to be had. Just for memories, here is a photo of where phone service ends. Very pretty!



Fortunately I have a quick sense of recovery and switched to my iPod. Keep in mind though that you can't listen to your iPod music provided on your iPhone through your car and be able to charge your phone. So eventually, the phone died altogether. This is the critical piece of information: have CD backups. I now understand why we have CD players in cars.

I hope you have gained value from my experience!

Meanwhile, enjoy some more stunning views that are available in the hinterlands of Colorado :) We were already at 14000 feet elevation when we snapped these bohemoths towering over us. I'm sure it is an important peak that everybody knows but me!

The Mermaid Chair (book review)

The Mermaid Chair: A Novel by Sue Monk Kidd


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


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Roma Photos!

I plan to steal pictures that Matt and Tonya took and add them into my little collection, but I wanted to get the photos I had in the official Willeke Picasa files! I am very happy to profess being completely caught up with photo organisation.

Roma

Movie Update

It is well known that my sparse history of movie watching is pretty pathetic. One friend helped me rectify this rather gaping hole with quite a solid little selection such as Interview with a Vampire, Stir of Echos, The Ninth Gate, The Crow, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Devil's Advocate and a few more of that nature. Another friend introduced me to my deep love of V for Vendetta and the Underworld series, as well as a nominal nod towards Van Helsing, etc.

However, are you ready for it?

Star Wars.

Another friend has taken me down a new road of movies that includes the Spiderman trilogy, Mel Brooks movies, Tarantino movies, and yes, even that dratted Star Wars that I've never previously acknowledged.

Watching 4-6 first was apparantly a requirement, which was fine except for the huge gaping questions that I had, requiring the follow up 1-3 movies, which were freaking depressing. Yeesh.

Jedi are freaking awesome. Chris Lee, Yoda and Samuel Jackson make really amazing Jedi.

While people attempt to recover from 1) the fact that I've finally watched the it, and 2) the fact that somebody can revel in the coolness of it this late in the game, Spaceballs after Star Wars was a very special laughter. Granted I'll never own the film ever, but it was really hilarious.

Young Frankeinstein was totally hysterical and apparantly I have Blazing Saddles to add to that little collection. Pulp Fiction doesn't really fit into the context of this blog except for the fact that it was cool and it cannot be left out.

As you can see I'm bouncing all over the place with these new "old" films that are so good, but I've determined that I should probably still be in the tutoring stages. My personal choice of watching Pans Labryinth was poor as the film is banned from my home as the cause of a stress headache from all the freaking sadness and possibly the source of my newest found depression. It is an absolutely wonderful film that will remove your heart still beating from your chest, nail it to a wall and watch it slowly shudder and die.

Back to strict recommendations for awhile longer.

Sundays at Tiffany's

Sundays at Tiffany's, Narrated By Ellen Archer, 5 Cds [Complete & Unabridged Audio Work] by James Patterson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Books like this rarely get to my eyes because I am not really into what I would term 'chaffy dramas', but this particular story captures the heart and keeps there until the very end. It's a super sweet story that is a reminder of your own childhood and while I found the end a bit too convenient for the typical happy ending, what is wrong with a happy ending? Seriously! We need to have good little stories like this to help us remember our own emotions and to keep life in perspective.

...and I've learned that there's nothing wrong with picking up a light book (or audio CD book) and enjoying it.

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Second Week in Rome

Now that I'm back in the States for the fourth day, I'm sad and reflective for the second week of Rome, but because it was that good of a week and I'm no longer there! Despite all efforts to make it a true holiday away from work and school, it still ended up as a working holiday, but seriously, I'm not going to complain. Environment is everything to me and I actually enjoy working, so it was still awesome.

We saved our 'tourism moments' for when friends arrived, which was fun to do together. Walking...lots and lots of walking, even though I think it was the Vatican Museum that killed me over walking the city from stem to stern. Major museums really drain the life out of me because it's always an overwhelming presentation of 'cool' combined with no food or drink support. It takes like 20 minutes just to leave the crazy place once you start to exit. Everything else was in perfect little doses though and highly enjoyable.

Bazaars and street fairs will of course always be my favourite component of every holiday - Rome is no exception. Several shirts, scarves, designer tights, boots and other necessary paraphenalia later, my wardrobe has a breath of fresh air.

Bonus: I lost five pounds between eating less more often and walking several miles a day!

Water for Elephants (review)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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First Week in Rome

Either we are the laziest tourists on the universe, or we just really needed a rest! After being here a full five days, we've yet to visit the usual tourists sites, but I beg an excuse for that since we've been here previously and spent most of time during that visit in ancient Rome. Parked by the Vatican City (again), we are most familiar with the west side of Rome, and my connection to Via Cola di Rienzo and the main shopping avenues off of Piazza del Popolo are strong due to my love of boots, gloves, sunglasses, and designer wear. Besides, I know we'll venture to the ancient sites when friends arrive tomorrow, which will be enjoyable.

We're eating very well and losing weight between eating right and walking a lot. Purposely getting lost and figuring out how to get home is a great weight loss program in old winding cities! Our antiquarian shopping went great if we were millionaires. The first clue was of course the fact that these lovely little "buzz me in" shoppes were tucked between Armani and Fendi. When the greet you with all smiles proudly explaining that most of the pieces come complete with provenance, you think, "yeah, thanks for confirming to me the reality that I won't be able to touch anything you have!" I like to think of the shopping as free mini museum visits as I was cheerfully told that the 1200s gothic sheet music is at a low low price of 32,000 euros. I did take the card though, just in case I win the lottery I never play :)

I slept in too late to hit the horse races today, so after the bazaars Sunday morning, hopefully I can get some in that afternoon. Trotting and gallop races alternate each day down the Appian Way south of Rome, so that'll be awesome to watch some gallop races.

Office time...Saturday morning

...because you know that Saturday is a work day too! Actually in this situation I'm simply stealing the conference table to spread all my resources out for the paper I have to write for my class. Here we discover a major positive in the world of offices - taking over conference rooms for personal use.

As you can see through the lack of two daily posts, my Thursday and Friday was a little mundane since you didn't hear from me. Neither day was terribly mundane as they were simply exhausting. Thursday was full of meetings that were productive yet draining. Following that up with an evening of study made me feel like I had no life. My excitement of the evening was a relaxing cocktail that I was too tired to finish and a movie that apparantly turned itself off by morning....not very impressive.

Friday held a more interesting perspective, but equally time destructive. The offices of my department moved to a new building, and unfortunately that usually requires the social norm of having people in to take a look. This may come as a surprise, but I'm often not terribly sociable. I left the office door open a crack so I wasn't being rude, but not welcoming either. That made zero impact with strange people poking their face in and calling me by name as I tried desperately to figure out who in the world they were. In retrospect, I believe I could have stemmed off the biggest tide of stupid comments if I'd have just posted a sign saying,

"Yes, you are correct. I am not the person who normally sits in this office. You have great observation skills. Also, this person is not nearly as nice as the person who normally occupies this office. You may be bitten."

I am happy to report the best humour point of the week as my final one.

Humour Point: The President of the school stopping by the flat to tell me that I'm doing a great job. Elle's response to this? Walking up to where he was standing, look down at the puddle of water that he brought in from the rain with him and pronouncing "OH YUCK" while registering a very irritated expression. I'll be working on her political skills next.

Office time....Wednesday morning.

Things are settling into a moderate routine. Showing up to the office 2.5 hours late was brilliant on my part and saved a lot of early morning irritation. Also, having a bacon, egg and cheese bagel from McDonalds made me feel like I was splurging big time from my usual boiled eggs and tea. However, the big improvement for my day involved having my own office. One of the staff doesn't work Wednesday, Thursday or Friday in the office (works remotely those days), so I was very quick with the seige and capture of private space. Thank God. They had another meeting out in the main area and I would have totally snapped if I had to focus through that for the third day.

No significant news. Unfortunately I don't have a humour point. Holing myself away takes away my exposure to others, or their exposure to my sarcastic mind - I'm not sure which perspective to use.

I have not seen walnut and bee lady today. No news on that front either.

T-3 days for Rome!

Office time....Tuesday morning.

There are other indicators that have recently been discovered why I should not work with people in a face to face environment. It turns out that I have no patience and and no checking station in my brain for when to stop talking. To make a long story short I accidentally informed the President of the university that his campus maintanence was pitiful at best that his latest program was boring. Oops. The problem was that I had no shower for the second day because of some plumbing issues...and to my dear girl readers...you know how unacceptable that is. It was simply a miserable happenstance that the President crossed my path on a morning where I was desperately craving a shower and reading an article on ways to infuse the latest brainstorm with some pizzazz. We'll find out if I'm fired later.

My tea spilled in my car on the way over to the office. That was a whole different level of trauma.

Humour Point: the walnut lady is now concerned about the bees.

Office time....Monday morning.

While there are benefits to working in an office (separation from other responsibilities or temptations), I am happily reminded that I made the correct choice in pursuing a self-driven career working in the home. Some things cannot be blamed on working in the office since it's just community issues. For example, the nearest Starbucks is 30 minutes away. That alone would kill a potential office job for me. While it is cool to work in an old train station, it's been too refurbished and you can't tell from the inside, which is annoying.

One and a half hours into my conference table-desk experience and I already know who I want to kill and who may live... if their tongues are removed. Apparantly I am non-existent since people randomly came into the room, walk over to the window, and discussed the tragedy of parking under a walnut tree. They barely escaped with their lives.

Humour point: I needed the security key to get into their wireless. I told the executive assistant and she contacted the guru. He emailed it to me. Just think about that for a moment.

T-6.5 hours...

I am a Barbarian (review)

I am a Barbarian by Edgar Rice Burroughs


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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The Kite Runner (review)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Lovely Weekend!

Putting aside stress and fears, it has been an absolutely perfect weekend here in the mountains. I am a girl of the autumn, and that's been the weather. The cool breezes have been flowing through the flat, inspiring fun rides into the mountains. Eric's been completely caught up in the outdoor sports, which is understandable given the absolute perfect 65-75 degrees. It's been also a week of investigation withe the successful discovery of a great Mexican restaurant in Morrison, a interesting lapidary in Golden, and an excellent Mediterranean restaurant in Denver. I think of Denver as the 'new yuppie town' and all the outskirting towns attached the older western frontier towns...mostly because that's exactly what it is. Golden, Littleton and Morrison are my favourites so far with Golden stretching slightly ahead. The traffic for Red Rocks in Morrison would get on even my nerves, although nobody can argue with the awesomeness of their 'town park' with completely awesome hiking trails. Although we've been here for nearly three months, I finally feel like we're getting to know the area comfortably.

I'm a little bitter that we have to pay for a month's rent for the flat when we won't even be here for six weeks, but considering the enjoyment of travel, it's not such a painful pill to swallow. However, this next week being the last week we'll be here until the first of November, we're packing in as much exploration as possible for everything from the Art Museum to the Acquariam to the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Here are pictures of fun things we got at the lapidary. The people there are starting to recognize us now :)

A silver and turquoise cross made by the Zuni tribe - etched in the silver on the back.

Adamite Mapimi from Mexico

A slab of lacy blue agate

Petrified wood

Always in waves...

Why does everything come in waves? There's never a consistent level of work in my line of work. After a month of designing and uploading three 13 week courses for PSEO general education, on top of convincing faculty that, 'yes, it could be fun to teach high schools college level work for college credit' (that didn't go well), my whole body wanted to collapse. Just as a perspective, a month is an incredibly short period of time for that amount of work. It takes several hours per course just to get it online, not counting the design effort and responding to expert reviews.

...and of course that's at the same time that two new core courses, two new electives, and two older courses with edits have to be finished and uploaded by Tuesday. My boss asked me when I could get a new project done that he threw my way last week. I started giggling hysterically.

Why is everything always so last minute? Mostly because the markets make us stay 'agile' and the trying to get curriculum completed way ahead time is defeating to the goal of providing current data to the students. Now that the core courses are nearly done for the BA, I spend the majority of my time on editing older curriculum to keep it up to date and keeping faculty current with technology. Special projects like PSEO are...well, special. Usually bullet to the brain special.

The bonus to waves is that once they are done crashing, it smoothes out a bit before the next wave starts. I'm forcasting calm seas for a couple months at least starting Tuesday :)

My eye of the storm has been reading The Kite Runner. Tea and reading is my break, and it's making everything calmer. Thank GOD for parents who like to visit and support us! Any bad karma that I have gained over time is nicely balanced with being born incredibly lucky.

Bleeding Kansas by Sara Paretsky


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Yes, I'm Alive...

My uselessness with blog presence has been at an all time high recently. My professional blogs haven't been touched in months and I almost feel ill with the amount of work that I'm realising for my doctorate program that starts again Tuesday, not to mention several projects at work that resemble one of the lower levels of hell. So why did I take on a new commitment at work? My problem is that I see future potential and often forget to calculate the cost for getting there.

I feel a bit discouraged for no terribly obvious reason, so I'll focus on the positive feelings of a great trip to Indianapolis, Chicago and Bellaire. Over three thousand miles later, my adorable Mini looks none the worse for wear. The amazement is that despite nearly three weeks in the Midwest, I still didn't get everything I had hoped done! It was a great time though being with local friends, seeing the usual 'conference' crowd from the UK, and getting valuable lake time at my grandparents.

Despite the enjoyment of travel, there was a certain relief of being in Denver for a whole month, but that didn't last. Eric's heading to the UK for three weeks followed by a holiday with me somewhere TBD, followed by Rome with friends. The UK trip was unplanned, so that chops off the last two weeks of September. My biggest excitement? Getting a whole week alone with Eric with no work for either of us after the UK. Rome will be fun with the others, but I have to strain to think of the last private holiday with Eric, which seems a little unbalanced. We are at some disagreement as to where to go, but I don't think either of us cares that much in the end as long as it happens :)

Meanwhile, my lungs have reminded me that I am indeed back up in thin air as unpacking the car into the 3rd floor flat required several rests. We'll see if I adjust faster this time!

That's the end of my saga for the moment. No major epiphanies or discoveries - just living.

A Whole New Mind

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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The Tales of Beedle the Bard

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Bringing Meaning to Objects

America suffers from what I feel is a compulsive behaviour to own STUFF. I've discussed this at length in previous blog posts, and have taken measures every year to 'purge' my home of items not loved or used enough to value keeping. This thinking was revived for me as I am reading A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink on loan from a friend. He has some fabulous points to ensure that our material wealth, whether much or little, is appreciated and enjoyed for maximum potential.

1. Put object on the table and examine it. What memories does it provide? What is it's history?
2. Now that the object is solidly in your mind and you've connected to it, how does it affect each of your senses? Pink is discussing the value of design and ways to improve our right side of the brain. As you study the object, the design of the object "will trigger your senses".
3. Consider how you connected the clues and how you feel. What are the connections?

Doing this was a fascinating revelation on how I connect with what we own. I was happy to see that most of we have (at least brought with us to Denver) are special indeed. It makes me happy to at least have items that will endure emotionally and reminds me to not buy something because it's 'cute'. Classic -not cute- unless specifically purchased for something short term and keeping to the plans on getting rid of it when done.

Karim Rashid made an awesome point:

Experience is the most important part of living, and the exchange of ideas and human contact is all life really is. Space and objects can encourage increased experiences or distract from our experiences.

The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church by Reggie McNeal


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Time for Self

I usually think that I take time out for myself, but yesterday's afternoon at the spa reminded me that I really don't, or at least not enough. It was a little bit of heaven to be placed in an environment where raising your pinky finger is definitely not expected. The host's face of shock that I actually got up and walked from the steam room to the front for my massage (didn't wait in the lounge) was really a wonderful feeling. Laziness is not only accepted, but condoned! The fact that Tazo is their tea selection and Aveda is their main product line made it even better. I was drowning in tea by the time I left, complete with relaxation from the massage, manicure, and pedicure. It's so nice that each one felt the need to do a little extra massage.

The masseuse told me that he was from or lived in Hawaii for a long time (Maui), and so of course I asked why the hell he was in Denver. I mean, Denver is nice, but on the scale of Maui... His response was "oh you know, the island life, it gets a bit tedious." Really? I explained to him that there is no way I could understand that. A 100 square foot marooners island with a lone palm tree maybe, but Maui? I must test this theory out and see if it's really all that tedious :)

Picture Update!

No Ellen, this isn't of Colorado...settle down. I'm brilliantly only a month behind now and am wrapping up photos from being in England during June :)

England

Everybody should be glad to note that I pared the scary amount of 400+ photos down to 119 photos! This visit involved a sworn oath to myself to not visit all the stuff I'd seen before from previous trips, but to focus places and things I'd not seen before. It was well worth it. There was one day of "walking downtown" and I'm sorry, but the Tate is an addiction (more specifically, the Tate shoppe is an addiction); otherwise I really enjoyed new places! I did sneak into the British Museum a couple times, but who couldn't resist amazing free history at that level.

Kew Gardens is definitely my favourite 'new' place, Egham was a typical village (where we stayed) but it was fun to explore, and thank you Bekki for telling me to get to Rochester! That was great. Brighton was good too, but not a place I'll probably visit a lot.

Habits and Hobbies

What are the differences between habits and hobbies? This question cropped up when I downloaded the Habits app for my iPhone to help me regulate some activities since my life isn't so consistent. This is probably an easy answer for some but it's a deeply philosophical question for me.

Since habits can also be bad, I tend to think of habits as those things that humans tend to do systematically due to addiction, boredom, or just rote behaviour. An example for the stereotypical person might be that they always have a glass of wine with dinner, or play online games at night, or watch specific TV shows. A hobby is something that I believe occurs because a person loves doing it, but doesn't necessarily get to enjoy it as a habit, although it can get to that frequency. Categorization of hobbies can be painting, reading, tennis, or whatever is enjoyed. As you can see, all of these items can easily transform into habits, but if that happens, are they still enjoyed as hobbies? Is that full measure of happiness met when you sit down with a good book, or is it so habitual that you don't notice or appreciate it as fully?

Then comes along me. People often compliment my discipline or focus. I want to seriously laugh when that happens because I am one of the least disciplined people ever. I forget to drink water. I'll have a perfect week of eating the right size of meals several times a day and feel great, then get stressed and space eating entirely. I have very few hobbies because I can barely get what I should get done to treat myself and my family right before I can transcend into even knowing what I enjoy.

Reflecting on this has brought me some realisation that I am so terrified of wasting away my life that I fill it with the long term goals and focus on getting to the end, leaving the end very anti-climatic and and empty void when it's complete. This is probably why whenever free time comes my way, it gets filled. I won't stop aiming for long term goals, but it's time to focus on taking care of myself (eating, drinking, exercise, spending time with family) by stop treating those items as hobbies (is it convenient to eat? No, I have to get this course finished) and make them into habits... then perhaps I can consider having a couple hobbies without stress of something (always something) needing done.

Bringing this tail around to make a circle, it's my hope that downloading the Habits app will help me realise that major accomplishments are great, but to take them one step at a time after the most important things are done...and enjoyed. People who know me very well will be happy to know that I've added habit maintenance items on the app to include

• drinking at least 3 pints of water a day
• sitting down and doing nothing at tea time
• doing a bit of Tai Chi, TKD and iBurn each day
• spending an hour of teaching Elle things each day
• spending an hour of actively playing with Elle each day
• reading an hour a day

Yes, there is still 4-5 hours of my career work to do each day as well as 3-4 hours of PhD work to do each day, but I think ensuring these habits are effectively ingrained in me is the first building block to enjoying the journey of my life. I'll worry about the other blocks when this one is fully embedded in concrete! Maybe this way I'll notice the pretty sky, how cute Elle is, and how damned lucky I am.

Oh crap. This stuff has to get home!

It's so interesting to see the price differences on certain items between the UK/Europe and the USA. The USA is rife with great stuff that's pretty cheap - yet the UK has such great prices on books, antiquities and unique artifacts. Items found in an antiquarian bookstore in the USA would cost no less than double, and usually triple than what I easily find in the UK. Global Gifts is one of my favourite stores in the USA because it sells unique items made from the countries, and the money goes back to those people. However, the UK's Fair Trade programme totally crushes Global Gifts in coolness and price.

I say all this to say that I got myself into a small peck of trouble. The 1866 engravings I bought for a song will be easy to pack because they are flat. Unfortunately though, my brain somehow justified the purchase of an Iranian tile that is quite heavy, and my brain simply went into a coma before purchasing a lovely carved Pakistanian wooden box. It is not gigantic, but the heavy and thick 12x6x6 box isn't exactly a 'toss in the luggage' kind of thing. I was quite proud to only bring my Kindle for reading, but totally failed on refraining purchase of books here. Even with the limitations of 'only printed in Britain' and 'something truly unique', I have a serious problem in that area too. We're not even going to go down the acquisition of awesome new clothes topic. I was reasonable with the amount of things I bought for Elle because there are cool toddler things everywhere, but I did find a couple really unique items that I of course couldn't pass up.

I am very happy to have thought ahead on some level and brought two essentially empty carry-on bags for the return trip, and ensured that one suitcase would be 1/2 empty, but I still am facing a challenge.

Postive note: I got some really cool shit!

Our Village

Egham is a nice little village filled with all the necessities of life...pubs, one good French, Italian and Indian restaurant each, train/bus station, parks, several small charity shoppes, couple churches, and lastly without prejudice, a greasy chippy. It's important to have visuals of our haunts though! I was going to include the view to our 3rd floor flat and Eric's work building, but for some reason Blogger's not letting me add more images, so I'll let it go with these more important introductions.


This is our favourite location of course, The Crown. With eight hand pumps for wonderful cask beer, the bartenders know us very well! None of those silly rules about children not being allowed in a bar (except past 7pm, for which you then sit outside at the picnic tables).



Monsoon is a very very special Indian restaurant where all the servers know us by name. We've tried nearly every single item on their menu. He uses all fresh ingredients, which makes every dish excellent.



While delicious, fish and chips certainly can't be a common meal simply due to the delectable amount of grease involved. However, our local chippy certainly makes a fabulous serving with the best curry sauce ever.

I totally forgot to get a photo of the Italian restaurant, but that's no indication that I dislike the place. In fact, it's fabulous. The pizzas are southern Italy style and unique. That's not even mentioning all the fresh sea creature pasta they offer, or their torturing dessert cart. Meanwhile, here is the French restaurant. Slowish service, but a really nice atmosphere with delicious food. Eric's German stomach mostly rejects French food, but it's probably my favourite.





Of course we can't leave out the Egham version of Hogwart's, or the wonderful fenced and gated park across the street. This is especially helpful for the wild little thing we often refer to as Elle.

Bones of the Dragon by Margaret Weis

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars


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Catching my breath....

I just realised that the last two weeks have been a little crazy, thus possibly accounting for overwhelming exhaustion from which I've finally started recovering this week. It was awesome having Ellen here for the first week and am annoyed that it took this many years for us to realise that we travel together really well. It's so nice to not have to finish sentences because the other person knows what I'm trying to say, and vice versa. Conversation was not stressful. Our humour is similar, as well as our penchant for...'oh, I'm feeling tired' and blowing off something that felt minorly important only hours ago, and feeling no guilt. Elle was a little beastly on occasion, but other than a couple remarkably horrible occasions, she handled it quite well given the circumstances of so much travel in such a short period. It helped that everything we did was dappled with 'oh, there's a park, let's have Elle run.' I've never been to so many parks in such a short time, but I think we all found it relaxing. The best and most exhausting day was hitting the charity shoppes in Chelsea. Finding Lush in the middle of that "expotition" was easily equal to finding a gold mine. That day was also special because it was Saturday, which is roughly translated as 'Eric's home and can watch Elle' :)

This second week has involved a lot of beer, sleep and work. There's been investigation of the adorable village and plan-making for the upcoming weekends. We're going to train out to the Virginia River area this Saturday, Pooh Country the following Saturday (although I'm not going to walk all over like I did last time...gah), and then hit the beach the last Saturday and possibly Sunday (can't decide between Brighton and Bournemouth). The discovery of five charity shoppes in this village alone defines my plans for tomorrow if I truly catch up on my work today. Woo!

Holiday Albums!

Some day I'll always be caught up with the most recent photos. Some day. Not today or tomorrow or next year! I'm just happy to be only one or two holidays behind on my albums. North Carolina represents my two glorious weeks on a river or beach (depending on the week) this spring. It was very relaxing and I'm not understanding why I didn't do that before. I'm sad that the job transition worked out so that Eric was only able to come out for a few days, but the sacrifice was rewarded with a fun new job!

North Carolina

Miami's photos are far less...mostly the Everglades and around the resort. My brain skipped taking photos during that week, but we have a few for memories. Despite the gorgeous weather and location, we were all pretty busy with my working with some deadlines that week and Eric being at conference. Below the album is a cute video of Elle being a little monster because the second that I started filming her, she refused to jump in the pool like she was doing previously!

Florida

Playing at the Tate!

Some people go to Tate Modern to gain culture...others see an interactive art exhibit as something that involves plywood shaped playthings! Eric, Ellen and I probably missed the artistic message, but we had a hell of a lot of fun. It was amazing how so many adults were able to let their guard down and look like idiots in front of everybody....and have a great time :)

Sadly, there was no videos of Elle sabotaging the rope walking or Ellen and me trying to work together maintaining balance on a super large square platform resting on a ball. There was one more video of Eric doing the chimney climb, but I turned the camera and now am unable to rotate it...making it look like Eric's scooching back and forth while laying down. It definitely loses it's effect rotated.

If you see just kids in these clips, please note that adults were busily doing the same thing we were, just not at the same time. We're not stealing the kid games or anything!

Prepare for the shortest rope walk ever by Eric!

Ellen successfully gets across the balance beam...
(ignoring false start!)

Marian and Ellen make it up Pike's Peak! Let's pretend.
(Disclaimer: PG13 for very last second of clip...
that's what happens when Eric gets to run the video...)

Der Ring des Nibelungen and The Lord of the Rings

I know Tolkien denies inspiration from Der Ring des Nibelungen, but I disagree with the premise that the only connection is that a ring of ultimate power was found. In Das Rheingold alone there are several correlating features to The Lord of the Rings. Wagner's four operas representing the ring is one of my favourite series, and I finally got the opportunity to see the first one live last night (Das Rheingold). There were some issues with the performance, such as the supporting computer graphics screwing up in the very beginning, and a trumpet player from the ISO completely destroying a crucial note. Granted, the music is really intense and we were nearing the end of the three hour saga that highlights trumpets, so I can see why the lips may give way, but still...they are professionals and I was disappointed to hear it. The initial computer graphic issues were unforgiveable though.

I digress. I really enjoyed the production, but the whole time I couldn't help but think that even if Tolkien wasn't inspired by Wagner's works, then they are both indebted to the Norse epic poems. After all, there is nothing new under the sun. All I have to say is thank you to story weavers of centuries gone by who planted the seeds for development into the eventual Der Ring des Nibelungen and The Lord of the Rings, both of which is obviously seeded from these ancient sagas.

Next Stop: London!

It is with great joy that I can finally report solid DATES for our London visit.

Departing May 25, 2009
Returning June 24, 2009

For those who may find returning on a Wednesday weird, return tickets skyrocket for any date after that, so Elle and I are coming home a week early.

We'll be staying in a flat just off High Street in Egham (Surrey) about 10 miles west of London. As usual, England's stellar public transportation system gives us easy access to London proper while we can enjoy being in a village atmosphere. My first quest will be the local pub.

Even more fun will be the visiting friends! Schedules are already being made...here's how I expect it to go down...

Ellen: shopping
Howie: anything related to Shakespeare and beer
Parents: museums

Meanwhile, I'll be heading out to the country at some point to say hello to my family in Devon and Bristol. I'm hoping to take Elle to Windemere for the whole Peter Rabbit experience and/or to the 100 Acre Wood just south of London - although the 100 Acre Wood is actually a 100 acres (who knew!) and might be a bit much for Elle. Quite frankly, it's been three years and I'm just anxious to walk the streets again and enjoy the city! Anything beyond that will simply be a bonus.

Automated Wine Tasting!

This can be recorded as a most excellent find in Miami. Yes, there are awesome beaches and martinis, but for those of you who get tired of being limited a specific wine flight? Check it out! I'll let the photos tell the story of the self-directed wine tasting.

There were 20 of these machines!

Miami...even warmer!

While my typical connections to Miami are limited to clubbing and CSI: Miami, there is something to be said for insanely warm pools. This resort has an abundant supply of warm happy pools with little fake waterfalls to sit under and pretend you're roughing it. You'd be surprised how people fall for that delusion, including me. My post about the first week was right - each week got better! River, ocean, then even warmer pools. The ocean requires a drive, but I'm not bitching. Everglade pictures to come later this week!

1000 Journals Project by Someguy

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars


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Empire by Orson Scott Card

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars


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Beaches!

I'm convinced that beaches should be a medical prescription for relaxation. Whether you're driving through dunes, walking through the edge of the water, or reading on the sand, you can literally feel the whole body slump into this super relaxed mode. Emergencies simply do not exist, or if they do, the biggest emergency would be that the local microbrewery is closed on Tuesday. This crops to mind mostly because today is Tuesday, but panic is averted because I have a growler to pull me through. Still, no risotto and mozzarella balls is going to be pretty traumatic today.

Duck (yes, that's a town) is riddled with small boutiques though, so that's always a hotspot for me. I'm loving my new dress (picture) from one of the shoppes, but Elle mostly cleaned house with the purchases of her new hat, shirt, puzzle, and three books. Four days left here seems to not be nearly long enough. Other interesting locale along the Outer Banks includes my favourite island partly because of it's name and partly because it's simply a long expanse of untouched sand dunes. Pea Island connects the Kitty Hawk area and Hatteras Bay with extremely nervewracking bridges, but it's worth it to feel utterly alone in beauty. The Alligator River Preserve is also pretty amazing, but I doubt that we make it down there this time.

If you can at all work remotely whether it's a quick getaway or an extended holiday, I highly recommend this method! I think that I've accomplished more in less time simply because of a change of pace/venue.

First Retreat on the River

I call this my first retreat because, well, it is my first retreat out of the three in a row. I consider myself really lucky and wonder why I didn't do this before. Even better, I think that they are in the order of most interesting too, so there are no obvious letdowns to anticipate. This first week is on the Neuse River in North Carolina between the Outer Banks and Myrtle Beach. It dumps into the ocean, but we're a good 40 miles from the ocean right now. I don't know what to call the thing that our condo is on since it's bigger than a creek and smaller than a river, but suffice to say that we're sitting next to some water that dumps into the river about 1/4 mile away.


The resort focuses on golf and boating it seems, neither of which I've tried yet, but I plan to participate in both over the weekend. They have a nice marina and some sailing opportunities for residents. Right now the extent of my 'activity' is balancing a hectic schedule of jacuzzi time, painting, reading, and sadly, some work on my computer - but then I knew this would be a working holiday. This being the fourth day, I'm starting to feel more relaxed. I'm pretty happy with the progress of my watercolour, which is my one of my very few goals for this whole trip.

A huge bonus for Elle is that the screened-in deck and the open deck are both connected and railed off so Elle can be outside all she wants without supervision. That alone has put her in seventh heaven since she loves being out of doors at will. That's the biggest drawback to our own condo in Indianapolis in my opinion. Meanwhile, I use the open deck for Tai Chi and sleeping on my bamboo beach mats a whole hell of a lot :)

Via Revolucionaria/ Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars

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Beaches...Glorious Beaches

It is confirmed...three whole weeks of wonderful sand, salt water, and best of all, breathable air! Oddly, each week is at a different resort, but that adds to the attraction for me. The first one is a golf resort where I'm going to try my hand at a new sport. It's on a river near the North/South Carolina border about 40 miles from the chain of islands that you can ferry past up to the Outer Banks, where the second week will be spent smelling the salt air. Since the Outer Banks is a regular spring holiday, it's nice to already know where the essential shoppes are (wine, micro brew, art store, fish store). Rushing back after the second week, Eric and I will be flying down to Miami to support his conference, but taking time for some leisure too.

I'll be working the entire time, but I don't consider that a negative...yet. In fact, I'm considering it a bonus that my job allows me to change scenery on a whim. Besides a scenery change, this is also a really awesome opportunity to have quality time with Elle. Working from home has the advantage of being with her, but it's shockingly easy to get distracted with the most mundane stuff at home...and is never quite as adventurous as doing it in a new environment.

Friday can't come quickly enough...

Nine books? Are you nuts?

The answer is yes, I'm nuts. For those who follow my Goodreads, you'd know that I'm currently reading nine books all at the same time, which is about five too many for me. There's a method behind the madness though...I'm going on a two, possibly three week holiday next Friday, and I need plenty of reading material to assist my brain disconnection from the real world on the beach. Three of those books are more 'intense' in the sense that you don't simply whip through St. Augustine or the two extremely thorough history books covering a very short period of time. I'm seeing Color: A Natural History of the Palette possibly taking awhile, but the rest are potential breezes ranging from valuable information to pure entertainment. We'll see!

(Thank you Ellen for loaning me three of them!)

The Lighthouse by P.D. James

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars


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Combating Bitterness

Sometimes it's very hard to combat bitterness when you are given reasonable commitments, and then are given unreasonable delays to fulfill them. January was supposed to be the month of our new life, but as delays crop up with an overly bureaucratic company, disbelief and bitterness develops. It's an amazing opportunity with so much potential for our family, but somehow those awesome chances often take a lot of patience and work. It wouldn't be so bad if we were jumping the gun constantly, but the date is constantly moved on us, making it impossible for us to commit to anything on a long term level.

In a grandiose effort to check out the bright side, we are already in a good position, even if it's not the favoured position. I mean, we are sheltered in a nice condo, we have an excellent income, and enjoy travelling and life in general. It gives me pause to bitch too much, even though I'm anxious to make a lifestyle change.

Also, another interesting point is that since we can't commit to anything long term and we're done with our house upgrades, we have more time to enjoy our style of living on our own schedule. It's so easy to become trapped into a 'rut' and lose sight of the enjoyment of what is done in the 'rut', and that is becoming more obvious to me as our lives are becoming more free.

While this doesn't remove the frustration of stupid delays and the irritation of not knowing the magical date, it is a time of positive reflection of how fortunate we really are.

Entering Elle's Third Year...

It is absolutely unbelievable to me that we are just now closing out Elle's second year. So MUCH has happened between birth and now, yet it feels like so little time has passed. I find myself missing the infant time, but I'm glad to follow the advice of 'enjoy each stage' because it's insanely fun!

Elle's Second Year

The next miracle is that I actually have highlights of her entire second year already updated in the web album! Don't faint anybody. My life is finally getting under control and I can do these things now :)

So...flip through the photos and enjoy! This album spotlights facets of her whole year, so there is only a small representation of each holiday. The more major trips and events each have their own album.

A New Balance

Contact martial arts have been a strong component in my life, but a renewed interest of Yoga and Tai Chi has me expanding my scope. I have to say that the balance between the three have been especially helpful to me. Basic stretching and Tai Chi on a daily basis has been a consistently calming yet energising effect for me, while a bit of Yoga gives me a sense of better well being. I'll never abandon my favourite contact martial art, Tae Kwon Do; in contrast, I think that Tai Chi and Yoga help me improve my abilities in Tae Kwon Do. Tai Chi practices slow, consistent flow and movement that focuses on the breathing, resulting in astoundingly positive effects on my mood and energy for the entire day.

The bottom line to these arts is that they compliment each other so well for the practitioner. The qi or chi energy (prana in yoga) is greatly improved with practicing all three arts that I mention. I'm certainly not an expert of internal energy, but I am quickly seeing the benefits of my new balance of arts.

With a Tangled Skein by Piers Anthony

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars

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The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars


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Death by Taxes

While the phrase is 'death and taxes', I choose death by taxes based on the results of our 2008 taxes. The not so subtle message that the government sends us is that we should shouldn't strive to do well financially unless you want to be the financial underwriter for all the crap programs they develop. I say that because rolling to the next income bracket without mortgage interest and the fact that you can't get any child tax credit with an income over $100K will screw you. I realise that the big picture shows us doing well and I should be grateful, but seriously, somebody explain to me why we have to pay another $6K on April 15 after an already insanely high amount being withheld. As our income has climbed each year, we've watched the hammer fall harder and faster each year, with this year being the worst by far. Apparently, in our foolishness to own a home and maintain a good income, we get to make up for the lack of money coming from people in debt. Please forgive my bitterness, I'm not mad or judging people in debt, I'm mad with how the government handles it.

You could argue that people earning more should take care of people who can't earn as much, but I find it a little disturbing that a couple owning a condo with good careers is put into that 'care taking' bracket. Wasn't the cultural norm to own a farm or home without paying an exurbanite amount of money to the government? I mean, isn't $6K beyond withholding a little extreme?

Since life will never be absent death or taxes, there is a certain level of acceptance required despite the frustration. Firstly, thank God that we're not paying 80% of income like some countries, and secondly, the lesson for us is to set aside additional tax money throughout the year regardless of the withholding. It was a difficult lesson especially this year since withholding normally came within a reasonable amount. However, if I had to write a cheque for $6K to a foundation or charity, I would be much happier about it; but I know it's just going to go through some damn agenda budget and be wasted like quarters pouring out of a soda machine.

Being 30 isn't so bad!

The mindset is essential. There were many moments where my heart sank in realisation that, dear God, I'm freaking 30 years old, or near enough. However, the distractions have been very positive. The birthday passover that my parents provide had completely spot on daily gifts as well as Eric's daily gifts. It's impossible to be depressed with all the love through gifts!

The weekend was amazing starting off with getting to watch Andre Watts play Rachmaninov with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra directed by Andrew Litton, who was equally amazing. That concerto in C minor is insanely difficult and Litton pulled together the piano feature and symphony in an fabulous performance.

The next night was my party, which I must say was completely awesome. So many wonderful friends came and honoured me while we all enjoyed great beer, wine and Yats while listening to Knee Deep in the Weeds (pic below). I couldn't have asked for a better party!



Sunday is officially remembered as recovery day while my actual birthday today is mostly looking at my disastrously messy house and procrastinating it's cleaning!

I have so many awesome friends and family - thank you for making my birthday such a special start into a new decade :)

A Good Start to March!

Possibly the most important news I could share is that my dad makes the most amazing chocolate truffles on the planet. Godiva, D'vine, Belgium stars, Cadbury - now CRAP.

This is a good and bad thing. My access to chocolate is now limited because his truffles are that much better, thus preventing the enjoyment of lower grade truffles. Meanwhile, my world just improved dramatically.

Other good news - hrm....Ferragamo rain boots. Who knew that Ferragamo made rain boots? Well, not only are they out there, they're amazing. I'm sad to have to wait until Friday to wear them. It's possible that I may wear them to my birthday party. Additionally, the source of the Ferragamo rain boots of Gloriousness is this very cool consignment shoppe in Cincinnati. Again, who knew? The Mustard Seed Boutique is a must-visit store that carries vintage and designer purses, shoes and clothing.

Not impressed yet? The Cuvee is a website that ships Niagara on the Lake wines only to the USA. This nearly sent me over the edge of insane happiness. If you're not familiar with the Niagara on the Lake wineries, it might be a little overwhelming, but to somebody who has made focused visits to worship the Niagara wineries, the discovery was a wee bit 'o heaven. My first order was Rancourt's Nobel Blanc and and '04 Cab Sauv. Both are highly recommended. If you want a good wine, just let me know your preferred varitals and I can give you a few recommendations. The website doesn't have all the best wineries from that region, but they do have quite a few good ones.

Phew. I'm going to collapse from all the chocolate, wine and designer goodness.

Orcs: The Omnibus Edition by Stan Nicholls

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars




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The Silver Lining

Last week was an absolute living hell. Since I work from home, my computer is essential. Hard drives crashing is always a really bad thing, but it's extra bad when you're already swamped that week and you can't do a thing about it. It was agonizing to do nothing during the same days that I had to upload three courses to go live on Thursday. Let's see how this can get worse. Migraine! Of course. Tuesday required mostly being in bed or falling down from dizziness. The vampiric fear of sunlight was starting to seriously impact me.

Wednesday improves with my data retrieved and the new hard drive installed. I stay up pretty late uploading all three courses only hours before they were going to be released. I'm assuming that the release of stress of that being done and the mega screen time is what brought the migraine back on full force with a head cold. Prescription decongestants and vicodin only took away the edge.

I still have the head cold with a lot of physical soreness of being in bed along with the sense that I may never catch up on work, but I think the only way to dig myself out of this hole is to find the silver lining in these rather dark clouds.

1. I did baby myself enough to get strong enough to enjoy Wine Fest Friday night. I was exhausted after a mere five hours of being out, but I was thrilled to be with friends and actually able to taste wine, albeit not well.
   
2. I got to get out on Sunday and enjoy a drive in my new car.
   
3. My boss asked me to send her the more mundane work that I needed to get done so I can focus on my expertise of course development, at least temporarily so I can catch up.
   
4. I finished my orientation at Walden for my PhD. I really hate orientations.
   
5. Eric came home early tonight and brought me a potted orchid and my favourite crab dip.

So not back in great shape yet, but I'm optimistic.

The Associate by John Grisham

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Facebook Account

I couldn't figure out why I suddenly had a Facebook account, but when Eric mentioned as an aside that he created an account for me, I shrugged, updated my profile, and moved on.

Then I noticed on the Wall or whatever that I was apparantly playing Mafia Wars - a game that I was entirely unfamiliar with, so I IMed Eric.

Marian says:
why does it show that marian played all this Mafia Wars crap?

Eric Willeke says:
Sorry about that

Eric Willeke says:
Because that's why I created your account *shamed*

Eric Willeke says:
I needed an extra person added to buy something in the game *more shame*

The desperations of a gamer. I thought that was pretty funny.

Introducing Habanero

World, meet Habanero, my new 2009 MiniCooper being driven out of the showroom! Normally I think buying brand new cars off the showroom floor is an insane waste of money given instant depreciation issues with cars anyway, but since the used MiniCoopers were only slightly less than brand new ones, I went ahead with all the service and warranty perks of a new one.

Snow and Work

I see a clear advantage and disadvantage to working from home when there's several inches of snow outside and plows haven't touched our streets - The disadvantage is that I have zero excuse to not go to work. It's a real struggle moving from the bed to a comfortable chair in front of the computer. The advantage is that I won't get behind in work since life doesn't stop for a few inches of snow! Meanwhile, I had some fun with Elle.