December 04, 2009
Annapolis #65
Trying to convince C this should be our next house. . .He was completely disinterested.
Annapolis #57
The gardens at the Paca House are lovely (and it's quite large for a town setting). There is a "summer house," pond (complete with a mangrove tree), magnolia trees, a rose garden, herbs, a a teensy boxwood "maze", an apple tree fence, Hollies, and a flower garden.
Annapolis #51
The William Paca House. . .
Maryland had 4 signers of the Declaration of Independence: William Paca, Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, and Charles Carroll (of Carrollton).
Apparently, all had residences in Annapolis as it was a hub of political activity. Paca's home is one of the most accessible. It's a huge Georgian/Federal home. We've seen a lot of this style in the past few months. . .
Again, our tour guide was fantastic and we were the only two in the group. . .
Annapolis #39
The Christmas tree in the State House is decorated with ornaments made my Maryland children. The ornaments have a Maryland theme. Apparently Maryland children really love the Baltimore Ravens, Navy, and one special student apparently loves Thrasher's Boardwalk Fries.
Annapolis #20
The State House on a beautiful day. Annapolis was the first peacetime capitol of the United States (1783-1784). It is the oldest statehouse in America still in continuous legislative use.
A portion of the building was constructed from 1772 - 1779. The architect was Joseph Anderson and the builder was Charles Wallace. Mr. Wallace built the structure, including the dome without nails (as they was a tariff on them at the time).
There is another portion of the building constructed 1902-1905. This portion contains the current day House and Senate Chambers. The Governor's office is still located in the original structure.
Our tour guide was great. We were the only two in the tour (as usual).
Annapolis #15
I was rather excited to find this in the St. Anne's Cemetery. I had read about the skull and cross bones motif in a magazine but had never seen one before. They are prevalent in New England. Sometime the skulls also have wings attached - symbolic of the soul leaving the physical body. I assumed we didn't have cemeteries old enough (or having survived) in Maryland to contain these symbols. . .I was happily wrong. Now, I don't have to travel to New England to find one.
Annapolis #14
Annapolis played host and was home to a lot of important historical figures. The usual characters from our Maryland history tourism earlier this year, popped up here as well. . .
Annapolis #9
The organ at St. Anne's Church. According to the Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Official Visitor's Guide:
"The present church, built in the Romanesque Revival style, is the third to stand on this site. Construction began in 1859, using some of the walls and the tower of the second church, which had been destroyed by fire in 1858. The St. Anne's Window, given to the church in 1893, was designed by the Tiffany studios."
Annapolis #3
Made a quick trip to Annapolis yesterday afternoon to see what we could see in a couple of hours. Talk about a town with a history. . .This is St. Anne's Church. Located appropriately enough in Church Circle. When the town was established, the state house went on the highest hill and the church went on the second highest hill. Clearly, these folks favored separation of church and state. (Roll eyes at corny joke).
Spotted - Sleazy Rider
Yes that is a rubber alligator glued to the back under the plywood spoiler. Painted on the side? "Good car for mother-in-law." Ahahahahaha.
No offense to my mother in law. . .She's very classy.
This guy clearly has a great sense of humor.
December 03, 2009
Sweet Spot
The wee hours have always been my most fave. I love being awake when no one else is. I like the quiet. By my own doing, my life is seldom quiet and I cherish being awake later than everyone else.
I guess my Dad and Husband feel the same way when they get awake at 4 AM. . .
Anyway, I'm still rolling Gladwell's article around in my head (the one I referenced in my previous post. . .I'd reference it by name but the book is 3 floors away LOL). The book is titled What the Dog Saw but it's a compilation of articles he's written so I can't recall the name of the chapter.
I just found a few pics and I hung them. I'm always happier with my photos after a period of separation.
I wonder about the pics I've hung. I wonder about the art I've made. I used to joke "plagiarize, plagiarize, that's why God gave you eyes."
That was self depreciating - a reference to my fear that I've never had a completely original thought ever.
That's not to say I'm guilty of blatant copying. However, I cast a wide net for inspiration and sometimes I'm pretty sweet on what I dredge up.
I guess I'm not "protecting" anything here - photos, art, projects, inspiration - that is the whole purpose of this blog - to share.
Puh -leaseeeeeee. . .If I thought I had something priceless would I post it here? ahhhh haha haha!
One thing I've noticed no matter what, if you have a passion, if you're doing something with heart, it shows. It's not something we can force. Heart.
Big puffy heart. . .and focus. . .and dedication. . .
December 02, 2009
Thoughts on Collective Character
I'm human. I've done a number of things in my life that I'm not proud of. I've made mistakes and I've made poor decisions and I've sometimes even acted in spite, malice, or with slightly ulterior motives.
I suppose this is part of the human condition. I suppose sometimes, for numerous possible reasons, folks behave badly. . .and sometimes it's not even intentional. Please understand this post is not about passing judgment. That would be entertaining tho wouldn't it?
One of the greatest gifts is to be offered forgiveness.
And one of the greatest opportunities is to earn trust, to genuinely attempt to redeem oneself.
But isn't it true that no matter what you do after an offense, you are left with a lingering sense of disappointment with yourself? Something is altered in the relationship you have with the person that you offended. And for me at least, something is altered in my view of myself.
Why am I spouting off?
It's a convergence of events that have lead me to wonder about humanity, morals, values. . .CHARACTER. . .In no particular order:
1. Tiger Woods. Huh? More money than gawd, a beautiful wife, healthy family. . .What's with the alleged affair? I can't pretend to know what it feels like to be Tiger. The pressure must be nearly unbearable at times. I just hope that he realizes what a role model he is for tons of young men and women. I hope he knows that people everywhere aren't expecting him to be perfect but they are expecting a swift righting of his moral compass. Do the right thing, be a good husband and father. We need that.
2. Sexting. . .A 13 year-old girl hung herself. Yes. Hung herself from her bed because a topless pic she sent to a boy she liked went viral and the backlash was more than she was prepared to handle. These are the things that positively scare me to death when I contemplate raising children. How will I ever be able to guide them through all the land mines? You can't just "grow up" anymore. Every move you make is now able to be analyzed, mocked, critiqued on YouTube, texts, bogs, im's, etc. In my day, teenage girls could still be cruel but our only outlet was a marker and a bathroom wall. We didn't have the entire WWW to broadcast our immature rudeness. I'm not sure how we fix this? I do know it's tragic and senseless and it's urgent we figure this out.
3. Malcolm Gladwell - I read a story he wrote about intellectual property and plagiarism. This was timely reading for me because a co-worker recently essentially plagiarized my a good bit of my resume. Gladwell always offers at least three interesting perspectives or musings. When I first learned of the "offense" I laughed. After a few days to stew about it, I was livid. But I couldn't exactly explain why stealing someone else's resume was wrong. I couldn't really articulate it. Everyone I spoke to about it, agreed it was horrible and demonstrated a lack of integrity on the part of hte "borrower." We discussed ways I could "confront" the "borrower." But the bottom line was I couldn't articulate anything more than I felt wronged because I spent the time writing and editing hte resume and he essentially stole it. It's not like a resume is intellectual property. It's not like a resume is copyrighted. It's not like we're bound by an academic honor code.
I guess in the end, it came down to what all these other scenarios come down to: character. If Tiger Woods thought a little more, if the sexting teen's tormentors, if the resume thief thought a little more about their character I would have nothing to bitch about this evening.
Character is powerful. Follow your moral compass. Do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons. You'll sleep well. You'll do well. You'll live well.
I suppose this is part of the human condition. I suppose sometimes, for numerous possible reasons, folks behave badly. . .and sometimes it's not even intentional. Please understand this post is not about passing judgment. That would be entertaining tho wouldn't it?
One of the greatest gifts is to be offered forgiveness.
And one of the greatest opportunities is to earn trust, to genuinely attempt to redeem oneself.
But isn't it true that no matter what you do after an offense, you are left with a lingering sense of disappointment with yourself? Something is altered in the relationship you have with the person that you offended. And for me at least, something is altered in my view of myself.
Why am I spouting off?
It's a convergence of events that have lead me to wonder about humanity, morals, values. . .CHARACTER. . .In no particular order:
1. Tiger Woods. Huh? More money than gawd, a beautiful wife, healthy family. . .What's with the alleged affair? I can't pretend to know what it feels like to be Tiger. The pressure must be nearly unbearable at times. I just hope that he realizes what a role model he is for tons of young men and women. I hope he knows that people everywhere aren't expecting him to be perfect but they are expecting a swift righting of his moral compass. Do the right thing, be a good husband and father. We need that.
2. Sexting. . .A 13 year-old girl hung herself. Yes. Hung herself from her bed because a topless pic she sent to a boy she liked went viral and the backlash was more than she was prepared to handle. These are the things that positively scare me to death when I contemplate raising children. How will I ever be able to guide them through all the land mines? You can't just "grow up" anymore. Every move you make is now able to be analyzed, mocked, critiqued on YouTube, texts, bogs, im's, etc. In my day, teenage girls could still be cruel but our only outlet was a marker and a bathroom wall. We didn't have the entire WWW to broadcast our immature rudeness. I'm not sure how we fix this? I do know it's tragic and senseless and it's urgent we figure this out.
3. Malcolm Gladwell - I read a story he wrote about intellectual property and plagiarism. This was timely reading for me because a co-worker recently essentially plagiarized my a good bit of my resume. Gladwell always offers at least three interesting perspectives or musings. When I first learned of the "offense" I laughed. After a few days to stew about it, I was livid. But I couldn't exactly explain why stealing someone else's resume was wrong. I couldn't really articulate it. Everyone I spoke to about it, agreed it was horrible and demonstrated a lack of integrity on the part of hte "borrower." We discussed ways I could "confront" the "borrower." But the bottom line was I couldn't articulate anything more than I felt wronged because I spent the time writing and editing hte resume and he essentially stole it. It's not like a resume is intellectual property. It's not like a resume is copyrighted. It's not like we're bound by an academic honor code.
I guess in the end, it came down to what all these other scenarios come down to: character. If Tiger Woods thought a little more, if the sexting teen's tormentors, if the resume thief thought a little more about their character I would have nothing to bitch about this evening.
Character is powerful. Follow your moral compass. Do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons. You'll sleep well. You'll do well. You'll live well.
If Things Snowball, I must be Frosty
But in a small house, you need to cram the cheer into every corner.
Snowball II
Anyway, you can't hang holiday crap from the banister without scrubbing it down and polishing it first right?
Snowball, snowball, snowball. . .
The Snowball Effect
But before you know it, you're wishing you never started. Or at the very least wishing you had some damned egg nog to dull the pain of it all!
November 30, 2009
Hairs Awares. . .
d: I have to get my hair done. I want something more towards my natural color.
Mom: You need to get back to that. Your stylist is telling you your color looks good because she doesn't want to rock the boat.
d: What do I tip her for the holidays? Her blowouts rock.
Mom: I typically get $10.
d: RUMFing kiddin?
Mom: "Well you live in a big city."
Mom: "Tell your stylist what you want. Stop with that "fake" red."
Mom: Also tell her you can't handle anything ash.
d: Yikes! Is she going to have to strip me?
Mom: Not necessarily.
[UNSPOKEN} d: Why can't I just ask for what I want?
Mom: You need to get back to that. Your stylist is telling you your color looks good because she doesn't want to rock the boat.
d: What do I tip her for the holidays? Her blowouts rock.
Mom: I typically get $10.
d: RUMFing kiddin?
Mom: "Well you live in a big city."
Mom: "Tell your stylist what you want. Stop with that "fake" red."
Mom: Also tell her you can't handle anything ash.
d: Yikes! Is she going to have to strip me?
Mom: Not necessarily.
[UNSPOKEN} d: Why can't I just ask for what I want?
Tis the Season
Thanks to family name drawings, our gift lists are much smaller this year. I do like picking special gifts for loved ones but I no longer get a rush by shopping for myself.
I was tempted by an Ann Taylor email earlier this evening. I looked online and didn't see one item I needed or was dying to have.
I feel like I don't even know myself any more!!! Who am I?! LOL!
Tomorrow we do have some shopping to do: paint and a wreath for the front door. I think we can finangle a pine wreath despite the shopping moratorium. It's afterall, part of the Holiday "experience."
Shopping will be followed by lunch and painting. Already knocked out a few things on the to do list. Feels good to get it out of the way early in the week.
C and d's Week of Must Use Vaca
It's getting to that time of year where if you haven't used your vacation time, you must lest you lose it. C and I took a week off at the same time. (I'll let you know whether we both live to see Sunday).
Anyway, things are off to a bit of an icky start. Both of us had to go to work today for a while. And it's raining.
We didn't have true vacation plans so I've taken the initiative to make use some plans. Here's the list. . .It's riveting
1. Grocery list and store
2. Get guest room ready for weekend company
3. Decorate for Christmas and keep curious/obnoxious cat away from them
4. Touch up paint. Paint back splash. Yes. . .we've decided a fresh coat of paint would suffice for now. I don't know what I want and I didn't want to tear up the house before company and holidays.
5. Order prints from Shutterfly
6. Holiday cards
7. Lick 246 CFA letter envelopes and mail
8. Give the basement some love
9. Do not drink Kahlua for breakfast or gallons of Chardonnay mid-afternoon "just because you can."
10. Finish What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell (I love him).
11. Make sure my hair is one color by the end of the week.
12. Figure out holiday gifts and perhaps start to purchase
13. Go to the post office to avoid complete holiday chaos
14. Molly needs meds and her shot
15. Avoid trashy daytime TV. . .sooooooo good.
16. Eat well and exercise
17. Go somewhere local and do something fun. Heard on NPR there's a Matisse exhibit at BMA until early Jan. And I haven't been to DC or Havre de Grace in ages.
18. Get ready for party this weekend
19. Get some sleep!
20. Get food for the food drive.
So we should be bored by Wednesday afternoon? hahaha.
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