the allen family bermuda triangle

happy belated year of the dragon!

2012-01-30T12:09:00.004-07:00

and the crazy busy year continues--i don't see the dragon giving me much of a break. this week i have a sick sophie bunny, two classes about native plants and one on embroidery to teach, gus' first step towards braces (palate expander/spacers)...and a flight to sicily. i'm a bit overwhelmed! i've managed to return a bunch of PANDAS-related emails as well, which is always difficult. i'm so glad gus is better today, knock on wood, but revisiting five years ago is stressful. thank god we've moved on.

and speaking of stressful, gus and i had a god-awful flight back from houston last week. i'm still cursing continental. fuckers. we bought DIRECT tickets from the crapids to houston--something i've longed to have access to for 15 years--and flew on a tiny plane to intergalactic in htown. we had a time, went to a camp longhorn shindig, got some good shopping done, then boarded the same tiny plane to head back home. it was a bumpy flight, made all the bumpier by the littleness of the plane, so the weather wasn't good. but, the plane made its way to cedar rapids...got within 2-3000 feet of the runway...we could see it!...wheels engaged...and at the very last moment the plane pulled up hard and flew us to kansas city. period. we were pissed; everyone on the plane was pissed. the plane sat for about an hour at a gate in kansas city before they opened the doors and let us off; gus and i demanded our bags and went and rented a platinum rental car so i could drive our freaked-out asses home. i hope gus gets back on a plane ever again; i'm usually chemically-enhanced myself. anyway, the drive was as god-awful as the flight, as the fog was dense and it was very hard to see. i'm glad to be home.

on that note, i'm a bit stressed about flying to sicily. to distract myself i've been out playing with my new toy while sophie and paco played outside--i'd love to know what you think! is this effect working?

2012, year of the crazy busy

2012-01-16T08:46:00.006-07:00

mini bunny a-sledding

i don't know if it's having one or two kids scheduled for one or two activities a day, or the 103 travel days i've already penciled into my nifty new calendar, but i'm a bit overwhelmed already. on the plus side, i did get a new camera for christmas with which to document said 103 travel days! i think i love it--it has a 1:1 aspect shooting ratio, which equates to what i shoot with my beloved hasselblad, and a miniature/tilt shift filter that i expect to abuse greatly. but for now i'm off to plan the three classes that i'm teaching at the kiddo's school over the next month (the same classes i'm trying not to regret volunteering to teach...i loved it last year...i loved it last year...i loved it last year). tally ho, y'all!

i missed my calling.

2011-12-31T21:00:00.002-07:00

in another life, i'd be joining these lovely ladies in the giant margarita for a massive new year's eve bash

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

2011-12-23T20:15:00.003-07:00

the bizcochitos and minted nuts are made, the kids are out of school, our anniversary has passed...so here is wishing you all a very merry christmas and, in case i don't post again before the new year, a happy 2012. go out and enjoy winter!

image fail

2011-12-20T19:31:00.004-07:00

pop, 1978

my dad had a massive equipment failure the day this was taken and i'd so love to know how to use photoshop well enough to fix this image. any ideas?

UPDATE! a new friend in london, mike s., very kindly worked on this image...and his results are astounding:

honestly, i'm completely blown away by the results. my mom is going to freak. out. thank you, mike!

the one in which rich argues against a cash bar

2011-11-30T15:10:00.004-07:00

received in an email this afternoon: "I think they should have a cash dessert bar, since not everyone eats dessert, and a piece of fucking cake is probably worse for you than a glass of red wine."

i love rich logic.

thanksgiving is just around the corner...

2011-11-20T20:38:00.005-07:00

i bet they could pass for turkey if served with enough gravy

...are you ready? i'm not! but, i did grab some awesome vintage thanksgiving postcards off of ebay and am getting more in the mood. i'd probably feel even more in the mood if i'd put away my halloween decorations.

when rich saw i was looking at vintage postcards, he said: "i want one with the turkey being eaten alive"...and then he laughed at menacingly. so, sweetie, this is for you. love you.

this may be the year to go vegan if haunted turkeys aren't your thing

there has to be a better way to evaluate a turkey than this

i can't even come up with anything here. it's just far too confusing. i have no idea what the artist was trying to convey as a tribute "for thanksgiving." do we really want to know why the little boy wearing a bow loincloth?

the master gardener in me loves these cards--i thought about buying them, then realized i could buy the actual trees they represent for the same price. this is a chestnut (horse chestnut?)...

...oak (red oak?)...

...and some lovely invasive-if-you-don't-keep-up-with-them wild grapes.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

rich, c. 1996

2011-11-18T09:11:00.002-07:00

rich, atop san marco in venice. this picture just makes me smile.

crystal bridges museum of american art

2011-11-14T19:44:00.002-07:00

interior courtyard at night, crystal bridges museum

this past weekend rich granted me a reprieve to go to the opening of the crystal bridges museum of american art in bentonville, arkansas. i'd been excited about this institution since i first heard of it; i was thrilled to actually get tickets and go see it in all its inaugural glory. i have to say: it did not disappoint in the slightest. it was beautifully designed by moshe safdie with a comprehensive american art collection put together, largely, by alice walton; it is the louvre of the ozarks. more than 50% of the collection is on view (but almost 100% of the paintings--i asked about this because most museums are only to show about 10% of their total collection). i actually went twice: first on 11/11/11, opening night, to get a general glimpse of everything, then the next day to really spend some concentrated time on the work.

and it was a flippin' joy to actually get to use my ph.d. for something, even if the museum is judd-free...

entrance and aluminum tree

this is what you see from street-level, before descending the pathway to the entrance

rooftop garden sproutlings (this is located on top of the gift shop, which you do not have to walk through to exit the museum)

interior at night, in the dining area

hallway between museum offices and "wonder world" exhibition space

detail, vaulted ceilings--these were made of pressed native arkansas pine and shaped to make ribs spanning the width of the wing

interior courtyard by daylight

lunch

this was tremendous, and definitely one of my favorites: devorah sperber's "after the last supper," 2005. it is made from ball chain (like what you find on a ceiling fan) and 20,736 spools of thread...and a sphere on a viewing stand. amazing.

another view of "after the last supper"

detail of the viewing sphere (image is righted by the curvature of the glass)

detail of christ, made entirely out of spools of thread. loved it long time.

"rosie the riveter," by norman rockwell. check out the copy of "mein kampf" she's got her foot on.

lovely little (yes, it is actually small) o'keeffe, "evening star VII"

josef albers, "homage to the square," 1964. LOVE this. this was about as minimal as the collection got, and it's not technically minimalism, but it's a masterpiece nonetheless.

intriguing copley portrait, not for the woman portrayed...

...but for her pet flying squirrel. it's rocky before he (she?) found bullwinkle.

gilbert stuart's "george washington"--this is one of the paintings east coast critics were complaining about losing to arkansas

a swath of abstract expressionism by adolf gottlieb

baby zane and E.T.

2011-11-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

party on, silly boy...happy 100-day birthday, zane!

halloweeeeeen!

2011-11-05T16:52:00.001-06:00

sophie bunny on halloween, and yes she did dress herself for school

halloween! it's one of our favorite times of the year here in the triangle. this year we were utterly blessed by the presence of my most beloved sister, lindsay, and little man zane, her two-month old. and the pumpkins were tremendous--rich and i stalked a guy in a pickup driving around town with a bunch of 100+ pound pumpkins, and we bought two for our house...and i got to carve 'em. we had such a blast and were totally thrilled to share zane's first halloween--can't wait for next year. boo!

kitty lindsay and pumpkin-headed zane

aaah--a vampire bat! or as sophie says, a vampirate bat

sophie's sweet little kindergarten class--such cute kids

gus the viking master--i should mention that those are my boots he is wearing, and they were tight. he's going to be ginormous.

even amongst halloweened sixth graders, the viking master still stands out

such a scary vampirate bat on the halloween parade

such a cool viking master on the halloween parade

such a sleepy baby zane after the halloween parade

blech! pumpkin number one has to be a throwing-up pumpkin, as demanded by sophie

pumpkin number two shared a similar nasty fate

and nothing lights up a giant pumpkin like a road flare! we went through 15 of them.

it's the wolfman! this is rich taking a break from eating all our halloween candy and scaring the crap out of little kids coming to the door.

run little bat, run!

in the mood(o) for nudo

2011-10-27T21:35:00.004-06:00

what's in the box?

for my birthday this year, rich adopted me an olive tree in italy from nudo, from which we have all benefitted. we've received mandarin, garlic, plain and (drool) lemon-infused olive oils from them so far, but we hadn't tried the chilli flavored one yet. nudo asked, via its facebook page, for people to describe their favorite meals using nudo--ours was rich's homemade bread, lemon-infused oil and a bottle of pinot grigio--and then asked for a picture...which i sent...

...yummy...

...and they rewarded me with a nudo chilli lover's box!

chilli oil, chillies, pasta, and organic chilli salsa from italy

i can't wait to try these--superchillified dinners are a-comin'

give them a click and check them out--you won't regret it. thank you so much, nudo!

four different types of rodent...

2011-10-26T09:48:00.001-06:00

...are clearly out to get us. it's getting cold in the upper midwest and the critters are trying to get somewhere safe and warm for the winter. unfortunately, the little fuckers think they should be sharing OUR space, which does not suit. chipmunks (outside, trying to get in the basement), squirrels (outside, trying to get in the garage), raccoons (outside, trying to get in the garage/attic--i don't even know if a raccoon is a rodent or not, but it's a nasty fucker at the very least so i'm classifying it as one) and field mice (outside and, sadly, already in the basement somehow) are all clamoring to invade our house. the mice have even invaded the cars as well, fuckers. i will say i'm in love with these mouse traps, which have a very satisfying little red flag that goes up when you catch one, kinda like the flag on the mailbox.

game on, bitches!

blog action day: food

2011-10-16T18:37:00.003-06:00

today is blog action day, a day in which hundreds of bloggers around the world all write about a common theme: this year, it is food.

where i live, right smack in the middle of america, there is definitely no shortage of food. if you live in the united states, a respectable percentage of what you are eating most likely began its life within a 500 mile radius of me. we are beyond fortunate to have access to the abundance of food available to us 24/7, but such is not the case with much of the world's population. mercifully, famine is not my experience.

some of my fondest memories, be they of place, people, experiences or food, involve meals spent with others. in all cases something significant was happening: an engagement, a new adventure, a death, a birth. these are my top ten most treasured food memories:

10. baking cuban bread with gammy in her kitchen on west lane
9. drinking gallons of vanilla soy milk for gus...and later for sophie...because both of my babies were lactose sensitive
8. biting into a calville's blanc d'hiver apple from wilson's orchard and realizing i'd never truly tasted an apple until that moment
7. gingerbread every thanksgiving and every christmas at the houston club
6. lobster bisque at tony's on one of my first dates with rich
5. trying a bowl of duran's red chile for the first time and learning that food could indeed be "velvety"
4. sitting in a circle with people i didn't know (and one that i did), eating indescribably delicious, yet unidentifiable, food in a modified tent rock in central turkey a few hours after my first panic attack
3. drinking veuve cliquot for the first time at gammy's funeral, and then many times later with my friend julia
2. eating fettucine en carrozza at costanza in rome first with a group of new and to-be-lifelong friends, then with a friend from school (who died shortly thereafter), then with rich, and then again with rich, and then again with rich for our 10-year anniversary
1. running around the ile st. louis after rich asked me to marry him, eating a dinner of french onion soup at monte cristo

what are your favorite food memories?

treehouse v. 2.0

2011-10-13T10:34:00.004-06:00

little miss thing up in the trees

YET AGAIN, rich proves he is the coolest dad, ever. a few years ago, rich built gus and sophie a treehouse in the backyard of our house in los ranchos...and now he's looking to do it again. it is still in the construction phase, but he thinks it will be finished, with a roof and all, by the time the first snow falls. there were some design challenges with this tree--it is on a slope, it doesn't have the abundance of low branches that the other one had, it is oddly bifurcated--so it lists a wee bit in one direction. it's still mighty cool--check it out!

sophie up high, during the early construction phase

sophie, gus, and his friend, victor

see that tiny little white dot in the center of this image? that's rich, as seen from the house, working his carpentry magic

sophie going up into the treehouse--she's about the only one who can fit up there (rich has a tendency to make those entrances a bit snug)

second phase complete--only the railings and the roof remain to be done!

sometimes these things write themselves, again

2011-10-10T20:21:00.004-06:00

these are the top 35 keywords, over the past month, that people have used to end up at cyberallens.com. only one of them actually pertains to the site. all i can gather from this is that a bunch of people want to dress up like fay wray for halloween and that there are far too many people searching for unicorn tattoos. and what the fuck do crystals have to do with the porta portese? *sigh.*

11 Visits 4.35% crystals porta portese
9 Visits 3.56% old american flag
8 Visits 3.16% fay wray costume
6 Visits 2.37% gay unicorn dolphin rainbow tattoo
5 Visits 1.98% 1930 tilt a whirl
5 Visits 1.98% allen family bermuda triangle
4 Visits 1.58% ann darrow costume
4 Visits 1.58% bermuda triangle stories
4 Visits 1.58% CIRCUS TRAILER
4 Visits 1.58% el kookooee
4 Visits 1.58% forbidden gardens katy texas
4 Visits 1.58% moriondo e gariglio
4 Visits 1.58% naked roma children
3 Visits 1.19% diapered kids
3 Visits 1.19% fay wray king kong costume
3 Visits 1.19% halloween postcards
3 Visits 1.19% jock strap
3 Visits 1.19% meals on wheels interior
3 Visits 1.19% neo nazi tattoos
3 Visits 1.19% panda stupid
3 Visits 1.19% real men like unicorns pee
3 Visits 1.19% unicorn peeing
2 Visits 0.79% bermuda island tattoo
2 Visits 0.79% fontana delle anfore
2 Visits 0.79% gay triangle tattoos
2 Visits 0.79% gay unicorn nazi tattoo
2 Visits 0.79% jock support
2 Visits 0.79% king kong anne darrow
2 Visits 0.79% nazi unicorn tattoo
2 Visits 0.79% real men like unicorns
2 Visits 0.79% unicorn cupcake peeing rainbow tattoo
2 Visits 0.79% unicorn guy
2 Visits 0.79% unicorn pee
2 Visits 0.79% unicorn peeing a rainbow
2 Visits 0.79% unicorns humping
2 Visits 0.79% unicorns pee rainbows

working in the garden

2011-10-02T20:22:00.002-06:00

rome, 2011. i shot this lovely little flowering quince at the orto botanico in february.

rich and i have been working like mad in the ravine and the garden, trying to get all our projects done before the snows start to fall. i've concentrated on keeping the grass alive and the weeds out of the perennials; he's had a much more physical challenge: building a treehouse. he built a beautiful one in new mexico and he's wanted to build one here but we didn't have the right trees for it. since our land purchases, now we do. pictures to come when he's ready to show it off.

my camera's back from italy...and so is rich!

2011-09-20T15:33:00.007-06:00

rich took some time before a meeting to cycle the lake como region for about a week, and he brought back these images of the gorgeous scenery there. while my camera got to go with him, i did not--he was biking northern italy while i was trying to rid our offspring (and myself) of hand, foot and mouth disease. the stars have not been in my favor this month. anyway, rich is back, is surprisingly unjetlagged, and is already planning his return trip to cernobbio. i'm not sure exactly where every picture was shot, so my captions may be sparse, but the beauty of the region is perfectly clear.

the trip was almost doomed from the beginning, as rich discovered his bike had been dropped on the way there and his derailleur hanger was broken...but necessity being the mother of invention led to a clever repair using a wire hanger

you know how some people shoot pictures of their kids while traveling on a train on vacation? yeah.

il duomo (milan cathedral)

interior, il duomo

near lugano

near lugano

menaggio (i think!), on lake como

near cernobbio, this is the church of the madonna del ghisallo, which is dedicated to cyclists

interior, church of the madonna del ghisallo

interior, church of the madonna del ghisallo

pizza con funghi e proscuitto (rich's nightly meal) from tom e jerry's pizzeria...yum!

folk art in texas: the orange show

2011-09-16T11:22:00.005-06:00

texas is bright for an iowa bunny

since my camera has been on a fantastic voyage without me for over a week, i'm forced to look to the past for photographic inspiration. these are images i shot this summer in houston while visiting the orange show, one of the happiest, brightest, most positive places on earth. the orange show was former postman jeff mckissack's residence, which he dedicated to his favorite thing--the orange. he started building it in the 50s and finished in the 70s; today it accessible to all for a whopping admissions fee of one dollar. i've even got a copy of his manifesto, "how to live to be 100 and still be spry". highly recommended viewing in the bayou city!

the orange show center for visionary art

excellent advice, but i think sophie is just picking out all the "s"-es.

sadly, no amount of reminding will render her cautious

view from the roof, looking down

a wise old owl

so happy! so bright! so cheerful!

this is pretty much the exact philosophy i use to approach life

beautiful, matisse-like tile work

view from the roof, looking out

i love you, too.

tharr be pirates in iowa...

2011-09-15T09:02:00.004-06:00

pirate sophie warns ye ta be on yer guard...

...and she holds no allegiances...

...ye scurvy swines were warned!

who(m) the hell am i?

2011-09-12T21:10:00.005-06:00

so...yeah. i've got a problem. at this age, and even for a bit before, i am grateful to find myself comfortable in the person that i am, the beliefs i hold, the skin that i am in...all that good stuff. existentially, i'm in a good place and seem to have purpose and can figure out who i am in an abstract sense. i'm cool with me.

legally, however, i may or may not exist. allow me to elaborate:

1. i was born in the 60s to separated parents and my birth certificate was issued as MSD (this is a name i haven't used for decades and doesn't even show up on a google search--i'm going to hang on to this little bit of privacy). parents were divorced and i was raised by my mom and my maternal grandparents.

2. mom remarries in the 70s; decides to "simplify" (this is the operative word here) things by legally changing my name to her husband's family name, making me MSG. mom gets a court order to change my name and has my original birth certificate invalidated. mom files name change with county court (different from birth county) but fails to get new birth certificate issued, thus state bureau of vital statistics has no record of me.

3. at same time of name change, mom registers me for a SS# in the new name, MSG.

4. in 1980, i get my first passport--a little trouble with proving who i am but ultimately passport is issued as MSG (this is 21 years before 9/11/01--it was easier back then).

5. driver's license issued, with passport and SS# as identity proof, as MSG.

6. high school diploma listed as MSDG (some of my school records were MSD, some were MSG--it made sense at the time).

7. undergraduate degree listed as MSG.

8. MSG marries RCA and i had some trouble proving who i was for the marriage license, but i did get it. i ultimately become MSA.

9. graduate degrees listed as MSGA (again, some records as MSG and some as MSA).

thus today, i have five potential legal identities (MSD, MSG, MSDG, MSA, MSGA) and one casual professional identity (MGA--that isn't even included in this ridiculous accounting), however the lynchpin of them all, MSG, never seems to have legally existed. to prove who i am has always been a challenge for me when i was younger; today it is a full-blown nightmare. as one friend recently pointed out, the president of the united states had all the proof of who he was that i do except the birth certificate, and that still led people to believe he wasn't who he claimed to be.

i've spent hours on the phone with county and state recording agencies in texas just trying to figure out what i need to do to remedy this. the vast majority of these people have absolutely no idea where to begin to help me, but all agree--i don't exist in the vital statistics records. one woman i spoke with had a brother with a similar problem, but her direction hasn't gotten me anywhere (yet). and none of this ever really bothered me terribly until another friend raised the possibility that i may not be legally married--MSG married RCA, and MSG was never fully established as my legal name. texas has rather generous common-law marriage statutes, so i feel secure i have at least met those, but it bugs the shit out of me that a few missing sheets of paper may determine that i am not who i thought i was.

at this time in history, particularly in the US, it seems to be more important than ever to firmly and unequivocally prove one's identity, and the birth certificate seems to be the one unassailable document for doing just that. even if i can get a new birth certificate issued (three and a half decades after the name change), does it automatically and retroactively solve the problems of my legal identity? would anyone even bother to challenge who i claim to be? i don't know what will happen in the future, but i do know that as of now the issue of who the hell i am is murky at best and unlikely to ever be clarified by the filter of time. my kids are going to have a hell of a time settling my estate.

i think i will, at least, remarry rich when i get a proper birth certificate. it'll be a big party--you're all invited--and i'll be billing my mom for it. :)

in the reptile house

2011-09-09T21:09:00.005-06:00

sophie loves all animals, especially dangerous ones

sophie and i took a trip to the san antonio zoo this past summer, where it was well over 100 degrees outside but a crisp 70 degrees inside the reptile house. they have a beautiful collection of snakes--if i recall right, i think they have a live specimen of every poisonous snake on the planet. i have to go back there and shoot more (maybe next year?), but for now please enjoy these.

still here...

2011-09-06T21:01:00.002-06:00

...but taking a bit of a break. between school starting back up, a massive landscaping project, gus' recovery, paco's recovery, rich working too much, me trying to figure out what the hell my name actually is (more on that later), and now sophie possibly battling hand, foot and mouth disease (we're off to the pediatrician tomorrow), things are more than hectic. much news to tell once i can stop for two seconds in a row and tell it. in the meantime, here is a picture of sophie on her first day of school...what a lovely, happy, chipper, enthusiastic kindergartener!

it's almost time...

2011-08-17T19:53:00.002-06:00

...for school, and i am surprised to find myself not ready at all. gus has been counting down the days until school starts again for the past couple of weeks; sophie has talked of nothing but starting kindergarten since she turned five, which was several months ago. i know they have to go, i know it's allegedly good for them, but i can't help feeling like i want a little more time with my babies. it's especially hard to see sophie go--she seems too little for this!

tomorrow's the big day for both of them, and, thankfully, they're both at the same school for just this one year. i can only promise to try not to cry...much. hopefully i'll remember my camera.

cuttin' out the evil

2011-08-09T17:36:00.004-06:00

this would be the evil (not iron man)

poor little gus had a tremendously challenging day today: he had his tonsils and adenoids removed. those little fuckers have been dangling in his throat causing two tons of mayhem over the past 6+ years, but now they are no más. his PANDAS symptoms have been coming a bit too regularly for it to be healthy for him, so rich and i finally agreed to a tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy. gus did fair...he was a little more sensitive to the anesthesia than anyone thought he would be and it took him a while to recover...but he is improving every hour that passes. his doctor declared that "gus had old man tonsils--they shouldn't be found in a child," because years of chronic infection left him with hard concretions and decayed shit all over them. little bastards. in any event, they're gone now and with them the havoc they have wreaked on my poor son's body and brain. i do wish we had done this sooner.

now, with a very large amount of luck, we should see a reduction in (possibly) the frequency and (possibly) the severity of the PANDAS symptoms. it is almost too much to hope for. at the very least, his burgeoning sleep apnea was arrested. get better soon, sweetie.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD, BABY ZANE!

2011-08-04T12:30:00.004-06:00

my sweet sister, lindsay, had her firstest baby ever last night...at her house...sans pain relief...and everything went remarkably well. zane elias bramwell, weighing a whopping 6 pounds 3 ounces, was born around 10:30, after 19 hours of labor. all in all it was a spectacular event; mom and baby (and dad, who looks a tad exhausted below) are doing fine. go team bramwell!

RAGBRAI!

2011-08-01T21:53:00.003-06:00

it's late july in iowa, and, aside from being hot as fuck outside, that can only mean one thing: RAGBRAI! this year rich and gus rode the final leg, iowa city to davenport, on what i once thought was my and rich's tandem bicycle but what has somehow morphed to become rich and gus' tandem bicycle. damnit. they powered through about 65 miles of corn and soybean fields with thousands of other riders to arrive at the mighty mississippi river, which was mainly mighty dirty and a tad smelly from what i could sense. i, on the other hand, got to spend the day with a demanding 5-year old, seething that i wasn't out on MY goddamned tandem, and picked them up at the river.

it was truly sweltering for their ride. initially, we were concerned that gus might not be able to do the whole 65 miles--he had never ridden that far before, it was really hot, etc.--but rich ended up having his ass royally handed to him by gus (biking-wise). i think it was because gus a) is younger, b) has stronger legs, and c) seems to have a body that is able to regulate its temperature properly, probably because he has an iota of common sense that tells him to drink something when he's hot. rich came ***this close*** to needing an IV to cool down as he did in west texas years ago for the same exact reason (biking in the heat)--don't even get me started on having to drive 100 miles to find an urgent care center out there--but apparently that heat stroke knocked out the portion of his brain that reminds him to drink some fucking water when it's triple-digit heat indices outside and he's biking. either that or there really is just something wrong with his internal temperature regulatory system, in which case i'm totally sorry for mocking his disability.

anyway, they--ahem, GUS--did a fantastic job on RAGBRAI and they had a great time until the end when rich was hallucinating from the dehydration, but gus loved it...so yay!

and...they're off!

after the ride, and the only reason rich is standing is because he's pinned between the bike and the car

my biggest boy, after 65 miles of riding

marian's trip to thailand

2011-07-23T19:01:00.008-06:00

my friend, marian, is in bangkok and has been posting some amazing pictures onto her facebook page, which i have now totally stolen. what is remarkable about them, aside from the fact that they are beautifully composed (she has a terrific eye), is that these were all shot with her phone. i particularly love the focus on food. my favorite part of my morning right now is whipping out the ipad to check and see what she has posted from the night before...so beautiful!

happy timez at lucky pawz

2011-07-09T00:08:00.003-06:00

much like gus' picture of him dancing with his girlfriend at camp, i honestly don't think i've ever seen paco so happy. maybe we're doing something wrong at home?

happy 4th of july, y'all!

2011-07-04T18:44:00.004-06:00

i LOVE being in texas for the fourth of july...and this year the awesome little parade at chappell hill was graced with the presence of a film crew from "globe trekker," doing a "trekking through texas" episode! tons of pictures to come (once i get back home to my own computer), so for now it's me, my sisters and a bunny at lindsay's baby shower. happy 4th everyone!

attawaytogus!

2011-06-30T20:37:00.006-06:00

gus' is clearly rockin' his camp experience. he's about halfway through...i do miss him but i love seeing how much fun he's having!

i'd say gus is having a good time at camp

2011-06-23T22:33:00.005-06:00

oh my god...i'm so not ready for this. gus looks altogether tooooo happy. hmm. maybe next year he'd like single-sex military camp instead.

turkey vulture festival

2011-06-20T11:51:00.003-06:00

click here to read the article! rich, sophie and i learned as much as we could about the much-maligned and misunderstood turkey vulture on saturday, and someone from the daily iowan shot this lovely little picture of sophie bunny getting a tattoo...of a vulture...on her face. let's hope it's not a gateway tattoo there.

did you know turkey vulture poop is almost 100% bacteria-free because of all the stomach acid it requires to process its diet of carrion/roadkill/whatever it can find to eat that doesn't eat him first? now you do.

summertime in the triangle

2011-06-17T01:26:00.000-06:00

gus brings down thor's hammer on an unsuspecting astrid

oh insomnia, how i loathe thee...but at least it gives me a chance to sit down and write about everything that's going on in the early days of summer vacation. my brain feels like it is swimming in a pool of caramel to make a complete thought, so forgiveness for the ramblings. actually that simile pretty much sums up my summer thus far; fortunately there isn't much mental heavy lifting involved during the days at the moment.

mr. gus' previous two weeks since school let out has had him playing with his friends, swimming at the pool, flying by himself to texas, and receiving an xbox from his grandparents who are hoping to keep him out of the triple-digit heat. again with the extreme weather tour: iowa winters and texas summers. gus (and sophie and i) are living within an environment of 130 actual (not including wind chill/heat index) degree temperature shifts year round; gus gets to experience the high end of that without air conditioning for three weeks. overall, gus seems satisfied with his summer.

sophie bunny has had a bit of a different path this summer: she's also playing with gus' friends, she's also swimming at the pool, but she's going to gymnastics camp where, on the first day, she collided with another kid on the trampoline, split her lip and tried to knock out her front teeth. an emergency trip to pediatric dentistry later told us that one of her front incisors was indeed going to be coming out sooner rather than later, and that she didn't do any permanent damage otherwise. she seems about as happy as gus with his new xbox, oddly.

rich has been working, working, working, which is normal. he's gotten two tons of papers out and reviewed some thesii on top of the usual retinue of surgery, clinic, whipping residents into shape--all that good stuff. and, he had a birthday! i think it was a happy one.

i've been diligently working on the swamp, whenever this god awful weather will allow it (it's been raining a bit). over the past 18 months, i managed to convince my neighbors to the east and the south to sell me some sections of the wet woodland adjacent to our original property, and i've been trying to catalogue exactly what needs to be done. it is so much frickin' work, most of which is of the type that usually convinces people they should study harder and go to graduate school so they don't have to do shit like what i'm doing all day for a living...but i digress. the point is that we are now proud owners of almost an acre of wet woodlands that is desperately in need of rehabilitation after decades of neglect. we included a clause in the sales contracts that would prohibit future owners of this house from subdividing the property for the purposes of an additional residential structure, i.e. someone couldn't buy our house to sell off the land to a developer. i'm fairly proud of that, although rehabbing this area may kill me. i did try and give myself heat stroke today. i also won a poker tournament (technically i was a co-winner, as the other finalist and i agreed to just split the pot), had a scabies scare (GROSS--and no, i didn't have it--they were weird bug bites from being in the swamp), and got a speeding ticket driving back from taking gus to catch that plane to texas...which will take care of the poker earnings. i've also emptied out a couple dozen dead chipmunks from the rat zappers, which isn't even making a dent in the overall population. see? no mental heavy lifting.

soon sophie and i are to leave iowa and head to texas for about a month, leaving rich and paco to fend for themselves. it'll be weeks on end for him of one bottle of beer and half a digiorno pizza for dinner every night...the recycling pile never lies...whereas i'll be eating fish tacos every chance i get. yum. sophie just wants to see the ocean again as she's still thinking about florida. actually i'm right there with her. gus'll be at camp before we get there, which makes me sad. i miss my boy!

here's hoping your summer is revving up as well!

indy 500, baby!

2011-06-09T19:37:00.007-06:00

all of us at the 100th anniversary of the indianapolis 500

this past memorial day weekend, i had the great, great pleasure of fulfilling a lifelong dream (since i was 7 years old) of going to the indy 500! it was everything i'd hope it would be: LOUD, busy, packed with people, overwhelming. i loved it. rich's dear partner, keith, has had tickets in his family for decades and this year he couldn't make it (as he was repairing eyes in nepal)...so we were the lucky recipients of four excellent tickets in the paddock penthouse, just up from the finish line. it was unbelievable. and while i entertain no illusions of ever being able to do it again--at least not as well as we did--i am certain i will never forget it.

after this experience i am positive that i am a frustrated race car driver at heart--bring on the speeding tickets!

the day before the race was the parade through downtown indianapolis, and of course it's not a parade without a huge pile of spun sugar!

gus never misses an opportunity for cotton candy, either

motorcycle cops! these guys were definitely cool, and would be definitely intimidating when pulling you over for said speeding tickets

giant race car!

and sophie's favorite: giant panda!

giant, 4-time-indy-winning racing star! (a. j. foyt)

and giant hat guy!

race day!!! gus shot this picture of the three of us just inside the gates--how cool is it that the speedway lets you bring in your own beer? i love this place!

p-p-p-pagoda, peoples.

sweet rich and the kiddos

sophie with her race car--she acquired a danica patrick and a helio castroneves car during the race and ran them around the seats, too

the view, just to my right, from the seats--the cars are lining up and getting ready to go!

this is the starting lap, and as you can see we were just across from the andrettis, danica and helio's pit stops

cars in a line, under a yellow

preview of what's to come: dan wheldon in the william rast car crossing the bricks

and, yes, he won! his second indy win--he actually won it under a yellow, as the guy who was winning crashed into the wall on the LAST turn--he literally drove 499.5 miles just right and was about to win, then crashed and ended up gliding over the finish line into second. it was an amazing end!

dan wheldon, guzzling milk

the kids did great throughout the whole race--sophie completely crashed during the 2-mile walk to the car, but managed to stay awake for the 2 hours of gridlocked traffic back to the hotel. we had such an amazing time!

rich's favorite traumatic brain injury patient gives him some advice

2011-06-02T17:19:00.010-06:00

rich currently sees a patient who suffered a hell of an injury when someone tried, and failed, to beat him to death. he ended up not losing his life but rather most of his cranium (which has yet to be replaced) and any type of verbal filter when speaking to others. i get the impression he didn't have many inhibitions before the injury: he has a target tattooed on the side of his head and a giant jesus tattooed under his jaw, stretching down to his chest, which drives rich nuts because it's off-center and not in an artistic way. it sounds like this guy's seen quite a lot in his 20 years.

the first time rich met him he (rich) had a female medical student working with him...who got completely freaked out by this guy's very open opinion of her. they were just getting to know him then; today he was back in the clinic, wearing his usual matching official NBA hat and shorts with the holographic tags still attached, and giving rich some much needed direction in life that was relayed to me this evening:

patient: hey, hey, what kinda car do you drive?

rich: a toyota.

patient: what, like one of those high-end toyotas?

rich: no, a prius.

patient: a prius? psssht. why are you driving a prius? look, i'll tell you what we'll do: we'll put some 20-inch rims on it, get a TV for the front dash, get some speakers in the back, and then i'll ride with you in the front and the police will see me with all these tattoos on my neck and pull you over and you'll go HA! i'm a doctor, bitch!

rich: (pause) that sounds good.

patient: do you know gucci mane? i love gucci mane! he's got a tattoo on the side of his head of an ice cream cone.

rich: (pause) like the purse?

patient: no, not like the purse! gucci--G-U-C-C-I. gucci mane. we need to get you hooked up. get rid of that wedding ring! white women don't like that. we'll get you a pinky ring, some chains for your wrist, some stuff for around your neck, and you need a hat. you gotta wear a hat! we'll get you some white women.

rich: (pause, noting the patient is quite white himself) i have a white woman at home.

patient: no, some white women.

rich: (pause) okay.

patient: shit, we'll get you straightened out.

even the brain-injured sense that rich needs all the help he can get.

pictures from floooooridaaaaah (part two)

2011-05-31T09:04:00.002-06:00

my favorite picture from our trip, shot by our friend, jodi. check out the size of that horseshoe crab! (we brought it home.)

part two of the florida pictures: naples area to amelia island. enjoy!

look out sophie! this is front room of the skunk ape research headquarters, a place of which we had very different expectations. while we never heard one word spoken about the skunk ape, we loved it anyway--it is one of our very favorite places that we visited. if you are ever driving along the tamiami trail, make sure you pay them a visit!

meet rick, our guide through the "zoo." don't judge--we learned more from him (about the animals) than anywhere else we visited.

sophie and a very curious corn snake--she is one fearless four-year old!

gus, being a bit wiser at 11, is trying to keep the panic at bay

this was much more his speed

but, gus rallied and let rick put this 10+ foot albino burmese python around his neck...

...but sophie was a bit too short to get the full snake experience.

here's something you don't see every day: gus riding a tortoise. the tortoises can support about 250 pounds of extra weight and still walk around.

sophie rode a smaller one and it seemed oblivious to her, especially when tempted by cucumber sections

and i made a friend! i wanted to stuff this umbrella cockatoo in my purse and take him home he was so sweet.

gus and sophie and lion...a live one of which we did not see in the skunk ape zoo (but would not have been surprised to)

sophie holding a baby alligator at the miccosukee indian village, a place, i hate to say, we weren't too thrilled with. we went for the alligator wrestling but found it to be so much less respectful than that at everglades alligator farm that we left early. the grounds are beautiful, though.

is this child abuse? gus and sophie on a bouncy bridge at everglades wonder gardens...

...bouncing over giant live alligators!

they had some great photo ops there (doesn't this look real?)

and some really, really big gators

the bubble room on captiva island had some of the best red velvet cake in the world--next time we visit it will be to eat dessert only

and it made gus crazy!

gus and sophie enjoying the magnificent silence and beauty of the corkscrew swamp sanctuary, where we saw tons of birds...

...and big trees...

...and alligators (of course)

gus and sophie at the end of naples pier...

...where we spotted a small pod of wild dolphins!

sophie showing off her beautiful shells

off to amelia island, which was lovely in and of itself but was especially lovely because we got to stay at the ritz-carlton for rich's meeting! sophie took full advantage of the pool to practice becoming medusirena, jr...

...while gus realized his true calling at the ritz.

i'm kidding--he's no dictator...he's totally friendly gus!

pictures from floooooridaaaaah (part one)

2011-05-26T18:18:00.002-06:00

lifeguard? we don't need no stinkin' lifeguard--we've got medusirena the mermaid!

oh my god, florida. we are all in love--i think we've found our next place to move or at least where we're going to be traveling to (again) in the future. the whole trip was precipitated by rich having two meetings, eight days apart, in florida. i didn't want to fly down there with the kids, then fly back, then fly down there again a week later, so instead sophie, gus and i drove over 4400 miles (over 18 days), explored florida, and bookended the trip by meeting up with rich...at his meetings. it was glorious, it was wondrous, it was flooooooooridaaaaaaaaah!

i'm putting this up in two sections: part one is fort lauderdale to the florida keys; part two will be naples to amelia island.

things one and two swimming in the atlantic ocean with daddy (mommy's shelling on the beach, as i still hear the jaws theme song when i see open water)

after the ocean, sophie and gus discovered the pool. beautiful--and i love that there was a wedding going on in the background!

sophie became a lorikeet master at butterfly world...

...and got some excellent close-up views thanks to daddy

hawkeye butterfly!

and another hawkeye butterfly!

this was amazing--it is an atlas moth, attacus atlas, and it is the largest moth (i think) in the world

it was definitely the largest moth i've ever seen--they are like 14 inches across. we watched this one hatch from its chrysallis.

big gator, little girl

big lobster, little girl

big shark, big boy, little girl

big dolphin...you get the idea...this is in front of one of our new favorite places, dolphin research center on grassy key...

...where we met these guys: delta and his mother, aleta (and 17 of their dolphin friends)...

...and even got to shake hands! this is gus with delta (he's pink because he's very young)

sophie hit the jackpot--she got to shake hands with both aleta...

...and delta! lucky girl.

and i got to meet aleta--she was lovely. seriously, i want to adopt her. and delta. and my birthday's in like 6 weeks if y'all are looking for gift ideas... :)

ever wondered what a sea turtle hospital looks like? it looks like this--the individual tanks are for turtles that are to be treated and released back into the wild; the big pool is for the long-term residents

and this is what it looks like to do surgery on a sea turtle. it was a fascinating visit.

this little guy was super-curious about sophie, and she about him--he had gotten tangled in some discarded monofilament (always throw it away properly!) and almost died. the turtle hospital has treated and released over 1000 turtles since 1988, which is amazing. *ahem*...and they have annual adoptions, too...

sophie doing a great elton john impression at the hog's breath saloon on key west

at the sunset festival on key west we watched this guy play the bagpipes and ride a unicycle, which caused gus to exclaim, "i wanna be just like that guy, but with a college education!"

gus and sophie at the end of the world...or at least the continental US

and here they are at the official end of the continental US, from which you can see the navy base that is actually further south (but not publicly accessible)

sign: "you will be seeing unusual accomplishment."

gus: "nuh uh, not if my eyes are closed," and thus sophie closes her eyes to the coral castle (not for long)

gus and sophie, on their thrones of coral

they definitely had unusual plants that fit the site perfectly

and a little piña!

we finally got into the everglades proper at the everglades alligator farm, where we took in an airboat ride...

...and saw many gators up close and personal! (rich wasn't exactly thrilled when he saw this picture.)

it was awesome--we're definitely doing that again! our airboat driver, JD, was very much into doing 360s/720s with the airboat, which in retrospect was probably not exactly safe but it was seriously fun (kinda like blowing up stuff in an old microwave)

(think shaggy from scooby-doo voice) guh-guh-guh-gators!

after the airboat it was time for the alligator show, and i'm fairly sure every woman in the audience ovulated at this display. as an aside, i think rich totally has that rare combination of confidence plus just-enough dumbass to do something like this.

hop on gator, open mouth...

...then close mouth...

...then hold mouth closed with chin...

...then open mouth again and hold it open with chin...seems like risking getting your face torn off is a wee bit extreme for a five-dollar tip.

but gus did get to hold a baby alligator

as did sophie! totally worth it.

lost: one baby lion

2011-05-19T07:46:00.003-06:00

sophie can't find her baby lion, and she's VERY LOUDLY letting everyone know about it. baby lion is a tiny peruvian finger puppet that barely fits on sophie's little finger--it is truly miniscule--and she fell asleep holding it in her bed last night. before she went to sleep, she and i and baby lion read skippyjon jones together and snuggled for a while; all seemed to be well when i left her room.

but now, this morning, she's starting to panic over it. she's ripped all the sheets off the bed; she had rich sift through the detritus of toys in her room all to no avail--baby lion still cannot be found.

later in the morning, as i'm fixing gus' lunch, i feel something stuck in the built-in bra of my nightgown...what the hell?...of course, it's baby lion. sophie is ecstatic and making every justification she can think of for his being there ("it was warm! he liked it there! baby lion loves you!"), whereas rich had another take: "you're like one of those fat people who loses sandwiches in their fat folds!"

and thus exemplifies the summation of my life.

(pictures from florida are coming soon!)

flooooorida!

2011-05-01T05:44:00.004-06:00

after three days of driving through seven states, we finally made it to south florida! gus and sophie did beautifully--they got along fine, they logged some serious dvd/psp time, and they didn't really start with the "are we there yet?" until the third day. we arrived to our hotel on the beach in time to play in the surf with a very relieved rich (he'd rather drive with us so he can monitor my speed...), then ate incredible modern mexican cuisine for dinner. yum.

let the much-needed thawing begin!

he saved the best for last

2011-04-22T12:27:00.003-06:00

look at the points on this thing--is he part shark?

gus' last baby tooth fell out last night, and he is overjoyed--as he put it, "i'm one step closer to becoming a man..." rich told him he'd have to grow hair on his privates for that to really be true. way to kill the mood, darling. it was gus' silver tooth, which he'd had since he was 4--he basically had a mini-root canal procedure done on it because of a really deep cavity. but now it's gone and with it all of his baby teeth! i'm guessing his wisdom teeth will have to go someday as well, but as of now he's lost all the teeth he's ever going to lose, naturally.

way to go gus!

learning the facts of life, part deux

2011-04-12T11:01:00.002-06:00

paco and his jaws of death forced another lesson upon us yesterday:

he who hesitates is lost.

adios chipmunk!

learning the facts of life

2011-04-10T20:44:00.004-06:00

mmmm, monkeyclumps

there are many cold, hard facts of life that exist to help us try and make sense of the world:

a good man is hard to find.

nothing is certain but death and taxes.

if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

the more you learn, the less you know.

and here at the triangle, we've discovered another one:

sea monkeys are real, and they are cannibals.

santa brought gus and sophie some sea monkeys this year, which we dutifully grew and nurtured from teeny-weeny eggs to itty-bitty-wiggly critters to blood-thirsty soldiers from hell. we fed them plenty of algae or whatever the powdered green sea monkey food is...they just preferred to eat each other. at first i thought they were trying to reproduce (they might have been doing that as well), but we were seeing clusters of sea monkeys like all the time...and no babies. after taking a good look at the monkeyclumps and realizing that the monkey in the middle was no longer amongst the living and the other five monkeys were feasting on its corpse, i made a parental decision to free the sea monkeys. this weekend, we solemnly (and gladly) released the beasts into the iowa river. gus said a memorial to them while i'm sure they were screaming, "FREEDOM! HORRIBLE FREEDOM!" but, alas, the sea monkeys had to go.

unwanted personal growth, compliments of santa. thank you, big guy!

sea monkeys are pretty tasty on toast triangles with capers...and they think so, too

tonight's conversation--NSFW?

2011-04-07T21:06:00.004-06:00

me, after downloading pictures onto my computer: "rich, goddamnit, do NOT use my camera to take pictures of ass! whose ass is this anyway? why is it on my camera?"

rich, giggling: "talk to your son. it was his idea."

me, horrified: "am i looking at gus' ass? why am i looking at any ass--this is MY camera! i want no more ass on my camera. period."

rich: "could you be more of an oldest child? learn to share!"

me: "there's ass on my camera. i'm distraught."

rich: "gus thought you'd think it was funny--i told him you wouldn't. do you really think it's an ass? he must have done it pretty good then."

me: "...it looks like an ass..."

rich: "it's his elbow, the crook of his arm as it were. april fool's!"

THEY TOTALLY GOT ME!

evil genius and his minion

swallowed up by eagles

2011-04-03T20:43:00.004-06:00

proud daddy eagle (dead bunny at screen left)

the entire family and i have been captivated to the point of obsession by the decorah eagles. robert anderson, who helped create the wonderful "american eagle" episode of nature that was shown on PBS, has installed a camera near an eagle's nest in far northwest iowa...and we've spent countless hours just watching this pair hatch their precious little eaglets. two have hatched so far and a third is expected any day; we've watched them devour a rabbit and now they have some kind of bird up there that they're munching on.

below are some screen shots from the past few days (sorry about the quality--the ipad screen is just a bit too big to get a clear picture from the streaming video). check them out today!

eagles on the nest (the female is in front)

arranging the eggs

headless rabbit--they didn't start picking on the bunny until after the first egg hatched

two little grey puffballs, one just next to daddy's right foot and the other way to his left--the one on his left accidentally bit daddy's eye, daddy shook his head, and by doing so he almost launched the baby 80 feet down out of the nest. it was harrowing, but mom came home and got everyone back where they were supposed to be.

(dad was still feeding the baby after his accident--i think he was embarrassed.)

i don't know what i was expecting, but i truly didn't know that eagles slept with their heads under their wing like other birds--this makes them seem too bird-like or vulnerable, somehow.

last of the rome pictures, 2011

2011-03-23T14:58:00.011-06:00

i have a remaining collection of images from rome that aren't easily categorized...so here are my random pics that i have yet to share. enjoy!

fontana delle anfore, one of the most under-appreciated fountains in rome (it is at the end of via marmorata, just before you cross the tiber into trastevere). it had a collection of swastikas and homeless guys around it this year, just like last year. i would love to see this little piazza renovated.

full-frontal male nudity at the centrale montemartini...beautiful

molti nemici molto onore=many enemies much honor, one of mussolini's slogan fascisti. i wish i shot a better picture of it.

fascist art and architecture at the foro italico

60 italian regions represented by idealized marble men...

...shown with their olympic implements *ahem* and a reminder that fascists weren't exactly known for their subtlety

there's a lion nibbling on his toes...

...and an oddly placed fish used for compositional balance

i'm rather surprised this obelisk to mussolini still stands, but politics and atrocities notwithstanding i'm very glad to see it

ultimate bicep

the water is so mineralized at this fountain that deposits have reformed it to a completely different-looking object

fountain outside the newly-redesigned ara pacis monument

ara pacis processional and acanthus leaves

and this is what the front of the building looks like (from the inside)--i personally love it, but apparently the new mayor of rome was elected on a platform of "i'll-tear-down-the-new-ara-pacis-monument-and-return-the-piazza-to-its-true-baroque-roots." two points about this: a) the fascists screwed up the piazza before richard meier was even born and b) everything in rome takes 20 times longer to do than anticipated and involves 100 times more politics than expected, so hopefully it will never happen. i think meier did a fabulous job with the housing of the ara pacis--it is a beautiful space.

creepy collection of skulls, with names and causes of death of their previous owners, under the aptly-named santa maria dell'orazione e morte

(this is what the skulls look like when the cabinet is open and i completely overexpose them.)

signore squarehead, on the left...why is he square-haloed while the others are not? because he was alive when this mosaic was assembled--cool little factoid there.

skull and crossbones at santa cecilia--no matter where you go, rome doesn't let you forget your mortality for long

inadvertant (?) boobie fountain--no matter where you go, rome doesn't let you forget about gender for very long

two staircases going to two very different places: santa maria in aracoeli and the capitoline

this is the primary school that gus and sophie will attend when i run away from home and take them to live with me on the aventino

interior, bus

exterior, tiber

palm fronds at the orto botanico

i never knew there was a bamboo forest in the middle of rome, yet here it is--it covers almost an acre on the giancolo

palazzo farnese, which was actually open to the public (it's the french embassy, so it is rare to get in without a diplomatic reason) for an exhibition of its private collection--i went twice.

ever wonder what happened to some of the fallen marble from the colosseum? here it is, remade as the façade of san agostino

trevi fountain at night

oculus of the pantheon

coppede! i love coppede. if i can't live on the aventino, i want to live here.

last night in rome with bernini's four rivers fountain and a atmospheric full moon

flying bunny!

2011-03-22T14:02:00.004-06:00

those exasperated-looking arms in the background are such because they've just thrown a sopapilla across the room. should i worry that paco is the only one concerned in this picture?

yes, but is it a complete sentence?

2011-03-12T09:14:00.003-07:00

me: "gus, do you know what makes a 'complete' sentence?"
gus: "umm, a capital letter and a period?"

concerned, i asked his teacher about this gaping lacuna in a 5th grader's knowledge...to which he replied, "we teach that in the 2nd grade and reinforce it in the 3rd. we assume all 5th graders have known that a subject + verb make a complete sentence for several years now."

i SO want my money back from manzano day school--what exactly did they teach gus?!

rome 2011: a little more shopping and dining at volpetti piu

2011-03-11T19:44:00.011-07:00

more damn animals.

i figured out last year that i wasn't designed to actually fit into italian fashions (including shoes, for fuck's sake!), so i decided that i'd have to suffice with shooting pictures of the things i liked. actually, i figured out a long time ago that i was far too frugal to buy italian fashions in italy, so i won't beat myself up too much for the not-fitting-in-them thing...although some things always fit...

...like ditta g. poggi, the best art supply store in rome! i love this place--it just smells right, if that makes sense

i'm about ready to replace all my office supplies in blue and orange after seeing this display

things that don't need to fit me: papal fashions (but i do dig the hat)

the embroidery on this vestment makes me think we're missing out on something at the meeting house

gusella! although this is gus' namesake i'm pretty sure he'd hate me forever if i made him wear anything from this store

what's in style this year? slouchy boots, pastel-y earth tones and ruffles. hmmph. and meh.

so very many reptiles died for this display, but it's workin'!

missoni! le swoon. i've said it before and i'll say it again: if i were three sizes smaller and had some serious disposable cash, i'd be wearing this every day...but, honestly, it'd probably be resale missoni.

yikes--their men's line leaves something to be desired

more stripy missoni awesomeness

i thought this was clever...and it's another animal

bottega veneta--last year they were my example of ridiculously overpriced leather with a 5-digit dollar purse, but something about this window struck me as odd...

...and it was the ill-fitting sandals on the mannequin. if you're going to ask 600 euros (over 1000 dollars) for a pair of strappy shoes, at least make sure they look somewhat decent on the display!

while i like the look (on someone else), there is no way in hell i'd ever pay 900 euros for pants that are double-knit polyester. what's worse? this very high-end store is actually advertising them as double-knit polyester pants (i'd be trying to conceal that little tidbit if at all possible).

the car shoe is still alive and well in italy...

...as is their undying love for anything dr. scholl's

but here it's just "scholl," and yes you can still get the wooden exersandal at any drugstore--these boots are kinda rockin'

volpetti píu! do you see the reflection across the street that says, "PIZZA VOLPETTI PÍU"? that's what the front looks like...

...and everything is delicious! i went rather basic here with roasted chicken and rosemary potatoes, a fruit salad, a vesuvio (mozzarella and prosciutto deep fried until it explodes) and, of course, the ugly american full-sugar coke

i was only able to get back one other time this trip, which was kind of a bummer. on this day i did veal (!--i haven't eaten veal for at least 20 years) in orange sauce, fried florets of broccolini and artichoke hearts, a large slice of fried apple, panna cotta with woodland berries...and another coke (real sugar really does make a difference).

me, at my favorite restaurant...what's its name?...and this is the only shot of me in rome, 2011.

peace in rome?

2011-03-10T16:07:00.004-07:00

or a rude gesture? if this is how your fingers look to you, and it is preceded by an upwards motion...then it's a rude gesture. otherwise, it's a peace sign. those are some delightfully muscled digits that look more like thighs than fingers. and, i actually have that exact shade of bianchi-green nail polish!

animali di roma

2011-03-08T19:56:00.008-07:00

i'm back--i had a bit of a connectivity problem there for a while, but now all is well and i'm back to posting pix from rome. i noticed a theme in some of the pictures: animals! even though i shot the images i didn't realize i was focusing on critters at all--i've even cut out quite a few. anyway, these are some random animals found while walking around the lovely roma.

(harken back to the fierce kitteh from porta portese market, as he probably goes with this collection better.)

fierce kitteh, jr. ("une tigre nell' giardino!"--"a tiger in the garden!" i overheard an italian nanny saying this to a darling 2-year old in the orto botanico.)

and another fierce kitteh! actually, it's a fascist liger

skinny dogs in stone

moo cows (yes, in fact i do think like a preschooler)

this is a fairly common pairing in rome--a lion biting a horse or deer, or in this case something that looks a bit like both (horsedeer?)

and another lion/horsedeer matchup

a horse so strong that neither of his front hooves need touch the ground, nor does he need one of his hind legs

farfalla! (butterfly)

chiocciola! (snail)

ape! (bee--it's pronounced "ah-pay")

she-wolf and twins

another she-wolf--i like the subtlety of this one

mermaid, horse and seagulls

flying donkey

baby bambi and...chihuahuas?

dj monkey, swingin' da beat...although it does look a bit like lou reed, too...

...seriously, it's a tough call

sten's homage to pinhead from hellraiser (who is technically non-human and is certainly animalistic)

this church admonishes its visitors to remember that they're in a house of god, therefore no spitting or bringing your dog to mass

cane, giorno...

...cane, notte.

and, last but not least...

party animals!

love in the eternal city

2011-02-27T08:19:00.005-07:00

like last year, i was fortunate to be in rome around valentine's day (even though it really doesn't seem to be celebrated with the gusto we have for the holiday here in the states) and, like last year, love was on display at many sites around the eternal city. i'm hoping next year, if i'm lucky a third time and get to go back, my valentine will be with me.

(yes, rich, i'm talking about you.)

this is a fairly new tradition in rome, started around valentine's day a few years ago--couples take a padlock, affix it to one of the bridges across the tiber (it started on the ponte milvio but you can find them on any bridge now), then throw the keys into the river symbolizing their unbreakable love for each other. of course, the italian government has the locks removed with bolt cutters on a regular basis because the weight of one collection of locks brought down a streetlamp...but you get the idea.

be here now, in my heart--ram dass intentionally or unintentionally cited in a really well-done piece of graffiti

c'é une cuore en mi caffe latte!

valentine's day chocolate by the spanish steps

it's a bit meringue-y, but it makes a lovely valentine's wedding display

bikes and kisses with michaelangelo's creation of adam, all on a candy apple red vespa--perfection!

more vespa-lust and the quintessential modern expression of love in rome

moriondo e gariglio chocolates! you just need to smell the store to feel your hips expand

valentine's graffiti

don't be fooled by the jewelry box--these are boxer briefs

i tried so hard to come up with a single place i could wear these red lovelies in iowa city and came up completely blank...thus they still reside in rome

rome 2011: shopping at the porta portese market

2011-02-25T01:11:00.007-07:00

tutti per un euro! there must have been 100 stalls like this

i landed in rome early on a sunday morning and knew where i wanted to go...porta portese market! my hotel room wasn't going to be ready for several hours but the concierge was kind enough to keep an eye on all my stuff while i took off to go dive headfirst into the madness. i realized on the flight over that i had forgotten to bring a converter so i could charge my cameras...damnit...so that gave me extra incentive to brave the crowds.

porta portese market, so named for the giant city gate that marks the "start" of the market, is held early on sunday mornings just across the tiber from via marmorata in trastevere. thousands upon thousands of vendors come to ply their wares to thousands upon thousands of buyers in about a one square mile area over the course of about six hours--it is a mad crush of noise, goods, humanity, sights, smells, and basically anything else you can imagine (except, oddly, there is almost no food there, unlike every other market in rome)...and then it is gone as quick as it came. the prices are rock bottom and everything is negotiable; criminal activity (pickpocketing, theft) is going on in the melee but it isn't rampant and there are several cops around--you should definitely experience this ginormous flea market/goodwill/dollar store for yourself if you can!

gotta love the license plates--i taught the vendor how to say "eye-owa" rather than "ee-owa," but "pottawattamie" was completely out of the linguistic question

i could easily see queen sophie riding this through the marketplace, with a stuffed panda strapped on the back

lots and lots and lots of beads--they seemed to be stone, too

scarf fluffer--there were guys like this who every 15 minutes or so would grab big piles of their stuff and turn over the stock, to pull what was on the bottom to the top

voluminous jewels

fancy panties

seeds--where the hell do people grow anything in rome?

very cool buttons in any possible size, color combination--there must have been a hundred thousand buttons at this stall

very cool retro phones that weigh like 20 pounds each

stockings with which to bestocking your legs

fierce kitteh

frames--i loved these wooden handpainted beauties and i wish i would have bought some

yes, you can even buy your wedding dress at porta portese market

cacti--noli le tangere!

ephemera

metal ephemera

chandelier ephemera--there were thousands of crystals at this stall, one of which i'm sure would have matched our lovely chandelier and corrected its prism lacuna

honestly, i love this--and i was tempted to buy it--enlarge the photo and see if you can identify more than four actual english-language words in the text (spellcheck before you screenprint, people!)

happy birthday lindsay!

2011-02-24T10:57:00.003-07:00

i wonder what you are doing today as you are currently in kuching, malaysia--from whence the above photo was stolen? can you get a piece of birthday cake or at least a birthday cupcake there? what about candles? i know you like these things...i hope you are having a fantastic trip and that you take a lot of pictures--i can't wait to see them!

back and beswined, again

2011-02-23T09:15:00.004-07:00

i'm back from rome, but i seem to have acquired h1n1 fucking AGAIN. apparently rome is having quite the outbreak and i didn't get the memo before i went. i was laughing to myself at all the japanese tourists there wearing face masks the thickness of maxi pads...however i'm guessing they didn't import the flu back to their home country as i did. i'm going on day 7 of this shit and if last time is any indication i'm nowhere near through. yuck.

so, back yes, beswined yes, and pictures to come when i can stay awake for longer than five minutes at a time.

rome in (roman) snow, 2010

2011-02-11T04:31:00.000-07:00

exactly one year less one day ago, i was in artiste's cafe (i think it was called that) in the eternal city experiencing a rare snowstorm. all of about an inch fell and stuck for maybe an hour, but it was lovely nonetheless. and, it was ROMAN snow...somehow that made it alright. i'll be there again day after tomorrow hopefully with sun, not snow (but i'll be happy just to be there). be back soon!

snow angel

2011-02-02T16:54:00.006-07:00

my snow angel, gus! check out that beautiful eye...

a photographer for getty images was out at lincoln elementary today while gus and his friends were sledding (we got like a foot and a half of snow yesterday, so school was cancelled). click here for the photo credit!

i'm pretty sure cheerios weren't meant for this life

2011-01-29T04:41:00.001-07:00

but does it still lower your cholesterol?

seriously, you gotta love iowa--it's cold as fuck five months a year but this kind of sugar-coma-disguised-as-a-meal can become just addictive enough to get even the least winter-worthy souls to haul their ass outta bed and punish their livers in a non-liquid fashion.

mmm, fruity pebbles and cavities

FYI: i almost got myself banned from the coralville hy-vee for shooting these pix. and without the hy-vee where would i get my ridiculously cheap wine, which is my preferred source of liver punishment? i definitely got many the iowa evil eye from those in the bakery department.

i'm so patenting the phrase "iowa evil eye."

backfat art

2011-01-28T16:18:00.004-07:00

i'm not sure what this tattoo means, but i sent my father-in-law and his wife a christmas gift from omaha steaks titled exactly this. i don't think i've ever enjoyed a meal that necessitated a tattoo to commemorate it, and i'd like to think i've had some pretty good grub in my life. apparently i have not experienced the nirvana that is steak and cake.

in any event, i hope she at least gets a discount from the steak place.

katy's forbidden gardens, 1996-2011

2011-01-25T16:31:00.005-07:00

flashback to july 2005: a sweaty boy and his equally sweaty mother (not pictured) out in 100+ degree weather experiencing the forbidden gardens in katy, texas

it is with great sadness that i read about the upcoming closure of forbidden gardens on swamplot. and its reason for closing is as absurd as any other in the ephemeral city that is houston: urban planners have decreed the need for a parkway to alleviate traffic, or as swamplot cleverly proclaims, to facilitate cultural exchange programs between the katy mills mall and the houston premium outlets in cypress. the houston chronicle has a bit to say about it, too. c'est la vie.

forbidden gardens is, in short, a 1/20th scale recreation of the forbidden city in beijing, china and a 1/3rd recreation of the tomb of emperor qin shi huang-di. each of the 6000 little terracotta warriors were made by hand to represent an individual person. it was financed by hong kong ex-pat and seriously reclusive businessman ira poon, who recognized a little of his homeland in the rice fields of katy (and who had a singularly impressive vision for a site). $20 million dollars later, the 108-acre forbidden gardens was born. it is site-specific and will therefore be destroyed once deinstalled; i'd love to know when the terracotta figures are going to be auctioned off as i could certainly use one here in the triangle.

if you are in the houston/katy area and have any interest at all in seeing this quite-cool-and-soon-to-be-gone installation, go by before january 30!

today's grocery list

2011-01-13T22:06:00.003-07:00

zoloft and lollipops. seriously--that's all it says: 1. zoloft and 2. lollipops. i should probably take this more seriously but i'm too busy laughing my ass off about it. on the plus side, i guess that means they're working...

le jardin des plantes

2011-01-09T08:48:00.004-07:00

thinking of paris today, and kinda berating myself for not working on these images sooner. i have a new series--jardin des plantes--that i shot while there and i think it might be pretty spectacular. the above is an example; i hope the images work together as well as i think they will. it should go up on argus gallery in the near future...and i totally don't trust myself to specify a date considering it took me four months to get just one image online. all i can say with reasonable certainty is that i will post more later!

i will be with you again...

2011-01-01T11:25:00.004-07:00

...as nothing changes on new year's day. enjoy bono, the edge, et. al. rockin' a wicked early '80s look in germany. happy new year's day everyone!

more merriness!

2010-12-24T12:39:00.005-07:00

we have a great love for indian jingle bells in the triangle:

we also love indian jingle bells' close cousin, southern india jingle bells:

merry red and green!

merry christmas wishes

2010-12-22T18:48:00.004-07:00

bella roma!

it's a wee bit early for christmas greetings, but ever since the solstice + lunar eclipse + our 17th anniversary (!) i've kinda felt like christmas is here. and, while i do wish i was in rome rather than iowa, i am happy to be home with gus and sophie and even, occasionally, rich...and hoping he doesn't dress up like this guy on the morning of the 25th (or any other time):

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

i should probably get a new hobby...

2010-12-16T10:45:00.005-07:00

as with most people who have an email account, i receive daily offers for v!agra, cial!s, online girlfriends and nigerian 419 scams. lately i've been getting an inordinate number of "i-need-a-foreigner-to-take-this-ginormous-chunk-of-money-for-me-then-send-me-back-a-percentage" offers...and one in particular caught my eye not for its eloquence, for eloquent it is not, but for the sheer amount of money it claimed to offer--over 52 million pounds. usually they offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 to 5 million dollars, but 52 million pounds (almost 83 million dollars!) is more than half the GDP of tuvalu. anyway, i decided to respond to this guy...and the below is the result. surprisingly, he hasn't replied...but i have received fewer offers over the past couple of days!

from Paul Wolfe
reply-to remittance_2010@videobank.it
to
date Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 4:07 AM
subject Greeting From: Mr.Paul Wolfe.
signed-by yahoo.com
hide details Dec 8 (9 days ago)

Warning: This message may not be from whom it claims to be. Beware of following any links in it or of providing the sender with any personal information. Learn more

Greeting From: Mr.Paul Wolfe.
Address: E3 Pelham House,
32-34 Pelham Road, London, GW19 1SX
United Kingdom.
Tel: +447045701670

"RELATIONSHIP ESTABLISHMENT & DEAL NOTIFICATION"

I am aware that this is certainly an unconventional approach to starting a relationship but I believe knowing each other starts from a step of which I believe I am not making a mistake exposing this very important business deal to you?

Firstly, let me identify myself without any intention of equivocation, I am Mr.Paul Wolfe, Financial Expert worked with Banks here in United Kingdom, I will be happy if we can do business together in good faith and this proposal will be of mutual benefit for us. I have a transaction deal in the tune of £52,954,000.00 {Fifty Two Million Nine Hundred and Fifty Four Thousand British Pounds Sterling} to be transferred to any possible safe account with your good assistance. I have every possibility & advantages for the proceeds of this fund to be paid to your account.

I had discussed this issue privately with the Top Bank Director and he agreed to help and have instructed me to look for a foreigner who can be trusted and capable to handle this transaction so that we can secretly move this money out from UK immediately basing on Investments plans in your Country. I guarantee that this will be executed under a concrete special arrangement that will protect us from any breach of law. I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is hitch-free and you should not entertain any fears as the required arrangements have been made for the completion of this operation.

Your assistance as a foreigner is necessary because the management of the bank will welcome any foreigner who has correct information to this account which I will give to you immediately, We will start the first transfer with Thirty Two Million {£32,000,000.00}.Upon successful transfer without any disappointment from your side, we shall re-apply for the payment of the remaining balance of {£20, 954,000.00} to your account. I am only contacting you as a foreigner because this money cannot be approved to a local person here due to law in United Kingdom.

This money was secretly deposited and placed for an Investment before the late holder died and none of his families or relatives knows about this money, I came across this great fortune during an annual pre-audition. If you can be trusted and capable to handle this business with me in full confidence & trust, please send me the following information for documentation preparation and also give me your word of confidence that we will work as one team and I will get in return what belongs to me after successful transmission this operation :

At the conclusion of this transaction, your total share will be 40% of the total transfer sum,while 60% for me and my partners who is helping in making this successful.

If you are interested, please forward the following information as below:

(1). Private phone numbers: .....
(2). Current residential address:.....
(3). Occupation: ......
(4). Age and Sex: ......
(5). Your Full Banking Coordinates as follows.
Bank Name: ......
Bank Address:......
Account No:......
Account Holder's Name:.....
Routing Number/Swift Code If Any....
Your Passport ID.

I look forward hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Mr.Paul Wolfe

***********************************

from missy
to "remittance_2010@videobank.it"
date Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 8:47 AM
subject Re: Greeting From: Mr.Paul Wolfe.
mailed-by gmail.com
hide details Dec 8 (9 days ago)

wow! that would solve SO many problems for me, but i'm afraid 40% just isn't going to be enough. my mega-church just went under and with the economy the way it is today 20 million pounds just doesn't go as far as it used to. a girl's gotta eat, after all! i appreciate the offer but i'm afraid i just can't do it under the paltry terms described. too bad--i hear ireland is looking for some quick cash, though.
m. allen

**************************************

from pin info
to missyxxx@gmail.com
date Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 3:12 AM
subject Read very carefully for your batter understanding
hide details Dec 9 (8 days ago)

Warning: This message may not be from whom it claims to be. Beware of following any links in it or of providing the sender with any personal information. Learn more

Dear missy

I thank you immensely for your mail to my proposal I believe strongly that you are the right person God sent to do this business with me and I must sincerely assure you that nothing illegal will happen in this business either now or later, If I am not sure of this deal I will not get myself involve in it.

It is however had to trust people these days I have considered many doubts, criticisms before sending this proposal to you. I am what I claimed to be and there are no doubts About it.

There will be complete Heritage documents to prove that this business is not in any way related to any illegal act or from Drug and money laundering. I am not doing this business because of the large amount that is involved on it but rather the success of this business will benefit both families from generation to generation as long as you follow my instruction which I will be getting from our Top officials who is the main key to success in this business with confidentiality of this business there is know way the bank will call the authorities because there will be document that will back up this fund to your account and you will not let bank know that your expecting some fund into your account so that there will not ask you question that you may not be able to answer to them until i told you to do so because We need the account information to apply to the Ministry of Finance to
obtain Foreign Payment Control Approval of this fund for successful transfer to be carried out and be made to your designated bank account

I Having being in the banking system for more than two decades now, I want you to bear in mind that I intend to use only very secure and legitimate banking procedures in line with the "British inheritance claim Act" and how it concerns this kind of transaction to move this money out of this bank in your name as the beneficiary as you know you cant access the money in that account because it is a dormant fund we need to follow the procedures as inheritance fund all over the world that is why your account required to process the fund to your account without any father delay

I am for real and i have pray to God for this before i start the process as you know that if i left this fund in this bank it will be taking by government for then self use that is why i contacted you as a honest person which my God direct me to you with hope that you will not let me down in this business now or in future, You should not worry about anything at all this business is 100% risk free no government agent can come over you ok because the document will back up this fund and the approval which we will have from the British H M treasury department which you will show it to your bank that the fund in your account is good fund ok i am not hear to jeopardize the good image of your family and i will not like you to jeopardize the image of my own family too

I restfulness my confident on you please do help me out so that this fund will not diverted to government account as the British prim minister said that any unclaimed fund should transfer to government account that is why I am making my effort to see that I move this fund out of this bank As you can understand that the owner of this fund is a foreigner and this fund can only be approved in a foreign account that is why I contacted you as a foreigner

I wait to hear from you as soon as possible

(1). Full names: .....
(2). Private phone numbers: .....
(3). Current residential address:.....
(4). Occupation: ......
(5). Age and Sex: ......
{6}.Your Full Banking Coordinates as follows.
Bank Name: ......
Bank Address:......
Account No:......
Account Holder's Name:.....
More Information about yourself ETC.

I look forward hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Mr.Paul Wolfe
Tel: +447045701670

**************************************************

from missy
to pin info
date Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 7:30 AM
subject Re: Read very carefully for your batter understanding
mailed-by gmail.com
hide details Dec 11 (6 days ago)

my batter is perfectly understood, thank you. no illegal gains involved? what fun is that? i thought at least a mexican drug cartel had been raided and had its funds diverted to your bank. i'm not sure i can rebuild my megachurch with honestly-earned monies from the sweat off some dead man's balls. balls. that's a funny word. i should use it more often. that and tool.

i think you're barking up the wrong tree here, wolfy. i mentioned ireland needing some cash--did you try them? or perhaps a small country in africa that is looking to triple their economy in one fell swoop? i bet you could find one that loathes your use of punctuation just as much as you do. that'd be such a blessing for you, i'm sure. then together you could prevent those evil brits from taking "your" money.

here's hoping you stick it to the man soon,
m.

***************************************************

from pin info
to missy
date Tue, Dec 14, 2010 at 8:58 AM
subject the choice is yours
hide details Dec 14 (3 days ago)

please i am not here for childish play ok am here for very important business if you are not interested on this proposal then you forget all about it i am still searching for a good and honest person that can take over this transaction before it will divert to government account as you can understand i will never live that fund in that bank as long as the owner of the fund is died which you know that if this fund can be approved in local account here i wouldn't have contacted you for the first time just because of the owner is a foreigner and the fund can only be approved in a foreigner account.

so you can live me alone let me be searching for business partner OK

**************************************************

from missy
to pin info
date Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 10:18 AM
subject Re: the choice is yours
mailed-by gmail.com
hide details Dec 15 (2 days ago)

oh wolfy, now you're just being rude. and i even suggested ireland as a possible partner for you! if the choice is mine then i guess i'll have to just give you some account numbers. hmm...it has a couple of 5s, and some zeroes, and maybe a 9 in there...i never can remember. was it 52 954 000 00? i think so. hey, what a coincidence--that's the same amount you promised me! i guess god does work in mysterious ways...or maybe it is satan. does this make me a tool of satan if i work with you? he he, i said tool.

you know what, this would be so much easier if you just sent me all your personal information and bank account details and let me figure it all out on my end. you can't stick it to the man properly without divulging your digits, wolfy! just send it along and i'll get them to the proper authorities here in the states--i'll make sure those in great britain get it, too. you'll have instant access to "your" (wink wink) money in two countries! how can you lose?

engaging in child's play,
m. allen

post number 500

2010-12-02T09:51:00.002-07:00

i guess it is only fitting that for this, my 500th blog post, i share the link to my house listing. it went active today (and, no, i'm not drinking...yet). i started this blog right after we moved there in 2006; i'm sure it goes without saying that i wish i were still writing these posts from my most favoritest house of all time. stop on by and take a cyber-gander by clicking below:

1936 avenida las campanas NW

happy 500th.

happy thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T22:39:00.008-07:00

i've said it before and i'll say it again: worst. thanksgiving. costume. ever.

i know i have much to be thankful for, but rather than enumerating all that i'm concentrating on the unintentional humor found in these vintage thanksgiving cards. go eat lots of turkey!

that is one seriously lecherous moon checking out the turkeymaid's cleavage

"i've placed something most foul amongst the presentation--try and guess where?"

i actually feel rather sorry for the bird, because when i look at this all is see is "i'm gonna cut you turkey, then i'm gonna cut you summore..."

"duuuude, you're so fucked. i may be in a cage but if you're stupid enough to hang out in the yard on "turkey day" and not escape, then i've got nothing more to say to you."

cucurbiticidal turkey!

cannibalistic turkeys!

more cannibalistic turkeys!

not technically cannibalistic, but there's just something terribly wrong about a bald eagle feasting on a turkey

NOT HYGENIC!

DEFINITELY NOT HYGENIC!

also not hygenic...no naked children cooking turkey, thank you!

still not hygenic!

what the hell is up with these naked kids and turkeys?

fly, turkey, fly!

"george, what is that whore doing at my thanksgiving table?"

"mummy, please don't start..."

the pilgrims firmly believed that a skull crushing via a giant platter of squash was the most righteous manner by which to gain a dead turkey

paper doll turkey and friends, part one (print me out!)

paper doll turkey and friends, part two (print me out, too!)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

1936 avenida las campanas NW

2010-11-18T10:45:00.007-07:00

long time, no see...but i'm coming back. i've just arrived from NM with sophie and a giant uhaul full of the last of our things left at our beautiful house. unfortunately, it's time to sell--our glorious renters, michelle and rich, are moving to idaho and i know i have no chance of finding renters like them again. if you're interested, here are some pictures (shot by someone else) of our lovely place that i miss so much.

shrinky dinkin' and sensory gardenin'

2010-10-24T19:17:00.004-06:00

i had an absolute blast, from start to finish, with this stupid garden project. i am the "landscape coordinator," or some frou-frou title like that, for sophie's school and i've spent the past month transforming a much-neglected courtyard into a sensory garden for the kids. granted, i think most of the people at her school were just happy i didn't ask them to help, but i totally appreciate the fact that they gave me free reign with the space and just let me do whatever the hell i felt like doing.

this weekend i decided the garden itself was through so i spent all day saturday making these lovelies (and crying over the hawkeyes loss to wisconsin--31-30. SO CLOSE!!!).

i had almost forgotten how fun shrinky dinks are!

still here; still no paris pix

2010-10-22T19:28:00.002-06:00

i suck, i know. i'm taking a bit more time off to try and pull myself together and snap out of my iowa-induced funk (even i'm not interested in reading what i'm writing at the moment). actually, it's not all iowa-induced: my glorious renters, michelle and rich, are moving out of my glorious house in new mexico to move to glorious (?) idaho. which means we now finally have to sell it...and i am seriously displeased.

wish me luck.

yep, i'm still alive...

2010-10-05T21:10:00.003-06:00

...and i have lots to relate (eventually). rich and i took a much-needed break and went to munich and paris by ourselves--as in no kids--and spent a whopping 11 days together! we've been back for a couple of weeks; i'm still trying to reconcile the fact that i left europe willingly to come back to iowa (but i did miss the critters who call me mom). many, many pics to come--i'm still trying to get my house in order so i can sit down for two seconds in a row to edit the images. in the meantime, self-portraiture plus an eiffel tower (and rich):

looks like a late de kooning to me...

2010-09-03T09:16:00.000-06:00

this is sophie's birthday drawing for her best friend and our neighbor, marge. happy (belated) birthday!

trip to texas picturepalooza! (part 8)--we're almost home!

2010-09-02T15:14:00.007-06:00

welcome to southwestern missouri (very close to eureka springs)--fireworks and used books housed in a metal shack in triple degree temperatures? what could possibly go wrong?

arkansas! pretty eureka springs, arkansas--it is a beautiful green, happy place that was in full bloom while we were there. after a couple of days of resting at the crescent hotel, touring the springs, eating at mud street cafe and fawning over the lions and tigers at turpentine creek we headed back to iowa...and thus ends the great trip to texas picturepalooza (until next time). enjoy!

sweet mr. gus on top of basin spring

there are dozens of lovely little grottoes and springs in the limestone cliffs around eureka springs--it was close to 100 degrees outside but in this cave it was like 55-60. nice.

the landscaping around the springs is magnificent--the city is so lovely and the townspeople obviously take so much pride in them

paco! paco! PACO! (sophie is a bit stubborn about this)

back to turpentine creek--cindy, the cougar, got her own outdoor enclosure in the six week interval from when we first saw her (in the temporary area)

lions and tigers sharing an enclosure (this isn't common--these two just get along really well)

it was HOT on the tour, and sophie convinced daddy that she just couldn't walk another step...gus is seething (sweating?) with envy

missy the tiger! missy is a sweetheart, and now she has her own outdoor home away from the concrete. many of these animals (again they are all rescue cats) have never stepped on grass before they got to turpentine creek.

HOT. the kittehs are kersplat.

zeus certainly looks comfy, though. again, these cats will be in the concrete part only until space can be made/developed for them in the back pastures. zeus still needs a little more socializing...

back to iowa! about a year ago, i shot this same scene, out of the same car, of our first iowa sunset in years. this is just our first iowa sunset in six weeks.

trip to texas picturepalooza! (part 7)

2010-08-24T20:25:00.009-06:00

"why hello there, birthday girl..."

in this episode: we pick up gus from camp longhorn, celebrate my birthday in glen rose at the most beloved fossil rim (twice), then hit the road for arkansas. enjoy!

happy camper gus!

sophie absolutely velcroed herself to gus as soon as she saw him--she missed him so much

umm, my camp didn't look like this...rich and i are ready to try and go there ourselves after seeing it

gus and his horse, paco (yes, that really is his name)

gus swimming with the camp dog in the lagoon--where was my lagoon, damnit? we had the north fork of the guadalupe river, snake infested as it is...

...and i'm pretty sure after seeing all this camp loveliness sophie'll be there, too (in a few years)

so. long. horn. (love the puns around camp)

from camp longhorn to dinosaur valley state park in glen rose--this is possibly the greatest government building in a 100 mile radius (it's the ranger station at the entrance)

dinosaurs! these are old sinclair oil dinosaurs from the 1964 world's fair in new york

and of course rich had to feign feeding sophie to the t-rex

gus 'n me with sophie examining the scary 70 foot apatosaurus behind us...

...and once we returned to the hotel sophie decided that she, too, could be just as scary.

gus attempting the human habitrail at the glen rose dairy queen (sophie's not one to tarry)

fossil rim! first off: an ostritch confronting a sophie

gorgeous fallow deer--they are thriving and reproducing like crazy at fossil rim

fallow deer in several flavors

herd o' sables plus one loner

aoudads--these guys have freaky sideways pupils, like goats

white rhinoceros. surprisingly gentle animal.

emu--this guy absolutely scared the holy hell out of rich, so much so that he threw almost an entire bag of animal food at him (which pissed me off greatly, as we had just gotten there)...apparently he didn't realize his window had an "up" function

rich eyed all animals with great suspicion after the emu incident

beautiful, graceful, reticulated giraffe

don't you just want to scratch under that chin? (i'm pretty sure you get kicked out of the park if you do. yikes--now i'm making a stripper/giraffe comparison in my brain, as they're both protected under the look-but-don't-touch rule. that is just wrong on so many levels. damn that gutter...)

me feeding my new best friend

i am just so in love with these animals--i just about fainted when this guy chose to hang out at our car, with several of his friends, for a good 20+ minutes

rich was basically okay with the giraffe

actually, he was probably more than okay with them

this guy, however, reignited his specist bias against animals

and, of course, rich got all the animals on his side of the car, damnit

stripy zebras

stripy, stripy zebras

stripy, stripy, stripy zebras

happy kiddos, fossil rimmed/glen rosed out, on their way to arkansas. and yes i shot this while the car was moving.

when good moms make bad choices

2010-08-23T21:26:00.004-06:00

allow me to exhibit fail with a capital F...this:

plus this:

equals this:

trip to texas picturepalooza! (part 6)

2010-08-20T19:59:00.006-06:00

actually, my eyes are closed, too

4th of july (better late than never...)--sophie and i celebrated the 4th during the day at the chappell hill parade and at the washington-on-the-brazos star of texas museum at night, with a brief visit to some livestock in between. enjoy!

patriotic bunny!

nanno and sophie waiting for the fun to begin

just in case you forgot where you are...it's the BIRTHPLACE OF TEXAS, biyatch!

riders of the storm (it rained a little)

and some of the parade participants were a bit too loud

but the kids were rewarded with candy, so it was okay

happy girl, who is only a little weather beaten

miniature ponies, raised by the sisters of poor clare

they were quite friendly little guys

and just the right size for sophie to pet

all the pretty horses

black dogs! this is five of the pack of six black dogs that seem to be omnipresent around my parent's farm. i know their names are magic, darryl, brave darryl, shy darryl, brown darryl and something else (that, oddly, doesn't include darryl in it), but i have no idea who is who. they travel as a pack so to me they're just all called black dogs.

nanno and sophie

augustus, the longhorn--check out that rack he's grown!

and augustus' mommy, missy, the longhorn, checking out the flowers

sophie bunny in her 4th of july dress

she got some cool glasses for watching the fireworks on top of the star of texas museum

i think they made the exhibits more interesting, too

happy 4th!

trip to texas picturepalooza! (part 5)

2010-08-19T04:55:00.001-06:00

san antonio! houston! galveston! brenham! in these pictures, we travel to all of these places over the course of a week...and still managed to smile in the end.

AAAAH! DINOSAUR! the witte museum had a fantastic mechanized dinosaur exhibition going on (we're still in san antonio)

but after the dinos sophie hit the still lives and especially liked those representing texas beasts...

...and this one of paco trying to eat a jackrabbit

and she thoroughly enjoyed playing her new guitarra all the way from san antonio to houston

galveston! this is the absolutely gorgeous view out of our window at the san luis--gus and i stayed there five years ago and it all came back to him when he saw this image

(this is what it looked like in 2005--we had a bit of weather)

(and, coincidentally, we also went to an animatronic dinosaur exhibit in 2005 but it was at moody gardens...it was raining quite a lot)

it isn't a trip to galveston until we've eaten at gaido's!

(same thing applied in 2005, too)

aunt lindsay and sophie

(aunt ashley and gus, 2005--this is easily my favorite picture of her...)

...and this may be my new favorite picture of sophie

sophie spent many happy hours going up and down this slide; mommy spent hours rehabbing her shoulders afterwards

floaty sophie

happy girls

i love this--it's me and sophie bunny in front of the san luis, recreating one of my favorite pictures with mr. gus:

(this one--now i have a matching set!)

after galveston it was back to houston for a quick trip to the cockrell butterfly center--sophie stood still as a statue, again...

...and she almost had these two land on her...

...but she definitely got the caterpillar

after houston we trekked to brenham and the blue bell ice cream factory

a bunny and her post-tour strawberry ice cream

yes, i did rock that hat

after blue bell we found...a park! sophie is remarkably good at pointing out play structures.

trip to texas picturepalooza! (part 4)

2010-08-18T15:18:00.014-06:00

"ohmygod texas is unbelievably bright..." sophie at the alamo (a.k.a. mission san antonio de valero)

in this installment...sophie and i are still in san antonio! we spent a day doing the san antonio missions trail; sophie endured it but just barely (it was a triple digit heat day). i love the mission trail, but it is so poorly marked that you've got to allow an extra 1 to 2 hours just to find everything. if anyone's interested, the best map (if you are GPS-free, like me) is here--it is a wonderful architectural tour and well worth the effort. i miss san antonio...anyway, pictures!

"mom i'm tiiiiiiiirrrrrred"--sophie as we got out of the car at the first mission (san josé y san miguel de aguayo)

"and HHHHHHHOT!"--sophie as we walked in

cloister ruins at mission san josé

sophie bunny seeking shade inside the church

front door detail

side door detail--i love the scallop shell detail but it confuses me a bit because the shell usually represents st. james (santiago, or san diego), not st. joseph (san josé) or st. michael (san miguel). it can be used to represent a pilgrimage, but that's usually reserved for santiago de compostela...i'll figure it out eventually.

prickly pear growing on top of a roof at the mission's barracks

sophie's wondering if she throws herself down the well, would that then put an end to mommy's evil mission visiting...?

next mission: mission concepción (mission nuestra señora de la purisma concepción de acuña)

super-solid construction

i love this archway--you can totally see the moorish (islamic) influences on spanish architecture in the upper part of the arch. lovely.

pretty little wilderness next to espada dam (between missions san josé and san juan)

espada dam--check out the massive colocasias (elephant's ear) growing wild along the banks!

next mission: mission san juan capistrano

side view of mission san juan

"why am i looking at this pile of rocks...?"

a roman numeral four for a four-year old girl

final mission: mission san francisco de la espada (and look how happy sophie is about that!)

i think mission espada may be my favorite--it is so peaceful, so bucolic, and just so green and lovely

i think it was sophie's favorite, too (no shaded benches at any of the others...)

again, note the moorish influences on the arches and also in the door carving

she made it! no more missions to see! and sophie didn't even have to throw herself down a well.

big smile at the san antonio river

a much-needed rest on a riverwalk boat tour with my favorite girl

sophie bunny enjoying the boat tour--this is the hilton palacio del rio, which i stayed at every summer, after camp closing, for about a decade. factoid alert: it was the first hotel (building?) to be built out of concrete sections, meaning that the rectangular rooms were cast in concrete then stacked up like legos. cool.

the riverwalk is truly quite lovely

we even found a playground (back at brackenridge park) to play off that last little bit of daylight

sleepy girl was so worn out that she couldn't even lie down in the right direction on her bed