HNY!!

Christmas City, U.S.A.

We live about an hour outside what is known as Christmas City. Geographically, the city is known as Bethlehem, PA. NittanyBri and I visited there over the weekend.

Bethlehem is home to Moravian College and Central Moravian Church and the lovely Hotel Bethlehem and our new favorite Bethlehem Brew Works. The Brew Works definitely had some tasty and unusual beers. Our favorites would have to be the seasonal Rude Elf....10% alcohol, what's not to love? The Framboise (a personal favorite) and Steegarden Wit, slightly sweet and very tasty!

The Central Moravian Church puts on a tradition called a Putz, technically not a Moravian thing but more a European thing for the holidays. Families from the church go out and gather moss and put together various scenes of the beginning of the church as well as the nativity. This was something that I had heard about all my life but something I had never seen before.

Today however, was spent relaxing at The Spa at Hotel Hershey. Coffee scrubs, facials, massages. I think I might be moving in!

Graven Images

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A Lazy Saturday

Ahhh, Saturday with basically nothing to do. The semester is over for the most part. But, I still have this nagging feeling that I should be reading something or working on a paper. Then I remember, hey you've read all 13 books for the 12 week semester, you completed your paper on New Deal Post Office Murals and the exhibit at the State Museum, turned it in AND got an A on it, you have no worries! It's true I don't have any worries. So, I'm doing some laundry and I swear, I'm going to the gym today!

Then tonight I get to hang out with the gal-pals who are part of the banned book club. Yes, I read banned books! A short book was picked for this month with all the parties, shopping and crazy work schedules so we read the classic George Orwell Animal Farm. Surprisingly I had never read it in school, as a matter of fact, I don't think I've read any of George Orwell's books.

NittanyBri has been working on the basement. I noticed the other day my feet didn't fit on the steps anymore because B had inserted wood on the front of the steps so they are no longer open. Things like socks and stuff won't fall through the steps anymore into the great abyss below. YAY! I also made up my mind I'm getting a dishwasher and a new microwave. I don't care that the kitchen isn't even close to be renovated but I don't think I can live another day without a dishwasher. And so I will have one. And I probably won't stop talking about it for the rest of my life. Just be prepared.

I have a new addiction, which is where I've been spending my time...Facebook. I used to think it was silly, now I'm on there all the time. I know some of you bloggers are out there too. If you aren't, come check it out!! It's fun!

My View of the World

God I Love These Stories

SEDALIA, Mo. (Dec. 2) – A hunter bagged a big buck on the second day of firearms season, but the kill caused him a lot of pain. Randy Goodman, 49, said he thought two well-placed shots with his .270-caliber rifle had killed the buck on Nov. 19. Goodman said the deer looked dead to him, but seconds later the nine-point, 240-pound animal came to life.

The buck rose up, knocked Goodman down and attacked him with his antlers in what the veteran hunter called "15 seconds of hell."

Mission Accomplished...

...another trip around the sun.

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive!

According to the earliest information about this year's wine is that it is going to be more expensive, and the crop was "dismal." On the bright side, we can all rush right out and get some as of today. The wine is also reported to have "raspberry tones." It's delish with Thanksgiving dinner in case you are looking for a special wine to have on Thursday.

It Must Be True

For the Love!

There are two radio stations in our area that are already playing Christmas music 24/7. Geesh.

Guess What I'm Doing This Weekend?

I'm travelling to Philadelphia this weekend to meet one of our very own blogger buddies that I've never met before. Besides Bone and NittanyBri, anyone care to guess who it might be? C'mon! Here's you giant clue if you haven't figured it out by now!

Really?

It seems like only yesterday that I in high school and was trying to convince my parents that the punk movement was really nothing to be concerned about. Sure, my guy friends from school wore eyeliner and leather and that a few earrings in their ears, but they were really nice guys. Matter of fact, they still are!

The real punk movement of course started in the 70's, way before I was in high school. That's when CBGB's had its heyday in NYC, The Sex Pistols were shocking the world and Madame Wongs in L.A. kept the punk scene going on the West Coast.

This past weekend I got to see a photography exhibit by Theresa K. who shared some candid moments with punk's most notorious characters; Stiv Bators, Johnny Thunders, Richard Hell, Joey Ramone, and The Cramps just to name a few. Sadly most of them are dead now, which was the theme of the exhibit I saw this weekend. This exhibit honored these musicians and celebrated the fact that punk is turning 30 years old!

Theresa K is a blogger, check her out and reminisce about the good old days. This is one of my favorite images from the show.

Happy Halloween!

One Thing I Love About Fall

I love to celebrate the season with the different wines that become available. Right now we're enjoying:

Me and the Galpals....

We've all read the book and the cast of the movie looks incredible. I best be sure to take some tissues.

Going to see...

Should be a great night in Hershey, PA!

Oh-My-God!

Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

...and so I went there this morning because I just HAD to have one. I place my order and I hear "I just have to let you know that we're out of the salt." WHAT? There is no point to this drink unless there is salt. Ugh! So, I had to go with my standby. Not that that is a problem.

So How 'Bout Those Phils???

Remembering A Special Birthday

I Am Sooo Happy...

...that Notre Dame doesn't suck this year. Hope your team is winning too. Well, except if you like Penn State.

God Save the Queen

I received this in my in box, hope you did too, so this entire election thing can be put to rest.

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II:

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-'ise.'Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').
2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S .English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.'
3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.
4.You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not ready to shoot grouse.
5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.
8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.
9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable, as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.
11. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).
12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.
13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).
15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

Picture Pages

This IS the job that I want! We were walking along Beacon St. and heard a whole lot of barking. Turn around and find a short school bus full of dogs. They were being dropped off at their homes after a day at doggie day care!

Mt. Auburn cemetery. This was one of the most beautiful cemeteries I've ever seen.

This stone almost brought me to tears. I'd love to work on this image with Photoshop and see what I come up with.

I'm no math wiz, but there seems to be something amiss with this one.

Old North Church

Anyone want to venture a guess as to what this is? It was in the church.

Copp Hill Cemetery

It's True Folks....

...we got to hang out with the coolest guy in Beantown! That's M (from Smoke and Mirrors), me and Nittanybri from our recent trip.

For those of you that have never been to Boston, you need to go. It is a pretty cool place. It's the big city without becoming overwhelming like NYC can be.

• The "T", super simple and it takes you everywhere
• Have a beer or two at Cheers, it's wicked fun! And not the one in Faneuil Hall, go to the one on Beacon St.
• Definitely relax in Boston Common and enjoy all the doggies!
• Have chowda at Union Oyster House, just get the bowl and be done with it.
• See Mt. Auburn cemetery in Cambridge, it is just stunning. Maybe you can catch a glimpse of a coyote or two.
• Challenge your brain at the MIT museum, it's not just ho-hum nerd-dorkery! Be sure to check out the exhibit from their artist in residence Arthur Ganson, absolutely fascinating. The exhibit is called Gestural Engineering. You'll find yourself mesmerized!
• The Old North Church, it's a great place, everyone should see it.
• And while you are in the North End for the love of God, don't forget to eat. If you did, your nose musn't be working. The odors that come out of these restaurants is sinful. On the list of things to eat is definitely cannoli's. You can grab one and run or sit and have a cappucino and take in the sites. Either way, delish!

There will be many pics to share in the near future. We had a super time!!!

Wisenheimers

You have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool you guys! Yup, it's true, we're heading up to Boston this week. It will be fun-fillled for sure. This will be NittanyBri's first time in Bean Town, it has been years for me so I am looking forward to being there again. We also get to meet, live and in person, one of my long time blogger buddies Mr. Smoke & Mirrors!!! Lastly, after we spend a few days in Boston whooping it up with M, we'll be finishing up our trip in Vermont to visit with my nephew who is currently attending Norwich Univ.

Neither I nor Bri has been to Vermont before. We'll be about an hour away from Ben & Jerry's, YUM! Also, Friday is my nephew's birthday. His 21st birthday. You see where I'm going with this? I may need to pack extra Advil for the morning after.

Can You Guess?

Where we're going next??

Remembering....

OK, It Wasn't as Bad as I Thought

We went to Ocean City, Maryland for the weekend in spite of Hanna making a big deal out of things on Saturday. It really wasn't that bad, but Saturday was a wash. Sunday was beautiful and we spent the day on Assateague Island, home to the wild horses. We took the dog with us this weekend so we had to go to a dog friendly beach. Jasmine didn't have as much fun as we hoped she would. She wasn't quite sure about those waves. We did get to see some horses and lots of dogs. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the weekend.

This Will be My Weekend....

Near Fatality

Friday I did something I have only heard stories about. I was at work, the day was almost over and a friend called on my cell. I went to the ladies room to rinse out the cup I was using and while I had the phone cradled in my neck, it slipped.

The bathroom is not the typical "corporate" type bathroom with endless stalls. It is in fact, a single seater. Which is what makes the event on Friday the near fatality. When the phone slipped. It went right in the toilet. UGH! Thankfully the toilet was "clean." My reflex was to get it out of the toilet as soon as possible so it was only there for a second. That one second really put a hurting on my phone. It began doing really strange things.

I was beginning to think the phone was really done for. I was thinking of all the pictures I have on my phone that I won't have any longer as well as all the phone numbers I have in my phone book. Luckily Nittanybri was smart enough to take the phone apart (a day later) and get all the water out of it and let it air out. Seems to be working fine. I did wipe it down with anti-bac sanitizer. I'll have to remember NOT to put that phone in my mouth for any reason.

Clever Chicks Rock!

A big thank you, thank you, thank you to Stepher over at S2DoLife for this fabulous little cartoon that pretty much says it all. Well, except for the glasses. I don't have them yet, though I'm workin on it. Her nifty gift gave me something to blog about for once too. Don't know why, don't have much to yack about lately. Thanks Stepher!!

What A Wonderful World

This has been a magical week full of pleasant surprises. Here's the list in chronological order:

1. Today I passed my CSP test. That's the American Staffing Agencies employment law test that certifies individuals as staffing professionals. It was a two hour test that consisted of laws regarding ASA, FMLA, FLSA, ADEA and much more. It's just a lot of stuff on hiring, firing and maintaining employees. Since I passed the test this morning, I am now allowed to sign my name as Carnealian, C.S.P. Whoo, mysterious letters after my name. Maybe I'll go by Carnealian, B.A., C.S.P. Double-wow them!
2. My dear friend and her husband welcomed their first child into the world today. Mr. Caleb was born this morning. Welcome to the world, Caleb!
3. Nittanybri settles on the sale of his house on Thursday. Zip-a-dee-doo-da!
4. Finally, on Friday, Dean over at Sisyphus Today is going to be tying the knot with his lovely gal. I love a wedding! Be sure to find his link on the right and wish him well.

Hope everyone is having as wonderful a week as we are here at Graven Images!!

We Grow 'Em Big

This year I decided I was going to put in some new flowers. So, I planted a few Zinnias and Sunflowers. I got the "Mammoth" variety of Sunflower because I was hoping for really huge flowers. They're huge all right. The plants, not the flowers. I'm enjoying them none-the-less. I'm getting a kink in my neck from looking up though.

R.I.P Chef

I was surprised to hear of Isaac Hayes passing today. What a voice!

Surprise!

I swear! We're not just sitting here playing Rock Band!

(just enjoying the summer)

Fun Stuff

We got a new toy. The "manual" says:

IMMEDIATELY DISCONTINUE use and consult your physician if you experience any of the following:

dizziness
altered vision
eye or muscle twitches
loss of awareness
disorientation
seizures
any involuntary movement or convulsion

Can you guess what it is?

New Project

Since the Art of the State exhibit is securly installed and all the fun and festivities are over with for that exhibit for now, I've moved on to another volunteer opportunity at the museum. This time I get to work with kids and get to teach them about color.

The Idea Zone is a room that allows kids and parents to come in and learn about the science of color, how color makes you feel, why artists use color AND best of all, each person gets to participate in a community art project.

Each day the Idea Zone is open, there are supplies available for each kid to make a tile which will be placed on the wall as part of the giant rainbow. Each day is a new color that is represented in the rainbow. Each kid can make their tile however they want. After the tiles have time to dry, they are placed on the wall with others.

The tile making seems to be the most fun about the Idea Zone for the kids. The most popular thing about putting together these tiles is.....glitter glue. If you haven't had the chance to use glitter glue, run to the store right now and get yourself some in every color. It's fabulous!!

Guilt of the Dognapper

For those of you that have been following along, you remember that there was a new "man" in my life named Abner. And you all remember my "secret" plot to steal him away from his owner.

Thursday night we were at home doing some cleaning anticipating guests on Friday when Brian hands me my cell and says your phone was ringing. I look at the number, don't recognize it but there is a message. It was my friend Mike (Abner's daddy). He tells me that he's at the hospital because he was out walking the little guy and stepped into a hole and twisted or possibly broke his ankle could I come pick him up.

As we're driving to get a prescription for Mike, I said "I know this sounds like a weak ploy to steal your dog, but if you'd like we'll take him till you can get around better." (Pretty crafty thinking huh?!?)

We packed Abner up and brought him to our house where he met Jasmine and Adeline for the first time. He really wanted to be their friend but they weren't having any parts of it. Abner has discovered the basket of toys and Jasmine has been sharing her toys with him.

Abner has been a lot of fun to have around. He was a big hit at Jasmine's birthday party yesterday too. Here are some pics from Abners visit and from the party yesterday. Speedy recovery to Abner's dad too!

This is the "wild man" look we'd get from time to time. This was the face that Jasmine saw most often as she usually tried to stay on the couch out of Abner's reach.




This is Adeline. She's not a small cat and somehow crammed herself into the bottom of the kitty condo to avoid the wrath of Abner. And no, I don't put my shoes away all the time!

Aunt Daisy all decked out for Jasmine's birthday.

The birthday girl had a little trouble with her hat.

So did Abner.

Happy Birthday All Around

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend complete with lots of picnics and good food! If you aren't busy tomorrow, stop by. We're having a birthday party for Jasmine. She'll be 15. Bring your four-legged friends. There will be party hats and I think I'm going to make some homemade dog biscuits.

A New Man in My Life

Well, he's not really a "man" he's actually quite young though there's no reason to contact Chris Hansen to catch yet another child predator. We met for the first time last night. I think we're in love. His name is Abner, he's not mine, but he is a friends. I'm trying to steal him.

有一次好的旅行

As I am writing this my sister and her husband are winding up their eleventh hour of flight on their way to China. Their flight left this afternoon and they should finally reach their destination of Beijing in the middle of the night (eastern standard time.)

This trip is particularly exciting. I don't ever plan to venture that far to the other side of the world. I just don't think I could sit on a plane for that many hours. I barely have enough patience to tolerate the plane ride home from Europe.

They'll be gone for about a week. My nephew is home from his month-long trip on the aircraft carrier so he'll be on his own for about a week. Well, unless he remembers to call me once and a while.

Happy Summer Y'All!

Where In the World?

Keel Laid: March 13, 1991
Launched: Nov. 11, 1993
Commissioned: Dec. 9, 1995
Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News; Va.
Propulsion system: two nuclear reactors
Main Engines: four
Propellers: four
Blades on each Propeller: five
Aircraft elevators: four
Catapults: four
Arresting gear cables: four
Length, overall: 1,092 feet (332.85 meters)
Flight Deck Width: 257 feet (78.34 meters)
Area of flight deck: about 4.5 acres (18211.5 m2)
Beam: 134 feet (40.84 meters)
Draft: 38.4 feet (11.7 meters)
Displacement: approx. 100,000 tons full load
Speed: 30+ knots
Planes: approx. 85
Crew: Ship: approx. 3,200 , Air Wing: 2,480

Number of telephones: 2,000
Tons of structural steel: about 60,000 tons
Sheets: 28,000
Pillow Cases: 14,000

These are the general statistics of the aircraft carrier, The U.S.S. Stennis. My nephew has been living on this ship for the last several weeks while it is stationed in San Diego, CA. This is ultimately what he wants to do when he graduates from college which is just 2 short years away. Needless to say we harrass him unmercifully with "seamen" jokes which we find terribly funny. He'll be home from his brief tour on the U.S.S. Stennis in about a week or so and can finally let his summer break begin.

Art of the State

This is what I've been working on lately.

This is the 41st year that the PA State Museum has conducted this juried art show of the state's established and emerging artists. This year there was a record number of entries with just over 2400. Out of those only 160 pieces were chosen to particiate in the exhibit. Once the exhibit is installed, the juding of the pieces will begin. Independent judges will review the pieces giving prizes out to the best examples in each category.

My father had a painting hung in the State Museum and I suspect it was part of this very exhibit. Over the weekend I helped with the intake of the various pieces of art. I also hope to assist the curator this weekend in hanging/arranging the pieces within the gallery space.

June 28 is the reception and opening to the public of the exhibit. Everyone is invited!!

Needless to say, I could pee my pants I'm so excited to be doing this. This is what I want to do when I grow up!