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!

Memorial Day

Idle Chatter

Unlike the last post, I don't have anything that I totally need to blog. So, I'm going to fill this space with idle chatter:

• I just filled my gas tank, $3.75 per gallon. I even walk to work two days a week. It's not helping.
• It has been raining entirely too much here, and it's cold. It's actually warmer in the state of Alaska today.
• I got some nifty new books to read since I shall have plenty of down time over the summer: No Country for Old Men-Cormack McCarthy, I figured The Road was so good, this must be too. I haven't seen the movie because that would ruin the book. Remember Me?-Sophie Kinsella, chick-lit. That's all I can say about that. And finally, for some light reading, The Judgement of Paris-the revolutionary decade that gave the world Impressionism-Ross King. It's a big book, I'm kinda scared.
• I have to pick a class for the fall semester. I know I'll have to take a "theory" class and that will be such a thrill-kill compared to my Museum Studies class last semester. But, I guess it's a necessary evil. Oh, I have a 4.0 average thus far. Yea, I know I've only taken one class but it may be my last chance to say that!
• Cider House Rules was on t.v. over the weekend and I got to watch it. I had forgotten what a great story that is. Go rent it! Or better yet, read the book!

An American Idol

Totally by accident, I had a brush with an American Idol! We were at a local club this weekend and unbeknownst to me, Blake Lewis was performing there that night along with some other bands. You may remember him as the "beat box" or "wicky-wicky-wicky" singer from last season.

Blake technically was a loser on American Idol last year, the year of Sanjaya. I got to say hi, and pat him on the shoulder as he walked by. And afterwards, I said those infamous words, "I am so blogging about this." I know, I'm a dork.

Three Contemporary PA Artists:

It's true, I've officially finished my very first master's class. Last night was the final night and pretty much all we did was turn in our class project.

You may remember that this class was Museum Studies. So, the final project was to design an exhibit, draw the floor plan to scale, write a script (that the document that identifies labels to objects within the exhibit and shows word for word what is on the label or the introduction), and finally the elevation plan (which is a scale drawing of the wall from floor to ceiling with all the artifacts flush to that surface.) Lucky for me, I have my trusty, handy-dandy partner Nittanybri and his one month trial of Auto-CAD to thank for getting my drawings done quickly and very professionally. I'm so getting an A!!

The nice thing was that there was no constraints like how much I could spend on the exhibit, the room space and the staff it would take to install such an exhibit. The exhibit could be imaginary as well. I couldn't do an exhibit about aliens that landed in my backyard, because that's never happened to my knowledge. But I could have done an exhibit on the works of famous women artists from late-Renaissance Italy.

So, I took the low road along with some shameless self promotion and did my exhibit on "Three Contemporary Pennsylvania Artists, a contrast in color and design." The artists are my father, me and my friend Renee. Here are some examples of the paintings from my exhibit:

This is a painting of my father's that actually did hang in the PA State Museum back in the 60's. His work is quite similar to that of the Impressionists; perspective, thick paint, choppy brush strokes.

This one is mine. The quality isn't that good because of the glass on the front. This is a watercolor. And it's too difficult for me to critique my own stuff so I won't.

This one is Renee's. Don't you just love the colors?? Her paintings are very abstract and full of color. I think my paintings and my fathers compliment each other and Renee's provide the contrast.

Terrific/Terrible Tuesday

This Tuesday, my fellow Pennsylvanians and I will have some very important choices to make:

Never Say Goodbye

It was in the spring that we met. Actually, you found me and you insisted upon never leaving my side. It's hard to believe that was sixteen years ago. You were wirey but always a source of laughter and enjoyment.

You were my friend when there was no one else around. You would cuddle with me and protect me and if I wanted to, you let me cry my eyes out until your fur was completely soaked.

You didn't want much, just to be fed and loved. And boy were you loved. You knew when warmer weather was on the way because you wanted to be left outside so you could walk around the back yard, chase butterflies and grasshoppers, nibble on grass and claw on a tree. You were always a part of whatever festivities were going on outside. You were the king of your domain.

You were such a bright spot in my life. I couldn't wait to get home to see you at the end of the day. You were also my alarm clock never letting me sleep too long or I would suffer the fate of those long, tickely whiskers or the occasional poke from your long claws letting me know it was feeding time.

It was in the spring, with flowers blooming and the morning bird songs filling the air when you went on without me. I'm so thankful I was able to be there with you and could hold you and be with those that loved you.

You will be forever missed and forever loved. Rest well my buddy.

Thanks Oprah!

Today's Oprah show is an inside view of puppy mills. Living about 45 mins outside Lancaster County, a big farming community, one learns about puppy mills pretty quickly. They are quite abundant there.

Puppy mills are apparently a way to make a good, quick profit by over-breeding dogs. I'm sure most are aware of the Appalachian Mountain inbreeding jokes, well, it works the same for animals. These dogs are kept in cages, are constantly pregnant and the puppies are often deformed or have bad characteristic traits and health problems because of the over-breeding.

Needless to say, one should never purchase an animal from a puppy mill, and I believe through awareness people are becoming wise to these mills and legislation is in the works to have them abolished.

In support, I'm asking each of you to email Oprah to thank her for producing a show like this to bring further awareness on this issue. Even if you didn't watch the show (I couldn't bring myself to watch), a thank-you in support will still help.

Here's a link to the Oprah web site: http://www2cdn.oprah.com/email/email_landing.jhtml

Yet Another Installment

I know all three of you have been anxiously awaiting another installment of the Spring Break (did you forget to do the Whoooo! with the rock hand?) 2008 Mexico trip. So, here 'tis....

This was on the front of the Hard Rock Acapulco. It was a waterfall. There was water trickling down over the words. How can one go wrong with a quote from The Beatles?

I love a good sick-sense of humor. Since it's impossible to see it in this picture, the license plate on the car reads "God is my co-pilot."

A stunning view of Acapulco Bay.

This is the beach we layed on/swam in every day. This is a view from the cliffs in Acapulco. The evil air-traffic controllers make sure that every plane that leaves Acapulco airport flies directly over this beach when departing the city. We watched the planes go over each day knowing full well when our day came to leave we'd get one last view of the beach.

"Every beach has its dog." Jimmy, if you like these lyrics, call us. There will be a small copyright fee. This is Aqui....(come here in Spanish, though I probably have it spelled wrong.) He was a perfect gentleman. He just wanted to be petted. I just wanted to take him home.

This is Aqui's girlfriend, Alli (a distorted "there" in Spanish.) I really don't know if she was Aqui's girlfriend, but at least that's the story I conjured up in my mind. She was adorable and chased the birds away when we asked and again, just wanted to be petted. And again, I wanted to just take her home.

All together now....Ahhhhh!

Happy Easter

This pretty much sums up our Easter Sunday. Hope yours was wonderful.

Side Trips

Our trip to Acapulco wasn't all about lounging around the pool and the beach. However, we did have our rear-ends parked in these chairs from about 10:00 a.m. each morning. We waited here all day for sunset. We also worked pretty hard at making our own Corona commercials. You know the one's...crystal blue water, white sand beach with a bucket of icy cold Corona's without another soul around...ah!!! We did take a couple of side trips during the week. The first one was to Taxco. That's about three hours outside Acapulco to the north. This little excursion should have only taken us 3 hours, however, we got a little lost and drove about an hour away from our destination. The scenery was gorgeous, the town we discovered was fabulous but the roads into this town were winding, and mountainous. I was pretty nauseated by the time we finally got to Taxco. The drive was like a never ending roller coaster ride. I was glad to have my feet on the ground finally.

For all you devoted QVC watchers, you are probably already familiar with the town of Taxco. That's were much of the silver is mined in Mexico. It's a great little town with a most wonderful church on the square.

Inside Santa Prisca church, Taxco. The amount of sculpture in this church was just amazing. It was as impressive as any cathedral in Europe I've ever been in. The church was built by a Frenchman in the mid 18th century. The enormous pipe organ was imported from Germany and was sent to the port in Acapulco. It was then brought piece by piece on horse and donkey up into this tiny mountain village of Taxco.

The second side trip we took was to Palma Sola Archaeological Site. That was located just outside Acapulco (so there wasn't much chance of getting lost) however, we did have to battle the horrific traffic in the city. I'm glad I wasn't driving, but watching the way these people drive was quite entertaining. This site is a natural setting for the native petroglyphs (rock carvings). The hike took us approximately 1200 feet above sea level. It was a tough climb too. But the petroglyphs were quite amazing. They have dated the carvings as far back as 600 BCE.

The view from the highest point at Palma Sola....breathtaking!

Spring Break 2008

For the following post, it will be necessary for audience participation. Every time you see the words Spring Break, please insert a WHOOOO! (with the obligatory rock hand sign, devil horns, whatever they're called.)

Last week was spring break for many colleges including Penn State. And like any good college students, we decided to get away to someplace warm since we didn't have any school work to worry about so we went to Acapulco, Mexico. The sun and sand was hot, the beer was cold!

Over the next couple of days, I'll cover the good, the bad and the ugly of the trip, including some pictures.

We flew out last week from Newark airport which is just across the river from New York City. It was tough to be able to see the city and not actually go for a visit. The flights both to and from Spring Break, (did you forget what you were supposed to be doing here????) were part of the bad category. See, we weren't the only Spring Breakers going to or coming from Acapulco. The others were of the 20-something variety however, complete with their iPods, iPod players, Louis Vuitton luggage, iPhones and Blackberries. I only have two out of this list and I've been making a living for longer than these kids have been alive.

During both flights, there was lots of seat exchanging, going to the bathroom, chatting, laughing, standing in the aisles eating and of course drinking then finally some sleeping. Most of this was completely annoying to the over 20-something passengers on the flights.

A major part of the good of this Spring Break trip was where we stayed, The Mayan Palace. I swear, their motto was "how may I kiss your behind today?" This place had three restaurants, not including the outdoor restaurants where you could order drinks and food from a thatched cabana on the beach. One of the restaurants served Crepas (Crepes) both savory and sweet all the time. The other restaurants had buffets of sea food, prim rib or breakfast.

The Palace also had the world's largest pool (and I'm not kidding), it went on forever. There was also a "Lazy River" pool where you could kick back on an innertube while the water slowly moved you along the way. Until you got to the giant bucket of water that dumped about one hundred gallons of water on the people below. I think I drank most of the water on one pass by this bucket while someone who shall remain nameless watched with glee. I'm thinking paybacks....