Picture of the Week

I just like this picture of Lindsay that I took in Heidelberg Castle (Germany) in August 2004.

Today in History

Been a while since I did this, but here's one for today. It had an important highlight, one that I didn't realize because I was so young (two months shy of five) at the time and so don't remember the exact date of the event.

Oh, and as a teacher, I really liked the thought for the day at the very bottom of the list!

I got this list on this website.

Today is Monday, Jan. 28, the 28th day of 2008. There are 338 days left in the year.

Today's Highlighted Event:

On Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven of its crew members: flight commander Francis R. "Dick" Scobee; pilot Michael J. Smith; Ronald E. McNair; Ellison S. Onizuka; Judith A. Resnik; Gregory B. Jarvis; and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

On this date:

In 1547, England's King Henry VIII died; he was succeeded by his 9-year-old son, Edward VI.

In 1853, Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti was born in Havana.

In 1878, the first daily college newspaper, Yale News (now Yale Daily News), began publication in New Haven, Conn.

In 1909, the United States ended direct control over Cuba.

In 1915, the U.S. Coast Guard was created as President Wilson signed into law a bill merging the Life-Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service.

In 1916, Louis D. Brandeis was nominated by President Wilson to the Supreme Court; Brandeis became its first Jewish member.

In 1945, during World War II, Allied supplies began reaching China over the newly reopened Burma Road.

In 1973, a cease-fire officially went into effect in the Vietnam War.

In 1980, six U.S. diplomats who had avoided being taken hostage at their embassy in Tehran flew out of Iran with the help of Canadian diplomats.

In 1982, Italian anti-terrorism forces rescued U.S. Brigadier General James L. Dozier, 42 days after he had been kidnapped by the Red Brigades.

Ten years ago: O.J. Simpson's fate was placed in the hands of a civil court jury that was charged with deciding whether Simpson should be held liable for the slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. (The jury found that Simpson was liable, and ordered him to pay $33.5 million.)

Five years ago: Hamid Karzai became the first Afghan leader to visit Washington in 39 years; President Bush promised a "lasting partnership" with Afghanistan. Afghan troops backed by U.S. Special Forces stormed a hospital ward in Kandahar, killing six al-Qaida gunmen who had repeatedly refused to surrender. An Ecuadorean jetliner crashed in the Andes across the border in Colombia, killing all 92 aboard. "Pippi Longstocking" creator Astrid Lindgren died in Stockholm, Sweden, at age 84.

One year ago: A memorial service was held at the Kennedy Space Center to honor the crew of the Challenger on the 20th anniversary of the shuttle disaster. Sixty-five people were killed when the roof of an exhibition hall in Katowice, Poland, collapsed during a racing-pigeon fair. Amelie Mauresmo won her first Grand Slam singles title when Justine Henin-Hardenne retired in the second set of their Australian Open final because of stomach pain. Mauresmo led 6-1, 2-0.

Today's Birthdays: Musician-composer Acker Bilk is 78. Actor Nicholas Pryor is 72. Actor Alan Alda is 71. Actress Susan Howard is 65. Actress Marthe Keller is 62. Actress-singer Barbi Benton is 57. Actress Harley Jane Kozak is 50. Movie director Frank Darabont is 48. Rock musician Dave Sharp is 48. Rock singer Sam Phillips is 45. Rock musician Dan Spitz (Anthrax) is 44. Country musician Greg Cook (Ricochet) is 42. Singer Sarah McLachlan is 39. Rapper Rakim is 39. DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill) is 39. Actress Kathryn Morris ("Cold Case") is 38. Rock musician Brandon Bush (Train) is 34. Singer Joey Fatone Junior ('N Sync) is 30. Singer Nick Carter (Backstreet Boys) is 27. Actor Elijah Wood is 26.

Thought for Today: "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." -- Henry Brooks Adams, American historian-author (1838-1918).

More small changes!

Apparently, I just have a lot of time on my hands today, as I am making more changes to the blog. I have now added a "For Your Listening Pleasure" section to the left side column. I had to change the application a bit so that it would fit nicely, so you can't see the full list (which, at the time of this posting, only included "In the Mood" anyway!). I've set it so that it will randomly play a new song every time you come to the blog, and it's on shuffle, in case you're sticking around here long enough to listen to multiple songs. I am attempting to include only songs that have some family connection in some way or another though I am almost positive I could make a connection with ANY song.

There will be a lot of jazz/swing/big band music because they were all featured on the old home movies of Dad, Kevin, Willa, Grandma and Popops (making videos taken in the 60's and 70's seem much older than they really are)! Hopefully we can get those up on DVD so I can start doing home movies here in addition to photos and silly news.

I'm sure there will be more songs on the playlist soon. You can still skip to the next song - that feature is still available.

Updated a few minutes later: More songs added! And before you go thinking that the "Wind Beneath My Wings" is here for sappy and corny reasons, one day we WILL post a video of 11-year-old (best estimate!) Jordan lip singing the song while serenading a pair of Ernie and Bert dolls. Then you will understand.

Some small fun changes.

I made a few changes to the blog this morning, including a more interesting way of accessing the photo gallery. See that on the left - there's the link to the gallery on top and then all pictures are links to their respective galleries - I will keep three recent galleries up at a time). I'm also in the process of gathering some fun family links and things to just make things around here look more intereting.

Oh, and I might change back to the dark dots again... I'm so indecisive!

This is a REAL sport?

I don't even want to say what it is yet! Just CLICK HERE to see a very funny - and kind of cool - video of something I can honestly say I have NEVER seen before!

All Pictures Now Available...

The rest of the pictures from last night's chorus show are available in the photo gallery. Link is in the post below (direct to the album) or to the left (the entire photo gallery). It worked just fine today so I don't know what was going on yesterday!

Photo Gallery Updates

Photos from my recent chorus show performance (yeah... it was about six hours ago!) are now uploaded to the photo gallery. Click here to see them!

There are more coming tomorrow. Picasa is being stupid right now and not uploading the rest of the pictures, and as it's 12:30 a.m., I don't feel like trying to figure it out right now! Look forward to a treat tomorrow when I post the rest - and add all the captions!

A Fun Night

Tonight I sang with the school faculty-student chorus, and had a blast! The performances were great and everyone had a nice time. In fact, this post is going up on Saturday instead of Friday because I didn't get home till after midnight! I'm going to regret that tomorrow, I think, but it was worth it. Pictures will be in the gallery soon - almost momentarily.

More Redesign

I was bored with the black, so I went back to the dots. However, I picked the LIGHTER dots this time. Perhaps we'll just alternate between those two, unless I feel ambitious enough to actually make some sort of custom layout!

Featured Book # 6

Here's another book for everyone out there to try. Most family members have read it, but I recommend it to the ones who have not because it's just really good!


Nineteen Minutes is the story of a school shooting in a small New Hampshire town. How can you go wrong with such a controversial topic AND Jodi Picoult!?

It's National Pie Day!

Here's an apple pie from Thanksgiving.


Of all the national days to post on the family website, this one felt the most fitting!

Music Man Dresses!

I finally have two of the dresses finished, with a grand plan for Saturday to teach the crew how to use the sewing machines and cut and put together the other dresses! I expect ALL family members at the production on March 27th or 28th (two chances to see it so there's no excuse!!).


"Goodnight, My Someone" dress, front.


"Goodnight, My Someone" dress, back.


"Til There Was You" dress, front.


"Til There Was You" dress, back.

The actress playing Marian gets at least two more dresses and a coat, while all the other characters each get one dress and a creative way to cover it for other scenes (aprons, pinafores, etc. depending on age the character is supposed to be). All the boys will be getting store-bought items, as I wouldn't even know where to begin to make a suit, particularly one from 1912!

Picture of the Week

This picture of Jack was taken when he was a few months old (I can't remember exactly - he was born in July and I think this pic was taken the following April or May). I was baby-sitting for him at Paul's studio while Willa was out on a job, and to entertain him, we posed him for pictures.

Quote of the Day

"I can't believe that," said Alice.

"Can't you?" the Queen said, in a pitying tone. "Try again: draw a long breath and shut your eyes."

Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said. "One can't believe impossible thing."

"I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

-Lewis Carroll (Through the Looking Glass)

So... what impossible things have you believed today?

Progress on my novel...

Since I tell so many people this on various occasions, I might as well update here. I've made some decent progress on the novel - mostly during Christmas vacation when I didn't have to work. I did rewrites to the first 7 chapters and am well on my way through chapter 8. Once the rewrites are done, I am sending it off to family members for "approval" before deciding on the next step.

In the meantime, I have also started work on the next novel, and have notes written down for the five that will follow it... that is, if all goes well! I'm hoping the initial one is only the beginning!

Featured Book # 5

Today's featured book may seem strange, as I have never really talked about it before, but we read an adaptation of it with my students today, and they LOVED the story and took to the activity wonderfully! Now I want to get the book for them to read once we finish Romeo and Juliet (which I will feature at some point)!


The movie (the French one!) is really good too, and it just makes the story so bittersweet. I recommend checking both out for a good story!

Picture of the Week

This week's picture is from June 2005, when we all attended the annual Brooklyn Botanic Garden, courtesy of Grandma! It was a great opportunity to get all dressed up, and spend some time in the gardens (and the food was great too)! I LOVE my dress from this - I would wear it everyday!

Watch him go!

Here's some video of Jack snowboarding this weekend - it was featured on the Belleayre Mountain website (www.belleayre.com).

Featured Book # 4

I know it's not Friday - not even close! - but I was looking through one of my favorite books and had to share.


1000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's LIfe List by Patricia Schultz is my favorite travel book, because it shows much more than you could ever imagine is in the world, and it all sounds really interesting and worth a visit. Some I can take day trips to, and some I have to go halfway around the world to find, but I want to see them all!

I definitely spend WAY too much time in my travel dream world!

Some of the places I want to see the most are:

1. Santorini, Greece. I think the photo speaks for itself.



2. Verona, Italy. For this Romeo and Juliet fan/scholar, the real Verona calls!



3. The Taj Mahal. I would really like to see different parts of India one day.



4. Salzburg, Austria. How could anyone NOT love the place where the hills are alive with the sounds of music? Apparently they have a Sound of Music tour...



5. Portugal. I've always wanted to go there, but I don't know any specific sites. I suppose I'd like to go to Lisbon, though!



Five is probably enough to go on for now, but there are so many other places to go and see: Rome, Florence, Venice, Sicily, Sweden, Norway, Gandia (Spain), other parts of Spain! I want to see it all!

Anatomy of a Dress, Take Three, Part One

The next part of the Music Man costuming saga. Here's the plan for dress # 3. I haven't really taken too many in progress pictures, being too eager to finish and not knowing where the camera was, but you can see where the project is going.


The bodice of the dress. I thought it was too bland for the stage, which inspired the plan you're about to see.


Using the other bodice option, I cut the pattern and used the other bodice option with the inset, making a - for lack of a better way to describe it - suspender-type effect. This fabric will also be the sleeve cuffs as well as the sash.



The dress, roughly constructed. It's pretty much just pinned together, so it doesn't quite give the look it will once done (not to mention the fact that I'm using a CHAIR as a dressform... I really need to get a real one!).

Travel Tales: Paris 2003, Part Seven

Saturday in Paris took us on a morning trip to Versailles, which was both interesting and really beautiful. Unforunately it was one of those situations where I remember the place but not the details our tour guide gave us. Well... actually I do remember the one about why the beds were all so short. Apparently, back in the Marie Antionette times, they were superstitious about people lying down to sleep and so they made the beds sort of like recliners. People would sit in a sitting position with their legs in front of them. This is, incidentally, an inaccurate detail in the Marie Antoinette movie!

Anyway, the inside of the palace was really impressive, but I really liked the grounds. They were much bigger than we were able to walk as it was REALLY hot that day, but we did get a special treat in that they turned the fountains on. If I remember correctly, the original plumbing is still used (at least in the fountain structures) and so they do not put them on except for fifteen minutes on Saturday mornings! We were lucky enough to be there to see it, which was very worth it.

Walking outside, I mostly took more pictures of the statues and things, which I really liked.

Some sights from Versailles:






I couldn't help but feeling while we were on the grounds that we should be dressed in old Regency outfits or something!

Once back in Paris, we didn't have a lot of time left in the day so we started to get ready for dinner. I really wanted to see the Eiffel Tower in the dark, all lit up, so we decided to go have dinner and wait for it to get dark (which took QUITE a while!). We also had not been all the way to the top of the tower yet, so that was part of our plan as well - taking the elevator this time.

When we got up there, the first thing I noticed was how everything on the ground kind of looked like garbage scattered around - but you can't beat the view!




We did get to see the tower when it was semi-dark, but we were both a little wary of going back to the hotel so late. Even so, it was nice to see.

Sunday was our last day in Paris, and we really didn't have time for much before heading to the airport. We went to the Tuileries and just watched people for a little while, finishing off a roll of film and enjoying our last few hours.


I really think the above picture was literally the last one I took!

We headed to the airport and headed home. The flight was uneventful, unless you consider watching Spy Kids 2 an event!

Guess where Lindsay is!

If you can't from this hint (or at least narrow it down to one of two places in the country), then can I politely suggest an eye doctor appointment?



If all goes well, I'll be able to get some pictures from the trip to share when they return!

Travel Tales: Paris 2003, Part Six

Thought I'd polish off the Paris Travel Tale so that I could put the photo album away. When we last left off, Lindsay and I had visited with Evelyn and Gunter, who came in from Germany.

The next day we were up early again so that we could go on a walking tour with Patrick, our tour guide, through the Marais District. He brought his little dog, Daisy, with him. Paris was still crowded from the day before, but near the Marais it seemed a little less so. We walked through the entire area, and Patrick told us many stories of the place - which I wish I could remember. My favorite part of the walk was taking pictures of all the intricate building designs and statues that grace the area, this one being one of my favorites (his stance entertains me):


As usual, Lindsay and I took many pictures of the architecture and buildings around us, just to remember it all and take it all in over and over again in the photo albums. Unfortunately, I don't have TOO many pictures from this day, as I think we used the black and white roll, which never got scanned into the computer (a project for another day - there's an amazing picture of two little girls by a fountain that Lindsay took, but that's a story - and a PROJECT! - for another day...)!

So that this story of our tour isn't so brief, here are some of my favorite shots from our walk:



We ended our tour relatively close to Notre Dame, which Lindsay and I hadn't visited yet. Strangely enough, in my search through the photos, I didn't find ANY from Notre Dame - they must be in the black and white roll too! In any case, we did not go up because the crowds were insane, but enjoyed looking at it before finding a small park right next to it and watching the little French children play games before continuing on our walk.

We had yet to visit the museums, so we decided it was a good time to. The only logical place to start was the Louvre.... Bad Idea! The Louvre REALLY deserves an entire day, but we were giving it about two hours and then heading to the Musee D'Orsay (which I actually prefer because I like Impressionist paintings). However, we had time to check out the Egyptian wing for Lindsay and, of course, see the Mona Lisa, just to say that we did!

Though the sign said no pictures, I did manage to get a shot of it (seriously, I don't think they enforce this rule very well as EVERYONE was taking pictures of it). It was interesting to see but, admittedly, it's much smaller than you might imagine.


After our brief time in the Louvre, we headed to the Orsay, which was finally open (they had been on strike for the first couple of days). We spent more time there, looking at all the pictures, Lindsay taking close up shots of details she really liked in the photos.

I don't think I need to say that a walk through the Marais district, a trip to Notre Dame and visits to not one, but TWO, famous Paris museums, made for an EXTREMELY exhausting day, and we trekked back to the hotel and, after more bread and cheese (and Nutella) fell asleep early (as the next day would be another early wake up - for a trip to Versailles!).

Featured Book # 3

Most people don't read the classics, but as an English major I did - and even before that I did, just because I loved to read. Strangely enough, I don't believe most members of my family have read this week's featured book:


A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one of my favorite novels. The summer I was fourteen I bought it and proceeded to read the whole thing practically in one sitting (and it's LONG!). I loved all the characters and I loved the descriptions of old Brooklyn!

I've always loved the opening passage:

"Serene was word you could put to Brooklyn, New York. Especially in the summer of 1912. Somber, as a word, was better. But it did not apply to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Prairie was lovely and Shenandoah was beautiful, but you couldn't fit those words into Brooklyn. Serene was the only word for it; especially on a Saturday afternoon in summer." - Betty Smith, page 1

I passed this book along to my students last year, with mixed results. Some of them really seemed to enjoy the story of Francie Nolan and her family, while others were confused because nothing ever really seems to happen in the story! It really is just a coming-of-age story!

Disspelling Rumors about New Yorkers

Found this in my "travels" across the web and was inspired by another blog (posting an upstate New York version) to post the city gal's version. However, I'm putting commentary, because I need to disspell rumors - or at least own up to being a half city/half upstate girl (though I've always lived in the city). Despite the stereotypes about New Yorkers, I am, for the most part, a very worldly person (or, at the very least, WILLING to be!).

You say "the city" and expect everyone to know that this means Manhattan. (ADMITTEDLY, I DO THIS.)

You have never been to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. (NOT TRUE, I'VE BEEN TO BOTH NUMEROUS TIMES AND NOT ALWAYS WITH OUT OF TOWN GUESTS.)

You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park at 3:30 on the Friday before a long weekend, but can't find Wisconsin on a map. (I KNOW WHERE WISCONSIN IS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, AND I DON'T GO TO COLUMBUS CIRCLE VERY OFTEN!)

The subway makes sense. (I KNOW HOW TO GET PLACES ON THE SUBWAY, BUT WITH ALL THE REROUTING FOR CONSTRUCTION AND WEEKEND TIMES AND WHATNOT, I DON'T THINK THE SUBWAY WILL EVER "MAKE SENSE")

You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual. (NO, IN FACT I CAN ONLY SWEAR IN FRENCH, AND THAT'S NOT EVEN A COMMONLY SPOKEN LANGUAGE IN THE CITY!)

You've considered stabbing someone just for saying "The Big Apple". (STABBING??? THAT'S A BIT HARSH.)

The most frequently used part of your car is the horn. (NOPE! DRIVE EVERYWHERE!)

You call an 8' x 10' plot of patchy grass a yard. (YES I DO, BUT ONLY CAUSE IT'S THE ONLY ONE I'VE GOT!)

You consider Westchester "upstate". (NOT REALLY... WHEN I VISIT KEVIN AND LORI IN WESTCHESTER I SAY I'M GOING TO WESTCHESTER; WHEN I VISIT GRANDMA AND TED IN NEW LEBANON I SAY I'M GOING UPSTATE)

You think Central Park is "nature." (WELL, IT IS, BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S THE EPITOME OF NATURE OR ANYTHING! I'VE BEEN IN THE CATSKILLS, BERKSHIRES AND APPALACHIANS AND GONE CAMPING AND ROCK CLIMBING.)

You see nothing odd about the speed of an auctioneer's speaking. (NO, THEY SPEAK VERY QUICKLY.)

You're paying $1,200 for a studio the size of a walk-in closet and you think it’s a "steal." (NOPE - RENT THE BASEMENT FROM GRANDMA!)

You've been to New Jersey twice and got hopelessly lost both times. (WELL YES, BUT NEW JERSEY HAS HORRIBLE SIGNS - AND I'VE BEEN THERE MORE THAN TWICE... STILL DOESN'T MEAN I LIKE IT!)

You pay more each month to park your car than most people in the U.S. pay in rent. (NOPE - THE BEAUTY OF BROOKLYN... LESS CROWDED THAN MANHATTEN AND FREE STREET PARKING!)

You haven't seen more than twelve stars in the night sky since you went away to camp as a kid. (NOPE - WHEN I'M "UPSTATE" I SEE STARS ALL THE TIME!)

You go to dinner at 9 and head out to the clubs when most Americans are heading to bed. (NOPE - NOT A CLUBBER, AND I DON'T LIKE TO EAT THAT LATE!)

Your closet is filled with black clothes. (NOPE - JUST A FEW THINGS ARE BLACK.)

You haven't heard the sound of true absolute silence since the 80s, and when you did, it terrified you. (NOPE - AGAIN, VISITS TO KEVIN AND LORI'S/GRANDMA'S/VERMONT/ETC... AS RECENTLY AS NEW YEAR'S EVE)

You pay $5 without blinking for a beer that cost the bar 28 cents. (BEER'S GROSS!)

You take fashion seriously. (NOPE. I LIKE TO LOOK NICE, BUT I COULD NOT TELL YOU WHAT'S "IN" OR "OUT" IN FASHION!)

Being truly alone makes you nervous. (ONLY AT NIGHT!)

You have 27 different menus next to your telephone. (NOT QUITE TWENTY-SEVEN, AND I LIKE TO COOK SO I DON'T USE THEM AS OFTEN AS MOST)

Going to Brooklyn is considered a "road trip." (WELL... I LIVE IN BROOKLYN SO I JUST CALL IT HOME! BUT IT'S THE CITY - LAST TIME I CHECKED NYC WAS MADE UP OF FIVE BOROUGHS - BROOKLYN, MANHATTAN, QUEENS, THE BRONX AND STATEN ISLAND!)

America west of the Hudson is still theoretical to you. (NOPE - I'M A TRAVELER!)

You've gotten jaywalking down to an art form. (YEAH, OKAY, I'LL ADMIT TO THAT ONE!)

You take a taxi to get to your health club to exercise. (NO - I EXERCISE AT HOME!)

Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing on your toes. (NO - I HAVE LOTS OF SPACE)

$50 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag. (NO - I TRY TO SAVE MONEY ON FOOD FOR THE MOST PARTY, BUT IT CAN HAPPEN FOR THE OCCASIONAL DINNER PARTY)

You have a minimum of five "worst cab ride ever" stories. (NOT REALLY - I LIKE TO DRIVE MYSELF AROUND)

You don't notice sirens anymore. (SORT OF TRUE - DEPENDS WHAT TIME OF DAY IT IS)

You live in a building with a larger population than most American towns. (NOPE - ANOTHER BROOKLYN PERKS - HOUSES!)

Your doorman is Russian, your grocer is Korean your deli man is Israeli, your building super is Italian, your laundry guy is Chinese, your favorite bartender is Irish, your favorite diner owner is Greek, the watchseller on your corner is Senegalese, your last cabbie was Pakistani, your newsstand guy is Indian and your favorite falafel guy is Egyptian. (NOT TRUE 100% BUT YES, THE IDEA OF IT IS TRUE - MY STUDENTS RUN THE GAMUT OF ALL NATIONALITIES AND RELIGIONS AND RACES)

You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you. (NO.)

You secretly envy cabbies for their driving skills. (NO WAY - I THINK IT'S RUDE!)

You think $7.00 to cross a bridge is a fair price. (NOPE!)

Your door has more than three locks. (YEAH.)

Your favorite movie has DeNiro in it. (NOPE! I'M A KATE WINSLET FAN)

You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression. (DEPENDS WHO I'M WITH, I SUPPOSE.)

You run when you see a flashing "Do Not Walk" sign at the intersection. (YEAH.)

You're 35 years old and don't have a driver's license. (NOPE - ALMOST 27 AND HAD A LICENSE SINCE 21).

You ride in a subway car with no air conditioning just because there are seats available. (I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW - I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER BEEN IN THIS SITUATION.)

You're willing to take in strange people as roommates simply to help pay the rent. (UM... NO!)

There is no North and South...

It's uptown or downtown. (IN THE CITY, YES, BUT "OUT THERE" - AS AM APPARENTLY SUPPOSED TO THINK OF IT, THERE CERTAINLY IS NORTH AND SOUTH - AND I KNOW WHICH STATES ARE IN WHICH DIRECTION!)

When you're away from home, you miss "real" pizza and "real" bagels. (YES!)

You know the differences between all the different Ray's Pizzas. (NO - WE DON'T HAVE A RAY'S BY MY HOUSE AND I'M PARTIAL TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD PIZZA)

You're not in the least bit interested in going to Times Square on New Year's Eve. (100% TRUE!)

Your internal clock is permanently set to know when Alternate Side of the Street parking regulations are in effect. (YES, BUT SOMETIMES I HAVE BRAIN FREEZE AND TOTALLY PARK ON THE WRONG SIDE AND HAVE TO PAY THE DARN TICKET!)

You know what a bodega is. (YUP!)

You know how to fold the New York Times in half, vertically, so that you can read it on the subway or bus without knocking off other passenger's hats. (YUP! LEARNED IN HIGH SCHOOL WHEN I PICKED UP A PENCHANT FOR DOING THE CROSSWORD!)

Someone bumps into you, and you check for your wallet..... (YEAH, I MUST ADMIT IT.)

You cringe at hearing people pronounce Houston St. like the city in Texas (CRINGE? MAYBE JUST INTERNALLY CORRECT THEM)

Film crews on your block annoy you, not excite you. (DEPENDS ON HOW LONG THEY'RE THERE, AND IF THERE'S ANYONE I LIKE IN THE MOVIE I MIGHT POSSIBLY MEET - NEVER MET ANYONE THOUGH, EVEN WHEN JEFF DANIELS DID "THE SQUID AND THE WHALE" AT MY NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE - DID SEE ANNA PAQUIN LEAVE A CAR THOUGH!)

People from other states cant tell a polar bear from a peanut, but they know you're from NY the second you open your mouth. (NO, ACTUALLY MOST PEOPLE THINK I'M FROM THE MIDWEST - APPARENTLY I NEVER PICKED UP A NEW YORK ACCENT)

When you are able to make a right turn at a red light.. you think it's the best thing ever. (YEAH, THAT'S TRUE - IT'S SO MUCH MORE CONVENIENT!)

Rather than waiting safely on the sidewalk to cross the street, you wait inches away from speeding traffic waiting to cut through it. (SOMETIMES)

Your local news is national news. (KIND OF, I GUESS.)

You walk a mile in 13 minutes and think that everything should be open 24/7. (YEAH, ANOTHER ONE I MUST ADMIT TO)

You know who Dr. Z is... (DR. ZIZMORE!?!? USED TO CALL HIM DR. ZITSMORE - HE'S THE DERMATOLOGIST WITH ADVERTISEMENTS ON THE SUBWAY - I ALWAYS THOUGHT HE LOOKED LIKE MY 6TH GRADE SCIENCE TEACHER)

You think you know better than everyone else in the world.. when in reality.. well.. you do. (NO.)

Yellow light means speed up. (DEPENDS ON HOW FAR YOU WERE WHEN IT TURNED YELLOW!)

Red light means speed up because you know have that 1 second pause until the other light turns green. (I DON'T DO THAT; IT ANNOYS ME WHEN PEOPLE DO)

Communicating with people on the road only takes one finger. (YEAH, I DON'T DO THAT EITHER!)

You order your dinner and have it delivered.. from the place across the street. (SURE CAN, BUT DON'T!)

You cross the street on a greenlight, and if you get hit by a car you blame the driver for "not watching where they're going. (ANOTHER THING I DON'T DO!)

You can tell a gunshot from a firecracker and not get scared, but when you go to the burbs you get scared of hearing a cricket. (NOPE - NONE OF THE ABOVE TRUE, THOUGH I SUPPOSE I DO KNOW A FIRECRACKER WHEN I HEAR ONE!)

You know the lights above the skyscrapers is the closest thing we have to stars. (I GUESS)

The only reason you go to NJ is to go to Six Flags; as for adults, gas (TRUE)

Parties don't end until 4am yet you still don't wanna leave, and you know 7am is a ridiculous time to come in, but that diner is calling your name (NOPE! I HATE BEING UP THAT LATE... OR SHOULD I SAY EARLY?)

You begin missing the city and feeling home sick once you cross the holland tunnel (NO)

You don't notice the garbage that "beautify" the streets any more (I NOTICE IT - YOU MAY IGNORE THE SIGHT, BUT THE SMELL IS AWFUL!)

The only time you are interested in talking to strangers is when they ask for directions (NOT EVEN THEN... BUT THAT'S MORE TO DO WITH MY SHY NATURE)

You meet someone else from the city and somehow you know 5 people in common. (HAPPENS SOMETIMES)

You take five seconds to remember 4 of the 5 boroughs, then have to take another 10 to remember Staten Island.... (NO - I NAMED THEM ALL EARLIER IN FIVE SECONDS, THOUGH STATEN ISLAND WAS DEFINITLY LAST!)

Whenever you go anywhere outside of New York all of your friends constantly ask, "why are you walking so fast?" (EVEN MY FRIENDS IN NEW YORK SAY THAT TO ME!)

Someone just died by jumping in the train tracks and all you can think about is you being late for work. (NO WAY - THE DAY THAT HAPPENED I WAS HIGHLY DISTURBED!)

You go out of the country and instead of saying your American, you say you're from NY. (YEAH, I DO THAT!)

You think paying 6 dollars an hour to park you car is a "good price" (NO CAUSE YOU CAN PAY $30 FOR THE WHOLE DAY AT SOME PLACES)

You think you're not being impolite as you yell on your phone in the middle of a restaurant (I DON'T DO THAT)

You know who "Dan Smith" is (ACTUALLY NO... I'LL HAVE TO LOOK IT UP)

You've memorized the subway platform so that the train doors open right in front of you AND you know exactly what subway car to be on in order to get off right in front of the stairs at your stop (or any stop for that matter). (YUP!!!)

You can tell if a person's a tourist or not by how fast they walk (YEAH)

New Year's Eve Fun!

Okay, so New Year's Eve was ten days ago and I'm only now getting the pictures up (though I'd guess that's a good average for most, but VERY poor for me!). We didn't take many, but goofed around with the camera on my work laptop.

Here are me, Emily and Colette (Jordan's girlfriend), playing with PhotoBooth before all the guests arrived.






We have no idea where Kara was during this photo session which is unfortunate, as I feel this is an activity she would have enjoyed. Oh well... perhaps next time!

Picture of the Week

This picture was taken at Grandma and Popops 50th wedding anniversary, after Popops kept insisting that from the nose up, Kara and Lindsay look exactly alike. So we tried it out - with Emily as well! - by covering their faces with leis.

French Idol!

Since I keep mentioning it, here's a clip from French Idol, actually called Nouvelle Star. I have NO IDEA what any of the contestant's names were when I saw it - all I remember was this blond girl singing Hot Stuff and Lindsay commentating about whether she knew what the song meant or not, cause we both thought she looked REALLY young!

This is clearly the part of the show where they showcase the bad singers, which is even funnier in French, I feel. I really like when they sing in English - again, always makes you wonder if they know what the songs mean!


And seriously, is that last guy the voice of Muzzy or what?!

Travel Tales: Paris 2003, Part Five

Might as well continue, as I am on a kick and dragged out the photo album to remind myself of the trip and everything!

Thursday morning we slept in, having been up early the last two days. We discovered is was Ascension Thursday, which meant that all of a sudden Paris was crowded with tourists, which it had not been for the first couple of days. Apparantly it was a big four day weekend in Europe so people were travelling. In any case, we waited at the hotel for a phone call from Evelyn and Gunther, who were coming to see us from Germany (they live about four hours from Paris). When they arrived, we headed out with them on a little walking tour, heading over to the Marais district and the Pompideau Center (I don't think I spelled that right!). We had some drinks at a little cafe and then kept walking.

At some point, we ended up at the Eiffel Tower. One of the highlights of this was using Gunter's cell phone to call mom at work and say, "Guess where we're standing right now! Right next to the Eiffel Tower!"

We did not go up, as the aforementioned crowds were gathered in masses, and instead sought out some lunch. We ended up at a tiny little shop on a side street that happened to serve food to VERY small tables in the front (seriously, we were the only people who fit). I remember bread, oil and mozzarella cheese as the shop seemed to have more of an Italian flair than a French one.

We also headed over to a street that boasted an ornate door decorated in the French nouveau style (which I really liked at the time). It was huge, with really interesting designs all over it. After staying there for a few minutes to check it out, we just walked around a little bit more, exploring the nooks and crannies of the street. We didn't make any major discoveries, but as our twenty-four rolls of film (yes, you read that right!) attest, Lindsay and I just really liked to take pictures of the streets of Paris - something I still like to do in any foreign country I am in (buildings and street scenes are just so interesting to me!).



That evening was likely filled with even more souvenir shopping and I'm guessing from the lack of pictures of restaurants that we bought bread and cheese again to have for dinner (and perhaps I watched French Idol again... it seemed to be on every night, along with episodes in French of The Simpsons, Newsradio, Dawson's Creek and Friends - highly entertaining, especially Friends, which I knew all the words to so could understand and enjoy the French I couldn't follow!).

Travel Tales: Paris 2003, Part Four

Wednesday in Paris began with an early breakfast at the hotel, and then we met our tour companions for a trip to Giverney, where Monet lived and worked. We spent all morning in the gardens, where I noticed that all older French women seem to use the same perfume! I don't remember smelling any flowers, just perfume. Anyway, Monet's gardens were beautiful, with all sorts of flowers and plants to look at and take pictures of. Some samples:




Across from the flower garden was Monet's water garden, which inspired many of the famous paintings you see today.


The gardens were also really pretty, but by then Lindsay and I decided to check out what Giverny looked like. To be honest - not much! The town was very small, with only a small road leading away from it and into it. It did have a little cafe and shop but we decided to wait until we got back to Paris to eat.

That evening we were planning on going on a Bateaux-Mouches cruise on the Seine, but we had a few hours to kill. We decided to take care of our souvenirs, and so we headed to the little alleyway below the hotel to shop the little shops. I found a book full of art nouveau prints, and we managed to get a lot of cool prints and posters for everyone else, including the awesome Maizena poster that looked like Jack (which we of course bought for Willa)!


Done with shopping, we relaxed for a while - our tour of Paris was definitely exhausting! Once it was time to head for the cruise, we met the tour group again and went to dinner, which took place at a restaurant that liked to use silverware in it's decor. Forks and spoons were on the walls and on the lamps, creating art. It was really cool. Everyone else had salmon, but I had to be difficult of course and have chicken! The dessert was chocolate mousse though, which I doubt I went a day without while in Paris (and you'd think I'd gain weight, but I didn't!).

Once on the boat, we saw all the famous sights of Paris from the river, some that we were already quite familiar with and some that we were not. We saw Notre Dame for the first time up close, and planned to go there on Friday, our final day in Paris! We were also able to get some pictures of a lot of buildings we would not otherwise have been able to photograph in their entirely. We also took pictures of houses we simply liked! One of the best parts was the tango lessons being given along the river.

That night we headed back to the hotel, and I believe this was the night I slammed my finger into a gate and bruised my nail. I have NO IDEA how I managed to hit my hand that hard, but it happened! Oh well - it did not put a damper on the trip at all, and we headed to bed (I wonder if this was the night I watched French Idol...) to get ready for our visit from Evelyn and Gunther the next day!

Come one, come all!

To the McKinley Choir show! My school's chrorus (which I participate in), is performing again! The proceeds go the the children at Lutheran Hospital this year. It's a great cause. Let me know if you want tickets.

Details:

McKinley Choir
Friday, January 25, 2008
7:00 p.m.

$5.00

We've got an excellent selection of songs this year (but they're going to remain a secret until the show!).

Anatomy of a Dress, Take Two, Part One

Here's the next installment of my dressmaking for The Music Man. So far, I am not as happy with the progress on this one as I am with the previous dress, but I'm making due. Here's what I've got so far.


The fabrics - a sheer-ish white with flowers and a blue with a slight pattern (if you look closely) for the sash.


Cutting the bodice lining pieces.


The bodice, sewn together.


The bodice fabric.


The bodice lining and fabric put together, no sleeves added yet.


The bodice (minus one sleeve!) and sash on a chair masquerading as a dress form. It's obviously not there to check the fit, but I wanted to get a sense of where it was going!

The other sleeve will go on tomorrow. I'm getting tired and when I get tired, I get sloppy and I don't want that to happen!