Whaddya' think?

No, it's not real. It came on a wine ad in a magazine. I wouldn't really get a dragon. This is just practice. It's only the second time I've worn a temporary, but I'm seriously considering getting a real one, possibly for my birthday.

This is the location I'm contemplating, for two reasons: Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls has one there and I've always thought it looked great, tough, cool (honest! she rocks!); and if I'm gonna go through pain, I want to be able to see the fruits of it anytime I wish.

I'm hyperconscious about it looking good; I am considering my age, weight, etc., in relation to the potential location.

POM smirked at me today and said I look like a truckdriver. Thoughts?

Springing Sunday

The bees were in full hum on this flowering tree in the Trader Joe's parking lot. This shot is fairly indicative of the gorgeous spring weekend we've enjoyed.

I've been in the cooking mood, for some reason, so after church, we stocked up on recipe ingredients at my favorite grocery (TJs). This evening I cooked cream-of-veggie soup, combining two different recipes (cream of broccoli and cream of spinach, with a few additions of my own) from Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook, an oldie-but-goodie. The final creation turned out OK -- it was a bit bland (my fault, I'm sure), so I dosed it with some Cholula hot sauce, which added at least a kick even if it wasn't really the missing element I was looking for. The addition of oyster crackers and shaved parmesan to the bowl helped. If nothing else, it's a fairly healthy soup, with tons of vegetable matter and minerals.

A Good Day...

...for a photo tour. But we're staying local. Today was another upper-70's day -- truly blissful -- so I stayed in what I wore to bed, added some slip-on shoes, and played in the backyard for a while. I was also taken by the bug to cook, so I did, heading out to the garden to snip or pick fresh ingredients, and grilling several different items on the grill (chicken, eggplant, elephant garlic).

Days like these make me long for summer and curse the fact that we're still in school.

I also opened up the house and lazed on the couch, reading. Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion, by Sara Miles, has proven to be food for thought.

Sun and purple flowers on the arbor

Veins of light

A face this mother loves!

Action shot -- itchy back, oh this feels so good, oh man i gotta do it some more!

Hahaha! Mid-shake. This one cracks me up, and I couldn't resist posting it, even though, by photographic standards, it's a terrible shot.

Gone wild, has the back of the backyard

I stood beneath the arbor, and lo, the arbor hummed.

Eggplant parmesan, whole wheat sourdough with red pepper and sundried tomato spreads

Not a great picture, no. But I posted it because, if you click it and make it large, you can observe evidence of the movement of the stars...and this was only about a 30-second shot. Does the earth really move that quickly? Wow.

Waah!

I lost the little plastic thingie that covers my dSLR viewing screen. Now I'm terrified I'll scratch it. Must go buy a replacement now.

Atonement (the movie)

We saw Atonement tonight, and I came away very happy with it. The book rocked my world for a while after I read it a couple of years ago. I was pleased to see how well the screenplay treated the original text -- it seemed perfectly balanced for a film based on a novel. The acting was strong, the cinematography an eye-feast, and the music was fascinating and perfectly fitted what was onscreen. I am, quite frankly, impressed. I hope it wins a few of those statues.

Sidebar: I am still working on my essay account of Mary Oliver's reading. I'll work on it more when I'm less sleepy.

Today's post brought to you by the color orange

The setting Friday sun on the school tree grabbed my eye. I shot.

As I cast about for another photo, the apples' shininess caught my attention, and then so did the shadows. I shot.

10 p.m., long exposure (30-60 sec.)

The Red-Leaf Tree...

...looks like this now. I think it happened overnight. Spring is on its way. The days are becoming longer, just perceptibly; when I arrived home today, there was light enough for me to see to clean dog poo out of the yard.