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April 30, 2006
Happy May Day
Posted by sally at 10:44 PM
The Arboretum Project, Week Seventeen
Panorama 4-30-06
Gorgeous weather today. The sunny kind that makes me smile. Perfect temperature. I even spent part of my shoot today sitting on a bench in the sunshine. I think that's how I managed to get this picture.
White Crowned Sparrow Taiga West
I met a man today who donated one of the arboretum benches. He's from China, UI Class of 1954. Became a U.S. citizen. He was back here for a reunion. Interesting, how having a bigass camera around your neck makes people think you can take a decent picture. I took one of him next to his bench. And then he explained that it was his bench. And I read it. And I got all weepy.
Not counting the photo of the I took 457 pictures today. It was horrible, trying to narrow my choices to the top 30. Eventually, I gave up. You get the top 45.
Baby Apples
Cherry Blossoms II
Bark
Upperlake
Crabapple Blossom
Blue Sky and Branches
Breezy Red Maple
Cherry Blossoms I
Companions
Pink
Curves and Angles
Daffodils
Dancing Camas
Tulip – Orange
Palouse View
Florets
Flowering Plum
Flowers to Be
Four Turtles
There are actually four turtles in the picture above. Three are on the bank. The fourth is in the algae. Look to the left of the picture. That thing that looks like a rock? It's a turtle.
At one point today, I could see five turtles at once on the banks of the lower lake. What with the sunny weather, I should have expected sunning turtles. But five at one time is a bonus.
Tulip – Pink
White Daffs
Green Shade
Happy Accident
I gave the above photograph that name because I just stumbled across that tree. Every week I try to vary my path within the arboretum so I'm never going the same way twice. Normally, I would stop just before the spot where I found the tree in the picture, because the ground gets really steep. But this week, not only was the ground not remotely damp or muddy, but my knee is feeling much more the thing. So I wandered a little further and found a little spindly blooming tree in the midst of a bunch of scrub. The least I could do was take a picture.
Healing
Palouse Curves
Koi
Painted Turtle
Can you see the red in its undershell? Isn't that just gorgeous?
Finding Its Way
Pink and Bee
Nesting
Maple Blossom
Lots of White
Green Tunnel
Robin Diptych II
The Robin Diptych photographs are actually of two different birds in one tree at the same time. I took several of them together, but the individual portraits turned out better.
Sneaky Yellow
Robin Diptych I
Red and White
I wish I knew what the above plants were. Everything else in the area is carefully labelled, but not these shrubs, whatever they are. The arboretum contains the same plant with flowers in red, white and orange. And none of them are labelled.
Turtle Rock
This is that fourth turtle in the earlier photograph. I walked right past it at one point. I thought it was a rock. Hence the title.
Secrets
As I mentioned earlier, I spent about 15 minutes sitting on a bench in the sun. There were quail in the nearby shrubs, and I wanted to see if sitting quietly would allow them to forget I was there. After all, quail aren't the smartest members of the bird kingdom. They didn't, but the stillness allowed the sparrow picture at the top of this entry to happen. It also gave me a chance to notice things I might not otherwise have seen in my normal "wander through and take pictures as you go" mode.
Purple
Tulips – Yellow
Willows and Cottonwoods
The smell of cottonwoods in spring and summer is one of the happiest smells I know. It smells like freedom to me. I scented them on the air, and just stood and sniffed it up, trying to fill myself, every pore, every space available, with the smell of cottonwoods.
Veronica and Woodchips
Lowerlake View
Posted by sally at 08:33 PM
Hiding
Where is Quickly? I can't find her. It's so easy to lose a black cat.
As far as she's concerned, she's invisible.
Posted by sally at 02:57 PM
Random Thoughts While My Pictures Download
A friend of mine came to visit this weekend. He was on his way to somewhere else, but stopped to hang with me for an evening and a morning, and I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to see him. He's one of the best-read, most thoughtful people I know, and he has one of the most joyous laughs I've ever heard.
He told me he might want to use me for a series of readings this summer. No one's wanted to cast me without reservation in a longer time than I've been in town. It hasn't laid all of my self-doubts to rest, but it cooled a little of the burning in my soul.
Thank you, Paul.
Posted by sally at 02:37 PM | Comments (1)
April 29, 2006
D.C. Journey, Part C
So where was I? Ah yes. Walking (and walking) from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial.
And walking.
And walking.
I had zoomed in for the final photo on the previous post, so it appears to be a much shorter journey than was actually the case.
On my way, I was momentarily stumped by the splashy joyous fountainness that is the WW II Memorial. I shall surely engender all kinds of hatecomments when I say here that it is to the Vietnam Memorial what Busby Berkely is to Schindler's List. All happy fountains and wide open spaces and stirring commentary re: the glory of war, with gold stars for the dead and eagles and laurel wreaths and triumphant ribbons. Vs. an abrupt black granite slash of grief, pain and loss.
I will say this; the WW II Memorial did not make me cry.
Besides. I was still fixated on the Lincoln Memorial.
(This is the only WW II Memorial picture I took. It would have turned out better if those two ladies had realized I was making Art and got themselves out of the way. However, I wasn't the only visitor to Washington, D.C. that day, so I tried to be forgiving. Not so much so of the oblivious people who tended to wander straight through the shot while I was taking it. Thank goodness for digital cameras. If they'd wasted my film, I'd've had to take it out of their turrist hides.)
I continued on my way, along the very, very lengthy Reflecting Pool. I admired the ducks. When I finally got to the base of the Lincoln Memorial, I wondered briefly if I would be able to make it up all those stairs. (Which is especially ironic in light of what I did later that afternoon.)
Once I entered the memorial, I did wonder why, when all the exterior signage requested silence and respect, there were so many people talking inside. (At least they weren't eating, like the mother and son combo who walked right through the middle of the Vietnam Memorial munching on ice cream cones.) But then I forgot all about that and cried as I read the 2nd Inaugural Address and the Gettysburg Address.
I also took a couple of pictures of the statue but they were terrible, so I will not post them here.
When I was a little kid, I thought that statue was God. I'm not putting this very well. As far as I know, last week was my first trip to Washington, D.C. But for some reason, I had this picture in my head of God, and He looked just like the marble statue of Abraham Lincoln that graces the Memorial. I had seen a picture of it and made the connection. That was God. I was convinced of it. Some time later, I realized that it was part of the Lincoln Memorial. But, somewhere in the back of my head, it's still a basic Truth.
I spent more time in that building than in any of the other places I went except for maybe the FDR memorial, but that was because it has so much more to see. This is simple and elegant and so very meaningful. It was well worth the walk.
When I came out, I figured out where the Capitol Building was.
I stood at the top of the steps for a while and admired the view. And then I went to the Vietnam Memorial.
I don't really have anything more to say about it than I have already said in this post and in a previous one. Aside from my thought that it may be the singlemost evocative commemorative site that I have ever visited. And that the Vietnam Women's Memorial felt like an afterthought.
From the Vietnam Memorial, I headed for the Korean Memorial. I should probably say right here that I didn't take pictures of the war memorials. It seemed wrong to snap touristy shots of monuments to grief. There's something very strange about making a ten year-old girl stand self-consciously in front of the grey ghosts of Korean soldiers so you can commemorate your visit. She has no idea what it's about. And chances are that any relative who fought in that war was a great-grandparent who she never knew. It's just weird.
That's not to say that we shouldn't teach our kids about these wars. Because we should. It's an important part of our history, gives them a context for now, when we are once again poking our noses into something on the other side of the globe to prevent whatever it is we're trying to prevent this time. We just shouldn't make it about fun tourist opportunities.
(It reminds me of the story a college friend told me about visiting a mutual friend of ours in Germany. They went to Auschwitz. And tried to figure out how to become invisible when they heard an obviously American man say loudly and happily to the rest of his family, "Honey! Let's get a picture in front of the ovens!")
Some things demand lessons in respect, is all I'm saying.
And I couldn't have captured the sense of them anyhow.
I shall now climb off my soapbox to admit that I did take one picture at the Korean Memorial. Of a duck in the small reflecting pool there.
I'm not sure you can tell, but she's not really floating. Her feet are flat on the bottom of the pool. She's pretending to float. Because it's water. And she's a duck. I just felt there was a metaphor for my own life in there somewhere.
From Korea, I headed off to the nearest interpretive site and got directions to the FDR Memorial. And a map. I cannot get over how all this stuff is free in Washington. I've never been to a free zoo before. And a free map at a national park or monument? After free entry? Am I dreaming?
The FDR is on the tidal basin and therefore a bit of a hike. But on the way I got this picture, which is the closest I got to the Jefferson Memorial. (Hey, I have to have something to come back to see.)
I also got a picture of what I think was a cormorant diving. As in, its head was above the water when I pushed the button, but I what I got was a picture of a dark line and a beautiful little splash.
By the time I got to FDR, I was pretty well done with the walking (or so I thought). Plus, my brain was reeling with all the history and emotional impact of everthing else I'd seen so far. So I'm not sure much of it really sunk in. If I'd been thinking, I would have stopped at the interpretive center for that monument and had someone explain the signifigance of the bronze bas-relief scupltures depicting FDR's Social Programs. Because they were beyond the understanding of my puny intellect.
It was somewhere in the middle of this memorial that Dave called to see where I was. It was 4:30-ish and he was going to see a reading of a one-act directed by a friend of ours (who won the KCACTF Directing Competition) at 5:30. Then we could go have dinner. I decided to meet them at the Kennedy Center because, hey, on the map, the Lincoln Memorial is about halfway between the FDR Memorial and the Kennedy Center. I figured it would take about 30 minutes to walk it. (Did I mention that my feet hurt?)
So that's what I did. I walked along the Potomac from the FDR to the Kennedy Center. I watched some practicing eights on the river. That was interesting. And every so often I reminded myself that I was walking along the Potomac. Which was just a mind-bender.
The walk took slightly more than an hour.
By the time I got to the Kennedy Center, my feet really hurt. But not my knee, which is one of the best realizations I've had in a year. I reached the ticket booth at 5:28pm. I stood in line for five minutes, until they opened a new window. At which point I learned that the reading was free. I rushed in just as they were closing the doors.
And sat down for the first time since 2:15 that afternoon. I was amazed 45 minutes later when I discovered that I could still move my legs. The pain came the next morning.
I took no pictures of the Kennedy Center. By the time I got to a place where I could see it in all it's 1960's "glory" I didn't have my camera. Because we were at a restaurant celebrating David's win.
However. I did take a picture of David after our glorious dinner on Friday evening (after my all-day history hike). Our friend Paul, the directing winner and not to be confused with my friend Paul the puppeteer who passed through Moscow on Friday, asked me to get a picture of tipsy David. Allow me to oblige.
Posted by sally at 10:33 AM
April 28, 2006
D.C. Pix, Part the Second
Far fewer photos in this entry. Just because I was much more into experiencing the moment than I was in recording it for posterity. (Plus, it's hard to take good pictures through tear-stained contact lenses.) However. Because I feel a need to explain every step I took, it is a very, very long entry. For those of you who aren't interested, I have some advice for you that I learned long ago while working for PBS. If you don't like it, change the channel.
Before we begin, I think you should probably arm yourself with a map, because I am going to be discussing my route as we go. (I recommend googlemaps, 2-3 clicks in to Washington, DC. It's a very clear map and it includes the FDR memorial, which is quaite new.--Yes, the a in quaite is intentional. Say it out loud. How very posh of me.)
Understand that I took the Metro to the National Zoo, hiked around there for 3 hours and then headed back to the hotel. I dropped some stuff off, picked some stuff up and headed out again around 2:15. I decided to walk.
My hotel was at the corner of 12th and K NW.
For some reason, when walking, I didn't realize just how close I was to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. So when I came upon an open space, on one side of which was a statue and a park, and the other side of which was this big, white building surrounded by a black iron fence, it took actually reading the sign that says "Welcome to the White House" to get it. I was there.
That's the first time I cried. Aside from the Vietnam Memorial, it's the only one worth mentioning. Just assume that when I mention a building or a monument or a memorial that it set off the weepmeter. That'll give you a pretty accurate picture of the situation.
Then I walked around the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is really long, and awfully fancy. (Take that adverb however you will, any definition is applicable.) When I got to the end, I turned left. The whole point of this exercise was to see the other side of the White House. (And also the Washington Monument. You think I'm obsessing about it now? Just wait.)
Half a block down, I got this view:
Then I turned left again and walked all the way back to the White House along the back side of the Eisenhower Exec. Ofc. Bldg. I abbreviated that to save time, but now that I think about it, I should type the whole thing out. Because that's kind of like the amount of time it takes to walk past that edifice. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Nope. The walk is actually longer than that.
Anyway, after passing that and guys with guns and dogs and barricades, I made it to the other side of the White House. Where I realized I could poke my camera lens through the fence and take a picture without iron bars in it. (Yeah, I know. My intelligence is of such a high order it's frightening even to me.)
Then I walked around the Ellipse, heading for the Washington Monument. It couldn't be that far away, I thought. I can see the flags around the base of it.
(This is, by the way, the next to last photo of the WM. I promise.)
I did indeed get all the way to the Washington Monument. By that time, my feet were beginning to hurt. (Lest you call me a wimp, remember, I'd spent three hours walking around the National Zoo before I set out for my afternoon trek.) But I ignored the pain in my feet because I had a mission. I needed to actually touch it.
There is nothing like getting your hands on a piece of history. It's so much more real somehow when you can feel the weight and texture than if you just look at it. Probably because using an additional sense enhances the experience; you're no longer relying just on sight. (Good memorization tool, by the way. Always use more than one of the senses to learn something. It will stick that way. More options for recall.)
So I rubbed and patted the blocks of the Washington Monument. And for those of you making all of the sophomoric/Freudian assumptions about my fascination with this thing, you just go ahead and laugh. It's probably true.
I'd also been taking pictures of the White House from different spots on the walk. Just to see if I could get anything interesting from pics taken at the fence and then in the Ellipse and then at the Washington Monument. I couldn't. But that's not the point of this comment. It's that I took that picture and then looked left. And what I saw took my breath away.
I never even thought about looking anywhere else after that. And so I missed seeing the Capitol Building. Because it was now behind me. And I had only one goal in mind.
Getting to the Lincoln Memorial.
It's not that far, I thought. I've already walked at least that distance from my hotel today. (Which should have registered a bit more deeply with me than it did.) But that big, stone temple was like a magnet. I had to get inside it and see it for myself.
(This entry really is getting long. And it's such a lovely day outside here where I am now. I'm going to post what I have and make you wait for the rest. And also maybe go get the fixins for a blended soy mocha. Mmmmmmmm...)
Posted by sally at 11:55 AM
Washington, D.C.
Whether or not you knew it, you've been eagerly awaiting my turrist photos of D.C. Lucky you. I've posted them below.
I'm trying to do them in order. The shots from the zoo may not be, simply because I was wandering around in circles for much of it. But the afternoon tour shots will be chronological because I want everyone to understand just exactly how far I walked on Friday afternoon.
Except this one is out of order. But I promised it to you a week ago. So it's late, more than anything else.
And now, on to the Zoo.
These are the cheetah babies that were born last spring. It's amazing. Growing up in captivity, they're all very blah about the whole "people are staring at us" thing. But then, maybe it was the whole mid-morning naptime that made them so unconcerned.
Later that afternoon I went back to their enclosure to say good-bye.
The baby panda was also napping. He's sleeping up a tree.
Let me make that clearer for you. He's sleeping. Up. A. Tree.
I also saw all the other big mammals, but will only bore you with
Gorilla Attitude
and
Tiger Eye
(If you click on the picture, you will see he is looking directly at the camera. He also lifted his head at one point and looked me full in the eye, but I was shooting in the extreme zoom mode and was so excited that the picture is all jiggly.)
And now, I'm goin' to breakfast. My friend Paul is in town (briefly, everso briefly) and he's buying breakfast before heading out to his next gig.
I'll post the monuments and memorials when I get back.
Posted by sally at 07:59 AM
April 27, 2006
The Best Thing in the World
Or at least one of the top 50.
You know how some days you have a craving for a flavor and you know that nothing you do will ever satisfy that craving because nothing could come anywhere close to that flavor? Today is a day of cravings like that. And I just satisfied one of them.
With a blended soy mocha.
Oh. My. God. At the moment, nothing could taste better than this.
Posted by sally at 03:22 PM
April 25, 2006
The Arboretum Project, Week Sixteen
Panorama 4-24-06
So here's Week Sixteen. I took them Monday because by the time we got back to town on Sunday, I could barely keep my eyes open. I certainly wasn't going to be noticing anything if I wandered about the arboretum that day, so I decided to wait till Monday afternoon.
Which was a pity, because Sunday was warm and sunny and gorgeous. And Monday was windy and overcast. But that's okay. Because I took 300 pictures anyhow. I'm sharing slightly more than 10% with you today.
Cherry Trunk
Curly
Daff
I knew, by the way, that I was going to be out of control once things really started blooming. I was right. I have taken hundreds of pictures of flowers, and it's only going to get worse as April ends and May begins.
Just so you know.
Diamonds
A New Angle
Berry Blossom
Maypole
Brown and Yellow
Bursting
All the Green
Daff Cluster
Daff II
Emerging Purple
Finch
He's there, slightly below dead center.
Four
Hiding
In the Open
Pink III
Into Asia
The above photo has the name it does because of the way the arboretum is organized. Trees that are native to certain parts of the world tend to be grouped together. Hence all the magnolias being in one specific spot, and the viburnum being in another. That's why one hill is mostly pines and conifers and the other is mostly deciduous trees.
Knothole
I cannot believe this robin let me get so close.
Ruffled
Green Fire
Pink II
Less Ruffled
Twig
Wood and Rock
Have I mentioned that I have fallen completely in love with magnolia blossoms? I'm going to have to plant a tree in the yard. They're just too, too gorgeous. Of course, in a couple of weeks I will be all over the dogwoods.
Magnolia III
Maple Reflection
More Red
Piggyback
Two
Window
Pink and White
I just love this froth of blossoms. It makes me happy.
Red, Red Robin
Pink
This next picture made me think of Harriet's portion of the sonnet from Gaudy Night:
Here then at home, by no more storms distrest,
Folding laborious hands we sit, wings furled;
Here in close perfume lies the rose-leaf curled,
Here the sun stands and knows not east nor west,
Here no tide runs; we have come, last and best,
From the wide zone in dizzying circles hurled
To that still centre where the spinning world
Sleeps on its axis, to the heart of rest.
And yes, I know that she's referring to a rose petal. I don't care. The picture just made me think of the poem.
Roseleaf
Revealing
Red and Green
Rococo
Apropos of nothing, I once read a short story called Rococo Skates. I think I was in 5th grade. I had forgotten all about it until I named this photograph.
Spring Robin
Saturated
Seeing Stars
Starling Toilette
Tiered
Doesn't the above inspire visions of those fancy champagne fountains you see at weddings?
No?
Just me then?
(sigh)
Think Spring!
Upside Down
Posted by sally at 11:01 PM
April 24, 2006
Arboretum Project Week 15
Is finally here. I was too, too tired to go to the arboretum yesterday after getting up at 4am EDT and flying back via Seattle. We drove into Moscow just before 5pm yesterday. And then it was all about staying awake long enough to go to bed at a reasonable local time. So I took Week 16 pix today. If I get them edited in time, I'll post this evening. Otherwise, it will probably be tomorrow.
I know I already posted this, but I'm doing it again, to be consistent.
Panorama 4-16-06
Blossoms
Bridge with Goose
Buds
Caught Napping
Cherry Blossom I
Climbing Yellow
Creeping Green
Crystal
Daffs
Ducky Duo
First Leaves
Green & Grey Day II
Succulents II
Treeflower
Green & Grey Day
Lilac Babies
Groundcover
Ladybug
Leafbud II
Raptor
Mallards' Night Out
Leafbud
Maple Fireworks
Green Lowerlake
Leafy Greens
Living Rock
Peeping Out
Lower Lake Panorama
Robins dig mud from river and stream banks to line and seal their nests. That's what this little guy is doing, while checking to be sure I'm a safe distance away.
Nest Building
Orange
Paperbark
Peeking Through
SCB
Party Lights
Peeking
Squirrel Silhouette
Swaddled Lilacs
Yellow Buds
Two Roads
Yellow Stars
Purple Cluster
Upper Lake
And lots of magnolia blossoms after the cut...
Posted by sally at 05:16 PM
April 22, 2006
HE WON!!!!!!!
My husband just won the KCACTF National Ten Minute Play Award. I am so proud of him I am about to BURST with it.
(When he said, "With pride?" I said, "No. With proud. Because that's how I feel. I am about to burst with proud.")
He won.
There isn't really anything more I can say.
Congratulations David.
Posted by sally at 02:14 PM
And Speaking of Crying...
... I did quite a bit of that yesterday as I hiked through the Capitol. Mostly a tragic and ladylike weeping, tears coursing silently down my cheeks triggered either by a surprising patriotic pride (I didn't expect it to run quite as deeply as it appears to) or grief at the thought of the number of lives wasted in war.
The one that really got me was, unsurprisingly, the Vietnam Memorial. I refused to take pictures of it. I don't think I could come anywhere close to expressing the emotions that black granite scar evokes. The deeper in you get, the more palpable the grief.
I did, however, take pictures of other things, many of which I will post later. For now, one of my favorite photos so far. I apologize for it's being so big. I don't have the editing software on this laptop to shrink the file down to a web-manageable size.
Never mind. I can't get the damn thing to load and I have stuff to do. You'll just have to imagine the Washington Monument beyond the Tidal Basin as seen through cherry tree branches. I'll figure it out tonight, I promise
Posted by sally at 06:27 AM
April 20, 2006
Omigod omigod omigodomigodomigodomigod OMIGOD!
I am in Washington, D.C.
I am in my country’s capital. And lest anyone tell you that all us flaming liberals aren’t patriots, when the man sitting between me and the window on the plane pointed out the Capitol Building, I gasped in his ear and practically crawled onto his lap to get a better look.
He was very nice about it. Even though I repeated the entire performance 15 seconds later when he pointed out the Washington Monument.
I’m still not doing very well at believing I’m actually here. This is all pretty friggin’ unreal.
As I sat in the back of the cab (I overtipped the cabbie), I kept repeating to myself that I WAS LOOKING AT THE FUCKING WASHINGTON MONUMENT. The REAL Washington Monument. Not on TV. Really, in the same time zone as me and everything.
I’m such a fucking hick.
I’m not sure why the Washington Monument is a bigger deal than the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials. Maybe because it’s just so different, because it’s so big and tall and graceful and pointy. I know why the Capitol didn’t really thrill me so much once I saw it. It looks just like the one from home. I spent a lot of time in that building (the Idaho version). Worked there one year when the legislature was in session, so the US Capitol Building looked like an old friend.
I keep remembering this comic book type kids’ mag that my mom used to have from her childhood. The main character was Polly-something. It was picture-based, a two-color printing process. Black and white with an extra color laid on, blue, orange, pink or green, depending on the page. It had all sorts of articles. Adventure stories, recipes, drawings of the current fashions and historical stories, all done in comic book format.
She had two or three of them, and I had them practically memorized. And in one of them was the story of the 19th century campaign to finish the Washington Monument. One page was pink, one orange, and one blue. And as I looked at that Great. Big. Obelisk from first the plane and then the cab, that’s the thing that kept coming to mind. My history connecting to history, I guess.
I don’t know.
I cried a little in the back of the cab. Because that’s the kind of sentimental dork I am. Damn, you should watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics with me sometime. I turn into a complete fountain and sob with pride for all the athletes. All of 'em. I don't care what country they're from. They're at the Olympics and so I cry. Just ‘cause it’s so cool that they get to participate. Can anyone say “Big, ole Gooberhead”?
Anyway I’m here, and that’s what matters.
That and the fact that I have ordered room service. I haven’t eaten since breakfast and I am by God gonna eat now.
Posted by sally at 09:42 PM
April 19, 2006
Arboretum Project Week 15...
...will probably be posted on Sunday. I just haven't had the time to create the entry, despite having already edited the pictures. (But everything my students have so far turned in this semester is now graded and I've posted their grades in the class website.)
See? Here. Here is the weekly panorama:
Panorama 4-16-06
And also a picture of magnolias blooming in a snowstorm because the weather was weird. I don't think it got to below 45 degrees, and it was snowing. Hard at times.
(Click to enlarge for a better view of the snow.)
I went a little batshit over the magnolias. Partly because they are so beautiful and partly because something was finally fucking blooming. So when I do get the pix posted, there will most likely be a separate magnolia section.
Posted by sally at 10:58 PM
I’m Going to Be an Uncle!
Or an Aunt. We’re not sure yet about the sex of the baby. But my little brother and his wife are pregnant. Baby is due mid-October. I immediately went out and purchased vital reading.
HEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! I am so excited!!!
It’s some of the best news I’ve ever heard in my life.
I get all teary just thinking about it.
John and Janene, I love you both. You’re going to be fantastic parents.
Posted by sally at 06:04 PM
April 18, 2006
I'm Half Afraid to Type This Entry
Last night I discovered that the guy at the Help Desk who gave me the "key" to the university's wireless system did something that will not allow me to sign in to any other wireless system (and believe me when I tell you I've tried all the easy fixes; I get to reconfigure my wireless). Half the stuff I needed for class today is on one machine, half on the other. The most important half is the stuff that I cannot print because I now have no access to our home wireless and no access to a printer at the university. And I was not about to drive to the university at 10:30pm in order to email documents to myself.
I had to do a bunch of stuff by hand. Yay.
Then, this morning, just before class started, I poured 20oz of coffee on a chair in the classroom. Not on purpose. It slipped off the desk. I'd had a single swallow of coffee. After cleaning up as much of the mess as I could (carpeted floors and upholstered chairs soak up a LOT of liquid) I picked up the paper bag containing my scone, a small bottle of juice and a bottle of water. The bottom came out and the contents went everywhere. Thank God the bottles were plastic.
I am still eating the fucking scone. It's a matter of pride at this point.
Posted by sally at 11:03 AM
April 16, 2006
Arboretum Pix
I took them. Despite the snow. And they're edited. I'm just too tired to post them.
They'll go up tomorrow.
Posted by sally at 11:12 PM
Happy Easter
Posted by sally at 09:38 AM
April 10, 2006
Car Maintenance 101
So today I drove to Spokane to get the oil changed in the car. It's one of those "to do" tasks that we've been putting off because it means three hours of driving plus the time waiting in Spoke-Vegas for the car to be finished. And I just haven't had a full weekday to give to the effort. Plus, Spokane? Not my favorite place to spend time.
But today I went to get the oil changed in the Volvo. That was the point of my trip. I did no shopping. The only things I bought that were non-car related were a sandwich, a green tea, a gatorade and a bag of chips. I put in 3 or so hours editing on Devil Daughter and discovered the perfect solution to a HUGE plot hole. (Did the happy dance right there in the coffee house when the idea popped into my head.) I also saw Spokane Falls, but the point of the trip was the Volvo oil change.
Why do I keep mentioning the oil change for the car? Because. Of the $500+ I spent at the dealership today, exactly none of it was spent on the oil change.
Why?
Because they didn't change the oil.
I am still stunned by this. I drove 145 miles and spent all day in Spoke and they didn't change my fucking oil. I have to take the car back next week to get the goddamn oil changed.
Mind you, this time they're doing it for free.
Posted by sally at 09:28 PM | Comments (1)
April 09, 2006
The Arboretum Project Week Fourteen
Panorama 4-9-06
Gorgeous day today. I got out around noon and had an important realization: Sundays are a great choice for this project provided I get through the arboretum before people get out of church. Then, it kind of fills up. Makes photographing just nature difficult.
There were all sorts of people there as the day wore on, including a family geocaching. Mom, Dad, two kids under ten. That was fun to see. I was on the same path they used just as they found the cache. Mom had the GPS, Dad located the box, but they congratulated the kids for their hard work. It was kind of funny, really. And very sweet, that this family had found something to do outside together.
Blue
I think the bird below is a robin, though it might be something else. Hard to say, with so much of it hidden.
Coyness
Daffs
Demure
Lots of wildlife out, now, much of it pairing off. That's been going on for weeks, I just haven't written about it. But the bees are working now, and I'm seeing more and more birds and aquatic life too.
Doves
Drifting
The smallest of the three is, according to the Sibley, a first year Bufflehead. It looks exactly like the picture. Exactly
Ducks
Flora Indeed
I have a thing for turtles. You've probably noticed that by now. I spent several years practicing turtle longevity qi gong (I'm trying to get back into it, which is hard when I have no one to study with) and worked on a sea turtle recovery program for a week in 2002.
I feel so lucky to be spotting these. They've really been obvious the past couple of weeks, and based on the times and locations, I know for sure I saw 5 separate turtles today (one singleton and two sets of two). The only reason I spotted the turtle below is because I saw it swim down there.
Hiding Turtle
Keeping Watch
Leafing Out
Lower Lake 4-9-06
Trailing Green
Pollinators
Opening
Magical
There aren't just koi in the lakes. I have finally seen other fish, but I have no idea what kind they are. Anyone have a suggestion?
Name that Fish
It's somehow comforting to know that humans aren't the only species that hang on to stuff they'd be better off losing.
Needing to Let Go
Leaves
I tried to come up with a better name for the next picture. The pink and green blossoms make me think of tropical beaches and party lights and drinks with paper umbrellas. And then I read the name on the tag and all that was dispelled by images from Monty Python. (The Larch. The. Larch.)
The Larch
Painted Turtles are the only kind native to Idaho. They're the only kind I've seen in the arboretum so far. Aren't they gorgeous?
Painted Turtles
Sudden Cloud Cover
Spring Fireworks
Pollinators II
Seeing Red
Shades of Grey
Shy
Sleeping Duck
So Much Happening
Spring Fireworks II
Spring Green
Bravely
Trailing II
Streambed
Violets
Yellow
View
Posted by sally at 05:40 PM | Comments (1)
April 07, 2006
Bartender, Epiphanies All 'Round!
I had a moment today.
Coming out of a stall in the hideous pink and brown bathroom at work I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror. it was an unguarded moment. One of those where I see myself completely without judgement, when my reflection strikes me not as, "Whoa this light is unflattering," or "God! When did I get so fat?" but instead I see a stranger, someone who could be just anybody, before all the standard critical thoughts rush in.
"She's not a girl anymore," I thought as I saw the woman in the glass. Crows' feet, laugh lines. And then I thought, "But that's okay."
Because it is okay. I've earned the right to not be a girl anymore. And really, for the most part, I don't mind. There's a lot of shit I'd prefer to not have to work through again, thank you very much, so being a woman instead of being a girl is, in the end, something to be proud of. It's an achievement. I feel as though I've accomplished something worthwhile.
The interesting thing about this observation is that there is another woman I know, who is actually a year or so younger than I am, who is dealing with not being a girl anymore in exactly the opposite way. She sees it as the death of everything she cares about, and, wow, is that not working so well for her. It's sad, really, considering that there's not much she can do about it, and it's making her miserable.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not going to "let the grey come out to play" or stop with the application of things that make the wrinkles go away. Or at least stave them off for a little while longer. I'm just relieved that it's not going to be the end of the world for me. That my identity wasn't so wrapped up in being a girl that my world is falling apart now it's clearly no longer an option for me.
(I tried to fix that last sentence. Nothing worked. You'll just have to deal with the needing to read it three times to understand what I mean thing.)
Remember that whole embracing the void epiphany? Well, embrace the age is one small facet of that, my friends.
Posted by sally at 10:10 PM
Donedonedone DONE
I am finished at the Jazz Collections. I have printed my last to do list, I have made my last phone call, I have sent my final email. The person I was covering for December through today is back at work as of this morning and she was ready to get back to it.
We talked about all I'd done, about all that was in process and where it was, and how my file system worked. After that, I could tell I was in her way (which I fully expected and understand, I'd be the same way if it was me) so I finished up the stuff I was doing, sent a final thank you to all who helped me out, and left.
It's nice to be done, but also very strange.
I'll miss the IJC staff. I felt so at home there. It's one of the nicest groups of people I have ever worked with, and I will miss them. However. I have lots and LOTS of upcoming stuff to fill the void, and so it's onward for me.
Posted by sally at 11:47 AM
April 04, 2006
Devil Daughter Returns
I started working on my novel again this evening.
I haven't touched it since November 28 when I put the last updated pages in the case. I hadn't even thought about it much since then either, except to wonder whether I'd ever have the time to get back to it.
On Friday night, I realized that NaNoEdMo would be ending at midnight. I'd completely forgotten about it, so busy has my life been. I hadn't even remembered to sign up for it.
When I realized that, I cursed things. Many things. All the things that made me forget about my story. And then I wondered if I had forgotten because I didn't want to finish it. After all, I've never written a novel before. Except for the play I wrote for class, and various monologues and character explorations for perfromance, my stuff has been research-based.
Then today I learned about a new publishing company that has begun soliciting novels that are out of the mainstream. Genre-busters, basically. Which is an excellent description for my novel, since it contains a modern woman, numerous demons, Satan and the Anti-Christ. It has elements of horror, but also a love story, and some strong leanings toward chick lit. I don't know what genre to sell it as.
Learning that Moxie Press was seeking submissions, I decided to pull Devil Daughter out of the black hole that is my desk and see whether it was salvageable. And in the process of making sure I had the most recent drafts printed out to edit and peruse, I found myself reading bits, and then pages, and then whole chapters. And laughing. And occasionally (I'm not ashamed to admit this) admiring the cleverness of the author. Who I would then remember was me.
So now I'm on fire about it all over again. I don't want to go to work, I want to work on Devil Daughter. I want to finish my novel. I'll teach class. That's fine. But I want to write my book, dammit. Not sit and hope the phone rings or that someone hands me some paperwork. Right now at work, I'm putting together the manual explaining what I did and how I did it so that the people who come after me don't have to start from scratch like I did. But I'll be done with that soon. And when I am, I want to work on my book.
Posted by sally at 10:32 PM
April 02, 2006
The Arboretum Project Week Thirteen
Panorama 4-2-06
So another week has blown past here in the Inland Northwest. In some cases, literally. The Palouse winds were pretty active this past week.
Today's weather was bright and warm for the most part, though we did have some clouds here and there. Lots of wildlife out and about as you'll see from the pics. Including someone's pet rodent. I know it was a pet because they left the fucking Habitrail case out with the door open. It was tucked under a bush, left there open, so the animal could get out and not be a bother to the owner any more. Based on the stuff scattered around the entry, I assume the critter had already left.
I can't understand such a cruel act. I mean, not only is it not good for the animals who actually live in the Arboretum, but the poor hamster or guinea pig isn't really designed to survive our weather. And they were left up the hill rather far from the lake, so it won't be able to get to water easily either. Basically, this pet, a creature who has never known anything other than a warm, safe home, was abandoned by some selfish, lazy motherfucker who didn't feel like taking care of it any more. I'd like to take them out of their warm, safe home and drop them in the middle of a hostile wilderness. That seems like a suitable punishment.
I mean, come on people. You don't want your guinea pig any more. Fine. Take it to the local humane society. They don't euthanize. And someone else may really want a new guinea pig. It would have a home, the new owners would have a pet and you'd have it out of your hair. This way, there's going to be a dead hamster in the arboretum sometime soon. Let's just hope it doesn't have anything nasty to spread to the rodentia that already live there.
Sorry. *Sally looks around. Climbs sheepishly down from soapbox. Dusts self off.* I got carried away. I just think life is hard enough for all of us without adding to anyone else's burdens or pain. But enough of the ranting. Back to the photography.
Branches
Buds
Bark
Spring is finally here, despite yesterday's snowstorm. One of the main signs is the way all the plants have decided to go ahead and bud. The whole place is practically vibrating with the energy needed to burst into flower.
The other clue that things are warming up is the presence of beneficials. I was starting to see them last week, but this week they were on anything that looked like a blossom. Hopefully we'll be seeing the big, fat bumblebee queens soon.
Beneficial & Buds
I've been trying to get shots of these guys for weeks. I'm not sure why they finally let me get close. These are actually two different birds who were within 10 feet of each other. The Sibley doesn't distinguish between male and female, so they may very well be a pair.
Killdeer Grass
Killdeer Stream
Bark II
Buds II
Bunny
Busy As a... You Know
Clematis Leaves
Trickle
Enchantment
Flowering
Red Buds II
Goose Goose Duck
(From here on out until the first snow, I suspect it's going to be more and more difficult to take pictures without including passers-by. The arboretum is just too lovely a place.)
Hallelujah
Joined
Surface Tension
Pollination
In order to give you a good idea of the number of fish in the upper lake, I took this picture. I had to bump up the color saturation and the contrast, but if you look, you can see three schools of koi. (If you can't see the third, look just above and to the left of what looks like the uppermost school.) There was another, even bigger school (roughly the size of all three of those together) feeding on the waterweeds at the far northern end of the lake, just to the right of where I stood to take this picture. It took me a while to realize that the clicking sound I was hearing in the stillness was the koi snapping the leaves of the weeds.
Koi -- 3 Schools
Magnolia Bud
Mallard Family Outing
More Leaf Buds
Like a Golf Course
(Especially now that they've mowed the lawn.)
Old and New - April
I want to come back and take this picture again in a week or two, when things are flowering.
WaterBranches
Pollination II
I cannot believe I got this pic. Usually, the silly things are too fast for me. But this one decided it would be okay running. I wasn't chasing it, I was just standing in one spot while they ran and flew past, frightened out of their bushes by people walking by on the trail.
Not very smart birds, quail.
California Quail
Pussywillow
Shredded
Spring Skyline
Tree Peony
Up the Valley
Watching
Posted by sally at 09:08 PM | Comments (1)
Where Are You Going to Sleep?
said Dave to me last Sunday evening as I was brushing me teeth. I wandered into the bedroom, curious to see what he was talking about.
Cats, in general, are small creatures. But four of them, together on a bed, take up the space of a medium sized dog. Even if it's spread around a bit more than if it were all one beastie.
"Whut?" they all seem to be asking. "We're fine. Is there a problem?"
Off to take arboretum pictures. Posting them soon.
Posted by sally at 12:43 PM
April 01, 2006
This Is Not a Joke, Part II
Happy April. I'm so glad it's finally spring.
It's snowing here.
Hard.
Posted by sally at 12:11 PM
This Is Not a Joke
I debated whether to post today, since it's entirely possible no one would believe anything they read. But then I realized that I am terrible at fabricating stories that hang together well, and people who know me know that. (It's why I'm the actor, not the playwright. I'm terrible at making up lies, but damn can I make you believe them when I tell them to you.)
Anyhow, thanks, I suspect, to Karma, I suddenly have a passel of new readers, who all asked questions, and I figgered why not answer them? And then there are the old friends who have recently relocated me through this hyar blog. They'd probably like some answers too. I'm also taking this opportunity to address frequently asked in person questions.
So. For those elephant's children out there, The Sallyacious FAQ. I'll just warn you now, it's rife with contradictions. But then, so am I.
1) How old are you?
Old enough. Though I must admit to spending my entire life in an awkward in-between phase. I've been told that's a common problem for my generation.
2) This David guy you mention frequently. Any relation?
Yes. By choice. He's my fabulous husband of 8.5 years, sweetie of 10 years, friend of (yeep!) 20 years. And soon to be nationally-known playwright whose coattails I will ride to fame.
3) Do you have kids?
David (see above) and I have 4 cats. Four. F-O-U-R. It's like parenting four furry 2 year-olds. Don't get me wrong, I like children. And they generally like me. Probably because I treat them like intellectual equals. (It's why animals tend to like me as well.) We just all get on better when I can lock myself up and be alone for Sally time on a regular basis. Which precludes living with them year-round. Also, I decided long ago that I needed to choose between my art and parenting, since I couldn't give my all to both. I chose acting.
4) So you're an actress?
No. I'm an actor. I've spent long years and a lot of money training in my chosen field.
No one takes actresses seriously. It's like the situation of a female writer in the Victorian era. They were called "authoresses", which somehow diminished what they were doing. As though a woman couldn' t do work that met the same standards as The Boys. I think that's still a problem in my field. Otherwise, why would filmmakers stop being interested in leading ladies when they hit 30, which is, IMHO, about the time women get interesting.
I'm very good at what I do, and I've worked very hard to become so. You wouldn't go see a doctress if you were sick, would you?
5) But if you just got your degree, you're pretty new at this, right?
No. I've been acting for roughly 15 years, making money at it for over a decade. I decided to go back to school because it was change or die as an artist time. Also because I wanted to be able to teach at the college level. And now I am. I'm just not teaching acting. But someday...
6) Are you in a show?
Not right now. Have you people read my blog? Do you have any idea how insanely busy I've been? Do you not know where/what Moscow, Idaho is? It's a town of 22K people, when school is in session, ninety mintues from the nearest locale that considers itself a major metropolitan area. In other words, if I can't get work here, and work here is limited, I have to travel. which means traveling to find it as well as to then do it. So far, that's just not fit into the schedule. Though it's definitely in the long-term plans.
7) If it's such a small and useless place, why are you there?
A question I ask myself pretty much daily. Because my husband (see Question 2) is working on his MFA in Theatre Arts (Playwriting). He has spent a decade supporting my artistic needs. What kind of spouse would I be if I didn't do the same for him now that he's found the thing that sets him on fire?
Besides. I think it's good for me to have to create my own place in the world for a change, rather than relying on the world to provide one for me.
8) If you can't find work there, but need to stay in the area, what do you do to fulfill yourself as an artist?
First and foremost, I branch out.
As part of NaNoWriMo I wrote 72,000 words of what will probably be a 125K (once I get the time to finish it) novel. Since I'm a professional storyteller anyhow, it was great to explore the field from the starting from scratch angle. I'm used to telling other people's stories, not my own.
I'm doing The Arboretum Project, which is helping me be aware of details and offers (in the acting sense) as well as still keeping my eye on the big picture. All of which is also helpful for an actor. Specificity and awareness of the things happening around me are vital in my profession, this is just going about it in a way that has nothing to do with text or my body.
I'm participating in the local Artist Trading Cards group, which means I'm meeting with local artists monthly. We're all in different fields ( textiles, painting, glass, photography, acting), but all artists do have some similar issues at bottom, and ATC gives me a chance to be a part of the local artistic community.
Secondly, I create my own opportunities. If I'm not doing a show with the local semi-professional (read non-union) theatre company this summer, I will be creating and performing my own work (or perhaps co-creating with David, if he's available). An actor needs to be acting or the tools get dull. I'm also in the beginning stages of the play about farm women that I keep bothering people about.
9) This play you're writing, is it with your husband?
No. It's with Karma. At least, the one I've referred to on this blog is with Karma. I'm also working on a couple of Shakespeare adaptations. I'm not going to talk about them here because I don't want anybody stealing my ideas. The husband is currently doing way too much of his own stuff to be bothered with me right now.
10) How long have you known Karma?
Roughly 1/4 century. We met as candy stripers at one of the Boise hospitals.
For those of you doing the math, that makes us both 29. Well, actually, since I'm almost an entire year younger than Karma , it makes her 29 and me 28.
11) You're a photographer. where can we find pictures of you, you hot 28 year-old?
For pictures of hot 28 year-olds, there are other places online you should visit. For pictures of me? There are several on this site. I don't, as a rule (the Law of Nature kind), take good pictures of human beings. I'm much better with plants, animals and scenery. That's why there are more pictures of those items on the blog than of people. Including myself.
That's enough questions, I think. I really do have to clean the living room now. So we can walk across the floor without killing ourselves. Also the kichen and my office (for similar reasons.) And maybe do laundry so we can move easily through the bedroom...
Posted by sally at 10:37 AM
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