The Eye of the Beholder

Staff Support is studying Renaissance Art. I know what you're thinking. It sounded pretty highfalutin to me too. It simply caught his interest. Maybe it's a lingering virus embedded in the flu bug he just fought off.

He's using the excellent The Teaching Company lecture series from our local library. Lectures and beautiful art pieces displayed right on his computer. But he didn't stop with the DVD's. Nope. He tooled the net for something interesting. He found this. Be patient, it takes a couple seconds to load.

http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/

It's so darn cool. Stunning art by Renaissance Masters and an opportunity to get up close and personal. Click on the M at the bottom and take a 360 degree look from any angle.

This is as close as I'll ever get, even if I was standing in person on the floor of the Chapel.

"It's a Small World"-Walt Disney

I have a weakness for HGTV. It's that TV channel that shows home improvement and decorating projects pretty much 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Although I've watched it for many years, my own decorating efforts have resulted in my surroundings looking more like an antique shop than a magazine cover. Unless there's an actual magazine called The Wonderful World of Hodgepodge.

So I'm always pretty amazed by people who not only can decorate well, but make every inch of space functional as well as elegant. Then I saw this video. I am still in awe.



I can't help doubting its authenticity. Just a little bit anyway. There are lots of electronics here. With wall moving here, there and yonder, where are the electrical cords?

"Bloom Where You're Planted"

Stumbled on these happy faces on my daily walk. Not sure what this flower is, but its bright light drew my attention. I'm a sucker for things that, against all odds, manage to survive and thrive.

I know this looks like a carefully mulched bed, just waiting for someone to clean the leaves away. Actually it's a scrubby patch on a neglected walkway. Here's what it looks like from a bit of a distance.

Fortunately the flowers don't know their surroundings are filled with weeds, rotting leaves, and dead branches. They grow and bloom anyway. It's just a matter of perspective.

"There's always room for Jello"

Books-Fiction:The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear

I'm always happy when a new title in this series appears. The main character is Maisie Dobbs. Set in Britain between the two World Wars, it's about a woman psychologist who starts an investigation business in London. Having served as a nurse in war time France, she struggles in mind and soul to put the war behind her. She also struggles to find her place in a hard profession few women would undertake. Fortunately she has excellent help in both high and low places.

This is number seven in the series. It is 1932, fourteen years after the wars end. The remains of an American cartographer serving in the British army are unearthed in France. Maisie Dobbs is retained by his parents, to find the unnamed nurse whose love letters were found among his belongings.

Along the way we learn a little about the importance and extreme danger of map making during military conflict. We also get to see the beginnings of the film industry in England. The thing that always strikes me so forcefully in every book, is the wet, cold, terrible thing that is war.

Serious in tone, most of the characters are well developed. It is also a progressive series, where things happen in the lives of the characters. They work hard, struggle to make ends meet, experience love, get sick, and some of them die. Every book in the series stands on its own as it should. But I recommend starting with the first book in the series, Maisie Dobbs.

I delay picking this author's books up as long as possible. That's because I know I will suck it up in one go like a cherry jello shot. Then it's two longs years until the next one.

Men at Work

We've been hearing a lot about the improving economy. Most people I talk to haven't seen much of a pick up. Until today that is. This sign showed up on my usual walking path. It's handsome don't you think?

I was glad to see it. Mostly because the path needs work. It's not good to trip over loose asphalt while getting your daily exercise. At least the folks making the sign got some work. Ever suspicious, I wanted to see more than an expensive metal sign.

Just around the corner, I found an actual man at work. Here he is.

Here are a couple more. It wasn't until the car passed that I could catch them in action.

Ah, two guys watching one guy work. At lease one of them has a shovel. I guess it's better than three guys staring in a hole. I do wonder what we're paying the guy with his hands in his pockets to do. Must not be too hard. He doesn't get to wear a fancy hat.

I'm not complaining. As someone way smarter than me once said: "They also serve who only stand and wait." John Milton

Feeling a Little Blue

Somewhere on our travels, Support Staff picked up a red demon flu bug. It's been rampaging through him for a week. Finally his body declared war. This is the battle. Be warned, it's graphic.



Thankfully, after a week of misery, Victory is his.

"Look up in the Sky!"-Superman announcer

I confess to being a closet space fan. Maybe it's because I saw man land on the moon. And believed it. Or maybe it was all the science fiction I read as a kid. Maybe I just love the beautiful pictures sent to us from Hubble. I really don't know. I only know outer space fascinates me.

A favorite cousin of Staff Support sent this marvelous link. It's very cool. It goes pretty fast. Click on the right side bar to get close up and personal.

http://i.usatoday.net/tech/graphics/iss_timeline/flash.htm

But as much as space intrigues me, I never plan to leave terra firma. It's not that I'm afraid. Honest. It's that I get a little car sick above...um...thirty-five thousand feet.

"Almost Heaven"

Heading south, there's this place in Ohio where you cross over a handsome blue steel bridge into West Virginia. The mountains are a stark contrast after a hundred miles of Ohio's beautiful rolling farm land.

Ohio is neat, orderly, prosperous. By contrast, West Virginia is...well, I guess you could say it's scrappy. It's a rough around the edges kind of place, ramshackle in spots, pristine in others. It's a place where a couple of young bucks mix it up in a bar fight on Saturday night, and sit with each other in church on Sunday morning.

It also has some of the most spectacular scenery in America.



Heading south, it means my home is very near. But don't take my word for it. Go and visit. Their license plates sum it up pretty well; Wild, Wonderful.

"One potato, Two potato"

You see a lot of odd things when traveling. Not necessarily odd as in weird, though that is certainly true. More odd as in strange to you. For instance, at the hotel buffet this morning, all the utensils were biodegradeable. The plates, bowls and cups were made of paper instead of Styrofoam. The hotel owner is definitely taking the eco-friendly message to heart.

That's not what was surprising. No. The surprising thing was the silverware. Or rather Tater Ware. Instead of plastic, the forks, knives and spoons were made of potatoes. Yep, the good old Idaho spud.

The cutlery had an unusual texture, rougher than plastic, but it performed all the usual functions. The only disappointment was that it didn't taste at all like a french fry. Now that would really be something. Eat your meal, then finish it off by eating your utensils. Definitely eco-friendly.

Think about it. Cutlery as dessert. Flan flavored forks, strawberry flavored spoons, livorice flavored knives. Yum. Where's the suggestion box?

"Treat me like a fool, Treat me mean and cruel"-Elvis

Vanity License Plate: Ex..cuse..me

Now this could be taken many ways. The strange punctuation makes the meaning uncertain.

For instance, is it meant in a meek stuttering way? "Excuse me. May I please get by?"

Or maybe the punctuation wouldn't fit. Maybe it should be; "Excuse me? I didn't hear you. Did you want to get by?"

Or perhaps they always run late. "Excuse me! I'm in a hurry. Please let me by."

But I suspect it was meant to be sarcastic and cynical. And maybe downright rude. Ex!!Cuse!!Me!!! Meaning; "Could you be a bigger moron? How did you get a license to drive you fool."

Now, I'm not sure what interpretation was meant. But plastering it permanently on the back of a car seems an act of hubris. Regardless which one is correct, do you really want everyone to know so much about the real you?

"A host, of golden daffodils"-Wordsworth

"Ten thousand saw I at a glance"

"Tossing their heads in sprightly dance."

Happy Easter!

Watching the grass grow

What a marvelous thing to do on a warm spring day. Climb on a fence, and watch nature pass by. It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but these folks are life size.

Then again, maybe they are enjoying the exuberance of this happy fellow.

It's spring, the sun is shining, and the world is his. Doesn't this just make you want to grab a toy plane of your own and run outside?

Or maybe they are watching the curious antics of these two folks.

I mean, don't they look seriously shady to you?

"A Tisket, A Tasket, A Green and Yellow Basket"

From our lovely arboretum. Kudos to the caretakers.

An Easter basket, to entice visitors to explore and enjoy. A carefully planned collection to bring beauty to the eye, and lightness to the spirit.


But I must applaud the serendipity of the visitor, who gathered fallen camellias for this whimsical display.