Let the Sun Shine

George enjoying the afternoon sun

New Yoda

This is my newest Yoda, courtesy of Stephen and Anji. The box assures me that he is made with "100% recycled awesome."

Tacky Turtle

There is a tradition in my family, which was begun by my dad, of bringing each other tacky gifts when we go on vacation. Jenny and Dave recently went to Hawaii and today I received a beautifully tacky Turtle Compass. Thank you Jenny and Dave!

Things I Should Do Before I Leave New York

I’m departing a little from my usual books and pictures theme because I had an inspiration yesterday. Strangely enough it came from the Sex and the City movie. There was a scene on the Brooklyn Bridge and I thought, “I’ve still never done that," walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, that is. That was mixed with a conversation that I had with Sylvie not long ago about New York things that we haven’t done. Add to that a couple of bloggers who have written lists of things to do in their lives and you have a nice epiphany.

So I decided to sit down and write my own “Things I Should Do Before I Leave New York” list. Publishing it just makes the whole thing more real. Plus there are a lot of photography things on the list that will probably wind up getting posted here anyway. I'll probably add more later and will try to post here as I check things off of the list.

• Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge

• Photograph the sunset from Top of the Rock

• Go to Chinatown

• See an Opera at the Met

• Actually get off the boat at Liberty Island

• Go to Bloomingdales

• Photograph Central Park to my own satisfaction

• See more of the Met

• Go to Coney Island

• See a show in every Broadway house

• Go to the New York Aquarium

• Visit the Cloisters

• See a show at Shakespeare in the Park

• Visit the Morgan Library

• Get a good photograph of the NYPL Lions

• Go to the Rose Center

• Find a way to take a picture of the Giant Whale at the Museum of Natural History

• Spend a night at the Library Hotel

• Photograph the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

• Go to MoMA

• Visit Trinity Cemetery

• Try a Mozzarepa at a Street Fair

• See the New York Ballet

The New View from my Window!

I've been absentee lately due to moving and generally being busy. Now that it's changed I thought I'd return with the view from our new windows.

From the Living Room

From the Bedroom

Desie enjoying the view

The Birds!

Amy and I went to the Central Park Zoo while she was in town for Clay's Graduation. There were many, many birds.

Twilight

I had jury duty earlier this week so I was in need of a good, entertaining book. I picked up Twilight by Stephenie Meyer on the recommendation of Stephen and Sylvie, both of whom indicated that they couldn’t put it down. It turned out to be the perfect choice to get me through two days of enforced sitting around.

Twilight is about Bella, a seventeen year old girl, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to live with her father. At her new school she feels drawn to the beautiful and mysterious Edward Cullen. She is confused and annoyed by his odd behavior, but eventually figures out that he is a vampire. By that point it’s too late because she’s already fallen in love with him.

Spoilers

Edward and his family are a group of vampires who all hunt animals instead of humans. Carlisle and Esme Cullen function as the parents of the family and to the public Edward and the remaining members of the group are their adopted children. The vampire lore used is interesting. These vampires can go out in the sun, but their skin becomes luminous so they avoid it. Their eyes change color depending upon how recently they have eaten, from gold to black. Some of them have special powers, Edward can read minds and his sister Alice can see the future, but not all of them do. They have the usual super strength and heightened senses. The most unusual trait is that these vampires are venomous. Instead of the usual Anne Rice method for creating a new vampire, their venom will change a person who is bitten and survives.

Bella and Edward’s relationship was very fun to read. It was very sensual, and exactly the sort of story that I would have loved as a teenager. I was impressed with Meyer’s ability to bring to mind what it felt like to be sixteen and in love for the first time. She was also able to treat a typical star-crossed relationship without lapsing too much into teen angst and whining. While Edward spends a lot of time telling Bella that he is dangerous, once they truly begin their relationship there is a refreshing lack of “How can a human and a vampire have a relationship?” moments.

The only real complaint I had about the book is that the adventure story section felt a bit tacked on and unnecessary. The tracker came after Bella and manages to manipulate her into coming to him by threatening her mother. Still for some reason Bella’s whole self sacrificing moment did not feel as trite as it should have. It was predictable and obvious, but I wasn’t particularly annoyed.

I’m interested to see where the story goes in the remaining books in the series. I like Edward and Bella and their relationship. Hopefully it will be fun to see where it goes.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

While we were in Texas, we picked up a few books at Todd and Brooke’s garage sale, in addition to our new Buddha. One of them was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. It is one of those books that I’ve been thinking about reading for a while and it’s on the list of 1,001, so that’s good too.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is told from the perspective of a 15 year old autistic boy named Christopher. When he finds his neighbor’s dog dead he decides to investigate and to write a book to chronicle his investigation. Throughout the book he introduces the reader to his world and the various rules by which he governs his life.

Christopher is a very well drawn character. Haddon has does an excellent job of having Christopher explain himself without making it feel contrived. The explanations of his outlook on life are interesting, such as his philosophy of what the numbers of yellow and red cars he sees on the way to school mean.

Spoilers

While Christopher’s quirks are interesting, the best part of the book is the affect that he has on the people around him, namely his parents. His relationship with his father is beautiful and heartbreaking and only becomes more so as the story continues and the truth is revealed about Wellington’s death. The juxtaposition between the ways in which Christopher’s parents deal with the reality of having an autistic son is fascinating. His father shows tremendous patience in dealing with his son’s condition only to lose his wife and eventually his son. Christopher’s mother finds that she is unable to cope and leaves, losing touch completely with her family.

I really enjoyed this book, first as an interesting look at living with autism and later as a character study looking at the affects of autism on Christopher’s parents.

Spring!

To Dionysus?

I saw this memorial/shrine on the street near our apartment. What I really found interesting about it is that that bottle in the middle is a bottle of vodka, not to mention the two bottles of beer off to the side. Memorial? Shrine? Offering? I don't know. My gut and the flowers say that it's a memorial that someone has messed with by adding the alcohol, but who knows?

Woodland Creatures

We went to Sakura Park this afternoon to throw a softball around and generally enjoy the fact that it's spring and no longer freezing. The birds and squirrels seemed to have a similar idea.

Subway Shoes

For some reason I was very amused by the combination of various shoes and socks across from me on the train this evening. This is another phone camera shot so please excuse the poor quality.

Texan Buddha!

Thanks to Todd and Brooke's garage sale we have added a third Buddha to what can now be called our collection. We have acquired Buddhas in Boone, Tijuana, and Bedford!

Rangers Ballpark Tourism

We took the stadium tour at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Much fun was had by all!

Clay goes to batting practice.

This was on the wall by the dugout. I like how the horseshoe itself is just not enough.

Clay and Stephen in the Dugout

Clubhouse!

I didn't take this one, but it's awfully cute.

It's Enormous!

The Cowboy's new stadium in progress. Apparently the Statue of Liberty could fit inside.

Make Way for Ducklings!

The ducks at Boys Ranch in Bedford, Texas

This guy is totally threatening me!

Subway Beautification Mosaics

I took these of the mosaics in the 66th St. subway station while I was out running errands today. I took them with the camera in my phone so they aren't great, but the mosaics are pretty cool.

All Dried Out

So Sweet!

The Current View From My Window

I've previously posted pictures of the old view from my window, so I decided to take a few of what it looks like now. It's not very pretty, but it is what it is.