absence

I'm so sorry for my absence. Since the start of school, my life has been crazy busy. Labor Day weekend was the party my sister and I threw for my parent's 40th wedding anniversary. It was a wonderful day. The late summer sun shone down on the flowers in my mom's garden and 60 family and friends came to my parent's house to celebrate their shared life together. It was an amazing day. But whew! You can imagine.
Last weekend my dad and I drove up to State College, PA to go to a Penn State football game. My dad receieved his Masters in Journalism from Penn State and he and my mom used to go to every game - even the blizzard conditions of some! Dad goes every year to one game (usually in September to avoid driving those curvy mountain roads in the snow). This year he took me. I'd never been to Penn State, and it was so fun to walk around the campus and see where my parents spent their early days of marriage. Penn State beat Syracuse and I learned the cheer "WE ARE....PENN STATE" cheered by 103,000 people.
Last night I went to my first Orioles v. Red Sox game of the season. It was great. Camden Yards was filled with Red Sox fans - I felt sorry for the Orioles fans - it felt like Fenway. In any case, the Red Sox won, and we had great seats! Fun times with my friends Gregg and Carrie.

So besides the start of school - which in and of itself is a hectic and crazy time - it has been difficult to get that time to center myself and rejuvenate my spirit. I need to somehow find some time to find balance. Today is filled with some much needed laundry, grocery shopping, school work and then the entire science department is getting together tonight for a bonfire at the dept. chair's house. It should be fun (the fire part)! Our headmistress sent this along to us and I love it. I'm going to share it with you here.

Editorial The Rural Life New York Times
Goldenrod Time
By VERLYN KLINKENBORG
Published: September 17, 2009

Somehow my internal timekeeper failed this summer — broken down, perhaps, during the utterly sodden month of June. Time passed, and all the natural events that happen on this farm happened in order. But when the goldenrod began to bloom a few weeks ago, I failed to make a connection between the two.

The goldenrod ripens with nearly the same power as the leaves turning. It’s one of the strongest temporal clues I know, and I usually respond to it the way I respond to most signs of a shifting season: with an inward emotional tug.

This year, I seem to be absent, or perhaps I’m just resting in the lull of late summer. Or perhaps I’ve become just another of the creatures on this farm.

I don’t suppose the bees answer the blooming goldenrod with a rush of emotion. They’re acutely aware of the sun’s position. They’re connoisseurs of ripeness, that moment of nectareous perfection in each blooming species.

In the life sequence of the hive, bees certainly know the order in which things are done. But it isn’t — or so it seems to me — a nextness that reaches beyond the very task at hand. And yet what could all that honey mean except an awareness of the future?

What I needed, besides the goldenrod, was a few cool nights. And now that they’ve come, I feel my clock restarting. The goldenrod is pointing headlong to September’s end, and soon the world around me will be turning copper, deepening the blue overhead. I moved to the country, long ago, in order to live with time. I believed it was something happening around me. Now I know that it’s passing in me.

out with friends

Last night I met up with Stephanie, Matt, Ubah and Katie. It was Restaurant Week in D.C. and we went to Columbia Firehouse in Old Towne, Alexandria. We had wonderful food and laughed til we cried! (Can anyone say "Screaming her head off?!?!?!")

It is hard for us to get together and not talk politics. Here is the Colbert Report interview with Orley Taitz (of the Birther movement). One of the topics of our conversation last night.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Womb Raiders - Orly Taitz
http://www.colbertnation.com/
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Protests

Speaking of Alan Rickman

Well, I've seen several friends' posts lately regarding Alan Rickman, and thanks to Erika who sent this to me, I am sharing this YouTube clip from the Family Guy that I just LOVE! It is so hilarious.

And Kate, I also love that man!! :-)




Here is the original blog link that Erika sent me: http://theparkbencher.blogspot.com/2009/07/nerd-man-of-month-alan-rickman.html

Ladies, we are not alone!!

Also, he was absolutely fabulous as Snape - he MADE the 6th movie.

Still my favorite book

"The Salinas Velley is in Northern California. It is a long. narrow swale between two ranges of mountains, and the Salinas River winds and twists up the center until it falls at last into Monterey Bay.
I remember my childhood names for grasses and secret flowers. I remember where a toad may live and what time the birds awaken in the summer - and what trees and seasons smelled like - how people looked and walked and smelled even. The memory of odors is very rich.
I remember that the Gabilan Mountains to the east of the valley were light gay mountains full of sun and lovliness and a kind of invitation, so you wanted to climb into their warm foothills almost as you want to climb into the lap of a beloved mother. They were beckoning mountains with a brown grass love. The Santa Lucias stood up against the sky to the west and kept the valley from the open sea, and they were dark and brooding - unfriendly and dangerous. I always found in myself a dread of west and love of east. Where I ever got such an idea I cannot say, unless it could be that the morning came over the peaks of the Gabilans and the night drifted back from the ridges of the Santa Lucias. It may be that the birth and death of the day had some part in my feeling about the tow ranes of mountains."

- East of Eden , page 1. John Steinbeck

This is one of those books that just sticks with me, and as I read it, I find myself thinking about the layers that Steinbeck has carefully built and it truly is a joy uncovering each one.

Wine Tasting in NC

Today Christina, Emanuel, Bronte, Hywel and I went to the RayLen Vineyard just outside of Greensboro, NC. We had a wonderful time - the sun was shining, there was music playing and a nice breeze. Good times! I made headbands from the clover flowers that Bronte picked!

Dogs using the Metro!

I just saw this post as I was surfing the internet (I know, shame, shame.). Anyway, check this out! I think it is kind of cool. Here is the link to the original post.

Who are you lookin' at???

Apparently dogs in Moscow are using the metro to travel into the city to search for food and then travel back out to the suburbs at night. Amazing!

The biologist in me thinks this is so cool to see how these dogs have used their cognitive behaviors to "hunt" for food. They have adapted to the system.

My animal friendly side is concerned about all of these stray dogs; that I am sure are not spayed and neutered. Yikes! Some of them don't look too healthy. :-( Why are all of these dogs just sleeping??

Not to mention the part of me that thinks about my non-dog-loving friends (you know who you are) and how this might terrify them in a public space!

Then I think - you know, I went to the park yesterday, and even on the park you had to have your dogs leashed. Interesting - two very different worlds!

Anyway, I thought this was good food for thought. :-) Enjoy!

This man doesn't seem bothered in the least!

Protesting in Silence today in Tehran

I'm sure you've all been reading and hearing about what is going on in Iran right now, but I thought this video was a moving reminder about what it means to have free speech.