Harrisonburg, VA.
Wow, lousy night's sleep. Maybe because I'm excited to be here and didn't feel guilty for being here and didn't feel all pitiful lonely. Ah! I need to find a map of the area. The temperature is 18 degrees, and there is some patchy cloud cover. I'm right next to a Lowes but in the distance there are hills and fields covered in frost. I should get some coffee and get going. I've had my breakfast (ham and cheese on sourdough that I maded before I left), and coffee is free in the lobby.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Over the river and through the woods
to Harrisonburg, Virginia I go. It was a very long trip from Norfolk to here - I would say about five hours but I ran into some Friday traffic so I'll say more like 4 to 4 1/2 hours. It was dark pretty much after Williamsburg, which means at least half the drive. I thought about the fact that I do not like driving at night and yet three hours of my drive was at night. Maybe I'm ok with it if I HAVE TO. Or haven't already been driving for five hours. Ya, it's probably something like that.
The hotel didn't have my reservation when I called to make sure they didn't give my reservation away. I booked through VacationWired.com. They'll be getting a phone call from me and, hopefully, I'll get a refund or something. The published rate at which I booked was $75/night. I'm in here at $99/night, which I'm not real thrilled about but didn't feel like quibbling about it. Better to wait until morning when I and the front desk people are fresh.
I'm sure I drank too much caffeine - one Venti and a 32 ounce Diet Pepsi. Who cares. It's not like I'm on a business trip. I can do whatever the hell I want this weekend and no one is going to say "Oh, you shouldn't do that..."
Although my stated purpose is to "take pictures," the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library is out here, which I didn't know, and would like to see since I've never been to a presidential library. Lots of history out here.
Staunton smelled like skunk. Or selenium. Something chemical. It made me sneeze. There was fog coming off the mountain when I came through Waynesboro. The hotel here is teaming with nubile and pretentious teens. There is some kind of high school dance - like a Winter Prom or something like that - and my god I remember that age and how the entire world revolved around me and how someone my age now was so old. I have graying hair, my body is drooping and sagging, and I wear comfortable clothing because I have better things to do than constantly adjust the bow on my oh-so-chic blouse. Or whatever. I'm not sure what my plan is for tomorrow, yet, but I have half a dozen brochures to look through.
The hotel didn't have my reservation when I called to make sure they didn't give my reservation away. I booked through VacationWired.com. They'll be getting a phone call from me and, hopefully, I'll get a refund or something. The published rate at which I booked was $75/night. I'm in here at $99/night, which I'm not real thrilled about but didn't feel like quibbling about it. Better to wait until morning when I and the front desk people are fresh.
I'm sure I drank too much caffeine - one Venti and a 32 ounce Diet Pepsi. Who cares. It's not like I'm on a business trip. I can do whatever the hell I want this weekend and no one is going to say "Oh, you shouldn't do that..."
Although my stated purpose is to "take pictures," the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library is out here, which I didn't know, and would like to see since I've never been to a presidential library. Lots of history out here.
Staunton smelled like skunk. Or selenium. Something chemical. It made me sneeze. There was fog coming off the mountain when I came through Waynesboro. The hotel here is teaming with nubile and pretentious teens. There is some kind of high school dance - like a Winter Prom or something like that - and my god I remember that age and how the entire world revolved around me and how someone my age now was so old. I have graying hair, my body is drooping and sagging, and I wear comfortable clothing because I have better things to do than constantly adjust the bow on my oh-so-chic blouse. Or whatever. I'm not sure what my plan is for tomorrow, yet, but I have half a dozen brochures to look through.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
TGITh
Bonus time is a good time of year. I splurged on a port replicator (Viao) and Prarie Home Companion tickets (April). I almost felt guilty about the port replicator, but it's an ergonomic thing, actually, and affords me one extra USB port. And, eventually, allows me to conveniently attached a 19" monitor. Or pick up and go at will (it comes with it's own power supply, yahoo!)
iHubby is in Richmond this week - he returns this afternoon. I've missed him in part because I've missed our routine. I want to tell him how excited I am to have my new infrared filter - and that it works! When he travels, he knows how to take care of himself. When I travel, I tend to splurge and not take care of myself. And I've been thinking about that alot lately and I wonder if it's because I didn't live alone very often in my early twenties. In fact, I think I lived alone for about four months. Really alone. And that's it. iHubby, on the other hand, lived alone for most of his 20's when he wasn't onboard ship. He's had a chance to explore what it means to take care of yourself. I know what it's like to exist around others, although I don't think I know well how to take care of myself in any context because it's always been about compromising time, space, or both. In retrospect, I did begin to learn how to do this in the context of my marriage. Then the boys came to live with us and that all pretty much fell apart and neither of us has been able to recover that since. We think we can once the boys are out on their own - out of the house!
iHubby is in Richmond this week - he returns this afternoon. I've missed him in part because I've missed our routine. I want to tell him how excited I am to have my new infrared filter - and that it works! When he travels, he knows how to take care of himself. When I travel, I tend to splurge and not take care of myself. And I've been thinking about that alot lately and I wonder if it's because I didn't live alone very often in my early twenties. In fact, I think I lived alone for about four months. Really alone. And that's it. iHubby, on the other hand, lived alone for most of his 20's when he wasn't onboard ship. He's had a chance to explore what it means to take care of yourself. I know what it's like to exist around others, although I don't think I know well how to take care of myself in any context because it's always been about compromising time, space, or both. In retrospect, I did begin to learn how to do this in the context of my marriage. Then the boys came to live with us and that all pretty much fell apart and neither of us has been able to recover that since. We think we can once the boys are out on their own - out of the house!
Saturday, February 05, 2005
iHubby does "the long suffering sigh" bit
I hate it when he does this. As if he is the oooonnly one in the house that actually does anything. Puhlease. He's doing some laundry. He's doing some dishes. Great. I asked him if he wanted to watch a video. "No, I'm going to keep working around the house. There's a lot to do." Oh waaaa. He scrunches his eyebrows together. His posture is extra-perfect. He's a martyr today. He's sacrificing his play time. When he talks to me, that is, he does his "long suffering sigh" bit. Otherwise, he's whistling while he works and having a lovely time. I should vamoose except I'm trying to find someone who carries a 49mm infrared filter (Hoya R72) so I can do some experimentation with my camera. And I can't find a sole in Hampton Roads who carries it. Grrrrrr. It's enough to make me do the long suffering sigh.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Dick Cheney, Dressing Down (washingtonpost.com) & Other Misc Stuff
Dick Cheney, Dressing Down (washingtonpost.com)
Amongst all the violence, there's this. It's silly "style" shit but…it makes an good point about symbolism and leadership. Anyway. Have a good laugh. Or a good cry depending on your political persuasion.
Slogged in to the office today for a few hours to do database cleanup and decided to implement an Exception Report policy for all those boneheads who can't seem to fill in all the fields for their tracking forms. Pinheads. And no one likes showing up on an exception report. Bwahahaha.
iHubby is short-tempered and doing homework, which means I'm lucky I can make as much noise typing as I am. At least I'm not talking to myself - that really drives him nuts!
Slacker-child submitted an application to Merry Maids. HAHAHA! I wonder if he realizes that they clean houses. He can't even clean his room. But it pays $8/hour, which is what he needs. So...we'll see how that goes.
Amongst all the violence, there's this. It's silly "style" shit but…it makes an good point about symbolism and leadership. Anyway. Have a good laugh. Or a good cry depending on your political persuasion.
Slogged in to the office today for a few hours to do database cleanup and decided to implement an Exception Report policy for all those boneheads who can't seem to fill in all the fields for their tracking forms. Pinheads. And no one likes showing up on an exception report. Bwahahaha.
iHubby is short-tempered and doing homework, which means I'm lucky I can make as much noise typing as I am. At least I'm not talking to myself - that really drives him nuts!
Slacker-child submitted an application to Merry Maids. HAHAHA! I wonder if he realizes that they clean houses. He can't even clean his room. But it pays $8/hour, which is what he needs. So...we'll see how that goes.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
McClamp "The Stick" Clamp
McClamp "The Stick" Clamp
The Stick and its partner, The Clamp, are a cool tools for photography.
It's been a photo crazy weekend around here. In a wonderful way. We didn't get the snow that was promised but we're sure getting the wind. Wow! Sometimes it sounds like a train coming by the house. The high today will be 30. Right now it's 20, and it feels like 4 with the wind. After a certain point, though, cold is just cold and 4 degree or 18 degrees...I can't tell the difference. I have to layer up either way.
Yesterday I took a lot of close-ups of jack-in-the-pulpit and tulips. I took some of a yellow spider chrysanthimum too, although I'm not as fond of how those turned out. It was hard to capture the subtlety of the colors.
I'm writing as I listen to Prairie Home Companion - it drives iHubby nuts. Mostly because I'm only listening to parts of it. I like the background noise. This is about the only time I can listen to the radio online without my headphones. He's still in bed (although awake and reading the Escoffier).
I've been unable to figure out why the image on my laptop screen is a different color than that which prints. Hm. Gee, that's a common problem. So I'm messing around with color profiles and all kinds of crap. Finally I tweaked the color set of the monitor - removed a little blue and red - and tada! It's a pretty good approximation of what I'll see when I print. Along the way I learned the color management is a huge area of knowledge, that I'll never be a master of it, and what a pain in the neck it is.
Today I'm going to organize my files, see if I can develop a workflow or something, and then make smoked salmon fettucine for lunch.
The Stick and its partner, The Clamp, are a cool tools for photography.
It's been a photo crazy weekend around here. In a wonderful way. We didn't get the snow that was promised but we're sure getting the wind. Wow! Sometimes it sounds like a train coming by the house. The high today will be 30. Right now it's 20, and it feels like 4 with the wind. After a certain point, though, cold is just cold and 4 degree or 18 degrees...I can't tell the difference. I have to layer up either way.
Yesterday I took a lot of close-ups of jack-in-the-pulpit and tulips. I took some of a yellow spider chrysanthimum too, although I'm not as fond of how those turned out. It was hard to capture the subtlety of the colors.
I'm writing as I listen to Prairie Home Companion - it drives iHubby nuts. Mostly because I'm only listening to parts of it. I like the background noise. This is about the only time I can listen to the radio online without my headphones. He's still in bed (although awake and reading the Escoffier).
I've been unable to figure out why the image on my laptop screen is a different color than that which prints. Hm. Gee, that's a common problem. So I'm messing around with color profiles and all kinds of crap. Finally I tweaked the color set of the monitor - removed a little blue and red - and tada! It's a pretty good approximation of what I'll see when I print. Along the way I learned the color management is a huge area of knowledge, that I'll never be a master of it, and what a pain in the neck it is.
Today I'm going to organize my files, see if I can develop a workflow or something, and then make smoked salmon fettucine for lunch.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
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