I need orange

January 20 -- collage workshop

2012-01-29T07:43:00.053-05:00

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On to the actuall collage workshop with Laura Cater-Woods. Laura is an enthusiastic, engaged, and interesting teacher. She does a good job of connecting with her students, and has a knack for putting her finger on what they mean to say, and helping them say it clearly.

My buddy K. bought this excellent long length of sewn-together sari scraps when we were in Cincinnati last spring.

She shared!

The text is about going to a yoga retreat where they had great food. I thought that was appropriate, as I have started a yoga class, and I love great food....

Don't you love this scrap of silk? Nothing better than hot pink and orange, in the depths of January!

Laura brought all sorts of interesting materials for us to use, including some tea bags. The tea dried in the bags, and then Laura took them apart and ironed them.

I chose one I liked, and glued it (just across the top edge) to a 4x6 card, and it was done. Laura thought so, too. When she came around looking at what we'd been doing, she picked it up and said "This is perfect! Mat it, sign it, frame it!"

Her own work is very much more dense and layered. I think it is excellent that she has the capacity to appreciate work that is not in the vernacular she prefers. This is a rare and wonderful quality in anyone, and is especially to be hoped for in a teacher (but not always found, alas).

I'm not fond of working in an en-masse and public setting, but I diddled a bit. I'd thought I would work just with black and white, with different densities of print for different values, but somehow the orange found its way in......

The text in the prev NOT significant. :-) I was looking for dense print, and this drug warning thing was what I found...........

You know how I love light and shadow. This sliver of paper, snipped from the side of a little collage, curled beguilingly.......

(as always, click on an image to see a larger version -- the shadows show up better in the bigger image)

Laura liked this, too, and after I'd talked to her just a little about how I like light and shadow, she told me that was my bliss, and that I could work with light and shadow for the rest of my life and never plumb them. (You can see what I mean about her deftly putting her finger on a student's pulse point....)

This is tiny -- it fit handily on a 4x6 card. I am pondering how one would manage to get this sort of effect in a size big enough to be seen more easily........... The multiple light sources really enhance the appeal of the shadows.............

It may be the case that I "just" photograph these. Though then the potential added attraction of motion is lost................

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January 20

2012-01-28T07:35:00.001-05:00

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On the 20th, I took a collage workshop with Laura Cater-Woods.

We had car issues -- two cars, three people with three places to be. I was dropped, an hour early, at the community college. I'd thought I'd sit in its lovely atrium and enjoy the view of the pond, but they were getting ready for some sort of event, so there was no peace in that space (and they'd removed the chairs!).

I walked, instead. Round and round and round, inside the building, for about 15 minutes.

But not before I stepped outside into the cold for some pics.

January 19

2012-01-27T07:42:00.006-05:00

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11:00 am.

This is our usual spot to see the hill-that-is-the-horizon. But it's snowing..........

Later.

During lunchtime it cleared up.

Here's the sky at a quarter to 2.

Pointing the camera the same ways as the above, with less zoom.

January 18

2012-01-26T07:41:00.005-05:00

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Just after 10 am.

Just before 11 am.

Just after the prev.

January 17

2012-01-25T07:40:00.001-05:00

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Rain.

January 16

2012-01-24T07:11:00.001-05:00

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Sunrise.

It had been a cold night, and it was a cold morning.

Frost feathers.

chuckles for your morning...........

2012-01-23T07:54:00.000-05:00

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Wherein a True Hero braves the jungle behind the Recliner, and Restores internet service to his True Love's grandparents.

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pink

2012-01-23T07:09:00.001-05:00

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Hyacinth.

more chartreuse

2012-01-22T07:19:00.001-05:00

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Chartreuse and white orchid.

chartreuse and purple

2012-01-22T07:17:00.001-05:00

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Love the contrast between the purple and the chartreuse, and between the big curvy petals and the tiny buds.

more color

2012-01-21T07:11:00.002-05:00

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More megamart flowers.

I did nothing to soup up the color. This is what the camera remembers.

Here's a tighter crop of the right side. Love the curves of the leaves.

January 15

2012-01-20T07:03:00.001-05:00

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Sunrise, with clouds (and trees!).

Walking.

Flowers at the megamart.

Sometimes I forget how much I need color, until I see it, and am drawn, like a compass needle to true north..........

January 14

2012-01-19T07:00:00.001-05:00

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The pond beside the library.

Walking in the neighborhood.

This is the Japanese anemone. The last time we looked at it, it was the cottony stuff around the seeds that caught my eye. This time it's the skeleton.

Dîner en Blanc, Paris, 2011

2012-01-18T19:54:00.001-05:00

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So many cool things out there that I've never heard of............

There is a flash-mob dinner. In Paris. Every year......

I especially love the blue end-of-daylight pics, and the one with the sparklers...............

Dîner en Blanc (White Dinner), Paris, 2011

An excellent 360-degree view. With music.

Here's a post that shows where it's been, in the past.

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make post cards.....

2012-01-18T19:31:00.004-05:00

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I think this is a cool idea -- make your own postcards..........

Wouldn't this be fun to do, for every place you visit?

Artist postcards.

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January 13

2012-01-18T07:57:00.002-05:00

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It rained the evening of the 11th. It rained all that night, and all the next day. The night of the 12th, it turned to snow. It snowed all night, and all day the 13th. Not very much, but it kept on snowing.....

Remember last Friday? On the 6th, I walked downtown in shirtsleeves! The 13th was more like January in Michigan.

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January 12

2012-01-17T07:21:00.010-05:00

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I was surprised to leave yoga, on the 11th, and discover it was raining. It rained all night, and on the 12th it rained all day, off and on. Not too hard, and it wasn't too cold.

The end of the day..........

That's the same big tree we've been looking at, in the sunset/crow pics, here at upper left. This is a much more ho-hum pedestrian image than the sky-focused pics.....

Some of those buildings are on Main Street.

On the 12th we went to the Jolly Pumpkin for lunch.

Here is the first item I have glued in my composition book. I love the (disposable) coasters they put under your drinks, in bars....

I used little dots of liquid glue around the circle of the coaster. I was/am surprised that the cheap paper in the composition book didn't buckle. I did leave it closed, immediately after gluing, with a hardcover book on top, for about an hour before I wrote in it. If you look really hard at the back of the page, you can see the dots of glue, but the gluing is much less noticeable than I expected.

I couldn't make up my mind where to put the book pic in this post. Lunch was before the pic of lights and stuff, from the window, but gluing in the book was much later......

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Custom Kicks

2012-01-16T12:39:00.002-05:00

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I happened to see this on the library shelf, so I took it home.

I had no idea so many people are using shoes as the canvas for their art work!

Lots of interesting things to look at. If you see it at your library, you might enjoy a stroll through the book.

I wonder about practicality -- paint isn't known for breathing. I bet my feet would be too sweaty for comfort in painted shoes......

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January 11

2012-01-16T07:19:00.006-05:00

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Yet another neighborhood house with ominous (copious) digging between the house and the middle of the street..........

These guys are using one of those big street-cutting saws.... That cloud of white is street dust.

You can see frost on the red car, lower right, and on the pile of dug-up debris.

Frost on leaves.

I have begun writing about my day, at the end of the day. I've been recording the weather, and how far I walked, and I talk about whatever else I feel like mentioning. I'm finding I like seeing my handwriting, and, in this cheap composition book, I'm not minding all the scratching-out of mistakes -- not too much, anyway.

On the 11th, I started a yoga class. I've been thinking it would be good to work on balance and flexibility, so ... now, I am.

For added extra excitement, on the 11th, here is the first sketch in my composition book, of the hardest thing she asked us to do in yoga class.

January 10

2012-01-15T07:13:00.003-05:00

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Sunrise, with thin white stripes of clouds.

Fancy door, on a student-ghetto house.

Pedestrian railroad crossing.

Oh dear. This isn't right. Wheat. I'll bet it spilled from a railroad car........

Enjoying sunset, from the office window.

I thought there were no crows in this pic, until I got it up on "the big screen".............

Lots and lots of crows, just farther away than sometimes...........

Writing Away

2012-01-14T12:36:00.000-05:00

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I've been reading this, and finding it very interesting.

She includes all sorts of useful travel info (it's never a bad idea to have a few copies of your passport photo, just in case), as well as bunches of info on keeping a journal, and myriad suggestions for making your travel experience (abroad or in your own neighborhood) deeper, broader, more interesting, and more fulfilling.

BE THERE, don't just go..........

She does have firm opinions about many things, some of which don't really matter and she should lighten up (she really thinks lined books are a bad thing). This is minor, but mildly annoying. And gratuitous. Next edit; fix. In my humble.

All in all, well worth reading. I just paged through it, as I have to return the library's copy.

I decided to buy my own.

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January 9

2012-01-14T07:08:00.003-05:00

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Sunshine!

Puffy clouds.

Solid clouds, moving in.....

January 8

2012-01-13T07:07:00.001-05:00

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More sun on the 8th. It's easier to tolerate the monochromatic landscape, when the sun is out and the sky is blue.

January 7

2012-01-13T07:03:00.001-05:00

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A cloudy day.

We could see blue-ish places, in the clouds, but no clear blue sky.

January 6

2012-01-12T07:36:00.003-05:00

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Another fiery dawn. Not as much so as the previous day, but still.

It was an astonishing day. I walked downtown for a meeting. I stepped out of the house in a fleece and a windbreaker. I turned right back around, went inside, and lost the fleece.

By the time I'd gone several blocks, I took off the windbreaker. Here I am, on January 6, in a tshirt........

On the way home after the meeting. I didn't bother to put the windbreaker on. It was chillier than on the way down, as the sun was lower, but it seemed like too much trouble to get the windbreaker out of my pack.....

Ooh! Look! A real flower!

Hellebore.

This was pretty close to the ground. I held the camera down and pointed it into the flower.

Out-take. Here's what happens when you point at the trees more than at the middle of the flower. The camera focuses on the trees overhead, not on the flower.....

January 5 -- walking home

2012-01-11T07:39:00.001-05:00

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Conditions were perfect for jet trails to linger in the sky.........

An excellent looking-at-the-sky kind of day!

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January 5 -- sunset from the office window, with crows

2012-01-10T07:27:00.000-05:00

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4:50 pm. The big tree I can see from the west side of my office. The dark specks are crows.

Closer crop of the above. Twenty-one crows in this little area.

5:00 pm. Sitting in my chair, against the east wall of my office.

Back against the west wall.

My coleus has been blooming for months. The stem with the blossoms just gets longer and longer and longer.....

5:08 pm.

About a quarter after 5:00.

Tighter crop of the above. Crows in the tops of the trees on the high ground.....

January 5 -- afternoon, from my office window

2012-01-09T07:15:00.003-05:00

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The last pic in the previous post was taken at about 10 am.

This one was taken at about 2 pm.

I don't know if you can see the ripples.... They look very similar to ripples on the floor of the ocean, right by the beach. I wonder if they are caused by similar forces......

Looking out my office window, at the unfortunate new wing, with its enormous [whatever -- hvac thing?] on top.

One day in late December the crows determined that they would spend the night right around (and on top of) our building.

I watched as dozens of them landed on top of that metal thing, coming and going, as hundreds or thousands of them wheeled, close by, in the sky. (It was too dark for pics, alas.)

When I went outside to walk home, many trees in the neighborhood of my office building were full of crows. Interestingly, some trees, equally tall, had no crows. The persimmon tree in front of the church on 4th Ave. had not one crow.....

I wonder why they gather, in their thousands, to spend the night in close proximity (but never touching, at least when it's still light enough to see them).

I wonder how they decide where to spend the night......

3:30 pm.

4:00 pm.

4:30 pm.

January 5 -- by the post office

2012-01-08T07:05:00.001-05:00

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Stuff to mail, and books to return to the library. I got dropped off at the post office.

Love the kale.

I am not really into ruffles, but on the kale? Excellent.

Walking south along 5th Ave. The sky!

They have filled up the AnnArborsbad Cavern with parking structure. This used to be the parking lot we used the most, as it's adjacent to the library (which is the bulding on the right, just below the sun). They've replaced a lovely surface lot with a nasty many-stories-underground parking structure. Feh.

That's Tower Plaza (still the tallest building in town), and the other tall building is the one we've watched rising, with all the interesting rectangular windows, etc. I think that's as tall as it will get. It is more student housing. They have built a TON of student housing in the last several years. I wonder when they'll hit the end of the demand........

Oh my. I hadn't realized that there is a gap between the parking structure and the surrounding land! This gap goes all the way down to the bottom of the cavern, I think. (The camera gleefully focused on the fence -- "Hard lines! My favorite!", so the gap isn't in focus, but my eyes looked down to the bottom, and it's really deep.)

It looks like they may pour more concrete right next to the structure, and then I wonder if they will pack dirt into the remaining crevasse, and, if so, how..............

Ok. Looking away from that boondoggle, back at the excellent sky.

January 5 -- fire in the sky

2012-01-07T08:38:00.000-05:00

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I happened to see red through the slats of the blind.

I'm so glad I jumped up to open the blind, and so glad the camera was handy!

Just a few minutes later, the color was less intense.

Another New Mexico sky, right here in Ann Arbor.

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January 4

2012-01-06T07:19:00.000-05:00

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Our neighborhood is not flat. Our block is not flat.

Because it seems to me that my knees prefer uphill to downhill, I choose some steep downhills and some more gradual (so longer in time) uphills. I begin by heading downhill on our block, and then go west, uphill all the way, for about 10 minutes.

We've seen this view from the other direction many times. On the 4th, I turned around and looked back at the way I came.

You can see that some sidewalk is bare, but some is snowy/icy. I walked in the grass, mostly, on the 4th, rather than on the slippery white sidewalk.

(Poor sad butchered trees, chopped away from the wires...................... Also, you can see the moon in the upper left.)

This is why the white places were slippery. The darker bits, especially in the whiter areas, are ice. You can see that we had some smallish hail, and then snow. The snow packed in around the hail, holding it still, and the aggregation is quite slick. Not as bad as wet ice, but definitely baby-step worthy.

in your copious spare time................

2012-01-05T19:06:00.000-05:00

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...you might try this.............

I saw the link to the above at How About Orange.

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January 3

2012-01-05T07:11:00.003-05:00

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Early afternoon, on the sunniest day we'd had for a while.

Sunset.

Walking Willard, under a pink sky.

January 2

2012-01-04T07:58:00.005-05:00

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We got somewhat less than an inch of snow overnight. It was warm in the morning -- low 30s (F). We should have gotten out and shoveled! Those who did had bare, dry sidewalks in the afternoon, when it got much colder, making it impossible to get rid of the ice and snow still on the sidewalk.

Sigh!

Squirrel in the front yard, hair fluffed for maximum warmth.

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My walk on the 2nd was much less pleasant than that on the 1st. There was a lot of ice on the sidewalks of those who, like us, had failed to clear them in the morning, and the very worst sidewalks were those which were partially cleared. Snow is easy to walk on. When the snow has been scraped off the underlying icy sidewalk, walking can be dangerous.

The streets had not been salted, and the snow was packed down into thin white ice. Very hazardous for walkers, and I saw cars having trouble, too.

When I was in New York, in February of 2008, there was one evening when just a little snow left the roads verrry slick. It was ok for walking, but you could see vehicles spinning their wheels and/or skidding. I thought it was odd -- ok on the sidewalks, awful in the street.

The evening of the 2nd, we had the same conditions here. It's no fun to walk, when you have to be so careful about where you put your feet, and have to take baby steps a good bit of the time.

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January 1

2012-01-03T07:38:00.002-05:00

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We had a visitor!

I wish I could tell one hawk from another. This one was about the size of a crow.

UPDATE: My buddy K. tells me this is a Cooper's hawk. Thanks, K!!!

There was a dead squirrel in the middle of the street.

I wonder if a hawk took the squirrel. This one flew away when a neighbor, oblivious, walked her dog by this tree. The squirrel was gone, later. I hope it fed someone.

There was a very little blue sky, on January 1, and we got about 15 seconds of sunshine.

I walked late in the afternoon. It was snowing and blowing, but once I wasn't going west any more, I positively enjoyed being out.

I am not a natively active person. It has taken me 18 months of walking almost every day to get to the point where I actually enjoy walking, some of the time. I wonder how long it will take before I can be sitting inside, warm and comfy, and think "I bet I'd enjoy a walk!"

I do like the walking, itself, better in wintertime (aside from ice -- walking on ice is no fun at all).

"They" say that exercise makes you feel better. For most of my life I never found that to be true. Now, sometimes, especially when it's cold outside, it's true.

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December 31

2012-01-02T08:47:00.000-05:00

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An "all the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray" kind of day.

It's possible to find something interesting to look at, but it's a struggle.

I need to go back to the botanical garden!

I'm working on a time-sensitive project that has me thinking galivanting is right out, for the moment.

Maybe next weekend I'll make it back to the garden..........

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December 29

2012-01-01T07:21:00.005-05:00

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Willard, hanging out on the cowshe with Da.

Diagonal lines.

Snowing.

I keep threatening to bring the tripod upstairs, so I can use it for this sort of little video, but I don't think of it until I want it, and then I want to make the video, not fetch the tripod.

It seems to me that I'm holding very still, when I take videos, but when I watch them, it looks like I was on a rolling ship............

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December 28

2011-12-31T07:17:00.004-05:00

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Snow and ice on the top of the garbage bin.

Walking, late afternoon.

Very cute little house, decked.

A few more steps down the hill. Now we can see the sun.

I like the light on the ornamental grass, lower right.

evrbody like pumpkin

2011-12-30T10:14:00.000-05:00

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Who knew porcupines were so chatty!

Seen at CuteOverload.

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December 26

2011-12-30T07:43:00.028-05:00

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The library was closed on the 24th, so we returned books and got some more on the 27th.

Looking east. Unedited view, including dead bugs on the outside of the window, glare, etc. But isn't the sky cool?

Multi-purpose room at the library. In the winter, this room is often set up as a play area for very little kids.

Blinds and chairs; sunshine and shadows.

You walk along beside this area to get to the door, which is just to the left of this pic. I love the shiny chairs and tables, and the bamboo.

Looking up. Light (natural and artificial), and ventilation. The library has worked hard to have the branches which have been constructed in the last decade or so be as green as possible. This building is built over a wetland area (hence the pond at the east end). The east end of the building is on pillars or piers or whatever the right name is, raised above the wet ground underneath. The west end rests on higher ground.

Outside the library, looking south. Interesting clouds.

December 25

2011-12-29T07:02:00.004-05:00

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Sunrise.

The Poohs and friends, checking out the haps.

A bright blue morning.

It was mild, in the sunshine. I was wearing a flannel shirt over a tshirt -- no jacket or coat -- and was comfortable, at least long enough to enjoy the sunshine and take a few pics.

Walking Wibbler, before the road trip. This is why he doesn't get to go on my mile walks any more. Too, too pokey.

The farther north we went, the cloudier it got.

At least it was dry this year. We've driven up and back in pouring rain.....

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December 24

2011-12-28T07:47:00.001-05:00

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Sunrise.

A bit of snow fell overnight.

Some welcome blue in the sky.

Willard, in the sunshine.

Farmers' market.

Streets used to be paved with bricks. This block of 4th Ave still is, thanks to a huge amount of volunteer effort.

Walking in the afternoon.

The Japanese anemone! Who knew!

Every one of those little brown bumps is a seed!

December 23

2011-12-27T07:45:00.000-05:00

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Walking.

A bit of blue in the sky.

A little color, in a brown landscape.

error in code for jaw muscles makes big brains possible?

2011-12-26T08:19:00.001-05:00

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I saw something really cool on PBS last night. I think it was Nova (I was really tired, and came in in the middle of the show).

A doctor whose two brothers had/have muscular dystrophy is looking for the cause, so he can look for a cure. He looks for any anomalies in genes that affect muscle formation.

He found an error in his own genetic code. Half of one rung in the DNA "ladder" was missing. He checked everyone else in his lab, and discovered that everyone had the same error. All the humans he checked had the error. He then checked chimp DNA. That rung in the ladder of chimp DNA is whole.

It turned out that this error, common to all humans, is in the muscles that close our jaws.

Chimps, gorillas, orangutans, and others, all have MUCH stronger jaw muscles than we have.

The doc on the program last night said that the muscles that close gorilla jaws are like human quadriceps. !!! As he put it: "Not biceps, not triceps, *quadriceps*." Muscles the size of the ones on the tops of our thighs, which lift our legs for every step we take, close gorilla jaws. [Pausing for a moment to take that in. Wow. That is some seriously powerful biting/chewing potential! Now back to our regularly-scheduled narrative.]

Muscles which close jaws are fastened to skull bones.

Bones get stronger when force is applied to them. Being strong enough to hold muscles as powerful as quadriceps takes some serious bone.

Skulls are formed from many bones. Infants are born with unfused skulls (making their heads more flexible, to tolerate birth, for one thing). Unfused skulls allow heads to grow, which accommodates growing brains.......

Chimp, gorilla, and orang skulls fuse when they are children -- 3-5 years old.

Human skulls fuse when they are adults -- up to age 30.

Late skull fusion makes it possible for brains to continue to grow and grow.....................

Wouldn't it be something, if one of the main reasons we are different from others on this planet is that we have a error in the DNA that makes our our jaw muscles, which causes weaker jaw muscles, which lets us have weaker skull bones, which lets our skulls stay unfused and flexible longer, so our heads can grow for decades, so we can have very big brains?

Wow.

I love PBS.................................

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December 20

2011-12-26T07:39:00.002-05:00

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Kale in front of the post office.

The AnnArborsbad cavern, where the library parking lot used to be, is mostly filled up with subterranean parking structure. On the 20th, they removed the crane that has stood over the cavern for the last many (many) months.

The yellow crane is taking pieces of the white crane down to the ground.

Tight crop of above. The white thing, with bars, above and left of center, is part of the white crane.

Crossing William, and walking toward my office, the next destruction/construction.

let it snow.....

2011-12-25T12:05:00.002-05:00

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See what happens when you google

let it snow

You can sweep off the snow with your mouse, with the left button held down.
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Wishing each of you the best of the season!

2011-12-25T07:01:00.001-05:00

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I wish each of you the best of the season, and I hope for a satisfying and peaceful new year for all of us!

Wilbur says "Forget hats. Bring on the plum pudding!"

This may be the first time I have "painted" something from imagination, trying to do shadows and highlights. I found a "brush" in photoshop elements that looked like sparkles (or snowflakes?), around the edges. I had fun making fuzz-and-sparkles on the furry parts of the hat.

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December 19

2011-12-24T07:59:00.002-05:00

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Sunrise, on a partly cloudy day.

December 18

2011-12-24T07:56:00.000-05:00

December 17

2011-12-23T07:35:00.002-05:00

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On the 17th, a friend hosted a holiday get-together. We are all into various and sundry art media, and have know each other for a long time.

I learned on the 17th that Mary Bajcz has branched out into hooked rugs. I have always loved her work -- and am totally in love with this rug. Love the colors, the swirls, the texture..... You can't see very well, in these pics, how varied the loops are. Mary has hooked with all sorts of yarns, and with fabric scraps of all kinds (wool, cotton, silk)....

Wow, eh?

What an excellent start to your day, if you stepped out of bed onto this rug!!!

After the meeting, several of us went, individually, to Hobby Lobby. I don't know of another Hobby Lobby that is nearer to me than this one (about half an hour away), so I wanted to scope out the joint....

They have A LOT of fake flowers. Fake flowers are so much nicer than they used to be. They made me want to make a giant bouquet (lots of flowers on 2- and 3-foot stems)..........

Then I noticed these! I don't think I've ever seen life-size fake sunflower plants before!

Wow! Cool............

They have lots of vases at Hobby Lobby..............

And decorator fabric. Love this. It was thin, relatively stiff, polyester? Drawn up into regularly-spaced tiny nubs. Love the texture. I'm kinda sorry I didn't get some of this..... Wouldn't this make the coolest pillows-to-put-on-the-couch?

story, retold............

2011-12-22T12:29:00.001-05:00

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Totally love this. Wait for the donkey, and then the littlest wise man...................

"And then, they had a party."

Seen over at the Lost Aussie's.

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happy solstice!

2011-12-22T08:19:00.000-05:00

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Turning our faces toward light, on the shortest day of the year.....

I offer you the constellation of lights in one of the trees on Main Street.

December 15

2011-12-22T07:25:00.002-05:00

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Interesting light, on a day that was transitional between the rainy days preceding it, and the sunnier day that followed.

I should have backed up and zoomed, so that the camera was farther from the window and its reflection not so prominent!

Tree bones, with clouds and a little blue.

The hill-that-is-the-horizon, from my office window.

This atrium fills the space between the original part of my office building, and the new wing. I expect that the windows in the brick part are the same nearly-four-feet by eight feet as the windows in my office.

I think these are big ceramic tiles. I like the colors.

December 13, part 2

2011-12-21T07:44:00.007-05:00

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Um. Failed to get the identifying info, but am sure this is Egyptian. Love these colors together.

Isn't this the cutest? "Amphoriskos. Clay, partially mold-made, black gloss ware. Ptolemaic Period (3rd century BC)." Amused by this -- "formerly in the Metropolitan Museum of Art."

This was about 4.5" tall, if memory serves.

Similar shape; much bigger object. This one has a rounded bottom; the one above has a teeny tiny foot.....

Love the ridges on the big one, which, I think, is a wine jug.

Love that one is precise and shiny and fussed-over, and the other is rough and quick and covered with the shape of the maker's fingers.

More glass. I believe the color is a result of being buried for a long, long time. Wow, eh?

"Mosaic glass rendering of fish." This little scrap was no more than two or three inches long. I'm amazed at the detail. Look at the teeth!

"Elaborately ornamented cornice block ... several courses of decorative moldings and other standard Roman architectural motifs." 1st-3rd century AD.

I don't think I'd seen bovine skulls, except from the American southwest......

"Garland and Bucranium Architectural Frieze. Roman Period (1st century BC -- 1st century AD. Garland swags held up by the sculls (sic!) of sacrificed bulls were a common emblem in Roman religious and funerary art."

I did not know that. (Nor that there was a special word for bovine skull!)

Swooning over these. They were little -- I don't think the biggest one was six inches tall. Love the three of them together, love the pale green against the sandy linen..... I don't even mind the wires holding them upright despite their rounded bottoms.

How did something so fragile survive more than two millenia of human hubbub and destruction?

"Perfume and Oil Bottles. Glass, free-blown. Roman Period (1st -- 2nd century AD)"

Oh dear, no info captured.

I was taken by the excellence of this carving. The sculptor clearly had more than a passing aquaintance with human and equine anatomy. Isn't it cool that this small museum, in a not-so-big town, has such excellent things???

Wondering what is the story here -- the snake escaping the basket/box; the ... dancer? at right..... This was, maybe, about 12" tall.

Of course one of the excellent things about glass is transparency. Love what happens when the light goes through this little (5" diameter?) bowl. You can clearly see that the glass is thicker and thinner......

"Syrian Glass. Ancient Syria was a major glass-making center." "Ribbed Bowl. Glass, cast. Roman Period (1st century BC -- 1st century AD)"

One of the things that interests me is how very little information we need, to recognize something as a human form.

"Figurine, Perhaps of a Mourner. Clay. Punic Period (6th-5th century BC)"

"Plaster Mummy Masks of the Roman Period. 1st -- 2nd century AD." "Mask for Adult Woman. Plaster, paint, glass"

"Mummy Portrait of a Woman Wearing Jewelry. Wood, encaustic, gilding. Roman Period (AD 98-117)"

They were keeping this very dark, to protect it, I'm sure. This is my original image.

Wow. Clearly a portrait. She was so young.... I wonder ... did they have the portraits done way before they expected to die? Decades before? She certainly doesn't appear to be ill, looking straightforwardly, as she does, right into our eyes.........

I neglected to capture the info about this, but I bet it is alabaster. I don't think I've ever seen such a cool use of that material before. Wow.

This was pretty big -- 10" in diameter? A bit more?

Ok, ripping ourselves away from the museum. I know they have a lot of textiles. We didn't see any, but then, we didn't go in the old part of the building, either. Maybe they have textiles on display in there, as they did the last time I was in there........ We'll have to go back. I was so glad my friend suggested this visit. I enjoyed it.

Vines on a house.

December 13

2011-12-20T07:53:00.007-05:00

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My daughter works for a place that wants employees to know they are valued.

It's good to be appreciated. In light-hearted ways, as well as in more serious ways.

The big tree in front of my office building, on a day that vascillated between clouds and sunshine.

Going out for lunch. Excellent window paintings in Nickels Arcade. I suspect this is the work of John Copley, but I do not know for sure. You can see that the next two are the coffee shop. Love the goggles and lab coats, as well as the swoop of antlers.

Here's the barbershop window. Not only are the snow people all texting, they all have their mp3 players plugged into their ears.....

This is what the right-most person has texted.....

Our way back to work took us past the Kelsey Museum of archeology. My friend suggested we go in, so we did. What a good idea. I hadn't been in there since they put on the new wing which allows them to show off a LOT more of their goodies.

Isn't this an excellent way to display stone seals? The seal itself, top left, a piece of clay that shows what it look like, when you roll this seal as originally intended, and then a drawing, showing a larger and more contrasty version of what is on the seal.

Listening to the BBC's A History of the World in 100 Objects, we learned that discovering the flood story in cuneiform, on a piece of clay much older than the bible, led to rearrangement of human thinking about biblical stories. The cuneiform made it clear that at least some of the bible is a written version of much older stories.

I'm wondering if this is a Christmas story..... Snowflakes on the left, Joseph explaining to the goats why they can't have access to their manger just now, pregnant woman at right, sitting on what I thought at first was a gurney, but then realized was a manger......

The info with the seal says it is from the protoliterate period: 3800-2900 BC, but I didn't manage to capture the part that says where it is from. Babylon, perhaps?

Ah. Cuneiform.

If I had unlimited time, I might learn to read cuneiform..... The info with this said it was a marriage contract.

I did a better job than I sometimes do, remembering to take pics of the identifying info as well as pics of the objects, but neglected to get the info for this jug.

Looking at it now, I am amazed by all the perfect circles. It seems to me that they must have had a wheel, just to make all those perfect circles........ Wish I could see how they did the decorating!

The museum has drawers, with more objects, under the display cases. We pulled them out, and enjoyed those objects as well as the ones up top.

Love this little jug. It was about the size of a tennis ball. Maybe a little smaller (the one above about 18" tall, as I remember.....

Love the red color on this one, too. Wondering if a lot of these pots didn't set on sand in a tent, rather than on a flat surface in a constructed dwelling. A lot of them had round bottoms.

Highly decorated pot. Love the pig. I wonder if the birds are ducks....... And I wonder what the round things are......

Tiny pots. These were probably 2.5" in diameter, if memory serves. Isn't it interesting how different the decoration is, on two pots with the same shape?

Glass. I am always stunned at the fact that so much glass has survived for so long.

This piece's decoration adds to the interest of looking at it -- you can see through to the decoration on the other side.....

Love the twisty ridges.

December 12

2011-12-19T07:45:00.001-05:00

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I usually work from home on Mondays, but on the 12th there were a couple of things I needed to do in the office.

I did them, and walked home.

It was a gorgeous day. Bright, crisp, blue.

I stopped in the Peaceable Kingdom, and bought a few small things. The owner has had small wiry terriers over the years. Hence the one on the window. I had a nice chat with the current dog. She was very cute, with excellent wiry eyebrows and very soft velvet ears.

When I got home, Wilbur and I went for a walk. Here he is, trotting.

Love the shadows in these pics.....

Tree shadows, too.

Someone was keeping a careful eye on us....

December 11

2011-12-18T07:51:00.002-05:00

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Sunrise, with golden condensation-on-the-window bokeh.

We went to a Masters' swim meet. It was a fun meet -- all relays.

Too bad they didn't put some more windows in this space. It was quite dark in there.

The only windows in the whole place, letting sun shine on a small patch of pool.

I like that the floor tile is red in front of the pillars, but wonder ... why. Just because?

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December 10, afternoon

2011-12-17T07:35:00.001-05:00

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Running the Saturday errands.

Icicles on the edge of the library roof.

The pond just east of the library.

You can see that some cattails are in the sunshine, and others in the shadow of the building.

That afternoon, I went to an open studio. My friend Mary built this amazing studio in her back yard. Inspired by cottages, and Scandinavian design, she worked closely with an architect, and with her builder/carpenters, to achieve this amazing and gorgeous and inspiring space in which to work. Take a look at all the details............

Mary is a serious student of weaving, and most of the downstairs is filled with looms.

Upstairs is a more open space. That was where the variety of fine crafts for sale that day was found.

It turned out that I knew several of the artists whose excellent work was available. I used to belong to the local spinners' guild. I found that three of my favorite spinners were at Mary's (in addition to Mary, who also spins). I didn't know the potters, nor the glass-bead artist, nor the person who made the amazing fabric-flower jewelry....

I was so glad I'd been able to go. It was wonderful to get to see the studio, the beautiful things that were for sale, and to get to chat with old friends.

December 10

2011-12-16T07:27:00.001-05:00

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I really meant to get the windows replaced over the summer, but it didn't happen.

That's not all bad...............

Frost feathers.........

Farmers' market, in mid-December.

Love the shadows, top left corner....

Excellent swag! Love the different textures/colors (but let's lose the bow and put on something less ... gaudy and fake-looking.

I probably should have gotten a mise-en-scene shot.... It was the extension cord that caught my eye. Then I saw the coffee pots. Then I realized that the electricity was in service of keeping beverages warm.....

It was cold. Not too cold to comfortably walk through the market, but cold enough that if you were standing around outside, vending, for several hours, you'd probably get thoroughly chilled, without plenty of hot coffee.

Love this embellished truck.

Enjoying sunshine, on the cowshe.

Such strong sunshine makes for difficult picture-taking.

What happens if we just concentrate on the sunny bits...........

I like the strong diagonal of his ear, with the other-way diagonal of the top of his head.

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welcome home.....

2011-12-15T19:05:00.001-05:00

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I've embedded this one before -- it may be my favorite performance-in-an-unusual-setting.........

Brings tears to my eyes every time.

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December 9

2011-12-15T07:44:00.000-05:00

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Hardly an enchanting view (alas), but -- it's mine own. Transformed by the overnight snow.

The old dog does a very nice job of single-tracking, at 13. (His hind feet land almost exactly where his front feet landed, when he trots.) Have to conclude his joints are working properly!

Snowing.

deck the halls.....

2011-12-14T18:27:00.002-05:00

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Seen at be yourself...everyone else is taken.

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December 8

2011-12-14T07:49:00.003-05:00

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I think this will be the basement for the apartment building which will replace the old houses along the east side of 5th Ave., in the block just south of William.

Cool clouds in the late-afternoon sky.

This is what you see when you stand just inside the door to my office, with your back to the door.

That's my old Steelcase desk in the lower left. Two monitors are better than one small monitor, but not as good as one really big monitor.....

My office mate, who just retired, worked making sure our staff was properly supplied with computers. Computers that need to be worked on, or which are on their way to property disposition, pile up in this room. Which is good, because if they didn't, I expect another person would be visited upon us. This is a big room....... I'd rather share space with 200 dead computers than one extra person.....

On the 8th I finally measured one of these window panes. This building has a historic designation. When they updated its physical plant, several years ago, we got new windows, and they had to be the same size as they were before, and they had to open! Hooray for windows that open!!!!!!!!!

So -- are you ready for it?

One half of one of these windows is 3'7" wide, and 3'10" tall. !!! The ceilings were built to allow dropped ceilings to hold all the hvac and lighting, but near the outside walls, there is no dropped ceiling -- allowing the windows to be nearly 8' tall. !!!

I am going to miss these windows.........

One of my monitors died, the morning of the 8th. You can see the dead one, edge facing us, on the cabinet right in front of the window in the previous shot.

Walking over to the window, standing right by that dead monitor and craning around to see past the edge of the (ugly and intrusive) new wing, we can look mostly south to see the big tree. And the clouds.....

Sitting at my desk. The hill-that-is-the-horizon, and the black specks in the sky are crows.

Going to miss this sky......... And the crows.......

Going to miss this view.

The big tree, again.

The corner of Washington and Main, at 5:30 pm.

December 7

2011-12-13T07:19:00.001-05:00

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Another day of excellent clouds.

And reflections.

Look at the snow-melt pattern down there ... there must be nails or something, carrying heat from inside the building out to the surface.....

Mise-en-scene ... sitting at my desk, this is the whole scene I see, looking a bit to my left. Horizon shots like the one at the top of this post are the little section of horizon that is immediately to the right of the other wing of this building.

These trees are pretty much covered by the stuff between the two window panes, in the previous shot. I have to move closer to the window and look more to the right than the previous shot, to get one like this.

It was 4:30-ish. The crows were gathering for the night.

There were a lot of clouds, but there was a lot of blue, too.

The mass of clouds had a definite edge. I kept thinking the edge would go over us, and we'd have a clear sky, but it didn't happen while I watched.

These are the same trees as above, looking even more to the right.

This is the hill-that-is-the-horizon.

This is the big tree that must be pretty near the stadium. I can only see it if I stand near the wall that is straight ahead when I sit at my desk, and sort of crane my neck around the end of this building's other wing.

I didn't realize the crows were considering this tree as a nightly perch, when I took the pic, but they were. Here's a tighter crop of the previous shot.

Crows. And the edge of the other wing.

Oooh! It pays to keep your eyes on the sky, at sunset..... You never know, we might get a New Mexico sky, right here in Ann Arbor!

December 6

2011-12-12T07:03:00.001-05:00

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A monochromatic day.

December 5

2011-12-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

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I did so much running around yesterday that I didn't even realize I didn't have a post ready to go.....

Willard Burton, in the sunshine.

December 4

2011-12-09T07:48:00.001-05:00

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Now this is VERY silly...................

Cute little peppers. I prefer the farmers' market ones, with no plastic bag, but the season for that has passed.........

Wilbur and I strolled, after the groceries were put away.

I spotted this little tiny oak leaf.

It was another cloudy day. Rainy, too. Luckily it was not raining when we strolled.......

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December 3

2011-12-08T07:38:00.000-05:00

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Sunrise, on a cloudy day.

It's hard to tell, but the sky was completely cloudy, except for one open strip, through which the sun was moving just when I took this pic. It was totally cloudy all day, except for that one brief time......

Our daughter was off dog-sitting this weekend. The Poohs found a new game. They are in the middle of backgammon.

The monster may have lost the previous game; she does not want to play!

The biggest Pooh is checking to see if there is any honey in the dice cup.....

We went to run errands, and made a stop at the Kiwanis holiday sale.

We've looked at this pedestal sink before. It's in a front yard very near the parking lot we use when visiting the Kiwanians.

It didn't have a snake coming out of the plumbing before, though..... (Hard to see, but the snake's head is over some very dark leaves in the bottom of the sink.....)

Same yard. I believe this alligator is new since the last time I walked by.....

There are still flowers, here and there, in the southeast Michigan landscape, if you keep a sharp eye out for them.

That afternoon I went to the Potters' Guild sale. I used to be a student there, in the late '70s, and I still know several people who are members. I enjoyed catching up!

Mom, I thought you might like to see what JT is up to, these days. Very different from yesteryear, yes? I didn't mean to catch that blue and white one on the right, but am glad I did -- that one looks more familiar.... I guess he's still doing some of that sort of work, but there was much more that looked like the platter...........

December 1

2011-12-07T06:42:00.003-05:00

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Frozen puddle.

Sycamore leaf, frozen in puddle.

Closeup of above, with color souped up. Love the bubbles, especially the little ones along that brown thing on the left.

Icy gingko in the strong December sunshine.

The University's law school was designed to resemble parts of Oxford and/or Cambridge.

Rainbow fragment in the clouds.

About 4:00 pm.

All of the next pics were taken from about 4:55 until about 5:05.

Love the tree-shaped cloud at the top.

hilarious "two dogs, dining" video

2011-12-06T18:50:00.002-05:00

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Found at Geninne's.

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November 30

2011-12-06T06:23:00.001-05:00

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One of the things I love about living in a temperate climate is this!

We go to sleep in one environment, and wake up to a transformed world.

I left work for an eye appt. at Health Service. All ok.

I walked home when they were finished with me, rather than going back to work with blurry dilated-eye vision. The sun was down far enough that I didn't suffer from glare off the snow, but there was still enough light for a pic.

Looking east over West Park.

bracelet/abacus for knitters' row counting

2011-12-05T12:36:00.011-05:00

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Don't you love it when people come up with a really smart idea?

I saw this over at the Yarn Harlot's.

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November 26

2011-12-05T06:09:00.001-05:00

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The pond beside the library, on a blustery overcast day.

Walking, later in the day. Interesting clouds.

I know this strawberry patch grows actual strawberries, because I've seen them.

I wonder if this variety was developed because of its excellent fall color.....

On the other side of the sidewalk, more red.

These roses are more weather-beaten than the ones downtown.

More clouds.......

November 25 -- botanical garden, part 5, and the rest of the day

2011-12-04T07:06:00.001-05:00

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More and more different leaf shapes.

Love the overlap/intertwinement.

This doesn't grow outdoors, around here.....

The person who took these pics did a stupendous job, don't you think? Their eye is wonderful (and their equipment is good, too!).

My usual "doing what I can with what I have" attempt at the same subject. Notice that I managed to find a less-busy background for the twirly stuff.

Closer crop. Oh, look, this is two tendrils, coiling together! Never saw that, until this hit "the big screen."

There are a few small "ponds" in the conservatory. This one is right inside the main doors.

See the tendril poster, at the top of the next pic?

I bet I've seen rice growing, in person, before, but I don't remember it.

Another beautiful day. Happy sigh.

I decided to go to the Humane Society of Huron Valley, which is on the same (big!) piece of property as the Botanical Gardens. The family which once owned the land donated some to the Humane Society, and a much bigger piece to the University, for the Botanical Garden.

I hadn't been inside the Humane Society's new building. It is much nicer and much bigger than the old building. I talked to some nice cats through the bars (sanitizing my hands in between, as requested), and then I went in the dog section. In sharp contrast to my memory of the older building, it was pretty quiet. I heard a couple of dogs bark, a bit, but mostly, it was quiet.

The coolest new thing in the dog section is that they are measuring each dog's daily ration of kibble into a plastic container on the outside of its door. People are encouraged to feed the dogs (each dog its own food, only).

What an excellent idea!!! Dogs who may have had unhappy experiences with people are now learning that random strangers can be the source of goodness! Not to mention the dogs' days are less boring than they would be if mealtime lasted 5.3 seconds rather than being spread out through the afternoons!

Of course it would be best if people knew to only feed a four-feet-on-the-floor QUIET dog....

Most of the dogs in our shelter are pit bulls, or bully-breed mixes. One of them, with the typical very wide head, and resulting very wide grin, knew that if she sat, she was more likely to get treats. She sat, grinning hugely, and wagged and wagged and wagged. What a good dog! I told her she was a goooooooooooooooooooood dog, with a gooooooooooood sit!, and gave her two or three treats at once -- a mini-jackpot for good behavior.

It didn't occur to me to take her pic, or even note her name. I believe this is that very good girl. I copied this pic from the HSHV PetFinder page for Joy -- what a good name for that nice girl. If you click on her pic, you'll see her info, including another pic with that big smile I mentioned.

In this pic, you can tell from her expression that she is attentively Sitting, waiting for a treat.

Back to the topic of feeding the dogs -- it's got to help them get adopted, if they are quietly, happily, attentive to people walking through....

There were a lot of people at the Humane Society, the day after Thanksgiving. I know a bunch of cats were going home. I hope some dogs did, too! !!!

For reasons that escape me, I never thought to take pics inside the shelter.

This is outside the shelter, on the way back to the car.

Walking, after I got home.

A branch fell out of a locust tree. Its seedpods happened to be brightly backlit.

Pleased with this capture!

Late afternoon on a gorgeous day.

November 25 -- botanical garden, part 4

2011-12-03T07:02:00.000-05:00

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Looking through the conservatory windows (and screens) at the "wild" plants that are outside.

Inside. Bromeliads.

Very big triangular leaves. (with other sorts of leaves in the background)

Heart shape, with a tail.

You know how they have leaf skeletons for sale, in places like Michaels, to use in collage? Well, they do, and after I looked this closely at this leaf, I saw a leaf skeleton in someone's collage. It had the same outside shape as this leaf, and the same shape for the network of veins, too.... I bet it was the same kind of plant as this......

More flowers!

See the clouds of mist, near the roof? This is the tropical room......

In addition to the sidewalks at ground level, there are above ground (about one story up) sidewalk paths along both sides of the tropical and temperate rooms. I was up on one of those when I took this bunch of pics.

More heart shapes, with a completely different sort of network of veins.

More flowers. Or, incipient flowers, I should say. Something else to go back, soon, to see.

Coleus.

Anthurium.

Looking out through the conservatory windows at a nearby greenhouse. The Gardens make some income, selling plants they grow. You can see a group of poinsettias, waiting to move into the gift shop.

More leaves.........

Look at this venerable monstera! I really wished its tag told when it "started," the way they told us when the bansai trees started.......

jingle-bells choir.....

2011-12-02T08:38:00.000-05:00

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This is an ad, but it's really cute.................

Seen at Punkin's Patch.

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November 25 -- botanical garden, part 3

2011-12-02T07:56:00.002-05:00

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Now we are in the desert room.

I wonder how often they water in here. I bet these plants don't have puddles on their leaves very often!

There are some seriously big beefy plants in this room!

Strong sunlight, on a heavily defended plant.

Look at the top. Isn't this interesting? The fuzzy soft-looking stuff, and then the dark spiky things? What do you want to bet these are flower buds........ I am definitely thinking I need to head back out to the Botanical Garden in a few weeks, to see what's different.........

I bet these are flower buds, too, on top.....

This cute little thing is about handful-size.

Lots of variety in this room, too.

Look at the hooks and shadows................

Love this frosty blue color, especially with the brown dotted edge.

And this! This is my favorite plant of the day!

Love the color, love the appearance of fuzziness (I didn't touch it), love the fang-y spikes along the edges of the leaves, but the thing that slays me is the texture on the leaves that exactly mimics the spikey edges!

I mean. Is this excellent, or what??? It's like a New Mexican sunset -- you couldn't make it up, because no one would believe you!

I walked around to the side, to get a bit closer, and from that angle, the spikes were blood red.

Oh my.

Can't you hear it calling? "Seymour......"

"Seymour.........."

Ok. Tearing myself away........... (I will surely look at that one again, when I visit in a few weeks!)

Hooks and shadows..........

This is some meaningful defense. Rings of straight spikes, surrounding wicked hooks.....

Here's something much less threatening.

Aw, look, a tiny flower.

I think this is my favorite middle-distance shot of the day. I was particularly looking at the plant that looks a bit like the end of an open book (we're looking at the bottom edges of the pages, which are all splayed out). I didn't notice at all what was behind that plant.

Now that I see it "on the big screen," I really like the way we can see so much variety in the other plants. I love the curvy leaves of that beefy stripey thing in the background. Especially in contrast to the reddish poky looking thing in the bottom right, and the round blobby leaves above the left-hand front poky thing.....

Hmmm. A flower?

Looking up -- whoa. There's another flower, stuck in the spikes.

Stepping back, we can see the whole plant. The flowers were on the bulbous one with the spiky trunk and branches.

Flower!

These are cool.

In fact, the whole plant is very attractive. (And apparently less scary than a lot of the inhabitants of this room!)

November 25 -- botanical garden, part 2

2011-12-01T07:54:00.001-05:00

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One of the things I am always interested by, looking at nature, is variety.

I think it's fascinating to sit in one place on a beach, and find pebbles of a dozen different kinds of rock. Or to find a dozen different sorts of shells, on a different beach.

Multitudes of various things, at the Botanical Garden.

So many different leaves -- shapes, colors, patterns..........

Love the watery marks here. I think the lighter green looks like sediment-laden water, working its way into the darker green.

This one looks like a party.

Wow. Checkerboard leaves! Who knew.

Like the dogs in Up, who can always be distracted by the thought of a Squirrel!, my attention is caught by flowers.......

These were big (more than 6" across). And fringy. On some sort of woody viney plant.

I never saw the stripes in the flower until I saw it on "the big screen!"

Ok, back to the infinite variety of leaves.....

Huge enormous plants; teeny weeny plants.

Want to guess what this is? The bricks are "standard brick size" size.....

Here's a hint.

Yep, begonias. I don't remember ever seeing such big ones!

Oooh. Yellow flowers.

No, wait, the yellow isn't flowers! The flowers come out of the yellow!

Don't they look like wings? Or a ballerina's graceful fingers?

Some really big leaves. (note other very different leaf shapes in the background)

And now for something completely different.... From something loose and free and huge, to something small, and as constrained as a plant can be.....

I actually got the descriptive info on the bansai -- this is a banyan fig, ficus retusa 'Tiger Bark,' from Asia. Started 1994, trained since 2001.

San Jose Juniper, juniperus chinensis 'San Jose,' Asia, started 1962, trained since 1977.

Fig, ficus 'Green Island,' Asia, started 1996, trained since 2001.

Back into the wilder parts of the conservatory. This flower was near the ground, but I think it must have been on a low branch of a shrub-sized plant. I think these leaves belong to another, lower-growing plant.... This flower was big -- five inches on its longest dimension?

Here you see the shrub, with another flower, and, my! Look at all the fat pointy buds! I can see that I should go back to the Garden, in a few weeks!

The last time I was at the Garden, there were lots (and lots) of interesting pitcher plants in hanging baskets. I didn't see those, this time. There were two bunches of pitcher plants in this planter. Love the patterns on this kind.

it was one of those "wouldn't you love to live forever?" evenings.....

2011-11-30T10:24:00.000-05:00

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An old friend of mine used to say "wouldn't you love to live forever?" when something utterly inconceivable occurred.

Yesterday evening, my better half happened to wonder how long it had been since we paid the car insurance.

When we discovered that the answer was "November 19, 2010," we began to freak out.

We never got a bill. We had no indication from the company that they noticed that we should re-up. We just ... WERE UNINSURED. AND OUR 23-YR-OLD DAUGHTER WAS AT WORK UNTIL MIDNIGHT. AND THE RAIN WAS TURNING TO ICE AND SNOW.

Our insurance was through one of those broker companies who are supposed to hook you up to the best insurance company for you.

Last night we tried going straight to the insurance company with our WTF?????????

But the only person reachable at the emergency number was set up to handle claims, only, and was unable to connect us to any person at the insurance company who could HELP.

You can imagine the level of freaking-out that was occuring.

Then we went to the broker people, and, again, the only person we could reach could handle claims, and had no contact for anyone who could HELP.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Around this time it occurred to my better half that these #*$&&% idiot companies were not the only show in town. We read JDPower's assessment of car insurance companies, and then we read Consumer Reports' assessment. We got in touch with Amica (very highly rated by both), who WAS available, and who DID HELP, and who, at the end of the process, emailed us proof-of-insurance.

Whew.

This morning, eventually, someone from our EX insurance company called. He assured me that it was "a computer glitch" and that we'd really been insured properly right along.

(Yeah, right. I'm sure that they would have happily paid any claim we might have needed to file during that ten days we were uninsured! NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

He stated that a bill had been sent out to us yesterday. (Really? Someone NOTICED that they'd totally screwed up, and didn't have the courtesy to call us and let us know everything was ok? To email us proof-of-insurance? Sounds like a company I personally would love to deal with -- NOT!!!!!!!)

So the moral is -- apparently it's up to the consumer to make sure that insurance is up to date. Companies can apparently not be relied upon to let people know it's time to pay (or how much, or anything else). !!!!!!!!!!!!! (One of the people I talked to last night told me it was our responsibility to pay, even if we didn't get a bill. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

It wasn't how we thought we'd spend yesterday evening, and it probably took a year off each of our lives.

Good grief. Still dumbfounded that neither the insurance company nor the broker company had anyone available to help in this sort of emergency. !!!!!

Anyway -- if there's any shadow of a doubt in your mind -- go check on your insurance and make sure it is comfortably current!

Sheesh.

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November 25 -- botanical garden

2011-11-30T07:49:00.001-05:00

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Thanksgiving Day was cloudy and cool but dry. The day after Thanksgiving was gorgeous. Blue, bright, warm, for late November!

Sunrise.

I decided to take myself to the University's Botanical Garden's conservatory.

It is a lovely place. Such a rich variety of plants!!!

The Garden staff is encouraging people to look for patterns in a plant's shapes. You can see a poster with a closeup of a pineapple (with actual pineapple plants, bottom right).

The sidewalk above runs through the middle of the tropical room, to the temperate room, where it continues down the middle of that space.

Turning not quite 180 from the previous, we see a bunch of orchids.

Wow, eh?

The conservatory has a lot of bromeliads.

Closer crop of the above. Love the spikes along the leaf margins.

Those braided-looking things are cool enough, but look, then flowers come out of the sides!

A bit of mise-en-scene -- the braided things, sort of in the middle, and some bromeliads at the bottom.

A mounted-on-bark bromeliad.

Alas, I was not in label-reading (or recording mode) for most of my visit. I have no idea what this was. The plant was 2-3' high, and most of the flowers faced downward.

Anthurium.

Overlap, made more striking by the strong sunlight.

Cocoa pods.

And a much riper one on the same plant.

the return of the captchas

2011-11-29T09:02:00.000-05:00

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I'm going to have to put the captchas back.

I'm getting too many spam comments.

Fie on vandals, anyway!

Wishing that every mailbox a spammer has would be innundated with their own crap, always and forever, rendering them unable to ever read anything they want to read, ever again.

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November 23

2011-11-29T07:06:00.004-05:00

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The hill-that-is-the-horizon, from my office window. Hardly any deciduous leaves are left.

The 23rd was a gorgeous day.

Walking home in the daylight!

I don't know why the roses by the downtown parking lots are still blooming, but they are.

Here's where Mark's Carts was, during the summer.

Wouldn't it be lovely if happiness (let alone supreme happiness!) could be had for the cost of an evergreen tree!

I like the way the sun-flare on the lens contributes to the dreamy idea of supreme happiness.

The trees smell lovely. I am enjoying walking past them on my way home from work.

I said it was a gorgeous day....

I left work wearing a flannel shirt and a wind-breaker over my tshirt.

By the time I got home, the flannel shirt and the wind-breaker were tied around my waist.

Shirt-sleeve weather, the day before Thanksgiving!!! Excellent.

November 22

2011-11-28T08:14:00.002-05:00

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The loading area behind my office, on a cold and rainy day.

I walked home, on the 22nd. That was probably dumb. Not only was it dark, but it was WET.

I had my reflective vest, and I dangle a pair of CDs from a string, figuring not too many things are more visible than that....

I am always on High Alert when crossing at the intersection of 7th and Huron. 7th takes a bit of a jog, just there, and that is clearly very confusing to drivers. In addition, Huron is four lanes, and people are eager to turn. Drivers waiting to turn hardly ever look for pedestrians or bicycles.........

I am very careful, but it is scary.

Even in broad daylight in summertime.

In the dark and the rain ... worse.

Nothing bad happened.

I walked the dog right after I got home, and got even wetter. I had succeeded in missing the deep puddles on the way home, but on the way around the block with Wilbur, I soaked each of my feet.

My shoes were still wet the next morning, so I wore an older pair the next day.

Next time it's pouring down rain, and dark, when I leave work, I'm going to take the bus.

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November 21

2011-11-28T08:04:00.001-05:00

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Walking.

The strawberry patch is providing some color, hurray!

It was a nice day.

November 20

2011-11-28T07:57:00.001-05:00

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The Poohs (and friends), living it up while their mama was away.

I bought this orange monster for our daughter before she was born. (Some people buy pink bears with ruffled dresses for their daughters. You knew I was more likely to buy an orange monster.)

It's a puppet....

Running the weekend errands. I don't remember seeing turkey-shaped butter for sale.....

November 18

2011-11-26T07:32:00.000-05:00

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Another nice blue day.

Still some color in the landscape, hurray!

Wilbur had a 6-month checkup. I take the oldsters in, just in case, every six months rather than only once a year. He got a clean bill of health; all tests normal. Yay.

He says he can think of better ways to celebrate his birthday (which is some time in November, probably), but he likes to visit his friends at the vet. He was ok until they drew blood, and then he was really ready to be DONE.

I think this is a sweet gum leaf.

Our Friday skies had something different, which I can't show you because I wasn't quick enough. For some reason, someone thought it would be a good idea to fly F16 fighter jets over the stadium during the game on Saturday. Those planes thundered, low and fast, over Ann Arbor on Thursday (though I didn't see them then, only heard them) and Friday. I saw them three or four times as Wilbur and I walked.

They were very loud, very close together, and very fast. I tried to get a pic, but was way too slow. I should have set up video mode and waited with the camera running.... I had the little camera, which would not have captured the NOISE.....

I am so thankful that our daily life does not include the presence of such machines.

Peaceful sky; no fighter jets.

Welcome to the neighborhood, new little Bradford pear!

Same sweet gum leaf, in my fancy schmancy photographic studio (a piece of printer paper, near a window).

I wonder if this can be from the same sweet gum tree. It looks so different.....

Backside of same leaf.

Bradford pear leaf (not from the little tree, from a different tree).

Same leaf, with a piece of paper I found at the end of my driveway. Folded just as it was when I found it.

Evening color in the eastern sky.

And in the western sky.

I love trees, but they do mess up my view of the sunset!

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November 17

2011-11-25T07:35:00.000-05:00

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Gingko.

Another day with interesting clouds.

Evergreens, a bit of deciduous green, and a tiny bit of yellow, in an otherwise brown and gray landscape.

Cool cloud, yes?

Our daughter headed to Chicago and Madison, on the 17th. Her cab never showed (shame on them!) so she drove herself to the train station. It was parked in a two-hour place, so I walked over after lunch to rescue it and take it home.

I decided I could check out some stores in Kerrytown, which was right on my way between work and the train station. This was in Found. They have a lot of hand-made, Michigan-made, goods. This was a journaly sort of book. Mostly blank pages, but some that weren't.

Wonder what they mean by "necromantic"............. The text looks pretty scientific to me.........

Found had a lot of fun things. I hope they do well and sell a ton of stuff.

I also went to Hollander's. Hollander's sells a lot of paper. Excellent paper. Paper you could only get there (at least, around here you could only get it there. Lots that is hand-made. Lots that is machine-made, but very cool and different.

In addition to paper, they sell things made of paper, and, if you wanted to use some of their paper to wrap something, they also have excellent ribbon.

Isn't this gorgeous? "A spool of each, please!"

Walking on over to get the car. I'm not sure I have ever walked on this block near the northern end of 5th Ave.

Old houses, at least one of which has a much newer addition. I want a tour......

Isn't this a cool house? I love all the embellishment. The interesting brick work, at the top, and around the windows, and the wooden gingerbread? (Would you believe I never saw that ladder, until I got home and looked on "the big screen"???)

An old industrial building (I think I saw a sign that said it had been a brewery), now full of apartments. I didn't notice, when I took this pic of the spiral fire escape, that it went all the way up to the roof. Now I wish I'd looked to see if I could see what was up there!

thankful

2011-11-24T07:47:00.014-05:00

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So many things for which to be grateful!

Clean air, clean water, sunshine. Rain. Snow.

Family. Friends. Dogs. Donkeys. Polar bears. Hippos.

Enough to eat.

Modern medicine.

Modern plumbing.

Tampons.

Trees. Autumn leaves. Flowers

Tomatoes. Basil. Garlic. Pasta. Nutella. Oats. Pumpkin pie for breakfast, especially on Thanksgiving.

Feet that can carry me without complaining (during, or after).

Eyes that can see well enough.

Hands that easily and comfortably do what I want them to do.

Heart and lungs that power the rest of the organism.

Brains that consider, and wonder, and synthesize, and decide, and generate ideas.

The ocean, the beach, the sea shells, feathers, sea weed, driftwood, pebbles, beach glass.

Airplanes. Trains. Subways. Buses.

Libraries. Museums. Botanical gardens. Zoos (properly done!)

Cameras. Computers. The internet.

France. Paris. The Eiffel Tower. Washington, DC.

Color. Contrast. Reflections. Shadows.

Artists, in whatever medium they may work -- food, fiber, paper, words, paint, photographs, plants, music.....

Postage stamps. Maps. Menus. Greeting cards.

People who take the time and trouble to think first, and act second (or not at all).

Our beautiful planet.

England. The BBC.

Public television.

Perseverance. Generosity. Love. Charity. Responsibility. Courage.

People who TRY.

You, for visiting. Thank you.

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postcard calendar journal

2011-11-23T18:11:00.001-05:00

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I love this calendar/journal!

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November 16

2011-11-23T07:47:00.000-05:00

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We've been looking at the demolition on 5th Ave from across the street.

On the 16th, I stood next to one of the remaining houses, and looked over the fence for a different view.

Looking into one of the basements.......

Gingko.

Lovely skies, on the afternoon of the 16th.

I don't think I ever saw a small bit of rainbow in the clouds until a couple of months ago. Now I am seeing them all the time. I don't know if it's a matter of seeing something because I know it's there to be seen, or if there are more of them now than there used to be........

This is pretty much the whole view I see, looking out my window. This room had a much nicer view before they built that intrusive wing!

Turning the camera up and a bit to the right of the prev. This shot taken right after that one; but I asked the camera to choose the exposure based on the sky, rather than the ground.

Tiny human mark on very big clouds.

November 15

2011-11-22T07:39:00.000-05:00

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Embellishing the parking lot across 5th Ave from the library -- rose.

I saw the drops when I took the pic, but not the bubbles. Pleased to find them, when looking at it "on the big screen."

The demolition on the east side of 5th Ave.

Still perched on the rubble.

Garden, across 5th from the demolition.

Gingko leaf on the sidewalk in front of my office building.

Backlit maple leaf, on my desk.

Not much color left, on the hill-that-is-the-horizon.

The tree on the left is the one I could see, if I leaned way in to the window, and turned all the way left, in my previous office. I can't see it from my desk, in this office. It's behind that other wing of the building on the left in this pic. But if I stand next to the west wall in this office, I can see it.

November 14

2011-11-21T07:13:00.000-05:00

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Walking downtown to a retiring colleague's farewell lunch.

Someone had been doing some serious tree trimming. This image reflects the actual orientation of this cut. Isn't it interesting that the rings are fatter at the bottom? I suppose that's to support the weight of the branch.....

I think this paint was rolled on to cover graffiti.

I'd have to work a long time to get this excellent stormy sea effect...... Love the way the texture/thickness of the paint contributes to the effect.

Downtown. Intentional art piece. Love the gorgeous wood slices, and like the contrast with the mirror bits........

I think the dark red is a more effective background for the wood, but too many reflections on the shop window to show the plan as well as the prev. In this one you can see that these pieces are framed.

After lunch it was pouring down rain. Very luckily for me, someone else who was also not working on the 14th offered me a ride home. Thanks, Laurie!

Rain, looking out from the study window.

November 13

2011-11-20T06:52:00.000-05:00

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Crack-of-dawn road trip.

Listening to A History of the World in 100 Objects (podcasts recorded on the ipod).

Watching the Masters swim.

Interesting sky at the end of the day.

November 12

2011-11-19T06:26:00.000-05:00

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Farmers' market, on a chilly sunny day.

I think of these as "French radishes." We saw them in farmers' markets all over France.

Apples in the strong slanting sun.

Brussels sprouts, on the stalk.

Every week I think "This will be the last week for peppers".....

Looking east, from the library windows.

November 11

2011-11-18T07:46:00.002-05:00

Sycamore, amongst the maples.

Magnolia.

Still some yellow in the landscape.

Bradford pear.

Oak-leaf hydrangea.

November 10

2011-11-17T07:03:00.000-05:00

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The hill-that-is-the-horizon, from my office window, just before noon.

When we look from the ground to the sky, our eyes adjust to the differing amount of light without us being aware of the change. When we take pics, the camera has to pick one amount of light or the other, and we notice how much darker the ground is, when the camera is adjusted for the amount of light in the sky.....

This one taken immediately after the previous.....

Walking out for lunch. The excellent weather vane on the house next door to my office building.

The demolition on 5th Ave.

Look how it's perched on top of the pile of rubble! I'm glad I'm not his mama -- that doesn't look safe to me........

Having walked just a little bit further north on 5th Ave -- I've never seen this sort of hole-in-the-ground preserver before............

Still on 5th Ave, now in the next block, where the AnnArborsbad Cavern is.

These are supposed to be at ground level, around a tree.

Back in the office after lunch. Changing light on the last color on the hill......

Taken about 1:20 pm.

4:40. Yes, it's snowing. This was the first snow of the year.

5:15.

It was probably "measurable," if they used tiny units of measurement. There was snow on our garbage bin, when I wheeled it out to the curb that night. Not a continuous cover, but enough so you knew it had snowed.....

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another amazing video

2011-11-16T18:27:00.000-05:00

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My friend Suzie found this one.

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November 8

2011-11-16T07:31:00.001-05:00

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Walking south on Fifth Ave.

Several old houses are being torn down so they can build yet more student housing. Some of these houses were really nice, in their heyday. Of late they have been neglected.

I was glad to see they brought in Materials Unlimited to save many of the architectural details (beveled-glass windows, for example) for use in other buildings by other people!

In my office, now.

Looking out my window.

I hardly ever pay attention to this part of the view. I look up, at the sky, and at that corner of the horizon with the nice trees, upper left..........

The pic above was taken just before 4:00 pm, and this one an hour later. No more pictures on the way home; it's too dark......

November 9

2011-11-16T07:18:00.000-05:00

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Yellow in the back yard.

The Yellow Tree, from my office window, bare.

Maple and gingko.

It was a windy afternoon.

The clouds swept across the sky.

It cleared up, clouded up, cleared up, clouded again, all afternoon.

Sunset. While I'm still at work.

I said "no more pics on the way home," but I lied.

Full moon coming up beside Tower Plaza.

November 7

2011-11-15T07:21:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if this is a maple variation, or something else.

Most of this yellow is gingko.

Looking down, standing in the same place as above.

Walking 10 or 15 steps toward the yellow, then looking down again.....

Looking forward, same position as above. See the red, a block and a half up the sidewalk? We'll see that, closer, momentarily.

Japanese maple, with yellow gingko branch.

Here's the red we could see before. Burning bushes, and a Japanese maple at the very end of the block.

Looking up through a Japanese maple.

A little blue sky at the end of the afternoon.