firthofforth

You say Shark, I say Bark.

2008-08-17T23:56:06Z

This week in Project 365...I depart from my usual photojournal to focus on something that I see quite a bit of...but the photos are never the 'best' of the week. So they get a week of their own - yes...it's

Great White Bark
The great white bark has both fascinated and frightened humans since
its ominous presence first became known.

08.10.08 (poplar tree in front yard)

Frill Bark
The frilled bark has been called everything
from a “weeping willow" to a real-life “Ent"
over the years.

08.11.08 (backyard)

Lemon Bark
The lemon bark has yellow-tinged skin which
provides camouflage with the sandy hillsides
of lower elevation regions.

08.12.08 (WWC poolhouse)

Goblin Bark
While the goblin bark is well adapted for its high altitude habitat, some refer to it as
"the ugliest living bark." This one was on the run - but visible due to its tracking tag.

08.13.08 (Polk County toward Lake Adgers)
[and just to answer caker66's question regarding a certain mascot...BONUS pic

Black Dogfish Bark
The black dogfish bark is found in parts of the Pisgah National Forest
at elevations of 2500 to 6,000 feet.

08.14.08 (WWC river walk)

Dusky Bark
Dusky bark populations are dwindling
due to commercial logging, pollution
and other human-induced pressures.

08.15.08 (WWC suicide ridge)

Basking Bark
Basking barks may look fearsome, but they are relatively gentle giants
that can grow up to 33 feet in height.

08.16.08 (WWC white pine loop)

Taking break on Garage Cleaning Day

2008-08-10T16:16:15Z

Mildly abstract week. Best thing about this week was gaining access to the WWC swimming pool (!!!) - it's been a year since I've had access to a lap pool and I'm quite happy to go 3-5 times a week. I think I've hit a bit of a bump in this project. Perhaps next week will pick up - it may be time to start "themes"

Sunday Night Stir Fry
WWC veggies - fantastic (but gas-inducing) purple cabbage.
Made homemade sweet and sour sauce - loved it and no MSG.

08.03.08
More stir fry - mixed carrots and garlic.
(as in, purple carrots)

08.04.08
SWIMMING - makes me so friggin' happy

08.05.08
um - these are clean btw. but they were washed with a pen
and while i attempted to save them, the ink won.

08.06.08
WWC lunchtime walk. Looked kinda like this (warning, video - may take a bit)

08.07.08
Thursday nights at Pisgah - turning into a real party night as
they have expanded their 'event'. I may love Pisgah, but i love this
logo more...

08.08.08
More swimming...recognize anything slomack?

08.09.08
book exchange...brought in 3 boxes, they only took one - but we ended
up with $112 worth of 'store credit' so of course, we immediately brought
home $40 worth of books to add to the pile. We need shelves.

Bonus Pic Go Rally Monkey, Go!

the dog days of summer arrive

2008-08-03T00:50:56Z

Hot hot hot. That's what it is here. Well, mountain hot.

here's our WWC box-o-veggies. Our CSA box. This week we have
BLACKBERRIES, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, cabbage, squash, and peppers.

07.27.08
Radley represents us all here.
This was our drive-back-from-Orlando day and 11.5 hours in the car wore us all out.
Plus, coffeefortwo picked up some sort of intestinal bug.

07.28.08
Took a long lunch and went to the coolest kitchen store ever! huge buildings
with cavernous warehouses full of used industrial kitchen appliances. and stuff.
maybe someday...maybe someday we'll have that concrete and steel kitchen.

07.29.08
Up on Mt. Mitchell for some work training. !!!
the sky was fantastic (although the view was quite hazy). The drive up was littered
with Turk's Cap flowers and my coworkers goaded me into stopping for a picture
(they are now used to my
carrying around a camera for personal photos at all times).

07.30.08
Now, this was a busy day. First, there was the Incident Sheet detailing the number of ticks pulled off my body.
When I got home, I finished a project that my brother started with me...tools, broken up tiles...ta da. Also,
while I DID mail a certain package...I forgot the gift that inspired the package to begin with.
Sorry jupiterjuniper! You'll have to find these on your own.
But - nothing beat this darn thing. NC has more spiders than FL! And while they are a
gorgeous shade of black, I can barely get close enough to them to kill them
(and then I still feel guilty about it). But it can't live in my garage.

07.31.08
went to WWC for a kick-off dinner for coffeefortwo's department.
The view from our cabin kitchen/buffet was of the farm area.
The gardens were right below us and who can resist a sunflower?

08.01.08
um. it is hard to represent a headache in picture form.
this day sucked. i barely made it through work and i was barely productive.
(and it kind of blew my evening as well).

08.02.08
after breakfast at my favorite restaurant, book buying at the best bookstore
in town...i was lucky enough to get to shop at the Habitat for Humanity store
and it was 50% of DOORS day!!! I have been wanting doors for a while so we
carted some home for my future bookshelf project.
yay. Below is some graffiti seen from the HfH parking lot.

firthofforth @ 2008-07-27T19:44:00

2008-07-28T00:41:58Z

This week was mostly mundane, with a brief jaunt down to Florida to take a look at the 'property'

this is what happens when I go in for a haircut in a funky mood...
10" off the back! in a little bit of shock.

07.20.08
birthday cake...confetti goodness baked by A.

07.21.08
So, I was out of town for work, checked in to a hotel...and in the
parking lot I found this particular piece of work. You can actually
read words on the head...and I think that the light actually lights up
when the vehicle is running. ODD people out there.

07.22.08
Morning...at the hotel. a small flock of Canada Geese were
summering (why here?) in the hotel pond. nasty pond. But
the light was nice and they only hissed at me slightly. What got me
through this day? sadly...thank you xmas intheginger.

07.23.08
very boring day, wednesday was, so I cleaned out the office/master
and moved things around to suit our new bed arrangement. I still love
my 'craftsman' bed frame...but it feels like 'old me' and new me wants
modern, linear, simple.

07.24.08
It's Black Eyed Susan time of the year - in my front flower bed!

07.25.08
Long, 11.5 hour drive (through 3 rain/lightening storms) down to FL.
Dogs...were so-so and I don't blame them. Here's new resident of the old house.

07.26.08
We had a FANTASTIC dinner from whiskyson's kitchen before heading over to Red Light
for loveinabasement's art show!!! Below it one of Cat's...Here's
our wonderful gift of a piece

One busy week out of 1,924

2008-07-20T14:48:09Z

This week was packed with activities - I apologize for the number of cuts, but it was difficult to fit the entirety of a day into one particular photo. I did my best to do exactly what I wanted this week. Works out pretty well.

Moore's Cove Bridge - Pisgah National Forest

7.13.08
Spent Saturday night camping up at Mt. Pisgah.
Dragged A. up for a 5:45 a.m. walk to see the sun rise.
Along the way we got to see the local wild life.

7.14.08
Monday night Quizzo plus cards.

7.15.08
Went downtown for a flick at the Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company...
with the best bathroom sign around. The inside of the APBC is decorated with odds and ends.

7.16.08
Went downtown for the baseball, got there late, wandered
around town with A. to our favorite bookstore...Kids section.

7.17.08
Started off the evening with our first Asheville Tourists game...this one is for caker66...the bear
Went to our favorite cinema for a pre-Batman release event. Including costumes and face painting.

7.18.08
Today, the day, was most excellent. Breakfast at our favorite local
restaurant, a hike to a waterfall, hours in the sun, in the water, followed
by some delicious, local, organic, fresh picked WWC strawberries and blackberries.
(and capped with The Dark Knight that evening)

7.19.08
Managed my 8 mile hike just fine...new graffiti at the WWC swimming hole.
And a return to APBC for a bit of entertainment with our flick.

My parting shot...it is always good to spend one's birthday in a waterfall.

Who I am/ What I was (or My Life in Film)

2008-07-14T20:53:44Z

I made this list prior to viewing coffeefortwo’s magical list so as to not be influenced by either his methodology or his picks. (Which is difficult as we’ve had almost identical viewing experiences since 1996).

This was a very, very difficult task. Perennial favorites such as Clockwork Orange, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, and Henry V dropped off bit by bit and I realized that my list is essentially a list of preferences. Because, for example, I would never dare to argue that The Shining is superior to Raging Bull. Some of these are actually kind of embarrassing, truly, but I have to be honest about their influence and longevity.

1971: Harold and Maude
1972: Deliverance
1973: The Last Detail
1974: The Conversation
1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
1976: The Outlaw Josey Wales
1977: Annie Hall
1978: Halloween
1979: Alien
1980: The Shining
1981: Das Boot
1982: Bladerunner
1983: Terms of Endearment
1984: The Terminator
1985: Out of Africa
1986: Hoosiers
1987: Broadcast News
1988: Midnight Run
1989: Cousins
1990: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
1991: Silence of the Lambs
1992: Glengarry Glen Ross
1993: The Piano
1994: Pulp Fiction
1995: Home for the Holidays
1996: The English Patient
1997: The Ice Storm
1998: Rushmore
1999: Eyes Wide Shut
2000: Almost Famous
2001: LOTR Fellowship of the Ring
2002: Chicago
2003: Lost in Translation
2004: Sideways
2005: Brokeback Mountain
2006: The Departed
2007: No Country for Old Men

If I could have a cheat or two...I think Closer vs. Sideways was a tough call, and The Departed vs. Children of Men...I changed that entry about 4 times. Ugh.

firthofforth @ 2008-07-12T10:22:00

2008-07-12T14:44:26Z

In a huge rush right now - heading to Mt. Pisgah to camp for a night with my brother. So I will be minimally wordy this week.

Bonus shot - monday morning sunrise on my M3

7.6.08
Trying to unload the garage
(things leftover from the move last fall)
Can you tell whose videos belong to whom?

7.7.08
Quizzo night at Jack in the Wood(with their own brew - Green Man Ale)
It was just the two of us and we kind of bombed, but it was still fun.

7.8.08
umm...sorry Nola. So, this was out the kitchen window, at dusk.

7.9.08
at my favorite 'candy' store. we bought a new dishwasher today,
and a new mattress. you'll hear more about that later.

7.10.08
we had a lovely dinner in Marshall, atop a ridge line.
totally jealous of the property, the view...:) It was
nice to get out of the house with some new-people dinner conversation.

7.11.08
in Charlotte, recycling center....bad neighborhood.

7.12.08
early morning farmers market - we got fresh basil and raspberries. and bread.
made an excellent french toast, ate outside on the deck.
too bad the picture kind of sucks. but i'm off to CAMP.

world out of focus. bed calls.

2008-07-06T02:18:38Z

slow week in some ways. i do love the short weeks - i would be a happier person if i could get to a four day work week. but at home, i wasn't very productive. i have a growing list of art projects and house repairs to get at, and we have a guest arriving in less than a week - which means a different level of organization. Friday was the best day by far - coffee shop coffee, a quick jaunt at work, hiking, decent brunch, nap, homemade pizza dinner...a little Wimbleton.

Bonus picture - a few blocks down from the Library.

6.29.08
so, a Radley picture where he doesn't look like the devil and/or isn't staring resentfully at me.
just trying to balance out the photogenic pup with the shy one. my cat-sized dog.
my nose-licker, bad-eater, rooster-substitute, and security alarm.

6.30.08
WWC - toward Ruins Trail.
I had to really work at this picture to get the snake to stand out at all.
It was just
sunning itself on the side of the road, I came about 2 feet from it's head before I noticed it.
Very long...over 3' in length. Not sure what kind it is though.

7.1.08
mmm...let's just call this one "on the job"
not a great picture but that was all I really had to work with today.

7.2.08
sitting in the living room this evening...and a huge "whack" hit the front window.
there on the porch was a very dazed and confused bird that I was afraid was critically hurt.
I sat with it a while and then left it in peace.
Eventually, with a glance back at me peering through the window, it hopped away.

7.3.08
this is pretty representative of my solo evenings (with coffeefortwo off in San Diego,
I was semi-house bound with the dogs and chores). man I love popcorn and beer.

7.4.08
while hiking (again at the lower WWC trails) in the a.m. I came across a silly little pond that someone
built up at the entrance to their property.
But I did see a really interesting figure in the rock reflections.
[oh, and I made pizza that evening with what turns out to be a pretty fantastic,
quick, EASY, crust recipe - Tyler's Ultimate of course]

7.5.08
movie day. the 2nd one, SPEED RACER, just gave me a headache. luckily it was
at the local pizza-brewhouse so it was cheap. less resentful that way. even the special
effects weren't that special.

I'm Brian and so is my wife!

2008-07-04T13:02:30Z

Two weeks ago today, a wonderful break in my routine occurred with the visit of loveinabasement. Not only did I get to paint, and talk, and crawl into art galleries...but I got out of the hosue on a Friday night and actually attempt a local downtown event - a fundraiser for the local fashion/art district organization. There was music, and food (courtesy of EarthFare!), and 'boutique' selections...but best of all was a fashion show.

This may actually misrepresent the show in a way, as I really do like this particular shot. It was an odd mix really - it was so very grass roots in a way that I love. But essentially, the fashion was slightly off. Yes, the clothes were mostly constructs of other garments. There was a theme of "reuse" at play. But everything seemed to need a dash of editing. For example, the dress below LOOKS fantastic here (asian inspaired) - but then there were little green dangley puff-balls attached to it in an odd, distracting fashion.

The pacing of the night ended up painful. There were 13 or 14 models to show, and it took about 35-40 minutes to get through four - LOTS of long breaks in between. which, I guess if we were there to mingle, would have worked better for us. But my feet just got sore. [this was almost my 365 pic]

If you are really interested in seeing the rest of the fashions we saw, you can click behind the cut...you are going to see things titled "Romantic Warrior Princess" and such...rag skirts...fake armour a la Conan the Barbarian...Great hair though.

Poetry abounds - Art surrounds. Animate Me.

2008-07-04T01:14:39Z

Inspired by various posts of zzersonat, I pulled up what is now clearly my favorite animated short of the 2007 Florida Film Festival. This piece just resonated on the big screen. It was partially inspired by the William Blake poem The Tyger and while it takes some time to download, I is worth the wait.

Tyger

every thought is everything to me now.

2008-06-29T22:45:42Z

Switching things up, I'm staring off with my Bonus picture - my favorite of the week. Our weekend was spent near Elberton, GA. Old town, old buildings, gorgeous architecture mostly rotting. We found a job for coffeefortwo, a storefront for me to create some business in, and the perfect house (2800 sq. ft, hardwood, 4 porches, built in the 30's, fully restored, new everything, less then $220k). Oh, and the environment? Hot, flat, dry, broken, and totally not where we would ever end up. But it was an excellent weekend of laziness.

BONUS pic. self explanatory.

6.22.08
Teaser really, of unfinished work. Mostly created on saturday but
placed and thought about today. loveinabasement is the artist/guide. I'll
work on them until they fit above our fireplace.

6.23.08
I now have coworkers who will stop the car with a screeching halt,
rush into the road, and rescue turtles of all shapes and sizes. I'm home.
.

6.24.08
Another day, Another Landfill, Another perfect sky.

6.25.08
So...I made sure that coffeefortwo and casinoqueen knew where I was
before traipsing around this old, historic, boarded up and broken into former Veteran's Hospital
that I pass by on one route home. It is fenced off (and that is broken through in creepily perfect ovals at each doorway,
with broken caution tape flying in the breeze like party streamers). It is crumbly and moldy and so gorgeous it hurts to see it rot. If I had seen a
shape in the window...I wouldn't have been surprised. But I wouldn't have traipsed in...isn't that how EVERY haunted horror story starts?

6.26.08
OK, so randomly we figured out that Malaprops was holding an event we were interested in, and not because we were into civil war era novels.
Know how much it cost to sit 15 feet from Gene Hackman? $5.00. For the two of us. I heart this city.
He was gracious, witty, sharp. When a gentleman (using that term very loosely) mentioned looking up a film of Gene's
at Blockbuster, the actor kindly steered him toward what he thought was better fare, Hoosiers.

6.27.08
Drove down to GA after work, dogs and all. First night
was pretty much walking the property (100 acres of scrub Pine and grass fields)
with the dogs and crashing early. Because that's what vacation is all about right now...
Sleep. Nice sunset though, heading back toward our cabin.

6.28.08
First part of the day was at the beach, the Richard B. Russell beach to be exact.
Not a great place, but I got to swim and laze and read and swim. Nola on alert was pretty much the theme of the beach.
After napping, we ditched the dogs and went into downtown Elberton - the theatre was having a concert event
- clearly the town was trying to keep culturally alive. The night was capped by a few rounds of Rumikub, Cribbage,
and Scrabble - my winning word combo sadly..."GOOFS" (crossed with my previously entered "Soirees").

firthofforth @ 2008-06-22T11:34:00

2008-06-22T16:30:36Z

6.15.08
Sunday in our house is project day. Painted my front porch chairs (as seen below),
the mailbox, weeded and trimmed, hit the hardware store, changed a light fixture,
and generally cleaned. Officially recovered from PI.

6.16.08
One more day at the Lake.
And Lake Adgers, at a balmy 80 degree water temp, was my first dip in a NC lake.

6.17.08
'Tis the Season for Morning Glorys.
They aren't doing so well (see the leaves). But they
sure do make me happy each morning as I walk out my door.

6.18.08
WWC River Trail. Ducks at Rest.

6.19.08
More garbage as art.
I'm going to be obsessed with garbage for a while. experiencing the
amount of waste we generate, first hand, as a culture - it is overwhelming.
I want a workshop. I want to take crap home and play with it.

6.20.08
Hanging out downtown with loveinabasement. This particular
photo belongs to this awesome vehicle that I have seen around town before.
There was some sort of friday afternoon festival going on in
the park (artists, musicians, balloons, hippies).

took so many pictures at a special event this evening...it merits it's own post.

6.21.08
Charlotte Street Farmers Market.
Maybe. It is the one at UNCA. Nola did remarkably
well (scavenging for scraps) with the crowds and being pet
by strangers. It was small, but had some good breads and some
really friendly vendors.

New Week. New Game. No Name.

2008-06-16T20:30:28Z

As we head into our Quizzo evening (working on that ever-challenging team name)...I leave YOU with a few questions we did NOT get right last week. (and can you blame us? well, yes, on the geography questions perhaps).

MILK round

Name both living species of animal that lays eggs and gives milk.

A gallon of milk weights approximately how many pounds (within 1/4 lb)?

The Milk River empties into the Missouri River. But before it does it travels 600 miles through which state?

The Pacific round

Name the world's second largest island is in the South Pacific - it is the home to all or part of two nations.

Name the hip-hop group made up of 5 Samoan-American brothers with Albums named: New Funky Nation and Occupation Hazardous.

The "Cafe Pacific" airline is based in what nation?

Potpourri

What feature in Windows XP is turned on by hitting the shift key quickly five times?

What is the name of the gooey paste made from Taro Root?

Name the drug store chain that introduced, 3 years ago, a seniors friendly program named "living more"?

New is the New Me, cautiously.

2008-06-15T02:17:34Z

Started my new position this week. So my head is over saturated at the moment with new rules, new counties, new coworkers... New foods include skate, crepes, and souffles (and a new cookbook to boot). Not quite new skin - the itch isn't quite gone, but it's improving. Tomorrow is the weekly test hike to see if my itch is gone.

6.8.08
This one is here for graphic purposes primarily.
It is a somewhat flat chocolatesouffle. The
morning started off with a belated bday breakfast for coffeeofrtwo. So along with it
being my first souffle, it was my first real attempt at strawberry crepes.

6.9.08
Quizzo night at the Jack In the Wood. Just the 2 of us.
This mural is on the building next door to the pub.
And this was on the way to the pub.

6.10.08
Day 2 of new job (position)...First day on my new type of job site.
But I still can't get enough of these Cicadas, they are still dying in droves all
over the road, our yard and porch. What eyes!

6.11.08
We joined the WWC summer "box of veggies" crew...we get a fresh picked,
seasonal box of organic veggies once a week. This week it was mostly kale,
radishes, and turnips with some assorted herbs. And this was an attempt
to work a recipe out of our new cookbook.

6.12.08
Second worksite visit, a bit of a mars-scape.
This wheel is specific to compacting trash. My guess is, you'll be seeing lots of
pictures of trash heaps for a while.

6.13.08
Headed out early to the Blue Ridge BBQ Festival for some
amazing ribs, hilarious BBQ cooking booths and signage.

6.14.08
Had a pretty great day downtown with breakfast, bookstore, beer shopping, and
a farmers market where we were given a giant bag of SKATES. Learned today
that garlic tops are referred to as skates. I cooked dinner with them,
cooking some as asparagus and some as a marinade for roasted chicken. yum.
This is my first {theme of the week) latticed cherry pie.

CCYL in NYC. ALK in ARO.

2008-06-08T04:07:23Z

Today is the day that I was supposed to be in NYC for a bash of a wedding. My trade-off was a failed hike and a half-day at work...I AM getting better tho, so I shouldn't complain too much. My weeks are tending toward entertainment rather than the great outdoors.

6.1.08
One more full day as an invalid requires what? COMICS
Final issue of Joss Whedon's Astonishing Xmen.
I won't be a spoiler and talk about it.

6.2.08
Monday night, pre-Quizzo with the road-trippers.
Downtown Asheville has a lot of outdoor art - but not all great.

6.3.08
this one's for me. after cleaning out 30 years worth of grime and paperwork,
I set up house in my new office with my nice lighting and personal items...
which i got to keep for THREE WEEKS (due to taking alternate
position). As I am one day from going back to a shared office, I thought
I should show a glimpse of my first solo office with door. Sigh.

6.4.08
Left camera at work so I had to get creative coffeefortwo's Macbook
camera and my Picasa photo-shopping. Here's my BONUS shot.

6.5.08
Asheville pizza and brewery at their cinema location.
movie...not so good. beer...excellent.
Dumpster Art Graffiti...most excellent.

6.6.08
Let's just say you'll either recognize this or you won't.
(tip)

6.7.08
I tried to hike today. My poison ivy is not gone, it is still exhibiting
in my joints in particular. But I am going stir crazy and I'm frustrated about
losing my training gains. so I thought I'd try a small hike. It was cool out but my
legs when nuts. I was red from my hips to my ankles and the entire skin surface was
raging itch. So here are pics from my 5 minutes out and my slow amble back to the car.
new corn and WWC river trail summer look.

"Bill Clinton is certainly Fired Up."

2008-06-04T12:51:12Z

So I come home to my empty house, mildly excited about having some prime time news as my dinner date. This was my second attempt at wallowing through Mike Galanos' style of inserting color commentary with his TONE and selective emphasis on choice words.

My first run-in with him was his reporting on the new, Christian license plate: The Florida Legislature is considering a specialty plate with a design that includes a Christian cross, a stained-glass window and the words I Believe."

So, up pops the first story of the night, and the words "Bill Clinton is certainly fired up" really didn't bode well. He talks about how Clinton has shown anger several times during his wife's campaign (as if the anger is an issue), and about how the former president is now going after a Vanity Fair reporter (again, tone implying that there is a problem with this)...referring several times to the language used by Clinton. (with furrowed brow mind you)

MG: "Is he just venting or does he have a legitimate complaint?" "you can decide for yourselves"
[the whole thing is 'caught' on audio)
Michelle Kerry: "ooohhh, your ears are going to be burning Mike, burnin'"
blah blah blah (the article is about BC and his life after the whitehouse) when a reporter for the Huffington Post was interviewing Clinton he...
MK: "well, the former president UNLOADED"

So here I am, waiting for some rant worthy of the build-up, and this is what I get:

Clinton's quote on tape: "(He's sleazy. He's a really dishonest reporter; and one of our guys talked to him. And...but I haven't read it. But the guy told me that there's five or six just blatant lies in there. But he's a real slimy guy." [just as a statement really, no theatrics]

MK: "Not very presidential language" (said with this mouth twisted mien of judgment)

SLIMY people. He said "SLIMY"

That's a news story?

MK: "It didn't end there, Clinton went on to say that the article was based on unreliable sources...and was part of a larger media campaign against his wife" - at which point Michelle made this face of what...hurt incredulity? Give me a break.

I should rename my Tag from Media Rant to "I hate CNN"
[I promptly switched to BBC America news coverage]

Itchey.Bumpy.Sore. With Headache chaser.

2008-06-01T01:55:28Z

This week was a hard week. I'm not better, the poison ivy actually resurged on Friday and is now in my hands (joints in particular) and everywhere that my work clothes rubbed this week. I've got a continual headache - I think it's from the double-dose of antihistamines. It is wearing me out and my photos will probably reflect that.

5.25.08
Finally swapped out the keyboard on the Dell.
I have my O and Enter keys back! It was beginning to drive me nuts.

5.26.08
Seven year anniversary of C.U.P.hood.
We revisited one of our first 'fancy' meals we ever cooked together.
coffeefortwo gets all the cooking credit for the Asian marinated pork loin with
garlic mashed sweet potatoes and five spice apple chutney.

5.27.08
Bedtime ritual

5.28.08
Birthday ritual.
This one is a vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry Ultimate Ice Cream cake with a brownie base.
We has guests for dinner...a traditional Cleveland specialty.

5.29.08
Had to fill up the growlers in advance of some guests...which meant that
we of course had to sample a few pints at the new bar at the Pisgah brewery.
Dinner at the local El Salvadoran restaurant with excellent food.
We need inquiet to tell us how to pronounce it's name.

5.30.08
My hands are pretty swollen. It's hard to really show how bad it is,
the red comes and goes but the bumps are hard and growing rapidly. Doc says to
double everything and stick it out for the weekend. Bonus pic: Radley smiling.
He had a rough day at the vet and needed some commiseration.

5.31.08
This pretty much sums up my week. Inside looking out. Unable
to do chores, projects, even typing this is irritating my hands.
Gorgeous day though.

Good fo find a kindred spirit

2008-05-25T19:23:35Z

Just finished the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman. This is the kind of series that I would have eaten up as a child, fitting in nicely with The Chronicles of Narnia, The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper (better than Narnia), and E. Nesbit's trilogy which starts with Five Children and It. The difference being, it was written with the direct purpose to counterpoint the Narnia series. I loved the other series, but they were about magic, imagination, the separation between the world view of the child versus that of the adult, and about growing into responsibility. Narnia however, quickly bored me. I remember reading the first, maybe three novels? And perhaps a fourth out of obligation but I have virtually no memory of them other than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Additionally, I was oblivious to the Christian overtones of Narnia having not been reared with the Bible as my "encyclopedia of answers".

In contrast, His Dark Materials is interested in Humanity. It is humanistic, naturalistic, moralistic and uninterested in simple fabrications. Creatures, fantastical and otherwise, are given equal worth to Man. While I am not of an age to properly appreciate the work as a piece of Children's Literature, I am enamored of it's philosophical overtures.

The Amber Spyglass (book three), page 320 - the ghost of a martyr speaks to the undead millions while trapped in a purgatory created by The Authority and upheld by the Church:

"Because the land of the dead isn't a place of reward or a place of punishment. It is a place of nothing. The good come here as well as the wicked, and all of us languish in this gloom forever, with no hope of freedom, or joy, or sleep, or rest, or peace.

But now this child has come offering us a way out and I'm going to follow her. Even if it means oblivion, friends, I'll welcome it, because it won't be nothing. We'll be alive again in the thousand blades of grass, and a million leaves; we'll be falling in the raindrops and blowing in the fresh breeze; we'll be glittering in the dew under the stars and the moon out there in the physical world, which is our true home and always was."

[and as the ghosts leave the world of the dead to rejoin the particles that make up the universe, on page 364]

"The first ghost to leave the world of the dead was Roger. He took a step forward, and turned to look back at Lyra, and laughed in surprise as he found himself turning into the night, the starlight, the air...and then he was gone, leaving behind such a vivid little burst of happiness that Will was reminded of the bubbles in a glass of champagne."

Within One Week, Active becomes Inactive

2008-05-24T16:53:02Z

Starting my 365 with an Appalachian Trail hike and ending with 3 days on my couch trying not to crack my Poison Ivy wounds...can never really count on plans working out. I will be off-schedule for my 'marathon' hike, which, of course, can happen whenever I choose but I prefer to set deadlines and meet them.

5.18.08
Here's my AT Trail pick. I just adore trail junctions - AND this is a way to remember where exactly I hiked.
This was, of course, pre-sleet.

5.19.08
Quizzo Night at Jack in the Wood
Celebrating someone being "off" for 10 weeks of summer.
One of the best things about JITW...smoke free!

5.20.08
Lunchtime hikes included John's Peak with a great view of Looking Glass Rock.
Can't remember the name of this trail, it's not long enough to be included in my map
books. But the waterfall is pretty fantastic. I tried a shot from beneath but it didn't quite work.

5.21.08
After a jobsite brush with poison ivy (PI) yesterday, the rash spread from it's original site
behind my right knee to my face (right eye and ear and nose) and it continued to spread around
my waist and beyond. Today was 'onset day' and I went into work.
Red spots of itch are the slightest, nicest of the incarnation of PI on my body.

5.22.08
Elephant man day - swollen and puffy and hanging around waiting for my 1 p.m. drs appt.
after a shot in the rear, I had to drag myself to a pharmacy...here's $68 worth of meds.
on a positive note, the pharmacy asst. took one look at my face and decided to fill my prescription ASAP/first.

5.23.08
Home again. In pain and Itch. Sitting at home is the same as sitting at a theater right?
We went to see Indiana Jones and the Inter-dimensional fake-looking Crystal Alien Skull.

5.24.08
Can't talk PI every single day can I? Let's just say the face is improved, everything else is worse. coffeefortwo is cooking, cleaning, mowing, planting, care-taking on his b-day weekend (early yes), which makes me pretty sad. Oh, and it's our anniversary weekend as well.
The Cicadas have been out for about a week. They are so strong, so loud, that the first day they appeared it sounded like someone was doing massive machine work in the valley. The hum is almost electronic, like we are living under a substation. They are falling and dying all over the place...here's one from the back yard (Nola was trying to eat it).

So that's my week. I spared you all the nasty pics of bodily fluids - I certainly don't need to immortalize the mess.

When climbing mountains is your job

2008-05-24T00:00:45Z

Meant to post my big hike post sooner, life gets in the way some times...this time in the form of a serious bout of poison ivy AND job transitions all overlapping.

The Appalachian Trail (+ hikers) as seen from Elk Gardens

Slept overnight in my car in Damascus...not conducive to feeling lively and physically whole. But I did find coffee on my way out of town.
Here's the Trail Days banner on main street - actually hangs over stretch of the AT that runs right through town.

Not really my first steps onto the AT, but probably my first real distance hike on it
- so even the signage was cool to me. (Heading North from Elk Gardens)

REAL free-range cattle! The weather forecast was rotten - but the storms were due on the overnight and at 8:40 a.m., the clouds SWEPT in.
Not bad yet, I like overcast. I was just hoping to beat the rain. Oh, and the trailhead thermometer said it was only 48 degrees at this point.

So I was recommended to hike this 'blue' trail off the AT called Grindstone. Within 5 minutes it was clear that this wasn't for me. There was no way I could maintain any sort of pace because it was truly a trail of boulders. Gorgeous, but not for this hike.

I hiked up to the junction for the trail that headed to Mt. Rogers peak. If it had been even slightly clear at this point I would have gone for it. However, right at this junction, as I was starting to chat with a through hiker re. Grayson Fields [must return here!] - he considered it the most beautiful region in the ENTIRE AT trail - it started to POUR/SLEET. Seriously. Yes, I had 4 layers on top, gloves and a hat - but I had lightweight pants, not rain paints and my jacket was a windbreaker not a real jacket. So I had to turn around at 2 hours into the hike and race out (<1:30 way out). Here's the junction just before the sleet hit.

Of course, the rain hit pretty much only when I was on an exposed part of the mountain. I was drenched from the upper thigh down, feeling the cold, the wet, and the wind and feeling very dumb for not really putting together a proper day pack for this sort of hike.
Considering they can get snow in May, I really should have been more prepared. at least a poncho (I promptly bought a map, emergency poncho, and emergency whistle at the gear store in town).

It was then just misty and grey. My pants dried fast. I hiked fast. And on the way out I attempted a 360 photo from a part of the trail that was most fogged in.

My last photo before the car, the yellow flowers were practically glowing.
I'm not sure I captured the color.

All in all, it was a great hike. It felt so challenging most of the way (mostly uphill going in), very rocky and more severe than anything I've hiked in a while. I probably only hiked 10-12 miles in the 3.5 hours due to the weather and the lack of a pedometer.

Lessons Learned: finish packing my emergency kit, buy real outer shell, remember the pedometer, get a real nights sleep.

Just for fun...because during the first 2 hours of the hike I spent a lot of time digesting Trail Days, through-hiker fantasies, and coming up with Trail names - yes, trail names. And no, i'm not thru hiking and i'm not trying to pick my own name. I just thought this would be entertaining. vote away, or add your own.

View Poll: Trail Name

Foz.Wildflower.Karma.Jersey.Skittles.Trace

2008-05-19T00:25:17Z

This week actually turns out decent in review - guess that's what happens when I actually take people up on invites to get out and do something social. It took work tho, to drag myself up to Virginia. But it was good to see evilpirate007 and his '03 crew.

5.11.08
I now declare May 11th Leffe Day.
After months of moping about things lost in the move, it turns out I was just lazy/unorganized...no big surprise there.
Found a box with both our 'best' dishes AND my prized Leffe glass from the Windsor Castle Pub (thanks jupiterjuniper for
prompting that nab). We had written the name of the brew down wrong and for over a
year we had searched in vain. After finding the glass and doing some quick online
work...coffeefortwo ran out and purchases two six packs before closing as a
reward for my kitchen-painting. AND it is fantastic!

5.12.08
KITCHEN is PAINTED.
And our groovy reclaimed ss shelf unit was pulled in from the garage.
The house is beginning to feel more like our own. Inspired me to spend
crazy on sat. to get the downstairs bathroom underway. Tiling is in my future.

5.13.08
This might be my favorite Lake Adgers pic to date. I'm going to miss these long,
sunny, glorious work days in the boat. Good thing this study goes thru till October.

5.14.08
Shhhhh...Nola's crazy xmas quilt is half-way done.

5.15.08
I'm sure you've all seen my post from this last Thursday, but this was my favorite
little play-pic. I can't say enough how much I loved getting into the Great Smoky
Mountain National Park...I just picked up a map to inspire more treks.

5.16.08
On the dog front, i think Nola gets a little more air time than Radley. So in fairness,
I tried to get a sweet picture of him on Friday night. The thing is, the reason why he
is underrepresented is because he takes pretty bad photos. He hates the camera.

5.17.08
So Saturday afternoon I hoped in my car and drove to Virginia for a Spectacular Spectacular
known as Trail Days. I was going up for the twofold purpose of visiting with evilpirate007/Foz
and to get in my main training hike. The following picture was of the Contra Dance
(which I can start doing at WWC! Turns out it is just Barn Dancing, which i grew up with).

Afterwards, we headed over to the camp for a little Firebreathing, some very tasty Mint Julep (from a
shared Nalgene bottle - good thing the alcohol content was high), and some storytelling. I called it short, as
I was hiking in the a.m. - but was walked back to my car/bed by, if I remember
correctly, Mellow-Yellow who happens to work for my favorite retailer...REI -
he might be moving up here when REI attempts an Asheville store in October.

Thanks go out to my yard-hosts Trace and One-Third for letting me park on their lawn. To Foz for inspiring the visit.
And to all the through-hikers for giving me a glimpse.

Life via treadmills ...kills the soul.

2008-05-16T01:36:36Z

This is a late post for my long hike of last Sunday. Lesson's learned...don't put off the long hike till 4 p.m. on Sunday. I ended up chunking it into two treadmill bursts (to be fair the weather was on/off all weekend and threatening storms).

Chunk One - miles 0-5:
The first half of the 'hike'. Odd, 1989, overly dramatic with an earlier Colin Firth performance. probably sounded good on the page.

Chunk Two - miles 5-10:
UGH
At least the sound effects were entertaining. not through it yet, because it is CRAzy long. it has that typical Michael Bay touch - editing you can't follow but noise loud enough that it forces your eyes to *think* that you are seeing cohesive action.

But the great hike was today at The Smokies....

This is the path in on my 7 mile hike.

This log bridge entry to the trail system was the narrowest bridge over all the stream crossings. The view was GREEN. I hiked the oddly named Boogerman Trail. Nice big tree and me.

On the way in there was a little field of daisies.

There was no mental beginning-middle-end to this hike. The up was hard, but it was overcast and dripping and PERFECT for hiking. The smells were gorgeous, there were ruins and rocks and the only bad thing was that I wore the wrong pair of shoes. This is why I'm here.

sonic youth hurts. MY dog's ears.

2008-05-11T03:12:46Z

This week is a week of moodiness. Lots of small pictures for a small week.

5.4.08
Hiking up Blue Ridge Parkway, near my turnaround point (mile 6).
Nice little plant, only on the north side of the ridge.

5.5.08
Prepping for the big day. Voting is so friggin' easy here, but i do wish
they would at least ask to see a photo ID. Interesting bit on these two
candidates...i ending up choosing one over the other based on a FL case.
Just can't get away...

5.6.08
First mountain biking in NC, first in mountains (even baby ones)
since 1999 - Vail/Boulder, CO. So it was a big deal for me. I kind
of suck now, very hesitant and shaky. Bent Creek - needs more exploring.
I love my bike.

5.7.08
Appalachian music night at WWC. Nola was my date - we hiked
first, up around casinoqueen's tree.

5.8.08
Hard to explain this one without really digging into work issues.
Let's just say that I am moving into a new workspace and I have the
joy of clearing out a retirees files...30 years means you don't have to
clean up when you leave, and no one else does either. Needs color.

5.9.08
Round about Brevard for work...found this little guy at the
base of a 100,000 gallon water tank. SO cute!

5.10.08
Took apart the kitchen today. It is currently primed and smelly and a complete
disaster. Can't wait to get the actual paint up tomorrow night...looking for a new
home for the liquor. So pretty, and nothing to mix it with.

and the BONUS for the week is from our newly flowering bush out back.

I came, I saw, I hiked.

2008-05-05T00:02:58Z

read closely this is clever and fun. I don't think that I will be able to ever encapsulate myself in six words - but my general subject lines can. (on a bad day I came up with "born in California, downhill from there").

Another 12 mile day.

This time, the Blue Ridge Parkway, just up from our valley.

Drove up, parked, hiked UPHILL six miles and then returned. It seemed easier in some ways than last weeks, but harder in others. I didn't drink enough water the last 3 miles and i'm now suffering one of those exertion headaches usually driven by a long run in the heat.

Miles 1-3: A little like meditation, it takes effort to purge the brain of trivialities (TV shows, to-do lists, etc.). Main thoughts...cake decoration. Mentally decorated a certain work person's retirement jello cake (which is super silly, because the retirement is wishful thinking), spent the rest of the time trying to figure out how in the world to construct an Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom ice cream cake.

Miles 3-6: The trouble with out-and-back is that when the 'out' is pretty much the uphill slog, then mile 6 feels like the achievement. Thus, halfway through I mentally felt done. I did count a bit to get to that most uphill point. keeping the view to myself, i worked for it. :)

Miles 6-9: Now THIS bit had rhythm. Slogged past Rattlesnake Lodge ruins, encountered some German hikers, and spent a good mile or so trying to recall jr. high school German class nouns and creating pleasant conversation in mein kopf.

Miles 9-12: Part of this bit looks like this. Hiking along, I passed a gaggle of camera-carriers hovering around what I thought should have been something mobile, like a butterfly or bird. But no...they were flower hunters and I got a glimpse of something pink as I sped past

I returned via vehicle for a closer look.

The best part of the hike was when I was at mile 10.5...I met a gentleman hiker volunteering for the Carolina Mountain Club. Over the course of about 10 min. I learned that he was originally from Chile, lived for years in upstate new york, believed in global warming and zoning, retired to NC 20 years ago after crossing over the Great Smokey Mountains and realizing he was 'home' - he also declared that I'd found my mountains, that I would never leave, and that someday I would remember him saying so. His name was Jorge and he reminded me of my grandfather. lovely day.

Project 365 - Week 18

2008-05-04T01:41:46Z

It's that time of the week again. Sometimes, when I look back at the week in pictures (182 to choose from this time), my life seems incredibly boring. hikes, dogs, cooking, hikes, dogs...And yet, my Friday post is fun even while I left off my hike, Bennett Gap trail in the Pisgah Nat'l forest - which really, sums up my life here. I WANTED this. I worked for this. I just have to keep getting outside and trying to be more social.

4.27.08
I was guilted/cajoled into shipping cookies southward.
(to be fair, it was owed/overdue and EC was right in calling in the cookie favor)
So I went for an entirely Caker Cookbook menu of Mama Peplinski's Pecan Mini-Muffins (seen below),
Grandma Lois' Brownies, Oato-Choc-Toffee cookies (the big hit)...and rice krispies. mmm.

4.28.08
I had shown this before, with a peeking bird...I opened up the front of
the lantern in the hopes that the bird would nest. And it did...laid eggs
and one or two hatched, and a cat came around, and between the cat and my photos,
i think the bird abandoned the nest. bummer.

4.29.08
Today was really all about debt. House debt. Reorganizing house debt.
So step one was refinancing the 'here house' and the next step is to
refinance the 'there house' and then...maybe...someday...selling the fucker.

weekend project

4.30.08
Woke up to frost...can you see it?
picture doesn't do it justice.

5.1.08
ha-ha.

5.2.08
CIRCUS at Warren Wilson College.
Kind of like an end-of-year talent show with no boundaries.
Creative, costumed, freak-themed...below is a giraffe. And the band rocked.

Additional shots for those that are interested...OGRE! Host/aged circus ringleader, old-time dance routine, and a very hazy shot of the amazing acrobatics. [yes, juniperjupiter clearly should have attended WWC...not only do they have a creative writing degree, but they seem to be gender-neutral, freak-loving, costume-loving, AND there are clubs devoted to acrobatics.

5.3.08
Dog Groomer day - yes, our dogs go to what can technically be called a salon,
for nail trimming. because it IS easier...on us and them. The muzzles have been
deemed necessary. They always enter in panic mode and come out like it was no big deal.