Archive for the ‘Life’ Category
BBBS: Harold and the Purple Crayon
Big Brothers Big Sisters is pretty awesome about getting us free or discounted tickets to kid-friendly events, and Jessica and I have been making an effort to see as many plays as possible. When BBBS sent out an email that they had tickets to Harold and the Purple Crayon, my inner three-year-old went “SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” and I promptly reserved our tickets.
My inner three-year-old was not disappointed.
Actually, I wouldn’t take a very small child to see this; the actress (yes, actress) playing Harold and the one playing Harold’s girl friend wore baby-face masks that were downright creepy, and a scary Martian and evil witch add some scary moments. Otherwise, it was very entertaining; there was no dialogue, except for the unseen narrator, so the actors had to express everything through movement. The minimal set design echoes the simplicity of the books, and the projected animations and props were mostly adorable. As an adult, I really appreciated the artistry that the five-person cast brought to the production, which lasted about an hour, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.
Obviously, we couldn’t take photos once the production began, but I did take some prior to the play:
Building Garden Beds
Ryan and I are planning a vegetable garden this year, using the square foot gardening method. We want to plant three 4′ x 4′ raised beds, and decided to make boxes with a bottom panel as well, for a number of reasons. Of course, we wanted to do it as economically as possible, so we purchased three 4′ x 8′ panels of 3/4″ plywood and cut into pieces to construct three 4′ x 4′ x 1′ boxes. Ryan’s dad, Steve, helped us put them together in his warehouse. Here are some pictures I took during the epic construction process:
More photos on Flickr.
Austin, TX
I spent last week in Austin, TX, for the Educause Southwest Regional Conference 2010; I presented a session on “Using a Wiki to Keep Up with Evolving Training and Documentation Needs”.
Flying and I really don’t get along. My flight out got cancelled, so I got put on a later flight – meaning I missed my connecting flight, so I got to Austin about three hours after I was scheduled to. My last flight coming home was pretty terrible – delayed for two hours, super hot, and someone had been eating beans… and that’s before the bumpy descent and slam-into-the-runway landing. The hotel was okay, the food was expensive, and the whole trip had entirely too little of my Ryan. The conference itself was good, so it was worth going, but man… no more flying for me for a loooooong time!
I also made time to tour the Texas State Capitol; here are some photos:
More photos can be found on Flickr.
Weekend in Kansas City
I visited my lovely sister Elizabeth in Kansas City this weekend (yay!). I got there about noon yesterday, and first we had Chinese food for lunch, then we hit the Nelson-Atkins art museum.
This is one of Beth’s favorite paintings. I can see why!
Beth commented that this armor would probably fit her, although her feet are too big for the shoes.
We really dig the medieval armor. This prompted us to go back to Beth’s house and watch six hours of season three of the Tudors. We finished the season this morning.
And the picture you’ve been waiting for… the real reason I drove three hours in the snow:
… to snap a shot of my sister squeegeeing her windshield.
I had a blast hanging out with her and can’t wait to visit again! Of course, I was glad to get home, and I walked in the door to see that my amazing husband already had the TV turned to PBS so that I could plop right down and watch the next installment of Emma, which I am enjoying immensely. That’s the kind of little thing that makes me love Ryan more and more every day.
Have a good week, everyone!
BBBS: Bowling with Jessica
Jessica and I went bowling the other day.
And despite having the gutter railings up, and earning the screen above, neither of us cracked 100 either game. Oh well…. better luck next time!
These photos and more on Flickr.