Used book stores

Katie and I were scheduled to give a presentation in Columbia, South Carolina this past Monday. 

We did. 

We rocked it.

With all due modesty, our slides were that best of the bunch. Which was all Katie's doing. She made slides that flipped like pages in a book. She had slides with audio embedded. She had slides with video embedded. She had slides with flashy lights and bells and whistles. The girl can make slides!

I just had to stand up there and blabber on about what we have been up to in the past year. Anyone who knows me at all, knows that this is what I do best. Blabber on and on and on. I story tell. Or as my banner says, I baffle with bullshit. What can I say? It's a gift.

So Tuesday morning Katie and I are at loose ends. The presentations that are scheduled for that morning are ones that really don't interest us and the carb-loaded breakfast at the hotel isn't what either of us are wanting eat. Cue, searching on the smart phones for someplace to eat. I find a place that according to customer rankings on Food Spotter looks pretty good and according to Google maps is only 1/2 mile from the hotel. Easily doable. 

NEVER trust Google maps. Turns out the place was 1 mile away. Okay, still doable but not what we were expecting without coffee fueling our systems. We finally get there. The breakfast is good. The coffee is bottomless. All is now right with our world.

At about the same time as we spot the elusive restaurant we spy a used bookstore. Using my persuasive bullshit powers ( I try to only use them for good) I convince Katie that after breakfast we must stop in for a little look-see. One never knows what treasures await in used bookstores (or used anything stores). 

Katie makes the first find. A 4 volume set of opera books for kids. Who knew? Opera is Katie's area of research and these were just unusual enough to pick up. 

While Katie is settling up her purchase I walk into what the owner calls the Rare Book Room and begin poking around. That's when I find this...

Pretty!

An artist portfolio book. I'm intrigued. I open it up to find this...

A booklet with a lot of French words.

I'm more intrigued. 

And confused. 

My French is rusty. 

Okay, my French is very very rusty. 

From what I could get out of it this was a series of lithographs done after the artist's death in 1953.

Then comes the best part. 

These...

10 original mat-framed lithographs in near perfect condition. 

I fall instantly in love with them and send off the following photo-text message to JR:

$275 for a set of first edition lithographs. Can i have them please?

Please!

The next text JR gets is:

Got them for $200.

The bookseller and I cut a deal and I walked out of the store a very happy woman. I never do things like this. Oh sure, I'll buy a piece of art from a street artist or a rare book for $30 but never do I drop $200 without some serious discussion with JR. But, like I said, I fell for these...hard. I knew nothing about the artist, still don't really (I'll do my homework tonight), I didn't know if this was a good deal or not, I just knew that it was a complete set and I loved them. I figured for $20 a piece I could frame them and give them as gifts at the very least. 

Turns out this Raoul Dufy was a famous watercolor painter and his lithographs go for a fair bit of money. The bookseller was able to tell me the provenance of this set which makes them authentic (never a bad thing when talking about art or books).

So all in all, I say that Katie and I had a very good trip. 

What have you all been up to while I've been gone?

Love,

M

Ottawa

So the presentation went well. I think. People told me it did. I'm not sure I believe them. Okay, I'll take their word for it. I'm pretty happy it's over. One more presentation on Saturday then I don't have another one for quite sometime. So all my insecurities can be lulled into a sense of well-being only to be dashed against the shores in September.

Here are a few of the photos that I took while in Ottawa. Can I just say that I love my phone. I didn't take my camera. All these photos were taken with my phone. It did a pretty darn good job.

 This is the canal. In the winter it freezes over and then people skate on it. I don't understand why. Ice skating sounds cold. I'm not real fond of the cold. It has a very pretty park that runs along both sides. It was in this park (right side of this picture) that my eyes and sensibilities were assaulted by the sight of a very large old white man in a Speedo. I'm not sure I'll ever be the same.

 This street artist and I sent quite awhile talking about art. I bought one of his originals and one of his prints. I can't wait to hang them in the new place. Isn't he cute as a button?

 They (the compassionate Canadians) pick up stray cats. They get well taken care of in these nice little houses. These cat houses (teehee) sit right next to the parliament building. I think its ironic that they put a cat house (teehee) next to the country's capital building.

 Isn't this pretty? It's the Gadadafsifenf river. Sorry, I can't remember the name. It starts with a "G" and it empties into the St. Lawrence River. Have any of you seen the St. Lawrence? I drove across the St. Lawrence on my way to Montreal once. It is beautiful. It was in the Thousand Islands area. There wasn't any pickles or ketchup in sight.

 I found this gift shop on Sparks street. All the merchandise was made by local artists. I'm pretty proud of the fact that I did my part in supporting the local economy. I increased my earring collection. It (the earring collection) has become rather profane. 

 I thought this was a church at first. Turns out it is one of the parliament buildings. I didn't get a really good picture of the actual parliament building because they were erecting this big stage in front of the building. They were preparing for a party on June 30th and Will & Kate were coming to visit. Everyone was all atwitter.  

 This was the side of the agriculture building. I just had to take a picture. What do these look like to you? Sometimes, my 12 year old boy gets the better of me.

There was a quick trip through Ottawa. I'll share some photos of the goodies I brought back. Then it is off to New Orleans to party with a zillion librarians. 

Love,

M

Mesa Verde National Park

I promise this is the last of my vacation pictures.

I can imagine that you are all really tired of my mis-adventures
(Wait did I say mis? I meant adventures. That's right).

Back in July JR, our oldest homeboy, our homegirl-in-law, and I took my niece Tess to the Grand Canyon. When there we purchased a yearly National Park pass (It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of my tummy for helping the National Park Service).
National Park passes are like $80+. I've blocked out the actual amount. I find it a little too painful to remember. Now, I am way too cheap to not get my money's worth out of it.

So, I said to JR, "We need to get our money's worth out of this card so let's go to as many parks as we possibly can. Turn here. No wait! Not here, there. Ok, now your going to have to turn around".

After turning around several times. We ended up at Mesa Verde National Park. Our 3rd National Park for this trip. How's that for making that pass pay? I think we might have even hit the break even point.

From here on out it's smooth sailing.
Then again with my luck Mesa Verde will be the last National Park we get to before the pass runs out.
I console myself with the knowledge that it has at least paid for itself.
Oh! and the warm fuzzy feeling. Let's not forget that.

Love,
M

Wildlife

This mornings post put me in the mood to lighten up a little. Oh, I don't want to make light of L's problems. In fact, that's the last thing I want to do. What I really want to do is hug L really hard, have her move into my home and feed her abundantly. She's a grown up. I know that but it just doesn't matter. I'm having a hard time stepping back a little in order to let her decided how much coddling she wants or needs. Then I'm sure I'll probably smoother her in affection. I don't remember her being stand-offish but after the summer she's had who knows. She may just have to put up with me. I haven't decided how I'll play this. We'll see how it goes. I'll let you know.

What I really wanted to show you were some of the animals that we saw on our trip.

We saw the prerequisite amount of lizards. Since we have at least a half million different types of lizards in Phoenix we didn't get too excited about the few we saw on the trip.

This Jack rabbit made his way across our campsite a couple of times. We also had a bunny, chipmunks, squirrels, and a mouse. OK, so I squealed like a little girl when the mouse ran under the picnic table. It wasn't my fault. He startled me. That's the only reason that I squealed.
Really it is.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!


When we went to Mesa Verde we caught these bachelors sitting in the shade. I got within 15 feet of these guys. All they did was stare at me.
Lazy bucks!
Me? I understand lazy.
It hasn't got a lot to do with laying around.
It's a mind set.
These boys have that mind set down to a tee!

I must not have been very threatening. It's hard to be threatening when you are only 5'2". These indolent boys couldn't be bothered with me.
The soft grass, the dappled shade, and a crazy short woman with a camera.
What more could these boys want I ask you?

I think that just about covers the animals that we got a glimpse at. I suspect that there were more, they were just hiding from us. That's OK I'd hide from me too.

Take care everyone!

Love
M

Western Colorado Photos

You know if I was really smart I would have written down the names of these mountains. But at 10,000 feet I don't function to well. I get altitude sickness at about 8000 feet level in elevation and as I go higher I tend to get sicker. JR knows this and really felt bad about taking this particular route on our trip but I insisted.

Why let a little headache and nausea ruin his drive through the mountains (I really wanted to whine and moan. Be proud of me I didn't. Aren't I great at patting my own back). Mountains are some of the things he really misses about not living in the Pacific Northwest along with his friends, water, gardening, wineries, great fresh produce.
Oh blast it!
I guess we'll have to move.

Since, I seem to be the official photographer in our house I snapped a few shots just for JR. And when I get the time/money/gumption I'll fix our printer then print him off some of these.
Maybe that will hold him over for a few more years.

I can't not talk about Quaking Aspen Trees. If sunflowers are my favorite flower Quaking Aspens would be my favorite tree.
A fact I didn't know until recently is that Aspens are sorta like weeds. They have one parent tree with a long root where more trees spring up from. Like Bamboo.

Now the sunflowers I like to best are the ones that grow along the side of the roads and fence lines. That makes them weeds.
What does that say about me? hmmm?

P.S. the last 2 shots are in Utah not Colorado but I was just trying to emphasis the whole weed thing.

Love,
M

Arches National Park at sunset

I drug poor JR away from his beer, his book, and his lounge chair to get a few photos of the sunset. Actually there wasn't too much dragging to be done. I got up grabbed my camera and he followed. He does that a lot, follow me. I really should feel bad. He followed me to Indiana when I went to grad school and he followed me to Arizona when I got my first library job and I'm fairly certain he'll follow me in the future. Sometimes I'm not sure why he puts up with me. I'm just thankful he does. But I digress.

So as I scramble around the rocks near our campsite in order to get the best pictures, trying to avoid falling (this happens to me more than you'd think) or stepping on some sort of venomous creature (this has never happened but I'm not taking any chances) JR is calmly standing in a prime viewing location to watch the sunset. I did notice that he brought his beer. What's a Irishman to do? You can't let your beer get warm and flat! Oh sure, you'd still drink it but why let it happen in the first place.

JR is thoughtful that way.
Not frenetic and ditsy like me.
Maybe this is our way of balancing the universe.

I try to be Zen!
Really I do!
I just don't seem to grasp the whole calm concept.

Not that JR is all that Zen.
He just has an Irishman's fatalistic view of life. Basically whatever will happen will happen so there is no sense in getting worked up about it. Just sit down watch the sunset and enjoy your beer.

Of course, that being said, when he lets loose his temper watch out!
The curse words fly!
For all of about 3 minutes. Then he's done.

Back to being calm and serene.
There were no diatribes on this day.
Just contemplative sunset watching and beer drinking.
What JR does best.

Oh Yeah!
And watching his crazy wife scramble around the rocks taking pictures, trying not to skin her knees and the palms of her hands (this also happens to me more than you'd think), and trying to avoid anything in the least bit poisonous (taking no chances here).

Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Love,
M

Arches National Park

JR and I just got back from a trip to Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Mesa Verde National Park. This was JR's first trip to the area and I haven't been in almost 40 years. The place is so beautiful that I'm not even sure where to start.

Let's start at the beginning.

First lesson learned, "Bring a bigger tent!" JR and I borrowed a tent from the youngest homeboy. We should have known better. He (the homeboy) bought the tent to take backpacking. That makes it a sausage casing with poles.


Imagine JR's twists and contortions trying to get his 6 foot 2 inch body into this miniature shelter. Envision clowns and a little car! Think full body girdle. It would have been funny for me (OK, it was funny) except that I was the recipient of pointy elbows to the gut and knee jabs. I feared for the seams and zippers on the tent. Let's just say it wasn't a pretty sight. Cozy but not pretty.

What was pretty was the scenery.

Around every curve there were beautiful views. See the Tiki face in the rocks. This was a favorite game of ours. Find faces, shapes, and animals in the rocks.


A short walk revealed spectacular scenery.

This was a wonderful find. It's called Navajo Arch.


Delicate Arch is pretty even from a distance.




JR and I had a great time at Arches National Park.

Don't we look outdoorsy?

Our hats were cinched so tight for fear they would blow away. There was no retrieving them if they had blown off.

With our hats and my braids you can hardly tell that there were no shower facilities at the National Park camp ground. Good thing that computers don't come with smell-a-vision.
Second lesson learned, "Three days of roughing it is our limit!"

Stay tuned for photos from Canyonlands National Park, Western Colorado, Mesa Verde National Park and wildlife sightings.

Love,
M

1st Tent Camping Trip in 20 years

JR and I are going camping a week from today. All by ourselves! Amazing huh? No kids! No dogs! No cell phones! No laptops! OK, I lied, I'm taking my cell phone and laptop. The laptop is only to process photos that I will take and maybe post to this blog, and maybe check my email. But, not too much. This is supposed to be a relaxing time of renewal for JR and I.

We haven't tent camped in almost 20 years and I'm feeling a little bit of trepidation about the whole thing. We use to own a travel trailer or a 5th wheel trailer but no one can really call that camping. We called it RVing. Anytime you can fill it with fresh food & clothes, hitch-up, and be on the road in 30 minutes is not camping. We didn't worry about where we would shower or whether our air mattress would deflate or whether we would get rained on. We had a microwave for goodness sake. A bed with real sheets. And a bathroom.

Now we've scaled down. We are now the proud owners of a 3 person tent, air mattress, a couple of ice chests, and a 2 burner campstove. This should be interesting.

"Grab up the sun shower Pa we're hittin the road!"

We do have a big 3/4 ton truck instead of the stationwagon and 2 less little ones to drag along like we had 20 years ago but that doesn't make me any less crazed. Since this is the 1st trip like this in forever I've done what any good librarian would do. I've researched the best campstoves, sleeping bags, and tents for the money. I've started a collection of all the stuff I'll need to take in the spare bedroom. I've made copious lists and even started to buy the food. Yes, I know it is a week away but I can't seem to help myself. I want to be prepared. No surprises for me. No siree!

Since, I won't have a microwave or an oven I've searched the blogs for skillet recipes. I came up with a criteria for all the recipes. "One skillet", "ease of prep", "few ingredients", and "taste". Oh, I've thrown in "possible uses for breakfast or lunch" as a non-qualifier but handy to know. Geez! What geek I am!

I've decided to make each recipe before the trip. This way I will know if they will work and whether they pass the litmus test I've devised (it's the geek again, sorry).

The 1st offering was a cornbread Tex-Mex thing. I can't really give you the exact name because I tweaked the original recipe enough that it doesn't really work anymore. The original title was a Taco Cornbread Pizza. So, I fiddled with it so it fit the above listed criteria. Turned out really well and has the added benefit of become breakfast. Kind of a Hauvos Ranchos thing.

I've decided to make a S'more bar cookie today and one of the other skillet recipes tonight. I know the bar cookies don't fit the criteria but I will just take them along. As a vegetarian I really don't feel comfortable making regular S'mores (it's just not camping without s'mores), because of the gelatin that they use to make the marshmallows. (Gelatin is nasty stuff. Do you know what they make that stuff out of? YUK!). So I'm opting for the cookie bars. It uses marshmallow cream/fluff which doesn't have gelatin.

I'll post any truly outstanding recipes and if any of you have any please send them along.

BTW, this is where we are going...
here http://www.nps.gov/arch/


and here http://www.nps.gov/glca/


and here http://www.nps.gov/hove/

and here http://www.nps.gov/meve/


That ought to exhaust us old people.

Love,
M

P.S. God bless Photoshop and the National Park Service website for the wonderful photos.