Beautiful Evening on the Lakefront

Stopped on the way home to snap these photos of the colors of Lake Michigan. So interesting when the lake appears lighter in color than the sky. Hope you can tell where the lake ends and the sky begins.

This photo was taken just a few minutes later and already the light has changed.

Don't you wish you were on one of these sailboats enjoying the last Sunday of the summer?

Today's quote comes from James Dent: A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.

Milwaukee's Rumbling...

potato potato potato potato potato potato potato potato potato potato potato

WISDOT webcam of Miller Park parking lots filled with Harleys earlier today. I was peaking at the webcams watching the streams of motorcycles on the freeways today. I can't describe what it feels like to be in a car with so many bikes around. They're kinda like gnats (but more fun.)

potato potato potato potato potato potato potato potato potato potato potato

Photo of Brady Street on the Lower East Side of Milwaukee during the 100th Anniversary celebration.

potato potato potato potato potato potato potato potato potato potato potato

Photo of the Washington County Fairgrounds last night. Bikes as far as the eye can see.

The 105th Harley Anniversary is proving to be just as popular and loud as the 1ooth. The new Harley-Davidson Museum opened last month and I had dinner there a week ago (it was good).

Photo of rain beading on the outdoor dining tables at the Harley-Davidson Museum. (Another cell phone photo - amazing clarity!)

My house is about 1 mile north of Miller Park and I can hear the bass and drums of the music at the party at Miller. I figure at about 2 am the city will hum again with the sounds of thousands - scratch that - tens of thousands of Harleys and other motorcycles heading to bed.

It is a little unnerving to drive when there are so many bikes on the road. I'll take my camera with me tomorrow. Maybe I'll get a good shot or two.

Today's quote comes from Barbara Hoffman: Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey!

And in case you haven't figured out the potato potato potato, it's the sound a Harley makes while idling. :)

Beloit College's Mindset List 2008

If you want to feel how much the world has changed in the past 18 years, take a look at the Beloit College Mindset List.

When I was a freshman in college:

• personal tvs (the analog kind without cable) were black and white and didn't have remotes
• M*A*S*H was a weekly show
• LaVerne and Shirley was a hit as was Three's Company (it was the 70s.)
• there were no 24 hour a day television stations
• the networks ran our tv watching schedule
• VCRs were not common
• microwaves and answering machines were new and too expensive
• hand-held calculators were new and cost $100
• computers were huge and you had to learn logic or some other program in order to run them
• personal stereos were humongous and usually included a turntable
• disco wasn't dead
• drinking age was 18
• internet was but a dream
• Macs and Windows were apples and windows
• term papers were typed, did White Out even exist? I can't remember.
• researching papers meant taking out books and looking up articles on micro film at the library
• Ma Bell ran the phone company
• long distance was expensive
• my city had two daily newspapers
• Iran held hostages
• Sting was what you got when a bee got you
• The Police were law enforcement
• Madonna was a religious figure
• pin ball was the game to play if you didn't have pong
• a gallon of leaded gas cost 63 cents
• Animal House and Halloween were in the theaters
• Terry Bradshaw was Pittsburgh's quarterback in the Superbowl
  
  Whoooooo Boyyyyyy! I don't remember wearing anything like this, but the guys did love their pastel colored leisure suits...
  
  
  
  

I think I've done enough time travel for now.

Today's quote comes from Leslie Poles Hartley: The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.

It Runs in the Family...

Photo of a little cemetery somewhere on the Mason Dixon Line in Maryland or Pennsylvania. Photo taken by me.

Wanted to share some great photography with you. My cousin lives in Duluth, MN and takes these awesome photos of the outdoors and nature. Hope you enjoy them.

Quote about photography from Minor White: Often while traveling with a camera we arrive just as the sun slips over the horizon of a moment, too late to expose film, only time enough to expose our hearts.

How true, how true. Some of my best photographs are the ones I missed and have in my memory.

Here's Another Challenge!

For those of you who may not have seen this, it is a contest from Interweave.

Angela posted it over at the BJP Blog today. Sounds like something I might be able to sink my teeth into.

Have a happy!

This quote comes from Francie Larrieu Smith: The most important thing about motivation is goal setting. You should always have a goal.

I'm Done! I'm Really Done!

This is my last piece for the 2007 BJP. I can't believe I'm finally done! The piece is called "Fireflies." I realize now that it looks very much like Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night, but that's okay!

Me, the last to finish projects, the lifelong procrastinator, the one with many Unfinished Objects, (UFOs) - I have completed a large commitment and a large piece spanning a year.

This project was at times, especially at the end, a struggle. I just wanted it to be over. I asked my sister if I could just do 11 pages and that would be enough. She said that I was so close that I had to finish it. So I came up with an idea, and finished the piece in under a week! My mojo's back!

Can you hear my happy dance?

This morning glory plant comes back in pots on my deck year after year! That's determination!

Today's quote comes from Anna Pavlova: To follow without halt, one aim; there is the secret of success. And success? What is it? I do not find it in the applause of the theater; it lies rather in the satisfaction of accomplishment.

08-08-08 An Auspicious Date!

Okay, so I missed posting on 8-8-8 (I love dates like this!)

Watched the Opening Ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics. Stunning! The clip below is from my favorite part - reminded me of a drumline (but better) and a Busby Berkeley movie all in one!


8-11-08 the video is no longer available :(

March's Page Done!

Pseuda Buddha

Only one more page left to go and then I can begin 2008's BJP!

I already started the last page, but of course I didn't have the just right beads, so I stopped by my LBS to pick some up. Wouldn't you know they were having a sale. So I walked out of there with a package full of half price seed beads and the nearly right beads I needed for my last page.

Today's quotation comes from Buddha: All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

August is Here!

Animated short by Laura Neuvonen. Wonderfully done!

Time to get out those knitting needles if you want to make something in time to wear it this fall!

Today's quote comes from Dorothy Day: Knitting is very conducive to thought. It is nice to knit a while, put down the needles, write a while, then take up the sock again.