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September 2009

Ladies at the Beach Weekend

September 30, 2009 - 3:06pm

A couple weekends ago, I went to the beach with my friend, Karen, and her friends, Trinity, and Abagail. It turns out we all got along perfectly and we all had a ton of fun. We were in California just a little north of San Diego. Friday night we camped on some cliffs above the beach. Saturday and Sunday nights we stayed in a condo in Solana Beach. The weather was great (isn't it always great in Southern California) and the pace was extremely relaxed.

For me, the best part of the weekend was all the laughter. All these women were extremely well-humored and we just had a really fun time together. We hung out on the beach, cooked our own food, walked around Solana Beach, read (I read The Year of Yes by Maria Dahvana Headley), and played cards.

At Solana Beach

Cliffs at Solana Beach

View all the pictures from Solana Beach.

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Welcome Home, J

September 25, 2009 - 12:39pm

Welcome Home, J!

My brother in law just came back yesterday from 6 months in Afghanistan. We're all so happy he's back from war safely. I know Karen is absolutely ecstatic to have him home again. Madeline, my niece, was just a baby when he left. Now she's walking and talking! So glad he's got some time off to spend with his family before he has to go back to work.

I hope this war is over soon so that soldiers in the armed services don't have to leave their families anymore.

J, thank you for serving the country and personally sacrificing for our safety.

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Media Literacy

September 23, 2009 - 9:10pm

I'm a strong believer that we should teach media literacy in schools. Media literacy is analyzing & evaluating the messages from many avenues of media. The goal is to make sure you know who is giving the message and why. Many of us (me) grew up thinking journalists & news are unbiased. The truth is our media is completely biased. We need to teach our children how to know about those biases in order to consume media better.

If I were teaching a media literacy class, this is definitely one of the videos I would show. The video called The World According to Fox News shows what CNN, MSNBC, & Fox were all broadcasting during the President's speech on health care.

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Creative Advice from Teller

A great letter from a talented man. I especially liked: "...people who respected and admired each other. Crucial, absolutely crucial for a partnership."

Drawing Day 2

September 22, 2009 - 4:02am

The drawing I completed in tonight's class. Better than last week, but still not where I'd like to be. Enjoying the process. It's amazing how quickly 2 hours flies by when I'm really concentrating on something.

Drawing Day 2

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Drawing Day 1

September 17, 2009 - 3:52pm

My drawing class started this week. Everyone in the class was very nice and introductions were done before the instructor even started. The room is way too small for the ten or eleven of us. The instructor didn't wow me during the first class, but he's got time to improve. Our drawings were focusing on value - light and dark. We drew with vine charcoal which in my opinion is not nearly as useful as compressed charcoal. Hopefully next week we'll switch.

I thoroughly enjoyed the time to focus on something different. In the first hour of the class, I was working hard. In the second hour of the class, I settled into more of a flow. That second hour sped by. I'm not entirely impressed with myself but I'll get better. It's definitely something that takes time. I'm already looking forward to next week!

Drawing Day 1

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Did Texas Execute an Innocent Man?

September 16, 2009 - 4:50pm

Being from Texas, I'm especially interested in the answer to this question. The article in The New Yorker called Trial by Fire makes me believe that Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for a crime he did not commit.

This case is making me rethink how I feel about the death penalty. I used to believe that if the crime was heinous enough, the death penalty was warranted. I've never believed that the justice system in this country was fair (the poor have a horrible, horrible disadvantage in our system), but somehow I thought it was different for death penalty cases. I thought the courts were more careful. I believed that the appeals system worked. It didn't work for Willingham and he was executed.

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Madeline Turns One Year Old!

September 16, 2009 - 12:45am

Happy 1st Birthday to my niece, Madeline!

It's hard to believe it's already been a year since Madeline joined us. (It was interesting to go back to Karen's blog and read her birth story again.) Karen and Jason have a beautiful daughter who is growing up so fast! I know Jason is so ready to get home from Afghanistan and see his daughter. Only a couple more weeks before they're *finally* back together.

While I certainly wish I could have been there for Madeline's birthday party on Sunday, but I feel lucky that I got to spend so much time with them in July. Karen posted pictures from the party, which were fun. I especially loved that Madeline likes the lunch sack I sent for her birthday. Thanks to her mom for picking out such a cute gift!

Madeline & Karen - 1st Birthday

Madeline's 1st Birthday

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Downtown Phoenix Map

Handy interactive map for downtown!

Weekend Update

September 15, 2009 - 6:50pm

Chris' work schedule changed so he's going to have every other weekend off. This past weekend, he didn't work at all. It was so great to have him at home the entire weekend.

Friday night we went to artist Elly Gale's opening reception at Practical Art in Phoenix. The paintings are beautiful and Elly is a warm, bubbly person. There were lots of people there who obviously think the world of her.

At the reception, I ran into Joseph Perez, who I met at Bike to Work Day 2009. Turns out Joseph's wife is good friends with Chris' boss, so she and Chris had met before. However it was the first time for Chris to meet Joseph and my first time to meet his wife. It's always fun to have social circles come together. I learned that Joseph recently opened the Bike Cellar in Tempe, Arizona. The Bike Cellar is a bicycle commuter facility, providing secure bike parking, bike shop, and the added convenience of restrooms, shower, lockers and dressing areas.

Ryan and Kim joined us at Practical Art so we all had dinner afterwards. We walked a couple blocks up Central to Aiello's. It's an Italian restaurant that I've been meaning to try for quite some time. I was extremely impressed by the food and staff! We walked in the door at 9pm and I fully expected service to be lacking at that hour. Instead, we had the best waitress - she was so helpful and fun! The food did not disappoint either. I ate the sea bass which was lovely, but I fell in love with Ryan's raviolis - caramelized onions, prosciutto, and ricotta cheese with a vodka cream sauce. It was a great experience and so fun to hang out with Ryan and Kim.

On Saturday, it was a fairly lazy day around the house. Chris and I are talking about backyard landscaping so we spent a lot of time with library books. In the afternoon I helped my friend, Steve, with some web stuff. As an added benefit, Steve and his wife gave some great recommendations for landscaping ideas then sent me off with fresh basil and limes from their garden.

Saturday night we had dinner at Alex and Michelle's house. Really enjoyed spending time with Michelle & Alex's son, Axel, who is 11 months old. He was all smiles and sweetness. He even reached out to ask me to hold him. The weather was gorgeous so we sat outside. Alex showed us his garden and cooked veggies from it! This confirms that the backyard changes will definitely include a small garden. I'm thinking some herbs, onions, and peppers should be plenty to start with.

Sunday morning we worked on cleaning up the yard. Wayne dropped by for a quick visit and to see the bike Chris is building for him. Much of the afternoon was relaxing. In the evening Chris went on a bike ride with David. We met up later for Roller Wars at Boulders. All in all, a great weekend.

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