Growing up, my favorite cartoon character was the Pink Panther - a somewhat unpopular choice even back then. I think it's kind of cool that the boys love it too.
07/29/11 - Paul
Growing up, my favorite cartoon character was the Pink Panther - a somewhat unpopular choice even back then. I think it's kind of cool that the boys love it too.
07/28/11 - Paul
I saw this Pinzgauer High Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle (Model 710K 4x4) w/ Swiss Army markings in the parking lot of Office Depot and just had to take a picture. It turned out that it had to be PAD since I took no others that day.
07/30/11 - Amy
"Port-a-potties on the move"
Well, it's Saturday night, and that means all of the locals will be out on the town. It also means, I guess, that people will be tempted to urinate in public. In order to try to prevent the city from smelling like a giant urinal, they install these port-a-potties throughout the city to provide an alternative. (to the restrooms? I don't know, I've never been tempted to use the street when there are plenty that are readily available)
I've been having a really bad day, one of those "it sucks to be a foreigner" days, and this picture, although blurry and not very well composed, perfectly fits with my mood today. Even though I have a PhD, am an assistant professor at a good university, pay my taxes - and my debts, am an upstanding citizen, etc, etc, blah blah, I still get treated like a second-class citizen here - because I am not a citizen. I know that it was my choice to come live here, and for the most part I do love it. It just frustrates me when simple things that are easy for UK citizens in my same position (or would be easy and straightforward for me if I were living in the states) are ten times more difficult, if not impossible, for me here. And yet, I have never been tempted to pee in the streets. I just don't see how I am the problem in this equation...
Rant over! Thanks for indulging me if you read this far!
07/23/11 - Paul
I tied my all-time best score for ten-pin bowling. Which reminds me, Lori - what else do I miss about Connecticut that I can't get here? Duckpin bowling, that's what! Out here it's not just the lack of duckpin and having to bowl ten-pin that drives me crazy but it's the fact that all the lanes turn the lights off and it's all glow-in-the-dark "cosmic" bowling. Ugh. So it's parents, Friendly's, Dunkin' Donuts, real pizza, and duckpin bowling that we can add to the list.
07/27/11 - Amy
"Warmer"63F today. Not "hot," but definitely an improvement. Unfortunately, I was inside working all day...at least I got to open the window!
07/26/11 - Amy
"Back to the Books"After a lovely two-week rest, I started writing again today. Working on an article about the artist named in the book there, and his influence on Russian artists. It felt good to be working again.
07/25/11 - Amy
"Forlorn"I got this lovely summer dress at the summer sales. The temperatures have been in the low 50s lately, with no end in sight. It doesn't look likely that I'll get to wear this anytime soon...at least not in this country!
07/24/11 - Amy
"What is it?"An egg, or a pancake? Just some Sunday morning pancake breakfast silliness. Also, if you look closely, you can see that the pancake/egg yolk is smiling...
07/19/11 - Amy
"Roses"It's 1PM, and I already know what my PAD is for today. Easy choice. These arrived just an hour ago. The reason? No reason :)
Aside from the flowers I would get for performances when I used to play piano in high school, no one has ever given (or sent) me roses. When the doorbell rang and the guy said that there was a package for me, I kept the safety chain on the door, because I wasn't expecting a package at all! I got tears in my eyes when I opened the door and saw these. Yeah, it's a good day.
07/18/11 - Amy
"Pinned"Just before we left Orkney, we had a walk through the town of Stromness. We walked into a store that had a lot of lovely little things. I kept picking them up and saying "oh, that's so cute!" and Matt kept asking me "do you like that?" which I thought was weird, because he never does that...well, we've never really gone shopping together...anyway, long story short is that I didn't get anything from the shop, but on the way back down the street he asked me if I was sure I didn't want anything from there, and then told me to pick something out and he would buy it for me. I chose this pin, and let my man pin me! ;-)
07/17/11 - Amy
"A Light at the End of the Tunnel"After Orkney, we spend an absolutely wonderful lazy day doing nothing at all. I took this while Matt was checking his email, through a peep-hole created by the books on my desk.
07/16/11 - Amy
"Viking"I told you I was dating a Viking! ;-) And oh, how I love this man. When I took this picture I kept thinking about how Lori said that Matt seemed really patient with my photography stuff. This picture proves that he is also good about indulging my silly side. I had been wanting to buy him one of these Viking hats forever, and I finally found one on Orkney. I wanted to get a picture of him wearing it on Orkney, but I knew he wouldn't want to do it in a public place. So, just as we were leaving this tea room for the ferry, there was no one around, and I asked him if he would indulge me, and of course he did! Honestly, I think he kind of enjoyed it, too. Look for some other cute pics with this hat on facebook.
By the way, the whole helmet-with-horns thing is a total fiction. It was popularised by Wagner in the 19th century, but has nothing to do with Vikings at all...except in popular culture, which is why you can nevertheless buy them at any Viking-related site in the UK!
07/15/11 - Amy
"Orkney"So, for Matt's birthday I cooked up a little surprise. As his nickname may indicate, he studies Vikings. There are some remnants of Viking culture in the UK, although not many. We had already been to York, where there was one big settlement. Another haven for them within easy reach is in the Orkney Islands, which are surprisingly not too far from Aberdeen - just a five hour drive to the ferry, and a 90 minute sailing across. For some reason or other, I wanted the trip to be a surprise, so I told him that what I was planning would last for two days and require a change of clothes and a toothbrush. Although he guessed I had some trip planned, he had no idea where we were going. And it remained that way until we entered the port! It was a fun 5-hour drive, because all along the way I kept teasing him by reading the road signs and suggesting that the local farm museum/random small village/quarry in the distance was our destination.
Our trip to Orkney was fortuitous, as it happened to coincide with the tall ship races between Orkney and Shetland, which meant that there were these lovely boats in the ports of Stromness and Kirkwall to look at, and that the whole island was all abuzz with excitement!
07/13/11 - Amy
"Best Goalie in the League"
I got this for Matt at the NHL store when I was in New York in February. I got it for him for Valentine's Day, when we had just started going out. Recently, he moved, and in the move this little guy ended up on his nightstand at my place. It makes me think of him even when he isn't here.
As it's a Bruin's goalie, this means it is Tim Thomas, who, according to Matt (among others), is the best goalie in the league :)
PS I forgot to PAD on the 12th. Actually, I was on vacation, so, it's allowed, right? Sorry!
07/15/11 - Lori
Mr. Tree
I am in love with this Tree, located on the edge of the parking lot at work. It was love at first sight. There was a dang minivan parked in front of it, so I took some shots from my car window. It's my mission to park in front of this tree as often as I can. There will be more PADs to follow of my new friend.
07/11/11 - Lori
My PAD today was either this, taken in the Women's Room, or a shot of the front of my building. I chose this one because it is more personal. This represents Jim (sapphire necklace he bought for my birthday in 2008 so I'd have something nice to wear to my mother's funeral later that week), my friends (hand-me-down sweater from Carmen), and my spirituality (Dragonfly pin - long story there). My chest is just a bonus to it all ;)
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