Miscellany of a Cheshire Cat

More moon photos! I cropped the first one and played a bit with the color for fun. The second is cropped to show off the various other objects visible around the moon during the eclipse. I love how the light changed as the eclipse progressed and regressed. Just amazing really. I’m also still incredibly happy that I was inspired to find my tripod… (I blame Mike.) More cool night photos may happen now.

The green reflection in some of the photos? It was caused by my UV filter. It didn’t occur to me to take it off. Apparently this is a common side-effect of leaving on the UV filter when taking photographs of points of light. The earlier photos didn’t have as intense a light source as the last bunch I took of the moon emerging out of the eclipse. I admit it, I’m lame and use my UV filter primarily as a protective shield for my lens.

Oh, Very Happy Friday to all of you! Buon Weekend! Hurray! I think I may have lost Thursday this week but I’m not sure. Hopefully it won’t reappear in the future to make another week longer… that is unless it picks a week I’m on vacation.

I did survive the week though and for that I thank my lucky stars. And my unlucky ones too because they weren’t too horrible this week. I did make the big french press of coffee this morning instead of the little single-serve press but I think it was a good decision. I *know* that it was good coffee. I felt vaguely on top of things when I shut down the work laptop this evening. Monster Cat was later rather than earlier (in the day that is) most of the week but I have some ideas that I want to play with this weekend so that next week’s Monster Cat episodes are posted first thing in the morning instead of at lunch.

Most importantly, at least to me, is that it snowed today. We got about 2 inches of accumulation then a bunch of misty wet in the afternoon. We might get a little more snow overnight and tomorrow but the radar isn’t promising. Still, it was fun to shovel the walks this afternoon and the world is a better place when it’s covered with snow.

More than anything I want more free time… specifically free time when I’m not already mentally spent and exhausted. Seriously.

tags: lunar eclipse, moon, photographs, photography

I might be perhaps a little crazy… but here’s a link to a set of lunar eclipse photos I took. I was excited to get to see the eclipse at all given that it was snowing (hurray) earlier this afternoon! I went outside 3 different times - I found my tripod for the 2nd and 3rd. So, my tripod is aluminum or stainless steel or something equally shiny and silver. It’s sturdy, not terribly light but not too heavy and is “on loan” from my dad. (Hi Dad, um… yeah, I still have your tripod.) It also gets cold very quickly. Very very quickly. And it stays cold. Plus it’s 25° out there tonight. The first time I went out, I didn’t wear mittens or gloves - after that I took my fingerless gloves
(thanks so much again, Violet! They continue to be perfect!) and wore a more wind-resistant coat. Yes, it’s windy tonight too!

Mike’s night photos (specifically his mooning) inspired me to actually find my tripod and use it for a change as opposed to just thinking about it. His eclipse photos are also full of awesome.

The third time out I realized that my tripod-fu is indeed lacking. The moon was almost directly overhead. I wanted to be able to look through my viewfinder and my back was not exactly thrilled with the contortions I’d already done. So… I ended up kneeling on the sidewalk to look up through my viewfinder.

Did I mention that it had snowed earlier today? Snow rocks. I love snow!

Yeah.

A dusting isn’t much unless you’re kneeling on a frozen sidewalk. Luckily, I didn’t mind. My knees were a little less happy though.

Ultimately though, I’m not the brightest girl on the planet tonight.

But I have awesome photos!

Finally… what is up with this green shadow/reflection? I think it has something to do with the length of the lens? I used a 300mm zoom with a UV filter to take these shots. (Juli’s Google-fu points at the UV filter as the culprit.) Of course, it only happened the 3rd time I went out so it could have been some of my electronics telling me it was too cold and could I please stop taking them in and out of the house. (Note: the tripod didn’t care. Nor did it warm up much in the house between shoots.) I’m too tired right now to go research it so if anyone knows, please share!

So, in short, I had a lovely evening. It was cold, clear, brisk and fun. And it was the last chance to play with a full lunar eclipse until December, 2010!

tags: , cold, lunar eclipse, moon, photographs, photography, snow, weather

This older photo of Tenny really sums up what I feel like at the end of the week lately.

My week was long and rather bothersome at times as you might have guessed from my lack of posts or commentary on Monster Cat. The trip to New London was productive but kind of intense. One of the teams I work with clued in to some important stuff and wanted to absorb it all at once… always fun. Wednesday, I got to clean snow off my rental car! Okay, it was kind of icy and more like accumulated freezing rain, but I think of it fondly as snow. That same day, I attempted to fly home on a mid-afternoon flight and ended up hanging out in the airport until that night. Why? Because Philadelphia still can’t handle landing planes in the rain. We had our plane at the gate in Providence but Philly kept us on a ground hold until 8 pm. I did eventually get home, and only 5 hours later than expected, so I guess that’s not horrible just bothersome. I think I was in bed less than 45 minutes after I got home. Happy, warm, snuggly blankets improved my day immensely.

Thursday was, of course, V-day. I am so lucky I planned ahead this year on the whole gift thing because I’ve had so little sane time the past couple weeks. I had a call run past 5 pm which made us late for our dinner reservation but luckily it didn’t matter. Dinner was fabulous. The rub on my steak included coffee beans - a subtle addition yet delicious. I foolishly ordered hazelnut chocolate cake for dessert. I say foolishly because the slice that came out was bigger than my head. We took home 3 meals worth of left-overs and I am stretching the cake 4 meals or so.

Friday was another day of crazy work. I feel like I’m going to need Monday to catch up on stuff I was too frantic to address yesterday.

Today is much more relaxed. I woke up earlier than I wanted to and gave up on going back to sleep. I cleaned my desk before lunchtime though I’m still contemplating how I can rearrange things better. I’ve got some throws in the washer - I bought them to turn into curtains… if I can get them to smell like something other than diesel that is. The dishwasher is running, a round of trash has gone out, and I’m getting a handle on the paper recycling in my office. I like visible progress. And I like being able to slow down and take the time to breathe.

tags: airports, busy, home, rain, snow, travel, weather, work

Happy Friday! The fact that this is a long weekend finally sank in while I was planning my work for next week. Hurray for long weekends! Eek for short weeks when I need to get stuff done! I have 2 major objectives for next week - both of which are critical, at least to me - so hopefully nothing else will blow up and steal my time.

I took this photo this morning while I was making coffee. The rain took away all my snow (well almost all my snow) but at least the residual water was pretty on my rose bush. (Special thanks to slyppi for her assistance with choosing the favorite of the bunch!)

I’m making excellent progress in NOT getting sick. I slept a lot last night. There’s something delightful about going to bed early only to wake up, look at the clock and think, “I’m usually falling asleep about now but tonight I’ve already sneaked in a REM cycle!” I’m actually feeling better as the day goes on, which is better than yesterday went so I’ll take it. Happily my network is feeling better today too - last night I was getting huge lag spikes. I suspect in the MASS CHAOS caused by less than an inch of SNOW FALLING FROM THE SKY (aka omgwtfbbq on wheels!), someone hit a utility pole somewhere and my network connection ended up routed through Nebraska.

tags: health, photographs, photography, rain, snow, water, weather, work

I am not getting sick. I may feel icky and super tired, but I shall beat off this ick with tea and soup and popcorn!

There are itty bitty snowflakes falling from the sky… sparsely… but promisingly.

And while I was distracted by work, it started to snow lightly with more of those itty bitty snowflakes. I may have to reevaluate where I go grocery shopping this evening.

I really have very little for a personal update. Work has been very busy but not quite overwhelming. I’ve been continuing to eat my vegetables (which makes me more annoyed that I’m feeling icky). And I’ve been concocting lots of plans for projects when I have more time and energy. In the meantime, I’ll keep Monster Cat going for the amusement of all.

Oh, and I got a bird feeder for Christmas which has been very popular with the squirrel trio. Yesterday I finally saw some birds hanging out around the feeder.

tags: birds, health, random, snow, weather, work

7 states yesterday… 8 states total for the road trip… almost 1200 miles total, over 400 yesterday… 2 hours lost to traffic and another half or so lost to rain yesterday… But after a 10 1/2 hour drive yesterday, I made it home last night, safe and sound though tired, cranky and not quite sane.

I listened to almost 10 hours of Car Talk (hurray!), chatted with a few people along the way, had very bad Sbarro’s pizza as a break after the aforementioned 2 hours in traffic, and in general had an awesome drive.

I love driving.
I love my car. (I got new rubber floor mats for Christmas!!!)
I had a great time during my road trip.
I saw SNOW for many days straight!

(To be honest, I could have done without the rain and the traffic though…)

tags: car, driving, holidays, road trips, snow, traffic, travel

I’m in Maine. There is snow! HURRAY!

Tis the season of food and road-tripping. The driving has been fairly uneventful so far… except that I might be a little hoarse from singing in the car. I am worried that I’ve used up my traffic karma and that the drive home might take well over 10 hours as a result. Cross your fingers for me on Wednesday.

Thursday evening I dined with the fabulous lisaf at a wonderful Indian restaurant in Nyack, NY. Friday evening I ate my vegetables in Hartford, VT with the awesome slyppi. I then went to a warm and happy bonfire at the Alden’s over in Plainfield, NH and crashed back at Juli’s place. Saturday morning came too early but we bounded back out to the Alden’s for Solstice morning stockings and breakfast yumminess. We met up for coffee and wandering in Hanover, NH with another friend for a couple hours then returned to Juli’s new condo for massive box extermination! That’s right, we attacked boxes with vicious enthusiasm (hyperbole makes you funnier) and accomplished a great deal around snacking and giggling. (I am in love with American Flatbread, Co. pizza now.) Sunday we hit Panera for coffee and goodies (and the Birkenstock store for happy feet!), then I headed over to Maine to see the family people. Awesome meatballs last night for dinner, xmas cookies for breakfast and a Maine Italian sandwich for lunch today. There’s a roast beef in the oven that smells delicious. It’s a good holiday.

So I am safely in Maine, there is snow, there is wireless broadband at my parents’ house for the first time ever, and I’m sipping Malibu and Diet Coke.

Have a wonderful Christmas, federal holiday day of silliness, and/or random day just like the others!

Remember… Christmas isn’t Christmas without disembodied Santa heads.

tags: food, holidays, maine, new hampshire, new york, road trip, shopping, travel, vermont

First, a nostalgic snapshot of the Hanover Green from Dartmouth’s Baker Tower web cam. Ah, the beautiful lights, the holiday cheer… oh look, the Hanover Inn and the Hopkins Center beyond the green… Look at the picturesque snow … with a phrase epitomizing the Dartmouth spirit loving stomped into the virgin snow. Makes me all homesick for college again. (Thank you slyppi for the link!!)

This morning around 6:30 there was a spectacular noise. I was half asleep but I’m pretty sure it was a crash of some sort. M comes downstairs from the 3rd floor and I call out, “Is everything okay?” To which he responds, “I think the noise came from down here somewhere.” This means I have to get out of bed and find the source of the crash. Which I can’t pinpoint because I was half asleep when it happened. I checked the obvious places first - the bathrooms. Nope, nothing crashed there. M turned on the lights and identified the source: the 3′ tall, leaning tree I’d put on the windowsill in the stairway had leaned itself onto the landing spewing soil everywhere. And has broken its pot.

Now, it has not escaped my observation that it is indeed December. Nor did I miss that most people are not doing any gardening, indoor or outdoor, at this particular time of year. I went back to bed for a little bit dreading what lay ahead for the day: The Quest for the Big Plant Pot.

I did get lucky after a fasion. My first stop was the little hardware store near the house. The nice little old man only laughed at me because I was already laughing when I asked for a big plant pot. Of course, he also laughed at the Fop, I think, when he went to get a radiator key, so maybe this is just one exceedingly happy hardware store dude. Or maybe we’re just naturally hilarious. Must be something in the water.

He did send me over towards Kmart and one of the nurseries near there in hopes I’d find something. Kmart was almost a bust (I had a bucket in my hand to use as a makeshift pot) until I asked one of the employees. She sent me out to the “Patio” section. When I went through the double doors to the “Garden Shoppe”, I could have sworn I was walking into a storage area and quite definitely somewhere I should not actually be. But, hey, some nice lady sent me here so I’ll poke around. Essentially the shelves were still vaguely stocked with garden stuff but there were pallets of other stuff stacked in front of them.

Slinking around hand trucks, broken carts and boxes, I found the pots I wanted to buy - the only ones visible that were big enough… behind 2 rows of boxes on pallets. (Pots plural because I wanted a spare just in case…) Not to be thwarted by mere boxes I looked around for a tool to grab the pots. Did you know they make vicious looking hoe-things with a blade on one side and two very sharp prongs on the other side? You did? Well awesome! Did you further know that this is the perfect tool to wrangle large, plastic plant pots from a high shelf behind two pallets of random stuff? I didn’t think you did. ;)

It’s a vicious, vicious tool - really part mattock, part hoe and part pitchfork. All edges were sharp and fierce! Genius. I want one for when the zombies come. (In hindsight, perhaps given my clumsiness I should have chosen a different tool, but no one was harmed in the fetching of my new plant pots!)

At some point this afternoon I actually re-potted the leaning Norfolk pine into its new pot. It seems very happy as I straightened it up quite a bit in the process. I’ve placed it on the porch in a position where hopefully the sun will entice the top bits to straighten up as well. Ideally, there will be no more plummeting trees this winter, but if one does decide to take a flying leap, I have an extra pot.

… Of course, now I’m out of potting soil …

tags: dartmouth, gravity, indoor gardening, kmart, plant pots, random, shopping, silly, trees, winter

That’s right - this week online retailers will be doing just about anything to get our business. I’ve received no fewer than 6 offers to upgrade to 3-day-type shipping for the cost of standard shipping just this morning. Happily, I successfully planned ahead this year and ordered everything I wanted from online places well in advance. Hurray! I still need to spend this evening at the Mall of Doom, but at least I won’t be waiting for packages and hoping they arrive before I have to leave for New England.

Oh wait, I WILL be fretting over packages arriving this week. Why? Because the FedEx delivery in my area at this time of year is completely inept. Saturday, a nice man drove over 2 packages for us that had been mistakenly delivered to his house. This morning, I tracked another package I am expecting only to discover that FedEx thinks it was left at my front door. Wrong. I called the company I ordered from and they quickly marked it as lost and will re-ship it overnight so I should have everything Wednesday. This is not the first year this has happened either and it’s always FedEx. UPS has never been a problem, even though some days they deliver twice (which seems inefficient but I get all my UPS packages on time and at my house so who am I to judge?).

Three batches of little cakes left to do.
Four batches of fudge last week.
Five batches of cookies yesterday.
Six batches of caramel corn Saturday.

No, I am not going to continue to try to make my holiday cooking into a sugar-laden version of the 12 Days of Christmas. Perhaps another year. ;)
But I’ve used seven pounds of butter and about ten pounds of sugar, so I *could* keep going with the 12 Days if I really wanted too.

The Fop took the train down to DC last night to spend a couple days in the actual office. He’ll be back Tuesday night. I’m a little pouty since I’m leaving Thursday afternoon for Christmas so I won’t get to see much of him this week. Of course, it also means I have the bed and the house pretty much to myself. [insert evil grin here] Okay, this just means I get to crank NPR in the morning (oooh, I’m so hardcore) and have popcorn for dinner. But this makes me happy enough that I can stop pouting.

I need to clean out my wonderful car for my holiday road trip too… I’ve been assured that there still will be snow up there when I get there! Still none here, but we’ve got serious wind.

tags: baking, cooking, fedex, holiday prep, online retailers, road trip, screw-ups, shipping

There’s nothing like a busy week to make Friday arrive startlingly quickly. Between work craziness and cooking experiments, I’m both surprised and relieved that it’s Friday already! By the way, you can use white chocolate bits instead of semi-sweet in Never Fail Fudge with no problems. butterscotch bits don’t melt as nicely though. And don’t use old chocolate chips - they muck up the whole “never fail” part of the recipe.

Unfortunately, I do not have any snow. While there is snow in the forecast this weekend, it is bookended by rain. This positively sucks. However, at least I am assured of some snow next week when I head up north. If nothing else, my dad will put a snowball in the freezer for me if it looks like the snow is going to melt away. I page through my pictures of snow from years ago and get rather homesick. I don’t think I’ve taken any photos this month. It’s been pretty busy, I guess, but it still seems strange.

The primary elections continue to scare and amuse me. Fred Thompson appears to have woken up finally in Wednesday’s debate in Iowa. He’s really quite witty, but maybe he prepped his lines first. Huckabee and Ron Paul are still nutty. But I’m tired of lawyers, which doesn’t leave me a lot of options with either party. I hate the concept of “elect-ability” in our modern, marketing-driven democracy. I also have become wise or cynical enough that I can see the lies inherent in the system. I need to figure out if I need to pick/register for a party in advance in PA to vote in the primaries. Currently I’m registered as an independent - not only does it leave me blissfully unaffiliated, it means I get less junk mail.

In other news, I’m a sucker for the year-end lists in review. NPR had a book list from independent booksellers on Morning Edition. So many lovely books on the list! Which of course, leads me to remind myself that purchasing books does not mean I am purchasing the time to read them. Ah, the folly!

tags: books, cooking, never fail fudge, politics, primaries, rain, snow, weather, work,