Out Like a Lamb

Today's Friday photo from a random bouquet of spring flowers.  Though it doesn't contain a daffodil, I thought Wordsworth a nice accompaniment.

Spring Bouquet, 2010

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

- last stanza from "Daffodils" by Williams Wordsworth 

courtesy of Poemhunter.com 

Give Peace a Chance

As GBC K1m knows, I do like poetry.

Combine poetry, the UK, remote coastal locations and with the right leadership, you get Peace Camp.  Launched earlier this week, the series of installations to be revealed in July was inspired by the Olympic Truce under the direction of Deborah Warner.  Though I think the recordings are intended to be submitted by UK residents, those of us not bound by the Queen can participate in other (counted) ways.

Make a Wish

"There was a star danced, and under that was I born"

William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing

Many of my dear friends (GBC P@1ge) and favorite people were born under the sun of Mars.  In tribute, I raise my cup of tea and offer a few good wishes that your week is filled with:

• Good Friends
• Lots of Laughter
• A Long Walk 
• Cake (It's essential.)
• A good, warm cup of coffee
• Random shuffles with your favorite songs
• Sunny days
• A good book 
• Your favorite flowers
• A drive with the windows down 
• Time to read the newspaper
• Old Friends singing Happy Birthday
• Curry
• Reading Water
• Starry nights and a glimpse of a comet, and
• Many happy returns

Odd March

Between the early morning rise, a private screening of the Hunger Games, a road trip, a haircut, and a margarita the size of my counterpart's head, I was remiss in posting anything about books or reading.

Despite my failure to write, I did manage to spend quite a bit of time discussing The Hunger Games (book versus movie) and getting this recommendation for a non-fiction read, An Anatomy of Addiction by Howard Merkel.  [I'll admit that my first draft had the book title as Anatomy of Addition. I have a feeling that wouldn't make a best sellers list.]

Club Conniption

By GBC N@ncy's account, this month's meeting was a success:

May I also tell you how nice I thought the book club evening was....Food was fabulous...and the discussion was especially interesting..Most of all I treasure getting together with this particular group of old friends...Priceless.

Author's Note: To clarify, old = longstanding.  We are all rather young at heart.

With continued inspiration from GBC Carole King (not the singer), yesterday's word of the day featured writers who have all had their time in the GBC reading water discussion circles. Presenting "conniption" via Dictionary.com.

Source: Dictionary.com

Equal Rites

All things being equal, I'd like to wish you a happy equinox.

Hope your day is sunny, that you hear Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" and that your book club gathering will be delightful.  A reminder that this month's book (not that you have time to finish) is Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David.

Case of Sundaes

Sundays should be dedicated to parks and ice cream with an option on a burger.  They should start with coffee and newspapers whose title includes "Times."  I think in this way, I would get along just fine with Sundays and keep the Lucinda Williams' lyrics at bay.  

In a similar vein to "make it through Sunday," I bumped across this blog earlier in the week.  She's a "mum-jean" wearing woman who stops reading some novels because they are too sad.  Rightly so madam, and carry on. 

Head Shots

Sometimes I get ahead of myself....

Boboli Gardens, 2011

sometimes I get a head of another...

Today's Friday photo from Florence.

Pi in the Sky

Today's a day that I can admit I have a book about pi.  To some, I could even admit that I as I drove to spin class my nerd brain automatically calculated the speed of the biker I passed using my speed and the time it took to pass him.  I might also (if you prodded) admit I deduced a range of 20-23 mph.  (In class, he confirmed a speed of 21 mph.)  You might even remember that I once won a bet with a guy because I could rattle off the 15 significant digits of pi.    If you know me (and remember my pi poem), I don't have to tell you that I like math.

So as GBC K1m suggested this morning, let us all eat pie in celebration of circles round (and do random math problems in our heads).

You Give Me (Spring) Fever

I had a visit to Lowe's yesterday which made me wax a bit nostalgic over my first house.  Over the course of a few years, I changed every lock and hinge as well as a variety of other items like electrical outlet and light switch covers.  (It only takes installing a hinge backwards one time to make you check it twice.  Outlet covers?  I hope I don't need to remind you to check those twice.)

More than the changes on the inside, the backyard had a radical transformation over the course of the four years I was there.  The book that gave me the probability of whether that fern would die:  The Book of Outdoor Gardening published by Smith & Hawken.  I was surprised to find that a few copies of this book are still available and the paperback version is a cheap as a flat of pansies.

Do you have a favorite garden reference book?  Spring is nearly official so good luck planting something new.

Cites Unseen

A friend of mine is tutoring grammar to young minds.  When speaking of verbs that end in "-ing", she sent me to pun jail for the phrase, "He should have gone to gerund."  Oh well, it was probably too obscure for the average middle-school student who is far removed from the diamond engagement.

A few of us are grammar nerds and I was surprised to learn via GBC K1m, that both MLA and APA have a proper format of citation when used as a reference.  [At this moment, my sister is twinging as she already has distaste for the use of Wiki in formal writing.]  While I don't know that this was the exact tweet link, it serves as a pretty neat example of how far we've come for the average English paper.

For further reference, you may want to consider adding A Grammar Book for You and I (Oops, Me) by C. Edward Good to your shelves.  Good is a writer in residence for a group of attorneys (which reminded me of a GBC member or two).

Enjoy the sunshine, and don't forget to punctuate properly. 

'cause I'm a Woman...

Happy International (and domestic) Women's Day and special nods to the GBC women who have been tremendous friends and supporters.  As entrepreneurs, engineers, attorneys, actors, philanthropists, volunteers, and business leaders, you inspire the next group of girls who are framing their "what I want to be is..."

[Insert segue that I haven't manage to yet create due to minimal caffeine intake.]

With the thought that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it, I wanted to share this list from The Guardian of Lloyd Shepherd's top 10 weird histories.  Let me just set the expectation that this list does include zombies, math puzzles, Stephen King, deep waters and boarding schools.  Oh my, indeed.

To the Next Life

For several of us in the GBC it was a sad weekend of news.  When pondering the hard questions and questioning the Universe, I sometimes find answers in poetry.  These last few days, I turned to music instead.  (I also paid my first Rocket City library fine which I hope evens up something in the small scale of karmic day-to-day activity.)

My go-to song this week has been "People Like You" by The Bad Plus.  This melody never fails to move me.  For those of you not as familiar with the band, you can get a preview of the song from NPR at the 28:00 minute mark of "Live at the Village Vanguard"

Sunday Notes

For those of you who were wondering what would happen to all the books, this link in the NYT gives a little hope to anyone who likes preserving the past (albeit in gigantic storage units).

For those of you who just want to know Why Does E=mc2, Brian Cox tries to shed a little light.

It's all relative.

I Left my Heart in ...

"Only one is a wanderer; two together are always going somewhere."  - Madeleine from Vertigo 

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

February 2012

Today's photo brought to you from my "Snapshots of Bridges through Car Windshields, Sometimes While Driving" series.  Sometimes, you see the most extraordinary things when you're coming out of a tunnel.