Next Day of Grace

Okay, I'm not very good at this regular posting thing but I think everyone has to agree (all two .... one? of you) that I've improved immensely over this time last year. Today, I'm happy that I know so many interesting and funny people. Have I told you how happy I am that you are all here?

Plant with seeds

Plant with seeds
Originally uploaded by MarjoryM

This plant wtih floating seeds is found at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton. I'm not sure what kind of plant it is. Ideas?

Bad Weekend for Productivity

This weekend I was attacked from within. Yes. It's true. My sinuses attacked. This caused me to slink away to the spare room and watch TV all weekend - including all night instead of sleeping. While I was lying there attempting to nod off, I saw one of my all time favorite movies: Any Given Sunday - with Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Ann Margaret, Dennis Quaid and Al Pacino. We're getting into the heart of the football season now and miracle of miracles, the Miami Dolphins are first in their division! Dave and I already signed up to go to the playoff game so we're really hoping there will be one.

Any Given Sunday is set in Miami and features the imaginary football team - the Miami Sharks. Unfortunately, the Miami Sharks don't get to go to the playoffs - let's hope that wasn't some kind of harbinger of the future.

Empire of the Sun is another movie that was so great but you hardly ever hear anybody talk about it. Christian Bales was fantastic in that movie - the scene where he sings the Welsh lullaby on the roof as the Japanese planes are flying over is amazing.

Anyway, this morning I went out and got some heavy-duty sinus medicine and I seem to be back on track so tonight, I'm going to try something new - sleeping. To anyone who might read this - Good night and see you in the movies.

Not Exactly Graceful

Majel Roddenberry died. Now, I feel a little old and kind of sad. I loved Star Trek. I loved it right from the beginning. In fact, I adored my dad but this was possibly the first thing we really and truly disagreed on. He hated Star Trek. I loved it. I loved Captain Kirk, I loved Ohura, I loved Mr. Spock and I loved Nurse Chapel. I'm happy that I could enjoy those great little weekly morality plays and I'm sorry that Nurse Chapel is gone.

Finally - an exercise I can do in my sleep

There is a God! I can exercise in my sleep. My husband will have to stop complaining about my snoring now. Today, I'm thankful for that.

Days and Days and Days of Grace

1. I'm thankful for old friends who still like you even after they've gotten to know you pretty well.
2. Working on a project that totally engrosses me and comes out alright in the end makes me very very happy.
3. Making new friends and watching them become old friends is even better.

(Schmutzie is right. This is nice)

Sunrise at the Beach in Boca Raton

Sunrise at the Beach in Boca Raton
Originally uploaded by MarjoryM

I took this photo one morning while I was on a walk. It is a silhouette of the trees against the rising sun with the waves rolling in on the beach. It's taken from the road across from Spanish River Park. I like it. Morning seems to be the best light for pictures in the park.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Going to the Library

Maybe my favorite thing to do that's just for me is to go to the library and find a new author to read. When I was younger, I seemed to have more time and would go and spend hours hanging around reading magazines, looking through the card catalog and just browsing through the stacks. Today, I meant to go to the library at lunch but then I forgot. I left work late - around 6:30 and I was thinking of going straight home but then ... hey, why not? I took a little bit of time for myself and went to the library. They don't have card catalogues anymore and I did really a very small amount of browsing but I'm still thankful for the library. Thanks to all you hard-working librarians who stay late so people like me can still go to the library at 6:30 at night. Yes - that's you oh faithful Boca Raton Public Library workers. Thanks for completing my day.

New Words

Today I'm thankful for new words like gemmelfleishpartei.

365 Days of Grace in Small Things

I've decided to take up Schmutzie's challenge to find the positive and launch my own 365 days of grace in small things. I'm not as ambitious as Schmutzie is so I'm only going to try to find one positive thing to be thankful for.

Today, I'm thankful for my wonderful husband who spent the whole evening worrying if the Christmas tree was standing up straight. It was aggravating and it was wonderful. I spent most of the last ten years worrying excessively about small things and now that I feel like I'm coming out of the tunnel of darkness, I think I can once again enjoy them.


Update: Okay, maybe it's a little tilted from some angles - just the way I like it.

Why Won't the World Stop Spinning Around?

Everything changes - constantly. Just when you get around to being happy, something comes along to upset the apple cart. Lately it seems like something's out to get all of us - not just a few of us at a time. It's a plot. The earth is unhappy. It wants everyone to return to their place (I read a book with that plot once - I wish I could remember what it was called). I keep thinking about it. I feel drawn home lately - if only it wouldn't snow there - when is this darned global warming going to kick in?

Hanging Around in the Dark

Sometimes I have trouble sleeping and so I get up and wander around the house. This is okay when I'm home but when I'm visiting someone else, this makes me a little uncomfortable ... kind of like I'm skulking around doing something shady. Why is that? Is the dark at my house different from other people's dark?

Coming Out

So far, I've been quite indulgent and just kept this blog for me and since I've only posted about 6 times in the last four years, this wasn't that hard. But, today, I got brave and posted the link on my Twitter account. I know I know. Pitiful.

Winning isn't Everything and Neither is Losing

Well, six months have gone by and it's time for another post. After hearing that I won both the Canadian and U.K. lottery today, I decided to get philosophical about winning and losing. Also, it's almost time for football season again and unless some kind of miracle has occurred, I expect that as a Dolphin fan, I better not get too used to winning. Might spoil me.

Sometimes we get too interested in winning but really, it's not all it's cracked up to be. For example, if you do it all the time, you never really learn anything except maybe how great you are (which is not actually all that true for anyone so not really a valuable thing to learn). Losing can be better. In fact, sometimes when you lose something, you find out that you are really better off without it. Just a thought.

By the way, if anybody cares how the photography class went, it was good. I learned a little about what kinds of photos other people like and why and quite a lot about digital cameras. I think I probably need a new one if I'm ever going to go further with it but I'm not sure I want to. I do like to take my camera out now and then when I go for a walk because it forces me to look at things in ways I might not have thought of. As my e-mail signature says - wherever you are, be there - I have to remember to do that all the time and the camera helps.

Well, we're off to watch the Dolphins win their first pre-season game (I guess optimism is a good quality too. I'll try not to get a swelled head).

p.s. My instructor thought that my favorite photo was the best one so I guess my eye isn't totally off.

Nature Photography

Starting next Saturday, I'm going to be taking a beginner course in Digital Nature Photography at Gumbo Limbo. I'm quite excited about it although I'm becoming very aware of how profound my level of ignorance on this topic is. First, the instructor sent us all an e-mail with our first assignment - finding out how to take RAW pictures on our particular camera. After some research, I believe I have determined that my camera, a Nikon Coolpix 775, will not take pictures in the RAW format or even in the TIFF format. Already, right out of the chute, my photos aren't going to be as good. They're going to be "lossy". I'm so ashamed.

Anyway, undaunted by this, I set out this afternoon to Spanish River Park to take some "nature" photos. I soon discovered that I don't know for sure what "nature" is. Will any plant do or does it have to be wild? Animals are completely out. By the time I get my inferior camera pointed at it, the animal has gone away. I did manage to get a picture of a lizard but it is very difficult to spot in the photo.

At one point, I actually saw a larger animal but after pursuing it, discovered that it was only a cat - probably not considered nature. Still, I did want to get a picture of it but it ran away. Dave thinks I spend my days looking for pictures of cats on the internet so I would have liked to put one there but, oh well. Here are some more of my efforts.

I think this one is my favorite:

So, stay tuned for further information about adventures in nature photography. For example, what is white balance? Is it okay to use the image sharpening feature or is that cheating? Is the spider that lives in my bathroom considered nature? One way or another, I'm going to be learning something.

Regular posting is regular posting

Well, it's been about a year. Time for another post. Since last year, I stirred up the dust a bit. (I know. I know, the metaphor is getting old but since I'm the only one who ever reads this stuff, I can indulge myself). I got a new job that I love. I also had a great boss for a while and even though he left, I still love the job. As Dave puts it, I'm a professional bitch. Finally, a job that calls upon my most powerful personal talent. I was a bit worried at first when one of my new co-workers decided to have a nap while working ... thought maybe this was just some kind of Florida thing but apparently, this is indeed unusual and since then, he's gone off to get more rest elsewhere. Everyone has been very nice which is sometimes tough to do with me.
We have a pretty good time and everyone is only mildly disturbed when I curse at my computer and talk spiritedly to myself and jobs like that are tough to find so I hope this takes. In fact, I'm feeling quite optimistic for the new year. After several months of craziness (about which we will not speak further - she says darkly), one of my co-workers even played a practical joke on me on Monday. That hasn't happened since Darrell left. Things are looking up. Anyway, my list of resolutions is quite long this year:

• Lose weight.
• Get fit.
• Beautify the blog with CSS - that I will learn in more detail.
• Love myself more.
• Post more often.

Check back to see how that goes.