6 posts tagged “art”

This was my weekend to work. I was able to keep busy so the time at the office was well spent but leaves me with little to write about. Mom is back home from hospital and doing very well. She doesn't believe in this blogging stuff so I leave out any details. The little photo show looks nice at the library. Few comments except kind words from staff there. The new pictures are pretty and I won't stop shooting lovely nature scenes, but the gritty old B&W stuff from the '70s, well, those are art. Digging out those old photos really stirred me up, reminding me of days long passed as a youth involved in an artistic community. {sigh} I've got to recapture some of that feeling and take an old approach with my new work though I'll not quit the nature scene. For now, though, back to the weekly grind... at least it pays the bills!

The tangles in the Web (DNS tangles mentioned earlier) are now straightened and the new domain name, web site, and URL forwarding are all working as advertised. Some promotional postcards have shipped, my sample calendar has shipped, and I've time off to put it all together into a little gallery show. Lots of work, expensive, but fun! I'll be working on the final bits tonight and tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon I participate in a high-level meeting regarding a possible development for the Observatory -- I know very little about what will be discussed. Hmmm. So, on a couple of fronts, we're moving right along!

Autumn leaves

This was an interesting weekend! On Saturday we were mostly going to stay home during the day and do practical things. The day, however, was incredibly beautiful! Fall color here is reaching or has reached its peak, the sky was a beautiful blue with few clouds, and the wind (a strong one) was very comfortable in the 60s. The bottom line: we couldn't stay home. As an excuse to get out we went for a drive to a shopping area east of here. She looked at clothing, I looked at computer stuff. Then we went to the lovely city of Hudson which is one of my favorite places. Whilst exploring the small but wonderful Learned Owl Bookstore, I spied a beautiful block print graphic connected with a local fundraiser for breast cancer research and prevention -- also funding free mammograms for those who can't afford them. We learned that the artist who created the image, Lori Biwer Stewart, had works for sale at the Hudson Fine Art & Framing Company so we strolled over there. Hudson's town square is beautiful, especially this time of year. I fell in love with Stewart's work -- simple lino cut prints with poetic and "spiritual" depth to them. We actually gave in and purchased one framed image titled "Song." Then home for dinner.

Saturday night was a scheduled Observatory open house so immediately following dinner I headed out. Arriving in the dark I met two of my regular attendees: a woman and her 80+ year-old-mother. They drive up from a place about an hour away for every one of these sessions, even when it's the same objects for observation -- in this case it was the Moon. The drive took less time tonight so they arrived early. By the time the event was over we had 19 visitors look through the century-old refractor; we might have had more visitors but there was a big Cleveland Indians baseball game on TV. Guests were treated to superbe views of the Moon, however, as the atmosphere was extremely clear and mostly steady. I don't think I've personally ever seen the Moon so clearly with my own eyes! I couldn't find the planet Neptune --very close to the Moon this night-- in the orb's bright glare so I turned the telescope away from the Moon and targeted the Perseus Double Cluster: NGC 884 & 869. They filled the eyepiece with diamond-like lights delighting our guests more than I had expected. This night was also to be the peak of the Orionid meteor shower but I saw not one "shooting star." Best viewing was after Moonset but I wasn't about to stay up that late: She Who Must Be Obeyed had her heart set on a bicycle ride in the excellent weather predicted for Sunday.

Sunday morning we slept in ever so little, got ourselves slowly together, and headed out to Oberlin for a loop-ride out in the country. Fall colors were past peak out there and, anyway, the route didn't take us through woods, only through flat to rolling farm country. Very nice roads, for the most part, but a fierce southwesterly wind made the going tough on a long first leg of the ride. Very tough as in riding uphill for 10 miles tough. We made it, however, but could only muster about 12 MPH on most of that leg. The return trip, however, was another matter! Effortless riding at 17 MPH for most of the return portion of the ride over, again, smooth roads. We flew under gorgeous blue skies and on good roads with little traffic. Ahhhh. Back at Oberlin we enjoyed our late lunch at Quizno's (their new veggie sub is excellent) and then headed home. Oh yeah, it was only a 23-mile trip on the odometer but felt more like 35 miles, but then, so did the wind speed!

Midweek saw a cold, that had been lurking in the background since the weekend, come to full bloom! Starting Tuesday, I suffered the expected sniffs and sneezes but also fatigue, chills, fever, and finishing it all off, a pounding headache all day Wednesday. Missed work both days but didn't enjoy the time off at all. That is what "sick" days are for though, isn't it? I'm feeling much better now but still recovering. I'm calling it a cold but it could have been flu. Doesn't much matter either way -- I was one sick dude!

Last weekend we visited the Akron Museum of Art. I think I enjoyed the architecture of the place (recently expanded) more than much of the art which has an emphasis on the modern. We also visited Quaker Square which was, some years ago, an exciting adaptive reuse of the Quaker Oats mill. It featured many unique shops and the grain silos had been converted into a very nice hotel. The hotel is still there but nearly all of the shops are closed. It used to be a fun place to visit any time but especially around the Christmas holiday season. Very sad. Oh, and someone "doored" my car really good in our travels either in Akron or whilst at the Mustard Seed Market in Montrose. First big blemish on the 2002 Honda. Shame on you, whomever you are!

At work we've seen that pretty Barracuda Spam Firewall succeed well in chewing up unwanted email and spitting it out. Across the board people are seeing the virtual elimination of their spam problem. Lots less messing around with offensive and/or nuisance messages for all of us; it really makes email useful to us again. This is Good, as Voxers might say.

We've got an open house set for the observatory tomorrow night. The early weather forecasts weren't promising but now, 24 hours in advance, things are looking very good for seeing. Hopefully I'll be fully recovered by then in order to put on a good show without suffering a relapse!