Visual Journal

I do believe that June was the coolest and wettest month on record in these parts. Have spent a lot of this month thinking about the sun. The summer solstice is behind us, and the days are already started to get shorter!

Thailand Pages

Realize that there are still loads of pics from Thailand I have yet to upload - where the heck does the time go? In the meanwhile, here are some journal pages.

Stories

I love stories and travel logs.
Here is one from an artist and author whose work I love.

Worms

Recently had an afternoon at the races. Jonah found several earthworms and decided to stage earthworm races - well technically a slug was entered in the race as well. After the races, the exhausted worms were put back in the garden.

Laundry Line

We usually hang wet clothes out to dry (greener than using the dryer), but due the endless rainy days the line has not been used recently. The boys put it to good use as they tried to jump over it.

MJ

Micheal Jackson is dead, and it surely the end of an era. Spent most of my life captivated by this extremely talented guy. Remember watching him as a little tyke in the Jackson 5? He had a style all of his own. Am having a MJ retrospective listening to his music and watching some of his music videos on YouTube. Takes me back to a place and time.

Trekkie

I'll be the first to admit that I confuse Star Wars and Star Trek (yup, I heard that gasp). For some reason cannot keep them straight in my head - maybe because I did not watch the TV shows, or maybe because I simply don't care (ooh another gasp), but either way have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the latest Star Trek movie. It was simply plain fun, and a great way to setup a whole new series. Have since gone back to watch all the Star Trek movies (cannot bring myself to watch the TV shows), and I'll admit that some of the story lines are quite good. So while still not a Trekkie, am starting to understand what all the fuss is about.

Summer Reading

Ah, summer (if the sun would ever pop out in these parts). It is the perfect time to read outdoors. Listened to NPRs summer reading podcast this morning and there seem to be some fun books on the list. Listeners who called in recommended these books.

I do not tend of have classic summer reads - I continue to read what I am interested in, though do tend to leave the heavier tomes for dark winter nights. What is on your summer reading list?

Recent Reads

1. The Queen's Fool
My book club selection this month. Loved it. A wonderful romp through the Tudor court - something I am fascinated by. Have yet to read a book by this author that I have not loved.

2. Leonardo's Notebooks
This guy was a genius indeed. How incredibly lucky we are that so much of his sketches and writings have survived. Love dipping in and immersing myself in his visual journals.

3. Non-Adhesive Binding
This is by far the best book on book binding I have read. Nothing flashy, just clear, concise directions.

4. Beegu
Love this kids book, and the boys enjoyed it too.

Visual Journal

One of the nice things about so many rainy days in a row is that I get in a lot of reading and creative play. Here are some recent pages:

Heap

The June photo theme of the month is HEAP. Here are my interpretations of the theme.

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to my Dad and all the other wonderful fathers out there. Here is a photo of me and my Dad from many moons ago. Used it in my journal page below.

Hammocks

One of the joys of summer is hanging out on the hammock reading, sleeping, snacking, or in this case playing with the camera.

Journals

After we looked up the bird (see previous post), we all took out our journals to draw it. The 1st drawing is Luke's and the 2nd is Jonah's. Not bad eh?

Birding

The boys were over today, and as we explored the yard, saw a bird that no-one recognized. So of course, we pulled out the binoculars and the bird guide and set about investigating. Such fun.

What's on TV?

Am constantly in search of good shows. Here are some of my recent ones:

1. Grey's Anatomy
Yes, this is more soapish than drama, but I am hooked. Love that I can watch the shows on the website as opposed to on TV - less ads and more enjoyable.

2. The Tudors
Love, love, love this series. I love the Tudor period of English history and read loads of books set in that time, so imagine my delight in this show. Have I mentioned that I love it? :-)

3. Saving Grace
I really wanted to like this show. Love Holly Hunter - but simply cannot get into it. I'm okay with the angel but there is absolutely no writing. How the heck can that be? Stopped watching in the middle of episode 3 - could not take it anymore. Do not bother.

4. Life
This one gets under your skin. Maybe it's because it has a smart woman cop. Maybe it's the writing. Maybe it's Damian Lewis. Either way, really enjoy this show and watched it entirely on Hulu.

Any shows you'd recommend?

Random Musings

• I find it funny that people going to the gym drive around for a good 10 minutes trying to find a parking spot closer to the door. Umm, if you are going to the gym, 10 extra steps are the point no?
• Why do people park their grocery carts in the middle of the aisle? Do we need grocery cart driving lessons?
• My 4 year old nephew said that he knows where water comes from. Water comes from watermelons of course. :-)
• If the Queen is the most powerful piece on a chess board, then why all the fuss about the King?

Recent Reads

1. Things I've Been Silent About
I really enjoyed this memoir from Azar Nafisi. It is thought provoking - a mix of the personal and political, familial and national.

2. The Best American Travel Writing 2008
Have taken my time dipping into this book. Overall not a great collection - some are fantastic and others seem like incoherent ramblings.

3. The Eight
I really wanted to like this book, but in the end would not recommend it. There are so many wonderful angles to the story, but it is told rather poorly. 600 pages later. Sigh. The only positive thing is that I am hooked on chess. Guess that was worth the read :-)

4. Alice in Wonderland
What was this guy on?! I am sure I read this as a kid, but do not remember doing so, and now I see why that might be.

Visual Journal

Some recent pages:

Book Fun

If you are a reader you always have a long stack of books waiting to be read, and often stacks of books you have already read collecting dust on your shelves. Why not have some fun with these books? There are many way to trade or swap books. Here are some I use:

1. Swaptree
A fun way to swap books and trade in some of those books gathering dust on your shelves.

2. BookCrossing
Another fun idea. This group tends to have local meetups so you can meet members and trade books in person as well.

3. Library Book Sales
Usually donate boxes of books to our local library (think it was 33 boxes last year alone!) and then go to the book sales to gather some more. The books typically cost a couple of bucks and towards the end of the sale you can pick up a boxful for a buck. An excellent way to fill up your shelves while supporting a good cause. If you have never been to your library book sale you are missing out on some great fun.

Home Again

Back home after 4 days on the boat, and feel like I've been away for ages. There is something timeless about being rocked by water. Maybe because it reminds the body of a time when we were rocked in the womb. Either way, it is soothes the body and soul.

So a strange thing - am currently reading The Eight, and all day yesterday I said that I wanted to go to Algiers. Guess where I ended up last night? Meeting a bunch of readers at Cafe Algiers in Harvard Square. How weird is that?

Quote of the Day

Remember that joy is found in creating, not in having. If you are on a materialistic path, simplify rather than amplify. See how little you need, rather than how much more you can manifest. Get back in touch with nature.
- Sonia Choquette

Details

Ain't it funny how much of our life is not captured? Unless there is a photo, drawing, journal entry, memory, it is simply lost. The details of one life. Here Luke captures me doing something I do not even think about because it is just a routine part of my day. What are the details of your life? How do you capture them?

Picnic

Having glorious weather and decided to have a picnic. So much to look at: geese, tadpoles, turtles, fish, bull frogs. And to top it all off there is excellent ice-cream. Ahhhh love the summer.

Nuturing Creativity

Love this talk by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Missing

The disappearance of the Air France flight from Brazil to Paris gives me chills. It simply vanished, and is expected to have crashed into the Atlantic. How much life can change in the blink on an eye. CNN lists the passengers as:

The airline company identified the nationalities of the victims as two Americans, an Argentinean, an Austrian, a Belgian, 58 Brazilians, five British, a Canadian, nine Chinese, a Croatian, a Dane, a Dutch, an Estonian, a Filipino, 61 French, a Gambian, 26 Germans, four Hungarians, three Irish, one Icelandic, nine Italians, five Lebanese, two Moroccans, three Norwegians, two Polish, one Romanian, one Russian, three Slovakian, two Spanish, one Swedish, six Swiss and one Turk.

A stark reminder how what affects one can affect all. My heart goes out to their loved ones.