The Bronx is Up and the Battery's Down

These are some of the pictures I took in New York City. Some of the *many* places we visited were Central Park, Times Square, Macy's in Herald Square, the Paley Center for Media and . . . a place no former English major could ever pass up . . . the Algonquin Hotel, home of the famed Round Table of Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and Alexander Woollcott.

We also got pretty proficient at riding the subway. If I had been thinking, I could have taken a picture of the huge rat that ran across the platform in front of us . . . New York, New York! A wonderful town!

It was such a wonderful day . . . I wish the pictures could convey the joy . . . and the exhaustion. We were all over the place! And there's so much more to see!

Harpers Ferry W.Va. Trip

These are a few of the pictures I took while I was at Harper's Ferry. We arrived there when it was a bit after 4 PM and didn't get to the Historical part of the town until after 5, just as the sun was starting to make its descent for the evening. The most lovely part of the area is where the Potomac and Susquehanna rivers meet.

In one of the pictures, you can see the moon making an early appearance.

The last picture is of a fox that was sitting outside of the entrance to the parking lot - he seemed not to care that we were there and taking photos.

I feel like I'm channeling COTW with the photos . . . :-)

I'm Still Here!

It’s been a while, but it has been a super busy time. I’m trying to get back into the swing of writing again, but there are a ton of other assignments and reading I have to catch up on. I’ve also discovered the joy of feed readers – what an awesome time suck they are! Of course I have loaded mine up with more blogs than I can possibly keep track of at any given point, so the totals always are taunting me: I always seem to have over 1000+ posts in the box, and no amount of marking “all read” helps me catch up. However, it does make it a lot easier to see when my favorite bloggers have updated posts – now at least I can get out of habit of clicking on people’s blogs 10 times a day to see if they’ve updated. The only problem now is that it is hard to keep up with the comment threads . . .

I promise to write more soon, but until then I’ll leave you with this picture of my Army sister and I hanging out this past 4^th of July with the dearly departed dog, Lady. (I'm the one in the blue jacket.)

This picture will disappear within a few days, so enjoy it now . . .

--->Picture went POOF!!<---

Random Cultural Show and Tell(er)

So here's some of what I've been doing . . .

Teller at the Folger

Teller, the normally silent half of Penn and Teller, was in town at the end of February to discuss his co-directing duties for the production of Macbeth that is currently running at the Folger Theater, and which I’ll luckily get to see next week (the full run sold out really quickly!) The discussion was held the night before the play opened and we were able to grab a quick and grainy photo at the end of the hour. I had never head him speak before and he seemed extremely bright and witty, and we could have sat and listened to him discuss Shakespeare and magic and other things all evening if possible.

Chicago 10

This part documentary/part animated film did not really fulfill the potential of its premise very well. It tried to do a lot of things and most of them not very well. It is a good jumping off point for a lot of good discussions and further research for the background and history of the 1968 Democratic Convention, but I wouldn’t advise any young people to watch it as a stand-alone history piece.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

This is one of the few movies that I’ve ever attended where the audience burst into applause at the end. After a few months where most of the movies I’ve seen were either deep, bloody dramas or political documentaries, it was such a breath of fresh air not to leave the theater feeling emotionally drained. A funny, poignant film that I highly recommend you go see if it’s playing in your town – it definitely deserves wider notice.

Major Barbara

I saw this George Bernard Shaw play at the Shakespeare Theater Company last Thursday. It is a wonderful production which was only marred by the fact that the play ended at 10:50 PM and the nearby parking garage closed at 11 PM – therefore we could not really pay attention to the last 10 minutes of dialogue because we were freaking out, ardently hoping the play would end in time for us to run the three blocks to retrieve the car. We didn’t even stay to applaud the actors: as soon as the scene ended and the curtain went down, we hightailed it out of our row, down the steps, out of the theater and ran like heck. Of course, because Mr. Random has been running forever, he was able to zoom ahead easily, while me and J . . . well, we were a bit slower. We did make it to the car with a few minutes to spare, but the moral of the story is to always check a play’s running time before you find a place to park.

More to come . . .

And . . . We're Back

Happy Spring, Everyone!

Oops. More than a week has passed since I last blogged and at LOT has been going on around here. Saw a play, saw a movie, went to some meetings, did some schoolwork and did a lot of freaking out with more to come.

I've got summaries and pictures and stuff to post, which I should do in the next day or two. Today is going to be crazy busy with Easter Services, visiting a friend's family to celebrate a birthday and then quickly scooting down to my parents' house for Easter Dinner where my grandma and youngest sister will be in attendance.

So I'm off to start another action packed day. I'm waving and wishing a happy Spring to you all!

Looking Out My Window

I just wanted to share a picture of what Mr. Random and I have been seeing outside of our windows these days. The construction of townhouses on the empty lot behind us is proceeding apace, and in a few months we will have the joy of being to look directly into someone else’s kitchen and bedrooms.

For a while, we actually had a pretty good view of the horizon, but that is gone now. I am trying not to get depressed about it, but it is hard – especially when I am working at home, listening to the sounds of construction. For three years we were very lucky to be able to look out at a forest of old growth trees, where lots of birds would congregate during the day.

Mr. Random and I went to a open house of one of the model homes for this project and they are truly beautiful inside, just the right size townhome if Mr. Random and I were so inclined, but the costs – oh, it was WAY too expensive, even with the market downturn and all.

Today has been rather overcast and drizzly, which isn’t helping my mood. I am going to teach tonight, which is always a joy, and I am well prepared for tonight’s class. Preparing lesson plans are always such fun – it’s like a puzzle, trying to figure out what activities and exercises will reinforce the evenings lessons, figuring out how much of class should be interactions between groups of students rather than just me leading them in exercises, trying to figure out how to keep the evening interesting for both the class and for me. Sometimes I am successful and sometimes I fall short, but I love the process of it all and wish I could hurry up and figure out a way to make a living at something like this sooner rather than later. Although, I think part of the fun of it is that there isn’t any pressure as a volunteer, so I just need to keep on keeping on and get what joy I can out of it for as long as I can.

The weekend was very laid back, which was good. Next weekend, we will spend Super Bowl Sunday visiting my grandma, which is fine by me since I’m not a huge football fan. Saturday will be my usual forays into creating art and hanging out with friends, which I always heartily enjoy.

Hope your days are going well . . .

Winding Down / Gearing Up

We can close the books on 2007, and I am so glad that it is finally over. It seems that most folks are using this as a time of introspection, to recount all that has happened in the past year and to try to make sense of what has happened. On reflection, though, I believe that a lot of what happened in the past year has made no sense at all.

Oh, wait – let me rephrase that:

What happened this past year has made sense to all of those who set the wheels in motion for the larger events, and as a person affected by those events I can muster an appreciation for the thought processes in other people’s minds that went into their decisions. I also know that I can choose how I react to these events and in doing so help set the stage for positive or negative personal outcomes. I am the captain of my fate and the master of my soul, you know . . .

Dealing with these events caused me a lot of stress and worrying. I have to learn how to not let things get to me so much, while at the same time acknowledging that my propensity for wanting to take care of the world is part of what makes me the unique individual that I am. I love volunteer teaching, I love doing things for other people, I love trying to affect change in my little corner of the world. So I know that on some level, I will always be a bit stressed out and emotional.

On one of the other blogs I read, the writer said that for the next year she should remember to be mindful:

“Instead, my goal for the coming year is mindfulness - to be mindful of what I'm doing when I'm doing it, and to ask myself if it's really what I want or need to be doing right then. . . . I'm thinking that right now, my biggest problem is not doing or failing to do any specific things, but just not thinking about what I'm doing at all.”

I think that it is a pretty admirable goal. I do think that my problem is that I tend to OVERTHINK things, but in being mindful I should think about how what I am about to do relates to what *I* ACTUALLY want as opposed to what I think other people would think I should want. There IS a difference and only in the last few months have I started to really think about what I am doing and who I am trying to make happy and why . . .

My main goals this year are to get farther in my schooling, see more plays, take more pictures, have more excursions, be a better teacher, and generally try to enjoy myself. If I feel happier in general, everything else should follow. If I am enjoying myself, I will feel better about myself. If I feel better about myself, I will feel more confident in other areas and hopefully some other successes will come from that. I will be less of a miserable, moody person and be able to have more positive interactions with family, friends and co-workers.

As regards to my work situation, I will take it one day at a time. I will try to maintain my current schedule and keep my eye out for other interesting opportunities to get involved in that may be a better fit for me at this time of my life. This year has proved that working my tail off for the Random Non-profit will not net me any professional gains or martyr points, so I only need to do what is needed to be done each day in the time allotted and then let the rest go.

As for the blog . . . well, I’m always lamenting my crappy posting and writing here . . . and so I resolve to do much more of it in 2008! I will no longer beat myself up about it because – Hey! – the title of my blog says it’s OK . . .

“A snapshot is popularly defined as a photograph that is "shot" spontaneously and quickly, most often without artistic or journalistic intent. Snapshots are commonly considered to be technically "imperfect" or amateurish--out of focus or poorly framed or composed. Common snapshot subjects include the events of everyday life, such as birthday parties and other celebrations, sunsets, children playing, and the like.”

My blog is a snapshot of what I am thinking or feeling at a given point. It is usually dashed off in an odd moment, usually with some forethought but little time. But the cool thing about snapshots is that they document moments in time that existed and will never again. Some are gems and some are not, but they are all out there. And what one person may consider “amateurish,” another person may consider art . . . so I’ll keep going, doing as best I can to document the randomness which is my life and share it with you all . . .

******

OK, now I am a bit more optimistic and excited about the New Year. I really wasn’t when I started writing this morning, but putting words on the page has helped me focus and realize that continuing to look forward is the best course of action for me. Whatever happens, happens.

Happy New Year, Everyone! May your 2008 be full of adventure and discovery and happiness!

Seasons Greetings . . .

. . . from the Random Family! (and dig those funky Winnie-the-Pooh PJs of mine . . .)

Scenes from the Mall - Part II

The reflecting pool and the Washington Monument, seen from near the Lincoln Memorial.

The Vietnam Memorial

The World War II Memorial

Pictures from the excursion to see the Monuments a few weeks ago . . .

Scenes from the Mall - Part I

By the Korean War Memorial

Inside the Lincoln Memorial (Below: Outside the Lincoln Memorial)