99 Things

I copied this from Karen Blados' site...highlight the things you've done and put it on you site too!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars -- on the shore of Lake Oroville
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning -- who hasn't?
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris - sorry, didn't go up.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason - does this include giving someone flowers?
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar - you do know that is fish eggs, right?
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle -- only once. never again.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - do fish count?
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous -- I'm not sure if "seeing" counts as "meeting", so no
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

50 out of 100, not bad coverage of some unknown person's top 100 things in life...

I'm pretty sure the original creator of this list is a woman, as there are two things on this list than a woman but not a man can do, but nothing that a man but not a woman can do...can you identify the two things?

Floss Anonymous does Nirvana

Here is my son Ron's band, Floss Anonymous, doing Nirvana's Very Ape off of In Utero. Very nice rendition, I might add.

The Next Generation

We received some fantastic news late last month that I have been waiting to share...we are about to become grandparents. Well, in a few months anyway.

That's right, David and Lucy are expecting their first child! It is very exciting news and I think they are both in a state of shock - I tried to wait until they had told everyone, but it's been a few weeks now so I told them this week that I was going to let the cat out of the bag - whether they had released the official news or not.

As far as we know, we should be grandparents before the year is out...this is going to be fun! We had been dreading having the word "grand" in front of our familial titles, but you know what? It's time. We're ready.

Congratulations, David and Lucy!

Old Man Winter

Well we are finally at the point where we can start focusing on furnishing the house - we've pretty much wrapped up the remodel. My project last weekend was to strengthen the niche wall in our stairway so it could hold our new "Old Man Winter" wall sculpture. At 30 inches wide and 40 pounds, he is one heavy dude and I didn't want to worry about him falling on our head every time we came down the stairs.

Actually, I have no idea if the artist intended this to be the face of Old Man Winter or not - I just know that is what it looks like to me. And his piercing eyes now stare right at you when you're about halfway down the upper flight of stairs.

We discovered this beauty while out exploring a few Saturdays ago. The store, Column One, had several pieces we really liked so we thought about it overnight, went back the next day, and bought every piece we liked! We found great locations in our home for all of them, but Old Man Winter is so heavy that a simple wall hook would not work. So I tore out the sheet rock and installed a heavy duty bolt. I can tell you for sure that the wall art will break before the wall hook does now.

After checking with the financial arm of our household (wifey), I now know I must wait until next month to have our sheetrock guy, Dave Borders, come and patch the sheetrock for me. For now, I'll have to be happy seeing Old Man Winter peering down on us from atop his pink insulation background.

Mississippi John Hurt

One of the true wonders of the musical world...

Fisker Karma

If you haven't heard much about the Fisker Karma yet, you will soon. Us car guys have been drooling over it for months.

San Francisco: Chihuly Exhibit

 Let me start this post by saying it right off the bat: This art looks ten times better in person than it does in any photo ever taken of it. It truly does. I knew this exhibit was in town but we had decided not to see it because we had not bought tickets in advance and, quite frankly, I wasn't overly impressed with the photos.

 But when we got to the de Young Museum, we decided to ask to see if, by chance, any tickets were available for the current time - and there were! So we bought two and headed down to the basement, where the exhibit was. The basement was a maze of totally black rooms, save for the spotlights on the art itself.

And every room took my breath away. We'd walk around a corner and I would gasp. Unfortunately, I only brought my pocket camera along and it really, really struggled with the low light levels, but in processing the pics this week I was actually pretty happy with the results. The photos aren't perfect, but they are darn good for a pocket camera.

 Here is another amazing room. As you can see, the crowd would enter and stop dead in their tracks, all heads turned upward. This photo does not do the glass justice, but it does give you an idea of the feel.

 There's Nikki to the right. It is amazing how people would just stop and look, for minutes at a time. Words, and photos, cannot describe the beauty.

The artist's name is Dale Chihuly and his website is here. Mark my words, he will go down as one of the great artists of our time. Yes, they look overly ornate and a bit gaudy in photos, but you have to see it to fully appreciate it.

 One thought that kept going through my mind: how do they keep these things clean? Dust must be a real problem!

 But they are absolutely wonderful to look at, especially in the environment provided by de Young in the totally dark rooms save for the well-placed spotlights.

 And these pieces are huge as you can tell in those where I've included persons. I've done that intentionally to give them scale.

 This is one of my favorites....it drew a constant crowd.

 Here is a detail of the object.

 Being a big fan of the color blue, this one also ranks among my favorites. It reminds me of very pure ice crystals.

 Another beauty. Oh what the hell, they are all my favorite!

 And the last room...this one is a little much for me, but it is a showcase for all the shapes and colors that Chihuly likes. Note the person on the left that lends scale to the objects.

A photo of the same objects after my fourth Rum and Coke. Actually, someone bumped my arm but I rather like the result. It actually looks better than the previous picture to me! Anyway, enjoy and if you get the chance SEE A CHIHULY EXHIBIT.