Written by There was no moon, but the stars — you’ve never seen stars, if you’ve only seen ‘em from England. They don’t twinkle faintly in the tropics, they blaze; and the sea … it was alive with phosphorescence. Our wake and our bow-wave were great swirling tracks made up of billions of spots of white light, and all the sea on both sides was full of deep glowing movements — fishes darting through the depths, great shimmering clouds and veils of shadowy color, little surges and whirlpools of light far below — once or twice in your life you get a night like that, and it’s a sight to leave you breathless.
— The Ruby in the Smoke, Philip Pullman
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Stars
Keys
It was a nice bunch of keys that he brought out, for two were golden and many were richly ornamented: you could see at once that they were keys made for opening solemn and secret rooms in palaces, or chests and caskets of sweet-smelling wood that contained royal treasures. — The Last Battle, C. S. Lewis
New routine
Hey everyone! Just thought I’d give a quick fitness update. I was tired of trying to plan workouts each and every time I went to the gym (and as we all know, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail). So I picked a workout plan from one of my fav fitness sites, Muscle and Strength. It’s called Shaun’s 3 Day Muscle Building Split Workout and it’s a collection of pretty classic big muscle group exercises. Nothing too fancy, just back to basics here. I needed a reason to get back to the gym more regularly, so here it is! I’ve done a week and it’s good so far. I’ll let you know how it goes!
My current obsessions
I am currently obsessed with the following two items:
Sweet tea: Oh so yummy! I can’t get enough of this stuff. I think the warming up weather is brining out a need for refreshing drinks. If you’ve never had it before, sweet tea is a southern version of iced tea that’s brewed with a lot of sugar. A lot of sugar, if you’re making it the authentic way. It’s also a pleasant alternative to coffee if you need a caffeine kick. I make my own with regular tea bags and Splenda (blah blah cancer whatever, it’s calorie free, damnit). I highly suggest you try this drink. I hear the McDonald’s version isn’t half bad, and I’m guessing Chik-fil-A in Minnesota would have it too.
Mika: So not only is this guy charming and oh-so-easy to crush on, but he can sing too! I fell in love with We Are Golden, but pretty much anything he sings I will swoon to (and as I mentioned on Twitter/Facebook, if they sing this on Glee I will watch it). His dancing is amazing; even though it’s mostly just him jumping around, it feels choreographed and fresh at the same time. I really want him to cover more songs to hear his range. Check out We Are Golden below, and then look at Grace Kelly, Lollipop, Rain, Big Girls, and pretty much anything else from him.
Wedding = party!
Does anyone else feel smarter when they listen to BBC News? I have it on the TV right now and I think someone talking in a British accent just sounds more informed.
This weekend my friend Stephanie is getting married! I absolutely cannot wait for the party. Yeah yeah, ceremony will be fun, whatever, but it’s a party! With yummy food! And dancing! And a bar! And let’s face it: Me on the dance floor is just hott. But seriously, I will probably sob when they’re doing their vows. Congrats guys!
On a serious note: This story is from my friend Pam’s little sister’s family. They are in a hotel right now and didn’t start out very well to begin with. If there’s any sort of benefit, I’ll let you all know.
Take care!
Harvest moon
Last night was so nice and clear just before moonrise that I went to take some pictures at the Cathedral. I was treated to a harvest moon (I should really get a schedule of those), but I don’t have a great lens for taking the shots I wanted. So as I was plunking around looking for an angle, a nice woman walking her dog pointed me to a great place for shooting. And lo, this shot. It was a 25 or 30 second exposure (note the “1st” sign lit up in two places). Of course I can think of a million things wrong with it, but it’s also nice. That night I also added to my alleys collection, which I can’t really explain other than to say I think they look cool.
Harvest moon
Last night was so nice and clear just before moonrise that I went to take some pictures at the Cathedral. I was treated to a harvest moon (I should really get a schedule of those), but I don’t have a great lens for taking the shots I wanted. So as I was plunking around looking for an angle, a nice woman walking her dog pointed me to a great place for shooting. And lo, this shot. It was a 25 or 30 second exposure (note the “1st” sign lit up in two places). Of course I can think of a million things wrong with it, but it’s also nice. That night I also added to my alleys collection, which I can’t really explain other than to say I think they look cool.
Awesome article
One Miss Pam Henrickson passed me this article from Newsweek written by Theodore Olson, a lawyer challenging the constitutionality of Prop 8. Though framed as a conservative person’s approach to the marriage debate, it comes across as a even-handed argument anyone could adopt. The article is a stirring read and a well-written, rational, thorough explanation of equal marriage rights:
Certainly, we can agree on the value of strong families, lasting domestic relationships, and communities populated by persons with recognized and sanctioned bonds to one another. Confining some of our neighbors and friends who share these same values to an outlaw or second-class status undermines their sense of belonging and weakens their ties with the rest of us and what should be our common aspirations.
Be sure to read it!
I thought this was 2009
How can this happen? Swiss voters decided to ban minarets, the towers that are constructed on Islamic mosques. Writes the BBC: “Supporters of a ban claimed that allowing minarets would represent the growth of an ideology and a legal system &emdash; Sharia law &emdash; which are incompatible with Swiss democracy.”
Camping this weekend
I had big plans for a whole elaborate post about my camping trip coming up this weekend, but it’s late. Suffice it to say that this weekend I’m heading to Lake Marie State Park with Laura to take on the elements (and the temperatures!) for two nights. We’ll be making camp at a private little site on the shore of one of the lakes. We’ve even got plans for geocaching. I’ll have lots of pictures to share!