Uruapan, Mexico

This picture was taken in front of a very old church in Uruapan, Mexico. It faced a large, busy plaza that was full of old men shining shoes, selling balloons, and fruit and confections on every corner. Uruapan is on first glance a very urban city not terribly different from cities here in the U.S. but there are layers. Looking through and discovering each one is part of the fun. We spent one night and half a day in Uruapan on my trip to Mexico in February. I looove Mexico!!!

A Whore for Love

27 Candles for Netty

Happy Birthday Noelle!!!!!

Knee Deep in Pollen and Lovin' It

This is the view from my apartment and this time of year it is spectacular. I wish I had a better camera to capture it. Anyone who is from the Washington area will probably tell you we all have a love/hate relationship with Spring. There is nothing like the beauty of the Dogwoods, Cherry Blossoms, Daffidols, Tulips, and the near arrival of the Azaleas. Washington springs are worth living for. Now for the hate part. Just the other day I purchased my family pak size of saline spray for my nose to clean out my sinuses and keep them moist and irritant free. I sneeze 6-10 times a day, my car is officially chartreuse as opposed to black from the layer of pollen that isn't even worth fighting until June. I am always on the brink of headache that doesn't quite settle in and it makes me &*^#$%@ tired all the time. But it's beautiful, so I will break out the humidifier, spray saline up my nose, pop my Claritan and enjoy the view.

and they smell just as good

Yes, human? Is there something you need?

DADA

and I am not taking about my father. Last Wednesday was my birthday and rather than slaving away copying and pasting for some asshole I decided to take the day off. I slept in till the leisurely hour of 10:00 (because extra sleep is the nicest present I can give myself) and my sister, who also had the day off, made me breakfast in bed. What an awesome sister, right? It gets better, she made chocolate chip pancakes. So after slipping in and out of a carb trance I pulled myself together and went down to the National Gallery to see the DADA exhibit. It's something I had been dying to see for some time and because of all the Cherry Blossom Rif Raf hanging around on the weekends (making it impossibe to get around) this was the perfect opportunity to go. The National Gallery on a wednesday afternoon isn't too bad, I found parking in about 15 minutes and only had to walk a few blocks. It was a beautiful sunny day except for the power winds that were blowing so hard on my pant legs that the fabric was all behind me showing off the lovely sihlouette of my bulging thighs. Oh well, I'll never see those tourists again, I hope. Anyway, I went up to the Mezzanine level to see the show and it was fantastic. I had never seen a collection that size from the DADA period. There was everything from sculpture, paintings, photo montage, photography, film, and all kinds of audio peices performed by many of the well known Dadaists of the time such as Kurt Schwitters. One of the really cool features was the "Le Ballet Mecanique" which was many automated musical instruments including sixteen programmed grand player pianos that play portions of the score for the Leger film "Le Ballet Mecanique". I happened to catch one of the two shows that takes place twice a day for 10 minutes. It was really quite amazing and it brought the musem to a stand still, everyone was captivated. It was right out in the open before going into the exhibit and it ressonated through the halls of the building. But the show was even better. Man Ray, Hans Arp, Marcel Duchamp are just a few of the artists represented. It was great. DADA was a reaction to World War I and what these people thought of the horrors committed in the name of politics. These artists were considered edgy, outrageous, angry and they tore apart what they thought was conventional and recreated it and made you look at it differently. They questioned what art was and what it meant. It was inspiring. So I romed the halls of the Dada exhibit for about 3 hours. That wasn't enough really, but I had to head home to meet my family to go out to dinner. We proceeded down to 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. to one of the finest seafood restuarants in DC called Kinkeads. It lived up to its reputation. I'm still full. Anyway, it was a great birthday and I think I will make it a ritual to take the day off and indulge in some culture and great food. Doesn't get much better than that.

Ima Doozer

Ima Doozer, that's what I am. I am a worker bee. I'm not a leader, I'm not a follower either. Ima Doozer. Doozers are little characters from Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock. This Doozer stares back at me every day at work as I increase and decrease the size of a logo at the clients whim. I look like this Doozer, sans hard hat, and it reminds me that it is ok to be one of the workers, there is no shame in it. Just keep plugging away and live for the exotic vacation. Below is the official released definition of a Doozer.

The Doozers are about six inches tall, or knee-high to a Fraggle. They live and work - mostly work - inside Fraggle Rock. They build and build and build magnificent bridges, towers, monuments, roads and anything else they can dream of. They use vegetable protein sticks, processed by mining turnips and radishes in the Gorgs' Garden, as their building material. If you stopped long enough to realize it, you might say, "You know, those Doozers do the things they do because of the dreams they dream."

Even though the Fraggles don't pay much attention to the Doozers, they do have a keen interest in their architecture - it tastes delicious! Fortunately, the doozers don't mind that the Fraggles eat their constructions. In fact, they appreciate it because it gives them the space in which to build better ones.

36 Candles

Today is my birthday and all I can think of is what a co-worker said to me last year "You are closer to 50 than you are to 20". I'm not sure what I am supposed to feel about this. I feel relieved, depressed, lucky, despondent, happy, sad, ambivalent, lost, and found. I'm hoping cake and presents clears this up. Happy Birthday me. : ]