Carbon Copy

Poladroid

Just discovered the poladroid application and now I want to turn all of my photos into old polaroids. You can save it mid-development for varying exposures.

NOLA through the Fish-eye

The day we moved to our new apartment, I got the arduous task of distracting Peter by taking him for a walk. I also took my fish-eye camera and snapped a few photos of the area. Here are some that I liked:

Cities of the Dead

I think I've mentioned on here that I've been dying to visit St. Luis Cemetery that is just up the road from my school, but when I've mentioned it to people they always warn me not to go alone. Even in the afternoon. So yesterday as I was driving home from preparing my classroom, I noticed a tour bus parked outside and clumps of people clicking away, so I made a U-turn (not so easy to do) and took advantage of the company. It was a gray day and drizzling, which was refreshingly cool, and set the mood perfectly.

I liked this sculpture of Mother Teresa. It was so petite.

It sat above this inscription, which I also liked:

If you pray, you will have faith. And if you have faith, you will love. And if you love, you will serve. And if you serve, you will have peace.

I'm pretty sure these are his and hers tombs. I guess I could have verified by looking at the inscriptions, but I thought the columns (masculine and feminine) spoke for themselves.

This guy's got a great view from his deck.

When I first walked by this one, I really thought that was a dollar sign on the cross.

Part of what I love about the cemetery is the wrought iron.

Photos beyond the cemetery. One of the amazing trees lining the streets here .

I still can't believe I live somewhere with palm trees.

And I really don't think this car wash will be successful in a geographic location with torrential rain every afternoon. Especially a $10 car wash. But I like the sign.

Fisheye Flashback

Before I left for England last February, I bought a little toy camera at Urban Outfitters with a fisheye lens. I imagined how awesome Stonehenge and the Eiffel Tower, among other ruins and buildings, would look through the contorted lens. I took two rolls of film only to come home, develop them, and realize I had a defective camera. I exchanged it a couple of months ago and just developed my first roll of film. It took me back a couple of months to the spring and as recently as driving out here. Turns out when there's real film, I'm a little more conservative with taking pictures. Thought I would share some.

{On my visit to the vast copper pit I never got around to blogging about. See here.}

I learned from this first roll that it looks better the closer I can get to the object. I'll have to play around with it some more. I can't wait to be done with Summer Institute so I can wander around town a bit. I'm dying to take some photos at one of the many awesome cemeteries.

Blossoms

{Blossoms right outside the garage. What a wonderful thing to drive up to every day.}

Finally Spring!

The freakish snowstorm(s) last week notwithstanding, I really do think it's finally spring. At least, it looks like spring. There are blossoms everywhere and all the tulips I saw them preparing to plant last October had come to fruition. After church last week, it was a sunny 70-degrees, so I spent some time downtown. I started off at the capitol to check out the cherry trees they planted in January.

This is the Little White Chapel up by the capitol. I think it's so pretty.

And some of the views from capitol hill.

{I love that spiral staircase!}

{I'm pretty sure I have taken that exact photo before, except without blossoms.}

From the capitol, I walked down to Temple Square.

I was disappointed to find that my favorite little nook behind the Lion House was being renovated or painted or something that required scaffolding, but it still had some lovely daffodils.

So I ventured around the front. I've always loved the Lion House and the Beehive House. They're so pretty and have such beautiful landscaping. And if you go on a tour (which I haven't been on for a long time) at the end of it, you get some hard candy. Mmm...

And then Temple Square proper:

I was starting to get faint with hunger and feeling ready for some of my mom's delicious cooking, so I took 1st Avenue towards her home. And yes, these are more pictures taken whilst driving. I couldn't help myself.

I returned to Temple Square on Tuesday to visit the temple. When I went back outside, it was evening and it smelled like lilacs.

I walked back to the parking lot under the Conference Center feeling perfectly content with the spring, the city, the nighttime.

How I See the World

I think I experience the world mostly through the windshield of my car. At least, in the winter when it's sooo cold outside that I don't exactly feel like going for a walk in the park. While January may be dreary in general, Tuesday morning was really quite lovely. And I felt a strange sense of contentment while driving to work. Everything seemed picture-worthy and beautiful. Here are some pictures from that morning drive.

And what else is there to do at a red light but take photos of myself?

And some pictures from the evening (actually, I think these are from different evenings... I can't remember. I'm always taking pictures as I'm driving around and the days all blur together).

More Photobooth

Sugarhouse

Millcreek Canyon

As I walked out of work yesterday, I couldn't imagine just going home and sitting in front of the tv or reading or cleaning my room. I decided to go for a drive up the canyon and wander around a bit. Good thing I always have my camera with me.

Don't worry. There are more photos on my flickr.

Flickr

I created a flickr account ages and ages ago (way back in March!), but I haven't done anything with it. That's because back in Indiana and here in Salt Lake, my Inet connection, which is supposed to be fast, is incredibly slow. It takes FOREVER to upload photos. But I've decided to try and do it anyway because you all (mostly Ben) have asked so kindly for it and I figure it's another good way to archive. I won't be dumping all of my pictures there (because, again, it takes FOREVER), but I'll post some of my faves. I just put up some from my trip to the Adirondacks in May and will try to do a little more each day (when I remember) until I'm caught up.

I just want to take a minute and say thanks for the compliments on my photos. I just like to take pictures. Maybe some day I will actually learn how to do it, but your compliments really do motivate me to try.

The Kids! - Part II

My siblings and I were such cute kids. Who knew we would grow into this?

Blossoms, Juggling, and Haircuts

Friday evening, Erica and I went to see one of my students juggle at the steps of Hovde Hall. The weather has finally turned nice again, so the blossoms are reappearing. If I just hadn't had a headache, it would've been the perfect evening.

On Thursday, Erica surprised us all with her new haircut. She donated the lopped off part to Locks of Love.

It looks so cute! I couldn't stop taking pictures.

My student, Jon, said the activities started at 8, but when we got there, everyone was still setting up. We just enjoyed the lovely evening by the fountain and watched as people gathered on the steps of Hovde Hall.

Eventually, they started juggling and we moved over to the steps, as well.

(My student is the tall one on the platform.)

Then, as the light died away, they brought out the fire! Here's a math professor:

This fire dancer was my favorite.

Erica had to leave for a History Dept. softball game. I kept planning on leaving after each act, but I couldn't. It was so fascinating! The next act was fire juggling with nine pins!

They even had a man (named Inferno!) lay down on a bed of nails and then the most adorable children stood on top of him. Seriously, it's hard to tell in this picture, but the little boy was wearing a bandana and a cowboy hat and my ovaries started ticking he was so cute.

The show ended with fire-eating, but I didn't take any pictures of that. Needless to say, I was pleased I stayed till the end. Afterwards, I took some pictures of the fountain. They finally turned the fountains back on last Thursday. That made me happy.

This will probably be my last post for a while. My thesis is due in just over a week (on Tuesday, May 1st for those of you who want to send good thoughts - or fruit baskets - my way). I'm going to try and limit my Internet intake. I keep telling myself that I can do it for 9 days, but we'll see.

Spring in Lafayette

I'm a little behind on some photos here. I thought about just forgetting about them and moving on with my life, but that would be cheating us both out of some great photos. Ok, they might not be great, but I took them with the intent of blogging about them, and I don't want them to go to waste!

Over spring break, after we got back from Cleveland, the weather was perfect. I did mention it as a sidenote in the midst of all my Cleveland entries. But I didn't leave it at that. I actually partook of it. Erica and I decided to go for a walk downtown. We took Ferry St., which has a lot of great historic houses. One of them had an apartment for rent and it looked empty, so we peered in through the windows.

I want to move in right now! I love the parquet floor, fireplace, and chandelier. There's another fireplace in the room beyond the doors. I was mentally arranging all my dream furniture as I ogled the room. Someday...

I like this old building, too.

Our objective for our walk was the walking bridge over the Wabash into West Lafayette. Apparently a lot of other people were taking advantage of the weather and the bridge, too. Lafayette/West Lafayette isn't exactly known for its public art, but it does have its fair share of sundials. Not the least of these is this futuristic one on the bridge. But something was off. It was definitely not telling the right time.

Maybe it wasn't a sundial afterall.

There's a train up to Chicago from Lafayette. Sometime I want to take it. But only if I can carry a round suitcase, wear a hat, and wave a hanky.

The wind picked up and we started to feel little droplets, so we decided we better head back to Erica's apartment. Now a couple weeks later it seems like spring is here for real. The trees have blossomed.

My New Form of Procrastination

Photobooth on my Macbook Pro makes it so easy for me to procrastinate. I just take pictures of myself instead of writing my thesis. Does it matter that it's 3 am? Not one bit.

Winter Sunset

Last night, I chased down the sunset. I was driving home from dinner and it was so beautiful. I had already missed the sunset on Sunday night (which was also lovely), so even though I wasn't feeling very well and wanted to get home, I couldn't let the opportunity pass. The problem with sunsets, though, is that you have a limited window of opportunity. They are always changing, so even though I like the pictures I ended up with, I really didn't capture the full-fledged beauty of it. I also threw in some of the scenery around it (and a self-portrait because why not) because I liked it.

Fireworks of Glass!

Abstract Expressionism

I accidentally left my camera at Matt and Izzy's on Christmas. When I picked it up the next day, I found these brilliant pieces by my niece waiting for me.

Now I'm not one of those people who disparage modern art by saying a child could do it, but these are pretty damn good.

Claire Amelie

The hardest thing about these pictures of Claire is narrowing them down.

Claire loves her uncle goo-goo.

And her new bouncy ball.

Taking pictures in the car makes a boring ride fun. Claire's such a great little actress.

Claire also makes waiting at the doctor's office fun.

And if none of those melted your heart, this surely will.

Photos

I'm getting behind on my postings, so here's a little catch-up piece.

Lately I love taking pictures from airplanes (if you haven't noticed), but this evening was particularly beautiful because it was storming at the airport. My flight was delayed 2 hours! Once we made it through the thunderstorms, it was absolutely perfect. And the clouds formed their own landscape.

And then I was home. I've used the last couple days to spend time with those I care about. Here's proof that you can be five months pregnant and totally sassy.

I love seeing Christmas trees through windows. Here's Matt and Izzy's.

Tanker and kitty:

It started snowing while Tank and I were at dinner and then kept on all through the night. When I left his house, I stopped by the City/County Building because I couldn't help but take some pictures.

I continued taking pictures on the way to my mom's.

And even snapped a few on the walk from the garage to the front door.

This Just In...

While I was in North Carolina, I got to go with Mike and Amanda to the ultrasound. (Amanda curled her hair special for the occasion. ) We couldn't tell the sex of the baby at first because he/she was turned over on the wrong side, but after some pushing and handy detective work by the ultrasound nurse, we discovered... it's a boy!

I have loads of pictures from my trip, but I also have loads of writing and reading and grading to do over the next couple weeks. I will do my best, but for now here are some pics of Amanda's growing tummy.

Morning

I see this every morning on my way to class. For some reason, I really like the way it looks. While I'm very happy about my 10:30 teaching time slot next semester, I must say that I'm kind of going to miss being on campus early in the morning and catching the sun rise.

Bulletin Board

So I know I've been living in my new apartment for over three months, but I just barely took the time to put my bulletin board together. These are the pictures I look at while I wait around for the Internet to work or photos to open up on Photoshop.

Read on for more details.

I love this picture. It was taken on the day of my mission farewell (I think). I've been carrying it around with me for a long while.

Roo, or as Erica likes to call her, Claire-Baby.

Mamers and Mike. (Amanda taught me the fine art of self-portraiture, so blame her for all the self-portraits I'm constantly posting.)

Matt and Izzy at Whitefish Lake one summer.

Mikey and I on a trip to Denver back in '98, I think. We were being superheroes.

Sixteen-years-old, best friends, and I'm pretty sure we had just dyed our hair.

I love this picture of me and Tom in DC. And above it is Kimberly and I all decked out in western attire (and missionary nametags).

Miss Kris and I at Tony Grove a couple falls ago.

And finally, a fortune I got just last week when we had Chinese food for girls' night.

More Fall Pictures

A Lesson in Patience

Remember how I wasn't too impressed by the fall foliage this year? Well, apparently, I just had to be patient. It really turned out quite lovely. Here are some pictures from campus this morning.

Leaf-Peepers

Erica and I went in search of fall color on Sunday evening. Happy Hollow Park yielded some foliage, but nothing to compare with the Adirondacks or the Wasatch Mountains. We left a little disappointed. Still... we snapped a few shots.

Last Night

Orientation

This week is orientation, which actually pretty much sucks. I thought it would be all fluff, but it's not. It's lots of brainstorming and thinking and even, gasp, homework. But one awesome thing about this week is getting know all the people in my mentor group. I totally love them (which makes me nervous because I could end up really hating them). Today I made them take self-mastery pictures of themselves.

The Stacks

Yesterday I had to retrieve an article from the stacks. There's something there that I like. Maybe it's the congestion of books, the low ceilings, the stairs that lead to half stories, the dim lights. I don't know. But I paused in my academic endeavors and took pictures.

(You would have to be crazy to study in the stacks. It's about 120º in there.)

MIA

I really should go home and practice the song for the wedding I am singing in tomorrow, but I just want to get these other pictures put up really quick. They're from the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

I love the expressions on this sculpture.

Every time I see a Bouguereau, I love to look at the hands and eyes.

I don't know why, but I think I want to be a woman like this. Formidable.

I love the preciseness in Girard's work.

This is a picture I totally want to inhabit. Yes, I want to gather flowers and wear a pink gown. My heart longs for it.

I'm not exactly sure why, but somehow I dislike Gauguin. I think I resent him for taking off to Tahiti and leaving his wife and family behind. Still... his work is kind of growing on me. I like this one a lot, but especially because of the cat.

I thought this was pretty effective curacy, hanging three works of trees by Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Cezanne right next to each other so you can see how each approaches the same topic with a different technique.

Gauguin's take:

Van Gogh:

And Cezanne:

I really like the lighting in this piece by Sargent.

I really need to start bringing a little notebook with me when I go to museums so I can write down names I am unfamiliar with. For instance, I cannot remember who did this next one, and I love it.

Mondrian:

Kandinsky:

Another artist I can't remember, but love the texture!

A still life (or two) with fruit.

I want to be friends with an eagle.

There's also a great view of the Minneapolis skyline from within the museum.

This is a blend of art with advertising. Totally makes me want some cream of wheat.

For some reason, when I walk around a museum, I scowl. Guess I'm just taking things seriously and solemnly.

Here's the painting without me blocking it.

A detail from a Chagall work. I just loved the tree and birds and clouds.

The MIA has a great collection of furniture and other decorative arts. I liked this umbrella stand.

And I wish we all drove around in cars like this. The dashboard is the best part.

Thanks for joining me on this tour of the MIA. I'll close this entry with some pop art pieces.

Mom

I love these pictures of my mom.

Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows

I probably took too many photos at the Smith Museum of Stained Glass, but I couldn't help it. They were just so pretty. (Sometimes you can see my camera in the reflection.)

(This is what God's foot looks like):

Summer Rainstorms

Yesterday it rained. All day. I drove up to the Lows' house in the evening for a branch get together. I always get lost going there. Probably because I only go once every three months. I forget which road to turn on. The Lows live outside of town and up a hill. It feels a little like going into the canyon, but it's short-lived. Pretty soon you're back into a small housing development. But when I was lost, I was driving all sorts of different roads that curved and climbed and were surrounded by tall, leafy trees. The rain made everything beautiful. Sometimes you're just so happy to be lost. I stumbled across this golden field.

I wanted to get a picture of the trees on the side of the road, but sometimes it's hard to take a picture while you're driving.

I finally found my way to the Lows' house. When I left, I came out of the trees and down a hill and found a rainbow.

The great thing about this summer storm was that it was still warm and sunny out. The blue sky and clouds were reflected in the wet asphalt of the road. It was perfect.

When I got home, I decided to hang out on my front porch for a bit. The rain had forced a reprieve from the constant fireworks my neighbors have been lighting for the past week. I love the sky during a storm. I like to see the clouds move.

Roo at the Zoo

Don't be alarmed. That is not a lion biting the head off an adorable little girl. It's Roo taking a sip from the classic lion drinking fountain at Hogle Zoo. Mikey and I took her there yesterday for a fun-filled afternoon. I taught her a fun song to get her excited. It goes like this:

We're going to the zoo
We're going to the zoo
We're gonna have fun cuz
We're going to the zoo

Actually, it originally went like this:

We're going to the zoo
We're going to the zoo
We better clean up cuz
We're going to the zoo

Because we had to reshelve all the books Roo and Lucy had pulled off the bookshelf and placed onto her bed. Luckily, singing songs about cleaning up and how much fun it is really works.

The first thing Roo wanted to see was the monkeys, so despite the elephant head placed over the door (see below) that's where we went.

Unfortunately, the monkeys are all behind glass, so I couldn't get any good pictures without glare and reflection, so lets move on to the elephants!

There was also a butterfly building, but it seemed crowded, so we let Roo play on the caterpillar and take a turn looking through the eyes of a fly and then we moved on.

Penguins! But they just stood around, even though there was perfectly good dead fish in the water. They were apparently uninterested. But they're still cute.

We then took the stroller on an African safari to view some zebras.

After a hot dog/corndog break, we swung by to visit a bear.

I think my favorite animal is a giraffe. I don't know why, but I just like them. I think it's their darling little horns on top of their head.

Sadly, the lions were not in view. Hogle Zoo is in the process of building a new habitat for large cats. We were sad because one of Roo's favorite games is to pretend she's a lion. To compensate, we quickly rushed over to her favorite animal/reptile, the crocodile. We also got to see some birds, like the spoonbill, along with snakes, bats, spiders, and pinned butterflies, moths, and beetles.

Our last stop was to visit the apes. While Claire had no problems with the elephant statue and was quite eager to sit on its trunk, it took a little bit of convincing to persuade her to visit this ape statue. At first, she was quite tentative.

Even when we finally got her to sit on its lap, she wasn't too happy.

Then she grew to like the ape.

And even invited Mikey to sit down with her.

She even wanted Mikey and I to sit there together and offered to take our picture. I declined.

I haven't been to Hogle Zoo in many a year. Some things had changed quite a bit (for instance, I couldn't find any of those cool wax animal makers and apparently balloons are now dangerous to animals), but I was glad to see they still had the silhouette of the ape, so you could see how you measure up.

We took a train ride before we left the zoo, too. So that was our trip to the zoo. Although my lyrics aren't the most creative, at least they have that essential element of truth.

We're gonna have fun cuz we're going to the zoo!

BFF

Kylie just sent me these pictures of us. The first one was taken yesterday. The other two are from when Kylie came to visit me once in Logan and I showed her the best part of USU - the Quad.

Nature

Yesterday I went for a walk around the neighborhood. I had to get out of the house for a bit. Clear my head about this job. Plus, it was a beautiful night. Still a little stormy and quite blustery but warm. I brought my camera with me because there are so many great houses in this area, but then I felt awkward taking pictures of people's houses. I didn't want them to think I was scoping out the place for a future burglary attempt. When I got back from my walk, I sprawled out on the grass outside my mom's house and just looked up at the trees. I love seeing the sky through the branches and leaves. I tried to capture it on film, but it never turns out quite right.

I love the feel of grass on my feet. I recently read "Song of Myself" for the first time all the way through. I couldn't help but think of it. I still don't know how I feel about Whitman overall, but he has some fantastic moments. These photos are in honor of him - my leaves of grass which blur into the background.

More of Roo

Here's Roo on her 3rd birthday (which was last Friday).

According to Roo, this is what you do with your fortune from Panda Express:

Forget Avian Flu; I've Got Aviary Fever!

Yesterday, I picked up Kris from her posh design firm in downtown Salt Lake City so we could get together at least once before I head back to Indiana. It was 3 o'clock. too late for lunch, yet too early for dinner. What was there to do? What else but go bird-watching in the country's oldest and largest bird park, Tracy Aviary, located in Liberty Park. We parked on the wrong side of the park, so we meandered around a pond and the carnival rides and purchased some sno-cones before we entered the aviary.

There are a lot of ducks at Tracy Aviary. I love how ducks swallow their necks in an act of perfect contentment.

These birds also roam about freely:

But most birds, sadly, do not. Which, on a peevish note, makes it very difficult to take good pictures. Sometimes I had to try and squeeze my lens in between the netting. If they aren't going to think about the convenience of the birds, they should at least think about mine.

In one part of the park, though, you got to take a trip to Argentina and see the birds of South America. You could even go inside one of the cages (built kind of like a hacienda) and see the birds more closely. This was both exciting and a little terrifying (because birds might land on your head). But it also made it more convenient to take pictures (always important) so we risked it.

Luckily, we escaped the building with hair and scalp intact and continued our tour of Argentina.

I was really taken by the flamingos, but especially fascinated by this sleeping one. He just tucked himself in so gently.

(Sidenote: They actually have really nice restrooms at the Tracy Aviary, soft tissue paper, automatic water, and paper towels to dry your hands. It was a pleasant surprise.)

Here's the Bald Eagle. (Another sidenote: I found out that bald -orig. spelled balde - means white, not bare.)

More roaming, bellowing peacocks. Kids were chasing him, and I had a flashback to my second grade fieldtrip when I, also, chased the peacock because I was trying to be "cool." Sorry, peacock.

Someone told me there wouldn't be pelicans at the Tracy Aviary. Looks like someone was wrong.

I have never before seen a duck like this. Awesome.

I had a challenging time trying to get a picture of this swan because it kept gliding around and blurring my photos. But it was a graceful blur.

We never had magpies like this in my backyard.

And bird's with amazing psychedelic feathers (not furs). Again, I had to align my camera with the holes in the netting in order to get pictures.

Well, that's the end our tour through the aviary. I returned momentarily to taking photos of flowers because beautiful.

And then Kris and I pulled up a spot of grass in the shade for a good chat before I dropped her off at the Trax station.

Downtown

When you're alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go where? That's right - downtown. And that's exactly what I did. One blustery gray day Erica and I went to downtown Lafayette. Next Saturday is Recruitment Weekend (Ra Ra!) for Purdue's American Studies program. We'll be taking the prospective kiddies on a tour of downtown. Here's what they'll see:

Aww cute! But then there's always this:

Does Lafayette have public art? Boy does it ever!!

Detail of the fine workmanship:

Lafayette does have a 5 star restaurant, and this lovely Italian place, La Scala:

It also has a number of posh buildings, such as this one:

But again, lurking under the very building is...

And to keep the burglars out:

Across the street you'll find the courthouse, which looks like this:

And a fountain in memorial of the not-so-slick William Digby who sold the town of Lafayette in 1825 for an $8 profit (gambling debts, you know).

And pediments that include the Native Americans (but not the women):

Don't worry, prospective students. Although Indiana is a red state, there's a strong Democratic party here - just look at their headquarters:

Seriously, I'm not the one you want talking to students about grad school at Purdue. Let me tell you what it's like. The library has lamps that make you feel like you're in prison. Example:

But it's okay because there are lots of escape routes.

But the more common method is this:

Well there you have it. At least Purdue will give you some money. It's what lured the rest of us here.

Christmas Lights at Temple Square

Christmas Photos

Miscellaneous Photos

From a day in Chicago a while back:

Flowers Jenn gave me for my birthday:

This is what I look like lately (studious):

Apparently I had too much fun with Mike and Amanda in North Carolina to take pictures. I only have a few:

Ok, I seriously need to write this paper now. No raspberries.

A Few More Pix

Here are just a few more pictures from around the little town here. This one was taken from a bridge that needs just a little TLC. It's this pedestrian bridge across the Wabash River that connects West Lafayette with Lafayette proper. I went there one nice twilight when I didn't feel like going home. There were people around, but it felt spooky. That's because of all the millions of cobwebs over every inch of the railing and lamp posts, such as in this next photo:

Can't see them very clearly? Let's go in for a closer look.

I had thought about hanging out on the bridge some more because I had really good cell phone reception. I thought it might be the perfect place to place a few phone calls. However, I kept feeling all creepy crawly and there were parts where I didn't even want to open my mouth because the gnats were so thick. Yeah, I wasn't fond. Here's one last picture, though, because I like the orbs of light receding into the distance.

And then this is just a random picture that I took on campus the other day and I had to post it.

This is one of the fifty odd frat houses that neighbor the campus. They all tend to have pillars and brick (except for one that looks very much like a castle with machicolated towers), but this one! This one is right across from the Union Building and the Under(ground)graduate Library. There's always a posse of boys with no shirts who are generally swimming, tossing some bean bags, tossing back a few, playing some frisbee -- all to some pumped up 80s music. At the time this picture was taken, we were all rocking out to A-ha's "Take On Me," but we've also heard the likes of Journey. Who wouldn't want to join a fraternity?

Purdue (in Photos - briefly)

After church today, I took a quick walk around campus with my camera, snapping some shots to share with those who may be curious about where I live. Sometimes I feel awkward taking pictures. Today, I did, so most of these were taken discreetly, thus not framed very well. Also, there's a lot more to Purdue than just these photos. I just wanted to get some of the principle places that I visit on a daily basis.

Above is University Hall and the fountain next to the grave of John Purdue.

This is the Union Building where students go to hang out. I had lunch there last Monday (and probably will every Monday). It was super crowded, but they have carved wooden chairs at all the tables and it has this castle feel to it. I like the reliefs on the front of the building. They show acts of courtship. If you look closely, you'll notice that this one shows the man helping the woman put on her coat.

This is the Stewart Building where I used to go to the computer lab before I got the Internet at home. I think there's a bowling alley in the basement of it.

And this is a pretty fence with flowers.

This is the campus bell tower. I read a little plaque about it today. Appparently, the original one was part of the first building on campus, but it was destroyed in an explosion, so they built a new one, nine bricks taller than the last. That one was taken down and then rebuilt into this one, which is even taller than the last one. Apparently, it symbolizes that we are continually building taller.

Purdue has lots of fountains on campus. This is one of them near one of my buildings. The first time I saw it, freshmen in swimsuits were playing around in it and I was kind of shocked. I think of fountains as being august and dignified structures, but apparently (as I should've known from Friends) you can play in them too.

Welcome to Beering Hall, home of the Liberal Arts and Education Department. I have a class here.

This is Heavilon Hall, home of the English Department. Consequently, my other two classes are here.

As a folklorist, I like to look at campus customs. This was a different one for me. People tape flyers all over the ground. It doesn't seem like it would be that effective, though, because it's not like you stop and read them. Ok, so I've stopped and read some of them. Apparently there's a railroading club and a parachuting club. Still... sometimes the print is way too small. They need to figure out to use big print and catchy phrases.

Finally, the guardians of Elliot Hall of Music. I could figure out that one is for drama (the face, you know) and the other is for music (harp), but I can't figure out the last one. Any suggestions?

Well, that's a brief virtual tour of Purdue after my weeklong acquaintance. It's a nice campus. I like it.

Cache Valley

I'm gonna miss Cache Valley.

Springtime in Salt Lake

Last week, I went to see M. Ward at Kilby. I had a couple hours to spare, so I drove down to Salt Lake a couple hours early, so I could spend some time in my fair capital. First, I went to Memory Grove, a little area hidden away beneath the hill the capitol is on. People like to go there with their dogs and cameras. It's that kind of place. I fit in with the camera, but my outfit seemed a little too... formal, maybe. I was wearing a skirt, but it had cargo pockets, and mary janes, but they had rubbery soles. Anyway, it was like a little Greek garden hidden away, with mini-temples and a little creek running through. Behold:

I really liked this round temple dedicated to soldiers.

There was another one that supposedly had a room set aside for meditation, but it was locked. Apparently, you can meditate just as well outside. There's also a walking trail that I started walking on. I came to this rock bench.

It curved into the landscape. And then closeby there was a rockwall that curved against the falls of the creek, which I suspect are probably manmade. Well, they're still pretty.

Next, I went to temple square, with its abundance of flowers in all varieties. The next pictures are dedicated to the colors of spring (ha-ha-cheese). (oh yeah, the first picture in this post is part of this section, too.)

This next two photos are transitional into the next section about architecture.

Now there are just a few photos of some architectural details around SLC (not punk).

So, that's Salt Lake. It was nice to be back in my home town. When I was in junior high, my friends and I called Salt Lake "Europe" because it was the closest we could get. We'd go down and take pictures of ourselves there, sometimes with umbrellas. Now that I've actually been to Europe, I realize that it's a very American town, but still beautiful. It was fun to see tourists there and wonder what they thought about all the flowers.

Interior Designing

A week ago I dressed in smart casual attire for my roommate's interior design exhibit. It was like an art gallery opening, but with material boards and little models of chairs. I liked walking around in a crowded room looking at different art boards and fabrics. I liked wearing black slacks and lipstick. And there was a piano player, a fountain of white chocolate, strawberries, an assortment of cheeses and breads. And a view of the mountains, still covered in snow. Those designers - they had set up the whole art gallery in spray-painted white and papier mache furniture, a chandelier made of clear hangers, and various greenery. It made it fun to take pictures. So here are some:

Objet d'Art

Yesterday, I was writing a paper that I've procrastinated for three months. Well, maybe only two. There's a certain setting that I need to write a paper. I need a Diet Pepsi (or Coke) to drink and the Cocteau Twins (or This Mortal Coil) playing softly in the background. Yesterday was a special occasion, though, because it was the first time I got to write a paper in the comfort of my own bedroom, so I added some candles burning. At first, I had some incense going. I've never been a big fan of incense, but then I got this littly guy in Austria where you stick incense in his belly and then he looks like he's smoking through a pipe. Anyway, so now I like to burn some incense, and then I had some tea lights burning, also from Austria. Then the incense died out, and I remembered that I had this old candle that I bought in Yellowstone last summer. It's supposed to smell like earth, but it really smells like blueberries. So I decided to light this candle. It's melted into a little cobalt votive candle holder. So it was flickering in the windowsill while I was writing, and I couldn't help but notice how beautiful it was. So I took a picture. That led to a nice little distraction of taking photos of other objects in my room. And here they are:

This is my window. I have a view of the Logan Temple and Old Main, although they are quite small.

Here's one of my tealight candles burning. I got the ceramic holder in Austria from a ceramic studio under the railroad tracks.

A Hopper painting as a postcard hanging on my cork board. I like the woman sitting alone at the cafe (a dream of mine) and the lights leading into darkness.

Something else hanging on the corkboard - me. Taken the day before I went to the MTC.

This is the incense smoking man. His backpack fell off once, so I had to reglue it, and I think I did it crooked.

When I was in Montana, I went a little crazy about things. I mean, I started kind of liking things that were kind of cowboyish. Anyway, this is a ball of pheasant feathers that I got for Christmas. I still think it's rather delightful.

I got this glass bottle in Venice. The store clerk wrapped it up in bubbles and it stayed that way for three months until I brought it home. But now I like the way it reflects light.

This is from Mongolia. Khishgee gave it to me.

In Austria, we would go to flea markets. Often, they would have a box or a basket full of old keys, and I always wanted to get one but never did. Then on the last flea market before we left, I decided that I really wanted to purchase a key. Unfortunately, the only one I could find was this one that isn't a real key at all. It's actually a corkscrew.

My parents brought this figurine back from Denmark for me. It's been on my dresser ever since. I think they look really sweet in their ceramic embrace.

I have a stack of CDs that I really need to put away sitting on my shelves.

A favorite drink in Austria was Almdudler. Mmm... so tasty! Once I stole a glass from a restaurant that had these same drawings on it and the name Almdudler, but it fell and broke. So then I stole this bottle (although it wasn't really stealing since I bought it) from the restaurant at our last lunch in Old Town.

And finally, lately I've really been enjoying pixie sticks.

Self-Portraits

I realized the other day that I rarely put pictures of myself on this blog, so I thought I would indulge myself by putting some highly authored photos, each entitled "self-portrait," on here.

(Just to be clear, this is a chewing gum cigarette. They sell them here, and I thought it would be fun to buy some since you can't get them in the US, and for good reason - we don't want to encourage kids to start smoking.)

Yeah, they all look pretty much the same, but oh well... So, that's me.

Krampuses Amok

Krampuses were running amok in Telfs on Saturday. I captured a few in photos.

After the parade and the scaring and hitting of people, you find out that krampuses are really just like everyone else.

Some kids want to grow up to be a krampus, so they are practicing right now.

A toast to the Krampuses - Cheers!

Cemetery

I've always found comfort in the cemetery, as this little blog has from time to time attested. Last Sunday was no different. Across from the stop for the #3 is a walled cemetery that I have meant to visit for the past two months. After church (3 hours of German that I don't understand), I decided to wander for a bit. Of course, I took my camera to church (who doesn't?), so here are some pictures.

Something I like about the cemeteries here are that often there will be an arcaded gallery with paintings over what looks like a hearth. There will be candles lit and flowers. It makes me think of the dead gathering in one big living room, all surrounding the formal portraits. I like the cozy scene. I also like that people here actually go to cemeteries. They are always busy. There are places for you to fill your watering can.

National Holiday = Free Museums

Today was an Austrian National Holiday - independence for almost 50 years. This meant that we had no classes and the museums were open to the public for free. We wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, and you, dear reader, get to take advantage as well. Here are some photos:

First Schloss Ambras:

We first visited this castle on Sunday, but we only wandered the grounds and alas, neither of us had our camera. We determined to come back another time. It just worked out well that we could come for free. This museum holds suits of armo