You know what to do...

The only thing you can do when faced with a situation like this is... take a picture of it and post it on a blog.

(Thanks to my buddy Pete who sent me this shot of the door in front of the Griffith Observatory in L.A.)

Random Art - Crystal City

I found these 10 panels near a little parking lot in the colorfully named Crystal City, VA. I love public art, particularly in areas where it's largely unnecessary and unexpected. These panels are sort of hidden, around the back side of a building, facing a relatively small parking lot.

Good stuff!

WWII Memorial

Wow, it was hot when we went into DC last week (isn't it always?), but I must say, the WWII memorial is a pretty impressive sight.

Found Art

Came across this sign in the parking garage of the Franconia-Springfield metro stop. It just struck me as artistic somehow. I wonder what it means...

Yum?

Hey kids, who wants to pretend to have lunch?

(Photo taken in the basement of the American History Museum - and yeah, I cheated a little by leaving out the left-pointing arrow that's next to the word Cafeteria).

Strange New Habit

I've developed a new habit since moving to Virginia. I probably shouldn't mention it on a forum like a blog, but I feel the need to confess that I've started... reading a newspaper.

I know, I know, in the 21st century, nobody reads newspapers anymore. The whole paradigm of yesterday's news printed on dead trees is, like, so 1900's. But, the Washington Post was offering a pretty good deal if you signed up for daily delivery, so we did. Our plan was to just get the Sunday paper, but now we're getting one practically every day.

Some mornings I don't get around to opening it (preferring instead to, say, write a blog post over breakfast). But some mornings I do read it, and you know what? I like it...

Replacing the van...

Well, we're thinking about replacing our nearly 10-year-old van. We'd planned to keep it for a bit longer, but the new "cash for clunkers" program makes it a bit more appealing to do it before November, instead of waiting until next summer. It's only worth about $2500 as a trade-in, and the CARS program is offering $4500 for it. That's not nothin'.

Plus, the poor thing is getting loud, despite the new muffler we put on last year. Just had it checked out and the mechanic said there's nothing wrong with it. It's just loud... and old...

So, any suggestions on a good replacement?

New Book Starting Soon!

As I’ve mentioned in a few places, I’m writing a non-Boomer Sisters book this year. I’ve started doing some plot outlining and some character sketches, and the current title is The Helper In The Sun.

I’ve generally got the plot & plan together, in a big-picture sort of way, although at the moment there’s a pretty critical detail I haven’t figured out yet (specifically, how the hero will defeat the villain). It’s going to be a fun book, and hopefully a longer book than what I’ve written for the previous four years (at Beth’s request – she said she likes chunky books).

My plan is to start writing in earnest on Aug 1st. We’ll see how it goes!

Riding The Bus

I’m getting the hang of commuting via metrobus. I’ve got a good bus stop not too far from my house, I’m learning that the commuter parking lots near that stop get filled up later in the morning, and I’m even starting to recognize some faces. It’s nice that I get to do some reading (I’m almost through Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises). But one thing I’m not used to yet is how much the bus moves.

I don’t mean in a forward direction. I’m talking about the side-to-side & up-and-down movement. The bumping and swaying. Frankly, I don’t like it. For one, it makes writing virtually impossible, which is pretty frustrating for a guy like me. It makes reading a bit difficult, but doable. I suppose I’ll get used to it over time, but for now, it’s pretty distracting.