Akiane Kramarik

WOW is all I can say about this little girl. I haven't heard of her but maybe you all have. She is a very gifted artist.

http://www.artakiane.com/home.htm

Be sure and look at

http://www.artakiane.com/akiane_art.htm

When you click on a thumbnail, it opens a window and tells about the painting, why she painted it or what it means or a poem. Absolutely fascinating. An Indigo child, I am sure! It looks like she was in one of the documentaries about indigo children.

Happy Holidays!

click picture for larger view

Indigo Girls New Album

I am a bad IG fan. I didn't even know they HAD new album. It is Despite Our Differences. I've added it to my wish list but I suppose it's too late for that for Christmas. I'll buy it after though.

One review says it's their best since Come On Now Social in 1999 so I am very anxious to hear it. I don't love any of their albums from that point on (I like them, but I rarely listen to them, and prefer their older stuff -- which I adore).

Big & Rich

"BIG & RICH...AUTHORS?
Yup! Big & Rich are planning to release their third album, as well as a book, on May 15th. Big Kenny Alphin and John Rich have recorded about half of the songs so far for the yet-to-be-titled follow-up CD to 2005's "Comin' To Your City." The book, an idea of Warner Books, is more of a celebration of the duo rather than a biography. It will chronicle when and how they came together in 1998, how the records came about, and the Muzik mafia family. Kenny is also working on other projects, including a musical called "Code Name Rock Star" and "Milk And Beer: Pirate Songs For Sons And Fathers," which he plans to start as a film and then adapt into a stage musical."

source: http://www.mywesttexasblogs.com/blog2/index.php?blog=13&title=monday_moanin_59&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Christmas Activities

Yesterday we had a staff luncheon at Embassy Suites. This wasn't a firm-sponsored lunch. The staff draws names and we go out to lunch at our expense and exchange gifts. Embassy Suites has a wonderful buffet, and it's such a nice atmosphere in the atrium. Like having lunch in a jungle.



After work I attended the Lakewood Elementary School Christmas program which wa sheld at St. Albans High School. My niece, Maddie, was in the older group who performed The Incredible Reindeer, wherein a group of superhero reindeer save earth (and therefore Christmas) from the asteroid hurtling toward it on Christmas eve. Maddie played one of the four superhero reindeer, "Laser Squint". She is so adorable. And it was a great program. The pre-schoolers sang songs, and the other group of younger kids did The Littlest Christmas Tree. It was so enjoyable, and really helped get me in the holiday mood.



TGIF!

We are Marshall

The premiere of the movie We Are Marshall is tonight in Huntington, West Virginia.

The movie is about the 1970 plane crash that killed most of the football team and how the team and community struggled to overcome the tragedy.

I am a graduate of Marshall University. But I was not a resident of Huntington and didn't really know about the plane crash until I went to school there (I was only 7 when it happened). I knew there was a memorial fountain that mentioned it. I heard that the reason our football team never won any games at that time was because of the "curse" after the plane crash. Football games were not a big deal then, at least to me and my friends, because we really didn't have a good team while I was there. I come from a blue collar working class family from a coal mining town. They didn't go to college, must less college football games. As a student I went to an occasional game, but it was only for the drinking and we always left at half time.

I had one acquaintance who lost both of his parents in the crash. He was a friend of a friend. He was financially set for life; I don't know if it was from the life insurance or a lawsuit. He was my age or maybe a little younger, so he was a child when he lost them. He didn't have to work and had money to do pretty much what he wanted. But he seemed a little lost. He didn't have any direction in his life.

One of my current close friends has a brother-in-law with a connection. He is being portrayed in the movie but I don't remember his name. He caught the winning touchdown in the big game after the crash. He was living in Columbus when the movie was filmed and they had to track him down to get his okay to use his name in the film. Unfortunately, he died a few weeks after that and he'll never get to see the movie.

Anyway, that's all I know about it. I have friends who are from Huntington who are much closer to the story than I am. Some of them may be in the movie as extras, as it was filmed in Huntington. A couple of my friends were at the premiere last night.

So go see the movie. I probably won't until after Christmas but I'm anxious to see it.

10 Gadgets that Changed the World

"The wheel. The plow. The gun. The electric light. The radio. The chip. The untidy march of human ingenuity and innovation has led you here, to our list of the 10 most life-altering devices of the modern era."

http://blog.wired.com/wiredphotos6/2006/12/1_rca_model_630.html

Going through the list, the first one I was aware of as being something new that I didn't take for granted was the microwave oven. I don't recall them being widely used among people I knew until the early 80's, but maybe it was the late 70's.

Life: Your Perfect Teacher

"I acknowledge and honor the teacher that is my life. May I be wise enough to recognize the teachers and lessons that I encounter today and may I be open to receiving their wisdom."

from: http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2006/5643.html

Isabella

This catalog has such beautiful items. They have some wonderful inspriational calendars.

http://www.isabellacatalog.com/index.cfm

My Work Neighborhood

I have a new camera phone and am obsessively taking pictures with it. It will wear off. In the meantime, I'll post some here. They aren't as good as my other camera, but decent for a camera phone.

The street where I work -- Capitol Street, Charleston, West Virginia. It has a lot of beautiful old building that have been restored. The one I work in was built in the late 1800's.

 

The Kanawha County Public Library, from my Boss' window. I love that library. I remember how awed I was it as a child (we went to the book mobile every week but occasionally got to go downtown to the "big library"). I worked there one summer and fell in love with it. I still kind of wish I'd become a librarian.

 

A shop window near my office (The Coffee Bean)
  

Spare

  

New camera phone

  

Helvetia Cheese

Last spring I posted about our visit to Helvetia, West Virginia. Today there's an article in the paper about the people who re-opened the Cheese Haus. I need to go back and buy some cheese!

Bees and cheese: Honey store operator, librarian enjoy wheel life in Helvetia