In recent weeks I’ve seen several articles around the web about photographers documenting urban decay in Detroit. It’s fascinating stuff!

As someone who dabbles in photography and who also loves a good sprinkling of the eerie and unknown, I find these pictures irresistible. They give me shivers. They’re delicious, drenched in story, a feast for the imagination.

The photographers are Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, and their site is here.

Love, love, love, love, LOVE this stuff. Cannot get enough.

Oh, and the Phillips 66 pic is one of mine--a humble attempt from the first month of my first photography class. But I had a blast driving around searching for old, tumbledown stuff to shoot.

Lovely Libraries

I never got around to posting about our trip to the UK in June, but one of the best things we saw was the incredible library, The Long Room, at Trinity College in Dublin. It was jaw-droppingly beautiful, books floor to ceiling, and had this rich, lush quality that made you feel smart just sitting and soaking it in.

We weren't allowed to take photos, so I went in search of one online and found the super-cool site called Curious Expeditions. It was the Librophiliac Love Letter post that left me drooling, but the whole site is worth exploring.

I had no idea there were so many take-your-breath-away, GORGEOUS, I-want-to-live-there libraries around the world.

*Photo from Curious Expeditions

We Interrupt This Ridiculously Long Lapse in Posting...

to share a link to the super cool blog of a super cool writer, Elissa Cruz:

http://elissacruz.blogspot.com/

I've gotten to know Elissa through Verla Kay's message board (see link to the right), a shining oasis for children's writers in all stages of their writing journeys. Elissa is funny, smart, and a force for good in promoting middle-grade books and their authors.

Happy blogiversary, Elissa!

Little League

Our new town has a fantastic youth baseball league, and our boys are signed up to play! Just going to practices, sitting outdoors, soaking up the atmosphere...it's settled something in me that's been restless--homeless--for a long time. I think we're finally home, finally in a place we can settle in to build a sense of permanence.

Baseball is so many things. It's comfortable. It's community. It's mowed grass and dusty fields. Hot dogs and folding chairs. Hope and hard work, focus and faith.

People often speak of baseball as a metaphor for life. For our family, it represents something simpler but no less profound: peace.

The boys are happy. We are Nomads no more. Life is good.

Grins & Smiles & Giggles & Laughs

Does anybody else remember this cereal?







In my memory it tasted like perfection, like sunshine and gumdrops. In reality it probably tasted like sand. Either way it didn't matter. Just the name alone could get you through the day.

Photo from theimaginaryworld.com.

Olympic Moments

Watching the Opening Ceremonies tonight brings back vivid memories of the Salt Lake Games. It was amazing to be there, to experience that electricity, that current of optimism and joy and pride. We tried for tickets through the wristband lottery but ultimately had to buy them the old-fashioned way: eBay.

We saw the women's figure skating short program (waaaay up in the nosebleed seats) and a men's hockey game (I think it was Belarus vs. Russia). I remember the huge banners that draped the buildings downtown, and the silly Roots berets that sold out because they were THE hot item to wear.

I admit it--I love the stories of sacrifice and lifelong struggle that emerge during the Olympics, no matter what country the athletes are from, because in most cases they've worked their whole lives in pursuit of a dream, and then they're there, they've made it, they've accomplished something truly great. Medals or no medals, it's the triumph of the human spirit that gets me every time.

A Cry for Help

Have I mentioned that Bejeweled is awesome? Oh, right. Yesterday.

But it tells me I'm excellent and incredible. How many other games are both sparkly and provide an instant ego boost?

Plus the offer we were expecting on the house today didn't come, so distractions were especially welcome.

If I post about Bejeweled again tomorrow, someone may need to stage an intervention.

The Midwest's Many Moods

Peoria had torrential rain and temps in the mid 50s today. I don't mind the lack of cold AT ALL, but the contrast with our recent wintry weather is a shock. It reminded me of the ice storm pics I never posted, so here are a few in honor of our newly departed snow:

I Heart Chicago

We drove to Chicago again over the weekend. We saw this:

Wood, American Gothic

And this:

Seurat, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte

And this too:

van Gogh, The Poet's Garden

I could have stood and stared at van Gogh's work all day. Many of the paintings were off display due to renovations, but we still saw Pissaros, Monets, Giffords, and a bunch of others I can't think of right now.

Yeah. I know embarassingly little about art. But still--culture! Grown-up time! (Even though the kids were there and quite loud and not even a little bit patient. I'm so used to people staring and/or giving me dirty looks it doesn't even faze me anymore.)

*happy sigh* It was heaven.