Wednesday, August 3
Tuesday, August 2
Monday, August 1
Maine Day 3-Fog and Lasagna Again
The fog rolled in today, so the islands off of the Maine coast disappeared into the mist. We didn't let that stop us from having a great day. We had a lazy morning, but finally got up and going and went out for lunch to the Bagaduce Lunch. It is a roadside grill on the Bagaduce River. We split a very greasy order of fried shrimp, french fries, and onion rings. So much for lowering my cholesterol. We then went into Blue Hill and went to some galleries (see below).
Afterward, we came back to the house and relaxed. I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies and then heated up the lasagna I made Saturday night for a third night in a row. We are loving eating out on the back deck, drinking our wine, and enjoying the view. Even tonight, though there is no sunset visible, it is cool and comfortable--so much better than the oppressive heat in DC. Yes! It is August and we are wearing sweatshirts. How cool is that?
Maine Day 3--Galleries In Blue Hill
"Black Dog" by Michele Connolly at the Leighton Gallery |
A painting by William Irvine, also at the Leighton |
"Purple Iris" by Don Bishop at the Blue Hill Bay Gallery. I admired this one for several years, but they were packing it up while we were there, as it had just sold. |
"Churning Cove" by Mark Haltof at the Blue Hill Bay Gallery |
"Thayendanagea" is a bronze sculpture by Joseph Brant at the Jud Hartmann Gallery |
Sunday, July 31
Day 2 In Maine--Boating to Castine
Wine at sunset looking at the view from our rental on Saturday night. |
After sunset on Saturday. After dark, the stars were amazing. |
Our friend, Christina, and her husband took us out on their boat today. |
Pumpkin Island Lighthouse |
Christina is served some champagne on our cruise to Castine. |
Christina and Shane share a moment. |
We arrive at Castine on the Hum Diddy for lunch. |
Saturday, July 30
Finally Arrived in Maine! Hiking the Shore
The bridge to Bucksport, ME. |
The house we're renting was HOT when we got to it. It was all closed up, and though the temperature was only about 82 degrees outside, inside it had to be in the 90s. There is no AC, so we turned on the fans and opened the windows.
After we unpacked, we decided it would be cooler to hike down by the rocky shore. The views from the back of the house and down by the water are amazing. Below are some shots we took, including one of a starfish along the shore.
We're going to have a lasagna and some wine for dinner and enjoy the evening cool off. It is supposed to get down in the 50s tonight.
Friday, July 29
Our Maine/NYC Vacation Begins!
Isle, Maine, tomorrow.
While the temperature in DC today hit 104 (actual--not the heat index), we are expecting it to be in the high 70s in Maine. We can't wait.
We will be going to New York City on Thursday until Sunday. We have tickets to see the Broadway show, The Book of Mormon, on Satuday. We will be seeing other shows too. Keep posted.
Thursday, July 28
Thursday Night Cocktails with My Now Legal Niece
Shane and I took my niece, Nikki, out to Wisdom for a few cocktails. She just turned 21 this month and she likes the fancy mixed drinks. I used to change her diapers!
Wednesday, July 27
Music to Run By: Let the River Run
I am still on track with my training for the Philadelphia Marathon. I ran 5 miles on the treadmill at the gym today in 42:30. My knee is feeling a bit better. I think the roller exercise I posted about earlier is helping. This song came on my iPod Shuffle today and help me get through to mile 5.
Tuesday, July 26
Disgusted by GOP Debt Ceiling Political A-Holes
Monday, July 25
New Yorker Caption Contest #296
Oh my, Ms. Palin! You look so much taller in person.
This is my idea for the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #296. Let me know if you have any ideas for a caption too.
Sunday, July 24
Enough with the Heat Already
Like much of the country, it is hot as hell in DC. With actual temperatures in the triple digits and heat indexes just plain outrageous, I've had enough of the hot.
Our poor air conditioner is running constantly. Earlier in the summer, I had someone come check out the AC unit and he added freon. But since then, the air is actually warmer than when the freon was low. He said that the too cold air would have caused the unit to freeze up eventually. Though the proper amount of freon makes the air the proper temperature, the colder air made the house colder. However, I want the unit to continue to work too.
We have a blanket duct taped over the windows of our back door to prevent the sun from making the house too hot. I'm strongly thinking about putting canvas over the skylight to also block the sun from beaming in. We have ceiling fans going in the bedrooms and a oscillating fan going downstairs. I don't know how people ever lived before electricity or AC. I remember not having AC as a kid. As I recall, I think we spent most of our time outside under a shade tree.
I've heard that more people die from extreme heat than die from tornadoes, hurricanes, the cold, and other such natural disasters combined. With climate change, it seems things are just going to get worse in the future. Lucky for us we're going to Maine next week where the average highs for the days are projected to be in the high 70s. Sounds like heaven! Except, if it does get hot up there (and it was in the 90s recently), there is no AC in the house we're renting.
Saturday, July 23
Cake Decorating Boo Boo from Fail Blog
This one made me laugh. Visit failblog.org by clicking the link here or going to the link on my Blog List in the sidebar.
Friday, July 22
Goodbye Old Kitchen, Hello Stainless Steel
We have a very small galley kitchen and it looks like our appliances were from the 1960s. The problem is that they still worked, so we still used them. We had previously gotten a new refrigerator. Today, we got a new stove and dishwasher. Like the previous appliances, they are "apartment sized." The stove is only 20 inches wide and the dishwasher is only 18 inches wide. Do you think it looks better?
Here's the old stuff. |
Here's the new appliances. |
Thursday, July 21
Started Training to Run the Philadelphia Marathon
This past Sunday was 18 weeks until the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon (November 20), and this week I started my official training program. I am doing the Hal Higdon Intermediate 1 18-week training program.
I've already fallen short of the schedule, but I'm blaming that on my knee problems and going to New York yesterday. I was supposed to run 5 miles yesterday, but did do 4 miles today.
Also, I bought a foam roller and have been doing my knee exercises (see Monday's posting). I think it is helping; that along with the new shoes.
Anyway, I'm going to try to keep on schedule better. Hopefully, the result will be a sub-4 hour marathon. My ultimate goal is to qualify for Boston, but since they have now made the requirements more stringent, I have to run a qualifying race in under 3 hours, 30 minutes. That seems hard to imagine. I can only try. Look for me with my blue sponge.
I've already fallen short of the schedule, but I'm blaming that on my knee problems and going to New York yesterday. I was supposed to run 5 miles yesterday, but did do 4 miles today.
Also, I bought a foam roller and have been doing my knee exercises (see Monday's posting). I think it is helping; that along with the new shoes.
Anyway, I'm going to try to keep on schedule better. Hopefully, the result will be a sub-4 hour marathon. My ultimate goal is to qualify for Boston, but since they have now made the requirements more stringent, I have to run a qualifying race in under 3 hours, 30 minutes. That seems hard to imagine. I can only try. Look for me with my blue sponge.
Wednesday, July 20
Went to New York City and Saw Hair
My Hair Playbill and flower handed out during the show. |
While watching this show, never have I felt more like an old fuddy duddy. I have to say I'm not a big fan of musicals that insist on trying to get you to clap along. I don't want to participate. I want to watch.
Yea... There was nudity. I was told you really didn't see anything because of how it was lit, but that is not true. The lighting was dim, but I was 10th row center and I could see plenty. I didn't really understand why they all got naked. There didn't seem any reason for it as part of the story. I guess it was just one of those hippy things they do. Another interesting side note, the theater was full of very old people and lots of little kids--I saw some under 10. Why wasn't my mom that cool?
Overall, I would say the show was so so. Some of the songs were good, but it was too much of a lot of so so songs. The end was very affective, but there is not much of a story. It definately would have been better if I had a few drinks in me.
Tuesday, July 19
New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #295
Naturally, the Hummer is in the bedroom.
This is my idea for the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #295. Let me know if you have any ideas for a caption too.
Monday, July 18
Trying to Fix My Runner's Knee
I've been running for years and have never really had any problems with my knees until recently. I stopped running for a couple weeks because of a bad cold, and when I started again about a week ago, almost immediately I was having pain in my right knee. I did some Interwebs research and it sounds like what I have is "Runner's Knee."
I was hoping to start training for a marathon in the fall, but this has put a big crimp in those plans. I went to a local running store today at lunch and the sales guy is a running coach at a local university. I admitted it has been a couple years since I've bought new running shoes. He said you should replace them ever 400-500 miles. I know I ran more than 1,000 miles just last year. I did buy a new pair of shoes--Asics GT-2160s ($100), which he said will help with my stability. He had me run on a treadmill so he could evaluate what I needed.
He also explained the importance of strengthening my core and loosening my hips to improve my knee problem. I found the video below to be very helpful and it echos a lot of what the sales guy said. Humping the foam noodle may look a little strange at the gym though. The sales guy also suggested icing the knee a couple times a day. I'm going to give it a shot and hope I can keep on running.
I was hoping to start training for a marathon in the fall, but this has put a big crimp in those plans. I went to a local running store today at lunch and the sales guy is a running coach at a local university. I admitted it has been a couple years since I've bought new running shoes. He said you should replace them ever 400-500 miles. I know I ran more than 1,000 miles just last year. I did buy a new pair of shoes--Asics GT-2160s ($100), which he said will help with my stability. He had me run on a treadmill so he could evaluate what I needed.
He also explained the importance of strengthening my core and loosening my hips to improve my knee problem. I found the video below to be very helpful and it echos a lot of what the sales guy said. Humping the foam noodle may look a little strange at the gym though. The sales guy also suggested icing the knee a couple times a day. I'm going to give it a shot and hope I can keep on running.
Sunday, July 17
An HDL Miracle or Medical Mistake?
Back in March, I had my cholesterol checked and found out my "good cholesterol," the HDL, had dropped from a low average of 43 to only 29, which is below the safe range. My ratio of good cholesterol to bad went from a barely good 5.1 to a not so good 7. As a result, I made a change in my diet to include salmon at least three times a week, oatmeal for breakfast with flaxseed added, and lots more nuts.
Recently, I purchased private life insurance that required a medical exam, and today I received the results of that exam. It has been only a little more than 4 months since my last test and according to the new results my HDL is up--way up. It is now 52 (normal range is 35-59) and the ratio is down to 3.9 (the lower the better). How can that be? Can that be right? While my total cholesterol is 205, I can't tell you how good I feel about the surge in my HDL. I hope it's not a mistake.
Saturday, July 16
Blue Sponge Movie Review: Midnight in Paris
I was a little wary about this film when I read in the review it involved time travel. I've never been a big fan of time travel as a plot element. I thought it might be interesting to see how Woody would do such a thing.
The story is of a young American couple traveling to Paris--Gil (Owen Wilson) and his fiance, Inez (Rachel McAdams). He is a screenwriter that loves Paris and wants to move there to work on his novel. Inez doesn't see the allure of Paris, and wants Gil to go back to Hollywood and make lots of money. She meets up with an old boyfriend and Gil wonders the streets until an old car drives by at midnight each night and takes him back to the 1920s where he meets up with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Cole Porter, and a host of other geniuses. Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) offers to read Gil's book and he falls for Pablo Picasso's girlfriend.
I have to say that I was not as taken with this film as the critics. I thought it was kind of boring. The best part of the film was seeing the scenes of Paris. It is quite a love letter to the city. It made me want to be there, but I wished I didn't have to watch the dull characters populating the film. The movie had very little humor. Like many Allen films, it was quite talky, but this one was talky in an irritating way. I guess you can tell it was not one of my favorites.
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