Photos from a weekend in Louisville, KY

I just got back from a few days in Louisville, KY, where I was staying for the American Medical Writers Association conference. The conference workshops I attended were helpful and informative, and I actually had some time to wander around the city. I had never been there before and I enjoyed it. The city has some really beautiful architecture, and I actually (surprisingly) did mostly ok with food (traveling is often challenging because of my food allergies). I tried Ethiopian and Persian food (the Persian stew I had — vegetarain Fesenjoon, OHMYGOD, it was amazing) and ate at this really fun, funky cafe (where there are frequent Elvis sightings!) and had this amazing sweet potato/baked apple/fried tofu salad.

I took lots of pics, here are just a few:

Some neat building reflections downtown

Obviously, horses are a big theme throughout the city, and there were many cool horse art pieces throughout the city. I asked this horse if he was missing any pieces.

Lots of cool light fixtures

View of the Ohio River right behind my hotel

This bike was actually chained up, so I think someone actually rides it. AWESOME. And there is an orange Dell flag on top of the stick, because, why not?

The Belle of Louisville

Fun little section of Downtown, with lots of restaurants and bars, and a stage for bands to play. I saw a bit of the free Lonestar concert.

Neat building art, right next to my hotel

closeup of the paddle wheel on the Belle of Louisville (anyone know what it is actually called? I’m guessing it’s proper name is not paddle wheel)

This guy was carving really cool walking sticks. I would have bought one for B, but I wasn’t sure how I would get it back home with me.

From this awesome, funky thrift/vintage store that I found (if you are reading this, Hello Louisa!)

68 beers on tap. 30 Frozen Drinks. 1 Giant Lizard. Ok then!

This sign totally cracked me up. I didn’t go in but I was admittedly very curious to see the size of the burritos after this!

That’s it for now, I will probably get some more shots up tonight or tomorrow!

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Scenes from the NC State Fair

I loved these two guys!

Don’t they look like they are having a conversation?

This was part of a Waiting for Santa scene, the note actually says For Santa, although you can’t read it in the photo.

A lovely garden fairy in a neighboring scene

Kitteh at the gate

Some of the flowers in the flower competition

Walking around by the carnival strip

yin and yang in the garden area

Tobacco leaves drying

Thanks for playing with me at the fair!

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Proof that I live in the South now

From the NC State Fair this weekend — where deep frying could be an official sport, I think

I think my arteries clogged and my blood pressure shot up just by taking these pictures and being near so much deep fried-ness.

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Sunday Scribblings — My style

So, this week, the topic over at Sunday Scribblings is My Style.

What is my style? I don’t know if I have just one that defines me, my style can change a lot depending on my mood, if I am feeling silly or sassy or professional or somewhere in the middle.

My style can be silly:

From junior high/early high school days, and then more recently

A more professional Flying Mermaid:

A bit sassier:

Sassy and fun:

Sporty:

Rocking the superhero Blue tights and bitch boots

So there you have it, a sampling of the many styles of the Flying Mermaid.

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Food for thought

Something I just started thinking about — photoshopping, photo editing, touching up.

I read about a bit of the furor recently over a Sarah Palin Newsweek cover, a very close-up shot of her face, and the uproar was that it was unkind and unflattering to her because it wasn’t retouched and showed some lines and light facial hair and pores.

I also read and visit a lot of photography sites, and I know photoshopping is very common. My questions for you: Do you think people should be retouched in photos? Do you think it’s bad to let people look how they naturally do? What kind of photoshopping do you do? What kind of photoshopping would you like photographers to do to pictures of you? Do you think good portrait photography has to show the completely perfect part of us — no wrinkles, no zits, a little thinner? Do you like portrait photography that shows someone as they are, not photoshopped?

I would very much love to hear your thoughts on this!

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Thursday Thunks

Found this via The Daily Meme, and it sounded interesting. Site — Thursday Thunks Play along!

1. How long do you keep unmatched socks before you get rid of them… and how do you dispose of these socks? Hm, I have a few unmatched socks, and I just wear them together. I suppose when I am cleaning out preparing for a move, I probably throw away the unmatched ones I never wear.
2. If you could paint your house ANY color you wanted and your friends, family & neighbors would love the color from the moment they saw it, what would it be? I’m going to with a great deep royal blue with white shutters
   
3. Which Disney prince/princess would you want to be and why? Ariel of course. Redhead, check. Mermaid, check. Sings all the time, check. Friends with sea creatures, check. Although, second choice would be Mulan, because she is a great fighter, has a pet dragon, and does whatever she can to protect her family.
4. What was the last thing you took a picture of? Probably when B and I went rock climbing — I took pictures of B climbing.

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Booking through Thursday meme

I grabbed this from this site — Play along!

What was the last book you bought?

I believe the last book I bought is I Capture the Castle, which I like, but I haven’t gotten very far into it. I picked it up because J.K. Rowlings was a reviewer, and said it  had one of the best literary heroines she’s ever read.

Name a book you have read MORE than once

Oh god, I read most of my books more than once. Just one, The Little Prince. It still makes me cry every time.

Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?

Without a doubt. The Celestine Prophecy (which I need to buy again); Mutant Message Down Under; Eat, Pray, Love; Illusions; One

How do you choose a book? eg. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews

I first pick up books based on cover design and how the book feels, then I look at reviews and then summary.

Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?

I am generally a fiction kind of girl

What’s more important in a novel – beautiful writing or a gripping plot?

Great question. I love beautiful writing (but not pretentious writing), but it has to have a plot that makes me care about the characters and what happens to them. Beautiful writing alone won’t get me to finish the book.

Most loved/memorable character (character/book)

Anne of Green Gables, Pippi Longstocking, Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web

Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?

On the bureau next to my desk, Wanderlust by Danielle Steel, Labyrinth by Kate Mosse. On the little end table next to that, Rebel Angels and Into the Wild, out in the living room, I Capture the Castle and the 13th Story.

What was the last book you’ve read, and when was it?

Last book I completed…it’s sad that I am struggling with this. I am “reading” lots of books, but not really reading any of them.

Have you ever given up on a book half way in?

Oh absolutely. The Thornbirds (greatest love story, really? I don’t think so!) Great Expectations (yes, I realize that makes me a bad English major, I tried to get through it for three different classes and couldn’t), Inkspell, Under the Banner of Heaven (great book, really interesting and thought-provoking, but it made me so upset I couldn’t continue reading it, but I do want to go back and finish it)

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Fall Crafty-ness

Last night, I started making some fall/halloween cards, and I will probably make a couple more tonight.

Well, that’s nice, you say, but why are you blogging about it?

I have more cards than people I need to send to…so, I would like to send a card to YOU!

First three responders will get a card from me 🙂

I will email the three for their addresses 🙂

Happy thursday!

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Still there…

In school, and growing up, I was rather shy. This sometimes surprises people who know me, because I was always the girl who would get up and dance just because and who would wear loud, flashy clothes and crazy mismatched earrings just to stand out. But once I was out of my small group of friends and in larger groups, I was Wallflower Girl. Large groups always made me uncomfortable and made me want to disappear into the background, especially if I was walking into a large gathering. I would feel like everything interesting about me just turned and fled out of the room, leaving nothing but this dull shell who didn’t fit in. I suppose it is a version of social anxiety.

I’ve been working a lot on my shyness, and even when I have been in large groups and felt uncomfortable, I could get past it and eventually be ok.

It was discouraging to find out last night that Wallflower Girl is still there, and still wants to either run out of the room or disappear into the background. B and I went to our first meetup with the Raleigh Rock Climbing group, to climb at the gym we regularly climb at. We walked in, there were lots of climbers there already, some talking in small groups, some already climbing, and I felt Wallflower Girl come in and take over. I didn’t want to go up and introduce myself, so I only went up to the organizer when B did. I felt out of my league as far as climbing, and felt like there was no way I could climb with that many people there (in addition to our group, there was also a boy scout group and a party there, so the gym was very crowded anyway). I felt uncomfortable, and insecure. B and I ended up going to bouldering cave. Climbing back there away from the crowd helped to center me again, and boosted my confidence. I attempted to make it all around the cave without touching the floor (didn’t do it, which meant the alligators on the floor kept getting to eat my feet) but the challenge put me at ease again.

Once I left the bouldering cave, I belayed for B but still felt uncomfortable with climbing with so many people around. Eventually, I did some climbs, and enjoyed pushing myself, and felt myself get confident again and not caring so much about the other people there, but it was still discouraging to see that Wallflower Girl is still there.

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Morning

Morning

Early light

snuggled in bed under the covers

A warm pup curled up near my feet

Birds outside chattering to each other

A few more minutes please

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