Parking Signs: Pop Quiz Edition

Pop quiz, Readers!  Only one question, and it's multiple choice.  Post your selection and reasoning in the comments.  Good luck!  Discussion and solution written below.

It's 4:10pm and you should have been at the event at 4pm.  But it's hot--97 degrees radiating off of the city streets--and no one moves fast on a day like this.  As you wipe the sweat off of your forehead, you realize you'll have to leave the AC-comfort of your car when you park said vehicle.  The streets are somewhat empty since it's a holiday instead of a business-as-usual Monday.  Now where to demonstrate your mad parallel parking skills?

A. At the street meter near a sign.  Hmmm... a valid option, but got quarters?  Coin-only parking meters are seem like relics from last decade.  Where's the Pay To Park that accepts credit cards?  Drive on.

   

B.  Between the 3-part, small-print signs next to a bus stop.  Wait.  Do city buses run on holidays?  Does "holiday" impact (read: void) these parking signs?  Better safe than sorry with the 10 minute parking between 9am-8pm....  Drive on.

 

C.  Safely in the Pay to Park zone.  (Don't forget the really, really small print on the meter.)  Fine print's no friend of mine (see the red box on the Pay To Park meter).  Get back in the car and drive on.

 

D.  At the last possibility within one block's walk.  The hours look good even if it is Pay to Park.  Not likely to snow anytime today.  Is that the LAST open spot that car's pulling taking?  Drive on.

 

E.  There's always another city block with more signs.  Well.  Two blocks away isn't so bad.  Especially when Husband drops you off so you can take pictures of the ridiculous parking regulations on your way into the air conditioned auditorium.

The Presstman Preachers' show made all the trouble worth while anyway.

Intrinsic Beauty

Figure Drawing Class wrapped up yesterday, and I don't have any amazing sketches to show.  The classes focused on turning figures into two dimensional planes, looking for the skeleton first (think lines: squares, triangles) and then at muscles/flesh (think curves: ovals, circles).  Next we learned to see through an image, transforming 2D shapes into 3D (think cubes, cones, cylinders with "bracelet lines"--very much like Spiderman suits).  Finally, we lightened our sketching to allow the silouhette to emerge, and added shading to render the figures human once more.

Drawing for a three hour class took more effort than I anticipated.  I fidgeted a lot in the first class--to wear glasses or not, to sit or stand, to listen carefully to the teacher or vaguely delve into practice.  I also forgot how different graphite and conte pencils feel compared to the smooth sweep of charcoal, my favorite medium.

Half of the time I came home frustrated about the mediocre quality of my work; the other days I remembered practice cultivates skill.  Yet in the end, as I flipped through my less than noteworthy sketches, I'm reminded of how much I love taking time to draw.  No matter how amateur my work appears, there's always some small element of beauty emerging on the page.  One gesture drawing emphasizes the arabesque of a graceful neck to waist curve.  Another pose follows the light falling on the angles of waist and thighs in a difficult pose.



The practice of drawing consumes time, but this is one way I've learned to see through ordinary objects into the intrinsic beauty hiding beyond a cursory glance.  After hours of scribbling pencil on paper, the world metamorphoses from the familiar into the exquisite.

Has learning an art, or something else, ever opened your eyes to appreciate beauty hiding in plain sight?

Feisty Ball of Fur

About three years ago Husband & I took an atypical early morning walk before starting the day's responsibilities.  Stressful is too mild a word for how life felt then, and we were desperately clasping each other's hand while combating our individual challenges.  As the sun burned off the morning fog and we discussed who'd take the first shower, a car pulled over just in front of our apartment complex.  The office manager stepped out holding a teeny ball of fur in her hands.  A tiny orange and white kitten named Sherbet.

This past weekend, a friend with major cat allergies joked that she didn't really get pet ownership.  While I completely understand avoiding allergens, pet parenthood boils down to laughter and love.  Sure pets shed and create art, but Husband & I never laughed as much as we did the first days Sherbet terrorized our home with her insatiable curiosity and bottomless energy.  Her fuzzy companionship, especially when she deigns to cuddle, makes every day a little more peaceful.  Despite the recurring need to refresh the litter box and the morningly meow-athon before her breakfast kibble, Sherbet's idiosyncratic personality splashes joy throughout our days.

  

Has an unexpected blessing ever been dropped into your life?

Vacation, Minus Travel Time

With less traveling this year, I'm appreciating drop-by guests and overnight hosting much more.  A few weeks ago Mom came down for the weekend, somewhat unexpectedly.  Between her announcement and arrival, I barely had time to neaten up the apartment, finish a few tasks I'd already started, and develop a vague idea of what we would eat.

No Parking, Reserved for Irises.

Our unstructured weekend brimmed with adventures.  Friday night we viewed a MICA exhibt and shared a tapas dinner with a friend.  Saturday morning found us on a rainy walk to the Waverly Farm Market where we sampled Hen-of-the-Woods mushrooms and sorrel.  Sunday afternoon we braved the humidity to go window shopping in quirky Hampden.

Since a love of flowers and gardens runs in the family, we revisited the Vibrant Pocket Garden in its early summer glory.

Red roses, purple irises, and pink peonies.

Of course we talked, talked, talked ... over afternoon tea, making roast chicken dinner, and re-teaching Mom how to crochet.

Mom's visit felt like a stay-at-home vacation despite cooking and even packing a few boxes for the up-coming move.  Perhaps because Mom insisted on doing most of the dishes ....

Flowers v. Taxi: A competition in color.

I'm curious if anyone has ever deliberately tried a "Staycation"?

The War on ANTS

The skies are overcast, and rain is threatening near the Ramsey Apartment in Baltimore.  Here ANTS are beginning the latest phase in what seems to be part of a larger plan for world domination.  Previous assaults at the Bathroom Window were repelled, twice, by what experts believe is a new development in chemical warfare.  This toxic gas may have also led to ultimate triumph over the ANTS at the Kitchen Sink and Light Switch Wall after a combination of road blocks and internal sabotage (ant traps) failed.

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The Kitchen Sink was clearly targeted as a strategic resupply hub for essentials, such as water, to which the ANTS tunneled along pipes from another apartment.  The assault on the Light Switch Wall, however, worried senior intelligence officials as it demonstrated the versatility and resourcefulness of the ANTS.  This location was reached by repelling from the roof along the electric lines.  The exact intentions of this offensive remain unclear, although some argue minuscule food crumbs may have been found at the adjacent Kitchen Counter.


Now ANTS are invading the Wall Behind the Microwave as the latest step to execute a hostile takeover of the Kitchen.  This strike's specific objectives are not yet known, but covert operations are preemptively moving supplies, mainly food, from the area and launching air raids employing precision tissue-squashing technology.  Chemical warfare may again play a role in repelling the ANTS, but it remains to be seen if this will be enough to deter further counter insurgencies.

This is SC Ramsey, live from Baltimore.  Good Afternoon.  

Anyone deployed effective anti-ANTS tactics?