Beach Edition

AM and I just got back from a glorious week at the beach with my parents. The weather was great, and AM really enjoyed playing in the pool and at the beach. She even got adventurous and would jump to us from the side of the pool. No fear.

Favorite thing AM did this week

This is difficult because she was so animated and fun at the beach. She drew in the sand, sang in her bed, talked constantly to a baby doll that was once mine. But I'll narrow it down here...one thing she started doing that made us all giggle was carrying her various sippy cups between her legs...or trying to. Don't know where this came from, and it was hard to capture on film because it never lasted long.

(And no, I don't normally let my child walk around in only a diaper cover, but she was being elusive during dressing time.)

Also this week, watching AM play in the dancing fountains at Seacrest was funny. Again--no fear.

Favorite thing I read this week

I must say, I get very bored during the 5 hour drive between my house and the beach. Today, I made a point to look at all of the road/street signs that I encounter on my rural route. I found 2 favorites: Sparkleberry Road (What exactly is a sparkleberry, and can I buy some sparkleberry jam?), and Doodles Forest Road (How can you ever be sad if you live on Doodles Forest Road? As Liz Lemon would say, "I want to go to there.").

Favorite thing I watched this week

This is jumping the gun, and perhaps putting a jinx on them, but I HOPE my favorite thing I watch this week is the Denver Nuggets beating the LA Lakers tonight in Game 6 of the NBA West Finals. Go Nuggets! Not looking good right now, Nuggets trail 0-5.

It's been a busy week, but here are some highlights:

Favorite thing AM did this week:

Smiling is a big thing to do (on demand) these days, but somehow in her newly-formed mind, AM has equated closing her eyes (i.e. squinting really hard) with smiling. After many failed attempts, I have finally captured on the camera this smile/squint in all its glory. It cracks us up every time. Above is the photgraphic evidence.

Favorite thing I read this week:

Okay, so it's no literary triumph, but this website is hilarious, and was brought to my attention by my good friend Ashley. Enjoy, and hide those awful family photos before they fall into the wrong hands...http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

Favorite thing I saw/watched this week:

Mary Lucier is a fabulous contemporary video artist. Her video "The Plains of Sweet Regret," is both beautiful and haunting. Now on view at the Birmingham Museum of Art, this work gave me the chills, and brought me to tears, as it poetically speaks (with few words) of the abandonment of small towns in the Northern Plains of the US. The installation incorporates an entire room, and is engulfing to say the least. AM was even quiet as we watched!

I can't find the 18 min. video in its entirety on the web, but the North Dakota Museum of Art, http://www.ndmoa.com/temp/index.html has wonderful still images from it, and also includes the haunting music from the first section of the video. At the BMA's site, http://www.artsbma.org/exhibitions/mary-lucier, you can link to a podcast of a lecture by Lucier. The end of this podcast features the second half of the video, which is definitely worth watching online. It is set to--I know this sounds odd--a very dramatic remix of George Strait's "I Can Still Make Cheyenne." I'm no country music fanatic, but the way that this song has been altered, and then matched with the images from a rodeo are truly beautiful.

I could go on and on about this, and since it is up at the BMA until mid-July, I'll be back to view it again. I'll also be making my ARH 101 students see it this summer. Ah, there's nothing like spreading culture to those who are just looking for an easy A!

Okay, here goes...

It seems everyone is blogging these days. Never being one to miss a bandwagon, I've decided to jump on.
Objective 1: Find a theme of said blog. How about "My favorite things?" It's so easy to take things for granted these days, but hopefully, this blog will make me think about specific things each week that make me happy, make me laugh, make me a better person, or, at least, make me take a moment and think!
Objective II: I have always been one to require an outline in order to write anything (even a grocery list). The blog is no exception, so here we go:

I. Favorite thing done by AM this week: AM is in a very "mommy" phase. When Matthew comes home, she has lately been a little shy, a little (drama!) scared, and a little skittish ("no, no, no!" when he reaches for her). It makes him feel terrible, but we all know how toddlers can be. However, today, I was on the phone with Matthew while he was at work. She knew who I was talking to, and starts saying, "Daddy, Daddy!" I give her the phone, and she says, "Hi, Daddy! I lowe you." [translation, "I love you."] It almost brought my manly-man husband to tears to hear that sweet thing. Hence, my favorite thing she has done this week!

II. Favorite thing I read this week: Ok, this is a bit of a stretch since I read it months ago, but because I feel this strongly about it, my favorite thing is The Well and the Mine, by Gin Phillips. Not only is Gin a fellow BSC c/o 1997-er; she is extremely talented and her story reads like butter. I loved her characters, and when I was done with the book, I craved to know more about the people she had created. I am waiting with baited breath for her next book.

III. Favorite thing I saw this week: I need to say nothing further than JT on SNL. If you didn't see it, go to http://www.nbc.com/, and watch the funniest thing that SNL has produced this year. Classic Peg. If you don't get that last reference, just watch the Target sketch from the show.

And this is how it will be, folks. Nothing more, nothing less. Alice's favorite things, in so many words. And occasionally some photos, once I figure out how to do that.