Month: September 2009

re-entry

Phoebe peers through a gate at Alcazar in Sevilla.
Phoebe peers through a gate at Alcazar in Sevilla.

Hello? Is this thing on?

I’m back from Spain! We flew in late Monday afternoon, got back home by 6:30 p.m. Which doesn’t sound too late, except that we felt like it was after midnight due to the 6 hour time difference. Not to mention (well, yes, I guess I do mention) that it was 17 hours door to door. With a baby. And a three-year-old. Following a late night of packing. Then yesterday I drove my mother back to the airport and returned the rental car (I’ll explain later), then took the train back with Theo. In all, another 6 or so hours of travel. With a baby. So it still felt like a travel day.

And here I am today, totally wiped out, but still trying to get back into things. Trying to catch up with work stuff that I’ve missed, sort out house stuff that was left undone, get my thoughts organized, and make a stab at getting my photos together. I have literally (and I do mean literally) about 2000 photos from the trip on my computer. I have so much I want to (and plan to) share about the trip. For now, the micro summary: the trip was wonderful!

If you are hungry for more details, I hope to serve them up soon. Meanwhile, I’m happy to be able to tantalize you with some appetizers from azahar, who put up a couple of posts featuring our visit to Sevilla: girls night out and mmmm…. (However, I must warn you that if you are actually hungry, you might want to get a bite to eat before paying a visit to casa az; the food photos are likely to torment you otherwise.)

As for reading blogs, I’m a little afraid to look at my feed reader. I’m sure it is full to overflowing. I know that many advocate the “mark all as read option,” but I always worry that I will miss something major. (Have I missed something major?) I hope to have a bit of time to get back online tonight, but for now I think I need to take a nap. I intend to start Theo’s sleep training in earnest tonight, and all intentions will be overridden if I fall asleep again while putting him to bed.

Salutaciós de Barcelona!

Hola, amics! Què hi ha de nou?

Here we are in Barcelona. We arrived on Tuesday. It’s been remarkably hard to find time to even open my computer, so I won’t write much. I haven’t had much chance for sightseeing yet, as the conference just wrapped up yesterday. Shockingly, I have yet to see a speck of Gaudi. Tomorrow will hopefully change that.

For now, I’ll just share a few photos from the conference. Yes, that sounds really boring. Except that the conference was held in this building:
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It didn’t look like much from the outside, but inside, it looked like this:
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The talks were held in this little auditorium…
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…which was full of antique tapestries.
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We got to go outside to the portico/balcony surrounding the courtyard for coffee breaks…
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…during which we could drink espresso and eat our fill of tasty pastries…
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…and go for a stroll in the jasmine-scented rooftop garden, where we could admire the water lily pond and other attractive plants.
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The poster sessions were also held outside on the balconies. (I forgot to get a photo with my own poster up, but you can see the setup.)
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I have to say, of the conferences I’ve been to, this was by far the most pleasant venue. (The conference itself was also great, mind you, and my poster went pretty well. )

The August Just Posts

justpostaug2009

Welcome to the latest edition of the Just Posts, featuring posts from the month of August on topics of social justice. Holly (of Cold Spaghetti) and I are pleased to share with you this phenomenal gathering of bloggers who are speaking out about causes that are important to them.

I’d also direct your attention to the blog Violence Unsilenced, a site “shedding light on the epidemic of domestic violence and sexual assault.” The inaugural post of the blog was included in our February Just Post round-up, but the site is still going strong. The site gives a space for individuals to share their own personal stories, and readers are encouraged to leave comments to show their support. Telling personal stories of this sort is extremely courageous, and each of these women (and occasionally men, too), deserve recognition and encouragement. The site provides an important outlet that is not only cathartic for those who share their stories, but can help those who are still grappling with, or (worse yet) living with, their own ordeals.

I confess that only visit the site periodically, but I do make efforts to return and to leave comments. I entreat you to do the same if you have it in you to do so.

Each month for the Just Posts, I have been highlighting a song that speaks to (or perhaps sings to) some of the issues that the roundtable highlights. My selection for this month is Tracy Chapman’s “Behind the Wall,” a chilling yet beautiful a cappella song that tells a story of domestic violence.

And without further ado, here is this month’s roundtable.

The August 2009 Just Posts:

This month’s posts were nominated by:

Thanks so much for reading! We really appreciate your support. And not just appreciate it. We need your support to keep the Just Posts going.

Please drop by Holly’s to see what she has to say this month.

If you have a post in the list above, or would just like to support the Just Posts, we invite you to display a button on your blog with a link back here, or to the Just Posts at Cold Spaghetti. If you are unfamiliar with the Just Posts, please visit the information page.
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9 nine things for 9/9/9

Oh, number nine, you are so fine.

Today is September 9th, 2009. The ninth day of the ninth month of the year. Or 09/09/09.

So, I really don’t have time to be posting this. I’m going absolutely bonkers getting the posters together for the conference. But 9 is my favorite number, and having posted 7 movies on 7/7/7 and 8 things on 8/8/8 it bothers me not to put up my 9s. Plus I’ve actually had scraps of this post drafted for 2 years. So, let’s see if I can spare a few minutes (9 perhaps?) to get this post up.

A list of 9 things:

  1. Revolution #9: A song by the Beatles “number nine…number nine”
  2. “9 times.” A quote from Ferris Bueller. Refers to the number of time Ferris was absent from school.
  3. nine circles: Hell has them. Not actually sure much about it, and I don’t have time to look. Something to do with Dante. Anyone want to enlighten me?
  4. The Ninth Gate (1999): A thriller starring Johnny Depp.
  5. nine lives: it’s said that cats have nine lives, perhaps because they seem to be able to survive rather extraodinary predicaments.
  6. The word for “nine” in French is also a word for new. , 9 = neuf = new.
  7. dressed to the nines: an expression meaning “really dressed up.”
  8. cloud nine: a good place to be. When I finish these posters for the conference, I will be on cloud nine.
  9. And one of the coolest things about the number 9 has to do with math. Have you ever noticed that the digits of any multiple of 9 add up to 9, or to another multiple of 9, the digits of which also will then add up to 9?
    For example:
    9 x 3 = 27 and 2 + 7 = 9
    9 x 5 = 45 and 4 +5 = 9
    9 x 273892 = 2465028 and 2 + 4 + 6 + 5 + 0 + 2 + 8 = 27 (and 2 + 7 = 9)

    How cool is that?

For more than 9 other things about 9, the 9 wiki page is dressed to the nines.

Now I’d best get back to my work before it’s too late. A stitch in time, and all that.

Poster Children for Poster Children

Every day, thousands of children must go without causes to represent. And every day, thousands of posters are printed with no children to promote their causes. Please, don’t let your poster go without a sad child’s face.

These children have no posters.
These children have no posters.
Many children wander in search of posters.
Many children wander in search of posters.
Brought to you by the campaign for bedhead awareness.
Brought to you by the campaign for posters on bedhead awareness.
Does your cardboard recycling poster have a poster child?
Does your cardboard recycling poster have a poster child?
Mustachioed babies need your help.
Mustachioed babies need your help. So do posters.
Only you can prevent hangnails.
Only you can prevent hangnails.
Don't let your poster go without sad children!
Don't let your poster go without sad children!

IMG_0667-help

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So, I’ve been deeply mired in working on my poster for this conference. One of the things I’ve been doing is selecting good examples from my data to illustrate my points. So-called “poster children” examples.

What with the craziness of work, making travel arrangements, as well as loads of other family and life obligations, I have had no time for blogging. Either the writing or the reading. This makes me sad. Clearly I need a poster child to express this sadness.

In other news, the Just Posts are coming right up. If there are posts from August that you’d like us to include, send them along!