21 June 2008
Ikea.
There’s retail magic going on here that I don’t quite understand. Why are there so many people willing to part with their money in order to take home products that they then have to assemble?

But, they do. Millions of them, or so it seemed. My goodness this place was crowded (upstairs, anyway).
I’ll go back.
~KR (Written on 27 June 2008)

No EXIF – Taken with my Treo.

Not watching or listening to anything

Tags: Daily, Photoblog

23 June 2008

Packing . . . yuck.  So, in a procrastination effort beyond all logic . . . I rearranged furniture. 

We have a very small bedroom . . . and lots of furniture.  Most of it is awesome, antique furniture that I hope I never have to part with, but some of it is just stuff we’ve accumulated.  And then, there’s this collection of trunks and boxes and hatboxes that contains the lion’s share of our Victorian costume accessories:  my hats, top hats, bowler hats, fans, gloves, glove clips, glove stretchers, chatelaines, brooches, stickpins, hat pins, watch pins and other jewelry, pocket watches, cuff links, purses, reticules, cravats, socks, stockings, braces, handkerchiefs, scarves, wraps, corsets, corset covers, camisoles, pantalettes, nightcaps, nightgowns, nightshirts . . . and some miscellaneous stuff I’m sure I’ve forgotten to list.     Over the years, we have collected beautiful containers to hold all our beautiful stuff.  And, this corner (it was a different corner yesterday!) of our bedroom is where it all lives.  I enjoy the “merchandising” and design of a room, maybe even more than I enjoy costuming!

The quick remodel of the room was spawned by a frustration Kyle and I have dealt with often lately—the cat.  The room is too small and oddly designed, so that there are only two walls where the bed can fit.  One, where I’ve moved it to, today (and it has lived in the distant past), and the other and more beautiful position is immediately under the window.  Unfortunately, the cat loves the window sill.  Cat owners the world over will understand that that means the bed is both springboard and landing pad for the cat, no matter what time of day . . . or night.  Since sleep doesn’t always come easily for either Kyle or I, being awakened by eleven pounds of feline energy as she launches herself off our chest or head or whatever body part we are silly enough to have placed in her flight path, is not fun.  I’ve tried everything short of thumb tacks, to discourage the window thing, and . . . well . . . she’s a cat.  After all, a window is kitty TV.  So, the next option (I ruled out the defenestration of the cat!) was to move the bed.  So, now, there’s a chair and a small chest for her to traverse—no more warm-blooded furniture! 

The most fun part of all of this, is that it’s a surprise for Kyle.  (That’s why I’m a day behind on my KRuMB entries . . . I didn’t want to give away the secret.)  He’s expecting to come home to business as usual, knowing he’ll be awakened at some point by pouncing kitten.  But, after an awful business trip where nothing has gone well and he managed to get sick besides, I’m very pleased to be welcoming him home to a bed out of harm’s way. 

And for the record—I have gotten a lot of packing done, besides! 

~MB

Tags: Daily

22 June 2008

Leaving home and hearth every June is one of the hardest things I do.  Three months is a long time. 

I guess it isn’t really three months, but it seems like it.  It’s a nine weekend run.  And when you take into consideration getting there in time to do booth maintenance, and set up the shoppe, and staying after the show ends to wrap things up, winterize and then usually get to Kansas just in time to visit that faire for a weekend—it ends up being eleven weekends away from home.  That’s darned near to being three months!

In the early days of me doing Bristol Renaissance Faire, it wasn’t so bad.  When Nicole first asked me to add this faire into my year, I did it with the stipulation that she’d fly me home every other week!  That ended up being a little too difficult—and completely impossible once I added a travelling cat to my life.  So, I used to come home two or three times in the nine week run.  And Kyle usually tries to come up to see me once or twice during the run.  So, the weeks in between passed pretty fast. 

But, in more recent years, it’s become more and more difficult to get flights, and I fell out of the habit of asking Nicole to foot the travel bills.  So, this will be the second year when I won’t get home at all during those twelve weeks.  <sigh>

So, when I go, I’ll take this quilt, as I’ve done for many years, now.  It’s the one Kyle’s grandmother, Nonie made for me, shortly after we were married.  I love it muchly, and it is a little piece of home, even when I’m far, far away.

~MB

Tags: Daily

21 June 2008

Summer Solstice

It was wonderful to realize this morning, when I awoke for the first time, that the time was 4:58 a.m.—the same time at which thousands of people had gathered in various places worldwide to celebrate the rising of the sun on the Summer Solstice.  (Stonehenge reported over 30,000 revellers cheered as the sun rose, despite the chilly wetness the morning had to offer.)  As I layed in bed with my husband, and the crazy cat, I was thankful for the new day and the wheel of the year, and as the sky brightened, I snuggled back under the sheet for a little more sleep.

When Kyle and I finally got up, it was mostly because we wanted some time to enjoy our coffee before we headed out to his follow-up visit with the optometrist.  We stopped at the post office, and arrived right on time with Dr. Pham.  Kyle’s eyes got a clean bill of health and when we left there, he was wearing new contact lenses!  Next, came a banking errand, and then the big outing of the day . . . IKEA.

We’d been planning this trip.  It wasn’t even my idea.  Kyle wanted to buy a “Dave.”  That’s what IKEA calls this neat little computer desk/platform they sell.  It’s a one-legged podium-style stand with a tri-pod foot and an adjustable table top.  It’s made to slide right up to your chair or sofa (’cause the foot fits underneath)and allow you to use your laptop while you sit comfortably in your living room.  And, that’s exactly what Kyle is doing right now.  I think he needs the rest from the taxing day of retail adventuring.

Neither Kyle nor I had ever been to an IKEA store.  We’ve known about them for years.  We have friends who are devout followers. (Nicole used to drive fairly regularly from Arlington to Houston to shop at IKEA before we had a store in North Texas—we used to call it her pilgrimage.)  But we’d never really embraced it, ourselves.  Oh, we’ve seen the Book (catalogue), and we’ve pondered over it a few times . . . but that was it.  I think on some level, I was afraid.

I’d heard stories.  I knew it was a multi-faceted place—an idea place—not just a store.  I knew they had playgrounds and restaurants.  I knew they were fairly “green” in their methods.  I knew they had furniture and stuff for pretty much every room in the house.  And I knew I’d love it.

It’s not really my style . . . really.  I love antiques and golden oak and soft upholstery.  I love warm colours and rich fabrics and chotskies.  IKEA is Swedish in origin.  It’s all about clean lines and minimalism.  Why then, was I so intrigued?

When Kyle first told me he’d like to make the trip to the two-year-old Frisco location, I was excited, and we made plans to arrange our day around it.  The drive took us almost exactly an hour, and as we pulled into the carpark, right around 1 p.m., I reminded Kyle not to think about this huge place as a store, but more like a retail experience.  I likened it to a theme park, and I took his photo as we approached the giant mega-store.  The hundreds (probably thousands) of cars and people, coming and going, told me I wasn’t far off in my analogy.

Since most of our readers have probably been there, I will try not to get bogged down in descriptions.  But, the place is remarkable.  No one seemed much in a hurry.  We saw all ages, and all cultures and all types of folks.   It was like they were all on vacation.  Or on a pilgrimage.  We had lunch in their cafe (Swedish meatballs for Kyle and a delightful open face shrimp and egg sandwich for me), and then began our adventure.  We somehow managed to start where it seems most people end their tour of the upstairs showroom, so we spent the day “swimming upstream,” literally going against the flow of traffic (and the little blue arrows on the floor that we eventually noticed, but pretended not to!).  We dreamed a lot, and had a really good time.  We fell in love with a bed, decided what the next remodel of our living room will look like, and found the “Dave.”  We also found a number of other things we didn’t know we needed!  When all was said and done, we’d spent some money (although not too much—we did very well!), made some plans for the future, and we were four hours older!  In retrospect, the place really is part theme park, part museum, part cathedral!  And I’m sure this won’t be our last visit.

After all that, we stopped at Grapevine Mills for a quick product return, and a nearly perfect meal at another favourite eating spot—Cozymel’s.  Mmmm . . . tableside guacamole! 

We came home, tired (who knows how many miles we walked?!) but happy.  Another wonderful day together.  We’ve packed a lot of fun into these last couple of weekends.  But, that’s good, ’cause they have to provide me with the memories of contentment I’ll need to get through the summer. 

~MB

Tags: Daily, Frisco, huge, IKEA, Photoblog, pilgrimage, retail, shopping, Texas, TX

20 June 2008
Last time I was in New York, I flew into EWR and drove to JFK while being regaled with tales of growing up in the area by three very knowledgeble individuals. This time it was the reverse in that I flew into JFK and out of EWR. But was still enchanted by tales of growing up in New York. I’ve used the Verrazano Narrows bridge before as a photographic subject, but never coming from this direction. So, when we got within sight of the majestic old bridge, I started snapping photos. I like the way this one turned out with the cloudless sky supplying the negative space
.
Thanks for driving, Lou, so that I could take the photos.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 21 June 2008)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal Length: 23.2 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: architecture, Bridge, Daily, Man-made, New York, Photoblog, Suspension bridge, Verrazano Narrows

19 June 2008
After a very long, immensely frustrating day of software and hardware conversion, Lou & I went to celebrate a job done & over. We were going to meet a co-worker, but she backed out at the last minute being knackered beyond; and living in the area – thus, close to her bed – she went home. Lou & I continued with our plans, we just changed locations. We wound up at Croxley’s Fine Ale House in Rockville Centre, some 20-25 minutes East of JFK.

A meal and a couple of drinks later, back to the hotel we went.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 21 June 2008)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.25 sec (1/4)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: ale, bar, Beer, Croxley's Ales, Daily, New York, Photoblog, Rockville Centre

19 June 2008
After a very long, immensely frustrating day of software and hardware conversion, Lou & I went to celebrate a job done & over. We were going to meet a co-worker, but she backed out at the last minute being knackered beyond; and living in the area – thus, close to her bed – she went home. Lou & I continued with our plans, we just changed locations. We wound up at Croxley’s Fine Ale House in Rockville Centre, some 20-25 minutes East of JFK.

A meal and a couple of drinks later, back to the hotel we went.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 21 June 2008)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.25 sec (1/4)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: ale, bar, Beer, Croxley's Ales, Daily, New York, Photoblog, Rockville Centre

18 June 2008
The worst thing about travelling is all the travelling. I spent the majority of the day going to one airport, then flying to another airport, then leaving that airport. I finally got to the hotel around 21:15. What a day. What a day without photos. This is the only one:

Sadly, the pillows, who’s arrangment amused me, were my only companion. I miss my wife.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 21 June 2008 )

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 250
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction

Tags: bed, Daily, HOliday Inn, Hotel, New York, Photoblog, Pillows, room

17 June 2008
A rare rainbow on my home from work.

Minutes before, while it was raining quite hard though the sun was shining, I heard Terrill tell some ladies that that meant we were at the end of the rainbow. I’d always heard it meant that the devil was beating his wife, but that never made sense to me. I like Terrill’s explanation better.
Cheers.

~KR (Written on 21 June 2008 )

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 7.5 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: Arlington, Daily, Nature, Photoblog, rain, rainbow, Texas, Weather