. . . and back again for a brief refueling of sorts before jetting off again.
As I told the Girlie Gang last night during our extended replay over at that cold (and, when they dial down the thermo as the hour gets trop late, frigid) Toro, 'tis the season when Yours Truly subsists on reception food. Cheese cubes (one of the three basic flavours depending upon mood-orange, beige, spicily-speckled), bottled water, carrot sticks, random finger foods.
Met the girls out after a 13-hour, intense day that completely rocked-in images, conversations, thoughts.
Called Vincenzo en route and asked him to guess how many hours since YT had brushed all the teeth.
12, he guessed.
13, I corrected.
Today was the inauguration of Hilbert's nouvelle president, Cynthia Zane, who has actually been on duty for about one year already. It is official. Well, nearly not so when her medalion with bas-relief Hilbert College icon went all missing and former SUNY Chancellor Bob Bennett stepped up to the plate, so to speak, and proffered up his own SUNY medallion. Wrong ribbon colour, wrong medallion color but it was something.
Photographed her later with vrai one.
To date have been hired to document three inaugurations - Muriel Moore Howard at Buffalo State College, John Barclay Simpson at UB, Cynthia Zane at Hilbert.

Literal Harold used one of my gaming images from Sicily and posted today about this Mario Puzzle Bobble.
I told him the image's visual provenance, if You will.
An espresso rest stop area, open-air, plane trees outside, sunny day.
A place in Siracusa.
By the water, but, then again, nearly everything in Sicily is near the water.
Off to points beyond.

Pointed Love.

My highly excellent tax lady, Valerie, just completed the package.
Pfhew.
As I am wont to write and say, she is as much a life coach as a tax preparator.
She told me that We had until today at minuit and she trudged through all the receipts and such and I just met her and her pal over at a diner to get the goods and pay her for her work and give her her special surprise, a giftcard for Target.
For who in hell cannot use a giftcard for same.
I ask You.
Due to the horrific happening in VA there are today and onwards memorial ceremonies the world over, especially at especially-empathetic collegiate places.
Yours Truly is photographing one such gathering tomorrow and I was trying to recall the last time I had to do something of this nature, another convocation of people from all walks and spiritualities.
Students will be wearing memorial pins in the colors of Virginia Tech.
This event inspired a whole bevy of very bad dreams and YT thinks a positive outcome would be that the world takes better notice and changes the overwhelmingly violent and brazenly disconnected culture around us.
Connect for real.
VF has their annual Green Issue out now and amid it is a primo quote by Prince Charles, how people are disconnected from Nature, they can witness beautiful Nature docs all they want, and turn them off.
Same tangential motto is that people are disconnected from Nature, and human nature.

*this just in.
Nancy,
I am writing briefly today to confirm that you have been selected to participate in NOCTURMINAL, the twentieth version of Hallwalls’ Artists & Models Affair at the Central Terminal June 2, 2007. - John Massier

This means that YT will be a featured artiste in this Hallwalls fundraising hoopla at Central Terminal.
And now to turn the home office hovel into a studio - quick.


Terminal Love.

Well, let Us get down to proverbial brass tacks, if You will.
As a Shiney Apple pal shares my adoration for one of Olmsted's best, South Park, and attendant Botanicus Gardenus, I was sending along a dig version of a Middling City News story about the century plant which is growing out its large stalk, right out from where a pane of glass has been removed for the occasion. I do believe that this same species did its own thing in the Shiney Apple and that when the huge bloom(s) appear there is a huge stinking stench emanating from the flowers or from the plant, which dies after its big burgeon.
So there I am on the MCNews site about to cut and paste when another newsy bit grabbed my eye. Ironically enough, the same Olmsted site was the sight of a gruesome discovery by some wayward teen boys - a beheaded and befooted goat, probably, some expert intoned, used for a Santeria ritual perhaps to say Hey, thanks to the spirit world. I think that this would include Spring in general.
Speaking of beasts.
Went to Dougie's soirée last night after meeting up with some of the Solid Gold Book Club girlies. It was a potluck turned general fete and then jamboree. We left as the jamboree was getting underway as we were hankering for more barside mischief and Erin had sustained a curious injury from Dougie's hedgehog. Whose name escapes me at this moment.
My pals in KY have or had a hedgehog and really I don't understand this type of pet that you can sort of hold in your arms but which renders petting a very tentative situ.
sidebar: Annie believed that Dougie had a wild boar as a pet and I marvelled at that until I realized that this was probably improbable in a quote-unquote urban domicile.
But what a grand idea. Pot-bellied pigs, so 2002. Wild boars, so Now.
sidebar2: Back in the dawning of Artvoice created some house ads, those ads that are made to fill up space when odd spaces between ads and copy are left. One I created used a dictionary image of a wild boar and the sloganific words stated Read Artvoice and avoid becoming one of these.
So there is Erin with strange welts on her ballerina arm. It was distressing to one and all, quite possibly most for Erin and secondmost for Dougie.
We left the party and found ourselves in Merlin's of all the forsaken joints of yore and now and the MC.
A doorperson said the cover was $3 each. I said How about you just let four girls in for free. He agreed to that and then Yours Truly felt some big responsibility to breeze right in and to the bar and order Something ... hearkening back to the girlie sojourn to Niagara Falls/Cracktown and the crab-assed owner of the joint that Jana had to review and all.
So we're in Merlin's, as were a speed metal band, a femme playing video poker, her pal the bartendress, some fans of the band.
At some point I went up to see which band this was. Did not recognize them from my WhatHasHappened days and so asked a guy standing to my right. Who are they, gesturing.
He said I am not sure, I work with the drummer's brother, I think they're called Serenity ... or something like that.
I reported this fun fact to the girlies.
We watched the bandmates, post-set, drag their sky-high amps out the front door out into the rainysnow and I mused on what an Olympiad feat it is for guys to work, practice, get gigs, drag their equipment to whermever, Perform, lather and rinse and repeat.
For the glory of free rock and roll hair spins.

Hair spun Love.