Quotes of the Day-with reason

You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in.
Arlo GuthrieUS folksinger (1947 - )

I love Arlo Guthrie's songs. Growing up my family would sit around the record player on Thanksgiving listening to Alice's Restaurant. The Motorcycle Song is on of my favorites-I don't want a pickle.


Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.
Edgar Allan Poe, "Eleonora"US short story author, editor, & poet (1809 - 1849)

I hope to always be a dreamer/imaginer, so I never take life too seriously, or not seriously enough.


'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.
Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

I frequently feel stupid when I open my mouth, which is part of the reason I rarely open it.


Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.
Bill Watterson, cartoonistUS cartoonist (1958 - )

I believe there is life on other planets, and I happy we haven't found it-happy for that other life.

Bremen's Venice

So for Easter this year, we drove down to Venice (that's in Italy). We had wanted to go skiing, but because the weather had been so warm, we figured all the snow would be gone. The day before we left on our trip, it snowed over an inch. Luckily that had melted by the time we had to drive, but it was cold. Luckily, our online directions were slightly inaccurate and the trip took on 6 hours instead of 7.

Our hotel was on the mainland (Venice is an island with only one access bridge which only opened in 2006), so we found it and a place to get groceries and dinner before heading to bed. The next morning we drove to the pier and took a ferry-boat to the island. Bremen professed even before we got off the boat that he wanted to live in Venice and never leave. (My profession of never wanting to leave occurred in the grocery store's cheese aisle-I could just live in the store, if they'd let me, please!)

I'd done a bit of research (as I do before any trip) and the guide books recommended just wandering around the city, which is mostly what we did. We leisurely followed the signs to St. Mark's Square (St. Mark's body is at the church there-yep!) where Bremen purchased corn from a smiling old italian guy to feed the pigeons. He loved it! They didn't hop into his hand, but came dang close. They ate out of his hand, which produced one of the biggest smiles I've ever scene. he became concerned at my suggestion to run around the square, because he said he didn't want to run into the pigeons. He relaxed this stance as he watched many of the other children running around without inflicting damage to the birds. (his concern is so funny becuase i have pictures of him chasing pigeons in every country we've visited)

He loved the ferryboat ride, the gondola ride, the boat-bus ride down the Grand Canal, the pizza/pasta, ice cream, pigeons, the water everywhere, ice cream, bridges everywhere, playing tag through one of the more desterted squares, ice cream, jumping back and forth on the two beds in the hotel, watching 'the news' (we don't have television at home and one of the hotel's two channels was CNN, so we watched that), and just being with his family for four days in a row. I don't understand it, but the kid likes his parents. Go figure.

The weather held up pretty nicely for us. It was cold enough to need gloves and a hat and scarf, but the rain only came at night, and the sun came out for at least a little while every day. On the way home, as soon as we hit the mountains (Dolomites) everything was covered in snow and it started falling. A major storm had hit the mountains all weekend. I guess we could have gone skiing after all.

This trip has a the designation of being the first Bremen Photographically Documented Trip. He enjoyed taking pictures immensely. We'll have to work on patience, as many of his shots were blurred or distorted by his quickness to get everything on...can't say film anymore...pixels(?). I love his record of our trip and it surprised me how many of our pictures almost matched exactly. He made about 200 shots. These are the ones I picked to share with you. He took every one of them!

On a side note: I don't think we'll run into a problem with Bremen having confidence in life. As we were looking over his pictures on the computer (Kevin and I praising many of them), Bremen says "My pictures are cooler than yours, Mama." Of course I agreed with him.

Ode to the Mysterious Highway Inspector

If you know me well, you know of my fear of...engineering. This covers things like tall buildings, towers, carnival rides, bridges, freeway overpasses. It's not merely the height of these objects that puts the end of my life to the front of my mind, rather their stability and durability (yes, I know, I've scene too many movies). My fear worsens if you can see through the item: glass stairs, the Eiffel Tower, etc. Driving over a freeway overpass is very difficult with your eyes closed, let me tell you. each time I hear a report of a bridge collapse or a highway falling and cars being crushed my fear is reinforced. This lastest report, sadly does NOTHING to instill confidence in those bright men and women who spend their days designing death traps for the rest of us and 'weren't sure' how this could have happened. By the way, I am grateful to the ONE highway inspector who 'happened' to stop and check in this instance. He wins the gold star of the day!!! A true hero in my book. His name is sadly not mentioned in this article which appeared on AOL's news:


Emergency Repair Shuts Major Highway
By BILL BERGSTROM,
AP
Posted: 2008-03-18 12:06:45
Filed Under: Nation News
PHILADELPHIA (March 18) -- A three-mile stretch of Interstate 95 was shut down early Tuesday, backing up commuter traffic for miles, as workers began emergency repairs on a 6-foot crack in a concrete pillar supporting the major corridor through the Northeast.

The work required closure of both northbound and southbound lanes of the highway north of the city's central business district, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Gene Blaum said.The fracture ranged from 2 inches to several inches wide.

"Obviously, we feel it could compromise the strength of that section of the highway," Blaum said.The section of the interstate carries about 190,000 vehicles a day, making the repair "a major undertaking," he said.Traffic rapidly snarled at exit points as police directed motorists onto detours around the damaged area.PennDOT planned to have a contractor erect four steel towers to surround and support the steel-reinforced concrete pillar before the highway could be reopened. Officials said the work would take two to four days.

On Tuesday morning, workers were clearing concrete barriers so heavy equipment could be moved closer to the damaged pillar and were starting work on the foundation for the temporary towers.

"Fortunately it was found, we're on top of it, and we're taking care of the situation," Mayor Michael Nutter said.

A crack about a half-inch wide was noticed by an inspector last fall. The same inspector happened to be in the area Monday and decided to check the cracked pillar, Blaum said."This crack has grown considerably since October," Blaum said.

"It was very fortuitous that he took that look today."Concrete at the top of the column was crumbling, leaving reinforcing rods visible from the street below, and brick-sized chunks of concrete had fallen around the base of the pillar.

Blaum said engineers weren't sure what caused the crack in the 40-year-old pillar. The column is located under an expansion joint, and it's possible the damage may have been caused by expansion and contraction of the roadway, Blaum said.
"Obviously this is certainly not something we would do unless it is absolutely necessary, to shut down the interstate, but it's going to be done," Blaum said. "Two spans of Interstate 95 basically connect right on top of that column."Blaum said the highway's other supports in the area weren't showing similar deterioration.
Several sections of I-95, including the column in question, had been scheduled for repair later this year, Blaum said. There's also a $2 billion plan in the works to replace five sections of roadway, including the area with the damaged pillar, in the next 10 to 15 years, Blaum said.AP writers JoAnn Loviglio and Randy Pennell in Philadelphia contributed to this report.


Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-03-18 08:57:00

Quote of the Day

Literature is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.
Jules Renard(1864 - 1910)

Boy Eating Cookie

Bremen asked Marcy if he could make a video using one of the cameras. What kind of video do you want to make? ... "Boy Eating Cookie". Clever boy, he knew his chances were slim of getting an additional treat that day.

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So, here is his masterpiece ...

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Cast:

Bremen Lambson ... Boy

Marcy Lambson ... Mom with cookie

Cookie ... Cookie

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Crew:

Bremen Lambson ... Writer/Director/Camera Man

Kevin Lambson ... Producer (purchaser of camera)/Catering (maker of cookie)

Negative Cutter ... Mo Henry

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MPAA: PG13 (scary cookie action and violence, peril and some thematic elements)

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ASPCA Note: Only one cookie was harmed during the making of this film.

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Special thanks to the people of Olympus Camera for making this possible. Shot on location in Bratislava, Slovakia.