larry, moe, & curly

One afternoon recently as bookbabie went to retrieve a package from the front porch (a book order no doubt) she saw a bird fly out of a wreath on the door. Lo and behold, the little birdy had built a sturdy nest in the wreath and lain four tiny blue eggs in it all without detection, Mr. & Mrs. bookbabie are obviously either blind or totally unobservant (maybe both). Those are my winter wreaths as you can see, the nest is tucked securely behind a sparkling white snowflake. All four eggs hatched but one baby died and was tossed out by mom (and left dangling on a bit of wreath until Mr. bookbabie came home and gently removed it). I tried to get a photo of them when they were awake but they sleep an awful lot and I don’t want to bug them too much and stress out mom. I’ll post updated photos and reports once a week until they fly the coop!

happy birthday george!

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George’s 46th birthday is this Sunday. Since I can’t give him a gift, I’d like to give my fellow Clooney fans something. If you click on the photo above you can save a bigger version and use it as a desktop wallpaper. I borrowed the photo from The Clooney Project, tinted his eyes, and then colored the background so it was easier to see my desktop icons. Be forewarned though ladies, it’s awfully hard to get any work done with those dreamy brown eyes staring back at you!

a million little pictures

I met a really cool artist in my web wanderings tonight. Her blog is called Misty Mawn and one of her posts included a mosaic self-portrait that she made at this online mosaic generator. Needless to say, I spent my evening uploading, and then downloading photos, saving the ones I liked best. If you click on the portrait of my son Andy, you’ll get a larger view and you will be able to see that his image is made up of thousands of other tiny images. It’s really quite beautiful. Give it a try and have yourself a lovely, art filled weekend!

murder, magic, and madness

This month my book club is reading The Devil in the White City by Eric Larsen. When it was first suggested, I didn’t think I’d like it. A book about the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893? Not so much on bookbabie’s list of must reads. Then again, a book with the subtitle Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America can’t be too boring, can it? Nope, it can’t. I finished it yesterday and it was a great read, wholly deserving of a non-fiction finalist spot in the 2003 National Book Awards, and being chosen as the winner of the 2004 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime. The book is centered around two main characters, architect Daniel Burnham who built the fair, and Dr. H. H. Holmes a psychopathic serial killer who set up shop near the fair. It reads like great fiction and knowing it’s a true story makes it that much better. A real-life supporting cast of historical characters such as George Ferris, Buffalo Bill, Susan B. Anthony, Clarence Darrow, Frederick Olmsted, and Thomas Edison helps bring life in America at the turn of the century alive.

My one complaint is that there were only a few photographs in the book. When I Googled the fair I came across a wonderful website full of photographs like the one I posted above of the grand, Agricultural Hall. If you haven’t read The Devil in the White City yet, but you plan to, bookmark the The World’s Columbian Exposition site at The Paul V. Glavin Library Digital History Collection so you can see, as well as read, about a fascinating time in our country’s history.

Hmm, I wonder who would be great in the role of Daniel Burnham if they make the movie?????

the pick up

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Time for another Clooney vs. Pitt poll. First we have Mr. C. looking rather dashing casually perched on the bed of a lucky pick-up truck (photo courtesy of The Clooney Project) and on the right we find poor Mr. Pitt, looking a bit worse for wear since his marriage to Angie. So…which fella would you like to see pull up to the curb in a shiny black truck to pick you up????????????????????????