Serenity Meme

Ok, feeling a bit under the bright sunny weather outside. Took this fun little quiz.

Your results:
You are Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)

Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) 85%

You are good at fixing things. You are usually cheerful. You appreciate being treated with delicacy and specialness.

Click here to take the Serenity Personality Quiz

Dream Script

I had a surreal dream this morning. I was watching a rough cut of a movie with my favorite actor and we were going to edit the film. He starred in the film as well. (Pretty sure this doesn't happen stretched out on the carpet in front of an old tv from the 80's with knobs and a VHS machine, but hey, dream rules). We talked about one of the scenes, which was dialogue heavy and a bit awkward.

GirlZoot showed up (but had always been there, dream rules again) with the script and I looked at the opening sequence of images, which had explanations in the script. The entire opening sequence suddenly made sense and I wasn't sure if that was a film thing or a me thing. I suddenly had a burning question. "Is there a final version of the script that matches what the final edited version of the film is?" Never got an answer. I was thinking there's always the deleted or extended scenes, they're part of the original script. Do they stay part of the script or are they marked or removed from the 'final' version? It's different from books, where the final version is it; a screenplay isn't necessarily the last word, editing and at times ad lib play such a big role. (Thank you GirlZoot and Shaych for your film commune / school rubbing off on me).

Around this time, his girlfriend showed up (but had always been there) and the four of us began discussing the film and current events and such. She had an accent, French I think, and was very sweet. They started horsing around together, doing this one leg wrapping thing that I'm pretty sure is physically impossible. They were so cute and madly happy together, my tiny pang of jealousy seemed petty. There was a bit more talking about the script but no more movie watching, just hanging out and enjoying it.

So can anyone tell me, is there a final version of the script that matches the edited film? Is it always that way? Does it depend on the screenwriter? My curiosity is piqued.

Easter Musings

Easter certainly came early this year. The official designation of when Easter occurs is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox. Well, the equinox was on 3/20, the full moon on 3/21, which makes today, 3/23, Easter 2008.

Yesterday I spent a throughly enjoyable afternoon and evening with GirlZoot and her beau playing MTG and Scene-It Disney version and Dominoes. We chatted, discussed writing, and ate the most splendid nachos and strawberry shortcake (there went my diet). Must needs I get my house in a semblance of order to host the next gaming Saturday at my humble abode.

Next week is pretty busy with the Wits End Comedy on Wednesday (comedy mid week, nothing better!) and Mia's Game Night in Boulder Friday night. I love game nights, fun is had by all.

I just finished (just in the last hour or so) Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I'm still thinking about the themes and the presentation. What price happiness?

Random event last night, it snowed. I'm not certain we were expecting snow and it certainly didn't last that long, but wet white stuff fell from the sky and got all over my car and the porch (which I dutifully shoveled last night when I got home) and has now mostly melted. Bright and sunny outside here at noontime, but I imagine still rather cold.

Enough randomness for now. Catch you later!

Happy Spring!

Hope everyone has a lovely Spring! Today was a bit quiet and a bit windy. Perfect Spring weather.

Keeps getting lighter...

Happy St Patrick's Day

I'm heading over to Mom's house for St Patrick's Day Dinner in a few minutes, so this will be a quick post.

Bowling is going well. We're all having a blast. I'm consistantly bowling over 100 and getting better at positioning the ball. Having my own shoes and ball certainly help!

I'm still working on my online class. I'm having a bit of trouble with keeping up, but I'll work on it. It's more for me than for the class anyway.

I've been composting a new story idea. I have names of characters, some plot lines, and setting, and a hook. Time travel and separate time lines. We'll see how it comes out, but I'm excited about the characters, which makes me excited about the work.

I cut off about 4 inches of my hair and had it highlighted by the lovely and talented Ursula. Still getting used to the length, but it looks cute.

Anything else I forgot?

Oh, Happy Birthday TJ and Mendel (I doubt either of you read this; best wishes nonetheless) Also, Happy Birthday (late) to Trae. I did email you on the day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Having a green drink tomorrow night with Glender and TJ.

Hear Hear (Reprise)

Friday, I had my six week post op follow-up appointment with my otologist. I took the lovely hearing test, the one in the booth with the tight headphones and the little signal you push with your thumb to let them know you heard the tiny sounds they're sending.

After the test, my doctor told me about what happened in the surgery, since I hadn't seen him after. My first, second and part of my third hearing bones were all immobile. He cut off the top of the third bone (the stapes or stirrup) and the remaining part, still attached to the inner ear, moved. Then, he attached a titanium prosthesis to the remaining bone and hooked it back to the ear drum directly, with a piece of cartilage between the ear drum and the prosthesis to prevent wear. Everything was sealed up with lovely packing and I was sent home with a page full of instructions about what not to do.

After he looked at the new hearing test, he told me that what was once my bad ear had now become my good ear. I have 4 decibels better hearing in my right ear than my left now, which was 10 decibels better than he expected with a 'good' outcome. Also, the hearing in my right ear is now within the 'normal' range. I even impress myself. But really, that's pretty amazing, and I thanked him, still in a bit of shock from the good news.

Everything is still loud and he recommended using ear plugs, especially in loud places (like the bowling alley or the Bon Jovi concert). I've set my Shuffle to have a maximum volume of 50%, and am watching the volume on my mini (it has no preset). I'm still waking up in the middle of the night when one of the boys uses the litter box, but eventually I'll get used to that, especially considering the alternatives.

Overstimulation on a walk with the cat

Well, we just got back from quite an exciting ride.

I've had my AT3 pet stroller for almost two years now. Alec, loves his walks (when the weather is nice; he's not a fan of rainstorms even with the rain guard) and in the recent warm weather we went out for a long walk last week, down behind the railroad tracks and along some open space. We were out for about an hour and Alec loved it; he lay down and watched me for a while, then turned around and watched the world for a while. He's a very mellow rider.

Now, Deke, while he loves sitting in the stroller when it's just in the living room, he is a very vocal and fidgety rider. He does eventually settle down and get into the groove, but it takes several minutes of quiet, non-bumpy strolling to get to that point. This afternoon, I decided to get another long walk in before the snow expected tomorrow. Since we take turns, it was Deke's turn for a ride.

The route to the bike path is along my street, and while it's not usually very busy when I'm driving on it, every time I'm walking along it a car comes about every 45 seconds to a minute, which is loud and not happy making for Deke. However, he did stop crying and started watching out the front by the time we got to the bike path itself. As we came up to the entrance to the open space/bike path, a young kid maybe 12 or 13 came jogging off the path and ran across the street toward the houses there. He looked in a bit of a hurry for a Saturday afternoon.

I began walking down the path and a biker rolled past me at a leisurely pace. I continued, singing along to my Shuffle, when I saw the smoke. The wind was to the north east, not toward us but angled off to the left (we were walking south along the path) and a trail of grey then black smoke came wafted in the brisk breeze. I came around the corner and saw flames in the brush on the far side of the path. The biker had stopped his bike and gotten out his cell phone, which I registered just before I hit send on the 911 I had punched into the phone. I caught up with him, leaving Deke about 30 feet back on the path, and heard him talking to the dispatcher. Apparently someone had already called the fire in and the fire department was already en route. In my opinion, it was probably the kid I saw earlier in such a strange hurry. Good for him, even if he started the fire. Always good to do the right thing. Bad to start fires. Except in approved fireplaces, etc.

The biker continued on and I decided discretion was the better part of valor and I turned around, heading back home the short rather than the long way. The flames when I had come up were about 5 or 6 feet tall. By the time we turned around and left, the fire was taking over a tree that had to be 18 to 20 feet tall and shooting further up in the air. I heard the sirens as I walked back up the path. I hadn't gotten to the trail head before the firemen had cut the locks on the gate keeping motorized vehicles off the bike path so I pulled Deke over into the brush while the fire engine drove past toward the fire.

By now, Deke was pacing inside the stroller and crying a lot. It was not exactly the calm, quiet walk I had wanted for his first walk since last fall. About five minutes from home, he finally lay down in the back close to me. I saw a young couple who had pulled over and climbed onto the railroad tracks to watch the fire returning to their car. They assured me the fire was out. When we got home, Deke leapt out before I got the back door fully unzipped.

Now he's sitting back in the stroller giving himself a much needed bath after such a traumatic experience. I think he'll get over it; his memory isn't terribly long (especially when he's been told no). Next trip will be shorter and quieter, I promise.

Leap Day

Happy Leap Day, everyone!

As usual, I took today off. I only get one leap day every four years and I'm not giving it to corporate America or anyone else.

I spent most of the day in the company of the lovely and talented Girlzoot. We did some art store shopping, bought elephant journals (happy coincidence, not a planned occurrence), got some jewelry (earrings for GZ, ring for me), and had some tasty nachos at Good Friends down on Colfax.

After a brief stop at home to unload the car and paint my nails, I headed out to Wits End Comedy Club with Glenda. We ran into a group of other folks from the office and friends. The comedians, Scott Derenger and Ron Feingold were quite funny. Ron did a combination of standup and A Capella, which was originally a bit odd, but turned out to be hilarious. I bought his cd, and can't wait to listen to it.

All in all, a good Leap Day.

Bowling, Brendon, Byways, and Books

Exciting news: Bowling league starts next Tuesday! I’m bowling with three ladies from work Tuesdays between next week and the end of April. Sweet deal, too, at the end of the series, we get a custom drilled bowling ball. I just recently bought myself shoes and a ball which I can’t wait to bowl with. Here is a bit of my dorkiness coming out, and I don't care. My shoes have stars on them, and they glow under the black light. Cosmic Bowling, here I come!

Hollywood excitement: Nicholas Brendon is going to be on Criminal Minds on the first new episode in April. He’s also signed on to be a recurring character, Kevin Lynch. I’m wondering how it will work out with Garcia; he left her workplace in a total mess and she wasn’t terribly happy. “Kevin Lynch, you may be cute, but if you ever mess with my stuff again…” I’ve heard from a very reliable source that there is some sort of unclothed action involved in Nick’s return. Probably works out. For everyone. *ahem*

Today, I took the kitty cab out with Alec. I found a long trail that goes behind the railroad tracks by my house and over several blocks between open space and some single family homes. I was out for an hour, listening to my new tunes. There’s an irrigation ditch along the way that reminds me of the ditch by the apartments I grew up in. Two boys were playing next to some trees by the water, and it made me think of times I spent in Lakewood by the water, watching waterbugs skimming the tops of the brown wavelets and playing out the latest episode of our favorite action show.

I’ve started a class online called “Listen to your heart and success will follow”. I’m starting to do the lessons and it’s been very interesting so far. The second lesson is about accepting the past and moving on, and it was quite emotional. It didn’t help that I was reading it at the mechanic waiting for my brakes to get done. Next week, I should be back at the Library and I’ll work on my homework there. I’ve got to write my life story, which should be interesting.

Last bit of news: I finished two of my books for the BSF Goals (see the side bar for the link) this week. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (the Golden Compass / Subtle Knife / Amber Spyglass trilogy). Very interesting. Many Christian groups have had a lot to say about the story and I heard that the movie The Golden Compass was boycotted by some groups. The first book, and indeed the movie, do not get deeply into the crux of the religious issue. While I don’t subscribe to the view of religion and metaphysical reality in the book, I believe he portrayed his vision well and with a subtle beauty that is still with me. It is a children’s / young adult book, but as many books and movies these days aimed to the younger crowd, it has something profound to say to adults as well. I really loved the portrayal of the ‘soul’ as a creature, part of you yet separate, that you could talk to and gain comfort from, and love.

I also finished the Best American Short Stories 2003. These stories, published in US and Canadian magazines, individually were very good, and as a whole left me with something rattling around inside. I will probably come back to these stories. I love short stories, and I will definitely look up this series to get some of the other years’ anthologies.

I started Brave New World and the Science Fiction Treasury. I generally read books in tandem; it just works out for me that way.

Ok, my kitten is sleeping with his head up, all bunched up on the couch under the open flap of the box my bowling ball came in. His ears are twitching every time I stop typing and his front paw is tucked up over his chest as if he were holding something close. It’s very cute, but my camera is far enough away that he would wake up if I moved. Early for bed, but then again, cats sleep what 14 hours a day? Maybe he’s just catching up.

Random Thoughts

Lately I've been watching a lot of tv shows on DVD. I just finished Bones season 2, which I enjoyed. I particularly enjoyed the story arc between Jack Hodgins and Angela Montenegro, culminating in a trip to the altar. I also got Kitchen Confidential with Bradley Cooper and Nicholas Brendon. Hilarious. Another mid season cancellation on Fox back in 2005. Currently watching Shark with James Wood. Premise: an excellent defense attorney switches teams and begins working for the LA DA. So far, interesting, good. Next week, I'm starting a deep foray into the Buffyverse, when Buffy the Vampire Slayer begins coming from Netflix. I think I have a little Hollywood crush on Nicholas Brendon, who plays Xander. Fun, fun.

Plainsong on Tuesday was excellent. The staging was amazing, with all the hydrolics and a huge cast. Stephanie Cozart, who I've loved in everything I've seen her in at the DPCA, portrayed a depressed mother trying to make her way out of the darkness and John Hutton was her estranged husband teaching history at the local high school. A student even gave a 'speech' on the Burr/Hamilton duel. Family and community come together in unique ways in the end. If you get a chance, I'd recommend seeing it.

Friday night I played some pool with TJ at Woody's and at Zoosters. I'm getting much better, hitting the ball I'm aiming at and actually getting some pretty sweet shots. Called the 8 ball wrong and lost, but it was still a gorgeous shot. Had some very tasty ribs at Brothers BBQ after pool and was home by 10pm. Sweet.

I got a chance to catch up with Shaych at the DPL for writing Saturday morning(ish). Got some written on By the Light of the Faerie Moon and got to fall in love with his iPhone. Seriously, shiny.

Taxes are done, sending them in Monday.

Have a great week!

Grown-up stories

Today I went to The Thrill of the Game at the DPCA. I took the light rail downtown from Aurora and met my mom and my aunt and uncle. It was general seating, and we got our 'regular' seats, which we'll be sitting in on Tuesday for Plainsong.

The performance consisted five different stories with a sports theme. First was Casey at the Bat, read after a rousing group sing along of Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Next was Needle Match about tennis, which was very good and a little creepy. After intermission, we had Lightweight Champion, translated from Spanish, which I think was my favorite, gritty and sad. Raymond's Run, about a girl and her brother; I could just see them running. A rousing rendition of Who's On First by Randy Moore and Kathleen Brady rounded out the afternoon, just before milk and cookies.

I love being read to, and after listening to several books on cd, I've come to appreciate the skill involved in reading a story. Today, I really enjoyed being read to live by some very talented people.

Catching Up

Ok, I missed a Sunday. Here's the scoop.

Friday night Glender, TJ, AmyDee and I all went to Wits End Comedy Club. We saw Scotty Goff and the man was hilarious. We were all laughing so hard we cried. And he sang to me. I couldn't stop laughing.

Afterwards, TJ and I went to Red's Pub and played some pool with Jimmy, who turned out to be the GM of one of the downtown Denver bars. He was good; he won all games until close when he scratched on the eight ball, effectively beating himself.

I stayed out way too late (got home and in bed at 3am) especially since I had surgery last week. It was fun tho, by the end of the night I knew everyone's name (and I even got hit on sort of).

Hear Hear

This weekend I spent at my mom's house recuperating from my otoplasty correcting my conductive hearing loss on Thursday morning. Everyone at the surgical center was really nice to me and as a special little surprise, the gown plugged into a heating unit, because it's always a little cold in the OR.

Right now, I can hear things I've never been able to hear before, and my ear is still packed with the antibiotic stuff holding everything in place so it can heal. And I have a tiny bone made of titanium in my head (bionic ear!).

I'm going back to work tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on how I feel. Should be interesting, I'm talking much softer than ever because everything is echoing in my ears and I'll be able to hear when people talk to me. Hopefully my brain will get used to it sooner rather than later.

Hanging with TJ

Friday night, I went to happy hour with Glender and TJ. Last week we all went to the comedy club, Witz End, for some live comedy. After drinks and some bar food, TJ and I went down to the little bar he frequents, Red's Pub. We spent the rest of the evening and some of the early morning there, shooting pool with a really cute machinist who taught me quite a bit about pool and even let me win while he was teaching me. TJ played some too (he didn't let me win, but I didn't expect it either). All in all, a good night. And TJ had some advice for me about my machinist which I will refrain from posting here, suffice it to say it was graphic and lewd (and just a bit funny).

Tonight TJ and I went to E-Town with the North Mississippi Allstars. We had fun at the taping; TJ hadn't been to an E-Town show before (not that Glender and I hadn't been trying to ask him for the last two years) and he enjoyed himself. The music rocked the house, and the cute young audio guy, Steve, had a good night as well (he's got nice hands).

On the bus ride up, TJ told me his current gal, who had declined to join him at E-Town, had called this afternoon. She got upset when she heard that 'a friend from work' was going with him and proceeded to grill him about me, was I a woman, did I have a boyfriend, did I think it was a date. He answered noncommittally on all but the first and it just upset her. Now, TJ and I have been co-workers for nearly 3 years, and friends for the last 2. He's cute and fun but we're co-workers. Not going there.

But I still told him, "Of course it's a date."

Big Fun Scary Goals for 2008

In general, I think that New Year's Resolutions rarely work for me, even though I've posted something nearly every year.

The NaNoWriMo folks have been doing Big Scary Fun Goals the last couple of years and I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. Part of what makes this different (at least for me) is that the goals are quantified and measurable (with the exception of #8). Perhaps this will make a difference.

Here's my list, published on the NaNoWriMo BFS forums as well.

My BFS goals for 2008:

1. Get surgery to correct hearing loss (scheduled in January!)
2. Lose 60 pounds (lost 44 pounds in 2007)
3. Read at least one book a month by the end of the year starting with (in no particular order):
• His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
• Faith of a Writer by Joyce Carol Oates
• Mockingbird by Charles J Shields
• A Grand Improvisation by Stacy Shiff
• Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
• Dancing with Joy: 99 Poems ed. Roger Housden
• A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry ed. Czeslaw Milosz
• Best American Short Stories 2003 ed. Walter Mosley and Katrina Kenison
• Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Treasury ed. Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg
• Telling Stories: An Anthology for Writers ed. Joyce Carol Oates

4. Write every day using Writer’s Book of Days prompts
5. Blog at least weekly
6. Finish & Print By the Light of the Faerie Moon (NaNo 2007)
7. Win NaNoWriMo 2008
8. Figure out what career path I want to take

I think those are big and scary enough, and the reading will certainly be fun. Actually putting together this list was fun all by itself.

Happy New Year to all!

Holiday Party

Last night was our annual company holiday party at the Westin Hotel. We had a great time; the food tasted and looked wonderful, everyone dressed up, and the liquor flowed freely. Lots more people danced this year, and I danced with Brandon, the very cute, very young sous chef in our Cafe as well as TJ, the reluctant but sweet.

Here's to a fun holiday season!

Rally Day

Today I spent most of the day at The Tea Spot in Boulder writing. I wrote 5,568 words, earning my Rally badge and catching entirely up!

On a side note, The Tea Spot is a lovely shop, and I am throughly enjoying my new tea pot and tea leaves. The folks there are very helpful and kind, and will even rebrew green leaves. I'm just about to make myself another pot of tea. Join me?

Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me! And to GirlZoot!

Long long long day, but happy!

We got up early to catch the balloon festival first day lift off. Mom and I are traveling with her church group, SOAR - Seniors on a Rampage. We have some very lively seniors (Mom being one of course). I got to come along because Mom's such a good convincer.

Anyway, we got up early and drove around the balloon festival three times. None of the guards or traffic directors got us through to where we needed to be. We ended up seeing most of the lift off from the bus windows. When we finally got onto Festival Grounds, Mom and I made a beeline for the field, trying to find the registration for our balloon ride (tomorrow morning).

We found a big red truck with a white trailer and a sign I recognized, Rainbow Ryders - the folks we bought our tickets from. We talked to a nice woman with a deep southern twang and she directed us to Bill. Bill, it turned out, was the pilot of the balloon still in the white trailer. He had not taken off today.

Bill was kind enough to direct us to the registration tent. Mom talked to Bill about getting into the festival grounds earlier so we wouldn't miss our flight tomorrow. He said we could ride with him, they left at 4:45 am from the Rio Rancho Best Western, which happened to be where we were staying, too. We got his room number and went back to the registration tent to get more info.

We spent probably three hours at the festival, bought some pins, and generally had a great time. The bus (the trip was a bus tour) took us back to the hotel, where we changed our clothes to go to Santa Fe.

We only had about 2 hours in Santa Fe, because we wanted to get back to Albuquerque for the Balloon Glow and fireworks (on my birthday!). Mom and I spent some time in the little rock shop I loved last year. Nothing really called to me so we left empty handed. Well, not entirely empty handed, we got three tiny vial necklaces designed to put small minerals in. We bought three, because we were going to make Bunny, our fearless leader, a bottle of the Chimayo sacred earth to hang around her neck as a thank you for taking care of us on the trip. The other two were for us. Mom also got two tiny glass bottles with cork stoppers to hold the remaining earth.

We stopped at the French bakery connected to La Fonda and bought a piece of Quiche Lorraine for me and two small desserts for later. I got a strawberry shortcake cake with heavy whipped cream. Mom was better and got a little fruit tart with kiwi, raspberry, and blueberry on top of a light custard. She also got a steak salad at the cafe on the far side of the plaza, the one that's been in business for over 100 years.

I bought, after much delight in shopping all the various stands, a silver feather from a Navajo artist selling at the Palace of the Governors. It is almost two inches long with deep grooves and feels both heavy and light when I wear it. I bought it in part because we are going to fly tomorrow. The wind had picked up quite a bit and many of the artists were packing up to leave. The leaves skittered across the paving stones and crunched underfoot. I always love the crunching of leaves.

After sitting for several minutes and taking pictures and watching the people go by in the plaza, we headed back to where the bus would pick us up. We stopped in the rock shop and mom bought me a pendant I had been looking at earlier. It is a goddess figure with her arms up holding a round cabochon of amethyst.

Cyclone Power

This is going to be a quick post. We're getting ready to leave for New Mexico for the Albuquerque Balloon Festival tomorrow morning.

Mom is an avid Kohl's shopper. I get a lot of my clothes there, and there's always the umpteen times a year they give special discounts, including the coveted 30% off everything in the store. It's a lottery system, most people get the standard 15%, some get an exciting 20%, but only a few get that height of discount, the 30% off.

Well, of course, just before we were due to leave for vacation, Mom got the 30% off sticker on her Kohl's ad in the mail. And we'd been waiting for it. I've been wanting a Dyson Animal vacuum, and Mom's been cautioning me to wait for the 30% off. Twice I've wanted to buy one, but she keeps telling me to wait. When I got in the car and the ad was on the seat, I picked it up and peeled back the sticker. It was Dyson time! And of course, the sale would be over by the time we got back.

When we got down to the store, I was calculating how I would pay on Mom's Kohl's card and chatting amiably away about how nice it would be to have a Dyson, etc. When we finally got the top of the line Dyson 17 in the cart, Mom pulled out her trusty calculator. She came up with a figure, which was pretty good, considering how much they are in the first place and she smiled. "That's only $5 more than I paid for the one in the basement."

What? Which one in the basement? She had her own Dyson, which was how I knew I wanted one of my own. I raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Which one in the basement?"

"Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas!" she replied, grinning. "I got the lower model on 15% off when it was on sale back in April.

April! She's definitely a mom; she can keep a secret for six months or more. I can't hardly keep a secret for more than a couple of weeks (which is why I do my shopping after NaNoWriMo so I don't have to worry about blurting it out by mistake).

Well, I have to wait till we're back from vacation to use it, but yay! It'll be great! Clean carpets. Won't the kitties be surprised!

Ok, so it wasn't as quick as I thought. Oh well!

Grand Slam!

Mom and I went to the Rockies game against the Diamondbacks. The Rockies need to win all the rest of the regular season games to make it to the playoffs as the wild card. And we beat the Diamondbacks soundly today.

I haven't been to many games this year, but more than usual, which is generally one game. My aunt owns season tickets and she loves baseball. She recently had a surgical procedure that the doctor wouldn't release her to attend the game, so she gave the tickets to us. She was sorely disappointed to miss the game.

I had my little camera and I took some pictures, which I posted on Picassa as kind of an experiment. The picture above is of Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies Shortstop rookie, just before he takes a swing. At the time, I was taking a picture of his wide stance in the batting box. Just after I got the shot, he ripped one up the middle and made his first career grand slam. And the crowd went wild.

Heck of a game, and a beautiful night on top of it all.