Pablo (not the fish)

i have been on spring break this week, and it has been wonderful. originally i was going to go out of town but then decided to stay put. it has been a great combination of finishing up my grad work, relaxing, and hanging out with folks.

today, for example, i went with some friends to the Picasso exhibit in Richmond. Picasso is not my favorite artist, but i do find a lot of his work fascinating and who doesn't love a good cultural experience? The exhibit was very well done and really made me appreciate him a lot more. They broke his work up into rooms based on time period and gave a written explanation of what was going on in his life/the world during each of the times. I think seeing the personal and political effects on art make it come alive, and that is what happened today! Although a lot of his work is pretty out there for me, I have to respect the creative mind that produced it!

another thing I do appreciate about Picasso- his titles are very helpful in deciphering the picture. this self-portrait was at the museum in Richmond and it is titled "man in a straw hat with ice cream"

2 new things

i recently got 2 new things. a ukulele and a haircut! the ukulele i've been thinking about for quite some time and finally pulled the trigger. it's fun and pretty easy to play and really i just want to be able to play a few ingrid michaelson songs and i'll be content :) currently i can (sorta) play you and i- ingrid michaelson, somewhere over the rainbow- the hawaiian version, and wash away- joe purdy.

and then last weekend i went over to my coworker's house and she cut my hair and then we went 4-wheeling! it was awesome! nothing too dramatic, just a little shorter and some layers and such. it must be the season of haircuts :) here is a picture of both-

oakleigh has sold!

for over two years now my parents have tried to sell oakleigh, and it has finally happened! this is a huge answer to prayer and a giant relief. it all happened rather suddenly, and so for the past 2 weeks or so they have been cleaning furiously and ridding the place of stuff. it sparkled when they finished, and is now ready for a new set of owners to take over.

goodbye oakleigh!

car update

my ford has returned! and thankfully the problem wasn't anything grand or shockingly expensive. turns out it just needed a tune up, and after a few new belts and plugs and other things it's back to running smoothly. i did enjoy being reunited with Babar for a time, but i'm glad to have the ford back!

on an only slightly related note, i once named my car "Rufio" after

the character in hook. i mainly chose that name because i liked when people said "Rufio, Rufio, Ru-fi-ooooo" after i told them my car's name, but i've never felt like it truly fit. i'm now looking for new suggestions- any thoughts? it's a white ford explorer sport, similar to the one pictured below.

hello old friend

recently my car has been masquerading as a bucking bronco. whenever i idle at a stop light or stop sign it bucks from side to side or front to back, sometimes even lurching forward a bit if the break isn't pushed all the way down. this has been quite concerning, so it went into the shop on monday. until it returns i'm back to driving.......

Babar!

(this is the only picture of Babar i have- perhaps the end of sophomore year? and ashley is illustrating what a great parker i am)

i swore i would never drive Babar again after he repeatedly died in the middle of intersections junior year of college, but he's had some work done and works pretty well. the trick is to let him sit for 5-10 minutes when you turn it on. then he's pretty much good to go. it's actually been fun driving Babar, and feels a bit like a go-kart after driving a much bigger car. hopefully he will be kind to me for the next several days!

skiing!

last weekend i went up to wintergreen to go skiing. karen's family has a cabin up there and they were nice enough to some of us use it for the weekend! i've only been skiing once before (in high school) and so was a bit nervous i'd come back with something in a cast, but was also very excited.... and in the end it was awesome! thankfully my friend claire was also a beginner so we spent much of the day learning the ropes on the bunny slopes before meeting up with others later for some intermediate runs. (expert will have to wait for another day for me!)

i only fell a few times on the whole- although one was an excellent backwards slide down an intermediate slope and the other (and my favorite) was a tumble off a ski lift that also took out two of my highly skilled friends. somehow i didn't get off the lift in time and began to panic as i felt myself rise back into the air. my first instinct was to just jump, and as i came down i lost control, taking out the guys i was with in the meantime. in my credit it was dark and icy and there were people falling off that lift about every other chair. but let's be honest i would have fallen anyways :)

all in all it was a great experience! i would alternate between loving the rush and being terrified, but i'm ready to go back again!

some of us on our way to ski!

this is in no way groundbreaking, but i was excited

i got a new computer back in the fall and of the many exciting features that come with a computer these days, one i was especially excited about was the built in camera. i haven't used it much, but while the kids were here i turned it on and with all the special effects you can add, it was endless free entertainment! here are a few of the results-

let me know if anyone ever wants to video chat!