the daily swim 11

After two calm and warm days the water is so clear I can see my feet when I've waded in up to my waist. I count a 100 strokes out to sea where I can still stand up and there's a little boy swimming with his mami, like a little turtle with his head poking up above the water, and who suddenly heads towards me. What else to do but grab him under the arms when he arrives smiling, and turn him around and launch him back towards her.

Vous etes anglaise? she asks me. And I say, Galloise, taking care to pronounce it clearly so I describe myself as Welsh and not a french cigarette.

I have a habit of attracting little children, cats and old men over 70. Tony says it's because I'm only about 6 years old myself at heart. But that doesn't explain the cats and old men.

Hombre pequeño, grandes imágenes

Proust tiene su madelaines, yo tengo las bailarines de Can Can.

Yo fui al Museo de Courtauld esta tarde con mi estudiante favorita de Barcelona.*. Vimos la exposición Toulouse-Lautrec / Jane Avril, "Más allá del Moulin Rouge". Estupendo. Especialmente la biografía de Jane Avril. Ahora quiero leer un buen libro sobre Toulouse-Lautrec y la gente que salía con. O, mejor aún, escribir uno.

Cuando veo obras de Toulouse-Lautrec, siempre pienso de Nueva Orleans. En mis viene años, yo vivía alli. Trabajaba en un club, “The Can Can Cabaret.” Fue formada en el Moulin Rouge, y había un mural en la pared en el estilo de Lautrec. Los bailarines tuvieron en los personajes de las mujeres que pintó. Entónces, que no sólo vio un gran espectáculo de hoy, pero yo "can canned" por el carril de la memoria.

Recorrimos la Courtland después de terminar la exposición, y me sorprendí al ver esto:

Siempre me ha encanta esta pintura. Yo no sabía que ella vivía en la Courltand. La Moulin Rouge y Los Folies Bergere, ambas en la misma tarde. ¿Quién sabía?



*He sido su enseñanza de manera intermitente durante el último año más o menos. Ella es fantástica, y se ha convertido en más de un amiga de un estudiante. Sin embargo, eso podría cambiar ya que ella quiere ser empujado un poco más difícil. La próxima semana empiezo a restallar el látigo. Por mucho que se raje un látigo. ;-)

Days 10 & 11?

Maybe I missed two days?  I definitely missed yesterday.  Made up for it today with two shots.

Took a stroll on Main St. this morning while it was cooler.  Gave me the chance to take pictures of things other than the stuff in my yard.  The first shot is of some promote-tourism thing the state is having... I don't know, and don't much care.  Kind of a cool graphic though.  The second is of the clock tower on the county courthouse.  You can barely see it, but the white dot above the tower is the moon. 

 

Treading Water

My willingness to accept the 30 day challenge was to "get back into exercise", which I somehow manage to "get out of" once a month or two. Walking by the sea was an excellent means of propelling the mortal coil along some picturesque stretches of local urban coastline. Yet this week's reversal of sea and sky - in which the sky attempts to recreate the sea in a wall of water between the earth's surface and anywhere above - has been a blessing in soggy disguise.

Back on the treadmill today I leapt aboard with surprising vigour, and was still hyped for the journey 3.4 kilometres later. Added to my slightly earlier wake-up time and "tasks achieved", the exercise has added to my feelings of well-being. I'm afraid it's happy-happy-joy-joy from me.

Disney photos done!

I finished organizing our photos from our March trip to Disney. That's a relief! Now I'm going to go show them to my family. It has been long enough since we were there that I think they'll be thrilled to relive the experience together through photos.

EDIT: I have also gone through and selected the best pictures from our more recent family camp experience. I haven't captioned or tagged them yet, but that's next on the list. Then, I think, I'll be caught up for 2011. I keep thinking that, though, and keep finding more photos to organize.