Those dirty dirty Brits.

Apparently, this is the official logo of the 2012 Olympics in London:

This logo has been ruined for me and I'm about to ruin it for you too, so if you don't want that to happen, stop reading now.

You still with me? Good, because according to one blogger, the logo above looks like Lisa Simpson giving fellatio, and now that's pretty much all I can see in it. Sigh.

Lindsay and Miles

My friend Lindsay used to play the violin in the Evanston Symphony with me. We had good times during the 15 minute break in our 2.5 hour rehearsals every Tuesday night, but then all that came to an end. Why, you ask? Because of the little chipmunk each of us are holding in these pictures: Miles. Based on the size of his cheeks, I'd say he's storing up nuts for the winter. While I'm sad that Lindsay isn't playing with us anymore, her leaving did inspire our starting a monthly brunch get-together with our other orchestra friend, Rachel. Now we get to actually spend more than 15 minutes talking at a time. And Rachel and I get to hold a really cute baby in the process. See? Everything worked out in the end. :)

Ski Trip!

Yesterday I went skiing for only the second time in my life. My friends Cary, Terry, and Becky, all coworkers, accompanied me to Alpine Valley Ski Resort in Wisconsin. When I looked Alpine Valley up on the Internet, it said it had seven green slopes, seven blue slopes, and seven black slopes. Considering the only other time I've ever gone skiing (back in high school) was at a place with one green, one blue, and one black slope, I thought this place was huge! I later found out, through my friend Diana (who lives in Colorado), that it was actually rather miniscule. No worries though, we had a great time! While I started out a bit wobbly, I picked up on turning and stopping pretty quickly thanks to Terry's expert coaching (he's been skiing since he was a little kid). We skiied from 11 am to 3 pm and I only ended up falling twice! Unfortunately, it is EXTREMELY difficult to get up once you've fallen in skis. Like, nearly impossible. And of course, Cary managed to get my first fall on video, which she promptly posted to youtube:

She then recorded Becky's first ski run ever, which was pretty good until she fell down at the end. Meanwhile, I'm STILL trying to get up from my first fall...


The pics below, however, prove that eventually I was able to get up and I had many great fall-free runs after that. :)

Postsecret

One of my favorite websites/blogs of all time is the Postsecret site (http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/). Postsecret was started by a man named Frank Warren. The premise of the project was to have people decorate homemade postcards and portray a secret that has never been spoken before. There are no restrictions as to the content of the secret--some are happy, some are sad, some are funny, and some are just strange. The only rules are that the secret has to be truthful, and it can never have been previously revealed.

Every Sunday morning, Frank posts the new secrets that he has selected from those sent in the past week. Whenever I read them, on Sunday afternoon, I turn off the TV and music, and just concentrate on what I'm reading. You're looking into people's souls when you read their secrets. They reveal hopes, dreams, regrets, crimes, kindheartedness, and mean spirits. It seems only fair to give them all of my attention. The best part is, occasionally you'll run in to a secret that someone sent in that is exactly how you feel too. When that happens, you can't help but feel a sense of connectedness to your fellow world-mates.

Doppleganger

Check out the photos below. The one on the left is Obama. The one on the right is an Indonesian photographer named Ilham Anas. Anas is from Jakarta (where Obama went to grade school), and he shot to fame after Obama was elected President. Can you believe this resemblence???

An Elephant and Her Dog

Click on the link below to listen to a really sweet story about an elephant who has befriended a dog at the elephant sanctuary where she lives. The elephant and dog are best friends, and are inseparable. The dog even lets the elephant rub her tummy with her huge foot! So sweet. :)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/02/assignment_america/main4696340.shtml

Thanks, Liz!

Clara was the lucky recipient of a new hedgehog toy from our new friend Liz today. She had no idea it was coming, but she was oh-so-happy that it did! This also gave me a chance to try out my new laptop's video camera. It didn't work. Hence, the photo.