(i am alive)

my humble opinion.

2009-12-20T12:42:00.000-05:00

as a resident and a homeowner in Glens Falls, i am just wondering if anyone is truly surprised that The Mill, Bruce Levinsky's grand idea of luxury condominiums in the heart of the city failed? after all this time and money, does anyone even live there? i read in the Post Star last week that the bank (Amalgamated) has taken ownership of the complex. the Mill is nice and all, but is exceptionally overpriced for the Glens Falls area. considering that the median income for residents...

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just wow.

2009-12-17T20:25:00.007-05:00

you have to check out the big picture's 2009 year in photos. this is a section of the border wall being built between the US and Mexico. there are three parts to the series (part one, part two, part three), all of which are beautiful, funny, sad and disturbing. also worth a mention is discover's top ten astronomy pictures of 2009. var _sttoolbar =...

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sojourn.

2009-12-06T13:02:00.010-05:00

it was a busy week. first there was World AIDS Day, which is always emotional for me. it's a time for me to reflect on the people i have known and lost to this virus and to remember how fortunate i am to be in good health. adam and i attended the local observance in Glens Falls. like last year, i wound up being quoted in the Post Star's write up of the event. then there was the ridiculously disappointing vote by the NY State senate rejecting marriage equality. like so...

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louie blu.

2009-11-29T12:44:00.001-05:00

he's not such a little guy anymore; just shy of six months. we have to schedule his neutering surgery soon, or as i like to call it: the 'snip and clip'. poor little guy. i can't help but feel bad for his upcoming 'loss'. var _sttoolbar = {}stBlogger.init("http://w.sharethis.com/button/sharethis.js#publisher=0d4dfd86-8300-4bcb-bae6-284d81dac0d6&type=blogger&buttonText=share%20this");

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a walk.

2009-11-22T16:26:00.003-05:00

we took crosbi for a long walk this afternooon. crandall park is only a few minutes walk from our house. from crandall park we went into cole's woods. we'll only be able to take crosbi through those woods for another week or so before it's closed off to cross country skiers only. as the woods are owned by the city and would be ill suited for hunting, it was comforting to know we wouldn't hear any gunshots. this can be a scary time of year for hikers. var...

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housekeeping.

2009-11-16T10:09:00.001-05:00

i'm just as guilty as the next person of reading blogs mostly through a feed reader. so when i actually stopped by my own blog yesterday, i noticed the need to do some housekeeping with my link lists. i deleted a few links to pages which haven't posted anything in the last 3+ months, but mostly i added some sites. some noteworthy additions include: •keri smith's, wish jar. i originally started following this blog when i began considering a return to illustration work. ...

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heavy stuff.

2009-11-15T11:57:00.006-05:00

since my engagement, i have been struggling to find a comfort level with weddings, being a "bride", being a "wife" and marriage in general due to my strongly held beliefs about equality, feminism and heterosexism. to be clear, i am enormously happy and am completely certain that adam and i are meant to be partnered for life. it was obvious to me early on that something was different about my relationship with adam; something comfortable and grounding. our strengths and weaknesses balance...

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an open letter to Senator Little.*

2009-11-11T23:36:00.002-05:00

Dear Senator Little, I am writing as a constituent of Glens Falls to request your support of marriage equality in New York. While I understand this is a controversial issue; it is ultimately one of civil rights. The legal protections and recognition of committed couples should not be restricted only to those of opposite sexes. I urge you as my elected representative to support marriage equality so that all loving New York families can be protected equally by their government. I will be...

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birthdays.

2009-11-01T11:22:00.008-05:00

growing another year older...it is what we make it, yes? i try hard to not engage in negative age talk about myself, but it certainly can be challenging. some days the less empowering effects of aging seem so much more obvious, rather than the knowledge and experience it brings. i think about this now because it is time for two birthdays; my own 34th birthday and this blog's 2nd birthday. here's to a new year of wisdom, growth and peace! and here's a link to find out some interesting but...

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hurricane mountain.

2009-10-17T18:09:00.008-04:00

it's winter in the adirondack mountains! we discovered this when hiking hurricane mountain today. i got a very slow start, worsened by the fact that while short, the hike up hurricane is quite steep in parts. there was more snow on the ground as the elevation got higher, and beyond about 3,000 ft there were patches of pretty thick ice. nothing a little careful stepping couldn't handle...it's not snowshoe season just yet. at least not for another week or two... var _sttoolbar =...

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one of my favorite things.

2009-10-16T21:38:00.007-04:00

even though it signals the end of summer weather, flip flops and eating dinner on the porch, i look forward to going to the orchard to pick apples every fall. it's more than just a tradition. it makes me happy. maybe it's the sugar high from eating more apples in one day than i do the rest of the year, or maybe it's the fresh, hot and delicious cider donuts, but i love the annual trip to hick's orchard. i never quite understand the folks that drive all the way out to granville just to go...

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wish i brought my mittens.

2009-10-12T15:21:00.011-04:00

a quick trip up to the summit of black mountain on a chilly fall day. the camera isn't doing the colors justice. some folks choose to stay up here forever. the windmill was unusually silent. my hands were freezing. adam holding up the finished sketch. var _sttoolbar = {}stBlogger.init("http://w.sharethis.com/button/sharethis.js#publisher=0d4dfd86-8300-4bcb-bae6-284d81dac0d6&type=blogger&buttonText=share%20this");

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fall gardening.

2009-10-11T15:29:00.006-04:00

it is officially the end of the growing season here in my backyard. i say that because today we cleared out the vegetable bed and prepped the soil for next years plantings. all of the compost we have been making for the last year went into the garden. we also planted garlic for the 2010 harvest. this year i decided to skip the softneck varieties altogether. i find hardneck varieties to be much tastier and easier to peel. i have heard that hardneck garlic is more cold hearty than softneck...

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gripe.

2009-10-04T10:22:00.006-04:00

things have not exactly been copacetic in my corner of the world lately. i have been letting some things slide; the biggest example being my gym attendance. for over a month i've been able to justify once weekly visits being "good enough". i will have to call my own bluff to stop this slow descent into lassitude. in additon, ella's illnesses continue. to clarify, i'm speaking of her recent, seemingly minor upper respiratory infection not her unclarified and looming ailment necessitating...

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can't wait.

2009-09-26T12:06:00.000-04:00

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a little information.

2009-09-24T23:04:00.003-04:00

they say that a little information can be dangerous. i agree. you know when you learn something and you wish you had never found out about it? then you can't stop thinking about it... what...just me? okay, whatever. anyway, this is what happened to me earlier this week when i read this article on treehugger. mercury in mascara? really?!? and to those of you who don't wear mascara, please stay with me. the article links to skin deep, a site maintained by the environmental working group. ...

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you can't predict the weather.

2009-09-13T18:02:00.008-04:00

we hiked big slide and the brothers today. we didn't originally plan on it, but wound up taking the loop; going up big slide from john's brook and back down the three brothers. the weather was perfect until shortly before we summitted big slide. of course. it was sort of like standing in a cloud on top of big slide. on the way down the brothers the weather improved and the sky cleared affording us the views that this hike is so known for. var _sttoolbar =...

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a big surprise.

2009-09-07T09:02:00.010-04:00

seven years ago adam and i hiked our first adirondack high peak together. as it was adam's first high peak, i chose cascade mtn. i think cascade is a great "intro to the high peaks" hike. at less than three miles up and with a full 360 degree view, it's an awesome pay-off for a smaller amount of effort. so when adam chose cascade mtn for a day hike yesterday, almost exactly seven years later, i thought it was sentimental and sweet. little did i know that he had bigger plans! once at...

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whattcha been up to?

2009-08-31T11:47:00.006-04:00

so you've probably been noticing that i've been kinda callin' it in for the last two weeks. let me give you an abridged version of what's been going on. •my vegetable garden has been crapping the bed. it never really took off this year, mostly because of our wet and cool summer. my eggplants are only now starting to really set fruit and the tomatoes all "caught the blight". the flowers haven't really fared much better. it's most obvious with the sage and snapdragons. everything just...

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not much going on around here.

2009-08-23T13:32:00.003-04:00

two more weeks?!

2009-08-16T16:32:00.001-04:00

the little guy with the blue collar will be coming home with us at the end of august! var _sttoolbar = {}stBlogger.init("http://w.sharethis.com/button/sharethis.js#publisher=0d4dfd86-8300-4bcb-bae6-284d81dac0d6&type=blogger&buttonText=share%20this");

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no rain.

2009-08-09T14:55:00.010-04:00

we spent a perfectly relaxing, rain-free couple days at inman pond. i can't remember the last time i slept in a tent without the rain fly on, let alone been able to remain mud free for days! it was a perfect choice for a stress free, no-brainer backpack. the trailhead is 30 minutes drive from our front door and within one hour's packing, we were making camp. from there, it was just lazing in the sun, watching nature, reading books, drinking red wine and enjoying the...

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domesticity.

2009-08-04T18:37:00.010-04:00

it happens that we had some bananas left over from our camping trip to putnam pond. (at the campsite we had made "banana smores". bananas, stuffed in their peel with chocolate & marshmallows, wrapped in foil then thrown right in the campfire for about 15 minutes. YUM!) what to do? make banana bread! whole wheat banana bread with chocolate chips 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon allspice 1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup brown...

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a digression.

2009-08-02T12:19:00.002-04:00

recently, there's been increased MSM coverage of health care reform, or "obamacare" for the conservatively bent. the crappy state of the US health care system has been a concern of mine long before obama's election and i bristle at the mention that i have just jumped on the bandwagon and "drank the obama kool-aid". many folks have been advocating for reform, more specifically a single payer or *gasp* a federal health care system long before the elections even started. the truth is, obama...

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putnam pond.

2009-07-26T22:15:00.015-04:00

we camped with some friends this weekend. we stayed at a NYS campground in the pharaoh lakes wilderness called putnam pond. these photos are deceptively peaceful as most of the time was spent more wantonly. at one point adam had shoes on his hands. i swore to my friends that i would not post the more debauched (and hilarious) photos; lest you think they are degenerates (in fact they are awesome). it need...

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