Ireland, Day 2

Free breakfast at the hotel
Set off for tour of the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods of Belfast where much of The Troubles occurred
Stop first in the Falls Road neighborhood (predominantly Catholic and pro-Irish) - parking across the street from the Sinn Fein (or click headquarters)
Murals were a major part of the tour for both neighborhoods - here's some from the Fall Road area

The black taxi used to be one of the only means of getting around if you didn't have a car as there was no bus system

Bush is a prominent topic in these murals

Frederick Douglas spoke of the oppression of the Irish

The Irish also feel a kinship with the Palestinian movement
Next stop - Shankill Road (predominantly Protestant and pro-British) - to get to this area from Falls Road, you must cross a barricade. Amazingly, there are barricades between the two neighborhoods that have been there since around 1968. Since the easing of the troubles, some of the barricades are opened during the day. But, they are still all closed at night. Here are some examples of murals from Shankill:

The men pictured were part of the Ulster Volunteer Force - a paramilitary group in answer to the IRA

This mural is a reminder that both sides endured terrible tragedies due to The Troubles



British flags were everywhere throughout this neighborhood
Next, we set off to check out an exhibit at the Golden Thread Gallery that showed the history of The Troubles time period through pictures - Out of the Darkness
We had a very hard time finding this place as they did not give an address, just a poorly hand-drawn map
After seeing the exhibition, we were hungry so we consulted our handy guidebook. We found that one of the oldest pubs was nearby in a place called Pottinger's Entry. It was a very small alley type street that had lots of shopping on it (redevelopment). The pub is Morningstar Bar.
Then, we were off to see the Belfast City Hall.


MTH and I are sitting in the chairs for the mayor and other important people. Interestingly, the mayor is only in power for one year at the time. It switches from a Protestant to a Catholic and back.

Next we just walked around Belfast to see the sights. Here MTH is posing with a large wire sculpture.

Here's our hotel in Belfast. It was across from the square with the City Hall.

That night we went to Deane's Restaurant. It was quite good. Upscale Irish food. Then, we headed to Fibber McGee's for some real Irish music. It was quite fun. Plus, MTH got mistaken as an Irishman. I think he though he was cool.

Photography Class, Assignment 2

Our second assignment was to only photograph nature. At first, I thought I had it made. We already had a trip planned out to just east of the Shenandoah Valley. Once there, I realized that I didn't have enough charge in my camera battery to take pictures. At that point, I was not too happy with this assignment. I live in the city. How in the world was I going to photograph only nature once I got back from our trip. It turns out there's a lot of nature in the Richmond city limits. I headed over to Maymont Park to see what I could see.

Some of the ideas we were supposed to incorporate into our pictures:
1. Leading lines
2. Perspective
3. Rule of thirds
4. Harsh sunlight

Here's what I shared with the class along with a few comments:


To me, this picture looks like I took it while I was in the mountains but it is at Maymont using two cedar trees to frame a view of a small hill.

This tree is actually a double tree. That is, the roots of the two upper trees are intertwined. I took the picture by putting myself in the crook between the two trees and looking up. Again, I'm happy with how the picture makes the trees look so much taller than they really are. If you've ever been to Maymont, you wouldn't realize this picture is from there.

Not my best picture.

My worst picture of the bunch.

I like how the bamboo frames the bottom of the tree but I didn't like the extra piece of bamboo at the bottom. Since it's a public park, I can't do anything about extraneous items in the pictures.

This picture is ok but it's the reason I started taking pictures of the water which you'll see in the pictures that follow.

I like the softness of the tree by the shininess of the brook.

The cool thing about this picture is that the reflection of the tree did not show up in the brook to my naked eye. It only showed up in the picture.

More leading lines.

Although I would normally take the picture of the full tree, I really liked the yellow flowers that were growing under the tree. I sat down on the ground and took this one. The interesting tree trunk added even more to the composition of this picture.

I wanted to fill up the picture with the weird texture of this dead tree.

I happened to look up when I was walking away from the Texas Beach trail near the James River. The view made me think of the pictures of the jungles in Vietnam. One person in the class thought it looked like a picture of fabric.

In the end, I felt much better about my pictures after the class as I got a lot of good feedback.

Next week's assignment is to photograph people. I'm going to a wedding for the weekend with a fully charged camera!

MMH, the Photographer

Photography Class, Assignment 1

In the first class, we discussed why we were in the class. My main reason for taking the class is to learn how to use my camera fully. I can easily turn it on and use it as an "instamatic". I want to understand words such as "f-stop", "aperture", "balance", etc. The first assingment was to bring in a few pictures that we had taken in the past year. Here's the ones that I shared:


Phoebe was on my lap for this picture. I like how her eyes match the bed spread. We discussed that there was a lot of yellow in the picture. It is probably due to the lower light in the room. I would not want to use a flash to brighten up though as that would have caused her eyes to look weird.

I'm very proud of this picture. MTH and I were walking around Belfast when I saw this interesting juxtaposition. Here were these "new" colorful abstract art pieces in front of the "old" cathedral. But, the cathedral looks much better than the pieces of newer art. The cathedral is clean whereas the art is rusty and dirty. Plus, I was able to fram the cathedral with the art pieces.

In the first class, we had discussed how a lot of times we take "touristy" pictures. Put people in the middle of the frame and have the big castle in the back ground. I wanted to share a picture that we had taken where there an action taking place but that also captured the fact that we were in a different place.

As you can tell by now, I cherry picked the pictures that I shared with the class. I really like this one as well. It's the tower at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland from afar. I like the dots of yellow from the wildflowers that are interspersed in the grass. Also, although there is a huge amount of sky above the tower, I like the clearness of the sky by the noisiness of the grass.

This picture is the only one from my old camera. I took this one from ETK's window. We were watching the Georgia Half Marathon and for some reason, i thought it would be interesting to take a picture looking down. It worked. I like the shadows on the asphalt. The only downside is that this picture would have been so much better with my new camera!

This picture was my try at some abstract art. It is the ceiling in the City Hall of Belfast. I think that the symmetry could be better but MTH was waiting on me when I took the picture.

Finally, furniture for the front room

MTH and I bought some furniture for the front room. It will be delivered on Friday. We also bought another interesting piece for the dining room but I don't have a link for it. The only real item left on the list is a dining room table. We have two possibilities but we're still not sure. We need to make up our mind though to ensure we can it in time for Thanksgiving. Here's what we got:

Butler Ottoman

Club Chair

Rug

MTH saw these sculptures and really wanted to bring them home for the backyard. I think they would be as tall as the electric wires back there.

Dinosaur

Giraffe

Ireland, Day 1

Land in Dublin almost on time.
Head to the car hire counter (i.e. car rental)
Wait in line behind one person for 20 minutes - customer service is not their thing
Finally get car and head to Belfast on the motorway
Decide to stop to see the high crosses in Monasterboice

Make first mistake driving when we leave - drive on the wrong side of the road but no one was coming
Make no more stops on the way to Belfast as jetlag is setting in quickly
Realize as we get closer to Belfast that we only have a map and the address for the hotel, no actual directions
Amazingly, we only miss the street once for the hotel - Belfast is not really that big
Check in to the hotel and head for lunch in the hotel restaurant

MTH ate firecracker chicken (i.e. fried chicken)
Finally, time for our nap - we only slept for 3 hours
Drank a cask beer at The Crown

Took pictures of the Europa Hotel - the most bombed hotel in all of Europe, a church that's also a mall and the Grand Opera House



Asked a local where we should eat - He recommended Irene and Nan's - It turned out to be quite good
Remember to multiply everything on the menu by 2 in order to calculate the real price!
Make a reservation at a fancy restaurant, Deane's, for Day 2
Try to stay out late but it just doesn't happen due to sleep winning

Ireland, Prologue

MTH and I went to Ireland from 8/27-9/3. We had a great time and took 350 pictures with the new camera. I promise I will not share 350 pictures with you but will instead be writing up blog entries by day. I hope you enjoy my updates almost as much as we enjoyed the trip :)

The flight over was uneventful although we did enjoy our business class seats. We used points to upgrade. It made sleeping on the way over much easier. That way I was able to be as rested as possible for my driving.

Phoebe, The Empress of The Fan

I am currently sitting on the bed trying to update my blog. Phoebe is sitting on my lap but also across my arm. Typing is not quite as easy as normal. Somehow, she is the most independent needy cat I've ever known. When we returned home from our 1 1/2 week vacation, I thought she was going to turn herself inside out trying to be close to me. This behavior lasted for a week. Then, she was off to herself again. Now, a few days later, I guess she has missed me just long enough. It really keeps me from getting things done around the house but I have to take advantage of the times that she wants to "hang out".

Miracles Do Happen

MTH got home before me. You may not understand how earth shattering that event is. During the time that we lived together and have been married, I could probably count on my fingers the number of times MTH has beat me home.

Photography Class

I'm hoping to take a photography class starting the second week of September. I was planning to sign up before leaving for vacation but that doesn't look like it will happen. Hopefully, the class will not fill up while I'm away. The class looks like it will help me to learn a lot about my camera. It's called Basic Camera Skills. Here's an excerpt from the class description:

The instructor will review the fundamentals of image capture and camera operation, guidelines for achieving proper exposures, and techniques for creating successful photo images. Students considering the purchase of a camera may want to attend the first class to get professional advice on what camera is best to fit their needs and interest. This class does not include instruction in darkroom or digital printing. Weekly assignments will be given.

I'm especially interested to find out what the weekly assignments will be. I also hope that we'll then discuss those in detail the following week in order to learn more about how to be a better photographer.

Things I Need But Don't Want

5. Car
I would love to be able to walk to work, walk or take public transportation to the store and take a taxi or public transportation to the airport.
4. Work
No explanation needed.
3. TV
It just sucks up time and doesn't give anything back.
2. Hairdryer
Another time sucker.
1. Air Conditioner
I really just hate the over-usage of it.

Ronald Reagan to the Rescue

Since it can be hard to remember everything needed for cheering MTH on at his triathlons, we decided to get a shirt that I can wear each time he does an event. We went to a store called Bang-On. It's an iron on store. They have some really interesting stuff including an iron on that's like the Che Guevara t-shirts except it's Ronald Reagan. MTH has said such things as "Ronald Reagan was the greatest president ever" and "He single handedly caused the Soviet Union to fall". Now, I'm not sure if he was actually saying those things or if it was the alcohol talking but when I saw this iron on, I knew I had to have it for MTH.


* Please do not leave mean comments about my husband.

Running Clothes Review

Since I've been running a lot more lately, I thought I'd start reviewing some of the clothes that I wear. Some are definitely better than others.

I'll start with the normal shorts and shirt. This outfit is one of my favorites. It's comfortable and the little pocket inside the shorts is very easy to get to. Plus, the shorts don't ride up at all (very important!).



The next outfit is a new one. It's a running skirt. I had seen these around so thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. I actually like it but they do ride up more than I expected. The skirt makes it so that no one can tell. Plus, I feel like a tennis star in it!



The last outfit is skintight running shorts. They're ok. I wouldn't really recommend these as they ride up and there is no skirt to hide it. The shirt with sports bra is nice though. It's only one thing to worry about.

Kickball Update

WE WON!!

We won our game last week. When the final horn blew, we all just looked at each other for a second before we realized that we had actually won the game. It looks like if we had just practiced a little, we possibly could have won a few more games. We still had a great time. Here's a picture of me running just after kicking the ball.

A Day with BlondiePi

We had a great time hanging out and catching up yesterday. She seemed to be having a nice, relaxing vacation. She arrived with SDK and SDK's husband (who by the way, MTH and I are hoping to have dinner with at some point in the future since they're only an hour away in Williamsburg).

They all arrived around 9:45am yesterday. We headed over to Strawberry Street Cafe for breakfast. I was disappointed in mine but it seemed that the others liked there food. Then, SDK and husband left for an appointment. Blondie and I walked around the neighborhood. Although it was warm, it was quite temperate compared to the previous week! MTH went for a work out while we were on our walk and we planned to meet again at 2pm in order to go to the Virginia Center for Architecture. It's housed in a Tudor-Revival house on Monument Ave, just 4 blocks from our house. It was quite interesting to see and hear.

After the tour, Blondie and I headed to downtown Richmond for a snack. I, of course, took her to Cafe Gutenberg. I had a Peach Basil Gazpacho and a slice of toasted brioche with strawberry jam. Blondie had a toasted slice of brioche with Nutella. We both had coffee. I then showed her around the river by going to Brown's Island and the Canal Walk. The last point on the tour was the Hollywood Cemetery. It's quite an interesting place to visit. It has graves of people all the way back to the 1700's although it was not opened until the mid-1800's. There are some famous people in there including James Monroe. The only problem that I've found with the place is that it's hard to find your way back out. It's not laid out in a grid but is rather quite scenic and curvy with hills. Therefore, it's very easy to lose your way. We made it out but with only a few minutes to spare as we were told we must be out by 6pm!

When we got back to the house, we played a game of Scrabble. Blondie had told us she was not very good but I think she's a ringer! She beat us 189 to 130 (me) and 108 (MTH). Then for dinner, we sat outside at Curbside Cafe. MTH left us to go have some drinks with some summer associates from work. Blondie and I talked for a while and then because her flight left at 6:05am today, she went to bed. She did not make me get up to take her to the airport. She got a taxi instead. I definitely appreciate her thinking about my sleep on a Sunday morning!

Walking Score

I just found this website on another blog:

http://www.walkscore.com/index.shtml

Our current place has a score of 80 out of 100. That means that we could get by without a car. Of course, that would mean that we both couldn't work since there's no real public transit here in the great city of Richmond. Our previous place only got a score of 62. The site says that they don't take public transportation into account. So, if they did, the scores would definitely have to be flipped. But, I think what the scores do say is that there's a lot more small restaurants and store to walk to from our place in Richmond than there were in Alexandria. For example, within a tenth of a mile of our place now, we can go to a market that has all the groceries you could need for emergencies, a wine store and a Starbuck's coffee shop. In addition, there's several restaurants/bars in that same radius. There was only a store with moldy bread within a tenth of a mile of our house in Alexandria.

My parents house got an 8. That would be because there's nothing in walking distance except the car.

Check it out.

Big Eyes

Since I didn't need the flash for taking this picture, I was able to capture her with her eyes wide open.

Kickball Update

If you'll remember, I joined a kickball team. At the time, we were winless. We are still winless although last week we came the closest to winning as in any other game. There's one game left and it's on Tuesday. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be able to have one win for the season. That way we won't be entirely shut out. The only possible saving grace is that there are 6 other teams that have not won a game.

One Ironman

If you remember a few weeks back, I posted that MTH and KSH had successfully finished a half Ironman length triathlon. Well, a week later, MTH's brother (and KSH's husband) successfully finished a full Ironman in Lake Placid, NY. Here's pictures to prove it!

The calm before the swim - Mirror Lake the day before the Ironman
The swim has begun - MDH is somewhere out there
He's off on the bike - mmm water
We'll see you in a few hours
He's off on the marathon - Look at that shirt
Gimme five
MTH is working hard

I'm an Ironman