I got this new bike yesterday from Roadrunner Bicycles; it’s a Giant Cypress DX.  This one is red, the same color as my first-ever bike when I was 5.

Just recently I was reading a bicycle magazine while I was at the dermatologist (in this climate, with my complexion, I need stuff burned off annually). When I saw the magazine I picked it up because I thought I’d like to ride again some day. The Giant Cypress was reviewed in the magazine as an affordable hybrid “comfort” bike.  After that, I had a very bland “eureka” moment (my generation is a bit disaffected) and thought this could be a good idea. I did my research over the next few days and learned lots of tallish and slightly wide-ish people like me have had good success with this model as a commuter bike.

The folks who helped me at Broadway BicyclesRoadrunner Bicycles –Elliot and Paul–were very helpful. It was a low stress environment, and the whole process of being sold a new bicycle (even though I already had the model in mind before getting to the hop) was very pleasant and charming. I really appreciated the friendliness and enthusiasm.

My last bicycle didn’t fit me, and riding it caused too much pain: had to stop. I used to ride to work several times a week; looks like I’ll be able to get back into that very soon, especially as my ancient Mazda just completely conked out in traffic yesterday, and will be towed to my mechanic tomorrow!

This photo of a Parry’s Penstemon in my backyard earlier this year is one of several I’m using for my new project, the third in a series of silk-paper lamination art quilts.

I traced some of the flower-shapes onto transparency plastic and used my trusty overhead projector to enlarge the design, so I could trace onto paper:

You can’t really see the traced design that well as it’s in pencil, but this is what it looks like on the dining room table, the transparency plastic is on the lower right-hand side:

Now I’m filling in the design with ripped up bits of photocopies of the photos of the Parry’s Penstemon, I think it’s looking OK so far:

More later. Back to ripping up paper and gluing it down. Too hot to do anything outside so might as well!

It wasn’t a turkey, Bearbear–my dog–had flushed out a guinea fowl:

Bearbear seems to enjoy chasing it at times to make it run, but otherwise leaves it alone. I’m not sure if this is a male or female.

This morning it was roosting in a tree behind my backyard fence:

I put up signs in my neighborhood for a lost bird, but haven’t had any calls. I don’t really mind having this bird hang around, providing he/she isn’t real noisy….and from what I’ve read guinea fowl are FAMOUS for noise when they’re in a flock.

Apparently they’re good watch-birds; check them out squawking at a rattlesnake!

I’m going to call the Humane Society tomorrow to see if anyone is missing a bird. I have a feeling this one may stick around for a while. There’s lots to eat in my yard.

Last week I was incensed (read all about it here) when I showed up for the first night of class to learn it had been postponed….without me knowing about it.

The next day I wrote one of my terse complaint letters, complete with aggrieved tone, and demanded my money back. It went out in the mail that day. I got a call from Lynn at The Drawing Studio the day after that; she left a thoughtful voice mail which addressed, quite neatly, all of my concerns; she offered a complete refund. After hearing it I realized I no longer had an axe to grind.

I’m happy things seemed to have such a mature resolution. The class is great. I’ve already met some lovely folks.

I arrived at 6PM today with one other student. We couldn’t find our class. A helpful young woman told us she didn’t know about our class; she said our instructor had just left for the day, she offered to call her. We listened as she made the call, and when she was done she told us that the instructor had forgotten to email us that she had decided to delay the start of class for a week.

I really wish the instructor had at least the good sense to make up a sympathetic story. Fender bender OMG I can’t make it!! My dog got into some chocolate–we’re at the emergency vet!! My car broke down!! I’m sick and I meant to call but I’ve been throwing up all day SO sorry!!

It would be impossible and uncharitable to criticize a legitimate excuse. But to simply “forget” to contact us about a decision to “delay” class? Look, I have a job all day at a hospital. My free time is spent making art. I left home early because I knew I’d have to find parking downtown (I parallel parked between 2 giant cars). I made arrangements to get to class on time.

I guess I find this unprofessional and somewhat ironic behavior for an instructor teaching a class called….Professional Practices. If I’d gotten a phone call or email today while I was at work telling me there was going to be a last minute delay….fine. All my contact information was on my class registration.  Quite frankly, if I’d gotten home tonight and found a voice mail or email with a hasty apology….even that I’d shrug off as flaky Tucson behavior (this is SUCH a town of slackers) and I wouldn’t be writing this.

But, no.

I’m going to write and request a refund, though they say they won’t offer refunds 2 weeks prior to class starting. I’m asking anyway. Maybe The Drawing Studio is so successful they can do whatever they want. If so, I’m better off at home Wednesday nights with my dog.

Go Badgers! I wish I were in Madison. I’d easily picket at the state capitol. Arizona is, after all, a right-to-work state.

Watch the segment here: guaranteed to make you laugh!

It’ll make you long for the days, not too long ago, when there was no 24 hour news. And that was a very good thing.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole week since the January 8th mass shooting and attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. In the past week there’s been vigils, funerals and an insane amount of media coverage.

University Medical Center is just a couple miles from my home and I must admit I’ve stayed away from massive heap of candles, flowers, balloons, stuffed animals, photos and handmade signs that make up the sprawling memorial to the shooting victims.

On reason I’ve stayed away is that during the past week, the traffic anywhere near UMC has been crazy, to say the least, and crowds assembled near anything tragic turn me off at best or make me emotionally claustrophobic at worst, and I wind up needing a kind of rescue inhaler that has yet to be invented.  I guess I also wasn’t up to it because I was depressed watching and listening to news updates, eyewitness accounts from victims, and then the devastating parade of funerals, all covered by an endless stream of international media outlets from the Al Jazeera to the BBC.  I’m not directly affected by the shooting. But it doesn’t mean I don’t feel really sad when I think about all the people who are affected, and in the end I’m generally curious and moved by how people express feelings when given an opportunity to do so.  So, Bearbear and I finally got in the car and headed to UMC today right before sunset.

I was a bit surprised (duh) by the (still) overwhelming presence of different trucks with satellite dishes belonging to different TV stations:

Here’s a view looking down from the stairs going up the Cancer Center:

And here are some images closer up:

I wonder who will collect all these things; I imagine they’ll be curated.

This memorial is really heart-felt. It’s not just folks piggy-backing on a tragedy because they need to be part of the drama or stir things up: I wish it were that minor a situation and thus something easily dismissed.

I think I’ll get up early tomorrow and take more photos; I think some of these images might, over time, make for a good paper lamination/fabric project.

Last Monday, just 2 days after the shooting, the Daily Show had some uncharacteristically sober new about the shooting; it was unusually moving, not really a word you’d use to describe the Daily Show. Watch here.

And the way the ceremony started, with a Pascua Yaqui blessing, I think this really gave folks who live elsewhere a sense of the unique, funky nature of Tucson….which you can still find, if you look, though it’s getting harder.

But I am SO TIRED in the last 24 hours of hearing the east-coast, inside-the-beltway stuffed shirts (like Michael Gerson, good grief!) say that they didn’t think the “pep-rally-like” atmosphere at McKale Center yesterday was “appropriate” for a memorial speech. Apparently, when the 14,000 people in the sports area cheered during the speech, this was evidence of disrespect and lack of manners. Read this AP article for more.

The dead and wounded deserve respect; which, during the speech, they received in great measure. But there was lots to cheer about in the speech, too–for example, all the heroes present and the amazing medical progress the wounded survivors are making, as well as what looks like the miraculous recovery of Gabrielle Giffords: talk about statistically unlikely.

There was probably more crowd participation because there were many students present: and I’d say they were over-represented because they were the only ones who had the time and energy to stand in line for over 6 hours, which was the minimum time required to get in.