visitors

we have several visitors right now, including my cousin robin and her daughter anja, and tonight my cousin ryan will be joining us too! but really the title of this post refers to ALIEN visitors. i'm looking forward to the remake of the 80s miniseries 'V' that will be coming out sometime in october i believe. i remember loving it as a child and even playing 'V' on the playground in grade school. that combined with frabel's glass longfellows at phipps conservatory inspired this photoshoppery (the aliens were actually white opaque glass, not green, but i thought this would be a nice take on the classic "little green men").

a couple mosaics

first major G20 protest in pittsburgh this morning

this is a photo by starpoint media of some greenpeace protesters and their large banner warning of climate destruction hanging off the west end bridge over the ohio river in pittsburgh. it's really fascinating watching this all unfold.



Greenpeace Protest West End Bridge
Originally uploaded by StartPoint Media

the start of the G20

G20 protests turn ugly
Originally uploaded by bigcrustyape

things are really gearing up for the G20 conference today here in pittsburgh. i have made the decision (which has been supported by just about everyone) to stay out of oakland for the next couple of days. i'm not convinced that it will be as bad as london, seattle, etc., but i'm not one to take chances. i just hope that it doesn't become as violent and brutal as this. please click on this excellent photo to see a larger version.

break time

while i was taking a break on sunday from working on my presentation for my thesis committee meeting, i decided to go for a little walk and look for some things to take pictures of around my neighborhood. here is what i found:















i'm pretty happy with the way they turned out. i love the colors of the sunflowers and the tiny little flowers of the queen anne's lace. sometimes weeds can be truly beautiful.

it's just me

my most recent self portrait. the main reason i'm posting it here is because i wanted to check it out on a black background.

i loved the frabel glass exhibit at phipps!

i went last night with my mom and cousin robin to see the frabel glass exhibit at phipps conservatory. it was wonderful, and i am already dying to go back and see it before it's gone. i haven't uploaded many photos yet, but here are two as a preview:





i highly recommend seeing it if you're in the area!

falling behind

so busy! my birthday is coming up next week ... and my first thesis committee meeting. i am pretty stressed out and as usual have found myself procrastinating and adding to my stress. i have so much to say! i just hope that i can make it sound somewhat intelligent, like it sounds in my head.

my cousin robin is staying with us while she's working here in pittsburgh, and it's been nice to get to spend some time with her again so soon after her last visit. she came in last night and will be staying through next wednesday, then coming back again the following week. maybe she'll bring her daughter anja next time. erik is totally infatuated with robin. it's very sweet, and she's very good at humoring him.

aside from being my birthday next week, it is also the G20 conference (actually ON my birthday) here in pittsburgh. people would have you believe that armageddon is afoot! i hope it won't be that bad and that the protestors can behave themselves. they're going to be gathering in oakland (very near where my lab is) and marching downtown each of the two days. there will be tons of road closures and snipers on rooftops and all that fun stuff. i have no idea what it will be like at school. my parents and peter are urging me to stay home on those days, and while that idea is attractive i just don't know if i will be able to get out of my responsibilities. although i guess it could be nice to take off my birthday and maybe do something fun, especially since it will be AFTER my thesis committee meeting and i might actually be able to enjoy it.

i haven't really had a chance to take many pictures lately. i haven't blogged since last weekend when we went to the ligonier highland games i guess. we had a great time! when i was younger i used to go every year and compete in the highland dance competition, and since we've moved back to the area, peter and i have gone every year but one and we always enjoy it. we both love the pipe bands, and this year erik REALLY enjoyed getting to see (and pet!) all the dogs. he particularly liked a golden retriever named saline (not sure if that's spelled right, it was some sort of gaelic name).



i think erik's favorite part was playing at the playground.







he also loved the fountain.





my favorite part was the pipe bands.





peter was super excited about the highland dancing trophies he won.





it was a great day, and we had a really nice dinner afterward with my mom and judy poellot (an old friend/mother of highland dancer/girl scout leader). here's a little mosaic i made:



i also took a couple pictures of xena this week. i was realizing since erik came along i haven't taken many pictures of her at all, and she's very sweet and photogenic and deserving of pictures, so here they are:





wow. i am even procrastinating going to bed! i better get going. i really really really need to finish up my presentation tomorrow and after school my mom's coming out and we're going to have a picnic in schenley park and then go to phipps conservatory. i think peter will probably bring erik home after we eat though ... i don't think either of them has an interest in going to phipps but i would really love to see the longfellows exhibit! should be fun and exciting!

if you love to read ...

check out this site! it allows you to swap books you've read for ones you want to read, and the only cost is what you pay to ship the books out. the more books you send, the more credits for books you receive. i haven't posted any books yet, but i plan to very soon!!!

http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php

labor day weekend

i'm way behind on my blogging again, and the longer i wait, the less likely it is that i'll actually post something worthwhile. this is more of a placeholder than an actual blog, but it's still something i guess!

we had a great long weekend. the highlights were the final first friday at the frick where we saw the mediaeval baebes and had a wonderful picnic dinner and the pitt football game on saturday. who'd have ever thought that i would consider a football game a highlight of my weekend? i guess things change when you have a child. i really enjoy things more by seeing them through erik's eyes than my own. while he wasn't totally jazzed by the game, i think he liked the marching bands and the fact that we let him eat 3 bags of fruit snacks.

there have been other things worthy of a blog ... my mother-in-law visited last week and we had a really nice weekend together. erik sure does love his grandma! i also got to go out with some of my girls and we went mini golfing, go kart driving, and had a nice lunch together. my work in the lab has been going really well in some areas and not so much in others, but that sure beats the not really well in any areas that plagued most of my summer. i'm getting there!

hopefully i'll get back into blogging more soon. i enjoy having these posts to look back on! but for now, i'm calling it a night.

my cute little pitt fan:

end of summer flowers

dear blog,

i have not forgotten about you. we have been quite busy as usual. this weekend my mother-in-law came and we had a really nice visit. i took her back to the airport this morning. i will come back soon and post a real entry, ok? right now i really should be getting to work!

love,
lilly

ps. here is a picture i took this weekend. these flowers are at a house across the street from us and are so beautiful! i need to go back and take more pictures.