Walden

Last Saturday I went to Walden Pond to celebrate the arrival of spring in New England. The temperatures were in the 80s both Saturday and Sunday, which made this Texas girl feel much more at home. I didn't know what to expect at Walden Pond, but I ended up walking all the way around the pond during my time there. Some parts of the walk were incredibly peaceful, while others were marred by larger parties talking loudly amongst themselves. Other than those interruptions, the only bad part of the day was fighting off the bugs around the pond. Bugs love me, of course, so now I have small bumps all over the back of my hands.

After finishing my walk around the pond, I drove in to Concord to find a place to eat. I ended up finding a place that had cheese quesadillas, and they were surprisingly good. I also looked around some of the shops downtown but didn't buy anything. The bookstore there is really great, though. Before leaving, I bought myself a chocolate chip cookie and a fountain Dr. Pepper — yum!

The day ended with an interesting trip home, even with my GPS unit to guide me. I pressed the "home" button on the unit and thought I was set to make it back to Natick. The GPS led me a different way back than I had come out to Concord, but I assumed it was just taking me on smoother, better roads. I didn't realize I was truly lost until I was on a road that said I was 18 miles from Worcester. Whoops! Luckily the diversion led me to stop at a little grocery store where I bought some cider donuts for breakfast the next morning. After leaving the store, I plugged in my home address and managed to make it home in one piece. Nothing wrong with exploring, right? (I wonder what Thoreau would say about that diversion . . .)

Broadway Babies & Stars on Ice

Two weekends ago I had an action-packed weekend. On Saturday, April 4 I went to New York with a group from Keefe Tech in Framingham. The continuing education department offers the trip twice a year to people who want to visit NYC for the day to see a Broadway play, shop, or sightsee. I decided to see Guys and Dolls, starring Lauren Graham from Gilmore Girls. I thought the play was good, even if the seats were very tight (my knees touched the seat in front of me!) and I had trouble understanding some of the words (enunciation, people!). I was amazed to learn that Lauren Graham could sing that well.

Before and after the play, I had a chance to look around the area and shop. I made a special pilgrimage to the anthropologie at Rockefeller Center because it was so neat last Christmas, but I ended up not buying a thing. Luckily I found this huge Ann Taylor Loft near the theater later and was able to buy a couple of things there. I also went in the huge M&M store in Times Square, found a small item to buy, and quickly left. That store was way too crowded and a little too touristy for my tastes. I'm beginning to better understand the complaints about the "Disneyfication" of Times Square now. The bus home picked us up a little before 7, so we could make it home to Framingham by 11. It made for a slightly later night than usual, but at least the next day wasn't a work day.

On Sunday I went into Boston in the morning so that I could do some things around the city before Stars on Ice in the afternoon. I parked in the Common garage, so I went over to the Public Gardens to look around first. It was nice to see the first signs of spring, especially since it was such a beautiful spring day. The ducks were putting on quite a show that day. After looking around there and taking some pictures, I caught the Red Line for Harvard Square. I went to one of my favorite bookstores, Harvard Book Store, and ate at Qdoba. After that it was time to head to TD Banknorth Garden for Stars on Ice.

I love watching live skating! Seeing Stars on Ice reminds me of this every time I go. At this show, I especially enjoyed seeing Belbin & Agosto, Kimmie Meissner, and Evan Lysacek (coming off his recent win at the World Championships). Ilia Kulik is always amazing to watch, Yuka Sato is always so cute (in a "isn't she cute" way), and John Zimmerman is, well, just cute. It's interesting to see the cast interact with each other and with the audience. They are such amazing professionals.

My life hasn't been nearly as interesting the last two weeks, but it was nice to relive the weekend one more time to write this blog. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Photography Class, Assignment #2

My photography class focused on flash and exposure compensation last week. We had to take pictures of the same subject using the different flash settings in our cameras. I learned that my camera has several different flash settings, which was really surprising to me since I thought I had only two: on and off. Sammy was the subject of my project this week.

Sammy with no flash


Sammy with flash

His natural color, of course, is more like the second picture than the first. I still like the first one because he looks softer, and his eyes aren't quite as scary.

Only one more assignment and class left! This class has gone by quickly.

Photography Class, Assignment #1

I'm taking a photography class this month at a local high school. We have an assignment each week to learn about different elements of photography. Since I can only turn in one sample of my work each week, I thought I would share the other pictures here.

Assignment #1
1. Photograph a subject at a distance from a background at the longest zoom setting (most telephoto).
2. Zoom out to the shortest zoom setting (most wide angle).
3. Move closer to your subject until it fills up the same amount of the frame as it did in #1 and take your second photograph.
4. Compare the relative sizes/perspectives of the subject and background in each image.

Bushes with the zoom

Bushes close up (Notice how you can see more space between them.)

My car from far away


My car at a closer angle

The Museum's steps from far away

The steps from close up

And the winning set, which just so happened to be the first set I took. I love the color in the first shot, and the contrast between the two.

Zoom

Close up

This next picture wasn't for class, but I like it anyway. The light was just perfect to catch the reflection of the Hood Milk Bottle in the building across the way.

Kendra :)

25 Things About Me

(Borrowed from Facebook . . . my blog looked neglected)

1. I’m named after a character in a book my mom read (Calico Palace). My mom was also named after a fictional character (Richardson’s Pamela). I continued the tradition by naming my cat Parker after the tiger in The Life of Pi.

2. I lived in Henderson, Texas, for the first 18 years of my life. Since then, I’ve lived in 3 other states (Mississippi, Florida, and Massachusetts) and 6 cities (Jackson, Austin, Orlando, Nacogdoches, Boston, and Natick).

3. Long underwear is a now a permanent part of my winter wardrobe.

4. My first memory was telling my mom that I wanted a little sister like a girl in my class at preschool. I got Paul instead (and wouldn’t trade him for a million sisters).

5. I am a huge Michelle Kwan fan and am excited that she has hinted at a return to the ice.

6. I love to watch Dancing with the Stars.

7. My favorite book as a child was Anne of Green Gables (I still love it).

8. I don’t like peanut butter.

9. I would really like to visit Australia.

10. I’m a proud Texas Longhorn, but I appreciate the Aggie band more (military-style marching is so difficult to do well).

11. I was a majorette my senior year of high school.

12. My favorite vacations growing up were our trips to the national parks.

13. I have almost mastered the art of shoveling my car out of the snow.

14. I have Cheerios every morning for breakfast.

15. I love Mexican food (what Texas girl doesn’t?). I just wish good Mexican food was easier to find up here in Massachusetts.

16. My brother and I both broke our arms within a week of each other when we were little. I broke my left, and he broke his right. (Just in case you were wondering, these were two distinct incidents. Mine happened at home, and my brother’s happened at school.)

17. I like a lot of my mom’s music (Simon and Garfunkel, Elvis, Carole King, John Denver).

18. I have a fear of knives and apples.

19. I’ve been told I look like both my mom and my dad.

20. I really like ducks.

21. Burt and Ernie were my favorite characters on Sesame Street when I was younger. We still have Christmas tree ornaments that hang on our tree each year.

22. I’ve actually been to Wasilla, Alaska.

23. My cat Sammy is a great mouse killer (he begged me to put this one in).

24. I love that my brother and I have inside jokes (“Section C!”).

25. I’m so ready for summer already, but since I live in Massachusetts, I’ll probably have to wait until June.