West Side

Sunday was a scavenger hunt on the Upper West Side. We saw the Hudson River, the Hispanic Society, giant chickens, and the grave of Clement C. Moore (alleged author of The Night Before Christmas). Then we ate mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes on sticks. The best bagel in the world may have made an appearance there somewhere.

Alan Turing 1912-1954

When I began reading The Code Book by Simon Singh last year, I expected to be amazed at the brilliance of codes and cyphers and their history. I was not expecting to be heartbroken by the story of Alan Turing - a scientist I had not heard of despite the fact that his work at Bletchley Park was crucial to the British war effort and he developed an early prototype for the modern computer. He changed the course of history. Yet he was cruelly persecuted by the British government for his sexual orientation. Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a public apology for the government's cruelty towards Turing in 2009, but it was too late for Turing, who died of cyanide poisoning (seemingly, but not definitely, a suicide) at the age of 41. Today is Turing's 100th birthday.

Every Single Night

This song has been growing on me. I didn't like it at first, but I like a lot of Fiona Apple's older songs and kept coming back to it to see if my mind would change. Now I rather like it, even if the video is bizarre.

Chapter 4

 

Images from Bibliodyssey and Quaint Living.

More old photos

 

 

 

 

I decided to do some more scanning this weekend. The theme, appropriately, is birthdays, but there are some other things in here too.

1. My great-grandmother Ruth on her 90th birthday with her two children, Janet (my grandmother) and Robert.

2 and 3. My parents at their wedding, or as I like to call it, the wedding of Skeletor and Mrs. Skeletor.

4. My grandmother Janet and I.

5. My mother and I, Christmas 1989.

6. My first birthday. I am dubious.

7. Summer 1990, with the Gertie ball.

8. My grandparents and I.

9. My second birthday.

10. My third birthday.

11. Me in my father's coat.

12. I think I was nine in this picture. Believe it or not, that is NOT STRIPEY. That is Stripey's predecessor, M'Schwat (1992-2010).

13. My twelfth birthday.

Pretty things from Anthropologie

After a rough week, I like to look at pictures of pretty things. I don't buy them, I just look at them. Then I knit. I must remember to post a picture of my new Mad Men-inspired Toast Wrap. It's nearly done.