Whew, one more holiday to go

2005 is quickly wrapping up. All in all, its been a nice year.

I finally feel really settled into the condo and it feels like home. Repainting made all the difference in the world. The color my talented designer friend picked out was perfect, it matched the rug and coordinated with the kitchen and accent colors - but since the condo has limited natural light the only time the color looked fabulous was during the day or by candle light. I lived with it for a year, which I think is long enough. Happily, the replacement color (Sand) looks sunny and it pleases me to no end.

The rift with Mo and the gang hasn't mended, but we've had some joint social events that weren't too terrible. I'm a firm believer in attempting to make things work and I really think that for relationships to work it has to be a 90/10 effort split. Give 90% expect 10%, but it turned out that the 10% I was getting back wasn't worth shit. My dad liked Mo, and he keeps asking about her, but that ship has sailed. (the 90/10 analogy seems lopsided, but it really just compensates for the fact that in every relationship each person thinks they are giving more than the other person. Anyway, it's how I kept from murdering my brother when we were kids... even though I was a terrible little sister. He'd get in trouble for something (bad grades, smoking, whatever) and I would clean my room, or mop the kitchen floor without being asked. "Look mommy, I'm an angel!" Jeeze, it must have been so transparent. He was in trouble a lot - so I'm sure they never said anything because they liked the clean floors.

The girls and I went to see Duran Duran this spring. It certainly wouldn't match a Beattles reunion tour (seeing how they are 50% dead, it is probably unlikely) it was a fulfillment of a girlhood dream. Sharing it with J&Y&Ali was great! I'm thankful that the bands latest album (cd -- whatever) didn't suck. It would have been hard to get excited about the band if it had turned out they were not a band but a marketing ploy -- like Maria Carey (what's the attraction people!?)

Of course, the year wrap up wouldn't be complete without extolling the wonders of visiting Spain (twice.. that's just wrong.) The two trips were so different that I can't hardly compare them. I framed some photo's this weekend for my condo from the second trip.

The holiday season is in full swing, with Christmas parties, the annual trip to Portland for tax free shopping (I hear that Williams Sonoma is on the agenda) and a performance of the Nutcracker with J's daughter in the role of a pastry or something. It's going to be grand.

The work party is Wednesday, and I spent the day Saturday procuring gifts for the co-workers. I am happy to report that I did the task with gladness in my heart. Mostly, the gifts are nice - crystal vases, cd's, small appliances (a 3 way steamer thing), Swiss army knife and a couple silly gifts that I tried to pair with something to ease the pain of getting Homer Simpson slippers. The trick to selecting gifts from a pile is not to take the biggest gift you see. Both of the huge gifts qualify as silly - but for the most part I tried to get things that either I would want or would re-gift to a friend (if I was only spending $25 on them.) The hard part now will be getting all of these items to work before Wednesday. I refuse to drive in, and thus it's one big bag at a time on the bus.

I also tried to correct the color of my hair... failed.


Yesterday I re-corrected it and while I didn't wash all the red away its a better more natural color that I can live with. Thanks to Y for being seen with me in public Saturday. (We saw the new Pride & Prejudice - which although different from the oh-so-loved BBC version was great!)

Finally, with the work year quickly coming to an end as well (I know, its shocking) people are wigging out and in spite of the leisurely four day weekend it's a zoo around here - so I'd better get back to it.

Have a fantastic week!

Dyslexics Untie!

As noted in my profile, I am a single gal over the age of 35. Actually, I don't think I'm quite that specific, but since my 20 year class reunion is this summer, my general age won't be too hard to figure out.

Any-who, there are things about being single that are great, my house = my remote. I choose the music selection and when I leave my lunch in the fridge, it is there for me when I go to work the next day. (Seriously Y, buy that man some food, he's hungry!)

But, there are things that SUCK. Like when all your 'marrieds' have plans and you're home alone and don't want to be. (I am neither brave enough, nor hot enough to venture out to the bar scene on my own. You will note from an earlier blog that I aint ugly, but that fact isn't enough to sustain me on my own in a bar.) Other things that suck is when you need an extra pair of hands, or you're feeling small and want someone to tuck your feet under on the couch. I am fully aware that having someone else around ALL THE TIME can get old and it's a LOT of work - but it's a job I hope to tackle one day.

Rather than sit around forever waiting and waiting, I'm starting to branch out, just a little bit.

Here's my comfort zone X, and here's me X Yikes!

I received an e-mail from a gal at church who wanted to start a singles group for folks over 30. How scary can that be, singles in your age bracket, who share similar values? Sign me up!

After a few weeks in the church noticeboard and on the web site (our church isn't the stuffy beaver cleaver church of 1934, but it isn't the creepy talking in tongues church either) the number of singles, over the age of 30 who were interested reached the whopping number of four, three chicks and a dude. Well, not all I had hoped for, but it was a start.

We tried to get schedules together and eventually landed on a movie for this afternoon. Walk the Line -- very good, people were clapping in the theater at the end. Clapping at a movie makes me uncomfortable, but even I had the urge to move my hands together. I hope that Reese gets and Oscar nod, she was amazing, or rather amazin'.

We decided to meet a few minutes early for quick introductions (I didn't know any of these folks) and then head over to Starbucks for coffee after the show. I arrived right on time, which in an of it self is a small miracle... two more and I can be eligible for sainthood a few years after I die. I spotted a large man in a baseball hat that upon closer inspection had a deer and two rifles on it. His t-shirt also depicted the demise of a deer and a rifle with a large scope. The scope is intended to give Bambi a sporting chance I guess.

I introduced myself and William commented that he liked that I was right on time. I started to explain that because no clock in my house is actually set to the correct time, this was an unusual event. He didn't laugh at my self depricating joke and explained that he lives by his atomic clock/watch that only needs to be reset once every hundred years or so. Okey dokey.

Our other companion arrived just as William was starting to explain that he was saving all of his money to buy a house in the mountains of Idaho. (Scouts honor, I couldn't lie about this.) Brenda quickly assessed the situation as a complete social miss match and suggested that we go inside. Brenda and I made some polite chit chat at the popcorn counter, but I disliked that her first question is "what do you do?" Culturally, I know it's ok that we assess each other by our professions (and other than being nerdy, mine isn't anything to be ashamed of) but we are so much more that what we do for a job. I answered, and they both got a confused look on their face, which I guess is better than Rico's recation which is to feign death. William finally got it, but minimized my profession by calling it "data security" which is like calling a chef a busboy. Because a lifelong friendship didn't appear to be in the works I shook it off and tried to ignore the smug look on Wills face when he said he was a rocket scientist. Brenda tried to ask him some questions to assertain the truthfulness of his claim, but as he's in the aerospace division at Boeing he stuck to his claim. It didn't occur to me to ask Brenda about her profession until we were seated in the theater - post office worker (not a carrier) who has a side business as a massage therapist - in case you care.

The movie was as I said good, but Wills did dance a little in his seat which I will note is better than singing along. Unless it's a Sound-Of-Music one night only Sing-A-Long event, the rule is ... DON'T SING!

As the movie wrapped up, I started to fret about the coffee shop portion of the evening. Brenda said she had to go, and I pleeded with her wordlessly to stay. She gave me a silent head tilt apology as she walked away. William, thankfully declined to go as well. Our fourth person was going to meet us over there, so I went by myself and grabbed a decalf pepppermint mocha (yummy) and waited for 20 mintues. She never showed, and considering how the others didn't click, I was a little relieved.

So, now here's the dilemna: what do we do next? I could live the rest of my life and never spend anymore time with William and be perfectly happy. I'm sure he's a nice person, but his world and my world are not intended to mesh. He needs a nice country gal to clean him up some venison and watch his 62 inch plasma tv or better yet, bring him the cheeto's while he plays X-box on the 62 inch plasma tv. If I bow out of the group because the only guy to attend the first event is a dud... what does that say about me and my ability to live the values I think I have?

I'll just say it, I'm an over critical, judgemental snob.

I suppose I should just wait to see if someone else proposes another event for the SSG (StMats Singles Group -- or as I have been calling it the Sad Singles Group.) My original thought before we all met was to invite the group over to dinner at Casa Tp -- but it's not about to happen now.

Maybe I should try the "it's just lunch" crowd. How scary could it be?

Digital vs. Film

I've been debating the merits of moving with the times and finally getting a digital camera. There are some things holding me back - the first being, my home laptop needs some love. iTunes is eating all my space and I only have the little 4 gig iPod. I got the laptop from the dot-bomb I worked for that, evil bastards, laid the staff off on January 2nd, but told us it was effective December 15th. (Thanks, let me jump back in time and spend my last paycheck on food and bills rather than Christmas!) I really am over it, but some things just kind of stick with you.

"Hey Joe, I'm divorcing you, and it will be effective three weeks ago when I started sleeping with your brother. Happy New Year!"

Back to the subject, the laptop had an encryption solution on it that, because I wasn't the administrator, I couldn't uninstall. I tried to get the last lonely IT at eWeSuck.com to help, but he said if I brought it in, he'd have to wipe the OS off the laptop and give it back to me with no software. Drat - I was unemployed and while I had a laptop (that I paid for) I couldn't afford to run out and buy Windows. By the time I could afford it - the IT dude was gone and to get the encryption off I had to partition the drive and start new. (For you non-teckies think of it like a bathtub and since it won't drain the only thing to do is scoop out what you can and build a damn at the back of the tub to contain the dirty water. So, you lose the ability to lay down, but at least you can get clean.) Therefore, the OS, the partitioned drive, and all my Roxy Music doesn't leave much space for digital pictures of my cat.

Secondly, there's the image quality. I am by no means a serious photographer. I appreciate the look of good quality grainy photos, but I wouldn't even pretend to understand the f-stop settings. Frankly, I'm excited that I understand when to use 400, 200 or 800 film. However, I do LOVE the ability to really zoom in and to play with focus. In order to get a digital camera that can do that I think you have to spend millions of dollars. That could be a slight exaggeration, but I'm sure I'm not too far off the mark.

So, for me the compromise has been using film and paying extra to have Kodak burn me a cd of the photos. This has worked out well and it is spendy - but for now I think it's the best of both worlds.



This is a photo from Ali's digital camera (the detail is lovely)


This image is one I took with the fancy 35mm with the huge lens.

Online the pictures quality is very consistent, but when I got a printout of the digital one from Shutterfly.com some of the edges looked funky -- like a mystery blue edge around the top of the church. I don't know if that is a shutterfly issue, or a digital photo issue. It reminds me of the haze around people on tv in front of a green screen.

I will say that I really hate the look of pictures printed on a home printer. I will continue to pay for photo quality printing - regardless of my decision.

I'm still on the fence... either way (digital or film), it looks like a new home pc/laptop is in my future. I suppose once I make that leap, I should also invest in high-speed Internet at home... my upstairs neighbor will eventually figure our that her wi-fi is supplying the whole condo association with free Internet. (I'm kidding, that would be unethical.) I think it's funny that for someone who lives on a computer, my home situation is so low tech: dial up, on a crappy laptop, no printer... I'm a mess.

My conference call (about copy machines - seriously) is about to end, so I'm going to be free to focus on real work. Have a great weekend.

But aren't they now wishing I was dead?

Megabank wants me to let them buy a life insurance policy on my life. They'll pay the premiums and get the pay out when I die. The idea is that they would use the benefit to offset the rising costs of the retirement plan. Not that it would help me, I'll be dead.

The only thing that makes it feel a little icky is that the policy doesn't end when I leave MegaBank -- it goes on until I actually make the time to die. So, I could quit tomorrow and 40 years from now when I finally go to visit Nana and Sparky in heaven, MegaBank throws a party.
Yuck.

I wonder if they will now start to send me on assignments to dangerous places -- "Hey TPgal, there's a conference in Sierra Leone, but before you go stop in Myanmar and pick us up some heroin from Khun Sa (translated: Prince of Death) who we hear is a a lot of fun!"

In fact, my whole next year travel itinerary might be pulled from www.ComeBackAlive.com

The site lists the United States as a dangerous place, which seems ludicrous until you read the explanation. It warns visitors to stay away from fast food joints (burger king massacres), Minnesota in the winter (space heater fires), the golden gate bridge (jumpers) and American High Schools (teen angst shooters). That's just sad -- but also funny.

I guess, if I don't have to pay for the insurance, and it doesn't effect my ability to get additional life insurance, what the heck. As long as I don't find out they've put a contract on my head what could it hurt?

Lame Adventures of a Saturday Night

I forgot to make plans for Saturday night so I stayed in.

Lame as that sounds, I can not believe what I was able to accomplish because I didn't turn on the TV. I cleaned a closet, packed the summer clothes, washed all the bedding, uploaded the Spain photo's to Shutterfly.com (this took a while, because I haven't committed to high speed at home yet) ordered some Christmas presents, wrapped the presents I've been gathering throughout the year, organized the physical Spain photo's, painted a picture frame, touched up the ceiling where I slopped when I painted in March, baked cookies, made dinner, cleaned the kitchen, spare bathroom AND finished my book.

Cheese and rice... all this took place after the baby shower in the afternoon. Nothing overly remarkable about the BS -- except that I was the only single gal present. I might be the last one in the whole world.

I only knew about half of the ladies but one of the guests looked really familiar. Instant recognition washed over me when she introduced herself. It was quite surprising, this gal was a year ahead of me in school and was the track super star who left high school with a sa-weet athletic scholarship in her back pocket. Rumor had it that she blew up her nose with the good college coke. Who knows how true this is, I wasn't about to ask.

"Oh, nice to see you, looks like you've kicked the crack, good for you. Aren't baby showers fun?"

She introduced herself as someone's wife and during the shower I learned she has two kids - boys I think. Her gift was remarkable in it's thoughtfulness and her card managed to eek out a tear from almost every woman in the room. There were no men present, which clearly was a good idea (men are so lucky). The essence of the card was that the first time Trish (the mom) looks in her babies eyes she will finally know how much her mother loves her. (water works!)
As soon as the shower was over, she got the hell out of the house so we didn't get a chance to say anything more than a hello across the room. It's a small darned world.

The book I finished was Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. A friend gave it to me because it was set in Barcelona and she enjoyed it after she had been. It was fun to be able to see the places the characters are going - but besides the setting the story was intriguing. A boy discovers a book by a local author and sets out to learn more about the author and ends up in the midst of a dramatic saga that spans his entire life. It was superb! Thanks Melinda!

Alrighty, I stayed late at work to get work done, so I should get to it!

tp gal responds

Ok MWR... point taken:

"Wow, the same thing happened to me! I had no sooner returned from a fabulous two-week vacation in Spain and dyed my hair flame orange when my stupid superiors made me help out the stupid United Way (like that's really a charity!) and made me a floor warden (with the same style of hardhat as the deputy floor warden--a loserly minion but now indistinguishable from me in time of crisis!) . . . AND NOW I have to plan the asinine "Seasonal Gathering."Oh, I've got a plan for them all right. It involves Buca di Beppo, grain alcohol and an aftermath littered with fired minions. I'll have to miss it myself, as it conflicts with my trip to Majorca."

I do want to clarify that I don't hate the United Way... I hate being forced to be a champion for them. I hated it at the paint store where we brought in folks to tell their story of how United Way changed their lives. These stories are moving, extremely powerful and very effective to motivate folks to give. However, at the paint store, we were trying to get kids who were living on $6 an hour to give away their money. I felt like I was being forced to strong arm people and it made me uncomfortable. If I ran the world (and I'm really not sure why I don't) I would have closed the paint store for a day and pay the staff to volunteer some place. It could be a marketing coup! They could place big ads telling the community that the store would be closed (in the off season obviously) and to find the crew, go to XX charity.

It's easy for me to run the paint store now that I haven't worked there in the last seven years. I don't have to trouble myself with things like the finances or anything like that, so managing it from here is pretty simple. Most folks who don't work there anymore, feel like they too could run the show. I'm not sure what that's about. Maybe it's because we really believed in the company and gave it our all and even though we were a little burned out when we left, we still want it to go on. And, for the record, the paint store does go on and it is doing well.

Back to the point, now that a couple of days have passed I have also calmed down about the holiday party. I did have to find another date and beg people to move their schedules around - but it worked out. My excitement is ticking up, and I have a glimmer of hope that it will be fun.

So, while I stand by my earlier post -- I will quit my bitching (for now) and focus on the important things in life, like my hair.

I would like to know how MWR knew I was the floor warden? I'm not actually, I'm the first aid person, so my hard hat has the cool Red Cross symbol on it. The floor wardens don't get the hard hats -- they get whistles and arm bands -- losers!

Merry Christmas... pull my finger!

You can't please everyone, is an adage that I have heard since childhood. However, when attempting to plan the department Christmas party -- oops, sorry Year End Celebration - it is easier to know this is true than to live it.

Let's be honest here, I do not want to plan this damned event. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and planning for everything that involves family and friends -- but trying to come up with something that doesn't suck for the co-workers on a budget of $50 per person is not my idea of fun.

We got a really late start on this and by "we" I mean me. Some how, all the shitty tasks like United Way Coordinator, get dumped on me. (grr) Anyway, I tried to get something going earlier this year, but all my ideas got shot down. So, now I'm searching for a cool place to have a lunch and come up with gifts of some sort and make it a fun afternoon. This on top of all my other important work like updating my blog?

I found a date that worked for 90% of the staff and prayed that the two folks with a conflict would be able to adjust their schedule. Well, no dice. I just got a flame e-mail from one of the guys and I really have no course of action. I can piss off two people, or three or everyone. I guess, in time everyone will be pissed. Someone will hate the food, someone will hate the date, someone will hate that it's not a weekend thing, that dates aren't invited... ooh, I love the holidays.

I use to think my dream job would be a party planner but when I really think about the logistics of trying to please others I think I wouldn't be very successful. "Yeah, it's your wedding, but I'm telling you -- blue tuxedos are OUT!"

As the party planner person for the paint store it was a challenge to pull off a great party due to budgetary constraints. The party was typically held in the store and while you can decorate a hardware store, it's only going to look so good and it's never really going to hit the "festive" description. We topped tables with colorful covers, put up trees, brought in candles (a terrible idea in a building sitting on top of a thousand gallons of paint thinner) scratch that, found battery operated lights to be luminaries, popped in a Christmas tape and called it a party. The first couple years I was there, they did a slide show for the entertainment. I recall "Enter-Stainment Tonight" that recounted all the gossip of the year. Once we did a show with paper dolls with the heads of the staff - I will admit it was fun. The store owner always had a year end message that usually went well - except for the year that one of his key employees quit and he was smarting a little. His message sort of got off track when he told the staff in front of husbands and wives that the "store would be successful without any of them". Ouch, we didn't feel very valued that year.

The paint store parties ended up festive because of the booze (and the factory guys always had pot if you were interested.) Booze is a dangerous thing in a work setting - I will NEVER forget the year that Miller stuck a decorative loaf of bread down his pants and asked woman after woman to bite his loaf. It was quite the sophisticated event.

However matter how much effort we put into planning, and how much we tried to make the event fun - someone ALWAYS complained. My thought is, if you don't have to plan it, or clean up after it - SHUT YER TRAP.

So, that brings me back to today -- the 'invitation' went out less than 2 hours ago, and I'm already getting flack from folks. I really want to keep my holiday spirits up, and frankly, whinning about it has helped, so:

Happy damned Christmas!

Never ask a guy about hair color!

It's the end of the year, and pay planning time at megabank. We have a handy tool to help keep things under control. I tried to give a decent rating to Minion, but because she's only been here 3 months, I'm almost forced into a lower rating.

It's official I'm management, and therefore I am an Asshole! Happy end of year!


The other topic of the day, and far more important I might add, I dyed my hair. No one at the office has said a word so I'm assuming it must really look like crap!

I tried to darken it up because the two weeks outside in Spain really made it look brassy. Yesterday I headed to Target and after wandering the aisles and picking up new christmas lights and a couple other things, I picked a new hair color. 114a Lightest natural warm brown. The alternative was 114 Lightest natural Ash brown. The color on the boxes were identical. After deliberating I decided it would be better to be warm than ashy.

I knew my hair would not be BROWN brown, because of the blonde starting point - but I didn't expect it to be RED. I think it's red anyway. No one at the office is saying anything but also no one is looking in horror or doing double takea. What I need is one of my girl friends to give me the thumbs up or down.

Janice would say that she hates it, she wants me to be a Marilyn Monroe blonde, and Yaz will probably be in the "I like it" camp - and with Jun who knows...

Team member JR will be in the office soon and he'll tell me the truth. He's not a queen, on the contrary he's very heterosexual - but he is very METRO.

It's a sad thing that I need validation on something as dumb as my hair -- but I do. I'm having a hard enough time with the long long bangs that I'm finally growing out - but to add a color mistake on top could be a real emergency.

Forget the homeless in New Orleans, my hair looks funny! Let's have some perspective people.

Oooh, here's JR now... I'm going to walk over and get some feedback... hold on:

Ok that was a terrible idea.

tp: "Hey, does this look ok?"
jr: "Yeah, it looks good."
tp: "What color do you think it is?"
jr: "Orangey blonde"

ORANGEY BLONDE!? What the hell?

I think I may be sick.

Happy Birthday!

My friend Y is having a birthday this week. She is one of my oldest and dearest friends. Here is a list of some of the things that I love about her:

She loves good chocolate
She likes all things tiny (small boxes, small purses, anything compact)
In high school, we both dated younger boys and took a LOT of flack for it.
We share a sick love of Duran Duran.
She will drive the Vo into the ground.
She was Miss Loyalty Day 1984. An honor I coveted, but she's the only other person I would have wanted to win.
She left me alone with her dad during the sex scene in Purple Rain in 1985. (sometimes, love is sarcastic)
She appreciates my nutty humor and tells me I’m crazy when I’m crazy.
She knows that when I complain about my parents that it’s not real.
She sings in the car
We don’t always have to talk to get the message across.
We both thought the hair flipping woman at the Mariner’s game was gross.
She wasn’t a nightmarish diva at her wedding
She will drive to Portland, Oregon and pay to park just to save 23 cents in tax on a lipstick.
She has a classic yet funky style
Her hair is amazing!
She lets me finish my long, rambling sentences.
She has as many movie star boyfriends as I do.
She doesn’t blame me for my love of Tom Cruise (in 1986) and is with me on being seriously creeped out about TomKat.
If I don’t spill food on myself, she will do it for me.
She only wants one bite of your food.
She sees many sides of an issue – so while I may think GWB is a (^#$^$$# Idiot, she sees that he has value… as a door stop.
“Come to Butthead”
We can never get off the phone… “oh, one more thing.”
She loves great clothes, but loves a bargain!
When you have a snack at her house you get ONE cookie (which is why she’s a size 0!)
She can re-invent herself without loosing her true self.
She painted my bathroom and didn’t ask me to paint her house in return!
She’s a chosen sister!
She cares about doing the right thing.

Anyway –that’s just a start.
Happy birthday to you girl with four names!

Last but not least: Madrid!!

I loved Madrid. Ok, let's clarify that, I loved the museums in Madrid. But I have no photo's of the museums - so all we have are some street shots which aren't terrible.


This bear was in the Plaza del Sol, which is the "center of Spain" and the point from which all roads start - or rather the zero marker for all roads in Spain. I'm not sure of the significance of the bear, but he was everywhere in Madrid.

This is the Madrid post office.

What can I say? A museum devoted to Ham; life must be good in Madrid!

This last one is kind of crass... so avert your eyes if you are offended by references to the "f-word."

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I'm serious... it's a funny photo - but not one for grandmothers, or people who are easily offended.
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I warned you...
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(come on Mom, walk away...)
This is a t-shirt we saw in a shop. We weren't brave enough to buy it.

Seville, the BAC

Stay with me folks, we're almost done...

The BAC in Seville is the third largest church in Europe. It's like huge! On a rainy day it was the perfect place to spend a few hours. Photo's were allowed, but no flash... I adhered to the rule with the exception of the Columbus shot.

This is the exterior of the BAC. It's hard to get the scale, as you can't get far enough away to shoot the whole thing. There were over 30 (I think) chapels inside and the choir held 200 some seats. The huge silver alter that they bring out for Easter weighs about 5000 pounds - after two hundred or so years of hauling it back and forth, they finally decided to leave it out year round.
This is the tomb of Columbus. These figures are about 9 feet tall and each represent the four kingdoms of Spain: Aragon, Leon, Castile and Navarra. There has been much debate about who is burried in this tomb - but the (Spanish) tour guide that I was listening too swears it is the real Christopher Columbus (or maybe his son.) This tomb and or Chris' remains have been to more places than most of us, Havana, the Dominican Republic, and currently in Seville.

A close up of one of the stained glass windows from the BAC. These are the two saints from Seville and they are everywhere.

Don't you think this bull fighter looks an awful lot like Anthony Quinn?


Finally, this is my favorite photo from Seville. In the courtyard of the BAC there was a small orange grove (50 trees) this is a shot of one of the trees. I love the vivid hues and the rain drops. I'm not sure why, in October, the fruit would be green but it was.

Could it be, even MORE photos?

Absolutley. We have over 700 photo's but to want to see them all, you'll have to either be crazy or bored out of your mind. We are decent photogrophers, but not so great that I would expect anyone to want to see them all.


With that said, here's just a few more to tide you over:

This is the lovely Plaza Espana (translation: Plaza Spain) in Seville. Near as I can tell, it is the Disneyland of Spanish sites. We couldn't find any historical information and the buildings didn't seem to be occupied.


This the bridge close up. You can see the ceramic detail; each bridge around the fake river featured a different ceramic style.

This too is from the same park. These gentlemen were 'singing' and playing instuments to recorded background music. At the end of every song, they called out a wistful "how!" It was quite possibly the most disturbing portion of our trip. Along side their 'stage' was a kid decked out in a very hip outfit selling their cd's. He looked a little embarassed - rightly so I say.

Seville also has a Moorish castle. The Alcazar is not as big as the others we had seen, but it was just as lovely. This is a sample of the tilework.

Coming soon... Seville - the BAC (big ass church) and scenes from Madrid.