A Font of Nothing

Look At That Sea, Girls

April 22nd, 2012 by Bethany No comments »

Well, it’s supposedly spring (see photo above, taken awhile ago in the back yard at Mom and Dad’s), but there’s a winter storm warning in effect for tonight. That’s spring in upstate New York for you. While the weather here has been crazy, the weather in Edisto Beach, South Carolina, was wonderful – and that’s where I spent a week with the Dowds and the Merrills. But first, a few things that happened before my much-needed vacation. Here’s a picture of Jennie and Tracy, celebrating Tracy’s 50th birthday. Jennie’s shirt says, “Cleverly Disguised as a Responsible 40 Year Old.” Perfect!

And here’s a crazy picture of me and Jennie taken with Photo Booth:

Now, on to the vacation! Here’s a shot of the back (ocean) side of our beach mansion, named Cerulean (even though, yes, it’s brown). We nicknamed the top level porch the Lido Deck, and since we couldn’t remember any other Love Boat-inspired names, the middle level porch became the Poop Deck.

Every morning, Sarah and I got up in time to watch the sun rise on the beach:

The weather wasn’t as warm as we might have hoped, but we had sunshine and blue skies the entire week. The boys (and Kim) spent a ton of time boogie boarding in the ocean (I even gave it the old college try). We saw dolphins every day, and tons of jelly fish (thankfully, nobody got stung and therefore no one else had to pee on anyone). We even saw two enormous horseshoe crabs that we think were mating. Nature!

We also ate a ton of good food, including an amazing seafood boil in honor of Andy’s 11th birthday:

The best part of the trip was getting to spend so much time with the far-away Merrills. One day, Matthew and I spent a cozy morning singing “Eye of the Tiger” on the couch in the living room. Here he is, enjoying some pterodactyl wings at Whaley’s:

As for Marcus, we became fast friends. Kevin tried his best to get Marcus to say my whole name, but the best he could do was “Babar.” It’s been awhile since I’ve had a new nickname, and that seems like a fine one. Here’s my favorite picture of Marcus from the trip, taken on the Poop Deck:

And here’s a picture of SarahBeth Panaro, taken at sunset by Mr. Mike Dowd:

There are tons of photos from the vacation here. Here we are all on the beach, smiling even though we were sad that it was our last day:

Came back to an exhausting week featuring hours of hours of audio on top of my regular job. Also, I got my first cold in years. But there was something to look forward to at the end of the week: a concert by Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp from RENT, attended by me, Heather, Jojo, and Jennifer. Here are the boys at a post-concert signing:

In training news, my foot is sadly not healed enough to do a spring race (see you next year, Toronto?). So I’ll take the summer to heal up and be ready for my fifth marathon with Gilda’s Gang in September.

And that fills you in on all the news since last time I posted. I had this great idea that I would post once a week this year. Maybe the goal should be once a month?

The title of this post comes from L.M. Montgomery’s novel Anne of Green Gables:

Look at that sea, girls – all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn’t enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds.

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Posted in Entertainment, Friends, Training/Races, Travel

A Better World for Me

March 3rd, 2012 by Bethany No comments »

Davy Jones died. The youngest Monkee. The news was so shocking. Jojo and Linds both emailed me at the same time to tell me. I ran into a conference room and called Sarah, which of course shocked her – why would I call in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon? I had just said to Jojo a few weeks ago, when people were mourning the death of Whitney Houston, that the only celebrities I could imagine crying over when they die are the Monkees, and now here we are.

If I’ve counted right, I’ve seen the boys (in various incarnations, never all four – Mike!) a dozen times. I saw Davy sing in a Chinese restaurant. I saw Micky and his sister perform a free concert in a gazebo in a small town in Georgia. I’ve seen the boys at the War Memorial, CCFL (three times), a casino in Mississippi… I’ve even met Davy twice, at book signings in Nashville. I never thought that, when Linds and I went to see Micky, Davy, and Peter last summer in Canada (photo above) that it would be the last time I would see Davy. A little (5’3″) piece of my childhood died on Wednesday. Here’s a picture of me and Davy, in the early 2000s in a mall in Nashville:

The title of this post is from the song Davy sang on The Brady Bunch, “Girl.” Just pretend “girl” really says “Davy.”

Thank you girl, for making the morning brighter,
Girl, for making the night time nicer,
Girl, for making a better world for me.

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Posted in Entertainment

Lordy, Lordy

February 26th, 2012 by Bethany No comments »

Look who’s 40! Jennie turned forty on Friday, and yesterday we had a big party for her at The Wagner. Lots of pictures of the big event here. Happy birthday, old lady!

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Posted in Events, Family

A Good Snapshot

February 20th, 2012 by Bethany No comments »

Another month gone by (almost)! We’ve had more wacky weather – snow one day, sunshine and temps in the 50s the next. The picture above is of my flower garden. In February. Crazy!

It’s been a busy month, but I’ll let pictures do most of the talking. Mostly because I’ve been experimenting with the new lens that I got for Christmas. Above is a shot of some of the weights I have in my little home gym. I’m finally able to do almost everything with my foot (have even walked a few miles), including yoga. Not including jumping. I’m still hopeful that a spring race is doable.

The biggest big of news is that Grandma and Grandpa moved into the addition at Mom and Dad’s (or, as Linds calls it, The Ogden Street Convalescent Home). It’s been an interesting transition for everyone, to say the least. Above is a picture of Dad and Grandma, watching as Mom and Grandpa go for a walk. Below is a picture of Dad testing out Grandpa’s new lift recliner.

And here’s a shot of Grandpa, who seems to be really enjoying his new “little house”:

And now here are a bunch of photos that I used as experiments with the new lens. The ever-present M&M jar at Grandma and Grandpa’s:

The light fixture in the new living area:

A jar of scented beads:

Emmie Lou, who is going to be fourteen in April (thus making him the oldest resident of the house):

And finally, a shot of the numbers of the fence at my house:

In other news, I’ve been doing audio (including my first radio commercial), working on the annual Bachelor’s Auction for Gilda’s Club, watching too much TV, and keeping my fingers crossed that I find an agent for my novel (I sent it out about a month ago).

The title of this post comes from a quote by Eudora Welty:

A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.

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Posted in Family, Photography, Training/Races, Writing

So Little To Do

January 29th, 2012 by Bethany No comments »

Winter is here! At least for tonight. By Tuesday it’s going to be near 50 again. There has been so little snow this season, putting on my snow tires has seemed almost pointless. But tonight the snow is falling fast and thick, and it’s almost completely silent outside. Compare the photo above (which I just took) to this one, from January 6th. What a strange winter we’ve had.

The title of this post comes from a quote by Stanley Crawford:

Winter is the time of promise because there is so little to do – or because you can now and then permit yourself the luxury of thinking so.

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Posted in Photography

Vacancy

January 3rd, 2012 by Bethany No comments »

I got a new (bigger) bed, so the guest room is actually ready for… guests.

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Posted in Random

Dance One Year In, Kiss One Goodbye

January 1st, 2012 by Bethany No comments »

It’s 2012. Wow. Where did the last year go? Well, let’s recap since the last post, anyway.

Just before Thanksgiving, I finished my third National Novel Writing Month! I wrote just over 50,000 words in under thirty days. I think I gave myself carpal tunnel, but it was totally worth it. I wrote a middle grade novel called Sight. One of my goals for the next month is to find an agent for it. Or try to find one, anyway. Good luck to me!

Since Mom and Dad’s house is under construction, Thanksgiving this year was held at Meghan and Joe’s in Geneva. There are pictures here. Here’s a goofy one from the day – me and Jeffrey in a mirror:

I did a little house work, which involved painting the downstairs bathroom. So yeah, here’s a picture of a toilet! And some bright teal walls. I still have some work to do down there, but it’s a good start. And much better than the tan textured wallpaper that was there before.

Next, I turned 38. For my birthday, I went to Sticky Lips with some good friends to eat some good food and listen to some good music, courtesy of Mark and the Brian Lindsay Band. Here’s a picture of Brian and Mark on stage:

A few days later, Linds and I went to Canandaigua to have birthday dinner with Mon Pion. This photo is dark and blurry, but also cute!

The following weekend was the Gilda’s Club children’s Christmas party, and I went to take photos (here). Here’s my favorite shot from the day:

In mid-December, we had to say goodbye to Uncle Paul. Although it was a sad occasion, it was also a reunion. Here’s a picture of Jennie with our Dailey cousins, Kurt, Kevin, and Kyle. A few more pictures are here.

And then it was Christmas. I did a ton of baking…

Put up and decorated a tree for the first time in years…

And celebrated with my favorite New York girls, Mrs. Ackles, Linds, and Jojo!

Christmas Eve at Scott and Debbie’s was the usual chaos of food, presents, and laughter. Here’s a picture of Kate and Jennie, Tebowing. What else would you do on Christmas Eve?

Lots of photos from girl’s night, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day are here. And here’s the whole crew in the living room at Hafleighs:

The next day, we had breakfast, opened presents (FNL FTW!), and then had our annual visit from Leah!

The day after Christmas, Linds and I enjoyed hot stone massages, a delicious diner dinner, and then the new Sherlock Holmes movie. A great way to end the long holiday weekend. A very slow, quiet week at work later, it’s New Year’s Eve, and I finally got to spend some time with my favorite ladies from Texas, Lisa and Abby!

Linds and I spent the evening with the Dowds in Geneva, but I was home in my toasty bed with a good book before midnight. There are more photos from New Year’s Eve day (and night) here.

And that’s 2011. As for 2012, I’m looking forward to two half marathons (c’mon foot, we can do it!), a trip to the beach in South Carolina with the Downs and Murrells, and our annual Maine vacation (the cottage is already booked). And maybe a publishing contract? Here’s hoping!

The title of this post comes from the song “The Perfect Year” from the musical Sunset Boulevard:

It’s New Year’s Eve
And hopes are high
Dance one year in
Kiss one goodbye
Another chance, another start
So many dreams to tease the heart

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Posted in Family, Friends, Holidays, Photography, Writing

How We Spend Our Days

November 20th, 2011 by Bethany No comments »

Well. Yep. It’s been a really long time since I’ve posted. Fall has been busy, people! Here’s a brief round-up of what’s been going on.

October. Linds and I spent a week in the cottage by the sea. On the way to Maine, we visited Leah in Boston! Here we are after a delicious dinner at a roof top restaurant in the North End:

And then it was on to Maine. It rained. And then it rained some more. Then it stopped raining. We ate so much seafood. We ate giant baked goods from the Pie in the Sky. We ate ice cream, and pizza, and candy, and more seafood. We shopped. We walked to Short Sands Beach almost every day. We walked the Marginal Way. We walked Long Sands Beach and Old Orchard Beach and Ogunquit Beach. My (mostly) unbooted foot (mostly) held up nicely. We saw (and I wept through) Miss Saigon at the Ogunquit Playhouse, and George H.W. and Barbara Bush were in the audience! We went to Portland and I ate the best sandwich in the world, the Lobstah Sandwich at the Porthole:

I took over 600 pictures, including a bunch of night time photos (many thanks to LAT for the tips). Here’s one looking north, with Padalecki Point all aglow on the left:

The weekend after we got back was the first annual Gilda’s Gallop 5K Family Fun Run and Walk. I was interviewed by Channel 10! We raised a bunch of money for the clubhouse, and everyone had fun despite the freezing wind and rain.

The rest of October was spent doing fall-ish things like going on a photo adventure with Mama Wood to Mount Hope Cemetery and Corbett’s Glen, taking a walk on a beautiful fall afternoon in PY with Mom and Jen (Bussey stayed home to supervise the Big Dig, of course)…

…and having lunch for Mom’s birthday at Bully Hill. Here’s a view of Keuka Lake that afternoon:

That same afternoon, we were all at Grandma and Grandpa’s for coffee when Sarah treated us to a visit from her new furry friend, Cooper. Here’s the little fuzz ball with Grandma:

And then it was the best (non-Maine) time of the fall: Halloween! I went to Noogiefest at Gilda’s for the first time. The whole joint was decorated like Hogwarts, and the entire staffed dressed up. Here’s Bob as Severus Snape, in the Potions classroom:

In lieu of Leah’s Boo Bash, I headed to Syracuse to celebrate the best holiday of the year with my fellow Bradford alum Tammy and her friends. Here we are, all dressed up for the party:

Early November brought all four Merrills, in town for Karen and Adam’s wedding. Here are the ladies at Karen’s shower, held at Ed and Sally’s:

On the Wednesday before the wedding, Sarah, Matthew, Kim, Heather, and I went to Syracuse to see In the Heights. Here’s a fantastic shot of Matthew at dinner (where Kate joined us!), after sucking on a lemon:

And here’s a self-portrait of all of us (you can just see Matthew’s eyeball behind Heather’s head):

The wedding was held on 11/11/11 at Artisan Works, which turns out to be a very fun place if you are one year old and your dad happens to find a string of pretty lights for you to look at (click here for an awesome video of Marcus laughing).

Here’s a picture of SarahBeth Panaro at the wedding. Best friends for thirty-five years and counting!

And here’s one of my favorite pictures of the night, of me, Kim, and Sarah. Socializing in real life is so overrated.

That’s a very brief recap of the last month and a half. In non-photographed events, I did a ton of audio, finished Friday Night Lights (best. show. ever.), and got the go-ahead from the orthopedist to wean myself off the boot (here’s to a spring marathon!). Right now I’m 43,000 words into my third National Novel Writing Month, which has been exhausting but fun. I’m looking forward to the family feast on Thursday at Meg and Joe’s, a long weekend, finishing the novel, a little Cyber Monday shopping… and then we’re on to Christmas. Time really does fly.

Lots more photos of all the above-mentioned events. Click!

The title of this post is from a quote by Annie Dillard:

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

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Posted in Events, Family, Friends, Holidays, Photography

Each Day Too Short

September 28th, 2011 by Bethany No comments »

Yep, I’ve been neglectful of the blog again. I’m heading up to Boston and Maine with Linds on Friday (A week in a cottage by the sea? Approved!), so I figured it was time for a quick recap before I need to post 500 photos of the southern coast.

First, on September 10th, my boot and I went to help out Mom and Dad at the Scottish Festival in Dundee. Above is a photo from the parade (which was followed by the incredibly emotional and touching motorcade for a fallen soldier); below is sweet picture of the folks.

The next weekend was the Rochester Marathon. Of course my stress fracture kept me out of the race, so I hobbled around with Shari, another Gang member suffering the same fate, and snapped some pictures. Here’s one of the Gang before the race start:

And here’s a self-portrait of me and Jojo, who finished faster than she did last year!

Fast forward another week and it’s time for both the Special Olympics Soccer and Softball Fall Classic, and Gilda’s Club gala, now called the Heroes Ball. Here’s my favorite picture of Jennie from the morning – she won a silver (her 22nd medal, thank you very much) in soccer skills:

As I was volunteering at the gala, I wasn’t able take my good camera. So, point-and-shoot and iPhone it was! Here’s a self-portrait of me and Jojo:

Finally, on Sunday I went to PY to help the family celebrate Grandpa’s 92nd birthday, which was on Thursday. Here’s Roger L. and Grandma with some of the grandkids (Grandpa was a little preoccupied with watching the Bills beat the Patriots):

Both Cindy and Steve R. were home, so that was a great reason to get some photos of all the Richmond children. (Bonus: An animated gif!)

Lots more pictures to be had! Click here for the Scottish Festival, here for the Gang, here for the Fall Classic, and here for the gala.

The title of this post comes from a quote by John Burroughs:

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see.

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Posted in Events, Family, Friends, Training/Races

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts

September 3rd, 2011 by Bethany No comments »

Well, yep, the entire month of August slipped by me. Wow. Take my word that it was a very busy month with a ton of audio (I now count Microsoft, Adobe, and Google as my clients – check out some of my Google work here!). But let’s get to the good stuff! First up: the end of July/beginning of August, when we had a lovely long visit with three-quarters of the Merrills. The pictures above and below are two of my favorites: Mom with Marcus in the pool, and a Dad/Marcus snuggle.

I took a Friday off while Sarah and the boys were home, and Heather and Bray came with me to PY to try Seneca Farms and spend the afternoon in the pool. Here’s a shot of Matthew and Brayden doing their best jedi impressions (sans lightsabers):

A week or so later, I headed back to PY with Linds, and this time the Dowds came over for a little Downs/Murrulls picnic. The highlight of the day was sitting in the pool house with Sarah when Marcus took his first steps! Quite a few tears were shed. Here’s a great action shot of Bussey and Matthew in the pool:

And here’s a lovely family portrait of all of us:

Other highlights of August included having Sarah and the boys over to my house for a visit, and a trip to Geneva to celebrate James’ birthday. Of course Kim and I had to send Matthew a few funny face photos. This one’s my favorite!

On the 19th, we celebrated Bussey’s birthday at Doc’s in Canandaigua. This shirt that I got him says “Daddy’s Little Grill”:

I also had the privilege of visiting Jojo’s new house, catching up with our cylon friends, and meeting the two newest members of the Johanna/Cory household: Samus and Phoebe!

At the end of the month, I had unexpected but most welcome guests for a long weekend – Leigh Anna, Max, and Rilke, who drove up to Rochester to escape the wrath of Hurricane Irene. Here’s a picture of Linds snuggling with the growing-like-a-weed but still little Miss Rilke:

Linds and I took Leigh Anna and the pups to PY for the afternoon on Saturday, where we got to see the Firemen’s Parade, complete with a float designed (and ridden on) by the Yates Greats!

Finally, the other big news is that I won’t be doing my ninth half marathon in three weeks. Here’s why:

Ah, yes, the latest in late-summer fashion: the boot! I have a stress fracture in my right foot (diagnosed after I did an 8-mile and a 6-mile walk with the Gang), and I have to wear this dang thing for six weeks. It’s going to look really sharp with the dress I got for the Gala at the end of the month!

Here are pictures from the Spencer/Merrill day, the Merrill/Dowd day in PY, and a few extra summer shots. And also very belated pictures of when Linds and I went to Canada to see Micky, Davy, and Peter in the Monkees farewell tour.

The title of this post comes from Friday Night Lights. Between this (the best non-sci-fi, non-horror show of all time) and Battlestar Galactica, I now know that Jojo is the best TV suggester of all time. So say we all. “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!”