These photos from the SF Tweed ride are fantastic. Why don’t we have something like this in Kansas City? (Quick, someone: COPY!)

I don’t know about you, but I love me some drop caps.

Typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische is posting a new drop cap every day – heavenly.

Huxley and I took a walk out to the Shawnee Indian Mission this morning. I’ve never toured it, but now that I know tours are a mere $3, I’ll have to go sometime. Who wants to experience some (probably very depressing) history?

View of the East building.

Yes, that sounds awfully enlightening and depressing, all at once. At least the Kansas State Historical Society of 1953 (they’re credited at the bottom of the sign) was keeping it real.

Girls’ dormitories.

St. Agnes Church/School is just around the corner and is very, very pretty. I will always maintain that no other denominations’ churches can hold a candle to the Catholic ones.

Also, this morning I learned that I love figs – both because they taste awesome and because they look like brains.

If you see this book innocently on display at your library, do not, I repeat, do NOT pick it up.

It may say it’s about time travel, and Irish wolfhounds, and olden times, but it’s actually about Being a Lady Who Needs to Find Herself (not that I’m opposed to that sort of thing. I’m not. However, if you get that vague implication, check the publisher’s imprint. If it is called Avon, run away. Quickly.).

Admittedly, the blurb did start out with “After a horrible divorce…” or something like that. I just hoped it could get beyond that. I was wrong. I’m a little disappointed in myself for picking up this book on impulse, since it’s clearly marketed to women in my age group. More reasons I should stick to the things I have on hold and not browse.

Time to read Northanger Abbey again to cleanse my palate.

I decided to get brave and start playing around with textures & layering. First attempt:

The photo is mine from Rocheport, Mo., and the texture is via Valeriana Solaris on flickr.

I heartily recommend “The Line” by The Weather Station.

Last year I enjoyed some Ra Ra Riot, Great Lake Swimmers and Swell Season. I intend to revisit them all. (Swell Season has a new album coming out in October. Hooray!)

This has been a fantastic week for the internet and I – and by “internet” I mean “interesting, talented and wonderful people who make the internet a playground that I can sometimes barely tear my eyes away from.”

I won a secret giveaway by Janice at Scissor Variations and received a delightful little package today with beautiful paper lovelies:

I also won a customer appreciation week giveaway over at Oh, Hello Friend – I’ve been pining for Danni’s pins for a long time, so I’m really excited!

And finally, one of my pictures (the peaches from the post below) was featured today on sfgirlbybay. It’s among some really great shots, and I had to do a double-take when this post popped up in my reader.

Add to all that some chocolate chip cookies from our neighbors and news of a freelance job I’ve been waiting oh-so-patiently to come through, and I’m one happy girl today!

…because it is pretty & because I need some sort of post in August. I seem to have had a slump last August, too, so this must be normal.

I’ve also been busier lately – not actually busy, but I’ve had less time on my hands since we’re living without a car now. I think we’re both actually enjoying not having a car, both as a money-saving venture and because bike riding is fun (except south of the Plaza, where all the hills of doom lie). Add that to my weird dedication to completely tiring out the puppy daily (we call it “defeating the puppy”) and mostly I want to plop down and get a little crafty/read/watch terrible TV by the time I have a minute.

Anyway, back to the food, and some Pyrex. I haven’t written about the new Pyrex additions yet, mostly because there have been a lot. Here are a few.
Two medium casseroles with lids. The lids are sometimes gone because they were never very well-fitted and are easily dropped if you’re not careful. The top pattern is Spring Blossom and the bottom is Daisy (there’s a daisy print on the glass lid).

These three are thrift store finds, which makes them better than antique store finds only in that they were fantastic deals. My mom found the butterfly gold gravy boat (top) and the Verde divided serving dish (bottom). I found the coffee pot, which is more of a lemonade pot these days.

There’s more, but I’ll spare you. Pyrex tour: complete!

I felt like it was time to play again.

Which do you prefer? (Quick answers–we’ll do more detail at some later date)

• Reading something frivolous? Or something serious? I’m not sure I prefer one over the other – I try to keep them in a good balance.
• Paperbacks? Or hardcovers? Paperbacks. Easier to carry and abuse.
• Fiction? Or Nonfiction? See question 1.
• Poetry? Or Prose? Prose for the most part, but only because I make the grave mistake of forgetting to read poetry. It’s delightful when I do.
• Biographies? Or Autobiographies? Autobiographies are always more interesting.
• History? Or Historical Fiction? History, but I don’t mind the dose of fiction.
• Series? Or Stand-alones? Usually stand-alones, with the exception of some fantasy stuff (HP, Song of Ice & Fire, etc).
• Classics? Or best-sellers? Classics.
• Lurid, fruity prose? Or straight-forward, basic prose? Straight-forward and basic.
• Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness? Plots, please!
• Long books? Or Short? Depends on my mood.
• Illustrated? Or Non-illustrated? Non-illustrated – I like to imagine the scenes on my own.
• Borrowed? Or Owned? Both – but I’ll only buy if I know I’ll want to hang on it it.
• New? Or Used? Either. Same rule applies as to borrowed or owned.

(Yes, I know, some of these we’ve touched on before, and some of these we might address in-depth in the future, but for today–just quick answers!)

Hunter’s mom gave me a new camera for my birthday and it’s pretty fantastic. I’ve only taken a few shots so far, but I’m loving the macro. Expect more flowers soon. (Sorry!)