More introductory type stuff

There are a few reasons I started this blog.  I like projects, especially starting them.  It's very likely I won't stick with this for very long.  One of the main reasons is that I want to work on coming out of my shell and expressing my ideas and opinions, no matter how pleasant or unpleasant they might be.  I take a lot in and let very little out.  I want to let out more and see if it is good for me or not.  And sometimes I just feel like babbling about everyday things of no real consequence.

All that said, if  anyone cares to read this, that's fine.  Comment if you like, but please sign your name.  If you disagree with something I write and want to tell me about it, that's fine too, as long as you have spent some time figuring out why you disagree before providing a thoughtful comment.

That's it for this moment.  There will be more soon.

Well, I was going to post a pretty picture of a powdery mildew cleistothecium, but it seems that I don't have that file on my computer.  Some other time, perhaps.

It's a lovely day.  I'm sitting down with a second cup of coffee and a little bowl of bean salad.  I took a walk around the neighborhood earlier and was sad to find out that the lilacs have lost their scent, but then I was happy to find that irises smell pretty good.  I feel even lazier today than I did yesterday.  I hope we go fishing later!

Living in the future!

Late last fall, toward the end of the semester, my friend and I were sitting in the office grading exams.  The nature of our banter led me to look up at her and exclaim quite emphatically, "We are living in the future!"  We laughed at that and settled back into grading after the requisite comment about flying cars.

That idea of living in the future stayed with me though.  My present was once the future of a younger me.  I wish I still had the questionnaire I filled out in elementary school about what I thought my life would be like in 2000.  All I really remember is being uncomfortable with the question of marriage and something about having a robot maid.  Robot maids and flying cars, while seemingly obvious items of desire, seem useless and silly to me now.  All I really wanted was to ride my bike everywhere, and I've been moderately successful at that.

I wonder what the rest of the questions were and how my answers to them have panned out.  There's no way I could have seen the future that actually happened.  Some of the things I use everyday were pretty new back then (PCR) or unheard of (internet) while other things I do (crochet) are very old fashioned or are a mix of old and new technology (baking bread in a bread machine).  This future that I live in is interesting though, and I feel like I never have enough time to experience and learn and be.  So, as part of this experience, here are some words from my head, illustrated from time to time with photos.

One of the many surprises the young version of me couldn't have foreseen is that I would grow to appreciate both insects and flowers, two things I did not enjoy at the time of the questionnaire.