As Autumn Wanes

 
Three weeks ago, this was the view waiting for me outside my kitchen window.
Today, the branches are bare and the earth is covered with brown, wrinkly leaves.
Autumn's colors are muted in the Netherlands, and they don't last long. Two things I miss about Ohio are the colorful autumns and the snowy winters, both of which are rare occurences here. 

The Beginning of a Quilt

This particular piece was created in the artist's Wyoming Period. It was only recently discovered in storage in her aunt's bedroom. Double-click on the photo above for a close-up. And click here to meet the artist.

I Heart Saturdays
Today was an example of a lovely, lovely Saturday.
This morning I walked to the train station to meet Brenda (see post immediately below this one). We took a walk through the city and then went back to my apartment to drink some rooibos tea and chat. After an hour or so, we walked back to the city center to have lunch at Tante Truus, one of my favorite restaurants. In the afternoon we did a bit of shopping and then headed back to my place for strong Dutch coffee and supper (in that order). After supper, we spent some time examining various Hebrew and German textbooks and chatted some more. Then I walked Brenda to the station, she took a train to Amsterdam, and I walked back home. Now I'm lounging on my bed, enjoying the wonders of wireless internet and a laptop.

Don't you just love Saturdays? Me too. (Thanks, Brenda!)

In other news, I updated some of the links around here. Check 'em out if you'd like. If you look closely, you might even discover where I'm going to school...

Meet Brenda
This year I'm a full-time student again. More on that soon.
So one of my new fellow student friends is named Brenda. She has a great blog about her life in Amsterdam. Check it out.

Norah and Me
I quite enjoy the vocal and piano stylings of Norah Jones. I've harbored this vague suspicion that she looks remarkably familiar ever since purchasing her album Come Away With Me several years ago. Then it hit me: Maybe I had met her at Interlochen Arts Camp, where I worked two summers as music librarian for the high school jazz bands. This was back in 1994 and 1995, when I was in college. I remember being impressed by a vocalist/pianist who bore a striking resemblance to the now-all-grown-up Norah. (Although she wore these black-framed glasses back then, which were pretty artsy and cool-looking.) Well, thanks to Wikipedia, I confirmed my suspicions. Norah went to Interlochen. I was her music librarian.

There you go, one of my few claims to fame. Another being that Jimmy Carter once told me to, and I quote, "Hurry Up", but that's another blog entry for another day.

P.S. While doing research, I also found out that Norah's dad is the famed sitar maestro Ravi Shankar.