The work on getting my new home in shape continues (hence the lack of posts here). It almost amazes me all of the things that need taking care of in order to get settled into a new place. Even more amazing is how people can continually live with things that could so easily be fixed.
With a fresh blanket of snow on the ground and the sun shining, I thought it was a good day for a hike. So, I found the box my snowshoes were in (yes, I still have boxes to unpack) and headed over to Elver Park. The largest park in the city of Madison, Elver Park is only about two-thirds of a mile from my house and one of the reasons I chose to live where I do. While the wind was a little brisk today and the park full of sledders and cross country skiers, it was great being in the outdoors and hiking through nature again. Something I haven’t done for many months. There was even some solace to be found: watching the snow sparkle in the sun as the wind blew it off the pine tress I was hiking through.
When the wind on my face told me it was time to head home, I reluctantly did so, but not without feeling the charge of energy I get from being in the outdoors.
As part of a newsletter article for the library where I work, I was asked the following question:
If you could have a conversation with anyone (living or dead), who would it be and why?
There are all sorts of interesting people (from history, pop culture, politics, etc.) that I would love to talk to. After thinking about it for a while, I decided I would choose my great grandfather, Frederick Bloy, who emigrated from Germany in 1874.
There are a few things I’ve been pondering lately.
What a pleasure it was to see the sun shining in Madison after about a week or so of cloudy, overcast (and sometimes snowy) weather. It’s during this time of the year when I can understand how people can become depressed and suffer from things like seasonal affective disorder. During these months (late February, early March) I always feel like my batteries are in serious need of recharging. On days like today I genuinely get an emotional lift from the sun shine.
I’ve been creating and working with websites for about the past 8 years or so. Most recently, I started the first stages of designing a site for the library where I work.
Last night, I had my first web design dream. In fact, I had a small web design revelation last night — while I was sleeping. In my dream, I was working on the library website and I came up with what I think is a pretty good design idea. It wasn’t a big idea, just one for a particular aspect of the design. Is it conceited to be impressed with an idea your subconscious came up with?
Dreaming is something that I very much enjoy doing. Quite often, I find the experience similar to watching a really good movie. Be it conceited or not, the idea I had last night was a good one and I got a kick out of dreaming it into existence.
It’s been over three months that I’ve been working at the Edgewood College Library. My shifts at the reference desk there (usually a few hours a day) certainly have been a different experience compared to staffing the reference desk at a public library.
Even though Spring is just days away, we’re still getting snow in Wisconsin. I woke up this morning to see everything wearing a beautiful coat of snow. Here’s a picture I took at work today of the snow covered woods behind the library. As proof that beauty is fleeting, the trees were bare again in just a few hours.
This weekend my latest web creation, a site for the Cudahy Family Library, was unveiled. To learn a little about how I developed it, take a look in my portfolio on www.BloyDesigns.com.
Update: February 9, 2007
As of today, the domain BloyDesigns.com no longer exists. Information about my web development work can be found on my resume.
Last night I went to my first concert since I moved to Madison and caught Steve Earle’s show at the Barrymore Theatre.
Musically, Steve and his backing band (the Dukes) rocked the house, concentrating on songs from his two most recent discs, “The Revolution Starts Now” and “Jerusalem.” He didn’t ignore his back catalog though, playing excellent versions of older tunes like “Guitar Town,” “Copperhead Road” and “Goodbye.”
