Tampa's Tremendous

The Courtyard Marriott in Tampa, FL has lovely paintings in its guest rooms. None of that boring, same-old vase-with-dull-flowers poop that one sees in just about every hotel across America (I would know, ok?). Instead, guests are treated to watercolors of Tampa's waterfront, ferns and lifestyle. It was a lovely respite from the drab and seemingly endless displays of ceramic cylinders found ceaselessly throughout the US of A. Of course, I didn't photograph the event.

Also, the front desk staff was very witty, wise and wonderful. My acquaintance, I'll call him Tom for that is the name his Mother gave him, and I laughed for a good few minutes with the night Manager. Say hello to her if ever you're there. She's a hoot.

Star Treatment

Sounds from Davie, Florida before a performance at the historical Parker Playhouse.

This is WHY only two of you are out there

Hollywood Beach, Florida

Greetings from Ft Lauderdale

from beautiful Orlando

Shorts, Flipflops and a Short-Sleeve Shirt

...and that included the drink

still in Prestonsburg, KY

Stuck in the Mountains, KY

So it's been some time since the last post, but, wow, look at what I've done... first, let's start with these pictures. [1] Ft Mountain National Park in Georgia. It had the most gorgeous panoramic vista I've ever seen. I can't figure out how to upload the .mov file I took, so we'll just have to settle for this still pic. [2] Pebble Hill Plantation in Thomasville, GA finally gave me an image in my head to use when someone says "plantation." Now I have an idea of what one looks like -- here, you see the hedge maze out behind the mansion. [3] Mammoth Cave Nation Park outside Bowling Green, KY had lovely nature trails through the hills. I found some daffodills among the leaves and sticks that looked like they were growing just for this picture. [4] The next day, actually inside Mammoth Cave's "Frozen Niagara" tour, here you see some limestone rocks that took thousands of years to form into these positions. For every one inch of formation, it takes about one hundred years to produce.

What else have I done lately?
- read Tom Wolfe's I am Charlotte Simmons. Yech.
- ate at Taco Bell for the first time
- met a guy at a Waffle House who toured with the Ringling Bros circus back in the fifties
- spent interminable hours in a fart-smelling van with seven other wackos
- tried "Airborne" to avoid getting sick. I think it might be working.
- lost the 8th annual DZ Oscar Pool
- saw a show on Africa at a planetarium
- tried tea with honey and decided it's not so bad afterall
- almost got sunburned in the middle of February

What have YOU done?

- OH! and I learned to play an e chord on the guitar