Missouri Botanical Garden

... is one of the happiest places on earth. No, really. It's a huge property... 79 acres. I had to look that up, and I also just learned that it "is the nation's oldest botanical garden in continuous operation and a National Historic Landmark," according to their website. Who knew. At any rate, I've been going to this garden with my family for as long as I can remember. In fact, my parents have a wedding anniversary tradition involving the daylily section and I think it is one of my mom's hopes that I either get married there or have my reception there.

The place is filled with gorgeous flowers and beautifully landscaped gardens and lately, art. I don't remember it specifically previously to Chihuly, but since then, they've played host to at least 2 different other artists. Chihuly filled the entire garden with his famous glassworks, sometimes in a display of their own, sometimes interspersed in the plants themselves. It was stunning. [There's a set on my flickr photo page to see them] Then there was an exhibit called Chapungu which featured art from Zimbabwe. And now Niki, an artist whose art literally killed her. She died of emphysema from breathing in fibers in her earlier works. However, the work she did in her lifetime was stunning and unlike anyone else. In fact, WM and I had spent a lot of time with one of her works at the Laumeier Sculpture Park just the day before.

At any rate, besides the added art installation, we also completely lucked out with the irises. They were in bloom... and I mean in bloom. It was a riot of color and good smells.

Since there were so many pictures uploaded from MBG (73), I'm only putting a few here. Go check 'em all out at flickr, and let me know which ones you liked best.










Next post: Regarding a new addition to my life...

Laumeier Sculpture Park

I have fond memories of my childhood visits to Laumeier Sculpture Park.

When I was in St. Louis this past week, I revisited the park with a friend of mine. Armed with our cameras and tripods, we spent a partly cloudy afternoon photographing our hearts out. Some photos I won't share because I prefer to not post images of people who are my friends/family. 

But here are some that I will share with you. And as always, they can be found at flickr.

Totally unrealted to Laumeier, I can't resist not sharing this:



How cute is Tommy?!

Next post topic: Missouri Botanical Garden. It may take a few days, but I'll get 'er done.

Random

I think I'll be perennially behind on blog posting for awhile... I still haven't posted about Art Car.

On Monday past, a colleague and I got up at the crack of dawn and drove all day to St. Louis. Some pictures were taken and fun times were had. And best of all, we made it to STL in record time and arrived before sunset. Go us!

On Tuesday, we visited Laumeier Sculpture Park, a place I haven't been in ages. Pictures are still to be uploaded to flickr, so here's just a preview. Guess what else I'm behind on... 

On Wednesday, we visited to Missouri Botanical Garden where we were treated to a veritable riot of color in the iris garden. Again, this is just a preview because I've not yet uploaded to flickr.

On Thursday night, my mom and I took a trip down to the Arch to take pictures at night. These pictures are at flickr and you can check them out here.

On Friday, I flew back and was just able to make

 the second half of the Assignment Houston meet up. Those pictures are also at flickr.

On Saturday, I was able to pick up my birthday present from my best friend. The security idiots at the building where I used to work claimed that we weren't in the office (we physically weren't, but we were GOING to be) and they refused to sign for the delivery... TWICE. By the time they delivered to my apartment on Monday, I was already in Arkansas. The leasing office agents were nice and stuck the gorgeous cookie bouquet in the refrigerator for me at my request so the cookies are as fresh as if they were just delivered! They're too adorable and they smell great. I'm about to destroy the gorgeousness and dive into the sugary goodness!

But I had to take a snapshot to share! They're almost too pretty to eat! Since two already look like Tom and Pip, it would be too funny if one of them was a chocolate lab like Tucker. 

I am behind in flickr posting, so eventually I'll be playing catch up with proper posts. And perhaps this blog will return to its original, more photo-based intent. Because really, my life isn't that exciting. And I don't often have a lot to say. And until I get the hang of my summer schedule, there will be no setting of a monthly project. Yet. 

Done!

The season is over! Our last show of the season was a remount of our locally-inspired oratorio, The Refuge at the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park. We totally lucked out with the weather because we only had one really nasty, hot, humid day. This show was tech-ed, opened and closed within a week (two performances only) and it was a quick week at that. While it was a remount, we had a new community choir, a new community instrumentalist and a new Studio soloist. Despite all these new things, plus a slight set-change due to the different stage at Miller, the process was amazingly stress-free and the product was great.

Opening night also coincided with my birthday, which was fun. Despite being at work all day, I was treated to a picnic dinner by my colleagues and a fabulous show. This temporary tattoo, found in my opening night gift from our stage manager, really sums up the day:



I really did feel loved. I came home to a lot of facebook, email and voicemail messages, and was well-wished throughout the day. And best of all, I got to work with my friends on my birthday.

Yesterday, our closing night, I arrived early at the theatre to wander around Hermann Park to take pictures. I had forgotten that our education division was sponsoring a kite-making festival in conjunction with our performance. It seemed like a popular gathering and I managed to snap a few good shots. For more, check out my flickr page, but here's a preview:



I'm behind on posting - I'll have to post about Art Car at a later date...

Busy Busy Busy

End of show + Friends and family in town + prep week for Refuge redux = busy me, and no posting. Plus, I haven't been able to get much sleep these days for various reasons.

Also, did I mention that I need to pack for the roadtrip home to STL with WM and for OKC for the entire summer?

Yikes. I have taken a few pictures here and there but I don't have the energy to blog about them now. I barely had the energy to upload them to flickr.

So check 'em out, and posting shall resume in the near future.

Adventures in Night Photography

Or... also known as Having Willing Victims to Drag Around With Me.

I am really loving the whole night photography trend despite the limitations the exposure time on my camera. However, I'm learning that I can still take decent photos. However, I don't always feel safe photographing by myself all the time... especially at night. Especially in some places that are seriously pretty at night.

My parents were in town this past weekend to see the show I've been working on and they were very patient and let me drag them around Houston after sundown.

The first night, we adventured to a sculpture that I found via CameraMan and Little Ms. Bossy. I knew my parents would enjoy it and I really wanted a crack at seeing the sculpture myself and see what I could capture with my own camera.



I mean... holy cow. That sculpture is STUNNING. I really want to go back another time and take another crack at it.

On our way home, we happened to drive down Allen Parkway where I discovered that the Dandeliion Fountain (aka the Wortham Fountain) is lit at night...



The second night included at stop along the Bayou where I tried a different perspective on those stunning blue/purple lights.



I don't care if this picture is overexposed, I love it! I did capture some more realistic exposures... but this one made me happy. I still think there's more ways to capture this ever-changing art installation (the lights follow the moon phases).

I really want to have more adventures in night photography but I need to find more local victims friends.

Bingo Lingo

I had planned a post with photos from the last few days, but tonight, something happened that I just had to blog about. Nothing super exciting, but sometimes something new is way too fun. Especially when one has been in a traffic-induced funk.

A few coworkers and I had talked about playing bingo sometime, but hadn't gotten around to it quite yet. So tonight, I texted them and suggested bingo. One took me up on it, and away we went. While there, we ran into one of our IA crewmen who had told us about the place. He sat with us and we had a grand old time. I learned a lot tonight - the tricks of the trade. How to make it through multiple game pieces before the next number is called, what each of the board designs are, and how to get ahead of the game. And the lingo of the game. (There's more than just the word "Bingo").

And at $1 a game today (and every Monday and Friday), it'll be a good fun thing to do every once in awhile. The game pots are $500 and 750 on dollar nights, so that's not too shabby if you're a winner. I came close on a few boards... but close isn't winning.

Tomorrow, I'll post pictures from my adventures in evening photography.



And just so you know... the crowd is more than just older people. There's people of all ages, races and backgrounds.