none exactly like another

crystalline and beautiful

some clumped, piled and solid

frozen

collective

others discrete and vanishing

transient

alone

unique in source

formed by their passage

by environment

by others of their kind

evolutionary

some pure

some polluted

some noted

acclaimed

others solitary fall

melt before maturity

lost

oft looked for

beckoned hither

sought after

illusive

dreaded inundation

drifts

isolating

smothering

oft mourned

debilitating

I'm not sure I exist in 'blog form anymore, but I felt obliged to post my annual array of pictures from the previous year.  It was a good year, even if the pictures don't tell the full story.  From experiencing my first Ottawa winter, to Hawaii in March, random travels in June and July and a few weddings, 2008 was full of new adventures, seemingly repeated experiences and some new revelations about myself; always appreciated and sometimes uncomfortable. 

If you're looking for specifics on the photos, click here.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Pictures from September: In no particular order, the beginning of a semester in Ottawa.  Trips out of town, snapshots of town.  Cooking class, etiquette training and, oh yes, The Man.  Somewhat inadvertently the only picture in colour, but somehow seemingly appropriate in its contrast to "real life."  The election on both sides of the border seems to consume and overshadow everything else in such a political town/program, yet it doesn't take much to strip away the facade and see how two dimensional and colourless it is when contrasted with the vibrancy of life.

Boston: full of old, proud American history.

Romalie: dizzied by my chosen summer itinerary. 

I'm trying to think of a term analogous to "jet lag" that denotes more of a travel precipitated malaise.  Part wistful contemplation on a summer coming to a close, part something that seems suspiciously like relief in upcoming routine and a part travel appetite whetted by a taste of adventures.

The Edwards came up for Canada Day in Ottawa.  This was my first time experiencing the holiday in Ottawa, let alone, Canada.  It's pretty spectacular and it was fun to have guests.  We watched the fireworks display at Parliament from the roof of my house. 

P.S. My mom got me a sweet new lens for my camera for birthdayness... the fun begins.

Summer has officially begun.  Equinox, schmequinox.

First destination: NYC, complete with a delightful New Paltz/Marge & Jean stop on the way.

Also included, stays in Stony Brook; revisitations of times past and Times Square:

Dear New York,

Thanks for the fun times.

Love,

Romalie & Kiki 

[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]

[Southwest view from the Empire State Building]

[Fire Island Beach (minus the nudists)]

[NYC companions]

There was also the relatively short stop in Willow Grove for hugs from nieces and the ridiculously long afternoon/evening spent unexpectedly on a very congested Pennsylvania highway.

Summer, 2008, to be continued...

I turned off my alarm clock in my sleep on Wednesday for the first time in ten years-- the caterers finally woke me up with the doorbell after four rings.

I had a laugh attack at the dentist's yesterday-- she was just cleaning my teeth, so I didn't even have the drugs as an excuse.

I'm ridiculously excited for Spring to arrive in Ottawa; the only season I haven't experienced yet this month is fall.  I find something profound, but difficult to articulate, in the postural changes of people walking on the street directly correlative to changes in the weather.

Only two weeks left in this semester at the LLC.

There's nothing like a blank 'blog entry page awaiting to rid my mind of coherent thoughts.

[photo: Main exit at the Diefenbunker: Canada's Cold War bunker].

It's hard to care that it's minus freakin' below outside, because Saturday:

Ottawa - Vancouver

Seattle - San Diego

San Diego - Maui

Maui - Kaua'i

Kaua'i - San Diego

San Diego - Toronto

Toronto - Ottawa

Now I really have to make it to Alaska.

So here are pictures of my apartment-- I just painted it this week.  I can't find any other "before" pictures (yes, I deleted all the ones I uploaded earlier this summer... I'm just dumb like that sometimes [also, I'm dumb like how I don't realize I really do have the pictures still and they can be found here]).  Anyway, this is the only one I could find of the previous wall colour... Good September times with Mr. Daniel Talstra and some maple syrup.

and following, the "after" shots...