The (British) Office

We watched the first season, or "series" up here at Tahoe and really enjoyed it. I tried the show on the BBC early on but was too mortified to really want to watch more. Maybe watching the US version (which I love) has changed the way I see the characters.

Blackwood Canyon

We snowshoed up Blackwood Canyon, part of the way to Blacker Pass. The path was a road, so easily followed, and we went off-trail a couple of times to check out the stream. A lot of animals about, judging by their tracks in the fresh snow, though we only saw a few birds.

Lake Tahoe

Yesterday we biked a portion of the highway around Tahoe, the north part of the lake. I'd never been on this part of the lake and the views were tremendous. The lake water was a translucent turquoise, the color I associate with balmy beaches in Jamaica, and I kept having to remind myself that it would NOT be pleasantly warm to dive into. That aspect of the bike ride was nice; the traffic and dirty gravel were not.

Andesite Peak

Saturday there was a big snowstorm, and we were stuck in traffic for much of our way up to Tahoe. The silver lining was today's conditions--clear skies and fresh snow. We followed the already-beaten path to Castle Pass, then broke a new trail to the top of Andesite Peak. It was a gorgeous day, with brilliant blue skies and we had great views of the Northern Sierras. The best part was running downhill, almost silently, through steep forests hung with bright green moss.

Spring break in the snow

We're taking off tomorrow for a week in the snow. We're staying in a time share (a gift from my in-laws) so we'll have a wonderful home base from which to snowboard, snowshoe, cross-country, and possibly bike, depending on road conditions. I'm going to get some work done in the evenings, as well.

Crash

We saw this movie last night, spurred on by its Oscar for best picture. It was engrossing and the acting was fabulous and I liked all the insider jokes about LA. But it was overly symmetrical, and no one seemed like a real person, except the locksmith. Every person had a good side and a bad side--or really an angry side and a sappy side. For every bad misunderstanding there is a good misunderstanding. And so on. And I don't really get the snow at the end--I feel like like it is some metaphor so obvious that I can't see it.

Personal DNA

Everybody else is doing it, so ...I did this online personality test. I'm an advocating creator--actually seems pretty accurate. But of course, I filled it out, so it should reflect what I think about myself. More interesting to see if someone else thinks it's accurate:
My Personal Dna Report

Advocating Creator

NEW ZEALAND!

We booked a flight to New Zealand this fall! We have been thinking about a big trip for a while now, and a cheap flight deal that appeared in the Sunday paper and then in a pop-up ad sealed it. We'll be there for almost 4 weeks, so we should get to see a lot of the country. I'm hoping to hike some of the famous tracks, see the penguins, and visit some of the Lord of the Rings sites. So watch for books, movies, and ideas about New Zealand popping up in the blog!

Paradigm Lost 2.0

Here is my progress to date. This is the only project I've been working on for the last few weeks; I have been really enjoying it and am waiting for linen and a chart to arrive for some new projects.