Picture Sunday

Hello, end of weekenders. And welcome to another "one more time and I promise you won't have to see any more of my vacation" round of Picture Sunday.

Nothing much went on with me this weekend that was picture-worthy, except that Friday night I headed out straight from work, bought a pair of hedge clippers, and went to work in my yard. I clipped hedges till afterwards I couldn't hold a cup of coffee because of my shaking arms and shoulders. And you know, I'm really proud of those things. I'd never clipped a hedge in my life, and one of them was in serious need because it had an actual second bush growing out of it, with leaves and berries, that was on its way to climbing up to my bedroom window. And now I have normal, homeowner-looking hedges. But since I don't have a picture of their former disarray, I figured it wouldn't be of much use to see one now that they're looking like they're supposed to.

So, since I have a few vacation pictures still trailing along, tonight's episode of PS will be Picture Sunday - The Nerd Edition.

First of all, I'm sure you're wondering - did Sherman play "Waldo" the whole time, hiding in his photos, or did I get any good ones of my boy? Well, wonder no more. Here's Sherman on the way down, having his picture made with the Giant Peach in Gaffney, South Carolina.



We love the Giant Peach. The car was moving so fast I didn't have time to focus, and cut off the boy's little cowlick.

Here's one of Sherman and I outside the Georgia World Congress Center. Of course, being me, I took this completely the wrong way and wondered what must be going on behind those darkened windows.



Now, I have an important statement to make about this photo. I swear I was not wearing that much green eye shadow. I promise you, not once did someone come up to me and ask me if I'd fallen eye-first into a bowl of peas. Must have been the sunlight or something.

Inside the Omni, the lobby area had a piano, and well, ever the performer....



Boy plays very well with his butt. You wouldn't think that, but he does.

Hey, here's the only other decent photo I got of Alessandro Carbonare. And wouldn't you just know, it's after his duet with Larry Combs! My future husband and former nemesis together in the same shot. Incredible.



Repeat after me. Ciao!

Here's my purchase of Clarinetfest. Well, besides some bitchin' Australian clarinet reeds, which I've been grooving on all week, and some duet music that I loved until Mr M and I played it this week and I realized that my clarinet purchases did not make me a better clarinet player. Remember the $300 barrel I mentioned on Thursday? Well, that was out, but I did get another at a cool 1/3 the price.



It's pretty, though, isn't it? But I never did find that box of practice at the exhibit hall.

And finally, on our way out of Atlanta, the four of us decided to adorn my rear view mirror with our nametags, just to make sure we were identified as nerds all the way home.



No, it didn't get us into any handicapped parking spaces, so don't even make the joke, OK?

And a good time was had by all. Well, except maybe Larry Combs.

But wait! We still have a recipe du jour for you. And how could it not be a clarinet-themed dish?

To end our salute to Nerd Week and all things clarinet, today's recipe du jour is from the "Fiber-Filled and Musical!" section of cardland, say hello to it now if you will, Clarinet Pie.



This recipe is ultra simple. It's as easy, well, as easy as pie. Just take a graham cracker pie crust, load it to the gills with whipped cream, and start adding your clarinet reeds. Decorate the top of it with your very own licorice stick. One actually made out of licorice, no less. Then add a few more decorative reeds to the top and you have a dessert fit for Alessandro Carbonare.

If you are not interested in that much fiber, or have an aversion to eating cane, the consumption of the reeds is not required. However, dip them in the whipped cream before your next practice session. Yummy clarinet playing!

A special thanks to Mr M for parting with a good deal of reeds for the making of the recipe du jour.

Happy week.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* Oh, why not. Just one more.



Aaaaaaieeee! Clarinets! (And someone's abandoned coffee cup on the display table.) (No, it wasn't mine. I'm not rude.)