Another Walk

Sunday afternoon stroll . . . sometimes I get so caught up in the day-to-day that I forget I live so close to the Statue of Liberty. Its about a 15 minute walk from my apartment to where I was standing for this photo (click on the photo for a magnified view).

I'm so grateful for freedom.

A Walk in the Park

I took a walk through the park on my way to work this morning and enjoyed the lovely weather. I'm not exactly certain when it happened, but the leaves have changed color and begun to fall.

Election 2008

VOTE.

Halloween Fun: Gilligan's Island

I have always LOVED the old TV show Gilligan's Island so of course I said YES when Ash asked if I wanted to be Ginger for Halloween!!! A Saturday shopping trip to the fashion district for fabric and a pattern (which was nearly impossible to find), and a needle and thread (sadly my sewing machine resides in Oregon so I was reduced to sewing it by hand!) and lots of help from Ash, and an evening gown was produced!

A few of our other friends joined in on the fun. Here is a group shot with the crew in Union Square - - -

Maryanne (Ash), Gilligan (JT), Ginger (me), and the Skipper (Kyle)

We went to the annual NYC Halloween Parade. Talk about a crowd! It's rumored that two million people attend and an additional million watch it on TV. It was pretty impressive. Unfortunately my camera didn't like the lighting so I didn't get any great pictures, but here is one high-lighting the theme for the year. It was the 35th Anniversary and the theme was Ghosts.

Ash, Lyndee and me at the parade.

Hair shots. I made my dress and did my hair up to try to mimic these pictures - - -

Some degree of success, I think.

It was a fun Halloween! I'm thinking that Ash will post about it in detail soon, so go here for more photos!

How many of you are there out there?

Too many of me . . .

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 188 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

'Brenda' is the 67th most popular name in the U.S.

Serenaded

Just saw my favorite Grand Central musician - - - the guy wears black spandex bell-bottoms paired with a black sleeveless T, his long dark locks flailing in time with the energetic melody. His instrument of choice is an electric violin and his music is always vibrant and compelling. I'm not so much a fan of regular violin, but electrified - - - guaranteed to catch my interest!

Tech Savvy (for me)

Friday evening I set myself on a mission: Connect the laptop to the TV (to enable watching General Conference in style)

Since it was already right around midnight, I determined to arise early on Saturday to go to an electronics store for the "cable" I would need.

Saturday morning dawned and I realized that the clerks may not be able to help me without a bit of preliminary information regarding the electronics I was planning to connect. After a little internet research, I learned that my TV and computer both possessed VGA ports. Armed with this knowledge I quickly walked to the store.

Upon arriving I spoke with a series of clerks who each possessed a vague knowledge of the location of the VGA cables. After finally finding someone who actually knew where the merchandise was displayed, I made my way down the third flight of stairs (turned out they were all unnecessary, I was originally on the correct floor) and perused the options before me.

After intently studying each of the options in the display I settled on one, but decided that I possessed such a limited understanding that it would be best to obtain confirmation on my selection. I waited patiently while the clerk assisted another customer before stepping forward and outlining my request.

He pointed out another option (that was cheaper) and said that either selection would transfer the picture as desired, however, he informed me, a VGA cable doesn't transfer sound. I was shocked - - - seriously, what good is picture without sound?! He noticed the look of confusion/annoyance/disbelief on my face and quickly turned back to the display and grabbed another which included a separate cord that connects to the headphone port, pushed it into my hands and told me it was designed to transport sound and picture. Unfortunately though, he informed me that he had no way of knowing if my TV had the capability to accept the sound.

Luckily, I had foreseen this challenge and pulled out my digital camera. Turning it on and selecting the photo I had snapped earlier that morning, I handed him the camera and instructed him on using the zoom function to enable closer study of the photo of the ports on my TV. He was immediately able to confirm that indeed my TV was appropriately equipped. I thanked him effusively and made my purchase.

And yes, I was able to watch all 4 sessions of General Conference, seated on my couch. It was wonderful. And I absolutely loved conference. What a blessing technology is!