Denise Goldberg's blog

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Magic clouds

As I headed out for a walk this evening I was treated to the sight of paintings in the sky. There were wisps of dark clouds close to the horizon, blue skies above painted with white. In the middle, there were small puffs of clouds that were backlit by the setting sun. Pure beauty...

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

New virus protection

Microsoft's new Security Essentials jumped onto my baby computer today, and it will be protecting my new laptop too (once it arrives).

It's a new free virus protection program that was just released. One of my colleagues told me about it during the very short and quickly closed beta program, and I planned on grabbing a copy as soon as it was available. It's a much lighter weight solution than the commercially available programs yet it has the protection that I need. Free is always good! And yes, it does include updates. The catch? You need to be running a legal copy of Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7.

My Mini is happy with its gift.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

I could end the week with...

...a longer list of "must visit" places!

I watched the first episode of The National Parks: America's Best Idea this afternoon, a very good rainy day activity. I'm afraid that watching the full series is going to leave me with a list of even more places that I absolutely must see. The first episode started with a splash of images from a number of parks, and then concentrated on the designation of Yosemite as a California state park (later expanded as federal land) and the creation of the first national park, Yellowstone.

I've been to both parks, and while both still call to me it's Yellowstone that holds a real fascination. I was there one winter in the late 1970s, cross-country skiing. And then my across the country by bicycle voyage in 2002 gave me the gift of spending a night at Yellowstone's Old Faithful Inn, allowing me to wander the geyser basin in the quieter evening and early morning hours. I think - no, I know - that I need some more time there.

I wonder how many years of travel plans will come out of watching this program.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

The National Parks: America's best idea

When I was at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge last weekend, one of the staffers there mentioned the upcoming Ken Burns special on Public Broadcasting. It's not often that I plan to watch television, but this special is calling out to me. It's 12 hours in total, starting tomorrow. I think I need to watch.

Looking for information? Take a look at...

An article on Boston.com - Ken Burns gives exhaustive treatment to parks

A PBS page describing the film by Ken Burns, The National Parks: America's Best Idea

Friday, September 25, 2009

Canvas print beauty

One more week and I'll be moving to a new office, a new building in a different city, new surroundings...

No, not a new job, just a new office space, and yes, it's a cubicle!
I decided that I needed to adorn my new space with a few of my photos. I have some small images on my desk now, images from many years ago. It's time for something new.

I chose three of my photos and placed an order for prints on Giclee Canvas mounted on a rigid foamboard. The backing is very light but sturdy, and the photos can easily be propped up on a mini-easel - my intended display mode. I ordered them from my photo galleries, hosted at SmugMug with processing by Bay Photo. This is the first order that I placed since I switched to this lab - nothing like checking it out with something more complex that a simple print!

I arrived home today to find a very sturdy package from Bay Photo waiting for me. It contained my new photos, safely packed in a non-bendable package with each photo wreathed in plastic. I'm delighted with the finished product!

Oh! You want to know which prints I chose? My cubicle will soon be adorned with these three photos:

floral beauty

sunset in Wolfville, Nova Scotia

along the Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Darker along the edges

The autumnal equinox has arrived with cooler temperatures, a noticeable change in daylight, and the beginnings of pops of color in the trees.

It's still dark in the morning when my alarm nudges me to start my day. The light is disappearing fast enough in the evenings that I think it's almost time to break out my bright blinking lights for my after-work wanders.

autumn leaves

Monday, September 21, 2009

Time for apples

Changing seasons, changing fruit...

Ah, it's time for good local apples. I know, I know, it's possible to get apples year-round now, but I much prefer the local fruit. Cortlands and Honey Crisp jumped out at me this week. I'm still waiting for the short-season Macouns.

Crisp, tart, sweet, a true sign of the changing season.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Back to Parker River

The piping plovers have returned the beach at Parker River to a sharing with people status once again. Actually, I believe the beach was probably re-opened in early August, but somehow I didn't make it back there until now.

It was a cool, sunny day, a good day for a walk. I started on the Plum Island Sound side of the refuge, watching the wind push the water and the grasses in the marsh. Then it was time to walk along the ocean.

At this time of year surf fishing is permitted, and a number of trucks are allowed on the beach. The trucks were all parked in a line away from the water, and there was a sea of fishing lines set up. I stopped to chat with one of the fisherman. He said that he had caught some skate the night before, and that he saw one person with a bluefish. He was planning on spending the night, hoping for more productive fishing.

I walked (long) stretches of almost empty beach, watching and listening to the waves, seeing the sun highlight the tall grass and dunes as it dropped lower in the sky.

It was a good afternoon for a walk by the water.

Computer? Ordered!

As noted in my post two days ago, my home computer shocked me Thursday evening by being very very sick, absolutely non-working. It turns out the problem does not have an easy and inexpensive solution, yikes!

After the initial shock and realization that I needed a new computer, I started looking. I threw together some initial configurations at the Dell website last night. I hit Staples this morning to see what was in stock there. I suspected that I'd probably go with my own configuration rather than buying in a retail store, but I thought it might be smart to see what would be available on a "buy today" mode as opposed to a "wait for computer to be built" mode. Nope, that's not going to work.

Home again, still thinking, questioning, exploring options...

It was time to talk with a human instead of a computer. A telephone call way, I explained my computer needs, explored options, and yes, ordered a new laptop. A Dell Studio 15 will be jumping into my world. Now all I need to do is wait for it to be manufactured and shipped. I don't have an exact delivery date yet, but it appears that my new toy (OK, OK, I guess I should really call it a tool!) will join me in about two weeks.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Rover's view

Did you see that Denise got a new baby computer? Oh! it has such a nice screen, and the keyboard is just my size. Since I help to write her travel journals, I thought I'd better try it out.

--- Rover


Thursday, September 17, 2009

A computer kind of day

It was a good computer day, and it was a bad computer day. How can that be?

I think I'll start with the good. I'm posting this blog entry with my new baby traveling computer, a Dell Mini 10. Oh, you're right, my old baby PC was still in excellent shape. Sometimes computer envy rears its head though, and the thought of a 10" screen instead of the 7" screen on my old eee reached out and captured me. My new toy is slightly larger in size; if I remember correctly the difference was only 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch, not much. The bigger screen is wonderful, and the keys seem to be a bit more comfortable. The old computer is already traveling with a new owner, currently heading for a wander in Scandinavia.

It was a bad computer day too. I got home from work and powered my laptop on. The screen looked a bit odd as it was reloading its memory, and then, yikes! It spit out a nasty error... nmi parity check, memory parity error, hardware malfunction. Needless to say that doesn't make me happy. I did some searching for the error, and I've seen reports of both a hard drive problem and a memory problem.

Luckily, I have all of my files, photos and more, on an external drive plus backed up on the web. So I'm calm. I'm not happy to need to be dealing with this now, quickly, but I know that I won't lose anything. Calm...

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Colors of the day

soft pink petals

sunflower

A few favorites... Newfoundland and Nova Scotia

I've been wandering through my photo galleries from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. A few favorites have jumped into a new gallery.

A few favorites of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia

Saturday, September 12, 2009

A walk in the rain

It was a relaxing day, rainy, quiet...

I headed out to walk in the mid-afternoon, and it appears that I made a lucky choice in walking times. The rain was constant, light, a reasonable amount of water for walking. Soon after I returned home it started absolutely pouring.

The water is still coming down in torrents. Listen...

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Emerging photos, Newfoundland & Nova Scotia

My photos have jumped from my camera and are now available for viewing. You can start with the top level gallery, To Newfoundland! August 2009, or you can click on the photos below to enter a specific gallery.

A swath of Newfoundland:


A swath of Newfoundland


Pockets of Nova Scotia:

Pockets of Nova Scotia


Of ships and shipyards:

Of ships and shipyards


Flutter by:

Flutter by


Words? You can find my ramblings in my trip journal.

A good day...

It was a good day for a walk in the woods. Crisp air and clear blue skies pulled me outside. I headed to Ward Reservation for a bit of a mystery walk.

The trails on the property are only partially marked. Rather than risking a walk much longer than planned, I had an out-and-back wander, looping to Boston Hill and back again.

Boston Hill

drawing on a tree trunk