Hoover Dam

The photos above are from Hoover Dam. We stopped, took the abbreviated tour on our way out to Las Vegas. The basic Dam tour was much better than a few years ago. There's now an informative exhibit in the Visitor Center. Lots of artwork and sculptures decorate the visitors' areas. I still enjoy the old exhibit (bottom photo), the old diorama of the Colorado River, which I fondly call the "Science Project".

End of First Semester!

One more day of Student Clinic and we are on a week-long break! We just completed our final week of First Semester (total 16 weeks of classes so far, whew!). One more "Semester" to go -- it's only six weeks long when we come back & I'm sure that will go fast.

Above you can see some flashcards that I made for Anatomy Class. On one side of the card, I drew a representation of the muscle we were studying, while on the other side I listed its actions, origins, and insertions. A must-know for Massage Therapists! :-) That really was the most artwork I've done for a while. We've been so busy with classes, tests, and final projects these past few weeks that I didn't even have a chance to blog.

Steve & I are headed out to Las Vegas for a couple of days this week. Vegas? Yep, Vegas. While I find grounding in nature & the mountains, I do like the contrast of visual input & people watching that Vegas has. I also have a thing for neon signs, go figure! Not so much the new stuff, but the "retro" signs, like on old Route 66. Love them! We saw the Cirque du Soleil show, "KA", last trip and really enjoyed it. Especially the rigging & costumes (rigging = climbing in my mind). We will probably see "Mystere" this time, which will also be interesting!

I think we will probably check out some trails near Lake Mead & Boulder, NV. Otherwise, perhaps we'll make a trip out to Red Rocks. There's a short but cool trail called "Calico Tanks" that leads up to a "tank" (pond in rocks). I hiked up above the tank last time I was there & there was a cool view of Las Vegas from the "top". Reminded me of Moss Eisley on the original Star Wars movie! Haha. Anyway, if we are not hiking out in the desert somewhere, we can usually be found hanging out in front of the Bellagio, watching people & the musical fountain they have in front of the hotel. Or maybe in Margaritaville or Bahama Breeze! Anyway, I'm looking forward to no homework for a week, woohoo!

Another thing I want to do this coming week is run. Although I prefer trail running, I've signed up for the "Flying Pig" Half Marathon in Cincinnati this May. Steve usually runs the marathon and I needed an excuse to get in shape during/after massage school. For me, I hope this leads to appropriate fitness to do some hiking & backpacking this summer and perhaps even a trail race at some point. I do not claim to be fast, so I guess I've gotta train for distance. I don't get that many fossil points, I'm only 47! Plus, people my age discover that running = endorphins, which overrides "normal" pain... so is that why there are so many long distance runners over the age of 40? :-) Wish me luck, especially with training here in Santa Fe. The streets & sidewalks are quite uneven, so I guess that is a lot like training on a rocky trail. You have to watch every step.

Hope everyone is having a good January. I've been kind of spoiled into thinking it's March already with the weather we have here. Have a great week!

Happy 2009!

Happy New Year everyone! Started the new year off with a nice breakfast and a run this morning. The sun was shining, snow was melting, and it didn't really feel like January 1st!

I've been working on my Body Mechanics class project today, playing with the idea of this collage. The first thing that intuitively came to mind when coming up with the idea was Da Vinci's Vitruvian man. As the write up in Wikipedia says, "...has also come to represent alternative medicine and the holistic approach to wellness".

Well, it's back to the drawing board for me (literally). Wherever you are, I hope you all have a great 2009!

Out with the Old

We went out to the trails this morning to walk. Again, a gorgeous day in Santa Fe! A lot of the snow has melted in town, temps are in the 40's for the most part, and the sun is shining. Great way to end the year! :)

I have this awful habit of starting artwork on my last day of vacation/holidays/days off. What's with that, I don't know. I could take advantage of my time off and produce art. For some reason, though, I'll squeeze it in whenever. Not this time, though! Remember a few weeks (month?) ago when I started this illustration? This drawing is about 7.5" x 7" (unframed/unmatted, so far). It is currently untitled & is based on our summer hike near Silverton, CO, where we saw fields of blue columbine. I still can't get accurate color photographs of my work so it's just a little bit off. What do you think?

My next project is most likely going to be a collage for my Body Mechanics class final. I'll post it when I'm working on it probably this or next week.

Whatever you are doing for New Year's Eve, I hope it is fun. Drive safely if you're on the road & have a happy 2009! Cheers! :)

Season's Greetings!

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season! Today in Santa Fe it is over 40F (close to 50F?), sunny, and somewhat slushy out there with the snow melting. I went up to one of the Dale Ball Trails above town this morning and went for a short run. (See photos that were taken on Sunday above.) I was walking with snowshoes yesterday which proved to be more cumbersome than they were worth! Running shoes worked fine today as the trails were just snowpacked. Just the right amount of "melt" for good traction: not too slushy, not too frozen! :-)

Steve is back from Australia (mostly). I picked him up in Denver on Christmas Day when I was up there visiting our friends, Fern & Bryan. I say "mostly" because he is now adjusting to being back as well as adjusting to spending the next few months in SFe with me while I finish school. He showed me all his pictures last night, so I felt like I was kind of there (but without the heat!).

Snow Day!

Happy snow day! School is cancelled for at least this morning. We got nearly a foot of snow here in this part of Santa Fe (west of the plaza). I know that doesn't sound like much to some of you (eh?) but down here in NM people aren't as used to driving regularly in the snow like we are in Colorado & Canada.

I'm planning to take advantage of my morning by enjoying some hot cocoa next to the pellet stove and doing some reading & studying. If we are not in classes this afternoon, I may splurge and make some holiday cookies! LOL. Hope you are enjoying the season wherever you are! :-)

Still Studying!

I'm taking a short break from studying. Our holiday vacation starts next Sunday so I'm trying to read ahead and get as many projects finished as I can. Below is a collage/drawing I have been working on today for Physiology class:

We knock off a body system every Wednesday morning. Last week was the Respiratory System, if you can't tell from my drawing. Massage school is more challenging than one would think. We are learning about a lot of the muscles of the body: where they are & what they do; systems in the body; massage techniques; communication; core integration (has to do with trauma); and of course, Student Clinic. It has been frustrating in clinic as of late getting in sync with clients' requests and expectations... I've had some people lately that I just don't understand, both communications-wise and body-wise. All I can do is take in and attempt to process the information I *am* getting from them. :-)

On a not as serious note, on Friday I drove up to the Santa Fe Ski Area, hoping to XC ski in the woods. There wasn't quite enough snow. This morning we got more, so I would think skiing could start anytime! I'm looking forward to my trip back to CO for the holidays. Steve is coming home on Christmas Day & I'll pick him up at DIA. Nice present, eh!!

What are you doing for the holidays?