Cat Nap...

All cats look cute when they sleep but Lana is special. Doesn't she make you want a nap?

The Power to Soothe

These flowers from displays in Beijing still relax my shoulders when I look at them, just like they did in real life.

Alive and Well and In Color (well a red nose at least)

Here I am after 28-plus hours of travel, just after my first tearful hug with Chris holding the amazing flowers he brought for me. I am so zoned out, the apartment is knee deep in stuff from my bags and I could not be any happy!

Bye Bye Beige and Gray

I will be leaving in a few hours to return to the clutter and color of my life back home... While Beijing has been a terrific adventure, as Dorothy said so well "there's no place like home." As you can see I changed my desktop to one of my favorites of Chris and me.
I will post one when I get back, see if I can see straight enough to have Chris snap one at the airport.

Goodnight Beijing

We found a great Vietnamese restaurant last night then took a walk, make a couple of turns and...a riverfront full of lights and music and folks paddling around in boats!

Temple of Heaven

Heaven to me will be when I see Chris' face at JFK, until then Heaven was a trip to the temple of that name in Beijing. It is, have I mentioned it before of things in Beijing, huge! This place unlike others I have seen had some beautiful trees and grass that have been around longer than the ones they planted quickly for our benefit. It really was lovely and I was there early morning before the sun blazed down and all the 'tourists' showed up.
I think it's getting easier not to feel silly when I smile at my own camera.

What The....

So many times you see things here that make you wonder, why? Not that things are not nice or cute, you just wonder why that and why there...
Here are a couple of items at the housing complex to think about, seating stones of giant telephone handsets and computer mice...hhhhmmmmm

IOPP Team Celebrates Win ! (OK so everyone got a medal)

We were disappointed the medals they gave us for participating in Olympic coverage were bronze not gold but figured still a good excuse for a team photo. The IOPP team (International Olympic Picture Pool) members are Bob Carroll from Canada for Reuters, back left; team leader Bob Daugherty who now lives in Indiana, formerly of AP, front left, who first came to China as a photographer with Richard Nixon in 1972; Daniel Stapff from Uruguay for Agence-France Presse and me, the kid from Queens.

The Spirit...

You remember this piece of calligraphy, me posing with the artist ? I asked a co-worker what he was doing to get his home safely. He'd found a shop that mounts them on a silk scroll and kindly offered to take mine in. Helmut then gave me the receipt and a business card to find the place downtown.
So card in hand, all in Chinese, I got in a cab. The driver took the card, we each said a quick ok and off we went, I was taking it on faith he would get me there. A few minutes into the ride I realized I forgot my camera, I hate that! Then realized I forgot my map...oh now that I really hated; a rainy day, not sure where I am going, no map. Everything is so far away from everything else, a block feels like forever. So my mind started to go to a negative place...lost in the rain, no one to speak English blah blah blah. I could feel myself start to stiffen up. Suddenly I thought "'OK, in your spiritual practice you believe you are never alone, you always get what you need when you need it, why not try that. So I took a deep breath and relaxed. Not a moment later the driver turns to ask "can you speak English?" He asked if I was going back to the press center after the shop, if so could he wait for me and drive me back? He even came into the shop when there was a bit of translation help needed.
So it turned out beautifully, for me and the calligraphy!

Duck...!!!

Anyone who knows me would say that I would never go into this alleyway to a restaurant. Anyone who knows me would know that I would never eat in a kitchen that looked like this one, or eat in a place where they wash the dishes by hand in a tub with a trickle of water. Anyone who knows me, knows that I do not eat duck.
So another testament to the power of Beijing...I did all of the above, albeit a piece of duck skin about the size of my thumb. Most of the other dishes were vegetable, the place is pretty famous (a photo of Al Gore hanging at the door) and none of the folks I know got sick, so I went for it.
I went with Greg, who loved the duck and is not bothered by silly things like health codes, and another colleague, Paul. We met up with Elizabeth and Chikako. After dinner Paul said, "I'm glad my wife is not here, she would have me committed for eating here." I agreed, my Chris would have left skid marks getting away from the place.
I was slightly horrified after the fact but it was like everything in this city, an adventure.
I had another laughing fit on this outing, as Chikako, Greg, Paul and I were getting in a taxi afterward, Paul still had one leg out when the cab started taking off! Paul yelled out "tell my wife I loved her!" He wasn't hurt so it was just funny.

That's China for You

Beijing is a very flat city, they have poured acres of concrete, they have not graded properly, so puddles are more like lakes. One way they deal with it, workers in bare feet and branch brooms sweeping the water to a drain. They sweep in unison so betwen the movement, the sound of the sweeping and water, it's a show!

Four More Days

So this is what I come 'home' to at night. Behind door number 1107 are three bedrooms and a freezing front room that none us use. While very clean as you can see it lacks ambience. It's already Thursday for me so in four days I get to fly home. Okay, so not concentrating on the flying part very much since last night's crash... I could just as easily get run over by a wacky Chinese cab driver...(I hope)

Five Flights of Crazy, The Silk Market

I now have a black belt in bargaining at the Silk Market. The place is quite simply, insane! I have been there four times, one alone the others with colleagues. The seller tells me something costs 580 yuan, I say 40, they ask if I am crazy I say yes. We haggle, compliment each other, beg and plead, they say they have to earn a living I say I have no money. I have gotten some great deals, like my Kung Fu Buddha, under $3. It is exhausting after about an hour but so much fun!
It's five floors, one stall after the other. I grabbed this shot, they discourage indoor photography, with my colleagues/friends Tim(white guy in black shirt on the left) and Morry (white guy with beard on the right).
By the way the big yellow tags around their necks, you'll notice that in all my photos as well, it is our credential which we only take off only in our rooms. I can't wait to live life without this hanging around my neck!!!!

Keeping Track

Went to the Bird's Nest the other night of the women's 100-meter run; that's the almost finish shot (fourth photo down) and then the winner(fifth) surrounded by the photographers that have to chase her around. My favorite is the loser of a race eating his shoelaces as he returned to the locker room (third). I'll bet it was the shoes that cost him the race...
The place is so gigantic, everyone looks like ants, you have to watch the TVs to see whose doing what.
I didn't have the right camera but still it was cool to be there!

I Climbed The Great Wall of China !

This place is amazing. We went by tour bus to Badaling, which it is one of the most crowded for the wall, but the people were as much a part of the adventure as the wall itself. People from every place on the globe mixed in with the Chinese, who are for me the most comfortable, funny bunch of people I have come across. Had to stop along the way a number of times for 'family' photos, they hug you like a long lost relative while a family member takes the photo.
At the end I picked out a t-shirt with a drawing of the wall and the English words 'I climbed the Great Wall.' I bargained for the shirt and got a good price. The lady gave it to me in the plastic wrapper and when I got to the bus and had a look...she gave me the one with the writing in Chinese! So not only did I climb the wall I have a shirt in Chinese to prove it.

The Wall vs. People

Okay it's not climbing the Alps but I have to tell you, it is a high, hard climb. There are stairs and just somewhat slippery, steep inclines on smooth stone (which I was too busy on to take a photo). I had a laughing fit at one point, a bunch of us coming down one of those, trying to look like we were not going to fall on our butts.
You can stop and turn around of course, but as you can see by the man with his arms raised at the highest spot, it feels like an accomplishment. Notice in my photo I am hanging on a bit tight to the railing, vertigo was a little issue.

The Wall's walls

Here's a place where it bends up. I don't know when and how folks manage it but there is etching all over and while it might just be graffiti, in Chinese characters it's a bit lovely.

Great Wall - Great Signs

Now here's a line to live by...Commit No Nuisance
I would not care to be atop the Great Wall at all during a thunderstorm, never mind using a cellphone!

Holding a Torch

Now you an see why I am so tired...holding up the Olympic flame is not easy!
This was co-worker Tom Donnelly's idea otuside the Bird's Nest the other night, that it really the Olympic flame.
p.s. it's the torch I carry for you Chris.

Collecting Stuff

In case you were worried that I just work and visit cultural sights here I am receiving a calligrapher's work at the press center. I have been watching his exhibitions and finally asked if I could have one done for me. Since they spoke no English and I no Chinese (except a few choice phrases) we left the subject matter to him. I am told it has to do with prosperity and happiness along with the date and his signature, although some of us think it could also say, dopey foreigner!
I have been practacing my bargaining as well. I want to show a photo of the Silk Market but have been too concentrated on a good price to take out my camera. They are all impressed when I say Tai gui le! (too expensive)

Moon Over Beijing

That is most of the full moon outside my building last night. I waited and waited for the clouds to clear but this was the best I could do. If you think, like I do, that people are affected strangely in a full moon, you should try this place on for size!
The other shots are the 'stream' that runs outside my place, where I stop to stretch after a jog and a close-up from the left side... a soldier standing at attention (until you take his picture). These soldiers are spaced out within sight of each other, surround the entire compound and it looks to me that they change the guard every four hours.