2008

Hairstyles in Ancient Greece and Rome

The History Blog has a good brief peice on the history of Greek and Roman hairstyles. Some good illustrations, too. It never ceases to amaze me that some things in the ancient world are well documented, and others are not. It’s possible to define possible date ranges for Greek and Roman statues based upon depicted clothing and hair styles. Related Images:

Continue reading...

Company Soccer Team

I went to the company soccer team game last night and took pictures. Most of the guys in my engineering group are playing (about half of them are European). Figured I’d go and cheer them on. The game was late: started at 9:30 and went until 10:30 or so. They did very well — actually won the game. (Go team!) I used the opportunity to see how my camera did with sports photography....

Continue reading...

Blanket Woes

I ordered a new blanket from Dover Saddlery for Isis in case the weather in NC turns nasty (think winter ice storms). I wanted something that was water proof and could adjust to different temperatures. After reading through a bunch of pages from the regular catalog and from the clearance pages, I ordered a Tuff Rider Stretch Manager Turnout Blanket. According to the catalog page, this clearance item has a stretchy layer so...

Continue reading...

Isis and Sierra

I got out of work later than I wanted and went to the barn. First time I was able to ride this week. (First week after daylight savings time.) Something about working hard to leave at 4:30 and then getting out and realizing it’s actually 6:00 pm… and I only had 30 minutes to tack up and ride before it was dark. The ride started off pretty well. Until Isis’ barn buddy came...

Continue reading...

Riding in the Courbette Magic

I rode twice over the weekend in the Courbette Magic dressage saddle. Both times, Isis and I had really good, productive rides. She is more responsive to my leg (longer stirrups, legs in right place… yup). The more I ride in it, the more I like it. One of the ladies at the barn mentioned that she thought the saddle looked a little high in the withers. It doesn’t feel that way when...

Continue reading...

Saddle fitting

After the riding lesson on Tuesday, I scheduled an extra lesson to fit the dressage saddles I’d located. I want to make sure whichever saddle I choose fits not only me, but also Isis. A new (or used) saddle is a big investment (“cheap” means under $500). Arabians are notoriously hard to fit in saddles because they tend to have broad shoulders and round backs. Isis’ hunt saddle (made by Zaldi) is a...

Continue reading...

Flashback

I used to work at a company called iPIX. Like many other companies, it was struck down during the dot-com-bomb of 2000-2001. My job there was my dream job — and it stayed that way for the first 18 months. After that, things went downhill but not for what I was doing, but just things in the company in general. Any IT or internet-based business at that time was a chancy place to...

Continue reading...

Lying in wait…

I’ve blogged before about some of the antics we get into at work. We get our work done but we also have a lot of fun. Lately there has been a streak of pratical jokes.. Nothing bad. Just oh covering an entire desk with aluminum foil or filling an office with balloons (more on that later). One of the guys who has been involved with the practical jokes went on vacation a week...

Continue reading...

Stella’s Vet Visit

Stella was really good at the vet’s. She seems to have calmed down and knows we’re trying to help her. She’s been quiet in the car and good about getting into her padded carrier. She let Dr. Kipp draw blood without too much fuss for the blood test. While we were waiting for the test results, a friend of mine arrived. She has an older kitty who gets subcutaneous fluids twice per week....

Continue reading...

Courbette Magic Dressage Saddle

During my riding lesson on Tuesday, I did an experiment: I dropped my stirrup and rode as if I was in a dressage saddle. Big different on how Isis responded. When you ride dressage, your seat is different then when you ride hunt seat. In dressage, you ride in a “balanced” seat: you sit back farther so that your upper body is up and down instead of leaning forward. Your stirrup length is...

Continue reading...