#1896 three things: the 100 page rule, gym clothes and my new planner

1. The 100 page rule. I like to read and I will read just about anything but some books are more to my taste than others. Many years ago, I asked MT if he always finished a book. He said that he had a 100 page rule: if the book hadn't drawn him in by page 100, he would give up on it. I thought that was sound advice and I followed it for a long time. Lately, though, I have forgotten the 100 page rule and I suffered through a couple of books that I should have abandoned. Interestingly, while I was reading the latest John Grisham book, Camino Island, two of the characters were having the exact conversation that MT and I had. One of the characters actually had a 50 page rule and justified it like this:

"...I've never understood people who grind through a book they don't really like, determined to finish it for some unknown reason...[she] would toss a book after the first chapter, then pick it up and grumble and growl for four hundred pages until the bitter end..."

Oh my gosh! I grumbled and growled through Truly Madly Guilty and then Sweetbitter knowing I didn't like them after 100 pages, but finishing them anyway, I am heeding John Grisham and MT's advice. The 100 page rule is in effect FOREVER!

2. Gym clothes. I have purchased a four week pass to take classes at the gym and today I updated my gym clothes wardrobe. My clothes were outdated and sort of sloppy-looking and it was a bad look. Now I will have clothes more like the other ladies wear. It's more fun to have cute gym clothes! 

3. My new planner. It's the last week of June! I started using the the new adorable Erin Condren planner that Lizzie got me for my birthday. I feel like I've had the planner forever and have just been waiting for June 26 to come along so I can start using it. I have written in the future appointments and events that I know about, like my dentist appointment and haircut and vacations. This is going to sound terribly nerdy, but I even bought a couple of new pens to go with the planner. (heehee) Honestly it is such a totally simple pleasure for me. It doesn't hurt anyone and it gives me joy. There is no harm in that at all!

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Check out the 2107 Reading List page for my thoughts on these two books that I read. 

#1895 Utah Arts Festival

This evening MT and I went to the Utah Arts Festival. The event is held downtown in Library Square and spills over onto the grounds of the County Building. We have never been to the Festival before because the family reunion is usually held on the same weekend.

The Festival is a big deal! There are so many artists that show their creations and so many different types of art. It's humbling to look at the photography (for me). The paintings run the gamut from beautiful landscapes to quirky "out there" concepts. There was jewelry and leather and pottery.  Some of the art is so original and unique. I marvel at the artist thinking, "What if I take these old basketballs and footballs and stuff them into a rebar creation shaped like a T Rex?" or "I've got these old shovels and rakes and a bunch of scrap metal. I think I'll make a buffalo out of it." I also couldn't get over how many people were there to check it all out. The place was packed.

There was also food and drink available, and when I say drinks I mean beer and wine. Beer and wine out on the street in SLC! Of course we were confined to the UAF area, but it is very fun to walk around with a beer in your hand while you look at art.

In addition to the artists selling their creations, there were at least four or five stages where performances were happening. While we were wandering around the exhibits, there was a wonderful  jazz band playing, the Crescent Superband. I was really entertained by them as I walked around. A bit later we went over to the amphitheater stage and saw a hip hop group from Ogden that I thought was good called Grits Green. I liked their funky sound. We ended up at the Big Mouth stage to listen to some poets and we ended up staying for the poetry slam. There were four teams competing: one from Salt Lake, one from Ogden, a team from Boise and a team from Las Vegas. Since my sister is a performing poet, I admire the guts it takes to get up on a stage and speak your truth. Of course there were some poems I liked better than others, but I admire and appreciate all of the poets. I was surprised that MT wanted to stay for the whole slam, but we did and we had a really good time.

Yay Utah Arts Festival!!

#1894 for the hundredth time

If Pitch Perfect is on, we will watch it.

#1893 live streaming

Through the wonders of the internet, I am watching Ryan Adams perform his show live from Canada right this very minute via Instagram! He live-streamed his show from Salt Lake City, too, but I was there, so I didn't have to watch Instagram.

Tonight I just happened to be looking at my phone when an alert popped up that @misterryanadams was live. The first few minutes showed him in the green room warming up, then they all walked on stage. At first he put his camera behind him on the stage, so I couldn't hear him sing, but I could hear all the instruments. Then I took a shower, so I turned it off, but when I got out of the shower, he was still on and now he has moved the camera to the side so I can see and hear him.

Except right now when he is up on the mic at the center of the stage and he is acoustic. Can't see him, but he sounds great. He is singing "Doomsday" and playing the harmonica and his guitar.

OOH! "When the Stars Go Blue" <3 p="">
I'll stop writing now and watch. My running commentary can't be very fun for you, but this is pretty cool for me!

#1892 cemeteries

For the United States, Savannah and Charleston are among the oldest cities in the country. Savannah was founded in 1733; Charleston is even older, founded in 1670. Both cities have seen both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. There are many, many graves in the cities. Lizzie and I spent time in four cemeteries between the two towns. All of them were quite old and picturesque.

Colonial Park Cemetery is right in the heart of the Savannah historic district. It has quite an interesting history. It was a Revolutionary War cemetery and was already closed to burials by the time the Civil War came around. Union troops camped in the cemetery and moved lots of headstones, so some of the tombstones may or may not exactly be at the correct graves. There was a mass grave for victims of the yellow fever epidemic if 1820. My favorite signer of the Declaration of Independence, Button Gwinnett, is buried there. I should have looked for his grave, but it was hot the day we wandered through there. Of course, the cemetery is said to be haunted. You can go to YouTube and google Colonial Park Cemetery and watch a video of a "little boy" that is pretty creepy. Both ghost tours we went on stopped outside the cemetery. It's locked at night, but you can walk around in there during the day.

Colonial Park Cemetery 

Colonial Park Cemetery

Bonaventure Cemetery is just outside of Savannah, only about a 10 - 15 minute drive. It is huge, covering several acres of land. It's very pretty too, full of giant oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. The thing that's cool about Bonaventure Cemetery is that there are many old Victorian style monuments on the graves. The statue on the cover of the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, used to be in Bonaventure Cemetery. It has been moved to a museum in town.

Monument in Bonaventure Cemetery

Bonaventure Cemetery

One of the most famous graves in the cemetery is of a little girl named Gracie Watson. She was ill and died before Easter, possibly after having her portrait painted. Her father commissioned a sculptor to make a statue of her that sits at her grave. She was buried in the family plot at Bonaventure Cemetery, but her death so broke her parents' hearts that they moved back to New England and they are buried there, far away from little Gracie. I don't mind telling you that of all the graves, this one kind of gave me the heebie-jeebies.

Little Gracie

In Charleston, we happened upon two old cemeteries. The first one is on the grounds of the Circular Congregational Church. Lizzie and I didn't know much about the history of the church or the graveyard except that it was old. The little map we were following (that I had on Pinterest) said the cemetery dated back to 1695.

Part of the graveyard at the Circular Congregational Church

The steeple in the background is not the Circular Congregational Church

I'm not sure it's entirely appropriate to have a favorite cemetery, but if I were to have one, it would definitely be the Unitarian Church Cemetery in old Charleston. Our little Pinterest map told us we would get there, but it was so unexpected. It is overgrown with trees and vines and shrubs and flowering bushes. I could have taken a hundred photos in there easily. Every time I turned around, I saw a sight worthy of a photo. Maybe that sounds creepy, but, at least in the daytime, it was the least "creepy" of the cemeteries, in my opinion. I loved the wildness and the peacefulness of it.

Unitarian Church Cemetery

The iron fence, the old tombstones, the Spanish moss, the greenery

Same photo as the one above it, I just made it black and white. I like the effect

I do not have a particular fascination with graveyards in general, but these four were really interesting. When we were in New Orleans, we visited a cemetery in the Garden District. Those graves are different because they are all above-ground. That is not the case in the cemeteries in Savannah and Charleston. If you go to any of these cities, take a bit of time to visit the cemeteries.

#1891 doors in Savannah

When Lizzie and I were in Savannah, GA last month, I took a lot of photos. One of my favorite photo subjects was doors, and gates, too. I recognized it at the time, and I definitely see it as I look back through all the pics.

I remember that I mentioned to Lizzie that I felt sort of a fascination with doors and she responded with something about "doors of opportunity". I liked her comment then, and I like it still, especially as I find myself still thinking through my mid-life crisis or whatever is going through my head right now.

So without further ado, here are some photos of doors in Savannah.

This is the front door of our AirBnB rental on E. Hall St.

Not a full-on door shot, but this is the Sorrell Weed House.

A house on Jones Street

The Cotton Exchange

This is the door where Lizzie made her comment about opportunity

Another house on Jones St.

I don't remember the street, I just like the red door

Everything about this door/entry

So simple

Hamilton-Turner House

I took a lot of door pics in Charleston, too. I want to share those with you, too. I'll probably wait a day or two. You might think I'm crazy with all the doors!

#1890 I really just can't

I really want to tell you about how great the Ryan Adams concert was last night, but I can't do it today. We got home late and I was so hyped from the show, I didn't get to sleep until after 1AM. I have been dragging myself around all day. Tonight I went to the gym and did a pretty intense cycling class, and now I am really wiped out. I'm gonna take a quick shower and crawl into bed.

I'll make it up to you, though :)