Magritte Sells Shirts!

Reflections on a shop window that I passed on my way to a presentation.


The presentation went pretty well, all things considered. One attendee flew in from Germany for the day-long course, so I guess I shouldn't complain about the journey to midtown.

Boosting One's Wordpower

The word of the day was lugubrious (although neither the weather nor the company could be so characterized).* Z hadn't heard the word before and was fascinated by it. He immediately decided that it applied alliteratively to an awkward climbing technique, which he now dubs the lugubrious lieback.

I learned some new terms as well: lieback and geocaching.

* Webster's defines lugubrious as "1: mournful; especially : exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful; 2: dismal"

Rule 11

This is a picture from my trip to Scotland last September, which I've been meaning to post for a while. It's a bit of an inside joke for U.S. attorneys.*



FN* Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure notoriously subjects lawyers to sanctions if they do not make a good-faith effort to ensure that all papers they submit to the court are supported by the facts and the law:

Rule 11. Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions

(a) Signature.

Every pleading, written motion, and other paper must be signed by at least one attorney of record in the attorney's name — or by a party personally if the party is unrepresented. The paper must state the signer's address, e-mail address, and telephone number. Unless a rule or statute specifically states otherwise, a pleading need not be verified or accompanied by an affidavit. The court must strike an unsigned paper unless the omission is promptly corrected after being called to the attorney's or party's attention.

(b) Representations to the Court.

By presenting to the court a pleading, written motion, or other paper — whether by signing, filing, submitting, or later advocating it — an attorney or unrepresented party certifies that to the best of the person's knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances:

(1) it is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation;

(2) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law;

(3) the factual contentions have evidentiary support or, if specifically so identified, will likely have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery; and

(4) the denials of factual contentions are warranted on the evidence or, if specifically so identified, are reasonably based on belief or a lack of information.

(c) Sanctions.

(1) In General.

If, after notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond, the court determines that Rule 11(b) has been violated, the court may impose an appropriate sanction on any attorney, law firm, or party that violated the rule or is responsible for the violation. Absent exceptional circumstances, a law firm must be held jointly responsible for a violation committed by its partner, associate, or employee.

* * *

Beacon

Friday was an early night for me, but I caught a mini Tartan Week concert downtown. I like to think that guy in the background might be one of the Red Hot Chili Pipers, since they were around for the Scotland 10k on 3/30 and were scheduled to play later Friday night, but it's probably some random guy with a guitar.

I have been so tired recently, so Saturday of course turned out to be the day I overslept my alarm by an hour. That meant no time to prepare lunch. Instead, I grabbed my gear and sprinted to the subway.

Ironically, I got to Grand Central and managed to catch an earlier train than I expected (about 9 minutes earlier). It must have been an express train because I somehow arrived in White Plains a full 45 minutes ahead of time. This gave me time to confirm that the hike was still on despite the forecast of rain and to get provisions for a more challenging hike than previously scheduled (apparently all the neophytes bailed out).

We drove up from White Plains to Beacon, and found parking by the strangely marked trailhead (there was a discreet sign showing hikers walking, and a few blazes to get us started, but they were counterbalanced by numerous "No Trespassing" signs). The day started out overcast, so we got gray views of the Hudson:

The sun started to peek through, spotlighting entire neighborhoods on the other side of the river:

Soon, it was sunny skies with just a few clouds casting shadows on the hills near the old Mayan temple, er, I mean the old quarry.


From the higher reaches of the hike, we could see the glimmer of the Hudson in the distance:


Near the end of the trail, a rushing stream:

We lingered awhile in the cafes of the City of Beacon, then said farewell.

The Journey of 1,000 Miles

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, as they say.

But it's really hard to take that first step if you know the journey will be 1,000 miles.

Or, having taken the first step, it's hard to take the second one, knowing that the further you go the more you are committed to that grueling multi-marathon journey.

Orchid Show - part 1

Right at the start of the show, there was a round pool with an island of orchids in the center. The reflections reminded me of Monet's water lilies:

A lacy, multicolored orchid:


We walked through flowering arches:

Some tiny, delicate blossoms:

Flat flowers, backlit in the bright sunshine:
Spotted green and maroon petals look more like leaves:

These colors were soft, lush, and lovely:

These orchids reminded me of daffodils:
Nestled among the foliage:

A bouquet of yellows:

Real water lilies ... or are they lotus blossoms?

Dangling yellow and maroon flowers:

A surreal pale day-glo green:
A sharp-shooter takes aim at a potted plant. It's like shooting ducks in a barrel, the orchids don't stand a chance:

Looks almost like his camera is exploding into full bloom, doesn't it?


Greenhouses:

They routed the orchid fans through a cactus display:

Liked the veins on this one:

And the gradations of color on this:
Here, you can get a sense of orchids as parasites:

Blossoms in many stages of life:


I'd like to say the earrings were planned to match the orchids, but it's really just coincidence:

Orchid Show - part 2

G-san graciously shared tickets to the orchid show at the New York Botanical Garden. Apparently orchids have been around for over 80 million years. The display was impressively diverse - some reminded me of iris, others of daffodils, or even pansies. They were large and small, striped, spotted, and variegated....

Here's the second half of my pictures from the show.

Note the long, trailing "moustache" of the lower petals:

I liked the twisted ribbons here:

A nice range of yellow/orange:

Light and shadow:

Fine lines on the veins:
Periwinkle with white spots:
Violet:
Yellow with pink and orange:

Here the blossoms are more like a bird of paradise or lotus:
Pinks against the greenhouse roof:

Iris/star shape:
An inkblot trio:

Elegantly curved:
Purple seed pods....
...and a closeup of their flower:
A series of star shapes:
... frillier...
and more spotted:
These had very long, thin spidery petals:

The coloring here reminds me of coleus:
Overhead against the glorious sunshine on a cold winter-spring day:

The columns of these orchids were kind of cool - it looks like a leopard head closeup:


This one shows the column a bit closer:


An orchid named after Joan Didion - how cool is that?!