Salutations, friends! There is not much news to report from the CPE front, except to say that CPE is engaging, rewarding, important, and amazingly exhausting. For those of you who know me well, you know also that I am of the introverted persuasion. This means that prolonged social interaction has a way of leaving me drained. CPE is nothing if not socially interactive. And so, at the end of the day, I am nothing if not drained. I’m learning a lot, and am very glad to be here, but nevertheless, I’m looking forward to being able to rest for real when it’s all over!

That said, here are some more magical photo-graphs. These are from a stained glass window in the Museum of Art. It’s in one of the aforementioned “reconstructed rooms,” and is a very nice, and peaceful place to sit. I think it’s made up of pieces of broken windows, put together into a new one.

Without further wei:

I like the way that the face looks like it is just leaving the picture, as if it has somewhere to be.

See how the way the glass on the left is cut so it looks like an angel wing for the figure on the right? I’m not sure if it was done on purpose, but it sure looks excellent.

I’m sure this is for St Mark the Evangleist. Medieval pictures of African animals are so funny. You can tell the guy who painted it had never actually seen a lion. I love the human ears.

The brick walls in the pieces on the right and left look strangely modern; they almost remind me of World War II imagery, like concentration camps or something. Kind of dark next to the bright yellow shield.

A nice abstract piece.

Ooooh… something interesting is going on over there! What’s going on over there?

I like how the little plant sprout is glowing…

So, there it is: more delicious photo-graphery! The horizontal pictures also make very nice desktop wallpaper, if I do say so meself.

Through the magic of the sorcerously ingenious French invention, the camerà digitàl, I was able this past weekend to capture images of what the natives call La Ciudad del Amor de Hermanos. Behold the magic!

These are the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. According to local lore, running up and down them repeatedly transforms you into a speech-impeded, but willfully determined pugilist. Perhaps it is part of some charming local custom or folk-ritual.

The museum itself is quite excellent. Their collection of works is impressive and varied. What I enjoyed most about the place the first time I visited was the collection of little rooms hidden away between the galleries. Each is setup using recovered artifacts and art from a particular period, sometimes going so far as to include actual wall panelling, ceiling decorations, and even fireplaces. They help to give an impression of what the art might have looked like in it’s “natural habitat.”

This is the body of the first man to attempt the pugilist metamorphosis. Following his death, the city had him bronzed, and placed next to the stairs that so changed his life.

The city seems dedicated to this Rocky Balboa man. Perhaps one day they will sell out to Hollywood and make a film about him. Typical.

This is the city of Philadelphia from the top of the Metamorphic Steps. The tower directly down the long drive is topped by a statue (or bronzed corpse of?) William Penn, the founder and one-time beneolent tyrant of this state. There was once a law on the book stating that no building in the city could be taller than his head. Eventually, the red-hot steam engine of capitalism and progress trampled that law into the dirt, but at least they had the decency to put those buildings behind Penn’s back.

Well, these are all of the photo-graphs that I have to share at this point. If you click them gently with your cursor, they will reveal obcenely large versions of themselves, in vivid and garish color!

I am halfway through Lavinia, but am unsure what is to follow. Perhaps Pillars of the Earth, perhaps the next Mary Russell mystery. Boy howdy but they’re good!