Prague Graffiti - Over the Wednesday Wall

When I first saw this sticker, I thought the guys were playing basketball. Then I realized one was boosting the other up. I think it makes a fine over the hump, Wednesday graffiti picture, don't you?

The Streets of Our Childhood

The Library of Congress web site is a fabulous source of historic data and fun too. I like to visit every now and again to check out their photo collection on Flickr. When I get addicted to a tune, I'll see what they have to offer on it. This morning I was feeling a bit homesick and thought I'd see what I could dig up about my home town. Yet again, the LOC came up trumps.

What you see above is a detail from a bird's-eye view print of Charleston, S.C., drawn by C. Drie in 1872. The detail is of the neighborhood my sister and I grew up in one hundred years later. Most of the ponds in the picture were filled in by the time we came along, and the only schooners we knew were replica tourist boats or our great-uncle's, but the streets are the same and the house we grew up in with its walls to climb and garden to run around in is there too. Ellen, this one is for you.

For more bird's eye view prints, visit here.

A Study in Contrasts

This weekend I kept finding visual juxtapositions that tickled my fancy. Clockwise: 1. graffiti wall and downspout neighbor a frieze of baroque sculptures. 2. Repainted facade nestled next to old. 3. Stickers and graffiti cover rusted wall 4. Medieval arch mixed with renaissance(?) window. 5. Gratuitous baby picture.

Still time to send in your write-in absentee ballot

Have you sent in a request for your ballot but not received it yet? No worries, you can still send in a write-in absentee ballot. VoteFromAbroad.org and Democrats Abroad sent me the following handy dandy information sheet which I've pasted below, adding a few more links of my own to make it a bit more equal opportunity.

Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB)
Step-by-Step Voter Check-List
The FWAB is a back-up ballot that you can use to vote with today. If you subsequently receive your state ballot, vote with that, too. The FWAB is only counted if your state ballot is not received by your state by the ballot return deadline. Click here for deadlines.

Get the FWAB: Go to http://www.VoteFromAbroad.org. Simply answer the six screens of questions and download and print the nine page document. You will receive (1) Instructions (where you will find the address to send the FWAB), (2) Electronic Transmission Sheet and Federal Postcard Application which you do NOT need; (3) The Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot which includes a Voter’s Declaration/Affirmation, the Ballot and Instructions.

Sign and Date the Voter's Declaration/Affirmation: When you use VoteFromAbroad.org, the Voter's Declaration/Affirmation will be filled in based upon your voting state's requirements and the information you provided. You just need to review the information, sign and date it. Check the following list to see if you need a witness or additional documentation.

• Alabama: 2 witnesses OR Notary (must be over the age of 18)
• Alaska: 1 witness (dated and signed)
• Arizona: Proof of Citizenship (copy of passport or birth certificate)
• Louisiana: 2 witnesses (must sign security envelope)
• North Carolina: 2 witnesses (must be over 18 sign and include address)
• South Carolina: 1 witness – No signature necessary
• Virginia: 1 witness – No signature necessary
• Wisconsin: 1 witness (include date of birth of witness – must be a U.S. Citizen)

Vote the FWAB: You can either write in the candidate's name or the word Democrat/Republican. (It is unlikely that you will need the second page of the ballot).

To find out who the Democratic or Republican candidates are for House and Senate, click here. To find your Congressional District, click here, enter your voting zip code and then click on "current election."

Seal the Ballot Envelope: Put your voted FWAB ONLY in a plain white envelope and seal it. Write on the outside of the envelope “Security Envelope.”

In the Mailing Envelope: Put the sealed “Security Envelope” and the Signed and Dated Voter's Declaration/Affirmation in a mailing envelope.

Enter Return Address: Write your name and current mailing address in the upper left hand corner of the mailing envelope.

Address the Envelope: Write the address of your Local Election Office on the mailing envelope. The address of your Local Election Office is provided on your customized information sheet.

Double Check: Double check that you have completed everything.

Ensure evidence of mailing from outside the US:

Foreign Postmark: Affix the appropriate postage. All states will accept a foreign postmark as evidence of submission from outside the U.S.

Consular Stamp: All states have been informed by the U.S. State Department that they should accept a consular stamp as evidence of submission from outside the U.S. Using the consular service results in your mailing envelope being placed in the US postal system. Affix a $.42 U.S. Postage Stamp.

Commercial Courier: Some states will also accept a commercial courier service waybill as evidence of submission from outside the U.S. Using a courier service should be a last resort. Alabama explicitly refuses to accept materials sent to them by commercial couriers, such as Federal Express and DHL. If using a courier, please staple a copy of the air waybill to the ballot envelope prior to sealing the courier envelope.

Seal the addressed envelope – and Mail your FWAB Today!

VoteFromAbroad.org has a useful FAQ right here.

Not a Banana Fan

 

Apparently J does not care very much for bananas. Here he is testing them out for the first time. He's also nearly as expressive as his sister when he wants us to know that really, he'd rather not.

Smiley Graffiti Guy

 

I don't know about you, but to me, this fellow looks more French than Czech, oui? But no, you can find him in our neighborhood, a few doors down from the defanged lion and dainty Dresden shepherdess.

Lady of the Fir

 

A few years ago, the Prague Botanical Garden held an exhibition of sculpture from Zimbabwe. A few still stay, and the girls particularly liked the Lady of the Fir. They found her very mysterious, and as C said in her most rational, explaining voice, "probably magical."

Sunny Sunny Day

Weekend mornings my first question when I wake up is not (as some would have it), "Where's My Tea?" Instead, these days I ask, "Is the Sun Shining?"

We're on the edge of the dark dark days of winter, the gray days that reach across half of our year, pulling us inside and off of hiking paths, city sidewalks, playgrounds and beer gardens, rendering photographs flat and lightless and...well, you see what I am saying. I'm all about drinking coffee and curling up inside with a good book, but six months is a long rainy weekend. So I love the sun right now, knowing it will be gone soon.

Yesterday it was torrentially bright and beautiful here. To celebrate we took a trip to the Botanical Gardens to visit their pumpkin exhibition and meet up with some friends. We spent the afternoon playing giraffeball (a giraffe is a lot easier to catch than a football, Caroline made her first completion!), drinking fizzy drinks and moving from one patch of sunlit grass to another. Every now and again, we looked at a flower or two too. The pumpkins turned out to be mostly ornamental squash, nicely arranged.1. The giraffe is in the air!! One girl down. 2. Gourds, arranged. 3. Path through the garden's forest. 4. & 5. Flowers on show.

A little baby cuteness for Wednesday

J (sitting on my lap now, practicing his high Cs and wiggling his eyebrows as if I should know what he is talking about) has become, at five months, what our babysitter calls a "spokojené miminko" or a contented baby. He smiles, he babbles, he squeals with delight if you tickle his belly or fly him up in the air. I call him a lap baby, because that is where he prefers to be - on your lap, or my lap, or maybe even Caroline's lap if she isn't too bouncy. When he finds himself without a partner, he considers it his job to let us know - vocalizing in loud acks, or drumming his heels on the bed until you pick him up again. Then he utters a few infant "ty ty ty" noises in admonishment, tucks his head into your shoulder and sighs in contentment. Spokojené indeed.

Collections

Every few days you'll find me digging under desks and sofas and beds, looking for escaped pacifiers. Today I rounded up five strays and presented them to our babysitter, "So many choices - take your pick!"

When it comes to providing guaranteed chewing satisfaction though, there's only one choice. It's a certain curvy pacifier J can hold onto easily. He's so comfortable with it now that he'll grab its handle, pop it out of his mouth, then bite it again for a nibble or two before popping it out again. Give other babies a bear or a cuddly dog, this blue dudlik, or pacifier, is James' favorite toy. We have a double of it that we hang from his baby gym and he can spend minutes (that's hours for you and me) swatting at it while he chews on its twin.

If J's life is thorougly pacified, Caroline's is thoroughly shod. I recently made a count of her slippers* and realized that she has different sets for her kindergarten, music school, and swimming class. At home she has winter and summer slippers and a pair that one of her babysitters picked up in Japan because they would be cute in the bathroom. That's six. She also has playground shoes for school and another pair for home, sandals and winter boots. The other day she worried, with all seriousness, that she had no shoes to wear. It was raining and she'd grown out of her galoshes. A Central European to the core, C believes every situation demands a different shoe.

Luckily, look-alike crocs have landed with a splash in Prague and you can now find violently grape-scented purple "roks" for 49 crowns. That's a pricey beer, or half of an expensive coffee. This makes slipper shopping a breeze and I just have to remember to apply C's name in permanent marker across the toe (bubble letters please Mommie, she asked last time) before sending her off with a pair to her next destination.

* Here's a longer explanation about slipper culture in the Czech Republic.

Faces of September

There's a certain red color that I love in the buildings around our neighborhood. It is gradually disappearing as old facades get repainted, so I try to snap pictures of the best samples when I find them. This weekend the sun was perfect for pictures, and who could resist this cherub?

How zebras get their stripes...

 

...at least in Prague.

Mix cobblestones and tram lines with well traveled roads and you get a bumpy ride on many downtown streets here in Prague. I'm guessing the not-so-smooth terrain is why our zebra stripes get their clean edges from duct tape, and their refresher shines from hand applied paint.

Color squares for kindergarteners

C asked to play color school again the other day, and we came up with a fun exercise. Pick a bunch of colors, draw color squares for each one, sort through and decide on a palette of three or four and then draw a picture using your colors.

I think she liked the squares almost as much as her drawing.

Prague's Graffiti Alley

One of my favorite short cuts in downtown Prague - this little alley behind Wensceslas Square joins one tourist thronged street to another, but it's never really crowded. It does attract a lot of graffiti though, and if I know I'm going to be walking by I try to bring my camera to snap up a sample. Here is last week's best, featuring a young Karel Gott as vegan.