Good morning dear readers. Thursday is here with another blistering day in Charlottesville. It is going to be 97 today....ouch.

So where was I....last night, right? So after arriving and checking in I headed downtown for a walk around. There is a free trolley bus from the university dorms so after having had my teeth shaken to bits on the ride, I was downtown. The mood here is very festive though it was still quiet. Some band was playing in the arena so there were lots of people heading to the concert. I busied myself with admiring the fabulous aerial photographs from George Steinmetz that were hanging from the trees in the downtown pedestrian mall. It's quite inspiring to see these works just hanging in the air, especially as they were all taken from a microglider. After a while I settled for dinner in a little bar on the main mall called positively 4th street and watched the people go by. I have never been to Charlottesville before and I can say that from what I have seen it seems like a cool and happening place. And so my leisurely evening progressed, a welcome change of pace from my summer work with Cisco. At around 10pm I ran across the ever wonderful Barbara Houghton and Keith Farley. It seemed like a great opportunity for a glass of wine...who was I to refuse! So we sat and chatted for about an hour. Barbara as usual dispensed some sage advice about making art while re-embroiled in the business world which made me feel a lot better about my summer. But before long it was time to return the dorms. We bid our farewells and I headed back to the bone shaking trolley bus. When I had boarded the bus the driver had told me I was at Alderman and stadium. So it seemed reasonable to ask this driver to let me off there. And he did. I stepped off the bus, it sped away, and I realized that I was in a completely different part of the campus. It was 11.30pm on a campus that was closed for the summer. There was not a soul around. Great.

However all was not lost. Thanks to the wonders of windows phone 7 I was able to utilize the walking directions feature of Bing Maps. I was about 1 mile away. So with a sigh and a smartphone I headed home, arriving safely a short while later.

And now, dear readers as you can see, it is time for breakfast at The Nook. Recommended by Barbara it was, as you can see, fabulous. I am all registered for the festival and will be heading to my first exhibit after food and coffee. I'll be heading to see "Natural Habitats" by Massimo Vitali. I can't wait and I'll keep you all posted as the day unwinds.

So have a great day and Big Love to all!

DMx