August Rush

Aren't these cute? It's beanie Amber and Eric--complete with glasses! Eric's sister, Heather, made them. The general consensus seems to be positive, although some people commented that they rarely see me wear a dress. True enough!

August has been a pretty busy month, filled with work and visits and birthdays. I can't believe that September is nearly here. The summer break from school groups at the museum ends all too quickly. Right now is the time for the annual Villa theater production. Each year we put on a different ancient play--this year is Aristophanes' "Peace," a rather ribald comedy. Last week I stepped outside of the office for a moment and discovered what appeared to be a huge pile of trash. This very un-Getty display of slovenliness was shocking at first, until I remembered the play and realized it must be a set prop of some sort.

Un-Getty display of trash

Both Eric and I celebrated our birthdays this month. My birthday was pretty low-key. My present from Eric was tickets to go see Reba in Nevada, but the concert isn't until next month. Plus, I worked all day--but I made Eric play MarioKart Wii with me that evening. MarioKart has been one of my favorite video games since it first came out when I was a kid. I find it's a great stress-reliever, racing virtually around the track like mad, flinging shells and banana peels and bob-ombs at the other drivers to knock them off the track. I have as much fun with it now as I ever did, so I guess in some ways I haven't changed much in the last fifteen years or so!

This month also saw the premiere of my friend Kara's new special series, "Out of Egypt" on the Discovery Channel. The show does a bit of comparative archaeology, each episode starting with a cultural phenomenon we see in ancient Egyptian culture and then looking at similar practices in other cultures around the world. You could certainly argue that I am biased, but I think it's great to see a legitimate scholar produce a program for a popular audience. To learn more about it, check out her website. If you missed it on Discovery, you can download the first two episodes of the series now at iTunes. The last time I checked, the first episode ("Flesh and Bone") was free. There are four more episodes to come, but air dates are yet to be determined.

I feel like this month was over as soon as it began. I can hardly believe September begins next week--it's almost as if someone hit the fast-forward button through the summer. Clearly the Romans were on to something when they said tempus fugit.