a respite from the bone-chilling cold

We wuz robbed! The weather forecast said lots of snow. We got only some, plus yuckky rain. All the schools called off, natch, but the Fed Gov and my place of work are open for business. No free Friday for us. I wouldn't have made a different decision were I in charge, but all the same.....

Earlier this week the temperatures plunged and brought to mind the sunny artwork around us here where I work. Here, we have a cadre of designers, that is professionals whose title is Designer. They oversee our remodelling work, but they're also responsible for artwork. I'm in meetings most days and generally find myself idly gazing at a work of art, generally a poster for an exhibition of paitings or a print made from a painting. The other day at a bi-weekly meeting of the search tools subcommittee of the internet operations group (a cross-jurisdictional advisory body that churns and churns but does not churn up any useful decisions, unfortunately), I gained respect for a piece by a 19-century "classicist" named Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, who worked in Britain but was Dutch-born (evidently Friesland by the name). The painting is a Northerner's day dream of Southern beauties relaxing in a white marble amphitheater with the sun-drenched green-blue Aegan in the background.

This isn't the exact picture, but it gives the flavor of the thing.

Click image to view full size.