Monday, February 28, 2011

the to-do list

my day planner. 
(without which i would not be surviving right now). 


i'm kind of obsessive about writing things down. i love lists. 
(not doing them, just writing them. and crossing things off them). 
 as boring as it sounds, i think there needs to be a celebration for the invention of the day planner. 
although when i really think about it, maybe there was no such thing as deadlines before this.
in which case, i understand why there is no such holiday. 
but if i don't write everything down, it won't all get done. 
i'd probably forget my own name if i didn't write it every day.
although, i did spend all day thinking today was march 1st. 
but you get what i'm saying, right? 




P.S. yes, if you studied the second pic, you'll notice today is public sleeping day. alas, i saw no one sleeping in public, although I was mightily tempted to. sort of. sleep that is. not necessarily in public.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

a little happiness in picture form

polar bears 
ridiculously cute.

i'm a busy little bee over here (2 weeks to the end of the quarter!), so i took a little time out from 
my oh-so-fun studies to look at pictures of polar bears. it's polar bear day after all. 
and i thought i'd share: 
pictures of Knut from World's Strangest

Great Polar Bears Wallpaper

Polar Bears in Germany Zoo from The Telegraph

Posted by John on The Power Line, unsure of original source.
maybe not my most inspired post ever, but you can't help but feel happy when you
look at cute polar bears.it's just the nature of the beast. (sorry!:)

have a happy Sunday!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

nos chêrs amis.

dear friends, margaret, paul, baby luke & milo!

today was wonderful because we got to have some of my favorite people over for lunch.
they live way up in another state and i never get to see them, 
so it was very, very special. 
i only wish we could have spent more time together. 
Lars was really excited to meet their dog, Milo (although i don't think Milo felt the same way), 
and he enjoyed having baby Luke chase him around the living room...
it's one of his first interactions with a baby. he still doesn't know what to think of little people.
 10-month-old Luke was completely fearless:)
we had a yummy lunch and sweet conversation. 
i feel so happy. (and yet sad to see them go)



bad hair day, one of my favorite people and Luke's cute grumpy-tired-face


cute family. Milo is like a cat!
baby Luke

isn't their baby, Luke, the most precious baby you've seen?
i think he's pretty swell. i might want one just like him.

Friday, February 25, 2011

another time

the amazing wig day of 2007.

(aka my three beautiful friends)
so, for a school assignment i spent time today going through all my loose photos,
and i came upon this time back when three of my friends and i decided to
buy wigs and wear them around town for the day. 
it was a lot of fun.
it's weird looking back at times that seem not long ago, 
and yet are already. i miss these girlies and this time together:
andrea, me, nicole, anne
nicole
me in pink
i kind of like andrea's pink wig on me better, 
but i still have my white one. 
it's one of my secret desires to have/wear spectacular wigs more often,
for instance, this orange one: 
trying on wigs at Lucy's in Austin

thanks to nicole for documenting the event (this was pre-digital-era for me) 
and for letting me borrow her wonderful pictures! 

Thursday, February 24, 2011

butterflies

reading at a SCAD writing event:


eek!
somehow when i was submitting my essay to be judged i overlooked the fact that if chosen, i would have to read aloud to an audience. something i just don't look forward to. weird, right?

but, it went very well (apart from uncontrollable shaky voice syndrome), 
and I was so honored that my father-in-law and so many people from SCAD 
showed up to hear us read. 

Thanks for the support everyone!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

mmm, crunchy.

dog biscuits!

because somewhere on the internets, today is dog biscuit appreciation day. 
and because i feel really bad for Lars who has now been cooped up inside with a cone on his head
for six days. and because he still has three days to go before it comes off.
i picked up some special treats for him, made of all sorts of dog-enticing things like
chicken & liver & peanut butter. i don't question the dog's tastes.
speaking of dogs, i watched a feel-wonderful national geographic dog-cumentary on netflix last night.
i think i need a dogo. or a domesticated wolf. and definitely an irish wolfhound.



and since i recently watched Eat, Pray, Love, all i think about is food now,
so i made a nice lunch for myself as well:
tomato and goat cheese on toast with
chai tea and
oatmeal raisin cookies =
yum.




Tuesday, February 22, 2011

it's in the dough.

lunch at Bakeshop.

on my way home, i decided to treat myself to a tomato basil mozzarella panini and pain au chocolat
for lunch from this super cute little boulangerie/patisserie in midtown. i had a scoutmob coupon, otherwise i think the sandwich would be a tad expensive. 
but what do you expect from european style food?
it's a good thing i don't live in midtown or i would be tempted to go there everyday! 
and bring Lars!
it was delicious.
and such a pretty day. i wish i could have stayed longer. 
alas, i have a cone-dog to keep company at home.
and much work to be doing for this school thing.
 oddly, Bakeshop reminds me of/makes me want to live in California again:

Monday, February 21, 2011

life in Finland

these photographs. 

i know it's a little strange when i celebrate other people's blogs, but
i really can't help loving this blog so much. 
Liivia's photos are what made me want to start a blog in the first place
and also got me through some long days as a temp at a children's advocacy center,
where i'm pretty sure my job was to guard three 1980s-era computers - 
there was one employee in the process of hiring two others, 
and some days there was just me.
i may have answered the phone twice in a month of eight-hour days.

anyways, i constantly find myself asking why these pictures of mostly normal
things are so lovely. is it Finland? the landscape? her camera? the lighting?
i think maybe it's the fact that it's all of the above. 
but, there's no denying her artistic creativity, and her photos always inspire
and challenge me to take better photos myself, 
even with the ugly, American, no-good, very poorly lit situations i am faced with.

and so, without further ado, i give you some of my recent favorite photos from VIA







now doesn't that just make you want to go outside and take some pictures? 

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Mr. Clean

cleaning day! 

i'm one of those normal people who likes a clean house. i don't know how i got to be so normal. 
i certainly didn't grow up with a whole lot of chores.
when my mom wanted the house clean we put on some toby pfeifer and did a "blitz" (aka quick clean). 
i have no idea what this involved other than picking up our stuff and maybe sweeping? 
this is not to say i wasn't a helpful child. i remember being very helpful. 

i realize that my compulsion for a clean house (every week!) is liable to change if and when we have children.
but, since these helpers have not arrived, i revel in making jazz take a break from his video games 
every once in a while. harsh, i know.

so, sundays in our house, this is our schedule: 
perpetually late to meet with other Christians, grocery shopping, 
afternoon nap, cleaning, laundry, and sometimes cooking:



and when we're not cleaning, we also like to take our private private pilot's licenses out for a whirl, run our daily ten miles, host dinner parties, for which we cook from Bon Appetit, attend art gallery openings (for our dear friend, the artist), and swirl wine in our goblets. 


P.S. for the record, jazz is a very good cleaning slave, er buddy.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

"Off the Roll"

i really like these scotch tape sculptures
that are sitting around the main building at my school
by installation artist Mark Jenkins, 
who i know nothing about,
and i'm not sure how he's related to my school (if at all). 

i wonder if scotch tape is a metaphor for something? 
perhaps that people have become mummified to a certain degree by an almost invisible web
of "new" technology (scotch tape was new technology once, too), increasing our ability to escape death with an inverse decrease in clarity about life/self/etc.? 
i blame these existential, pointless musings on grad school, 
in case you were wondering.




yay for cool art though! 

Friday, February 18, 2011

grumpy cone face

getting-better puppy!

yesterday, lars had surgery to remove a growth on his back paw. it was a quick procedure - i dropped him off at 8; at 9 they called to say he was already done.
but when he came home last night, he was very sad and had a hard time sleeping. 
also, he hates his cone, which he has to wear for the next 10 days!
not that i blame him. he can't figure out how not to run into things:(

but, he's doing much better, and i think he's not quite as sad today, 
although he looks very grumpy in these photos (he's actually falling asleep):
 

p.s. i hate that lars is so uncomfortable, so i'm not celebrating that, just so you know.
i'm happy that he's okay, is all.