Donkeys and Lions

County Caucus: Went to the Democratic County Caucus for Walker County. Five hours later I walked out an Alternate Delegate. Hello Austin!

SHSU Lions: Next I went to photograph the SHSU Lions Club Charter Night. Upgraded my Flickr account to hold the pictures. I'm a pro now. WOOT! Check out the event photos.

In Land of Pajamas, on the Island of Pillows: Spent Sunday bundled up on the couch with the pugs to get over my public service Saturday. Moved all the bedding downstairs and watched movies, Atonement and Blades of Glory (how's that for disparity), and caught up on HBO series John Adams. It felt like I was home sick from school, but it was fun being so unproductive.

happy socks

I got my new socks from Sock Dreams in the mail today. I put them on and I think they immediately made me happier. I did a little happy dance in front of the bathroom mirror, put on my hiking boots and headed out for a walk. I even figured out the self timer on the D300 just so I could snap this happy shot and share my happy socks with the happy world. Steve thinks they have laced my socks with drugs. If they did, they are happy drugs.

my woods

I love just hanging out in my woods, watching the pups snuffle through the underbrush. There was one morning where I was listening particularly hard and wishing I could collect sounds like I collect pictures. I thought that I would concentrate on the sounds and write them all down as I moved through this day in my life. There were all the different bird calls, the dry shuffle of leaves underfoot, pugs snorts, bugs zipping through the air, woodpecker's report on dead pines. Then I headed for work and I realized that the closer I got to town the more I NEEDED to tune out, listening and focusing on sounds was giving me a headache. Diesel engines, radio commercials, air conditioners humming, horns, people chatting away on their cell phones, presses running, printers churning, the whirl of fans cooling hard drives. It made me wonder, how much are we unconsciously effected by this everyday? Would my brain be less tired if I didn't have to tune all this out, if I could hear the wind move the trees all day instead?

anniversaries and assholes

Anniversaries :: Steve and I celebrated seven years yesterday. It was nice, we gave each other food. He picked me up one of my favorites, the veggie chef salad from Cafe Express and a new book, Willful Creatures by Aimee Bender. I got him a sausage and pepperoni Papa John's pizza and a chance to win several million dollars. We sat around and ate our dinners and watched the first part of the HBO John Adams series and watched it rain. There was a bunny in the yard sitting under a bush waiting out the rain. I watched it saunter off when it slowed to a drizzle, stopping to munch on weeds. I sent it a little bunny-mind-speak message, "Go eat the weeds in the garden." Believe it or not, I got a message back, "I will visit your garden as soon as you plant your veggies." We got these lovely begonias from Steve's mom, we got a dinner date from Gina, and we got a night at a local winery bed and breakfast from my parents. It will be a super relaxing and yummy escape. I can't wait!
Assholes :: In other news, I had a crap day at work. I hate getting mad, because when I get mad, I cry. Then all I can think is "don't cry" and not what I want to be thinking which is some bitingly witty remark that proves that this person is being a complete and total asshole who isn't pleased no matter how hard anyone tries to do anything which is probably why we feel like doing nothing, because if you get shit on for doing nothing at least you didn't put any effort into it. The miserable part is that I was really happy with what I had done. I guess I should use this as motivation to work on my own stuff, to find a way to move on.

podcasts and sunshine

Finding myself shooting into the sunshine a lot lately. Hopefully I will get over it before I go blind. I have been listening to podcasts like crazy. New season of RadioLab just started, This American Life, an old favorite, picked up The Moth and TWIP (This Week in Photography) this week. I love podcasts.

stuck in my head

I'm a new soul I came to this strange world hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take. But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear, finding myself making every possible mistake.

sunday mornings

What a Sunday morning looks like: Steve sleeps late, me and the dogs sneak out so we don't wake him, morning walk, over at Mom and Dad's, spilled coffee, crumpled papers, treats for puppies, then we all settle down and sip our second cups of coffee and read the Item and the Chronicle while dogs snooze on laps or extra pieces of couch.

Snow!

Yes, that is SNOW.

Obama

Primary Day. A line of Democrats with a couple of GOP invaders, voting for Hillary.
Caucus. It was a little crazy, but everyone worked together. Obama got 10 of 16 delegates in Riverside, Texas. Next stop, County Caucus.

March Goals

Didn't do too well with the whole "February Goals" things, but it was a short month, and I was sick for like a week and a half, and I went caving, and there was the geology weekend, and the weekend where the weather was way too nice to be productive, and there, my month is gone. I think I'm going to keep it simple in March.

• draw
• take pictures
• eat healthy
• exercise
• read

I went shopping Saturday. Caught this wrong way sign in the mirror, cracked me up cuz it was the WRONG WAY! It's the little things I guess.

fifty-four dollars

Today I found an envelope at the museum park that asked me to open it. Being a curious person, I did. Inside was a letter and fifty-four dollars. The person was using this monetary sacrifice to parallel Jesus' sacrifice and convince the person who found it (me I guess?) that they too should become Christian. It seems a little presumptuous to me to ask someone to renounce their philosophy or system of belief for fifty-four dollars. Oh well, the Lion's Club is fifty dollars richer and I have money for lunch on Friday. ROAR!

geology weekend

Steve had extra credit assignments for geology this weekend. We went on a geology walk, which was more of an environmental science talk. Then we went to the rock and mineral show in Pasadena. I got a 300 million year old sea bug fossil (trilobite). I love fossils, super cool.

kissyfur

Happy Birthday baby brother.

sunday morning

Slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the morning last... Life, I love you, All is groovy.

the neglected week

Last week was a neglected week. I planned. I intended. I thought about. I tried. But in the end I mostly just slept. It wasn't a bad week it just took too much effort.

Good things that did happen: Valentine's surprises from Steve. New friend. D300. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Chalkboard and shelves in office. Becoming Jane. Chicken fried rice. 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Goodnight.

Caving

Last weekend I went caving at Colorado Bend State Park. I went with the Outdoor Rec group at the University where I work. The best part wasn't the caving, or the camping, it was just the people. It's been so long since I have enjoyed just being with people so much. I get so used to it being an oddball thing for me to want to do something like caving, or eat something like hummus (both of which I was ridiculed for this week), that it was just nice for it to be the norm to want to crawl on your belly through a muddy hole, and to eat with people who think hummus is a staple. Just the general relaxed, non-competitive, non-judgmental attitude of the entire group was such a pleasant shift. I will definitely go again, if they will have me. Oh yeah, caving was awesome too.

lye berry

Today I went to the library. Sometimes I think I like acquiring books more than I like reading them.

stolen moment

I didn't sleep well last night. I woke up to Sony having a puggish asthma attack. Once he calmed down I tried to go back to sleep, but my inner-critic was up too and decided 2am was the appropriate time to gnaw at the inside on my skull. He wanted me to know that I needed to change my oil and that I shouldn't wear the same pair of jeans three times a week and that I hadn't started to accomplish any of the goals that I set for myself which is OK since they weren't worth a crap anyway. After about 45 minutes of that I got up took a shower, and then went back to bed. I woke up groggy and crappy and late. I would have called in sick, but I had responsibilities at work, people waiting for me to finish their projects. Things due. I called in late. Sometimes when I do this I steal a little moment for myself. I got dressed, brushed my hair, ate my breakfast, had my tea, and then, instead of bustling off to the office, I looked into three little puppy faces and asked, "Do you wanna go for a walk in the woods?" Heads tilt. Ears perk up. There is a mad dash to the front gate, and we are off. A moment in the day where I transfered my time from looming deadlines and a sunless building to a sunlit walk down a little wooded path with three friends who run through the trees for the sheer joy of a new smell.

February Goals

One month down in twothousandeight already! I feel like I'm going to have to step it up if I want to accomplish anything this year. Here are my goals for February.

• create two finished illustrations that I like and feel are portfolio worthy
• create the one paper cut piece (it's in my head)
  
• start a contact list of 20 illustration clients that I would like to work for
• upload my design portfolio so that interested parties can download it
  
• learn something new to make myself a better photographer
• get business cards printed

That's a lot for a short month, not very focused am I? We will see how far I get.

After two weeks I am dumping the idea of posting links weekly. maybe monthly. maybe sporadically. maybe never again.

The above picture is the self-timer self-portrait challenge over at Shutter Sisters. I do love toes.

from work to yoga : a journey in snapshots

failure to communicate

Did you ever play that game where you and a friend sank beneath the surface of the pool and yelled incoherent messages back and forth? The words muffled by the density of water and the bubbles that your lungs pushed out with the sound. You strained to understand the secret message and then revealed your muddled interpretation above the surface. Giggle. Repeat. That was my day except not funny.

last week in links

Yes, I was bored and have access to photoshop. Last week I found a new blog Shutter Sisters. I think I am going to participate. I have joined the flickr group but have yet to post anything. I also found these carved crayons, this cool photo book "As Far As I Could Get", and a series of posters created by a graphic designer named Becky Redman called Fucking Recycle. I may have found all or most of these things at It's Nice That, a blog that seems to have more things to look at then you could ever possibly look at so go look at some. I have also joined a mobile swap over at elsie marley I am dreaming of things hanging from strings, can't wait to start making mine, can't wait to see what I get!

no better dog

Just wanted the world to know, there is no better dog than this here dog. That's right, he is the best dog in the world :: SONIC.

dirty thirty

Wednesday was Leslie's 30th! Everyone went out for Japanese. Leslie's first taste of sashimi, my first time for Hibachi-style eating and warm sake. I ended up with rice in my hair. I think I can do without my food prep being entertainment. It was a fun night, Happy Birthday Les, and thanks for having the decency of turning dirty thirty before me.

recap of a grey week

Everyday of this week was cold and grey and yuck, but I got to wear my silly second-hand store hat. This is me on my daily walk up the hill to work. I refused to buy a $75 parking permit and now park off campus and walk, which was less fun this week. On the upside I did let myself spend that money on books on wanted on my amazon wish list.
Went for deliveries with Chas, what a nice day to be out and about.
A bit of metaphorical sunshine. This is the brand new carpet in my very own office. No more roomies. I moved in shortly after taking this picture.