June 29, 2010

art & fear

have you read this?  it was recommended last night and i am off to find it tonight.  the quotes i've read and the one i heard last night...they sound perfect. 

“To require perfection is to invite paralysis. The pattern is predictable: as you see error in what you have done, you steer your work toward what you imagine you can do perfectly. You cling ever more tightly to what you already know you can do – away from risk and exploration, and possibly further from the work of your heart. You find reasons to procrastinate, since to not work is to not make mistakes.  Bayles and Orland"




June 28, 2010

lessons


it seems that i just get over one week before another starts up and stares me straight in the face, daring me to deal with it.  so ...here i am, dealing with it.  and...thankfully, so far, so good (of course it's monday and i'm joking.)

i had a great weekend...well, by great i mean that i got to shoot some shots that i'm very proud of, had fun processing those shots, found some great white jeans (and bought them of course), and got to see one of my favorite summer indulgences, true blood.  funny - the twilight series leaves me cold but true blood makes me all shivery with horror and intrigue.

after reading andrea's eloquent list to her younger self i thought a lot about things that i would tell my younger self and then thought a lot about how, even today, when an older person tells a  younger person, they're all "phffttt" just like i was with my mother. (i don't think i took a breath writing that sentence so it a bit run-on, just like i was when i was younger)  i know all of you can think of a younger person that your heart just aches for and how you could give them so much wisdom...if only.  it seems we spent so many years 'going to school' to only learn the harder lessons later in life...or is it that we realize we learned the lessons at a younger age but they were encrypted in some mystic language that we didn't decode until we turned 29...or something.  anyway...there are so many things on that list that i was nodding along with.

then i see brilliant young people, like my model - Christy, who is funny and has her head on so very straight.  she is not quite sure where she's going yet but she wants to do it in a happy, positive and good way..and i admire her.  she is much more together than i was at that age.  it's funny to think at her age i was deeply in love and knew i wanted to get married.  i knew i was going to be a secretary, support my husband through school and have babies.  then, when they got in school, i was going back to school to get my degree in something cool - at that time i think was "computers" (lol - a degree in computers - what?)  then we would have brilliant children who would grow up and we would eventually sail around the world after we retired.  the good thing about dreams, paths and such...they are changeable.  i wish i could remember where i read it but it was basically this...a path isn't necessarily a straight line with one way on or off.  a path meanders and winds - there are many ways to get on that path and many ways to get off a bad path to get to a new, better path.  i like that thought.  a lot.  a lot lot.  okay - i like that tremendously.  don't you?

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currently on my ipod - english girls approximately (ryan adams), seed (angie aparo), follow through (gavin degraw), beautiful (india.arie), in my own mind (lyle lovett), northern sky (nick drake), la song (beth hart).  apparently my ipod is in a very, very mellow place today....like it's working off a hangover. 

looking forward to - class tonight, seeing a draft of our operational plan, a great three-day weekend

current obsession(s) - true blood, red bell pepper, pasta and finding the perfect green flat.

June 27, 2010

on assignment

my sweet model girl was so patient today as i dragged her from place to place today, trying to find the right setting.  we got to try out some of my ideas...some are still waiting on the right settings.  some ideas worked, some didn't.  but it was all about the lessons learned.  here are a few of my favorites for this week's theme "obscurity".  in this case, i went with a sub-theme of teenage angst and running away....
















June 25, 2010

it's friday and i love a list

the picture has nothing to do with a list...it's just a picture of my itty bitty bit having breakfast and i love it.  i look forward to fridays, for a number of reasons - including the obvious that the weekend is coming up! 

ways that i've tried to improve my life over the past year:
1.  worry less.
2.  be the kind of person that i would want to be friends with.
3.  eat better and eat locally (when possible)
4.  inject more creativity in my life.
5.  tell people that i love, "i love you" whenever i can.
6.  release the past, live in the moment, plan for a bright future.
7.  challenge myself/allow myself to fail

songs recently played (on my work iPod):
1.  you get what you give - new radicals
2.  ice cream - sarah mclachlan
3.  angel flying too close to the ground - willie nelson
4.  useless desires - patty griffin
5.  so much mine - jonatha brooke
6.  life less ordinary - carbon leaf

accomplishments this week:
1.  started photography classes again
2.  kept my cool when a webinar went horribly wrong
3.  got through the week without buying new music for the iPod
4.  washed clothes instead of putting them off until the weekend
5.  completed the budget and sent it off to the consultants

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for those that were interested in aperture and creating bokeh but had a bit of issue with lens...this is a good article about that at  blah, blah, blahg

June 23, 2010

the impermanence of time...along with other observations

 the clock ticking strangely sounds like the empty wasteland of my brain - echoing and darting around corners seeking information that seems to have disappeared.  yesterday was a nephew's birthday (12th) and a nephew's trimuph (he got his driving permit).  it blows my mind that one is old enough to shave and one is on the edge of teendom.  days like this (no matter what van morrison says) always make me flinch in the relentless onslaught of time.  i blinked first time...can you vere off now?  maybe for just a wee bit.  this breakneck speed you've acquired makes me feel as though i can't breathe. 
 
time never listens to me. as i suspect, it doesn't listen to you either. it never listens to my suggestions of bending, stretching, stopping and starting - it just keeps going and going. wrapped up in this is the realization that my knees creak now every day and i wake up at the time where i used to think it was cool to fall asleep. but time is used to my curses and i remind myself not to waste time as there are no brakes on this railroad car.

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klutz move of the day: yesterday, while finally hanging pictures that have sat on my office floor for a couple months, i knocked my camera off my desk and killed my 50mm.  i was dismayed but then was thankful that i now have a job where i can replace it (a few months ago i would have just cried).  so, hopefully the new one will arrive this afternoon so i can shoot this weekend.  i've settled on two or three ideas that i hope work out...but i need a model.  *crosses fingers* if so, you may see the darker side of charlane. 

random book passage of the day:  "that friday made the last of our fine days, for a month.  in the evening, the weather broke; the wind shifted from south to northeast, and brought rain, first, then sleet, and snow.  on the morrow one could hardly imagine that there had been three weeks of summer; the primroses and crocuses were hidded under the wintery drifts; the larks were silent, the young leaves of the early trees were smitten and blackened -- and dreary, and chill, and dismal that morrow did creep over!"  (bonus points for right guesses about the author {without googling}.  hint:  sir lawrence)

current obsession:  werther's creamy caramel filled chocolates

today on my ipod:  chain of fools (eva cassidy cover), dreams (brandi carlisle), imagine (john lennon), trouble (ray lamontagne), the man that sold the world (nirvana), and one (u2)....of course among others.




June 22, 2010

photographic paralysis (or, *whine* mommy, i'm bored...)

over the past few months i've noticed a bad tendency to 'machine gun' my photography.  it's easy to do with a dslr - it's like free film.  you see a shot - you can play with it - or take it 5, 10, 20 or even 100 times...all it is, is memory card, right?  so i would come home with a card full of what should have been 24 shots.  i had forgotten about the times when i used film, the "seeing" of the shot.  when i used film, i would decide what to shoot and even more importantly....what not to shoot.  ahhh, yes, that is the crux of the matter.  what not to shoot.

so...go back to film - at least sometimes.  check.  suddenly limited to 24 shots (approximately 25 - 35 cents each) - shots began to matter. 

the next step...get back to the basics.  remember what all the dials are on the camera.  play with iso, aperture, shutter speed.  even more importantly, study the craft more.  read.

now i'm at #3 on my list.  get inspired.  one of the times in my life that i was most creatively inspired was when i was attending photography classes.  now, not everyone is as lucky as having a great program like samford's but there are tons of inspiration classes on line.  so, if you're feeling stifled or uninspired.  i suggest checking something like this out. 

last night i started a six week course in theme photography...(course description:  prepare to be challenged! theme photography challenges your imagination and develops your artistic skills by inviting the student to photograph the intangible. sensations, feelings and perception are all fair game in this course aimed at strengthening the students' ability to introduce artistic depth into their photographic work.)  the first week's theme is obsurity. 

i found myself falling asleep last night thinking about ideas.  and i woke up this morning doing the same thing.  it's getting the juices flowing and making my brain work on the artistic side of the house.  this weekend should be fun as i try to get a shot that means "obsurity" to me.

June 20, 2010

things my father taught me

 
1.     always carry a pocket knife.  there are envelopes and boxes to be opened, sticks to whittle and many other uses.  i carry my dad's.
2.     going along with #1 - always sure your knives are sharp.  dull knives are dangerous.
3.     home cooked always tastes better than going to to eat.  always.
4.     pancake saturdays (or sundays) are made for fun and memories.  i will never ever forget that my dad would stand there making pancakes until everyone was stuffed to the gills.
5.     peeled apples with a bit of salt make a wonderful snack.  (he could peel an apple in one long strand of peel with his pocketknife)
6.     how to change a tire and where the water and oil go in my car.  even the part about putting the lug nuts back on in a star pattern (if you have five.)
7.     the ability to laugh at myself.  he would do that often - laugh at himself.  plus he had this silly made up language for different things...like doughnuts were called "doorknobs", pancakes were "pam-m-cakes", bananas were "bingbongs".  we laughed a lot.
8.     saying "i love you" was always a good thing - both mom and dad taught me this really.  i love you was said often in our house.
9.     how to hold my temper.  my dad had a terrible temper at times...well, sometimes a lot time but he got more mellow as he was older.  as a result, i learned to be more patient and not to fly off the handle - sort of that reverse thing...but i still attribute this lesson to him.
10.   the best way to approach a problem was head on - my dad didn't tiptoe around something - he did it and asked for apologies later.  sometimes that worked out well and sometimes it didn't.
11.   to mind my own business - he was not a gossip and he was a private man.  he always figured if people wanted him to know something, they would tell him.
12.  to always keep at least a week of vacation and a week of sick leave.  you never know when you may have an emergency or the need to have a break.
13.   never ask someone else to do something you wouldn't do yourself.  it's a matter of respect.
14.   how to appreciate a good piece of science fiction - he loved star trek and i have seen each of the movies and think of him every time.  he also loved james bond and anything with clint eastwood.
15.  never make promises that you couldn't keep - back up your word - your word is your reputation.  if you said something, you better mean it.  he didn't hold with liars, cheats or cowards.

June 18, 2010

it's friday and i love a list

being in nashville reminds me how much i love music posters from shows and especially the hatch show prints.  if you never seen them, hatch is one of the oldest still in operation printing shops.  ...but of course, as always, i digress.  for some reason to me, friday just calls for a list.  it's a day when we can't be too concerned with serious thought or work because we're eager for the weekend, me included.

i've been on an iPod craze lately which can be very bad for the wallet (and for goodness sake, don't take off that "are you sure reminder" or you can be stupid like me today and accidently buy the 'get him to the greek" soundtrack like i did.  ugh)

but....here is my list of purchases.  now...block my access to iTunes please.  (smile)




1.    everything falls apart - dog's eye view
2.    girlfriend - matthew sweet (reminds me of good times and panama city beach)
3.    friday i'm in love - the cure
4.    all for you - sister hazel (this makes me dance wherever i hear it)
5.    caramel - suzanne vega (very dreamy)
6.    angel mine - cowboy junkies (love, love, love this song)
7.    breakdown - tom petty (shur nuff)
8.    summer breeze - jason mraz cover of seals and croft
9.    gasoline and matches - buddy & julie miller
10.  take it easy - the eagles (love it)
11.  real world - matchbox 20 (before they were matchbox twenty - laugh)
12.  100 years - five for fighting (acoustic version)
13.  cinnamon girl - neil young
14.  train in vain - the clash
15.  why georgia - john mayer
16.  i'm your captain - grand funk railroad
17.  long long time - linda ronstadt
18.  turn my head - live
19.  the weary kind - ryan bingham
20.  cry to me - solomon burke

June 16, 2010

a 24 hour adventure

a few months ago my sister and i bought tickets to see one of my favorite artists, patty griffin.  if you haven't seen her and your into "singer/songwriter", "folk" or something of that line, you should check her out.  anyway...off the track there. 

it turned out my sister couldn't go to the show with me - so i took a quick trip to nashville on my own.  the drive up was horrendous with pouring rain for at least 100 miles of the 260 mile trip...slowing traffic to less than 50 mph on i-65.  but, i got there in plenty of time to take myself out to dinner at a cute italian place (o sole mio) before the show.  lobster ravioli and creme brulee (yum!)

i took a cab as i wasn't quite sure how close the ryman was to the hotel (turns out - 6 blocks) but the $5 ride was worth it not to hike up that hill.  the show was amazing and the new album (downtown church) was so appropriate in this venue as it is a collection of gospel music from the 30's, 40's etc.  on the ticket with her was buddy miller.  i never heard him before but i loved him - great sense of humor and beautiful song writing.  he's a bit more in the country vein - but, wonderful.  loved his song 'gasoline and matches'.  emmylou harris and leanne womack guest starred on a few songs and patty was on fire...it was wonderful.

i guess if i had to complain about something (and i really don't...but, i wonder about things) is that the young woman sitting next to me (the ryman seating is old church pews as it's an old church) texted the entire show.  non-stop.  so i was a bit miffed (1) that the bright light was distracting as i was trying to watch the show and (2) wondered why she would bother coming to a $50 a ticket show if she wasn't into watching it.  sure, she enjoyed the music as i saw her swaying along and sometimes singing along but it was as if she was listening to the cd.  at one point, i leaned over and said 'that's really bright' but she just shrugged her shoulders. 

after the show, the new moon was the tiniest sliver over the shoulder of the batman building and a fresh breeze pushed off the humidity as i walked back to the hotel.  this morning i lingered over waffles and the usatoday crossword puzzle.  as i drove back - it was a nice break to the week and a fun trip - even if i had to go it alone.  i think it's nice to break the routine and do something different.  and it will make the rest of the week a bit better.

June 14, 2010

kickin' it old school

*breaths deep*  so...here are the unedited shots from my film expedition yesterday.  today i received my pentax k1000 slr which i will be taking on a road trip tomorrow.  *crosses fingers*  i won't be going back to film full time - it's too expensive for me, plus there's that whole instant gratification thing of dslr...but i liked the butterfly feeling that i got when i picked up my film today.  that is a bit of magic back in my life.  now i just have to slow my roll (hahaha) and start taking pictures at a slower pace like i did before the dslr.  forcing myself to think more of composition.

these are using my canon rebel (circa 1991-1992) that has never been used on anything except the "green modes" before.  it was also using the kit lens which is a 35-70mm lens.  (f/4 is the lowest aperture)  the film is kodak BW400CN which is a film that can be developed anywhere.  i'm on the look out for some fuji but both of the places i visited this weekend only carried kodak.

ok...here we go.  some of these you will recognize from yesterday's ramblings...

oh man...this still holds up

I read this a few years ago and love it...and still agree with it.  (especially about the sunscreen, beauty magazines, worry and love)

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:


Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

(Chicago Tribune: 01/06/97)"

— Mary Schmich

June 13, 2010

a little here, a little there...

posted

sunshine on purple

scott and zelda slept here

rinse and repeat
tangled

top seed

dancers

wind rider

arched
new blogger uploads didn't put them in the right order...but, this also goes with the title.  today i drove aimlessly around the city and county.  "rinse and repeat" and "arched" are from huntingdon college - the home of the infamous 'red lady' ghost and where the college parts of big fish were filmed. the house is the one time home of f. scott and zelda fitzgerald - she was originally from montgomery and met him when he enlisted and was stationed here.  (the war ended shortly thereafter)  they lived here while he worked on "tender is the night" and she wrote her only novel "save the last waltz."  i've always been intrigued by them and have read all of their novels.  the great gatsby is my favorite.

sunshine on purple is from oak park - a park that i played in as a child.  it's mostly sparse these days and many of the playgrounds where we roamed are broken down and packed dirt.  it's pretty sad.

the remaining shots are from montgomery county - down woodley road.  you're seeing shots from my 40d and my rebel xti.  i also took out my old film rebel and julie is right - there is just something satisfying about hearing that shutter operate.  i pick up the film tomorrow.  *bites fingernails*  i shot bw on the film - so let me see how many bad habits i've learned from dslr shooting.

i also made fresh blueberry muffins this morning by a new recipe that has very little sugar.  they were pretty yummy!  hope you had a great weekend.

June 12, 2010

what's for dinner?

inspired by:  pioneer woman
with tweaks by: me!

take one part "simple sesame noodles" by ree, then add a quick saute of fresh shrimp (peeled, deveined) and then finish with some matchstick slices of red bell pepper....and you will have a mouth party that melts your brain.


that is if your sorta partial to sesame noodles and shrimp. next time i think i'm going to throw in some matchstick carrots and a few toasted sesame seeds.  the PW recipe calls for scallions too but i'm not partial to the onion-y flavor so i left them off.  and i bet this is going to be even better as it cools and the flavors meld together in a garlic, sesame, bell pepper-y goodness.

June 11, 2010

it's friday and i love a list

image by me...
idea by pink of perfection

101 simple things that make me happy
1. fresh flowers     2. clean cotton sheets     3. babies just after a bath     4. photography     5. fluffy cotton candy colored clouds at dusk      6. cheerful window boxes     7. wrought iron fences     8.  kitten and puppy faces     9.  a good read     10. a hot shower     11.  fresh whipped cream     12.  a glass of a crisp pinot grigo    13.  flying a kite     14.  listening to an old song from high school     15.  using the china my grandmother gave me     16.  friends of all kinds    17.  lightening bugs     18.  a basket of fresh laundry straight from the dryer (or line)     19.  playing hookey    20.  singing with the car windows down  21.  the smell of dirt just after the rain  22.  u2     23.  a new haircut    24.  sparrows    25.  laughing a good belly laugh    26.  a long bubble bath    27.  a telephone call from a friend    28.  dandelions     29.  a afternoon nap.     30.  a new journal.    31.  crayons     32.  paper straws     33.  box fans in windows on a warm spring day     34.  glee    35.  a favorite mug     36.  dancing with my nieces    37.  hugs from my nephews     38.  jergen's lotion    39.  smiling at a stranger     40.  talking late into the night     41.  the sound of ocean waves  42.  fields of wildflowers    43.  sunshine     44.  spotting the first robin of spring    45.  worn jeans    46.  swinging in a tireswing     47. homemade jam     48.  my friend lisa's cornbread      49.  fresh veggies from the farmer's market    50. drive-in theaters     51.  eating steamed dumplings with chopsticks    52.  a hand to hold    53.  red umbrellas    54.  ladybugs     55.  helping someone else    56.  e.e. cummings     57.  compliments     58.  soft morning rain  59.  bonfires     60.  s'mores    61.  fountain coke    62.  listening to my nieces sing in the car    63.  love letters     64.  keeping a journal of my favorite quotes    65.  a perfect chicken salad    66.  old quilts     67.  the first crisp day of fall    68.  brown craft paper and butcher's twine     69.  kindness from strangers      70.  looking through old family photos     71.  stolen kisses      72.  robots     73.  hummingbirds    74.  basil     75.  dollars in your pocket that you forgot you had  76.  the smell of coppertone    77.  going to the movies     78.  shopping in the thrift store    79.  old bottles and mason jars    80.  fresh bakery bread    81.  blogs     82.  fond memories    83.  saying 'i love you'     84.  dove soap    85.  soft brie with pears or gingersnaps    86.  rainbows     87.  the crunch of fall leaves under your feet    88.  finding easter eggs    89.  thunder in the distance     90.  the tiny sliver of the new moon      91.  a pet sleeping in the sunbeam    92.  red swedish fish      93.  swapping stories over a hand of cards at the kitchen table      94.  juicy fresh pineapple    95.  toe rings     96.  jumping off the diving board    97.  long walks in the woods    98.  carousel horses    99.  bad puns     100.  red bell pepper    101.  homecooked meals with loved ones and friends

what are some of yours?

June 10, 2010

its enough to make a girl go giddy

queen ann's lace + cosmos + golden light = bliss....





i shot until the light was gone.


June 9, 2010

hints, allegations and things left unsaid

yesterday was just one of those crap days.  you know the kind.  i felt bad, i didn't sleep the night before (due to horrible, dark, scary nightmares) and i sat through four brain-numbing, nothing solved meetings.  in addition, a friend got on my case about something i really needed to hear.  as i didn't get much sleep, it seemed i was incrediably weepy about all sorts of things - sensitive, like a sore tooth on a grouchy old bear.  my poor, sweet brother even took me to dinner to listen to me whine.  somehow over a burger at the local steak joint, the tides began to turn and it got better.  i pulled on my big girl panties and kicked my rear in gear...of course with a big of hand holding and shoulder hugging...

sometimes i have to remind myself that the monsters we create in our heads are never quite as scary as we make them.  and the monsters that we do really encounter can be battled with the right weapons.  it seems when i'm really tired that i forget those facts. 

do you do that?  know the way but meander off the path from time to time?  right?  human nature. 

i'm happy to report after going to bed promptly at 10:00 and getting a full night sleep, i feel much better (if the eyes are a bit puffy.)  no nightmares...no dreams that i can remember...just eight solid hours of sleep.  it's good for the soul. 

i must confess...i've adopted a new baby and eagerly await it's arrival.  soon i will be kicking it old school - so as you wait for the official "birth annoucement"...i'll be taking bets as to what it is?  what's your guess?

June 7, 2010

....

i don't know what to do with myself lately.  i think i lived in so much of a vortex for the last few years that i've forgotten how "normal" feels.  *chuckle*  that drama addiction is sometimes hard to fight, isn't it?  no, that sentence should have a strike through really.  i really avoid drama...but at the same time, now that it is all gone from my life - it feels weird not to have to push it away.  anyway....i think that is another sign that life is good. 

i spent the day with the girls yesterday and we had a wonderful time.  we did a few photos but they have both wearied of the camera except for a few candid shots.  i did preen a bit though yesterday when gigi made her a camera so she could take a few pictures.  i also laughed when i took the above shot as both were supervising in some way - from "don't pick the flowers" (i could hear daddy talking) to "why are you taking pictures of flowers".....

the beach as i know it is gone now - i wonder if it will ever be the way that i remember it.  the pristine, blindingly white sand and tons of fresh seafood.  it makes me weep to see the news.  the poor animals, the loss of a income for generations of families....just some rich man can be richer.  i think they should all have to do community service cleaning up the beach - the bp executives, the senate, the house...everyone.  it sickens me.  i'll stop now - i'm sure you all have read it everywhere. 

i found a few fun things thrifting this weekend - i will show you later.  as for now i must run those errands that you can't do on weekends - banking and the whatnot.

June 3, 2010

the taste of cinnamon

when i was a teenager i fell in love with cinnamon hard candies and i would have a jar of them in my room.  i would sit for hours with giant headphones covering my ears, sometimes singing along with whatever album that was spinning (usually something that is horribly embarrassing these days like donny osmond or the like) and i would savor the candies as they burnt the tip of my tongue.  i would explore the edges of the pits and valleys created by the melting away of the sugars and would from time to time cut the inside of my cheek on those sharp edges.

after my tongue and teeth would be fiery red and my mouth would still burn with the memories of the spicy cinnamon.  even now when i find a cinnamon disc in a bowl of hard candy, i think about those days when i had nothing better to do but play records and study the lyrics that seemed written just for me.

yesterday i downloaded too many songs that reminded me of that time in my life.  a co-worker laughed as the sounds of parliment, the o'jays and the commodores came from my office yesterday...blended with a bit of carol king, van morrison and perhaps a song or two by rod stewart (i'll never tell.)  my musical taste is always blurred up a bit with my parents as i listened to their music too. 

music and memories...always a good combination.

June 1, 2010

blueberries

i sat here tonight - after working late.  trying to think of all the stuff that i haven't gotten done.  bills to pay, things to read, clothes to fold and the things that can overtake a life and drown you.  and then, i looked at - i mean really looked at the pink roses that have sat on my desk since sunday.  their color so vivid that i've had a difficult time photographing them as they over take the entire shot.  and i stopped and just enjoyed them.  and breathed in the delicate velvet and and thought of them cushioning my feet as i relaxed in a little world that could have roses as foot cushions.  and i smiled.  and as i *sighed* at the work in the kitchen and the blueberries that i didn't have time to make into muffins...i decided to make cobbler instead.  why make life difficult?  right.  so i looked up blueberry cobbler on line (what did we do before the internet?) and found something easy peasy. 

1 pint blueberries
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 T fresh lemon juice
3 T flour
1 small box of yellow cake mix (yes, i admit it - i have cake mix for those days i don't have the time)
1/2 (or more if you like) of pecan pieces
1 stick of butter

stir together the flour and sugar and add to the water and lemon juice.  stir to mix well and add to a boiler.  add in blueberries and bring the mixture to a boil.  remove from heat.  spray a 8x8 pan.  pour blueberries in bottom.  top with dry cake mix and pecans.  drizzle with melted butter and bake at 350 until bubbly and brown.

it smells like heaven...and now i'm going to have a bite or two with some ice cream.  sweet dreams everyone...sometimes the little things that bug you have to wait another day.