Grey Street Girl

Passport to Awesomeness

2012-02-01T08:19:00.001-06:00

I have woefully neglected this blog. It's primarily because I've purposefully been slacking off in the photography department. Instead, I've been spending an inordinate amount of time researching a trip I'm taking.

So, big question for you... If you could take a nice vacation anywhere, where would you go? And/or, where have you been that you absolutely loved? Let me know. I need ideas for future adventures.

Here are some random shots from the past week.

I am now free to move about the planet!

And here's where I'm going first (for Thanksgiving - because nothing says "HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!" like hanging out with kangaroos in Australia!!!).

Sort of as a joke, I got these little contact cards made for my trip. It'll be fun to hand them out to people I want to stay in touch with... right after I tell them that my bio dad was a prostitute/pimp/drug dealer who used to "drive" around Liberace. I'm sure they'll want to stay in contact with me, right? That's me and my dad, lower left.

On a more serious note, I have taken a couple of serious pictures.

Okay, well, this wasn't so serious, but I still like it.

And, this was right after work yesterday. One of my favorite pair of shoes... out of the 75 pairs of shoes I own. I know... I'm like the Imelda Marcos of the compliance officer world.

Grand Opening!

2012-01-21T13:14:00.000-06:00

After a bit of shipping drama, my wonderful Christmas care package arrived yesterday courtesy of my lovely and talented cousin Lisa!

Lisa, thank you thank you thank you!

So, I wanted to showcase the grand opening and all the awesome gifts she sent. Here goes:

The box! I love all the Post-it® notes!

Camera!

Picture frame! It's magnetic!

A colorful friend!

Mouse! This is so adorable!

Panda hat! I love that I can add this to my crazy awesome collections of fabulous head wear.

Noggin healing hat! The color is gorgeous!

Dog walking injury prevention.

I really need this to prevent further dog walking catastrophes like the one in December.

Dog <3.

Dogs make us human. Oh, the pictures and stories in this book are breath-taking! Love!!!

Goodwill Hunting

2012-01-07T20:31:00.000-06:00

De-Clutter 2012 is going well so far. I trashed or Goodwilled way more than 7 items this week. Probably closer to about 20. It felt really good to drop them off. And, I didn't bring anything new into the house this week. Great first steps so far.

Geez. Well, I thought I'd have something more interesting to report, but at the moment, I can't think of a single thing. So, here are some pictures - not that I've really been doing anything with photography.

Got my calendars out.

My fridge got empty... except for ketchup.

My fridge is stocked.

De-Clutter 2012 - Day 1

2012-01-01T16:30:00.000-06:00

*looks around*

Anyone still here?

Well, if you are, I'm sorry for the blog absence. There's no big reason for it. It just sort of happened.

Now, like most people on this day, I'm starting a new project. I'm calling it De-Clutter 2012.

Each day this year, I'm going to get rid of at least one thing in my house. I will either toss it in the trash, recycle it or give it to Goodwill (I'm putting a Goodwill bin by the back door). Also, if I bring any non-perishable items into the house, I have to get rid of something then as well. Since I might not have time to scout around the house each day, I'm going to give myself slack and allow myself catch up days on the weekend. During the week, I'll just keep a tally of how many items need to go. Of course, if I get ambitious, I'm allowed to toss out more than one thing, but that doesn't count for future days. So, I can't cheat by throwing out 365 things today. The project has to last all year.

Today, Day 1, I got rid of a bunch of stupid hair clips - those 80s claw clips from when I had long hair. I'm already eyeballing about 10 other things that are going to go by the end of the day. This is going to be really fun.

Why am I doing this? The obvious answer is that my house is cluttered. But the May 2012 flood really made me realize how bad it was. During the week after the flood when I packed up the entire house, I tossed hundreds of things that weren't even ruined by the flood. It was just crap I wanted to get rid of, stuff wouldn't ever use again. After doing that, I thought I'd have so much more space when I moved back in.

No.

Surprisingly, the only place I have a slight amount of extra space now is in the kitchen. That's only because I chose not to replace a ton of baking pans and sauce pans and such and I sent a ton of plastic containers to Goodwill. Other than that, my closets are still packed. There are still knickknacks all over the damn place: candle holders, ceramic birds, wood elephants, flower vases... all collecting dust. Sure, they all look cute and I've arranged them in a feng shui way, but 90% of them don't have any sentimental value and the condo has just really reached its maximum limit of cheap decor (pronounced "day-co-wer" for those of you at home reading this aloud.).

So, for the new year, are you starting any new projects or do you have any resolutions you'll be working on? Do tell!

Despite the Mayan warnings of the world ending, 2012 has to be a better effing year than 2010 and 2011. If not, I'm going to write a sternly worded complaint letter to the man or woman upstairs. Seriously, good things need to happen this year. And for once, I actually have medium to high hopes that they will.

Happy new year to you!

P.S. I haven't been taking many photos, but here's one from today.

Instacrap

2011-12-03T22:03:00.001-06:00

Things have been absolutely nuts with chaotic drama around here. And, it's all stuff I can't really write about publicly. I haven't been doing much with photography lately, just enough to satisfy my 365 project. Instead, I've been reading cheesy historical time travel romance novels. A lot of them.

I've also wandered over to the dark side and taken several iPhone pictures and processed them though Instagram. I'm really anti-Instagram, not because I don't like it, but because there are so many people who overuse it to compensate for the fact that they don't know how to use a real camera, even though they have a really expensive DSLR. I know - pretty irrational of me. Whatever.

Well, I'd better get back to Thor and his mighty throbbing hammer. Here are a few of those Instagram shots. Oh, and if you're on Instagram, friend me so I can also follow your stuff. I'm greystgirl.

Tiny Superman hangs from the security system motion detector, keeping watch over bar patrons.

My one and only Christmas decoration was hung with care.

Yesterday, my friend and I celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the discovery of the Bellevue Beaver by having drinks in his honor.

And, we decided we will probably still be having drinks at this pub 40 years from now. This will be us.

It's About Time

2011-11-26T13:27:00.001-06:00

Good lord. I've completely neglected my writing for two weeks now. Sadly, I'm not sure I've much to report. I'm back at work. I'm still working on feeling better, although the medications have definitely given me a boost.

While I'm still working on my memoir project, I've neglected it a bit as well. I've been mulling over new entries in my head, but have yet to write anything of substance down. I'm hoping to change that this weekend.

So, what have I been doing with all my free time? Oy vey. I've been reading up a storm. Sometimes, I just get bitten by the bug and end up reading a book a day for several weeks. Amazon is loving me right now. I guess I could chalk up the reading to research and inspiration for my writing, but honestly, I'm just procrastinating and enjoying getting caught up in other worlds.

As for photography, I'm still taking at least a picture a day. Here are a few from the past two weeks. Although as you can see, there's not a lot to photograph except for dead leaves now that the wind blew Autumn away.

I hope you all had a wonderful and safely traveled Thanksgiving holiday!

It's been raining... a lot.

My favorite shoes are now in quarantine because I stepped in dog poo.

Dead leaves.

Dead leaves and more rain.

I had a lovely, sunny Thanksgiving day at Monell's in Germantown.

And, was welcomed home by this awesome owl - grainy because it was getting really dark, which lately seems like 2pm.

Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop

2011-11-21T18:05:00.001-06:00

Regardless of your politics, this is pretty darned funny. I haven't laughed this hard in months and months. So, I thought I'd pass it along to you all.

I introduce to you...

Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/casually-pepper-spray-everything-cop/photos

Refresh the page as new photos are uploaded.

Live Simply

2011-11-13T10:42:00.001-06:00

My favorite part: Live simply so that others can simply live.

My Friend Jason. from Shot at The Dark on Vimeo.

Shakabuku

2011-11-12T10:10:00.001-06:00

Sha-ka-bu-ku noun definition: a swift, spiritual kick to the head that alters your reality forever.

courtesy of the film Grosse Point Blank

I had one of these this week. I can't write publicly about what happened because it involves work. However, I can say that I totally, utterly got my ass kicked. And, I can say that I totally, utterly got more mothereffing angry than I have in a very long while.

This turned out to be a very good thing.

I've gone from feeling downtrodden to feeling determined. That's a shift that needed to happen for a very long time. It's not often I get fired up about much of anything. I'm known for being very even-tempered, probably to my own detriment. But, when I get angry, people better watch the hell out. And, by watch the hell out, I mean I will finally speak up for myself like I should have all along, in a nice way of course.

I'm not a yelly type. I'm more of a reasoned, firm voice.

Whatever.

The point is that ever since I got mad, I feel so much better. I have more energy and I feel like I can go out and kick ass. I'm going back to work Monday, full time (a story for another time since I was supposed to be off until December). I'm going to take the reins and whip the nonsense into shape. And, to prove that I'm ready for this, I bought a whole new fall/winter wardrobe on Thursday.

That's right, bitches. I'm back and I'm well-dressed. Beware.

Nothing can defeat the power of an angry woman in a cute skirt and 5-inch heels. Don't even try to stop me or face the consequences of hearing a reasoned and firm argument.

It feels good.

In other good news, one of my photos made it to the final 32 selections in the Nashville Scene photo contest. Voting starts Monday and I'll post directions on how you can vote at that time, if you so choose.

And, here are some pictures from this week. Happy weekend to you!

It finally got cold here in Nashville.

Frosty!

Oddly, when I have to think about important things, I visit the early 1800s cemetery behind my house. So, I took some pictures there.

This one leaning on the tree is my favorite.

My neighbor's roses are still looking pretty despite the cold.

Mystery Package

2011-11-09T20:20:00.000-06:00

My cousin sent me a Mystery Package and it arrived Monday!!! I had no idea what it was. So, opening it was a total surprise... like Christmas without the Santa and without the Birth of Christ! w00t!

There are a lot of pictures, but I wanted to give everyone the full experience of the official unveiling. Also, if you want to check out the lovely artist, Savannah Mitchell, who painted the art below, here's a link to her website and her Etsy site! Her stuff is so beautiful! Thank you, Lisa! And, thank you, Savannah!

So, here is the Mystery Box fresh from the mailman!

Amanda, checking out the super colorful tissue paper. I love it!

Card!

Expressive Photography! Actually, I knew she was sending me this, but it's still rockin' awesome!

So, when I opened up all the tissue paper, look what I found! Three beautiful paintings of my three precious puppy dogs! My cousin knows how much they mean to me and I was thinking of doing this myself. So, it is the perfect gift!

Here is Bear!

Here is Amanda!

And, here is Daisy!

Um, yeah, that's my stove. It was a convenient place to unwrap things since I don't use it to cook on like ever. :)

Here they are on the mantle, their little home until I figure out exactly where they want to go permanently. Yay! Thank you, Lisa and Savannah for such a beautiful, thoughtful gift!

GSG: Now with even more leaves!

2011-11-06T18:38:00.000-06:00

I was just sitting here thinking, "Geez, it's been forever (since Thursday night) since I posted pictures of autumn leaves. I bet people are really wanting to see more pictures of leaves."

Wait no more, people.

Well, maybe wait just a little more.

How was your weekend? I came home Friday and collapsed with exhaustion. I pretty much slept through Saturday and then today I actually got around to doing chores around the house, but now I'm beat again.

I have to go into the office tomorrow, but after that... I swear, I am staying home and really taking my leave of absence. I'm going to read on my Kindle and watch bad romantic comedies on DVD. I'm not going to check my work email at all. AT ALL. (Well, except for about an hour a day.)

Oh oh oh! I just remembered... tomorrow is going to be an awesome mail day. I love getting mail - real mail. Tomorrow will mark the arrival of a pair of black shiny Louboutins I ordered from eBay, my 365 project hardbound book AND a MYSTERY PACKAGE from my cousin. Woo hoo!

And, tomorrow night is my last photography class. I'm bummed. I missed the last one because I was rescuing a lost dog. Tomorrow night is sort of a party and a viewing of pictures, but I'm worried I'm going to be too tired to go. Ugh. We will see.

Okay, without further ado or nonsense, here are the leaves you're dying to see. Seriously, I will try to take more diverse photos this week. It's hard when you don't really leave your house though.

My New Mental Mantra

2011-11-03T22:27:00.000-05:00

I have worked every day this week. In the office.

Have I mentioned I'm supposed to be on a leave of absence?

Yeah. That.

It's not exactly happening the way I planned.

This week has been a particularly rough one for me for several reasons. I've done a lot of thinking about my situation, about work, about the people in my life and about what I'm going to do with my life. It's felt incredibly lonely and hopeless most of the time. But, there's also been this wave of relief that's slowly washed over me. A mini-epiphany, if you will.

All this crap: the task lists, the projects, the dishes, the drama, the stupid leave paperwork, the weird personalities and the internal and external pressures... I don't care anymore. None of it matters.

I'm going all honey badger on this shit.

Do you know how liberating it is to say, "Yeah, I don't give a shit about that" and really, totally mean it in your heart and mind? God, it feels good. It's like taking a super deep breath after holding it under water for ages.

Don't get me wrong, I still care about a great many things and there are very important things in my life that do matter. But damned if I'm going to let any bullshit minutiae waste one more minute inside my mental time-space continuum. I'm totally done giving a shit about it.

My new mental mantra? Will this matter in 10 years? Will I even remember that this happened 5 or 10 years from now? If the answer is no, forget it. I'm moving on to something important... or I'm going to pick up my camera and take a picture... or I'm going to snuggle with one or all of my dogs.

I was raised to worry. My mother worried about every blessed thing in the world from the tiniest speck of dust on a table to nuclear bombs going off at any moment and destroying the universe. Seriously. That is no exaggeration at all. That, and everything in between was given equal and immense worry.

And so many people around me seem to lack the same perspective regarding what really matters in life. They waste so much time worrying about things that won't make a single bit of difference in 10 years or they worry about things they have absolutely no control over.

While I'm usually pretty good at maintaining perspective, I feel like I've been dragged down into the mire lately. So today, I made a very strong and resolute decision not to get sidetracked by it any more. And, more to the point, when people try to catch me up in needless worry, I'm going to ask them the key question: Will this matter in 10 years? If the answer is no, I'm going to politely, but firmly tell them to move the eff on.

And that is all I'm going to say about that.

Here are some pictures from the last few days. It's been a bit mediocre here weather-wise. So, nothing too exciting, but whatever. I don't care. ;)

I do however care about you and hope you are having a splendid, minutiae-free week.

And, not mediocre by one tiny hair - my little Daisy.

Happy Non-Depression Dance

2011-10-30T23:34:00.000-05:00

This weekend was the best weekend I've had in... I don't remember.

What happened? I had lots of good picture opportunities and lots of quality time with a best buddy. I added the very last photo to my third 365 project. Also, my sponsorship ad for my journal experiment blog ran on The Bloggess today. Plus, the weather was beautiful AND, most importantly, I didn't feel like absolute shit for once.

Yay me! I win!

*Does happy non-depression dance*

So, please tell me... how was your weekend? I know some of you had a rough one. I hope it ended up on a positive note! I'm sending some of the goodness I found your way.

Here are some pictures from my glorious trip to the countryside today.

The creek in front of T's cabin in the woods.

I had a lovely visit with Odie.

And, also with Ozzie.

And last, but not least, Alice.

We took a lovely walk among the fall leaves.

Here's one I'm using for my photography class assignment due tomorrow.

And, all too soon, it was time to head back home.

Coming out of the Closet

2011-10-29T23:15:00.002-05:00

As many of you know, I've been doing a bit of a writing experiment over on my other blog, The Journal I Wish I'd Kept.

In so many ways, I'm torn about the project. I very much enjoy writing about things that have happened in my life, especially if I can make them funny or if I can make them meaningful to readers. But, I wonder if it's something really pursuing in a serious way... or something to continue just for personal fun/therapy... or something to quit entirely. And then, there's also the concern that some people who know me personally or from work could be offended by some of the content because I sometimes talk about sex and use the F word.

My experiment started when I paid for ad space for the blog over on The Bloggess's website (if you're not reading her, you are totally missing out). She has tens of thousands of readers and they seem like the type of people who would get my writing style and content. So, I thought that if I got a lot of hits and/or comments, it would tell me something about my writing project. Is it good? Interesting? Funny? Stupid? Vapid? Boring? Crowd sourcing, if you will.

After a month of advertising, I can truly say that the money was well spent in that I'm getting 400-600 hits a day, sometimes up to 700 if I post an entry that seems to really hit home with folks. And, while I haven't gotten too many comments, many of them have specifically said that they like the writing and content.

I still don't feel like I have an answer though. And, I'm still sort of hesitant to really make the blog super public to people I know because most people don't know this side of my life at all. However, there's such a big part of me that wants to be taken seriously as a writer. I've wanted it for a very long time.

BUT, I REALLY don't want to be like one of those contestants on American Idol whose family and friends tell them they're fabulous singers when they really really suck and shouldn't even sing in the shower in an otherwise empty house. I really don't want to be that person. I'm terrified of being that person - mediocre at best.

I'm not fishing for compliments at all. I'm venting. I promise.

What I've decided to do is give the experiment one more month. I'm going to continue to post a few new entries each week. I'm going to try to get more advertising on The Bloggess' site for November. I've also turned on Google Analytics to tell me more about who is visiting, for how long and whether they come back. But, it's still hard to know if those numbers mean anything.

Someone asked me what my overall objective is with the blog. I couldn't answer her. I mean, secretly, I would love for a book deal to come out of it, but for me to even say those words seems so ostentatious, so full of myself, so outlandishly crazy to even think in my head much less type. But, there it is.

I thought by testing out the content in blog format that I could build enough confidence (if the content went over well) to finish more stories, shop for an agent and hope for a book deal.

Wow. So, me saying those words for the first time out loud is like coming out of a very hidden closet in my soul.

In fact, I have an overwhelming urge to completely delete this entire post right this very minute, or maybe in the morning when I've had a chance to sleep on it and realize how ridiculous this all is. Ugh.

I don't know. That's my standard answer for everything these days. I don't know.

So, tell me... do you have a big secret dream - something you'd like to do with your talents and passions? Let me know in the comments and feel free to be anonymous if you want to keep it a secret. :)

And, if you've made it this far in my narcissistic ramblings, here are my pictures from today.

As always, thanks for reading!

Leaves.

Now! With Even More Leaves!

Radnor Lake

2011-10-28T23:07:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post with lots of pictures...

Since the last post was filled with autumn colors, I thought I'd throw some more your way. This was from my visit to Radnor Lake on Tuesday. This is another Nashville park that is just a few miles from my house. You walk in and you feel like you're totally out in the country.

Here's the main view of the lake:

Lots of foliage.

Even more foliage.

Lots of friendly creatures.

Including this little guy - my first picture of a baby raccoon!

Side view of the lake.

A little closer in.

And another view.

Pretty light on the way out.

And, the road leading to the exit.

Identity Crisis

2011-10-28T22:46:00.001-05:00

I'm having a huge identity/self-loathing crisis with my photography. Part of it is due to the photography class I've been taking and part of it is due to Camp Shutters Sisters I attended last week.

I know I'll get through this. Hopefully, it doesn't last too long. I suppose it has a lot to do with the depression and anxiety thing I've got going on right now too. I just really feel like I've lost my mojo and like my pictures are totally lifeless and boring. This is not a not-so-subtle ploy for compliments. It's truly what is swirling around in my noggin this past week.

There's really nothing to do about it but push through it by taking more pictures, studying more and getting inspired by other photos and techniques. But, it's depressing when you spend several hours in a park, come away with 500 pictures, then come home to look at them and find like 1 or 2 you sort of kind of like, but only if you edit the hell out of them. Ugh.

On a happy note, I took one of my Pacific Coast Highway pictures and ordered it on a 12x16 canvas. It arrived today and looks spectacular! You can't tell it's a photograph at all. It looks like a detailed watercolor painting. When I'm in a better mood, I'll take a picture of it. I think I'm going to do canvases of various pictures for all my friends for holiday gifts. I really encourage you to take your favorite photo and canvas it too. You'll love it! And, it's really not all that expensive.

Since I'm on a break from work, I've been trying to get out around Nashville to take pictures, as therapy and stress relief. Plus, it's so beautiful out here that I just can't resist. Here are some pictures from today's drive through the Warner Parks. This is a mile from my house. I love that Nashville has so many wonderful green spaces right in the city.

How is fall coming along in your neck of the woods? Please share pictures you've taken!

I love all the winding roads.

This is part of the horse track from the Iroquois Steeplechase.

I love all the stone walls covered in moss.

The have dozens of these fireplaces around the park. Most are under pavilions though.

This is one of my favorite benches in the whole park because...

This is the view from that bench.

And, all this wouldn't have been possible without my new 4WD car, which I am madly in love with.

100

2011-10-27T09:45:00.000-05:00

Well, folks... this is my 100th post here at GSG.

[Okay, if you're a long time reader, you know that's not entirely true because I've deleted over 100 posts before I shut it down a while back for reasons I can't remember but I'm sure it involved a guy or my depression or, more likely, a combination of both. But let's just pretend.]

Coincidentally, the Nashville Scene, our little rag street newspaper is holding a photography contest for pictures taken over the last year in and around Nashville. They had this last year, but I didn't enter because I didn't take that many pictures due to the flood and some other lame reasons.

But, this year, I've entered! And, I'm pretty darned excited about it.

[Mainly, I'm excited because I don't have much to be else to be excited about right now, but this'll do for now.]

So, in a bit of a retrospective-hey-look-at-me celebration of my sort of 100th post, here are my five entries.

[And if you have taken pictures in or around the Nashville area over the last year, PLEASE, I beg of you, GO SUBMIT some pictures so we can beat out the lame-o, over-processing, HDR-addicted photographers here who always win these things. I won't name any names, but at least one of my readers knows exactly who I'm talking about.]

Oh, I still need to add my pictures. I get easily distracted. Here they are.

Wait, one last thing: Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the folks who helped me pick the five via Facebook. These are your five favorites.

Okay. HERE they are.

Owl at Radnor Lake, Davidson County

Fence and Tree at Iroquois Steeplecase, Davidson County

Highway Signs, Williamson County

David Wood Art Installation, Cheekwood Gardens, Davidson County

Walking Trail, Percy Warner Park, Davidson County

Five Things I Learned at Camp

2011-10-23T11:26:00.000-05:00

I'm back from photography camp (Camp Shutter Sisters) in Monterey. It was a fabulous trip and I have much to say - lots of stories, lots of emotions - good, bad and everything in between. But right now, there's no coherent order to it all. So, I will just leave you with some pictures and let you peruse the set of 200+ shots I created on Flickr.

Also, I thought I'd share 5 things I learned at camp, the things that have pieced themselves together from the trip so far:

1. Sometimes getting lost is just what you need. A pumpkin festival detoured us onto La Honda Road where we took an extra 3 hours to get to Monterey, but it was totally worth it. We ended up seeing redwoods, twisty roads and Alice's Restaurant, for which I'm still a bit unclear on the significance. It was the perfect diversion. It's what my mind needed to find calm before arriving at camp.

2. It's essential to find your tribe, those people who share your passion, whatever that is. It's imperative to find them and commune to make your soul feel full and happy. And know by this gathering of kindreds, that you are helping fill their souls as well.

3. Give yourself permission to be your true self all of the time, that person who sings or dances or acts generally goofy when you're alone. Be her, whenever you feel like it. People will love you for it and be inspired to be themselves too.

4. It's okay to want to be alone sometimes. It's okay to want white space to think, to relax or to just be. This is where you can find your center in the peace and quiet of your core. This is where ideas and inspiration form.

5. You never know as much as you think you do; and, you know more than you think you do. It's a humble confidence - open to learning, but confident and willing to share what you have learned. I quickly realized that there was so much I didn't know when I got to camp, but I also validated a lot of what I did know about photography. It was a good balance.

I hope these little nuggets help you as much as they have helped me. Now, here are some pretty pictures. Plus, you can see all of them over at Flickr.

On the way down.

The Pacific Coast Highway.

Checking in to camp.

Asilomar State Beach.

Camp residents.

Learning.

My favorite spot.

Saying goodbye.

I joined a roving band of roller skating beavers today.

2011-10-14T23:23:00.000-05:00

So, I finished up my last day of work and am now officially on vacation. It's the first real vacation I've taken in a couple of years. I'm not even going to check work email for the next 5 days. It's going to be THAT good of a vacation.

"Where are you going?" I imagine you asking yourself.... I'm going to Pacific Grove, California, to attend Camp Shutter Sisters. (I'm so tired from wrapping up at work that I inadvertently typed Camp Shitter Sisters. That's a totally different camp. Sorry.)

While I'm gone, the dogs are at a fancy doggie spa that costs over $100 a night. Little Bear is getting special TV couch time for $15 per day, along with 2 hours of Pal Time with the other little dogs for the low price of $8 per day. But the big girls, Amanda and Daisy, are also getting Pal Time with the big dogs. They have slides and pools and AstroTurf. They're not getting couch time because they would just eat the couch.

Anyway, for any of you nefarious sorts out there skulking my blog, please do not burgle my house while I'm gone. There's really nothing here except dog fur and I've set the alarm, including the electric fence that will melt your brains. Plus, I have a ton of retired neighbors who have nothing better to do than call the police at the slightest sign of a person driving too slowly or looking in windows. And, they're all zombies and they will eat your brains if the electric fence doesn't get you.

I should probably do some packing and go to bed. All I ate today were 2 Zone bars and some shortbread cookies from a vending machine. Combine that with some diet Mountain Dew and I could probably power a small town with my nervous energy.

Remember zombie neighbors, electric fence, dog fur. Nothing to see here.

Oh, except for pictures.

I'm starting to pack for my big trip.

Sunday morning, these kicks will be on the beach.

Of course, I took some pictures around here today.

It was all dewy this morning.

And, it was all sunshiny.

And then I joined a troublemaking/skating gang for smart women only here in my neighborhood and here's our mascot. We're the Bellevue Bluestocking Beaver* Gang. And yes, this is my rendering. Well, except I didn't draw the beaver. That was free clip art. But I colored her legs and drew in the skates. That counts for something. I know it does.

*I'm not referring to the naughty beaver. It's actually a reference to something that happened here. After the flood last year, someone reported that they'd found a decomposing human body near the river. Even police thought it was a human. When the forensics were called in though, they quickly identified it as a beaver, like the animal, not at all an adult human body. Yeah. We're a little stupid and a little over-reactive here in Bellevue. And so, the Bellevue Beaver was born.

Big Moon Rising

2011-10-12T22:24:00.000-05:00

My latest photography assignment is to shoot something BIG from different angles, perspective and/or light. So, I decided to go as big as possible. I shot the moon over the last few nights. [I just realized that if I shot pictures of the sun, technically speaking, that would have been bigger, but it's farther away. So, I'm declaring that it doesn't count. So there. :P]

Here are some of the candidates I may be turning in. These were all shot with the same lens - a 70-300mm, if you're wondering.

Caution: You're about to see an obnoxiously obscene amount of pictures of the moon.

I may or may not be turning into a zombie.

2011-10-09T19:34:00.000-05:00

In just six days, I will be flying to San Francisco to begin my big Camp Shutter Sisters adventure. I've been so stressed out the last few weeks and I'm really looking forward to being in a new place for a bit. I just need to absorb myself in an environment where I don't have a bit of responsibility, for just a bit.

As for the root cause of the stress, that's a bit of a mystery. Nothing bad is really going on. Things have actually been pretty calm lately. I think this new medication I'm on (Effexor) is making me rashy, itchy and jittery. It's a bad combination because I'm starting to scratch all these sores on my skin. It looks terrible. I look like I'm turning into a zombie, all scabby and bleedy. Can you slowing turn into a zombie? I think so. I think that's what's happening to me.

This week I'm going to focus on de-stressing as much as I can. I'm going to take 10 minutes breaks throughout the day to meditate. This won't be true meditation, but just me, sitting my ass down in a quiet place to clear my head and breathe. Let's hope that works.

In other news, I paid for some ad space on The Bloggess's website in order to promote my new journal blog, which I guess means it's not sort of secret any longer. Whatever. There's really no hiding on the internet anyway, right? Well, just today, without even posting anything new, I got 400 hits. That's pretty cool! So, if you're thinking of doing something along those lines, I highly recommend buying ad space on her site.

Of course, it's yet to be seen if anyone really continues to read the blog, but I wanted this to be an experiment anyway to objectively test if what I was writing was really interesting. If it's not, then I'm going to stop posting the nonsense and just focus on photography. Besides, I have about 300 pages of written stuff already. So, I can just save it for myself for later reading when I'm old and need a laugh at how ridiculous my life has been.

Anyway, if you wander over there, I have a new post about my 6th birthday with Liberace. I'm going to try to add new entries 2-3 times per week to keep it fresh. So, check back or subscribe if you like.

I'm sure I had something pithy I wanted to write about tonight. But, I've long forgotten. I blame the zombie transformation. If I remember, I'll come back tomorrow and also give you an update on how my Monday night photography class went. This week's assignment is abstracts and textures.

Blah. Enough of my nonsense. Here are some pictures I took this week.

Macro Marigold (for class).

The last of the daisies.

The start of the fall leaves.

A flower from my garden.

And another marigold.

The passing of a genius

2011-10-05T19:05:00.002-05:00

I love his commencement speech at Standford.

Braggerty McBragmeister

2011-10-04T21:21:00.002-05:00

So, I totally had the best photos at last night's photography class critique. Totally. I mean, there were a couple great photos from a couple other people, but all 10 of mine rocked. AND! The teacher said I was a natural at composition. I felt special for the first time in ages. Squeeeee!

In other bragging news, I scored a Coach tote bag at TJ Maxx for $125 and it turned out to be the perfect size to fit this Any Bag Camera Bag Insert. It holds my D7000 with a lens attached along with all my regular purse stuff. I don't just love it. I lurve it!

In a last bit of bragginess, I finally finished writing one of my little memoir pieces last night. It's about my ex-mother-in-law's house. I wrote the first five paragraphs about 3 years ago and finished the rest last night in a mad fit of late night writing. I wanted to write it all out for ages just because there really were a lot of humorous things going on in that sad little building. If you're not afraid to read a story about near-lethal ticks, click here.

Okay, that's all I got brag-wise. I'm going back to my usual self-loathing, self-destructive thinking and humor in the next blog, promise!

Here is the most random collection of pictures ever.

My new Coach Camera Bag.

Art is the Weapon - Art outside Watkins Art School.

Polaroid Star from one of the 50 Polaroid cameras I bought last month.

Leaves.

Pine Cones.

Cheekwood

2011-10-02T21:20:00.002-05:00

Remember the cheese festival? No, not in like a Remember the Alamo type of way. Well, something I ate there gave me hives, I think. I spent the weekend itchy. And now, I'm scabby. Itchy and scabby sounds like a good name for a rock band... or a good reason to get a penicillin shot.

Anyway. My next photography class is tomorrow night and I have to produce 10 aperture priority (depth of field) shots. We have to have a couple landscapes where everything is in focus and we have to have a couple where the subject is isolated and focused compared to the background. Cheekwood seemed like the ideal place to get those shots. So, I went there Saturday

And, here are shots from that little adventure.

The back of the mansion.

The reflecting pool.

One of the tiered ponds.

The garden part.

One of the many little creek/waterfall thingies they have.

Shot from today's trip to Warner Park.

Late Night Tidbits

2011-09-30T23:43:00.000-05:00

It's super late. So, I'm not going to blab anything too important. However, here are some random pieces of news.

(Also, if you're reading this in via RSS reader, click through to see the new October blog design. It's FALL, people!)

1. I went to a fabulous cheese festival tonight and bought jam and biscotti. I know, right? CHEESE festival. I'm going to have an awesome breakfast with some pumpkin spice coffee in the morning.

2. This morning, I saved a dead squirrel. Well, technically, I saved the body from getting run over by a car. The squirrel apparently dropped dead from natural causes in the middle of the road - no apparent trauma, no blood, no GSWs. So, I moved the body under a tree. I just wanted it to rest in peace instead of getting squashed into the pavement.

3. This weekend, I'm going to Cheekwood Gardens to finish up my photo assignment for Monday's class. I have to take a wide angle shot where everything is in focus. I know just the place. I'm so excited and the weather will be perfect.

4. The dogs have been rotten this week - see my tweets about the comforter that got peed on by one of the dogs. There was also barf, but that was on the carpet. I did get the comforter clean, but I had to step back in time and go to our unintentionally 80s-themed laundromat. They have coin operated TRS-80s, Ms. PacMan and bulging CRT tvs. The only thing missing is a hair band playing power ballads.

As of right now, I'm beat and I can't think of anything else to ramble about. Here are some of the pictures I'm thinking about using for my Monday assignment for shallow depth of field shots.

Your Five Best

2011-09-28T21:37:00.001-05:00

I came across this blog today that highlighted the tweet below.

I love Karen Walrond. If you haven't seen her book The Beauty of Different, you should check it out. She's so insightful and inspiring, especially since she is a lawyer who quit practicing, which I can identify with. And, she takes gorgeous pictures of people. She's just all around cool in many ways.

Back to the question, I started thinking about it and while offhand, I could answer it pretty easily, it's harder to know which decisions actually led you to the happy... the people, the experiences, your life as you know it.

For example, I could say that deciding to move to Nashville was one of the best decisions of my life. But then I would also say that getting married right after law school was one of the worst. BUT, if I hadn't gotten married, then I never would have moved to Nashville. Or maybe one of my best decisions was to STAY in Nashville after the divorce. Or maybe things would have been totally awesome if I'd moved to Dallas as planned.... Or maybe it's something silly like deciding to stay home from work one day when I could have been killed in a horrible freak accident involving a ballpoint pen falling off a tall building.

This starts to remind me of that scene from The Princess Bride where the lispy guy has the battle of wits with Wesley and goes through all the convoluted arguments of trying to determine which goblet has the poison. (See here as a refresher - they won't let me embed.)

These things hurt my brain.

So, I'm going to try to be straight forward about it. Here goes - my 5 best decisions as an adult so far, barring ballpoint pen incidents and such:

1. Getting a tattoo that is a daily reminder to have courage to keep going no matter how hard things get. And I do need a daily reminder.

2. Going to law school and working my ass off at it. I loved every minute of it and it totally reshaped my life.

3. Adopting all three of my dogs. All three were close calls that could have one either way, but I'm so glad I've got them. I don't have kids, but they are my little family.

4. Cutting people out of my life who suck the life out of me, especially my biological mother who only called when she needed something from me, primarily financial.

5. Telling my biological father to go to hell when he offered me a job making $1,000 a week in Los Angeles when I was just 13. I'll never really know if it was prostitution or selling drugs, but he was into both. So, I'm glad I didn't get into the family business, so to speak.

Technically, thirteen year olds are adults in many cultures. So, I'm counting that last one.

So, there you go. Please share yours, if you're so inclined, or at least think about it in your head and give yourself a big pat on the back - you deserve it! Life is hard and it's not easy making the right decisions.

Okay, a couple shots from today, taken near Alan Jackson's former 50,000 mansion just Southwest of Nashville. So very Tennessee.

The End of Summer

2011-09-27T21:05:00.001-05:00

Since it's officially Fall (and since I have a new photography assignment on depth of field), I thought I'd do a little goodbye to summer by taking pictures around our little neighborhood clubhouse.

Speaking of the photography class, my critique last night went well, I guess. There was one girl who blew everyone out of the water because she works at the Opryland Hotel, which is filled with dozens of waterfalls and fountains. The whole place just calls for long exposures. However, regular folk are not allowed to bring tripods in the building, so I didn't consider it as a shooting option.

Once I saw her shots, I felt a bit deflated. But, the professor liked my ~~duck~~ geese shots. Since I'm so much more comfortable with depth of field shots than I am on long shutter shots, I should feel better about my work next Monday night.

I am still loving the class. I've learned so much each class - way more than I even thought I would. As I hoped, the class is really pulling everything together. Maybe I can do little summaries of what I'm picking up, if I have time.

Speaking of time, I'm starting a new writing project - no pictures! Since I've never kept journals, I'm going to start posting journal entries I should have written, basically random funny, sad, weird stories from my funny, sad, weird life. I already have about 30 of them written and I've got plenty more in my noggin. So, I'll be posting those on a new blog site soon. Once I get a few stories re-edited and posted, I'll open up the blog for reading and provide a link here.

Okay, on to the pictures from today....

I love these metal umbrellas so very much. There used to be a couple more in different colors, but sadly a storm took them out.

The pool.

These chairs leave a very awkward waffle print on your butt.

Our fabulous tennis court, which I kind of wish they'd turn into a dog park.

And, another umbrella. So retro!

Goodbye, Summer! You were a good one!

I don't even feel like making something up to put here.

2011-09-25T20:11:00.000-05:00

I could not hate an assignment more than I hate this stupid shutter speed assignment.

There. I said it. That felt really good.

This assignment has killed my photo mojo. I can't shoot to save my life. Luckily, next week is aperture priority, which I rock at doing... mainly because that's all I do normally.

To finish up my assignment, I went to Warner Park today to shoot bicyclists as they sped by me on the trail. Fail. Big fail. Then, I tried going by Belmont University to shoot the fountains, but they were having some stupid fraternity/sorority nonsense where groups were meeting at every damned fountain on the campus. Ugh.

So, I fell back on a totally cliché shutter priority stunt - light painting. Let me tell you, I'm no Michelangelo, as evidenced below, but it does sort of look cool... if you squint... a lot... or just close your eyes.

Also, I managed to squeeze in one normal landscape shot today, along with one of my favorite houses in Nashville. I guess because it reminds me of a Frank Lloyd Wright design (it's not; I checked).

Well, I hope you had a great weekend, got outdoors and enjoyed the start of the fall season... or stayed indoors under the covers... whatever your thing is, I hope you got to do it.

Today's offerings:

A landsape of the park.

Not a Frank Lloyd Wright house.

Totally cliché.

"Art."

This kinda looks groovy.

Last one, I swear.

Duck Duck Duck Goose

2011-09-24T20:24:00.001-05:00

WARNING: This post is going to be rather long since I'm including so many pictures. Whatever. Also, I just realized that all these are geese and not ducks. Evs. Deal.

For my photography class, the first assignment is to practice with shutter priority. It's all about catching motion or freezing motion. Frankly, I suck at catching motion unless it's a waterfall; then it usually works out with the water looking all silky. But, I was too lazy to find a waterfall today.

So instead, I went to Centennial Park to practice on the ~~ducks~~ geese. I did a lot of practicing. To be more accurate, I did A LOT of failing. It is nice, in some way, getting to push myself to do photography I'm not comfortable with. But, my ego is a bit bruised because I feel like a big fat failure.

Me in a funny voice: "Boo hoo! Look at me! I shot some bad pictures! Waaaaaa!"

Anyhoo. Back in my regular voice: "Here are some of my favorites from today."

This little ~~duck~~ dog wanted to help feed the ~~ducks~~ geese. More to the point, I think he wanted to eat some bread the girl was throwing out.

I like the green of the pond. It's probably filled with lethal bacteria and algae.

Here's the pond reflecting more of the sky.

More sky. More ~~duck~~ goose.

And, more sky and more ~~duck~~ goose.

Wheeeee!

And, another ~~duck~~ goose.

Love the detail of the feathers, on yet another ~~duck~~ goose.

The end.

A Walk in the Woods

2011-09-23T22:31:00.003-05:00

I had a lovely walk at Percy Warner Park last Sunday and totally forgot to post the pictures. If you've never visited Tennessee in the Fall, it is truly breathtaking from start to finish. Here are a few shots as the leaves are just starting to turn and fall. I can't wait to take more shots over the next several weeks.

The park is filled with winding walkways.

This part of the walk was so quiet and serene.

Benches

A different angle.

This one is actually from my neighborhood, but I love concrete and leaves and had to post it too.

Concert of Idiots

2011-09-22T09:30:00.002-05:00

Oh my. What a night. So, Theresa and I arrived at the Opry to see Ray LaMontagne and there was a cop at the front telling everyone that bags will be searched and any cameras confiscated. Since Theresa had a camera in her bag, we ended up walking all the way back to the car to leave the camera there. Then, when we finally made it in the building, they weren’t searching anything, of course. *eye roll*

Of course, the front row seats were awesome. We had a perfect view of everyone on the stage. As Theresa and I were driving over there, we were talking about who was opening for Ray. The tickets didn’t say and I didn’t see anything when I bought them. So, it was a total mystery. When we got there, the stage was set for a full band and two young sisters came out to open with a few songs. So, we thought that was it.... Just the sisters and then Ray.

But, when the sisters were done, they announced that Brandi Carlile was coming out to open! I’m not sure if you’re familiar with her, but she’s one of my all time favorite singers and one of Theresa’s too! I think I actually like her more than Ray. So, it totally made the extra $$ for the front row seats completely worth it.

So, Brandi came out with her band and totally did this crazy thing of getting right at the edge of the stage and singing unplugged to the crowd – no microphones and it was amazing! Then, they played some really rocking tunes (I feel so old) including a couple Johnny Cash songs. It was such a great performance. But after only a few songs, she was done. I really could have listened to a couple more hours and she didn’t end up playing any of my big favorites.

At this point, I’m thinking that it’s going to be a really big difference to go from Brandi Carlile’s rocking style to Ray’s laid back folk style... and it totally was. It was... dare I say it... a bit boring. AND worst of all, by the time Ray made it on stage SO many people in the audience were completely wasted. Spilled beer was flowing down the floor. Between songs and even during songs some people were yelling out a lot of stupid stuff, not just the normal “We Love You!” type of stuff but just random nonsense. The two girls next to me were so incredibly wasted that one of them dropped her iPhone and shattered it (everyone had been videotaping the entire concert with their iPhones) and the other one kicked her beer and completely soaked my legs and shoes in beer. That was nice. Shortly thereafter, she left in a rush down the aisle and I think she got sick.

A lot of people were sitting there texting during the show. Some people got up and started two stepping in the aisles totally ruining some people’s view. These two rather large women went right up to the stage (everyone sat down for the whole concert) and just stood there blocking the front row’s view. One of the gals wasn’t even watching the concert. She was texting! Or making a grocery list. It’s hard to tell. The security people did nothing. Some people asked them to sit down, but they didn’t just continued to play on their phones and lean against the stage.

So, during this time, Ray was playing a ton of slow boring songs I’d never even heard of! And, the entire time, people just kept yelling out “Play Jolene!” which is his big song. I think he finally gave up and just played it. He played one more song after that and then left the stage. Theresa and I just looked at each other and agreed to get out of there before all the drunk people hit the road. So, we didn’t even see the encore. Who knows what happened after that and I kind of don’t care.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for seeing Brandi Carlile, I would have been really mad to have paid that much to see the concert and have it turn out that way. I guess part of it is me getting older and having less tolerance for shenanigans, but I’ve been to a ton of crazy rock concerts in my day, Metallica, Motley Crue, etc., and those crowds were much better behaved and respectful.

Well, that’s my really long story. I really am going to think twice about dropping $$$ for tickets again. But I had such a good time at the Rush concert earlier this year that I thought this would be pretty amazing. I guess you'd expect a bunch of Rush nerds to be better behaved than a bunch of random Nashvillians. But, I was pretty disappointed in my fellow citizens last night.

P.S. Dear Ray, not that you'll ever read this, but I still love you. You just didn't sing my favorite songs. Maybe next time. And, next time, play at the Ryman, the Mother Church of Good Music, where the audiences are much more respectful!

Here are some very grainy shots because I apparently don't know how to use my iPhone camera.

Brandi Carlile

Ray LaMontagne and the two Sisters

Sunday Wrap Up

2011-09-18T10:32:00.000-05:00

Oh, what a week. How was yours? Mine was rather bleh. I think I watched The Town and Something Borrowed over a dozen times, collectively. Cuz that's how exciting my life is.

The good news is that it's been a pretty good weekend so far. I spent most of yesterday photographing and listing a bunch of iPad cases on eBay. And, I've already sold one for $100. w00t!

I've got a half dozen more to sell, none of them are that expensive, but it's going to add up to a nice little sum I plan to spend on a new ball-head tripod. The one I have is a flimsy $40 one that is guaranteed to topple over with the weight of the D7000 plus a heavy lens. So, it'll be nice to get a good solid set of sticks. (See what I did there using photography jargon? That makes me a professional... well, maybe just a professional d-bag.)

This week is shaping up to be exciting. I have front row seats at the Opry to see Ray LaMontagne. If you haven't heard him, go listen to Jolene (not the Dolly Parton song, although that one is great too). My friend T is coming to town for the show. So, that's awesome too.

Well, below are a few things I thought I'd share, in addition to the usual pictures. Have a great week and I'm sure I'll be posting more nonsense later this week.

There are very few things that would convince me to get married for a third time. I mean, even I know when to holler "uncle." But, if I were to ever, I want to be married to a guy like this. I'm sure you've all seen this viral video, but watch it again and see how sweet and flirty he is with her!

So, this happened, but no one seemed overly concerned.

And here are some pictures from this week. I was in a vintage-y mood when it came to processing.

A lovely barn near my dentist's office.

I love the flag.

Flowers from an overgrown field in my neighborhood.

The moon the other night was really cool. Shot with my crappy tripod.

A Ode to Learning

2011-09-14T20:09:00.002-05:00

I strongly believe that no matter how a relationship ends, good, bad or somewhere in between, there's always something you can learn from that person. Ergo, you can always count yourself fortunate to have known that person...

even though you may never want to see them again and hope that they fall in a large hole full of venomous snakes and hungry chiggers where the only escape is going full-on Shawshank Redemption, crawling through the sewer, only to discover they face paper-wielding ninjas who shallowly cut their every inch of flesh and simultaneously spray salt and lemon on the wounds until they die from poison and bacterial infection.

Not that I've ever thought that about anyone.

*cough* ex-husband *cough*

So, about that learning thing.... Several people have asked why I'm taking a Photography for Beginners class. There are two reasons. First, it's a prerequisite to Photography II and I'm not outgoing enough to go ask to skip the beginner's class and be admitted to the II class. What can I say? I'm a wimp.

Second, since I'm sort of self-taught with this whole photography thing, I want to make sure that I'm not missing or misunderstanding* anything. I want to completely saturate myself with the intimate knowledge of the camera's operational power.

Okay, that might be a bit dramatic. But you get the point. I want to fill in the gaps in my knowledge.

All this photography learning has left me a bit nostalgic though. I'm not entirely self-taught and I have to give credit to one person who really supported me and gave me such wonderful advice when I was first starting out.

Around the time I started taking an interest in photography, I was dating a guy named Kurt from New York. We met... where else... online. (He's the Monster Apathy dude, if you follow that.) He was not only a blogger but a great photographer. He walked me through all the basics and taught me tons of tips and tricks. He helped me purchase my first DSLR and lenses and we went on a lot of photo walks together. It was great fun. (Well, until it wasn't.)

Sincerely, I am forever thankful for Kurt's help because he completely changed my life forever, for the better. He helped me find that passionate hobby we all need to have in our lives and he inspired and supported me to keep going.

Of course, all that being said, things ended badly as they sometimes do and we are no longer on friendly terms. Regardless, Kurt will always have a special place in my heart for his important part in my learning process, in forming that strong foundation I'm now building on.

So, I'm sending out thanks to all those friends, past, present and future, for helping me learn various and sundry things that have helped me survive this thing called life. Thank you. You out there reading this too.

*A funny aside.... My mother taught me to read and write at an early age. However, English was her second language. It wasn't until law school that I found out that several words she used and taught me to use were pronounced incorrectly. Several. For example, I went through over 20 years of schooling mispronouncing ecstatic as esstatic. My mother thought the c was silent. And, until law school, no one corrected me. For photography, I want to make sure I don't make an ass of myself for 20 years. Well, I'll probably make an ass of myself but for other reasons.

From my garden.

Starting to look like fall.

Cameras!

2011-09-14T19:30:00.001-05:00

I've been itching to post more authentic, personal stuff here, but it's hard because this is such a public space. Not that I have thousands of readers, but you know - work, exes, frienemies.... You have to be careful what you say.

Instead of going all dramatic on you, I'll answer a couple photography questions posed to me by the lovely and talented Mandy from You've Got To Be Kidding Me (If you're not a subscriber, please go and do that now. It's a wonderfully funny and poignant blog that never disappoints.)

In what might have been a "Geez woman, you are nuts!" type of rhetorical question, the answer to how many cameras do I have is 16, presently. Honestly, most of these are eBay purchases that look pretty on my shelf and I'm not even sure they work. But look how cute they are! (see below)

As for the ones I actually use, I have the Nikon D7000 DSLR (with 4 lenses) and the Nikon P7000 point & shoot for those times when the DSLR is too big to lug around. I was planning on using the Polaroid, but I'm not liking the results I'm getting from the film.

As for recommendations, that's a tough question because I've only really shot with Nikon cameras, which I love. However, I have many friends who shoot with Canons who take beautiful photos.

Here's my advice though. If you're looking for a long-term camera and you have kids, I say go for the DSLR and leave the point & shoots behind. You'll be so much more pleased with the memories you capture with the DSLR. And, it will really inspire you to get more creative too. Plus, as much shopping as I've done for a fun point & shoot, I've been really disappointed in what's out there.

Now, while I'm not able to weigh in on Canon cameras since I don't have experience with them, I'd highly recommend either the Nikon D3100 or the D5100. They're both excellent cameras and easy to use even if you never take it off automatic. I know they're a bit pricey, but the Coolpix and Panasonic point & shoots just won't nail the shots. You'll miss important memories. You might as well use your iPhone if you really want a point & shoot.

As for lenses, I recommend initially just going with the two standard kit lenses that most stores will include with the purchase of a body for just a little extra money - usually a 17-50mm and a 70-300mm. These will serve as your go-to lenses for wide angle nature shots and zoom-in sports or action shots, respectively.

But, the lens that will make you the happiest, the one you'll use the most to get beautiful, intimate portraits and family pictures, is the 50mm (either f/1.4 or f/1.8). Anther benefit, the 50mm is a smaller lens that will make it easy to carry the camera with you in your handbag. This lens will make the purchase of the DSLR worth every penny. If you want to see what the 50mm can do, check out some shots on Flickr. Also, if you've been following this blog for a while, it's really what I shoot with 90% of the time.

So, whether you go with something like the D3100 or the D5100, it'll cost you a total of $1,000-$1,200 (before tax if you shop in your own state and not online). I know it sounds like a lot, but you'll have an incredible amount of fun capturing beautiful, high-resolution, large-printable photographs. And, the camera will last a good long while.

That's my take on things anyway. If any of you out there have a camera or get a camera, be sure we're friends on Flickr. I'd love to see your shots!

And, since I'm still feeling the need to post something more personal, I'll write about why I'm taking the photography class in my next blog. Update: here's Part 2: The Nostalgia Monologues.

Here's my current collection of cameras - everything except my Nikon D7000 DSLR.

First Day of School

2011-09-12T15:15:00.002-05:00

Somehow, I ended up with FOUR Polaroid SX-70s. Three of them arrived today. It all started out innocently enough. I got the one for me, then I thought it would be cool for my cousin Lisa to have one too.

But then the seller of one contacted me and said that he accidentally dropped the one I bought and would it be okay for him to replace it with a Sonar One SX-70 instead? Yes, I said. But, then he mailed the broken one as well, which appears to still be working, but with one tiny hinge slightly bent.

However, in the interim of him breaking and then finding another camera for me, I got nervous and bought another SX-70... you know... just in case. Well, the first one came today along with the second and third. I'm waiting on the fourth which should arrive Wednesday. I'm an idiot.

The interesting thing is that these cameras are much bigger than I thought they would be... and heavy too. I did get the Impossible Project film and tried out the two non-dropped cameras. Both work, but the pictures aren't great. I have no idea if that is the camera's fault, the film's fault or my fault. We may never know. But since 8 exposures cost $25, I'm not going to experiment much to find out.

In more exciting news, my first Intro to Photography class is tonight. I'm terrified. Terrified as in a "What am I going to wear?" "What if they don't like me?" "What if I say something stupid?" "What if my dogs eat all the contents of my house while I'm gone?" kind of way. I'll be sure and report back on the answers to all those questions.

Well, it appears I've been recalcitrant in updating the blog as of late. So, here's the latest from the last week, including a concert with The Weepies and the ever so slight emergence of Fall.

The Weepies, plus a really weird/cool bass player.

A flower from my photo walk with Theresa at Cheekwood.

A shot from Warner Park where I got hopelessly lost for about 30 minutes.

Not an SX-70, but one of my vintage cameras.

Another vintage. I'll post pics of all four SX-70s once I get the fourth one.

The weather outside is weather....

2011-09-06T20:50:00.000-05:00

It's still raining. Tropical storm Lee is still dumping drizzle on me and the dogs every day since Saturday. It really is a shame that Texas and Oklahoma can't get all this water for the fires. Awful stuff down there.

Not much news to report except that it's damned hard to go back to work after being out of town and after a long weekend. And, somehow I managed to get one of those change-of-season colds. It's all good though. I'm treating it with bad moves on cable and a bottle of Cab. Nothing like the spirit of the vine to kill a virus, eh?

Alright, here are my shots of the drizzle.

It's beginning to look a lot like....

2011-09-04T18:19:00.002-05:00

Autumn! Sweater weather! Wool skirt and boots weather!

Here are some pictures from a park near my house where the leaves have stared to turn, just barely.

Stuff That Sucks Sunday

2011-08-28T21:41:00.000-05:00

You know how there are all these happy blogs out there that list things the blogger is grateful for, counting blessings and such. Yeah, that's not what this is going to be.

See, I hate Sundays. It's a tease. Oh, it's a day off, but with the horrible anxiety of having to go to work the next day with a calendar full of meetings. Plus, there are all the preparing-for-the-next-work-week chores. It all makes me grumpy as [fill in your favorite four letter word]. (This blog attempts to be family friendly on occasion.)

So, here's my inaugural Stuff That Sucks list, which I will be updating each Sunday, along with posting my usual random nonsensical collection of photos.

1. Laundry sucks. It's a total suckfestival to sort, to fold and to put away, especially when most of it isn't even yours. Suckadoodledoo.

2. Sleeping in sucks. Usually, sleeping in is the exact opposite of suckdom, but on Sunday, it just shortens the amount of time between you and chores and Monday morning meetings.

3. Traveling for work is sucktabulous. I leave for Boise on Tuesday. So, tomorrow will not only be a day full of meetings, but also a day full of getting ready for the stupid trip.

4. Running out of episodes of Gossip Girl is suckalicious. I just finished season 4 and season 5 doesn't start until the end of September (Sucktember is more like it.) Only a few hours have passed since I last saw those fashionable NYC teens in trouble and I already miss Chuck Bass like I miss my size 2 figure. Don't get me started on that. I'm sure I'll cover it another Sunday.

5. The end of the month is a permanent resident of Suckville. I have around $50 to last until payday. I've paid all my bills, but I seriously thought I'd be rolling in major bank by this age. Nope. I'm rolling in something, but it's not bank.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful, non-sucking week. If you'd like to vent about your suck list, please don't hesitate - leave your list in the comments. It's all about wallowing together in times of need.

P.S. If you're offended by the word "suck" please cross out each instance on your screen and replace it with "stink." I apologize for the inconvenience, but suck just works better than stink. I'm a writer. These things matter.

Amanda, looking at me and thinking, "You aiming that camera at me sucks."

Stupid leaf.

Stupid rose.

Salt Lake Summary

2011-08-27T16:14:00.000-05:00

My trip to Utah was relatively uneventful, other than a wonderful meal at The Bohemian Brewery and a mysteriously wrecked front grill on the rental car. Whatever. That's next week's drama.

On another note, there's a website I wanted to share. It's called B for Bel and I can't get enough of her blog entries. The tagline is "Everything that makes you go oooohh" for a good reason. She finds the most interesting and beautiful things to blog about including this cool entry on how to explain the Kindle to Charles Dickens, this create design idea on framing pretty shopping bags as art, this showcase of portraits draw using the subject's own words and this gorgeous feature of maps turned into modern art. Check it out - I guarantee you'll find something you love.

And, without further ado, here are some of my shots from Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City Sunflower: There were fields of them everywhere. So pretty!

Salt Lake City Sunrise: I stepped out of my hotel room to this good morning welcome.

Wide View

Theater: I had a couple extra hours before my flight. It was too hot to drive around taking pictures. So, I saw Harry Potter 7.2, which was AWESOME!

Finding Friends in Odd Places

2011-08-23T21:46:00.001-05:00

My administrative assistant turned in her two weeks notice today. She was my 10th in less than 6 years. I swear I'm not a bad boss. Many of these people were/are wonderful and we're still friends to this day. They were just too good and got themselves promoted out of my department.

That's the case with number 10. She is an amazing person. Even though she's had a really rough time this past year, she's always kept a positive attitude. She continuously went the extra mile to ensure my team and I had everything we needed. She even anticipated needs we didn't even know we had! She was just that good.

The thing I love about getting to know people (some people, anyway) is learning little life lessons that stick with you and change you forever. There are so many people I could thank for inspiring me in this way. In that respect, she is no different.

One of the many things I learned from this wonderful person is this: Let people see you treating yourself well and doing nice things for yourself. It sets the tone for how people will treat you. She said that to me the first week I met her when we were chatting about our personal lives and procrastinating work. I love that about her - right from the beginning we talked like we were old friends.

So, my awesome administrative assistant is leaving me, but I'm gaining a great friend in return. Her new job takes her to an office within our company and we've promised to have lunch and continue having those personal, supportive conversations. I'm so glad we stumbled upon each other because good friends are hard to find. And, she is one of those rare jewels.

[All that being said, there are some really funny stories to tell about a few of the ten administrative assistants I've had the pleasure of working with, which I plan to write about later this week. Of course, I'll change the names to protect the batshit crazy. Stay tuned.]

Here are my shots from today.

My neighbor's rose.

Another of her roses.

Even more of my neighbor's roses. (They were gone to dinner and I slipped into their garden to steal some shots. I'm evil that way.)

And finally, one of my marigolds.

One Day Closer

2011-08-21T20:12:00.001-05:00

Well, I'm still in a funk. It was actually pretty bad today. But, a thought crossed my mind that gave me some hope....

If you've known me for a while, you know I'm completely and utterly in love with Oregon, specifically the Oregon coast. In fact, I'm going to retire there. No question about it. I am going to live somewhere on or near the Oregon coast.

So, I had the thought today that, no matter when I finally pack my bags and go, every day, I'm one day closer to living in my favorite place. One day closer. And, today, that gives me the hope I needed to get through this dreadfully depressing day.

Here are some shots from this afternoon.

Grumpy Smurf

2011-08-20T19:46:00.001-05:00

I'm feeling grumpy and sorry for myself today, with a healthy portion of self-loathing on the side. Gah! Obviously, I'm still waiting for my new depression meds to kick in.

So, I'm just going to shut up and post some pictures from the last few days. I'm especially loving this butterfly who posed for me while I snapped away. All these are from around my 'hood.

Tidbits

2011-08-17T19:42:00.006-05:00

Yeah, I'm all out of clever titles. So, here's some news.

A. I still haven't started the personal training yet. I'm going to. Promise. I just decided to wait until I get the money from the sale of my Jeep.

B. Oh yeah, I'm selling my Jeep. I have a buyer and everything! w00t!!11!!

C. Bear is recovering nicely from her ACL surgery... so well that she is back to acting like Tasmanian devil on speed.

D. I had to get an array of of blood tests in order to qualify for insurance at work. I've been eating so much junk food this summer that I thought the blood they drew might be the color of diet Dr Pepper or Caramel Creams. But no more! I'm officially on a health food kick. I mean, I still had three diet soft drinks today, but I didn't eat any candy... except for a Peppermint Pattie and some of those dinner mint thingies. Okay, maybe I'm not on a true "kick" yet, but I'm mentally there.

E. I'm still sadly addicted to Pinterest and Gossip Girl. I'm pathetic.

F. I found an awesome new photography book called Understanding Exposure. I've only gotten through the first 30 pages and have already picked up a ton of new tricks.

G. My Roku is totally pissing me off by freezing up and failing to rewind when I aim the remote at it and press all kinds of buttons and curse at it.

H. If you're still reading this wandering list of nonsense, God bless you.

I. I seriously need to get to the gym.

J. I have nothing more; I just like the letter J and didn't want to leave it out.

Well, on that happy letter, I will end this ramble and let you tell me how your week is going!

And here are some pictures.

Look who got her staples out! BEHOLD THE CHICKEN LEG!!!

Look who got bored and took pictures of weeds!

And a fence!

Look who went to Cheekwood Gardens this weekend!

Look who got bored at work today and walked across the street to Centennial Park!

That's all I got. Why are you still reading this?

Critical Mass

2011-08-12T14:21:00.001-05:00

I knew it before I stepped on the scale this morning. I have an uncanny ability to know my exact weight, to the pound, at all times. And, as confirmed by my arch nemesis, I officially have reached critical mass.

This isn't the critical mass you learned about in high school chemistry class. This critical mass is when you get on the scale and realize it is a true weight gain emergency that skipping a few meals or skipping a few blocks isn't going to fix. It's become critical that I reduce my mass and it's going to take months.

It's depressing just typing those words.

The last 6 months, I have probably eaten my weight in candy - caramel creams, candy corn, Skittles. The more sugar the better. It soothes the savage beast that is my anxiety and depression to a dull roar. But clearly, the self-destructive self-medicating has its consequences and must end.

So, I took a big leap today and met with a personal trainer. We set goals; we mapped out a plan; and I handed over my Visa. Honestly, seeing the total cost for a 1 year training contract was more painful than seeing the number on the scale this morning.

But, I dug myself into this mess and I need to dig myself out. I know the exercise will help my self-esteem (which has been in the sh!tter for months now) and will help my depression and anxiety. And, I know if I pay what could be a down payment on a car or at least three pairs of Louboutins in fees for a personal trainer, I will work this mother until i get down to my goal weight/shape again.

Wish me luck! I'm seriously going to need it. Now, please pass the protein shakes and rice cakes.

Oh, and here are some pictures from my depressing walk around the lake yesterday. I got all sad and thought it would be uplifting to go to Radnor. The outing just made me more depressed because all the people on the trails were thin. Also, I nearly covered myself in poison ivy because I didn't know what it looked like until I posted this picture on Facebook last night and my good friend T asked me, "You didn't touch that, right?"

"I'm not a smart man, Jenny."

Behold, the "leaves of three, let it be" plant.

It really is a lovely walk around the lake.

And you meet up with interesting friends.

Even the benches are friendly and helpful.

I need an intervention

2011-08-08T12:29:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, The Significant Other was off rehearsing for a play, doing some blocking for a tv station and moving sets or something to that effect. I don't know. It's all technical acting stuff I don't understand.

But back to *ME*! I decided to spend the time watching stuff on the Roku since (a) I had to stick next to Bear who is still recovering from ACL surgery; and (b) I had the tv all to myself with the full ability to watch whatever nonsense I could find.

So, I started out with a few action/box office movies I'd been wanting to see: The Town, The Fighter, The Company Men. Then, I moved on to more intellectual fare and watched the first season of Downton Abbey, a BBC series which was pretty awesome.

Things took a turn, though....

When I got on IMDb to research the top TV series of all time, I quickly spotted the international gem known as Gossip Girl. I read over the description involving angsty, rich teens hashing out the hard life in the Upper East Side of the Big Apple and thought, "Just one episode won't hurt. You can quit after that. It's just one tiny guilty pleasure, right?"

You know what's coming.

I bought the entire first season... on HD. And, I'm dedicated to watching the four other seasons as well. I mean, who can resist being mesmerized by the long, lovely blonde locks of Serena van der Woodsen? Who can overcome the devilish temptation that is awaiting to see what Chuck Bass might do next in his evil plot to be THE single perviest teen date-rapist in NYC? Oh, and how can anyone not be moved to the core by the sultry sexual tension between the outsider Dan and Serena???

Clearly, not me. I'm hooked. Like a crack addict.

Sorry, I have no more to write because I've got more episodes to watch. I have to get all caught up before season 5 starts in September.

Here are some pictures I took this weekend. I may never take pictures again though, unless it's in a 6 foot radius of my television. So, enjoy!

The road from my friend Theresa's cabin. Gorgeous!

More of my neighbor's roses.

Weird looking sky.

The Cloud

2011-08-04T20:54:00.001-05:00

I've been struggling with anxiety and depression lately - more than usual. It's that feeling where it seems there's a dark cloud looming overhead. I'm constantly stressing about something. My brain feels like it's on fire.

I know I can feel better than this. I know I'm capable of it.

Today, I hauled my butt down to the psych dude. After a rambling dissertation of what I've been feeling like, replete with fidgeting in my chair and anxiety in my voice, we decided to switch up my meds a bit. So, I'm getting off just one of the three depression meds I'm on and getting on a new one.

Also, I decided it's time to get back into therapy. The psych dude referred me to a therapy chick whose resume seems pretty cool. (I Googled her!) She's actually a therapist to therapists and she specializes in people with PTSD. So, I'm sure she can deal with my dumb stuff.

For the first time in a very long time, I feel hopeful. That's kind of a rare thing for me.

If you're out there with the dark cloud above you, please know there's hope. Things get better. Things can get better if you fight for yourself.

These pictures have nothing to do with this post. They're just the ones I took today. I could make some nifty metaphor with guitars and happiness, but I'm tired and my meds haven't kicked in yet.

I used a thesaurus to look up sagaciousness.

2011-08-02T18:53:00.001-05:00

I wish I had something intelligent to say, but I was awake most of the night tending to a grumpy, whiny Bear. She wasn't in a lot of pain (I have good meds for her), but she wanted me to rub her belly the entire night. Of course, since she went through a really painful surgery, I had to oblige. But after sitting here all day in front of my work laptop and keeping an eye on her, I'm beat and decidedly stupid. I also blame the fact that I watched eleventy gajillion episodes of Billy the Exterminator today. I was so taken with the show that I even wrote a Haiku about it.

Exterminator,

Billy likes to kill those bugs.

It just creeps me out.

I think that exhausted any and all sagaciousness I had left in my body. So, here are some pictures.

Bear, post surgery.

Evil Bear, telling me to back the eff up.

My first maternity shoot.

The happy couple gave birth about 18 hours later to a beautiful little boy.

A random tree I thought was pretty.

A quote I really like by Albert Camus (slightly reworded since the French translation is a bit ambiguous, and in my studied estimation, a tad bit wordy.

When life gives you lemons....

2011-07-26T20:43:00.000-05:00

I actually hate that saying. What if life gives you lemons and you have no sugar? What if you're completely out of water? Then what? Huh?

Well, this week I feel like the girl with a basketful of lemons and not a drop of water or a crystal of sugar in sight. I know, I know... things could be worse. But that doesn't mean things don't just suck right now anyway.

I found out today that my Pomeranian Bear has to have another ACL surgery, this time on her other knee. It is a long, arduous, three month recovery that neither of us are looking forward to, if I may speak on her behalf.

Of course, before I found out I had to fork over $2k for the surgery I ordered a bunch of stuff from Macy's, including these fabulous suede beauties.

Add another lemon in my basket because they don't fit - too narrow! They are *THE* pair shoes I've been looking for as a substitute for this pair of Jimmy Choos nearly like them only at a tenth of the price. There is no lemonade here, only sad, unstylish feet.

In addition to the Choo fiasco, I found out that I forgot to pay AmEx for around $1k of charges from my Alaska trip... in *APRIL*!!! I thought I paid it and my statement got all messed up because I was traveling so much. I paid it and now have pretty much nothing in my checkbook until Friday. Lemon, lemon, lemon, lemon.

In happy news, I am loving my new car and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to sell my Jeep (although I will miss him, dear Oscar). And, Bear is supposed to make a full recovery with her two little $4000 bionic knees. Worth every penny, the little whirling dervish of fur and fury that she is.

Here's her sad little "Mommy, I'm hurting" look. Ugh. Breaks my heart. LEMON!!!!

Another Great Ted Talk

2011-07-23T17:08:00.001-05:00

This is so good - inspiring and well worth the 14 minutes.

"Actor Thandie Newton tells the story of finding her 'otherness' -- first, as a child growing up in two distinct cultures, and then as an actor playing with many different selves."

Like a hold in the head.

2011-07-22T22:30:00.002-05:00

I needed to join another social networking site like... well, you know. It's a terrible expression. Anyway, this week, I joined not one but two new sites and I'm STILL awaiting my Google+ invite. *taps foot impatiently* Gah!

The first new addition to my addictions is Pinterest. Are you on there? Then you know what I'm talking about. Crack cocaine. For those of you who are unfamiliar, you create virtual bulletin boards and pin pretty pictures and ideas to your boards. At first, I was like... meh.

But then I realized I could use it like a scrapbook of places I wanted to see, things I wanted to buy, rooms I wanted to decorate... shoes, bags, bookcases, puppies, tree houses, gadgets... Argh! Now I spend hours perusing the boards of the people I follow, repinning friends' pins, searching the internet for stuff to pin and generally worrying if I'm going to be a "tastemaker" one day and what pressures it will bring to keep pinning things other people repin!

You see where this is all going. It's going to take over my entire life. But, lest you feel left out, if you'd like an invite... just send me your email address (right now, it's invitation only) and I'll hook you up. It's free... just like that first hit of crack. Join me, won't you? I'm on there as greystgirl.

The second ~~time suck~~ wonderful website is 500px. It's a photography site, much like Flickr, except you're only supposed to post your very best work. There's a voting system and a ranking system and it's all very formal with real time rankings. I got hooked because it does showcase your photos a lot better than Flickr. You can create a beautiful online portfolio and even use your own URL (e.g., www.evawood.com).

AND, the nice part is that you can turn on the "store" function which will allow anyone to purchase prints of your stuff. It's especially cool because other than turning it on and determine profit levels, there's nothing more to do; 500px and Fotomoto (the printer) take care of everything else - payment, printing, shipping and paying you! So, although I generally loathe selling my photos (a) because I'm not sure anyone would really buy them and (b) because it's usually a huge hassle, this seems pretty easy on the ego and pretty low maintenance.

[Update: I do caution you that 500px does contain a bit of nude "art" posted by some users (not me!). I think that most of it is viewable only if you click on the "hey, there's a nekkid body under here" link. But, some of it makes it through the filter. So, sorry if you clicked over there to look at other people's pictures and saw bewbies. Forgive me!]

I guess that's all the big news.... Oh wait. I bought a new car! Picture posted below along with some other favorites from this past week. Hope you've had a good week and have some fun (air conditioned) plans for this weekend!

I present to you the Honda Crosstour - IT'S NOT A STATION WAGON!

My neighbors flowers. I love these!!!

My neighbor's prize winning rosebush.

Geez - one more of the SAME neighbor's flowers. You can tell I didn't stray too far this week.

Okay, here's one of MY roses. Yay! I didn't kill it! (yet)

Oh, I did go to this place because after over 100 years, it was going to close, but everyone had the same idea and they made enough money to pay the rent and stay open. Yay! They have the most awesome strawberry milkshakes. I need to hit the treadmill now. Boo!

Randomy McRandomer

2011-07-15T20:31:00.000-05:00

This is going to be the most random assortment of words and pictures ever. Ever.

First, my cousin sent me an AWESOME care package that I received yesterday. If you click on the picture below, it explains all the items in better detail. Thank you, Lisa!!!! I love it!

My neighbor got a new hibiscus plant. Squeeeee!

Leaf in the parking lot at work.

Bug

Sky

On a more serious note, I think my Pomeranian (Bear) is going to need ACL surgery again (on the other knee). She's been limping around, which just breaks my heart. I mean, look at her - she's so darned cute!

In Love with Emily

2011-07-11T21:27:00.000-05:00

I love poetry, and I really should be more well-read; however, I blame this deficiency on my differently-focused Oklahoma education. Poetry really didn't have that much of a place in the curriculum. We tended to learn more about cows, wheat, football and land runs.

Additionally, I blame my hesitance to explore poetry as an adult on the fact that I was traumatized by the Nashville songwriting community for several years. Stories for other blogs....

When I stumbled upon two Emily Dickinson poems today, I thought it would be fun to make a little art using my photography. I spent way too much time picking a font. But, I guess that's the fun part.

In addition to Emily, I also like WH Auden and Robert Frost. I like Robert Frost partly because my grandmother (adopted mom) worked for him doing some typing when she was younger. He gave her an autographed book, but she didn't think too much of his poetry and gave it too Goodwill. Wish I had it now! Oh well!

So, do you have a favorite poet and/or poem? Please share!

[In other news, I went to the Nashville Zoo yesterday. To see shots from that little adventure, click here.]

Hope

It's All I Have to Bring Today

Miscellany

2011-07-09T21:41:00.000-05:00

First and foremost, I do not like the new "cleaner" looking Blogger dashboard. I like the dirty, filthy, old version. Everything has moved! I don't know where to type my title without THINKING about it. Google, how dare you make me THINK!

Second and midmost, I purchased an elliptical machine last week and we assembled it yesterday (By "we" I mean Dan. I watched and handed things to him occasionally.). Tonight, I started my new workout regimen. It lasted a whole 5 minutes before my legs were jelly. I am THAT out of shape. Ugh.

Third and backmost, I went to Cheekwood Gardens today after running way too many errands in the infernal heat. Here are some shots from my walk around the gardens, whilst ~~dripping with sweat~~ ~~mass producing perspiration~~ glistening with a healthy glow of warm sunshine.

(By the way, the computer alerted me that backmost is not really a word. Duh. But, it says that midmost IS a word. Hmmmm.... One of those phenomenal mysteries of the Universe that I will never comprehend.)

Hope you're having a wonderful & relaxing weekend!

I love lilies!

I love this little pond!

An interesting art installation:

A friendly frog enjoying the interesting art installation:

And, this is from yesterday, but I like it so much I thought I'd sneak it in today.

Around the 'hood

2011-07-07T18:46:00.000-05:00

For the past 10 years, I've owned a townhouse-style condo in a neighborhood that might as well be a retirement village. When I dare go to homeowners' association meetings, I am usually the youngest by several decades.

In fact, my next door neighbor is of the generation where men didn't speak to women directly. It was unseemly! Instead, if I answer the door, he asks to speak to the man of the house. Since my divorce, he doesn't speak to me at all. I'm sure in his mind, I wear some sort of scarlet A underneath the usual OU Law Review shirts I wear outside to garden.

Now the ladies of the neighborhood are all up in everyone's business. They spy, they gossip, they scold like mother hens if the bylaws are not obeyed in the strictest sense. Some of them are downright delusional and paranoid.

One lady is convinced that I work for the association and, when I'm out with my camera, that I'm trying to catch her in some act that is not in accordance with the bylaws and memos issued thereunder in order to report her for any violation. I assure you, all I'm taking pictures of are squirrels and flowers. This is what I tell her, but she doesn't buy it for one second.

I have so many stories to tell from my interactions and encounters here in the complex that I've considered starting a blog. I've already named most of the characters:

There's Golf Club Guy who walks with a golf club and swings it at me and my dogs if we inadvertently get too close. At one point when he got really close, I called him an effing a-hole, only I didn't use the nice version I just typed here.
There's Wilford Brimley, named so because he sits at the local pub after walking around the neighborhood each evening and looks JUST LIKE Wilford Brimley. I want to ask him if he will dance and say DI-BEET-US for me like in this video.
There's The Huffer, the guy who jogs for 2 hours up and down the long street huffing with every step he takes. He told me I smelled bad one time when I went out to walk and had sprayed on mosquito repellant. Nice, you sweaty heavy breather.
There's the Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man. He walks around the block dressed in white shorts and a white shirt, with white shoes and socks. And, he is very rotund, like a marshmallow.
There's the Hussy. She walks her dog Sampson and flirts with all the old guys who walk their dogs. She outright STOLE the old guy with the border collie from the nice old woman with the poodle named Jacques. AND I caught her walking her dog in nothing but jean-short overalls WITH NO SHIRT OR BRA ON UNDERNEATH! I saw nipple! Nobody needs to see that. No one.
Then, there is my arch nemesis. I call her The Bitch over the Biddy Posse. She is constantly calling the association to report people, including me. And, if she doesn't get her way, she will round up the other biddies in the neighborhood and knock on doors giving people what for. She actually has a gorgeous garden next to her condo. One day she asked me if I was the one who takes the pictures for the neighborhood calendar I make every year. I said yes, but then turned and walked away because she's always been so mean to me. And, no matter how pretty her flowers are, they are NOT making it into the neighborhood calendar because she's so effing mean! I don't even TAKE pictures of her flowers because I don't want to give her the satisfaction of any positive attention. Yeah, I know - I'm 5 years old. Whatever. She is not getting in my calendar!!!

Well, I've taken up way more space writing all this out than I intended. You get the point. It's nutso here. But, one happy thing has me intrigued this past week....

A little boy (we will call him Christopher Robin) and his sister are building a tree house within view of my living room window. I'm sure they're just staying with grandparents over the summer, but it makes me oh so happy to see the young folk romping around the neighborhood with all sorts of random nonsense they are using to construct their little tree fort (empty paint cans, rope, sticks, etc.).

My only fear is that some crabby old neighbor is going to make them stop because they might fall and sue the association. *eye roll* I swear, if I see that happen, I will take Golf Club Guy's 9 iron and go after the biddy who ruins their fun (and ergo mine since I am living vicariously).

Okay, I'm ending this rambling bit of nonsense. Here are some pictures from around the 'hood this week (sans crabby neighbors).

Going up:

Peeking out:

Growing out:

Fireworks photos... blah blah blah

2011-07-05T12:57:00.000-05:00

Yeah yeah. I'm sure you all saw some last night. But I was especially excited to take fireworks photos with my new camera.

We had the best luck getting downtown easily and then leaving easily. No traffic backups. And, I got a nice spot under a bridge where there weren't a lot of people hanging around. I don't like crowds. Don't like being squished up among sweaty people either, but who does? (If you're answering, "I do!" then you are weird.)

Anyway, if I haven't insulted you, here are some fireworks pictures for you. you can see dozens more over here on Flickr (click here).

Hope you had a great 4th! If you took some photos, link them in your comments so we can see!

EXTREME VACATION!

2011-07-02T10:26:00.001-05:00

Today is the first day of the rest of my vacation.

(I'm all about the cheesy jokes today. Apologies in advance.)

In honor of the first day of my vacation, I just had vanilla frozen yogurt with caramel sauce for breakfast. I ate it right out of the container. That's right.

People, THAT'S how crazy this vacation is going to be. Forget Girls Gone Wild, sky diving or swimming with sharks. I'm starting this vacation on the edge!

Activities this week will include, but are not limited to:

Extreme Gardening! wherein I pluck poisonous weeds from the ground with my bare hands all while being attacked by flesh-eating mosquitoes right in my own backyard!

Extreme Photography! wherein I skulk around the feral jungles of the Nashville Zoo with my new Nikon D7000 capturing visages of ferocious animals in the wild!

Extreme Wilderness Trekking! wherein I walk the terrifying trails of Cheekwood Gardens all while snapping shots of summertime flowers and spine-chilling insects!

Extreme Canine Walking! wherein I take three angry mongrels on walks around our war-zonesque neighborhood, avoiding angry old men swinging golf clubs in my general direction and evil old ladies burning holes with their judgmental glares.

Extreme Canine Pedicures! wherein I brave the razor sharp teeth of a psychotic puffball Pomeranian in order to trim toenails that have grown far too long.

Yes, that is some vacation. I'll be lucky to make it out alive!!!

As I work my way through this week's adventures, I'll be sure to post pictures of the death-defying feats and encounters. Until then, I leave you with some boring flower pictures I took this week while NOT on a wild, extreme, death-defying vacation.

Badges for Char

2011-07-01T11:16:00.000-05:00

Beth created these beautiful badges so we can place them on our blogs in remembrance of Char and her wonderful photos and writing.

Here's the HTML if you want to use one of these lovely badges that Beth created on your blog. If you're using Blogger, go to Design, then select Add a Gadget and paste the code in the field. You can put whatever title you like.

<a href="http://charlaneg.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YrzTRO9tCDE/Tg3ZzOhQEqI/AAAAAAAAItY/3EN5FaAvKCM/s1600/charthree147.jpg" border="0" alt="For the Love of Char" /></a>

<a href="http://charlaneg.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m4HVKlOswOs/Tg3ZyhWvFrI/AAAAAAAAItU/gRpeYXCIbJ0/s1600/charsix147.jpg" border="0" alt="Forever in our Hearts" /></a>

<a href="http://charlaneg.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lZntaG34J5I/Tg3ZyDOco_I/AAAAAAAAItQ/1AwfmKBO6ys/s1600/charone147.jpg" border="0" alt="Loving Char" /></a>

<a href="http://charlaneg.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K_qufJjFxUc/Tg3Zxr2wxpI/AAAAAAAAItM/9oFkinoOxR8/s1600/charfour147.jpg" border="0" alt="In Our Hearts Forever" /></a>

<a href="http://charlaneg.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2qHZXoH3mLY/Tg3ZzYv3JLI/AAAAAAAAItc/1cTINIvgEl0/s1600/chartwo147.jpg" border="0" alt="Remembering Char" /></a>

<a href="http://charlaneg.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wdcTZvjRP6U/Tg3ZxWOo7fI/AAAAAAAAItI/Br_juUo2re4/s1600/charfive147.jpg" border="0" alt="Forever in our Hearts" /></a>

I've Got the Funky Chicken Bird Flu

2011-06-28T22:22:00.000-05:00

I'm in a funk. I guess it's a three-more-days-until-vacation funk or the I'm-probably-getting-a-cold-right-before-vacation funk. It could also be a I've-been-watching-too-much-of-the-casey-anthony-trial funk. Or, it could be the fact that I ate an entire bag of Goetze's Caramel Creams yesterday. It's probably a toss-up of all these.

Well, whatever the funk it is, it's caused me to get on iTunes and download an inordinate amount of music tonight, including a bunch of cheery bluegrass. I blame Mumford and Sons. They got me hooked on banjos and mandolins again. I'm completely addicted now. I feel like I should be doing a wild jig while reading Irish and/or Scottish romance novels about handsome, bare-chested men in kilts and fiery-haired, bonnie wee lasses skipping through the heather and thistle.

Or not.

I might just sit here wallowing in my funk with my headphones on for a while instead.

Since you probably don't want catch my contagious funk, here are some cheery flowers to ward off the blues. (And, if you haven't listened to some Mumford and Sons, go directly to iTunes and purchase now. You won't regret it. Don't even bother with the flowers.)

Coming Out About Depression

2011-06-25T17:15:00.001-05:00

This New York Times article (click here) starts out by asking the question, "Are you one of us?" My answer is most definitely yes.

Over the past several years, I've tried to be very open about the fact that I often have serious bouts of depression. But, I won't lie. I am embarrassed about it because I feel "less than" everyone else. I feel like I'm irreparably broken.

Of course, that's the shame talking, as Brené Brown would say. Even though I know feeling shameful is not productive or healthy, I start feeling shameful about feeling shameful. A vicious circle.

When I read the NYT article today, it was really something I could identify with. I finally feel like someone articulated what it is like to be clinically depressed.

"She had tried to kill herself so many times because the gulf between the person she wanted to be and the person she was left her desperate, hopeless, deeply homesick for a life she would never know. That gulf was real, and unbridgeable."

Hopeless and deeply homesick for a life I will never know. That's it for me. That's the way I feel most of the time. It's not pretty. It feels terrible to type the words knowing I'm going to click "publish post" here in a few minutes. But, it's the truth and every time I speak it or write it, it gets a little easier.

Speaking the truth and being authentic is the antidote to feeling shameful.

I learned that from Brené Brown's books I Thought It Was Just Me and The Gifts of Imperfection. I try to share her work whenever I can because I truly believe it's changed the way I think about all my self-esteem and depression issues. If you'd like to check her out, I highly recommend her TED talk. It's fabulous and inspiring.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this article and these thoughts with you out there. If you're one of us, please know there is help out there. I'm on three different types of antidepressants right now and I'm better. I go to therapy and it helps me cope. Please don't feel shameful about getting help. There is hope. There is a better life for us all if we work at getting help.

Project Burnout Recovery

2011-06-24T20:35:00.001-05:00

Ugh. I am totally utterly burned out. I've been traveling a lot for work so far this year. Work itself has been drama-filled and stressful. Plus, I'm not eating right or exercising. Basically, I'm a hot mess.

The good news is that I'm taking a week off - 9 days to be exact - starting July 2nd. Since I've been trying to squeeze in as much photography and reading as I can during free time, I'm really going to dive in, immerse myself and indulge in my creative pursuits during the vacation. I'm staying in town, but I'm going to plan little outings to various places around Nashville for little photography adventures, maybe a picnic at a park and maybe a drive out to the country to photograph some world famous blueberries.

Then, when I go back to work, I'm going to try out this "happiness" project I read about in the Harvard Business Review (see here). If I can stick to this plan every day - acknowledging the things and experiences for which I'm grateful and acknowledging the people for whom I'm grateful - maybe I can ignite a little passion for my work, still supplemented, of course, by photography.

I'm really hoping I can pull all this off. If I can't, I think I'm going to have to fall back on my emergency plan: sell everything, pack up my old Jeep with the essentials and the dogs (and the dogs' essentials) and head out to the Oregon coast. I'd try to get a random hourly job, maybe try to get some of my photography in the little beach community shops and bask in the glory of being out of the corporate world. (This is a bit tongue-in-cheek... a bit.)

But, I think I can hold out a while longer. I need to pay off some of the flood debt. I need to wait til the economy is better so I can sell my condo (someone told me it was going to perk back up in 2020! Yikes). Then, we will see....

As I've said before, who really knows what tomorrow brings anyway. So, I'm just going to try to enjoy each day as much as possible.

If you've got any advice for the burned out, please share! I know we've all been there from time to time.

Anyway, here's the trip in a nutshell - this is my last trip for a couple months, thank baby Jesus.

Flying into SLC on Tuesday.

Flowers outside work.

Lunch.

Sunrise on a super early flight this morning.

And, over the clouds headed home. w00t!

I don't do mornings.

2011-06-21T20:19:00.001-05:00

I should know that anytime I'm cheery before noon, it is a harbinger of bad things to come. This morning I was so excited about getting some neat sunrise shots on my way to the airport that it put me in the best of moods. Of course, as soon as I landed and checked my email, I got some crappy news that completely ruined my day. Life is a spiteful bitch like that sometimes.

Anyway, I decided to bounce back by doing a little retail therapy at Target here in SLC. I got some sparkly purple nail polish and gave myself a sassy pedicure. I also bought The Adjustment Bureau on DVD so I could watch in my hotel room tonight. THEN, I had dinner at The Paradise Bakery & Cafe. Yum!

So, now I'm in a better mood for sure... until tomorrow when I have to deal with that stupid email. Until then, I'm going to live in ignorant oblivion with Matt Damon and my purple pedicure.

Here are the shots I got on the way to the airport at 6am, which is usually an ungodly time of day not only to be awake, but also to be driving anywhere.

As I got on the highway....

After I rounded the corner....

I WIN! (And, I whine.)

2011-06-20T21:17:00.000-05:00

I would just like to say that I am quickly making this new (2nd new) D7000 my beeyatch. Okay, that might be a little extreme, but I'm feeling much better about the camera today.

On the whining front, I'm flying out to Salt Lake City tomorrow morning. Yes, another trip. I'm traveling every other week this summer and then once a month until the end of the year. I'm so sick of airports and hotels and rental cars and bad internet connections.

I am, however, looking forward to stopping off at my favorite two restaurants whilst in SLC: The Bohemian Brewery and Paradise Bakery & Cafe. Paradise is a great spot for soup and sandwiches at lunch. You get a free cookie with every order!!! Squeeeeee!!!! Cookieeeeees! But I digress.... They have lovely looking salads as well, but I haven't had the opportunity to order those. Coooookkkieeeees!

Now, the Bohemian Brewery is best for a nice relaxing dinner. While the menu leans toward the German side with schnitzel, sauerkraut, strudel and other S words I can barely spell, their horseradish and Parmesan crusted halibut filet with citrus herb beurre blanc is not only a mouthful to order, but also a mouthful of delight in every bite. And, I can state with much authority that their rum-soaked bread pudding will put you in a most blissful of food comas.

(At this point in my rambling flamboyant prose, you're probably wondering if I got enough sleep last night. I did not.)

Anyway, here are a couple shots from today and a picture of each of my girls. It's hard to be away from them since I can't really talk on the phone and check in. I'm going to have to get Dan to set up a webcam so we can Skype when I'm on my trips. The dogs and I, not Dan and I. Dogs can Skype, right?

(Lack of sleep, yes. Very evident.)

Okay. Pictures. Have a good week everyone!

Flowers from my garden I haven't managed to kill yet.

Wild sunflower of which I've taken entirely too many pictures.

My dearest Bear.

My sweet Amanda. (She is not longingly looking out the dirty window for me. There's a squirrel out there.)

And, my silly and lovey Daisy.

Not a good photography day.

2011-06-19T21:29:00.001-05:00

Remember on Friday how I said I had a good photography day? Well, when I woke up Saturday morning and tried to take a picture of a squirrel, my camera stopped working.

That's right. My brand new camera. The one I saved and paid $$$ for.

The mirror locked up and just wouldn't unstick.Tthe LCD readout just said ERR. According to the manual and what I could gather online, that's the equivalent of the blue screen of death.

Since I've had the camera less than three weeks, I just took it back to the store. They immediately switched it out with a new one, which was awesome. But, I spent the rest of Saturday and today getting all the settings back in order. Ugh.

After much angst and gnashing of teeth, I think I got it all worked out. I know there are worse problems to deal with, but I was really hoping to get a lot more done this weekend.

Whatever. Here are some flowers. I hope you had a good weekend not messing with camera settings for two whole days.

This is not a flower, but whatever.

Out & About

2011-06-17T22:11:00.000-05:00

I had a good photography day today. For me, that means that I got to shoot more than just the flowers and leaves in my neighborhood. It's been a long week in a variety of ways. So, it was nice to get out and about at the American Artisan Festival here in Nashville. We also had a pretty amazing sunset tonight, which afforded me the opportunity to shoot my first panorama. Click here to see it on Flickr.

Well, I am very ready for a relaxing, stress-free weekend. I hope you have fun and/or relaxing plans. Let me know in the comments what you'll be up to (I promise not to stalk).

Okay, here are my favorites from today.

Obligatory flower shot.

Park birds.

Bird houses, one of which I think I'm going to buy tomorrow.

Random unenthusiastic teens who are too cool to be in a color photo.

And, the sunset.

The Earth was made round.

2011-06-15T18:19:00.000-05:00

It's so hard to find words when someone passes away. So, I will be brief.

If you knew Charlane G, then you know she was a wonderful person, writer and photographer. Char had a large following online, not only because of her talent, but because she was kind and authentic. Sadly, she passed away unexpectedly last week.

When I thought of my favorite photo of Char's, I thought of a quote from writer Karen Blixen. "The Earth was made round so that we would not see too far down the road."

Char captured that idea perfectly in this beautiful autumn photo she took last November. You can see it on Flickr here.

Friend, I will see you down the road one day. Until then, thank you for introducing me to Flickr and helping me with my photography in those early days.

Unadulterated Joy

2011-06-11T18:26:00.000-05:00

I think it's rare that adults can feel this kind of joy, free of stress and worry that weighs us down. But, I think this little girl has it down. It was so much fun watching her play in the fountains. I so glad I could capture a few shots of her unadulterated joy.

Anyway, I'm back...

From Salt Lake City...

Back in Nashville's green pastures.

It's not summer.

2011-06-04T20:10:00.000-05:00

It's not summer just quite yet, but it really feels like it with temperatures here in the upper 90s. So, I decided to go ahead and change my banner to spruce things up around here.

I've been having a ton of fun with my new Nikon D7000. Sadly, I'm traveling all next week and am not taking it on the trip. Why? Well, it is partly because I don't want to lug all that gear with me on a tiny plane and partly because I'm deathly afraid either I or the TSA will break it. It's insured, but still....

Anyway, I finally figured out that all my lenses needed to be calibrated and I needed to bust out the tripod/monopod to get sharp images. It really helped make shooting with the camera much more fun.

Here are some random shots from the last week.

Splurging

2011-05-30T20:01:00.000-05:00

I've felt yucky pretty much all weekend. So, a little retail therapy was in order. I've had my eye on the Nikon D7000 since October and decided to finally pull the trigger. It is every bit of awesome as the reviews say. I absolutely love it.

I did find out that my 50mm, f/1.4 needs some calibrating since the D7000 is more sensitive than my D60. So, this is one of the only shots I got with it where it was moderately focused.

But, I messed with all the setting and got these with my 17-70mm and 105mm, which made me a little happier.

Signs of Summer

2011-05-27T21:10:00.000-05:00

I was busy busy this week. So, not much news. I'm just planning on relaxing this long weekend. Here are some shots from around the 'hood.

It's the End of the World as We Know It. Oh wait....

2011-05-21T20:15:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm still here. And, I did a ton of gardening today. I'm really excited and hopeful about this summer. Last summer at this time, my condo had no walls, all my muddy, flood-ruined possessions were on the front lawn and my garden was toast. So, it felt really good today to make this summer's garden extra special, with flowers that will really fill up the space once they get going. So, without further ado...

My newly renovated, post-flood, post-rapture garden:

Daisy:

Lily:

Another lily:

Rapture sky:

Completely goofy dog:

The Zoo!

2011-05-18T22:33:00.001-05:00

I'm too tired for a lot of words, but briefly, we went to the Nashville Zoo today for a work retreat. We got a behind-the-scenes look at the zoo. It was great fun. Here are some of my favorite shots from the 440 I took (101 edited!). You can see the whole set on Flickr.

Elephant!

Baby clouded leopard!

Giraffe!

Zebras!

Lynx!

And, the flamingos were my favorite....

In bloom...

2011-05-11T21:28:00.000-05:00

My all time favorite flower is the Peony. So, when I bought my condo here in Nashville, I made sure to plant a couple. They're in bloom right now and, except for the ants they attract, I love taking pictures of them.

I should probably say something more profound, but honestly, it's been a tough week and I'm exhausted. If I tried to think of something interesting, I'm pretty sure my noggin would explode.

Here are some flowers.

Beginning to bloom!

Blooming!

Fully bloomed!

This is my favorite shot.

And, I like it in black and white too.

No Flower Left Behind

2011-05-08T23:08:00.000-05:00

I think I am on the road to successfully photographing every single flower in my neighborhood.

These are the mean neighbor's flowers. I sneak over and take pictures because I don't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing me giving her or her gardening skills any sort of props. Yes, I dislike her that much.

My peonies. I don't have mad gardening skills. These just sort of happen every spring. See also in black and white.

And, this is the very rare Amanda flower. Such a goofball.

Enough

2011-05-08T12:09:00.000-05:00

I'm struggling. I'm exhausted. And, things need to change. I'm coming to realize that it's up to me to say "no" to more obligations, more unwanted tasks, more stress. If I don't, I'm not sure I will continue to hold up well. I know I will survive; I've survived worse. But I want to do more than just survive.

I want to have space to breath, reflect, create, enjoy. All I do now is go over all the tasks I have to do. Even when I'm working on one task, I feel guilty for not working on another. When I'm at my job working, I worry about all I'm not getting done at home. When I'm at home working, I worry about all I'm not getting done at work. I'm literally at the point where I feel guilty for going to bed before midnight.

When I read the paragraph below, written by Wayne Muller in his book A Life of Being, Having and Doing Enough, I cried.

In spite of any compelling physical or spiritual benefits, we fear we have no authentic, trustworthy permission to stop. If we do stop to rest without some very good reason or some verifiable catastrophe, we feel guilty, we worry about getting in trouble, we feel we are just lazy, not carrying our weight, not a team player, or will be left behind. If we just put our nose to the grindstone, give it our all, do our best, give 110 percent, really put our mind to it, never give up, and work more efficiently, then we can, and should, be able to get absolutely everything on our desk, on our to-do list, on our calendars, finished, on deadline, without any mistakes, perfectly, every time. Then we can rest.

I cried because I don't feel like I have the courage to give myself permission to stop. You see, I've always felt like my successes in life have come from my ability to keep going, striving toward getting everything done, crossing each item off a to-do list even though it grows faster than anyone can humanly accomplish things. Thus, if I stop, I fail. Or that's what my brain tells me. If I don't keep all the balls in the air, if I don't keep everyone happy, if I don't work every second of every waking hour, I will stumble, crumble and end up homeless, hopeless and unwanted. That's what my brain tells me.

But, my heart is telling me it's time. It's time to be enough. It's time to give myself that permission to breath and rest without guilt. It's time to enjoy the pleasures in life without guilt: walking around the neighborhood with my dogs on a nice day, going to a park for no particular reason, allowing myself time to read a book just because, spending an entire weekend not mentally working through what I'm going to do every second of Monday through Friday, allowing my brain to stop the frantic thoughts of how to get everything done.

Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to do it. Tomorrow, I'm going to attempt to make a big change at work. Last time I did this, ironically, I just ended up with more work on my plate. But this time is different. I'm better at setting up boundaries and I'm better at being frank with people. So, we will see... I'm taking a big breath and I'm going to finally exhale....

Oh yeah, and since this is supposed to be a photography blog, here are some flowers.

Flowers in Provo.

Flowers in my garden.

Ants on flowers in my garden. I also found ants in my Coffee Mate this morning. I guess a little extra protein in your coffee won't kill you.

My Happy Place

2011-05-05T00:47:00.000-05:00

My happy place in Utah is this spot facing the Timpanogos mountain range just outside Heber City. I love it in every season. I'll have to dig up my winter, fall and summer shots to compare to this spring one, but I think this is my favorite of the four.

Oh Utah, you never disappoint.

2011-05-03T23:46:00.000-05:00

This is probably (hopefully) my one Murphy's Law trip for the year. Everything has gone wrong: sitting out a 9 hour flight delay in two airplanes; getting myself locked out of a room for 2 hours with nothing to do; generally feeling yucky; taking not so great pictures; and having way too much icky work to do.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite shots from the trip so far.

A view from the office.

A view from the hotel.

A view of the hotel sign (you can tell it's been an exciting trip, right?).

A view of the hotel flag.

A view of the hotel leaves.

Horse! Surprisingly not at the hotel.

And then, there's this little gem by the Provo river that runs by the hotel. "Illicit discharges" - I'll leave that to your imaginations.

An Overdue Visit to Cheekwood

2011-04-29T21:29:00.000-05:00

This morning, the light and dew was just perfect in my neighborhood. So, I got a few shots of flowers and grass and stuff. Then, I visited Cheekwood Gardens and took a ton of pictures there. So, it was a pretty big photography day.

Here are some of the highlights.

More of Ruby's roses, this time with dew and a little frost.

My emerging lilies.

At Cheekwood Gardens.

Just one of the gazillion cool flowers they have.

And, my favorite candid shot of the day.

Ruby's Roses

2011-04-27T20:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I can't blog about Mary Jo's roses without showcasing my other neighbor Ruby's roses. I thought for sure this thing was going to die with the harsh winter we had, but it's back and huge, full of blooms!

By the way, I have some new presets to share, but I have yet to figure out how to put the downloads in a blog on Blogger. Typepad did it really simply, but here? I need to research.

And, without further ado, here are Ruby's roses.

Mary Jo's Roses

2011-04-25T21:02:00.000-05:00

One thing I love the most about this time of year is seeing my neighbor Mary Jo's roses pop up. I used to sneak over there to take pictures, but then one day she caught me. She was so delighted to see her roses appreciated that, much to my horror, she cut one off and gave it to me to take home. Ouch!

While Mary Jo was decapitating the rosebush, she told me some story about the roses being some sort of rare, prize-winning rose variety that she took home in some raffle/auction thing many years ago. The variety has some fancy name with sunrise or sunset in the name. She couldn't quite remember. And, it doesn't really matter, I suppose.

What I do know about these roses is that they are highly photogenic and their shape and peachy color just make my heart do a little happy dance. So, here's a little happiness thrown your way in the form of a pretty little peach flower.

Some like it RAW

2011-04-23T22:13:00.000-05:00

So, I know that you're sort of supposed to shoot in RAW format instead of JPEG format if you're a serious photographer. Of course, many serious photographers get into heated debates about this very topic though. You haven't seen a throw down until you've seen two pro-photogs go at it. Worse than WWF.

Anyway. I decided to give RAW another chance today. I've tried it in the past and all it did for me was take up a ton of space on my hard drive. But, at that time I was using Picasa and not Lightroom. So, I wanted to see what, if any, difference Lightroom would make.

Um. So... Apparently, I'm not Pro enough to appreciate the experience. Maybe it was just me, but I thought that the files were harder to edit. It seemed less intuitive to me. The ability to make finer adjustments was clearly more than I could handle.

After one exasperating evening of editing 19 RAW/DNG photos and then getting mad, converting all the RAW files to JPEGs and then editing them all over again, I can say it will take a hard hit on the head before I'll go back to RAW. I'm definitely a JPEG girl.

What about you? Have you noticed a difference in editing RAW files/DNG files versus JPEGs? Am I missing something?

Well, here are some of my RAW shots, converted to DNG, edited in Lightroom, then unedited, converted to JPEG and re-edited in Lightroom. Whew!

Still Dark, But Now With More Drowsiness!

2011-04-20T20:55:00.000-05:00

Well, I've inadvertently continued with my dark Spring series. But, it does still fit my mood. I'm still suffering from jet lag. It's like I can't get out of the Alaskan time zone. Also, after a rough day yesterday, I slept restlessly.

Bottom line? I'm pretty much useless today. Will charge ahead again tomorrow.

I did cheer myself up by making another batch of Moo cards. They came out with rounded edges - so cute! So, of course, I had to order more. This time I put my blog's QR code on the back so folks with a iPhone or Android can just scan the card and go right to my website. (Like that will every really happen, but it's nice to know that it's possible! Plus, it make me look all techie.)

But I digress.

Actually, there really wasn't a point to this little entry. Sorry. Like I said. Useless. Going to bed now.

But not without leaving a quote I stumbled on today:

I am not what happened to me. I am what I chose to become.

That's by the inimitable Carl Jung, who had weird visions and heard voices. Maybe not the best choice of mentors, but heck, I can't rely on Charlie Sheen anymore. He clearly jumped the shark with that comedy stand up tour.

But, I digress....

Everything is going to be okay.

2011-04-19T20:32:00.000-05:00

I really needed to hear that today. I did courtesy of The Bloggess. And, I bet there are some of you out there who need to hear it too.

So, yes, things might suck; times might be hard; the struggles might seem never ending. But, I promise...

Everything is going to be okay.

And now for some pictures....

The Big Alaska Update

2011-04-17T21:53:00.000-05:00

[Note: If you are a subscriber of this blog, you will need to re-subscribe using the links to the left. I changed platforms and it messed up all my RSS links.]

Oh Alaska. What a trip. The work part went really well. The food part was amazing. It was a little cold, but sunny. But, fast forward to Wednesday evening and you will find me in one of the local emergency departments.

Very long story short: my travel companion bonked his head pretty badly and I called an ambulance to the hotel to take him to the ER. He was there for almost 6 hours with nothing more than a diagnosis of a bumped and cut noggin. Said noggin did not even require stitches, but somehow did require a CT scan. I don't want to see the bill. Ugh.

Anyway, after all the drama, the plan to venture out into the wild to take pictures was nixed. We ended up catching a red-eye (first class upgrade on a 6+ hour flight!!! Woo hoo!) back to Nashville Thursday night.

Regardless, it was good to get home and hang out with the dogs who were more than happy to be picked up two days early. But, I don't have a lot of pictures to show for it. I think I have 34 in all - just from downtown Anchorage. Below are some highlights and you can see all 34 over on Flickr: Alaska 2011.

The view from the air (iPhone).

Another view from the air (iPhone).

The view from the room.

Random parking lot shot.

Awesome sunset from the Cook Inlet.

Awesome sunset from the airport before our red eye flight.

Alaska Bound

2011-04-09T15:43:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm off to Anchorage tomorrow via Chicago and Seattle. It's a work trip, but I'm taking two days to poke around and take photos. If the weather cooperates, I'm going to drive down the Kenai peninsula. The last time I made the same drive in 2008, I had an old point and shoot. While I love those pictures, it will be awesome to take pictures with a DSLR.

Of course, the key is cooperation of the weather. It's supposed to snow 4 of the 7 days I'm there. And, have I mentioned before how sick I am of winter weather? I'm sure I have. So, I made sure to take a lot of flower pictures today. Regardless, I am really excited to see the gorgeous mountains and lakes. And, I'm anxious to see what kind of shots I can get. Since it's the muddy season, we will see if I am up to the challenge.

Anyway, here are some pictures from today.

P.S. If there are any crazies out there stalking my blog, please do not break into my house and pilfer or plunder.

Seriously dudes, the alarm will be on. You've been warned.

A Bloom in the Darkness

2011-04-08T16:02:00.000-05:00

I've frequently written about my mental health issues. I grew up in an environment where any type of mental illness was stuffed into a box with a straight jacket and filled with shame. Several family members and friends have gone untreated due to this gross generalization, which is just so very sad. Thus, I've made a solid commitment to be completely open when talking about my mental health issues and to seek treatment as needed. If we all speak out, hopefully, we will lessen the taboo nature of a health problem that no one should feel shameful for having.

For those of you who are new here, I go through pretty bad periods of depression. And, for some reason, my anxiety has been agitating me as well lately. At this point, after four plus years of seeing a therapist nearly every week and after trying out several anti-depressants and being on a total of three right now (Abilify, Zoloft, Wellbutrin - don't try this at home, folks!), I'm still not sure I've got it all figured out. Honestly, I've come to terms with the fact that this will be a lifetime challenge.

Over on my forty before forty blog, I've made a commitment to write more. So, here I am. I've been thinking that if I write about this, maybe it will help. The past few months I've really been struggling to stay afloat, mentally. I'm stressed, exhausted, riddled with tension headaches and random illnesses.

While some of it is circumstantial (work has been hectic, still paying off the flood debt, etc.), I know that a lot of it is chemical. If you've tried to adjust depression medication to get the right combination, then you know how frustrating it can be and how long it can take. I guess we just aren't in a place scientifically yet were we can do a brain scan and know exactly which neurons or receptors need to be blocked or unblocked. It will be a tremendous accomplishment when we can finally save lives by prescribing the right types and levels of medication to treat anxiety, depression and other mental health problems.

So, what's my point in writing all this? Yeah, I'm not really sure. I guess I just needed to say the words... type them out... I'm still struggling. Every day, it's hard to keep moving forward. But, I am. I am moving forward, one small medicated step at a time. What's really helping me through all this is photography. Winter was so long and cold here and all the blooms and sun are just what my soul needs right now.

It's funny though... even with all the color and light, I see my darkness bleeding through in my shots. In fact, I've made an entire set of Dark Spring shots on Flickr. As it started to grow, I began to realize that even with photography being my outlet, it's definitely reflecting my mood. But as with the photos, there's a bloom in the darkness within me. There is hope. And, on the bad days, that's exactly what you need.

If you have issues with depression or other mental health issues, I hope you find your balance and your outlet. I don't wish this on anyone. If you haven't found your balance or your outlet, I encourage you to hunt it down with every ounce of your effort and might. It's worth it to find the things that will keep you afloat during the hard times. It's worth it to have that bloom in the darkness.

Here are today's shots.

Okay, here's one that's not so dark.

Technical Note

2011-04-07T02:50:00.000-05:00

I'm leaving GoDaddy and transfering my domains due to the whole elephant thing. I usually don't jump on bandwagons, but this seemed like an easy enough choice.

Anyway, the domain should be transferring today or tomorrow. As such Grey Street Girl might be unavailable for a few hours while I get all the sprockets and squirrels back in place.

If you're bored, you can check out my new project over here: www.evamaria.me.

Pretty Pinks and Purples

2011-04-06T15:35:00.000-05:00

Since I've been working like crazy trying to get ready for my big trip to Alaska next week, I'm going to keep it short and just post a few pictures from the last couple days.

Almost forgot. Here are a couple new presets - Pretty Pink and Pretty Purple.

See examples here and here.

Download Eva-Pretty Pink

Download Eva-Pretty Purple

Another shot of my neighbor's dogwood.
Shot from my car window in the parking lot at work.

I found this cute birdhouse while trekking to this secret park today.

These were also on the trail.

And these....

My other neighbor's tree blooms.

Preset Examples

2011-04-02T17:28:00.000-05:00

As I promised, I've uploaded several examples of the 6 presets I've made so far over on Picasa (in addition to the 5 shared already, I made a new one today.) So, links to all that are below. And, I've included today's shots. I took a picture of my completely renovated foyer/study/fireplace room and am pretty excited about finally finishing it. So far, it's been a great birthday weekend!

Click to see examples of the Amanda Preset. Download Eva-Amanda.

Click to see examples of the Black Bloom Preset. Download Eva-Black Bloom.

Click to see examples of the NEW Black Tulip Preset. Download Eva-Black Tulip.

Click to see examples of the Dark Rose Preset. Download Eva-Dark Rose.

Click to see examples of the Warm Autumn Preset. Download Eva-Warm Autumn.

Click to see examples of the Woodland Flower Preset. Download Eva-Woodland Flower.

Voila! The new study/entry room/foyer/den/fireplace/office/reading room.

My birthday "cake" low-fat frozen yogurt with some über fat cappuccino fudge mixed in.

More tulips from yesterday.

Dogwood blooms from today.

And, some little blooms from down the street.

The Obligatory Birthday Post

2011-04-01T15:35:00.000-05:00

Yep. It's my birthday - no April Fools. And, I turned 39 today... or as I like to think of it, the 9th anniverary of my 30th birthday. While my body definitely feels every day of a year shy of 40, my brain thinks otherwise. It's hard for me to comprehend that I'm a bonafide adult!

For example, today I used a drill for the first time. I've never even owned a drill before last week. In fact, this last year had a lot of adult firsts such as buying my very first mattress, remodeling a home from the studs in, all while working two corporate jobs and traveling all over Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Colorado and Alaska. Whew!

Well, I celebrated today by taking it easy, doing a little shopping and, of course, taking pictures and fooling around with them in Lightroom. LIGHTROOM! I'm still loving it and I created three more presets, which are available at the end of this post. Keep in mind, these are really for JPEG files and not RAW files (I know- I should be shooting in RAW... Arg).

So, here are some shots from today and yesterday. I was so happy to find so much color today while walking around Green Hills.

Tulips!

More tulips!

Umbrellas! (Umbrelli?)

Blooms!

Daisy, being goofy...

Amanda, looking out the new curtains.

Okay, after writing all this, my preset examples still aren't up on Picasa. So, I'm going to post the files here anyway and then come back and do a formal preset post later this weekend.

Download Eva-Warm Autumn. Warm golden tones.

Download Eva-Amanda. Bright bleach wash with dark edges.

Download Eva-Woodland Flower. Vintage, woody look.

Lightroom Deal

2011-03-28T14:15:00.000-05:00

I'm going to date myself, but do you remember the old Coca~Cola jingle that goes something like I'd like to buy the world a Coke.... Well, I'd like to buy the world Lightroom.

At this point, if you've been reading my blog entries for the past few weeks, you're like, "Enough already! We get it! You like Lightroom! Please stop! In the name of all that is holy, please please stop!"

But, I just like it THAT much! And, I like YOU that much! AND, apparently Adobe likes us ALL because they are taking $100 off the normal $299 price of Lightroom 3 up until April 8th, which I'm sure is in honor of my birthday coming up this weekend.

Now, I know $199 is a lot to lay down on software when there are several free options out there (Picasa, Picnik, etc.), but if you're looking for that special something to really get you motivated about photography again, Lightroom may be just what you need. I know it's really kicked my photography excitement into high gear, which is just what I was looking for.

Are you in? If so, click here for the $199 deal or to order by phone, call 800-585-0774 and mention Offer Code LR3DI199. I promise they are not paying me or giving me any sort of discounted/free stuff. I seriously am that excited about Lightroom that I'd spend a whole blog pimping it out. AND if you want to invest $22 more, check out Scott Kelby's Lightroom 3 guide on Kindle for PC. It's a super easy way to learn how to navigate around Lightroom.

Okay. I'm done. I promise to shut up about Lightroom now.

LIGHTROOM!!!!!

Kidding. I'm really done now. Promise.

Here are some recent edits.

Yes, more blooms.

Yes, more leaves.

Mixing it up a bit with some B&W treatment.

And, just for good measure, a recent picture of Miss Amanda lounging on the couch with me.

LIGHTROOM!!!!!

Another rainy day

2011-03-26T15:33:00.000-05:00

It's another rainy cold day here in Nashville. In my mind, I can rationalize that it's "dogwood winter" as they say around here. It's just a cold snap before Spring sets in for good. But man, the weather's really bringing me down. My stupid cold lingers in my lungs. Arg.

I guess that's why even my Spring flower pictures have a dark edge to them. Oh well. I like it. I've been wanting to get that look from my photos for a while. And now, thanks to Lightroom, I'm able to do it. I promise... Adobe is not paying me to say that. Although, they should as much as I'm talking their product up. I finally feel like I have total control over the way my photos look. Squeeeee!

Here's today's romp around Centennial Park, right before it started raining hard.

Random branch with blooms:

Dangerous, but pretty blooms!

More blooms:

New & Improved! Now! With Even More Blooms!!!

And last, but certainly not least, blooms....

Black Friday

2011-03-25T14:12:00.000-05:00

Have I told you how much I love Lightroom 3? It's changed my photography life forever. Today, it's dark and stormy out. So, I am playing indoors making a couple of my own presets. Coming up with names for them is goofy, but I like creating little nuggets of happiness in my life. So, without further ado, here's what I did today, photographically speaking.

Bloom No. 1:
Bloom No. 2:

Rose Leaves:

I don't know if these presets will work on any of your pictures, but if you'd like to try it out, here you go: Download Eva-Black Bloom.

Here's a before and after the preset:

And, here's the leaf preset: Download Eva-Dark Rose

The before and after the preset:

Random Obligatory Post

2011-03-24T14:43:00.000-05:00

Since I haven't posted in a week, I thought I'd throw something up here along with some recent pictures. I'm just now getting over THE WORST COLD EVER KNOWN TO MANKIND. Seriously, this thing was brutal with the runny nose, the sneezing, the coughing, the body aches, and did I mention the coughing?

I had my flu shot. So, all I can think is that my beau D brought home THE WORST COLD EVER KNOWN TO MANKIND. See, I got it three days after he got it. Ergo, I squarely lay full blame at his carrier monkey feet.

During all this, I did manage to take some pictures. So, I can't complain too much. AND, now I get to wear a t-shirt that says, "I survived THE WORST COLD EVER KNOWN TO MANKIND!" Life just doesn't get much better than that... unfortunately. Oh wait. Never mind.

Anyway, you can see I didn't stray far from home this week.

Stealing some shots of my grumpy neighbor's tulips.
Sunset in my back yard.

Buttercup in my front yard.

Dogwood blooms in my nice neighbor's yard.

Bear, tethered to Redemption Island, recovering very well from surgery.

And, last... and probably least... my typical dinner during THE WORST COLD KNOWN TO MANKIND: Cornflakes.

A lot can happen in 13 minutes.

2011-03-17T14:17:00.000-05:00

I sent an email to my cousin last week (2 weeks ago?) about Camp Shutter Sisters. I got a huge bee in my bonnet to go. I've traveled quite a bit around the US, but I've never been to San Francisco or the Monterey area. So, it was definitely a huge bee. Huge bee, tiny bonnet. Big bee. Did I mention the bee was large?

Registration opened yesterday at 11am, Nashville time. I was on it like white on rice, like a tick on a coon hound, like a horse to water, eh... Never mind. You get the picture. I was sitting in front of my laptop with my mouse anxiously poised over the register button for a full 10 minutes before registration opened up....

Clicking...

Why yes, I'm Type A OCD. How did you know?

Anyway, when registration opened up, I hurriedly filled out the registration for myself, but when I got to the PayPal part, it rejected me! Apparently, I was not a "verified" user and had gone over my "un-verified" user limit. Gah!

[This story actually goes on and on and would take longer to read it than the time it actually took to register, which was 7 minutes <--OCD. So, I will spare you.]

I finally figured it all out and registered myself and my cousin. And then, I breathed a big sigh of relief. Did I mention the sigh was large? Gigantic, really. We were in! w00t!1!

Today, I found out that the 70 spots at the retreat filled up in a mere 13 minutes! Sold out in 13 minutes! Dude, that's faster than U2 tickets sold out here. These Shutter Sisters are wicked popular AND there are 68 other completely Type-A competitive women with cameras and fast clicking mice. It's gonna be a fun trip!

Here are more signs of Spring... More signs of Hope!

Green buds on the trees.

New rose bush leaves.

Sleepy recovering dog.

This has nothing to do with Spring, but I thought it was cool so I bought it on eBay. It works! I called my cell phone with it!

Inspired by Vivian Maier

2011-03-14T16:44:00.000-05:00

Have you heard of Vivian Maier? Go Google her. And, if you want an excellent summary and gallery of some of her pictures, check out the New York Times blog about her. Go ahead... I'll wait....

You back?

Okay, if you're a photographer, I hope you got as inspired by her photography and her story, just as much as I did. I know we live in a digital age where it's easy to be as prolific (photographically speaking) as she was, so I am especially in awe that she took and kept that many negatives. I think the count (for those of you who feel like Googling later) so far is about 100k undeveloped negatives.

So, in an effort to stretch myself and learn more, I've started doing some street photography, a la Vivian Maier, when the opportunity presents, like today. And, I'm having fun playing around in Lightroom, which I got about a month ago. It's really changed my editing - not sure if it is for the good, but I like it and that is really all that matters in the end - just me, my camera and my laptop, having some fun.

Here are today's efforts:

Street bench:
Person on the street:

Um, just a street:

Street eating area:

And, for some color.... Street books:

Open street:

Umbrella street:

And, this is the end of the road. Bah dum bum... Ching!

Life is Fragile

2011-03-12T18:22:00.000-06:00

There's not much I can say after the devastation that's hit Japan. Our little Nashville flood last May is like a speck of water compared.... So, I'm just going to leave you with some Spring pictures to spread some much needed cheer.

My girl Amanda catching some shut eye on my new bench/couch thingy.

What she was probably dreaming about:

What I've been dreaming about for the past four wintery months:

And these:

And especially these, which might be my favorite sign of Spring:

That's all for now. Happy weekend, folks.

Things are looking up!

2011-03-06T14:54:00.000-06:00

Wow. What a week. What a year so far, really. Winning! Duh?!

For the past three weeks I've had these gigantic, enormous, monumental headaches. I went to the doctor and it appears they are just due to stress - tension headaches. Arg.

I got some medication and it took a week, but they are finally gone. I've broken bones before (several ribs, several toes, a foot bone and my pinky finger) and I'd much rather have a broken bone than a headache. I was absolutely, completely, utterly immobilized by them pretty much every day.

As Murphy would have it, during this time, my Pomeranian Bear started limping. After a trip to the vet, we found out that she had a torn ACL and needed knee surgery. Arg.

So, last Monday, she had surgery and came home as high as James Franco at the Oscars only with a shaved back leg and 12 staples down it. Honestly, I can't complain too much about the past week. She has healed very well. I got to work from home so I could stay home with her. And, my headaches finally did go away. Plus, I gave her a little haircut to better match her shaved leg and she looks super cute!

And, in other happy news, I bought a bench, a desk and a chair for the little fireplace room off the kitchen. It's an awkward little space since it has the fireplace and opens up to the kitchen and also serves as an entry way. But I finally found the right sized stuff to fill it up and, hopefully make it feel cozy. The chair is on its way via UPS, but the rest of it, you can see below.

Well, I'm going to attempt to write here more often. I hope all of you are well and getting some warm and sunny temperatures your way.

Here's the little chicken leg!

The new library/study/entryway/foyer/atrium/vestibule/hearth/awkward-space room:

Signs of Spring!

To Blog or Not to Blog....

2011-02-10T06:57:00.000-06:00

I have been remiss in writing as of late. There are lots of reason, but none of them are due to a lack of desire. I guess in this technology age of everything posted on the Internet not only being so public, but also so scrutinized, it's hard for me to justify posting something, posting anything really.

I worry about who will see it and how it will be interpreted and how I will be judged. It's not the strangers I worry about. It's the people from work, the people from my past and people in my future, whom I will meet at some point and will not really want them to be privy to my every thought, experience and opinion.

Don't get me wrong, there are people at work and people from my past (and hopefully in my future) whom I dearly love and would say all of my bloggy randomness to them in person. But, there are some I fear would use my words against me. I don't think I'm paranoid. In fact, I think we all face a similar struggle, but where to draw the line....

I recently shared some personal information to someone at work. I thought he would be responsible with it, but he disappointed me by making me feel irresponsible and flaky. Honestly, I am neither of those things, but now he has that impression and continues to bring it up when we have meetings. What if this person discovered my blog, or my Twitter account, or my Facebook account? I do have Twitter and Facebook set to private but....

Well, I did promise I would regale the great adventures we had on the Great American Road Trip from Los Angeles to Nashville. Suffice it to say, it was a wonderful trip full of speed bumps and funny moments, including me inadvertently dropping my credit card at a rest stop in New Mexico where extradited prisoners were being allowed to use the facilities.... Duh.

Then, when a lovely woman named Carol, who found it, called my credit card company and agreed to meet me at the Shell station in Santa Rosa, hijinx ensued - I drove to three different Shell stations trying to locate the lovely Carol, only to discover that she was not in Santa Rosa as she had thought, but was already an hour up the road in Tucumcari. Thankfully, she agreed to mail me my credit card and I received it shortly after returning to Nashville.

Of course, you're asking yourself, why didn't you just meet Carol in Tucumcari? Well, the answer to that surrounds a debilitating case of altitude sickness suffered by my travel companion from our overnight stay in Albuquerque - elevation ~6,000ft - and a hasty Hampton Inn stop to secure a room in Santa Rosa until the nausea and other nasty symptoms subsided three hours later.

I took over 1200 pictures from our trip and it is definitely something I will never forget. It's not often we get to take time to leave our harried work lives to indulge in a leisurely road trip. And, I'm so glad I got the opportunity.

So, without further ado, here is a link to all the pictures on Flickr, organized by day.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greystgirl/collections/72157625639457050/

I think this is my favorite from the trip....

(I will try to come back here and write more soon....)

Courage

2010-12-23T13:36:00.000-06:00

Oh goodness. I really need to spend some quality time here recounting what's happened the past two weeks - lots to tell including how I nearly lost my credit card to some gentlemen in shackles who were being extradited through New Mexico....

But I digress....

For now, I will leave you with this super inspiring video that I wish I could force all my friends to watch. And, I wish I could squeeze all of you so tight with a hug that instills in you the deep belief that you are worthy and loved because you so very much are.

Credit: found via @thebloggess on a blog called The Queso. And, you can visit Brene Brown's blog Ordinary Courage and buy her book The Gifts of Imperfection for even more inspiration.

The Great American Road Trip - Prologue

2010-12-12T04:25:00.000-06:00

Well, here it is another Sunday and I've discovered that I haven't written anything all week.

I actually have a very good excuse though because I've been planning a big trip here, where I will be picking up a ruggedly handsome guy, who we will just call Lerxst for the time being due to his status as an International Man of Mystery. And, then we're going here, with a long stop off here. After that, we will be driving to The Big Texan in Amarillo to see if Lerxst can eat the 72 ounce steak and get his name on the wall. With a brief stopoff in my home state, Lerxst and I will be headed back to Nashville to settle in for the holidays.

It's going to be a fabulous cross country roadtrip and I couldn't be more excited.

Of course, in the meantime, I've been finishing up the last of the flood renovation stuff - hanging pictures, organizing, cleaning, etc. And, there's the everflowing inbox of death at work that I've been trying to clean out so when I leave, I will have nothing pressing to do at work. Of course, when I get back, I'm sure I will be greeted by 5000 messages, all of which require my urgent attention and immediate response. Ugh. I love technology, but I really hate this part of instant communication and expection of instant replies.

But, I fly out on Wednesday (with my condo heavinly secured and armed - so don't get any ideas). I'm most definitely taking all my camera gear, which may take up the entire back seat of Lerxst's car. And, upon returning, I will post stories and pictures from the Great American Road Trip. Very exciting stuff.

Well, without further ado, here's this last week in pictures.

The week started out with snow.
Because it was so cold out, I took random pictures of the dogs waiting for treats.

I had to go to the dentist to remove my stupid retainer and this photo, which has nothing to do with the dentist trip, was taken shortly thereafter.

In preparation for Lerxst's return to Nashville, I stocked up on needed culinary supplies.

For the very first time in my 38 years, I installed a curtain rod.

And, I spent an hour arranging these random objects so they were perfectly placed and balanced, OCD-lite style. Yes, that is my one and only holiday decoration.

And, then the week ended with more snow and miserably cold temperatures.