such is the way of the world...

you can never know

just where to put all your faith

and how will it grow...

that's Eddie : .)

other random stuffs...

snaaaakkkkeeee!  (on the trail today)

Paul & Erik taking a break at the top of the hill.

@ the top...I think I've posted this view b/4.

I have insane cramps.  o.m.g!!! cringing over here! (no photo of that!)

I love my baristas!

my oldest friend Vicki (with her daughter Katie) celebrated her 50th b-day!
our parents were bffs.
she still looks soooo young!

hot Zumba instructor doing the 5K race warm-up!  Shan needs to take Zumba!

check out the dad doing Zumba!  so many families joining in on the fun!

hahahahahah! 


my feet are freezing. (no photo of that!)


I think I'm allergic to hair dye, itchy!
please say it isn't soooooo! I'm too young to go gray!
 And I need to look my best to catch a husband!  lololol!!!!

I mentioned that Karen & I will run (ok, walk) with the chickens on Sunday.

that's it for now! 

I was on the edge of the event horizon...

being sucked into the black hole...

 (source)

 but I managed to escape the gravitational forces of evil with my heart and soul intact!

for the most part,...

Lessons for this week:

Be the river, not the rock. (A reminder.)

Stop resisting.

Walk a new path.

 Open heart, open mind.

Take care of you.

Minimize expectations.
My friends are wise and wonderful!

Do not fear the ART.

Dares can get you to think outside the box! (thanks Estor!)

Endorphins, haircuts and touch ups are oh so good.

Its not imperative to make a decision immediately! 

Red wine makes me happily relaxed!  : .)

I'm off to Sac this weekend to visit the bff and walk the Chicken Run!

 (AKA the Fair Oaks Fiesta Fun Run!)

Excited to see my baby Ian (relative term, he will be 16 this fall!), and his siblings : .)

Love those kids!

Happy weekend!!!

oh, this must be how it feels when the feelings goes...

 Jim Adkins on the trail this morning  : .) Synchronistic words and music, how perfect!

*     *      *      *      *

Ya know, distance running gives one a lot of time to think. 

Today I was thinking of ways that you could confirm that someone was honest and earnest.

For instance, if you were dating someone new, you could ask to see the pictures on their cell phone.  I think you'd be able to get a good idea of what someone was all about by viewing their gallery.

On my cell phone I have a bunch of pictures of Starbucks cups.

What does that say about me???

I'm having a love affair with hot beverages. 

Yep.

What does your cell phone say about you???

clowns are scary

I've got a bit of stream of consciousness going on here...

Some grafitti near the art bldgs on campus.

Sneaky of the ATCs I made for my trade with Penny.  I know, I'm not nice...

hee!

I've been trying to work in my art journals, just to get some flow going...

The bkgnd paper is the scrap I used under my homework assignment last week. 

Bits from a flyer I found at the public library, doily parts from the happy mail I received from Sharmaine, and scraps.

A piece I started in January in anticipation of V-day and finished last nite.

A flower I made from an old piece of pattern and a rhinestone brad.

Lots of playing around with my stash.

I've been enjoying:
some good workouts (running of course!),
carob chips,
almost vegan pb cups,
friendship bread starter mooshing and baking,
homework (can you believe that?!) actually the process, not necessarily the outcome,
appt. with (the hot!) Dr. Steve
& the rain.

I need:
more giggle fests,
endorphins,
to lose 10 more pounds!
more days off,
to do more art,
the Sharks to advance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs,
connection,
more quality time with good friends
& something extraordinary to believe in.

yeah.

I'm not happy.

bleh!

re-cap...week of 4/5

interesting that gale force winds (ok, I exaggerate a bit, 30 - 40 mph winds) and sideways rain during your 13.1 mile race can distract you from the fact that your sciatica is screaming, a blister is forming on your left instep and your hands are freezing.

it was one of the best runs I've ever had!  (it had to be...my bib number was the year I was born!)

a highlight of the experience...the wind lifted the salt spray from the waves crashing against the cliffs into the air and into my path.  it was incredibly cool.  so exhilarating!  such an adventure!

I'm still jacked up on endorphins!!!  wheeeeeeee!!!

check out the cool shirt and medal!!!  such brilliant colors!

other good stuff from the past week...

I became an un-official great-auntie!  mary's daughter had a baby!  so weird to call  mary "grandma"...so weird to be called "great-aunt"!

I think celebratory martinis should be involved!

I received an Amish Friendship Bread starter from Als gdaughter, who was so excited to share.  working the starter involved a lot of "mushing", "de-poofing" of the bag, and the addition of ingredients to increase the amount of the starter.  after 10 days, I baked two loaves of lemon friendship bread and it was sooo delicious!!!  I have to admit I was surprised at how good it was.  (I didn't want to share it with my friends and co-workers without taste testing, so I had a slice...detox is o.v.e.r! yay!)  I have a starter for me (choco friendship bread next) and 3 to give away.  I hope my co-workers are inspired and take some starter!!!!

I also received happy mail from D!  I felt so special!!!  such fun goodies!!!  I am sooooo spoiled!  can't wait to use the visual thesaurus as a stepping off point for some art projects!  the felt roses are so lovely, the pocket pet is cute!  I think I'm gonna use the coasters not for their intended purpose, but in an art project or two!  thanks again D!!!

I got awesome happy mail from Penny!  eeeek!  I didn't photograph the goods, but lemme tell you, Penny thot really hard about what I would like!  I so appreciate the effort!!!  not only did I get gifts, but she pulled out all the stops to make me some fantastic cards for an ATC trade!  love them all, especially the ode to Eddie!  Pearl Jam!!!  Penny ROCKS!!!  (still working on yours Penny!)

art class started!  more color fundamentals and not much space for creativity.  I might post homework, but only if you can learn something from it too, hee! 

finally for the end of the week, a little funny from Icanhazcheeseburger : .)  LOL!!!

no chocolate.

evil frickin' rabbit : .(

(source)

got banana?

today was a ten mile day in training.  it was supposed to be 9.

10 miles 'cause I mis-calculated my training schedule and my race is NEXT weekend instead of in 2 weeks!  eee!!!

I decided to go the longer distance.  unfortunately, I couldn't eat any of my caffeinated sport jelly bellys for fuel (detox, ya know), so I carried a banana.  that was kinda weird.  a lot weird.

is that a banana or...sorry, my mind often drifts ; .)

I am not mentally ready to run a half marathon next Sunday.  also not ready 'cause of detox.  I'm gonna have to cheat and eat a bunch of carbs starting on Friday.  shoot!  oh, does that mean I can have a Starbuxs too?! heheheh!  I guess one day isn't gonna make a whole lot of difference...

it was a gud run.  slow, but gud.  cold & slow, but gud.

my legs are very stiff.

makes getting off the couch where my butt's been planted all day, very difficult!

oh, and I need to post some happy mail pixs, just waiting for good light to take 'em!  : .)

of course I posted this...

I'm a Disney fan, aren't I?!

and I love irreverent humor!

 from I can has cheezburger?

It was a great day today!!!

1)  I got a raise and a bonus! whoopee!!!

2) my fav vegan restaurant is in Whole Fuds!

3) I made it thru cycle class!

4) gigglefests!

 

I'm a crocheting fool!

I found the pattern for these lovely roses here. They look exactly like the roses on a scarf I wanna make
from the Lion Brand Yarn website, so good practice!!!

Supah cool!
Want one?
Just lemme know!!! I'll mail one to ya!
(I've got some black yarn if  you want a rose that color.)

Someblossoms from a tree I saw in the running trail parking lot today! : .)
I think the b&w is the best version.

Speaking of running, what a horrible experience trying to exercise while detoxing!
(I was slow, slow, slow!)
A necessary evil as the 1/2 marathon is in 3 weeks!
I'm happy to say, I've lost 8 #s in the past 7 days, so its been worth it!
14 days of detox to go.  I hope I survive!

O.M.G!!!  Happppeeeee Mail all the way from Tasmania!!!
 Take a gander at all these goodies!!!
Doncha just love the Everyone Poops bumper sticker?! heheheh!
And the cute kokeshi doll playing cards!
And the STAMPS!
And TIM TAMS!  No, I am NOT sharing!!!
: .) : .) : .) : .) : .)


Thanks so much Sharmaine!!!  I'm still smiling!!!

Tonite has been set aside for an undistracted New Moon viewing.
(Jacob's 6-pak, swoon! ; .)

Don't forget, lemme know abt the roses! : .)

audi taste on a kia budget

I'm thinking about buying a new car.  I wanna pay cash, so the price range for said automobile has to be pretty reasonable.

my wish list includes a Mini Cooper Super Sport or Audi A5 or an Infiniti or a Lexus.  these cars are not within my price range.  I don't think I can even consider a Hyundai Sonata (2011's are beautiful!)

I need to keep in mind maintenance costs, gas mileage, standard vs manual transmission, foreign vs American manufacturing...blah, blah, blah.

I dream of power and performance, kickdown linkage and cornering ability, NOS, slicks, and alcohol fuel (just kidding, where would I store a funny car?!).  if I were able to buy an Audi I'd probably have to budget for speeding tickets, heheheheh!!!

after a little research, here's my first list of test drives...

Kia Soul - too boxy???

Honda Fit - not sure I want a car with such a big butt!



Honda Civic Coupe - ooooohhhhhh!  way more sporty!


Hyundai Elantra Touring - maybe with the roof racks!!!

does the Soul come with the hamsters?  if I get a Kia Sorento, do I get a robot and a life sized sock monkey with a sense of fun?!

I'm not sure I'm ready to give up Good Little Car, he's only 13 years old!!!  boo!!!

decisions, decisions!!!  : .)

I am very fond of tea!

5 good things for today!!!

1.  color theory class, spring qtr 2010

2. homemade carrot cake!  {thanks Aldien!}

3. one big weight off my shoulders!

4. tazo zen tea with honey
5. great email!

another arrrrggghhhh moment (weekend)

geez oh pete!

frustrated.

& the weekend is o.v.e.r.

I did make it to the trail and the gym (yay for endorphins!)  ok, now that is quite an accomplishment considering my attitude & lack of motivation lately.   I guess my weekend was not a total bust!

I tried very hard Saturday to do some art.  I couldn't even start anything.  finally, around 7 pm I tried doodling at the suggestion of my friend Michael. 

sometimes brainless acts of art help to get you back to the flow.

that lead to some paper bag flowers. 

it took me 4 more hours on Sunday to make this:

I took these photos in the same light, in the same position, so go figure on the exposure.  The bkgnd is actually the same color as the flowers.  would you believe it took me about 2 hours to decide where to place those flowers???  ack!  I know, that annoys me too!!!  I can tell that you have absolutely no attachment to the placement of the flowers!  why should I care so much?!

I also prototyped some ATCs.   Made this one for ATC the Music, Wishlist by Pearl Jam.  (Eddie!)  We'll see if my Linda posts it!   I wasn't entirely enamored of the piece, felt like it needed more development, but I wanted to get something done for Linda's blog. 

 I spent a good amount of time looking for things I know I own, but can't remember where I put 'em.  I did find the yellow mini pom-poms  : .)

that's it.  I hope my week is better...

just breathe!

Jacob Black, shirtless again!!!  eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!  swoon!

Eclipse trailer!!!

let there be light...

you know that weird phenomenon (phenomena?) where you run out of or everything breaks at once?

I had a torchiere lamp forever and it finally died.  I'd also like to say that considering where I work, I should have gotten rid of that torchiere lamp a long time ago.  (my friend Bendy mentioned to me once that it was probably not smart to own something with "torch" in its name and he was right!!!  many moths quickly went up in flames on account of that lamp, ick the stink!)

remember the shower door incident?  and since I've had my huge boxy television forever, I was worried I'd have to replace that too and I don't want to have to buy a tv right now.  annnnd, oh geez, my car!!!

is there an anti-jinx for typing that out loud?  yikees!

besides I need new running shoes.  I have my priorities  : .)

then again, its funny I'd say that b/c as of yesterday, I had not worked out for 11 days.  eleven days!!!  (the not working out plan was not a good idea!)

this is only the third time since I was 16 that I've gone without consistently and regularly working out.  the first time was in 2004 when I went to France for 13 days  (we did do a lot of walking), the second was when I tore a disc (disk?) in my back in 2007 and couldn't work out for a few months, and the third was the current "incident" which was on account of my b-day a week and a half ago!

Speedy ran with me at lunch on Wednesday.  not only was I really happy that evening (yay for endorphins!), but I slept 9.5 hours that night and had a really good day Thursday (kinda been in a slump since that fateful b-day/week).

well, until I had to decide whether or not to go to cycle class this evening.

if I learned anything on my little hiatus, its that I NEED my ENDORPHINS.  so I forced myself to go to class, sweat buckets, and had a pretty swell time!!!  LOL!!!

considering my good mood, I think I can do a 5 good things for today list:

1)  perspective, endorphins, sweat!
2)  compliments on my art from my newest bloggy pal!  (thanks Penny! : .)
3)  Pearl Jam concert series announcement!!!  I love Eddie!!! 
4)  the new lamp I got for ten bucks at my favorite store Target, hee, hee, hee!!!

b-day week recap

 

I must say, it turned out to be a fab-o birthday. 

I decided to 'celebrate' the entire week.

I ate what I wanted.

I did what I wanted.

I DID NOT work out!

(That's unusual for me, it was kind of an experiment. 

More on that later.*)

I got cards, I got IMs, I got phone calls, I got invitations to eat (hee!), I got emails.

My favorite barrista Abbe put a happy birthday message on my Starbuxs cup.

Speedy baked me cookies!

He had to ask the neighbors how to do it, (burnt most of 'em), how cute is that?!

Lindstroms cooked me dinner!!!  

Tri-tip, rosemary roasted potatos red potatos, lemon pepper asparagoose. 

We went to Baskin Robbins for dessert!

oh yum!!!

Lindstrom's cute girl made me this:

 

A Scary-Cute business card holder!

I got happy mail!

Penny sent me her 'Best of Jimmy Eat World' compliation 

 & 

the cutest post-it notes!!

Shannon made me a oiishi-des slow-cooker pot roast, mashed potatos, and asparagoose!

We took a ride in her new hot rod to...you guessed it!  

Baskin Robbins for ice cream!!!  

 LOL!!!

Other highlights from this week:

Got my hair done.  I love my hairdresser Sonya, 

Rockstar Hair Goddess!

I received trade cards (and a Starbuxs gift card!)

from Gemini Jen whom I met over at SiStv!

Sooo cool!

I gotta get my cards for her in the mail asap!  eeek!

I also took a half day vacation from work on Friday to volunteer at the King Library downtown

@ Books Aloud

which provides audio books for the blind and other disabled.

This project was for Disney's Give a Day, Get a Day.

I'll be donating the ticket to an underprivledged kid  

so they can visit the Happiest Place On Earth : .)

I played with paints and paper.

I watched 500 Days of Summer:  Not a love story, but a story about love.

 Joseph Gordon Levitt is so cute & Zooey Deschanel is so quirky.

It was happy and sad.  Life is like that.

My heart is filled with bleubirds!!!

Finishing off the weekend packaging things I owe to my peeps 

& cooking dinner

(marinated steak, sauted mushrooms, broccoli, baked potoato,

and key lime pie for dessert!)

 hee, hee, hee!!!

*I read this article in Time magazine that said that exercise won't make you thin,

mostly b/c people like to reward themselves for their workout and eat more than they burned.

While I don't fall prey to this thinking, I am always hungry from working out.

As a matter of fact, I eat 3Xs the amount of fuds anyone I know eats!!!

I'm not big, but I'm not thin either. 

and its 'cause I like to eat!!!

And, like pretty much every other woman in the universe,

I just want to lose 10 pounds. 

You know, that 10 pounds!

So, the experiment was to not work out
and see if I still felt like eating 
massive amounts of fuds...

[I also didn't go to the gym b/c I've been harassed by 

2 old ladies in the past two weeks.  

And rather than have my workout effed up...

I decided to not go : .(   ]

...and lo and behold, 

I wasn't very hungry this week.

I do know that eventually I would miss my endorphin fix. 

Or maybe not  ; .)

art lesson

Collage & Composition - Winter Quarter '09

These are my pieces that my teacher Linda chose to put in the Student Art Show this quarter at school.

Did you know that collage isn't just gluing paper to paper?  There are fundamentals involved!!! Elements and principles of design!!!


LOL!!!

My Starry Night is supposed to be an example of "framing."  Something in the foreground, or to the sides is supposed to "frame" the rest of the piece.  I was hoping the cityscape "framed" the sky.  According to Linda, it doesn't.

This was made by gessoing (is that a verb?),  putting gesso on a magazine where I stapled the pages together to make a strong base.  The cityscape, moon, and dots are newspaper, I used spray ink, and more gesso on top to make the starry swirls.  Also included is a human being, given to fly : .)
I like this piece b/c its very textury. 

If we were to critique the piece, we could ask these questions...(and I'm not gonna do this now b/c I'd like to sleep tonight, not tomorrow when I am supposed to be at work!  : .)

Critique from here.

What is a critique?

A critique is an oral or written discussion strategy used to analyze, describe, and interpret works of art. Critiques help students hone their persuasive oral and writing, information-gathering, and justification skills.

Description

Describe the work without using value words such as "beautiful" or "ugly":

• What is the written description on the label or in the program about the work?
• What is the title and who is (are) the artist(s)?
• When and where was the work created?
• Describe the elements of the work (i.e., line movement, light, space).
• Describe the technical qualities of the work (i.e., tools, materials, instruments).
• Describe the subject matter. What is it all about? Are there recognizable images?

Analysis

Describe how the work is organized as a complete composition:

• How is the work constructed or planned (i.e., acts, movements, lines)?
• Identify some of the similarities throughout the work (i.e., repetition of lines, two songs in each act).
• Identify some of the points of emphasis in the work (i.e., specific scene, figure, movement).
• If the work has subjects or characters, what are the relationships between or among them?

Interpretation

Describe how the work makes you think or feel:

• Describe the expressive qualities you find in the work. What expressive language would you use to describe the qualities (i.e., tragic, ugly, funny)?
• Does the work remind you of other things you have experienced (i.e., analogy or metaphor)?
• How does the work relate to other ideas or events in the world and/or in your other studies?

Judgment or Evaluation

Present your opinion of the work's success or failure:

• What qualities of the work make you feel it is a success or failure?
• Compare it with similar works that you think are good or bad.
• What criteria can you list to help others judge this work?
• How original is the work? Why do you feel this work is original or not original?

The next piece is attempting balance and repetition (as principles of design)...the use of a grid; shape and texture (as elements of design).

I used another (half of a) magazine, stapled together, and gesso'd.  The black squares were made by using a playing card as a "stamp".  The hearts are stamped and painted, torn and sewn with thread.  I stapled the netting after mounting the hearts.  The text was printed from Word and cut out and glued to the page. 

Close up of one of the hearts.

I have some pieces from previous quarters to share, as well as work in progress for the current quarter, due next week, EEK!!!  I have to find those other pieces and photograph 'em first!