fishnets.

it is late, i have a headache, and i am possibly already breaking my lenten sacrifice of no gratuitous internet use--which, of course, is not something i should be talking about, especially here, in this very public forum we call the internet.
however!! i have to say that i believe some things are coming together to put me on my desired path sooner than i was anticipating.
but i don't want to jinx anything (wait, do i a believe that?)
i have been working my way, rather slowly--and rather poorly, through the artist's way, the universal creativity rehab course. julia cameron keeps saying things like "leap, and the net will appear". well, for a long time i felt like i was leaping, but no net. just splat! on the concrete below. actually, they are rocks. rocks and scraggly trees and sagebrush (i did grow up in the mountains, after all).
but this week? this week i am leaping. and this week, there seems to be a net. it's a little hard to see, as if it were made of fishing line, it mostly just reflects the sunlight here and there. but it is there. so it is time to close my eyes and take a running jump, limbs spread wide. i have found some friends to help, and i think i have found some equipment.
but, shhhh! nothing's official yet, so no details.
how's that for creating interest, huh?
you're hooked, i can tell.

if i were planning a honeymoon. . .

i would go here (apparently i am marrying a millionaire. also,what is with the ellipses lately? when did i become ellipsis girl?). this place looks ah-mazing.

(remodelista via please sir)

getting a big kick out of. . .

i am not a big shopper. nor i do not spend a lot of time looking for things on the internet that no one else has seen (uh, which would be impossible, hello!). sometimes, when i am trying to squeeze myself into the mold of an artist-blogger, this is disappointing. so you can be assured that i will not ever share something on here just for the sake of a post. you can be assured that if i am sharing this with you, it is something i really like. for reals.
in the midst of some research tonight, i came across some posters that made me crack up, and are totally affordable. not to mention the seller's name is linocutboy. it figures he is a brit.

tunes.

listening to the cd of the week segment this morning, i am suddenly very excited about this really fabulous album, dark was the night. a two-cd set, this album of indie-music all-stars supports the red hot foundation, an aids awareness organization. they played the books & jose gonzalez covering nick drake, and the national's contribution, so far around the bend.
absolutely beautiful. good monday morning stuff.

here we are again.

uh. . . it's another day of not being excited about work, or the weather, or life in general. i don't really like whiney blog posts, but the longer this funk continues, the more bewildered i am about what to do. but how could this not put a smile on your face? greg brown singing about taking a bath?! hilarious. alvin and the chipmunks singing "please, please me"?!!

thursdays.

i don't think grace ever needs ME directing traffic to her blog, but i just want to tell the three of you that read this, how much i love the new weekly flower column on design*sponge. seriously, i woke up this morning thinking, "thursday! the office, and weeder's digest". and i have proceeded to refresh my browser all afternoon in anticipation of sarah's hilarious floral commentary. and let me tell you, she did not disappoint in her valentine's day installment.
so hilarious.
so beautiful.
makes me wish even more that i had a man to bring me flowers this year.

a case of the tuesdays?

ugh. i do not want to go to work today (or any day, really). it is dark and windy outside and i mostly just feel like staying home with some music, coffee, and research. it is time to get serious about this working for myself thing, and it is all i can think about. also, i want to make these cookies. oh, and i want to read the tenth muse, because it looks amazing (is it one of those things i have just not paid attention to before?) a lot of my thoughts lately are about what i want out of life, what i want to do, and what i want to surround myself with--not in a hopeless, depressing way, but in a "let's make it happen" sort of way:
i want to read more.
i want to cook more.
i want to take more photographs.
those are just three, i am holding back a little, because being on the internet is like being in public, and it's good to not let it all hang out all the time.
however, it is off to work for me.
i am always ten minutes late and i hardly ever care. i think that is not such a good sign.

tunes.

so, i keep reading "blogger tips" about luring more readers into my corner and one of the popular suggestions is to have a regular column--you know, something for my loyal fans to look forward to on a regular basis. so as practice, i thought i would give you a sample of the possible topics that might be regular posting material.
i am looking forward to a lot of music coming out in february, particularly m. ward's new album "hold time" as well as this one: this album of covers is a collection of classic rock and roll (am i supposed to use the 'n right there? cause i just don't think i'm that kind of girl) from the last forty years, performed by some of this generation's brightest musicians and bands. the twist is this: the original artists pick the coverers! that's right. so bob dylan picked beck to sing "leopard-skin pill-box hat" and bruce springsteen picked the hold steady to cover "atlantic city" (one of my favorites, by the way).
i love collaborative projects of all kinds, and what i have heard of this one is particularly exciting.

there are days--lots of them lately--when i want to stand on the roof and scream at the top of my lungs.
amy suggests that perhaps that could be the american equivalent to the siesta. round about noon we all hop out onto our roofs, wherever we are, and let loose, just get it all out.
i almost feel refreshed just thinking about it.
minnesota will never be the birthplace of that tradition.

"i'm on a diet"

that's what i told the cashier as she scanned my personal pizzas and potato chips.

walking home from the bus stop tonight, i turned into one of those people. you know, one of those people you don't run into often, but you are probably glad you don't. those people who perhaps sing or whistle along to whatever music is playing only in their ears, those people who bop along on the sidewalk, just happy to be alive. agh! those people!
i was suffering from an overload of energy (i do work in an office after all--another subject for another day) and i just really could not help but sing along with my ipod and then get terribly distracted by the deep dusk sky and the white lights on the trees along second street. and seeing as i am so obsessed with valentines, i tried to draw a heart for you while the exposure ran. it reminded me of writing my name with sparklers as a kid, the bottom photo reminds me of a slinky. the lines and textures of the photos also remind me somewhat of the lines and textures in printmaking, which are always unique and wonderful.
oh, and of course i couldn't resist the moon mingling with the twinkle lights above the squares of the condo roof.
it felt great to bop around the sidewalk, sing along with gillian welch, and play with my camera for a few minutes. it felt great to ignore everything else and be really happy to be alive.

just taking a moment today to catch up on some blog reading, and ran across this wonderful, wonderful artist, rebecca niederlander. her sculptures are gorgeous and make me wish i were a sculptor myself. it's nice to see some green in the background, too--a site for winter-sore eyes.
sigh. maybe someday there will be enough time for me to explore all my ideas. maybe.
via design*sponge.