quiet post

we are almost a week into may... how are you doing on your goals and dreams?

happy thursday! it's very bright and sunny here, and i'm going to soak it all in while it's here, because after today, it is predicted to be cold and rainy for a while. {always just in time for the weekend, no?}

continuing with the fake polaroids for fake 'roid week here, i give you some sepia 'roids.

so i pulled a bunch of images from the last several months for this group, and it got me thinking... "oh, my goodness! it's already may! in less than two months, the year will be half over. YIKES! how did that happen?"

then i started thinking about all the goals i had set for myself when the new year started. all the dreams i had written down or planted in my thoughts. and i started to do a self-check... am i where i wanted to be by this point? in some ways, yes. i'm almost debt free {still have one last battle to go on that }. i've made some healthy habit changes {but i've fallen off the wagon on those lately }. i'm pursuing some dreams in ways that i was never bold enough to pursue before {but i still need more boldness and confidence there }.

all in all, i think i'm doing okay. but if i were to not stop and check in every once in a while, i could see myself easily slipping on all of these. oh, how i do not want that to happen! i so sincerely do not want 2011 to arrive, and look back and see that i wasted 365 days again! not that any year of my life has ever been a waste. but i know i have not taken full advantage of the years i've been blessed with thus far.

i'm getting to the age where that's just not an option anymore. i want to live life to the fullest and seize every opportunity that comes my way! i want to grow. to learn. to achieve things i thought i could not. to use my time, talents, resources and blessings wisely.

i think we should check-in every month, at least... don't you? what about you? how are you doing so far this year? i'd love to hear... especially if you have some tips about how you keep it fresh and alive... how you keep the goals and dreams from slipping away unnoticeably.

do share! and even if you don't, have a happy thursday! i hope you enjoyed the "roids".

eine kleine nachtmusik {or a little night music }

one of last week's sunsets...




tonight's full moon.

i have not yet mastered night-time photography, but i'm okay with that. sometimes i'd almost rather not, because i love blurry, ethereal images, and my inability to work the camera just right for a crisp shot lends itself to that blurry look i love. tonight was warm and very windy... absolutely one of my favorite kinds of nights. i was out late, and it felt so incredible to feel that wind on my skin, complete with the "better than any music ever written" sound of the wind through the trees. it was the first night of the year that we have had that sound. up until now, even if we had strong enough winds, we did not have enough leaf growth on the trees for that sound to be made.

i was in heaven. pure bliss. there is only one other sound that moves me that much... roaring applause after a powerful performance of classical music. both give me the chills.

the wind also helped with the blur i was hoping for. i wish i could capture sounds the way i can capture images, and then upload them to my blog too. instead, i'll just encourage you all to be on the "lookout" for that sound. if you have never {or have not recently } taken notice of it, do it soon. and if you have been observantly admiring it, you know just what i mean.

it's also that time of year when i will be taking loads of sunset photos. i think i went out chasing sunsets three to four times a week last spring and summer. i often got shots i loved, but it was more than that for me. it was the experience. the intentionality to see. that is what makes those evenings memorable. the photos that turned out well are just the icing on the cake... or to put into a musical context... the bow and encore at the end of an already memorable concert.

things i love to like and like to love {in photography and otherwise }... oh, and hopefully a word of wisdom or two

i know it's tuesday... thus i'm a little late for mosaic monday. but i realized today that i have not done a photo collage in a very long time, so i was feeling the mosaic vibe. then i realized i was not sure what to make a collage of.

that's when i just started scrolling through five or six of the most recent folders of photos that i have uploaded and decided to just start grabbing the things i love... visually speaking.

i've always been a visual person... i guess most people who like photography are. but as a graphic designer, i'm much more stimulated visually than i am by any other sense, with the exception of sound... namely music.

each of these images contain things that stimulate me visually in person, but also in a photograph... especially the latter in the images that were captured less realistically {more what my mind sees, less what my eyes see }... such as the blurry shots of the bottled juice, or the stop lights in the night sky, or the "moving" trees in the train shot.

which reminds me of something i recently heard from a friend... helpful advice given after i expressed my frustration at something quite disappointing that was done to me by someone else i consider a friend. i guess it was more of a helpful reminder than it was advice. it was this: "it's easier to change the way you see things than it is to change what you see." the facts of what happened to me {what this friend did } are there, and i can't help but be disappointed in the person who did this thing to me. but i can choose how i will look at it, and what i choose is what will matter in the end. that helped me.

{hmmmmm... i guess this very much hearkens to the title of my blog and the "life." portion of its subtitle.}

anyway, back to the visual stimulation i love. here are each of the shots from the collage individually {with some more jibber jabber about them }. enjoy.

i received these free flowers for planting as a thank you for purchasing something at a local arts/gift store. the plant traveled with me to the cafe down the street and brightened my coffee and scone breakfast.

not much to say about this photo... other than "i just love this!"

have you had this sparking juice brand? it's called izze. it's very tasty. this one was blackberry. i enjoyed taking pictures of the bottle, especially with the way the sun glistened through it. and i liked the packaging design and the color of the juice... a perfect match to the hue of my spring trench coat. i sat outside in the sun at a sidewalk cafe for lunch one day. the other patrons must have thought i was a weirdo for taking pictures of my bottled juice instead of drinking it. but as you can see, i didn't care.

again, what else can i say that the photo doesn't? when the sky is this color at this time of night, i'm swooning!

i'll never stop taking pictures on the train. they may all look the same, but i can't not do it! this was from my most recent trip to chicago. i can't get enough of that captured movement in the foreground, while the background objects remain unblurred. and i love the photo's coloring, which is manufactured by the tinted glass of the train windows. i'm not sure if all train windows are like this, but it's one of the things i like most on our train cars.

you saw this tulip before... a couple of posts back. and you will see it again. {sorry }. it's just that i love the look of a single flower in a vase... especially if it sits on a sill in the light.

i took this recently while looking up under a tree. the camera obviously did not focus, but sometimes those are the very best images, no? this one looks sort of tie-die to me. i think i'd like a skirt made out of this image.

a few more steps under a few more trees along a bit more track

just a few more from saturday's rainy-day wanderings. i took a walk along these tracks... tracks i drive past almost every day on my way to work.

every year, when these particular trees start to bloom, i take notice and am so taken with the way they look juxtaposed against the tracks and the occasional train car that might happen to be there. the cars are old and worn. the tracks are far from organic or pretty. but there is something about the way they all look together that calls out to me every time.

rarely do i stop to photograph them. once or twice i snapped a drive-by shot... like this one:

but saturday, i made myself stop there. specifically. intentionally. it was the perfect gray day for such a walk. the blossoms are actually more of a purple color in person, but i felt in the mood for some processing that would turn them more magenta, as it turned the sky more yellow.

somehow i think you could take one of these trees and place it just about anywhere... a palace or a train yard... or anywhere in between... and it would beautify them all. would you agree?

i haven't seen this day before

{a repost of an old post from last year...
inspired by the always inspiring kristin.}

if i could i would break into flower.
if i could i'd no longer be barren.
this day is filling up my room,
is coming through my door.
oh i have not seen this day before.

oh mourning dove, we'll go up to my roof.
oh mourning dove, we'll go into the sky.
this day is filling up my room,
is coming through my door.
oh i have not seen this day before.

and the cars are a stream running by me,
bend away to a place i don't know,
this day is filling up my room,
is coming through my door,
oh i have not seen this day before.

{by innocence mission}

no, you shut up!

did you ever have to leave something behind? something destructive, deceptive or hurtful. perhaps all three? because you finally figured it out. you finally realized you bought into a lie and you just aren't going to do it anymore. your eyes have been opened by truth. and even then, the lie continues to present itself decent and true... more lies to hide the old lies. but you laugh, because you can't believe a lie would be so stupid as to think you don't know better. the lie still thinks you're weak. still thinks you are gullible or impressionable or vulnerable. perhaps the lie is deceiving itself. or perhaps the lie is afraid of withering, because it knows in the end it will be found out by all.

i've got no time for you, lie. i've got a life to live. you are ugly, when i never thought you could be. if you were truth, you would be beautiful. but you are a lie, and this is where i leave you far behind.

feeling greatly inspired

i feel strangely inspired today.
like big-time inspired!

i think it might have to do with a few things
that jumped out at me over the past several hours.
two of those things are some words
i saw on two blogs this morning.

the other thing is the words i saw in a comment
that i received {on my last post } when i got home.

sometimes negativity can actually inspire you
more than positivity does.
and then when it does,
it makes those sweet words stand out even more.


here are the three things i read...

"be the joy you want to see."
~unknown
{thanks for having this on your blog, curious cat }


"always when judging
who people are,
remember to footnote
the words, 'so far'."
~robert brault
{thanks for having this on your blog, jacs23 }


"there are things you do
because they feel right
& they may make no sense
& they may make no money
& it may be the real reason
we are here:
to love each other
& to eat each other's cooking
& say it was good."
~story people
{thanks for leaving this in a comment, jamie }

how odd that a negative comment should stoke such a fire of inspiration in me. i'll admit... i'm human, and i was initially bothered by the hurtful comment that i wrote about in my last post.

but i can honestly say, it took me about 10 minutes to get over it. all it did was inspire me more. to write better. to take better photos. to be better. i say this, because somewhere in all your thoughtful comments, one of you mentioned that i should not let what the negative commenter wrote bother me, as it would only give them satisfaction that they accomplished what they set out to do.

but truthfully, it did not bother me nearly as much as it made me feel bad for the person who wrote it or nearly as much as it made me feel good about myself and my whole-hearted go of it to be artistic in some way every single day. i actually have more confidence today than i did yesterday! like a ton more! yahoo!!!!!

some of you may think that spending a single minute on it or writing one word about it is a waste and only keeps reintroducing a bad vibe into the air... sort of giving too much for that negativity to feed on. but i don't see it that way. like i said, it just fueled my desire to be creative.

in my writing about it, i tried to put as much of a positive and constructive spin on it as i could. and so did some of you in your comments. and even if you didn't... it's all good! it's behind me. and it did the opposite of what that person set out to do. it pumped me up. i can't wait to practice taking picture this weekend! i can't wait to write about and post some of the recent pictures i've taken! i can't wait to go see what other bloggers are doing out there!

have a happy and joyful weekend.

be inspired.

quiet

"quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm."

~robert louis stevenson

{i'm just taking some time to be quiet and introspective this weekend... feeling the most peace i've felt in a long time. hoping you know peace today, too. have a happy weekend.}

on inspiration, driving, thinking and handel

do you ever see work of other photographers that moves and inspires you to the point of wanting to try the same type of photo? i often do, and a recent example is the inspiration that led me to take the above shot tonight.

i had recently seen two photos that i adore... this one and this one... and found them moving and beautiful beyond words. i've tried to take a shot like these before, but never achieved something quite as effective as theirs. but oh how i like road shots like these. in fact, i recently discovered a whole series of these kinds of shots on flickr from this photographer. i LOVE his work!

well, as i drove home from the baby shower and from visiting another friend {as long as i was in the area }, i had plenty of time to think. but i quickly found myself thinking too much... of things from big and heavy to small and insignificant. i then realized that i needed to turn on the radio and try to not think so much for a bit... just drive.

how pleased was i when my ears met the sounds of handel coming from the speakers. i often underestimate just how beautiful and moving his music is when i have not heard it in a while. i tend to gravitate toward the classical and romantic periods of the classical music genre, and thus the reason mendelsohn, schubert and brahms are my three favorite composers.

but when i hear handel {like the concerto in b-flat major for organ and orchestra that i heard tonight }, i start to rethink my favorites line-up. gosh, i'm a sucker for that kind of beautiful organ music {not the heavy, brooding stuff }. it was just what i needed for a snowy drive home that would have otherwise been filled with the many things that have been on my mind.

well, as i type, the snow is coming down quickly and is supposed to amount to between eight and twelve inches. after two sunny, warm days last week, i almost forgot it was winter. but winter has a way of reminding us when we forget. still... one month from today is the first full day of spring. i'll be counting down the days... of that i am sure.

challenge no. 22 at the four

{light can be gentle, dangerous, dreamlike, bare, living, dead, misty, clear, hot, dark, violet, springlike, falling, straight, sensual, limited, poisonous, calm and soft.}

~sven nykvist

i always love each post {and each challenge } at the four, but this one was one of my favorites yet. i'm continually amazed at how four {such } gifted photographers can collaborate in unison for such inspiring posts.

happy birthday, ethereal

it started as an idea and dream
just over a year ago.
but it launched
with the first post
exactly one year ago today.

it's not amazing or groundbreaking photography.
but it's moments caught
from two photography lovers.
and it's only going to get better.
i guarantee it.

i'm so glad she and i started this space.
twenty-two posts later,
we have no plans for quitting.
only for continuing...
at whatever pace life allows.

this was...
my favorite post so far.
my second favorite post so far.
my third favorite post so far.
but that's just my opinion.
go see them all to decide for yourself.

maybe in this second year
we'll get it together
and finally do our first interview.
hopefully.

thanks to those of you who visit
and follow
and comment.
you've made it worth it
to put it all out there!
we really do enjoy it
and we will always love the ethereal
in moments captured.

~gigi and georgie {ethereal-two }

go. see. do.

i was at a brunch {ornament exchange party} today, when one of my friends started reading, off of her iPhone, the things that are on her bucket list.

i sat there listening, and soon the words flowing from her mouth began to blur together before they reached my ears. you see, my mind had wandered off in a direction of its own after hearing the first half of her list.

i realized... i don't have {nor have i ever had} a bucket list. i've had some goals. some hopes. some dreams. some expectations. but up until tonight, i had not made a list.

i think the biggest reason for that is because i live too much within the limitations put on me by things like my age or my financial state or my level of knowledge or skills set. i also grew up in a modest home where we did not have enough money to do much traveling or participate in extracurricular learning/training {like music lessons or skiing lessons}. so i sort of learned to be content without those things.

i did a lot of traveling in college, and right after college, my best friend at the time was doing a lot of traveling, so she would plan trips, and i would show up and "enjoy the ride". but i think other than that, i grew content with simple trips to the beach on lake michigan or rides downtown all dressed up to hear the chicago symphony orchestra or the occasional concert pianist.

one of my favorite quotes is "dwell in possibility". {it's actually from an emily dickinson poem, i believe.}

i realized i have not been dwelling there... in possibility. i've been dwelling in practicality or probability. there are so many things that are possible if i put my mind to it. there are so many things i would like to do. so i'm almost forty... so what? they are saying forty is the new twenty anyway, right? i can still do so many things! and i want to! maybe i can't do them all. and maybe i won't have the money to do some of them. but i can at least put them on the list.

i was talking to a friend about goals and these sort of lists once. he said that a harvard study was once conducted where a group of people were asked what their goals for the next ten years were. only part of that group was asked to also write those goals down. the other part of the group was not. the study showed that over the course of the next 10 years, the group that wrote down their goals was 90% more likely to go after and achieve those goals than the group that did not write them down.

so i'm writing them down. {or typing, if you want to get technical.} i don't have my list fully compiled yet. i'm sure it's something that will be growing and evolving. although i have a few things for the list already, i'm not going to write it all in one sitting. i'm going to think carefully about it. i'm going to ponder the things i am passionate about and have always wanted to do. i'm not just going to add something to it because it is trendy or because someone else did it and i want to say i did it too. it's going to be a list of things i really want to do.

it's not complete, but i'll share just a few here now. i'll be sure to let you know as i add more. i might even add it to my sidebar. okay. here is what i have so far.

1. travel to israel, new zealand and to where the mayan and incan ruins are {you can be sure a lot more travel destinations will be added}
2. sing in a coffee house with the accompaniment of a guitarist
3. take a photography class... maybe even two or three
4. have my photography shown in a gallery {if i ever get good enough... oh, wait. i'm supposed to be dwelling in possibility here. when i get good enough.}
5. go on a missions trip to any place that needs me
6. sky dive {that one terrifies me}
7. have or adopt a baby
8. own and run my own business
9. learn to play piano {i had started taking lessons in my late 20s, but chose to quit so i would have more time to plan my wedding.}
10. visit all the frank lloyd wright structures that i can
11. watch all three movies of the lord of the rings trilogy {extended versions} in one day
12. vacation in se juan teneo, mexico {that is, if it still looks like it did in the movie shawshank redemption}
13. make an entire thanksgiving meal and bring it to a home that is without food and fellowship and eat with them
14. meet daniel barenboim
15. become debt free and stay that way indefinitely {i'm really close to the first half of this one, and i can not wait to achieve it. it should actually be first on my list, because it is the most important to me.}
16. finish a book {that's sort of a joke, for those of you who really know me.}

well, just so you don't think i've never done anything at all... there are some things i have always wanted to do that i did. i wanted to take a watercolor class, and i did {and loved it!}. i went white-water rafting on the colorado river. i saw the grand canyon {which everyone should do in their lifetime}. and i finished four years of college and graduated with a bachelor's degree. i traveled around europe for a month with a choir and sang in some of the most beautiful cathedrals. perhaps not a greatly impressive list, but accomplishments and things i am proud of or feel blessed to have experienced none the less.

all i know is i don't want to sit at a stoplight all my life. as in the photo, i want to be like that truck. those rollerbladers. that dog.

i want to...
go. see. do.

so... i'm curious. do you have a bucket list? what's on yours?

music.two {desafinado}

~stan getz

pssst.... push play below.

desafinado

as you can see and hear, desafinado by stan getz is playing. this is my second post in a series of posts related to music. last time i wrote about my brother's influence on my musical tastes, which is more on the current or modern music i listen to. but anything old school like jazz or classical is almost completely my father's doing {i guess a little of my mother's, too}.

anyway, what you are listening to right now is a series of notes that positively spell d. a. d. for me. i hear this piece and i can't think of anything but my father. this was one of his favorites, and growing up in my home, it was played all the time... i mean ALL the time! there are a few other pieces that he loved as much and gave equal amount of airtime to, like feels so good by chuck mangione, birdland by maynard ferguson, take the a train by duke ellington, and take five by dave brubeck. those all have the same effect when i hear them... they make me smile and think of nothing more strongly than dad. they are all now loved by his children just as much, but i think this one is probably my favorite.

so i was so delighted when i plugged in my earphones at work today and saw that one of my coworkers had this 1962 recording by getz and byrd called jazz samba on his i-tunes. i started playing it {desafinado is the first track}, and it instantly brought the broadest smile to my face. it put me in the best mood. partly because it caused such warm memories of my father to surface, but also because it's just plain feel good music. i love when music does that. i love that music can do that.

i'm pretty sure i owe my love of jazz to papa. this is not one of my november gratitude posts, but i'll say it anyway... i am so grateful that my parents raised us in a musical home and instilled a deep appreciation for good music in us.

i hope you enjoyed it. go ahead... listen to it again when it's done. it won't be on my blog forever.

they can't all be happy, cheery posts, but i'll still try to put a positive spin on it.

i chose this photo, because it fits my mood. it was another busy day, but a rough one, too. work's been a bit stressful, but it's more disappointment in people that's got me in a funk. i realize no one is perfect, and i realize i'm a disappointment to people sometimes. but every once in a while, i lose heart because within a short period of time, i feel disappointed by so many people on so many levels. people i know well. people i barely know. and everything in between.

i sometimes feel as though i might just have too high of expectations. who knows. all i do know is i've had a rough day. a couple of them, actually. i know most people who are hurtful don't mean to be. but shouldn't we all be careful to not unknowingly hurt someone? i think so. i don't want to be hurtful... knowingly or not. when someone does or says something that makes me feel bad, i think, "gosh! have i done that? i hope not. i hope i remember how this feels and don't make someone else feel that way."

but i know i'll slip. i just hope when i do, it's not on a day that the person i offended happened to get that kind of thing from all directions on several levels. i'd hate to think they had a day like mine. these past couple of days, i've had people treat me as if i'm incompetent, untrustworthy, too sensitive and not sensitive enough. i've also had people treat me like less than a friend even though i've been a friend to them. i've been ignored. and i've had things done {or not not done} that made me feel less important to someone that i thought i was.

i've even had people just flat out make fun of me and gossip. {that's the hardest one, because i make it a goal of mine to not make fun of people or gossip, so it's really hurtful when it's done to me.} and i hate to say this, but i even feel as though i am used and taken advantage of in a certain situation. gossip or making fun and using or taking advantage of seem more intentional and less likely to be inadvertent, so these are the two i struggle with most.

none of this is foreign or new to me, just as i'm sure it is not to most people. we all experience these things. it's just that when it all happens at once, it can really set you up for feeling discouraged.

i grew up in a home where we were taught to "turn the other cheek" and "forgive and forget" and such. and i believe those things. but i also think that the experience of being offended should trigger something in us to look at ourselves and take measure of our own ways. i'm not talking about the immediate. of course i'm initially offended, which makes me retreat and not want to be social with anyone for a while. but when i'm my usual self, am i saying things flippantly, or hurtfully out of my own insecurity, or purposefully because i want to intentionally make someone feel bad? now's a good time to look back {or even ahead} and ask, "have i done this?" or "could i see myself doing this inadvertently?" i think merely just forgiving and taking everything with a grain of salt is only half the battle.

i've always had thin skin. but i don't want my skin to get so thick and resilient that i'm calloused to the feelings of others. what do you think? how do you handle days like these?

i know it's a bad day when i come home crying and saying to myself or the hubby, "i just don't understand people."

well, i'm exhausted, so i'm going to sleep now. days like this are usually just that... just a day. i usually just need a good night's sleep and some time to let things roll off my back. i'm so glad b. made the bed and laid out my p.j.s for me. it was a sweet gesture from him after he let me vent my frustrations to him. so i'm off to slumber land now. hoping your day was better than mine. good night.

hi, again. it's just me again.

{sigh }

and what did you do?

i had one of those days. non-stop busy. had coffee {see below}, got out the door in a rush, stopped at starbucks to talk to some friends who i saw in the window as i drove by, ran late because of it, skipped my trip to caribou coffee for a cup of their incredible hot chocolate {sorry starbucks} as a result, drove to work {way out of my way because of a stretch of construction that is about half the distance of my normal commute}, got to work, started in on a new leg of the project i've been working on, did a lot more "running around" than i usually do at work, left for a few minutes to grab a quick bite to eat, but couldn't use my debit card because i accidentally locked myself out of it {long story}, so no lunch, back to the office, work, work, work, needing to concentrate more than usual, not feeling too well, finished up, drove home, got in some "return phone calls" time while i drove {even though b. hates when i talk on the phone while driving, but i had to arrange several things for this coming weekend with friends and family}, got home, watched the rest of a rerun of the office with the hubby, ordered dinner {thai for our first-date anniversary... see below}, cleaned up and came in here to blog. WHEW!!! now i can catch my breath.

well, at least one of you asked in my last post... did b. see my post below? the answer is yes. before i went to bed last night {he goes to bed earlier than i do lately, as he has to get up earlier}, i put a post-it note on the coffee maker that said, "dear b., please turn me on. love, the monitor".

i had my post open on my blog and ready for him to read upon turning on the monitor. so, yes. he read it. and when i got up and got my coffee {he had left for work already}, i came over to the computer to check e-mails and such. there was a note from him that said, "thanks, love." and he had also dug out the ticket stub from the movie we went to see thirteen years ago {romeo and juliet... the one with claire danes... yes, that's how old we are!}, and set it on the keyboard for me. sweet, no? : )

anyway, we had thai food tonight, although we should have gotten carry-out from the chinese restaurant we went to thirteen years ago. but i got food poisoning from the egg fu yung that night. so i opted for carry-out from a different place tonight. so glad, too. it was sooooooo delicious!

now we are going to watch the day the earth stood still -- the original. we watched the remake last night. we are hoping the original is better than the new one.

{thanks for all your nice comments on the last post, by the way!}

oh... as i was saying before i interrupted myself... what did you do today?

haze

so dull and dark are the november days.

the lazy mist high up the evening curled,

and now the morn quite hides in smoke and haze;

the place we occupy seems all the world."

~john clare, november

my drive to work earlier this week was like a dream. i've never seen anything quite like it. the most beautiful haze was in the air, making for an incredible view as i drove into the sun. maybe the colors of fall are all gone, but if every morning in november looked like this, that would be alright with me!

i'm still smitten {don't think i'll ever stop being so} with power lines and such along the roads. i've posted so many photos of them on this blog, i decided to start labeling these posts "fascinated by power lines". there's just something about them that stimulates my senses like nothing else. call me crazy. you'd think it would be flowers or vintage bicycles or cute little puppies or something. but nope... it's power lines. don't know why. and don't care why, either. i just like 'em, and i'm glad to.

i didn't even have to do anything to these images to give them their effect. the mood was all in the sky and my camera just happened to capture it well, i thought {especially for being driv-by shots} -- exactly like i would have hoped it would capture it.

hoping your november is off to a dreamy start. have a lovely weekend.

it was a dark and stormy night...

i'm not really a halloween person, but i thought "what better time to post these eerie photos?" so i'm joining the festivities to say "have a safe and happy day of trick-or-treating". i used one of these for ethereal, too. but it was my sister's shot that really had me spooked. check it out.

since we have no kids, and we are a tad old to go trick-or-treating ourselves, we're heading down to the city on the train tonight to go see my husband's brother and his wife. i think we'll watch a scary movie or two, and just sit around and have all the fall fixin's. i can't think of a better way to spend it. {and i'm sure we'll see some frightening costumes on the train—maybe i'll get a snapshot or two.}

it's not perfect... but

i've been thinking so much about contentment lately. if there is one thing in my life that i want to learn to perfection and have said of me, it's that i knew how to be content.

i've discovered through my time of unemployment {and my current situation of financial catch-up} that i need far less than i ever thought i did. i'm not talking about survival. i'm just talking about the things we have and keep and buy and borrow and try and store and consume. i had to let go of many of those frivolous things while money was tight, and now that i am making money again, i have no desire {or far less of one, anyway} to go acquire those same kinds of things.

i was joking with a friend last night on the phone about wanting to be wealthy and lead a life where money is no object. but then i remembered reading somewhere that the average american is more wealthy than 75% of the population, and i was reminded how good i have it.

another good friend of mine has really opened my eyes lately to a lot of silly thinking about how society or media or even peers make us think we should look a certain way or have certain things. not that having things that we can afford is wrong, but having them for the wrong reason is. it's made me look closer at why i feel i have to have some of the things i do.

there are a few things i really want because i really need them--like a new computer so that i can start doing freelance graphic design out of my home. but other than that, i've come to a really good place where i feel i don't need anything else. i like that.

and this could even be applied in non-materialistic areas. yes... i have desires, like wanting children. but even in these types of areas, i am learning to be content with where i am at. that makes me glad. i don't want to be an old woman when i've finally learned that. i want to master it now.

my standards have changed. they may change again. but right now, i'm realizing that my life may not be perfect. but i've got it pretty good, and it will do just fine.

with that, {sorry for getting all personal on you} i hope you have a wonderful weekend, and i hope you find peace and contentment somewhere in its hours and minutes, where you are at, with what you have right now.

sooc sunday

wow! where did this sunday go? i just barely made this shot in on time to call it sooc sunday. but i did it. i took it on the way home from work on friday. the sky was so cool while i was driving, i could not help but click away. i know this is dangerous. i feel quite guilty when i do it. but you'll be happy to know i've scaled way back on taking shots while i drive.

anyway, i'm glad i got it. i loved how it turned out. and it made me smile when i discovered this photo yesterday by one of my favorite photographers--if not my favorite. her shot sort of reminded me of this one, and i like that she likes this kind of photo. i do too!

if you click on the image, you'll see it better and get a much better sense of what it is in this photo that appeals to me. {by the way, does anyone know how to widen the posting area so that the photos can be bigger? i'd kind of like to do that, but don't know how.}

anyway, i'm hoping you had a good weekend. i'll share some nature day pics this week.