Dawn

27 january 2014 . monday . (day one thousand four hundred eighty-four)

Yesterday, I started a new job.  J. is calling it the beginning of a new era.  I'm not exactly sure if that's an accurate assessment or not, but what I can say is that it has been quite a while (nearly nine years) since I last started a new full-time job.*  At that time, I was the Project Administrator for a general contractor, and now I'm working as an Administrative Assistant and Conference Room Coordinator for a charitable foundation.  ...exciting changes.

*In my last position, as a Teller at a credit union, I was working full-time, but it started out as a part-time gig.

Al Kalb al Rai, or, 245 Light Years Away

26 january 2014 . sunday . (day one thousand four hundred eighty-three)

Even though I was ill for the better (or worse) part of the week, I managed to find a few bright lights.

Traveling the world with Karl Pilkington.

This dialect quiz found via Cup of Jo.

These "fancy" Dankos.

Would you make your own deodorant?

Stylish wear for a weekend hike.

A Moon Calendar for lunar musing.

Happy Hour

Another [sort of] great thing about being sick is that aside from a strange craving for buttered popcorn and salty potato chips, I want to eat well.  This wellness drive has me on a juicing kick.  Admittedly, I've actually only used the juicer one time before now.  It's a bit labor intensive and time consuming, and kind of expensive to buy all that fresh produce, but it's well worth it.  It may be said that J. and I seemed to round the bend with a green juice Flu Shot (found via Pinterest of course).

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Bleh

J. and I took advantage of the long weekend to visit a few friends in Portland.  Good times were had by all, but unfortunately, we came home with colds that have left us both feeling pretty miserable and out-of-it.  On the upside, we've had the best excuse to alternately nap and watch television all day long.

Conversion, or, A Little More of the Same

After a bit more measuring, I have the front and side yard mapped out.  I kind of wish that I had surveying skills so that I knew how to make the proper accommodations for the raise in elevation.  Our lot is actually more rectangular, without the jut-out to the right, but for my garden plotting purposes, this "floor plan" will do.

...the Ground Up

Last year's garden grew leaps and bounds over the year before.  I intend for this year to be even better than last (weather permitting of course).  A detailed plan should help us get the most bang for our time and effort.  Hopefully more purposely protected beds will keep deer from being an issue.  Also, I'd like to streamline the watering (yes... pun intended) with either sprinklers or drip lines.

Little by little, I will be making sketches of our corner lot and converting them to usable to-scale drawings.  Yesterday, I plotted the area between the house and the sidewalk along the southern corner of the house.

Al Anz

I am four days into a eighteen-day period of transition.  So far, so good.  Here's a bit of what has been peaking my interest as of late.

A variety of homemade doggie treat recipes.

Giving students a voice through photography.

Stunning views (from an airplane window).

Images of a frozen Chicago.

Although it's in German, the John Irving documentary is enticing.

Yes Mitten

I'm from Michigan and seeing how I have an affinity for the Great Lakes State, I am a sucker for many things Michigan related.

I have this shirt.

I want this cutting board.

I also want this t-shirt and this hoodie.

...and, there are many ways to tell, but you might be a Michigander if...

P.S. Even with all the power outages and freezing temperatures, winter usually finds me feeling a little homesick.

Coming and Going Postal

Hopefully this week is an indication of the amount of incoming and outgoing post that will filter through my hands (and my heart) this year.  Cards are great, because they leave you just enough space to say hi and share a few details.  I find that with a letter I tend to go on and on and on.  The letters are reserved for my dearest friends though, and I don't think that they mind my rambling.  I suppose the details, both unique and mundane, are cherished morsels to friends separated by states or oceans.

Ain, or, Eye

A new week and a new day...  There's been a lot to smile about.

Geninne's January desktop.

Antarctic negatives.

Thug Kitchen's Hoppin' John to ring in the new year.

An envelope system wallet.

BabyLit prints.

Traditional Fruit/Flowers or Modern Appliances

Four years ago, I became one half of the Three Shelled Walnuts collaborative duo.  We started on a lark and then we just kept at it.  Here's (day one), (day one hundred), and (day one thousand).  I like looking at where we've been on particular dates over the course of our adventure (for example: the 30 January mashup, our 20 March wedlock, or my 11 October day of birth).  ...wonder where we'll go and where we'll be after ten years or twenty-five.

Good Reads

For whatever reason, the new year gets me to thinking about books that I'd like to read.  W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage has been on my to-restart-and-finish-reading list for nearly fifteen years.  My first love, a college boyfriend, was a writer and an avid reader.  He's the reason I read and have since been affected by Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov.  He's also the one that introduced me to Maugham.  Maybe this will be the year that I [restart and] finish it.  I've also been meaning to read Rob Walker's Buying In for about five years.  My BFA thesis work centered around the concept of how we are defined by what we buy or rather that what we buy defines who we are.  This year, I would really like to delve deeper into this idea and somehow visualize the concept.

Today and Another Day, or, Banal Commencement

Happy new day and new year!  

Do you have any resolutions for the new year?  I'm not much on resolve, but I am marinating on a few possible goals.  I plan to share them at some time, but for now, I'm going to keep quiet.  Sometimes I feel like I say more than I do and that speaking my ideas out loud someone trivializes them.

28 december 2013 . saturday
(day one thousand four hundred fifty-four)