What I read in January

I am slowly making my way through my reading list for the year.

I finally finished reading The Child Thief by Brom last night (staying up until 3am to finish it was not a good move). I LOVED this book. It took me a lot longer to finish than I initially thought it would, but it was well worth the hours of sleep I lost while reading it. It was such an interesting and totally unexpected take on the tale of Peter Pan. It's definitely a story that will stick with me for quite a while. I would absolutely recommend it, but with fair warning that it's not for the faint of heart. It's pretty intense and very dark.

Last weekend I read Alice in Deadland by Mainak Dhar, which I have to say was a bit of a let down. I really enjoyed Pride & Prejudice & Zombies and hoped this one would be just as good. Not so much. The story line moved really slowly and I couldn't get passed the fact that some of the same phrases (both in description and dialogue) were used multiple times.....on the same page. Plus, the characters weren't really well developed. They just seemed flat--I didn't feel like I was given anything to really like or dislike about any of them which is an important part of the story for me.

Music Monday: Voodoo Child

Or is it Voodoo Chile?!

Will someone please shine some light on the actual title.

Anyway, I could listen to the first 1:25 of this song over and over and over.....




For the purests out there, a little Hendrix for your Monday evening


And just for the fun of it, Todd Carey.

The Year I Lost My Mind: Part 2

I can't believe January is coming to an end. It's gone by way to fast.

And even though January has gone by way too quickly, it also means that as of today, I've only a mere 337 self portraits to go!

On that note, here are my favorite shots from the last 2 weeks:


Day 17


Day 28


Day 29

Things I pondered this week while I should have been doing other stuff.

• It doesn't seem to matter how natural the smile is, I always end up looking like an idiot when I smile in photographs.
• First I started making necklaces and now I'm making rings?! Who am I? 
• Now that I have found a photolab for my 120 film, I can finally get my Film 26 photos developed.
• I don't understand the appeal of keeping score. No ones perfect. Accept it, be the bigger person and move on.
• Tiny Tower is a ridiculous game that is highly addictive. 
• I'm starting to branch out in terms of color in my wardrobe. I bought some items of clothing that are blue! Baby steps, it's all about baby steps.
• Since everyone keeps asking---YES, I will do a blog post on my anit-weightloss plan and the answer to everyone elses question, it is 17. 

Three cheers for film!

One of the things I wanted to do this year was shoot more film. It's a great idea, except for the fact that I hadn't quite worked out how or where I would get all these rolls of film developed, especially if I was shooting 120 film.

Thankfully though, through a quick internet search, I found an AMAZING photo lab to take care of my 120 film processing needs: 120processing.com. I sent my first roll of film off to them last week (a roll that I didn't have a clue as to what was on it) and received the negatives, scans (I LOVE that they will scan your film for you) and of course MORE FILM (I would be foolish to not purchase more film at the same time a roll is being developed) today.

First of all, I must say that I am totally impressed with myself that I didn't ruin an entire roll of film (still trying to get the hang of it). But also super excited about some of the photographs. The roll ended up being from an afternoon spent on Old Mission Peninsula in the fall of 2010. I had totally forgotten that I even had my Holga camera with me that day.

This is my favorite photograph from the set, a cherry blossom tree. My favorite thing about shooting film is that sometimes the mistakes are better than a perfect photograph. The double exposure on this one is exactly why I love it so much.

The rest of the photographs from the peninsula that day can be found here.

Down & Dirty

It's a pretty dreary day here today. In the 40's. And raining.

Normally I'm all for a rainy day. It's the perfect time to curl up on the couch with a hot cup of tear a warm blanket and a book. But in January. Really?! Not so much.

Last week seemed to be the week to discover new tunes which is brilliant. I have a playlist that is on a pretty heavy rotation at work, which tends to get a bit boring after awhile. This song popped up on Spotify the other day and I love it! Anouk's voice is amazing--it's really nice to hear a powerful female sound again. She totally reminds me of Melissa Ethridge. Great stuff.

Things I pondered this week while I should have been doing other stuff.

Whoops...I'm a day late. I was a little wrapped up in another project last night and time managed to get away from me. = )

• Dropping a roll of undeveloped film into the mail to spend some time at the lab is really stressful, especially when you aren't quite sure what is on the roll of film. Lake Michigan? Chicago? Mexico?! It's really anyone's guess. 
• I hate to admit it, but upon further thought, I'm not nearly as excited about a potential Mayer concert/tour as I feel like I should be. I'm almost thinking about sitting this one out.
• Part of me wants to write a post to clear up any misconceptions (there seem to be a lot of them) as to why I have decided to follow a vegan diet, but a bigger part of me feels like it shouldn't really matter to anyone else why I am doing it.
• The world needs more t.v. shows about spies.
• I've concluded, the worst part about winter driving---douchebag drivers who tail gate. If I can't see your headlights in my rear view mirror, you are too close and need to back the fuck off! 
• It should be painfully obvious by now that this (this being my overall blog) has little, ACTUAL direction but I like it that way. It's how my brain works.
• I firmly believe that whatever you put out into the universe, it will return to you, ten fold. 

A Girls Best Friend

Today is my dog Sadie's honorary birthday. She is 14.

I "adopted" (for the lack of a better term) Sadie six years after my uncle passed away. At the time, I always felt like I was saving her from a somewhat unknown future, but in the end this little dog saved me.

Sadie in one of her winter jackets.

She's the best dog a girl could ask for......she is cranky, suffers from a major case of selective hearing loss, hates other dogs, likes to talk to you when you're not giving her enough attention, snores like a freight train, thinks she's hot stuff when she puts on her winter jacket and/or scarf, loves to cuddle, loves her snacks more and makes me laugh on a daily basis. I can't imagine life without her by my side.

It's snack time! We have a daily routine that must not be deviated from--I come home from work, she goes outside to do her business and then it's time to come inside for her snack.
She will gladly let me know if I've forgotten snack time or she feels like she has had enough snacks. 

Music Monday: Learnalilgivinanlovin'

Reason number 68927393 as to why I love the Internet: Discovering new music that may otherwise have never reached my ears.

Case in point: Gotye

I am totally OBSESSED (in a totally appropriate way) with his music right now. One of his songs was posted on a blog I follow from Australia, Epheriell Designs. I listed to the song that was posted at least a dozen times before heading over to iTunes and buying everything I could get my hands on. It's really good stuff.

I was originally going to go with his song Someone That I Used to Know which has been on a pretty contact loop for the last few days, but since it's Monday I thought we could all use a little pick me!

Things I pondered this week while I should have been doing other stuff.

Time for this weeks installment using pictures and words.

It is time to except that winter is really here.

A plan needs to be made for the blog, hence the notebook! This is where I will be working out all the mumbo jumbo in my head.

Because of the awesome response I've had from friends and family with my pendants, I've decided to start selling them. They are $12 a piece and requests are welcome.

It is time to get Hendrix, my Holga 120 camera off the shelf and start shooting with him. It's been a long time old friend.

The Year I Lost My Mind: Part 1

This is what I have decided to dub 2012.

Why?

Because on top of everything else I have going on, I have indeed decided to do another 365 photography project of self portraits which in reality is a 366 project because 2012 is a leap year.

Yeah......crazy, right?!

I am happy to say that so far I am totally loving the project. I've been having quite a bit of fun stepping in front of the camera (I know...I'm only on day 12--ask me how I feel about stepping in front of the camera on day 335 and see if I'm singing a different tune) and seeing myself in a different light.

Throughout the year, I thought I might share some of my favorite photographs from the project. It could be once a week, once a month, a few times a week. Who knows.

Here are a couple of my favorite's from the first 12 days of my 366 project.

Day 2


Day 9


Day 12

The Joy of Books

I love this video.

Music Monday: You Get Me

Eeesh. I was so wrapped up in making some jewelry pieces for friends I kind of forgot about posting this and  everything else I had planned for this evening (including a post about a dude). Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Anyway, You Get Me is one of my favorite songs from Teitur but I dare say this version by Nolwenn Leroy might be better than the original.

DIY: Tinted Glass Jars

This weekend I started working on my giant mess of a bonus room which will eventually play home to my home office. It's been four years since I started the project, not holding my breath that it is going to be finished any time soon. Despite the ridiculous time frame, it's starting to take shape and I've started to gather (and use) things to get the place organized on a very tiny budget.

I'm a big fan of using jars for all sorts of things: vases, pen holders, a place for my paint brushes, beads. If it'll fit in a jar, then I'm all for it. The problem though is that it can all look a bit boring and buying fancy jars can get a bit expensive. So, after looking around Pinterest and Craft Gawker for some alternatives, I came across a tutorial for making your own tinted glass jars.

The process turned out to be relatively simple and the results, brilliant. Just remember, once you do this process with your jars, they will no longer be subtle for use with food or drink. They will strictly be for decoration.

The goods:

• Mod Podge
• Food Coloring
• Glass Jar
• Parchment or wax paper
• Cookie sheet
• Foam brush
• Paper bag
• Plastic Container

Pre-heat the oven to Warm or approximately 200 degrees.

Pre-mix the Mod Podge with the food coloring in a plastic container. You can also mix the Mod Podge and food coloring in the jar. I sadly don't have a measurement on how much Mod Podge or food coloring you'll need. It all depends on the size of the jar and how intense you want the color. For half pint jars, I used about 3 tablespoons of Mod Podge. The yellow jar was 4 drops of food coloring and the green jar was 4 drops of blue and 3 drops of green food coloring. 

Pour the mixture in the jar, coating all sides by slowly (and carefully) turning the jar. Because the jars I used were textured, I used the foam brush to help fill in some of the spots I missed by turning the mixture in the jar. Be sure to pour out any extra into the plastic container.

Turn the jars upside down onto the paper bag and dry for 10-15 minutes.

Then place in a warm over this way for 15 minutes before carefully turning over and allowing to "bake" for an additional 30-45 minutes. 

When they are done, they should look clear. If there are any streaks, stick them back in the oven and allow them to dry for a bit longer.

I absolutely love the way my jars turned out. I do think the next time around though I may dilute the food coloring a bit with some water before adding it to the Mod Podge for a soft colored jar. 

Things I pondered this week while I should have been doing other stuff.

• After a slight evaluation, I've decided to adjust my reading goal for 2012 to 52 books instead of 60. One book a week is totally possible, especially when it includes reading books like The Child Thief. I am absolutely fascinated by the story. I plan on spending a great deal of time with that book this weekend. 
• The winter blues have arrived. The last few days (compounded with a really frustrating couple of days at work) have been exceptionally bad. Thankfully though, I know this will all eventually pass like it does every other year. Here it to hoping that it passes sooner than later.
• Even though it's only January, I've already started plotting my summer garden and I can't wait to get started!
• I am fascinated with the story of Peter Pan--not the Disney version, but the original version written by James Barrie.
• Concurring tofu this week was a MAJOR accomplishment. I'm really doing forward to doing some more experimenting with it. Next on my list to conquer---seitain. 

Film26

One of my non-resolutions this year is to shoot more photographs with Oscar (yes, I name my cameras), my Olympus-OM10 35mm film camera. Great idea, but one problem....I didn't exactly have any plan on doing so.

Never fear though. The internet is here to save the day!

Earlier this afternoon, a fellow photographer on Facebook posted a link to the blog Girls Guide to Gear and a post about a photography project for 2012.....Film26. The premise is quite simple: 26 weeks in the year, 26 letters in the alphabet---two weeks to photograph, using only film, the bi-weekly subject.

I am really excited about jumping into this project. I know it's going to be quite a challenge, especially since I don't have a clue as to how to develop my own film (yet!) but that's fine. I figure I'll give myself a week to shoot and the 2nd week will be for waiting while the film is off to the lab getting developed.

So tomorrow Oscar finds a place in my bag and will travel with me daily. Who knows what fun things we'll find to photograph.

Music Monday: Big Jet Plane

I cannot wait to see what 2012 has in store for us music wise. I won't get into a philosophical discussion on the direction I think things seem to be going, but I think it's going to be interesting.

Until then though, here is a song by a band that I (sadly) just recently discovered, Angus & Julia Stone. I adore their sound and immediately feel in love with this song the first time I heard it.

DIY: Laundry Detergent

First project of the year!!

Kind of.

I actually started making my own laundry detergent a few years ago after a pretty annoying breakout from store bought laundry detergent. I whipped up my latest batch during an episode of Firefly.

The Goods:

• 2 cups of baking soda
• 2 cups of Borax
• 1 bar of Fels-Naptha

I used a kitchen grater (I have one that is strictly used for grating soap) to grate the Fels-Naptha into a bowl before combining with the baking soda and Borax.

Voila! That's it. Three ingredients and you're done.

I only use 1 to 2 tablespoons, per load depending on what I am washing and it works just as well, if not better than what I've purchased in the store.

Happy laundrying!