Thursday, December 25, 2014

Tis The Season.

*



I don't have much to say about Christmas. 
Especially this year. It was nearly 70 degrees here today. 
I love this time of year and gifts are cool and seeing family is great, but beyond that I can't feel much for it. 
But that doesn't mean that it isn't wonderful. 
I hope everyone's was amazing. 

- -- - -- - -- -

* From the lovely local milk. She's the best.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Belated Thanks

*

I spent this Thanksgiving in the car with my siblings and being only slightly upset that Taco Bell was closed on a holiday. Eighteen total hours of singing and sleeping and wiggling and fighting and trying to ignore one another only to make up a few minutes later and laughing and laughing and laughing. We drove on empty roads, through sleepy, snowy towns on a day when everyone else was home. 

It is difficult for me to connect holidays to their actual days. I never once felt odd that I wasn't home or at a relative's house last Thursday. We did eventually make it to my grandfather's, but during the trip, at gas stations and rest stops, I never felt out of place. I ate nachos for lunch on Thanksgiving. I don't feel weird about that.

But just so the universe knows here is an incredibly abbreviated list of things that I'm pumped are in my life.

My sister -- hands down the best person ever. She gets up early to start the drive so I can sleep the first few hours of the trip, checks on me when I start making weird noises because she knows it means I have something to show her but I just can't find the words, and puts up with all my irrational and sometimes hypocritical opinions.

My brother -- he is the coolest. Take someone you think is cool and then triple that. That is my brother. Not only does he listen to the best rap music, but he has a taste in clothing that borders on avant-garde. He drives a grand marquis because he doesn't give a shit and he lets me take sips of his soda. And even though he doesn't let me try on his sweet new watch without heavy coercion I still like him the most.

Family and friends -- I'm leaving this one general because I could get lost talking about all the amazing people in my life.

The boy -- he's new. Very new, but very very good. A challenge and a reprieve all in one breath. I don't think I've ever laughed more with anyone else.

Spiders -- everyone hates these guys, but I legitimately love them and all the cool shit they do. So yes, I'm super thankful for spiders.

- -- - -- - -- -
* A trail on my grandfathers's farm taken with my phone cause I forgot my camera in the car. I'm good at this stuff.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Fall Back

*
It's dark and rainy.
I may be sick. 
The wind has turned the rain into wet lashes that hit your face and then travel the length of your neck spreading the chill like a disease. 
I may never leave the house again. 
That will be good for me. 
I have projects and plans that require focus. 

Normally, I hate the end of daylight savings. 
I start longing for those meandering 10pm sunsets before I've even had the chance to appreciate the fact that I got an extra hour of sleep. 
In my desire to avoid ever dropping below a median temperature of 75 degrees I forego leaving the house as much as possible. I will spend days in a bath full of warm water if I have to. 
I don't fuck around. 
But not this winter. This winter I will create and learn and drink more tea than one body would ever need. This fall back is going to move me forward. 

- -- - -- - -- -
* Unknown

Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween.

*

Live it up with the spirits tonight. 

- -- - -- - -- -
*A mystery as usual

Monday, October 20, 2014

Be Kind. Be Better.

*


I give my life a lot of restrictions. 
I think I work better within them.
Some of them stick, some don't. Some I like to have there just so I can break them occasionally and feel like a rebel. That's right Coke! I'll drink you occasionally. But the one that is always there in the back of my mind whenever I do anything is to be kind and to be better. 
It's the gauge to which I hold all my words and actions. Is this kind? Will this better me or the person I'm speaking to in any way? If not, then I try not to bother with it. 

It is the biggest struggle. 
I grew up being taught to speak my mind and that all my thoughts were worthwhile.
What nonsense. 
It's a tough habit to break and sometimes I swing all the way to the other side and put other's happiness in front of my own. And strangely enough it is much more difficult for me to do with the people closest to me, the people I care about the most. I'll find myself upset with my sister before I've even had a chance to think about being kind or being better.

Hopefully it becomes easier. 

- -- - -- - -- -
* Unknown, as per usual

Monday, October 6, 2014

Hi There Monday


Bad Suns -- Cardiac Arrest


I'm currently obsessed with this. 
It's the only thing I listen to.

I have a problem.



Help....
Just kidding, go listen to it 20 times in a row like I do.


Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Decisions, decisions.

*

I had the best conversation. 
In a bar. With a relative stranger.
Which I imagine is how most of the best things happen. 
Or at least start. 

There's a regular at the bar where I, occasionally, work.
He's there every Friday night, having conversations. 
He doesn't have an agenda as far as I can tell, just to share stories.
On this particular night I ended up as his focus. 
We discussed a lot of things: race and gender and life and decisions. 
Decisions. 

The etymology of the word decide comes from the latin de -- off and caedere -- to cut or kill.
In essence it means to to kill off an option. 
It has the same suffix as homocide and suicide. Violent, traumatic acts. Things best avoided. 
We talked about how our generation, or maybe just my, he's a bit older than I am, seems so averse to making decisions. My friends avoid labels for relationships and job titles. They hesitate to define thoughts and opinions for fear of being perceived as immutable. We praise those who refuse to commit to any one person, hailing their unlimited options as freedoms and reveling in the shear number of choices available to them.

But are all those choices really all that great? 
Certainly, choices are wonderful and having the ability to pick precisely what we want is great as well. Because, after all, having all those choices allows us to ultimately become exactly who we are meant to be. How can we know we want to be yogis or engineers or polyamorous or monogamous without having those available for exploration? And yet the phrase "I don't know what I want." has become our motto.

I don't think the options are to blame. 
We just need to be more comfortable killing them off. 
It's time to start saying goodbye. 

- -- - -- - -- -

*Photo by me


Monday, August 25, 2014

The Ties That Bind Us

*


I mentioned in my last post my obsession with relationships.
I'm deeply fascinated by them.
By my own.
By other's.
People I have never met.
People with whom I hold no stake in.
Who was the past and present and possibly future?

I want to know what is fought about.
And what is celebrated.
How are those things done?
What succeeds and what fails.
Where are those breaking points?
How do people make it back? 

I read a great post months ago, that was probably written years ago, about the first year of a marriage. It was about the end right as it was all supposedly beginning. It was all fights and anguish and the word divorce. But that didn't happen. Years later, as she sat down to write that post, they were still together. It was amazing, that persistence. I have so many questions. 

I wish I could find it.
I'd like to read it again. 

- -- - -- - -- -
* Unknown as always around here.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Full Disclosure

*

I said it was coming so here it is.
And let's use less metaphor in this post.

I'm a far more straight-forward human in person than I am here.
Not nearly as existential.
Far more sarcastic.
I say shit like cray and listen to Drake. 
Make midnight grocery trips only to purchase Chips Ahoy cookies. 
Chips Ahoy...what a ridiculous name. 
I'm way too sensitive and even more analytical. 
I spend more time talking about relationships than nearly anything else. 
But I don't want them to dominate my life.

Yea. 
That's me. 
I can't find a middle ground.
Or a full-time job.

- -- - -- - -- -
* Oh so dramatic drawing by yours truly. 

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Where does all of this occur?

*



Boundaries are definitions.
Those things that make you a being separate from the rest of the world.
Outlines that create.
Delineations that shape.
The defined space of a person.
Eventually.
Those edges will start to blur and fade.
The outside leaks in.
Opinions and questions and words and space.
All foreign. For a time. 
Until there's no way to differentiate. 
And the other has become you. 

So really, who the fuck am I any more?

- -- - -- - -- -
* A Woman in Science

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Summer Haze

*

It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. 
Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. 
--Joseph Campbell

I'm learning incredible things down here.


- -- - -- - -- -

I've been very vague about these hardships of mine.
I'm not sure if it's simply because I don't know how to talk about them or because I don't want to talk about them. 
Giving away all my burdens. 
It seems selfish. 
Imparting all that weight on another person. 
So I try to avoid it.
But then I become nebulous and hazy.
An undefined space.

So I'll begin delineating. 
And providing some clarity. 
I need to figure out how to do that first.
But it will be soon.

- -- - -- - -- -

* photo by me

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Delusions

*

"I get it now; I didn’t get it then. That life is about losing and about doing it as gracefully as possible…
and enjoying everything in between."  — Mia Farrow

I am under the impression that I deserve things. 
Yes, that vague.
Things. 
Because I don't have the courage to tell it what I want.

I want success to just show up at my door and wish to come in. 
I expect happiness and ease, but that's not what this is all about.
None of that is realistic.
I'm delusional. 

That is what life is teaching me right now.
Don't want; do.
Don't expect; work. 

I'm stubborn, but I'm listening. 

- -- - -- - 

Happy belated fourth. 
I spent it with friends, eating local burgers, sailing, and napping. 
I hope yours was just as wonderful.

- -- - -- - -- - 

* From this lovely blog



Monday, June 30, 2014

The Key

*


"When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow."
-Shauna Neiquist

The key. 

I may be able to celebrate soon. 
Wish me luck.

- -- - -- -

In other news I'm learning. 
Mostly about myself. 
It's a constant, violent process. 
I shift, like sand through fingers.
Swing. Pause. Hover.
For a second. 
And then back the other way. 

It's thrilling and nauseating. 

- -- - -- - 

*As always. I have no idea, but if you're out there tell me. 

Friday, June 20, 2014

HAIM



Making brownies.
Attempting to write about myself.
Forever in love with this song.
Happy Friday. 

Monday, June 16, 2014

Happy Monday

*

I freelance right now. 
So Mondays are like extensions of the weekend. 
Actually pretty much everyday is an extension of the weekend.
I end up forgetting where in the week I am. 

Needless to say my relationship with Mondays is much more amicable than most. 
But whenever I become a nine-to-fiver I want to try to keep my positive attitude towards Monday.
Why spend my entire weekend dreading the imminent return of the work week?
So Happy Monday. 

- -- - -- - -- -

* Get this sweet print at The Motivated Type

Thursday, June 12, 2014

I Stand Among The Roar

*


“Often a bedmate became your best friend. Not just married couples, but sons sleeping with servants, sisters with one another, and aristocratic wives with mistresses. Darkness, within the intimate confines of a bed, leveled social distinctions despite differences in gender and status,” Ekirch says. “Most individuals did not readily fall sleep but conversed freely. In the absence of light, bedmates coveted that hour when, frequently, formality and etiquette perished by the bedside.

A really poignant article from The Atlantic on why we sleep together.

I slept in the same bed as my sister for years. 
Probably years after we should have stopped being afraid of the dark. 

My first boyfriend in high school wasn't allowed to sleep over, but we would fall asleep together only to jolt awake at four in the morning. Just in time for him stumble blearily out to his car before my parents woke up. (Not that they didn't know.) 

To this day I am far more comfortable sleeping with another person than by myself. 
It ends up being an indicator for the success of my relationships. 
My worst was spent sleeping back to back. 
Barely our feet touching.
The boy and I sleep just like this.


**

Completely entwined. 
I couldn't imagine a better way to slip into unconsciousness.

- -- - -- -
* A beautiful photo series by Paul Schneggenburger.
** Unknown

Sunday, June 8, 2014

The Roads Frequently Traveled.

*


I spent a lot of time contemplating the same problems.
Traveling the same roads of my mind.
Over and over.
The why's and the how's.
Countless shower arguments lost or won.
My father tells me not to worry about relationships.
My mother tells me not to worry about money.
My sister tells me not to worry.

But worries are important.
They remind me of what matters to me.
Of where I am in my life right now.
Maybe a little behind.
Or perhaps a few steps ahead.

Those problems I relive.
Those conversations I relive.
Those faces I can see, eyes shut tight.
All things I want to continue to worry about.

- -- - -- - -- -
* Unknown, as is pretty typical of this blog.


Saturday, June 7, 2014

Color and Light

*
That's what it all comes down to.
Just color and light.
All these experiences.
Ephemera.
Passing photons.
Until the next one makes contact.

- -- -

I get anxious when I feel like I'm not being productive enough.
It feels as though there is always more I could be doing or learning.
What things could I be making happen in my life, when instead I'm doing nothing?
I'm not utilizing my time and it's running out.

- -- - -- - -- -
* Trina Hisdel

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

This Life

*


Oh man, this life is ridiculous.
All of it.
All the time.

So much time spent experiencing it.
Probing it's depths.
Learning.
Only to have it all change in the span of a breathe.

Inhale.
Exhale.
180.

- -- - -- - -- -

On a less existential note:

I graduated.
Had a job offer -- refused it.
Started freelancing, but still want a real adult job.
Coded a website -- it's got my face on it which is pretty sweet.
Started dating the boy again.


I'd like to start writing more filled out posts. Thoughts with more depth.
Writing in my spare time has never been something I've done.
That will have to change.

- -- - -- - -- -
* From this wonderful blog

Friday, May 2, 2014

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

*
I've been through them before
But never quite like this.

And I've been compelled to write about them before
But never quite like this.

I've been sad before
But never quite like this.

And I've missed someone before
But never quite like this.

So I'm not really sure where to go or what to do.
It's a foreign and unwanted feeling.

- -- - -- - -- -

There has been other exciting things happening. This has just been occupying me, sitting in the bottom of my stomach -- writhing.

- -- - -- - -- -

*Artist unknown - hit me up if it's you. I think you're awesome and want other people to know too.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Status: What Day Is It?

*


I'm not quite sure what happened, but weeks have passed without my notice.
I guess school and work and life tend to make that happen.
I just didn't expect it to go so quickly.

I've been schooling pretty intensely.
In the home stretch.
Final projects are well under way.
I'm excited to be less busy with school and more busy with life.

Additionally I'm job hunting, which I should have started months ago, but just couldn't bring myself to do it.

The boy takes up a lot of time too, but that's a good thing.

Somewhere in there I got sick and never really got over it.

None of this is to say that I haven't managed to have some downtime, because I've definitely made room for Diablo and weekend plans. It has simply come at the cost of sleep.
Priorities.

- -- - -- - -- -

Photo found here. As always if it's yours tell me.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Daring Greatly

*


I find it hard to talk about things.
That's not true. I'm actually a really talkative person.
I have lots of opinions and ideas that I can talk about for hours.
What I meant is that I have a problem sharing.
The only social media I wholeheartedly participate in is Pinterest and that's primarily because I love pretty pictures and want to be able to go back and look at them whenever I please.
Is Snapchat social media because if so then I'm all about that life.
But other than that, I'm not big on sharing.
I generally don't tell people where I'm going or what I'm doing.
Not because I don't want them to know, but because I don't feel like it is a pertinent part of their life
and therefore useless information for them.
It's just a mindset I've developed over the years.
It hasn't gotten in the way of friendships, but it does make it difficult for me to do things like blog or Facebook. Can I use that as a verb? It's happening.

I write all of that because I've been reading a book called Daring Greatly by Brené Brown and it's amazing. I'd like to talk about it here.
But I feel as though everyone knows about this and it is, therefore, useless information.
So I've held off.

Interestingly enough, it has been this book that has inspired me to write this post.
Daring Greatly has gotten me to write about Daring Greatly.
So meta.

What this all boils down to is that I've been afraid to be myself on the internet.
Which is maybe the weirdest place to be insecure.
According to Daring Greatly, I haven't been vulnerable enough and that prevents connection.
Even now I feel ridiculous writing all this out, but there we go.
I'm going to overcome my instinct and just write.

If you haven't read it. I highly recommend it. Brené also has an awesome Ted Talk along the same theme of her book.

Disclaimer: I wasn't paid for any of this. Just in case anyone was worried about that.

- -- - -- - -- - -- -

*An image from someone I'm following on Pinterest. If it's yours let me know. I'm all about giving credit.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Spring Break - New Orleans Edition

*


It is my final spring break. The last one ever. 
I would say it's bittersweet, but it's really not. 
School, even with its long breaks, is an experience I am ready to be finished with.
I'm anxious to pick a job and find out where I'll end up. And then just work. 

But for now I'm in school and I'm on break so I flew down to New Orleans. 
Partially to visit a friend and partially to get away from the winter. 
It managed to snow in Maryland on Sunday. 
It's going to be hard to go back. 

*


So far it's been an...exciting trip. I managed to lose my wallet and jacket during the busy (read: drunken) St. Patrick's Day activities. I've since gotten them back, but it looked bad there for a while. 
Before that my friend and I ate beignets and poboys and walked through City Park on a drizzly overcast Sunday. In the span of two days I've experienced two very different sides of New Orleans. 
Which is how any good vacation should start. 
And as great as it is to hit the ground running, I'm striving for a more consistent end to this trip. 
Biking, eating, seeing things I've never seen before. Seems manageable. 

Let's go New Orleans. 

- -- - -- - -- -

* Sorry for the quality of these pictures. My cell phone was all I had on me.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Hey There.

*


I'm back.
I'm making a point of being here.
Of being present in this space.

I've set up a schedule. Twice a week I will be here.
Horrible writing and grammar and all.
Maybe at some point I will be able to string all these thoughts into actual sentences, but for now you get fragments.

And I'll be writing about anything.
Part of the reason I was never here is because I feel my thoughts aren't really relevant to other people.
That has been a theme throughout my life, but here's the thing. I'm not writing here for others.
I'm here for me.
Don't get me wrong I'm all about you guys (whoever that may be) reading my ramblings, but
that's not the sole reason I should be here. I have to want it and all that.

So I'm here. I want it.

- -- - -- - -- -

* Print by Alphonnsine