torn and a link

caught these just before someone came to plaster new adverts over.

a photog (mav linked to a while back i think) who i rediscovered this weekend in my marathon flickr viewfest - shayna bethany. i think she's fabulous. i love the atmosphere(s) and mood(s) in her pictures and the tenderness of her portraits. beautiful!

now i'm off to see sigur ros. weeeee!

topsy-turvy

so lately i am consumed with thoughts of things i can't really write here, as much as i'd like to! that's partially why i decided to take a blogging break. that and to try to craft more. but i find myself just perusing flickr about the same amount of time i would take to blog, so....it's back to blogging for me.

whenever i want to change one big thing in my life (a relationship, a job, a housing situation, etc.), i start questioning everything in my life. suddenly i want to move to sweden, join an organic farming, crafting lesbian commune (oooo, is there one of those? ha!). i'm thinking things are going to go a bit topsy turvy in the next few months. (my blogging might be sporadic.) i wish i could let go and have faith that all will be well. i seem to be able to do that in the mornings, but at night it's anxiety central. i think i'm just wired that way, though i do think i can work on changing that too...i fear change like the plague, but i also want to take risks and live life more fully. so i'm trying to make friends with my fear, as they say (do they say that?). accept that things are going to be strange and rough and shaky for a bit.

anyhow, here are some cutie pics of pinky leon. my smart friend christina reminded me to look at him when i'm not feeling so well. smart.

i have always found watching PL clean himself calming. i think it's because it's so animal. makes me realize that i am animal too and that as a human animal, i make my worries to a great extent. that, and the timing of the cleaning is so regular and calm.

i'm grateful for smart friends and clean kitties.

wow

check out this woman's amazing self portraits.

spring - break

going to take another week or two break from blogging, but wanted to share this budding tree, all the leaves sticking straight up.

i spent the weekend in grass valley with 6 fabulous women (3 in their 30's and 3 in their 50's, myself and one shiny dog). needless to say it was a lot of fun. and we saw this great sticky upy tree (not the botanical name of it).

thanks for your nice comments!

see you soon.

book + escape = bookscape

i think i feel a blogging break coming on. maybe one or two weeks.
want to focus more on making stuff.
see you in a bit, if not sooner. :-)

ednice, her loon and the orange chair

this weekend i met hannah's and jason's adorable kitty ednice. here she is playing with her loon (from emily) through the hole in her orange chair. the loon makes loony noises, startling ednice when she plays with the him. (ednice has a spotted tummy.)

everybody now, AWWWW.

holy closeup!

i CAN NOT BELIEVE i just found the closeup setting on my camera. i've had the camera for over a year and have been so frustrated with not being able to take close pics. i assumed the setting would be on the dial on the top with the other settings - portraits, landscape, etc. but no. today i decided to take a look at the manual. doh! i can't believe i never looked in the manual for this. i am simultaneously kicking myself and very very excited.

be prepared for a lot of closeup pics now.

(sometimes i crave black olives like nothing else. i can eat a whole can. i love the lindsay olive font & design.)

happy weekend!

"what is periodontal disease?"

tonight's categories are...GUMFIGHT....


to continue the habit discussion...

here's the view when my housemate and i shamelessly eat hit cookies and watch jeopardy. every day. at 7:00. it has become a habit. a slightly embarrassing one. i really am not a big tv watcher. didn't watch it for years. but lately i think i may have to give up saying that i really am not a big tv watcher. because i watch jeopardy and american idol! not even obscure educational shows. but mainstream, popular, commercial laden shows. but it's fun to make fun of alex trebek. he's so condescending and tries to pretend like he knows all the answers the contestants don't. (why do you need those index cards then alex?) and he thinks he's great at foreign accents. i pretty much suck at jeopardy and i still like to watch it. erica and i know the answers to some of the questions, but usually different ones, which is good, cuz otherwise i might start feeling competitive.

they have jeopardy in sweden too. the host there is annoying in a different way. he's just wacky in a "i'm a really really excited game show host" way. (just looked him up and i guess he's off the show now after 14 years...)

more about habits later this week perhaps...

cute dog and habits

my parents' giant schnauzer payton getting a bath. this was taken in december. (amazing how december in so cal looks so much nicer than spring in sf. still raining, raining, raining here.)

(you're getting this old pic cuz i haven't taken any this week. recovering from last week's daily picture-taking/uploading etc.)

maria asked us about habit this week. i like the idea of habit. of going to the same place each day at the same hour and seeing the regulars. it seems like people in novels or in tv shows always have regular places they go to hang out with the other regulars. but what's interesting about that is when something unexpected happens to break the regularity.

i wonder what the purpose of habit is. it seems like it is to ground, calm, comfort.
but then there are people who make things habits in order to improve at something - drawing, swimming, etc. but even those activities also ultimately yield calm in a way??

i like a certain amount of habit in my life. but i have to watch myself so i don't get too comfortable in my habits. i finally had to take myself by the collar and give me a deadline for finding a new job. the problem is i don't know what i'm looking for. i'm a person who likes to have a goal and work toward it. but for six years now i've thought and thought about what my goal is/should be/what i want to do, and the thinking is not leading me anywhere. nor are the lists and brainstorms and discussions. it's time to just try something new. anything! just to get some movement going on. to break the habit. scary!

pink & red and favorites from the week

1. store window pink accordion skirt and reflection
2. tomales point (from last sunday, but when i saw this hiker's red raincoat and red umbrella, i knew it had to go on my red day!)
3. thank you all for participating!

it's been quite exhilarating seeing all those colors this week! (my favorites linked to below) personally this experiment was challenging as i tend to focus on certain colors for months at a time or even years. but it did make me think a lot about focus. how focus can make you see certain things more clearly and distort other things at the same time. made me think, among other things, about all the random thoughts i get stuck in and what all i may not be noticing because of this...

the pink/red/lots of colors soundtrack:
the weepies:
tangerines are hanging heavy, glowing marigolden hues. teasing a half-pale moon. and i feel a pull to the blue-velvet dark and stars. pink magnolia, blushing and coy, savors the sun while she shines. you've got yours and i've got mine. together we glide through the blue-velvet dark and stars... all it takes is a little faith and a lot of heart, sweetheart.

the rolling stones:
She comes in colors
Have you seen her dressed in blue?
See the sky in front of you...
Have you seen her all in gold?
Like a queen in days of old
She shoots her colors all around
Like a sunset going down
Have you seen a lady fairer?
She comes in colors everywhere
She combs her hair
She's like a rainbow

thanks again everyone!
ps. a special thanks to mav who directed a bunch of you this way for the week of colors and for suggesting it be a color a day. (i was just going to do one color for a week originally.)

favorites from the week of colors:

yellows: ana's, lisa solomon's, lazyjane's

blues: mooncici's, abby's

greens: operation paper cut's green coat, mav's catgrass, shimmersnap's bowl

whites, browns, blacks: soulemama's son wow!, jumilla's lamps, happythings' snugglers, lisa solomon's bowl and garlic, meredith's black and white, abigail percy's, mav's, camilla's, birdinthehand lisa's, cedarseven's, mayfly (can you tell this was my favorite day?)

oranges: mo.wask's jellyfish, mati's, windowsill's kitty (cousin of pinky leon??), bugheart's tights (on yellow day too), jenny vorwaller's, stephanie's pincone

pinks, purples, reds: mama k's, simple me's, friederike's

some of the many cool blogs i found through colorweek: truedesign, mizutamago, little messes, treats and treasures, alaska, long beach

orange

1. baby blanket made by my aunt, ulrika lonna
2. purse i made from a thrift store dress
3. pinky leon! some may dispute his orangeness, but technically he's an orange tabby

orange soundtrack by led zeppelin:
Tangerine, Tangerine
Living reflections from a dream
I was her love, she was my queen
And now a thousand years between

(i couldn't think of songs with orange.)

white, brown &/or black

white, brown &/or black soundtrack:

nina simone:
black is the color of my true love's hair

and

sean hayes:
The moon is on the rise
the light is in her eyes
there is a white flower
against a red sky

and

elysian fields:
Touch me now
Touch me
The black acres are claiming me
They're claiming me

green

1. yet another piece from the same oona painting
2. pierce point
3. venus mag pics
maybe more later today...

green soundtrack:
jolie holland's "wandering angus" (beautiful words by yeats):
I went out to the hazelwood
Because a fire was in my head...

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands
I will find out where she has gone
And kiss her lips and take her hand
And walk through long green dappled grass
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon
And the golden apples of the sun
entire lyrics

and

"green" by throwing muses:
You built a city in my head
Then there were candles
And a phoenix burned my bed
These are subwords
These are air
There's one boy
In one house
In one place
At all times
And green eyes

blue

1. my swedish tre kronor socks
2. walter's blue eyes and heart by hopskipsjump and my hank
4. another piece of oona painting
3. coffee cup with tangerine juice (i don't drink coffee so i'm allowed to put t. juice in there)

blue soundtrack: "blue light" by mazzy star:
There’s a blue light
in my best friend’s room
There’s a blue light
in his eyes
There’s a blue light, yeah
I want to see it, shine
There’s a ship (i always thought she said shirt, which i like a lot better), that sails by my window.
There’s a ship (or shirt)that sails on by
There’s a world under it
I think I see it,
Sailing away
I think it’s sailing
Miles crashing me by
Crashing me by
Crashing me by
There’s a world
Outside my doorstep
Flames over, everyone’s heart
Don’t you see them shining
I want to hear them
Beating for me
I think I hear them
Waves crashing me by
Crashing me by
Crashing me by

also, "blue moon" by elvis and by the cowboy junkies:
blue moon
you saw me standing alone
without a dream in my heart
without a love of my own
blue moon
you knew just what i was there for
you heard me saying a prayer for
someone i really could care for...

finally i see a bit of blue sky here in SF too!

iwantamonkey suggested tagging photos as colorweek in flickr so we can find others' photos. good idea!

also, lolly wrote about project spectrum - whole months of color if you want a longer color focus.

yellow

piece of oona painting




my housemate's yellow japanese? heater/fan? she found at SCRAP

make sure to check out all the color in focus participants by looking in my comments from last thursday and tuesday and today.

i'm looking forward to checking them all out. it's so grey and rainy here in SF, some color will be welcome! so far, i'm liking jenny's yellow anchovies tins and kylie's fridge number magnet. (that is what that is right kylie? hey and welcome to blogging!) and lisa solomon's cup, a mellow yellow. i'm sure i'll see many more terrific yellows on your blogs!

i'm excited so many of you were interested in doing this.

yellow soundtrack: "bright as yellow" by the innocence mission
Even if I'm shining, even if I'm shining here inside.
Even if I'm shouting, do you see that I'm wanting,
that I want to be so
bright,
bright,
bright as yellow,
warm as yellow.