Collage Class #1

I'm taking a 10 week collage class. Creativity and glue all in one spot! Yes!

To make sure I don't ditch class, I'm going to post my little projectos here just for the fun of it. The first assignment was to make a few playing card sized pieces with a pile of stuff our instructor threw on the table. Here are my two favorites...help me name them!

NEWS FLASH: Austin is rad!

I know it's been said a million times, but Austin actually lives up to it's reputation as being super cool, a little weird, and a lot awesome.

Just got back from a trip to see my brothers, Andy and Eddie, who live there. My sister, Gloria, also made a weekend cameo. I love my siblings (there are two more...but we'll talk about them another time)!

Anyway, highlights of the weekend included:
- dinner and drinks on 4th street (old mans version of the more famous 6th street)
- a hike to (name unknown to me) river with the pups, Rocco and Sadie
- a family BBQ at my aunt's place...with birthday cake! yum
- AUSTIN CITY LIMITS MUSIC FESTIVAL (ACL) - saw some awesome bands...including Bloc Party, Ziggy Marley and Bob Dylan.

Check out the evidence of fun:

Photographers are cool...

My friend, Jay, is a rock star, for one.

For more cool photography, check out Jon Huck's work:

Breakfast - I like it 'cause it's happy and bright.

Couples - It's witty.

KIVA.org

Kiva.org allows people to make $25 loans to low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world (microfinance). By doing this, we can help provide affordable working capital for the poor (money to buy a sewing machine, livestock, etc.), empowering them to earn their way out of poverty. I first learned about this organization on a PBS program a year ago. Here is some info on a business:


There are not very many open projects to fund right now due to a lot of recent publicity by Bill Clinton - in his new book Giving and by Oprah. Definitely take a look at some of the funded projects around the world.

Try this fun thing with your own words...

my (first and middle) name has never looked cooler:

Down in the West Texas town of El Paso...

Just took a trip to El Paso for my nephew's Fifth birthday party. Bobby is a huge fan of sports! So, he had a sports themed party where everyone was asked to dress up as sports fan or player. Here are some pics from the party and more from my trip. Highlights also included getting to go to Bobby's first day of school to deliver b-day cupcakes and playing games with them in the backyard.

Just spent the week at Pinecrest Lake near Yosemite...and had a blast!

Here's the evidence:

Anyone who knows me, knows I love pop culture.

But anyone who pays attention to that stuff will quickly be annoyed by things. Fake celebrity endorsements, the new "it" club/hairstyle/legwarmer. These people feel the same way: The Hater (It's part of The Onion, which is always funny. But you know that already. Try to keep up!)

Recent postings include:
Rush Hour: It's Funny Because It's True
and
Things I Learned From Watching The Hills

In need of more pop culture and missed taping that last episode of Mission: Man Band ? Go to Television Without Pity for funny recaps on shows and forums from other Tivo obsessives. Don't go looking for people talking about the media's impact on the war or something. It's light and it's usually funny.

Bored with mass-produced stuff?
I came across this website where people buy and sell handmade stuff. It's rad. Here is a little slice of some things I saw on the site that I think are cool.

I like to read.

My buddy Nikole introduced me to this site where you can trade books with other book-type-people. I posted a bunch of books that were collecting dust on my shelves, and now I'm getting books practically for free. (The only cost is postage when I send out the book using media mail).

Try it out...
PaperBackSwap.

Another cool site for readers:
Goodreads.
It's a fun site to keep track of your book reading (trust me, I'm not the only freak that does this!) and get book reviews. You can also have friends and see what they have read, what they are reading, what they like to read. I have two friends and need more. Be my friend!

Global Village

You can do a Habitat for Humanity project overseas! It's been a dream of mine to go to Peru and hike the Inca trail, and to tie a project like this into the trip would be ideal. Check out the Global Village website.

Jewelry designers...

Considering that I wear very little jewelry, I still love to look at it. And there are some fantastic designers out there.

One place is called Small things. Any designer that puts cupcakes and love letter images on their stuff gets a thumbs up from me:


Another site I found is Figs and Ginger. This piece reminds me of my mom...a total bird-lover.

Here's another procratination tool for Friday. Funny.

$4575.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth. From Mingle2 - Free Online Dating

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

Who me?

Benevolent Director

Try out the quiz and find out about your personality DNA.

This is George.

I met him in Lassen.

The neighbors at the next cabin call it the "one and lonely National Park."

Shhhh. It's a secret place.

Jamie's Bridal Shower Soiree

It was a blast to see Jamie's lady friends and family all together to celebrate her upcoming wedding. Here she is w/ her fantastic mom:

Jamie is such a great artist and inspires and encourages me to be more creative in my life. So, I had to be a little creative w/ her gift and created the wrapping paper for her present.

Have a wonderful time in Maui you crazy kids!

Animals are freaking hilarious...

Now, this little guy is not as cool as Jamie's squirrel Willie ...but he's pretty awesome too:

From my childhood: The Letter People!



I totally watched PBS a lot as a kid - like most kids then. The more obscure Letter People show was one of my favorites...and I found the "Miss A" clip on Youtube. That show was so 70's and so fantastic!

A lesson in being a better relative:


toothpastefordinner.com

Matt became an uncle again (not that he lost that status...you know what I mean) Welcome to the world little Will!

Congrats to the Webb family!

Thought provoking stuff...

I believe it takes artists to make people open their eyes sometimes. This exhibition by Romanian artist, Dan Perjovschi, entitled "What Happened to US?" is currently at the MOMA in NYC. I suggest looking at the two short videos and the "newspaper" that the artist created to accompany this temporary exhibit.

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=3956

(It's reason #9,348 that I wish I lived closer than a 5 hour flight to New York. )

This is beautiful:

Best thing I saw all week...




In all my years of dancing and watching dancers I've never seen a more entertaining and inspiring person. Seriously, this kid is amazing. He's my new hero. :)

DISNEYLAND + FRIENDS = RADNESS

you know what place always stays awesome? DISNEYLAND!!

And it's even better to go with a crew of crazy girls.

The second our good friend, Jill, announced that she was moving away and driving across the country, the second thought (after "damn it!") was "road trip to Disneyland!"

It was so fun running to rides like crazy people, discussing when our next churro stop would be! It was a blast...and a great send off for our wonderful friend.

We'll miss you Jilly, but we'll see you soon!

Zion and Bryce National Parks

After attending the wedding in Las Vegas, Matt and I drove to Zion National park for 5 nights of camping.

The place was beautiful and very serene. We had an awesome campsite and a fantastic time exploring the Canyon. The best hike of all was Angel's Landing. Here I am at the top after a bit of a scary climb up that involved chain to cling on to (which I stuck on to like white on rice!).

We also day-tripped to Bryce Canyon...where I heard you just had to see to believe...and it lived up to my high expectations. The place was amazing. I can definitely see making another trip out there and going to the Grand Canyon, too. Sometimes the chance to be out in nature and see some of these things makes me realize how spectacular the world is!

Tamara and Justin's Wedding

Isn't it a fantastic feeling when you see an old friend so happy! Well, I had the pleasure of seeing my oldest and dearest friend get married and it all happened on my birthday!

Tamara and Justin tied the knot at the chapel at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Then the 30 or so guests went up to the 36th floor of the hotel to celebrate in the penthouse suite. It was hard to keep our eyes off of the fountains below...but they made sure to make their entrance between shows!

Congratulations to Tam and Justin! Here's to many years of happiness!

Creativity...

Sometimes I can tend to be kinda cynical and feel bored. Then something cool comes along and I feel happier. Check out this website: http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/

It is one author's version of marketing her book...and I like it.

My Grandpa's 80th Birthday

I just got back from surprizing my parents and grandparents in El Paso. My mom and aunts planned a big 80th birthday party for my grandpa, and I convinced everyone that I wasn't able to make it. The shocked looks and double-takes were priceless. I learned that you are much more appreciated when you are not expected! ;)

So, this is the man of the hour (isn't he handsome?):



My grandfather was a teacher, coach and high school principal during his long career as an educator in El Paso. Here are a few of his co-workers and life-long friends:



My grandfather taught all of his grandkids to value education and instilled a life-long love of learning in me. Here is pic of my grandparents w/ almost all of the grandkids.



Another amazing thing about my grandpa is the love he has for his wife, Mary. They married when my mother was a teenager, so I am lucky enough to have a third grandmother. The love they have for eachother is truly amazing to see. They epitomize unconditional love and have shared that love with everyone around them. They are truly role models for a happy marriage. Here they are dancing to a song my grandfather decicated to her:

frozen lettuce and eggs...

am i being a drama queen? i went to a campus eatery with my lovely friend, Arthur, for lunch. i choose a mediterannean salad - yummy, hummus!. alas, my salad had frozen lettuce and frozen dolmas in it. i've had problems at this cafe in the past...so was not surprised when this happened. it turns out my replacement salad (nicoise if you were wondering) had the same batch of frozen lettuce but this time had a bonus frozen hard-boiled egg. wow.

my goal this year is to complain less and look at the bright side of life. but is there a bright side to a frozen hardboiled egg? one nice thing : the people made me a totally fresh salad and kept me laughing while they made it.

In other news...

My friend, Jamie shared her cute blog with me and inspired me to start my own. Thanks Jamie for the inspiration!

My little blog is kind of jumpy, but maybe someday I'll figure out a concept. Maybe I'll ask Goil from Top Design to help me. And while he's at it, he can build me a new bookcase. I sold one of mine at a garage sale last weekend. And now I need it back. Alas, the $5 I got for the old one bought me a fine frozen salad.

something i miss from my childhood:
the sparkly, the crazy, the wonderful: SOLID GOLD DANCERS!!

Check them out in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEOxxnuWQX4

Elephant Seals at Ano Nuevo...

Visited the beach at Ano Nuevo hoping to find some surf for Matt and turned the corner and here was this pretty big elephant seal sitting on my favorite beach spot. I named him Bully since he only had interest in napping and scratching and not in moving off of my spot. Oh well...the tide was too high anyway.