My new home...

I decided to check out wordpress today and see if I might want to switch over from blogger.  Because blogger is part of google, I was having some issues with multiple accounts and keeping track of what was accessed through where... blahblahblah.  So far, I'm impressed.  The dashboard is much more user-friendly, and the stats tools are nice to have.  Although I don't like the inability to use your own theme - or at least, I haven't figured out how to do it yet.  From what I can tell you have to either be a genius, or pay for the ability to edit CSS... neither of which is what I am capable of or want to do.  If anybody out there knows an EASY way to do it (can you insert HTML code in a text widget like in blogger?) I'd love some hints.

Other than that... looks like this is my new blog home.  I combined my two blogs (Open Mouth, Insert Foot and Life Through Green Sunglasses) into one to make blog fodder a little easier to come by.  Hopefully this doesn't have any adverse affect on potential readership... I'm NOT a hippie freak, I swear - it's my job, and I like to share stuff that I learn through it is all.  I'm not perfect at this green stuff by any means!  So I hope no one is turned off by this side of things.  I also have a tendency to talk about my pets a lot, and I like to show off my garden and the artsy fartsy crafty crap I do too.  I guess my point is, my subject matter will be all over the charts.  Just like my mind, I guess.

Because I link to this site from my Facebook page, I know a lot of my friends & family will be reading.  So I just want to say right now that I hope I don't offend any of you with anything I might say.  This is my place to vent a little while trying to push the creative side of my brain back into the light of day.  It's been a long time since I've journaled or written in a free-flowing, not-work-or-school-related way, so I'm pretty rusty.  Some of you know this already (HA!) but I have a kind of twisted sense of humor and a bit of a dirty mind, and that will probably show here.  So don't be afraid, and don't be offended.  If you are anyway, then you might want to stick to my Facebook page.  I'm a little more reined in there.

So, now that that's all out there... time to go see what the cats are doing in the basement that's making so much noise.

Do or Die

I've been meaning to write this for a while now. It's my Bucket List. I was finally inspired enough today to stop and think about all the things I want to do or see or try or learn in my lifetime, and this is what I've come up with so far... and I get the feeling that this is just the beginning.

See Live:

Flogging Molly on St. Patrick’s Day

Handel’s Messiah at Christmas

Kenny Chesney

Alison Krauss

Penn & Teller

A Seahawks game

An NHL game (no team preference at this point)

A bluegrass festival

An honest-to-god Highland Games

Travel to:

The Outer Banks, NC

Walt Disney World/Orlando (again)

Greece (Art History Tour)

Italy (Art History Tour)

Paris (Art History Tour)

British Isles (Art History Tour)

New Zealand

Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, American SW

Yosemite National Park

All the lakes/places Dad liked to go (Fly Fishing Tour)

Christmas Island (Fly Fishing Tour)

Boston – Sam Adams Brewery Tour

San Francisco – New Belgium Brewery Tour

Try:

Snowboarding

Sea kayaking

Hike-In Camping

Cooking a turkey

A new food or recipe once a month at least.

Learn to:

Ride a horse again

Quilt

Crochet/knit

Make cheese

Sew clothing, not just handbags

Live in (possibly):

Bend, OR

Any little coast town in WA or OR

Virginia or Maryland (Chesapeake Bay)

Chicago

Sandpoint, ID

Montana

Do:

Throw an honest-to-god dinner party that doesn’t involve chips & salsa

Design & build our own energy-efficient & eco-friendly house

Use my camera more, and try selling photos & other crafty things on Etsy

Be in shape enough to run for an hour at a steady pace

Contribute to a CSA or Farmer’s Market

Run an animal sanctuary for pets that wouldn’t be adopted otherwise

Own & operate a gift shop in a touristy town, selling my handmade items

Stop drinking pop, and start drinking more wine

Work for a college/university in the art department, event coordinator, sustainability, whatever

Have a house-rabbit, and chickens, and maybe a pygmy goat

Have a big, sunny, airy studio in the upper story of a barn

Take a pottery class

Take a stained glass class

Get at least one meaningful tattoo

What's a month, give or take?

I have been completely overwhelmed lately. Life is like... I can't think of a good analogy right now that really fits, but I guess kind of an invisible Rock-'Em-Sock-'Em Robot, I just feel beat up but I can't really pinpoint the source. I am glad to say that I've found a great psychologist though, and have my second appointment with her tomorrow. So hopefully this will help me learn to fight back against an unknown opponent.

***

Speaking of, in my first appointment my new doctor pointed out that for a person's mind to never be at rest - to be constantly thinking and planning and worrying and daydreaming, mind spinning and churning at high velocity 24/7 - apparently this is NOT NORMAL. Oh. Crap. Now what? It's kind of overwhelming to think about. Wait... shit.

***

Just like the hits, the tomatoes just keep on comin'. I have made salsa and marinara and even a vodka tomato cream sauce, all of which are stockpiled in my freezer. I haven't worked up the nerve to try canning yet - but Mom is coming to visit in October so I might take some lessons from her while she's here. Then I can blame any botulism outbreaks on her. (Kidding Mom!)

***

Our neighbor has a new puppy. A Great Dane puppy. A blue merle Great Dane puppy. I met him over the fence yesterday and officially have a case of puppy envy. How can you not, with this face? If he had blue eyes, I would steal him and name him something goofy like Gonzo.

***

Last week was spent in Vegas. Not fun-Vegas, but work-Vegas. Sure, we stayed on the Strip (New York New York has some great friggin deals right now!) but I was essentially there on my own since my co-worker isn't exactly a party-animal (oh ok, neither am I. Who am I kidding?). So I spent the majority of the time in my room watching season 1 of The Wire on DVD. Holy crap is that show GOOD. I'm now waiting on season 2 from the library.

***

I beat Plants Vs Zombies last night. I just started playing it this weekend. Does that tell you what kind of holiday I had? But I did take time out to bake cupcakes. Unfortunately even though these cupcakes have zucchini and carrots in them, they also have real butter and several cups of sugar, so any potential healthy-factor is voided out.

***

I need to write more often. Not just WANT to, but NEED to. I need to journal more. I think that might help the whole gyroscope-for-brains situation, if I have a way to funnel it into some sort of containment system. AKA, the interwebs.

***

Random somewhat-related factoid: my cat is named Gyro, short for Gyroscope, not the Greek flatbread-sweaty-meat-and-yogurt sandwich. As a kitten he was in perpetual motion - chasing his tail, chasing the dog, chasing flies, chasing laserbeams... his favorite toy is still his own tail, but he's much more of a cuddlebug now.

Reminiscing, and Mosquitoes

We went camping for the first time last weekend. It was hot as the devil's armpit (sticky and sweaty too) but we had a wonderful time. We didn't go far, just to a state park an hour south of home, but it was far enough to relax for a bit and enjoy the outdoors.

The Subaru was laden down with B's canoe, our bikes, fishing stuff, and all the requisite gear - earning it the new name of The Adventure-Mobile. We got to use our tent for the first time (camping in the in-law's front yard doesn't count) and I got a new sleeping bag, which unfortunately is nylon inside and out. I wouldn't mind normally, but it was so hot and sticky and sweaty that I wound up glued to the thing. Add to that a sadly deflated air pad, and sleeping was kind of uncomfortable - but not so much that it affected the fun of getting away from home for a couple of days.

It might sound weird, but I think my favorite part was planning the trip. It made me think so much of my dad, and how ridiculously organized he was about camping. He had multiple lists, special Rubbermaid camp boxes that stayed packed with essential items, and gear suitable for van camping, tenting, or RVing. It was truly an artform, so I had that standard in my head while planning our trip. I forgot a couple of things (ziplock bags and anti-histamine lotion), purposefully left out others (corned beef hash, bleah!), and added a couple of our own touches (fresh garden tomatoes and potatoes). We had to buy a few pieces of necessary gear (a percolator, some dollar-store utensils for campfire cooking) and added a few more pieces to our list for next time (a dutch oven, a new foam sleeping pad).

The key part of any trip with Dad was the fishing. He had the aluminum Nymph rowboat, the 'peapod' black vinyl folding rowboat, float tubes, and the Boston Whaler for bigger lakes. He had multiple flyrods and spinners. He used a depth-finder sometimes, and had a detailed atlas and mental list of lakes, what fish they held, and what the best fly was. And he rarely got skunked, or at least that's how it seemed. How could he, after all?

We're getting there. We have the canoe, which I'm getting used to the balance of and learning how to paddle. B has a flyrod and a good spinner, and he bought me my own spinner this summer and promises me a flyrod soon too. My regret is that I'm just now learning how to enjoy it - the quieter campsites, the lakes with no-motor regulations, the repetitive, relaxing solitude of fishing - I didn't fully appreciate it when Dad was around, and it makes me sad that I missed those chances. But it makes me that much happier to be doing it now.

Dad, Mom, and Romeo at Big Meadow Lake.

Daisy, give yourself away...

The past couple of days I've become conscious of the fact that every morning, without fail, I have a random song stuck in my head. Sometimes it's there as soon as I wake up, sometimes it pops in my head while I'm in the shower, sometimes while I'm doing my makeup. I've decided to Tweet about this phenomenon every day to keep track of it (maybe create an iTunes playlist based on it?) and see what, if anything, it tells me about myself and the craziness in my head.

So since this past Wednesday, it's been the following:

John Mayer - Daughters

The Killers - Human

Switchfoot - Daisy

So what does this tell me?

#1 -- When 'Daughters' popped into my head while showering on Wednesday, I realized that the lyrics are really kind of screwed up. The bridge goes like this:

Boys, you can break

Find out how much they can take

'Cause boys will be strong

Boys soldier on

But boys would be gone without warmth

from a woman's good, good heart

This is a truly ridiculous statement to make. Boys are tough, you can berate them and beat them down and they're like the Energizer Bunny, they'll just keep on going! Ugh. Bullshit. I don't think I even need to say anything more.

But why did this come into my head? Maybe to reiterate the fact that I need to have a warmer heart, especially towards B...?

#2 -- Are we human, or are we dancer? I have no clue what this means. Am I human? I'm not a dancer, I know that much. Although it'd be fun to take some ballroom lessons with B maybe...

#3 -- Let it go, Daisy let it go

Open up your fists, this fallen world

Doesn't hold your interest, doesn't hold your soul

Daisy let it go

Why do I care so much about what other people think of me, of the work I do, of the life I live? This fallen world doesn't hold my soul... I need to worry about ME, about MY happiness and who I am. I think. Sounds good, anyway.

Psychoanalyzing yourself isn't very easy, especially through somewhat incongruous song lyrics. To be continued...