Wednesday. The Final Countdown

Monday. Random images

all from here

Sunday. Ladies

My one lady friend suggested to a bunch of her lady friends (myself included) that we all get together for dinner tonight. We did, and it was so great. It was so great that I didn't take a photo. Oh well. Tonight's lady time was so welcomed. My nearest and dearest don't live in the city, so it makes it hard for me sometimes because I really miss that connection. What I do have in the way of true lady friends I am so thankful for, because they are so great, and it turns out they know other great ladies, which is really fantastic, because good ladies are really truly good, and really truly appreciated.

Thusday. Thankful

I don't know about you, but sometimes a good cry really is the best thing. This whole week I've been feeling like I need to cry, but it just hasn't happened.

Well, I read this and had a good cry. It's really incredible.

Some samples:

Dear Sugar,

I am grateful for how much I have fucked up.

Before I fucked up, I thought I was a good person. I thought I was noble, and pure, and I thought I did good deeds in the lives of the people I loved. But over the course of years I fucked up. I mistook codependence for partnership. I mistook my craving to be needed and loved for altruism. I mistook the dependence I created in others for strength shared. I mistook my distance and withholding for self-sufficiency.

But I fucked up, and I learned. I am not a good person today. Neither am I a bad person. Instead I am a person who strives to behave like the sort of person I want to be. I try to live as if I am good, knowing that I have failed before. Failure keeps me from the corrosive trap of certainty, and I am grateful for it.

Best wishes to you and yours

I am grateful for the opportunity to be uncomfortable. In the strange and lonely corners of discomfort is where I find those moments of beautiful sadness when life pulsates vibrantly around me and within me, opening my heart to accept the raw and the brutal equivocally with the selfless and kind.

I am thankful for second chances. Deserved or undeserved, but truly given without reservation. Given to me and to others, but most importantly, the one I gave to myself.

I am grateful that my mum died quickly. She had 28 days from her diagnosis, to the end. She had only 28 days to go from a fully functioning human being to being unconscious and unresponsive. She had only a few weeks to experience the physical pain, but also to experience the loss of her independence and pride. Every day I am grateful for the speed at which my mum’s light burned out.

Thursday. Last night

Tallest man on earth - These Days (Nico Cover) - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Last night, while unnecessarily delaying bed time, I read through some old blog posts and journal entries. Depressing sometimes, and happy others. It's kind of unnerving how in some aspects I am in the same place, but in others I am not; I have made progress. Slow and steady. Below is something my dad said to me over a year and a half ago, and I think it's still applicable; it's a life motto maybe. It made me laugh to read it again.

"Hi Sara, It sounds like you have a lot going on in that head of yours :-) Maybe figuring life out isn’t really possible? Maybe it’s just about doing, living, trying to enjoy, and not figure it out? I don’t know for sure; I do know that I am happiest and more content when I ‘do’ and not figure things out much."

I also came across the video I posted above. Holy dinah, forgot about that one.

Wednesday. Paintings

These paintings are great. They're done by this guy, and what's really neat is that his style has changed so much over time and seems to change depending on what he paints. I love his landscapes.

Tuesday. Weird Fleet Foxes

This short film/music video is so weird and beautiful.

The Shrine / An Argument from Sean Pecknold on Vimeo.

Sunday. Grandma

Grandma and the sugary fuel that keeps her going. She's 91 and she's pretty funny.

Saturday. National Geographic photo contest

National Geographic is holding their annual photo contest. You can check out some entries here and then check out the photo contest link to see all the entries.

Friday. Dad day

Happy early birthday to me. I am very lucky and extremely thankful.
Today was Dad lunch day. It was a really nice time. I'm proud of the relationship he and I have now. It wasn't always like this, so it's sort of extra special that it's good now. I'm actually really proud of the relationship I have with both my parentals.
I took pops to Parlour today. He's a real coffee person, so I wanted him to see it/try it out. He called the pouring of his coffee an "artistic science," which was a really good way of putting it. He was really impressed, and even said "it's a good thing this is here." It's true! That place is so great, and it's so great it's in Winnipeg, and I'm always happy when neat things get the attention and admiration they deserve.

Thursday. Teenage boys

On my morning bus ride to work there are several deaf teens who I assume are going to school. I'd say they are around 14-17 years old. There is a group of boys who are friends, and they are teenage boys through and through. Open admission: if I could "do it all again" (I realize this is a silly thing to say as I'm only almost 30, and that's young, but the thing is I like what I'm doing now, so for now the "do it all again" will be a "do it slowly/part time" or "do it someday") I would be an ASL interpreter/learn ASL. I find signing fascinating, so I can't help but pay attention sometimes. Anyways, today a cute girl got off the bus, and one boy excitedly tapped the other on the shoulder, and long story short, now I know the sign for boobs. It was something like this:

Wednesday. Kurt Vonnegut

A woman whose husband had recently passed away wrote to Kurt Vonnegut thanking him for his books and his compassion. He wrote her back. This is what he said. It's really nice.

Nov. 30 '90

Dearest Marianne Brown --

It can't be said often enough, "It is the woman who pays." The miracle is that so many can and do somehow. I was in love (still am) with a widow with four kids (two not her own). She somehow raised them all on a teeny weeny salary. I told her one time, "I worry about women." She said, "Don't."


Cheers --


(Signed)


Kurt Vonnegut

(i found it here)

Tuesday. Marcel returns

"Windy. That's what the community calls you. I'm glad you like it I guess. Maybe I shouldn't tell you where it came from."

Cutest. Thing. Ever.

Monday. Hip hop dressage

Monday. The green mile

This is a train tunnel in a forest in the Ukraine. It's called the Tunnel of Love. It looks like the best place on earth to me.

Sunday. A treehouse and too much internet

How amazing is this!! A home away from home. Could you imagine? One can dream...

On the topic of things seen: This weekend I spent far too much time looking at the internet, and specifically blogs of cute married/life partnered people. Season changes make me nostalgic/introspective. There are some adorably sweet and creative and nice seeming people out there. While it was really nice to see, it made me a bit wistful. I'm not unhappy in any way, but a girl can dream (and want, someday, some day not some year) about being one half of a cute lifepartnered/married couple. Making a home and doing stuff. That sounds nice.

Saturday. Munchkin

Mr. Karl Slover. One of the four remaining Munchkins from the 1939 Wizard of Oz.

Friday. Painted antlers

In love with these. They are from here.

Thursday. Internet pause at work

While taking a short daydream/brain break at work just now, I came across this.
Totally gave me the tingles.

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.