10 posts tagged “projects”
So, I'm going to try to be diligent about see what my Top 5 Music is on Last.fm. I keep track but I have not really considered how what I listen to reflects my moods or whatever. Not that everything needs to be that deep but it is interesting to see what I am into since it has definitely changed over the years. From punk to ska to electronic to whatever. Also, it is great to see what my mainstays are in music and maybe from looking at it each week, it will allow me to branch out or discover something new.
Aside from that I also figured out that I need to get back into my Young Adult reading mode. I have not picked up a YA book in a while (ok, it's probably like a week maybe 2!) but there are a lot of things out there and I need to keep up!!! Currently on the shelf is Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth
as well as
The summer projects list is going well. I finally took my donations to Goodwill and also recycled electronics at the S.A.F.E. collection center. I am really happy that I can see some floor space but of course, when one pile disappears another one magically appears to take it's place!!! The bathroom is still in process as well as the decoupaging of the cheap cabinet but I did find a cabinet at IKEA and now I'm looking at old images of flowers to photocopy. My new challenge is trying to figure out what kind of varnish to use as a sealer. I liked a certain brand but I cannot find it any where and I kind of only know what it looks like. Everything else is in a spray can and I'm not too much a fan of the spray can in this small space.
Volunteering is going well. This week I am hanging out at DreamWorks Animation manning the table there. Free lunch! that's always good.
Anyway, here's a song for you for a Monday afternoon:
Good morning! So, let's see yesterday's list:
- decoupage my bathroom cabinet
- watch "Away We Go"
- send care packages out
- wrap up my nephews birthday presents
- finish up Road Trip mix cd
- make mix cd cover (thank goodness I have photoshop on my work computer that I can use)
- finish grant application
- clean the kitchen
- find recipes for the figs I bought at the farmer's market
I made this delicious pizza with figs, prosciutto and brie. My friend, tiffanybbrown, mentioned gorgonzola and making it a "white" pizza so I will have to try that one soon before figs go out of season. I have to say, it was delicious. I saw the recipe online somewhere after sifting through pages and pages of fig recipes. There were not that many savory dishes except for some appetizers.
I was really surprised by how delicious it turned out. Yum!
Also, I went to this deli down the street called Monte Carlo/Pinnochio's. It's an Italian deli that specializes in imported products. I have tried their restaurant and it is good but I've never bought anything in the store part. The deli guy was super helpful. Poor guy though I could not hear a word he was saying. He was really soft spoken and the place was busting. I even did that thing where you cup your ear so you can hear the person better. Yeah! I'm OLD! OLD! After I did it, I thought, "Oh gawd. Did I just do that? Dang it!" It was sad...but what can you do? I went to a lot of shows, I live under a flight path, things are loud! *shakes cane* LOL!
Today :
- email Hill about Elvis Costello (free show!)
- make breakfast
- go on a run
- blob (doing that right now)
- go to the shelter and help with the show
- drink my lemon water concoction (doing that right now too)
- decoupage my bathroom cabinet
- watch "Away We Go"
- send care packages out
- wrap up my nephews birthday presents
- finish up Road Trip mix cd
- make mix cd cover (thank goodness I have photoshop on my work computer that I can use)
- finish grant application and go to campus
- read some of the Roald Dahl Treasury I just checked out. Reading it again I am struck by how creepy his stories are - Enormous Crocodile trying to eat children with cheap trips. Yeah...CREEPY! But I love it! They also are great for reading out loud!
I want to write a bit about the road trip. It was fun and I definitely need to take the time to drive up the entire length of it and also give myself time to go on side trips and such. Or maybe do a section at a time.
Some of the highlights:
- eating this amazing strawberry donut from Donut Man in Glendora, CA. It looks really sweet but it wasn't at all. The coffee is ok. It's no Dunkin Donuts coffee but you don't go there for the coffee. Melle had a crazy raspberry filled on and when they say filled..well, that thing is STUFFED! with raspberry filling.
- stopped in Seligman and the people watching is excellent. A lot of tour buses stop there and people from all over the world are there. French, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, German, Mexico, etc. You name it! It was incredible. Also, stopping in Angel and Vilma's shop was great and being in Angel Delgadillo's barber shop was just awesome. I don't know if you watch GMA but they stopped there and talked to Angel. I cannot emphasize enough that you need to stop by that place. It's amazing!
- Driving!!! The whole point is driving and seeing things you will never see on Highway 40. You can get to these places off of the 40 but nothing compares to driving through Oatman, Arizona and taking the backroad through the mountain. It's breathtaking and incredible. Seeing the changing scenery from the flat, shrub and cactus covered desert to the pine forests of Arizona to the Grand Canyon - - well, there really are not words to describe it. You just have to do it.
- The People - the proprietors of the shops along Route 66, for the most part, are incredibly nice. One of the places we checked out was an antique shop in Williams, Arizona. Troy, the owner, was hilarious. He had an old camera from 1915 or so and couldn't get it open. Not sure how long he had the camera. I ended up figuring it out. It was SO cool!
-
It was an old accordion style camera in excellent condition. That's Troy! He called himself "Vanna Black" for that picture :) LOL! But oh, it was so fun figuring out how that thing worked. Now I wish I had bought it just because! Might have to drive to Williams again :)
Things I wish I hadn't seen
- in Daggett, California there was an abandoned gas station and inside it was filled with racist graffitti. Awful! I'm not even writing what I saw but after I read some of it, I freaked out! bad bad vibes!
- On a funnier note, 2 mules going at it. Yup! 2 Mules! Not the two below but..yeah...that was not cool! ewww...forever burned into my memory. Seriously BURNED!!!
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- toured the Grand Canyon Caverns - which is not that close to the Grand Canyon but I guess has 3 week old Grand Canyon air filtering in from a cavern inside it. People have been married in the caverns and it is an archivists dream storage room. There was a old mummified bobcat and some fossilized rock. It's also a bomb shelter so if you are there when we are attacked by North Korea..well, you might be lucky!
- and visited Meteor Crater! Who knew a giant hole in the Earth created by a space rock could be so fascinating?!? Definitely worth visiting when you are hanging out in Flagstaff, AZ.
- and the Grand Canyon! Need I say anything except..WOW!!!
and now I'm back and at work and getting to work on some new lists.
Yesterday, ended up crafting a bit. Thanks to Vozchica and the Handmade Brigade for OC's Blades and I got some crafting in. Why did I drive all the way to Laguna Niguel? I don't know! It's free! Plus I wanted to meet Jackie and we also met Melissa Loschy. Super nice and great teachers. Here are the members of HBOC.Check out their etsy pages. I think some of them will be at the Renegade Craft Fair on July 11 and 12 at the CA Market Center. Definitely need to hit that up in July :)
So, here's what I made:
Today, the list is
- decoupage my bathroom cabinet
meet Jason for QT and coffeeGo to Work- watch "Away We Go"
- send care packages out
- wrap up my nephews birthday presents
- finish up Road Trip mix cd
- make mix cd cover (thank goodness I have photoshop on my work computer that I can use)
- finish grant application
- clean the kitchen
- find recipes for the figs I bought at the farmer's market
Last but not least
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! To all types of Dads out there. I miss you Dad!
Sorry no music with this post...Have a good one!
I don't know why? I couldn't change the channel. Plus, Denzel Washington (hubba!) was on. I was eating my delicious oatmeal with dried apricots. I had a hot cup of lemon water in my hand. I secretly kind of like a couple of their songs. It's like supporting one of my students. I don't know!!!!!
It's like you can't stop them from getting under your skin ok, into your head! But that makes it pop music right? Like that awful song "More than Words" by that band Extreme. That song makes me want to drive off a cliff. Anyway, the Jonas Brothers don't make me want to do that so that's good!
Ok, yesterday, ended up monopolizing Ambookgeek's day! It was fun! We figured out how many Nia Vardalos movies you can watch in a day. Apparently, it's TWO!!! We watched "My Life in Ruins" and then when we got to his house watched "Connie and Carla." Yup! It was chic flicks day! And also hit up Costco, which every time I go into one of those places, I'm just amazed. You figure I would get over it but I don't have a membership so when I'm in there my eyeballs pop out of my head.
"My Life In Ruins" was ok. Predictable but sweet. Ambookgeek described it as a Lifetime movie. Spot on! But what was up with the Greek mullets? I mean, that man was very handsome except for the mullet! It was like, "cut the hair already!" But now I want to watch Anthony Quinn in "Zorba The Greek."
They were obsessed with this scene and the other dance scenes from this movie.
So, the list for today:
- morning exercises
- breakfast
- take my vitamins (I forgot yesterday)
- finish Food Matters by Mark Bittman
- write my booktalk for Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher
- write my booktalk for Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman
- read some of Out of Our Minds by Sir Ken Robinson
- try to look for paper with Lex (this all depends on how much my car costs me today)
- get an oil change (so late on this!)
- drink my lemon water
- watch "The Hangover" with the Lymans (whoo-hooo!!)
- go on a bike ride (i need to get a ride in today....)
- call my brother and sister in law because their birthdays were this week! I found a present for one so now I need to find one for my brother but I'm going to wait and find something during the road trip!
I'm so excited! Going on a road trip next week with Melle! Here we come Mother Road!
So, in honor of the drive, here's a surf rock standard and something from the Young Disciples comp I got the other day! Enjoy!
I don't know about you...but I love the Numero Group's album covers for the Eccentric Soul series. Also! did you know they come with collector cards? yeah! pretty sweet! I need to stick those somewhere...
GAWD DAMN IT! I just lost that post! AGH!!! WTH? VOX!!!!! (shakes fist!)
Ok, so, now short and sweet -
I like the June Gloom in So. Cal. I know it's crazy weather out there and I hope everyone keeps safe. But after years of 115 degree June weather, I'm enjoying this.
I accomplished most of yesterday's goals except for:
- decoupage project
- watching "Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations"
I am getting into these blog lists (thanks Crankypants and Rutabegabunny!)
Today:
- pasadena
- Euro Pane Bakery
- photograph stuff
- no driving
- volunteer at the shelter. There are a lot of good future family pets there! Check them out here
- watching The Brothers Bloom
Also, I saw this really cool show called e2 series on KCET. I watched the episode called the Art and Science of Renzo Piano ( ohh, found a bit of it on youTube), who is the architect behind San Francisco's Academy of Sciences. It was excellent! He might be a new favorite architect!
Darn. I liked this post before too. Oh well.
Here's a song for you:
Bart Davenport. I still enjoy his music :) So different from the Loved Ones but just as excellent! I need to pick up his new album.
Now, off to go on a run around the neighborhood! Have a great day everybody!
Hurray! I finished painting the bathroom! It is much more soothing that that eggshell that it was painted before. I also painted the doors of the cabinet. I was going to paint the main part of that cabinet above but with the blue wall I though it would be a bit too much.
Also, "Eon: The Dragoneye Reborn" was pretty good. It's a long book though - almost 400 pages! I though she should could have left out some of the details about the courtyards and imperial palace but some people like all that. I'm exciting about the sequel but I hope it's just a sequel. YA books just keep going and going with spin-offs and sometimes, I just want a book series to actually be over. But what do I know. Kids have money and the publishing companies need it.
I think I completed pretty much everything on my list yesterday. Whoo-hooo me!
Today:
- drink my daily dose of warm lemon water (i woke up with a sore throat this morning so hopefully it will help because supposedly it is detoxing and medicinal and also helps with digestion)
- start my decoupage project (i bought this cheap cabinet and it's that weird MDF laminate stuff so I need to decorate it)
- go to campus and work on the lessons for next year (my goal is to finish it in June!)
- meet Ambookgeek and Library Goddess for lunch
- watch some episodes of "No Reservations" - does anyone know if that show is any good? I enjoyed Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential." Did anyone read his fiction book? ack!
- do my exercises and maybe go for a run later
- try to finish Mark Bittman's "Food Matters"
Billy Bragg :) It's overcast and threats of thunderstorms...I wish I owned more Robyn Hitchcock though.
I am trying to be a little more productive this summer so I made a list of project. Last week, I started project one - paint the bathroom and do a little reorganizing and decorating. I bought some test paint and figured out which color I liked more - Summer Day by Valspar. Go figure! But maybe it's a theme.
So, here are my goals for today:
- finish the Eon: Dragoneye Reborn book.
(which I just finished not 2 minutes ago :)) Yay!
- do my morning afternoon exercises
- finish moving all the stuff out of the bathroom
- paint the bathroom
I have all day so I figure I will finish the painting in a few hours.
Here's hoping I'm productive!
Have a happy Monday folks!
Last night I had a home night...after all that paint prepping and painting I needed a break and I was tired. Oh before I go on check it out
I added some vinyl letters I got from Michael's Arts & Crafts. I thought it would be cute. (I'm trying to not get all crazy and buy the paint - i need to give it a couple of days I think before I end up with something I don't want..but the door is staying Fiesta Blue!)
Anyway, so last night, on the This Channel. Does anyone get This? It's a weird movie channel that I'm starting to really dig. The other day they had a Poltergeist marathon and you really cannot go wrong with that. Anyway, so last night, they showed "Black Mama, White Mama."
It's a women prison blaxploitation movie from 1972 that takes place in the Philippines. I need to delve a bit more into that because I had no clue that there was this English Filipino movie out there. I think I need to do some research on Filipino Filmmakers...so, this movie, prison, lots of guns and shooting. I fell asleep to, I think, the last battle (go figure) so it was incorporated into my dream. Element 1 - Black Mama, White Mama
Element 2 -
Element 3 -
Do I even need to go into the dream? You have visuals. I'll let you make up my dream! :)
Anyway, have a fantastic Sunday! and here's a song for you. U2 best of on Amazon is only 2.99!
The school year is coming to an end. 1 more week and then the year is done. Last night I wrote a list of things I wanted to accomplish during the summer. I'll post it later since it is a work in progress. Any who, the first thing I wrote down was to paint the bathroom. I think one of my goals for the year was to decorate the bathroom (I wish I could find that dang post - another reminder of why tags are good). I know it will take probably most of the year but that's ok. I gotta go at my own pace and of course, not get into more debt over it..
I bought these knobs at Anthropologie a few months ago and I'm using them as the main focus of the bathroom. They are small and you know, no one will really notice them but that's ok. It's my frickin bathroom! So, I like the blue of the leaves and went to Loew's today to get one of those sample size paint cans. I chose these two colors:
The left side is Valspar's La Fonda Fiesta Blue (and let me tell you - it's like a party on that wall) and the right side is Valspar's Martha Steward color Summer Day.
You know, my bathroom is so small I wonder if they'll just sell me like 3 pints of the color because I was doing a test wall and I have A LOT of paint left. I figure I should let it dry and then see how I feel in a week. Do you think a bright bathroom is bad idea? Should I go with the more subtle "Summer Day"? I know, it's my choice but I have no idea. I kind of like the brightness but I wonder if I will want to scream later because it is so bright. I hate being so indecisive. Also, should I just finish all that paint? And can I do a two tone blue or is that just overkill? I have yellow tile in the bathroom in case you were wondering which is why I am going with blue. I really love blue and gold together.
My painting soundtrack right now is Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix album. It's so fun! So here's one for you to listen to while you are doing whatever it is you're doing :) Have a good weekend folks!
I have a lot of projects on my plate this month which is making me very excited!
Dragons and Libraries:
I am designing a square for a quilt project for my co-worker at work. Here is a sketch:
Crab Malice:
Headphonerecord asked for contributions to her crab malice project and I decided I would give it a go. I'm not very crafty or all that creative but I do enjoy drawing so there you go.
I also have a painting I've been working on for Mister JT's birthday.
Sometimes, you just need to keep busy.
Happy Sunday folks!
