Three cheers for all those hours before noon!

I enjoy mornings. I am a morning person.

On an ideal day, I enjoy watching the sun rise. I enjoy the slow, but purposeful pace of the morning. I like to wake as the sun is rising- give myself a few minutes to process the fact that I am no longer sleeping, and make my way out to the coffee maker. I like to make (and eat) breakfast. I like to read the "paper" (since I do not subscribe to a paper, I scope out the online periodicals. Gotta be honest here.) I like to take my time in the shower. I like to enjoy the quality of light that is "dawn."

This video depicts my ideal morning, including ideal birds.



If I am running at a faster yet leisurely pace, I like to stop Satellite or (at least previously) Blackwater, pick up a drip or an americano and the paper (real, this time) and take my coffee drinking/news reading elsewhere.

This video depicts my ACTUAL morning, including non-fiction birds. For real, (not) this (exact) woodpecker lives on our rooftop. He frequents my fireplace around 7:30. E.V.E.R.Y. D.A.Y.


Fast pace = Out of bed, curtains open (it is probably light out by now), coffee on, shower taken, coffee poured, find the keys (they are always hiding on days like this), out the door.

Even faster? Shove a Diet Coke in the purse and hope nobody notices (or cares) that I smell like yesterday's funk.

No matter the pace, I am glad to be up.

BUT, the best mornings of all are the ones I'm not alone.

Same $h!t, different day.

I rearranged my room this week. It is a lovely change! What a difference swapping out a few key pieces of furniture makes.

I still have some qualms. The major issue is the big empty wall above my bed. I lack the funds for anything real cool. I've oogled blik, I've paced back and forth, back and forth in stores such as Pier 1, World Market, and the like. But I just cant justify spending more than $50 or so, and the cool stuff just costs more than that. (As it should, I suppose)

And this is what throws me... I could make my own art. I loved what Steven did with coffee mugs and coffee on a simple sheet of paper. Reminds me of this, but the cost of making it presentable (canvass? frame? all the shit you need to do these two things?) blows my mind. If I could just tack a sheet of printer paper to my wall I would be good. But that just doesnt work for me.

Enjoy the pretty flowers. Be kind and do not zoom in, they are only lovely from a distance. :)

A springtime mystery

Why is it that when one stores clean sheets and clean blankets in a clean box, they come out smelling all weird? What IS that smell? Nothing smells quite like linen coming out of storage.

Sheet swap! I am giving the snow a good 'ol "fuck you" by storing the jersey knit.

Hope everyone is bringing in Spring with as much enthusiasm as I.

Bathroom fun

Look out! Its an octopus!

I love dry erase markers. Why dont I use them more often?

s.t.o.p m.o.t.i.o.n

Saw this incredible video, had to share it.

What was THAT?

So I was in my room, watching the final episode of Heroes Season 1, and I hear a funny noise. I attributed it to Spencer playing video games in our living room. A few minutes later, Mer knocked on my door.

Mer: "Did you hear that? I think there is a woodpecker in our chimney!"
Me: "THATS what that was?" leaps from bed to living room in a single bound, the noise returns "Holy @$%&"
Mer: "Yeah I've heard it a few times now. I dont think it can get in, but we had a bird get in our house once... it was not a fun situation." woodpecker noises
Me: "Lets block the fireplace with cardboard or something." more woodpecker noises (loud ones, I might add)




Long story short. We found out that our apartment's office is not open on Sundays, we have new neighbors (who also heard the woodpecker), our fireplace is now surrounded by cardboard, and tonight I will be dreaming of birds bent on jack-hammering their way into my room.




The bird went away... we think he was actually on roof just pecking at the top part of the chimney... but DAMN am I glad Mer was around to help me investigate that noise. Otherwise, I probably would have freaked out. More than I am freaking out right now. Yikes. Never thought I was afraid of woodpeckers!

Zach

I do not know where these thoughts are coming from or why they are hitting me so hard lately... I cannot think of a single trigger. But no matter the origin, I am feeling this drive to write about it.

I cannot stop thinking about Zach. Zach was a friend of mine, not best friends by any means, but a friend nonetheless. He died around Christmas time last year (as in mid-late Dec. 2007) and for some reason I've just been missing him like crazy lately.

This man gave the best hugs. I have some pretty good huggers in my life but Zach easily made the top three, he might have even been number one. Its hard to say. Anyway, on a particularly rough day, Zach was there for me and we just hugged it out.



It had been a while since I saw him, but about a week before he died I saw him on campus. He saw me too, but we were far enough away that neither of us were sure, and we were both en route to different destinations. We caught up on facebook after our brush with one another and decided to meet for lunch sometime after Christmas break. It was not to be so.

Crazy and I went to his funeral. It was fitting, it felt right... it was done like it should have been. But I still miss him . Lots.

V-day

Happy Valentines Day!



Jayne made this card for me... yeah, made, as in created it. Thank you so much, Jayne.






Anyway, I've been chatting with Brad, so the actual update is, um... non-existent. But here are the pictures! Enjoy, and Happy Valentines Day!!

Procrastination- Kara style

How RAD is this photo!? I like to check out This Week in Pictures on Telegraph.co.uk on a regular basis (this is where I found the Rainier photo). Its fun to see what is going on around the world, and its less brain-straining than reading an actual newspaper. Really, I try to keep up to date on what is happening around the world, but I usually end up in the "weird news" sections or giggling at the News in Brief section of the Onion.

Another recent discovery which left me laughing out loud for a solid hour is CakeWrecks. Man oh man. You must check out the Flash Drive one.

Indexed is a fun site-







You get the idea.

And last but not least- I've been looking at bicycles. At this point I have not seriously looked, so of course the bikes I want (pictured below- Felt Cafe Series) are way out of my price range. But seriously, HOW COOL are these bikes!?




Thats all for now folks, hope this finds you well.

*sigh*

I've had a lovely night. Nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary, it was just nice. Made dinner with Mer and Spencer (rather, Mer made dinner for Spencer and I) and James was able to stop by for about an hour. We chatted for a long time, Mer and I drank wine. James took off, Mer and Spencer went down to Olympia to watch Heros. I get to catch up on the day's headlines + whatever the Onion or the Colbert Report has to say.

While I dont often write about shitty days I've had, I want it documented that today was a good one. Sometimes on those crappy days its hard to recall with much accuracy the days that went just a-okay. So yes, today, has been a good day.

And a song to top it all off. Elton John- Tiny Dancer