Selections of 365 of 2009 - so far

Spring Rain Me

winter me

-20°C
Light snow


and this is warm compared to the weekend

current obsession...

I am completely obsessed with Black Cab Sessions. If you're not familiar with the BCS, the premise is really simple, and artist in the back seat of a Black cab in London doing a stripped down acoustic performance as the cab drives around. Black Cab Sessions slogan says it best ONE SONG.ONE TAKE.ONE CAB

Oportunity knocking the door down!!

My life seems to be taking off without me these last few days...I launched my Photography website about a month ago, with the idea that I might get some feedback and start doing something I love rather than dreading doing something that I don't even like very much . (Yes, I know that is a ridiculous run-on!). The response has been fantastic, and I have become quite the busy little girl...I have complete two client sessions (one maternity and one newborn) and have 2 weddings, and 2 more sessions (one maternity and one glam (yeah! someone else who likes to play dress-up)) already lined up. Right now I am just taking on anything that comes my way to build me portfolio, but I eventually want to be able to select which clients I want to take on and create my business so it suites my personality and style more...working with clients looking for something unique, and completely out of the typical realm of "portrait" work...and weddings...we'll have to see how that goes...I used to say that I would NEVER do weddings since I didn't want to deal with brides...
Anyway, I just wanted to say hello world and let all 2 of you readers (are you still there?) know what's been going on in my life...I've also stared a blog to go with the website, and am thinking that I really need to get back into writing here on a more regular basis...we'll see how that goes...

. . .

Back in July I wrote about a traumatic experience with an injured grasshopper...today I came across the photos again, and thought maybe it was time he had his moment of glory...

2007 in review

January
1. cotton candy clouds, 2. craving satisfied, 3. pano x-ray,
February
4. rasp, 5. 129/365 - blue skeyes, 6. drip,
March
7. reflection b&w, 8. smilin' Murphy, 9. shodow,
April
10. red dragon, 11. still b&w, 12. ant tracks 1,
May
13. a curious sniff, 14. 199/365 - weeds?,
June
15. 220-4a, 16. revisiting childhood, 17. yellow,
July
18. take flight, 19. 267/365 - red, 20. yellow,
August
21. 261/365 - the great outdoors, 22. wind swept, 23. can I have some?,
September
24. lion, 25. Suspended Animation, 26. fly away all,
October
27. sorrowful song bird, 28. gaze, 29. ze photographer!,
November
30. Beveridge: a.k.a. proving the faulty filter theory, 31. red bricks, 32. BE GOOD, 33. shadows and light in the limo,
December
34. ooooooo....shiny!, 35. moon glow, 36. rusted bolt and steel plate

I had an awful experience with a grasshopper this morning...
I was in the back yard in my bare feet talking to Mr J. when he came back from his run...

and I felt something crawling on my right foot…I looked down and it was a smallish bright green grasshopper...
I know they don't bite...so I wasn't in a big panic to get him off or anything...I just lifted my foot and thought he would hop away...
Nope, he stayed.. just sort of hanging out on my foot...no big deal
until I look at him more closely...
he's only got one back leg...

you know the big strong ones that are used for the hopping part of a grasshopper?

only one.
he's an amputee

pretty sad I think...so I just sort of wait for him to go about his business...
he's not leaving...he seems to really like my foot...

so I think...hmmm, could make for an interesting photo...

I reach down, scoop him up and bring him inside, in search of my bug box and my camera...find them...put him in the tube, and go back outside
get the camera all set up and open the lid of the box ...knowing he won't immediately hop away, well, because he can't

ok...keep in mind I didn't sleep at all last night...and only got about 4 hours this morning...

I'm watching this little guy walk along...thinking to myself he's brave and must be tough to survive with only one leg...
until he manages to turn his gimped side towards me and I see it's not just his back leg that's missing...that the entire side is damaged...
he's blind in that eye...and his other two legs on that side look injured too
it made me super sad...
he's not tough...he's slowly and likely painfully struggling toward his death

damn

and here I was taking pictures of him

I felt awful

it was actually pretty traumatic for me...I end up crying and everything in the end
pretty pathetic huh

I asked Mr. J. to kill him

so now I have these pictures of this poor little dude...and I don't know what to do with them...they actually turned out sort of good...but...I don’t think I can do anything with them...but I don't want to forget him, so I don’t want to delete them either


I'm so lame

short update...

I am alive and well...I know it's been a long time since I posted anything here...the last while has been a tumultuous pit of chance...new city ...new job...new house... and now...

*EDIT* HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY EVERYONE!!! You can all breath now...

my chaotic life

life has become very busy for me lately. Moving, end my current job, seeing friends before I leave the city...packing packing packing (why do I have so much stuff?!?)...

Anyway, I think it's become somewhat evident from my lack of posting over the last few weeks that I am not mentally engaged in this blog right now...so I am making my absenteeism official I suppose.

I am not going to say that I won't be posting at all for a while, just that I won't be posting on any sort of regular type frequency...like the last while...

Mr J and I will be documenting our adventures in house renovation starting at the beginning of March ... for anyone who is interested you can find us here...

Thanks to everyone who has been here, and I'll see you when I see you I suppose.

Decisions made . . .

So the choice has been made...I am going to take the offer. There were a number of factors in the decision, but the main one was being in the same city (and under the same roof) as Mr. J...closely followed by the monitary advantage...

And in other news...We are buying a house! We looked at many, but fell in love with a 95 year old diamond in the rough. She is in rough shap right now, and not in the best of neighbourhoods, but she has so much potential.



short entry tonight...have to get back to packing! EEeeeeppp

Contemplation . . . HNT?

Thoughts go racing through my mind . . .
one followed by another,
and another,
and another,
and another,
and another . . .
until my head is so full of random snippets of thought I fear it might burst at the seams . . . if a head had seams that is . . .
instead . . .
more thoughts push to the front from deep within . . .
starting the process over again . . .
Thoughts go racing through my mind . . .
one followed by another,
and another . . .


Not nakkid in the traditional sense...but my soul and nerves feel completely bare...

a confounding conundrum

I wrote the post below,and only posted it briefly before taking it down again...
So much has transpired since then...

I spoke to my boss about the future of the design department in our office...the future is bleak if things are to continue the way they are going...I also told him of the generous offer I had been given, and asked him for his thought on the situation. This is the good part of working for a small company, your boss can also be your friend. he told me that I could definitely handle the position offered, which was good to hear...and he thanked me for being honest with him...I am also pretty sure he knows that my time with the company is limited independent of me taking this offer...

That's right...I have decided I need to leave my current job one way or another. I still have not decided if I am going to take the new position as offered, but I know I can't stay at this one. It has completely stifled my creativity, and my drive to do good work...three years of doing the same thing day after day, over and over will do that.

I have also spoken to a good friend who used to work in our office about the opportunities within Calgary. She loves her current job, and explained to me what the differences she has experienced are...she works for a larger company, with an actual design department...allowing her to learn from others who have been in the field longer...something I am missing not only at my current job, but would also not be available were I to take the new one offered...she said there are boundless opportunities (ug, how many times can I use that word in one post!) for a junior designer within Calgary, even within her company...something I knew already, just wasn't prepared to take on quite yet

So, the plan as it sits right now...get my resume out there; apply to as may places in Calgary as I can, and see if I get a response...I will be on a time limit how ever, as I still have the generous offer to face. If I have not found a place in Calgary that I think could supply me with a challenge and a mentor, then I will take the job with Mr.J's dad as of March 1st.

Wish me luck!

When crisi-tunity knocks...

I have been offered a job with a great company...without even putting in an application...with a 45% increase in earnings a year...

So, why am I thinking of not taking it, you may be asking?

Because it would mean moving away from everything I know and love in Calgary, to a "city" that I dislike filled with retired farmes and young breeders...becasue it is a job that I am not really qualified for and I am not confident that I will do a good job at it, or that I am worth that much $...because it will mean working with my "in-laws" in a family business environment...because it will mean being in the same city as my mom and dad who have recently split...because I don't know anyone there anymore, and I have a nice group of friends here that I will see far less often...because it is a step back from the goal of where I want to be professionally...

Then, why am I still considering it despite all of these reasons?

Becasue taking the job will allow me to live under the same roof as Mr J for the first time in 2 years...and we will be able to afford a house...with a yard...and maybe a puppy...because the rent on my crumby apartment in Calgary will be raised by 25% as of May 1st...because the money is very tempting and that sort of wage is worth a lot more in a small city than it is in Calgary...because I could afford to travel instead of traveling despite the lack of funds and incuring more debt...because I hate my current job, and it's time for a change...

I've done a pro/con list...I've talked it through with Mr. J...and I tried this...I still don't know...
HARUMPH!!!

deep freeze

I would rather be back here...

than here....