Concert Girl

Concerts. I love 'em. I remember going to concerts at least once a month when I was in Jr High. They were mostly small Christian band concerts but they were such a fun time for me. The first concert I ever went to was Amy Grant. Talk about old school! I used to fall slightly in love (as much as a 13 year old could love) with at least one of the band members (ha not Amy Grant). I had a phase where I would drool over drummers. Then there was that thing I had for bassists. Ahh... those days.

Well, I've managed to snag myself a lead guitarist and I think my 13 year old self would be pretty proud of her 23 year old self. ;)

Gone, too fast!

My beautiful flowers have decided that spending any more than 4 days on top of my television is just not worth the effort. I don't think it's fair. I will come to terms with it, but for the record - I'm not happy about it. I wish fake flowers were as enjoyable as real flowers. Maybe the magical thing about real flowers is their fleeting time with us. Perhaps they give us just enough time to enjoy their beauty, but not so much time as to become ordinary. Hmm..

Words

In a moment of rare inspiration and motivation, I've come up with a creative project that I am going to start (and finish!) It will probably take me months to complete, but will be well worth the time taken. The first step is to compile a list of 100 words. I would like these words to come from all sources, from anyone who wants to contribute. I'm keeping track in my book, along with the first name of the person who suggested it. Please, share your favorite words with me. They don't have to mean anything to anyone but you, and they don't have to make you sound smart, pompous, artsy, or silly. Whatever comes to mind.

Leave your word in a comment, text me if you know me, message me - somehow! Let's hear em!

Apples 2 Apples

lizr****7: im eating pineapple
for the vit C
me: that's good.. i had the most delicious apple
gala.. im a fan
lizr****7: im only a moderate fan of apples
me: there are varying degrees of apple fans, i agree
lizr****7: they use to give me the chills thinkin about them
i am actually getting them now
me: are you serious?
chills.. why
lizr****7: idk
me: like bad chills
are you frightened of apples?
lizr****7: the texture
lol no
my teeth dont like the texture

More Snow?

We got hammered again today in NW Ohio... I think it ended up being 5 or 6 inches? On top of all the snow that hasn't melted yet!? Yikes. My parent's driveway was barely passable, and my poor Dad was out there shoveling before I even got up this morning.

What I am beginning to realize and dislike very much is that snow days are over. Sylvania Schools have shut down at every sight of snow it seems like. And today, BGSU closed!! Insane. Do we have snow days outside of school? Sure, it's called Level 3 Snow Emergency and it means we're stuck at home for the duration. No sledding trips, no runs to the store for delicious snow day treats, no driving to the gym on the new-found free time, and certainly no shopping. Seriously? This is what we have to look forward to? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a Level 3 - as long as I'm stocked up on movies, tasty treats, and pleasant company.

If you have been keeping up on this most delightful blog (ahem), I'm sure you are saying to yourself, "Now wasn't it just a couple weeks ago that Rachel exclaimed her love for this cold, frozen stuff? And what FINE photography she has, by the way." You are correct! I do love the stuff (and thanks for the compliment)! BUT, I don't get to enjoy it while wasting away behind the front desk or in front of a computer.

Sigh.


[More photoshop brush experimentation]

Experimenting

No photo today. Instead, you get a little peak at some of the Photoshop brushes I downloaded tonight. I was testing them out in PS, adding a new layer whenever the screen got too full, and turning off visibility of other layers as I went along. At the end of that process I wanted to see what it looked like with all of them turned on. This is the result. Spiffy eh?

Second wind?

I know I said (not too long ago) that I was feeling uninspired, but I guess I got a second wind. Eric bought me some flowers tonight just for "funzies" and partly because we have now been dating for 18 months. My room is very dark so I was playing around with underexposed photos in lightroom, and this was the result. Kinda modern, kinda saturated (ok, a lot saturated), and kinda fun.

NOW, I am pooped, and headed to bed.

Have you seen this deer?

10 deer in the backyard of my workplace today. Craziness. I'm quite sleepy and uninspired.

yawn.

Ramshackle is a good word.

I've definitely done a lot of driving in the nearly 8 years I have had my license. My mazda3 (affectionately dubbed Sammy C3) alone has put in over 70 thousand miles (and that's my 3rd car!) My freshman year of college saw a whole lot of I-75 from Toledo to Lexington. My last few years of college saw way too much of I-75 from BG to Toledo to BG to Toledo (and on and on). This summer I was 10 hours away, in Charlotte.

So I've seen Ohio. I've seen Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, West Virginia, the list goes on. In all of this driving, there is only one thing that trumps beautiful sunsets for me.

Barns. I love dilapidated, roof caved in, shattered windows, rusty, broken down barns. Something so awesome (can I say awesome without being laughed at?) happens when the lines and symmetry of old barns collapse into a heap of crisscrossed disarray. I used to wonder why the owners left the barns in such condition - but I wonder if maybe they see them the same way I do.

It's still cold in Toledo. C'mon MARCH!!

Chipped Ivories

I used to play the piano. I was pretty good too, but as soon as I graduated high school and entered college, it became a lot harder to keep up with it. It has always bothered me a little bit that I stopped playing, especially lately. Sometimes I just feel like I have no talents - and piano was definitely a talent for me. Today I sat down to my favorite piano in the world. Not a grand piano, or even a baby grand. This is an antique upright that has been in our family for years (as far as I know). The keys are chipped, cracked, and graying. But to me, it's real. I have played a little on newer pianos and the keys just feel so fake, so plastic. I'll take chips and cracks over that any day. Supposedly the piano officially belongs to my uncle, but I'm really hoping he's forgotten that so I can someday own my favorite piano in the world.

Who knows, maybe I'll really get started up again and be even better. Here's to trying!