A small recap...

Hello darlings.

Long time, no see. It's been almost a month; I've been bad about blogging. I think for the same reasons Crystal listed not so long ago...I've been doing too many other things! Let's see--quick recap:

We said our (sad) farewells to our friend, Julio, who moved to New York for grad school. We had three days of parties in his honor. :)



Went home briefly; went to Madison's family lake house in Wisconsin. It was beautiful, as usual. I had an amazing time.





Then, came back to Albuquerque. George came out to visit, and while he was here, we convinced Tricia (via webchat) to get on a plane the next morning to New Mexico. She did it! So it was great seeing her, and having the two of them stay here. There was something very satisfying about being able to offer a bona fide guest room, too!

I've been working a lot, which is going fine, and doing some projects that I can't talk about here (somebody's birthday is coming up!) Also, I just finished up my portion of the photo project and am waiting for the others' to start trickling in. That's super exciting. It's going to be very COOL!

I'm a bit tired at the moment. Hard work out today. Katie C. is making blueberry muffins in the kitchen... how exciting! Sorry for the lame entry, but it's the best I can do at the moment. More soon. :) Miss you all!

Some work and some great news...

Just to get it out there: I. Hate. Cramps. About 3,000 Anthonys worth. (By the way, kudos to Nic for this brilliant new rating system). Now that that's out of the way, let me continue.

Worked on a writing job today. It went really well! I was writing profiles for a professional matchmaker. What a fun gig.

Then I got a totally out of the blue call from my dad...

Guess who's going to Ireland in 2 months!?!?

ME!!!!!!!

Yeah! Apparently my cousin's getting married over there at the end of September. This will be my first trip to Europe: HOW exciting. I almost can't think about it, I'm so excited. In fact, just last night I was talking to my friend Pete about traveling to Europe, and I was feeling sad/regretful that I had never gone. We were sitting at the Blackbird Buvet having drinks, and I made up my mind then and there to MAKE IT HAPPEN while I was still in my 20s. I know, arbitrary number, but still--I never went when I was in college, and it seems like one of those things you need to do before you turn 30.

Anyway, Pete and I were talking about other stuff too--we usually wind up talking about the foundations on which people build their lives: the places they choose, the company they keep, the things they fall into, and the patterns they create...no matter how deep they get, these conversations always take place in bars, for whatever reason.

During this whole scene, I made the regrettable decision of ordering these:

"Jalapeno Bottle Caps"

They are slices of jalapeno, deep fried, salted, and served with ranch. They cost $1.50. And they worked on my guts like acid for the next twelve hours. Ug. This was the reason I gave up flamin' hot Cheetos--I KNOW better.

Anywho, next week Pete's going to take me on a tour of "the Albuquerque I don't know." All the hidden haunts and dives he only knows about because he's... well, Pete! We were going to try to get a polaroid camera for said project, but apparently they don't make the right film anymore and to actually get some is super expensive. And seeing as I'm broke and Pete's broke, I think we're gonna stick to what we've got.

Plus... DID I MENTION I AM GOING TO IRELAND IN 2 MONTHS!?!

Keeping calm, moving on. Here are some photos from the manual camera: we got them developed today.

There's plenty more (some are badASS!) but I haven't made the final cuts for the photography project yet, so I can't reveal them here. :)

Much love your way. Adios!

august sweat down

I've been eating well lately. Between working at a delicious restaurant and making Asian noodle dishes with Katie, I definitely haven't been going hungry...

This is the AMAZING meal we made a couple nights ago. If you're interested, here's what it is:

• 1 package of Asian noodles
  
• 1/4 cup Soy sauce
• 1/4 cup Soy vinegar
• 3 teaspoons Sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon Hot Chili oil
• "Rooster Sauce" to taste
• 2 tablespoons Sesame seeds (we used black and white)
• 2-3 tablespoons ginger
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• Chives / cilantro on top
  
• Whatever veggies you like or have (carrots,broccoli, celery, peppers, mushrooms, sprouts, onions, cabbage, green onions, etc.)

• Mix all the wet materials into a sauce
• Cook noodles, drain, and rinse with cold water
• Finely chop all your veggies
• Mix all ingredients together!

Now... on to less foodie topics.

I had today off, so I got in the car with both the manual and the digital cameras to take today's picture--"worry." I was driving towards a specific area of town with a particular idea in mind, but when I got to the street where I needed to turn left, I couldn't get over. So I wound up taking a longer route, which led me to the actual picture I took. I wouldn't have seen the little site I photographed had my original intention panned out. Isn't that the way it goes.

Not much else today... it's so hot here, every day, that it seems to suck all energy and motivation right out of my pores. I ended up walking around campus town a bit, snapping random photos--by the time I got back to my car, sweat was trickling down the backs of my legs and pooling in my belly button. THEN it took another twenty minutes of driving in my non-air conditioned car to get home. Needless to say, I was drenched by the time I walked through the front door. Sexy, I know. Here are a few of today's 110-degree snapshots.


Didn't put up the best ones... not sure what I'm using for the photo project yet.

I hope Albuquerque hasn't ruined me for heat. I used to crave it... now I feel like I'm waiting out the summer indoors... I can't wait until September gets here. Fall in New Mexico is way better.

an actual return to high school...

So as most of you know, I started a new job at a restaurant. Going through training yesterday and today was the most vivid living flashback of high school I've ever had. I never would have expected restaurant work to bring it all back. My junior year of high school, I worked at Portillo's Hotdogs--a half fast-food, half sit-down restaurant in Batavia. I was 17. I was terrified during training, because it was my first job outside of babysitting and piano teaching. I ended up loving it (as much as you can love a job working in fast food): I worked with Steve Hladik in the drive through line, and I was promoted to trainer within a month. I was fast and I was good. Now, at 24 (with a master's degree, NOT that that matters...) I'm training for the same job. Less responsibilities, actually. And re-learning the abbreviations for expediting food, where all the random restaurant crap is, and dealing with cranky line cooks has--to my utter surprise--reminded me of those days--days I haven't thought about in about 7 years.

Since today was my second (and last) day of training, I felt kind of stupid, slow, and deaf. (You really should consider NOT working in a kitchen if you're got a bad ear. I'm constantly asking, "what?" -- to which the unheard culprit usually repeats whatever he/she said in the same garbled half-yell. They must think I'm an idiot.)

It's so weird being back here again. I feel simultaneously like a failure and like a rockstar--doing the grunge work, getting paid almost nothing, but not worrying about my job the minute I leave the restaurant. This will either result in me kicking ass at my writing business or working forever in a restaurant. Which I don't think I have the proverbial stones for. I'm too cushy. Plus I want to make real money. Soon.

So I work tomorrow's day shift again, then I have the next two days off. During which you can bet your ass I'll be marketing my writing skills. Time passes a lot faster when you're making $40 an hour than when you're making $6+tips.

Claritin D = no sleep for me

Morning, dear ones.

I'm in an interesting mental/physical state. Saw dawn today. It was pretty.


Why, you ask, did I see the sun rise? It all boils down to one little pill: Claritin D. Last night, Katie and I went out and did some super fun stuff: bought things at Target, had pho at a Vietnamese restaurant I'd never been to, drove up to the foothills and took pictures, and got Coldstone for the first time since who knows when. THEN we went over to Mary and Julio's, where Nic was waiting with an allergy pill for moi. I had asked him to bring one because my eyes were bothering me and they have a dog, and I even asked him what kind it was...he said claritin. Cool! So, he dutifully brought me one. What I failed to determine was what kind of claritin it was. See, I take the normal stuff all the time. What I DON'T take is Claritin D -- it may as well be cocaine. I CANNOT sleep if I've had it. Not his fault; I should have realized that I was taking a horse pill instead of the dainty little normal claritins--my mistake.

As a result, I lay awake / in partial dream world for the majority of the night. By the time 5 o'clock rolled around, I was about done with that. So, to Katie's bewilderment, I got myself up, made a pot of coffee, and sat down out here in the livingroom to write away my frustrations.

The funny thing is that I'm starting my new job today, and I was worried that I would oversleep. Ha.

As for the job, I'm a little nervous--not about it, but about the fact that I just booked a five-day vacation 20 days from now and haven't told my boss yet. Wish me luck. :-/

You know that simultaneously weightless and super-heavy feeling in your body when you haven't slept? It's the strangest thing... I feel like I'm embedded in the couch but also uncomfortably floaty. Plus there's that pseudo-nausea early morning thing going on... but overall, I feel pretty good, considering. Hope I'm not a space cadet today!

Some pics from last night:







Well... only passed about half an hour with this. Wonder what I'll do 'til 8:30 when I have to leave. Hope you all have a delicious Sunday... smooches!

2009 Photo Project: Word List

1. up
2. loquacious
3. worry
4. night
5. love
6. naysay
7. fresh
8. shell
9. regal
10. warmth
11. original
12. clean
13. pink
14. brier
15. gratitude
16. buzz
17. pale
18. mercy
19. vapid
20. absolute
21. useless
22. alive
23. morning
24. lascivious
25. irony
26. dirty
27. home
28. ordinary
29. taste
30. yes

Froot loops and plane tickets...

Good morning, all! Have to get on with the day, but thought I'd drop a few words and photos here before I get down to business. I just ate a bowl full of dry froot loops--my morning favorite. I can barely stand the thought of eating in the morning, but these seem to be the exception to the rule.




For some of you ladies who read this, I have to share with you the best piece of makeup I've bought in a long time: Revlon Beyond Natural blush. SO much better than the other loose, expensive mineral crap I've been buying. FYI.


Anywho, I had a fantastic day yesterday. Hung out with Nic at Flying Star; worked on blog stuff, work stuff, and writing stuff. They're all interconnected. Then, I met up with my new friend Monte for drinks at O'Niells. It was great talking to someone new: new perspectives, new set of work stories/morals/life experiences. I had about 3 hard ciders and was feeling pretty good around the time that he took off. So, instead of following him out the door, I stuck around and waited for Nic to show up. Had a couple more drinks, sitting on the patio and wishing it could stay that temperature forever. It's been unseasonably cool this past week--you know you're in the Southwest when 86 degrees feels like fall. I love it. Here are some momentos from the evening:








Gotta love self-photography.

Also, late last night Katie and I booked plane tickets for Illinois on August 20. I'm SO EXCITED! Hopefully Mads will be able to book her family's lakehouse... but if not, we'll just have a couple more days with the family. It will be the first time Katie will see my mom's garden in the summer. :)

Then the next weekend, Jorge comes out. Hilarity will ensue.

THEN, over Labor Day, Katie's friend Andi's coming out to stay with us. We officially have a guest room now, so if anyone wants to get away for a while, just let us know...!

Ok.. signing off. Must get to work.

Coffee musings...

Good morning!

Have you ever noticed that you like the idea of certain things better than the things themselves?

I woke up this morning at around 9:10. Katie had already had her coffee, eaten breakfast, watered all the plants, written in her journal, gotten dressed, etc. before I moved an inch. And as she stood in the doorway of the bathroom holding her coffee mug, she said, "I always like the idea of a second cup more than I actually like drinking it." Which I think is so true about a lot of things. But for me, coffee itself has always been that way. So I'll focus on that.

I LOVE the idea of coffee. It floats nebulously around all of my cozy, creatively-driven fantasies. It's comforting, it's sophisticated, it's even kinda sexy... it comes to symbolize the beginning of every day, pajamas, reading in a coffee shop, working hard on something you actually care about... for me, anyway. But when it comes down to it, I really don't like drinking coffee as much as I like thinking about drinking coffee. You know what I mean? It's almost always a little disappointing.

There were a couple times in my life where coffee really lived up to my unfair expectations. In high school, my group of friends had kind of taken over the Caribou Coffee on Randall. We swarmed there in our under-21 boredom, using the "lodge" for homework, playing cards, sifting through our teenage drama... it was expensive, going there every day, but we had meager bills to pay so it didn't seem to matter. My social existence revolved around coffee. And I loved it.

In the last year of college, I met Alex in Creative Writing. Right before something was due, we'd head over to Merry Ann's at like 11 o'clock at night and sit there til 4 in the morning, chain-drinking bad coffees, writing on our laptops, and ignoring the drunken conversations behind us. I loved those nights.

Also... I have come to appreciate iced coffees in the summer in this house. There's something grad-student chic about making your own iced coffee and sitting down in the shade with a difficult book...feels like you're cheating the system somehow. Although Starbucks does have a leg up where liquid sweetener is concerned.

Anyway, moving past my coffee philosophizing...

Last night Katie and I went out for a change. We went to this little restaurant on the corner of Griegos and Rio Grande where the walls were made of old doors and there was a fire hydrant embedded in the concrete by our outdoor table. SO New Mexico.













It was sweet. Plus, I hadn't eaten barbeque in a while.

Now, if you were under the impression that I was--that Microsoft Paint is incapable of doing anything cool with pictures--think again. Granted, this is pretty basic shit, but it's still cool:









Pretty cool, right?? Ah, color inversion...

Weird. Just heard a cat scream. SERIOUSLY pissed off. Hope it's ok.

Today I'm going to meet up with Nic and do some research for my writing business. Might take some entrepreneur/marketing classes in the fall--they're free for some reason at the community college here. Who knows. I'm feeling pretty excited about the prospect of making a go of it on my own... anybody who's willing, link me up! :)

Have a lovely day! Oh, Crystal, Nic, and Katie: you were in my dream. Ha!

It's storming hardcore...

...thus the title of my new blog. So I realize that my new blogging obsession may be... a bit excessive, but I don't care. For the first time in a long time, I have both time and energy to focus on creativity--which for me means writing and taking pictures. It's going nuts outside: I love these afternoon summer storms in Albuquerque. The mountains turn dark and the trees start whining from all the wind. Most importantly, there is a cool: read, COOL breeze. Rare in July.


Here's what it looks like right now:






Very cool. Considering having either an iced coffee or a beer, as it were.

My whole summer hasn't been like this. No, no. I slung blades and sold knives in people's homes for a flabbergasting three months. During that time, I accumulated enough little antidotes to fill up ANOTHER blog... but I won't go there. Needless to say, that job got old real fast. So I decided to give other stuff a shot--namely, finding another job that didn't eat my soul and work on my potential writing business. Also on the list: finish the house, read more fiction and do more art.

Since I quit my nasty Cutco habit, I've had lots of time to do these things and also whatever the hell I want. First things first: I got a part-time job as a food runner at Slate Street Cafe, where Katie C. and I cater occasionally. Easy, fun, and at least a trickle of dependable income. And yesterday I came up with a business name and wrote the copy for my new copywriting website: cbwordsmith.com. George helped me out with his brilliant knowledge of search engine optimization, and Katie C. helped me finetune the writing. So now I, the technophobe, have realized the fine (and yes, easy) art of linking. Get ready for lots of that. :)

But more importantly for my soul, I've had time to write. And energy to WANT to write. As most of you know, I've started another blog revisiting my old journal, which has been interesting. It's made me want to write a lot more, but as Nic SO frequently reminds me, I should probably take it slow to ensure the blog's longevity. Apparently I have been known to get really excited about something right off the bat then soon lose interest. Who knew. And, since my old journal keeps getting more and more interesting (to me, anyway), I don't want to fall into that old pattern. So slow and steady and all of that. Which is why I'm turning my energies here.

Eery light outside. Thunder and crazy shadows.

I have Scrubs on in the background. I drank a smoothie earlier. I'm gonna work out after this, then shower and try to resist the urge to wash my hair. (Can't do it every day; dye comes out too fast. Just re-dyed it dark again, and trying to grow it out. I know some of you are excited to hear this--you know who you are.) I list these few simple things to give you an idea of what my week has looked like: it's ROCKED! I've slept well, started working out, gotten regular (had to say it: HELLO, berry smoothies!), and spent hours focusing on my career and creative goals. I've talked to friends, made drinking plans, worked on making the house AWESOME with Katie, and read through almost a whole novel. Some of my favorite people and I are getting ready for a cool photo project next week... I need to get on that! And tonight we're going to salsa lessons (the dance, not the delicious snack). How exciting! :)

Ok... should probably get to those pushups, etc. It's been real. Looking forward to it!