random photo

just a random photo for a Friday afternoon... 

I was outside my building right after lunch on a phone call-- I was just randomly looking at the pink oleander bush while I was talking, and I happened to spy this little guy. Thankfully he sat still long enough for me to go inside and get my camera!! (the colors are a bit washed out- it's really sunny out there, being just after high noon- but hopefully you can still see him sitting there.)

just wanted to share my latest obsession...

okay, so I'm a little late to the party- the cocktail party, that is! :D

I finally started watching the AMC Television show Mad Men on DVD, and so far I've worked my way through all of Season One and am partway into Season Two. (10 hours of it- plus some extra features- were last week, while Tom was out of town- LOL!!) I need to get caught up, since the next season is starting in March!!  And I really need to know what happens next! I can't believe I waited this long to start watching it, actually... it's such a well-written show, the characters are very complex, and it's about an era of history that I find  fascinating. (and, I really, really love their clothes!!)

random...

just a few random pictures (and thoughts) 

for your viewing pleasure:

I love this dog!! (I love all our pets, but 
this look gets me every time.) 

Tomorrow we will be going to see some of this:

The 22nd annual World Hoop Dancing Championship, 

at the Heard Museum in Phoenix. (these pics were taken the 

previous time we went, a couple years ago) 

I wonder if this little guy will be performing again?? Hopefully he'll enjoy himself a little more this time...  :)

The artistry and intricacy of what these dancers can do with such a simple thing as a hoop is just amazing! 

Tom and I are enjoying this show, now that it's finally 

back on the air.  Timothy Olyphant, mobsters, complicated family relationships and criminal activity... what more could you want?? :D

^^^ this cat (Ariel) 

is lucky she has nine lives! She has already jumped/fallen from the upstairs hallway overlook once (approx. 10 foot drop), and yesterday she took a header (purposefully, we think) from the upstairs hallway down into the stairwell (almost the full 2 story height). Thankfully she doesn't seem to be concussed (although sometimes it's hard to tell, with her... just kidding; she's fine- but exasperating!)

a sign of the season:

I don't eat any of these, but I know when I see them in the store that Halloween (and candy corn!!) can't be far behind!

ArtFest- random photo wrapup

This post includes some of the photos I took that didn't really "fit" anywhere else in this series of posts... (or pictuers that I forgot to include earlier- lol!)

this is a detail photo of decoration on a car in the parking log- some people go all out with their art!!

this pic and the one below, are of the "Art Asylum" which was really the lobby of my dorm building. Since there was a classroom in my building, the tables were set up there all week long, for us to use at night. Lots of art-making, project-completing, and sharing creative ideas went on there! (and the Art Asylum is why I got very little sleep the entire time I was there; I was up till after midnight every night, working in my art journal... I just couldn't turn off the creative impulses in my brain that easily-- I guess I figured I'd sleep when I got home.)

This is my area in our dorm room, the night before we had to leave, when I was trying to sort it out to pack-- I made it "just like home" during the time I was there! You might laugh at this statement, but if you ever saw my crafting space when I'm in the middle of a project, you wouldn't-- Tom will just nod his head (somewhat sadly) when he sees this picture, I'm sure.

these two pictures (above and below) were taken in the Seattle airport... these were inset into the floor in the terminal, and I had to take pictures of them. I'm sure some of the other travelers wondered what I was doing taking pictures of the floor, but really, you never know what you'll see when you take the time to look around!

my plane didn't really look like a whale (thank goodness, since I don't think whales can fly) but it did get me back home-- as always, I was glad to get back home. And extra-glad, and surprised, to see Tom waiting for me inside the terminal, rather than at the curb!! (not so glad to unpack, though... lol!) Thanks for sharing in my ArtFest experience! I would love to go back again sometime; there's just something magical about being in that sort of environment, where you can practically "feel" the creativity and inspiration in the air.

random photo catchup

just a few random photos from last week... this one is a bit of dust storm aftermath... I thought it was so funny to see the dust covering the parking lot at work! just like a dusting of snow, except a dusting of dust won't melt or disappear, till it rains. Wednesday afternoon we headed to the doctor's office-- it was time for Bisbee's annual checkup. They don't mind the vet's office, and everyone at the vet's office loves to see them... I think part of the reason is they're so friendly and cute; who can resist that Sheltie smile?? (I might be biased, I suppose!!) Bisbee was a bit hesitant about the stethoscope though; Dr. Black said she was holding her breath while she was listening to her-- lol!! Anyway, Bisbee is perfectly healthy, if a lb or two over what she should be... so we'll be cutting back a bit. (Shelties are prone to getting overweight, so we keep a pretty close eye on their weights.) Dr. Brown and Dr. Villalba at Maricopa Wells have been great to all our pets, and all the staff are always very helpful and accomodating. They're even open late, and open 7 days a week!

These two pics are a couple "scrappy" purchases I made last week; I've been eying a tape dispenser like this for quite a while now, and used a 40% coupon to finally pick it up. It's like the industrial-type packing tape dispenser you'd use for shipping packages, only slimmed down, and it holds a double-sided tape roller for quick adhesive application for cards or layouts. It was a bit complicated to assemble and load the tape; Tom helped me out, though, so now it's ready to go!! (now, I just need some time to actually make a scrapbook layout!)

I also had a 20% off coupon for Michael's, so this "haul" was gotten for a song-- the wood stamps were all from the $1 bin (score!), and the foot-long strip of stamps was from the clearance bin-- double score!! They are all various words and phrases, and are a "project" in the making for me-- alot of scrapbook layouts right now use word stamps in the titles or journaling, and there are many "word and phrase" stamps are available, mostly thru online stores. A couple scrapbookers who do this very well are Ali Edwards (check out one of her layouts here) and Nichol Magouirk (check out one of her layouts here).

I've wanted to buy some of this type of stamps, but didn't want to wait for online ordering and shipping, so I decided the $1 stamps from Michael's could work for me. These phrases, as is, might not be all that useful, but my idea is to take them apart and use the individual components. "You make me so happy" for instance, won't be nearly as useful as the word "happy" on its own; then I'll also have the words "you, make, and me" to use however I want. So, my next task is to disassemble them all into the individual words, then use them on a layout or two!! (the rhinestone butterflies were also from the dollar bin; I don't have anything in mind for them, I just liked them-- lol!!)

(another post coming up soon; just have to edit the pics!)

...and then this happens!

I had all these scrapbooking plans, right?? I printed my photos; I cleaned off my desk (by moving the crap to the other table... haha!) so I have a 12x12 space to work in; I have my paper trimmer ready to go; I have the layout ideas sketched out; I have my scrapping "mojo" at the ready... and then this happens:

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson: Larson's newest novel about living in Berlin during the first years of Hitler's reign, told from the point of view of two characters: William Dodd (America's first ambassador to Hitler's regime) and Dodd's daughter, Martha. Not a lighthearted summer read, I know, but I've become interested in how the people of Germany got "sucked into" the ideas that Hitler espoused, and how he went from being a failed artist and student to the leader of the Third Reich.

I put my name on the list for this book at the library about a month ago, as soon as I heard about it. When I did, I was probably about 15th out of 25 to 30 (? I don't remember exactly, but the list was long); I figured I had plenty of time to wait for it... but, yesterday, out of the blue, it was ready for me to pick up! So, for the next three weeks I will be immersed in 1930s Berlin... maybe less than that, if it's really good, although I can't stay up reading till 1 or 2 am anymore and still be wide awake for work at 5 am... :D

Then again, this book might be a dud, although I hope not. I really liked the other book by Larson that I read, though, which was The Devil in the White City. It was set during the time of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and was also two stories entertwined: the story of Daniel Burnham (the architect responsible for building the fair) and H. H. Holmes (a serial killer who killed somewhere between 27 and 200 people during the time of the fair). An odd combination, to be sure-- not light reading at all, but I found it very interesting.

Hopefully I can still sneak a bit of time in between chapters to exercise my scrapping mojo, and I'll definitely let you know how the book is!

weird food link, and other randomness

There's a lot of weird food out there, and thankfully, there are people who will try it and let the rest of us know how it is. Go here to see for yourself. (maybe not while you're eating your lunch, though...)

in other news:

my feet hurt from the 4.25 mile training walk I did yesterday... yay! for training walks (and for the gorgeous weather we've had lately!), boo! for my feet hurting- I know it's because I need a new pair of shoes, though... just have to get fitted and buy them. My shoulders also hurt after, and that one will be harder to correct- I find myself tensing up while I walk, and have to consciously think to relax.

our calico kitty Pandora is doing okay with her meds-- she's letting us give her the fluids (yay!) and she only hacked up her antibiotic pill once so far. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much of her food she's actually eating. (she licks the gravy off the canned food, but I never see her eat very much of it.) I'm going to take her into the vet's office at the end of the week, to find out if she's gained any weight at all (cross your fingers!!)