if you care

what my desk looks like during a shipping week (aka deadline week), which is this week, and 2 weeks ago, and 2 weeks before that, and 2 weeks before that, and so on and so forth.

and yes, that beer was cracked shortly after this picture was taken.

p.s. sorry it's a little blurry, this was taken with my fancy iphone app that seemed to have a hard time stitching the photos together.

crutches

as i've gone out into the world on my own, i've left the comforts of my childhood home behind. of course i'm mainly talking about cable television. the last time i had cable was in the dorms in college when it came with the place. i never really watched it then; my roommate had a tiny tv that was pretty far away from my lofted bed, and i'm pretty sure she usually had the remote. that meant if she fell asleep, i would have to get out of my cozy bed and turn it off. not happening. (speaking of the lofted beds reminds me of a cute little story that involves my drinking too much and jewel being incredibly not happy with me for a few days, but that's best left for another time—or never.)

anyway, i haven't had tv for a few years, and it has made my life better and more involved and honestly richer. but then there's the time suck of the internet, especially now that hulu and netflix are in existence. it makes tv so accessible, that it's hard to turn it off. especially when you can watch exactly what you want, when you want it. i'm not saying that i overdo it at all—i probably have a pretty respectable track record relative to most other people—buuuut there are times when i come home tired from working long hours and just wanna plop down and turn my brain off by turning hulu on. a few days ago, i made the conscientious decision to cut down on my hulu/netflix/overall internet time. i made the same decision with facebook about a month ago, and i can already tell a difference in my brain function. spring and summer are here, and i want to do more. i want to sew, paint, draw, read, take pictures, write, sculpt (yay summer pottery class!), create, hike, run, play with lizzles, and have more adventures.

also, i want to be a more fun person.

it might seem like hypocrisy as you read this on a blog... that's on the internet. but i see this as a form of creative expression, and i'm actually doing something instead of just absorbing or viewing. i'm the creator and the protagonist.

i'll leave you with a picture of mine and a picture of a drawing of mine (nothing special, there was just nice light so i took a picture) as a reward for reading through this whole post.

back to my roots

i just signed up for a summer pottery class at the boulder pottery lab. i'm absolutely ecstatic. i majored in studio art with a concentration in ceramic sculpture in college. i haven't taken any real art classes since graduating, so it's going to feel so good to get my hands back in that clay. it's something i've really missed the last few years. i love throwing on the wheel, but hand building is also something i really like. the possibilities are endless. below are some pictures of a huge turtle i made my senior year. his shell comes off for secret storage. :)

brother bear!

brother bear comes to visit me in colorado today! on the agenda: fly fishing, exploring outside, coors tour, happy hour in boulder, and of course, lizzles play time!

above: at the beach house in florida with my favorite california cousins, paige and jordan. i love that photo. (and those people!) :)

aaron fly fishing in glacier np, summer 2008.

a random man fly fishing at elizabeth lake (?) on the night before our cleveland summit, summer 2008.

no caption necessary.

lizzles as a young pup.

Trifecta

it's surprisingly disappointing being single in boulder, colorado. as an outdoorsy person myself, this should be a mecca and literal meat market for me. it's boulder, for goodness' sake. all i need is a boy with a beard (seems to be a recurring theme for this blog...), a plaid shirt, and a love for the mountains that's only rivaled by his love for me. totally cheesy, i know, but it's true. of course there are a few more stipulations, but come on, is it that hard??? (that's what she said.)

um, hell yes. shaggy hair, full but nicely trimmed beard, plaid shirt, and JOHN KRASINSKI. that'll do.

so i have to be completely honest that i haven't really been seeking any men as of late. prior relationship complications kept me from doing that, combined with the fact that i never really seek men. i simply meet someone, i like him, he likes me, we end up in a relationship. pretty simple. i'm also not really dying for a relationship, it's just interesting to me that there aren't 10 guys every day that i'm interested in dating. there are 0. null. nadda. zilch. nadda. a big fat goose egg. every guy that's the least bit datable for me is married. not just in a relationship or dating someone, but married. i even work at an adventure/outdoor magazine where we're housed with other outdoor/adventure magazines on the same floor; it should be a no brainer, but nope. nothing. i guess i need to get out more. or something.