How far we've come

As I was watching the election coverage Tuesday night, I was overwhelmed with emotion. The coverage showed Jesse Jackson with tears running down his face. Those tears told a story of our nation's history. This man grew up with segregation, lived through and was a part of the civil rights movement, and now, has seen a black man become president. How far we've come!

In today's world of uncertainty, it comforts me to know that our nation is a free place where any child's dream can come true.

I'm Digging...

Life on Mars, the awesome new show that premiered on ABC last night.
Time travel & crime solving?!? It doesn't get much cooler than that!
1973 -will be so back in style VERY soon.

The Hilarious Political Skits of SNL. Can't wait til tomorrow night!

The road ends where the sky begins

a quiet moment
Originally uploaded by Kerry Q

Ever since my trip to Michigan last month, I've become obsessed with the sky. I'm looking up all the time, and making comments about the clouds and the colors of the sky constantly.

I hope to create some sort of sky project or collage of photos as soon as I've accumulated some more. I'm adding to my collection every day, though.

The photo above would be nothing without the ominous sky above, threatening the peaceful moment.

the clouds are all on fire

"Bloodshot"

She walks to the mailbox each morning at nine
Every day she begins she's always one day behind
At least when it comes to the mail

She sits on the balcony paying the bills
Her letters just hashing her cigarettes onto the sill
Every breath a little more pale

And the hill's still left to climb
It's just so

High
And I'm so
Tired
Come on look me in my bloodshot eyes
The clouds are all on
Fire
It's just so
High
And I'm so
Tired
Come on look me in my bloodshot eyes
The clouds are all on

Sits in his basement from midnight 'til four
Painting pictures that nobody sees from his days in the war
The canvas is painted bright red, red
He heats up the shower, he paces the hall
He'll scrub for an hour or more but he won't get it all
The paint in his fingernail beds

The hill's still left to climb
It's just so

High
And I'm so
Tired
Come on look me in my bloodshot eyes
The clouds are all on
Fire
It's just so
High
And I'm so
Tired
Come on look up at the bloodshot sky
The clouds are all on
Fire
The clouds are all on
Fire
The clouds are all on

We wait in valleys while the clouds come in
We see no shadows, 'cause the shadow's all there is
And we climb,
And we climb

But it's just so
High
And I'm so
Tired
Come on look me in my bloodshot eyes
The clouds are all on
Fire
It's just so
High
And I'm so
Tired
Come on look up at the bloodshot sky
The clouds are all on
Fire
The clouds are all on
Fire
The clouds are all on
The clouds are all on
Fire
The clouds are all on
Fire

Andrew McMahon, of Jack's Mannequin is an amazing song writer. Besides the fact that I love the music he makes, I love his lyrics. I really enjoy the stream-of-consciousness type thoughts that run through all of the songs on his new album, The Glass Passenger, which just came out this week.

I just watched a video of the band's performance on Jay Leno Tuesday and I still cannot believe that I met them (well, three of them) - especially Andrew!

I'm Digging...

Walks in the woods

Fall sights & smells

Flowers from John

autumn

autumn
Originally uploaded by Kerry Q

It's here. Rather than complain about the fact that summer is over, I'm listing the things I like about fall.

the forgotten feeling of taking socks off, the autumn smell...the beautiful crisp morning air, the amazing colors (how can dying be so pretty?), pumpkins, costumes, family feasts, apples & cider, pear crumble, using the oven again, opening the windows after work, school (even though I'm not in it...for now), the temperature inside the car after it has sat for a few hours, hay rides, leaves blanketing the sidewalk, leaves that you can't avoid kicking up as you walk through them, short-sleeved sweaters, planning winter travels, first fires, decorating for the season, the smell of leaves burning in the country, gorgeous fire-colored sumac trees, less lawn mowing, wind gusts that make you laugh because they prevent you from accomplishing simple tasks, five-finger turkey drawings, waxed paper and crayon leaf pressings, stews and chilis, the warm fuzzy feeling as you hunker down and prepare for the cold days ahead

they're just so gorgeous

they're just so gorgeous
Originally uploaded by Kerry Q

I cannot get over my beautiful backyard lately. It gives me a variety of things, which is amazing considering the fact I have given it very little. Even the earth gave it very little this summer. There was almost an entire month without rain, during which time I watered nothing, yet I have beautiful flowers and plants, as well as delicious apples and pears. Absolutely delicious - two different kinds of apples and two different kinds of pears. The Barlet pears are dropping like crazy, so I'm trying to send them off to friends and family as much as possible.
Free food that has grown completely naturally... awesome!

RED

I fell in love with red last weekend...

pluck

pluck v. 1 pick or pull out or away. 2 strip (a bird) of its feathers. n. 1 plucking movement. 2 courage.

exactly what I wanted to do to this apple - pluck it off the tree and eat it!

Macaw at the NEW Zoo - Appears to be a plucking motion to me!

grime

grime n. ingrained dirt. -v. blacken with grime. -grimy adj.

I'm pretty pleased with the subjects I found to photograph to depict my first word from the dictionary! The leftovers of two joys of summer, light beer and smoothies, don't look quite so appealing days later.

Let's try this

As I mentioned in my last blog, I'm looking for ways to channel and refine my creative energy. I know that I love photography and I know that I enjoy studying words, so I thought it might be quite interesting to take photos based off of inspiration straight out of the dictionary. When I took photography classes in high school and college, I was given daily or weekly assignments with themes, to help guide the creativity. Now, I guess I'm doing the same thing for myself. For this project though, rather than capturing images that fit themes of contrast or shapes or seasons, I will randomly select a word from my little Oxford dictionary each day and take photos that convey that word into visual awesomeness.

So here's the first word. I'll report tomorrow with my findings.

grime n. ingrained dirt. -v. blacken with grime. -grimy adj.

Day 1

I've been having a difficult time lately with self-image and things of that nature so I've finally decided to do something about it. This, then, is Day 1 of the rest of my life (which I suppose every day is.) I have made a list of things I want to do for myself, general, specific, & abstract.


1) Lose the weight...
2)...keep it off
3)Eat out no more than once a week
4)Create an awesome workout playlist
5)Do more of what's right for my body
6)Keep up on housework
7)Channel all my creativity into things that are productive
8)Cook healthy meals for myself & John
9)View exercise as time for myself
10)Concentrate on good posture more often
11)Experiment & document
12)Blog more - it's good for my brain and soul
13)Become of a collector of all things that interest me


St. Louis Arch - August 9, 2008

Hartman Creek State Park

Early morning sunlight dancing around the trees

We found yet another beautiful area of Wisconsin last weekend. We camped in the Hartman Creek State Park in Waupaca, where we were situated among towering pine trees, right on the lake. There were awesome biking & hiking trails. Che and I got lost on some really hilly bike trails in the woods and John explored the single-track trails. We also spent the better part of a day fishing from canoes on two peaceful lakes. Unfortunately, it was too sunny for many fish to be biting, but John caught one and Jenny caught a couple. Che 'caught' a leech on her foot and Ben almost caught our resident racoon with a hatchet!

We had perfect weather, beautiful scenery, great company... I couldn't have asked for a more relaxing weekend.

4Ever Hippie

Ben & Che in their canoe

Biggest catch of the day!

Ahhh Yes... Sweet Sweet Summer

Are there even words?

What an idiot. 180 miserable days left...

Ate there even words?

Nineties Nostalgia

I realized yesterday, as I was jamming to Sirius' Lithium station in the car, how much I miss nineties music. I'm not sure if it's the music itself or the time of my life it makes me remember, those high school years when I was too young to have much responsibility in the world, yet old enough to have the freedom to do pretty much anything I wanted.

I miss spending those carefree summers with friends watching MTV all day long (when they actually played videos!), walking to the gas station or Shopko if we needed something; when eating too much sugar or drinking too much caffiene were the worst things we did to our bodies. I guess there's a sense of innocence that I feel when I hear songs from this era of my life.

My Ultimate Nineties Nostalgia Playlist

Beck - Loser

Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

Green Day - Longview

Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm

Nirvana - The Man Who Sold the World

Collective Soul - Shine
Lisa Loeb - Stay (I Missed You)

Blues Traveler - Run Around

Better Than Ezra - Good

No Doubt - Just a Girl

Live - Selling the Drama

Butthole Surfers - Pepper

Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song

Oh, and speaking of STP, I saw them last week - front row, baby!!!

Finally

So here I am again!

I just was just daydreaming and asked myself a question that I truly couldn't answer. It intriuged me so much that I had to put it on here...

Could I ever purchase a lottery ticket, not look at the numbers, throw it away in the gas station garbage can and walk away?

Would I freak out never knowing?? What if there was a winner who never claimed the prize? Would I forever think that I had the winning ticket and had thrown it away?

Some day I hope to be in a good enough place to follow through on this experiment confidently.

Bye Bye Birdies

All four baby birds have now left the nest outside my patio door, leaving me a very bored soul. As much as I don't like being around birds, I really enjoyed watching these little guys get big. One by one, they flew away from the nest. Now I have an empty nest to look at. And a lot of bird poop on the patio. It's pretty sad.

Friday the 13th

In the past week, I've been true to my blog title and had several odd mishaps:

Burned by someone's cigarette.

Very bad blood draw attempt.

Stung by some unknown creature on my cheekbone.

What will today, this notoriously unlucky day, bring? We can only wait and see...

Almost ready to fly

They're getting huge!! They have real wings now; not too long before they're flying!

Bird Update

We think that sitting with the mouth open like this might be a defense mechanism. Their mother does it to us all the time.

So Cute, So Ugly

Floppy necks. Their eyes are finally open.

Look at those long necks!

Friday List

Last night I was making lists of things (US Presidents & Muppets, to be exact). This inspired me to start making a list every Friday. I would love for my readers to share their lists with me!!

My Concertography -Notable Musicians I've Seen Live
U2 (1997,2001)
Bare Naked Ladies (1999)
Brian Setzer (Orchestra) (4) (1999-2007)
Stray Cats (2007)
Dave Matthews Band (2003, 2005-2, 2006, 2007)
OAR (2006)
Fall Out Boy (2007)
All-American Rejects (2007)
Jack's Mannequin (bonus points!) (2007,2008)
Ben Folds (2008)
Ben Lee (2008)
Blues Traveler (1995)
The Hush Sound (2007)
Green Day (2) (1995, 2005)
My Chemical Romance (2005)
Guster (2006)
Panic at the Disco (2006)
Kenny Wayne Shepherd (2000)
SRV (triple bonus points) (1990)
Eric Clapton (1990)
Bonnie Rait (1990)
Jeff Healy (1990)
Robert Cray (1990)
Buddy Guy
Violent Femmes (2006)
The Fray (2006)
The Proclaimers (1999)

I will add more as they come to me...

Baby Birds!

Look what just hatched right outside our patio door!

I think there are four of them.

Mom feeding babies

Memorial Weekend

So it's been a long time since my last post. Sorry about that! Here are some pics from Memorial Weekend.

Delish-ka-bobs


So excited to be at the parade!

Beautiful day for a parade

The loooong bike

Lego creations

Memorial Day Parade

On the plank

John, the wedding singer

My New Summer

The old season's rain

Brings to new life

The friends of past and present

Beautifully they grow

In the garden of my new summer

The peace overwhelms my soul

KW

Another Monday

Here I come, week! Can you handle it?


[Music to My Eyes]


[Tubular]

Haiku

I used today's date to determine the number of syllables in each line.

05-05-08
Cinco de Mayo
Earthquake shook the house
How’s that for a loco Monday?

[Snorkeling in Banderas Bay, Mexico]

Words to Friday by

Current favorite song lyrics (Jack's Mannequin, of course.. still starry eyed about two weeks ago):

I wake up to find it's another
Four aspirin morning, and I dive in
I put on the same clothes I wore yesterday.
When did society decide that we had to change
And wash a tee shirt after every individual use:
If it's not dirty, I'm gonna wear it.
I take the stairs to the car
And there's fog on the windows.
(And I'm Fighting the words...)
I need caffeine in my blood stream,
I take caffeine in the blood stream.
I grip the wheel and all at once I realize:
(And you're getting away...)
My life has become a boring pop song
And everyone's singing along.

May Day

Oops - It's been a week since I last blogged. Guess that means I've been too busy, which is probably a good thing. Work has really been picking up for the past month or so, which is awesome; I definitely can't complain about that after the slooow winter.

I spent last weekend organizing my office room. I went through tons of old photos and artwork and papers that really brought back some awesome memories. After going through my album of photos from Europe, I've decided that I need to get those on the computer to show them off (and to preserve them.)

[Beautiful view of Germany's Rhine River valley]

I'm so glad it's May - Summer is getting near. Hopefully it starts feeling like it pretty soon!

Thursday Phone Call

Grillin' Dinner

Ahhh... There's nothing like grilling dinner on a just-barely-warm-enough Spring day!
I grilled delicious burgers and potatoes on the grill tonight. Check out my garlic that I wasn't able to use. Oops!