All Imperfect Things

Week Five and some thoughts

Watching "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" for the one millionth time

Grilled chicken and steak wrap, obviously my "no red meat" rule flew out the window here, oops. But it was yummy yummy!

C.G. Jung's "The Red Book"

Being increasingly sick these past few weeks with little to no energy plus not really wanting to take photos, equaled some odd photos this time around. At least I didn't miss any days!

Anyway, the past few days have been bit of a bummer. Facing the reality, once again, that some wonderful things ultimately do have to come to an end eventually. Practically nothing stays the same no matter how badly we sometimes would like for them to, or for things to at least turn out the way we hope they will. Things change, people change, situations change...sometimes faster than what is comfortable; but how good it is that things do change, because life would be awfully dull and unadventurous if everything and everyone remained as is, never growing or moving forward. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so intuitive and sensitive to every little thing going on around me. How people act, what they do or don't do, what they say or don't say (and what people don't do and don't say always seems to speak the loudest). But I'm sure it's probably better to feel too much, rather than too little or not at all.
It's all good though, even when times are looking a bit down things always do turn back around again for the better, in one way or another.

It's interesting, just last week I was thinking about how people become so fixated on the long term future, which isn't a bad thing because of course we often hope and see the future as potentially being better and brighter than the present and we work hard to reach those far off dreams and goals that await us somewhere in the distance. Yet sometimes I think there is a point when one can become overly fixated on the future or on specific parts of our lives resulting in us missing out and somewhat disconnected to all that is good surrounding us every day in the present moment. I know I have done this.
One of my main new years resolutions this year is to try to balance out my life a bit more. For so long I've been so focused on my work or specific parts of my life that seem hold the most meaning to me or captivate me intensely, that I tend to unintentionally block everything else out. I want to make sure that I make time for and don't forget about or neglect the other little things in life that are just as important; such as spending time and staying connected to all of my friends, making more time to just chill out and enjoy hobbies, go for walks, bike rides, small leisurely trips etc. even if it's just something as simple as going on a picnic or for a swim in a lake on a nice day.

So many people tend to lead such fast paced, hectic lives these days, with packed schedules. I feel like it's such an important thing to remember and know when to not take on so much, slow it down a bit, and re-focus yourself. Being such a workaholic and a perfectionist myself, I feel like I sometimes have to remind myself of this. Especially when I become frustrated and wish others would, yet I realize that I'm not even doing a very good job of this myself.
So who knows what this year will bring, but I'm ready to make some changes that will hopefully lead to a fantastic year that is both productive and fulfilling on many levels.

Week Four

Native American Indian painting, by my dad. I think this is watercolor, ink, and stained with coffee. I've been planning to re-frame it and fix that crack running through the center but haven't gotten around to it yet.

latest pocket watch, this one isn't vintage but it had a nice design on the front.

By the way, a couple days ago I added a list on the left sidebar of movies I'm currently watching or plan to watch very soon (much like my "Currently Reading" list). I also just noticed that typepad lets you make lists of albums too, so I shall add a "Listening to" list soon, as well.

Week Three

Long week indoors not feeling so well, getting better though. I hope these next few months go by rather swiftly, I'm eager for spring and getting a little tried of these gloomy and cold winter days. Warmer weather and some sunshine would be really nice right about now.
Or one of those spring days where the weather can't seem to make up it's mind. Warm and gently raining one minute, then sunny the next, with a little thunder mixed in here and there. Love days like that.

Week Two

Scraps of lace, birdcage charm, and a little bottle of snake vertebrae/ribs (um..yes, I find bones to be very interesting and do have a small collection of animal bones...all of which died of natural causes, by the way)

Día de los Muertos dress, a favorite.

There is a lot of grain in this, one day I'll get around to taking a proper self portrait.

Another busy week resulting in some quick simple shots, and I did miss a photo on the 12th, oops!
It's odd, the way this month has been so far. In some ways it feels like these past two weeks have flown by all too fast, while at the same time it feels like they have gone on forever. I can't believe that just the weekend before last was new years eve, it feels like it should already be the end of the month by now. Thank goodness it isn't though.
Anyway, one of my highlights of the week was getting a good genuine laugh out of a friend. I love how such a small random moment, that only lasts but a few seconds, can make the whole day awesome.

Week One

(I quickly read through The Lovely Bones this week, it's been awhile since I've read it.)

(Simply because I have a bit of an obsession with rabbits, and this bag is very handy. Made by the wonderfully talented Sheila of Shecological on Etsy.)

(Skeleton keys and shark vertebrae beads awaiting craft projects. I had three small wooden trays that I got at a craft store over the summer and then forgot about. I ended up painting them black and lining them with fabric, to hold trinkets in.)

First week of the 365 project completed, it was quite a busy week which resulted in a lot of quick "Oh geez, just let me get a decent shot of something!" shots. Hopefully this week will allow for more exploring and creativity. I should also mention that all of these 365 photos are clickable and link back to my flickr account, so they can be viewed larger (if you have an account too and are logged in, that is).

New Year and starting Project 365

A couple days late posting here but, Hello 2010! Last year was a pretty good one overall and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what this year has in store!
January 1st I made sure to start my 365 project. At first I was going to just post the photos on Flickr since..well..it is a Flickr project after all. However I'll post them here as well, once a week with all of my photos for the week in one post, rather than posting everyday, because that would be extremely annoying. I'm trying to go about this (the processing and posting of photos) as simple as possible, so this project doesn't become more time consuming than it should be.

So far this is off to an ok start; Day one It snowed a lot and it started off slowly with big lovely snowflakes, which would have made a nice photo I think. However this shot of mismatching, pillows, blankets, and striped pj's seemed like a more honest representation of this rather lazy day. Seeing as not only did I spend the whole morning and well into the afternoon catching up on sleep, but I also had a fantastic dream this morning that kept dwelling on my mind for the rest of the day. It was a nice little start to the new year.

On a random note I'm glad my bed doesn't appear to look like Mount Everest in this photo, I'm one of those people who sleep with piles upon piles of blankets and pillows in the winter. Actually all year around, but the blanket thing gets ridiculous in the winter.

Yesterday didn't go quite as well, but hey out of 365 days, off beat days are sure to happen as far as photos go. I did a lot of running around yesterday and unfortunately I didn't really think to take a photo until it was already very late. So I ended up just snapping a quick photo of my shopping bag from H&M, before the clock hit midnight.
I think I've learned something important about this project though, to make sure to get some shots in early on in the day, even if you don't end up using one of them as the "official" photo from that day.

Anyway enough rambling. Lastly, I forget where I found these photos (if anyone happens to know who they belong to, do let me know), but I think they're neat...and they're giving me ideas for a painting.