oh my august!

i just realized it was august.  aaaahhhhh.

writing week is going pretty well so far.  wanna see?  good.  'cause i have done sooooo muuuuuch writing already.

doe a deer? roger that

meet bell.  we met her this morning on our way in from grocery shopping on our way then to the pool.  she was very calm and walked up to our car a little and looked at us.  it was sad because it seems she has been injured by something and disfigured in her face– her snout bruised and twisted.  still she brightened our day.

we've had daily visits from roger.  yesterday he came by and was eating some carrots.  someone threw them out for him.  no wonder he loves to meander around!  today we spotted him one apartment block away.  we shouted his name but he only looked up once.  oh that roger.

roger the gopher

meet our new furry little friend.  he greeted me on morning one and then stopped by two more times today.  at that point i knew we had to give him a name.  he seemed to feel like it fit him (see video)!  i wonder if we'll see him tomorrow as well! 

poem

oh hey now, look what the mountains done done, i wrote a poem in like five minutes right after coming in from the outside.  someone in the place next door was playing the blues (on a cd or ipod i believe) and it seeped in through the screen of the window and next thing i knew i was typing up words that rhyme and false rhyme and flow and such.  here's the product:

i recognize on most days i am not what you would call conventional
beautiful as in what you would see on the television or the side of a bus
but instead what you would visualize perhaps behind a book in a library
or on the inside cover of one you very much enjoyed perhaps

it is in those unexpected expected places
that i can be recognized
and my beauty appreciated
(because i have it,
i know i have it,
and you can’t tell me otherwise)

i know i can run three miles up a hill and glisten sweat
and lather on lavender shower gel to smell like flowers
still i would rather roll down a hill and smell like earth
and glisten from the sun on my off-white smile
(that sounds like me)

i know i can wear florescent shorts that show my pockets under and pull my curves
and a sequined shirt with a neck lower than i can bend my back backwards
but i would rather lay on the floor in jeans with a pocket of chocolate bar wrappers
and bend back the spine of a book real low to see the small print in the margins
(that is me, always)

and basically my hair on most days is dancing
some sort of interpretive jazz based on the story
of a girl who was trapped all her life
and then finally set free.

i know these things.
and i recognize them most days
and i enjoy i am me.

word association time!

addie said "nuttin'" while we were in the kitchen today and it sent my mind on a blast to the past!  so now you get this.  merry christmas in july!  [:

in the mountains

well ladies and gentlemen it has come to that time.  interviews are over.  no more phone calls.  some more emails to get consent forms in but other than that nada mas!  it is time to write.  time to piece together all of the information we've been collecting for the past two months.  to do that we decided to retreat, into the mountains!  we're staying at a lovely resort, and we just got in last night.  this morning the work really really begins.  oh man.  ohhhhh man.

diy chalkboard tray!

make your own chalkboard tray!

supplies: chalkboard spray paint (about $8 at michaels) + tray

steps: (1) clean your tray off!  wash it and wipe it completely dry and clean.  if you spray paint over dust your surface will be spotty; less aesthetically pleasing and harder to write on.

(2) spray paint that tray!  the can said to put two coats on.  i suggest you do two or three.

(3) wait 24 hours + then prep the surface.  google "how to prep a chalkboard" and you'll get some instructions on how to make it writing ready.  basically you'll want to use a piece of chalk to wipe the whole surface with chalk and then erase it away, and it'll be ready.

what not to do like i did:  i'm probably going to clean my tray again and add another coat of spray paint because when i was prepping my surface i used wet paper towel to wipe away my chalk-coating and there's some paper towel residue i can't seem to just sweep off.  eh.  you craft you learn.

total cost: about $10! (but remember you can use that paint on even more projects!!  i'm doing some more... to be posted soon)