So I was walking back to work after lunch at the farmer's market and this guy walks up.

He's like, "Hey, can I talk to you?"

I said, "Sure what's up?"  I keep walking though cause I'm on the way back to work.  If he wants to chat he can walk with, right?

So he says, "First of all, I don't wanna disrespett you, but you got a beautiful body."  Clearly, he means all disrespett.  He's falling behind my pace now though, and says "Why you walkin away?  I'm not gonna rooob you.  I jus wanna see yo pretty face."

I chuckled a little, paused, and said, "Dude, I'm not worried about you robbing me."  We were on a large, open, well traveled street's sidewalk, and I felt bigger than him.

I start walking again and he calls after me, "Seriousely!  I jus wanna seee you agin."

I smiled and said behind me as I continued to walk off, "Not gonna happen."

I managed to wait until I got to the end of the block before I busted up laughing. He just used "I'm not gonna rob you," as part of a pickup line!!!

ZOMG!
ROFLMAO!

I'm not gonna rooob you!? Seriousely !?  ROFL

I giggled the whole walk back to work. I <3 my hood.

This was sent to me by a friend of mine.  It entertains me...


A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles in a  year.
Another study found Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a  year.
That means, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon.
Kind of makes you proud to be American.

Ah the joys of being a home owner...

I spent the better part of this weekend pouring sweat into my yard.  On two 95 degree days with high humidity, I mowed and weed eated my lawn, trimmed a jungle of overgrown shrubbery, weeded my flower beds, tore out 2/3 of the picket fence across the front yard, moved around 500 to 700 lbs of rock to do so, and with the help of my mom and her boyfriend, cut a number of dead stumps and small trees out that had grown into or through my chain link fence along the drive way. It was exhausting yet terribly rewarding.  Fixing my yard is one of my goals as part of my Carpe Diem project and it felt good to get such a strong start on it.

I am beginning to feel like that was nothing compared to the week ahead of me though...

When I got home from work today, there was a bit of water on the kitchen floor.  I asked my roommate if she'd spilled something and she hadn't.  She said she'd mop it up while I ran to yoga.

When I got home, she had indeed mopped the floor, Sweetie that she is.  As I walked around the kitchen getting myself a drink, I stepped in water.  Arhg!  As I looked and stepped, water was squishing up from the floor between my floating floor laminate tiles!

One of my best friends from college, Cori, got married this weekend.  I was a bridesmaid and after 4 days of wedding stuff am completely exhausted.  Her wedding was held in the Sunken Garden at Centennial Park in Nashville and the reception was in the Carriage House at Belle Meade Plantation.  It was all absolutely gorgeous.

Here were our 4 days of all wedding all the time.
Thu- Bachelorette Party
Fri- Pedicures, Rehersal, and Rehersal Dinner
Sat- Hair appt (more on that later), photos, wedding, reception
Sun- Brunch at Cori's house

So about the hair.  Cori brought her stylist from her home town out for the wedding to do everyone's hair.  Because of a timing snafu picking up the groom's cake, instead of her doing my hair in the morning, we planned to meet early afternoon in town and do it before pictures.  I had to be at the park at 2:15.  At 1:15, the stylist was still 30 minutes away out in the country at Cori's house.
I was not going to be the one everybody was waiting on, so I told her I couldn't handle being late and I'd do it myself.  I should have taken a picture of just the hair because it turned out really well.  In fact, the tardy stylist came up to me at the wedding and said in her sweetest Appalachian twang, "If you actually done that hair yourself, you could be a hair stylist."
While I was flattered, I don't think I have a future in hair.

Brunch:  Did I mention Cori is an incredible, capable, well put together woman whose general philosophy is "You get out of something what you put into it."?  Well, she is.  And as such, she wanted to host a brunch at her farm Sunday morning in order to actually socialize with her out of town guests, show off the farm, the horses, and her new husband.  I told her she was brilliant, but crazy.  Oh, and she refused help the first 5 times I insisted she tell me what time to be there to help.
As it happened, brunch was at 11 and I showed up at 9:30.  I made the quiches and 3 loaves of french toast before melting in a chair on the front porch.  It was fun, and Cori got to actually speak with her cousins visiting from New York. :)  I..  went home and slept for a few hours before eating dinner, taking a hot bath, and calling it a night.



It was like a mini- MTSU Equestrian Team reunion.  From left: Danielle Nadaue, Corinne Gould, Anne Brzezicki (Coach), myself, and Jessica Schultz (I don't remember her married name)

I finally got to go on something actually resembling a vacation recently.  I spent 5 days hanging out with my buddy Steve in California.  Steve and I met on my connection from Oakland to Portland the first year I went to  OSCON.  We've been friends ever since.

So part of this trip fulfilled one of my goals for this year on my Carpe Diem Project.  We went skydiving!  We also kayaked 17 miles of the Russian River, and did some light hiking through Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve.  It was all around a very good time.

I've always wanted to go back packing and... did I mention my theme for this year is Carpe Diem?

I took the opportunity to backpack the Laurel-Snow Pocket Wilderness Area with the Nashville Hiking Meetup.  By backpacking, I mean, we carried our packs about 2.5 miles to the campsite, dumped them off and hiked all over the valley.  It was a basically a kiddie trip for grownups, but I had a lot of fun and look forward to doing something involving actual miles.

Here's the gallery.  I took a bunch of nature photos.  There are also some fun action shots taken by myself and others, in addition to proof that i find goofy poses simply irresistible.

This is Laurel Falls

So I went hiking this weekend with the Nashville Hiking Meetup.  I met some great folks and had a fantastic hike.  We did the Walls of Jericho on the TN/AL border south of Winchester.

The winter scenery afforded some beautiful sights.


And i in True to Self fashion, managed to fall twice on mostly flat rock after having clambered around on all the hard stuff.  The second fall was a really nice spill in which I broke my mom's brand new digital SLR camera.  I'll never live that one down!

Near the end of our hike, we came across the entrance to a cave which I climbed down in.  I overheard some of my new hiking buddies and it went something like this.

"Think she'll be ok?  What if she slips?"

"Eh, she's fine down there.  She'll wait to fall until she gets back up to the top where it's flat."

Clearly, my middle name ain't Grace.  Here is the lovely gift from my swift meeting with the ground.

A friend of mine sent this to me yesterday.  I assume it's from his work.  ..cracked me up.

Ahhh.  How nice.  I get to show you my new refridgerator and the lovely paint job I did in the kitchen over Christmas at the same time!

Here is my freaking gorgeous new kitchen color.



With the OLD fridge....



And the NEW fridge!!!



It is gorgeous and I love it.  The first thing I noticed that I'll have to get used to is that the tall space is on the door and most of the space in the middle is short space because of the number of shelves.  Ok.. Milk and wines on the door.  I can handle that.  Mustard at the back of a shelf?  Mehhhhh... I've got to figure out a good system for that.  There simply isn't enough door space for the milk, wine and condiments.  But, whatever.  I'll get it figured out. :)

Wow, life has been so busy lately!  I've been taking this Carpe Diem thing so seriously that I hardly have time to write about it.  Here's the brief synopsis though.

I painted my kitchen for Christmas.  This is something I've wanted to do since moving into my house, the former color being eggplant.  I think eggplant is a great color.... for other people.  My kitchen is now a warm brilliant orange of which I will post pictures soon.

I went to MI for New Years.  A friend invited me, so why not?  We went to his family's cabin near Trevor City, snow mobiled, hiked through the woods in the snow, and generally had a good time.  I also introduced him to two things I though all northerners knew about.  Snow ice cream and cheese curds.  ..They were completely new to my friend.   What I want to know is, how do you live with THAT much snow around you and never have snow ice cream?

I moved in a roommate.  I've been thinking to myself for the past 8 months or so that I'd like to rent out my downstairs bedroom.  So just before Christmas, an acquaintance mentioned that she live very far from work and anything that I would call civilization.  She seemed cool and laid back, so I invited her over for tea one morning.  We discussed, and she moved in mid-January.
I thought it'd be pretty rough after living by myself for a year, but it's actually really nice having someone else around.  AND, it forced me to sort through the entire of room of things I never unpacked from my move.  I completely filled my recycling and trash cart in addition to dropping off a ton of stuff to Salvation Army.  Yay!

I found a new home for my horse.  I've been travelling so much lately, that I hadn't seen my horse for six months. :(  And only a few times in the six months before that.  Sunny is a fantastic mare and deserved to be spoiled every day.  Hard as it was, I decided to try to find her a new home.  Part of the hardest thing about letting her go has always been worry that she would be neglected or abused by a future owner.  God totally blessed me in that my bff Cori talked to a long time horse friend of hers who also happens to be married to her cousin, and Beth has giving Sunny a fantastic home where she will primarily play the part of loved on lawn ornament.  I shed a tear or ten after loading her on the trailer, but she will be well cared for and loved.  Plus, I get to visit! :)  And the $300 a month I will no longer be spending in boarding will rock.

I'm going to Las Vegas for a conference this month and then Paris!  I'll write more about that after I get back.

And I bought a new refrigerator.  What???  I know...  Seems like a random Carpe Diem moment, but here's the story.  I was at my cousin's last night visiting when cousin Nancy says to cousin Barbara, "I love the double doors and bottom freezer on your fridge."  I said, "Yeah, that's what I'd like to get someday."  And Barbara's husband says, "I was a Lowe's yesterday and they had one on clearance for 50% off."  I left for Lowe's about an hour later and arrived just as they closed.  In fact, I snuck in the out door.  Everything worked out beautifully, I asked about getting it for the half price, the manager said sure, and my new fridge will be delivered tomorrow! 




This whole seizing the day thing has been exhausting so far.  <sigh>  I think I need to focus on seizing the day with a hot bath a little more often.

I came across this post on Core 77's design blog.  It links to this article that has a ton of pictures of clever little firearms.

I just love the engineering behind these little guys.  I've always had a penchant for that which can be carried in one's pockets.  For example, instead of a wallet, I use a post card folded, trimed and taped.  I like simple things that work and don't require a purse!

The comic below is from one of my favorites, www.xkcd.com



When I read this, it made me wonder..  You know those days that seem to be completely comprised of occurrances that give you that feeling?  You know, the one mentioned in the comic.  And the WHOLE DAY is like that?  Do you think we could ever just ask God to double-check his pointers?

The first time I went deer hunting was when I was 12.

  I had always been a big daddy's girl growing up, and when I was little,every year, my dad would take a hunting trip with my Granddaddy.  I always wanted to go so bad!!  That meant I had to hunt.  So I'd always wanted to learn to hunt.  When I was 12, my parents took my brother and I to hunter's safety course and we both participated in the youth hunt that year.
  It was a big deal.  My Granddaddy drove all the way up from where my grandparents wintered in Okeechobee, FL to hunt with me.  My dad took my brother and I got to use Granddaddy's .30-06 with mac-daddy scope.
  Granddaddy and I were out on the edge of a field for about an hour with woods behind us and the sun had now come up with out us seeing a thing.  He said he'd go walk back through the woods to see if he could scare any up my way.  So I stood there staring into the woods with his gun slung on the back of my shoulder waiting for either a deer or my Granddaddy.  We'd been beneath a persimmon tree, so I enjoyed the frost bitten sweetness of perfectly shriveled persimmons and every so often would turn around to glance at the field behind me.
  At some point, I turned around, and Lo!  There be a great big buck eating grass!  He'd totally snuck up on me and was in the field less than 50yds away facing me quartered slightly to his right.  I froze before quietly turning around and sliding the sling down my arm.

  He looked up and I froze so he wouldn't see me move.
  When he went back to eating, I got the gun in my hands.
  He looked up again and stomped his front left leg.  I'd froze as he lifted his head.
  When he went back to grazing, I starting raising the barrel.
  He looked up, stomped a few times and snorted. The half raised barrel of that big ole gun is HEAVY and my 12yo arms are already starting to shake with fatigue.
  When he began grazing again, I brought the gun to my shoulder.  I had to freeze as he looked up again and stomped his front left leg again.  I waited till he wasn't looking before moving to get my sight picture.

  I pulled the trigger and BOOM!  He left across the field propelling his chest across the grass with his hind legs.  I'd shot him right through the back of his front left shoulder and, turned out, straight through the heart.  Through the adrenaline I tried to note what direction he was going in case we had to track him!  I waited in my place, shaking, and remembering that you shouldn't try to follow them to quickly.  It'll push them to keep moving if they're not dead yet.  After a few long minutes (probably just under 2 in retrospect), I poked my head past the tree line to scan the field in the direction he'd gone.  I saw white on the ground and as I approached found my now dead Bambi Daddy.
  It was a long wait, just me and the dead deer.  Granddaddy showed up before long and was right proud.  He field dressed by buck and we attempted to hang it from a branch, but he was too big and heavy for even the two of us working together.  The next few days consisted of the typical jokes about it having been tied up for me and proud beaming from my Granddad and Dad.  My parents had it mounted for me for Christmas and he still hangs in my mother's family room wearing a worn out No Fear hat a high school boyfriend deposited on him.


I've been deer hunting maybe 5 or 6 times since then with nothing to show for it.  My glory days seemed long past as I reminisced about how cool I was as a 12 year old.  ....Until this year. :D

My friend Doug let me come set up with him in his shooting house which sits on some private land between 2 fields and about an acre, the other much much larger.  The little guy pictured below stepped out about an hour before dark on my second trip out.  He was small enough that had it been earlier in the season, I'd have let him go to wait on some juicy little 2yo doe (not interested in a trophy), but this was my last weekend to hunt and I wanted meat for my freezer.  He was at about 160 yards. I used Doug's .270 Remington with stainless steel barrel and synthetic stock pictured.  Thanks Doug!  He was slightly quartered away from me, but stretched his head up real nice when Doug made a noise at him. One shot, blew out part of the heart, so was a little high, but he dropped after about 30yds.  Finally! the venison in my freezer is earned rather than excess from a processor.  Merry Christmas!


Picture taken with my Treo 680.  Thus, the lack of focus.

In the spirit of my Carpe Diem Project, I went to a photo shoot with my photographer friend Oleg Volk last night despite the rhinovirus that's kicking my butt.  We've been talking about doing a joint session with his other model and fantastic girl, Tiffany, for months now, and I didn't want to cancel.

It was a hoot!  I was coughing/sneezing/wearing out the kleenex between shots while Tiffany was working it well.  We got some good results, but it was by far, not my best work.  My head cold has now been captured for eternity and posted on Oleg's blog. :)



Tiffany was fantastic...

I had a birthday recently..  One that I specifically thought I'd never see.

When I was a teenager I had crazy allergies and chemical sensitivity to the point that I would become quickly and violently ill and nearly died a few times in the process.  It resolved itself through my late teens and early twenties along with some lifestyle changes.  While in the midst of it however, I never knew if I'd see tomorrow.  I remember thinking that if I could live to 18, 20 or 22 there were some things I'd like to do in life; that if I lived to see 25 I'd be damn lucky.

I also specifically thought that I'd never live to see my most recent birthday.  When the realization hit me about 2 days before the b-day, it gave me a silly grin on my face and got me thinking about what a blessing life is.  The point was driven home when I learned that a friend's nephew, who is my age, had been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. This young man was in the prime of his life, about to be married, and now probably won't live to see next summer.

To that end, I've decided to celebrate this milestone with a theme for 2008.  Wikipedia has this to say regarding the phrase "Carpe diem": One interpretation of the phrase might be as an existential cautionary term, much like "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die" with emphasis on making the most of current opportunities because life is short and time is fleeting.

I plan to pluck the day like a ripe fruit and be intentional about it for the coming year.  I'll make a point to do some things I've been putting off, smell the roses, and enjoy loving life.