153. February 27

So once upon a time, I was driving to the store and this view popped up before me. What else was I to do but pull over, stop, and photograph it?

"My formula for living is quite simple.  I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night.  In between, I occupy myself as best I can."

~Cary Grant

152. February 26

I love elephants. So does Danni.

And I love this elephant necklace Danni gave me for Christmas.

When I need a good day, I wear the elephant necklace.

Today was an elephant day.

Can we just refer to such days as "elephant days" hereon and henceforth?

And don't you love those days when you realize you've gone the whole day wearing stickers like this?

Yeah. Awesome.

"I think I've discovered the secret of life--you just hang around until you get used to it."  ~Charles Schulz

151. February 25

Look! Blue sky--real blue sky.

So it does still exist.

"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want -- oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!"

~Mark Twain

And, dear reader, I owe you an apology for a repeat quote. I will not mention where or when, as I still have my stubborn pride, but I will offer up another quote on the same topic as the repeat offender so you are not cheated out a quote.

"I wanted books and made no distinction between good books or bad, only between the ones I loved, the ones that spoke to my soul, and the ones I merely liked. I did not care how a story was written. There were no bad stories: every story was new and glorious."

~ Neil Gaiman, "Newberry Medal Acceptance Speech"

150. February 24

I am craving summer.

Enough of this winter nonsense.

"If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance."  

~Bern Williams

149. February 23

I just want something pleasant to happen.

It feels like it has been winter for years.

New journal.

Please life, give me something exciting to fill it with.

"I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle--something heroic or wonderful that won't be forgotten after I'm dead. I don't know what, but I'm on the watch for it, and I mean to astonish you all some day."

~ Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

148. February 22

Picture and quote in one. 

147. February 21

I like being a girl.

I love getting dolled up.

I love hairspray, makeup, and perfume.

I love chick flicks and sappy songs.

I like to flirt. I like to be courted.

I want to be a wife and mother.

And I want to celebrate my femininity.

This doesn't mean I'm not driven, intelligent, and confident.

It certainly doesn't mean I'm weak or feeble minded.

I just think it's fabulous to be female.

"[Her] work taught me that you could be all the traditional feminine things -- a mother, a lover, a listener, a nurturer -- and you could also be critically astute and radical and have a minority opinion that was profoundly moral." 

~ Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith

146. February 20

Zion National Park.

"Sometimes the slightest things change the directions of our lives, the merest breath of a circumstance, a random moment that connects like a meteorite striking the earth. Lives have swiveled and changed direction on the strength of a chance remark." 

~ Bryce Courtenay

145. February 19

Studying for Spanish...

Se habla espanol?

"Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as hard duty. Never regard study as duty but as the enviable opportunity to learn to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm of the spirit for your own personal joy and to the profit of the community to which your later work belongs." 

~ Albert Einstein

144. February 18

Campus library.

"You see, I could no longer be trusted around beautiful things and my weakness was apparent..." 

~ Liza Ward, Outside Valentine: A Novel

143. February 17

I have long been wanting to introduce you to my bridge.

This bridge was, first, a getaway, somewhere I could go to read and think.

It was next a stage for scenes of a relationship.

Then became a time capsule of memories of a year.

When I moved away, I missed this bridge something fierce.

Once again, it now my retreat. A short five minute drive and I can escape the world.

It's amazing what a few minutes to regroup can do for a whole week.

"... how good it was to be the master of his own small world."

~ Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

142. February 16

2010 Winter Olympics.

Are you watching?

We are!

"The Olympics remain the most compelling search for excellence that exists in sport, and maybe in life itself."
 ~ Dawn Fraser

141. February 15

Danae and Nate are such a cute couple.

They are so dang happy together.

I love it.

I had so much fun participating in a photographic adventure with them.

Mind if I share a few today? 

"So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me... everyday." 

~ Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

140. February 14

Happy Valentine's Day, dear reader.

"Happy Valentine's Day to those who have found love, in whatever shape or form, and to those who are still hunting, don’t give up. If you feel bad, send yourself a card. You must be worth it..." 

~ Jeanette Winterson

139. February 13

I am an ardent supporter of Valentine's Day.

No, it's not Singles' Awareness Day.

And no, it's not all about couples.

It's a day of love, that's all.

That being said, I did feel a wee bit pathetic spending the Saturday night prior to the day of love alone, doing laundry and homework at my parents' house. Thank goodness for a little brother to make me waffles. It was the best part of my night.

"Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero."

~ Marc Brown

138. February 12

Yes, I'm the kind of girl who dries roses.

Yes, I do save letters, notes and mementos.

Yes, I love love songs.

And yes, I do believe in Valentine's Day.

Yes, I might possibly be a hopeless romantic.

"I heard what you said. I’m not the silly romantic you think. I don’t want the heavens or the shooting stars. I don’t want gemstones or gold. I have those things already. I want…a steady hand. A kind soul. I want to fall asleep, and wake, knowing my heart is safe. I want to love, and be loved." 

~ Shana Abé

137. February 11

Apartment #3 celebrated Whale Week. Whale cake. Whale poetry. Whale music. Whale improv dance. Whale art. Whale sounds.

Ceremonial disposing of uneaten remains of whale cake.

Yeah. It was pretty dang awesome.

Here are the ladies of apartment three following our whale poetry jam surrounding the whale cake. 

 

 And now, I present whale quotes for your enjoyment.

"I think a good novel would be where a bunch of men on a ship are looking for a whale. They look and look, but you know what? They never find him. And you know why they never find him? It doesn't say. The book leaves it up to you, the reader, to decide. Then, at the very end, there's a page you can lick and it tastes like Kool-Aid." 

~ Jack Handey 

 

"I will love you as the iceberg loves the ship, and the passengers love the lifeboat and the lifeboat loves the teeth of the sperm whale, and the sperm whale loves the flavor of naval uniforms." 

~ Lemony Snicket, The Beatrice Letters

136. February 10

Every morning, after the alarm goes off, my first action of the day is to peak out of the blinds and see whether the day before me looks as though it will be cloudy or sunny. A cloudy day usually justifies five more minutes of sleep. A sunny day, well, that I can wake up to.

Today? Foggy, which is just rare and beautiful enough to get me out of bed and out of the door in my pajamas and slippers to go see the world. And then the day turned out to be gloriously sunny. This kind of day, I like, I like it very much.

"But there's a world out there, with the sea in it, and islands, and shipwrecks and pigs. I mean, it's filled with things I don't know. And the teachers here have taught me lots of things, but I need more."

~ Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

135. February 9

These are the hands of Maddi. And the art of Maddi. In the hands of Maddi.

She's my roommate. And she is an amazing artiste.

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't to forget make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself." 

~ Neil Gaiman

134. February 8

This is my father.

I am quite convinced he's the best man I know.

Today is his birthday. I hope he knows how much he's loved.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

 

"Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece -- by thought, choice, courage and determination."

 ~ John Luther

133. February 7

For some reason, I can't get this trampled rose out of my mind...

"I think it is all a matter of love; the more you love a memory the stronger and stranger it becomes" 

~ Vladimir Nabokov

132. February 6

Elephant. Stubborn elephant. He won't rotate in the right direction. Sorry.
Tilt your head to enjoy.

"It gives me great pleasure indeed to see the stubbornness of an incorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed."
~ Albert Einstein

131. February 5

Girl. Soap. Shampoo. Conditioner. Baby oil. Lotion. Perfume. Deodorant. Volume cream. Hairspray. Eye shadow. Eye liner. Mascara.

Camera. Kodak EasyShare C533. 5.0 mega pixels. 3X optical zoom. 10' self timer. Natural light.

1 GB memory card. Computer. Internet. Editing program. Blogger. 

365 Days of Twenty.

"She would never turn heads, and she wasn't what you'd call pretty, but she could be the kind of woman you would look at and think, I'd like to know her."

~Cynthia Voigt, Glass Mountain

130. February 4

What these past couple weeks have taught me:

1. Serve joyfully.

2. Wait patiently.

Apparently, I'm kind of a slow learner when it comes to #2 because life keeps hitting me over the head with it.

 

"Lately, I've been having this feeling as if somehow time is speeding up and wrecking things the way a tornado does--through a course that only it knows. This panic comes to me at odd times with fervor and insistence that I can hardly describe."

~ Marti Leimbach, Dying Young

129. February 3

Enough said.

"I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much." 

~ Mother Teresa

Gathering L-O-V-E

Will you kindly forgive me for a shameless plug in behalf of my other blog, Ode to Poetry?

To celebrate the month of L-O-V-E, I will be posting a love poem for every day up until Valentine's Day. Feel free to check it out!

On February 14, 2010 I want to barrage the blog with love poetry--your favorite love poetry. Please share the title of your favorite love poem as well as the poet and a link, if possible, in the comments of any posts on either site. Or, email me at owensval@gmail.com with the poem itself. Ask family, friends, and lovers for suggestions as well. Even if you are a cynic of the whole Valentine's Day thing, share your cynical love poetry. I will post all shared suggestions on Valentine's Day.

Twelve days? I think we can gather an awesome stock of love poetry. What do you think?

128. February 2

Happy Groundhog's Day!

I just love, love, love a holiday. Yes, even Groundhog's Day.

I feel like my life is taking all sorts of intriguing turns. And yet, these are things not captured in an image. I think this is why I am a writer and not a photographer, and also why this blog is a good stretch for me. So, instead of showing you what's going on in my life specifically, I'll show you what's going on in the life of my apartment.

Tonight, Amber got crafty and started making adorable headbands. I thought it was the coolest thing, particularly the flowers she made out of ribbon. There is something beautiful in the process of creation. I also liked the strange reddish glow the light fixture above our kitchen table gives to the whole scene.

Interested in a custom-made headband? I can hook you up!

My friend Taylor introduced me to Neil Gaiman's Newbery acceptance speech for The Graveyard Book today. I loved the entire speech and how well it captures what writing and reading mean to a writer.

Here's a small snippet of that piece:

"It was as if some people believed there was a divide between the books that you were permitted to enjoy and the books that were good for you, and I was expected to choose sides. We were all expected to choose sides. And I didn't believe it, and I still don't.
 

I was, and still am, on the side of books you love."

~ Neil Gaiman, "Newbery Medal Acceptance "

A Little L-O-V-E

Happy February, the month of love.
13 Days until Valentine's Day, my 2nd favorite holiday.
I'll try and give this blog a little love this month.
Not just gushy romantic love, but love of family, love of friends, love of beauty, love of self.

Check here for more L-O-V-E.

127. February 1

For the past week, this notice has been taped to the front doors of the library.

It makes my heart ache.

Sir, I hope you find what it is you are looking for.

"Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something." 

~ H. Jackson Brown Jr.