63. November 30

Monday. And rain.

Really? I mean, really?

It's bad enough that it is the first Monday back from a long holiday, but rain?

Bummer.

Do you ever have something really good happen to you,

and then you overthink it,

and it kind of spoils it?

Anyhow.

Almost Christmastime...

First gift of the season! Thanks dear.

Did I ever share with you my life motto?

At various points in my life, I've had this in my car, on my binder, in my room...

I'm just missing it from my wall this year.

Do It Anyway
Mother Theresa

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

62. November 29

Another really good day.

Isn't life extraordinary?

It is good to have friends and roommates back from Thanksgiving break.

This is Marta and Jeremy, two good friends of mine, enjoying dinner in the caf.

If you knew these faces, I think you'd them too.

And its Marta's twentieth birthday tomorrow!

Three cheers for birthdays, and a particularly happy one to Marta.

 "There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate."

~ Charles Dickens

61. November 28

Such a good day.

And an even better evening.

I like this flower.

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change. "

~ Siddhartha Gautama

60. November 27

Hello, life.

Tonight, my camera and I experimented with reflections.

I kind of liked this one...

"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid."

~ Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC's of Faith

59. November 26

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today's Gratitude List

(The Last One)

1. I am grateful for friends to spend Thanksgiving with. Thank you, Leslie and Robert for the meal. And thank you, Kyu, for wonderful conversation over Thanksgiving Dinner.
2. I am grateful for the phone conversations I was able to have with my family. Love you, family.
   
3. I am grateful for virus protection conquering horrible viruses on my little laptop.
4. I am grateful for a lazy night I had do as I pleased.
5. I am grateful for cereal, particularly the cheap variety.
6. I am grateful for the blanket the Springer family gave me for my birthday. It has proved to be a most useful gift.
   
7. I am grateful for time alone to read poetry out loud as long as I'd like, particularly the works of James Tate and Adrienne Rich.
   
8. I am grateful for plastic cutlery and Styrofoam bowls.
9. I am grateful I like my own company. I know that sounds kind of silly, but me and myself, we get along pretty dang good. 

Thanksgiving 2009.

I'm sorry I don't have pictures of the actual dinner to offer you. Picture turkey, salad, fruit (real fruit!), stuffing, and ice cream. Picture lots of friendly faces. Good picture, right?

Last night, I indulged in the guilty pleasure of watching movies all night. I admit, rather pathetic, but oh I enjoyed it. I watched Barbra Streisand light up the screen in Funny Girl. Isn't Streisand fabulous? Next was a very, very condensed TV viewing of The Wedding Singer, which was okay. And then a little Grey's Anatomy. Since that's the first I've ever seen of the show I was a little lost. Finally, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Louis Armstrong in High Society, the remake of also star-packed The Philadelphia Story, with Katherine Hepburn, James Stewart, and Cary Grant. Its hard to say which of the two was better. The cast of The Philadelphia Story seemed to fit the characters better, but the musical twist to High Society was delicious.

There's something about old movies that the movies of today just can't match up to. Why am I telling you all this? I forget. I think I could give you a whole blog on good movies, books, and poetry. Hey, come to think of it, I've already got one to share poetry with you. Check it out here.

And now, this picture may seem totally unrelated to anything, which it is, but my apartment is FRIGID this weekend, and so I've spent the whole weekend bundled up in this sweater. Besides, there is only so much photographic creativity I can muster out of these four rooms of this apartment.

"--this is where I live now.   If you had known me / once, you'd still know me now though in a different / light and life.   This is no place you ever knew me."

~ Adrienne Rich, from An Atlas of the Difficult World

No more typing. My hands are freezing. Its about 66 degrees farenheit in here, two degrees warmer than when I began this post. And the more I look at that picture the more I dislike it, so I'm just going to post it before I replace it with an awful shot of a peanut butter jar aside a box of Cheese Nips.

58. November 25

Oh isn't life just good?

Today's Gratitude List

(Continuing Until Thanksgiving)

1. I am thankful for legs to take me everywhere.
2. I am thankful I didn't find the road I was looking for today, because then I wouldn't have wound up where I did.
3. I am thankful for Christmas music. Thank you, Lisa, for this wonderful mix I am now listening to.
4. I am thankful to have run into friends today.
5. I am thankful for an unexpectedly warm day.
6. I am grateful for time.
7. I am grateful for work I have to keep me occupied.
8. I am appreciative of the Spell Check and Synonym features in Microsoft Office.
9. I am thankful life leaves room for adventure. 

Today was beautiful. I was unable to find my intended destination, so instead I took a very, very long detour to a lake I had been once before. I stopped along the way at a book store and library and soaked in the feeling of all those books. I wandered through a bird watching garden and listened as geese called overhead, flying south in loose "V". And I laid on my back on a peer and basked in the blue--the blue water, the blue sky--oh it was incredible. On my walk home, by odd chance I ran into three friends, all going different ways. It seemed like just the right ending to today's adventure.

I am grateful for the life I live.
Sorry, I hope you don't mind a few extra pictures. It was a pretty day, okay?
Tomorrow, I'll be a good girl and stick to just a picture and quote of the day.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." 

~ Mark Twain

57. November 24

Today's Gratitude List

1. I am thankful to be done with classes for five whole days.
2. I am thankful for scriptures and hymns and other things that soothe my soul.
   
3. I am thankful to a professor for spending over an hour to work through a paper of mine.
4. I am thankful for my sister and the conversations have. Oh do miss her. 
5. I am thankful for online dictionaries.
6. I am thankful for rare moments of silence and solitude and a few days ahead of me that I have to enjoy both.
   
7. I am thankful, always thankful, for free food. Free food--isn't that one of the most beautiful paring of words in the whole English language?
8. I am thankful for good hair days.
9. I am thankful for my belief in an afterlife and comfort this provides me.

Three words of the day:

• Moxie: Courage, determination
• Nefarious: Flagrantly wicked or impious
• Sketch: Shortened form of "sketchy." A term used to describe basically any noun, that is of dubious character. Example: That unmarked van parked in the shadows is so sketch.
  

Bonus points if you use all three words before Saturday. Feel free to share riveting tales that come about as result of your newly enhanced vocabulary.

And now, the picture and quote of the day.

Currently I'm reading The Ghost Soldiers by the most excellent James Tate.

How about you? What are you reading?

TWO quotes today, because I'm feeling nefariously indulgent.

"It wasn't the door I was looking for, but I opened it anyway."

~ James Tate, "The Wrong Door," The Ghost Soldiers

"Life is all the moments we remember strung together by the moments we don't."

~ Awesome quote on Amy's blog

(I'll link that to her blog, if she'd like me to.)

Happy Birthday Sarah.

56. November 23

Today's Gratitude List

(Continuing Until Thanksgiving)

1. I am grateful I am only continuing these lists until Thanksgiving. While its a good exercise for me, it makes for rather dull blogging.
2. I am grateful to Caitlin for taking me grocery shopping.
3. I am grateful for a surprise letter in the mail from a friend serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
   
4. I am grateful for freezers and microwaves and culinary opportunities they create.
   
5. I am grateful for the campus library.
6. I am grateful for a clean room.

Oh forget gratitude tonight. I'm moody and restless and craving a long drive.

My, my I am being silly. Only three more to go. I would be a ungrateful brat if I couldn't even come up with nine things to be grateful for today, now wouldn't I?

1. I am grateful to a friend for introducing me to Performance Poetry.
2. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to earn a college degree.
3. I am grateful for extended family. 

And now, the picture and quote of the day.

Stocking up the freezer for the Thanksgiving break...

"Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas
I need to get myself away from this place
I said yep what a concept
I could use a little fuel myself
And we could all use a little change."

~ Smash Mouth, "All Star"

 

And yes, I did just quote Smash Mouth. What now?

55. November 22

Today's Gratitude List

(Continuing Until Thanksgiving)

1. I am grateful for beauty within the ordinary.
2. I am grateful for quotes and the definition they give to my thoughts.
3. I am grateful for dinner.
4. I am grateful for quirks and curiosities.
5. I am grateful for all those beautiful books I haven't yet read. I can read a lifetime long and still have more beautiful books ahead of me.
6. I am grateful for all of the trivia floating around in my head and for those people who keep adding to the stash.
   
7. I am grateful for perfume and how makes me feel pretty.
8. I am grateful for socks, particularly the pink fuzzy ones I'm wearing today.
9. I am grateful for a particular worry lifted from my mind. 

It rained again today. And it's raining now. But the clouds parted and rain stopped just long enough for me to get to lunch and back, dry. And on my way, I was greeted with this beautiful sky. You should have seen how swiftly the clouds were moving.

"Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music-the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself."

~ Henry Miller

54. November 21

Today's Gratitude List

(Continuing Until Thanksgiving)

1. I am thankful for used books and the places that sell them.
2. I am thankful for diversity. It makes life beautiful.
3. I am thankful for orange juice.
   
4. I am thankful for friends who accept my standards for what they are.
5. I am thankful for tomorrows. 
6. I am thankful for hot pizza with good friends on a cold November night.
7. I am thankful for Christmas wreaths on street lamps. So beautiful!
8. I am thankful for the men who play chess in the park. They always warm my heart.
9. I am thankful for cars. That sure was a nifty invention.

So, this was a very wonderful, very long day spent in the company of good friends. There were many faces and places I would have loved to have captured with my little camera.

But, due to dead batteries, all I have to offer is this quirky stop sign on Cherry Street.

"'Why did you do all this for me?" he asked. "I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.'
'You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing.'"

~ E. B. White, Charlotte's Web

53. November 20

Today's Gratitude List

(Continuing Until Thanksgiving)

1. I am grateful for the weekend.
2. I am grateful for the fantastic professors I have. How many people are able to say that? Really, they're great.
3. I am grateful for Thanksgiving dinner, as provided by my residence hall this evening.
4. I am grateful for quarters. How else would I be able to get laundry done?
5. I am grateful for deodorant. Life could be kind of awkward without it. 
6. I am grateful for music. 
7. I am grateful to fall into bed after a long day.
8. I am grateful for movies.
9. I am grateful for my youth. Twenty is a pretty dang good age. And I'm only 53 days into it. There's much to look forward to yet.
   

Today my laptop and I decided we had spent way too much time doing boring things like writing essays and researching. It was time for a break. So, the evening was spent watching West Side Story. Excellent choice, I must say. Natalie Wood is a beautiful woman. And I sure wouldn't mind a man like Tony. Except of course, when he knifes his girlfriend's brother. Not cool Tony, definitely not cool.

"Something's coming, something good..."

~ Tony, West Side Story

52. November 19

I think Thursday has become the new Tuesday... In other words, icky.

Not a bad day, just a bit exhausting.

Today's Gratitude List

1. I am grateful I didn't have to face another rainy day. It was sunny today and warm enough to wear a skirt.
2. I am grateful for afternoon naps.
   
3. I am grateful for the postal service. How cool is that for under a dollar you can send a letter almost anywhere in the world?
4. I am grateful my geology lab exam is over.
5. I am grateful tomorrow is Friday.
6. I am grateful my Southern Literature paper is finally coming together, even if Spell Check refuses to properly function.
   
7. I am grateful I have plans to look forward to this weekend.
8. I am grateful I had braces a long time ago so now I have nice straight teeth.
9. I am grateful for this little gem of a video. And for Mom for forwarding me a link. 

And now, the picture and quote of the day.
Sometimes it takes me a while to get to this point, but trust me, I always will.

Sorry giant behemoth of an umbrella, you weren't needed today!

"God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars."

~ Elbert Hubbard 

Oh dear. This post is rather scattered, isn't it? Rain, gratitude, and scars. Somehow though, tender threads leave all these things connected in the workings of my mind.

51. November 18

Today's Gratitude List

1. I am grateful for mascara and eyeliner and makeup in general. It is a sheer delight to "get pretty" in the morning.
   
2. I am grateful to be female and the sense of beauty I feel in my femininity.
3. I am grateful to be American!
4. I am grateful for these little gratitude lists... I have only just begun, but already I find myself finishing the phrase, "I am grateful for" with a thousand different endings throughout my day. Truly I am blessed.
5. I am grateful for tissues, particularly the Kleenexes that come in little packages.
6. I am grateful to be Christian.
7. I am grateful, oh so grateful, for family. I could write pages and pages about mine. They are just so wonderful!
8. I am grateful for my little camera and the good companion it has been for me these past few months.
9. I am grateful for humor, because life would just be too darn boring without it.

And once again, RAIN. The weekend was so pleasant. I could tell you, yet again, how the rain depresses me, but since the Be Grateful Gosh Darn It Month, I will simply say, I am grateful it wasn't rainy this weekend.

So, here is a rain soaked path at night.

"Rain, rain go away,

Don't come back,

Or I will personally lambaste you."

~ My variation on English nursery rhyme

50. November 17

Today's Gratitude List

1. I am grateful for Tuesday game nights.
2. I am grateful for Caitlin fueling my addiction to Peanut Butter M & M's.
3. I am grateful for the National Student Exchange program and the amazing experience I have had participating in it.
4. I am grateful for a long, hot shower every morning.
5. I am grateful for the oatmeal now served at the cafeteria for breakfast.
6. I am grateful rainy days don't last forever.
7. I am grateful for poetry and how it has shaped the way I look at life.
8. I am grateful for canceled classes and an extra hour to sleep in.
9. I am grateful to Robert, Nelia, and Caitlin for generously giving me rides everywhere.

Tuesday Game Night

The Jennifer Sandwich deeply engrossed in a game of Cranium.

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."

~C.S. Lewis

49. November 16

Thanksgiving is coming up.

Time to get grateful, gosh darn it.

Sooo.... Until Thanksgiving, I'll offer a daily list of nine things I am grateful for.

I have seen some awesome gratitude lists popping up all over the place.

One of my favorite's? Tiffani, I hope you don't mind me suggesting your Thankology. Each week, Tiffani posts a beautiful list of fifty things to be grateful for. I just ended a sentence in a preposition, which is a bad habit of mine. But, check the site out. I think you'll enjoy. It's been a goal of mine to start a similar weekly list, and perhaps this will get me rolling.

TODAY'S GRATITUDE LIST

1. I am grateful for my parents' birthday gift of Microsoft Office 2007 because it is such a kick awesome program.
2. I am grateful for a letter in the mail from Danni.
3. I am grateful for scarves to keep me warm.
4. I am grateful I got to see a few meteors last night with my roommate, suitemates, and friends.
5. I am grateful for an awesome haircut given to me by Paige and a pair of safety scissors.
6. I am grateful I will being seeing my family in only twenty-seven days.
7. I am grateful for my height. I think it's perfect.
8. I am grateful for a cell phone and how easy it makes it to talk to friends and family 2,000 miles away.
9. I am grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

And now, getting back to the task at hand. 

Today's photo is a picture of my suitemates and a friend watching for the meteors...

"You are one of the noblest of God’s creations. His intent is that your life be gloriously beautiful regardless of your circumstances. As you are grateful and obedient, you can become all that God intends you to be."

~ Richard G. Scott, "Finding Joy in Life"

48. November 15

TREE

(I like 'em, okay?)

"…our greatest fear is not in the darkness, but our own light; our deepest dread is not our limitations, but our possibilities. Shall I go the way of the hero or the star?"

~ Virginia Tranel

47. November 14

In the mood to blog, and because this is my blog I think I will. Makes since, right? If you are just here for the promised picture and quote of the day, please scroll down past my ramblings. It's there, I promise.

These ramblings of mine aren't to say, look what a great life I have, but rather a way for me to recognize how good this world is and hopefully to help you see it too. Nor do I claim my writings are particularly interesting. To have these things written out, if only for my own sake, is enough. So, enjoy it or not, it's up to you. And here I go.

Last night, a handsome Mr. H took me to "prom" at a local tavern and music hall with a few of our friends. The crowd varied from teenager to senior citizen, all decked out and wearing everything from freaky to fabulous. The music was great, no schmaltzy love songs, no rap, just music you could really dance to. There were no cliques, no royalty, no limos... It was everything you wished your real prom was. Thank you, Mr. H and friends, for the best prom ever. And thanks to the lovely Mrs. R for photographing the night.

And then today... Today was an Indian summer day--so warm outside if you closed your eyes, you'd swear it was August. I lay on the grass and reveled in the sunshine, lazily reading and doing a little studying. I met two new friends, ate cereal for lunch, and a got a great start on two papers. The day isn't even over yet. And, Pandora loves me today.

In exactly one month, I will be with my dear familia again, though I will hate to leave this beautiful place.

Life can't possibly be this good forever... can it?
_ _ _

Four lists of three:

1. Things I Probably Should Care More Actively About (But Don't): Politics, germs, pollution
2. Blogs I have recently loved: NieNie Dialogues,  Oh Hello Friend: 101 in 1001 (and Other Friends' Lists on the sidebar), Clayton Austin Love Stories
3. Other website of recent amusement: Various blogs of friends and dear readers, Go Fug Yourself (Hilariously snarky commentary on celebrity fashion), Mystery Google 
4. Three of the four books (kind of five) I am currently reading: House of Leaves, Little Women, Jesus the Christ

Please, dear reader, what's on your four lists of three?
_ _ _


And now, I give you what you came for. 
Shoes off, lying on the grass, enjoying the blue...

"And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again."

 ~ Foo Fighters, "Everlong"

46. November 13

Friday the Thirteenth

You aren't superstitious, are you, dear reader?

I might be. Just a little.

And what did this Friday consist of? Wandering antique and second-hand shops downtown, working on a paper, eating dinner with friends, watching Out of Africa, and later tonight, dancing. Life is good to me. How is treating you?

Typewriter in antique shop... What is it about this archaic machine that so appeals to the writers and the dreamers?

 

"Perhaps he knew, as I did not, that the Earth was made round so that we would not see too far down the road."

~ Out of Africa

45. November 12

Four Items of No Real Connection

and a Picture That Is Kind of Bland and Unconnected to Any of the Four Items.

In other words, a Thursday.

1. Sunny Skies. Thank goodness it was blue sky day. I didn't want to have to face yet another rainy day. The rain just depresses me.
2. 1982. I found a penny today, face up, year 1982. A little later, I was pulling laundry out of the dryer and a penny tumbled out, year 1982. I thought that was a little odd, because I remember checking my pockets for change before doing the wash. The clothes weren't quite dry, so I put the clothes back in for another ten minutes. When I pulled them out again, I found yet another penny, year 1982. Strange? Yeah, just a little. I now have three pennies, 1982, just chilling on my windowsill.
   
3. Possible career considerations. And rejuvenation in academic pursuits. A rejuvenation in life in general. A feeling like, hey I have the potential to be more than I am! I've known this, I think we all know we could be more. But its not only that, its also that I have the power and the will to live up to this potential! Hooray! Its the strangest and most refreshing of wake up calls.
   
4. The apartment has a new fish. Name? Dimitri. He will be joining the fish already in residence, Damon II. Damon I suffered death. Voltaire also didn't last long. 

"We need to find out what it is we're afraid of, and go beyond. [...]

If you don't go out and do you'll remain forever fearful of the workings of the world."

~ Colette Dowling, The Cinderella Complex: Women's Hidden Fear of Independence

(No Mother I'm not becoming a raging feminist...)

44. November 11

Tonight I attended an open mic night on campus. The night consisted primarily of vocals and guitar, with some random banjos, a ukulele, and one poor poet thrown in the mix. I loved it.

I admittedly have an undying weakness for the sound of live acoustic guitar and vocals.

My favorite guitarist? My little brother, of course.

This beautiful (and slightly dusty) guitar belongs to my suitemate, who just so happens to be amazing at playing it.

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

And, may I just give a nod of thanks to our veterans. Isn't fantastic to be an American?
Happy Veterans Day and thank you to those who have fought and continue to fight for America.