185. March 31

 When life ever gets to be too much, it's sometimes best just to take a little nap and worry about it later.

"Man must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind him to the fact that each moment of his life is a miracle and a mystery."

~ H.G. Wells

184. March 30

Why this picture? I'm not really quite sure. Another uneventful day had come and gone, and I, still without a picture, tagged along for a late night grocery run. Life feels like someone pressed the pause button and I'm stuck in a moment where winter and stress never end. I wish tagging along for grocery runs wasn't the most exciting part of my day. But for you, dear reader, I will try and be optimistic. There is much to look to for happiness. A three day weekend is just around the corner. I get to see a good friend on Friday and family on Saturday. And Sunday is Easter! Finally and most especially, the laws of nature decree that summer has to come at some point. Thank goodness.

"Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake."

~ Victor Hugo

183. March 29

Spending way too much time with my fingers to this keyboard as of late, writing papers, searching for a job, writing more papers, blogging, and oh, yeah, more writing.

"The greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we are and what we could be."

~ John Grimes

182. March 28

Life! Oy vey! 

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see."

~ John Burroughs

181. March 27

This may seem like a cheap editing job of a lousy picture of a dying house plant that happens to be named Fernando.

That's because it is.

I just had to photograph Fernando in honor of a viewing of Little Shop of Horrors.

"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." 

~ Dorothy Parker

180. March 26

Day 180. 365 Days of Twenty is half over.

And do I have anything exciting to offer on Day 180?

Unfortunately, no, just more snow.

There's only so pictures one can take of the snow and only so many ways to express dislike of winter. It is time, dear readers, for a little bit of spring.

"Come, my friends, / 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world."

~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

179. March 25

I've been reading rather voraciously as of late. Due to my current enrollment in three college literature classes, most of such reading has not been for pleasure. However, I have found a little time to ease my way into Ray Bradbury's gorgeous masterpiece, Dandelion Wine. It's like reading a dream. I'm quite possible drunk on Dandelion Wine. Normally, I plough through novels, eager for the end, but this novel is one I hope never ends.

"I want to feel all there is to feel, he thought. Let me feel tired, now, let me feel tired. I mustn't forget, I'm alive, I know I'm alive, I mustn't forget it tonight or tomorrow or the day after that."

~ Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine

178. March 24

Views through the stained glass.

"He jests at scars that never felt a wound."

~ William Shakespeare

177. March 23

Lori's seashells from the beaches of Pismo remind me this world is a beautiful place to be.

"Why do we love the sea?  It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think."

~Robert Henri

176. March 22

I've pretty much moved into the campus library.

I've also accepted the fact that I will never be caught up on all my school work. Ever. And that is okay.

Life is simpler in the library. There is no need to deal with other people. There is no messy apartment full of delightful distractions. There is no sink full of dirty dishes. There are no unpaid bills. There are no worries of summer employment. Nothing demands for time and attention other than the schoolwork on the table. The rules of the schoolwork are clear and clean cut. The work may be difficult, but the contained nature of it makes it manageable. The best part of the library is that after my work is done, I can pull a book off the shelf and devour it with pleasure until the library closes. Life is just simpler in the library.

"...I used to haunt my local library...I was an awkward  child, ill-fitting, uncertain, and I loved my local library with a passion."

~ Neil Gaiman, "Newbery Medal Acceptance Speech"

175. March 21

I've been reprimanded for my slack blogging. Hillary, I promise to be better.

Apology made, I now give you Sunday.

Sisters are terrific. I hope to be spending the summer with mine. She is a genuinely lovely lady and some day I hope to have her charm, confidence, and gentle demeanor.

"They may talk of a comet, or a burning mountain, or some such bagatelle; but to me a modest woman, dressed out in all her finery, is the most tremendous object of the whole creation."  

~Oliver Goldsmith

174. March 20

In less than a hour's drive from this snow, spring does exist.

It's true. I promise. 

And it makes my heart happy.

 I once went through a kick on happiness. I was really curious how people defined and created happiness. Of all the definitions and recipes for happiness, this is the one I find to be the most true:

"The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."

~ Joseph Addison

173. March 19

I am an optimist, a dreamer, a realist, a romantic, a writer, a reader, and an occasional cynic. And yes, you can be all of these things. 

I am a lover of spring, summer, and early autumn. I love sunrises and sunsets. I love warmth. And when it snows in late March, I find it monumentally depressing. Will it ever be spring?

Only a week ago, I was driving towards Pasadena. It was dark outside and the windows were down. There was the most delicious and heavy scent of flowers in the air. It was unlike anything I had ever known. And, later when I could smell the ocean, I was overwhelmed by how good life is.

Life is still good. And spring will come eventually.

"You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen. When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person died for no reason." 

~ Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

172. March 18

Home from vacation and back to the real world. 

Unpacking. Doing laundry. Studying. Tutoring. 

I don't mind, though. I love to travel, but I like to have a place to settle into.

It's good to be home.

Watching the storm roll in...

"So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?" 

~ Hunter S. Thompson

171. March 17

Goodbye, California.

"Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night." 

~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

170. March 16

Botanical gardens at the Golden Gate Park.

"Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."

~ Hans Christen Andersen

169. March 15

Dear San Fransisco,

Truly I have left my heart with you. You were a sheer joy. A pain worthy of the Ides of March, but a sheer joy nonetheless. I loved your crooked Lombard Street, your quirky Chinatown, your breathtaking piers, and the your stunning architecture. But all the joys you gave me, none was greater than the five minutes alone I had in the poetry room of City Lights Books. Never have I seen such a spectacular collection of poetry in one place. For those few minutes alone, I am quite sure my visit your way was well worth it. I will return someday.

Sincerely,

Me

"True literature can exist only where it is created, not by diligent and trustworthy officials, but by madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels, and skeptics."

~ Yevgeny Zamyatin

168. March 14

I am in love with the ocean.

This was perhaps the best day of 2010--thus far.

I do not want to be one the those people who exhaust their audience with lengthy travel details or overwhelming amounts of pictures. That being said, how could I claim this as the possible best day of 2010 without photographic evidence?
Thank you Lori and Amber for a few of these shots.

 

 

"I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve." 

~ Jane Austen

"I am one of the searchers. There are, I believe, millions of us. We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content. We continue to explore life, hoping to uncover its ultimate secret. We continue to explore ourselves, hoping to understand. We like to walk along the beach, we are drawn by the ocean, taken by its power, its unceasing motion, its mystery and unspeakable beauty. We like forests and mountains, deserts and hidden rivers, and the lonely cities as well. Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter. To share our sadness with one we love is perhaps as great a joy as we can know - unless it be to share our laughter.

We searchers are ambitious only for life itself, for everything beautiful it can provide. Most of all we love and want to be loved. We want to live in a relationship that will not impede our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls; that will take us for what little we have to give. We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.

For wanderers, dreamers, and lovers, for lonely men and women who dare to ask of life everything good and beautiful. It is for those who are too gentle to live among wolves." 

~ James Kavanaugh, There Are Men Too Gentle to Live Among Wolves

(As quoted on www.goodreads.com. Mr. Kavanaugh, I hope I have this beautiful quote correct.) 

 

167. March 13

Wharf at Santa Barbara.

 Quote of the day, courtesy of a gift shop greeting card. 

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."

~ Saint Augustine

166. March 12

Spring Break roadtrip to CALIFORNIA!

Many more pictures to come, but for today all I have to offer is a brief moment on the nine hour drive, as captured by Amber.

Road trippin' with my two favorite allies
Fully loaded we got snacks and supplies
It's time to leave this town
It's time to steal away
Let's go get lost
Anywhere in the USA

 ~ Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Road Trippin'"