another room with a view

Three posts in one day - the thrill! And I am extremely hesitant to post this, since I want to show a photo of the view looking perfect with blue skies and fluffy clouds, but it's been tough these days since it starts raining every day at around 2pm and doesn't stop. Hence the gray sky here. So I've settled and I'm giving you this. It is the area outside my room! Pretty. My roommate is the green thumb and has been working on landscaping the area, and he added the picnic table the other day. Soon to come - a bocce court. I offer to help but I don't know if I'd do any good and I think he knows that. So I watch, hang out with his dog and talk to him about how great it looks, and I think that is help in itself.

volunteerism

I volunteered over the weekend for the art auction they hold annually here in town for the art school. I took photos at the setup and during the event, which was pretty neat. I was able to witness a true auctioneer during the live auction who spoke a mile a minute in what sounded like a lot of mumbling, in addition to the bidders' dollar amounts every couple seconds. Thank god I didn't have money to afford any of this stuff because it looks like it can get quite stressful. Wayne had a painting in the silent auction that sold, and there were lots of other pieces of art, with many, shall I say, on the quirky side. I studied Art History, but I tell you, there is a lot of art I just don't get. But there were bidders, so - to each their own.

photo editing

I just found this post on Jezebel. I had one of those moments, when I am reading something and I feel like they are talking specifically to me. It creeps me out. And then I remember that I am one of many people in this world and it's not all about me. And the selfishness subsides. And I remember that a lot of us feel the same way about things, we just don't realize it.

Therefore, I thought I'd share it here, as I am pretty sure (and I'm talking to the ladies here) that we all feel this way about the dreaded photos of ourselves. We think: that doesn't look like me AT ALL. That really can't be me. What's up with my hair? My eyes look funny. My chin looks huge. My arms look like chicken wings. Large chicken wings. Can you please delete that? Forever? From the hard drive? Thanks.

This explains things like, why there are no photos of me on this blog, why I have so few photo albums on Facebook, and why I awkwardly often pose for photos with my hand on my hip so as not to see the extent of the size of my upper arms (a trick I learned from Ashley - genius!). If only I didn't care about stupid stuff like this, I think I'd be a lot happier. But I doubt that will happen unless I receive a lobotomy and they take out my self-conscious brain cells that I believe got there from years of watching crap like America's Next Top Model and reading fashion magazines. So until then, I will continue to un-tag myself from any unflattering Facebook photos and cower away from those who are taking pictures. It's all in self-defense.

misty water colored memories

I get the Daily Candy travel deals emails. I used to get their New York shopping emails every day but I had to de-activate them because they were getting too obnoxious and pretentious. The day they started to make up their own dialect - that's when it really started to bother me. But I thought that perhaps I would get some decent travel ideas through their travel emails. After receiving a few, I realized that I am in a different income bracket than their readers. I make a little bit less money than them, if you were wondering. But I was reading one today and it brought back wonderful memories because it showed a special for the Orient Express Hotels in Italy, where I was fortunate to go with my mom and sister back in 2004 (jeez louise, AGES ago). The Hotel Splendido in Portofino was like heaven. Truly heaven. I've never lived in such luxury. With my low-maintenance (or so I tell myself) lifestyle, one might think that a place like that would intimidate me, but it was heaven. That's really the only word I can think to describe it. So peaceful, the friendliest staff, trays delivered to our door in the mornings with delicious Italian pastries, pool on the hill overlooking the water...sigh. It brings back such memories to look at these photos from their website. So, if I ever break the bank (doubtful), win the lottery (unlikely) or marry rich (possibly?) I will be back! And if any of you are fortunate enough to afford it, you should go.

new digs

I'm in! And I know I say this every time, but the next time I move, I'm paying someone. I did most of it myself, which took a lot of yoga breathing while lifting and acceptance of sweat all over my face at all times. But you know what, it wasn't TOO bad. And I say that now after I'm done. I was cursing everything yesterday - stairs, books (they're so heavy!), etc. Anything over 1 pound was my enemy.

My stuff is still a mild mess because I have to buy furniture - a desk for my new work station and a bed. I'm on my air mattress and it's kind of pitiful.

The good news - I have a TV and cable! The bad news - I don't have a cable cord! So I'm sitting next to a tv that plays only white snow and I had no time today to buy one because it was crazy at work. So I'm sad. But I've adopted Hulu.com for the time being. Tomorrow, the cord will be bought. Or else. I am so clued out of what's going on in the world, it will take some time to catch up. Therefore I will be watching TV for about a week straight.

You know what too? Looking around, I realize my room here is probably bigger than my studio in New York. Plus I've now got a gorgeous living room that looks out at a view over town. It was wonderful to wake up this morning and be able to open my back door out of my room onto the grassy hillside over the town. I'm all about space these days after living in New York City, and this is quite satisfying. Now just gotta get on that tv.

movie suggestion #2

I rarely watch movies (I usually have my Netflix movie for about 2 months before watching it, completely defeating the purpose of signing up for the service since that averages me at least $10 per movie, but oh well) so when I see a good one I like to suggest it to others. And while I'm no cinematic authority, I think I have decent taste and I like to recommend movies that really affect me. So here in my blog, I think I'll share with you two or three readers anything I deem worthwhile to watch. Including the movie I saw the other day: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. It's a documentary about the trial of three teenagers in West Memphis who are accused of killing three seven-year-old boys. It touches on religion, heavy metal music and crazy southerners (ha - just a joke if any southerners are reading!), and makes you think twice about everything and shows the frustrations of the legal system. It's a pretty well known case, and they have gotten a lot of media attention recently - I won't tell you why because then that would give too much away. Definitely worthwhile renting if you are interested in a documentary - I was riveted for the whole 2 1/2 hours.

And Once! That's still my #1 recommendation.

here comes the sun

I've been gone on a hiatus. I apologize. I had a bit of a mild breakdown over the weekend due to circumstances both within and beyond my control but I have landed on my feet and am now feeling flowery like the photo. As a result of my breakdown, I have made a few changes in my life:

1. I am not buying the apartment here I had originally put an offer on. Due to the lack of professionalism with everyone involved with the deal in New York City, it is still not fully closed. And it's been a headache and a half for me since I've been here. Or heck - really for the last 6 months. Ask me to talk about it and I'll rant for an hour or more, so rather than do that here I will move forward and share the solution (since I try to be an optimist): I am going to go in on a house with my sister and Wayne in the coming months. Sounds weird, but hear me out... To buy a house in this town - and I'm talking no shared walls and your own land - you need to spend over $1 million. Sure, that sounds ok maybe, but when you see these houses that are going for that price, you will laugh your ass off. Pieces of CRAP. Yes, that description deserves capital letters. That will be for another post - describing the real estate situation here. Unbelievable. Anyways, they recently found a real house that is under the radar through our realtor which has two rental units and plenty of space, but it was unfortunately over their budget, but once my money comes in from my New York apartment (again, fingers crossed it's happening soon) they can afford it! It makes me so happy I can contribute, and I then will be owning, managing and renting out the cute unit over the garage and making money from it, since you can make a decent chunk of change doing that in this town with all the vacationers and I can treat it like my own little hotel. Which brings me to....

2. I'm moving into a place with roommates. It all happened very quickly this weekend. I made the decision to save my sanity and pull out of the apartment I was going to buy, opened up the paper to check out housing listings and found one that was the cheapest I had seen since I've been here. I arrived to check it out with skepticism, knowing that places here can be disasters, but this place is amazing. Beautiful views, my own bathroom and outdoor area. Basically it's like living in a studio, since each person has their own space and bathroom, but we share a kitchen. I feel so fortunate to have found it. And I move in tomorrow! Boy does life move quickly.

3. Job changes - well, not changes so much yet, but moving in a new direction. And I won't say anything about that yet because I feel like I will be found out and don't want to jinx anything, but I'm not leaving my job, just adding a new one. Hopefully. That update is TBD.

Goodness that is it! Add on to this drama my half-marathon training which is not getting any easier in this altitude, and a big pimple on my forehead, and that's been my week. So it's a new week (and I had a dream that I was submersed in water which means new beginnings, right??) and I'm taking new steps since, as much as I hate to say it, being as lazy as I am, I am the only one who can change things. Bleh. So here I go.

regrets, impulses and figuring out your life

I feel often times that I have already gone through several mid/quarter/one-third-life crises. Sometimes I wonder if I've made reckless, irrational decisions and have done impulsive things that bring me to many what-the-hell-have-I-done-with-myself moments. Trust me, there have been pleeeennty of those in my life. In the past ten years I've lived in too many places to count, been through too many jobs, and I still wonder what I'm going to be and where I'm going to live when I grow up. But you know what? I think it's all worth it. I kinda know it's worth it, but it's hard to say that for sure right now when I still feel like I'm unsettled. But it's articles like this one that make me pretty confident I've made the right decisions in my life. Whenever I find myself in new, uncertain places I always consider the opposite - what if I hadn't done it? And I find that in my life, that option is always worse. I'd rather take a dive into the deep end with a chance of fear and failure than live somewhere waiting for something. Maybe I'm going to end up searching my entire life to feel content with everything in my life, but I feel like that's just the way it's meant to be. I'm just glad that someone (the writer here) is agreeing with me that perhaps I'm not so crazy in the head and I'm doing this all for a reason - to live without any regrets. I'm stumbling along the way, but soon it will be smoooooth sailing.

(Thanks for the article Dad!)

impromptu dog sitting

I had a pleasant surprise today. I was running some errands when I got a call from Kelley that she had found a dog in the street and it's owner wasn't home at the address on the tag and they weren't picking up the phone at the number that was listed. Being dog people, we couldn't just let it run free, so since Kelley was heading to an appointment, I was the lucky dog sitter for this guy. His name was Cosmo. I came home and tried to entertain him as best I could. It was a pretty strange scenario that this random dog was in Kelley's place, and we were both equally confused about what was going on. He panted the entire time. I don't know if that meant anything, but I thought it was odd.

In the end we got hold of the owner, who was in Denver and the dog was supposed to be with the caretaker here in town. Oh right, and the dog was in their OTHER house here in town, which is why no one was home at the address listed on the dog's tag. Obviously they are doing quite well to have two homes here. Damn them. So we brought Cosmo back to his home and dropped him off, and he reluctantly said goodbye and watched us leave out the front window. Too cute.

two enthusiastic and passionate thumbs up

I know I'm a little late to this bandwagon, since it came out a few years ago and has already won an Oscar, but I just saw the movie Once and am absolutely in love. I think I can officially call it my favorite movie to date. Such a simple yet beautiful and touching story with such amazing music. I adored it to no end and will recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it to rent it now.

old timer

My dad gave me an old Nikon that his dad got and used back during the war, and it was built in the early 1950's. How pretty is it? So pretty I thought it worthwhile to use a $5 polaroid sheet with my large format camera to capture it. I won't mention that I ruined a polaroid in the process because the film didn't open when I pulled it which always makes me annoyed and ashamed. But there I went and mentioned it - so now you have the whole story. So anyways, it took some googling to get a copy of the old manual for this camera to figure out how it works. I think I've figured it out and I've got a roll in there to test out if it exposes properly. I will be very old school when I use it since I have to carry around a light meter with me to take any photos since there isn't one built in. I imagine it will be worth the effort though and I will share whatever the results are. (Unless I'm a complete failure with it and then you'll never hear me refer to this camera again)

not colorado

One would be correct in thinking that this photo does not look like Colorado, since this is in Dalat, Vietnam. Longest hike ever. I think it was something like 15 miles. It's back from my 2007 trip, and I've just scanned my negatives, which is exciting because until now, I've only been able to look at them by holding the slide up and squinting toward the sunlight. I'm still figuring out how to scan well, so I'm not 100% happy with the quality I've been getting with it, but I've got some practice to do. And I hear that reading the manual would help.

So I've got a handful more that I've put up on my flickr site - of our hike in Dalat and the ruins in Cambodia, which makes me overheated just to look at them. Ahh good lord it was hot there. I wonder what all the people we met back in Southeast Asia are up to now. They've probably long forgotten about us. But I love that it only takes a photo to bring back all of the memories. Sigh. Deep thoughts.

gossip who?

I try to keep my gossip addiction controlled and under wraps. Note that I deleted the Page Six web link from my bookmarks and I only read Us Weekly when I haven't paid for it, thus I do not technically support it. I cannot stop my Gawker addiction though, as annoying as that website can sometimes be. While perusing the site yesterday for my fix, I came across something that makes my celeb-centric brain cells fill with a glee like no other. It involves Blind Items. I love them. I love to guess who the scandalous stories are about (they never give names, but rather hints). And yes, I know, they quite possibly may not be true (although let's face it, they are). So yesterday's blind item roundup on Gawker included a link to a website where BLIND ITEMS ARE REVEALED! They totally name names! I don't know how they can get away with it, but if it's available, I approve! Check it out.

rainbow bright

Rainbows are pretty common here since it rains often, and last night there were not just one, but TWO rainbows after the storm. The second one you can faintly make out in the photo to the right of the one that is quite clear. So pretty.

future travels...

It's been kind of rainy the last two days (typical Telluride summers I hear) which I have used as an excuse to stay indoors and plan out my next big trip. I know, I just got here a month ago and had a pretty decent size road trip to get here, but my mind is always active when it comes to this kind of stuff - stuff like travel and vacations; not stuff like work, reading, etc. But hear me out - this one involves what could be qualified as "work".

And let me start out by saying this post is also a proposal for anyone who wants to join me. I would rather not do this by myself. And more accurately, I won't do it by myself, so please come!

A little background: I really want to work on my photography. I would love to travel to take photos of another culture, and I've been wanting to volunteer in another country for years now. After finally putting some serious thought into it, I realized that these two ideas could go hand in hand. I brainstormed and found a great website that lists volunteer organizations in South and Central America where they don't require their volunteers to pay to participate - you just have to pay for accommodation/meals/etc which is so inexpensive there. So I was looking into each of them and found several wonderful organizations where I could volunteer with locals, hopefully get to teach some art classes or anything really, and I could work on a photo project documenting the work I would do and the people with whom I would be working. I think it could be such an amazing and rewarding experience. As for where I want to go, I am tending to focus on programs in Nicaragua. A friend from Australia had traveled there and absolutely loved it. She said the people were amazing, the landscape was beautiful and the vibe was mellow. So I searched on the trusty Flickr website for visuals of the country and found that it seems just that - the culture looks beautiful. And since it's a smaller country off the beaten track, it wouldn't feel like I'm in Disneyland, which sadly tends to happen too often in major tourist destinations. And during my research, I've read more about the countries nearby, like Costa Rica (where I've been before, but I was 16 so I think it's time for a refresher), Guatemala, Belize and Panama, so I decided I can add in some travel time to visit another part of the world I've never seen before. FUN right??

Here's the fatal flaw for most of you (which is where I'll understand if you aren't able to join me): the volunteering will be for at least a month and then I'm hoping to travel for another few weeks after to the surrounding countries. I know, I know. There is that silly thing called "work" that most of you take part in. But if anyone's up for a mid-life crisis and would want to quit their jobs and join me, that would be wonderful. I don't know when this will be - my sister's telling me that I may die in the winter here with the temperature drop and my lack of passion for winter sports, so I may aim for early next year so I can get a taste for the winter here but leave before I get SAD (the seasonal disorder, not the emotion). But who knows. I can tell you though that I am obsessed with researching this trip at the moment and currently have multiple Lonely Planet books opened up next to me, so I'm hoping to make this happen sooner rather than later.

Any takers??

Oh and PS - apparently Tom and Katie are in town! Us Weekly showed them in Telluride for the parade on the 4th, but I sadly missed them. How?! I am disappointed in myself and my celeb sighting skills.

happy 5th of july

Charlotte says hello.

my claim to fame

Wayne has been in the Plein Air Festival here which has been happening all week long. Artists from all over the country were selected to come to Telluride and paint the town in their own style and then display them at the end of the week for all to enjoy. It's so exciting to see him doing so well and just how much people love his paintings, since we have all loved his work since the beginning, we were just waiting for everyone else to be able to see his talent. He also had an article written about him in the local paper which came out really great - you can read it here.

Anyways, I'll stop tooting his horn. But wanted to share a photo of the exhibition that they held outdoors today that was packed with people. It was so much fun - oldies playing from the speakers, people interested in art talking with the actual artists, a perfect sunny day, dogs dressed up for the 4th, and Wayne sold some of his paintings...all in all a success!

i like pink?

This photo is an oldie, from last year's Hong Kong trip, but I felt the visuals needed a change (anyone sick of landscapes yet?), so there you go.

Anyways, I really have nothing much to say. Just wanted to drop a line.

Although I will say that I am rather disturbed by the price of polaroids nowadays. I mean, I know they've always been on the pricey side, but I can't believe that even on ebay you have to shell out about 4 dollars per sheet. I know that the polaroid is coming to an end and all, but I think we should all be able to enjoy the last few months of it. Rich and poor. Big and small. Tall and short. Due to the demise of the beloved polaroid, I will be switching to Fuji instant film, and buying the cheaper, smaller size. I am very thrifty, as most of you know. (case in point: my wardrobe consisting of Old Navy, H&M, and outfits I wore in high school)

There's my rant for the day. Wasn't that fun? I'll be sure to entertain you with more very soon, I am sure.

Oh yes, and happy 4th!!