On Second Thought

I am not tech-y.
Well, according to my parents, I am.  I'm not twittery.  I'm not facebooky.  But, that's not the point.  The thing is...
I don't tag my posts here.  I don't categorize them.  And I don't keep track of them in any way shape or form.  Often, the titles are so obscure in regards to the post, I don't have the slightest idea what it means four years later.
So, I was searching for something I wrote awhile ago, to see if there was a certain quote I'd included.  I found the post, but, even then, didn't find the quote.

Now, I've found the quote:

Second thoughts have aborted more dreams than all the difficult circumstances, overwhelming obstacles, and dangerous detours fate ever could throw at you. Undermining your authenticity by succumbing to someone else's second thoughts is a sinister, subtle, and seductive form of self-abuse.--sarah ban breathnach

And then, I found that I quite like looking back
and I enjoyed re-reading these finds, like
this post
this post
and this post

annnnnd was just about to feel badly about a year passing since I wrote this hopeful post,
when I realized this all started with a search for the quote.
I re-read the quote.
Must remember the quote.

Word has it

snow is coming this way...

1887 Shotwell, 22nd-24th

1951,  heaviest snowfall of the 20th C. in San Francisco, the little boy didn't like it too much

1962, Hwy 280

1962, Sunset District

1976

I, for one, am MORE than ready.  Bring it!
I really love the snow.
No, not the late April, early May kind of snow.
Not so much yellow snow.
And not slushy snow.
Not when I'm underdressed.
And not when it goes over the top of your boots and wets your socks.

But the snow that falls surprisingly for the first time.
The snow that is airy and worthy of patting into a snowball.
The snow that leaves a blank slate behind.
The snow thats new.

I don't really expect we'll see any down here on SF city streets like the old days,
but a girl can always hope.


(photos)

it's darwinian

In the parking lot we were dynamos. Whirlwinds. We were rulers. 

We had complete autonomy. We had it all in a world that had nothing to offer us. --scott meiggs

I recently saw a really fun, interesting, relate-able in that I've-had-a-lot-of-shitty-underling-jobs-too way, movie about, believe it or not, a parking lot:  The Parking Lot Movie.

doubt not, they've got you covered

 
Questionable, some of the disparate bedfellows?:
Tuberculosis, Aviators
Athletes, Funeral Directors
(or not...)
Doctors, Surgeons, Jewelers

Others, getting two categories of coverage, seemingly strange (or not...):  Virgins are listed under St Joan of Arc and Miraculous.

All I know is, when I found this unassuming little list, taped to a countertop, in a church basement thrift store, I felt instantly a part of something,
anything.

One Good Kid

 We took Stella to our first owner/dog/ community meeting the other day.

 It really felt like a parent/teacher/school meeting.  It had all the elements:
Everyone paid close attention, except those who don't pay any attention at all, to their dogs
how they were getting along with others,
how they were interacting with the adults,
and when the meeting began, how controlled or out of hand your dog was while the adults talked.

It was weird.
And, it felt like a home.

It was about the politics of dog ownership and our social and political backers.

It's a whole world we're in.
Oh, we're in it.  deeper. every. passing. week.

And I'm not complaining one bit.

We do it alllll for this one...

Besides snuggling up like a little ball when she's sleeping,
Stella loves herself some outdoor time.
And, right now, the freedom of off-leash outdoor time is being threatened by some big-time reversals of off-leash laws around these parts.

And free, off-leash Stella is some of the best Stella there is.

So, we get ourselves involved.
For her sake.

 

 Cuz, when she's not outdoors, running free,  

 

I kinda feel like she's thinking about it.

Vegans

Kirsten Lepore, twice in one week!

Think Beautiful

Announcements were published.
A call was out.
The people responded, and
A book was made of the most beautiful people in the world.
The interpretation of beautiful was left completely up to each individual.

The one thing the author found, time and time again, was that the people that wholly believed they were beautiful, were also, seemingly, the happiest people in the world. He found this from people that were living under a plastic sheet with no water, from people who were paid a few cents on the hour, and from people who you wouldn't normally associate with the feeling happiness. Because they felt beautiful, in whatever way they defined beauty, they appeared to grant themselves a sense of serenity we call happy.

I was mesmerized yesterday afternoon, as I sat in the grocery store parking lot, listening to this happy, beautiful broadcast on my car radio.  Of course, the secret to it all.  BELIEVE you're beautiful and the rest falls into place.

And that's a happy, beautiful thing.

Beauty Surrounds

Totally, totally, TOTALLY biased:  While I do think my dog is one of the most beautiful creatures out there, I must accept she becomes even more beautiful when in a gorgeous setting like Bernal Heights.

Meeting up with a new dog pal, Penny, the two of them roamed the hills of gorgeous-ness while the human's of us stood, stared, and talked a whole lotta dog (did you see that? did you see what she just did?! mygodisn'tshe cute/crazy/funny/adorable/hungry/hurt/happy?!?).  Life changing.  When I really allow myself to stop and think about it;  when I really question that the only people I see on a daily basis are "dog people";  when I happily admit these dog people are now totally my people;  when an old friend meets me in the park and I wind up introducing every human, and their dog, by name (and often personality) I must look into their eyes and say out loud, "Yup.  Life Changing." 
That's what Stella's done to me. 
Done to us.
She has become an absolute, integral, huuuge part of our marriage, it's true.
So, when Stella gets snooping and sniffing and leaping and flying through the tall, damp grass,
I just melt.

When I see her, just a tiny dot of gold out there in the green, I beam.

When she looks up at me,

backwards at me,
over her shoulder at me,
winks at me, peeks at me,
stares at me,
I am lit from within.



and, for a little bit more...

i love love

Congratulations to the two winners of the 8mm ideas card give-away:  Marion W.B. & Julie B.   Woot!  Woot!  A dozen cards of love and thanks are headed your way.  Thanks to all who threw their names into the hat and shared stories.  I LOVE hearing others' classic stories of a wacky national holiday.


And for an absolute lovely, unique, bittersweet way to spend part of your day, watch Mary and Max.  Remember, this day and every day:

This Is All About The Shout Outs

Amazing few weeks around here:  The Love & Snark show was a big hit and I don't have one photo to show for it!  Too much meeting and greeting to stop and snap.  Super good time that I can't wait to repeat in the next gallery or shop I come across.  As always, I couldn't do any of it without all the fantastic peeps that come out to party and support.

Before that big night was The Art of Craft weekend held at my sister's shop, French General.  Teaching the Curiosity Box class was a thrill.  30 fantastically creative women sat and crafted to their heart's content, coming out with some amazing ideas.

I've not taken many classes myself, but am so totally impressed by the gusto of these women who do sign up with pure joy of the unknown, go into the project with a real sense of adventure and friendship, and come out the other side with something really personal, really beautiful. 
Thanks to each and every one of you.

And, finally, with all this creative spirit whirling around, my mom went and opened herself an Etsy shop!  Kick is a Francophile thru and thru and she's gotta find a way to support the habit, this just seemed like the perfect outlet.  She even made an announcement on her Book Of Faces page!  If I write Kick's age here, she'll kill me, but let's just say, the pride I feel for my own mom stepping up to 2011 is beyond measure.  A real shout out for Kick!

New Shop Crop!

8mmideas.com

I really do have some fantabulous reps:  Getting out there, spreading the word of 8mm ideas and all the wacky-ness it brings.

The latest crop of great shops must be seen:

Le Chien Et Moi (they actually found me all on their own, all the way from the other side of the pond!), I dream of entering this shop someday, feeding their little chien a biscuit and then just spending the rest of the day in here.

RK and I are huuuuge birders (sometimes quietly, other times, just flat outloud!) That's why the shop Fat Finch is so exciting to be a part of.  Imagine, loving the little feathered ones since childhood and then opening a shop all about your obsession.  Ah, the life...

Bookstores are big fans of my cards, which makes sense to me:  I spent most of my idyllic young life in bookstores, hiding among the shelves, pulling out a book inspired by the look of it's spine, waiting for my mom to cough once to tell me it's time to go.  I pour over the pages they provide and am inspired time and time again.  Secret Garden Bookshop and Queen Anne Books in Seattle are two more juicy havens of the printed word that are now carrying the cards.

I'm super excited to be part of VAIN, a very fashion-forward, hip shop that will now be sporting some fabulous 8mm style, too!  I gotta get my butt up to Seattle, man, it seems the West Coast is revolving around this town and it's passing me by...

I'm all sorts of happy watching the cards make their way into the world. 

8mmideas.com / not for reproduction

hey, if you haven't yet entered the 8mm ideas card giveaway, get in there! you have til friday!

There's something about Ginger

Virginia. 

I don't know her,
but of course,
I feel like I do.

Ginger is this week's obsession at Other People's Lives.

The eye on this photo is a little scratched out with pencil.  Maybe she was moving slightly in the photo and didn't like the blur, tried to scratch it away...annnd, turns out that doesn't work.  

Again, I don't know.

But I do know that Virginia never fails in the exquisite fashion department.

Write More Letters

I'd love to send out a little 'giveaway' to someone.
A little love & thank you package of cards.
Mixed set, a dozen cards that help you say
'gads, i'm crazy about you'  or
'thank you for being so rad' or
'thank goodness you love me like you do, thank you'
The cards don't actually say that, but aid you in that direction.


Since I love a good story:  Leave a comment with a tale of your favorite valentine
or your worst,
and I'll pick two people at random and send a set your way. 
Think of this as making it an even better valentines than the worst one you've had.

I miss the days when a pencil sharpner that looked like this was cutting edge.  Hell, anything that wasn't attached to the wall, at one point, was cutting edge.

Now, who uses pencils but me and a bunch of first graders?

Sometimes the speed of technology bums me out.

getting excited, getting to all about excited

and the show is hung, by the moose head, with care

love, made from my hair, not for sale

and the pine cones, making their appearance, make another appearance here

WE     are so it

TONIGHT!!
Love & Snark
Serendipity
803 Valencia Street
(x 19th)

6 - 9pm,

would love to see you all there....

i pine for you

One of my favorites from the upcoming Love & Snark show:  the pine cone specimen jars.

I did a whole shelf display of the majestic cones, four different types, because they're a year-round love-affair of mine.