Retro Weekend - Sunday Snippets (blogtoberfest day 30)

I love using my cell phone to capture my weekend adventures. I particularly like using all the different "retro" or "vintage" camera apps available right now. But while I love making my current pictures look vintage, I noticed that many of my pictures taken this weekend for the final Sunday Snippets for Blogtoberfest 2011 were of truly vintage things. Even without the fancy filters.

On Friday, Matt and I watched Amanda Palmer at the beautifully restored Birch North Park Theater (the first two pictures above). And then today we went to one of our favorite coffee shops--Cafe Bassam (the rest of the pictures, except the last)--which is full of innumerable objects of interest and history, and wandered around some of the beautiful historical neighborhoods in San Diego. Bassam's has so many antique and fun pieces in their cafe. Not pictured: the many oil paintings, racks of rifles and muskets, and even more! So lovely and fun. I feel so blessed to have so much charming history in the objects and architecture around me.

What a lovely month it has been. Thank you for taking a peek at it here and there. 

Because I will be the picture of discipline, never minding what state I'm in...

Friday night I saw the incomparable Amanda Palmer in concert at the Birch North Park Theater. It was one of the best live shows I've seen. Fantastic. 

I find Amanda incredibly inspiring. I love that she has been brave enough to simply make art and find a way to live from it. I wish I had been as brave and focused as she seems to have been. Of course no one is as together as their image, and she often alludes to her disbelief that like-minded young women see her as a person who has "figured it out"--but there is no denying her commitment to art and striving for personal artistic authenticity. 

In her song "In My Mind" she explores that sense of striving to be "better" that I think so many people--maybe particularly women--feel throughout life. And the discovery at the end, that she is exactly who she wants to be is a place I want to reach. Perfection is impossible, but if we're doing work we find meaningful, the perfect details aren't important. 

(blogtoberfest day 29)

Whew! I'm sleepy today, after a late Friday night. But it's been a busy day so far. Right now we're in the middle of brewing an American Stout. I hope it turns out good! I'll post all about it next week, but here's a little peek at what we've been up to today:

Tonight!

Happy Friday!

Taking Stock (blogtoberfest day 27)

I loved this post when I read it on Susannah Conway's blog last week. I even thought to myself, "I should make a list like that" for a brief moment, and then dismissed it. I don't think I lack authenticity or "realness" on this blog, but I think it's nice to take stock of the situation every now and again. 

Anyway, I had already forgotten about it when I came up on this invitation from tinniegirl in the course of catching up on my Blogtoberfest reading. I took it as a sign (which I suppose is a dangerous precedent to set--it may obligate me to accept more invitations. Hmm... I'll worry about it later), so here is my good/not-so-good list.

Things that are Good:

1. Home/Family ie: Matt & Hamilton. Our little life in our little apartment is lovely. It has been a blessing to be able to spend almost all of every day together for the last couple years (couple months in the case of Hamilton). Life won't always be like this. One or both of us will work out of the home. Maybe we'll have a kid and life will change forever. I'm trying to really be present for the love and freedom and snuggling and laziness and thoughtfulness and joy in our cozy home. 

2. I'm employed through January. That's just as it sounds. The job that was supposed to end when I moved to San Diego, and then was supposed to end last January, and then tomorrow, is being extended through the end of Q2--the end of January. Who knows if it will last beyond then, and the work is far from fulfilling, but for now I'm thankful not to have to find a new job at holiday time.

3. Learning. I am loving Blogging Your Way, and now Get Your Paint On has started. It's a bit of a battle against my October blues to put in the time and focus, but I'm excited about the topics we're exploring and the connections I'm making. I'm really excited about the painting demos in GYPO. Yay!

4. The pantry is organized.

Things that are Crap:

1. That whole weight/fitness situation. I lost about 15 lbs a few months ago, but I've now gained it all back. I just can't bring myself to drag my body out of bed in the morning to walk or run. I love it when I'm in that habit, but once I'm out... ugh. It feels impossible. And then I feel bad about not doing it. And we all know how the shame spiral works. Sigh.

2. Career/sense of purpose. I want so badly to find That Thing. My Passion. Reading about people's epiphanes and experiences that told them what they were meant to do makes me so jealous. I like a lot of stuff, but I lack direction. And the list making and personality quizzes recommended in most classes and books serve only to scatter me more. I'm discouraged. Very discouraged.

3. The Sad. Do you ever get that? I sure do. Just when I'm feeling most envigorated or motivated (or when I'm feeling neither) I will wake up in a deep malaise. It doesn't last as long now as it used to, but it's there. A thing. A definite contributer to the two-steps-forward-one-step-back nature of my life. Exacerbated, but I don't think caused, by my lack of direction.

Overall life is good. I can't believe how blessed we are at our house: relatively healthy, employed, living in a comfy apartment, eating excellent food, drinking the best drinks, and having as much fun as work and volunteer schedules will allow. But I'd be happy to trade a little of the free fun time for a sense of direction. And a little less of the sad.