Monday, October 31, 2011

I've always admired people who have large and diverse wardrobes full of great vintage and designer pieces. I personally can't stand clutter and usually clean out my closet pretty regularly -donating the dull bits and selling the good stuff for a few measly bucks to any of a handful of resale stores. Last month I sold a pair of J Brand jeans to Buffalo Exchange for, I think, $8. That really hurt. Those things were $90 at the secret discount designer denim store. But when I bought them the girl convinced me to buy the smaller of the two sizes I'd tried on. "Won't they shrink a little?" I asked, knowing the answer already. "Not much. Look how great the fit is!" She said. I should have stuck with my instincts. I'm quite thin but at the time I bought them I was thinner than I should ever be again (thank you stress!) and a year later they were ridiculously tight. So tight they made my back hurt, in fact, and I just couldn't wear them anymore.
When I hang onto to things too long (outside of favorites that I can wear for yard work or something) I start to feel like a hoarder. Even beautiful vintage pieces I eventually have to let go of. But these days, what with scraping by as I pay for school, tools and search for a new job to build a new career, the sting of $8 for a pair of jeans that originally retailed for nearly $200 is brutal (unless you're on the other side of it, in which case: yipee!). You can visit my closet clean out, school financing efforts at Booboo Kitten Vintage (when I don't have any idea, I just name things after my pets).

Saturday, October 29, 2011

I promised myself I'd start going out more often, specifically to see art. My goal is for at least one art outing per week and tonight was the first. I chose a show that was listed in a weekly "must see" type newsletter and also in a local weekly newspaper. I knew there were a few other galleries in the immediate area also having openings tonight so I figured even if the one show wasn't super satisfying there'd be at least a few others I could check out, too.
Today was, I swear, challenging me to stay home and watch movies with the pups. A busy afternoon, a haircut at four across town in one direction (my house in the middle) and the gallery openings at 6 across town in the other direction. Every time I got on the freeway it was all people driving cray vs. people driving slow as hell (sometimes I feel like that's a sign telling me to stay home and off the road).
I got home at 6. Fed the pups and changed my clothes up a little for my outing. I figured even if I was somehow too late I'd be happier with myself for making the effort than I would if I caved in and put on the fuzzy slippers and the movie I borrowed from the library.
I was planning to see what looked like a beautiful show of photographs but when I was looking for parking I saw that a gallery across the street was open too and something about it was calling me. I parked and headed over there first and (lucky, lucky me) it was an exhibit of Jeremy Fish and Kenichi Yokono. I hadn't even seen the opening listed. I'm not much for describing art, I think we all need to see it for ourselves, but I rustled up a few images for you of pieces that weren't in the show tonight (wish my camera would share photo's with me but at the moment it's not).




top three: Jeremy Fish



these two: Kenichi Yokono

After making a few rounds there I wandered back across the street to see the photo's I'd originally been heading for. They were beautiful and even looked like film photo's, which was a relief. Digital can be beautiful too but it's just not the same. 
All in all a great outing and mission accomplished! I head home stopping by the grocery for homemade mac and cheese ingredients and am now fuzzy slippered, baking and heading to the couch for a movie and the company of my (fairly) patient pups.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

I have my own special thing about weather. For one thing I love it. I love how it can change from one day to the next, I love how it can change my mood. I just plain love it. Sometimes, however, I get a little sad when a season ends before I feel like I've had my fill and usually the season I get most upset about losing is summer. I'm sure this is connected to childhood when the end of summer meant back to school and routine, no more vacation, no more roller skating all day, no more swimming. What's funny is that when I was a kid I didn't really like summer weather, I much preferred winter, but the last few years I've felt really attached to summer (helps that I live on the other side of the hills now where the climate is a little better). The long days you can get so much done in, starting yard work at six in the evening, and all that sunshine makes me really happy.
At the start of this season I wasn't ready for summer to end (as usual) but as I began to notice the difference in light, how all day the sun is never as bright as it was in summer -how did this never seem so obvious to me before? And I began to shift into a warmer wardrobe and change my schedule just a little, enjoyed evening walks that felt very late because they were very dark and I realized how much I'm loving this season. Maybe it's because I woke up to beautiful plinking rain but suddenly baking and reading in bed sound like a fabulous time again.
Tonight is the eve of the new moon in Scorpio, the sign of transformation. And I'm letting go of all the past bits that have been haunting me all summer and into the fall. I'm ready for brand newness.



Wednesday, October 19, 2011


sta·sis/ˈstāsis/

1. a period or state of inactivity or equilibrium
2. a stoppage of flow
3. motionless

Friday, October 14, 2011

It Happened Today


In case I haven't mentioned it before, I have a huge aversion to defining and planning. I like to live free and loose, let come what may. At the rare times in life when I have felt a plan was required I've always noticed that it has to be changed, has to be flexible, even has to be abandoned. The times in my life which were most successful have been unplanned. I've found it's best to just think of the desired outcome and let opportunities unroll before me.
This is not to say I haven't tried to be a more traditional planner. I certainly have, for most of my life I've been told this is the ONLY way. And what I've found is that I have never been able to achieve any success by following prescribed steps. It's only at the times when I've abandoned everything and just lived in which anything of significance has been achieved. And so finally I abandoned believing in planning too.
But people, oooh people. People will tell you you MUST. It is required, it is not optional. You must tell us exactly who you are, what you intend to do, the steps you will follow and the outcome you will achieve. And for some this works, I've seen it work. Sometimes it's successful, often it's anticlimactic. I find it dull and it fails me every time. I don't know who I am. I don't know where I'm going and the steps that will get me there haven't yet been revealed. But I know that each time I've needed and I have said what I needed, it's found a way into my life. And I've found that those things which I thought I needed most, and which found their ways into my life via the hardest of work, were the most disappointing. And so now there is no longer any thing that is so monumental, which feels so unattainable that I cannot have them simply by expressing a secret silent desire. A signal.
And this is how I will live forever.

Sunday, October 9, 2011


A couple times now I've heard that if you're feeling stuck you should move (I think it's) 17 items in your house, most effective if you remove 17 items from your house apparently. It's some kind of feng shui cure or something and I can't remember the actual number, maybe it's 27 actually. Anyway, not the point. I'm lousy at doing things perfectly or because I'm supposed to. When I first heard this I asked if it counts if I move these items because I'm cleaning and put them back in the same place, does this work? The answer was yes. Even so, as I said, I'm lousy at following these assignments. I have always noticed, however, that if I'm feeling icky and I clean my house I feel a hell of a lot better. I don't know if it's just because everything looks a lot nicer (I tend to let things go and I'm somewhat untidy by nature) or if it's because I moved a bunch of crap. I'm betting it's some combination of both and this evening I'm reaping the benefits once again.
If you'll jaunt over to my astro blog sometime in the next few days I will hopefully have finished the story of my attempt at internet dating which somehow left me feeling like crap for no apparent reason (it's not finished because I have to re-research the relevant astro that I already knew and forgot -ps: I just read part of an article in Vogue this evening that's making me wonder if I have ADHD. Seriously.) What was I saying?! Oh right. I also finally got it together today to do some of the cleaning I've been putting off all week. Why is it that I find it so hard to take care of my home stuff (cleaning, gardening, etc.) when I have a job/school? And now with my surprise week long vacation I'd planned to be far more productive than I have been (although there was some last minute work and a surprise tire emergency to tend so I'm not entirely to blame). Anyway! I finally got around to putting all my herbal formula's (I've got my own personal holistic pharmacy it seems) away in the cupboard rather than cluttering the cutting board as they have been for weeks, made room in said cupboard by tossing my empties, mopped floors, put over a months worth of free weekly newspapers into the recycling, took out overflowing recycling bag, etc. I moved and removed a lot of stuff -I didn't count. But I feel a lot better (as I knew I would) and I can't decide if it's because I got it done and everything now looks a lot better or if there might be some weight to this feng shui cure. I feel like I can't possibly ever know. Maybe someone out there will have the discipline to move 27 objects at least one inch from their original resting spots without cleaning, tidying or removing and tell me if they feel any better after. I know I'll never get to it.

also from Moon to Moon

Tuesday, October 4, 2011


I'm kind of stuck on the inside lately and I saw on the news tonight that the first rain storm of the season is heading in. Earlier I saw a photo of a rainy street in New York on Elsa Bilgren's blog and it made me wish for some rain here so I'm going to take responsibility as if I'm manifesting the rain. It is one of my favorite things and usually washes away my internal chaos with it's fresh smell and gentle crashing sound. I'm also doused in sandalwood, ylang ylang and rose in hopes of clearing my head and bringing me out of it. I simply can't stand this any longer.