Tuesday, November 29, 2011

breaking the rules and asking for suggestions


I need to make one adjustment to my list. At first I wouldn't let myself change it, because that seemed wrong. But then I realized this is my own damn list and I make the rules. 
#17 on my list was to swim with the bioluminescent plankton in Puerto Rico. We're no longer going to Puerto Rico (for now...we might make our way there eventually), so I need to replace #17 with a different goal. And I have no idea what that should be. Any suggestions? Make sure it's not something a realist would pick (see previous post about that here).

I'll leave you with a Pinterest find, maybe to spark your imagination and help me find a replacement goal. The only word on the list below that I have heard of is 'saudade', because when I visited Brazil a few years ago, the people I met there told me that's how I would feel about leaving Brazil. But my 2 favorite words on the list are 'forelsket' (even though it may or may not sound like foreskin and that does not make you think about falling in love) and 'gheegle' because I am forever being made fun of for wanting to squish cute things.
Perhaps #17 can have something to do with incorporating new words in to my vocabulary.






Monday, November 28, 2011

how a sitcom got me thinking.


I heard the above quote the other day while watching the show Modern Family with the husband. He immediately looked over at me and smirked, and I knew what he was thinking: he's the dreamer, and I'm the realist. HOW BORING AND TERRIBLE IS THAT? I see where he's coming from - I'm constantly reminding him to not be TOO positive in his thinking (for example, don't overshoot on estimating that holiday bonus we get at work...), but I do it because I'd much, much rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed. Not that there's really anything (too) wrong with being a realist, but I don't want to be a straight-up realist. I'd love to be a drealist. A dreamer who is realistic in her thinking. And maybe that's what this blog is about, anyway. So at first, I was thinking, "is my list too full of 'realistic' things, other than things I've dreamed of my whole life"? So I came to my blog prepared to bulk up my list full of ridiculous, almost unachievable things, but then I really read through my list again. I mean...I think it's kind of a dreamer mentality to assume that I'll be able to master photos the way my idol's take them, go to Greece, see the Northern Lights, visit Spain, learn to tango, become fluent in Portuguese and give birth in 5 years! If I met someone who did all of that in that amount of time, I'd definitely high five them.
For a while I struggled with seeing all these people I went to high school with (some of them younger than me) post pictures of their insane, world-traveled lives. I mean, people who couldn't form a proper sentence as a high school Junior were suddenly in Bangkok working at PR firms, or in Buenos Aires hosting their own TV shows. Really? How the hell did that happen? I'd see old friends of mine posting pictures from Australia and then no more than a week later, they were in Greece. Needless to say, I was a bit jealous. And when I say "a bit", what I mean is that I was foaming at the mouth. I had all of these travel dreams I wanted to achieve and either nobody to go with me (I'm scared to go alone...I've seen Taken. And Locked up Abroad on NatGeo.), or nobody I could count on to follow through on travel plans.
But then I met my husband. One of the things I told him I loved about him when we first started dating was that he doesn't just dream up things, he actually achieves them. Always. And even though we get made fun of for planning our lives 3 years in advance (and I'll admit, sometimes I wish we didn't have a plan yet for next November), I know that we'll get to my list. And I know that we'll get to his.
So, husband, thank you for getting me off the ground. And thank you for making this list seem as important as if it was your own.



Monday, November 7, 2011

#12 - master taking photos the way i picture them in my brain

Let me start off this post by saying that I'm a terrible, sorry excuse for a blogger. I get so caught up in reading other people's awesome, inspiring, creative blogs and instead of thinking "good idea for an update!", I think "shit. Well I can't top that"...but I've come to the realization that I'm totally okay with that, as long as I just use this to keep trying to cross my entire list off.
SO.
This post is an inspiration of sorts for me. Goal #12 on my 30before30 list was to master taking photos the way I picture them in my brain. I've never been able to pinpoint the kind or type of photography that I love doing. That's probably because I say I enjoy photography (a LOT), but I never go out of my way to make it a real hobby. One that I can say I've done several times in a month, or that I've practiced at to become perfect. So here are some links with photographs or photo projects that I've compiled for the last few weeks and are SO, so, so inspirational. They range from portraits of families (with badass, tattooed rockstar parents, or jewelry-maker-gone-interior-designer-moms, of course. Who else would I want to photograph??), to homes that are beautifully decorated, to children with some super intense, show-stopping gazes. 
Hopefully this will get me off my ass and get me in gear to reach this goal. Soon.

1. Families Project. I love the idea of candids of a family, as one of my goals is to take weekly pictures of my children (preferably with my husband as a regular in the photos, too). These are very simple photos, but they express a lot.
Peek:

& Link to project: Here


2. Kimberly Coole. She is a freelance travel photographer. Which equals my dream. No big deal or anything. 
Link to project: Here



3. Philip Klinger. He takes amazing architecture photography, that's simple and not overly edited.
Peek: 

& Link to photostream: Here


4. Lonngren/Widell Photography. The portfolio consists of everything from portraits, to lifestyle, to still life, but I mostly love their Interior Design photography. How fun would it be to invade people's personal, private spaces and see what they keep in there?! 
Peek: 

& Link to gallery: Here


I'll try to do a weekly or bi-weekly roundup of inspiring photos for myself, stay tuned! 
PS. I actually got RAINED on during my run this morning!!! I never thought I'd see rain again, much less feel it. 


 
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