Monday, March 19, 2007

blog #014 >>The Old Sites


Please don't judge my skill as a graphic designer by these sites. I haven't updated them since before I graduated from school. They said it was extra credit to add flash... so I added flash, flashy flash, and perhaps overdid it just a bit. Also, I don't ever remember checking the spelling on the Calligraphy one, so apologies and let me know if you catch anything. Oh, and they only work on days that end in any letter other than "y" so don't be surprised if the type scrolls off the page or if you see weird flashes of light. It's perfectly normal... for my coding. Can't wait to finish the new site!
T
(Don't even bother trying the links. I have disactivated them until the new site is finished.)

blog #013 >> new website's banner

Just so long as I'm posting stuff...
Here's the banner to my new website, which has been long in the making. It seems I only have time to work on it when I'm not working. Which means, it may take a few more months to get up and running.












yet another of my many blogspot complaints... it looked so much better before blogspot resized it! Stupid Blogspot.

blog #012 >>online sketch book

I hope this works...










blog #011 >>new apartment photos

Hello all,
I realize that this is really late in coming being that I moved over a month ago. But I've been really REALLY busy. However, due to a fortunate turn of events, I was able to pull some strings and make some calls and have this Saturday off. Yeah! Only now I have no idea what I should do with myself. I've been working on the weekends so long I've forgotten how to take a day off. So, I thought I'd use this hard earned day to finally post my apartment photos and send out my change of address cards.
Therefore for those of you who have never seen my apartment welcome:


This is my desk... and in the bottom corner you can see my accordion. Yes, I am learning to play the accordion! My dad played when he was a kid and we found his old accordions while cleaning out the attic after I moved. Right now I am slightly above awful, but I am getting better. And the neighbors haven't complained yet so I'll take that as a positive sign. This is "Little Silver" the student accordion, (it has the delightful scent of old books when I play it.) And when I get better I get to upgrade to "Big Red" the big accordion... can't wait.


A picture of stuff on my desk.


Being that I am petless, allergic to cats, not enough time for a dog, and I tend to kill fish (and shrimp.) I decided to get some plants, much easier, just add water and sunshine kind of pets. And of course all pets need names so these are: Gus (far back) Adeline (middle) and Vinnie (front) he's a venus fly trap. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I only fed him once and felt so bad for the fly that I haven't fed him since. (It's okay venus fly traps only need to eat twice a year... which I learned from this wonderful website: http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq2000.html)


The living room: This is less than a third of the rattan furniture. I inherited all of it from my grandparents... and they had a lot.


More furniture and the amazing fish light.


Ah, the bookshelves, whom I have Grandma Ide to thank. For without her it'd be cinder blocks and planks of wood... oh, and I suppose I should give IKEA some credit too.


Books on a bookshelf:


More books:


You're now entering the kitchen...


The kitchen, it's hard to see but its got really cute tile.


Before I moved I'd go to Goodwill (and around) buy stuff for the apartment, and box them up. Little did I realize that I had accumulated three sets of dishes, at least seven sets of glasses, and over 100 mugs and tea cups. I donated a bunch of them to the "A Fox, A Rose" coffee shop fund.


More dishes.


The kitchen shelf.


Ah, yes the water closet, just don't get locked in.


The magnets on my filing cabinet in the hall.


It's what I've always wanted... a coat closet.


Well, I have more photos, and I realize I didn't post any of my bedroom yet. But I haven't hung up any of the pictures in there yet. So, another day perhaps... if fate allows.
But really if you want to see more of my apartment than you'll just have to come visit me.
Until the next Saturday I happen to have off.
T

blog #010 >> a brownie hawkeye
is not a dessert

I must admit that although I like to play with cameras... I am a not a photographer. Even though I have a fairly good eye for composition, the art of lighting still seems to allude me. However, I do have a delightful little camera, (called a brownie hawkeye) that can take a lovely picture... just so long as you are outside, at two-o'clock, on a slightly overcast day, with your back to the sun, and are taking a picture of something that already has pretty high contrast. This camera has taught me more about lighting in a week, than I've ever bothered to learn in a year. We're the perfect match.

I got my camera, (that once belonged to my grandma) from a box in the attic. Took it to Blue Moon Camera, (in St. Johns across from the newspaper office/tattoo parlor/skateshop) and they got it all fixed up with film, and the correct spools, and taught me how to use it for just seven something... I forgot the actual price, but it was well worth the cost. It was kinda a pain, because it takes 160 film and Kodak only makes 120. But that's okay, because at Blue Moon Camera they actually respool 120 film onto 160 spools. If you have an old camera go there. They rock. Hard. In fact, here's their website: www.bluemooncamera.com.

Unfortunately, this was the practice roll, and a few of my pictures didn't make it. Between me dropping it and exposing all the pictures, (which luckily happen at night, but unluckily under a street light) and my nephew not knowing there was film in it and running around the house clicking, it was remarkable that there was anything on it at all. Over all it did take some photoshop magic to get them presentable, but not too much considering that I took them. I like to think of them as artsy,
not crummy.

Well, enough of me writing everything that is rambling in my brain and which no one really wants to read. Here are the
nine survivors.













Yes, I know the contrast and lighting... is really really bad...
but it is the practice roll, after all.

blog #009 >>Anticipation or September

It's September again,
and that can only mean one thing.
That change is in the air.

I really don't know why the new year begins in January. Why the middle of winter? Nothing is new, except the calendar by the frig. What happens in January that doesn't happen in February? Well, nothing really. Except, mhhh... Ground Hog's Day. Oh, wait that's in February... My point exactly, there is nothing new in January, except the New Year. The world certainly isn't changing. It's completely frozen over, by winters icy grip. The spring thaw still a couple months away. The world is as still and the ice on the window pane. The only movement is the dripping of water off the icicles as it melts and glistens in the cold pale sunlight. The world is asleep. And so am I.

I always thought that the new year should start in September. Now there's a month with a lot of new beginings... at least in my life. The world is changing. The leaves start turning, birds fly south for the winter, and the first frost starts to rest early in the morning. And with the turning of the season, comes the change in my life. Nine out of ten of my major life changes have come during the month of September. School starts in September, I have found most all of my jobs during September, and things just seem to become different. I don't feel a year older on my birthday, I feel older in September.

And now here it is again, that month that I've been anticipating all year. September. I feel like I'm on the brink of a cliff... soon all the world will fade away beneath me and something new and different will come slowly into view. I know that when I wake up in the morning, that tomorrow will be entirely different from today. A great change is coming closer with each day, and I can't wait to see what it might be.

(please excuse the flowery language.)

blog #008 >>Born on the Fourth of July



Here is a picture of my newest little nephew: Charles Walter Woodrow Dorr, (big name, little boy) aka Yankee Doodle Dandy, who was born Tuesday, July 4th at 12:13am. He weighs 8lbs and a half of an ounce, has a lot of dark wavy hair, (like his mom) and blue eyes. He enjoys sleeping, eating, pooping, and crying. And although it cannot be proved, everyone says if you smile at him, he'll smile right back.
So, I've just been a little too preoccupied to be blogging this month.


blog #007 >>The Mad Hatter's Teapot

I realized that I had a lot more to say about this teapot than would fit in the photo caption spot.
So, here it is...
This is by far the most unusual teapot I have ever seen in my life! My grandma bought it for me (I'm not sure she noticed, it's deformity) at The Green Door Antiques, which is also a tea house. They were going out of business, so we were able to get it pretty inexpensively. Now why you would ever need two spouts on a teapot is beyond me. The best answer anyone could come up with (and I even asked the lady at the tea house) was so you can pour two cups of tea at once. And surprisingly you can also pour one cup just as easily, by tilting the pot just a little bit.

blog #006 >>Herbert the Monster:
a silly poem I wrote

Herbert the monster would eat only trees,
But that's okay, 'cause they came up to his knees.

His mother once said he would grow big and strong...
(Following her advice he could never go wrong.)

...He should eat broccoli; and no small amount.
So he ate "little trees" far beyond count.

He grew and he grew 'til his head reached the sky,
His teeth were like chain saws, his mouth opened wide.

He ate and he ate all around town,
All up the mountain, and then back down.

Stomping the ground as he went with his feet,
He started to make what looked like a street.

Then he saw it... the greatest forest of all,
The tress were all, green, juicy, and tall.

He got right to work, it took him all day,
And behind him he left what's called a freeway.(monster designed by Lynda Lye, to download your own monster wallpaper go to http://www.pixelgirlpresents.com, and to see more of her really awesome designs go to http://www.forestprints.com/)

blog #005 >>Meet Super Atomic TV

Super Atomic TV my new online friend, it is not some weird predator... but it is pretty weird. It is a TV show. And it's my new favorite reason to stay up late on a Saturday night. If you have never seen or heard of this new fascinating show, then let me enlighten you.
Super Atomic TV shows Classroom/Hygiene/Atomic Bomb/Red Menace films of the mid-century - along with a bunch of vintage cheesy sci-fi and rubber monster movies. You can check them out online at http://www.superatomictv.com/. It's on local access channel 14, (the only thing worth watching on local access channel 14) and originated right here in good ol' Portland, Ore. The new season started Saturday, June 10 (without the two most awesome hosts in the world, which was quite a disappointing blow!) But it is still worth the watching. I highly suggest tuning in next week at 11:00pm... that is if you can find enjoyment and humor, in the fact that in these movies there really is gravity in outer space, insects can grow to the size of an elephant, and people are totally oblivious to blatantly suspicious behavior. .. And if you just so happen to miss it, you can always see the encore presentation on Friday, at 11:30pm the following week... And if you miss that, I will probably have it on tape too.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do,
Theresa

blog #004 >>Fishy Fiasco

Who would have guessed that shrimp are such difficult animals to keep alive... Meet Boris (the wimpy shrimpy) he's cool, he's blue... and unfortunately dead.
Yes, Boris was with us only for a very short while, before swimming to that great ocean in the sky. The problem was that Boris wouldn't eat, (well at least part of the problem). Whenever I fed him, either his wafers or brine shrimp, (and yes Boris was a cannibal, ) he would just hide it under a shell in his bowl. This morning I regret to say that Boris passed away.
However, Petco has an excellent return policy, and now Boris II has the fish bowl all to himself. I have added new clarification drops, and spent the day looking up shrimp care on the web. A most helpful post was here "Why are my shrimp dying? by Mustafa Ucozler." This guy is a genius. Who knew the dangers of filling your fish tank with hot tap water... he did. This time, I will be much more prepared on how to keep care of this
swell shrimp.
And if I kill a few more, I'm inviting everyone over for
coconut prawns.
(but he's not a lobster)

blog #003 >>The Curse of the Peter Iredale
(a very long blog)

Aye, it all started on the night of the great storm... the sea rose and fell like the stroke of an axe, the wind screamed like a banshee, and the full moon, that great silvery eye, watched as the ship stuck aground on those sharp, jagged teeth...




...Well, I'm afraid that is not really how my story starts. If you want to read a story about a shipwreck than close this blog and pick up Robinson Crusoe. If however you want to read about my trip to the beach, my adventures there, and what it has to do with the wreak of the Peter Iredale... then please read on. If you do not have time to read all this, then skip to the cliff notes at the end.

My story starts with coconut cream pie... not just any coconut cream pie, but the best coconut cream pie in the world. And there is only one place to get this coconut cream pie, and that is at Dory's Cove, a delightful little restaurant in Lincoln City. The waitress comes in early every morning and bakes this pie from scratch. (You see it was all part of my mini-roadtrip. I was going to Lincoln City to visit my parents who where camping, to Longview to see my sister for her birthday, and then to Seattle to go to Ikea, and finally back home again.) So anyhow, before leaving for Longview I stopped for lunch at Dory's Cove. But, after eating all that clam chowder and fish'n chips I wasn't hungry enough to eat the pie. So, I boxed it up for later, (forgetting a fork) and hit the road.

After about three hours of driving I got hungry and started to think, "hmm, I should really stop and eat that pie." And the longer I waited the better it sounded. And then I thought, "I should really stop before I get to Washington and while I'm still along the coast, that way I can sit on the beach and eat." (It was a beautiful sunny day.) A little further down the road was a sign that marked Fort Stevens St. Park with beach access. Perfect. So I slammed on the breaks and turned. In Fort Stevens (a fairly large park) was a beach called shipwreck beach and my adventurous nature awoke. I pulled up, grabbed my pie, my camera, and my map, (but left my purse safely in the car), and took a look around. There is not much left of the Peter Iredale just a rusty skeleton, but it was a nice day, so I sat on a log and ate my pie (without a fork) and looked at the map. When finished I picked up my stuff and hiked back to the car... only my pockets seemed really light. Then to my horror I see my keys sitting on the seat and my spare key locked in the car with my purse. I was stranded. After banging my head on the car three or four times... I came to my senses and realize that I do have my cell phone in my pocket. Thank God for cell phones... and I also thanked God that there was a cell phone tower within sight. I made the call, not the type of call you look forward to, the embarrassing type that goes like this, "Have you ever had one of those days..." Well at least help was on the way, three and a half hours away, but coming. So, I sat on that same log and wallowed in my depressed, desperation for about five minuets.

And after that my always cheerful disposition said, "things could always be worse, it is a nice day and not raining, and there are lots of nice, friendly, but not at all helpful people around." So the wheels in my ever creative head started to turn and I thought, "There is a lot of junk on this beach, and I do know how to jimmy a lock, if I could find a chunk of wire I could be out of here in no time." So, I walked down the beach, up where it smells like rotten fish, and all the junk floats to during high tide, in search of wire. I must confess that I have never before really taken the time to look at all the junk on a beach, normally I go down to the water and look for rocks. I had never realized what interesting and disgusting things you can find. I saw: some chap stick, a bunch of bottles, a pop can, some rope, a small net, a broken shovel, old fireworks, a bone (which I hope was not human), a light bulb, a dead sea gull, some Styrofoam, and a fluorescent tube. Which made me think, "I wonder if there is wire in there?" Yes, I know how fluorescent lights work, but I was still curious and very bored. I figured with all the other broken glass around what's a little more... Looking around to make sure no one saw... I threw it at a nearby log, and missed. So I threw it again... (and I must add that I will never again break a fluorescent tube intentionally.) It exploded, there was no wire in it, and a visible gas seeped out of it. (Not knowing if neon gas was toxic) I ran, and gave up the wire attempt. And once again sat on my log.

Then the light bulb in my head lit up, "This park has a campground, and campgrounds have camphosts and camphosts have coat hangers, and coat hangers are wire." So I walked toward the campground on the bike trail. I didn't realize how large the park was. One thing I must add about this trail is that almost every part of it looked exactly the same, weathered pine trees and scotchbroom on either side. (better know as devil's weed to seasonal allergy suffers like myself) After about a half hour and many turns and walking under the road, I reach the information desk. I walked up and it was closed for the season. However, they had lots of historical information about the Peter Iredale. Unforturately, the nearby coffee stand was also closed. However, there was a payphone, and payphones have phonebooks, and phonebooks have locksmiths, and locksmiths have slim jims, and slim jims are wire... I called, he'd be there in a half hour. Perfect half hour in, half hour out. I started back as fast as I could walk.

As I was walking along I noticed a number 4 marker, "well okay, I saw 1, 2, and 3, on the way so I probabely just missed 4." I continued on... Then I saw marker 6, "well I'm sure that I didn't see 6 and I should have passed under the road by now, but I'll go a little further." Then I saw a stream, a large maple tree and a small rusted metal structure, "I know I didn't see that!" So, I turned around and ran back, walked fast back and walked back. And just a little ahead of the turn off where I got off course was the road. I had walked at least 20 minutes out of my way. Which meant that I was going to miss the lock smith, unless I picked up the pace; I had no pace left in me by this time. But, I marched on just the same.

Now I began to think, "I've been gone a long time... and my car is parked in a not so safe place, with my purse, and keys, in plain sight." I imagined getting back and finding nothing but a little pile of glass left where my car was, and the lock smith leaving when he didn't see the car or anyone around. I walked faster.

Quite out of breathe I began to be able to hear the ocean and then I saw it... the lock smith and my car. I was overjoyed. Before I knew it I was sitting happily in my car, driving away with the windows down and stereo loud.

Moral of the story: A magnetic key box is what everyone needs, or at least a chunk of wire.
Cliff Notes: story, pie, drive, keys get locked in car, look for wire, hike, call lock smith, hike, get lost, get keys out, drive.

blog #002 >>What have I done.

I can't believe I started this! I have opened Pandora's box. I always said, "I'll never start a blog!" "I don't have time for one." "I hate writing, I'll never keep it up." "It's too trendy..." Yet sure enough, here I am typing away... And actually enjoying it!

It all started when I wanted to subscribe to Trina's blog, and next thing I know, I have an account. "So okay," I said, "I'll just keep it and not write in it, no problem." But, who wants that gray sticky, person for a thumbnail... So I loaded a photo, but I couldn't stop there. Then I thought, "While I'm here I might as well change the colors." And then I noticed it, the background image box in all its glory. It all exploded from there. Next thing I know I'm as busy as a bee typing merrily away.

So, I guess I'll keep on posting. It is a great place to write all those rambling things that travel through my brain, but could never say because I'd put people to sleep with my
pointless... points?

Anyhow, I hope no one wakes up with keyboard marks on their cheeks after reading this.
Theresa


Sunday, March 18, 2007

blog #001 >>about me

Hello,
My name is Theresa and I am from the exciting, little town of Boring. I have a fairly large family who's fun to be around, and no pets. However, if I had a pet, I wouldn't want a normal pet. I would want something unusual. Like a lobster or something like that, and I'd give him a cool name like Oscar or Hobart, after the dishwasher.
For some overall information about me: I like tea (very much) and miss coffee (every now and then). I tend to ramble when I write. I'm a bit forgetful, but once I learn something I never forget it (unless it's a number). I don't have a head for numbers. I'm also terrible at anything athletic, except badminton and croquet, at which I am mediocre.
I'm a graphic designer who spends a little too much time on the computer. (which I enjoy more than I'll usually admit). And it must be said, that I love what I do for a living. I'm an excellent designer and if you don't believe me then check out my website: www.roaringdesign.com. I also love reading, astronomy, calligraphy, cooking, sewing, and drawing, which provides a sometimes wanted escape from the glowing box (with the alphabet buttons and clicky thingy) in corner of the room.
I tend to be reserved unless you know me well, in which case I am probably more boisterous than you would like me to be. I love to listen in on other people's conversations. So if everyone is being quiet and not talking then I'll be very outgoing and start as many conversations as I can. Then once everyone is talking I can just sit back, listen and comment every once in awhile.
I like old things very much and I sometimes wish I were born in 1944 instead of 1984... Such simpler times. I think I would miss microwaves though, and possibly post-it notes. However I definitely wouldn't miss the cell phone (unless my car broke down). But gas was so much cheeper back then. And people wouldn't look at me funny when I say things like, "Jimmeny Crickets!" and "That would be Swell!" I shop mainly at Good Will, thrift stores and antique stores. Why buy something new when you can buy the same thing that is old, used and with more style for less?
Well, I guess that's me in a nut shell, which is appropriate because anyone reading this by now probably thinks I'm a nut! Please if I haven't completely scared you off yet check out my blogs and other cool stuff.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy,
Theresa