Yard Sale, Oh my Gah

It happens every year. Every single year!

I don't know if it's due to my compulsive need to constantly de-clutter or if it's the prospect of making $10, but every year I feel the need to organize a yard sale, and every year I do and I hate the process, and then the yard sale day comes and at the end I whine to anyone who will listen,

"If I ever say I want to do another yard sale again, you have permission to slap me."

Yet as a new summer rolls around Dusty graciously declines to take me up on my offer as I'm sending him texts such as, 

"How attached are you to our popcorn maker?"

"When are you going to go through your clothes?"

"Can we sell the cat?" (That one was a joke... mostly.)

I mean look at this pitiful creature:

At any rate this really is all Cousin Hannah's fault. She's the one who tempted me into doing a yard sale with her. I blame her. For everything. Amen.

Close Call

Try as I may, I cannot even accurately describe how much this Facebook notification annoys me:

Facebook, if it weren't for being in youth ministry, we'd have to break up.

Three

Three--count 'em--- THREE years ago today I graduated from college.

These two graduated with me. I sure do miss them!

This is my favorite picture of Garrett & me, because look at him striking a pose! Get it!

My Dusty did not graduate with us, but he did graduate early, only 7 months later. It's because I'm a cradle robber.

I was actually on campus today with a friend, and I didn't realize until we had left that today was my three year graduation-versary. I should've known considering I did not recognize hardly anyone and thought it was cute when I saw kids cramming for finals.

Tina Fey is I-Am-Not-Kidding One of My Heroes

I've been meaning to post this ever since I heard Tina Fey's interview on Fresh Air a while back.

In honor of Mother's Day yesterday and being a daughter who will one day be a mother who seriously, really only wants to have girls (I kid!) I love this excerpt from Tina Fey's new book Bossypants which I do not own yet, but hopefully may receive as an anniversary gift. Dusty, are you reading this?! [Note: There is cussing in this, so if that sort of stuff offends you, don't say you weren't warned.]

“First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it!

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,”she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.”

-Tina Fey

What's Inspiring Me Today

I did a photo shoot today and it seems like everything went wrong.

It was cold.
It was muddy.
It was threatening to rain.
The batteries in my flash died mid-shoot.

Not only that, but I felt like I had hit a creative wall. My head and my heart just weren't into it today, yet I was getting paid to take these photos. I had to capture shots that would deliver good results.

What inspired me and kept me going was this quote I read this past week from Ira Glass. I'd love to share it with you. It's a little long but so incredibly good:


"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it's just not that good. It's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn't have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it's normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only be going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I've ever met. It's gonna take a while. It's normal to take a while. You've just gotta fight your way through." ~Ira Glass

I could not have put it better myself! What draws me to photography is beauty. I want every shot I take to end up looking beautiful. Right now, I'd say 1 out of every 100 shots I'm taking right now are ones that I'm super proud of.

The hard part is that the only way for my "work to be as good as my ambitions" is to practice a ton. In this case it means being willing to shoot, shoot, shoot and end up with crappy shots day after day, week after week.