There and back again...

What inspires me today...

Travel blogs.

It seems as though everyone is traveling to great and exciting places, journeys all worthy of the many blogs out there devoted to them.  I was complaining to myself the other day about how I don't have a travel blog, but then realized this was no ones fault but my own.

Am I in my hometown right now? No.

Have I packed up all my belongings and moved them to an unfamiliar place for a month before moving into my new house? Yes.

So, naturally, I am going to show you the travel blog of my morning run up here on the wild and uncharted mesa.

 

Local Art: 

  

 

Strange wildlife:

Local Shaman and Witch Houses: 

 

"Kitch" is the local term for this: 

 

National Identity:

 

 

The locals:

  

People who don't look like their children: 

  

People who do look like their dogs:  

  

Spectacular views: 

 

Local commerce and trade:

 Metaphor:

 

The moon and stars just are brighter here:

With only a few short weeks left in this strange and wonderful place, I know that my life has changed, and will soon face the realities of reverse culture-shock.  Luckily, thanks to my camera phone and 2.1 megapixel camera, I was able to capture some of the memories.  I hope to one day return to this magical land, and visit my home-stay family.

Katie Fischer.

What inspires me today...

Prison rules.

I think if a Rook and a Bishop got in a fight, the Rook would win.

"Chess is a sea in which a mosquito can bathe and an elephant can drown."

-Indian Proverb

Love, love will tear us apart, again.

What inspires me today...

Codependency.

I always see couples come into my current place of employment who I think just started dating because they thought that they would take good pictures together.  It's confusing, because my first thought is that their mother dressed her twins alike because she thought it would be cute, but then they kiss...

Do they start this way?  Finding someone who looks just like them because shared interests and goals are a given after that important assessment?  Or is it over a period of time they slowly morph into compliments, only existing fully or understood really with their partner by their side?  But whose style then wins out, and which one fades into irrelevancy?  These are all questions.

I mean, are you coordinating in the morning?  Do you shop together? (Question two is a given, since I'm spotting these people primarily at a shop.)

Lamp or faces? Or crooning Spaniards?

But seriously.

Alvederzein.

What inspires me today...

Finales.

What is worse than the last five minutes of a season of a show on television to which you have devoted countless hours on its plot and character development?  The last five minutes of a series finale.

I faced it with so many, but a few of the more noteworthy:

Arrested Development

The Bluth Family


Battlestar Galactica

Don't knock it til you try it...

My So-Called Life

The 90's did great things for adolescence.

The list goes on.

As we soon say goodbye to yet another good, maybe great, show on television, I would like to thank LOST and its producers for sneaking science fiction onto primetime without anyone noticing.  You've had a good run, LOST, but unfortunately a good thing can never last.

 So long, Lost, it's been real.

Grow up.

What inspires me today...

The big kids.

There are three purchases in life that mark growing up.  The media has been pumping out adds for these trademark items for years, and finally, in the past few months, I've found myself making a few of these important and live-altering spending decisions into woman/adulthood.  I'm going to be redundant here, since if you've read a magazine/watched tv/seen a billboard, you know already what items I am talking about.  But just in case you live in a cave, here they are.

1. Perfume

Yes, it was inexpensive, no Chanel #5 for me, but not so low as Gap's "Dream," which everyone but me seemed to wear in the mid 90's, either.  This is a big step, allowing me to finally mark my place in this world, or at least on the fancy occasions onceinawhile I choose to wear it to.

 

2. Lipstick

I bought lipstick.  Why?  I don't know.  Rite-Aid has this bizarre effect on my normally sensible and frugal ways, where suddenly I need things that I never needed before.  I go in there looking for a scoop of dollar ice cream, and walk out with a mew mascara and some red lipstick.  Something about 2-for-1 is irresistible.
Times I've worn it: 3

3. A Watch

Some may think that this is a normal, everyday item that most children have.  However, I was not most children.  Watches were never a thing that I considered wearing, let alone spending money on.  Why would I drop more money on a watch, when I'm paying for that time ap on my phone?  But, one dollar is hard to argue with.  So, although my watch may not work (yet) I still am in full ownership of it.  And that, dear readers, means something. 

Sure, I also got a job and signed a lease, but I now am fully capable of looking, smelling, and timing like a full-fledged adult, which is what really matters.

Get ready, world.

This works for men too.  

The equivalent would be: cologne, boxer briefs, and... a watch.

Fresh Cut Grass

What inspires me today...

Better-looking blogs.

Lizzy changed her blog layout, and it looks great.  So I decided to spend the better half of an hour doing the same.

"Why?" you may, but probably won't ask.  
And to that question, I have many/no real answers.

Aesthetic urges, creative outlet, boredom, jealousy... All words, none really fitting.

Toothpaste for Dinner, never.gets.old.

Nevertheless, soak in all the intricacies I spent too long struggling with for mild results (note: this is all in, wait for it, TIMES NEW ROMAN!).  If you miss the windmills, just know, we all do.  But as I always say, a memory of a picture is worth more than a thousand words.

Post Script:
If anything on the new LO (layout's not real but soon to catch on abbreviation) looks weird or illegible, let me know, and I'll fix it.

A Victory Without Danger is a Triumph Without Glory

What inspires me today...

Skill sets.

In a comment a few posts down, a friend of mine reminded me that I am good at knowing when something just isn't going to work out, and getting out of there as soon as this realization hits.  Some would call this "lazy" or "quitting," but I prefer "realistic."  

Yes, they made up a position for me on the soccer team when I was young.  "Right Winger" is not a real term, there is no such thing as a professional goalie helper.  As soon as I realized this fact, no amount of pizza parties, Capri Suns, or orange slices in the mini van could get me back out on that field of humiliation.

Went to a basketball camp with a friend in Jr. High, but I couldn't make it past the drills.  Layups are not as simple as the coaches kept insisting they were.

Tee ball. I was pretty good at this. If the natural progression wasn't to softball, I might still be playing.

Cross country was too hard.  A three mile run should be THE run, not a warm-up.

Tennis is a fun recreation, but lessons are long, and it was easier to argue my way out of them than just suck it up and go.

Needless to say, I do not have any sports under my belt that I  could label myself as especially "good at."

With one exception...

Capture the flag.

If you have never played capture the flag, your life is a little bit less than you thought it was.  

Two teams, two flags, two jails, one awesome game.

I couldn't tell you why I want that flag badly enough to actually try at this game, but when everything is all lined up, nothing could stop me.  Maybe I envision that little flag as a cure for cancer, a winning lottery ticket, world peace, an American flag in the grip of the Soviets... Whatever the reason, I wanted it. Badly.

As the self-proclaimed "least competitive person in the world," this game is the exception that proves the rule.  I would betray my own family to capture that flag.

Some see a bandana... I see opportunity for greatness.

The only reason I passed PE in high school was because of this blessed sport, and for that, I am thankful.