Some brilliant person at work decided that we should have a complete system overhaul. So, the past 6 months, our small IT department has been completely engulfed in this enormous, nightmare. The whole thing culminated yesterday, Monday. Now, Mondays suck as it is. But try having a Monday where you come in to work and all the hours you have spent making your software tools more efficient, all that customization work, is just wiped out because... well, frankly, no one knows why. Anyway, I rarely do this, but I went for a long lunch today, two very stiff drinks, some Kenny G blasted in my earbuds to calm the beast, and a massage scheduled for later, and you know what? I just don't care anymore.


This is a sweet little bee I photographed on the grounds of the museum over the weekend. I know it's not in great focus, but those little bees move fast. I need a different lens to get them right. And, thanks to my awesome job, I just may get that lens before the year is over! damn straight.

Hahahaha   snort!  hahahahaaaaaa

 

 

I read this on James Altucher's blog, it was in the Q&A section directed to James: 

 

 "CAN'T STAND FACEBOOK

 I can't stand Facebook, what is wrong with me?

ANSWER:

Haha. Nothing is wrong with you. Here's what it means for you (and this is not true for me or most people I know but it might be true for you).

You are happy knowing the people you know. You are happy with the memories of your past or don't really think of them so much.

You are not so curious (and why should you be) about the people you run into today or the people you haven't seen in 30 years. You have no need to feel updated.

You have no need to be "Liked" by people you barely know. You have no need to "Share" a beautiful sunset. It's enough for you to just experience it today and move on.

There's nothing wrong with you. I'm jealous. I need all of the above. And more."

 

 

hahahaha 

I'm still laughing. 

I feel the same way, but, I'm scared to lose those connections, so I guess, truly, I DON'T feel quite the same way.    BTW, I'm on FB at Cyndy Martin-Lovejoy.  

 

 

My bro

My Brother: Love!!

Life is about taking chances. Without them, our existence is just an airless, closed box of naught. I, for one, would prefer to die a horrid, painful death than pollute my lungs with the fetid fumes of nothingness.

I know, I know, enough of the neighbor's car already. But it happens to be one of my favorite photo subjects right now, that and my dog. Today is May 16. I was writing out a check this morning, and suddenly everything stilled as I remembered the significance of this date. It was 20 years ago, yes TWENTY, that I got married the first time to my ex. Who was that person back then? Was it me, or some character in a movie I vaguely remember? ha.

Car

This is my neighbor's car.  I took this shot with my birthday Nikon and adjusted it a bit with software. 

TJ

This is TJ. I snuck a few shots of him tonight. He came over to visit with me on the deck of the beach house. He brought his Netbook and asked me to help him with a small computer problem. I played him the Coldplay song I've been working on, Fix You, on my uke. He liked it. We talked and caught up. I haven't been out to the beach house in months.

I asked TJ if he'd go on a walk with me tomorrow, and he hesitated a bit, then he said he's been biking more! And I could tell he didn't really want to go on a walk. So, I invited myself on his bike ride. I'm an idiot. All I have out here is my mountainbike which weights about 100 lbs. Fortunately, TJ says he rides slowly. The plan is to ride from Rockaway to Manzanita and have some lunch there, then ride back. I brought my bike inside from the garage and got it all ready. We're taking off at 9am. I'm thinking I'll bring my fancy new Nikon.

Again, certifiably nuts.

We drove into McMinnville last night for my birthday dinner. We had wine at the Twelve wine bar, then more wine and small plates at La Rambla, yum, and then main course and more wine at Nick's Italian restaurant. Twas a comprehensive sampling of McMinnville's foodie sights. Oh the pinot noir, sublime. So, Carl in typical fashion, completely blew my socks off with his surprise gift to me. It's a very special Nikon camera. It'll take me a decade to figure it all out, but in the meantime here's a shot from the dog park today. Beau was a perfect gentleman on his long leash. A terrier dog ran up and attacked him, right in front of me. Was nice to be on the other side of that, generally Beau is the one doing the small dog extermination. and this is our old door handle. I like the burnished colors in this shot

This is from a blogger I read most days: "There is nothing wrong with seeking greatness. Nor is there anything wrong with not achieving it. Between the banks of greatness and mediocrity the entire river of life flows. It’s only when you get stuck on the muddy banks that life becomes unpleasant. That you become mired down. If you flow with the river, you accept whatever comes. You don’t have to be great. And its not bad to suck at something. Most of life is not under our control. Accepting life as it is leads to great happiness. And even those moments of greatness are only fleeting and are often accompanied by great suffering. 100 years from now none of us will have a building named after us. So it’s important right now to just swim in the river, back and forth, and accept where it takes us. Maybe we are curious about something we see. Swim there! And then swim somewhere else. Accept where you are. Sometimes gold is turned into fancy bracelets and necklaces and other ornaments. And sometimes gold is just gold dust. But it still has the same value. It’s still gold no matter what. You are gold." Well said, thanks James!

I was out cycling on Sunday afternoon and took this shot in the middle of nowhere, Willamette Valley Oregon. I used a filter that made the little yellow flowers really pop.

big

I got tired of drying my hair every day and then flat ironing it. So, my hairdresser showed me how to use my natural curl. Voila, Big Hair. I don't care, it's easy, and not so harsh a process, and a little '80s!

Semi-interested in the Face-stagram drama, this quote grabbed my attention:

And The Wall Street Journal's Dennis K. Berman (@dkberman) wrote, "Remember this day. 551-day-old Instagram is worth $1 billion. 116-year-old New York Times Co.: $967 million."