Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Day Eighty-Nine: Sunset Boulevard
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Day Eighty-Eight: Brew to Brew to Brew
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Day Eighty-Seven: Winter Wonderland
They say if you don't like the weather in Kansas, wait 10 minutes. The weather didn't change quite that quickly the past couple days, but the today's mercury reading stands in stark contrast to the 60 degree days we had at the beginning of the week. Lawrence dodged the bullet for the most part. While we got some ice and sleet, places to our west and east received several inches of snow. The precipitation we got created a nice coating around everything in its tracks. Pete and I ventured outside today to try and capture some of that. Enjoy!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Day Eighty-Six: 19 years to go?
The Jayhawks won a National Championship in 1988. Twenty years later, we won again. Hopefully, we don't have 19 more years to go....
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Day Eighty-Five: Shattered
Tonight, I chose option "B" with the caveat that my workout had to be shorter than usual. Because the President spoke on Tuesday night, my beloved reality show "American Idol" got pushed from a Tuesday/ Wednesday airing, to a Wednesday/Thursday airing. So, I shortened my (already short) workout to make sure I got home to set the DVR so that we could watch American Idol on the big screen after RCIA. I also forgot my camera and Lucy had been alone all day. In short, running home before RCIA had four goals: 1) Set TV for Idol, 2) Take Lucy out, 3) Grab camera, and 4) Change out of the smelly workout clothes. And did I mention that all this had to be accomplished in a matter of about five, and absolutely no more than ten minutes?
When I walked in the door, the number of things I needed to accomplish in that short time quickly expanded from four to about four hundred. Greeting me at the welcome mat was Lucy. She was surrounded by the shreds of two pairs of Jennifer's filp-flops Lucy had found somewhere in the house. Lying next to that was my stuffed Mickey Mouse, which meant I had left my bedroom door open, and Lucy had entered the premises. After seeing Mickey (fortunately, he was without any scrapes or bruises), I made a B-line to my bedroom. It was 95% in tact. A few remnants of (what I think were) the flip flops were on my bed, and a different stuffed animal, from which Lucy had removed it's button nose several weeks ago, had been accosted again. Lying in the threshold of my bedroom door was Lucy's food bowl, which she has recently begun moving all around the house whenever she feels like it.
At this point, my blood pressure was rising trying to figure out how I would clean up the mess and still make it to RCIA on time. Because of the other things I had to do, I decided to just leave it there until I got home and could clean up. Because Jennifer wasn't going to be home and it wouldn't inconvenience her, I decided just to leave it there and clean it up later. I changed clothes, set the TV for Idol, grabbed my camera and made straight for the door. The problem is I simply grabbed my camera (in its bag) and didn't check to see if it was secured. As I placed the strap over my shoulder and opened to the door to leave, the Canon EOS 20D fell out of the bag, tumbling to the ground with a crash and a shatter. When I picked it up, the lens looked like this.
I sat in mild anguish throughout RCIA thinking about how much it would cost to get another lens. (I failed to consider the possible internal damage to the camera. I think this is a fortunate thing, as my stomach would have been a mess.) But, after RCIA (which I always love) and some prayer time, I was a bit calmer. I told Pete what happened, and when he got to look at the camera, he delivered the first piece of good news: the shattered glass payne on the end of the lens was actually a protective cover he had put on there and could easily be taken off and replaced. With any luck, there wasn't damage to the lens. My second piece of good news came when Pete and I tried taking several pictures with the camera: everything worked normally. It appers my camera is fine. *SIGH OF RELIEF*
Tomorrow during my lunch hour, I'll head down to Wolfe's camera shop in Topkea and pick up a new protective cover. I atrribute my fully functioning camera after a hard fall to that little piece of glass that took the impact for the team. I don't know what Consumer Reports says about digital SLR cameras, but knowing how hard this camera fell and how it still shoots like day one, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is in the market.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Day Eighty-Four: Scene it
I'll answer the question right now of who the "mysterious" man in the picture is: As you probably guessed, it's Pete. I asked him to sit there while I took the shot. But setting aside the fact that we actually know who this guy is, the lone person in the theater poses some interesting questions. Why is the man there alone? The empty theater exaggerates the fact that he is there by himself and makes the loneliness you expect he is feeling even more dark. But maybe the man like the dark? Does he, like some of my friends, enjoy coming to movies by himself and find it liberating? Or maybe he's waiting for someone. Who is he waiting for? Did his girlfriend or buddy get up and go to the bathroom or the concession stand? Has he been stood up? Maybe he's waiting. Waiting for you. From the calm, almost happy look on his face, it appears that whatever his circumstances, he is peaceful and content. At this angle and lighting, you may catch a glimpse of him upon a first glance, but it takes another look to really know that he is there. The man doesn't want to be noticed right away. But he's there.
It wasn't intentional when I took the picture, but the emptiness of the theater and the lone man in it is a perfect illustration of what our lives can be like, and how the Lord patiently waits for us. And He waits for us even if we question what he is doing or why he is there. If each individual chair is a different place we choose to be in our life, we can either sit next to God, or we can sit in the opposite corner. If we sit next to Him, we get to engage in conversation with Him and have Him put his arm around us when a scary scene comes along. From seats far away, it's often difficult to notice Him or feel His presence, but He's always there. Waiting. Patiently waiting.
Maybe I read too much into my pictures. Maybe its "just" Pete sitting there, posing for my picture. Maybe its just a man who wants to see a movie. But maybe its more. Just maybe.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Day Eighty-three: One click, One Pic
This may be, in fact, the first time in the eighty-three days of this project that I have actually used just one flutter of the shutter to capture my photo of the day. Often times the circumstances surrounding the picture don't lend itself to achieving "photo of the day" quality with just one snap, but today they did.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Day Eighty-Two: Out like a lamb?
Regardless of what people have said in the past, I argue that March has been less than decisive about whether it wants to be a lion or a lamb at any point throughout the month this year. In fact, it's been downright bi-polar. The beginning of the month brought the only snow eastern Kansas really saw all winter. Three days later, we set a record high of 85 degrees. Four days after the record high, it was again chilly in Kansas. Rinse and repeat and you have the ups and downs of March.
Yesterday was, without a doubt, a "lion" day. The eastern half of the state experienced its first (I think) thunderstorm of the year, and weathered wind gusts of up to 90 mph in some areas. Driving home from work required two hands on the steering wheel at all times to ensure the car stayed in between the white dotted lane marking; the 20 minute drive felt something like a cross between bumper cars (sans the actual impact) and a roller coaster ride. The winds died down slightly in the early evening hours, but picked back up again as the storms blew in around 8:30. Pete, acting as my touch sensitive tripod, ventured outside with me to try and capture a picture that illustrated just exactly how crazy the wind was. When a big gust came along, Pete "sensed" when my hair looked the most, um, awesome (?), and I snapped the picture via the remote "detonator". The haircut I got last week left my hair (by request) pretty short, and although the effect would have been better if I had long locks that could flow in the wind, I think you get the idea of how mighty the wind was, and how fun it was to be out there experiencing it.
The weather forecast for the remainder of March looks like the month may actually redeem itself by hovering around the 60-degree mark, albeit with a couple days of typical rainy, spring weather. But, I will take that weather any time over 90 mph winds and freezing cold. Except maybe around Christmas. :)
UPDATE: As of the evening of Tuesday, March 24, they are calling for accumulations of snow this weekend. It appears the month of March has finally made up its mind: lion.
* Source 1
** Source 2
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Day Eighty-One: Signs of Spring
If the blustery winds and predictions of showers (and thunder showers! yippie!) are any indication, it will not be long until everyday is (at least) in the 60s. April will be coming soon before you know it, but April's showers bring even more flowers in May! What do May flowers bring? An official shout out to anyone who correctly answers that riddle. :)
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Day Eighty: City Sidewalks
Friday, March 20, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Day Seventy-Eight: On the Road Again
Although I haven't done nearly as much as he has, it seems like Pete and I are often on the go. And on the go for us doesn't mean simply doing things around town. No, it usually involves travels of at least to a couple hours to states other than Kansas. We've seen a lot of my family recently, but not as much as Pete's. Granted, they live 4 additional hours away, but nevertheless, it was time to get up there and see them. So, Thursday after work (I took Friday off), we loaded up and headed out for a weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
As anyone who has taken a road trip knows, being on the road for 8 hours (one direction) can get kinda boring. But we somehow find ways to entertain ourselves: the alphabet game, picking out songs to surprise each other with to stay awake (last week, Pete chose "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul; this week, I chose the songs from the Saved by the Bell rock edition, featuring the Zack Attack), attempting to complete crossword puzzles by reading the driver the clue, listening to movies, etc.. Of course, being the amateur photographers that we are, often the travels include stops for picture taking. This picture, however, we didn't have to stop for. We made a daring daylight escape, leaving the sunset in the dust to find and new day and a new adventure a little further north.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Day Seventy-Seven: ROY-G-BIV
I love color. People laugh at how much I incorporate color into the things I do at work, at home, in my clothing, in my e-mails, etc. As someone who has a basic understanding and a small amount of training in graphic design, I was taught that to use color to enliven a document, to set a theme, and to organize (such as how my closet is generally organized by shirt color). I love how colors can reflect your mood, although I don't always agree that blue means sad and red means angry. I love most colors individually, and I love bundles of color all together but there are some dyes I would never pair up. But while I will gladly use a box of Crayola "original" colors any day of the week over a black pen, I also understand that there are times when only using the colors black and white are appropriate.
I'm not sure we appreciate or use color nearly to the extent that we should. Yes, while black and white are colors, we can also hide behind them, trying to mask our true potential or who we are. God made the word in technicolor so that we can relish the blues of the sky, the green of the grass, the purple of the flower, praise Him, and realize that even when dull colors come along, the bright colors will return...patience is all that is needed. I'm one to talk about patience because it is a virtue which I severely lack, but we have to keep trying, again, and again, and again. When the Wizard of Oz took the world of motion pictures into color, it turned everything upside down and helped people to see the potential that is out there. Black and white have their times, but we should be careful not get stuck behind them.
So, the next time you're feeling glum, open your eyes to the colors around you and what makes the world blue and green and yellow and red and good. :)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Day Seventy-Six: Luck o' the Irish
The part of the Boulevard factory where we hang out has an awesome patio and last night, people spilled outside to take in the warm March (but still winter season, as Kelly reminded us) night air. The factory is just outside of downtown and the view of the city lights from the patio is unbeatable. And voila!, we have my picture for the day. Turn around and you see the color changing "Boulevard Brewing Company" sign that was appropriately participating in the wearing o' the green (that is, with the exception of the "B" in Brewing that Dan dubbed as the "mood letter".) And here's a shout out to Kelly and Dan for keeping me company while I took these pictures and helping select the winning shots. It was delightful to see you, amongst many.
The invocation of the trinity.
Through a belief in the threeness.
Through a confession of the oneness
Of the creator of creation.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Day Seventy-Five: Beauty in your backyard
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Day Seventy-Four: Mr. Squeaky
Unlike the rubber stick, Mr. Squeaky is an awesome toy. First of all, he's large enough that Lucy has a hard time getting him into her mouth, and watching her try has provided for many minutes of entertainment. Eventually, because she's a smart and savy dog, she's figured it out. But that's not where the fun ends: Mr. Squeaky, as his name probably leads you to believe, squeaks. And it's not a normal high-pitched noise that many baby and dog toys make. No, this sound is more reminiscent of flatulance, or "fluffling" as my old roommate Beth used to say, which has provided for even MORE laughs.
Despite our best intentions, something about flatulance makes nearly everyone laugh. This was best illustrated when, at one family Christmas, my cousins placed a "flatulance machine" in my grandpa's back pocket, then proceeded to repeatedly press the remote "detinator" throughout his Christmas money presentation and had nearly my whole family in tears we were all laughing so hard. Although I don't usually laugh THAT hard when Lucy plays with Mr. Squeaky, he has easily become my favorite toy of Lucy's and I usually hope that she is playing with him.
So, Mr. Squeaky, thank you for being a wonderful, well-made toy. And for providing us with the giggles...and low-brow comedy.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Day Seventy-Three: Sweet Victory
The little fan in the picture is my cousin Ali's angel, Josie. She was the best little fan during the evening: she didn't cry or whine, and only whimpered through the whole game when the crowd got a little noisy. Way to go, Jo! :)
Friday, March 13, 2009
Day Seventy-Two: Family Tradition
Anyone who knows me know that I love games: board games, card games, athletic games, silly games, games that make you look ridiculous, and games (although I don't always take it well) even when I loose. When I think about it, it's clear to me that this is genetic: everyone in my family, and even both sides of my extended family, like to play games. We like games so much, that a game of cards or "Loaded Questions" usually unfolds every time I am home.
Last night, it was a game of "Oh Hell"; a fun game where you bid to see how many tricks you can take in each round based on the trump suit and receive points based on whether or not you actually made that bid (although after looking at the description on wiki, it doesn't appear that we play exactly how they say you are supposed to play). The "high point" of the game is the round where you only use one card, and instead of bidding on the card that you have in your hand, you bid on the cards that everyone else has...and places on their foreheads to display them to you, much like this (having the towel on the head is an optional accessory that my 14-year old brother chose to fashion last night.)
As with most games, you develop strategies to figure out how many tricks you should bid, in part based on everyone else's bids, and when to just sit by and bid zero. Sometimes, unexpected cards can take tricks, and Katie is expressing her disgust at such a trick in the first picture above where her three of spades ended up being the "high" card.
Right about the time I started dating Pete, my sister Katie started dating Junior. Although some people think it's early in the dating game for us, family is a hugely important part of our lives. So, we've brought those boys home to meet the family and to see if they can handle the typical Friedman craziness. Although Junior is trying to find his way out of the picture at the top, both he and Pete survived last night. Now just wait until they meet the extended family.... :)
P.S. I've updated a couple of posts for which I didn't write an entry at the time. Check out Day Sixty-Six: Neon and Day Sixty-Seven: A Different Perspective.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Day Seventy-One: Landmarks
As any person who does a lot of traveling on the interstate knows, there are always those landmarks along the way that let you know how far you have come and how far you have to go. The road that I travel most often is I-35 from Lawrence to Ankeny (a suburb north of Des Moines for those of you who are unfamiliar with Iowa geography.) There are a variety of landmarks along that journey that always let me know where I'm at: the midwest's most beautiful McDonald's (don't ask me how they got that title) in Cameron, Missouri; the town of Bethany, Missouri itself which is about half-way inbetween Ankeny and Lawrence; the closed gas station just south of the Iowa border whose gas price sign perpetually remains at two dollars and some odd cents a gallon (something that seemed extraordinarily cheap this past summer and now, again, seems extraordinarily expensive); and this guy, Senor Terrible (as Pete and I call him).
Every person, and I mean every person who travels along I-35 in that stretch knows about Senor Terrible: the excessively large light up sign advertising Terrible's Lakeside Casino in Osceloa, Iowa. His huge belly screen is constantly running, advertising the "cheapest" gas, the availability of rooms in the hotel, and any upcoming concerts the casino might be hosting. In the dark hours of the day, Senor Terrible's presence can be seen and felt from miles away. Although a cursory search of the internet did not reveal his height, you can see from the picture that he is taller than the average height flag-pole.
In this day and age, you wonder how many kilos of electricity it takes to operate Senor Terrible on a daily, or even hourly basis, and if that cost is worth the benefit. Additionally, what is Senor Terrible himself doing to the environment? When they get free publicity like this, I bet they mark one up in the "worth it" category.
Seeing Senor Terrible is usually a good thing; it lets me know I'm quite a ways into Iowa and have about 45 minutes to an hour until I pull into my driveway. Somedays he is a sign that I'm almost there...and others...that I've still got a ways to go. Regardless, I'm thankful Senor Terrible is there to make my ride a little more interesting.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Day Seventy: Blooming in the Real World
As of this coming Saturday, I will have been in the working world 7 months. Although it's gone incredibly fast, the transition to the eight hour work day, only having a couple of hours in the evening to do whatever I want to do, and living for the weekend has been tough at times. But, I enjoy my job and the people I work with, and we do what we can to make working "fun".
Because I work in the tobacco unit, one thing the unit decided to do to spruce up the office (before I even got here) was to actually grow tobacco. They purchased some seeds and soil and placed the two in little cups on our boss' windowsill. Then, we named them, fed them, and watched them grow. Some of the plants sprouted.Some of them didn't do anything. But some of them flourished! At first, this meant that spawning a round of gnats. Fortunately, that stage has passed, and rather than gnats, the plants are now blooming surprisingly beautiful flowers. Those dainty pink flowers are the subject of today's photo.
We don't have any intention of actually processing the tobacco into the type that you smoke, but watching the plants grow has been a lot of fun. As for my personal plant, TB-42C, he didn't quite make it past the sprouting stage. May he rest in peace.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Day Sixty-Nine: Unfamiliar reflections
I love hands. They give a partial reflection of who a person is, where they have come from, and often where they are going. Hands can build up or tear down. They are instruments for good and bad. Holes in the Lord's hands made Thomas believe. Raising your arm and hand in a certain fashion can represent a regime or respect. Men have thick, solid, rough hands and fingers. Women's hands are more slender and delicate. My family's hand's are typically dry and always in need of moisture. Jewelry on your hands may be the simply that -- jewelry-- or the symbol of a bond that is greater than what it symbolizes. Having someone stick up the middle finger on their hand may infuriate you. Hands are used to soothe and to punish. To pray and to work. Hands tell your age. As we use them nearly every moment of every day, hands are vulnerable, but strong and resilient. Short nails. Long nails. Painted nails. Dirt under the nails. Soft hands. Callused hands. Dirty hands. Shaky hands. Short pinkies. Long ring fingers. Palms large enough to grip a basketball. They all say a little bit about us. In this day and age, a significant portion of how we communicate is completed by our hands creating words that may last forever. Sweet music. Deafening screeches. Good poetry. Bad poetry. Terrible poetry. Hope. Joy. Fear. Love. All communicated through your hands. Think about all the things that you do with your hands and how dramatically different your life would be without those ten fingers and two palms.
The hand holding mine in this picture has been a source of great support over the past 4 1/2 months. They have played some incredible music, held me up when I'm feeling down, wiped the tears from my eyes, encouraged me through rough times, helped me relax, made some delicious food, and spun me around in dance moves that are nearly perfected. Those hands are just reflection -- but only a partial one -- of the person that I love dearly.
But guiding both hands in this picture, and guiding every hand of every person, are the hands of the Potter, carefully shaping and molding our every moment and being. Everything we are able to do with our hands is a gift from the Potter, and everything we do with our hands should be a gift back to Him. And if we do, the reflections of ourselves that we find in our hands will hopefully someday reflect the hands of that Potter.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Day Sixty-Eight: A classic American Friendship
Fact #1: Forrest Mars came up with the idea for M & Ms during the Spanish Civil War. He discovered that soldiers were looking for a taste of home, in the form of chocolate, but needed something that could withstand hot temperatures. Mars took their request as a challenge and eventually came up with the candy, which he packaged in heavy tubes. Soldiers today still love M & Ms because they can hold up in just about any climate.
Fact #2: Red, green, and yellow colors were added to peanut M & Ms in 1960, but orange wasn't added until 1976.
Fact #3: Red M & Ms were discontinued in the mid-70's because of concerns that red food coloring was connected to cancer. Red M & Ms were brought back into the fold in 1987 when consumers demanded his return.
Fact #4: A holiday blend of special colored M & Ms were developed in the early 80's. The first blend was a mixture of red and green candies for Christmas. A mixture of pastel candies quickly followed that for Easter. Eventually, the special holiday line went on to add pink and red for Valentine's Day.
Fact #5: Ms Green - - the first female M & M character - - was born in 1997.
Fact #6: In 2001 M & Ms launched a global call for a new color to add to the M & M mix. Citizens of over 200 countries took part in the survey, which was conducted by ballot, phone, website, mail, and even on site at kiosks. The result wasn't quite unanimous, but purple edged out aqua by four percentage points to become a temporary M & M color.
Fact #7: You can purchase customized M & M's in colors and sayings that you choose through the candy's official website.
Although M&M's aren't my favorite candy, who doesn't enjoy a handful of the chocolatey goodness, especially in these festive spring colors?! :) I hope you enjoy this picture almost as much as those candies.
**You can find all these and more fun facts at this Associated Content website.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Day Sixty-Seven: A Different Perspective
When struggling with life situations, those we seek out for advice often encourage us to see things from another perspective to shed a light on what is going on from a view that is different from our own. The same thing can apply for pictures: when you can't find anything interesting to take a picture of, try a different perspective.
From floor level, this would seem like a large table with menus and silverware that are just waiting for patrons to come and sit and enjoy food and fellowship. But from the level above, it's an interesting background with something that looks like a table and chairs with pictures (although we can't be sure), and turns out to be a pretty interesting picture. From the ground, it's possible we wouldn't notice that the chair on the right is pulled out from the table slightly more than all the rest. From above, we wonder if someone left the table before everyone else, or got there, saw that none of his friends had arrived yet, and decided to go back out to the waiting area. From the ground, it looks like the silverware conform to the restaurant's standards dictating how they should be laid out. From above, we might notice that the way the silverware adorn the menus kind of makes them look like rocket-ships ready to engage in flight. Maybe.
Things generally look different from above than from the ground. When we're struggling with life, it might be good to remember that things always look different from above.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Day Sixty-Six: Neon
This picture is one of my favorites, if not the favorite so far. It's of the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo, and Pete and I ventured there to meet some of my friends, and celebrate the engagement of two of them (yea Holly & Chris!). I love the lights, the streaks, the background, the colors...just everything about it. And I love that, although it looks like it took a lot of camera mastery to get it together, I got this shot in only about two or three clicks of the camera.
I don't have any philosophical musings or interesting commentary to add to this picture, except that the warmth and enjoyment I get out of the picture was exaggerated by getting to celebrate a wonderful occasion with wonderful people. Chris & Holly haven't quite set a date yet, but hopefully they'll do it within calendar year 2009....they would most definitely be the subject of my picture on that most wonderful day. :)
Friday, March 6, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Day Sixty-Four: Springtime
We set a record high in Lawrence today: 85 degrees. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the bugs were buzzing, and the flowers were springing up. The only break I took from work today was to venture outside to move my car and decided that we had actually skipped right over spring to summer. It was H-O-T. Little creatures like this guy probably weren't made for 85 degree temperatures; when the weather usually gets to that point, they have shed their fur to become beautiful butterflies. But Mr. Caterpillar stuck today out and around 7 p.m., he was still being his creepy, crawly self.
It was actually Pete's idea to take this picture, and we debated for a while (read: seconds) about who got to have this for their picture of the day. But, since Pete is such a great guy, and I don't like holding bugs, he let me have it. The picture turned out just the way we hoped with the focus on the bug and a crazy face (not intended to look like, but slightly reminsicent of an ominious figure from the 1930's and 1940's) in the background.
This is picture number two in the past three days that Pete has let me use of him that show his variety of facial expressions. I believe I probably owe him some goofy pictures in return. Be on the look out for those at his blog. :)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Day Sixty-Three: Today is not the day
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Day Sixty-Two: Perfect Timing
Although Pete and I have been working on this Project 365 "together", that together-ness usually only extends to reminding and encouraging each other to get our pictures taken, edited, and posted each day. Often we take the our pictures that end of being "the one" for the day in each other's presence, or somehow facilitate making the pictures happen, but we have yet to attempt to take our pictures TOGETHER...until tonight.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Day Sixty-One: Spinning Closer and Closer
Although a significant portion of the country is no where close to spring today, and Lawrence only reached a high a third of its average ( 34 degrees where the average is 52), the spring bug seeped into my soul and invited me to play with my colorful fan.* Yes, this is the fan in my room. Yes, I am 25 years old. But no, I did not install this fan. From what I understand, the couple who lived in the condo before Jennifer and I moved in were expecting. My room was supposed to be the child's room, and they prepared it for the baby: light blue walls with white feather dusting (maybe to look like clouds?) and the multi-colored fan. But when they were told they were having twins, the humble four-walled living space was no longer big enough, and sold the house to Jennifer.
When I moved in, I promptly painted the walls "coffee with cream" and accented the north wall with "dark chocolate" paint. I attempted to take down the fan blades to either paint them to match or replace them with the white blades that are patiently waiting in my closet, but the space between the screws and the ceiling proved to be smaller than the height of my screwdriver, and nearly seven months later, I still have the colored blades.
I don't really mind the fan. It is always a talking (read: teasing) point for the few people that enter my room, and I feel (and hope you do, also) that it reflects my cheery personality....reminding me that there is a lot of color and joy in the world. Maybe that's a lot to read out a simple ceiling fan, but reading a lot out of things is also my personality. :)
*Truthfully, the inspiration for this photo came last week when I was hitting the sack early after the bar exam and was challenged to take my picture for the day from my bed...but the commentary on spring just fits a lot better.