Baltic Avenue

Lately I have taken to using movie scenes or plots and today, classic board games, to describe how my day is going. Being an artist, I can't help but want to share my FEEEEELings. Yay. Anyway, my canvases for such expressiveness are the ever-popular Facebook and Twitter. To avoid the annoying "Vaguebooking" ("I am annoyed."), I like to make a point by painting a picture from which people can take what they want. I could be complaining, I might just be describing a movie scene, your choice. I would just rather give a puzzle than say "I'm bored" or "I hate traffic." It began with the widespread "I'm punching today in the face" to "I punched today in the face and then drop-kicked it" to one of my favorite examples: "Today just chomped my boat and ate my ship captain, so I put a helium tank in its mouth and shot at it. It blew up in a spray of sea and blood." (My apologies to those who have seen these already, as I hate to repeat myself. I guess a little history is needed here, though)

So today, well yesterday, was Baltic Avenue. Poor Baltic Avenue. The classically lame property in the game of Monopoly that illicits groans from those unfortunate enough to land on it. Cheap property, but the rent is what, $14? Lame. No one wants Baltic Avenue. It's just trouble. And yesterday was some serious Baltic Avenue. I have just come off a wonderful weekend at the beach with my husband of an official year on Sunday, for our anniversary weekend. It was so great to be away, to be together in a kind of bubble where we could do whatever we wanted. We made dinner together, walked on the beach, read, watched football, and we even constructed a device, a "bug zapper" of sorts, that would supposedly eliminate the few fruit flies we had to swipe at a bit over the weekend. You cut open a soda bottle, turn the top upside down and back into the bottle, and fill it with a mixture of apple cider vinegar and sugar and water.

I must stop and explain that I do have respect for God's creatures. A balanced eco-system is something I truly appreciate, and the hard work and wisdom of many bugs is something we humans should emulate. However, there is also population control, which I believe in as well. They come in your house? They're fair game. That's that. :) Mind you, this piece of heavy technological bug murdering machinery didn't really work. We found one fly. Well but the pesky gnats were gone afterwards, though not into the sugar water. Hm, go figure.

Including the bug-capades, it was a great vacation. To quote Facebook, "Today is like having Boardwalk, Park Place, Electric Company and Water Works. AND all the railroads."

Enter Monday, aka Baltic Avenue. Just after the best properties. Immediately past GO, where you earn a hefty $200. Sandwiched between Community Chest and Chance. Just a lame property and a lame day. I was a grouch! But that day is over. Today... I will call "St. Charles Place." I've changed my mindset, therefore there is promise. :)

I've told myself this is not going to be a food blog. I just can't do that. I think if I devoted myself to that, I'd be cooking and baking each day for something new to show you. Not that there's anything wrong with that, food is just my 'side art'. I need to start painting again. Hopefully this can happen this weekend. After YEARS of a sort of "hiatus." I have a broken easel and lack of paint standing in my way. And time that I just havent wanted to devote to painting just yet. In recent, freshly-married months, I have been distracted by all the great recipes there are out there. I have a box of Grandma's old recipe books, the internet, a healthy interest in vegetables and all the ways there are to cook them, and blogs! As you can gather, my potential food blog recipes would be mere regurgitations of all the more tread upon, more wonderfully designed and photographed and creative blogs out there. We'll see. I think food is just "easy art" that you can eat. Really... its a way to come home, having picked up a few ingredients like a lovely acorn squash or zucchini, make something tasty and spend time enjoying it with your husband. I am in awe of vegetables as there are SO many ways to cook, roast, saute, and EAT them. My friends, these are God's creations. His daily gifts to us! Just like the ever-changing canvas of the sky is a backdrop for our daily lives, so food is, in my mind, a reminder of everything we're given. I love all the crazy fun fruits and vegetables and great things to bake that you can find. No more boxes of frozen meals or man-constructed, processed stuff. I like to have a grocery bag full of as few right angles as possible. But that's just me.

Remember the show "My So-Called Life"? One of my favorites. If you know the show, you know Jordan Catalano, hottie of the Frozen Embryos. At this point you may recognize the reference of my blog name. Before Frozen Embryos, Jordan's band was ... "Between Names" So that's what that's from. :) I haven't picked a name yet, but when I do, it will be a great one. Just hasn't come to me yet. I apologize for the rudimentary state of my blog. At some point I will move over to a blog over which I have more control and it's not just pictures pasted here and there. And yes, there are no photos of me. That's quite another thing. I haven't yet grown accustomed to just splashing my face out there for all to see. Others do it, that's great! I just have to get used to the idea. :)

I love my job I love my job I love... my... job.

As a slave to the corporate world, each day is a test of patience and work ethic. Hopefully I pass most of the time, but lately it's not easy! I'd much rather be illustrating something or cooking something or running or biking or even sitting at the sewing machine, SOMEthing other than the dreadful desk, sheafs of paper and stacks of books as my daily companions. Who does love their job? A lot of people! That's awesome. I suppose I am in a time of life where I need to learn about this ... daily theme of corporate gobbledygook I am working with and advising people on and talking about with co-workers. Each time I hear words like "pushback" or "standpoint" or "issue" I either giggle or die a bit inside. If only I could play a drinking game with those words. Ha! Inapprope.



I'm thankful for my job. I am. I work with great people, we band together a lot and I feel like there is a part of me becoming stronger and learning something I am supposed to at this time in life..... to quote Steve Martin in Father of the Bride with a sarcastic sneer..."I hope so."



It's a good day to start blogging again. First of the month. October. Just talked to all siblings AND mom last night, which doesn't happen often. My husband said just last night, as I talked about the food blogs I'd been reading and recipes I'd tried from reading these food blogs, that I should think about blogging too. He's right, I had. I have slight issues with posting pictures of myself doing things. However I have a lot to talk about, so ... why not blog it! More to come. I really plan on writing more this time....than one post at least!

Let's start again from the top!

Last night, I got to babysit for my cousin's two sweet little girls. The younger one has just turned 3, and the older one's age, I regret to say, I am not sure of. She must be around 5 or 6, if I had to guess. After putting the younger to bed and grabbing the elder's scheduled before-bedtime snack (I thought it would keep her up, but it doesn't... more like it knocks her out), we headed upstairs to read the 3 designated bedtime books. One of them was this:

What a good book! I learned my lesson. Between the incredible illustrations lies a sweet and well-thought out 'moral of the story'. Even I was unsure of how the ending would transpire. Then again, I'm among the easiest to surprise with storyline endings. If you haven't read the book, basically both of these pigs are invited to visit with God. One pig lives 'perfectly' and judges others, and the other thinks he is bad at everything and is always kinda blue. God's message to both is that he loves them very much and to the perfect pig, God says "stop judging!" I actually feel like both applied to me, which might be what the author had in mind. A little of both these alter-egos probably lie in all of us.

In recent months, I have also had a heightened interest in all things related to illustrations and, I guess, "commercial" art. I just put in my two weeks' notice at work due to differences of opinion on how the business should be run. Not that I have any authority in that aspect, but tasks were being required of me that I felt were outside my ethics and character. To avoid animosity, a few of us decided to exit gracefully while the gettin' was still good. So, here I am, with the opportunity figure out what to do with my life again. Maybe I'm just addicted to that feeling of standing before an open door with possibilities stretching before me. I have felt that often throughout life, and this is evident in my resume, which boasts a wide-range of occupations. I also think I've been avoiding the 'gifts' God has given me as well. It's probably time to embrace those, I guess! Hey, Jesus started his ministry when he was 30, too! Works for me! So, new blog spot for a new season. My resolve is to continue updating this blog, despite my sometimes questionable writing skills. Eh, that's ok. I have great blogger friends to learn from!