speaking of LOVING my new classes...

i started the fall semester today, and even though I have only had two of my classes so far, I can tell it's going to be a great semester.

i'm taking:

intermed. creative writing
modern poetry
intermed. creative photography
art history
children's lit

and 3 units of independent study for my senior honors project.

so excited. !!

.:my top ten OC spots:.

i totally swiped this idea from Josh. so, thanks josh.
oh, and some of our spots are the same. but i didn't steal them, they really are my favorites.

in no paritcular order:

1) the amazing food and delightfully terrible service at Ho Sum Bistro

2) the santa ana art walk and eating at the Gypsy Den

3) antique browsing, picture taking, and eating (Watson's, perhaps?) at the Orange Circle.

4) cheesecake and live jazz at Steamer's in Fullerton

5) depite the terrible prices and music, the tea and atmosphere is amazing at the Veronese tea house in Fullerton

6) a pint at the Olde Ship pub

7) bike riding and frozen bananas on Balboa island

8) the Sunken City in San Pedro*

9) the Korean Friendship Bell, only a few blocks away from the sunken city*

10) the incredible view at Signal Hill*

*i'm aware that not all of these spots are in orange county...but i don't really care. these are my favorites, and so they're staying on the list. deal with it.

coming soon...

a list of my TOP TEN OC SPOTS.!!

be excited. very excited.

i stumbled upon this

and it has made this moment of my day excessively happy.




and then i found this:

celebrate your life.*

have you ever noticed how much there is to notice? there are so many sounds, smells, textures, emotions, and gestures that go unnoticed and unappreciated.
i am beginning to suspect that the true meaning of simplicity is not necessarily throwing out everything you own until you are surrounded by emptiness, but by using the time you have to recognize the beauty in the simple and often ignored fragments of life.
i have an old copy of the sun also rises with a tattered binding and a faded cover. the threads coming through form a crosshatch pattern.
the fan in my room makes a gentle humming murmur like a waterfall.
each time the fan turns to my left, it causes the scarf over my lamp to wiggle ever so slightly.
i can still smell the tea i finished drinking an hour ago, and the parchy taste is still lingering in my mouth.
the folds of my unmade bedsheets form a chocolate brown desert-like landscape.

how have we become so numb to the fullness of life? is it a contradiction on my part to present simplicity as a recognition of this fullness?



*the title of this blog post is a line i stole from shannon...it will potentially become her photographing motto/subheading