G&C

Go big or go home.

Howdy Blog-o-friends.

Perhaps you, like me, find yourself constantly dreaming up new ideas and slightly more exciting directions for your life. This can range anywhere from craft ideas like a new kind of nouveau-retro headband to a full-on performance art piece or, in my case, a new career.

The problem of dreaming of a new career would be that in order to make it happen, there would be a lot of steps involved. It might be intimidating, because your spouse might have more talent in his pinky finger than you have in your entire body in said given career. And you might decide you don't care and to just go big or go home.

A few seemingly short months ago, I had resolved I was going to do it - I was going to apply to the photo program. I had agonized, I had sought professional opinions - it was finished. Case closed.

Then, my head got rattled around a bit on some asphalt and I decided to graduate instead.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The lucky thing is that for this career, you don't HAVE to have a degree. You just have to work your patootie off.

Here's what I see in my future at the moment:

1. More promo shoots.
2. Learning about photoshop.
3. Paid shoots.
4. More learning about photoshop.
5. Continual patootie-workage.
6. Home studio.
7. Career bliss.

Wish me luck.

And check me out at http://achaquejourmaphoto.blogspot.com.

Teaser:

Common courtesy & an MPA

I was walking to work today listening to Arrah and the Ferns when my iPod-budded ears were invaded by the sirens of several emergency vehicles in succession. For each vehicle, most other vehicles on the road stopped, but almost none moved out of the way. I stood thinking about how this seemingly obvious road rule is now all but ignored and it reminded me of how our patients have all but no regard for scheduling. One walked in just yesterday having been scheduled for a weight check (a quick and easy in and out sort of visit that can be done by a nurse) and said that she had two other unscheduled children who also needed to be seen for various illnesses (not so quick or easy, and not something that can be done by a nurse). And then she was upset she had to wait a half an hour to be seen.

Anyway. In all of my workly bliss I have been leaning more towards applying for BYU's MPA program. I feel that that would be the best way for me to continue learning about the subjects I feel most passionately about and end up in a career that's interesting to me. *grits teeth*. It also means the GRE.

Thoughts?

Debbie Meyer Green Bags: Product Review

The fiance and myself were given Green Bags at my bridal shower to go along with the go green theme, which I thought was pretty cool. I'm pretty skeptical about any product that needs to advertise itself on TV and boast a "as seen on TV" sticker on its box, but after a two week trial, I'm impressed. We bought some strawberries that were ready to eat which have consistently gone bad in a few days in the fridge, and they stayed good for a week and a half (after which we had consumed all of them, so no test specimens remained). We also used it for cut bell peppers, which didn't dry out or lose flavor despite the fact that the bags aren't sealed tightly, and onion, with which we had similar success.

In short, green bags are awesome:

- They reduce vegetable & plastic waste (see point #3)
- They save you money by letting you consume all the food you purchase or pick
- They are reusable
- They use science. Everyone loves science.

The idea behind the bags is that they are coated with crystals of something that absorbs the gas that fruit and veg put out when they ripen. I was skeptical, but now I believe.

A plus, Green Bags.

Here's some pictures I got off the official Green Bags site.

Crazy shower toxins

I had an extremely bizarre experience in the shower this morning. It kinda freaked me out real fast, bad enough that I blocked it from my memory and am currently wondering if it was real. My roommate dyed her hair the night before, or at least that's what I gathered from the eavesdropping I did from bed (where I often imagine what it would be like to live with me right now, when I have a job where I have to be there at 8:30am and sometimes 7am until 5:30 or 6... after which I eat dinner with the fiance and hang out until he goes to work at 9. When I go to bed-ish. I see my roommates on average once a week at church. Meh). Anywhoozle, so I got up at the rearcrack of undawn this morning because it was my day to open and got into the shower. My thoughts went a bit like this:

"Ehhh. There's hair dye all up in this joint."
*Turns on shower, waiting for it to go through the routine of hot-cold-lukewarm.*
"It smells like hair dye."
*Showers in surpisingly consistent warm water. Ducks head to wash hair under spigot built for midgets.*
"It tastes like hair dye."
*Feels like hair dye is coming up from the depths of her being. Dry heaves. Almost passes out.*

It honestly felt like I had ingested an entire bottle of hair dye and I was starting to throw it up. So weird, especially because I don't ever vomit unless I have the stomach flu or food poisoning. So I thought maybe it was another of the awesome side effects of the medication I take for acne, which include such delights that I have experienced as ringing in the ears & nausea as well as those I have yet to experience and would argue are not really side effects like kidney failure and lupus. Yikers.

I brought it up to the "early nurse" I was working with opening this morning and she suggested that the heat of the shower may have mixed with the chemicals in the hair dye and the plastic shower curtain I have to make some crazy strong toxins.

Weird. One thing's sure... next time it happens, I'm calling in the authority from my childhood:

Of long absences

Since I know there's such a large fan base that regularly checks my blog, I feel the need to apologize for my long silence in the blogosphere. It has been an eventful past while for me. Here are the highlights:

I. I started dating a guy.


II. We got hit by a car.


III. We got engaged.


Feel free to follow this simple formula in your own life. Patent pending. Anticipate an ampersand soon.

Hahaha!

And Even There They Just Do It for Laughs
Girl going through security: Do I have to take off my shoes?
Security guard with Eastern European accent: No, no, is no need. We are not crazy. We are not at the airport.

--Top of the Rock Observation Deck

Overheard by: Those were NOT my roommates!
via Overheard in New York, Jan 26, 2009

FrankenCharla

So, my doctor thought that I might have skin cancer (melanoma) which can kill you in 4-6 months. Turns out one of my moles had abnormal cells and the other was fine (it having abnormal cells is ok since we caught it early. here's to a public health degree saving my life). The one with abnormal cells is still healing, but the other one healed right up:

Don't worry, I took those stitches out myself.

I'd prefer it went to scholarship funds...

Why is this necessary? And was the cheesy Y uniform extra? Maybe it's part of the 2 million dollars BYUSA spends yearly...

Sometimes things are funny.

Expect a serious blog entry from me any day now, really. I have some really big news for you. In the meantimes, something that made me laugh. It could be the 3 hours of sleep, but here goes. For your watching pleasure:

Stupid Secret

I love using my own bag for groceries, but every once in a while when I pick up too much (like at the Sunflower Market on double deal Wednesdays) I act annoyed but I'm secretly happy that the baggers give me plastic without asking so I avoid the inner conflict.

Photo from here.

Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

It struck me as I was walking home from International Cinema tonight how cinematography and photography share many commonalities. The one that kept coming back to me this evening was the ability to frame - a shot, a feeling, a story. Good photographs can be incredibly moving, but I personally find that moving photographs are more real - the detail and development breathe life into the story more easily than, for instance, a photo essay. The version of the film that I saw was likely slightly different than versions others have seen, but what I saw framed was an eloquent yet direct narrative about self-expression. As I walked my way briskly back to my apartment in the freezing temperatures, I watched my breath cloud my view. In reflecting on the film, being verbose seemed almost profane. I was reminded in that moment of Elder Holland's remarks not long ago, as he quoted parts of James "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." The power of words spoken, not spoken, regretted, and remembered fondly echo throughout the film amongst a montage of sounds and first or third person visual narrative. Warning: you may find, as I did, that the theatre is warm. My eyes were sweating like crazy. I'll have to read the book this summer.

Red light/Green light - Anyone?

Just some notes from this morning's escapades and a semi-obscure pop culture reference for you all on the second day of school.


THE SETUP (a break from normal formatting):
Good idea: Massage shower head
Excellent idea: Fantastic water pressure

THE PUNCH LINE:
Good idea: Use high-pressure massage shower head on lower back after shoveling snow.
Bad idea: Use high-pressure massage shower head on face after shoveling snow.