2012 wall + These are a few of my favorite things; April and May

I know I'm cramming a lot into this post, but I wanted to keep up my monthly pattern of checking up on my 2012 wall and updating my current non-art interests. Due to reasons I can't quite recall, I forgot to post at the end of April, so I'm writing an entire for the past two months. 

So here's my 2012 wall. Admittedly, I haven't done much with in as of late, but hopefully I'll get some new stuff up there soon.

My in-laws went to Hawaii in the beginning of May and brought me back some nifty post cards.

And now, my favorite parts of April and May.

Learning the bass. I decided randomly at Easter that playing the bass guitar might be fun. I was much better about practicing in April than I am now, but I'm still plugging away. Jon is planning on writing music soon and I'd like to be able to assist him in the process.

S'mores! We made s'mores almost every night for a couple of weeks. Since a campfire was not readily available, we used the toaster over, which worked fairly well. 

The Earthsea Trilogy. I've been reading Ursula K, Le Guin's Earthsea books, The Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuna and The Farthest Shore. They're an excellent example of well-crafted high fantasy. I'm especially fond of her magic system, which is based on calling things by their true names. So many authors have used this idea in other stories **coughcoughChristopherPaolinicoughcough**, but I'm pretty sure she was the first to come up with it.

Gardening. This year is my second attempt at maintaining a garden. I tried starting some things from seeds, but sadly only a few Zinnias and Morning Glories have gotten anywhere. My mother-in-law also gave me a bunch of tiger lilies, which I'm hoping with flourish. Pretty much everything else was already there. Maybe I'll add a few other things later in the season. 

The Legend of Korra. This is so totally my new favorite show! ^_^ It takes place about 70 years after the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The world, characters and story line are all awesome and the art style is gorgeous. The creators did a very good job of giving the show its own unique flavor while still keeping with the spirit of The Last Airbender. Jon and I have to watch it online because we don't have cable, which you can do on the Nickelodeon website. The hardest part is waiting for new episodes to come out each week. It's been awhile since I followed a show that hasn't been completed yet and this series has lots of cliff hangers.

 That's about it. Hope everyone has a good night!

sincerely,

me

2012 wall: March Update

Here's a quick look at my 2012 wall for March, curtsy of my web cam. The quality is rotten, but there is hope. Soon, very soon, I shall be in possession of a digital SLR. Then, my life will magically become beautiful and picturesque, like the way it is on other people's blogs!

Yeah, I know it's not actually that easy, but let me have my fantasy.

sincerely,

me

2012 wall: February Update

Hello! The end of the month always seems to come sooner than I anticipate. Here are some photos of my 2012 wall.

This is my first letter from Moumbassire, the Compassion International child Jon and I are sponsoring. I was so happy to finally hear from him; it helped make the whole experience feel more "real".

sincerely,

me

2012 wall: January update

Remember the 2012 wall I mentioned starting at the beginning of this month? Well, here's how it's grown!

These targets are from my Christmas/New Years vacations when I shot a .22 rifle at my uncle's. Not to sound arrogant, but I'm pretty pleased with how well I did. In the event of a Zombie Apocalypse, just get me on a roof, give me plenty of ammo and find some way to slow the zombies down a little and I'll be good.

A few details. Kind of ended up with a bird theme. 

A mini collage I threw together in a few minutes and ended up really liking.

Thus far, I'm really liking this system. It gives me a place stick reminders, ideas, memories and random stuff that's been sitting on my studio floor. The hands on element has been really fun as well. I shall continue to keep you posted on it's further development.

sincerely,
me

Thus begins the New Year

Hooray for another year! Did everyone have a good Christmas? Mine is a little difficult to summarize in one word. My Grandpa had a minor heart attack when we were visiting and Jon, Grandma and I ended up going to the hospital at 1:30 in the morning! It was a stressful and exhausting experience, but thankfully it didn't last too long. Grandpa's doing fine now; the doctors let him go back home a day or two before New Year's. Other than that, it was a lovely vacation! Jon and I traveled all over the place; visiting various family members and enjoying holiday cheer! We read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (which, by the way, is a hilarious story that I highly recommend. It might get added to my list of Christmas traditions), ate lots of unhealthy food, played the super fun game Telestrations, watched a few episodes of the Twilight Zone, saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie (which was quite good), played video games and hung out with lots of fun peoples. However, as much as I liked all the festivities, I'm definitely happy to get things back to normalcy.

To get this brand new set of months off to a good start, I decided to try something a little more elaborate than just a list of goals. So, I created the 2012 wall.

I started with a clear section of wall space in my studio. (Well, as clear as I could get it anyway.)

Then I added all the project ideas and goals I've brainstormed so far. I also threw in the months of the year so that I can keep track of when I got certain things done.

My plan for this wall is multifaceted. I want it to be a space to store and access all the ideas that go careening around in my head. Once I've had the chance to do some of those ideas, I'll be able to track the progress I've made and the goals I've accomplished. I'm also hoping it turns into a scrapbook of 2012; a collection and documentation of all the things that happened this year.

I also started an "ideas" jar. Anything that doesn't fit or hasn't made it to the wall yet can go in here till I get a chance to sort it.

I have a feeling I'm going to need a bigger jar though. This one seems too small already!

So there you have it, my wall sized planner, calender and to do list! I'll be posting pictures of its development and expansion over the months. One of my other goals for this year is to blog more often. Not so sure how that endeavor will turn out, but I'll give it my best shot!

sincerely,
me