the great circus parade...

The Great Circus Parade is in town this year after a 6 year hiatus. For the past few days they have been camped out at Veteran's Park and I went on Thursday to go see what the fuss was all about.

I have to say that I'm not a huge fan of the circus. I like the magical childish image in my head but I know that it's not true. I know the animals are mistreated and hurt but I can't help but go. I'm fascinated by the old wagons they used in the parades (like in Dumbo) and of course the elephants! I had to go see the elephants. To my surprise there was a baby elephant. My heart just broke to see them there and I wanted to set them all free. Same for all the other animals they had there. I only wish people would treat animals with kindness. Elephants are not stupid beings, they are very smart and have an incredible memory. Elephants can be separated for years and then recognize each other when reunited. So it's not hard to imagine that elephants could learn to do the tricks for the circus without being stabbed or whipped. If only people realize this maybe the circus would be different.

Well the wagons were something to see. Beautiful magical wagons that are like something out of Dumbo or a child's book.

hippo birdie....

My birthday is coming up this month and I have been trying to update wish lists on several websites for friends and family to choose from. This year (like the past couple) I have no specific wishes. Honestly, it could just pass by and I wouldn't notice. My big dream would be to have a fabulous party with all my family and friends but we are all scattered across the country that it's impossible.

So I was browsing my favorite sites online and updating my wish lists and of course had to make a stop at Anthropologie.com to drool over everything. Of course there are several home items that I love and want and thought to share.

1. I have always wanted a cute apron. I love to bake and do the big holiday dinners and an apron has been dearly missed the past few years.

2. I LOVE elephants, and of course when I saw an elephant bottle opener I got way excited. I'm getting this no matter what!

3. Tea for one! I love it. I never make a full pot for myself and why fuss with the tray and a cup, pot, sugar and creamer? I say compact is cuter and so much more efficient. And who doesn't love that color.

4. There's something very Tim Burton about this bird that I just love. I want a whole collection.

5. I need this bed! No joke. I need to have this bed. I'm not a huge fan of the head or foot boards but the canopy is to die for! I can live with the rest. I just want to feel like I'm sleeping in a forrest in the comfort of my own home.

fleeting fluttering moments...

I might be completely full of *@#^ but I've come to a realization, while writing an email, about photography. I've long had this interest but never studied and never showed my work anywhere but the internet. I guess I always thought that I was just another person who had a "hobby" of photography, thought I was the bomb, but in reality wasn't good at it... or at least good enough to make something of it. But the thing that I realized was that photography is more than just a pretty composition. They (yes the infamous "they") have said that you have to have an eye for it. I've been told I have an eye for design but now I understand that I have an eye for photography too.
Someone once told me that my photographs are amazing and when they attempted to take pictures of similar places they just can't capture the same beauty that I saw. Then it occurred to me that I really do have an eye for photography. While people can be taught how to make a composition work they can't be taught to find the beauty in the world and capture that fleeting moment on film.

I am able to encapsulate how I view the world and what I see is beauty in everything. So I will wait and find out where this takes me. Hopefully it's someplace much better than where I am now.

"in summer, the song sings itself"

This morning I sat outside on my splendid balcony and sipped my citrus and chocolate infused coffee. I began to read some stories out of the book that has been abandoned for a few weeks and patiently waiting on my nightstand for me to open and flip the pages of brilliantly told stories. After finishing two stories in the collection I set out to collect more books and begin, officially, my summer reading.

I highly recommend "Delicate Edible Birds" as a pleasant transition into reading again. For the past few years I've only been reading textbooks and needed a good book to get me back into the fantasy lands of well written books. "Delicate Edible Birds" is delightful and Lauren Groff's storytelling is vibrant and tales are gripping, evocative, and worldly. Each of the nine stories feature women who find their lives going through a transformation that is as unpredictable as our day to day lives. Groff writes with honesty and paint her characters into a picture perfect world. Sometimes there are no happy endings, sometimes there are no endings but always does it leave you reflecting on your own life.

Summer reading list 2009:

✓ 1. Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff

✓ 2. Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

✓3. Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

4. Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil by John Berendt

5. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

6. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

7. Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

8. House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

9. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

10. Collapse by Jared Diamond

11. On Art & Life by John Ruskin

12. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

13. The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck

14. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

15. The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan

flickr

I've now opened a flickr account and have posted a lot of my photographs on there. Enjoy!

Just wondering...

Every once in a while I question what I'm doing and if I'm going where I need to go. I suppose that's a good thing because I never just settle, my mind keeps spinning, and new possibilities always arise. So today I wonder if I could ever do something with my photography. I know it's one of those "hobbies" that everyone thinks they can do and are good at but there's only one thing that separates an amateur from a professional, validation. Maybe I should find a gallery and take things into my own hands...

the calatrava...

One of my favorite places in Milwaukee is the Calatrava, the addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum. I now go there every Wednesday (free to Milwaukee residents), drink tea and enjoy a new gallery every week... tomorrow I'll wander around the Class Pictures exhibit.

50 ways to use my summer days

I've update my summer list... soon to come, my summer reading list.

1. enjoy a good rain storm

2. watch the sun rise and set on the same day

3. peruse vintage & independent shops

4. go to the farmers market saturday mornings

5. blow bubbles off my balcony

6. take more photos

7. contemplate life under the stars

8. find an abandoned country road, get out of the car and dance

9. exercise everyday

10. read

11. watch more films

12. stay up late with friends

13. buy and wear more dresses

14. more drive-in movies @ Miller Park

15. learn to play the guitar

16. make my "apartment" my "home"

17. write letters to friends

18. get a job

19. wear bright lipstick

20. buy a cute vintage bike with a wicker basket

21. observe people at Alterra

22. get a summer glow

23. learn to play the cello

24. girl's night

25. sleepovers

26. jazz in the park

27. pitchfork music festival

28. summerfest

29. state fair

30. use my polaroids

31. visit the new modern wing of the chicago art museum

32. visit northern wisconsin and see the goats on the roof

33. go bowling

34. fly a kite

35. work on my thesis idea

36. enjoy my birthday

37. study anthropology

38. make an apple pie from scratch

39. do more diy projects

40. enjoy a new piece of art every wednesday at the milwaukee art museum

41. green my thumb

42. reduce my footprint

43. find my groove

44. do something good

45. eat more fresh foods

46. make sun tea

47. go sailing

48. drink coffee and read the paper on the balcony in the early morning

49. learn to speak a new language

50. day dream

enjoy the summer days

I have completed the first thing on my list of summer to-do items!!!!

My balcony is complete and ready to be broken in. It's been a long hard couple of weeks but knowing it's finished and I can enjoy it feels amazing. 

a little birdie told me...

I have always been a fan of independently owned businesses. These businesses are the ones that suffer during a recession and the ones that we will miss the most if they have to close. Here in Milwaukee, Harry W Schwartz bookshops has closed along with Anomaly. In Savannah I loved the independent stores: @home, Paris Market and more. I find the people who own and work at these stores are the kindest most interesting people. At @home the owner Elizabeth Demos was a god send when it came to my sister's wedding. My sister, her fiancee, and I were looking for a cake topper when I found a pair of bird salt & pepper shaker and a votive holder. We had to wait for the new shipment of salt & pepper shakers to come in to get the right color but we were leaving for Wisconsin the next day. Elizabeth was awesome! When the new shipment came in she immediately put the salt & pepper shakers in the mail and a week before the wedding we received it. I don't know of anyone else who would have been willing to help us out like that. Thank you Elizabeth Demos.

And for that reason I am loyal to independent businesses and I ask you to support them too. I first saw this on the @home blog and decided to forward it on. The 3/50 Project is geared to save the independent businesses. Please visit the site here and support your local independent business.