What's the Best Thing That's Ever Happened?

Have you ever wondered what vertigo feels like? I can't say that I have, but I can now tell you from experience that it's not really fun. It feels like the room is spinning and you can't focus on anything, and sometimes it feels like you're going to throw up and you're exhausted because you've been trying desperately to keep your balance and not fall over or fall off your chair. If you have it really badly, you will throw up. A lot, apparently. (Thankfully I haven't experienced the joy of severe vertigo. Yay for my inner ears!)

So, that's been exciting, as have the "excersises" my doctor gave me to help my inner ears regain their equilibrium. But here's what else that's been excitng around here:



James had a birthday!! I found him a really yummy Oreo birthday cake and almost set it on fire with Happy Birthday candles.



Birthday boy



James wanted to see the Endeavour space shuttle at the science museum for his b-day.



Endeavour was awesome.



Would you like to buy an Endeavour shuttle of your very own? It will only cost you about $2 billion. Meer pocket change!



Many photographs were taken



It was amazing to think that we were looking at something that had been to space and back.

 And then the next weekend...


My lovely/crazy friend made James masks

 

This is the best thing that's ever happened.



Wait....maybe this is the best thing that's ever happened.

 Also, remember that exhibition I was sort of begging you to attend?


I won an honorable mention for my photograph!



No, the photo is not upside down.

 It's been a busy couple of weeks over here! What have you been up to?

April Reading

I haven't really been in the mood to read lately. I must be sick or something, because that never happens. Here's what's been in my Kindle/hands lately:



Although I was really excited to find that this was part of a trilogy, I was very unexcited when I found out it's the middle book of the trilogy and I don't really have any desire to go back and read the first one or go forward and read the last one.



One of my favorite authors from being a teenager, this is a book I've read over and over and over again.



The latest ebook from FLB, full of short stories. Some of them are a bit weird (she's gotten rather strange in the last several years) but there are hints here and there of the style of her writing that got me hooked in the first place, which made me oh-so-happy.

I've been having long days lately, and when it's time to just shut off and enjoy a few pages, I find myself worried about the piles of paper left on the kitchen table, or the fact that we need clean underwear and haven't been able to get in the laundry room for days, or that I need to write shopping lists of food, or that I need to remember to pick up some chain to finish a new necklace, etc, etc. What I need is an assistant who can do all of that stuff for me, which will really free me up to worry less and enjoy relaxing more. Let's make that happen.

Come See This Show!

Opens this Saturday! Don't miss it!

I have a slightly shameless plug to make: come to this show on Saturday night to support some really talented local artists!! And, come to this show on Saturday to support ME, because it's a show I and my co-workers have spent lots of hours working on for the last couple of months, AND I also happen to be one of the artists included in it!!

Over 130 pieces of art were submitted and our juror, Mary Aslin, accepted close to 80 for exhibition. (She did not know that I had submitted something, she was un-biased.) We now have the gigantic task of arranging and hanging the show before Saturday. Wish us luck.

Here's what you need to know...

Viewpoints Orange County All Media

at Chemers Gallery

17300 17th St, Ste. G, Tustin CA

Opening Reception April 27, 5:30 - 8:00p

Show continues through May 11

See you Saturday!

Weddings, and Introducing Vegetarians to German Potato Salad

BFF got married 2 weeks ago. (Hooray!!!) I love her and I love her new husband - can't wait to have them round for dinner where we can introduce him to my German Potato Salad. (They're both veggie, but he's decided to start eating meat in preparation for their European honeymoon.)

It was an absolutely beautiful day, despite the threat of rain. I threw my camera at James when he arrived and charged him with picture taking, while I held onto my phone (strategically held in place under the strap of my dress - note to self: if ever buying a bridesmaid dress again, look for one with pockets!). There were 10 bridesmaids and 10 groomsmen, and close to 200 guests. It just goes to show how much everyone loves the happy couple!


There were picture frames hung by twine from the tree branches.



She chose succulents as her "flowers." This was her bouquet. She actually MADE the bridesmaids bouquets (I'll show you mine in a little bit...)




Her dad was there in spirit, although sorely missed by those who knew him




The guestbook was thumbprints of fireflies. Everyone was walking around with yellow thumbs.




The head table



The bride & groomsmen (I have absolutely no pictures of the groom facing forward!)




James and I wandered around the property and found a swing, which we swung upon. My dress was grey lace, and my shoes were mustard yellow ballet flats, which made me possibly the shortest bridesmaid.




Dance par-tay!! I'm not much of a dancer, but I had to join in for "Don't Stop Believin'", which is becoming a wedding must-have.




James and I taking some time out to explore the gardens.

What is it about weddings that make people cry? Is it that you're witnessing the next part of someone's life happening right in front of your eyes? Is it all the memories you've shared with that person up until then? (And I've shared about 17 years worth of memories with her!) I have no idea, but whatever it is, I was so thankful that no one was looking at the bridesmaids and everyone was watching the bride, because I totally cried. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't the pretty kind of crying. Which is why I wore waterproof mascara.

After the ceremony, James and I caught up with friends, some older, some newer. It was an absolutely wonderful day, and we partook of the "photobooth" to commemorate it:

We are distinguished, don't you know?

And, didn't I promise to show my bouquet?

I took it apart, planted it, and now it's the C&J Love Garden!

O.M.G.

I found this living in my garden today:


Phidippus Jumping Spider

Obviously, I can never set foot outside again.

March Reading

I am up before 6am today. Poor James has a funky work scheduel this week and our landlord is installing a new heating unit in our home today, so I'll be spending part of this lovely 6am morning moving breakables away from the wall. But I'm not moving the bookcase. Forget it.

Speaking of bookcases, these have been on mine lately...



Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane



Cemetery Girl by David Bell



The Girl in the Glass by Susan Meissner - a Christmas gift from James



Ashenden by Elizabeth Wilhide - almost finished with this one

After Ashenden, I'll be starting a trillogy of Dowton Abbey-esque novels. What also looks good is Death Comes to Pemberley. Here's my trend of reading novels set in England, and also set during wartime England.

Tomorrow is WEDDING DAY for my BFF!! I'm so excited for her and her almost-husband - tomorrow is going to be fabulous, and I know I'll cry, but that's just the nature of weddings, isn't it? Congratulations, Carly and Joe!!

To comemmorate this, the day of your wedding, I give you...moustache girls!!

Not For His Own Aggrandizement

One of the things I miss the most London is the ART! I used to love heading down to the Tate Modern to wander around the galleries and see what was new in the Turbine Hall. The galleries in the East End were crazy, and the openings were just rediculous. The best kind of rediculous.

Here in Orange County, we don't have the same kind of art on offer. But we try to make do. James and I went to the Orange County Museum of Art the other week, and we saw this:

Whaaa...??

The exhibition was Richard Jackson, "Ain't Painting a Pain." It just reminded me of art I saw while at art school. Made up of site-specific wall paintings and "anthropomorphic painting machines," it was room after room of paint. Or stacked canvases with paint. (Which I liked the most.) Or a giant room-maze of painted canvases.

Sadly, this led to a "room" in the middle that felt like an afterthought. I supposed you could say the message is to just enjoy the journey, but I kind of doubt this was the artist's intention.

There was also a room made of entirely of identical clocks that all read the exact same time. They changed time exactly together, and even though you knew it was coming, the sound made you jump. It was kind of fun, made you laugh at yourself a little.


Room of Time

 But what I really hated was the room at the end that had a small airplane in it that the artist intends to fill with paint and then crash. 'Scuse me, Richard Jackson, but if you have all that money to waste like that, would you like to send some my way? Thanks.

So I kind of left the gallery in an art funk, and then I saw this again:


"Bad Dog"

 Plus, looking through the catelog now, it makes me laugh. Because where else will you see phrases like "anthropomorphic painting machine," "culterual orthodoxies," and "his own aggrandizement" if not in an art catelog?