thirtyseven: the illusion of progress.
The past few weeks have been a few good steps forward and one giant step back.
Oddly, it’s only the step back that I’m genuinely concerned about…
thirtysix: backward transitions.
The nippy chill of tonight, after the heartwarming sunshine of today, feels more like a “summer-is-leaving-fall-is-here” night than a “goodbye-winter-hello-spring” night.
thirtyfive: grief.
Please pray.
Our campus lost 2 students to suicide in the past two days. 3 students in the past month. 7 students in the past academic school year. If you have a moment, please ask for God’s healing hand over this campus (especially for our engineers who have lost friends).
If you’re reading this, I still love you a ton. I’m incredibly, incredibly, incredibly glad that you weren’t part of that statistic.
thirtyfour: photo delinquency.
I should probably update on my photo project.
I’ve finally uploaded the past 20-some days’ worth of pictures on my tumblr. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to get another copy of PS, so none of those pictures are post-processed, and because of my overall laziness, they’re mostly shot with my iPhone camera. Woo iPhone. Overall, it’s been harder to get into photo mode and I missed 7 days of photos. =(
This whole project made me realize it really wouldn’t be possible without some sort of easy access camera phone. It also wouldn’t be possible if I were expecting some perfect shot every day. The project definitely involves showing yourself some grace and knowing that most days, your pictures are going to suck. But I’m proud that I’ve stuck with taking some kind of photo for 44 days now, so I’m planning on getting some goodies for my dSLR. I’ve been talking to my friend Jung about new lenses. Hopefully in the near future, I’ll sell my 18-200mm VR for a couple primes and maybe a cheaper telephoto.
thirtythree: apt.
Feeling a little Liz Lemon-esque as the dreaded Valentines Day approaches. Maybe I will schedule a root canal for that day…and attempt to make out with a tree named Bon Jovi. :)
xkcd is full of the trite confessions of Nerdworld, but I like how brutally honest his conclusions are. I don’t mean to post this comic with any particular intent (so please don’t read into it that way). I just like the appropriateness of his resolve here.
thirtytwo: pain…?
There’s a beautiful integrity about pain associated with working out. I mentally drag myself into stifling layers of clothing, walk twenty minutes through biting wind, kick off my Timbs and socks and prepare to check my thoughts at the door. In a matter of seconds my Flushing-esque gangsta get-up is thrown off for a more breathable, and rather stretchy, shell of sports bra + loose tank + leggings. Squishy mat. Bare feet. Stretching and flowing. Hot room. And everyone has an aluminum Sigg bottle.
I’ve been feeling a great deal more limber lately. No more “I-scored-3″-on-my-V-Sit-test-in-high-school”. Supple limbs. Limber joints. Better posture. No judgment. Having fun. What an odd feeling. Enjoying what I’m doing, even though I know the pain that will follow will nearly prevent me from changing out of my sweat-drenched clothes. That’s another thing. Sweat pouring out of every pore. Relishing in the knowledge that my body is detoxing, ridding itself of negative feelings, fatty foods, and Ithacan stress. Reveling in the idea that by breaking down my muscles, I am making them stronger.
Allowing in the brokenness and pain…to better accept the goodness of what follows.
thirty: photo update
I’ve started a tumblr (WOOOOOOOOO <:|) for my daily photos so I don’t have to dump them all here once a week. Yay!
PS. This was a very uninspired photo week. Sad.
twentynine: 10 million words.
Deriving inspiration from this man (thanks to Wendy for sharing), I am going to attempt something utterly insane. Tim Challies is going to spend 2010 reading all of the New York Times non-fiction best sellers, updated weekly here, amounting to approximately three new books per week and 10 million words worth of reading.
Now, I’m going to throw in my “I’m a busy college kid” wild card and admit that I have no intention of reading three non-fiction works on top of my heavy liberal arts/sociology based reading for classes. HOWEVER, I’ve been looking for a reading challenge, and while I hate to say it, the entirety of the Harry Potter series is kind of a seven book cop out. So instead of taking one extreme (reading Sarah Palin and George Carlin memoirs and everything in between) or the other (reading elementary school level fantasy novels), I’m going to compromise!
My plan is to choose one of the top 15 best sellers each week to read. The caveat is that I have to choose a book that’s new to the list that week. While I will have read 52 books by the end of the year, if all goes according to plan, I will most likely drop a few weeks. I’ll be thoroughly happy if I read 30 books based on this reading challenge.
What does this mean for me? Multiple things. I’m going to need encouragement if I don’t want to give up after the first month. If you happen to be particularly moved by Challies’ insanity, let me know and maybe we can tackle this thing together. I’m a big fan of solidarity ;) In addition, part of why I want to try this is to work towards being a more well-informed person. I’d like to be regular about posting my progress and maybe the deeper thought-trinkets and questions certain books leave me with.
So that’s that! I guess I should mention that I finished my first book of 2010 (in one day in fact!), Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Tragically breathtaking. He describes a world where colors and blitheness are fast fleeting memories, but his descriptions are still so vivid and accessible. Dude knows how to write. I highly recommend it and it was a pretty fast read. I haven’t seen the movie, but I honestly can’t fathom how it could do the novel justice. What a great great great way to start my reading year!
twentyeight: 10 days of photog.
Finally, the first ten days are done.
I’ve actually had a lot of fun this past week and definitely learned a bit as well. Most of my shots are mediocre at best, but I can for sure see myself improving if I keep at it. I should probably also note that most of these were taken with my iPhone :runs away ashamed:. I wish WordPress had a nicer gallery set up, and there’s probably a way I could make these thumbnails more aesthetically pleasing, but here you go for now.
I’m not super creative when it comes to shot composition, but I’m hoping that’s something that I’ll learn over time. Favorite photo from this week has to be the Strand one from Saturday. I don’t know why, but the lighting, lines, and colors all make me feel really happy. Oh, books, the effect you have on me.
Crits and comments are totally welcome. Anything that’ll help me get better! Anyway, ’til next Sunday!
