Day Sixty-One: Wipers

So sleepy. I'm spending today resting up so I can spend tomorrow grading.

Day Sixty: Seeds

This was taken in a peaceful moment before another busy, social day got started. I went to Dallas to go shopping with Cory and some of his friends. After shopping we had Thai food and then a bit of a break before Cory and I went out with one of my friends from out of town, my brother, and a whole gang of people my brother brought along to dinner.

Today and tomorrow will be much more sedate, thankfully. Hopefully that will give me a chance to rest and fight off the sickness I can feel approaching.

Day Fifty-Nine: Wishbone

Another busy day. Breakfast with Cory, followed by a trip home to feed the kitties, then back to Dallas and out to Mesquite to meet some new people. Then all the way back to Arlington spend the evening with Kim and Sandi. It was a fun day, but I am going to need a break from social activities soon.

Day Fifty-Eight: Old Favorites

For Thanksgiving it was either a picture of my shoe or a picture of me looking sad. It turned out to be a good day, but it didn't start off too well. The plans I had with my brother fell through, I didn't hear back from some people I tried to connect with, and I had a mild hangover from the previous night out. But then I went out to Cory's family's house, where I not only got to meet his family but had some yummy pie and played games for a little while. And then after the family thing, Cory and I had a private music-listening party. He played me Tool's Lateralus and I played him The Mountain Goats' The Sunset Tree. It eventually did turn into a pretty darn good day.

Day Fifty-Seven: The Luckiest

Despite still feeling sad about the breakup with Stephen and despite feeling kind of swamped by school, I am very happy these days. I feel downright lucky, in fact. Not only do I have a collection of wonderful friends (even if they are hard to keep up with sometimes) and a job that I truly love doing (most of the time), but I am really happy with recent developments in my personal life.

Day Fifty-Six: Tilt

For those of you who have been following my kitty's progress over the last few days, I got to bring her home today. She's still not eating on her own, so I have to forcefeed her and give her medicines for a while, but at least she's home. In fact, she's sitting on me right now. :-)

Day Fifty-Five: Abandoned

Cory and I went exploring in my neighborhood and found this abandoned house. We only went in a couple of rooms because the others were dark and I was afraid, but it was pretty cool. The floor was covered in trash, glasses, leaves, dirt, and even a couple of folders full of choral music.

Day FIfty-Four: Dock

I went geocaching with Cory, Scott, and Lisa. This was near one site that turned out to be really creepy.

Day Fifty-Three: Mr. Butt Snuffer

I found this lovely ashtray while exploring my neighborhood. I just love "Mr. Butt Snuffer." So charming.

Day Fifty-Two: Cornered

Today's was a blind shot snapped between running errands, doing laundry, visiting Sophie at the vet, baking (pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips!) and getting far too little sleep. I intend to try for a better one tomorrow.

Day Fifty-One: November Train

It was such a busy day. I very nearly forgot to take a photo at all, but fortunately I got bored waiting for the train to pass and then remembered that I had my camera with me.

Day Fifty: IV

My poor Sophie is still at the vet, taking IV fluids and medicine. She has hepatic lipidosis and needs to start eating, but she hadn't been when I went to visit her today and I couldn't get her to eat anything, either. If she doesn't start eating by tomorrow, she may need a feeding tube in her stomach, which will cost a lot of money. If my pet insurance won't cover it (and I'm not sure yet if it will), I don't know how I'll be able to afford it.

My poor kitty.

Day Forty-Nine: Thistle

This is an experiment in layering textures. I've seen a lot of really great stuff using this technique, but this is the first time I've really tried it. This texture (Chaotic Soul) is from ghostbones' collection of free textures on flickr.

Day Forty-Eight: Drafting

I'm working on a paper on Paolo Bacigalupi's story The People of Sand and Slag. This is a part of my notes.

Day Forty-Seven: Mr. Smiley

Here is another example of the cheery graffiti around UTA's campus. It doesn't exactly reflect my mood today, but it's something I've been meaning to photograph for the last few days, so I figured I'd go ahead and do it before someone scrubbed it away.

Day Forty-Six: Hiking Weather

Stephen, Zachary, and I went hiking. It was nice and crisp and cool and the leaves were turning. Perfect hiking weather.

Day Forty-Five: Red

"Man is harder than iron, stronger than stone and more fragile than a rose."

--Turkish Proverb

Day Forty-Four: Lock

I'm really happy because today's classes *both* went well, a rarity this semester, and because I'm making steady progress on the paper I'm writing. Nothing like feeling productive!

Day Forty-Three: Fallen

I found this sticker on the ground as I walked around Arlington. It is an American flag with text under that reads, in part, "2008 Disabled American." Seeing it discarded on the sidewalk like this evokes past (and, sadly, too often ongoing) treatment of persons with disabilities as second-class or throwaway citizens.

“Congress acknowledged that society's accumulated myths and fears about disability and disease are as handicapping as are the physical limitations that flow from actual impairment.”

--William J. Brennan, Jr.

"Freedom doesn't come with a piece of paper. A piece of paper doesn't end a long history of intentional and purposeful discrimination. Ignorance is our greatest enemy ...excluding someone from society simply because of disability is WRONG."

--President Bill Clinton

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

--Martin Luther King Jr.

Day Forty-Two: Rest

"Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.”

--Ralph Marston

Day Forty-One: Gracie the Hunter

She paused in her destruction of her new squeaking mouse toy, just long enough for me to get a clear-ish shot of her and the mouse.

Day Forty: Unfocussed

I had serious problems with focus on Sunday. I was still tired from the long day I had on Saturday. I slept in a little bit, then Stephen and I went to breakfast, ran around town a little bit, then went back to his place for naptime followed by an early-ish dinner and some TV before I fell asleep on the couch.

It wasn't a terribly productive day, but I needed the rest.

Day Thirty-Nine: Flag

Today I sang with Paradigm Vocal Ensemble. It was a tiring day. I got up superearly to drive to the church where we were going to sing. After church, we went to one of our members' houses for lunch, where I managed to step on a bee or a wasp or something. It stung the bottom of my foot. It really hurts. I don't recommend stepping on creatures with stingers. Then we rehearsed and performed again in the afternoon.

After all that, I had to drive to my house and then to Stephen's and then to his parents' for a birthday party.

It's been a long day.

Day Thirty-Eight: Dreamy

After a tiring morning of tearing up my bedroom while I tried to sleep, Gracie had a nice long nap and rest time today. She makes a good model when she's too tired to try to play with the camera or attack my head.

Day Thirty-Seven: Dino

I went back to work today after taking Election Day off. Then I went to see W. with my friend Cory this evening. It was a busy day and I didn't get a chance to take a picture until I got home after the movie. This is a plastic dinosaur change bank I have in my room.

Day Thirty-Six: Leaf

I'm having trouble getting anything done today. Every few minutes I am struck all over again by how amazing last night's victory was. Then I have to stop and marvel at that fact.

Day Thirty-Five: Wow.

So today was the election in the U.S. I worked at one of the local poll sites today for about 8 hours, which was actually great fun, and then I went with some friends to a Democratic party rally in downtown Fort Worth.


Honestly, even though McCain's already conceded and Obama's given his victory speech, I still can't really believe it.

Day Thirty-Four: Wishing

As all cats do, Gracie likes to sit next to the window, feel the breeze and watch the birds in the bushes just outside the screen. I tried taking her outside on the leash a couple of weeks ago, but she wasn't quite big enough for the harness to work for her yet. I'll try again this week and see if she's big enough now to be able to use it without wiggling out of it. That way she can get some outdoor time in and still be a safe, spoiled indoor kitty.

Day Thirty-Three: Backstage

This was my view of the stage between sets at the Mountain Goats and Kaki King show.

If you do not know The Mountain Goats, you need to know them. This was the second time I'd been to see them play live and both times were simply amazing.

The only regret I have is that they didn't play a longer set. They closed with No Children and The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton in two separate encores. I don't think I've ever experienced anything quite like being in a room full of people singing those two songs at the top of their lungs.

Day Thirty-Two: Love Love Love

This shot is titled as it is out of sheer anticipation for getting to see The Mountain Goats play tomorrow night and in honor of one of my favorite Mountain Goats songs:

King Saul fell on his sword
When it all went wrong
And Joseph's brother sold him down the river
For a song
And Sonny Liston rubbed some tiger balm in his glove
some things you do for money
and some you do for love love love

Raskalnikov felt sick
But he couldn't say why
When he saw his face reflected
In his victim's twinkling eye
Some things you do for money
And some you'll do for fun
But the things you do for love
Are gonna come back to you one by one

Love love is gonna lead you by the hand
Into a white and soundless place
Now we see this
As in a mirror dimly
Then we shall see each other
Face to face

And way out in Seattle
Young Kurt Cobain
Snuck out to the garden
Put a bullet in his brain
Snakes in the grass beneath our feet
Rain in the clouds above
Some moments last forever
And some flare out with love love love