bare

I jogged to Steph's car on Saturday thinking it was going to have a big fat ticket on it since we were one hour overdue to feed the hungry metal post that likes to eat change. No ticket.

On the way back to SoCha (where I tried to recruit her to join twitter), I walked into this very small art gallery. There wasn't a ton going on, as you can tell. But, I was drawn to the simplicity and rawness.

glimmer

Spring makes me feel alive.

tweet tweet

I've been fascinated by twitter and want everyone I know to join. Mostly so that I can seem cool because I have lots of followers. Exactly. No, it's actually because I have to follow strangers since none of my friends are using. (Still referring to twitter)

Most of the folks I know have given me blank stares when I ask, "Have you heard of twitter?" I thought I was surrounded by hip tech-savvy people here in the bay area, but apparently the twitter movement hasn't hit them yet. If you want to understand what Twitter's all about, click here right now. Lee LeFever put together a twitter for dummies video.

You can follow me on twitter by actually joining (preferred) or by checking my blog more often than you already do (also preferred). The "I Tweet, You Tweet" section on the right, is where you'll see my tweets tweet up throughout the day.


















It can't hug me, but I can hug it.

claustrophobia

Today, everyone and their laptops decided they would work from home....meaning, they are all at coupa cafe crowding around me. Okay, not around me, but just everywhere! As much as I love this place, I'm starting to feel like, "Would you please just open a window! I'm dying back here by the trash can corner because it was the only spot I could find."

labyrinth

Last Saturday, I spent some time in a labyrinth and came across this cracked bowling-look-alike-ball that was chained to others just like it. I imagined light shining out of all the crevices in the same way that Beast in Beauty and the Beast, levitates and starts emitting strong rays of light as he transforms into a handsome prince charming. (You know, near the end of the movie).

mustaches come in all shapes and textures

Milk isn't the only thing that makes catchy mustaches. Cream cheese just entered the market for white mustaches.

and the winner is....

Let me tell you, my inbox was bombarded -- I mean bombarded! -- with email submissions for the "name my ragamuffin bunny" contest. That's why it took me so long to announce a winner. All weekend, I sat in front of my inbox contemplating who the winner would be.

But Saturday morning, I thought to myself, "I'm not even into stuffed animals. Why did I have a contest to name my new rabbit?" Then, I looked around my room and noticed a few little friends that had their feelings hurt. Sowee.
























































So, the winner is..."TORRENCE" submitted by LindsayQ. Congrats! You win a trip to Alemany Farmer's Market. :) Want to go with me this Saturday?

back in the day

Did you play with these growing up? I hope everyone's had the opportunity to try a "Tubes of Balloons" out. I found it at a local candy store last week and as soon as I saw them, tingled inside. And even though they are absolutely delightful, people kept commenting (while playing with them) with things like, "are these toxic?" "it smells like it's toxic" "it's flammable", etc.

You're welcome friends. Yes, I bought them for you to harm you, and not just so that we would have a blast making unnatural balloons with weird toxic substances that you blow up.

propped

It doesn't seem like very long ago when all Sage could do was pose on her back for me. But now, she can prop herself up and make all sorts of funny faces. This picture almost made me roll over and die again like when I saw this picture taken by Gene.

My sister sent me a little video of Sage waving "bye bye." I hope you enjoy it as much as I did - yeah right, impossible!

awesome blossom

This time of the year in the bay area is when cherry blossoms fall and litter this world with white and pink specs. They are similar to snow, except the flakes are larger, they don't wet your clothes, and they fall from trees instead of a fluffy white snow-producing cloud. Right.























Ps. Today, I didn't make my 8am deadline. It's 8:05am.

ragamuffin

I received a bunny today. She was made by someone named Betty who hand makes these lil darlings. The story goes that Crispina, started making these little dolls during college, and has been expanding her collection ever since.

















What's unique about this doll is that each one is "made with love and a diverse assortment of recycled wool sweaters." Thanks Betty for your handmade bundle of assorted wool love. o WOW--that just felt way too mushy. I have to explain. It was emotional at work today during our staff meeting as we reflected on Monday's event. Pat got me this ragamuffin because it symbolized the type of work I've done. Rag-like, muffin-producing work. In addition, I had to open my card in front of everyone because it started to sing....."hey now, you're a rock star, get your game on, go play" ..... and of course, I started waving my arm and dancing.

















CONTEST ALERTY:
Ragamuffin Bunny needs a name. Email me your best 3 names for this bunny by Friday 3/21, 9am PST and the winner will receive something unreal.

what the ruckus

It came and it went - the Ruckus Nation Grand Prize Event was the finale after months of preparation. This lucky lady got a really big foam check on Monday afternoon for an additional $50,000 bringing her total to $75,250.

Here's a small window into my Monday, March 17, 2008.

This is part of the idea gallery where the winning ideas came to life through visual representation. Like this one, where tweens awkwardly pretended to be tetris shapes.

















This is Jesus and Mary; they're both fans.



































This is Sven's head + Maria's feet.












Sven and Maria are designers we worked with to create the idea gallery displaying the winning ideas. It was super to have the opportunity to work with these folks. Plus, curly haired brunettes = fun fun fun in the sun sun sun. That's right...triple the amount that blondies experience.









Ps. the guy on the very right is Brett, also with Daylight.

the big event

Today was a BIG day for HopeLab. I'm going to post some cool pics tomorrow!

144%

It was 10am on Saturday morning when I decided I wanted a pickle. Well, I didn't really care for one until I saw it at the local grocery store.

















I'm pretty sure it was the appetizing warts all over the pickle man that called out to me because next thing I knew, I was in line waiting to buy one gigantic pickle on a Saturday morning. I bought the damn thing and ate it all on my walk back from the market to the laundromat. It wasn't until I finished it that I realized how much sodium I had just consumed. Check out the serving size, then multiply that by 16%. No wonder I was parched this entire weekend. My body's trying to get back into equilibrium.

the whole shabang + a story

Here it is.

The picture might look familiar because it was taken from here.



A little thought on a little piece of paper.
Business cards are functional. With very little ease, your contact information, name, title, affiliation, and -- the most important -- your fax number, literally get passed into the hands of another human being within seconds. And even though technology is rapidly progressing, people still use business cards as one of the main points of entry into a virtual connection.

In designing my card, I thought...."why not have my picture on there so that people have an easier time remembering who I am." Hmph. Why not?

sneak peek

As promised, here's a sneak peek at my new biz cards that I mentioned in my last post.

i admit

...I haven't been taking daily pictures! Waah. My life's been a bit consumed recently with work and then when I get home, there's other personal work I need to do. OK, I'll stop whining.

I've had to savor the moments that haven't translated into pictures, but nonetheless still make me tingle inside.

• Last Tuesday, I watched a lindy dancer on the social dance floor and was ignited again for swing.

• I hung out with some middle school aged kids on Saturday and their spontaneity and imagination totally made me think...I wannabe a kid again. (That's a lie...I don't actually want to be a kid).

• Finally designed and sent my new biz cards to the printer last night. I'll post the design one day this week.

• Got a photo/text from my sister on Monday, with a picture of Sage that said, "Just for you." My heart seriously oozed.
  

• I finally ordered my very own macbook pro. This DEFINITELY made me tingle.
  

it's like a horse

I just can't believe how large these flies can get; they're disgusting. Check out those thick thighs. *shudder*

self-portrait 3

fake

This plastic snake might as well have been real because when I saw it on the ground, it made jump. Mind you, the snake is only about 2 inches long in real life and doesn't move.

you are

dhl

+ beat books

I have no idea what this is, but it caught my eye. It was leaning against a bookshelf on the floor in a small bookstore in Glen Park . I didn't feel compelled to investigate it further; I just wanted to use it to get a cool picture to post to. Sometimes I can be just that...a user and abuser - especially to pieces of wood that lean against bookshelves.













But, I didn't just take pictures of this wonderfully quaint little store, I also enjoyed their miniature chairs for their miniature customers. I hope my friend doesn't mind that I took a picture and posted her backside so that I could give you some context for how tiny this little chair is. (btw: cute ass!)



















Finally, this is me in the store. That mini chair featured above is the one supporting my feet. While relaxin in my lil set up, I finished an entire book in 3.5 minutes. And yes, it looks like a children's book with minimal words and lots of pictures.

2 strangers

Alemany Farmers Market is one of my favorite places to go on any given Saturday. You can find an eclectic mix of vendors, customers, and onlookers shuffling around between stalls.

While waiting to buy a chorizo huarache, I got into conversation with a guy that looked out-of-the-ordinary. Meet Brian, 29.




















And this is Daria from Russia. Her curiosity struck me while in brief conversation, but it was her openness that captured me while looking at her through the lens. It's in her eyes.

unexpected

A beautiful thing.