when the sun sets

its my favorite time of day. sunset. dusk. those few sacred minutes of transition between daytime and night. when the sun comes down to meet us and look us face to face before it says goodnight. shining through everything bending and reflecting colors making things vibrant. the very very best is when its just almost dark and the neon of restaurant and gas station signs have already come on and the traffic lights are changing. they look the most alive against a setting sun sky. 

i am enamored with the sky. how no two days or nights ever look the same. how each day is beautiful. for a while now i've not been able to keep from taking pictures of the sky when i'm lucky enough to catch it at my favorite time. and sometimes i go find it on purpose. these were taken over the past year. all in the same town, yet not one is the same. 

last night we went in search of our sunset and we were not disappointed. you can breathe when you drive about 15 miles in any direction of this town. you can see who knows how far and you can enjoy unobstructed views of the setting sun as it says goodnight until tomorrow. 

the sun sets at 8:56 pm tonight, by the way.

hallelujah.

if you can hear the song playing right now... its pretty much what i heard when my dad called one night recently and said he would like to get me a new computer. hang on a sec lemme turn down the tv so i can make sure i heard you correctly... did you say you want to... buy me a new computer... ?

thats right. thats what he said. answered prayer! literally. my computer (i posted about it here) was a little outdated, a little slow. i have love for it... but my love couldn't make it play a video or save a file before every song in this playlist is over. i know everyone uses computers now, for you know... facebook :). i do too... but i really rely on it for work. being a graphic designer its important to have the tools you need to do your job. i have those tools at work of course, but having them at home is invaluable (i.e. awesome) because it lets me do personal work, extra jobs, and stay creative and current. i'm so blessed that my dad sees that and wanted to make sure that happens. (in the coolest way ever!)

so i spent the rest of the night in shock... this, friends, wasnt something i took lightly. keep in mind i have been daydreaming of a new machine and all of the things i could do with it for a long long time. i mean, i wanted one like that goldfish you won at the fair who is still in the plastic bag wants to be in the pretty glass fish bowl you bought him with clear water, colorful rocks and plants. i wanted one like the monkeys at the zoo want you to break the rules and feed them your popcorn. oh... i wanted one like a nerdy graphic designer wants an imac. yeah! i had thought of the options i had to get one... to get any version of a new mac. i had thought of ways i could make it work (refurbished mac?, selling my old computer?, payment plans?, selling a kidney?) none of those were going to work out for me though especially the kidney one. so when dad called i was so very very surprised and grateful.

dad followed through right away, researching macs on his own and in the end he insisted on getting the best one. (?!?!?) im a reserved person and i think all of my reactions have been as such but inside im jumping up and down. im excited... aiden style.

so then it came.... (ok first scroll down and restart the song)

ok ready? .... look!

yes, those are the heavens

so thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou dad. a million times. ive already been able to avoid having to be up at work late to finish an annual report because i was able to do it all at home. what a blessing to me! i cant wait to keep putting it to good use. (anybody need sumthin designed? imjustsayin) im so happy and excited in a really overboard computer geek graphic design nerd kind of way and im so okay with that.

my beautiful parents

also, here is a picture from my evening last night. feeling loved.

to hold the moon.

i see the moon and the moon sees me

the moon sees somebody i want to see

god bless the moon and god bless me

and god bless the somebody i want to see

there are endless songs about the moon... pink moon, yellow moon, blue moon, harvest moon, moon river, moondance. there's something magical about the moon. for me, that magic is told perfectly in this nursery rhyme... which to aiden and i is actually a song. i have no idea where i first heard it but i've always loved it. i made up a tune for it years ago when aiden was very little and ever since, we sing it when we catch sight of the moon. its a quiet song... i see the moon and the moon sees me. the moon sees somebody i want to see. the magic of the moon is that no matter where you are, there it is. the magic is that the people i love that are far away can look up and see the same thing i am seeing and that connects us even if its just a little bit.

i saw these amazing things called sunjars in a european online store one time. you may have seen them too. i loved them so much i considered for a (very intense but quickly fleeting) moment paying like 45$ and crazy overseas shipping for one. (im actually not at all sure how many american dollars it would have translated to... but everything had that L money symbol next to it and more than one number and im pretty sure it would have ended up being a lot, jolly ol chap) i then resolved to put it on my wish list for 'one day' when i have a bunch of extra money. the same list that has actually traveling overseas on it... in which case i could just pick one up, right? 

anyways, i didnt give up on them... i did a little research (thanks again, google) and whaddayaknow... you can make one. even better... you can make moon jars. and that makes my heart happy. so guess what... i made some. 

the supplies you need are basic:

garden solar lights

jars

frosted glass spray

the internet would like you think its super easy... and parts of it are... like spray painting the jars.. thats easy. the internet tells you 'then simply take apart the garden light'. oh. that's all? ok... uh how do you get into this thing? i found ways... but i plan on getting the correct tools for this in the future... something that cuts metal, and maybe possibly a screwdriver that, i dunno, fits the screws. 

so once you have defied odds and freed the insides of the garden light, all wires still intact, one ... you will feel pretty good about yourself, and two... you're ready to attach the solar light to your jar! i didnt think this part through before i started. the internet's version of this project is truly magic i think because it simply says 'place the solar light inside your jar lid'. well i have gravity at my house, so i had to find a way to attach it. i found a glue gun and went with that... i ran a bead of glue along the outside edge and used a bamboo skewer to move the glue between the solar panel and the glass.

finally after your jar lid has dried, place it on your jar and find it a happy home on a window sill or a patio table where it can feel the sun. just like the moon in the sky, it cannot light up with out the sun. the sun will give it energy to light up at night. 

i plan to make more moon jars and customize them... i will show you what i mean when i do. all finished, they feel like we caught the moon's light and can hold it in our hands.

if you would like one for yourself or to give to someone you love i could make one for you to hold, too.

simple.

oh, hi april. so happy to see you. to me you're as wonderful as summer. you have long days that make me feel much more productive and less like hibernating. your days are warm enough to relax and breathe and and they dont make me tense up and brace myself when i leave the house. your days have already been good for sitting on the porch and watering the yard. i do it the old fashioned way... with a sprinkler attached to a garden hose. well... actually i usually do it the really old fashioned way... with rain. but im trying to be better this year and help my grass out a little.

the sprinkler i am using now is one i took from my grandpa's things after he passed away. i dont know why i chose to take it... i'm sentimental i guess but a sprinkler? it makes me happy though to think of how many times he set it out on his own yard and then went out again to move it. it makes me happy that it still has a life. it works perfectly, and it brings all of the neighborhood kids to jump and run through it with aiden. and i love to sit on the porch and watch that. then get up and move the water to another spot and sit back on the porch and watch some more. its comforting to see the kids laughing and happy and not worrying about anything at all except the thrill of the cold water and making up games and challenging each other. so simple.

i love simple. simple is good. by simple i dont mean easy, i just mean uncomplicated. kids playing in sprinklers. accidentally learning a new better way to do something that i never knew. appreciating my first flower of the season that God brought back all on his own, (because i know i had nothing to do with it), watching a movie ive been waiting to come out, driving in the car with the music loud and signing, listening to aiden tell a story. making up a recipe that is gooood. you know all that everyday stuff i have realized i get really excited about.

100 times a day i think of things that ive learned or heard and think man, i wish everyone knew that! so sometimes ill try to pass along those things. or ideas i have. i read recently somewhere, 'dont hold your ideas in, share them! it worked for martha stewart' ha. i so dont want to be martha but im all about sharing. and if there's one thing i have, its ideas, baby.

easter is this sunday. aiden is nine and im aware that my window for taking advantage of holiday projects with him could be closing. i hope he's never too cool to color easter eggs with his mom, but you never know. im totally not above coloring them by myself if it ever comes to that, but im also not above giving him puppy dog eyes and guilting him into doing things with me even if he is 16 and its one egg and it comes with an eye roll, ha. and so! we colored eggs. i wanted to do something different that just dipping them in the dye. and so i went to my good friend, google. google is the best. wanna know when that movie is going to dvd? google. wanna know what your resting heart rate should be? google. wanna know chuck norris's date of birth? google. (i did have to look that up recently... he's 71!) you can find anything. i found a technique for tie dying eggs and guess what. simple! you should try it (im talking to you... my imaginary readers)

you need:
a colander
white vinegar
food coloring (i bought the neon too)
eggs obviously
paper towels
and an open mind about your kitchen sink taking on a pinkish hue after your finished

so boil your eggs. if you're planning on eating them later you should boil them like this (because they'll be great!) if not... boil them any ol' way you want. or if youre feeling like a dare devil dont boil them at all then try not to break them. thatll be fun!

[perfect boiled eggs: place eggs in pan. cover with cold water. bring to a boil and cook uncovered for 7 minutes. (i dont know why 7, i didnt make this up, but i make them this way every time now and they're great... so 7) after 7 min passes, take them off the heat and run them under cold water to stop the cooking. with this method you wont have those dry yolks that are no fun and not that tasty.]

moving on :) now you have your boiled (or not) eggs. so place a couple (or as many as you want to have the same colors) in the colander over your pretty white sink. now just splash a little vinegar over them. its not important that it covers the eggs evenly. we are going for artsy here (cover up word for messy/imperfect/ooops). now take your first color right out of the little bottle and drop a couple of drops randomly on the eggs. gently (seriously we cracked a couple) shake the colander to roll the eggs around a little. wait a minute or two before adding your next color...

repeat with as many colors as you like... no two will be the same and its impossible to mess up. (woo hoo!) so that is all there is to it.. i used tongs to move the eggs to a layered paper towel to dry.

my favorite method we used was the tie dye, but we also tried to do the marble effect which is done (supposedly) by adding oil to your top color. for us it turned out more like a speckled egg which is beautiful too but im pretty sure this is one of those times in life i should have measured. aiden used crayons on some before he dipped them. (by the way... speaking of dipping and not measuring: for that part i put about a 1/3 of a mug full of vinegar and filled the rest of the mug with warm water and then added lots and lots of drops of color. repeat for as many colors as you want. who needs measuring!)

here they are all finished! you can see where we cracked one, poor egg.

so try it! its fun.... happy wednesday :)

e.ternity mac

emac. oh emac. youre so... square. you were a very very generous gift from my parents... who i approached for a favor... 'please oh please could you invest in my future?' i reasoned that having my own tools when i graduated from college that december of 2004 with my degree in graphic design would make me more employable. they agreed and graciously spent what we both thought was a lot of money for me to have my own computer...with illustrator and photoshop cs. its been true.... from my very first job, to this day, i have sat before your glowing boxy screen and been fortunate to have the luxury of doing freelance work or working overtime for my job from home. even if lately that has meant being prepared to stay up twice as late because you ah... are a tiny little bit on the (slow side).

but you see, friend, the thing is.... its 2011 now. and well... lets just put it this way: you stopped being capable of updating to the latest itunes 3 years ago. we are currently listening to itunes in version 7. (2008). lets see if i can find a picture of me from then....

ok we'll here is me when you came around... glass blowing (art elective for school) and a picture my friend took as part of our photography class:

and here is me now:

 

ok so you see? things change... i have BANGS now. i know YOU dont have hair... but believe me if i could just get you a hair cut and you'd magically start supporting flash and speedily updating software i would be all over that...  

im actually a little in awe of what you caaan do (like the fact that i can update this site or view any current web pages at all) & believe me im thankful... but point is... 

yes... i do think you see my point. ahhhh it may be time for an upgrade soon, yeah?

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