I Heart Octopuses

Yes I do. They are just pure awesomeness. How can you not love something that hangs out in a jar like this?

Now, if only I could get that octopus tattoo I've been talking about for over two years now...

Birds, Words, Nerds, Cheese Curds...

Okay, so I've been reading The Princess Bride and Fezzik is getting into my head. It's silliness and fun, run, done, and I just can't help myself. So this post doesn't really have anything to do with words, nerds, or cheese curds (although I do like those things), but I will be talking about birds (which, for the record, I don't usually like.)

Want to talk about fish, invertebrates, plankton, or even algae? Sure, I'm down! But point out a bird to me, and you will most likely lose my interest. Yeah, it's no secret that I'm not a big fan of them (especially those darn pigeons that attack us during lunch.) There's a reason why I skipped ornithology class in college, but birds may be growing on me just an eensie, teensie, weensie bit. First, there are the birds featured in the "Jungles" episode of Planet Earth-- I admit it, those are beautiful and pretty awesome. And then we have a very entertaining Sulphur-crested Cockatoo at work. He talks a lot and is quite a character and makes me laugh every day. Birds have been growing on me enough that I actually enjoyed bird watching at the Bolsa Chica wetlands last week. I even learned how to identify two new birds (which is quite an accomplishment, since I once mistook a heron for a goose. Funny yet sad, I know.) Along with the bird watching, we took a nice little walk on the wetlands path and I also had a chance to play around with the D200 a bit.

Here's one of the birds I learned, the Snowy Egret:


And the other bird I learned, the Great Egret:


And although I don't really care for gulls, I thought this shot was cool--caught it right before he took flight:

Twilight Quote-o-the-day

"Brown is warm. I miss brown. Everything that's supposed to be brown--tree trunks, rocks, dirt--is all covered up with squashy green stuff here." -Bella, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Still Don't Really Know What I'm Doing

But still having fun playing around with PS Elements.
(Original-left, PSE-right)

Don't Really Know What I'm Doing

I've never used Photoshop or any other photo editing software before. Just got PS Elements, so playing around with it...
(left-original, right-pse)

Speaking of Books, P.S.

I know there's more of you out there. I know there's more than one person who reads this blog. Come on, there has to be at least five of you! Don't be shy, comment & give me your book recommendations! Please. Pretty please?

Speaking of Books

To the readers of this blog: I would like to hear from YOU!

I need to add more books to my to-read list, and would like to get some recommendations. It's always fun to give what other people enjoy reading a try or to pick up something that I wouldn't normally go for. So, if you are reading this post right now, please take a moment to comment and tell me your favorite book or recommend one of your favorites. Thanks!

Twenty-eight in '08

"It is with a good book as it is with good company."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Reading has always been an important part of my life, and I thank my parents for that. Out of all the toys and knick knacks I wanted as a child, and children do want many things, books were one thing that they never said no to. Any book that I wanted was mine, and I think that was important in allowing me to develop a love for reading.

I've bought many books in my lifetime. Oh boy, have I bought many. It is a bit of a problem. Lately, I've attempted to curb this problem by utilizing the library more. So far, so good. Since the August book-buying frenzy at Powell's in Portland (really though, how can one go to such an awesome bookstore and not purchase something?), I've only bought one book (and I don't think that book should really count, how could I not own The Tales of Beetle the Bard?) So for the past few months, I've been supporting my local library and helping my wallet at the same time. Yay me.

I've also read many books in my lifetime. At the beginning of last year, I decided to keep a list of the novels that I read during the year. This is something I had never done before but wish I had. It would've been nice to have a record of my reading history, from when I was a child to now, to see how much and what I've read over the years. I guess that list will just have to start from 2008--during the year, I read 28 new novels ( I only counted the book if it was my first time reading it. In addition to the 28, I did re-read a number of books also.) Some I would have never picked up if it weren't for book club. Some made me laugh out loud, some made me shed a few tears. Some were a disappointment. And some, the little surprises, the gems and the reason why I read, were absolutely wonderful. So here it is, the list...

2008 books, in the order I read them:

New Moon, Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, Laurie Viera Riglerr
Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
Duty and Desire, Pamela Aidan
These Three Remain, Pamela Aidan
The Witch of Portobello, Paulo Coelho
Fluke, Christopher Moore
Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood, Ann Brashares
Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld
The Host, Stephenie Meyer
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman
Jane Austen in Scarsdale, Paula Marantz Cohen
The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut
The Tail of Emily Windsnap, Liz Kessler
Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer
The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai
The Lace Reader, Brunonia Barry
Salty, Mark Haskell Smith
Three Junes, Julia Glass
Holes, Louis Sacher
Princess Academy, Shannon Hale
Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo
Girls in Trucks, Katie Crouch
The Friday Night Knitting Club, Kate Jacobs

Another Year!

Hope you all had a wonderful new years!

So here it is, 2009.
The year I creep ever closer to thirty. The year of the high school reunion. Has it really been ten years? Ugh.

2009, you're starting to make me feel old.