I'm not ignoring you

This particular Indexed hits close to home this week, as both really good and really bad things have happened very quickly in a short amount of time. I've barely had time to process one before something else happens. I'm never sure if I should laugh or sit on my couch with ice cream and stare at the wall.

Tuesday: My neighbors' dog bit me as I walked out to my car, first thing in the morning.

Wednesday: While I tried to eat my cereal in peace, my tooth shattered. This is the second time this has happened thanks to some botched sealants when I was a kid. I got right in for a filling, and when my dentist saw my tooth, she said: "Oh. I've never seen that before. Did you get some work done in Russia?". She was serious. Apparently, fillings done overseas are colored. Now I know.

Thursday: Pulled over on my way home because I have a headlight out. Thankfully, the officer was not only really nice, but he let me go without a ticket. I considered a hug but deemed it inappropriate.

On the (very) bright side, I have a job. A real job. A design job. Full time! It's been almost a year since my last job, so the transition is a little rough right now. I work in a great studio with six other people. We play music, plan campaigns just for fun, and have toys all over the office. That said, we do a lot of work. Yesterday, I put together 26 presentation boards, recreated three pieces, and designed two newsletter concepts. I'll be taking a week off before "officially" joining the studio. Things are about to change around here.

And on that note, I'm tired. Tomorrow is Friday and more welcome than any Friday in a long time. Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Back in the swing of things

Up next on the concert list:



and



and

The things my phone has seen...

Really tiny s'mores. Really, really tiny s'mores.

Too large chipmunks. They should not exist.

Heyo, creepy doll.

Packing a little heat (mwah haha).

I really wish I could wear this out...

Tim Burton inspired Halloween.

This is what she does. All day, every day.

Again, this Halloween brought to us by Tim Burton.

Fog, sunrise, my first time leaving town in four months.


This city has finally won me over.

Playing Dress-Up

It's 73 degrees, sunny, and Christmas decorations are going up down the street. We have our windows open today, bringing clarity to every thumping car and angry conversation on the street below us. I'm wearing five layers and still chilly, but no one had better even think about closing that window.

Last night we had a movie night over here and watched The Thing. Why had I never seen this movie?! The Skidozer 301 and Kurt Russel's feathered mane alone made it a quality night. Throw in the song Superstition and some roller skates and I'm sold!

Tomorrow I'll be rocking out a Halloween celebration downtown. The main street will be shut down and they are having a Halloween fashion show, among other things. The fun thing is that the fashion show isn't costumes, it's actual fashion designers putting together outfits that follow a theme. A pretty big crowd comes out for this, and you will be hard pressed to see a larger group of drag queens together in one place in this city all year. I should really have a costume in mind at this point, right?

On Monday, I'll be starting a two week project in a new studio. This is the kind of place I dreamed about working in. Awesome office space, great clients, a more than impressive process and portfolio. There will be a lot to learn, very quickly, but I'm excited about the opportunity and ready for a chance to really take things to a new level. Big changes ahead!

For now, I'm going to head out and enjoy this amazing weather. I'm going to drive home with the windows down, take a walk, and enjoy a relaxing Friday night. I have all day tomorrow to figure out a costume, right?

Yeah Yeah Yeah love

You know I like to write, and you know I like music. Specifically, you know by now I love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and think that Karen O. is the epitome of awesome. Combine all of those things and you have this, my write up for the really cool new site 80 Minutes for Life. Go, check it out, and be sure to check out all of the other great bands, playlists, and write ups on the page. Enjoy!

(And for the record, this is the not the love letter to Karen O. that one friend expected. I have a lot of love for the boys, too!)

Don't make no

I'm currently sitting with a dog and blanket both up around my chin, typing in the dark, from the comfort of my couch. It's been a beautiful, almost perfect autumn day outside. The leaves are yellow and red, and the sky is gray and rolling. I met a friend for coffee today and the coffee shop played both The Smiths and Chris Isaac. I wanted to let them know that they could have saved themselves the effort of the good music - I was ready to offer them my firstborn at the mere sight of my latte.

Yesterday was not so beautiful or perfect. It started off well, dropping my car off and grabbing coffee. Not even the double shots of espresso could fend off the overwhelming fatigue that set in later that day. I feel like a wasted a whole day, tired and cranky, at home. On the bright side, I don't need a new engine. That's right. I've stayed in town for four very long months. I've missed some very important events, and all because a valve was blocked at some point and the light just needed to be reset. If I thought my car would survive another trip to Chicago, I would totally drive over there and unleash the fury of someone who has been trapped in town for four months

Shortly after getting the call that my car was beautiful and healthy, I started getting ready for the wedding. The outfit that I had picked out just wasn't working, and that was even before I realized that a majority of the people attending would be jean skirt sporting Pentecostal ladies. I went with a fallback respectable dress and we headed out towards the hills of Appalachia.

Three hours later, I was greeted by a woman that I have known my entire life. I've known her family, had sleepovers in her living room, and gone trick or treating with her kids. After four years of not seeing me, her first words:" So, are you datin' anybody?". I can't tell you how many times I was asked. I also got "ain't none", "done got it", "done went", "they can't be lesbians, they are too old", and "uh-oh, now I'm going to be in the blog" (sorry, you totally made it in the blog), and at one point, I found myself clarifying that I did not in fact marry a Christian rock star (nor did I know such a thing existed). I was exhausted by the time the wedding actually started.

If you grow up in a small town and then go to a Christian school, wedding season starts when you are 19 and continues, seemingly, forever. It's safe to say that I've been to an unnatural number of weddings in the past few years. I've been to some really awesome weddings, and some really sad weddings. I've been to enough weddings to know that I want to elope. Yesterday's wedding, for reasons I won't go into here, fell on the sad side. I think the couple is good for each other, and I think that's what matters here.

I found myself wishing I could show these people, who have known me for easily the majority of my life, how happy I was despite the lack of a ring. I wanted to whip out pictures of my friends! and apartment! and the cool places we hang out! But instead, the conversation ended and they moved on to see if my brother was living a more successful life. When I got home, my friends wanted to know how my day went. I told them I wanted to take a shower, which meant that it was good, and bad, and weird, and would never completely make sense to them. My two worlds do not make sense together. All of that to say that if you have a friend who seems to have good taste, but who also owns and quotes the movie Sweet Home Alabama, don't you dare judge her.

PS: I was once again reminded that I have an awesome family, and they totally make sense.

What you need

I've spent half of this week not knowing what day it is. That's a good place to start.

I have officially survived Head Cold '09. After days of denial ("It's just allergies") ("It's just really bad allergies"), I finally caved and admitted that I did, in fact, have a cold. Days of sleep, tissues, Zicam, teas of every variety, and groggy me followed. After a couple of nights of extended, deep, ohmygoodnessamazing sleep, I am back up and running, no longer forced to breathe out of my mouth.

Speaking of mouth breathers (zing?), I'm heading back to my hometown for yet another wedding tomorrow. This one is for my younger brother's best friend growing up. The failures of both my brother and I to successfully find our own true loves will undoubtedly be brought to our attention several times. All I know now is that tomorrow involves hay bales and scarecrows. At a wedding. I'm charging my camera.

Today is the calm after one storm and before another. I finished up a rush project yesterday and am preparing to possibly start a couple of big projects soon. This is good news, as The Career has been frustrating lately. And we foolishly thought we would figure out what to do with our lives when we graduated college.

Regardless of what is going on, the leaves and weather outside will not be ignored. It's beautiful here. Walking with my friend through leaves yesterday, hearing the crunch, I couldn't help but just smile. Neither of us even cared that we ended up with shoes filled with dirt. Sometimes, you need that, too.