estacey
Saturday, May 23, 2009
wheee..!
sorry i been so quiet. i can't say i'm too busy.. hello, no job! but most of my online time is spent busily reviewing forums and stuff like that. haven't been in the mood to blog.
let's see..
remember the maldives v. fiji question. sounds like it'll be fiji.
yes, you're allowed to hate me.
this is where i wanna stay for at least part of it, an eco-friendly resort:
we'll be staying in one of those little water-front huts. whee! :)
also going here:
:) :) :)
so that's the big news.
:)
um, let's see. oh, today i was walking my dogs. all three. we were walking by a little apartment complex. and this lady comes out of her apartment to yell at me - dogs are not allowed there. i'm like, um, i'm just walking by. she keeps on. i'm like, omg, i'm walking my dogs - can you just leave me in peace? she keeps on. i'm walking like.. in the parking spots, mind you, because there is no sidewalk there. my other option was THE ROAD. the dogs are up in the common-area grass, running - not peeing or pooping, just running along all happy. if she would've left me along, we would've been dust in 15 seconds. but no. i finally say, "wow, do you have NOTHING BETTER TO DO?" and keep walking. then a guy comes out of her apartment. i'm far away at this point, but he starts yelling.. you know, something along the lines of "excuse me?" and then reiterating that DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED. i was already pissy so this was not helping. i'm like, "wow, you really need to get a life. i'm WALKING MY DOGS." he kept on. i turn around and yell back at him because he's still like.. threatening me or something... all mad and yelling.. so i'm like, "call the cops on me. please! go ahead! FOR WALKING MY DOGS." honestly. fucking floridians. the funny thing is about 45 seconds later, we were back in my neighborhood and the three dogs were BARRELING THROUGH this lady's yard. she was out by her car, so she saw them... and was like, "OH! DOGGIES! HELLO!" all happy. her own, private yard... not just some in-front-of-the-apartment patch of grass. i don't know on what planet people get mad at other people for walking by with three adorable dogs - what comes of that? seriously? get a life, or get a nice little real housewives of new jersey habit and, you know, LEAVE ME ALONE.
i just gotta say that it was mighty dumb of that couple to throw a fit because now i'll make sure we ALWAYS walk that way. and if sebastian wants to poop there, i'll let him. :)
okay, that's all. for now anyway! ¶ 12:34 AM 1 comments
let's see..
remember the maldives v. fiji question. sounds like it'll be fiji.
yes, you're allowed to hate me.
this is where i wanna stay for at least part of it, an eco-friendly resort:
we'll be staying in one of those little water-front huts. whee! :)
also going here:
:) :) :)
so that's the big news.
:)
um, let's see. oh, today i was walking my dogs. all three. we were walking by a little apartment complex. and this lady comes out of her apartment to yell at me - dogs are not allowed there. i'm like, um, i'm just walking by. she keeps on. i'm like, omg, i'm walking my dogs - can you just leave me in peace? she keeps on. i'm walking like.. in the parking spots, mind you, because there is no sidewalk there. my other option was THE ROAD. the dogs are up in the common-area grass, running - not peeing or pooping, just running along all happy. if she would've left me along, we would've been dust in 15 seconds. but no. i finally say, "wow, do you have NOTHING BETTER TO DO?" and keep walking. then a guy comes out of her apartment. i'm far away at this point, but he starts yelling.. you know, something along the lines of "excuse me?" and then reiterating that DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED. i was already pissy so this was not helping. i'm like, "wow, you really need to get a life. i'm WALKING MY DOGS." he kept on. i turn around and yell back at him because he's still like.. threatening me or something... all mad and yelling.. so i'm like, "call the cops on me. please! go ahead! FOR WALKING MY DOGS." honestly. fucking floridians. the funny thing is about 45 seconds later, we were back in my neighborhood and the three dogs were BARRELING THROUGH this lady's yard. she was out by her car, so she saw them... and was like, "OH! DOGGIES! HELLO!" all happy. her own, private yard... not just some in-front-of-the-apartment patch of grass. i don't know on what planet people get mad at other people for walking by with three adorable dogs - what comes of that? seriously? get a life, or get a nice little real housewives of new jersey habit and, you know, LEAVE ME ALONE.
i just gotta say that it was mighty dumb of that couple to throw a fit because now i'll make sure we ALWAYS walk that way. and if sebastian wants to poop there, i'll let him. :)
okay, that's all. for now anyway! ¶ 12:34 AM 1 comments
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
And the Darwin Award goes to...
Mr. Luis Hernandez of Deerfield Beach who was attacked by a bull shark last week in the Bahamas:
Highlights:
"Luis Hernandez, who was in the mood for fish, had just speared a grouper at a local reef when he spotted the shark.
"The first thing I thought was, 'Wow, nice shark!" he said. "So I swam a little closer and thought about spearing it, but decided to let it go. I just poked it so it would get out of my way."
For you non-divers, it's common knowledge that a speared fish will attract a shark all by itself... without you feeling the need to GO CLOSER or POKE IT WITH YOUR SPEARGUN! Smart!!! ¶ 10:42 PM 3 comments
Highlights:
"Luis Hernandez, who was in the mood for fish, had just speared a grouper at a local reef when he spotted the shark.
"The first thing I thought was, 'Wow, nice shark!" he said. "So I swam a little closer and thought about spearing it, but decided to let it go. I just poked it so it would get out of my way."
For you non-divers, it's common knowledge that a speared fish will attract a shark all by itself... without you feeling the need to GO CLOSER or POKE IT WITH YOUR SPEARGUN! Smart!!! ¶ 10:42 PM 3 comments
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
:(
My baby Bjorn died. I found him on the front patio in the sun. He somehow got flipped over and was stuck in the sun and apparently overheated.
I was going out to bring them food. I usually do that late in the day. If I would've gone out a couple of hours ago maybe I would've found him and could've saved him... It really sucks.
Whassup RAW?
I finally decided to experiment with raw, to see what all this hoopla was about. And I love it!
I love that you can change WB after the fact, all the adjustments and little tweaks you can make, and especially how FAST it is. I love vignettes, and it's so easy to do vignettes in Lightroom. Instant!
I'm also playing with some presets, which is cool. How fun!
To celebrate, I went and bought myself a 2-pack of 4-GB compactflash cards today at Costco. With raw, I'll need them...
Randomly chosen image (and randomly processed) from ones I took Friday of Maggie at the campus when we were trying to catch some feral cats!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
wow!
This is Thumper. He is woefully unrepresented in this photostream, because he's nearly impossible to get pictures of., originally uploaded by estacey.
This is Thumper. He is woefully unrepresented in this photostream, because he's nearly impossible to get pictures of., originally uploaded by estacey.
i had to look up to see when i got thumper... it's been over five months, which is incredible.
the reason i had to look it up is that thumper just in the past couple of days stopped running away every time i walked near the enclosure. he usually runs away and, on top of that, thumps. which is something they do in the wild to let the other bunnies know that there's a predator nearby. since whenever i come to the enclosure it's usually to give treats or hay or to talk sweetly and scratch ears, i think thumper is a little confused on what exactly a "predator" does.
but anyway, i have been totally touched that he finally stopped running away. he still will, of course, but at least it's not every time, and maybe this is a signal that he really is starting to trust me. yay! :)
he should. these bunnies are so spoiled, i'm tellin' ya. pellets every day, plenty of hay, lots of nice-talking, a fan blowing a gentle breeze into their enclosure 24/7, and a bowl of carefully selected treats EVERY DAY. also, they get the run of the house at night, but they rarely leave the room they're in.
that's all. :)
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Blind Climber on Everest
what?! sorry, but there is an everest documentary on right now and climbing mt everest is something that has always made me WTF... did a search on flickr and found this pic.
um. so you're blind? what EXACTLY is the point of climbing everest ? i get the sense of accomplishment, but.... i dunno. i would think seeing the view would be half of what made you realize you did it.
then again, i could just be ignorant.
Friday, May 08, 2009
embracing unemployment
ok, so the plan was to get a job right away after i finished with classes last semester. while still in finals, i was applying for jobs. either full-time ones i really wanted or part-time ones i was at least willing to do. thing is, then i actually got some calls back (on the latter category) and realized that, um, after years of doing jobs where much of my responsibilities were in the administrative category.. well, i don't want to do that anymore. even part-time, since most of the jobs want you there every day of the work week, just for shorter periods of time. i've done years and years of it, and i can't help but feel i've paid my dues. i just don't want to do that stuff anymore. i've had a lot of good responsibilities that i enjoyed fulfulling, but in my past positions i have had to do things like filing, making coffee, cleaning the kitchen, acting as receptionist whenever the the bitchy receptionist was on vacation or at lunch (seriously, you have NO idea how much that pissed me off, considering everything i had taken on since i was hired and how much the position had changed.. it was in not really an administrative position anymore, so why should i get stuck doing shitty administrative stuff like that, without ANY of the other people helping?), umm... TYPING MY BOSS'S WIFE'S LETTER TO THEIR CONDO BOARD from a tape she made... should i say this? i think i'm too smart for that shit. while a B.A. in english may not qualify me for anything i really want to do, it's kinda my line in the sand.. i am (or will be) a degree holder; i ain't going back to ordering your coffee for you. at least, not while i don't have to, and i don't have to...
i do actually miss having a job for a couple of reasons... one thing is that sense of responsibility & accomplishment. you know, i a pretty efficient little worker. every job i have had, i've managed to work all my duties down to a streamlined science and, while accomplishing 150% more than anyone expected me to, still managed to spend half my day in the internet. so while i goofed off a lot, i still did DO a lot. and accomplished a lot. and there is something to be said for the feeling of accomplishment. but i guess i'll get over it.
the other thing i miss about a job is the pay, obviously. but.. well, i really lucked out. me canceling costa rica caused chris & i to reorganize how we deal with the finances in the stacey-chris household. he used to do the budget.. he makes good money, ya know, and has lots of places that money goes. but he saves $X per month for the "budget" - that budget pays all our household bills, food, eating out, groceries, etc. he used to keep track of the budget. i was living off of my student loans. but now... i'm doing the budget! he thinks it'll make me appreciate the money more, which it actually has.. and i'm glad since i can stop having him stressing about staying under budget all month. so anyway, there is a bit of surplus each month.. assuming i'm wise about money.. that can be used for whatever i want. saving up for a lens. saving up for a trip to costa rica. or, as is actually happening now, paying off my credit cards. and the soon-to-arrive ER bill. none of that other fun stuff is gonna happen for a looong time, i'd imagine.. but i actually used the first budget installment just now to pay off ALL THREE of my credit cards and I CANNOT TELL YOU how good that felt. (i usually pay the balance off every month, but when the student loans ran out, that became impossible...) seriously. so good. so now i'm kinda like a month behind, i guess you could say, but all the bills are going on one of my credit card anyhow, so it will work out in the end.
so the plan is now to really actually try to start a photography business this summer. i'm doing research and stuff, slowly. i want to get some professional flyers designed, somehow. i'm checking out website possibilities. i already have a domain! and moo cards! i'm only doing it half-hearted right now.. i just finished classes a week ago, and am still not really into much computer time or anything. if i even had, like, five clients a month, i'd be super happy. i think i can do it.
so before i dash into this photography business thing whole-heartedly, i am at present just embracing my situation. staying up late, sleeping late (accepting my nature, in other words). i've been taking the dogs to the doggy park a lot, for a couple hours a shot. reading a lot. doing enough cleaning and whatnot to make myself feel useful. the dogs are LOVING this, i'll tell ya. i've been jogging at least three times a week.. the dogs always get to come... after a nice long jog tonight they all got thrown in the pool, towel dried off -- their favorite -- and a nice, long brushing from a very happy stacey. this on the same day they got to play in the lake at the doggy park for a couple hours. sebastian came went in the water on his own! i was shocked. their life is pretty sweet right now, with me around to snuggle on them and take them on car rides and to the park.
tomorrow i'm driving to boca to try to trap some of the FAU cats. or at least one of them. bringing a book. yipee!
so anyway, this whole no-responsibilities thing is just pretty much rockin'. i mean, as a full-time student, i had way more time than when i was working full-time. but i was ALWAYS sweating something, even if i was procrastinating it. now it's like.. i got nothing weighing on my mind like that. it's great. and just two classes this summer!
also, may i say, i'm 5 credits away from my B.A. and my GPA is something like 3.78 or something. and this is with me doing it all half-hearted. i mean, i worked hard on the stuff when i finally got to it.. but like... we're talking night-before. we're talking taking tests on material i hadn't looked at. lyrical poetry of the renaissance? i didn't read anything from like the 2nd week of class until the night before the final. seriously. then it was an all-night cram session, but STILL. i got an A! so while FAU ain't harvard, i think that if i did go to a good school, if i DID apply myself, i would still do well.
ok, phew, i think that's all. :) ¶ 1:15 AM 3 comments
i do actually miss having a job for a couple of reasons... one thing is that sense of responsibility & accomplishment. you know, i a pretty efficient little worker. every job i have had, i've managed to work all my duties down to a streamlined science and, while accomplishing 150% more than anyone expected me to, still managed to spend half my day in the internet. so while i goofed off a lot, i still did DO a lot. and accomplished a lot. and there is something to be said for the feeling of accomplishment. but i guess i'll get over it.
the other thing i miss about a job is the pay, obviously. but.. well, i really lucked out. me canceling costa rica caused chris & i to reorganize how we deal with the finances in the stacey-chris household. he used to do the budget.. he makes good money, ya know, and has lots of places that money goes. but he saves $X per month for the "budget" - that budget pays all our household bills, food, eating out, groceries, etc. he used to keep track of the budget. i was living off of my student loans. but now... i'm doing the budget! he thinks it'll make me appreciate the money more, which it actually has.. and i'm glad since i can stop having him stressing about staying under budget all month. so anyway, there is a bit of surplus each month.. assuming i'm wise about money.. that can be used for whatever i want. saving up for a lens. saving up for a trip to costa rica. or, as is actually happening now, paying off my credit cards. and the soon-to-arrive ER bill. none of that other fun stuff is gonna happen for a looong time, i'd imagine.. but i actually used the first budget installment just now to pay off ALL THREE of my credit cards and I CANNOT TELL YOU how good that felt. (i usually pay the balance off every month, but when the student loans ran out, that became impossible...) seriously. so good. so now i'm kinda like a month behind, i guess you could say, but all the bills are going on one of my credit card anyhow, so it will work out in the end.
so the plan is now to really actually try to start a photography business this summer. i'm doing research and stuff, slowly. i want to get some professional flyers designed, somehow. i'm checking out website possibilities. i already have a domain! and moo cards! i'm only doing it half-hearted right now.. i just finished classes a week ago, and am still not really into much computer time or anything. if i even had, like, five clients a month, i'd be super happy. i think i can do it.
so before i dash into this photography business thing whole-heartedly, i am at present just embracing my situation. staying up late, sleeping late (accepting my nature, in other words). i've been taking the dogs to the doggy park a lot, for a couple hours a shot. reading a lot. doing enough cleaning and whatnot to make myself feel useful. the dogs are LOVING this, i'll tell ya. i've been jogging at least three times a week.. the dogs always get to come... after a nice long jog tonight they all got thrown in the pool, towel dried off -- their favorite -- and a nice, long brushing from a very happy stacey. this on the same day they got to play in the lake at the doggy park for a couple hours. sebastian came went in the water on his own! i was shocked. their life is pretty sweet right now, with me around to snuggle on them and take them on car rides and to the park.
tomorrow i'm driving to boca to try to trap some of the FAU cats. or at least one of them. bringing a book. yipee!
so anyway, this whole no-responsibilities thing is just pretty much rockin'. i mean, as a full-time student, i had way more time than when i was working full-time. but i was ALWAYS sweating something, even if i was procrastinating it. now it's like.. i got nothing weighing on my mind like that. it's great. and just two classes this summer!
also, may i say, i'm 5 credits away from my B.A. and my GPA is something like 3.78 or something. and this is with me doing it all half-hearted. i mean, i worked hard on the stuff when i finally got to it.. but like... we're talking night-before. we're talking taking tests on material i hadn't looked at. lyrical poetry of the renaissance? i didn't read anything from like the 2nd week of class until the night before the final. seriously. then it was an all-night cram session, but STILL. i got an A! so while FAU ain't harvard, i think that if i did go to a good school, if i DID apply myself, i would still do well.
ok, phew, i think that's all. :) ¶ 1:15 AM 3 comments
Monday, May 04, 2009
yay!
final grades for this semester:
3 As
1 A-
the crazy thing is the A- was for a class that the two graded things we had in the class (final, midterm), i scored in the upper 90s. i guess she really didn't like my participation level or something??? we had a final paper too but i always do well on those. the only other thing i can think is that i missed one more class than was allowed, which dropped my grade by a few points.. but still!
whatever. i'll take it. :) ¶ 9:36 PM 1 comments
3 As
1 A-
the crazy thing is the A- was for a class that the two graded things we had in the class (final, midterm), i scored in the upper 90s. i guess she really didn't like my participation level or something??? we had a final paper too but i always do well on those. the only other thing i can think is that i missed one more class than was allowed, which dropped my grade by a few points.. but still!
whatever. i'll take it. :) ¶ 9:36 PM 1 comments
Sunday, May 03, 2009
nightmare for a social moth
so friday chris calls me on his way home from work and says weekend plans have changed, blah blah blah. because saturday night, his friend nick is coming into town with his buddy and they'll be staying a minimum of three nights, so we have to be home by 7, blah blah blah.
i'm like, back it up there, buddy. you're telling me friday night that we have three-day+ guests arriving on saturday night? well, he said, he mentioned it before that he MAY come but then i didn't hear from him until today about it.
i was a little upset. i mean, if he would've consulted me, i'm sure i would've said yes, but at least i would've felt like i had a say in it. i don't really mind houseguests, but this is TWO GUYS that chris knows... and chris won't be home tomorrow and the next day. but i will! so i'm kinda like, oh, wonderful. i told chris to at least get the guest rooms ready for them since i did it for his friends last time (and i do it when my family is coming, etc.).
well they arrived last night while we were jogging. as we jogged up to the house, we see THREE guys standing outside. THREE?!
i was originally going to have them sleep in the one guest room with two beds so we wouldn't have to get the other room ready and ellie could keep sleeping under the bed like he likes to do. but having three people made that impossible. so when we got back from the jog, i had to ready up that room, get my books and stuff out of it, make the bed, get towels, etc. (no, chris did not do it. surprise.)
then they went out for greek food and i spent the next, like, two hours cleaning as fast as i could so i could get in the shower. it actually was really good because i got more done in those two hours than i ever would normally. i had asked chris to shake out the couch covers and stuff before they got here.. of course he didn't.. he said they don't care. but of course they're covered in fur and, actually, the lighter-colored one was pretty dirty, so *i* cared.
i was trying to stay in bed today until they left - chris was taking them out on the boat. i finally had to get up. i came out to the kitchen to find FOUR guys. i don't know where this other dude was from, but i immediately ran into the office where i have stayed until now, waiting for them all to leave so i could go get some cereal. they're nice guys and all, don't get me wrong, but there really isn't a place for ME among 4-5 strange guys that know each other. i'm just like, omg, could you guys LEAVE already?!
anyway. they're gone. so i'm off to have some cereal! ¶ 11:31 AM 3 comments
i'm like, back it up there, buddy. you're telling me friday night that we have three-day+ guests arriving on saturday night? well, he said, he mentioned it before that he MAY come but then i didn't hear from him until today about it.
i was a little upset. i mean, if he would've consulted me, i'm sure i would've said yes, but at least i would've felt like i had a say in it. i don't really mind houseguests, but this is TWO GUYS that chris knows... and chris won't be home tomorrow and the next day. but i will! so i'm kinda like, oh, wonderful. i told chris to at least get the guest rooms ready for them since i did it for his friends last time (and i do it when my family is coming, etc.).
well they arrived last night while we were jogging. as we jogged up to the house, we see THREE guys standing outside. THREE?!
i was originally going to have them sleep in the one guest room with two beds so we wouldn't have to get the other room ready and ellie could keep sleeping under the bed like he likes to do. but having three people made that impossible. so when we got back from the jog, i had to ready up that room, get my books and stuff out of it, make the bed, get towels, etc. (no, chris did not do it. surprise.)
then they went out for greek food and i spent the next, like, two hours cleaning as fast as i could so i could get in the shower. it actually was really good because i got more done in those two hours than i ever would normally. i had asked chris to shake out the couch covers and stuff before they got here.. of course he didn't.. he said they don't care. but of course they're covered in fur and, actually, the lighter-colored one was pretty dirty, so *i* cared.
i was trying to stay in bed today until they left - chris was taking them out on the boat. i finally had to get up. i came out to the kitchen to find FOUR guys. i don't know where this other dude was from, but i immediately ran into the office where i have stayed until now, waiting for them all to leave so i could go get some cereal. they're nice guys and all, don't get me wrong, but there really isn't a place for ME among 4-5 strange guys that know each other. i'm just like, omg, could you guys LEAVE already?!
anyway. they're gone. so i'm off to have some cereal! ¶ 11:31 AM 3 comments
Friday, May 01, 2009
taylor!
ever since that "love story" song came out, i have just loved taylor swift. she has such a beautiful voice and is just the sweetest-looking, prettiest girl. love her! this video just reinforces all that. :)
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