great ape!

Devin snapped these pictures on his iPhone during an Easter barbecue, when Cameron decided to scurry up this tree in their backyard in a manner shockingly similar to a wild chimpanzee. (He's that little dot visible among the tippity-top branches). I was more than a little impressed by his tree climbing skills, and thought I would dedicate today's post to him - he's in the middle of finals right now, and is showing a lot of dedication and grace under pressure. Tonight, I think we'll celebrate our own little personal victories and perseverance with an evening dedicated to our favorite vice: truly absurd reality TV, back-to-back.

good hair day

I can't wait until my hair is long enough for that bun to be loose but not falling out like it is there, and all the hair from the front long enough to be pulled back. This was a satisfying moment, though, and I'm always glad when there is enough natural light in my apartment that photos from my little Photo Booth camera turn out well. That usually means it's warm enough to have the window open, and my cramped little studio workspace can be graced with fresh breeze and the scent of laundry detergent coming from the laundry room below. Few things are better, really. 

keep calm, get lost

Awhile ago, I made myself two motivational posters out of printer paper and a thick black sharpie and hung them with masking tape on my TV screen. One said "keep calm and carry on" and the other said "a positive attitude goes farther than a state of panic!" Can you tell which clever little slogan is world-famous and which one I came up with myself to remedy my own shortcomings? I wish I had the real, screenprinted versions from the Keep Calm Gallery; I think this series would be a nice touch hung in a row by my bedside. This postcard pack would also make an adorable gift. I especially like the shade of yellow and the typeface on "be optimistic."

simplify, simplify, simplify

"Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them. Their fingers, from excessive toil, are too clumsy and tremble too much for that. Actually, the laboring man has not leisure for a true integrity day by day...He has no time to be anything but a machine...The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly."

"So thoroughly and sincerely are we compelled to live, reverencing our life, and denying the possibility of change. This is the only way, we say; but there are as many ways as there can be drawn radii from one centre. All change is a miracle to contemplate; but it is a miracle which is taking place every instant."

-Henry David Thoreau, "Economy," Walden