Smelly souvenirs

HELLO fellow bloggists! I have a lot of nerve calling myself a bloggist when I barely check in here these days. But I like to feel included so there it is.

I'm far too behind to update anyone on my goings on, but Jamey is home from a three day trip to Kansas City with his job and I wanted to show you what he made while he was there.

He attended a workshop and a seminar or two given by some well known designers. One of the speakers was a favorite of his, Tim Biskup. Jamey has been a fan of his for a while and took a small book of TB's designs to have him sign. Needless to say he LOVED the talk and the autograph complete with drawing Biskup added to Jamey's book!

Another designer he met gave a workshop where they made these beautiful flowers.

Matthew Sporzynski is a paper artist who's work regularly appears in Real Simple magazine. You should scroll through some of his stuff on that last link if you have time. He can make ANYTHING out of paper!! Jamey said his huge personality alone was worth experiencing-pure entertainment.

This project came from an ad prop he produced for a perfume made from whatever flower this is (I'm sorry I don't do thorough journalism). Jamey forgot what it is called. Geranium maybe?

Anyway, Mathew S. allowed each flower made in the workshop to be squirted with this $600 essence of flower of some sort perfume. It smells very real!

And then they made little window boxes to keep them in.

He brought it home to me as a gift! Isn't that C-U-T-E?

And a MUCH nicer treat than the souvenir he took for himself from the trip which was a mixed media display of hurl-your-guts-'till-your-ribs-hurt food poisoning.

Not cool, Mongolian Barbeque!

"Welcome home Sweetheart! Hey, why so green?"

"Oh, you know, art workshops...yurp".

"Riiight." :~{

So hubby is back and feeling better and we are off to a great summer. Hope yours is full of creativity and you blog about all your adventures! I'll be checking in on you!

A horse is a horse...

Of course.  Of course.  

But when you use Mane 'n Tail, 

You might become one as well!

Hope your day is as voluminously full as mine! :D (Whinny)

Whole brained but half rumped

Boy, it really has been a long time since I've actually written much of anything on here, hasn't it?  I think I got out of the habit of writing while the Winter funk was swirling around in my brain.  I don't usually find this the place to express my inner most feelings(squish squish) and I don't really enjoy being super serious on my blog.  I also don't hang on a thought long enough to be interesting most days. 

Considering I tend to prefer intake to being the main voice in the room, I would rather look in on you folks, or read/watch/listen to the clever people around me than come up with my own topics for presentation.  Of course, it could just be because I'm as slow as MOlasses being quietly released from the tiniest of spickits.  (Spickit isn't a word? I'm pretty sure other people say this so I'm going with it.) Maybe if Spellcheck approved of me more....

>>Update: OH SPIGOT!  Right Right!  I didn't try that one.  Wordlilly's got my back!

But, now that I've broken the seal on the syrup bottle, I might as well share a few tidbits about lil' ole me.  Fairly recently, among many many more meaningful and world changing epic things, I've made a hobby out of taking Facebook quizzes.  

Yes it IS awesome-I KNOW!

ANYway, I've taken a few of those lately upon check-in and have decided they are curiously helpful in explaining some key pieces to this peculiar being we call SHAN.

So now with much testing and  without further ado, here's what I now know about myself:

1) If I were a dog I would be an AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD.  

Hmm...Ok.  Family oriented, reserved but not to be taken for shy or insecure(still up in the air at this point) and extremely hairy if I recall from the picture.

 Upon reflection, there was a time when I had to beg my mom to let me shave my legs before debuting my pep club uniform at school in 7th grade.  I guess that was when my hairiness was at its pinnacle. No young lady wants to be known as "Chimp-the other mascot" during those tender middle school years.  "This breed is not for everyone" rings true here as well.

2)I TYPE roughly 47 words per minute currently-which beats my all time high in high school of 37.  Blogging is honing my skill beautifully.  I'm really a marvel to behold after twenty something short years. 

3)Typing tests won't keep me from what I was meant to do, however, and it was incredibly keen on Facebook's part to realize the JOB MOST SUITED TO ME is...pause for dramatic effect..

 DANCER.  

But how did they..? (fanning eyes, gulping and rolling lips inward) 

4)The next test, though entirely separate, continued with my natural leanings. For what better place to dance than the CITY assigned to me?  NYC, NEW YORK!! Start spreadin' the news, I'm leavin' as soon as the recession ends.

5)Why not?  I already have the NORTHERN AMERICAN ACCENT fully in place, even if I've only lived in Oklahoma and Arkansas. I feel certain I could do a convincing Boastonian as well. Geography can't quiet the yankee in me!

6)But if I get no roles because my jealous GREEN HEART gets the best of me..  (What do they know anyway.  Those girls are all lights-no music.  I'm the real thing.  With a little cosmetic surgery, a full-time nanny and several years of physical training, why I could..)

7)As a fallback, I might get in the mix and do what comes natural for me as a SOCIAL REFORM THEORIST. Because, I've now been likened to VOLTAIRE, and that's just the way I think.  (If I understood or cared a lick about such philosophical things.)

8)What else would make my WRITING STYLE resemble VIRGINIA WOOLF'S?  She and I...well apparently though brilliant woman's libbers, tending to be a wee suicidal at times, are/were certainly all about the stream-of-conciousness writing style.  Did I eat breakfast?  Oh look, my nails have grown!

9)Though I'm a little on the high maintenance side, if in fact I were a CLASSIC NOVEL, blog friend Robyn would  appreciate me-as testing proves me to be the book TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.  Ah, but I realize now that's just the social reformer working itself out again.  Tell true Facebook.  Tell true.

10)It's really what you can expect from a WHOLE BRAINED person like myself.  I'm rare in that sense.  So uniquely even minded I am, that I'm teriffically mediocre at almost everything! I eat and write with the left hand, but sport and support with the right.  I have a moderate amount of interest in the Arts as well as the Sciences but neither ignites a complete fire in my....

11)FEMALE BRAIN.  I'm just too girly for passion I s'pose. ( Titter titter titter-squeak!) 

So there it is.  My homemade compilation meme.  Feel free to hunt down and take all of these quizzes yourself.  It can be worked into any schedule with just a few minutes a day over several weeks time.  I can't honestly think of what I would have done without knowing what flavor of ice cream I am- not that I would share that with you now and end on such a cold note. 

 I wonder if there is a casserole quiz...uummm..I'm hungry. What would Facebook  make of this new finding?

Does this mean I should work in a museum?

I saw this personality test on Sarahcool's blog and thought I'd give it a shot.  It's pretty accurate except for the part that says something about me being a daredevil.  That may have  been true in the early days, but anymore, I won't chew gum while walking briskly because I'm afraid I might choke on it.  I'm not exactly risk-ay in that way.  ;)  I posted my whole descriptive here so you can see how thorough it gets, but don't feel like you have to read it in its entirety(unless you simply MUST study up on the Shan before our next get together).  I just thought you'd like to see what you get for your test taking troubles.  Please come back and let me know if you took this yourself because I want to know what kinda crazy's I'm dealing with that read my blog.  Barhar.  Click on this Personality DNA and see what you get!

P.S. I'm stuck in a non-capping font in case you were wondering.

you are a faithful curator.

personalDNA

about you

you are a curator

You are straightforward and real, down-to-earth, and have a healthy respect for order and stability. These attributes, complemented by your desire to be surrounded by things of beauty, make you a CURATOR.

You don't feel the need to try everything new that comes along – you know what you like and what you want.

You are a no-nonsense person, not someone who falls for pretensions.

Being strongly grounded in the here-and-now, you are practical and realistic about yourself and your life.

You find comfort and calmness in your habits and routines.

Although others might not know this about you, you strongly appreciate aesthetic qualities, noticing whether something is well-designed and stylish.

You have a refined sense of taste, and you want your environments to reflect your preferred style.

There are times when you feel insecure and vulnerable, even though you know deep down that you are a good person.

You aren't narcissistic – you allow yourself to be realistic about your positive and negative qualities.

You're not one to force your positions on a group, and you tend to be fair in evaluating different options.

You're not afraid to let your emotions guide you, and you're generally considerate of others' feelings as well.

Your sense of adventure is supreme - you're up for anything, anytime. Making plans in advance isn't necessary for you: you'd rather figure things out on the go.

You have a strong sense of style and value your personal presentation - friends may even seek your style advice from time to time.

You tend to believe that things happen for a reason, and that not everything is under our control.

If you want to be different:

It wouldn't hurt to indulge your imagination and creativity sometimes. These are skills like any other, and develop with practice, so try to carve out some time for them in your life.

Try to quiet your inner feelings of doubt – you will be more successful if you can overcome these worries and focus on your many strengths, such as your responsible and honest nature.

how you relate to others

you are faithful

Your trust in others, respect for tradition, and caring nature make you FAITHFUL.

Maintaining a few intimate relationships is more important to you than knowing a lot of people, and you share a lot with your close friends.

Those who have managed to get close to you value your camaraderie, and they know that they can trust you with anything; you're a good listener.

While you can usually see several sides of an argument, you often have a strong opinion as to which side is correct—the order of things is usually clear to you.

Your perspective on the world is based on careful observation, and you know a lot about how people feel in—and react to—many situations.

Your exploration of others' feelings has led you to believe that although people generally act appropriately, having clear social rules is very important to a functional society.

Time alone for reflection is important to you—you are introspective and aware of your own feelings.

Faithful is as faithful does—you expect those with whom you are close to be loyal to you, and you take betrayal of your trust very seriously.

If you want to be different:

Some of the alternate perspectives that you understand may have more value than you give them credit for—keep in mind that right and wrong aren't always so clear-cut.

While you are able to reap the benefits of your time alone, and may see interacting with a lot of people as more tiring than exciting, remember that there is a lot to be learned from experiencing things and not just reflecting on them.

Blogging is as blogging does

Well I'm back at the helm of my computer, but don't have enough time today for a picture-filled report on my week because I simply must find out what you guys have been up to. In the meantime, I came across this little blog evaluation device over at Scout's place and I thought I'd see how I am measuring up in the blogosphere. Here's the litmus test that will tell me just where I, Shan, stand in my personal journey toward intelligence. 

Now let's just push this button here and see how clever I am at spinning a yarn. Oops, wrong button, hold on a minute. Ok, and there. Now for my hopefully impressive results....

TV Reviews

WAIT a sec. Are there many levels below this? Aren't people only beginning their journey into reading in Elementary school? Why, it seems as though I can barely write my name without spellcheck intervention! Who's in charge of this test? I want a recount! That's it. 

Well, I guess I have been told I should write poems for children. I was thinking that was a compliment at the time. But perhaps since I wasn't writing particularly for children when it was suggested, it's possible it was in fact-not flattery. Guess I need to start beefing up on the vocab. But, I so prefer to make up my own words, and that might take up even more of my precious chair sitting time. I don't know maybe I'll just keep writing for the common man (or child) and leave the tougher stuff to you higher fallooten folken. It's words like those that got me this fine rating isn't it? Ah well, just keepin' it real all up in here. 

Stay tuned for some primary school level photographs and updates about my week in Oklahoma City. I'm sure it will be worth every bit of simple minded time you have alloted for yourself on that day. It's good to see you again blogroll buddies! TTFN!

Shan to temporarily leave land

Hear ye!  Hear ye!  I am scheduled to be removed from my computer mid-Sunday and it is highly likely I may not return until the following Sunday!  I realize this is really only one week but for my own sake I am making it much much bigger and am pretending that I'm going off on a wild "unplugged" adventure into the GREAT WILDERNESS of no internet.  

What is this place of which you speak young(ish) blogger?  It is my homeland.  The place where I took my most tender first steps. Where I went from adorable big eyed baby to chunky frog faced version of Laura Ingals Wilder.  It's the world that shapeshifted me right into the promising semi-attractive at this point high school graduate who almost didn't want to leave her sweet  setup as a warranty (coffee) clerk at a lawnmower distributing warehouse to experience the next four ("Try six."  Someone dryly mocks.) years of college. 

Oh.  Why didn't you just say Oklahoma City?  Well because, dull warranty clerk who never even uses her OWN lawnmower, some of us have higher aspirations of communication than you and all the other voices trying to make their way into this entry.  SOME of us have a that little flare for drama and entertainment.  And even though that particular section of The Shan has been known to bust into an impromtu song and dance number, there are even subtler versions of this performer that prefer to turn simple statements into vast sinkholes of run-on sentences and wordy descriptives.

But now we've all forgotten the point of this post and we are all growing weary watching you fi-lap-ball-change your way down the page.  YOU CAN'T RUSH AN ARTIST!  Ok, did she just call herself an artist because now this is re-heely getting out of hand.  Maybe she meant to say Narcissist and her "artistry" got in the way.  Yes, I agree with you.  

OK HOW MANY OF US ARE IN HERE?!  Can I please continue? Yip.  Yes. Whatever.  Go on Diva.  THANK YOU.  Now, where was I....Oh yes, I must leave my post dear bloggers!  I er, uh, We shall use this time to carefully examine life outside the electronic world and boldly go where pages physically turn while the young offspring frolic around in the great outdoors and all of our meals are provided .. I'm sorry, I've got to cut in here.  WHAT IS IT? 

 Well, really it's all the waxing on about magical pages turning and food being delivered to you.  And,  really?  No electronics?  Last I checked Ginger and Gido had a huge cable box wired to all of the gigantic televisions in the house. AND yes, you will read but don't you already kind of do that now.  YEAH, and that part about the meals.

 I heard us tell Mom we would help with dinner and stuff so that's not really gonna fly with...ALRIGHT ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!  For such curt  and to the point stodgy voices, you guys are all writing yourselves all the way onto my short list of most agitating contributers to a blog post to date!  Then stop with all of the exaggerations.  That's right I mean we're going out of town.  The kids get to go to camp and we get to shop around and stuff.  Big whoop.  Yeah, big whoop.  

But it's so much greater than that in my head.  Well, not to all of us.  She is somewhat right.  It WILL be nice to get away and spend some quality time with the family.  Don't burst her bubble to much on that one.  Ok, true, but she is just so irritating and is always so capital letter loud.  I AM STILL HERE!! 

 Ok, just let me finish. The bottom line is guys  we're not "us" without the wordy noisy  one are we?  Nah. No. Guess not.  She's the punk to our sparkler of many colors.  True. 

 Ahhhh!  THANKS everyone!  You know that really means something to me.  Why just the other day I was twittering about in our..SOMEONE take her down!  Please just sign off already.  OH, ok.  BYE BLOGGING FRIENDS!!  I won't be reading!  Or commenting!  I'll see you guys when I [click-publishing post activated]

I'm too boring for this blog

Well now isn't that a little bit funny.  I just wrote the title of this blog and then accidentally posted it.  I was so boring and unsexy to my own blog, it thought I would be better suited to just post a title than to attempt to drag you guys into my incredibly dull hole with me.  

Cute, publish button.  Verry cute.  But it doesn't keep me from droning on, for I am a nagging infection of boredom who ever so briefly just considered blogging about the small dog-sized hair ball I just swept up from all the hard surfaces of my house.  I think my chihuahua is always tricked into thinking we've gotten a third beast when this happens because she immediately rushes over to my sweepings each time and sniffs out the pile like she's smelling the rump of a new and interesting visitor.  Oops, I guess I did  just blog about sweeping my floor didn't I? Nice one Shans.

I think this week I'm feeling a little melancholy about my home alone situation (hands on cheeks and open mouthed McCauley Culkin style).  It's no doubt the effect of the extroverted me being at home without constant people interaction and reaction. I am sulking in the fact that Trisha just started her job, that Becky is doing freelance(again with the money making-harumph) and Shelley is just up up and moving away.  Boo-hoo and double HISS! Where is that shy little book lovin' introverted shan when you need her anyway.  She'd be good company if she wasn't always wanting "alone time".  Aargh.

 Many days I do happily skip about the house by myself, easily being amused by a particular drawer of clothing or a purposefully "silly walk" I've adopted for funsies.  I listen to my i-pod or  read your blogs and talk on the phone a little to get all my people fixes likity-split!  And "where on earth did the day go?" I nervously giggle realizing I am in fact still in my sleepwear at 1:00pm having been lost in a brain wander half the day.

But sometimes this self containment just doesn't cut it and I feel...well,  plain ol' dull; a Dully Lama of my own not-worth-the-press country.  At least in that case I might have people to oversee that have potential to do something interesting.  

No, it's not that at all.  In this case I think it's me not finding ANYTHING interesting anymore.  I was looking at my t.v. last night wondering why I bother with all those extra accidentally free cable channels.  I don't want to see Tila Tequila choosing which of her suiters she'll date by having contests to see which one can be the MOST disgusting in EVERY way.  

I don't want to watch a big batch of model clones dance around with numbered suitcases in the attempt to make a choosing numbered suitcases game interesting.  I don't even want to watch nervous cooks running around bumping into each other as an ANGRY chef from H-E-double hockey sticks Kitchen yells at them until THEY catch fire from all the pitchfork dodging they are doing around a hot grill.

 With entertainment like this who needs depression? For reals now people COME ON!

I know that this is just my temporary dysphoria speaking.  And come next Thursday, I'll be back at that glowing screen watching 'So you think you can dance dance dance?' in surgical focus with the rest of America.  I'm just busying myself this week living out the quote  "If you're bored it's only because you're a boring person"  to the fullest.  SO BE IT!!  And you can suffer it too dear Shanslookers! 

 Oh my.  I've gone and taken it out on you now haven't I?  Sorry dear friends :)  Do come back won't you?  I promise not to say anything too scandalously raw because frankly,  I'm not interesting enough to do so.  Now, I must be off to pet I mean put my trash out.  XOXO's to you and one raspberry for me.  Plllllpt!

Dogwoodsing around

I've been neglecting my own site again with all of my traipsing about, so I have come to share my weekend in photos.  Wouldn't it be a more perfect world if I could whip out a handicapped blogger sticker and suddenly the photo would park right where I wanted it to instead of always loading on top?  Say....maybe I could go from back to front and start posting in opposite order and plug in the words later....yes, yeeess.  Ok then, I'll pretend like I'm reading a magazine because for some reason I tend to go at those backwards....  

Oh sorry, are you still reading?  On with the photos!

What does that guy symbolize to the people of my town?  No, not Howard's End, but good guess.  He is our very own Amish version of Anthony Hopkins who comes to town once a year to stir up some delicious kettle korn for the many thousands of tourists visiting Siloam Springs for the Dogwood festival.  Sure, there are other staples at the festival each year, but none have quite the flair of Sir Anthony stirring up the corn.

 Unless you were to consider the local performers. 

 Our Ratchet and his Tae-Kwon-Do group showed us some of their moves and here he can be seen kickin' it to the man!  "The man" in this case is Casey, my BFF Becky's husband who was kind enough to be kicked at repeatedly by all the various dangerous feet on showcase. 

The crowd seemed almost horrified at all the violent board breaking ;)

And so, on to a gentler prettier act with Becky's daughter clogging her heart out to some country music and looking as effortless as they come.  I took this part in video but alas, it goes beyond my skills to share moving pictures.

Somewhere in the middle of the clogging they invited the audience children to come up and dance and my cool young Ratchet sauntered up(restraining a run) and gave a few efforts toward clogging.  Then, suddenly he whips out the worm and gives everyone a surprise!  I knew it was all he could do to hold back the full Travolta! :D BaHA!

And since I'm making it sound like the whole festival revolved around my family and friends, here we are.

Here's the young version of Beck and I that get along every bit as well as the originals in the next picture.  

There was only one good day for the festival this year as Friday it rained and Sunday it was pretty cold, but we made the most of Saturday and took it all in tourist style!

 Hope you enjoyed this small trip to my town as well! I'll finish this post in photos with one last picture of a guy who pulled up as we were leaving. He mistook the festival to be a woods for dogs instead. Oh well, there were plenty of other canines there feeling just as duped.

HAPPY MONDAY ALL!!! 

A new entry

Oh the upkeep of having ones own blog!  Whew this pace is absolutely exhausting.  Ok, I guess I don't exactly churn out the info on a daily basis but you must understand;  I'd much rather read all of your amusing and informative words than have to think up my own and then form them into readable thoughts(I'm still working on that part)and finally physically input them onto my page with just the right restraint so as not to come across as a crazy-faced psycho that gives her vitamins personalities and frets over one dinner guest!   

I'll admit I started blogging because I simply didn't have enough room on the comment boxes of your blogs to get out all of my talkativeness.  I feel like I'm always the commenter that leaves a giant flaming S on everyones pages like the girl who just didn't know how to NIP IT!  Well, sorry if that's true.  It's only because I like you and call you "friend" in my mind and sometimes in real life as well. 

 

The other thing is I am an INPUT JUNKIE. I could read all day if I could stay awake and I love surfing around and finding out about everybody's goings on like I'm sitting in a giant room listening to all types of people all over the world and piping in from time to time with my own couple cents when I want to.  Wouldn't I be a veritable mecca of information if I could retain anything longer than a minute.

Oh, and if I'm not sitting in front of the lighted screen of goodness gnarling my sciatic nerve up in bundles, then I immediately shift over to the auditory input I'm equally fond of.   I don't do lots of noises at once well but, boy do I ever need some voice other than my own going in my head most of the time.  I have one of those little i-pod dealios filled to the brim with talking programs.   And if I'm home and fairly alone, I've got that thing going and telling me stories or sermons or even lectures from college courses(if I'm really low on listening materials ;).

  Anything half entertaining or educational in my ears if I'm doing housework will allow me to accomplish terrifically tedious tasks( triple "t" in the hizouse!) without a complaint or even a notice sometimes. I'll think to myself "I guess I'd better get in there and peel that wallpaper off the wall...What? The mindless Mommy drone has already been here?  Oh, that does seem vaguely familiar to me and come to think of it I'm covered in tiny scraps of paper so....Cool."  Actually, it's more often than not something slightly less useful like "Lookie there!  Somebody put together that 550 piece puzzle that the kids left on the table." 

 I do hope to finish painting the shed soon with this same worker drone mentality.  That'll be nice. 

So there you have it.  The reason my posts are all kind of Seinfeld in that they are kind of about nothing at all.  Boy can I ever DRONE (oh yeah, still rockin' the bee metaphors) on about it once I get started though, eh?  I truly have the gift of gab. 

 Now, back to your blogs.  I hope you've got them all updated for me.

Your avid reader, Shan ;).  

I'll leave you with a shot of a few of us bloggin' girlfriends that most of my readers know.  From left to right Becky, Lori, Me, and Trish at Becks house.  Good times.