Forest Park in Autumn

Also, I’ve added photos to flickr of my wanderings with Justin.  Take a walk in Forest Park, visit the western Catskills, and check out Salem for Halloween.

Wondering what caused me to do this?
The whole purpose of doing this was because… I felt like it. :)  It was a good feeling to write something with no purpose and without real concern over whether it would be good or not.  It reminded me of high school, when creative writing was fun and something I did for the hell of it.

Take a gander at my little story.  I’ll see about typing up the last little bit tomorrow.

I thought it might be cool to open this up to anyone that felt like continuing the story, writing down a parallel path, or hell, even just adding a sentence.  But I know no one will feel like doing that, nor have the time, so I’ll relieve you of the pressure.

Why share this thing now, tonight, when I actually worked on it months ago?
A friend of mine mentioned something today that sent me down a path of looking up the portfolio sites of coworkers (past and present).  That then led me to perusing some of my own older sites and old communities I used to be a part of… I ended up closing out old accounts in the process, but it reminded me how creative I can be and how I am actually pretty good at design.  In short, it made me feel like sharing something somewhat creative.  There ya have it… G’nite.

At first, Saturday morning was dreary and rainy.  I was disappointed because I’d hoped Justin and I would make our way to Red Lodge and to the Beartooth Mountains.  I knew there was hiking around and supposedly Red Lodge was a cute little town.  Everyone told us to go there on our first trip to Montana in June, though the pass was still closed due to snow.

Despite the weather, we decided to head toward Red Lodge anyway.  We had a delicious lunch at a pizzeria in Red Lodge.  Slowly but surely, the day began to improve!  We browsed in the local shops and Justin tried on, decided to buy, and then deciding not to buy a coat from an antique store.  The store also had a really rad German hat from WWII but it was super tiny and wouldn’t fit my gigantic head, so I didn’t get it.  We noticed intermittent patches of sunlight and decided to continue on our way to Beartooth Highway and the Beartooth Pass. I’d heard it was beautiful, but words could not express the truth of the beauty of this place.  Check it out for yourself – captions and photo notes accompany the images: Photos of Snow, Hiking, Chipmunks and Kisses>>

After a lovely day of exploring a new town, a scenic drive and a bit of hiking, Justin and I relaxed in the hotel room, watched some TV, and noshed on hamburgers at Fuddruckers for dinner.  We also played a hunting video game where we shot moose – that was a blast!  Justin won (but I still killed more turkeys on the bonus round!).  I love you, sweetheart.  Thanks for coming out to Montana and showing me one heck of a good time. :)

It was also a really good onslaught of socialization for the puppies as Leanne brought her chihuahua, Pixie; the neighbors brought their poodle, Apricot and their labradoodle, Pinky; a gigantic chocolate lab was there (I don’t recall his name) and of course, Sheila and Justin’s very own Brodie was running around. Ruby and Eve got lots of sniffs from the other dogs and petting from the people. :)

On a random side note, one very pretty, well-dressed girl with expertly curled blonde hair told me that she really liked my hair and thought I looked like a certain actress. I was actually taken by surprise as I never expected a compliment at all (been spending too much time in NYC!). Now, waaaay back when, I was told frequently that I looked like this actress and once, upon entering a Chili’s, the hostess refused to believe that I wasn’t this actress…. Hello, I was in Chili’s in San Antonio, for crying out loud. I personally have never thought this actress was attractive, but the gal that paid me the compliment last night thinks she is very pretty and sexy, so I am taking it in a positive manner. ;) I am sure you’re wondering about this actress. *sigh* She’s the goofy girl from Scary Movie: Anna Faris.

Sheila drove Justin and I to the airport and Linda, Leanne, and Pixie rode along. It was amazingly nice to be surrounded by good conversation (though somewhat heavy subject matter) and loving goodbyes and hugs as we departed. As we were hugging goodbye, we ran into Shelley from JetBlue and got to hang out with her a little pre and post flight, which was awesome.

On our flight back to NYC this afternoon, I had the good fortune of sitting next to a fascinating woman. I want to say her name was Rebecca, but I am terrible with names, so I am probably wrong. She is originally from Ireland, though lived and worked in NYC for a long, long time. She majored in fashion and spent 2 years working for Geoffrey Beene and another 8 years working for Ralph Lauren at which point she decided to ditch her fashion career entirely and backpack around the world for 3 years. Did you catch that? Yeah, she backpacked ALONE around THE WORLD for THREE YEARS! She ended this backpacking stint in Madrid, where she spent six months learning Spanish and subsequently met her husband as he was enrolled in the same language program. Well, not only did they meet, but the program placed them as roommates in the same apartment. Was it fate? He was an engineer/international business major from Austin, Texas that decided to take some time off and spent half the year learning French in France and half the year learning Spanish in Spain. Hmm… Sounds like a great idea to me. I don’t know his career history or anything, but they both sound like super interesting people. Now, they spend half their summers primarily in New York (Westchester) and winters in Austin. I like their setup. They’ve also started their own business, which is doing pretty well I gather. Anyway, of course I know most of this because I asked her loads of questions, but it was really fun getting to know her. It turns out we were both in Madrid at the same time – when the trains were bombed! What are the chances?! I hope our paths cross again sometime, because she was a nice, fascinating lady and I’d love to hear more of her stories. She recommended I watch a show on the National Geographic channel called “Locked Up Abroad.” It sounds interesting, but so depressing judging by reading a couple of the summaries.

On a side note, Val! sent me an article today that got me thinking “How public do I want to be with my life?” A lot of recruiters, and certainly the last few of my employers are testaments to the truth of this statement, Google you and look you up on MySpace to see if they can find any dirt, legitimate or not, to disqualify you as a potential job candidate. Now I need to decide between entirely censoring myself (mmhmm) or maybe just posting elsewhere with a nom de plume. Not sure yet.

For randomness’s sake, I’m dredging up a post I wrote on this very same day last year that was published on my MySpace. I will probably be going back through and censoring old posts on this site and elsewhere, so enjoy the freedom of writing while you can. ;) “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” and all that rot.

Feel free to fill this out for yourself if you’d like -

August 3, 2007 – Ten (10) random things about me:

1) I over analyze almost everything and place situations side by side (relationships, work, etc) comparing past to present almost constantly. It’s maddening.
2) Adults are just like little kids. The most important thing is having people be legitimately pleased and proud of something you’ve done. This applies to me.
3) Money is important to me, but it’s far less important than the strange and magical sense that there is so much more in the world, like literature, and understanding, and human contact and the passion that comes with that.
4) I must have a puppy.
5) I miss TeXaS!!!!
6) I know I am not happy with my life when I am lethargic, which I have been lately. I also have an upset stomach almost every day that I go to work.
7) I haven’t written anything for my novel in 3 months. I think it has a lot to do with the fact I have no moral, and it feels empty. Speaking of writing, I am constantly blown off by the one place I was published that actually paid me. I told them to remove me from their list. Now I hope they fail.
8) Hence, I must have a mean streak. I constantly have to tell myself I am a good person. Half the time I believe it.
9) I will always be skeptical of people. I am usually always right. My wariness makes people think I am a bitch. They are almost always wrong.
10) Justin and I are in the same building almost 100% of the time.

You go, Keira Knightley. I have newfound respect for you:
Keira Knightley refuses breast enhancement for ‘The Duchess’

In an odd turn of events, I’ve stumbled back into the past in the way of my old website. The Way Back Machine has archive some of my old posts. I thought I might share them randomly on this site. Maybe one of these days I’ll just make a comprehensive archive on lyrael.com, but I’m not holding my breath. A lot of them are quite boring, honestly. It’s so bizarre to me to read how important I felt my mundane life was back then what with taking so many webcam photos and writing about movies and snacks and lost friends. Odd how certain things you deal with in your life can completely destroy your self-view. Oh well… I guess my mood is strange tonight somehow, so that doesn’t help the tone of this post.

Time for bed. In the meantime, enjoy a glimpse into my life in 2002 – exactly 6 years ago to the day. I am also throwing in the last webcam capture that site ever had, you know, for posterity or whatever.

July 28, 2002
“And sometimes the dark is too deep…” – me

I am not going to post the entry that this almost became yesterday… Instead I am going to switch gears and say that Patrick has done an incredible job with his new website and he even bought a webcam and seemlessly integrated his webcam pic into his page. Wow, you really kick ass Aspi! Go see his page NOW!

Here is an update from the 26th written when I got home from the gym/tanning after not sleeping all night:

I took the advice of a camwhore! Can you believe that? I guess I just needed an excuse. An excuse to hit the gym again. I know I have been lazy and making up “reasons” not to go. My sleeping schedule has been completely screwed lately. So… instead of going to sleep when the sun came up, I stayed up. I went to the gym and kicked my ass on the elliptical. It’s been two months since I have been to the gym, plus I was running on no sleep, which I am sure is a bad thing. My body was exhausted after 25 minutes. I knew I shouldn’t be there on no sleep, but I had to start going again, and today was the day. After that I did 3 sets of ab crunches and 2 sets of tricep presses. Anyway, my body was screaming at me to stop. I literally had no energy and I felt like I was going to puke. It was miserable. I am definitely going to sleep before I go to the gym again. Anyway, I proceeded to the locker room to wash my face, which was beat red (as always, but it got red fast and stayed that way forever this time)!

Another thing I had on my agenda for the day was tanning. I know, it’s terrible for your skin! I’d never been tanning, and I always have wanted to try it, especially because I have bikini lines from the one time I was in the sun this summer, grrr! Anyway, I am usually a wuss and won’t do things by myself but I am trying to overcome that. I felt so awkward being at the gym without Mike. I brought his headphones with me but they were probably more of a hassle than anything and after my cardio I just threw them in my bag. I am just tired of my shyness/introversion holding me back. I know I would normally not go to a tanning salon alone because I’ve been thinking about doing it all summer (well, since David’s birthday actually) and keep making excuses, like “When I am in perfect shape then I’ll go” or “When someone offers to go with me, then I’ll go.” I decided to just throw caution to the wind and go by myself. I was sweaty and red faced but I drove to the Quarry and went in anyway. And guess what!? I didn’t have to pay because the first visit is complimentary! Rock on! Now, this was a very bizarre experience for me as I can’t think of many times in my life that I have been totally nude in a public place. I was a little paranoid that someone was going to open the door to my little room and lift up the coffin-like lid of the tanning bed, but, thankfully (and realistically) that did not happen. I hesitantly crawled onto the bed once the lights kicked on, thinking, “you should NOT be able to see particles of light moving.” It’s the same thing that bothers me with black light or red LEDs. Man, that type of light is just not natural. Anyway, it was an interesting experience to say the least, and I may try it again to see if I actually tan and like it. We’ll see. I am not gung ho about it. I am just glad I got the guts to do it. In fact, I feel sort of like it would be stupid for me to continue going knowing it’s bad for me, but I also think “Fuck it, if you want to be tan, just do it!” Well… again, I don’t want to be tan tan, I just don’t want to be pasty, blindingly white for the rest of the summer. Off to bed with me as it is now noon and I want to catch some Z’s so I have energy for the rest of my day.

I want to create and live off of my creations. I want to create by myself. I want to create with other people. I want to write, sing, make movies (documentaries for now). I want to help others get published and get published myself. I want to take photographs and sell them. I want Justin and I to take photographs together and travel the world. I want to make videos with Val! and have a following of people that are genuinely interested. I want us to be able to sustain a nice living off of these projects. I want to create, love and be happy – and I want the same for my loved ones and all those that want this for themselves, too.

I want life to be “how it should be.” A community of good people, good friends, creating, enjoying, being out there in the world and really living and experiencing it all.

Thanks for the thunderstorm the other night. That was a great birthday present. And thanks in advance, for the future.

Love,
Ness

“one of these days all we’ll do is create and live off of it, and travel and enjoy it all”

I just wish that Ruritania and Papyrus had been represented.

Flowers, Balloons, Puppies, Twins… Val! and Ness (well… I) turned 28 at midnight!

I guess, technically we don’t turn 28 til midnight CT. Hehe

Happy Birthday to Us!!!!

And Happy Birthday to my twin sister Vallie!

Making Out Like a Bandit
Justin gave me a new cell phone, a black zebra shirt I’d been ogling, and a sexy, red 350 gig wallet drive. Sweet! Data in one, easy access spot!
Val! gave me a book with travel tips and inspirations for solo female travelers (Fly Solo) and a book about traveling for hobbies, education, or just about any other interest you might have (The 100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life). They’re both rad. She also gave me a pair of pink star earrings a la Jem (which I’ll be wearing soon) and a gift card for an *hour long* massage. WOOHOO!
Mom sent a lovely bouquet of flowers (pictured above).
ALA sent me flowers too. =) That was super sweet of them.
Lyndia (Justin’s mom) gave me a necklace and earring set and cash (always good).
I’ve gotten phone calls; e-mails; IMs; Adventured.net, MySpace and Facebook comments as well as Twitter tweets. I feel loved. Thanks guys! =)