The Joys of Mental Illness

Mom has said for a very long time that the equine related exploits of me, my dad, her dad, and my dad's dad can be very simply stated as a sickness... and I am a very sick person. Both nature and nurture are conspiring against me, and I love it. Today I was making a somewhat routine check of KSL classifieds when I spotted a drop dead gorgeous photo of a palomino gelding and my heart just throbbed. I haven't been close to a palomino since Jo died and I have really had a hard time coping with it. Well, providentially the breeding facility was located in Minersville and I could hear the roar of dad's desiel truck as he was about to set off to get hay. I jotted down the number as fast as I could and bolted out the door, waving for him to stop. He was somewhat surprised I wanted to go with him, but welcomed my company... of course I knew that once out of range of mom he would be game for what I had in mind.
So we went and looked, and they had some beautiful horses for a seal of a deal. The breeder was cutting back due to troubles with the economy. I am so glad some people can benefit from other's trials. :) Needless to say, I have a new baby!!!

We are thinking about naming him Get Smart. But we're also open to some other things if you have comments, but we're all pretty sold on that one. Anyway, I just thought you should know. :)

In't he cute?

Our Latest Home Improvement

Mom wanted to make a rockery with planter boxes to enjoy her birds. The finish looks quite nice I think.

We even put out the bird feeders and have been seing lots of beautiful and ugly creatures.

And she planted her front planters

And this is a picture of the mound.. In the background you can see the haircut we gave our bush trees on the side of our house. It was alot of work, but it turned out well.

In clarification

Okay, so 90,000 I was just excited, now I am officially overjoyed. I promise though to wait to give a final count rather than arbitrary in progress posts, but today I cleared 100,000 words. :)

Happiness!

Shameless

So I know it's kind of shameless to flaunt your accomplishments, but I am really proud of this one. "I broke 90,000 words." It's true. I am getting ever closer to the end of my novel, though I still have a lot to go--but I am no longer worried about writing a "novelia" or "short story." I have exceeded the average novel word count, and have more than enough material to keep going. In fact I'm going to need to cut back considerably. Anyway, just thought you all might want to know.

The latest book I read

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
In short: A well written page turner.



In Long: I never give a book five stars, but this one entirely deserves it. Suzanne Collins has taken on through the element of fiction some of the greatest moral and ethical motifs and come out victorious. While it is the first in a series, I feel that it holds up well on its own, and I might prefer it, thinking it's a single novel. Stunningly written, fantastically original, and hugely thought provoking--Thank you Ms. Collins for your wonderful book.


View all my reviews.

Obligitory Posting of High School/Associate Graduation

Mom and I outside the Great Hall after the ceremony.

Dad and I outside the Great Hall after the ceremony

A very great pricipal and art patron Vikie Wilson and I after the ceremony

One of Ben's really awesome portraits and I in the great hall

Jessica and I before the ceremony

A really awkward shot of during the ceremony...really awkward.


A slightly dark and blurry shot of me getting my Arete tassels
Please no more pictures!!!

Rip off of Jami

So I read Jami's last blog post and thought it was really fun, so I thought I would do it since it requires very little time of my day, and I can actually make a blog post.

1. I cannot use an entire thing of chap stick... it always ends up getting washed, I go a few days in chapped pain and get a new one which is then washed a few weeks later. Or it falls out of my pocket in the parking lots when I get out my keys... that's always fun to chase a small rolling cylinder down a hill. :)

2. I am a self proclaimed clean freak... with a messy room. :) My excuse is that it's finals week.

3. I really hate computers, hence another reason why I don't blog a lot. It just bugs me when they don't do what I tell them to. And they are dumb and artificial, and as much as I don't like people, I would rather work with something organic. But my laptop is a ginormous lifesaver when I'm witting, I can't imagine doing it by hand. Microsoft word is one program that will actually listen to me. :)

4. I feel strongly in favor of good food, specifically grilled cheese sandwiches. Can you think of anything more classically American than a grilled cheese? I have developed several different personal ways of making them and all are quite tasty.

5. My guilty pleasure is sitting down and watching a good movie--especially when I don't have time. I have found out why too. I am a story teller, and I like to see/hear a good story. I have found that this is a common trait among writers.

Sorry

Okay, so I was just thinking about it, and this post is to say, YES I know I'm a terrible blogger. I just can't seem to find the time to make a post or digitize images to share my art with you... but perhaps today, on this spring break I will overdose you on my art and we'll see how you like it. :) or maybe not... no promises, but we'll see

Zions A Creative Response

I finally got shots of some paintings I did for the traveling exhibition entitled Zions A Creative Response. One of the paintings is this one, entitled Patriarchs. It is a 16x20 oil on linen. The title, just so you all are aware, came from the land formation we happened to be passing at that time, but has an interesting play on meaning.

Make up for procrastination

I just thought you all should know, that over the past two days I have done four Bargue copies :) ... and started a new season of Lost. But hey! I got some progress made. I'll take some pictures and show you my latest, but that can wait until tomorrow, or Friday after my test. (dang it) oh and P.S. I got the parents hooked too, so it's no longer Dakota and I. :)