Night Thoughts

Favorite things of this very moment (10:28 pm CST):

• The prosepect of caffeine in the morning


• That beautiful little candle holder which I bought for a single dollar which helps brighten my little corner of the world.


• iTunes


• Gotye ( http://gotye.com/ ) ...you'll fall in love with him. He's magic


• Finding Hassan II Mosque patterned Keds on Zazzle while I was doing some research earlier... ( http://www.zazzle.com/mosaic_hassan_ii_mosque_morocco_shoes-167240258580568706 ) ...seriously, how cool is that?

As you may have guessed, I'm working on my rewrite for Tramp. I decided to start by retrieving more information and taking more time to look at all the pictures I could find of Hassan II Mosque that I could. It's a beautiful building. I'm Christian, but I can greatly appreciate the beauty of any house of worship. The mosque definitely deserve to be seen by all. Such gorgeous mosaics and windows and carvings and floors...I mean everything about the place is class and detail. Two things I greatly appreciate in good architecture and design. Honestly, I would advise you to take the time to look at the pictures, or, even better, if you are ever in Casablanca, Morocco, take the tour. They have several tours throughout the day Saturday-Monday.

Well, now that I've sounded like a travel company informercial...

Life is going.

I recently read in a Real Simple that the best advice one woman had ever been given was that she should never try to solve problems at night. She was told that it's always harder to solve problems facing the darkness. Everything is easier when you get to face the morning light. I thought that was kinda cheesy at first, but in the past few weeks, testing that particular bit of advice, I find that it's true. When I start worrying at night, I write a list or a quick note and then leave it for the morning. I tend to work out problems as I type away at work. It gives me more time to think about life and to reframe the problem. Things really do feel a lot less scary when you deal with them in the light. I highly recommend trying this one out yourself.

And with that...Good night.

It's Good to be Here

Favorite Things of This Very Moment (2:26 pm EST):

• Watching the new downstairs neighbors leave because the guy just opened his wife's car door and got her in the car before walking over to his side to get in. I'm telling you, those little gestures of love and kindness have huge payoffs.


• http://candychang.com/ (I love so much about this constantly)


• Learning that the Finnish word for "awesome" is Mahtava


• Kimmie's prayers and protective stance for me


• The super cute flowered shirt I'm wearing today. I think the stuff I bought over the weekend was actually worth my time, and I'm wearing color. Hoorah!

Last night I was feeling pretty lousy about life, but then I decided I was going to regroup and then approach life with joy and fervor today. I hate feeling lousy and I hate being such a whiner. I've been both far too often lately. Today I'm still hurting, but I'm not letting that stop me from enjoy today.

Recently I was talking to some friends about how I use to be such a good liar. I could fool anyone that I was doing just fine about anything any time. I definitely can't do that any more. At least not to the extent I use to. As much as I hate letting people see how I truly feel or what I really am at times, I think this is probably really healthy. I need to be honest about who I am and what I feel. You can't grow if you never let yourself stretch and move.

This afternoon I was introduced to the work of Candy Chang (whose beautiful, amazing, inspiring website is listed above). The picture at the top of this was taken today on my balcony. I had been looking at Chang's beautiful work and one project that really caught my attention was the collection of pictures that were taken of places where she had stenciled "It's good to be here." Considering my lame attitude lately, I decided this might just be something to keep me focused on the good. As a result I decided my balcony could use some cheer and did a little scribbling myself. I hope she doesn't mind, I needed something to inspire me, and that will work just fine for me.

I started an album of pictures that starts with that one. It's simply called "It's Good to be Here," and hopefully it will serve as a reminder as I add pictures that it IS good to be here. Wherever here is. Because I'm here and I can be happy with that. Even when life isn't perfect which is good because let's face it, life will NEVER be perfect.

Remember I love you.