Today's bright ideas
Friday, June 4, 2010
My wonderful, great, beautiful, amazing, cool, best friend Errika came into my work yesterday and dropped off a card. I asked her What in the world is this? "Just open it!" she said. What was in there? A card telling me that she admires how I care about so many things around me and that she supports my photography hobby. What else, you might ask? $150 for the lens that I've been wanting to get since I started taking pictures (hey, so what if that's only been 3 weeks?!)!!! She's lucky I love her because I wouldn't accept that monetary gift from just anyone. So, today, I purchased my first (non-kit) lens! Yay! :-]
On another note, Josh pitched the idea of me started a photography blog. That blog would be solely photography: what I've learned, where I am at (skill-wise), photos I've taken, and pretty much just a place for me to track my journey. I'm down with the idea, I'm just a little nervous about what this blog might look like?
Finally, I had 2 great ideas today: 1) an idea for Errika's baby's gender announcement/baby shower invitation, and 2) a way to increase "traffic" on that new blog. My great idea summed up? I will take those pictures, announcing the gender of her little one, and she will announce it via my blog and only through that portal. :-] I figure it will give it a wee bit publicity . . . right? Hopefully!
Posted byAshley C. at 3:50 PM 0 Love Notes
Labels: photography, random thoughts
Beauty in aging?
Monday, April 5, 2010
Josh and I were invited by one of the clients at the Salon to go out to dinner to celebrate her husband Russell's 90th birthday. This particular client is so sweet; she is an older Japanese woman that is the cutest lady you'll ever meet. She invited me and Josh, Krissy, Rob, and Emily (Krissy and Rob's daughter) and Lisa and Larry. She wanted to have dinner at a Japanese restuarant called 'Tsukasa.' It was a really nice restaurant; they cook right there in front of you and show off their talents while doing so. Psst, I learned that playing with your food pays off because both Josh and I caught food in our mouths on our first try!
While sitting there and just watching Russ, I felt kind of sad. He is very lively for his age, tells jokes, smiles . . . and he's 90! He has lived 90 years of life . . . doing things that we do every day. Now, his life is coming to an end and soon he'll be leaving all of that behind. I suppose trading all of this earthly splendor for God is more like an uneven trade times a billion (in His favor!), but there is something about knowing your life is coming to a close. We only have 'X' amount of years to live and the weird that about 'X,' is that we don't know what 'X' is; it could be 2, 23, 31, 100, we just never know. People say it often, but you can't really dwell on the bad things, the inconveniences, or the challenges facing us, but the life that we have now, only focusing on today because tomorrow is never guaranteed. It's a really strange thing to think about. I pray that I either live until I'm in my 90s or until Jesus returns, but I'll never know. Josh said that he looks at aging and death as a beautiful thing . . . I am still in the very, very beginning stages of even accepting that part of life. :-/
Posted byAshley C. at 10:22 AM 0 Love Notes
Labels: random thoughts
. . . I refuse to drink tap water.
Friday, February 26, 2010
You know "big brother?" Yeah, me either, but I think "he" knows us. I don't mean to sound like one of those "wackadoodles" but I have began to become kind of paranoid about the government. The last 2 movies Josh and I have seen have had something to do with a governmental conspiracy and American citizens. Yeah, I know, they are only movies, but they are real ideas.
Both of the movies have been about the government and them having/making/transporting chemicals that are used for domestic terror attacks. The movie I watched tonight was about a chemical spill in a small town's river (water supply) that caused the whole town to go crazy. Aside from the movie fears, Josh has been sharing some information that he has been learning from his "terror and society" class. He mentioned something about the government transporting tons and tons and tons of chemicals (such as Anthrax, cancer-causing chemicals, etc.) between states that are used for different reasons. He also said that each year (year I think) there are approximately 3 chemical spills in the U.S.; those chemical spills are obviously dangerous to the surrounding communities. Never heard anything about that? Exactly! They are hidden and covered by the government for that reason. Also, Josh and I were just talking about Google Earth; it's a pretty nifty tool for people to use, but have you ever stopped to think that the government has to have something bigger and better? I mean, they have to in order for Google to have rights. And this is the reason I refuse to drink tap water. Only Aquafina for me! :-] I'm not ready to be poisoned by some accident!
And, I don't want to make Josh sound like a paranoid schizophrenic but he won't let us have or use certain things because he knows they are being monitored. Don't laugh, but for example, he won't let me (or himself) have the GPS feature turned on on our cell phones, he will not even consider getting the new Internet carrier "Clear," and strongly discourages the use of the cell phone carrier "Cricket" amongst other things. I guess he's just smart and extra cautious about things. Good thing because he has to even me, the careless one, out.
Movies are movies but they've got to have some real factor to them, right? :-]
Posted byAshley C. at 10:21 PM Post a comment (1) Love Notes
Labels: Josh, random thoughts
Can't we just agree to disagree . . .
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tonight Josh and I were watching TMZ (celeb gossip . . . it's our guilty pleasure). Well, the paparazzi were talking to Ms. "Beverly Hills." They asked her what she thought about gay marriages. The thing about TMZ is that they make celebs look dumb and they twist their words and instigate further drama. Well, the girl replied by saying something like, "Well, I don't agree with them" and they immediately starting mocking her and said that "the last time it was cool to disagree with gay marriages was 1969" and that "she is a poor resemblance of Beverly Hills" simply because she said that she disagrees with gay marriage. She also said that she has gay friends (Yeah, I know, doesn't say much, just like seceretly racist people always "have black friends"). To top it off, Beverly Hills wrote her off by saying that she does not represent them and they do not sponsor her.
What I am wondering is since when was it a problem for people to express their ideas and opinions? Oh wait, I know, since it doesn't match the majority of other's ideas and opinions, that's right. It's like people jump down your throat if you don't agree with their opinions or if you try to justify your opinion, they attack you. You have your opinion just like I have mine. Can't we just agree to disagree and take our own stands? I think that sometimes people get so wrapped up in wanting to be liked that they are willing to sacrifice their morals and values. For example, practically every celebrity supports gay marriage and pro-choice and "Obama '08" that it's really hard to believe that they all really feel that way. I don't believe it for a minute. It's what is in and they can't stray from the majority. I wish there were more celebrities that weren't afraid to take a stand and speak out for what they really believe in.
Posted byAshley C. at 10:50 PM 0 Love Notes
Labels: random thoughts
