Molly Monday

So this is little Molita. She spent the summer in Spain, and she just got back from Mexico last week — and has some fabulous freckles to show for it. I caught up with her at a downtown coffee shop after not seeing her in months.

Pint-sized Molly served as our fantastically cute translator in Costa Rica last March, and I will miss her when she goes to the next Spanish-speaking location on her list.

She was dressed for fall before it turned into this mostly winterific October. Thanks for modeling, Molly.

MakeAListSaturday: Books!

After a long 13-hour day of running around town and worrying about getting everything done, I need a way to unwind. My goal is to ready a book a week for the whole year. I started in August and so far I'm on track.


I'm halfway through both "Nine Stories" and "A Heartbreak Work of Staggering Genius." The former I've read before, but it's so great to just pick up and read a 20-page story and move on.


"Staggering Genius" is my first attempt at an entire work by Dave Eggers. To be honest, I'm having a hard time getting through it. I know it's what he was going for, but it's so full of self-obsession that it's almost painful to read at times.


"The Beck Diet Solution" is the first diet book I've ever read, but blogger Nic at The Last Twenty suggested it to her readers. So far, it's really great. I need to make more time to implement the steps, but with my schedule right now, it's really difficult.


"The Magicians" was recommended to me by a friend who (like me) loves "Harry Potter." I'm not even 100 pages in yet, but so far I hate it. It's basically just a ripoff of the HP series. It's like Harry Potter goes to college and JK Rowling decides she's going to get really drunk before writing and make it clunky and full of expletives. I have a feeling I might not even finish this book.


As a diehard Sedaris fan, I feel a bit bad that I haven't had time to get to his now-in-paperback book "When You are Engulfed in Flames." I went through a lot of essayist short stories this past year and have just not been in the mood. It is the very next on my list to start though.


Louise Erdrich is one of those authors that I should have already read. a) She's a North Dakota girl like me. b) She's a fantastic writer, and c) People are constantly telling me I would love her writing style. So "A Plague of Doves" is officially going on my Christmas list.

It seems this fall is full of new releases from my favorite authors.


Barbara Kingsolver won my heart with "Poisonwood Bible" back in high school. And last year she stole it again with "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," a nonfiction tale of Kingsolver and her family living on locally-grown/raised food for a whole year. "The Lacuna" is on order from Barnes and Noble.


Audrey Niffenegger spent the summer having her breakout novel "The Time Travelers Wife" butchered in a Nicholas Sparks-like treatment of a movie. Honestly, that was such a cleverly written, well-researched work that I feel truly sorry for it. "Her Fearful Symmetry" is sitting on my shelf waiting for me to finish up with a few of the other books I'm struggling to get through.


And Jeanette Walls, how I cannot say enough good things about thee. "The Glass Castle" was one of those books I read in 24 hours, foregoing sleep on my flight from the Virgin Islands and the car ride home to Fargo from Minneapolis. A journalist, turned bestselling author, she has a wonderful voice for telling stories. Again, I cannot wait for "Half Broke Horses."

All photos courtesy of Barnes and Noble, where along with several Member's Card coupons, I bought these books at about half the list price.

Fargo fashion Friday

Meet Jeanette. She's a broadcast journalism major who is seeking a spot on the upcoming season of "Big Brother." Though, I've never seen the show, her audition tape is the buzz around campus after it was posted on Facebook yesterday.

Jeanette's unique confidence shows in her clothes.

Oh Pioneers

Because I'm a sucker for stuff like this new Levi's Go Forth campaign, it's hard to resist going out and capturing the adventures of me and my 501s. Whoever they hired to do their marketing did something right on this one because I want to go out and buy a new pair.

Particularly these:

Calm down, calm down

I have really tried to get myself back into posting on this blog. Here's the problem: I'm interested in way too many things.

This last semester at school is proving to be a lot more work than I imagined. On top of that, I was fortunate enough to find a job in my field, which right now is not such an easy field to get into. I'm really trying to focus on school and work the most, but I really need to prioritize to even fit it all in.

I'm also training for a 5k and 10k, as well as really trying to make over my eating habits. This is something I struggle to make time for, but I must include.

After graduation, I hope to have more time for hobbies. Between photography, writing, cooking, books, sewing, knitting, crafties and fashion, I'm always at odds with myself over what I should be doing.

That's why this blog is from here out is going to be designed to help me find a balance between all of my interests. I will post once a week on one of the aforementioned topics. I named eight topics, but I'm going to try to fit them into seven neat little packages so that each day of the week is designated for just one of those hobbies.

Under construction

I'm doubtful that anyone actually visits this blog anymore. It's a work in progress.

The blog will have a new look and theme days up *hopefully* by the end of this week. I've been busy designing new banners and test driving new looks.

For those of you that know me in real life, this is probably the busiest I've ever been, so please be patient. This is my very last semester of college, and I'm desperately trying to stay caught up on my last couple of photography classes on top of everything else.

Sometimes the blogs that I follow daily suddenly seem one day that they are totally self-centered and egotistical. I really don't want my posts to be like that. I'm aiming for more of a "Let me show you some cool things I've discovered and if you don't think they're cool, that's A-OK" vibe.

Having said that, the following story is somewhat self-indulgent but on this crappy of all crappy days, it made me happy:

This is not a story of one of those times when you look back after an argument with someone and say "I should have told so-and-so this. That would have showed 'em." This is a story of my mind working in time to come up with that response. And I shouted it. Loud. Really loud.

As a bike commuter, you become accustomed to constantly dodging oblivious drivers turning and backing into your lane. You also get used to occasional yelling out of car windows, things like, "Get off the road, hippie," which I take great objection to. I'm no damn hippie, sir.

Off topic. So riding my bike yesterday down a fairly quiet downtown Fargo street, I do a rolling stop through a red light. I made sure from far enough back that there were no cars, and that being the case, I proceeded through the intersection.

In the oncoming lane, a delivery truck is stopped with its parking lights on. From behind it, a man and his toddler child come walking out. I stop. It wasn't even an abrupt stop, giving them at least 10 feet to safely cross in front of me.

The man turns and yells at me "Those stop lights are for you too, you know."

This is it people. I didn't miss a single beat. Turning my head as I continue to bike so I'm sure he catches every word, I say, "And those crosswalks are for you too, you know."

Bam! OK. I know you may think "What a moronic story, dummy." But I rode the rest of the way to campus smiling. Once there, I shared the story with anyone who I thought would care. They didn't really. I guess it just goes to show that even if you do think of that awesome comeback, you might be the only person to appreciate it.

***

And because no blog is complete without a photo, I leave you with my new cat. Take it away, Jimmy.

He wasn't a fan of the story either. No hard feelings.

Photo Friday: Taking you on the owl tour

I don't really know how or why it started, but somehow I ended up with a lot of owl decor.

Each birthday or Christmas and the occasional trip to the thrift store yielded new hooters.



What were once kind of weird now seem to have always belonged.