happy things

new books:
(one down, one to go!)

yep, bought these two beauties in the airport friday morning. I couldn't make myself stop (!) so I just kept reading. Reading on the first flight to Atlanta, and during my extended layover, and on the delayed flight to Boston, and FINISHED before we even started descending :) I read the one on the left, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. It's wonderful really, although I'm a little frustrated that it's another series. I've been in the mood for stand alone books lately, which is just as well. I nearly always read series books, and I don't think I've read anything besides since last summer I think... except for school reading, which doesn't really count.

I've only read a couple pages of Atlas Shrugged. I am seriously excited about this book!

colorful swatches:

I went with my sister and her sister (yes, I know. it's complicated.) to Lowe's last night to look for some ceiling fans for the new house that my sister is moving into. We got distracted looking at paint chips and oh my goodness all the names!!!

ANYWAY :) It's a really old house and a bachelor - a teacher, too, nonetheless - lived in it for a number of years, so it needs a lot of work. Nothing really bad, but I don't think it's had an love for a while. Since codes have changed so much since the 50s, my sister and the headmaster are having it inspected and updated so that it's nice and safe for the two widdle kiddos.

Did I mention that the house is on campus and she's getting it free?! Well, last I heard it was going to be free. It's kind of small, and it's right in the corner of little circle of villa-style homes. Most of them have been transformed into classrooms, and the courtyard is nearly always full of school children drawing with chalk and whatnot. But she's an elementary school teacher anyway, and both the kiddos are attending the school now, so it just makes more sense. The house is a little small, and there's hardly any yard. But it's all cozy and she wont have to worry about making ends meet anymore, which means a couple more days a month that she can put money in savings and pay our dad back the old loan and pay bills and even spending a little on herself.

Surfing lesson today @ 2:30, and then some fun in the beach and town of Rye. Long drive but totally worth it.

michigan & world cup

curious. very curious.

everything is so flat and green. honestly! there's a few hills here and there, but they are so perfectly placed (in relation to roads, etc) that I can't help thinking they're man-made.

we're sitting in a hotel in a squat little town called Charlotte, which I've learned has emphasis on the second, not first, syllable. The old telly is on some random channel so we can watch the Portugal + Brazil game. It's definitely good so far and I'm caught up on who's who this year. Several yellow cards for each team in less than half an hour, and it's funny to see all the reactions ... it's quite good fun. Though, being Brazil, I think this is going to get rough once the timer reaches sixty.

Today, no earlier than three, we're to head over to the inn - notice I didn't have to specify which inn; that's Charlotte for you - and start getting all spiffied up for the wedding tonight. Last night I walked outside with my neice to the back of the hotel to see the lightening bugs down in the bushes. She had bug spray all over her, but I only had it on my legs. Needless to say, in less than five minutes of walking out and back into the hotel, I had 12 - yes, TWELVE mosquito bits on my arms. Two more on my forehead.

The worst bit is that I rarely get bitten down in Texas. I suppose these Michigan flyers thought my sweet tea blood something just to their liking.

I forgot my camera battery so I bought a couple 35mm. I'll post those when we get back.

-polexia.

Fill in the Blank Friday #4

oops! I've been doing so much crafting (mostly in my brain) that I've been out of touch with the calendar. okay, okay, truthfully, it's summer, and I don't care about the calendar, except when it goes by slow.

now, onward ye villian!




1. My dream vacation would be to travel the world, including my own country. There's so many places that I want to go experience for more than just a mere couple weeks, that I'll have to write down places on slips of paper and draw them out of a mason jar. note to self - that's a really good idea.

close to my idea, but you simply must click and read
the story behind this little jar. so sweet.

2. The best trip I've ever taken was STORY TIME: I took this crazy unorthodox trip when I was about seven. actually, more like ten or eleven. whatever... My dad and I needed to drive this car up to my sister in Boston. From Texas. My dad's friend is a semi big dude in this business and he was assigned to travel to all these random cities and do meetings. Boring details, etc, etc, long hours o driving and I end up several days late in St. Louis. I strongly remember my dad and his friend and I walking down to the arch. We've eaten, and we're walking back. It's dusk, that really good time that I'm creative and hyper and great. I'm running around ahead of my dad and his friend, around this courtyard thing with big squares of grass and sidewalk and no one notices me and I don't care and I can't see it but I know, behind me, that big huge silver arc is standing, guarding the west.

the arch

3. The most important items to take on a road trip are cameras (one disposable film, one digital), a notebook to scribble things down that you liked, and a road map. AAA doesn't make it worse, either ;)

4. The next trip I'm looking forward to is whatever is happening after I graduate college. I would love to take a month out and drive around on my own before college. Okay, that's not happening. I would like to do the tourist thing in my own town, though. Now that I have more traveling freedom, it's easier to see all the things that are fun in our town. You just have to look. Also, I'm supposed to go to Ireland next summer.

i find it curious that this the first interestingness picture
that pops up after searching flickr with "tourist" and that
it is in loas which i have felt connected to ever since
that silly country report project freshman year

5. If I had to pick one CD to listen to for a long road trip it would be my Old People playlist or From Under The Cork Tree. "old people" is a bunch of loud, fun songs that are great to blast when you want old people AWAY from you. From Under The Cork Tree is still the greatest album I've ever spent money on. It's perfect and I could listen to it over and over.

"old people" in brussels, i supose

6. The biggest disaster I've ever encountered while traveling was on my sophomore NOLA trip. This is more of a 'bad' memory than anything..... It was the last day in New Orleans, and the end of trip surprise thingy was a boat. Yes. We had dinner and a stupid dance party on a boat. Big whoop. you couldn't even tell you were on the boat, and it was too cold to stand outside and act all boaty and what not.
Anywho, I was stressed because my mom guilted me into buying these pants and they were cute but they weren't working for me that day. My hair was really kinky. The humidity was high (even for south texas) and my hair was frizzy and kinky and wasn't drying, either! So I just pulled my hair back into a pony tail, which looked bad, because all the other girls were dressed up. It was just terrible, and I felt terrible and I didn't want to go to a stupid dance party. It did suck, and my first friend at that school, and my last, talked to me the entire time. About fun things, like rock music :D my 'boyfriend' just danced to bad music and dragged me to the dance floor. I walked away, needless to say.

leaked photo of my hair that day.

7. My favorite traveling memory is ...curiously enough, I'm thinking about that day, and that day was good until that little part. Chris was super nice and I had a lot of fun talking to him. I suppose I actually kind of miss him, because he was my friend and the only one who stayed solid with me the whole year. Oh! and then this kid came over and did i-n-s-a-n-e magic tricks. Like, make you gasp in awe tricks. Cool.

Hm. I haven't thought about the good parts of that trip in a long time. However, when I went to super conference with UIL, I did see several isa kids walking back from the theatre conference: bella, randy, izzie, and I think zane too? randy was jumping ahead, no wonder I noticed him :o such a funny, sweet guy.

okay, i think i'm done rambling today. I need more posts, or they're all going to be long like this during the summer....

truly yours, p.

Dude, Where's My Flickr?

uhm. about this. well, i kind of that this habit of starting things and. do you see what i mean?

(add moment: look at this lil beauty!!)

anywho. check out my recent photographs. i think they are pretty dandy, n'est-ce pas?



School has been crazy lately. Keepin up for uil sake has been hard, and just when i forget about my future, it's the time when everyone else seems to remember. This is what I see many mornings.





I made a rainbow cake for my 18th birthday party. It went great! I recommend the idea to anyone. Really, you just bake a cake in a box like normal, but split the batter into as many parts as colors you want. Then add a bunch of food grade dye. The extra bit of watery stuff made my cake extra moist!





That is my very best friend :)

ohohohohohohoh AND ohmygoodness GRACIOUS! okay okay. The Boys Next Door has advanced! I'm super excited to be apart of this group and on Thursday we compete for a district advancing spot. those spots go on to area, then onto region, and finally state. at state, you win. well, you're supposed to. Anywho, there's that hope for state being propped up again. seguin is one of our peers at district, which is held at alamo heights. i honestly think steele will be there as well. from what i've seen, they will look amazing.

i need black shoes and a black vest. i have to buy a black vest because i want one, and i also said that if we went to district, i'd buy one. well. that's that. i hope i can brag about going area in a week's time. toodles.

<3 polexia.

so it was google all along?

recently, google has been putting up some, er, interesting google doodles. (pssst: google doodles are what the artists at google HQ call those spoof of their logo, like when the o's turn into pumpkins on halloween)
a week or so ago, they had ufo sightings linked. today, they have crop circles linked. i've always thought they were beautiful, even if they were created by the local punks who have too much time and math on their hands. check this site out! it has some GOOD pictures of some amazing designs. I think from now on, when people ask me what inspires my designs, I'll say crop circles. and they really do!




now, is that a subtle message, or what?

I'm here, I'm there!

Sissy's reading to Tanner and Jordan right now. They're being very whiny and sad because they got hyper at the restaurant we ate at after they picked me up from Logan Airport. With all the rain on the east coast, there was a line for landing in Boston and surrounding areas. After the delays throughout the day, I got in almost an hour late! Sis was alright with it since there was terrible traffic....

yarnivore today!

on rav, i'm in the HPKCHC and during august there's no lessons to attend to. there's a casual KAL that's been oraganized, and the pattern is Ice Queen, off knitty. my mom said it'd be fine to go get some supplies specifically for this project, and i wanted to go to a LYS so i could ask a few questions and also because i have't been to yarnivore yet. either way, both stores are not very close so it's pretty rare i get to go to a yarn store :D
anywho, i'm hoping for that to be a big success of august, and if i need any help, there is a nice yarn store a few blocks from the house. oh - did i mention? - i'm going to boston on Friday! finally! she called to ask me if i wanted to learn to surf. can you picture that? learning to surf in new hampshire! that's where she said the lesson was, and she and her friend were trying to go last week but it was full so she invited me to come next week. ha! crazy stuff. well, i'll be working on my nice new project - my first knitty pattern, and my first lace pattern, and my first time using a cable needle - for the hour drive up there.
as far as the four hour plane ride (which will be much longer i expect, with all the rain in the flight path) and the ride back, i think i'm only going to take two other projects with me. some brown simply soft for the double skinny scarves i've been working on, and the stuff for Kary's Chevron scarf as well. can't link to my project page, rav's down atm. but i will be taking pictures and posting while i'm up there.

my mom's back and it's time to get on over to yarnivore. out!