Everyday Photos by Jodi Anderson

this blog has moved

 

 

This blog has moved. Please visit daybook: a keeping of days at www.akeepingofdays.com. Thank you!

 

memorial weekend + blog move

During my leisurely weekend, which I will detail below, I got a wild hair and decided to finally move my blog to my own url.  I have been officially blogging for eight years (as of August) although I kept weblogs of other sorts long before the word blog was ever used.  In 2002, I signed up with Xanga and blogged THERE for quite a while.  (My monikers included soNOTcool, frejaluna, yourfavoritewife, and themissingtenenbaum.)  In the spring of 2007, I started writing (and posting photos, poetry, videos, and vignettes) at Typepad, which has served me well. 

About six years ago, I purchased www.jodianderson.com.  I haven't done a lot with it in that time.  It has essentially been my landing, where one can get a little info about me and find links to my various other blogs.  I had always hoped to host my Typepad blog there, but... *CONFUSION*.  I have decided to take advantage of my host's Wordpress.ORG services.  Please note the DOT ORG because Wordpress DOT COM is a much nicer can of worms.  Trust me.  However, that's not an option since I'm hosting the blog and not the other way around. 

(If you are a super-duper scholar on Wordpress DOT ORG, send an ambulance immediately.) 

So, here is where I stand... I transferred all of my old posts and comments from my Typepad sites over to www.jodianderson.com.  The comments are messy.  The replies don't match up with the original comments.  Some people have two profile photos.  (???!!!)  For a while, until I get things running fairly smoothly, I will be posting at both sites.  HOWEVER, comments will be closed here because I will not be able to transfer them.  Or, I just don't want to go through that again.  Please.  Fortheloveofscience, NO!  So, if you'd like to leave a comment, please do so at www.jodianderson.com/blog.  It'll really help me out, to see how things are formatting over there. 

Speaking of THERE, please ignore the following: the lack of headers, the poor formatting, THE OMISSION OF ANYTHING PRETTY, the ugly themes, THE FONT, the nails on the floor, the stupid obvious tags, and the runaway lawnmower going in circles. 

Here's the details; Please let me know if you run into any issues:

blog:  www.jodianderson.com/blog  (rss feed: http://www.jodianderson.com/blog/?feed=rss2)
photo projects:  www.jodianderson.com/photos
video blog:  www.jodianderson.com/videos
poetry: www.jodianderson.com/poetry
writings: www.jodianderson.com/writings

This weekend?

Saturday:  breakfast - farmer's market: radishes, asparagus, kale; black fennel, parsley - planted black fennel, parsley and heirloom tomatoes - discovered baby dill from last year growing in the garden - sat in adirondack chairs under the maple - sauteed asparagus and radishes with garlic (I'll come up with a recipe for it and share soon) - read on the front porch in the early evening - tried to get video of Kin *covering* and *uncovering* the water bowl - finished reading Mrs. Miniver (LOVED IT!) - started adding books to my Amazon store

Sunday:  breakfast with a breeze through the window - adding at least 40 books to my GoodReads list - seeing a young and downy Grackle sitting on the bird feeder roof, confused about how to gracefully get to the seed - careful placement of fans to keep cool - more sauteed greens with white beans - sauteed green beans with garlic and red pepper flakes - falling off the vegan wagon and having a raspberry shake - getting a wild hair to move my blogs to my own domain - staying up too late

Monday:  road trip through and around Black Earth, Mount Horeb, Blanchardville, Mount Vernon, New Glarus, and Monroe - discovering a new park for picnicking - stopped at Brennan's for asparagus, Grana, aged Cheddar, garlic, and lettuce - figuratively banging my head against the table while trying to figure out Wordpress DOT ORG

little bits of news

Here are a few things that I keep forgetting to mention ...

• We are attending NoBrandCon again this year.  I can't yet reveal X's cosplay character(s).  I think that this will be the family's fifth year attending and my fourth year.  You can see photos from the last three years here, here, and here. 
• On May 16th, X and I will be at a dialogue between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Richard J. Davidson.  They will be discussing neuroscience.  It takes place at 2:15 pm CST and there will be a live telecast HERE.
• X turns 18 on June 20th, and CocoRosie will be at the Barrymore Theatre on June 19th.  We are both looking so forward to this as we are huge fans of these talented and beautiful musicians.  It should be a special night. 

  © JODI ANDERSON. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

thanks + poetry

Thank you for the visits and well wishes.  Thank you for the emails and Facebook messages.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  X is slowly on the mend and we are hopeful that her health will return to its normal iron-clad state very soon. 

My friend, Jenny Hill, has written a new book of poems, "Regular Expressions: the facebook status update poems".  If you follow the link, there is a sweet video promo for the book, which includes a poem based upon one of my status updates (about grackles). 

I ordered my copy today. 

I'd also like to point out another clever book of poems that she penned, "No L: 36 Holiday Fictions in 140 characters (in which the letter L never appears) Happy Yu*e, Happy Ho*idays, Happy So*stice!"  You can order both at the aforementioned link.  

april ... really?!

April.  Really?!  I have no bloody idea how time goes by so quickly, especially when I try to live it slowly and notice everything around me. 

In other news, I downloaded photos from my camera that I took in the last week and every shot except the one above included at least one pet in it. 

Soooo ... the mirrored shelf that you see hung above the kitchen sink in the house where I grew up.  The room was remodeled when I was twelve and the item was placed in the basement.  As an adult, when the house was about to be sold, I claimed this item and have had it ever since, which is about 16 years. 

I hope that everyone reading this is enjoying spring (or whatever season it is where you live).

© JODI ANDERSON. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

unmasked update :: sphinx

I just had to share this latest update in the unmasked collection.  You can view a the entire slideshow (so far) HERE or look at larger images by scrolling through the archives HERE.

© JODI ANDERSON. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

hello :: 09 february 10

 (from the series, girl)

Hey there. 

I feel suddenly silent lately, but it is not for lack of activity, productivity, nor creativity.  Nor for lack of reading lots of blogs on the internet!  I feel especially inspired by the season, the snow, the cold, interior styling sites, new friends commenting, food, colors, light and costumery.  My mind is running a happy million miles an hour. 

I should have some new linkage to share very soon. 

© JODI ANDERSON. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

creating dreams come true

I really feel like I'm up for some new challenges this year. 

One thing that I have decided to do, although I'm about three weeks late into the year-long project, is "creating dreams come true: a creative adventure".  You can read more about it HERE. It is being hosted by Andrea of ABCcreativity.  (Let me know if you decide to participate, please!)  I'm going to play catch-up for a few days and then I'll post on Sundays like many of the other participants. 

Unless you read about it, this list won't make any sense.  That's okay.  I don't mind if you skip it.  There will be more of the usual business around here soon. 

An aside: The list will eventually reach 100.  I will add to it throughout the year. 

1. Re-learn and advance my crocheting skills.
2. Spend more time with my family.
3. Create a morning self-care routine. 
4. Create an evening self-care routine.
5. Hike Gibraltar repeatedly in 2010, and whenever possible thereafter.
6. Learn more about photography. 
7. *the crow collaberation*
8. Collaberate with Thicket.
9. Get "Hold Inquiry" up and running online.
10. Work towards my dream home by remodeling, painting, and styling.
11. Create a book for Grandma Anderson about Grandma and Grandpa Anderson.
12. Purge excess from house.
13. Wake up earlier.
14. Expand the garden.
15. Learn to can and freeze more of my garden bounty.
16. Share my perennials with others each spring.
17. Treat myself to luxuries.
18. Create a business model.
19. Um, create a business?!
20. Figure out what I am and am not willing to do with my creative endeavors.
21. Participate in 15/15 or 365/365 with Christie.
22. Update and pimp shop.
23. Try to read a novel each month.
24. Work out an efficient bill-paying system.
25. Make a financial plan for savings and daughter's college.
26. Dedicate 1-2 hours to myself each day.
27. Make journaling a habit.
28. Expand my vegan (possibly gluten-free) menu.
29. Eat out less.
30. Update website.
31. Travel to Denmark.
32. Travel to Sweden regularly.
33. Visit Newfoundland.
34. Take yearly month-long retreats in the North woods of Wisconsin.  (Thoreau-style)
35. Finish a few of my ongoing projects.
36. Learn Swedish. 
37. Visit a state park at least once a month.
38. Embrace camping again.
39. Meet up with local-ish friends.
40. Help X reach for her dreams.
41. Get a bike that I can ride in a dress, preferably with a basket.
42. Read the paper with breakfast ... instead of emails and blogs. 
43. Don't feel guilty about setting aside time for emails and blogs.
44. Snap more photos with film.
45. Get a new DSLR.
46. Acquire more lenses. 
47. Buy an awesome video camera. 
48. Find a nice piano accordian, preferably the Blue one that used to be at the music store in Baraboo.
49. Do more advocacy for type I (juvenile-onset) diabetes.
50. Contribute to the family income by doing what I love without feeling guilty for selling what I do.
51. Come to peace with promoting myself and submitting work, then doing it.
52. Make mixed-media documentaries.
53. Take regular walks for no particular reason except the experience. 
54. Always let the people that I care about know how much that they mean to me.
55. Organize the pieces of my daughter's childhood into something meaningful and efficient, like a set of bound journals. 
56. Get a massage and/or cranio-sacral work done at least monthly.
57. Do the daily Sudoku. 
58. Grow Lilies of the Valley, which I've had trouble with thus far FOR VERY GOOD REASONS.
59. Throw our daughter a wonderful graduation-slash-18th-birthday-party in June. 
60. Practice piano and get a bit better. 
61. Have my own violin again. 
62. To shamelessly own a Saab again.
63. Visit the Grand Canyon. 
64. Go to Maine. 
65. Always strive. 
66. Be gentle to everyone and myself.
67. Learn how to handbind simple books.
68. Make some handbound journals and/or books.
69. Expand my website design skills.  Or hire someone else to do it. 

gratitude and shop news

This is my entry for the gratitude photo challenge over at The Women's Colony.  I found it difficult to express what I am thankful for with just a few photos.  To really emcompass all that I appreciate and hold close, I'd have to post 2,179 thousand pictures.  I stopped at six.  They should represent family (human and otherwise) as well as food and shelter and time spent together. 

(If you're reading this before Monday morning [11/23], please come back for the direct link to The Women's Colony's list of challenge participants, links to their photos, and also the announcement of the print and card set winner.  You can leave a comment until 6:00 PM CST for a chance to win.) 

Just a friendly reminder that you can use the code WOMENSCOLONY11 at my shop through late Monday evening to receive a 10% discount at checkout. 

  © JODI ANDERSON. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

giveaway announcement and blah blah blah

I am participating in a print and holiday card giveaway over at The Women's Colony this week.  (All the details are RIGHT HERE.  Just leave a comment on that post to enter.)  There is also a discount code on the site, valid through November 23rd, that will take off 10% off of anything that you purchase at my shop.  I guess that it's sort of an early-bird sale. 

Saturday was so grey, like most all of the last two months.  The cats and dog napped all day long.  I felt groggy and nothing quenched my tired body and mind.  It brightened up a bit on Sunday, but it is still ENTIRELY TOO WARM for mid-Autumn.  Sheesh, weather, wake up and get cold already! 

My husband is in Nicaragua this week, laying the groundwork for a wind turbine farm, the building of which he will oversee.  He looks to be gone most of December and January.  Any other details depend upon the weather there, the delivery of parts, and how well the machine that is the wind industry operates during this project. 

We will miss him a lot, especially during solstice and my birthday (25 of december).  He is, howevever, returning home for a week, of which our 20th anniversary falls smack dab in the middle. 

X and I each have a lot of plans naturally, both together and apart, to keep us busy and forward-focused during this time.  That said, I will take full advantage of those extra quiet moments, which is when I work best on photography, writing, thinking, planning, and producing.  And reading.

© JODI ANDERSON. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.