Cotton breathing when the sea winds

Spring finally made its way to Syracuse. After snowy treks and torrential downpours, the sun is here to hopefully stay. With it comes time to sit outside and ponder the future. And don’t you know that clouds for some reason draw out the desire for future-pondering? Why is that? Does anybody know? There’s something about the vast sky and magical floating water above our heads that makes us feel wonderfully small in our big, beautiful world. So we sit and think about our place in it, and wonder how we would like to spend our days.

Once again, National Geographic turns out some stunning photos.

Altocumulus Undulatus Clouds

Fluffy altocumulus undulatus clouds stain the sky red above a row of trees, and often herald an approaching storm.

Mackerel Sky Sunset

A “mackerel sky” adds to a striking sunset scene in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England. Ripples of altocumulus or cirrocumulus clouds resemble the markings of a king mackerel.

Winisk River Sunset

Colorful clouds and calm water create a striking sunset scene for canoeists on Winisk River in Ontario, Canada.

Goodness, I’m such a wistful daydreamer these days…

Take a peek at more NatGeo cloud pictures. They’re definitely worth the look. I also recommend lying in a big open field, Relient K’s “Savannah” on your iPod, and feeling the rhythm of your breathing while staring at the clouds above.

Some days you just need to look at cute dog pictures on the web

I can’t wait to adopt my own big ol’ dog. They’re so lovable.

Photos via Flickr: Dogs…Better Than Cats. Follow the link for some more awwws.

Symmetrical chaos

I am going to love on another bookshelf idea for a second:

The symmetry and grid-look of this bookshelf looks overwhelmed by the haphazardly strewn books inside it. It’s so cute. I also love how big it is. And it would be so easy to make yourself, too. It’s other appeal is that you can throw all of your Kurt Vonneguts in one square shelf and your old English authors in another (or four or five). In my opinion, every house should be built with automatic size adjustments for wall-to-wall bookshelves.

So we all can sing along with everything we got

Awesome news of the day: Bryce is writing music for a new album. His lyrics have inspired me for so many years now. I can’t wait to see what brilliant words come out of his head.

Tell me something good.

Can’t go too long without my Bryce fix. Enjoy.

For more silliness, check out this girl’s tumblr page. She created these and is therefore, absolutely awesome.

Update: Sad. WordPress doesn’t seem to host .gif files. Oh well. You can still see them at the mentioned link!

People people throw your love around

I worked on a story this week that involved speaking to many passionate people (my favorite kind, personally). If you go through life perpetually bored, perpetually cynical, or just plain miserable to those around you for no good reason at all, well, I really want nothing to do with you. I see people like this every day. And it used to be disappointing — going through your day with practically no friendly encounters, no “Good mornings!” or “Have a nice days”. Worse than that are people whose bottom line in everything they do is for their own hubris. Get a grip. For me, what makes the every day special is interacting with people who don’t just want to serve themselves. I’m not saying everyone needs to paste on a happy face just for the hell of it either. I don’t know. I just have come to be bored by how contagious negativity seems to be.

Anyhow, that said, check out some of the passionate people trying to keep the arts alive in Syracuse.

Until next time, stay bright, stay shiny, stay happy people.

xo†

Peace. Love. Rocket Summer.

Things that make me happy, #2

I really enjoy walking with no destination in mind. It’s nice NOT to have to get somewhere in 15 minutes. It’s nice to walk and look around, as opposed to walking and looking for a destination. You see more. Even though Napoleon Hill says those who drift through life without a plan won’t achieve success (and I unequivocally agree), sometimes it’s nice to drift without always looking for something else.

Things that make me happy, #1

Amidst the craziness of our lives, I’ve found it keeps me sane to clock out for a minute or two each day and think about something that makes me happy. Inspired by the blog 1000 Awesome Things, I am going to try and share things that make me happy — every day. Sort of (because I’ve said I would blog every day in the past, too, and that sort of never happened).

I’ve been cleaning out my loft the past few days. I’ve come across a lot of old magazines, musty books piled in corners and old papers. But if there’s one thing that makes sorting through piles of junk worth it, it’s definitely the smell of books.

Yes, the smell of books makes me happy. And I know I’m not alone. Tons of bibliophiles are also lovers of new book smell, old book smell and the in-between. They should make a candle with a new book smell scent. I should market that idea. And then loaf around and live off the earnings from that brilliant idea.