Thirteen Special (and not so) Things About Me!

Design Board 2012 for Website Ideas

Hi everyone,

I've seen these on a few blogs and I thought that it would be fun to throw out a few random things about myself. You never know what you'll find and the strange little things that you might have in common. Here's 13 things for the year of 2013.

1. I'm addicted to modern art: I wasn't always. It didn't start until my second year into my first major of Art History in college before I switched it to Graphic Design.  My first exhibit was Andy Warhol in MOCA where I got to learn about the man behind the art and the life they led. Keeping this in mind I was pulled more and more into understanding the modern artist and they had walked the streets that I had.  Now as a Graphic Designer AIPOD get tickled pink when I see modern art. I feel like I'm sharing in a community that I'm now apart of.

2. I collect British things: For those of you that have been keeping up with my blog, I'm sure that you've notice that I have a fascination with the UK. After I had completed my first anthology of British Literature I was in love with British culture. I still am today. I started my collection with Union Jack flags and my collection has moved on to imported teas and books. I still would love it if I could get a PG Tips plushie monkey as well as a mug... A little dream in my wish list!

3. My favorite color is charcoal grey... But maroon is running up...: with the attire I wear people often assume that my favorite color must be neons of rainbows. Surprise! I am absolutely in love with the color charcoal grey because it goes with everything. It's a chameleon of a color so it sways with any mood I please. Maroon is coming in close to second because of my Scion and the color of my cabinets. I think that maroon celebrates how sexy a woman is from red wine to maroon deep lipstick...

4. Roots irk me...: There! I said it! Being that hair is one of my choice of fashion statement it drives me nuts when I see monster roots on anyone. I have been known to walk out of stores and public places if someone has roots that I must look at the most of the time that I'm there. Nothing past 2 inches of growth, Please!

5. I'm a over achiever in a lazy persons body.: I spent plenty of time in my office and I have made it a point to build my library with a comfy love seat and now a reading chair. It's so easy to slip away in there and lose track of time with a good pot of tea. I often find it difficult to pry away from it to do whatever next big project that's in front of me. Then I find myself cramming. Not a great look on me, but a common one.

6. I'm in love with my car.: Oh yes, my little Maroon Scion XB has been a light in my life. I get sensitive when other people drive my car poorly.  Nothing puts me in a good mood right away than boosting high my fancy stereo in my car and going for a cruise. That car is a testimony that anything is possible if you work for it. Pantomime (the name of my car) found me when I needed him. I think my favorite accessory in my car is a ribbon tied to the front mirror with the quote "It's kind of fun doing the impossible"-Walt Disney. I can't step out out of that car without feeling like a Badass Rockstar Goddess!

7. I'm a Grammar Hippie: Never heard of one? I made it up. Before you get your panties in a twist I don't think that grammar is unimportant. Infact, if you're really good at grammar I absolutely commend you! But for the rest of us, it's not a forte that I try to learn everyday. I believe that rules are made to be broken, and this goes for language. Take it from Shakespeare; we wouldn't have the word 'Alligator' otherwise. Poets and Lyricist push this everyday understanding the rules of language, and most Novelist I've met are terrible with grammar.

8. I'm bad at ending conversations: What can I say? I love conversations. Nothing gives me a greater pleasure than long topics and understanding what makes a person unique from their interests and opinions. Don't make me call it an end though, I always find it hard to let people go because I'm an asker. 

9. I'm a crazy good cook: Yes. I wear this badge loud and proud! I'm a self taught cook that loved the discovery of cusine through many broken sauces, flattened souffles, and listening. As a division of Cordon Bleu is a city away from me I've had a handful of friends of mine have me help them 'study' as they passed as Master Chefs from this magical place, in turn learning myself. I wish I could cook more, but most of my pots and cookware were damaged in the move to the house I'm currently living in. One thing I miss the most is my beautiful bunt pan so I can make my Hawaiian Pound Cake and Pretty Sponge Cakes for Tea...
 

10. I get a high in the middle of reading a good book.: But seriously, what book lover doesn't? Books shape my life, get me to think, and help me see a world that is bigger than my own. If you're a serious dreamer, then reading is on your list of things to do! I just finished the Goddess Guide and I was able to travel and aspire to new sights, see a vintage fashion auction, and chill momentarily with Miss Piggy... Ah... Which leads me to a dream of mine...
 

11. I dream of travel.: Ever since I had my magical two weeks in Rosarito, Mexico, I've had the hunger to go out there and experience new cultures. I long for the Literary and Theatre heritage of London, the rampant Graphic Design of Barcelona, and the hidden secrets of Ancient Venice to name a few. Lately I've been curious about Timbuktu with the deterioration of ancient cilivlization artifacts and the understanding that is a once great world waiting to be discovered and share they're knowledge.
  

12. I code like a boss!: Most Graphic Designers I know are scared to bits of coding. There's this stigma that you'll become some techie jerk that cares nothing about numbers rather than design. To my surprise when I tapped into Dreamweaver and mild CSS coding I fell in love with it! It made me feel more mobile as a Designer. I hope this year to get really good at Actionscripting and crazy good with my CSS. Most of my paid freelance work is designing websites, and nothing makes me happier knowing that I can take a companies dreams to the limit. I'm the bridge between their visions and the world. 
 

13. I want to be a legacy of stories.: From Illustrating, Playwright, and Novel writing; I want to tell stories and capture the imagination of the world. I want to be like Howard Pyle and never stop discovering. This would be the wish for what my life to be. I have a talent and I want to give it to a broken world that needs to dream and aspire. Whatever I find myself doing in the future, I hope that this will be one thing that stands true.
 

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Crossing Fingers: Nov/Dec

November was one of those wild child months for me. Considering that October went like clockwork I assumed that November would not steer so far from the course. Wow, was I wrong! November stepped up to bat with a ton of new opportunity and responsibilities that I had no ideas would be there. I'm not necessarily upset about it, rather I welcome it to be what it is. 

If you're not familiar with Crossing Fingers, I pick three goals for the month and I focus on them.

November Results:

1.NaNoWriMo: This challenge started out great and then other things ran in the path of it. I'm driven nuts that I have yet another year without a good decent hunk of novel. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was frustrated about this, but half way through this month I had to make a decision between my opportunity and my novel. Painfully I couldn't have both so I gently placed my sweet novel to the side. *sigh* I'm also learning that November just isn't a good month for novel writing for me, am I the only one that feels like this?

2. Meditate Daily: After my first meditation class, I started to read Diana Rossen's book: Meditations with Tea. If one thing I was able to follow through with this month I was so grateful it was this! I've started to feel more grounded and solid this past month sorting out what exactly has been going on inside me and getting to the bottom of things. I'm not finished with the book since it's one of those you don't want to rush, but I can't wait to share with you my discoveries from reading it!

3. Spend less: This challenge was a 50/50 turn out. Yes I did end up spending more money that I'd wish, but since I cut out the urge to spend it all at once I got to do everything I wanted and then some. The highlight of this challenge was not spending lavishly on my mini holiday. Without forcing myself to get souvineers and shop I was able to focus on savoring and enjoying what I had before me. I was also able to get my hand dirty again getting creative in the kitchen and in my art again. Seems like all this time inspiration was right under my nose and I was choking it with luxuries.

December Challenge:

1. Write a 2 Year Business Plan: This is probably going to be the thing that will be taking up most of my month this December. I won't reveal the exact details about the business plan until I'm done with it. But I'll go as far to say that I'm excited with any results that will come out of this plan that I create.

2. Read: Ah yes, so looking forward to finishing up my Goodreads year challenge. I feel so guilty when I want to dive into a book in the month of November because of NaNoWriMo and I feel like I should be writing. So many books I've put on hold that I would love to finish and share with you. I'm looking forward to curling up to a book every evening in this colder weather.

3. Create: After enough practice meditating, I'm ready to get my creative on! Writing, Drawing, Painting, I want all of that good stuff again. How much of this I'll be able to do with the Business Plan I'm not sure, but I sure want to try and make sure I make time for it.

There it is, another month of challenges...
*Crossing Fingers* 

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Crossing Fingers: October update

Hey everyone! It's about the midway through the month and I thought I should check in and give an update on how I'm doing with this month's Crossing Fingers Challenge.

 1. 750 Words October Challenge: If you can see from the screen cap I'm doing quite well for myself! I'm so happy that I've stayed diligent with this challenge. It gets easier everyday. I can safely say that besides my blog it's the one thing I do that's personal time. Sometimes I do it when I wake up through my phone, but most of the time it's the first thing that I do before I start on my work. Mostly I write about personal things to get my mind settled so I can concentrate through the day, once in awhile I write my blog posts in it. 750 has been allowing me to find the words to put on the screen much quicker. I might have a fighting chance for NaNoWriMo *knocks on wood as swiftly as possible*

2. Do Art Daily: This is the one I've been falling behind on... Most of my time is taken with my job and being out of the house so I'm not exactly capable of doing anything artistic at 11pm. What I do have to account for for this is my bedroom and study mini makeover that I've been cherishing through this month. I've been moving things around, redecorating, and getting rid of things since everything piled up while I was in college. I also started painting again, but it's not progressing as much as I'd like. I need to really step my game up on this challenge.

3. Show Goodreads Up: I think that only the end of the month will tell on this one. As you can see from the screen cap I'm trudging through a few books at the moment. I was crazy to pick a long book for this month; Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country. I picked it because I stumbled across it in a used book store one weekend. This book NEVER goes on sale and I've been meaning to read it since 2008. The suspense got me in the end... Ugh...

So far not bad, not great either... Still have the rest of the month *Crossing Fingers*
-Stef

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Crossing Fingers: October

Something that I hope to start doing at the beginning of the month are little goals to take me to my goals. What goals? Well... just simple things that make me an overall a better person personally.

College just wiped me out, I was in a cram school where I had no real time to develop myself as a creative person. Since I started school it was this yo yo of inspiration then plateau dry seasons of just working. The greatest asset in all of my jobs IS creativity...

I could sit here beating myself up (that was a few hours ago) or I could just accept it and move on. So I've set myself three simple goals that I hope I can follow through with until the end of the month and longer (Crossing fingers...)

October 2012

1. 750 Words October Challenge: I've survived a couple of these but I haven't been back since February this year. Seriously, anyone wanting to get back into or practice more writing should try this site. It's so therapeutic and as the owner says, "it can be a big mind dump" if you need it to. I'm doing this to make my writing sync naturally with my brain again, no more long pauses...

2. Do Art Daily: Whether a doodle or a craft; something other than writing will be done creatively. Lately my big kick has been redecorating especially as the Fall season upon us makes me want to stay home more. (Pictures to come)

3. Show Goodreads Up: Yes thats right, I'm slightly behind in my reading goal because of the craziness of production season. It urks me that it says I'm behind in my goal. So I want to fix this and stay on track go beyond and be ahead this month. If I dare take the Nanowrimo challenge this year I need to be ahead to keep my reading goal.

The challenge has begun, *Crossing Fingers*
-Stef

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