Corner View : Four-legged

I can't help but be excited about today's topic! I've had pets my whole life- one black lab (Lucky), two chocolate labs (Ceaux Ceaux and Rusty), and one cat (Socks), all outside animals. Now there's little Rufus, the smallest and most social dog of them all, who cannot possibly ever get enough of people and is very friendly with other dogs of all sizes. He's always excited to see you, and I wish I could get half as jazzed about anything as he does about going outside. He loves ice, minty things (is especially good at finding already-been-chewed gum!), or snacks... the latter two of these he finds on his own when we go walking. He's about the most loving ball of fluff you'll ever meet!

Corner View : Favorite Fine Artist

Hello, Corner Viewers!

I have been MIA and without internet, but I'm back! And with that, back in school for one more semester. (Anyone know of marketing/HR/management jobs in DC or Atlanta!?) Here goes!

I can't pick my favorite fine artist, as is today's theme. I do like Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory as well as Metamorphosis of Narcissus - the style is crisp and has volumes of underlying meaning. But truly, I love, love pictures of boats and harbors and masts with sails. I typically dislike photos of flowers, as there are entirely too many and very few are distinctive. Still life pictures remind me of elementary school art class, but architecture can capture my attention for hours. I've often wondered, "what's the big deal!?" when I see the real deal from Picasso or Matisse. However, I think Jeff Koons has some pretty cool pieces, and Frank Gehry even inspires jewelry from Tiffany that I'd wear, though none of these considered "fine" by the trained artist. I usually base what to buy on what grabs my eye as I pass by a sea of look-alikes, and when I've traveled before my one regret has been not bringing back more artwork. Now when I travel again, I'll work on that ;)


To see art from around the world, check out:
jane - ian - bonnie - joyce - kim - trinsch - ritva - francesca - state of bliss - cabrizette - isabelle - janis - kari - jgy - lise - cate - otli - dorte - sophie - mcgillicutty - sunnymama - juanita - daan - ibb - kelleyn - ninja - sammi - theresa - cherry b - cole - grey lemon - lucylaine - lynn - skywriting - anna - dorit - conny - l´atelier - kamana - rosamaría - victoria - yellow door - tikjewit - juniper - annabel - valerie - merel - mlle paradis - wander chow - tally - nadine - don - flowtops - susanna - tania - dana - tzivia - mari - mezza - hinke - susan - guusje - annemiek - barbara

Corner View : Traditions

Hello hello! I was on a blogging break in favor of finals, but am now back in my hometown and about to head out to see some friends... But not before I share with you my favorite Christmas tradition. As long as I can remember, we have gone over to my dad's best friend's house on Christmas Eve. My dad and Uncle Mike (who isn't really my uncle) have been best friends since they were little boys. Uncle Mike has 4 children, three of whom have their own children, and lives next door to his sister, who has three children, one of which has children. Most of the original group of kids are around my age, all of them a lot of fun. Neighbors stop in, as do other friends. It's always such a nice time to catch up with folks (especially as I don't make it home often and certainly don't have an opportunity to see all of these people in the same room unless it's at a wedding or a funeral), relive memories, get updates, share news, enjoy delicious Cajun food, and so on. This year is a little more special because my friend Katie, Uncle Mike's daughter, whom I have baby photos with, just had her own little girl I'll get to meet. I used to start looking forward to the occasion around July! It's also a good time for reflection and how much things have changed since last year, and how long ago, yet not, that seems.

I look forward to seeing how you spend the holiday... or other traditions you share!


For other traditions, check out:

jane - ian - bonnie - joyce - kim - trinsch - ritva - francesca - state of bliss - cabrizette - isabelle - janis - kari - jgy - lise - cate - otli - dorte - b - sophie - mcgillicutty - sunnymama - daan - ibb - pienduzz - kelleyn - ninja - sammi - theresa - cherry b - shokoofeh - cole - grey lemon - lucylaine - lynn - skywriting - anna - dorit - conny - l´atelier - rosamaría - victoria - tikjewit - juniper - annabel - valerie - merel - mlle paradis - wander chow - tally - nadine - don - flowtops - susanna - tania - dana - tzivia - mari - mezza - hinke - susan - guusje

Corner View : Anything Goes

Well here comes another week where my only blog is the CV. No time in between to post any goodies! I wish I'd been saving recipes to post. I'll get back to it eventually. Actually feel as though I'm at the right amount of work lately-- not so much or so little that I am not motivated to do or overwhelmed by any of it, but just enough to keep me moving and feeling good about all that's going on.

I've learned a lot this semester both at school and outside of it, but always felt as though I was barely keeping my head above water with everything on my plate. Things seem to be regulating a little bit more now as the semester winds down.

Upcoming things I'm thinking about include the holiday (Thanksgiving in NC and Christmas in La), next semester, moving, and being back in the working world. My concerns with it all are balance at home, fun(ds), enjoying both work and what it allows me to do outside of the 9 to 5, time management, understanding and sticking to what's important. There've been a lot of changes in the past few years-- living abroad, living domestically but far from family and friends, being married, being alone while my husband was in Iraq for 15 months, back in graduate school, in a different city, in student government. All of it carried heaps more responsibility than plenty of folks my age have, some of it wasn't ideal but it has all been a wonderful experience in some way or another. I can only expect the same for the upcoming changes! If you'd told me five years ago what I'd be up to now, well, I can imagine that I'll feel the same way when I look back on now in five years :)

And given today's title, throwing in a photo I took recently outside of the b-school building seems appropriate :)


To see what kind of anythings are going on around the globe, try: jane - ian - bonnie - joyce - kim - kay - trinsch - ritva - francesca - state of bliss - cabrizette - isabelle - janis - kari - jgy - lise - cate - otli - dorte - b - sophie - mcgillicutty - sunnymama - daan - ibb - pienduzz - kelleyn - ninja - sammi - theresa - cherry b - juliette - shokoofeh - cole - grey lemon - lucylaine - lynn - skywriting - anna - dorit - conny - l´atelier - kamana - anne marie - rosamaría - victoria - tikjewit - juniper - annabel - andrea - valerie - merel - soisses - mlle paradis - cacahuete - wander chow - barbara - emily - tally - nadine - matilda - don - flowtops - susanna - tania - dana - ingrid - tzivia - mezza - lollipop - mari

Corner View : Autumn

Well hello from the lovely East Coast! Autumn here is certainly scenic. Although it's prettier as you climb the Eastern seaboard from here (we drove to Connecticut last year mid-October), DC still has some nice colors. And oh the flavors that come out around now-- peppermint (albeit more associated with winter, at least for me) and pumpkin are some of the best things to ever hit your taste buds.

My friend Andy recently came down for a visit. We had a good time during the few hours he was out of the Big Apple. We alert one another each year when Starbucks' Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins make their appearance, and he decided that his *one* for this year he'd have with me. I wish I were as disciplined... We went to three different places to get it, because it's not worth it if it isn't warmed. Here's us being silly on the walk to get the treat. And here's a recipe for pumpkin bread I like to make :)

A friend of mine got some tickets to the White House Garden Tour several weeks ago, so I popped into that for a bit. All due respect intended, it wasn't that great. A cucumber plant in Mrs Obama's garden looks just like one anywhere else, with the exception of the swarms of people photographing it. The flora were nice, but nothing that really blew me away. The lawn looked nice, no doubt, and the putting green was pretty cool. (I recently played golf for my first few times and was surprised at how much I enjoyed the heck out of it!)

Rufus also enjoys this time of year as it's just about the last he'll see of squirrels until after winter. These furry-tailed critters are quite possibly the most exciting piece of his day, with the exception of when my husband or I come home, and he goes absolutely nuts over them-- hops on his two hind feet, restrained only by an owner with a leash, when he sees one on the loose. It's pretty absurd and entertaining. In this photo, he'd gotten up early to peek through the blinds and see if he could find any. You can see the yellow leaves in the crack behind him.

For more autumns around the globe, check out:

jane - ian - bonnie - joyce - kim - kay - trinsch - ritva - francesca - state of bliss - cabrizette - isabelle - janis - kari - jgy - lise - cate - otli - dorte - b - sophie - mcgillicutty - sunnymama - daan - ibb - pienduzz - kelleyn - ninja - sammi - theresa - cherry b - juliette - shokoofeh - cole - grey lemon - lucylaine - lynn - skywriting - anna - dorit - conny - l´atelier - kamana - anne marie - rosamaría - victoria - tikjewit - juniper - annabel - andrea - valerie - merel - soisses - mlle paradis - cacahuete - wander chow - barbara - emily - tally - nadine - matilda - don - flowtops - susanna - tania - dana - ingrid - tzivia - mezza - lollipop

Corner View : Holiday Photos

I've definitely been a backlogged blogger lately!

I have some recipes to share when I get a chance. I'm on student government this year, both for my particular school and then one that's university-wide, which takes 10-30hours per week. I tutor, though that thankfully has been pretty calm. I'm on the committee to search for a new dean, which is amping up. Oh, and I'm taking more than is considered full-time for a grad student. My sweet little dog is definitely a stress reliever when I come home from days full of all of this! I'm not at all complaining, though. A friend recently said he didn't want to serve on student government because he saw how busy last year's president was, and then asked if I enjoyed it. I felt silly not having thought about it, but yes! I really do enjoy it. It's great practice in organization and prioritization, I get to work with folks from all around the school at every level, I have to quickly perceive and understand needs and then communicate responses. It's a pretty exciting, rewarding role. I don't think I could have something this time consuming outside of a career, however, so grad school is probably the best time for it all.

I've recently been doing some self-evaluation, too. I realized that I work a lot. I never felt as though I worked a lot because my perspective is jaded and it's taken me more than a couple of decades to figure it out :) I also have come to understand myself better in that I do what's in front of me, rather than putting in front of me what should be. If e-mail's in front of me, I write them. If my homework is, I work it. If dirty dishes are, I clean them. I've started to write numbers next to items on my To Do list in order to give myself the "okay" to move onto something else. It's about prioritizing and knowing what's important, not just treating it all equally. And one other thing I've noticed is that it's hard for me to feel proud of something unless I've gone overboard. When I work in a group or when I put thought into a gift, I often don't feel as though I've done enough to be proud of unless I've gone over the top, "just to be sure," and have some sort of cushion of overdoing. I'm not quite sure where these latter two things come from, but I suppose the important part is in realizing them.

And so part of what all of this rambling brings me to is that I have my holiday cards for this year in already. Yep! Ordered them in September. Call me a nut who can't prioritize, or an overzealous Christmas card sender, or a bargain hunter (20% off email is what motivated me! That and already having the "Cmas 2010" album with photo options started...), but they've been created, ordered, and are sitting on my desk in the box awaiting addressing and some jolly red and green stamps. I can't spoil the mail for those receiving them, so after all my rambling, you'll still have to wait to see them!


To check out holiday photos from around the world, check out:
jane - ian - bonnie - joyce - kim - kay - trinsch - ritva - francesca - state of bliss - cabrizette - isabelle - janis - kari - jgy - lise - cate - otli - dorte - b - sophie - mcgillicutty - sunnymama - daan - ibb - pienduzz - kelleyn - ninja - sammi - theresa - cherry b - juliette - shokoofeh - cole - grey lemon - lucylaine - lynn - skywriting - anna - dorit - conny - l´atelier - kamana - anne marie - rosamaría - victoria - tikjewit - juniper - annabel - andrea - valerie - merel - soisses - mlle paradis - cacahuete - wander chow - barbara - emily - tally - nadine - matilda - don - flowtops - susanna - tania - dana - ingrid

Corner View : Seven

I missed the re-start of CV recently, whose topic was "school." Perhaps it's best, anyway, as I could've gone on and on about its current influence on life...

Perhaps it's not what the creator had in mind, but when I first read today's topic I thought of the brand of jeans. And boy, I used to be a big believer in jeans for $20 brand new. I got my first pair of Sevens in China for $9, though the US version is $150+. Handsewn pockets to give your booty some lift... this is relevant to some of us...

So to incorporate the last CV with the current, here are Seven things at school heavily influencing my life:
1) student government. Perhaps it should count for two because it's so big. ~30 hours a week is what it's taking me to juggle it all. That's 3x as much as I expected after talking to last year's pres.
3) graduate leadership council. This is all the presidents of the schools around campus who get together. Still haven't quite figured out what they do...
4) ngl. This is an enthusiastic group around DC getting organized and is a great prospect especially for job-seekers and international students and anyone who really wants to stay here after school.
5) dean. The dean of our particular school is retiring, and I'm on the search committee for a replacement. A very exciting honor, and a time-consuming one.
6) classes. Oh yeah. Thinking of them this far down my 7s list is just about appropriate given the semester thus far. Eek!
7) Friends. Elections. Meetings. Intramurals. Fundraising. Event-planning. Sanity-saving. Professors. New students. And everything else...

To see foreign sevens, check out:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., jeannette, outi, ritva, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, janis, kari, jgy, skymring, elizabeth, allison, lise, cate, otli, ida, lisa, dorte, kimmie, nicola, vanessa, britta, april, b, kyndale, samantha, kristina, goldensunfamily, sophie, mcgillicutty, aimee, sunnymama, britta, juanita, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb, jodi, gillian, travelingmama

athena, pienduzz, kelleyn, demara, mus, ninja, guusje, di, sammi, theresa, cherry b, victoria, lisa, liza, juliette, mulot, lucy, leonor, elizabeth, helene, shokoofeh, cole, jenna, podane, grey-lemon, line, nihal, inner toddler, puna, lucylaine, adrienne, lynn, skywriting, eliane, the wanderer´s daughter, carole, anna, dorit, kenza, sherry, conny, susan, l´atelier, elis, kamana, anne, rosamaría, marinik, elisabelle, victoria, malo, the yellow door paperie, tikjewit, juniper, ocean girl, emily, marcie, annabel, andrea, valerie, karin, michelle, merel, pia, soisses, angie, adèle, latisha, mlle paradis, 24 ruel, cacahuete, wander chow, debra, linnea and emily, barbara, emily, maryline, tally, therese, nadine, matilda, don, cheryl, flowtops, susanna, katy, suzana, castor

Corner View : Noticing

When I moved to Asia about 5 years ago, without knowing anyone there, the language, the culture, I noticed that I was really good at taking care of things for myself. I was neater, ate well, conscientious, and other endeavors where I'm not always successful today. Now that my life is completely different-- married, pet, in grad school, working-- at the end of each day, I try to think things through and group and categorize experiences in my mind so that I remember better and return to that conscientiousness. It can be as simple as adding up what I've eaten and if I've had enough of what I should, to comparing what I noticed at work with different people and what it may be teaching me about them, and so on and so forth. I have to make a special effort to notice what doesn't happen naturally...

And since I've been out of school, have a tad bit of a summer income and definitely more free time, I'm definitely noticing all the shopping I want to do! I was so good at being even tighter than I usually am (much to my lunch-out-seeking husband's chagrin), but now I've chilled out a bit on that! I guess I'll get into my comfortable penny-pinching self again when fall brings in less income and takes away much of our free time once more... but for now... :)

Notice more around the globe by clicking:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele,

caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., jeannette, outi, ritva, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, janis, kari, jgy, skymring, elizabeth, allison, lise, cate, otli, ida, lisa, dorte, kimmie, nicola, vanessa, britta, april, b, kyndale, samantha, kristina, goldensunfamily, sophie, mcgillicutty, aimee, sunnymama, britta, juanita, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb, jodi, gillian, travelingmama

athena, pienduzz, kelleyn, demara, mus, ninja, guusje, di, sammi, theresa, cherry b, victoria, lisa, liza, juliette, mulot, lucy, leonor, elizabeth, helene, shokoofeh, cole, jenna, podane, grey-lemon, line, nihal, inner toddler, puna, lucylaine, adrienne, lynn, skywriting, eliane, the wanderer´s daughter, carole, anna, dorit, kenza, sherry, conny, susan, l´atelier, elis, kamana, anne, rosamaría, marinik, elisabelle, victoria, malo, the yellow door paperie, tikjewit, juniper, ocean girl,
emily, marcie, annabel, andrea, valerie, karin, michelle, merel, pia, soisses, angie, adèle, latisha, mlle paradis, 24 ruel, cacahuete, wander chow, debra, linnea and emily, barbara, emily, maryline, tally, therese, nadine, matilda, don, cheryl