20.5.05

it works, great!
that makes me want to blog and blog and blog (but apparently not eat dinner). what a terrific day. super s dropped the big order off at ups this morning, and it felt delicious to get that huge chunk of work out of the studio. so, all those famous people (not to number more than 60) who will be attending the indy 500 this year will receive a fantastical custom wallet. maybe i'll post a picture soon. that sounds like a good idea. to celebrate the departure of this beast of a project i rode my bike (just kidding, that's my job, however i did ride extra fast down hills). actually, i went to women's volunteer night at the community cycling center and it was a blast because the woman running the clinic/volunteer thingy was an incredibly good teacher and i learned a whole lot about how bikes work, and i got to take small pieces apart...and it was great. i also got incredibly greasy, which might be the best thing ever. then to continue the celebration i came home and cleaned my bathroom. wahooo, do i know how to celebrate or what. this weekend is the start of the village building convergence and i'm super excited to build stuff and meet people. (stress on the meet people part). life's been a bit too crazy (and possibly wierd?) for meeting people this last month or so. i was doing such a good job...and then life took over. anyhow, i'll be making stuff and building stuff, and realizing how much i want to be a creative builder landscaper planner designer person in my future. yahooo.

ok. post bathroom clean i showered and got in bed. somewhere in there i was supposed to eat dinner. but i wasn't hungry. and now that i'm in bed, and exhausted (40+ miles - much uphill - wed and thur) i don't want to get up and make something...although my pantry is just bubbling over with food options...

ok, to sleep! (and to sleep in, just a bit).
i've been having some trouble with the blogger button (not lately, just in general, this is just a test to see if it is working)

17.5.05

contents of stomach (past 24 hours):
3 avocados
1 almost rotten tomato
home grown cilantro
1/4 onion
(i made guacamole)
1 homemade quesadilla
some tortilla
1 pb&j
more guac
1 carrot
2 celery slices
1 can pickled beets

who says i'm not healthy?!
i just went grocery shopping, there must be something to eat.

16.5.05

2 sunrises per day
it's absolutely amazing that the sun appears to rise twice per day now that it is summer and i have a semi-normal-person-job. it rises once in the morning sometime around 6 (it wakes up my toes sticking out from the bottom of my bed, they squint, and then fall back asleep). then it's sometimes sunny or rainy or gray or something all day...even on my ride home from work (dear goodness...a 10 minute commute by bike over a pretty bridge and enjoying dodging cars [don't worry dad, it's not dangerous] or an hour long commute on I-95 with billions of other cars moving slowly...hmmm...i'll take the first please (i'm glad i'm sticking to my no commute rule, although breaking many others...back to the point! but as soon as i get home, and get back to work on the duct tape stuff (or run errands or cook dinner), the sun rises again and the whole city becomes brilliantly lit and happy and sunny and it makes me feel like my day is just starting! it's brilliant.

...now if i just didn't have to come home to work more.
oh wait, why am i blogging, and not working?

hmmm....back to work

15.5.05

there are so many things to say, and i almost feel calm enough to sit here and get them all down. it's absolutely amazing how life can go from semi-calm and almost-boring (me, boring? never!) to slightly out of control and full of work (although still slightly boring). it just started to pour rain outside, and it's sending a welcome breeze through the windows. i love the sound of a hard rain, and the smell of wet outdoors, and how it can all start so quickly. there is no lack of this in portland either.

this is undoubtedly what always happens. vanessa decides she's like a 'real person job' and the benefits of a regular paycheck...or else some fantastic opportunity comes along. this usually happens when the vanessa jean * duct tape load is lighter than usual. this indeed happened, about 2 months ago. i've been working for a fantastic project in the great city of portland...the eastside hub project, and i have the grand pleasure of delivering biking (bicking), walking and transit information to the kind residents of se portland...by bike...with a trailer. for a goofy pic and of dork-face #1, read the most recent newsletter. anyhow, it's a really fun way to work 4 days a week...and get around portland and meet people and be super active...and as soon as this fantastic work started (and i got to come home and feel the brilliant exhaustion of 20+ miles of hill climbing with a trailer) vanessa jean work started to multipy and multiply and on and on. a nice article was published in the atlanta journal-constitution (which is archived and you have to pay to see online, i haven't read it yet) and brought in lots of nice southern orders...adn business just started taking off again...in the way it does sometimes...and then the kicker...i got a call from the indy racing league requesting wallets to include in the gift baskets for special attendees to the big race. what a very exciting phone call to receive! although not the largest order vanessa jean has received, it's a lot of pieces in a short time...and it's been keeping the team busy! but it's very exciting, and almost done, and then real life can commence. just kidding!

and so many other things have been going on too. i've been gardening (not with too much success, so cross your fingers for the tomatoes and newly planted starts). s got in a not-too-friendly bike wreck. someone hit my parked automobile. i started reading again.

it's hard to believe that a year ago i was leaving my job at anthropologie to spend every waking minute (and there were lots of them) planning for the big bike the vote trip (doc. trailer now available online), and enjoying the onset of summer. these photos and this person seem long ago and so very young. i had no idea what was in store for me. i had no idea how much i would see and go through and learn and how i would grow in the next year. moreover, i could never have imagined know how much it would influence what i wanted to do next...

(apparently i like elipses)...

so i ended up in portland and i am perpetually inspired by the great stuff that happens here...sustainability, transportation options, being on the edge of the up and coming on how to make the world a better place (in the green sense, sort of). i'm SO eloquent today. anyhow there is just so much inspirational stuff going and i'm so excited to get business in order so i can start working on the millions of neat projectst that i want to be involved with.

so that's my story. things feel a bit out of control because there is so much work to do. and so much exciting stuff to look forward to...like continuing to look for work (outside of duct tape) that has to do with transportation, landscape, sustainability or the likes. and continuing to figure out what to do next.

cheers.

10.5.05

dear diary,
i would like one normal day. just one day without some sort of major or minor disaster. please?
ok, great!
love,
vanessa

p.s. can i get a good night's sleep too?

5.5.05

a few thoughts!
cilantro and tomato homemade pizza...yum!
gazillions of duct tape orders (thanks to an article in the atlanta constitution)
cat-in-heat outside my window (flirting with the cat in the house next door).
20+ miles a day by bike
happy birthday liz!
succulent plants are amazing!

-then end