Summer of 2003 - San Diego California

This item on my 26 before 26 list was difficult for me. I technically only completed half of it, but I’m still crossing off #4: Read and return all borrowed books.

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For the past year, I’ve discovered my inability to read books. Don’t get me wrong, I love reading. I used to read a book a week and couldn’t get enough. Lately though, with work, family, and house, I just can’t seem to focus long enough to get through a decent number of pages. I read a chapter, but can’t remember most of it. My mind is a wanderer. So as I work towards getting my reading groove back, I decided to return any borrowed books from friends and family anyway.

I was surprised to feel a weight lifted. The pile of borrowed books on my to-do list was always in the back of my mind and it was a relief to clear them from my space. I’ve resolved to first read any books I own that I have yet to enjoy and, in the future, to only borrow one book at a time.

I’ve been examining my 26 before 26 list, trying to determine which items I will complete before my birthday on Tuesday. It was then I realized life had already helped me out with one of them. Joyfully, I am crossing off #12: Reconnect with an old friend.

I was introduced to Kate Farrar by a mutual friend in high school. Although we didn’t attend the same school, we saw each other all the time. We shared a love for pop-punk and could easily be found at the same shows or hanging out at the 92nd St. Starbucks/Chipotle. We worked at the same retirement home and she even permanently borrowed a pair of my Converse (even though she doesn’t remember).

I hadn’t talked to or seen her since high school, until earlier this year I discovered we had mutual friends in common still. She came to work at meltmedia and I’m so glad she did. We quickly and easily became friends again, and we discovered our mutual loves for HTML, Star Wars, and not wearing pants. Both of us searched through our old photos to find a picture of the two of us from high school. We each found pictures of the other from nights we know we were both in attendance. But sadly, none of the two of us surfaced. Here’s us now, coworkers and friends again.

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case.”

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As often as I can, I like to browse home decor magazines and blogs for inspiration and stress relief. I love to see what new home trends will pop up and how I can incorporate fun and interesting ideas into our little Chandler house. As blog commenters will no doubt tell you, many home trends become so ubiquitous, the sight of them annoys even the calmest of us all. However, these handful of overdone home trends, I just can’t get enough. Anytime I see them pop up on blogs or on the pages of my favorite magazines, I swoon. Sometimes you just have to do what you like, even if everyone else is doing the same thing.

Chalkboard walls: Yup, still love ’em. They incorporate both functionality and whimsy, reminding me always of the dusty smell of old school classrooms. None of that white board marker smell in here. They are especially beautiful in unexpected places and when the home owner has particularly good handwriting or drawing skills.

Wall decals: The perfect solution for renters or the commitment-phobe. I’ll be the first to admit I have an obsessive problem committing to home decor. I agonize over paint choices, furniture sizes, and the right depth of bookcase. Wall decals allow us to add some life to our space, without the scary permanence.

White ceramic animals: As a kid I collected animal figurines of all shapes and sizes. I adored dogs, wolves, and horses and had a full ceramic menagerie. Later I discovered that was, well, kind of lame. Enter the white ceramic animal trend. Now I can air my ceramic animal love out in the open, while appearing hip and contemporary. What a glorious day.

Keep Calm and Carry On prints: These are everywhere. But you know, it’s still as charming as the first time I saw it. Clear and concise with no extra fluff, it’s a message we should all keep in mind on a daily basis.

Brightly colored accent walls: Scared of choosing a non-neutral for you house? Simple solution: pick a bright color and pick a wall. It’s an easy way create focus in a room and bring that room to life. Change your mind later on? Luckily, you only have one wall to re-paint.

Faux taxidermy: I’m the first to freak out in a room of death (for all you Ace Ventura fans out there) and I cry at the thought of shooting an animal for a trophy. I do, however, love the trend of faux animal heads. Cardboard, paper-mâché, I don’t care. All I know is having a fake animal on your wall doesn’t bother me one bit.