M.Alynn // Old Soul Life

Right Now:

(photo source)

Doing: We got back from Mexico on Sunday (it was an awesome trip!), so I'm trying not to feel weird in a rainy city with an obvious tan (lol). I also started a summer Art History class I need to take to catch up a bit at school last night, so I'm learning about the theory behind expressionism & cubism (yay!) while attempting to unpack eventhe kitchen while going to work - bah! Also, obsessively starting the search for the perfect vintage couch.... :) Hopefully it's velvet. And gold. Or green. Which has been crazy hard to find so far in this city.

Reading: It's come to my attention that I finally have to read Nietzsche. But in the meantime,
I just finished reading "Wild" (about Cheryl Strayed's hike on the PCT trail) - inspiring!

Craving: I've been on a banana/green milkshake kick - but our blender is still packed up, so I'm massively craving, now! Also, I'm craving some gardening. Instead of just jumping into it this year, I'm determined to do my proper research about the amount of sun & soil certain plants might like before planting them so I get more than one pea pod this year. lol...

Watching: I watched "Girls" (the entire season) right before we moved, and I'm crazy in love. Lena's my hero. I wish the season was 3 times longer than it was! I might just watch it again. Also, need to watch Portlandia real bad. And that "Pines" movie!!

What have you been up to?
Watching/reading/Listening to anything great, lately? Please share!

It's a long weekend coming up, here, and I'm psyched to get a lot of the house unpacked (or at least piled by area, in said area) so we can start making her pretty - it's currently at the wow-there's-so-many-boxes-we-can't-move stage, right now in here!

We found the one!

Isn't she lovely? 
We closed & got our keys to our new apartment on Wednesday - eeek! :) So excited!

(That's one of the realtor's photos of the kitchen - all staged furniture).

We found her about a month ago and waited and waited and waited and then all the paperworks finally went through and she's ours! You might be thinking right now - "but, Michelle - that looks pretty modern. Pretty far from a '60's house", and you would be right, my friends.

We tried sooo hard (I'm stubborn, for reals) to look for something older (beautiful yellow tiles, '70's brick fireplaces, avocado stoves and all!) and we saw a few lovelies, but they were always facing the un-sunny direction or were missing something. And, seriously, this city is strange in that everybody reno's things immediatley, so old is hard to come by - and if you do find old, it needs a ton of work but is priced the same as the new. What?! Yeah. So we decided reno's were cool as long as they were light and something we liked (I'm not a fan of most reno's, cuz they're usually so dark! blah) - and then we walked into this apartment!

After seeing about 30 places - a lot of not-great ones - it was just right. Nice, a one bedroom that's a bit bigger than what we have ever had (650 square feet is a lot, here!). Super-clean with newish reno's, everything in good shape, gorgeous floors & big sunny, south-facing windows & patio.

We're both over-the-moon!

We're moving in tomorrow, and so are buried in boxes right now - he he. Then we're off to Mexico for a week for friends wedding. Then we get to unpack! I'm so excited to make it a home with the mister and get back into a I-have-sunny-windows-now-I-can-take-lotsa-pictures mode! :)

Nostalgia: My cat, Shadow.

"Nostalgia" is a sometimes-feature where I'll be sharing photos & memories from my past: mostly because there's usually at least some  funny '80's patterns in said photos.

I had a cat growing up! His name was Shadow.
(he was black - original, right?)

(me: circa early '90's - 8 years old? - with my cat & favorite blankies)

I came across these pictures as I was going through piles of old ones the other day and I loved this one. My mom's a great photographer! I'm lucky to have lovely pictures from my growing-up years. I love the light & the grain of the film. But most of all - I love my cat!

I remember many an afternoon spent just me & my cat, hangin out. He was a napper, and he always used to sleep with me on the couch. He also had this really funny habit of breaking into my window when he stayed out late at night: he knew where my room was on the second floor of our house, and sometimes he missed his curfew, so he'd sneak up to my window and push the screen on my window in at a later hour - it would fall on my head & wake me up! The bugger.

It's been many many years since I've lived with a pet - and, having grown up with two cats & a dog in the house, it's starting to get to me! I miss it. We're definitely not ready for the responsibility of a dog/cat/pet with our crazy school/work hours and the amount of travelling we do - but I can't wait until we can finally get one! I always joke that I'll need 5 by then. We've thought about getting a cat, but for now we have a few regular neighbourhood pets that stop by so we can pet them from time to time - it's super-cute. :) It holds me over.

Did you have any pets growing up?

It's Going Around...

But this is totally heartbreaking and something every woman should definitely see:

Film Blunder: One Good Thing

I forgot to mention that from that last roll of film, there were a few happy surprises:

That is, the colors made when film & sunlight collide! 

I mean, obviously they didn't 100% collide, or these would've turned out completely black. But aren't they gorgeous, all light-leaked?! (I dont even know if that's the correct term...). Anyhoo - I rather like these super-bright burnt frames. The colors, oh my! Pretty gorgeous...

A Gulf Island Film Blunder.

I have a lot of trip/vacation photos that I want to post, here - we're talking I haven't even posted any of our big European trip last May - eek! And while the OCD side of me wants to post things in order, there's no waaaaay that's going to happen. Or be fun.

So I'm going to start here, with a roll of film that turned out to be a major bummer.

Last summer, we were planning on camping a ton. Flipping off of a motorcycle kind of grounds you to the couch for a few months, though, so we ended up not going anywhere while I recooperated - but we did get one last trip in at the end of the summer with another couple to my most favorite gulf island: Mayne. And it was the best!

I carried my Diana Mini around with us everywhere we went - took pictures kayaking, hiking, playing guitar atop a mountain, all that good stuff...and then after a few days there I heard that sickening crunch crunch of the sprockets popping the film apart in the camera and the film not advancing. Nooooo. It wasn't very happy - I had to try to save what I could - though, judging from the few photos that did work out, I was getting too crazy with the whole double-exposure thing, anyway...lol. The sunny weather was perfect for this camera!

Needless to say, I was a bit heart broken that this is all I got of that weekend on film.

But that's film for you, right?
At least I have these few bits of abstract, super-double-exposed shots to remember it by. :)

An Intangible Done.

I'm done class for the year! It's kind of euphoric.

(I took this with the lens off my camera & a weird light balance - Olympus E-520)

Much like this photo - I kind of feel like I'm emerging into the light from a string of very long nights, too much coffee, and a diet consisting mostly of muffins and take-out sushi. lol.

For reals, though - I was outside today, and it was disorienting to see so many people around - like I hadn't been outside at a normal hour doing just nothing for some time...

 Til next year, that is. I keep forgetting there's still two more.

There's lots going around here, and I have so much to say! But I'm in no hurry. For now, I'm enjoying sleeping in til ungodly hours & eating popcorn for a 'Girls' (half) marathon. Among other things. Other things which i really want to spill the beans about. Soon, soon.

This Vintage: Needlepoint Flora

I have a collection of these things:

 You know - those random 4 x 4 inch needlepoint squares, that aren't framed and usually come in piles of 5-10? Yeah, I can't not get those when I see them in all their bright-yarned glory. lol. I have enough to say it's a small colection, now (and I'm not ashamed to say it!). I need to pin or frame them all up together when we move finally, I think! By my desk, maybe?

They always make me wonder: if none of them are framed - what the heck were they for?! Did everybody just lose interest before they got  to that point? Are they too small to frame in the first place? Do small square frames for these exist? So many questions...

I miss you, making.

Remember when I used to make crafts? (sigh).

That was fun.

I miss them days, right now.

I feel like it's been about 2 years since I made a craft - lol. Kay, That's actually not true, since I've knit and crocheted and even stitched some paper and some small things for school projects...but for reals. It's been way too long since I've made something. I'm dying to!

What's the first thing I should make?

It's definitely not legwarmer season, but I've been wanting to make some. lol. Should I finish the quilt I started making ages ago? The granny square blanket (aka, the torture that is left to do: tying in strings)? Embroider something new?

It's still a while down the road before I can, but a girl can dream, right? :)

A View of Little.

(Shot with: Olymous E-520 DSLR + Vivitar Macro Converter)

Just another little peek at a series of mini's I shot for a school project.

I've been learning how to use the DSLR camera I've had for years in manual mode - finally - and it's starting to feel like an entirely different camera! Yay! I still have lots I'm stumbling on, but I'm taking a Digital Photo class at school so I'm also - at the same time - scrambling to finish up a 60-80 photo book of my own liking right now, which means I've been having fun shooting miniatures...(as above). It's been pretty fun to set up little toy raccoons in the moss on the sunny days, I have to say... :) lol.

It's so encouraging to not adjust anything in post/Photoshop, too!

Not to mention the coolness of the new Vivitar Macro Converter I got for my birthday (a little attachment for my normal lens that makes it act more like a macro lens) - it helps with that makes-the-world-look-real-big effect! (Thanks, mum!) Macro is my favorite!