Not that Cleo’s any better. On a good day, she’s already in her default crotchety state, and I consider it a privilege if she allows me to be within two feet of her without being hissed at or scratched.

I willingly admit that I crawled around on all fours to get the following photos.

And that I may or may not have endured some physical injury getting this shot of Her Royal Crankiness (who is in dire need of claw trimming).

All in all, a good bounty for a day’s work. I’m inspired to focus on an oft forgotten member of our animal family. It’s someone I’ve yet to feature. Stay tuned!

Just two more weeks.

Only 14 more days and I’ll be putting these to good use.

I can make it.

Breathe.

I know I did you a great disservice when I scratched you up and let the damage linger for 10 months longer than it should have. Believe me, it was more because I knew I would miss you when you were gone for repairs than plain old laziness that kept me from taking action. OK fine, laziness did play a part. But, oh, how I missed you this past week! And now I’ve got you back! And you look just like the day I bought you.

Except.

Well, you see, I met someone new. And while you were my first foray into grown-up photos…well, you just can’t do stuff like this:

The colors! The pop! The use of an ISO higher than 400 that didn’t result in total chaos!

And try as I might, I could never get you to focus like this:

So I’m sorry. It’s me, not you (I swear)! This isn’t goodbye, it’s just “I’ll be back after I finish drooling over the new lenses I want to buy”.

xoxo,
Justina

I can’t believe I lived with that scratch for so long. Sort of makes me regret putting it off all this time…

And I’m sure you can tell by now that I have something else to be excited about. New toy!

No inaugural spin is complete without an obligatory Teddy shot.

And one of Dot, for good measure.

Super excited!

I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.
– Og Mandino

What is it about stars in the night sky that has captivated people the whole world around?

In Morocco, when we first reached the Atlas Mountains after hours of driving, the first thing that struck me was just how quiet everything was. The night sky was breathtaking, the dark was all-encompassing, and it was absolutely beautiful.

This was a night sky I had never seen before. In high school during the stressful college preparation days, I would lay across the bleachers of our football field after my nightly run and gaze at the sky. In college, right when TCSD had me in its clutches, I would venture out to Schenley Park at night and take in the Pittsburgh skyline to clear my head. But this Moroccan night was the first time I had I seen the stars so clearly, so many of them speckling the sky, showing me why they called it the Milky Way. Was this how Copernicus and Galileo felt when they gazed at the heavens?

To have that sort of peace accessible literally right in your backyard — that’s something that I dream of often these days. I think about it when I need a reminder that there is so much more out there, that this life and this universe are so much bigger than just me.

There’s an analogy in here somewhere. Something about aching for the stillness in the distance, but being distracted by the dizzying blur of the present foreground.

I ache.

I’m distracted.

At least for tonight.

“Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”
–Lao Tzu

We have to take risks. We can only truly understand the miracle of life when we let the unexpected manifest itself.
Every day – together with the sun – God gives us a moment in which it is possible to change everything that makes us unhappy. Every day we try to pretend that we don’t realize that moment, that it doesn’t exist, that today is just the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow. But if you pay attention, you can discover the magic instant.
It may be hiding at the moment when we put the key in the door in the morning, in the silence right after dinner, in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us. This moment exists – a moment when all the strength of the stars passes through us and lets us work miracles.
Happiness is at times a blessing – but usually it’s a conquest. The magic instant helps us to change, drives us forward to seek our dreams. We shall suffer and go through quite a few difficult moments and face many a disappointment – but this is all transitory and inevitable, and eventually we shall feel proud of the marks left behind by the obstacles. In the future we will be able to look back with pride and faith.
Poor are those who are afraid of running risks. Because maybe they are never disappointed, never disillusioned, never suffer like those who have a dream to pursue. But when they look back – for we always look back – they will hear their heart saying: “What did you do with the miracles that God sowed for your days? What did you do with the talent that your Master entrusted to you? You buried it deep in a grave because you were afraid to lose it. So this is your inheritance: the certainty that you have wasted your life.”
Poor are those who hear these words. For then they will believe in miracles, but the magic instants of life will have already passed.

–Paulo Coelho

It has been a hard week and a big hit on the happiness factor. I have to remind myself that it will be okay, that these setbacks mean nothing in the grand scheme of my life. The new year is as good an excuse as any to turn a new leaf and regain that happiness to find my footing again.

Happy Chinese New Year.

And Happy Valentine’s Day too.

Bajam!

I hope your “friend” reads this post and tells you about it.

The great thing about baking is that once you have the basic ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda/powder, eggs), you’re basically set to bake anything. And lo and behold, K and I had baked just the week before, so I had everything ready.

I’m one of those people who has no patience to wait for things to cool before tasting them. I also tend to forget that a metal object sitting in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes will burn my hand. LESSON LEARNED. Or not.

I’ll just have to bake more of these to find out.

Definitely going to have to bake more of these. Speaking of which, does anyone know how to bake jam-filled cupcakes without the jam sinking to the bottom of the batter? Besides just adding the jam after the cupcakes have been baked, of course.

Yep, this totally calls for more experimentation. Right after I scarf all of these down.

I haven’t been to the Guggenheim since a field trip in grade school. Sixth grade, if I recall correctly. I remember it being a particularly painful day because I had the attention span of, well, a sixth grader and the tour guide? She would. not. stop. talking. This time going back, I was hoping to be enlightened. But art…I just don’t get it.

Having a Crumbs cupcake afterwards totally made it worth it though.

And then there was the ramen.

Cupcakes and ramen. I think I’ve found a new S.A.D. cure.