Pictures are worth a thousand words.....

So I just discovered Pinwords!  And for the next week my life will be as productive as that first week I discovered Words with Friends……not productive at all.

At first I couldn’t think of any captions for any of my pics and then out of nowhere they started flowing.  Luckily I have some great models for inspiration…like this cutie….

And my parent’s dog, Ladybug….

And my little cousin…I came up with a million captions for this picture, but here are three of my favs.

 

And here are my great-grandparents….

 

Here is the Hubs in San Francisco...

 

And here he is again...please don't hate me husband...

 

Oh gosh I am gonna pay for that one!!  Tee hee.  I have a lot more but I will spare you...for now.

I leave you with a picture of myself and one of my own quotes.....I explained this one here.

 

Can you think of any other captions for any of these pics?

Be blurry and prosper,

tbg

65 Books You Need to Read in Your 20's (or whenever)

Those of you who know me well know that I love to read.  I usually read about a book a week, sometimes more. 

I love finding lists of suggested reading and then reading the entire list.  I love books.  I love to read. I love lists.  I love crossing things of lists.  Lists of books are a no brainer for me.

Recently I came across this list on Pinterest.....

 

I have read a few of these but I found the list to be intriguing.  So, although I am no longer in my 20’s (just barely), I decided to jump right in and read all the books I should have apparently read before last March. Here’s to hoping these books still apply to my 30 year OLD ass.

I am not going in any particular order.  Basically I am starting with the ones I find the most quickly and for the least amount of money on my Kindle.  Over the weekend I read, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. 

All I can say is wow.

Wow Wao.

The book begins with a story about a young boy and his growing pains with his body and girls.  It deceptively lulls the reader into thinking that what you are about to read is a heartwarming and humorous tale of a boy coming into his own while suffering some heartbreak and few embarrassments along the way.   And you do read that…..just with more emphasis on the heartbreak than on the heartwarm.

This book unfolds an entire familial history spanning decades. I was introduced to cultures that I knew nothing about and really didn’t even know existed other than seeing the chunks of land that these cultures occupy while glancing at maps.  

Much of the book is set in the Dominican Republic during times of political turmoil.  At risk of sounding very self-righteously American, on top of being very informative, this book also really made me think about the everyday freedoms we have without ever realizing they are freedoms. 

There a a lot of heart wrenching moments but the lessons you take away and the little bit of humor you do squeeze out of the words is worth it.  The narrator, speaking in broken English, slang and sometimes Spanish, really has a unique voice that I suspect is very real and without pretense.  But I really wouldn’t know considering the lack of knowledge I have on the culture. But it feels sincere and that is more than half the battle I would assume.

This book embodies an idea, or belief, that I have held for a long time.  I believe that our ancestors and family’s course influences us in ways that we could never imagine.  The past, although doesn’t necessarily have to shape who we are, it most certainly influences who we become.  And I believe this is true of family members and occurrences that may be hundreds of years removed and that we know nothing about.  I believe things come full circle without our ever knowing it.  And my idea of Heaven (like actual Heaven, not just my idea of a heavenly day or something) is one day meeting those ancestors and knowing and understanding  those occurrences so that we may better understand why we were the way we were and why we felt the way we did about things.  Your own personal meaning of self.

This book embodies these ideas in its own way…..and through a curse.  Which is cool.

Which of these books have you already read?  Plan to read?  Which books are on your list?

A little too existential for a Monday,

tbg

Be Blurry

“the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”

This is what it feels like to live in my brain.  It is a six foot, three inch walk-up condo to a constant explosion of synapsis trying to take in the whole world at once.  SO many things to love, enjoy and document.  I have a serious problem with wanting to compartmentalize everything in my way undersized brain. 

“Oh see how this line from this book sums the whole world up?” or “ That line, delivered just so, in that movie, by that actress, set to that music (in that outfit)explains my love for film and what it can teach us, in one breath” and “To just stand in a line outside an estate sale, talking and taking in everyone’s stories better shows the amazingness that are people and life than almost anything I have encountered”. 

There are a million instances of "ah-ha moments" and epiphanies and shining examples of humanity that I could share but I can’t remember them all!  I think that is the main reason I wanted to start “blogging”.  I want to document the things I learn and the people I meet (and the furniture I buy J).  I wish I could write with the excitement, fury and madness of one Mr. Jack Kerouac.  But I can’t.  So I will continue to just try to live that way.  (Within reason of course, I am way too nerdy and responsible to be too mad, mad, mad or burn, burn, burn too much.)  

It is the most difficult thing on earth to do, but do try and suck every moment out of life.  I am no expert at it but I try my damnedest.  The way I best keep up with my own advice is that I try to make as many moments, as I can, an event.  Because, truly, every moment is an event.  It is the only one of those moments you will ever have and that seems pretty darn eventful to me.

Obviously there are big events in everyone’s life that don’t need any pumping up.  But what those smaller moments in between? Those moments that life is really made up of???  Those are the moments where you sometimes have to work to make them count.  Put in a little more effort to get the most out of them, to make them last. 

I realize those of you with a more laid back attitude probably find me exhausting and ridiculous.  I get it.  But just try it a little.  What is one more thing you can bring to the table to make it a little more memorable for everyone else?  

I personally like to go balls to the wall.

 

And I like to hang out with chicks that do the same.....

 

Be fabulous. Be blurry. Be so alive that it is hard to capture you in focus. (sorry for all the blurry pics, that is just my soul rejoicing!)

Now I will leave you with one more grain of advice before I climb off my soapbox, because let’s face it, I am tall enough without it…..

Ladies…..if you get the chance….do the robot in your wedding dress.  You will never regret it and you will never forget it.

Trust me.

 

blury is as blury does,

tbg