Duets

I've been working on a new iTunes playlist for the last couple days.  "Duets".  Cheesy duets that is.  I sent out a Facebook status calling for ideas and got some great responses in return.  Some ideas I could find on iTunes, others I couldn't.  Some I wanted to include, some I didn't. 

Here is my playlist so far:
1. Mockingbird: Carly Simon & James Taylor (my parents listened to a lot of Carly Simon and James Taylor growing up, so this one was a no brainer, and one of my favorite duets)>
2. Islands in the Stream: Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers (Kenny before the face lift, original Kenny)
3. Don't Go Breaking My Heart: Elton John & KiKi Dee (this one would be a karaoke favorite if I did karaoke on a regular basis)
4. Whenever I Call You "Friend": Kenny Loggins & Stevie Nicks (introduced to me by a guy I went out with on a few dates in 2009 -- my sister called him "The Gentle Bird" because of his weak handshake and beak like face.  Poor guy.  Well, at least I got introduced to this song before I quit returning his text messages)
5. Endless Love: Lionel Richie & Diana Ross (I like to sing along with this one while I'm at the computer, hell, I like to sing along with all of them)
6. Easy Lover: Philipp Bailey and Phil Collins (a diamond in the rough of duets)
7. Cruisin': Huey Lewis & Gwyneth Paltrow (never saw the movie, but this song is great)
8. Dancing In The Street: David Bowie & Mick Jagger (I prefer glam rock Bowie, but I'll take it)
9. Ebony and Ivory: Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder (like the keys on a piano, these guys make great music)
10. The Girl Is Mine: Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney (this was made before MJ bought the Beatles collection, when they were still friends)
11. U Got the Look: Prince & Sheena Easton (I heart Prince, and this is no exception)
12. You Don't Bring Me Flowers: Neil Diamond & Barbra Streisand (I sang this one with Sean at a karaoke bar once and we got napkins thrown at us, bastards)

So, that is my playlist so far.  Anyone have any other duets they like? 

Here is a gratuitous Frank shot to complete my blog post:

He's adorable when he is sleeping.  We've gotten in to the habit of cuddling with eachother on the couch while watching television.  I put two pillows on top of eachother next to me and he'll come over and lay down on the pillows.  One of the silver linings on the cloud of him being sick is that he has been super lovey and affectionate, which is totally unlike him.  He's a "love on my own terms" kinda cat.  Last night when he was all drugged out on his chemo drug, he was staring off in to space and let me give him some serious belly rubs.  It was heaven.  For me anyway.

New photography skillz.......

I got my Canon Digital Rebel xTi back in November 2007, and have been wanting to learn how to shoot better photos, and learn how to use editing software since then.  Finally, 3 years later, I'm taking the steps to make that happen.  I had purchased a book written specifically about my camera over a year ago, and finally cracked it open a couple weeks ago.  I felt like I was back in school, taking notes and stuff.  I'm more of a learn by doing kind of person, so I had a hard time staying focused while reading the book.  Enter Kim.  It is pretty awesome when one of your closest friends is a professional photographer.  Have you ever checked out her website?  If not, drop what you are doing and immediately check it out, she is the bee's knees.
Today while Kim, Casey, and I were hanging out down in Ballard, Kim offered to give me a few pointers regarding shooting outdoors.  It was pretty cool seeing how the different camera settings make a big difference in how a shot looks.  Just tweaking the exposure can make so-so photo look so so so much better!  Kim also showed me how to use some of tools in Photoshop to help my photos look lighter and crisper.  I'm pretty stoked to put some of her pointers in to action!

Here are a couple shots from Golden Gardens this afternoon.  Love love love Seattle when the sun is shining!

I won't be quitting my day job any time soon, but I am looking forward to learning more techniques.  Big Picture Classes also offers an online workshop called Mastering Manual Mode -- that is an idea......      

One Little Word 2011 -- January

Here are a couple pictures of my One Little Word project so far.....

Title page: Heal

Welcoming my word into my life for 2011
This page is all about creating a series of small canvases that name, invite, claim, quote, and generally welcome my word into my life for 2011.

 
Quote canvas: The quote I chose doesn't contain the word "heal" but it definitely pertains to "healing" -- I think it is an awesome quote, powerful, and I'm looking forward to focusing on it in 2011...."Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it."  -- Helen Keller

"I chose this word because...." canvas:  It has been too long since I have felt well.  2010 was a hard year...both physically & emotionally.  I want to feel strong again - it is time to HEAL!

Thesaurus canvas: soothe, improve, harmonize, free, revive, make well, make sound, alleviate, improve, mend, make healthy, rebuild, fix, rejuvenate, compose, make whole, remedy

"With this word I invite....." canvas: strength, laughter, peace, satisfaction, contentment, change, opportunity, happiness

Definition canvas: To make healthy, whole or sound. Restore to health; free from ailment. To free from evil, cleanse; purify; to heal the soul

I included pictures of Milo and Frank, because they are part of my healing process.  To heal emotionally from the loss of Milo.  And to help Frank physically heal, or at least maintain his current level of health.

Speaking of Frank's health -- status update -- I'm so incredibly excited that Frank's current medication regimen is working.  He's gaining weight -- half a pound in 5 weeks!  Anyway, he is going to be on steroids for the forseeable future, and he's hating them so much.  I'm surprised he has let me give them to him for the last 4 months!  I placed one on my tongue the other day and it was awful, so bitter, I couldn't even brush the bitterness out of my mouth with toothpaste.  Poor guy has been dealing with that twice a day since September.  Anyway, my lovely friend Heather came over last week to show me some techniques for getting Frank to take the medication without having to hide it in food.  Although Heather made it look quite effortless, Frank would hide from me every time I brought the pill out.  Frustrating for sure!  $87 later I have a transdermal gel that I rub in to the skin of his ear twice a day.  My heart is swelling with joy at the awesomeness that is compounded medication!  When I talked to the pharmacist at Ballard Plaza Pharmacy on the phone a few days ago, I started crying with relief.  Relief from having to worry about trying to get Frank to ingest that bitter pill twice a day.  Now I'm simply giving him love while rubbing medication in to his skin.  So amazing and awesome.  Love it.  Much respect to compounding pharmacists :)

Ringing in the New Year!!

What a better way to end 2010 than celebrating with some of my best friends?!?  Jon and Ashley hosted their 2nd Annual New Year's Eve Party this year in their awesome new digs in the Queen Anne 'hood.  We did miss some special peeps due to that nasty cold that was/is going around.  Although it was a smaller group than last year, we didn't miss a beat!
 
The evening started with making drinks & catching up......your basic New Year's Eve socializing.  Jon and Ashley prepared some awesome pulled porked tacos -- delicious!  I started out the evening with what Lauer describes as a "poor man's margarita"...aka...tequila and Squirt.  Good start to the evening.  After that I enjoyed some of The Foil's prepared Cosmo's... loved these, but my head did not love them the next day :(  Check out the picture above....my drink matches my glasses.

The Saalborns and The Atwoods took off around 10ish.  The Yahtzee and Dance Party USA commenced shortly thereafter.  Interestingly enough, I have never played Yahtzee.  I managed to pick the game up fairly quickly, I mean, it's a game of throwing dice for shit's sake, it is pretty much entirely up to luck.  I guess there is a bit of strategy involved, but it isn't going to win anyone any money in Vegas.  Before Yahtzee, we managed to get some "family" photos.....

Jon & Ashley with Doolin & Marley (aka....The Kitties)

      

Nic & Heather

Jon & Nic with Doolin ( looking very heterosexual life partners in this shot)

Jon, me, & Nic (it would appear that I am really as short as I think I am)

Let the Yahtzee-ing commence!

The guys are really in to the Dickel lately.  I'm not sure if that is because of the name, or it is actually decent whisky.  Maybe both.    

Both Ashley and I managed to get a Yahtzee!  I was pretty stoked.  As you can tell by my photo......

After Yahtzee we watched a very anti-climactic countdown to 2011 on one of the major Seattle news stations.  Probably King 5.  Anyway, the Space Needle looked like it was on fire.

We didn't need fireworks to have a blast though!!  

The rest of the night was somewhat of a blur.......

Some "Ultra Snuggles" happened......

As did some High 5'in to some douche-bag-ness......

Some Rock 'n' Rollin'........

and some booty shakin'....... (courtesy of Pandora.....not sure what we were listening too, but think Bell Biv Devoe)

It was a super fun New Year's Eve!!!  One that will, for sure, go down as one of my favorites of all time!!!

Cheers to a fun, friend-filled 2011!!! 

this is going to be fun!!

My new computer arrived a few days ago and I finally got around to setting it up yesterday.  Super excited!!  My laptop had been running at speeds only known to cavemen and wagons with square wheels...when I turned it on it would take minutes to get revved up and ready to go.  I had great luck with my Dell laptop, with virtually no problems with it in the 5 years I had it, so I decided to go with a Dell desktop.  I've been wanting to learn how to use Photoshop for years, but have never invested in the program, until now..... My new computer came with Photoshop Elements.  I can already tell I'm going to have lots of fun playing around with my photos.  Here are just a couple I tweaked this afternoon.....

Love this one of Frankles.  He looks just as handsome in this Photoshop cartoony world as he does in real life.  There must be a photoshop book for dummies out there, I need to track some kind of tutorial down because I really have no idea what I'm doing.  I was just clicking on various stuff and this is what happened. 

Kim and I look great using this "poster" action.  Can't wait to actually figure out what I'm doing!   

Staying home from school.........

Remember those precious, unexpected days as a kid where your mom let you stay home from school when everyone else had to go?  Well, today is one of those days for me.  I'm home even though I was supposed to go in to work.  It is all because of this little gadget that I'm padding around the house today.........

I ordered this Clip It Up system from Scrapbook.com last week.  I received an email many days ago saying that it had shipped, so when it hadn't arrived yet yesterday I decided to do some research as to its shipping status.  I pulled out the tracking number and plugged it in to the UPS tracking website.  Low and behold, my Clip It Up thingy had been delivered to my house at noon on Tuesday.....WTF?  It was 10pm on Wednesday night, and I hadn't seen any sort of package on my front doorstep over the last few days.  When Milo was alive, I used to use my back door multiple times a day, but since he's left this world I rarely use the back door.  Plus, UPS has never once left a package on my back door step.  I decide to take a peak just in case.....sure enough, my package is resting on the back door step, all soaking wet from hanging outside for 2 days in PNW weather.  Awesome. 

So why am I home today again?  Well, I was so excited my package was at the back door that I stepped outside with my rubber soled slippers.  Rubber soled slippers + wet slick concrete steps = Jess falling down 6 steps at 10pm at night.  I'm pretty banged up, but *thankfully* I didn't hit my head or break any bones.  I have a nasty, swollen, bruise-brewing spot on my right lower leg, my left knee twisted in a weird way, and my left shoulder blade took some of the brunt of the fall.  Luckily I don't need crutches, but I'm hobbling around a fair bit.  There is an icing on the cake part of this story, but you'll have to ask me about it in person :)

After all this happened last night I iced both legs, took some ibuprofen, and hit the sack.  As they say, I was beat up from the feet up.  This morning I woke up and my twisted knee leg was stiffer than stiff, and the thought of limping around the pharmacy all day wasn't too appealing.....so here I am, at home, blogging.  And despite the physical pain, I'm happy to be at home, healing.  Because that is my one little word for 2011 folks.....Heal.  And I'm going to do just that. 

Isn't my little Clip It Up thing super cool though!?!   

One Little Word -- 2011

I'm hoping 2011 will bring many changes and new challenges for me.  This year I've decided to participate in an online workshop over at Big Picture Classes.  One of my favorite scrapbookers, Ali Edwards, is teaching the course "One Little Word", and I'm *really* excited about it.

When I signed up for the class, I didn't have any "words" in mind.  After a few days of pondering about 2010, and what I want to focus on in 2011, my one little word found me while I was listening to "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison.  Heal.  That is my one little word for 2011.  Not really sure why it found me during "My Sweet Lord", but it did. 

2010 was a challenging year for me, both physically and emotionally.  Being sick during the beginning of the year with my gall bladder issues, then working on recovering and finding a new balance without my gall bladder definitely has been a journey.  I have never felt older physically, unfortunately.  Most of my close friends know that I have also had some challenges with my thyroid over the past few years.  Finding a medication and dose that works for me has been difficult.  I have finally found something that makes me feel as close to "normal" as I have felt in years, I haven't felt this good since prior to my hypothyroid diagnosis in 2007.  It feels incredible actually.  *Insert fist pump here.*  Emotionally, the past few months have been hard, with Milo passing away, and Frank's health being less than awesome.  I'm ready to laugh and smile more.  I'm tired of the lump in my throat and the tears.  This is where my one little word for 2011 comes in...... Heal.  I'm ready for it.

Heal: 
Verb
1. to make healthy, whole, or sound; restore to health; free from ailment
2. to bring to an end or conclusion, as conflicts between people or groups usually with strong implication of restoring former amity; settle; reconcile
3. to free from evil; cleanse; purify: to heal the soul   

From thesaurus.com:
Heal:
Definition: cure, recover
Synonyms: alleviate, ameliorate, attend, bring around, compose, conciliate, convalesce, doctor, dress, fix, free, get well, harmonize, improve, knit, make healthy, make sound, make well, make whole, medicate, meliorate, mend, minister to, patch up, physic, put on feet again, reanimate, rebuild, reconcile, regenerate, rehabilitate, rejuvenate, remedy, renew, renovate, repair, restore, resuscitate, revive, revivify, salve, set, settle, soothe, treat

I'm sure I'll be posting about my workshop progress as the year unfolds.  For now, I'm going to brainstorm ways to incorporate Heal into 2011!