I Had a Farm in Africa

She's At It Again

I've got a fever and the only prescription is more iVideo slideshows.

I noticed that my friend Molly (wassssup!) recently posted a link to this very blog and it made me think two things in particular: 1) Awesome! People read my blog, and 2) Crap! People read my blog. I felt an immediate sense of pressure that I needed to post something cool, but then almost just as immediately realized that I'm really not that cool, and ran into a bit of a roadblock after that.

I have been doing some cool stuff as of late but have neglected to put any photo evidence of it online. A post will follow soon documenting my business trip (yes, I documented it), and my trip up north to San Francisco to visit both your friend and mine, Miss Jamie Everson.

I have been obsessively listening to a new song on repeat, much to the chagrin of those sitting near my cubicle I'm sure, and whenever I really love a song, it seems that an iVideo creation follows rapidly. I'm not one to break with tradition, so here you have it. This song makes me happy; it makes me think of dancing, flowers, family, travels, sunshine, good books, food, and friends. So naturally, all of the above are included in some way or another. It gets a little dizzying at times but you win some you lose some.

Life is good, ladies and gentleman, and Elvis can prove it.

All sorts of warm regards,

Cami

If You've Got Four Minutes to Kill

Lisa Mitchell - Coin Laundry

One of my Resolutions for the New Year is to use what I already have. My over-consumption over the past few months is a little ridiculous, and I've decided to put a more-than-worthy effort towards dejunking my trunk. I went through my closet the other day, sold some clothes, donated some clothes, and reduced the clutter on my desk.

Speaking of things I already have, iVideo. I began a love affair with this program earlier this summer when I decided that I needed to document Eden and Charlie's life through my measly iPhone lens. I'm going to utilize this program more and more in the future, since naturally I'll be involved in all sorts of things that deserve to be preserved and bettered through sepia tones and sped-up video.

I started working on a new video last night simply because I'm also having a love affair with a new song. (Yes, I'm 'affair-ing' with many these days...)

I'm not going to reveal the song quite yet. But I will reveal another song that makes the rainy-day bluesfloat happily, and speedily, away.

A Tale of Two Cami's

I’m feeling a little Dickens today; it really is the best of times and was the worst of times not too long ago. Today I am grateful for the opportunity to turn over a new leaf. Today I am grateful for my window at work, and remembering something my mom once told me about finding happiness in the little things. I am grateful for the blue sky and the promise of tomorrow. Who knows how many tomorrows I’ve got, but I’m going to assume I’ve got thousands. Thousands of opportunities to make every day a really good day.

Someone told me once that I have no idea how happy I’m

going to be. I think I’ve taken that as a challenge, so that every night when my head hits the pillow, I can wonder to myself if I made it that day.

I found the Dana Point newspaper online today (not that it was hard…) and was reminded why I want to be a freelance columnist so badly. I have never had political aspirations per se, but there is something really cool to me about being a fixture in the community. I want to be active, involved, and ultimately remembered in my city. For now, that city is Dana Point- a quaint and charming beach town known as the Lantern Village. I plan on making

decisions based on the community events calendar, visiting all the little shops and markets, and really planting some roots. Just another step in building my life! I want an outlet other than my legal pad scribbling and a weekly column seems like just the thing.

In other news, the holidays have arrived! This is my first Christmas season away from the crisp cold and snowy streets of Utah and while I definitely miss that, I am really into the LED-wrapped palm trees at the Ritz. I’m also really into the pen I’m writing with right now. I’m really into Spanish terra cotta pavers and designing a home with them all over the place. Design blogs are my weakness, and I’m on the lookout for estate sales that I can find a cowhide rug at. I’m into committing to a trip to Peru because I want to go and I can go. And I’m really into good home décor. I like reading magazines and pretending I’m going to make the recipes I read and buy the outfits I see. I like making dinner plans and taking trips to LA to see the symphony and latest art installations. It’s as if I all of the sudden grew up. I have to admit that the feeling of having the world at your fingertips yet still feeling like you’re in control is one of the best things I’ve experienced lately. I’ve got a burning feeling in my chest and I feel excited about everything. It feels so good to be at this point and in this place and I am truly lucky that everything worked out the way it has. It is an almost overwhelming feeling, like I’ve got to do something with it or I’ll burst. But I welcome the nerves, and I welcome the unknown because it all means that I’m going to go somewhere and do something. I’m on my way to somewhere else, and I’m willing to bet that that somewhere else is going to be astonishing.

A Photo A Day Keeps the Doctor Away

I'll give credit where credit is due. (As if anyone reading this really thought I was responsible for this photo...) Mr. Sartorialist changed pace and provided me with this gem of a photo the other day. It's hard to pinpoint what I like most about it--most likely because I've got no knack whatsoever for photo composition, technique, blah, blah.

One thing I like about it is the fact that the subject seems to be an underground Chinese food restaurant. I'm never one to turn down some good Chow Mein. Never.

Secondly, I love the fire escapes. While I have long-since said that my place is on the porch of a rambling ranch house, I think I could do weekends in a high-rise full of these quick exits. Industrialism has never really been my thing but I love the hardware in this shot.

Another thought I had while looking at this picture was how interesting it is that I will never see this photo in color. I will never know what color the neon lights of the Chow Mein sign are, and I will never know just what hue the building is either. I won't know if the fire escapes are a freshly painted black or if they've been overtaken by rust. But to be completely honest, I am glad of it.

The people that meet us today, or the people that will meet us tomorrow--they will never know whether or not we are better in color or black and white. I wandered around the mall the other day without a stitch of make-up on, was feeling more than woozy, and figured that I looked about as good as I felt (miserable). Every time I glanced in a mirror I was a little astonished that I didn't mind leaving the house in that fashion but had to laugh because I knew I was going to do it again. And again. And probably again. But here's the thing: no one I encountered that day knew if that was the best or worst version of me, the black and white, sepia, or Pantone color version of me. The thought of flying so incognito is pretty cool.

I digress.

Back to the photo. The last thing that I like most about this photo is the fact that it makes me want to be there. And not just in whatever metropolitan side street offering a popular noodle dish that is featured in the picture. It makes me want to be involved in my surroundings, to see things one time and decide that that is the only version I will ever know, to catch the significance in an illuminated neon sign, perhaps all while eating Chinese takeout.

Love of Beauty is Taste, Creation of Beauty is Art.

"A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us. " - Ralph Waldo Emerson

While I realize that Emerson might have been referring to minds that are well-developed, minds that are schooled in thought and mature, encountering the minds of my niece and nephew startles me on a daily basis. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: Eden and Charlie.