On the upside: Today is Kevin and I's 2 year anniversary since we met. Happy Anniversary sweety.

On the downside: On the on-ramp waiting for a break in traffic to merge onto the Oregon expressway another guy came down the on-ramp behind me in his SUV too fast and straight into my trunk. Thats right folks the SUV's bumper which is higher than mine went right over my bumper and crunched my trunk right up; detached the back of my car from the bumper. *sighs* No one was hurt other than being a bit shook up, maybe some whiplash, but I think it will be okay.

How did his SUV fare you ask? yeah, a couple scratches and a little paint from my car.

*grumble grumble grumble*

look at that, my trunk is being detached from my bumper *sighs*

Every year PNC bank has a little fun and does a little price shopping for the amusement (and possibly the horror) of the rest of us. That's right folks, I give you the PNC Bank Twelve Days Of Christmas Annual Price Index.

Even if you don't have time to read the article (which is quite interesting), at least scroll down to the bottom and check out the chart.

Personally, I think we already have the pear tree (or something close), so I can just pick up a partridge for fifteen bucks and I'm set there! I might spook the neighbors though.

Thank you to Groovy Mother for another great link!

Overshadowed.com, a NYC photoblog that I follow had done something new and different and I just have to share!!

Its a 1min 30sec slideshow or movie of all the photography he has done this month. It's amazing, you've got to check it out.

Anything you want to tell me feel free!!

Anything you want to tell me feel free!!

It really has been... All in one day:

1. Nym caught a mouse... and prolly lost it.

2. Nym had a cat fight. Nym's backyard was invaded by another cat... there was much screeching.

3. Nym got stuck in a tree (Post cat fight trauma)

Nym has surprised me... I was sitting here doing some work when i heard a kind of screech outside. I ran outside to check and see what was going on and there I find miss Nym under the Japanese maple tree sitting there with a terrified mouse in front of her.

Now first I have to say that I didn't expect Nym would know what to do if she found a mouse. She tries to attack bugs and then doesn't know what to do... she puts a paw on it, and then picks it up and looks at it and then tries again, I'm not sure what she thinks should happen next but she eventually gets bored and walks away.

So now that she does seem to know what to do with a mouse I have a dilemma, do I let her go with her kitty instinct, or do I try and save the mouse. I make a feeble attempt to call her away and the mouse uses this to make a run for it... Nym goes after the mouse, picks him up in his mouth and carries him back. After a bit I decide to let nature run its course and as the bad mother I am I go to get the camera.

When I came back outside, she was lounging under the tree looking very proud of herself. I could not find the mouse. I don't know if that means that she should killed it and hid it, or more likely the mouse made a successful escape under the fence.

No mousey picture for the blog... oh well. Go Nym!!

I'm so very proud of myself... not only did I go to my Kickboxing class today, and feel like I was doing better in the class, but I also did an additional half hour on the rowing machine after class!! Yeah me! I still need to tell you all about the trip I'm getting in shape for... that will come this week.

On the flip side of body work, my stomach has continued to have issues. They have been minimal since the lovely weekend I had, but prior to that and a little bit since I have had continued issues. I called my doctor last week and she wants me to have a endoscopy next week. So next Tuesday they will be sticking a little camera tube down my throat to look at my stomach. I go for a consultation tomorrow. It shouldn't be too bad I hope. Kevin wants to video my insides and blog them. I just want to feel better. We shall see how it all turns out.

I got back late Tuesday night from spending a week in Florida helping out Rex. It was really good to be able to spend time with him again, in the 8 years of our friendship we are so rarely end up in the same state.

I'm glad to be home. I missed Kevin! I have missed my bed a lot this summer. I've missed my sanity at times. :)

The last few months (well the last year really) have thrown a few curve balls at Kevin and I. Not just at us, at a lot of people. I've decided that its done. Nothing else bad is allowed to happen for a while. I HAVE SPOKEN AND SO IT SHALL BE!! Or at least we are going to try for it.

It will take me a little while to rebuild my psyche, get my head and emotions back online. Kevin has been amazing, I can only hope I helped him as much.

Today Kevin and I went for a bike ride and I went to the gym for my yoga class. I'm feeling better already. My body is waking up again and it feels good. Tomorrow morning I'm treating myself to a deep tissue massage. I Cant Wait!! Then to top it off we are going to get away for the labor day weekend. I really looking forward to getting away to relax. Ali and Mark are joining Kevin and I for a weekend in Carmel. Rest and relaxation, good friends, good food, and a pretty environment. Just what the doctor ordered!

Anything you want to tell me feel free!!

I was going to write a post today about how tender my tush is after yesterdays deep tissue massage. (I swear its day two and I can't move without feeling it. Good masseur). But you have all been spared, mostly, because of an email I received this morning.

I have been taking photography classes online from Betterphoto.com for several months now. This site was recommended to me by local freelance photographers and employs renowned photographers from around the world. Last semester I took a class on Mastering Exposure with Bryan F. Peterson. The class was great and I really learned a lot. During the class I photographed "Painted" and posted it as a piece in one of my homework assignments. At Bryan's encouraging I submitted this photograph in the contest that Better Photo has monthly.

14249 entries in the contest and I'm really proud to say that I am one of the 305 finalists!!!!!

So I made the first cut. Over the next few days the judges will be choosing the winners. I'm excited!! Wish me luck, I'll let you know how I do.

Anything you want to tell me feel free!!

While in LA I got a chance to do a little bit of photography and I have a couple things to post about it.

First off kids are cool. While photographing a flower in front of Kevin's Grandma Kitty's house two girls on bikes stopped to talk to me. They wanted to know why I was photographing the flower. One girl asked "Are you taking pictures so you can find out more about it?"

What could I answer? It was a valid question. With all the photography I do, especially of flowers, you would think I would know something about them. Or at least their names. However I am woefully uninformed in this area. Photography takes up a huge amount of my time, I rarely have time for research. I think sometime in the future I should have a contest of some sort, get other people to tell me things about the flowers and such in my pictures. What do you think?

Second, bugs are not so cool. Well actually they are, they are incredible to look at and can be quite beautiful. In photographing flowers I find that I also photograph bugs quite often. Ants, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, etc.

The bug that bugs me though is the spider. I'm fascinated by them, they are beautiful and at the same time I find them creepy. Now I'm not as bad as Ron Wesley (Harry Potter), and have no dreams about spiders wearing roller skates, but something about all of those legs gives me the heebie geebies.

I'm fine just looking at them if I'm not too near them. The only animals that seems to spook me on sight are snakes. But to photograph a spider with the marco lens I have to get pretty close. The closer I get the more I start to feel things crawling on my arms and legs or any exposed skin.

That and sometimes I will place the camera close to the web and then look into it to focus second. I do this so I don't accidently hit the web with my lens. By doing things this way the magnified size of the spider suddenly jumps out at you as you focus. There is glass between me and the spider but its still startling. Even looking at the pictures afterwards I can sometimes get the chills.

No one was awake Tuesday morning (at about 6am) when I was having my heebie jeebies and I figured Kevin wouldn't appreciate being woken up to guard me against spiders. So I pulled layers of clothing over my PJs and found Kevin's shoes that covered my feet completely. It was my spider armor. I was still spooked but I didn't have the crawly itchy feeling quite so often. Its that whole silly "the covers will protect me from the things in the dark" phenomenon.

Yeah, I know I'm silly... but really, who needs all those legs?

Sorry about the lack of posting. If you read Kevin's blog you will now know that we have been in LA spending time with his grandmother in the Hospital. She has been through quite a lot but is slowly getting better.

We aren't out of the woods yet, but things are looking up. We are keeping our fingers crossed and going back down there Sunday morning for a couple more days.

So I'm planning to open some real content on my new business website today. I was showing a few pages to my sister and they were loading rather slow. It could be just her internet service or the day or something but I want to find out.

So I need a favor from my readers; flip through the pages of my site (currently content-less) and let me know if they are loading slow. THANKS!!

http://phoenixfeather.net

Anything you want to tell me feel free!!

"It's Alive, It's Alive It's Alive" - one girl shouted as she yanked her hands from a bucket of mud that she and her classmate had been inspecting.

School discovery station "What Lives In The Mud" was set up along one of the paths in the Shoreline park. We discovered the group on a morning bike ride, and on our way back were amused by our child Mary Shelley inspiration.

Other discoveries on our bike ride (besides a few muscles) include a jack rabbit, dragon flies that keep pace between the bikes, old men speaking a slavic language which reminded my of my Great Grandpa Judwick, birds and muskrats/squirrel (thats still under debate), and that the circulation in my right hand is bad and caused numbness half way through the ride.

Bike rides are lots of fun!!

Happy Birthday Ammy!!!

She can't see this at the moment because she is gone on a road trip. Having a great time I'm hoping and scattering a few Random Pixel cameras as she goes.

And while Ammy and Rick are away Nym and I will play. Kevin is being wonderful and is giving living with my cat a try while Ammy is away. He isn't on any medications yet, but we have over-the-counter Claritin on hand just in case.

Having Nym in the house during the day is really nice. The house doesn't feel as lonely. I should be here a lot this week since I'm really working hard on getting the photography business website up in the next few days. That's a reminder that you need to change your bookmarks over to http://blog.phoenixfeahter.net

In other news, we had a great weekend. Ammy had a birthday party on Friday which was lots of fun. Saturday Kevin and I did stuff around the house, picked up Nym and saw Shrek 2 which, while nothing like the first Shrek was really fun.

Sunday we slept in and then went into the City to meet up with Ali and Mark. We took a walk up to Coit Tower with them and a couple of their friends from high school. Then as their friends headed out on the road we hoofed it all over the city. Seeing the sites and taking pictures.

Throughly exhausted the four of us to BART up to Berkeley where we had Baja Fresh for dinner. With our energy replenished we headed over to see the Dido in concert. The show started late and was a bit short. But it was a great concert. I enjoy singers who tell you about how their lives effect their music.

Later that night, finally home, we collapsed in bed and slept the sleep of those whose feet know the San Francisco hills. So all in all it was a good weekend and I am projecting a good forecast for the week ahead. :)

So this is sort of a notice that my blog is moving. Change your bookmarks to http://blog.phoenixfeather.net

Not a big change, and not going to happen fully right away, but I wanted to give everyone time to make the change.

So what am I going to do with the phoenixfeather.net site? Well I'll tell you. I am in the process of opening a small photography business which is going to take over the main site. I hope to have the new site up and operational by the beginning of June.

In the meantime I will be slowly making the total change over of the blog to blog.phoenixfeather.net. Currently there is a mirror site at that address, so make the change!!

*grin*

Randompixel.com has been getting a lot of attention lately! Its so very cool. Last Wednesday it was listed as one of USA Today's Hot Sites and this week Kevin was interviewed by the San Jose Mercury(Registration may be required) for an article that appeared in the paper yesterday.

Kevin was even sweet enough to mention the Random Pixies: Ammy, Rick and I.

As sampled here, I have added two new wallpapers to the In Pictures side.

I'm also looking for suggestions about which photos you think would make good backgrounds! Thanks

I'm laying on the couch bored right now. Normally I'm really good at entertaining myself, but I'm at a loss right now. So I'm going to ramble a bit.

First off, on a odd thing happened yesterday. I very simply walked to the mailbox, just barely down the complex road. You wouldn't think something odd could happen in that short time span, but it did - it was a douple ganger day and they were stalking me.

My first clue was the caw I heard, I looked for the crow who made it and found not one but two crows so cuddly together they almost looked like a two headed crow. I know what you are saying... silly Rachel, two black birds is no big deal. It was just funny as I just looked down from the birds and found two orange cats having a hissy fit just below. I said odd, not life shattering, work with me here folks.

So then today was a good day. Slow kind of lazy start Kevin and I eventually decided to go on a walk with our cameras. It was a nice walk... we were out for quite a while and took quite a few pictures. We went all along Castro St and circled along down the Central expressway, did some back streets, visited Ranstorff Park and then wandered home.

I LOVE spending the day with Kevin. We have so much fun just randomly wandering and doing whatever. We have our moments (And I'm really sorry I've been a bit stressed and sensitive lately hun!), but it was a wonderful day and its a wonderful life having a partner like him!!!

Oh, so also I/we are really excited! Tomorrow we are getting the new Nikon D70 Digital SLR camera. Really Kevin is getting it, but he is a cool boyfriend and shares. We held it today when we went to pick up some batteries and film for Kevin's current SLR camera. It was so pretty. So we called to check on the status of the one we had ordered, and it doesn't look like we will have it for at least 2 weeks minimum. So we are going back to the store around the corner and picking it up first thing tomorrow. I'm oh so excited.

Anyway, I guess thats all the babble from me for now. I'm sure I'll talk about more important things soon, I have some ideas on the burner.

See ya later kids!

A long long day, but oh so good.

Kevin and I went to Berkeley for the day. He had an eye doctors appointment at 10:30 and we also had a dinner and movie party at Emily's (in Hayward) at 7pm, so it made sense for us to spend the day hanging out in Berkeley. Yay!! Always fun.

So Kevin let them put things in his eyes and when they were done we picked out new glasses for him. He's so very cute in glasses... looks so smart. And then the day really began...

We started with exploring campus. Well, exploring for me, not so much for him since he graduated from Berkeley. There is still a lot that Kevin hasn't shown me, and he is ever so excited about sharing. So we wandered around and took pictures. I was proud of myself as I randomly identified a tree from a picture Kevin had taken years ago. After a while we got hungry and shared a panini sandwich from the Musical Offering restaurant; which was followed by browsing through Hot Topic, walking the Berkeley streets and smiling a lot.

We paused to view and photograph two boys playing metal music on their violin and cello. The boys weren't more than 20 years old and related (they have the same last name). Called Judgement Day; we enjoyed their music as well as the ability to photograph them so we gave a donation and were given a CD in return.

Their music wasn't bad. Technique was a little bit lacking, but their style was good. A lot of potential here and even more important a lot of spirit! I wish them luck.

After that we went to the Berkeley Hat Store. This store is my weakness! While I can rarely justify buying a hat, I do love them ever so much. This time however was not about me. While I had fun trying a few on, there were no hats that called to me. There was a hat that called to Kevin though. Kangaroo leather, squishy and very very cool. We walked some more and enjoyed a beautiful day. I took a bunch of pictures, which will be going up soon!

After Berkeley, we went over to Karen's to say hi, drop off some books, borrow her bike and visit for a bit. We gained a Paul there and soon headed over to Emily's for yummy Chinese food and to watch the Miyazaki movie "Laputa: Castle in the Sky". Dinner was wonderful and this was a great movie, though I had a hard time staying awake at the end. It had been a long day and it was catching up to me (didn't go to bed till almost 2am the night before).

Home at about midnight I happily climbed into bed and passed out; exhausted in body and mind!

Kevin recently blogged about the possible flag burning amendment. I think the conversation about this has been good. However commenting there myself has gotten me thinking again.

I have always been somewhat out of politics. I was a little involved while in High School, however as time went on I got jadded and frustrated. I don't watch the news anymore because its so depressing. I figure if anything important happens, someone will tell me about it. I also have some moral issues with activism. I don't understand it or agree with most of the activist practices. I took a class in grad school called "Art in Activisim" mostly so that maybe I could understand this mindset. I still don't.

I realize that my lack of involvment in government is part of what has contributed to what I see as the current problems. If I'm not informed enough, I won't vote, if I don't vote, I'm not heard and I can't complain.

For the Last month or so, as I have gotten more and more frustrated with this country, and Kevin and I have talked about what it is I can do about it. I'm actually a little proud of myself already. I have already begun taking active steps to be a bit more informed, to understand something about what is going on and to ask more questions about what I don't know.

I just don't think that being informed is enough. I have the time to volunteer, and it would be a good way to meet people in this new place too. I have looked into some of it. Its that moral aversion to activism that seems to always get in my way.

So now I'm brainstorming. What I want to know is: What do you do to be involved in making a difference in this country? Or what is it that you would like to do if you had the time/resources you would need?