Picture(s) Number 8

The Not So Random Photo Project:  In honor of poppy season and cherry blossoms.


Even in a most desolate harsh environment, you can find peace and beauty. You just have to look. (And have a camera with a macro setting.)

Taken in the spring of 2008-ish, while on the job in the Upper Mojave, near Lancaster, CA.

My Peak Challenge: Music Week 7

Week 7 belongs to The XX. How is that a band name? And how do you say it? Is is "ex ex" or "ten ten" or "twenty"? Who cares, this is a cool song.

Intro by XX

I think I found this when I was going through my "OMG Twilight" phase. Lord, am I glad that is over. I have the entire album, but don't really like when they actually sing, so the Intro is all I listen to. Perhaps it's time to give it another listen.

Shakespearean Taxidermy on a Bloody Monday

Everyone seems to hate Mondays. Usually, I am one of them. Today it was the beginning of a new week. Last week sucked. Nothing horrible happened, but I was not having it. Customers and co-workers alike, kept getting on my nerves. Everyone seemed to annoy me. To a point where I was about to punch people in the face. I would never actually punch someone in the face on purpose*, but I was totally about to do it in my head.

I didn't do very well with my workouts last week either. John Valbonesi (the dude I can hardly understand who runs Fight Camp Glasgow that is the trainer of Sam Heughan (the hot actor dude who helped start the MyPeakChallenge thing I'm doing) said it was time to do the fitness tests again to see how we are improving, so I re-did test 1 on Monday of last week and made myself sore the rest of the week. Wow, how 'bout that sentence! Anyway, I did improve. But I can only do lunges so fast before I fall over and squish my cat that likes to walk and plop down round my arms while I try and do burpees. I did 11 more burpees than before and can now hold a 2 minute plank. Wednesday all I did was the burpee test, and Friday?... Well, the night before I decided to finish a book I was reading. I finished it at 4am. So I slept in. The book was totally worth it. It was hilarious! So, yeah, last week wasn't the best. Here's the book:

And yes that is a taxidermy mouse with a Shakespearean neck ruffle and Dracula cape holding an alas poor Yorick mouse skull.

Today, I got to start anew. And I did. And it felt great. Until I did my taxes. I owed this year. That totally sucked. And that put a damper on the day. Apparently extremely poor minimum wage workers who are just above the super extremely poo(r)** minimum wage workers don't get a tax break for being extremely poor minimum wage workers.

I don't know where to go from here in this post. Don't quite know what I'm trying to say. Well, let's just say I have no real point. This is so not how I saw this post shaping out to be.

The End




*I would totally punch someone in the face on accident, I can be quite clumsy.
**the "r" is silent when you're that poor.

My Peak Challenge: Music Week 6

This weeks pick from the playlist is...

Believer by American Authors

Never heard of them? Where have you been? It is from their debut album, so I guess you have a bit of an excuse. Another song from their debut album is Best Day of My Life. Maybe you've heard it on the radio or that Lowe's commercial or the movie trailer for Earth to Echo, or How to Train Your Dragon 2, or St. Vincent. I think they're going places... at least to the movies! I just can't help myself sometimes, I'm sorry.

To My Mom: Part IV Valentine Special

So last year on Valentine's Day... or was it two years ago... Anyway, some time ago I wrote this post about how cool it is being single. It was two years ago. It still holds true for me today. I never really liked Valentine's Day. Maybe because 98% of time when that day rolls around, I'm single.

When I lived at my house with the sis and the boys, sis would give us all Valentine's cards and candy. We would also get Easter baskets stuffed with peeps on Easter, and stockings full of candy pooping reindeer at Christmas. This year I didn't get anything. And that is fine by me, cus, I didn't get anyone anything either. I don't like jewelry, I don't wear it. I don't like flowers either. They look pretty, but they're going to die. I don't see the point of giving someone you love something that is now dead. Kind of morbid, really. And I like chocolate, but I prefer it everyday, not just once a year when it is heart shaped and costs twice as much.

I say all that, because I remembered something today. Way back when I was away at college, I had broken up with a boyfriend and I was quite lonely and depressed. And I was sitting in my crappy apartment staring at the wall or something, and I see a delivery guy walking by my apartment window with flowers and a balloon. And I'm sitting there wondering who they are going to and wow that's pretty cheesy. Maybe he's going to my next door neighbors. But he knocked on my door.

I was shocked. Why would I get flowers? They were from my mom. She totally brightened my day. I don't know if she knew I was feeling down at the time. But she sent me flowers. Those were the best flowers I ever got. And I loved them!



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My Peak Challenge: Music Week 5

This weeks musical selection is brought to you by two dancing robot men. Huh? It's okay, they're French. That should explain everything.

End Title Sequence from TRON Legacy by Daft Punk.

They are currently more famous for Get Lucky, and just being weird robot men when they have to make public appearances. But I loved the soundtrack they did for the movie. The movie was just so-so. I was hoping for spectacular visuals, and sort of got them, but the story itself is a let down, but I knew that going in. The music was pretty sweet. Good job weird robot men.

My Peak Challenge: Music Week 4

This week's selection is this:

Magic by Fauxliage

Leigh Nash does the vocals on this. She doesn't sing a word in this song but, you still might recognize her voice. I think it is distinctive anyway. It's beautiful. She is also the lead singer of Sixpence None The Richer. Fauxliage was a collaboration between Nash and some Canadian group called Delerium. Their entire album is pretty cool. If you like the song, check out the rest of that collaboration. However, it is not workout music. It is actually quite melancholic. For you TV geek girls, two of the songs from this album were featured on Moonlight (2007), hint hint, the infamous shower scene.

My Peak Challenge: Superbowl Sunday Edition

Instead of watching the game and eating chips, I took a short hike with Han... Solo. Yes, The Han Solo. See?

I have successfully made it through three weeks of my so called training for the #MyPeakChallenge, and thought I needed a nice reward/let's see how stiff my hiking legs really are.

It was a beautiful, sunny, warm, yet a bit windy winter day here. I went up to Harvey Bear Ranch which is a working cattle ranch and a County Park. There are signs to remind you to close the gates behind you, lest a creature of the bovine sort escapes. (If you click on the link to Harvey Bear Ranch, it links to the counties website for the park which also contains Coyote Lake. There is a picture of a boat and skier, front and center. But the site says "this reservoir is closed to boating" Oh the irony!)

I saw 9 deer, geese, and turkeys. And met a lovely lady and her horse who thought he was a dog. The lady came up on her horse dog and said "He loves being petted, do you mind?" And he came right up to me and was all, please pet me, please please please. So I pet him. A lot. Met back up with the Lady and her horse dog at the end of the loop. She said, "wow there were a lot of deer out there". And I said, "yeah, I saw nine". "Nine?" she says... "there was at least a herd of 15 when you petted my horse dog!"

My excuse for not seeing the 15 member herd is that I was not perched on her horse dog. She had the better view.

Being out here reminded me why it is important to get outside into nature. It was so peaceful. Quiet. Fresh air does wonders for the soul. It really does.

I also made it back home in time for my dad to yell at me to come watch. It was the last minute of the game. So I got in a hike and the best part of the football/hockey game. I win!