INTO THE WILD

into the wild
YouTube Into The Wild


Where to start...... where to start.

this past weekend i picked up the movie and watched, heck the whole family watched it.. yesterday i picked up the book and tonight i finished it.

if you have not heard of the story of Christopher McCandless aka Alex Supertramp, it is one to be looked into. usually i am one to read the book and then watch the movie. in this case i am glad that i watched and then read. with the movie i felt so connected to what he was trying to do and gain. although i went to the book for more input it was very similar to the movie but with the movie Sean Penn did a great job showing us more of what could be going on in Alex's mind and soul. especially now that everyone should be on a bandwagon for conserving, conserving of almost everything. although i tend to think that i am at one with my consumption, it never hurts to ponder other ways to live, reuse, recycle, or to do without.

now for some of the quotes that i found to make me ponder... ponder my own existence here in a far off land.

"you are wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships. God has placed it all around us. It is in everything and anything we might experience. We just have to have the courage to turn against our habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living." p. 57


"But have you noticed the slight curl at the end of Sam II's mouth, when he looks at you? It means that he didn't want you to name him Sam II, for one thing, and for two other things it means that he has a sawed-off in his left pant leg , and a bailing hook in his right pant leg, and is ready to kill you with either one of them, given the opportuinty, The father is taken aback. What he usually says, in such a confrontation, is "I changed your diapers for you, little snot." This is not the right thing to say. First, it is not true (mothers change nine diapers out of ten), and second, it instantly reminds Sam II of what he is about. He is mad about being small when you were big, but no, that's not it, he is mad about being helpless when you were powerful, but no, not that either, he is mad about being contingent when you were necessary, not quite it, he is insane because when he loved you, you didn't notice." Donal Barthelme, The Dead Father p. 145


Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature, apparently so inarticulate, or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, or sound sleep, of true music, or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!

McCadless starred and bracketed the paragraph and circled "refuge in nature" in black ink.
Next to "And so it turned out that only a life similar to the life of those around us. merging with it without a ripple, is genuine life, and that an unshared happiness is not happiness.... And this was most vexing of all," he noted, "HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED." p. 189


take the time to watch the movie. you will not be disappointed.

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind

hahahah i think that it was about time that she spoke it. ;)

this book was wonderful, thank goodness there is a whole series and that my local library carries em.

just a few little bits....

"ever since then she'd flounced herself around anytime I was in her office, not that anybody with all that weight ought to do any flouncing." p. 56

"Get a hold of yourself," I told her as I snatched a Kleenex from the box and handed it to her. "If theres one thing I've learned in all this, it's that you have to stand up for yourself. Nobody else is going to do it for you, least of all the people you ought to be able to depend on."

Radar and the Rodeo

so we have a new store in town.... Big R. along with the grand opening they had the worlds largest horse. Radar is his name. this picture does not do justice to how big he is. he is a Belgian Draft Horse. Radar stands 6'7.5" at the withers (if you know my hubby he is 6'7")just so you know the withers are at the top of the shoulder where the neck joins the body. The ‘lump’ seen on many horses is the top of the spiny process of the tallest thoracic vertebrae. This part of the vertebrae is quite high on some horses and shallow on others. this big boy drinks 20 gl. of water daily.

on to the rodeo......


this pic is of the wheel barrel races. you can see that Zettie was having a blast along with Rozella and her friend Chesna.




Rozella was not to sure this time about riding the horse, as you can see below William was loving it. by the way this horse was of regular size. ;)

why?

why is it some people think that they have so much control over others lives. be it, thoughts, eating, breathing.... ya know things like that.

the world does not revolve around you. i will not change my mind or my opinion just to make you happy.

don't you realize that what you continue to try to do, is what has made me stand up for myself and my beliefs. made me remember my backbone.

just because you want it a certain way, i will no longer be the one to go with your flow. i have my own flow, i have wants and dreams too. no longer will i participate in making yours come true, since you have showed me how selfish you are with helping me obtain what not only i need for myself but also for my family.

so step back, shut up for once and realize these are my dreams, my hopes, my desires......

things to bloom

these flower beds contain hopefully what will be a plentiful harvest of strawberries. we bought 50 plants last year. this year we have added another bed and separated them, we now have over 70. garlic inhabits the end of the first bed. we will be added onions, tomatoes and a green pepper plant. i surely would like to take a hand at that, seeing that the going rate for just one is 89¢. i should be able to buy a plant for 3 or 4 dollars. we will have to see.

the following picture is of the pear tree out back. beautiful at the moment.




this past weekend was a simple one. worked on my watercolors. pondered a couple of new ideas. finished pride and prejudice. and did many a load of laundry, it was great weather for hanging up outside. i hope you all have a wonderful week.

baked beans.. please

here is my littlest, sometimes it is just such fun to watch her throughly enjoy her food.

watercolors and alone time....

as many of you know. on Saturdays i head on over to the ArtCenter here in town. although i do not find much adult conversation, i do find solitude from little voices. seeing that all of them in my head are grownup. ;) below you will find a number of the newest finished pieces to my portfolio. maybe next year i will have enough to enter a show. as one can see i love using my nick nacks and of course the theme of five o'clock somewhere. well, i hope that you enjoy.


blue egg cup, 2008


untitled, 2008


my cup of tea, 2008


untitled, 2008


happy things, 2008

Charlie, the chocolate factory and a mouse

so while watching the movie, i thought that i saw something move over by the entertainment center. i asked is there a cat over there.....since the hubby had a full view. nope. then i turned my attention back to the movie and once again i saw something. this little mouse decided he wanted to play cat and mouse with our two. matt successfully caught him with a cookie smeared with peanut butter. he had to take the picture to prove it.

another reason to like... IKEA

just found this and it gives me another reason to like IKEA. not only are they not going to use plastic any longer. they are giving the proceeds back.

tree climbing & walking

although we do not have big trees, we at least have one great for little one climbing.








they have an old jump rope tide to a limb. this helps with the ascend and descend.... and well the tricycle at the base of the tree does too.

One other note. Zettie is finally realizing that she can walk. how exciting is this? well, for me very. it means that i can gradually stop worring about what she is wearing. seeing that a ton of the clothes that she has are borrowed handmedowns. seeing that handmedowns are great on the pocketbook.

padding of the nests

this is just a pic of a little sparrow collecting discarded samson fur. if you don't know what i am talking about, i am talking about my white german sheppard. it is now shedding season. and even though this fur came off of such a big beast... as i am sure the birds think, they are still picking it up and using it to pad their nests.

what a great reuse little birdies.

by the way the kids think that the birds have beards.. heheheh