56 days.

i've decided to embark on a 56 days...something. it'll be 2 months with everyday being different.

sundays : gospels. on the weekend girl's conference, kristie said sometimes she just asks God to bring a number to her attention, and she'll read that number Psalms. i thought i'd give it a try and see if it works out for me. if not, i'll still try lectio-devina-ing them.

mondays : green day. i could be doing a lot more to reduce the waste i create, so these days i'll try to get better about using my TJ's bag to insulate my lunch. hopefully it saves me money, too. [not that i'll make up for it by being wasteful other days. but if i start off on a good foot mondays, it usually carries to the rest of the week.]

tuesdays : NEW. well, new music and movies come out this day, so why not try to experience new types of things this day? i've had a hankering to see Life or Something Like It [movie where Angelina Jolie is blonde, basically]. also, i really want to get EVERY. SINGLE. Death Cab song. EVER. so i'll devote part of this day to that.

wednesdays : crafts. i want to start with getting my pictures together for my Peru album. it has about 200 spots for photographs, and i bought a frame with spots for 3 5x7s that i've already decided will hold Peru photographs. i've been wanting to work on that and my scrapbook for a while [it ends at Prom 2007!]

thursdays : hikes. i've done this with friends before at night, choosing thursdays because no one has class fridays. now i want to make it a habit. it usually works out because i'm not exhausted from pilates like on wednesday nights.

fridays : morning bike rides. i usually take this day to sleep in, as it's the only day i don't have to wake up early to either go to school or drive kaitlyn to school. but this day, i don't have anything really until 2, when i babysit. so i want to enjoy the morning, and discover new places.

saturdays : et cetera. this day is just reserved for infinitely spontaneous possibilities. for example, this saturday i'm helping a friend out with head shots and other portfolio pictures. it's something i've never set out to do, and hopefully it works out well. it's also amazing how i was dreading having to buy new film because it can be expensive, but then last night hannah! came up to me and said 'i have a friend who works for kodak. want any film?' thanks, much!!


on all of these days, i want to incorporate more reading, studying, and just walking around town without feeling intimidated by drivers. maybe when i move, i can shake that feeling, but around here it seems like unless you're in work-out garb, people look at you funny for walking around.

i'm getting excited already for spring semester because friends have been talking about taking improv as well as hiking, and just a lot of interesting classes together. i really want to take life drawing. i got a bunch of drawing books from the library, and they've helped me more in the last 2 weeks than i have been on my own in the last 18 [or more like 10] years.

i found this great picture of some favorite boiz:


and finally, to my portland and seattle hosts, thank you so so so so so much for your offers. i will be in touch with you.

upcoming events.

this weekend: sarah is coming to town! hopefully i get to see her before i go to a girl's conference in Anaheim. i'm a driver/chaperone..wish me luck.


october 13th: Columbus day!

october 31st: you know it, halloween, and also 2 birthdays! i'm going to be sarah palin!! i've already begun practicing through tina fey's impression and various sources. it'll be great.

november 2nd: Artscritter Festival in Moorpark, CA. Some of my talented friends will be participating! It's only $6 and promises to be really good.


november xxxxx: surprise xxxxxx. this is a secretive thing that will require a lot of work. i'm trying to get together a party planning committee to pull this venture off. it'll be great. (if anyone has any tips on how to throw a surprise party, all is helpful)

every thursday at 9pm on NBC: the office.

so this is all i have planned. i'm hoping the seattle trip is still on. everything else is happenstance and spontaneous. laterrr

vbs

while researching for a joke and talking with kareem on the phone to explain vbs (vacation bible school), i stumbled upon this guy's
blog entry. i guess he was helping at a summer bible event, and as most of the themes are crazy corny, he and friends made up funny alternatives. i'll share:

10. Fun with C-Span
9. Let's Make Nikes!
8. Rocky Horror Bible School
7. Baywatch Junior
6. Death Before Dishonor!
5. The Herbs and Spices of the Bible
4. The Plagues of Egypt
3. You'll Eat It and Like It!
2. No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition!
1. Apocalypto the Musical

he also invited others to create some.

Harry Potter and the Memory Verse Scramble

Snakes in a Church

Adventures with Mr. Kool-Aid

Beavis and Butthead Do VBS

Dear City of Thousand Oaks,

Hi there! Resident of 18 years Laura speaking. While I have mixed feelings about growing up in this town, something has always made me feel better and remember why this place is beautiful. Occasionally I’ll go on hikes in Wildwood, Mt. Boney or through different trails I stumble upon. Surprise waterfalls and deer hopping around never fail to create a smile. Driving home in the late afternoon with the mountains in silhouette by the orange and yellow sky is the best part of everyday. This preservation of nature is a favorite element of mine here. I feel this is the true Thousand Oaks. So perhaps my love of the history of this town coincides with my disgust of the current and forthcoming state of our Oaks Mall. I understand wanting provide basic upgrades to our shopping center, especially since most of the floor was boasting signs of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. But all the additions to it feel like we’re stealing parts from other malls like Northridge, Topanga, and the Simi Valley Town Center. It’s not that I’m mad at the plagiarism, but couldn’t we have gotten more inventive with it? Was that a piano I spotted in Nordstroms? Bravo! Brilliant! Do we really need four stores out of the five possible owned by Abercrombie and Fitch, Co.? I suppose everyone needs to have a moose on their lapel from ages 4 to 35. Thank you deeply for making this possible. I just can’t wait for the middle aged nincompoops to try to convince me on the history of RUEHL No. 925 though all the elements of the story provided in store are fictitious. I really do hope these changes to the shopping center help Thousand Oaks’ economy. However, I just can’t see myself shopping at more than maybe 3 stores. The new Oaks will probably draw back customers Thousand Oaks lost to competitor malls that had stores we didn’t but I cannot see it being a magnet to other town’s customers. I’m writing this when the mall is maybe 6 months from completion, and perhaps my opinions will slightly change when I see the finished product. It’s just a little sad when I see the mall that I used to have such fun at, in the Warner Brother’s store or Topper’s Pizza, try to put on a façade and pretend Thousand Oaks is something it’s not. We may be a safe city but many people struggle to pay rents and mortgages out here. Maybe that’s why I find it hard to imagine a mother from a single-parent home in old Thousand Oaks walking into Club Monaco and pay over $80 for a blouse. Why are we only focusing on upscale stores and not discount ones to accommodate those on fixed incomes, especially at this time? Outlet stores aren’t embarrassing. I find Ed Hardy embarrassing, but that’s my aesthetic.


In any case, I'll continue to make my own things or get them on the cheap!

Sincerely,
Laura!!!


I'm considering sending this into the Star newspaper. It's not in response to anything they wrote, but I've just been really frustrated every time I go to the mall. And of course, any suggestions and corrections are welcome!

sept 5

if i had to put an overall feel on life right now, I'd have to say it's going pretty well. i love all my classes at moorpark. i could be taking more, i could study more. it's nice for now. after a summer of unemployment and job mess ups, I've found a niche that works. my friend Lindsay recommended me to a family and the family to me for a babysitting job. after meeting them once, they gave me a key to the house and now i pick up the kids 3 days a week. the 10 year old girl and 7 year old boy are so friendly and funny that the 4 hours I'm there fly right by. I'm amazed at how active they are, unlike so many kids. the family is in Oak Park, among so many huge house with 3 car garages, but they're really nice people. i honestly feel really blessed for just circumstances and knowing people that lead you to other things. six degrees of separation, i suppose.

at the same time, yesterday was an emotional day in the friend department. i can't get too detailed about either situation, so apologies for the over usage of they/them/their. one friend may be really sick, and when they brought up the big 'C', luckily i was wearing sunglasses because i started crying. i stopped that soon because i didn't want to make them sad, and soon we moved on to other subject. but it's scary, and it hurts my heart to know it's even getting close to that. that it's even a possibility. please pray hard. later that evening, i got a phone call from another friend that moved away in early august. we hadn't talked and out of boredom one day, i was perusing old myspace bulletins and saw they had voluntarily checked themselves into treatment. it was a worst fear, last possible wish for that friend. still, i can't even describe how happy i was to hear their voice on the phone, to just know that they're...here. my friend described the situation to me and said anytime they were feeling sad, they would look at a present I'd given them for Christmas and start laughing hard. just goes to show that you can never underestimate the power of a gift. the phone conversation made me cry, again. sucked too because i had to depart from a s'mores get-together at Courtney's house... I'm hanging out with my friend when they get back, and it's going to take work, so any help or advise (definitely prayer) is greatly welcomed. life, through any given day and any interaction can take you down a different path. it could be a conversation with a waiter at Denny's, a psychic at the gas station, or just new people that you meet through others. so pay attention, and don't things lightly, yet don't over analyze... uh erm I'm probably just talking to myself here.

sorry if the tone of this came off as sad. it's just serious and worrisome. life is still beautiful and even recently times when I'm sick or upset, somehow i still thank God. he and i are bonding, me and friends he's introducing me to. Andy's having a creative day Saturday and i could pee my pants, I'm so excited. and good news people, it ends at 6 when there's still light outside, so this time i won't end up in Van Nuys, having to call kyle to find my way home! new friends want to come to Marty's college group, which will be fun. i love when people can be friends with others immediately, when they're open to new situations. not that there's anything wrong with being private. i love all types of people! i also like when parties die down, allowing real interactions to occur, night swimming, laughter, and talks about the universe.

countdown to new season of the office : 20 days!

replacement

Right now, my house smells like massive amounts of Simply Green cleaner. This is because we are currently getting a new stove installed. The old one finally melted some essential piece due to its being here for 20+ years. So management decided it was time for a new one. Two weeks earlier, my dad installed a new shower head that can move vertically. I was at Alyssa's house when my dad text me about this, and she seemed confused as to why I was so excited about this. I explained that the old one had been too short for even my mom, who's the shortest in the family, and that water pressure had always been low. Showers that previously took 30 minutes now take 10. The upgrading of these basic luxuries make me thrilled. Yet it seems like everything is getting replaced.
I start Moorpark community college tomorrow. High school is being replaced with college. A half-mile course to school is replaced with a 10 mile, 15 minute drive. I’ll still be seeing a lot of familiar faces, though most are ones I thought I’d never see (or want to see, honestly) again after graduation. I want a fresh start and it's mildly crushing that I won't get that because I restrain myself around people that I’ve known too long but I’ve never connected with. Kim did tell me that her first year, she found herself talking with old schoolmates that she never encountered before. Only time will tell if that's the course for me, and if I can sustain being here for 2 more years.
After Moorpark, I hope to move to Seattle for Seattle Pacific University. There have been many signs lately that it's a good place for me to go. Yes, most people I tell this to inform me of the weather and the suicide rates and Kurt Cobain, yadayadayada. That used to be my view on the city as well. The more I look into it, the more beautiful appears. I’m really tired of the same weather all the time in Thousand Oaks, and when we only get rain instead of snow. And as much as I love unpredictability, what was up with it raining for 20 minutes on Thursday? That night, there was a lightening and thunderstorm, which I had never seen occur without being accompanied with rain.
I hope to also visit Minnesota [Minnehhsoda!] where my new friends hail from. The weather there seems to be diverse as well, and the 4 Coon Rapids kids that I got to spend 3 days with are amazingly friendly, so that puts a good impression of it on my mind. I know no place is perfect, and I hope to live in many places through out the course of my life. I just hope I don’t go crazy here waiting for that opportunity to arrive.



coon rapids + thousand oaks friends forever

UV

i finally have a job! the outfit it atrocious, some old people are rude, but for the most part it's alright. after a month of doing nothing, it feels weird to be working again. it's a lot more than at the ceramics place but i like being busy.