did I ever tell you about my beautiful family?

Of course I have more than enough exquisite photos
of my daughter Theta, partner Kris, dog Louie, and cat Indy
to fill this entire blog with postings titled:
"Kris smiling," and "Theta w/her head turned to the left."
In order to not be too dull and lame I'll just post some occasionally
when an update is in order.

We spent the 4th of July up north in Alexandria with family.



We really really like the dog park by the river, you should come with us
sometime.












Although I am very ignorant about photography, I try to get nice photos through sheer brute strength. Meaning I take and then delete a lot of pictures. It's a process that can very quickly alienate the subject matter if it is living.

Um, toodles.

an explaination

As a direct result of being raised an only child,
I ended up being a real chatty kid.
I can't honestly attribute all of my chat-tastic-ness to my upbringing,
but it definitely plays a significant role in the tenor of my gab.
Forced into the realm of conversation because the adults around me didn't want to play, I found it was a good way to get some significant attention.

Once in school, I noticed that I received a little more attention from my english
teachers than the others and so I dutifully paid them back by attempting to be an english major. I was going to be a writer. I lasted one year. Although unable to follow through I was still able to benefit. Writing was remarkably helpful in learning how to process my big emotions. The act of focusing in on difficult experiences gave rise to some well-needed self-awareness.

Instead of succumbing to the irrational belief that I was just horrible, as the source of all my woes, I eventually had to admit that when I viewed my feelings objectively I could see that although it was good to have them they didn't always offer wise counsel. And despite the delicious way in which my experiences could be seen as a part of a greater theme or lent themselves beautifully to the most melancholic of melodramatic exposition...I noticed a lost sense of peace when I let those methods re-color my past. I discovered that no matter how dramatic the event itself was, if I chose words that were less ornate then was able to give the piece authenticity.

I'm in a situation now where I rarely write. Studying math and science means a lot of reading and test taking but not much in the way of creative exposition. The 2 times I've had to write were great though. And had the big pay off of getting a little extra praise from my teachers in both instances, which is nice (as although I am an okay student I don't get many opportunities to stand out).

Lately, I'm a lot quieter. Mostly, I'm more comfortable with the occasion of not knowing what to say. It's sort of new, I remember being tongue-tied when I was a kid sometimes but as an adult it's generally been my MO to just let 'er rip! Now I kind of just accept fumbling a bit and being forced to just give up and wait for it to come. Writing is fun though. Expressing my self is a way I care for me. I promise to try and keep this pretty light, and am so open to dialogue as expected by anyone who knows me.

We'll see how this goes.

I would love feedback of any and all kind, especially on my writing. I feel at a particular loss as to how to get any better.

Thanks for being here,
Jenny