My loving husband, sick and humorous as he is, shared this blog with me today. If you are having a shitty day, pun intended, read this. Read it even if you are in a good mood. You will laugh your ass off!
http://www.zug.com/live/81557/The-Alli-Experiment.html
Not much new to report. It is supposed to rain on Sunday, well thunderstorm, and we are supposed to participate in the Dog'N'Jog 5K that day. We are taking Patton with us but he hates thunderstorms. I hope it doesn't rain until later in the day. Regardless, we have already paid the registration fee, thus contributing to the charity whether we go or not. But hopefully all will go well. I'm looking forward to it. (By the way, we are walking it, not running. I suck at running!)
Here's the facebook link to the fundraising page: http://www.firstgiving.com/rebeccamartzburley?ref=facebook&type=app
Feel free to contribute if you would like!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Ever feel just beat down?
I swear, the more I try to assert myself as a professional, the more resistance I get. I kind of feel like the TP to wipe up after the pee-ons. I don't think that those in control of this aspect of my life are doing it because they know my background and truly believe me to be incompetent. I think it's being done because of outside personal influences. Sorry to be so amiguous but I don't want to get too detailed. Basically I have a passion at work, I try to implement my passion at my work and I feel I do a good job of it, and someone thinks (without merit) that I suck at it. So this person squashes anything and everything I do in relation to it.
One thing I've learned by having chronic illnesses is that you have to choose your battles. Stress is the ultimate enemy. It makes everything worse; magnifies pain, heightens emotions, saps energy. In other words, fuck it. This isn't worth it.
All I really want to do is take photographs and be a mom. Those things matter more than work drama.
Frozen pizza awaits! Ahhh it's the little shit that makes me happy.
One thing I've learned by having chronic illnesses is that you have to choose your battles. Stress is the ultimate enemy. It makes everything worse; magnifies pain, heightens emotions, saps energy. In other words, fuck it. This isn't worth it.
All I really want to do is take photographs and be a mom. Those things matter more than work drama.
Frozen pizza awaits! Ahhh it's the little shit that makes me happy.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Zombie Walk results….good for the soul!
It turns out that attending a Zombie Walk was extremely therapeutic. I needed a good laugh and I also needed to force myself out of my comfort zone.
I posted on the Kansas City group on Flickr about this and met up with a few of the wonderful people who frequent that group. By watching them, I felt more comfortable to walk up to strangers and take their photos. I have a really hard time doing that. I also knew a couple of the zombies, who were absolutely hilarious. There were zombies of all kinds: Santa Claus, nurses, Shaun of the Dead replete with cricket bat, a Smoker and Hunter from Left 4 Dead and even a guy with an Evil Dead lunch box. A man after my own heart....err, brain.
The best part of the whole walk was that not only did we walk through the First Fridays fancy art crowd, but we also hit a Gay Pride street party. Zombies + gays + techno music + snobs = a freakin' blast. A very kick ass street DJ kicked some Thriller for us as we went past. There were cheers, laughter, sneers, looks of disgust and a few shrieks from the crowd. If you ever have a chance to watch or participate in something like this, I highly recommend it.
Since I over think everything and tend to live inside my Emo brain, I learned something from this whole event. I've been sitting around my house, waiting for people to want to hang out with me, wanting to do something different. I got tired of waiting for last minute invitations. I was so geeked yesterday because of the Imagekind thing and I was surprised that the people I really counted on as friends, couldn't have cared less. I guess it's a schadenfreunde situation; when something goes really well for me, I can't find many people to celebrate with. Maybe when my health is bad and I'm miserable, I make people feel better about themselves. Hahahaaa, anyways. It's my fault for not being more outgoing and trying to branch out with people of similar interests. I can't change people into the friends I'm looking for. That would be....stupid!
Here are some photos from the night. For more, see www.flickr.com/photos/ndbex. The first one is of the KC mayor, who just faced a recount petition. He and his wife are not very well liked in the city with some people although I think he's a pretty good mayor. He and the City Council just need to quit bickering like children and get onto real business. GO FUNKHOUSER! Have a good weekend everyone! I'm off to a cookout. Tschus!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Exciting day on Imagekind!
I started an account on Imagekind.com a while ago. It's a lot like art.com but anyone can upload images to sell. It's also a great way of connecting with other artists, most of whom are commercial artists. Also people start accounts there so they can print and frame their images. Everyday they feature certain artists and artwork and today one of mine is there. I'm really happy and excited about it. I've been in a creative slump lately and this was just the motivation I needed to continue.
I have a couple photography field trips planned. I'd like to visit some of the area historic cemeteries. There is also a KC Zombie Walk tomorrow downtown. What a cool opportunity to get some unique shots! Here is the link: http://www.myspace.com/kczombies. I think it will be unique and fun and it coincides with First Friday in the Crossroads Art District. http://www.kccrossroads.org/ I'll be sure to post images later.
I also want to mention today that I got a bunch of free tickets to the Narnia exhibit. If any of the locals are interested in going, I can give you a ticket or two. Please let me know and I'll hook you up! I think it's safe to say that the success of the exhibit will help to extend my job and the jobs of many others. Kind of a big deal.
That's my exciting news. I have to say I'm tickled freakin' pink about the photo site. It really makes me want to keep trying. I never expect to make a dime from anything I shoot. I'm simply doing it because I love it. It's a great outlet for an introvert like me.
I leave you with my favorite youtube video of the day, Advanced Cat Yodeling:
I have a couple photography field trips planned. I'd like to visit some of the area historic cemeteries. There is also a KC Zombie Walk tomorrow downtown. What a cool opportunity to get some unique shots! Here is the link: http://www.myspace.com/kczombies. I think it will be unique and fun and it coincides with First Friday in the Crossroads Art District. http://www.kccrossroads.org/ I'll be sure to post images later.
I also want to mention today that I got a bunch of free tickets to the Narnia exhibit. If any of the locals are interested in going, I can give you a ticket or two. Please let me know and I'll hook you up! I think it's safe to say that the success of the exhibit will help to extend my job and the jobs of many others. Kind of a big deal.
That's my exciting news. I have to say I'm tickled freakin' pink about the photo site. It really makes me want to keep trying. I never expect to make a dime from anything I shoot. I'm simply doing it because I love it. It's a great outlet for an introvert like me.
I leave you with my favorite youtube video of the day, Advanced Cat Yodeling:
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Catching up on the mundane (And the Chronicles of Narnia exhibit)
Whenever I'm out driving around, I have all these potential blog posts running through my brain. But by the time I find myself back in front of a computer, I've forgotten everything. Now my brain is mush, yet here I sit, trying to squeak out something interesting.
Despite attempts at living a normal, healthy life, we've been hit with a couple fun ailments. I spent a week pissing blood and the next week Ron threw his back out completely. Since it happened at work, he's home and doing the workman's comp thing. He has an MRI scheduled this week and hopefully they can figure out how to help him. He's in an incredible amount of pain. We're only in our early 30's and we haven't even had kids yet. But we're both walking around like old people. This does not bode well. Maybe they can outfit a stroller to also be a walker? Seriously, I think another year of working on my health and having time to spend with Ron by myself is a good thing. I still think we'll have to adopt and maybe that is a good thing to start working on next year.
Work has been filled lately with helping researchers, fighting with the IT department to fix computer issues so I can scan images and assessing the condition of wax phonographs from the late 1890's. One of the things I love about my job is the variety of work I do. I can sit at a computer all day and the next day find myself pulling old mattresses out of a really old train car.
The big hoopla at work lately has been the opening of The Chronicles of Narnia exhibit. www.unionistation.org It has a lot of props and costumes from the Narnia movies and it also talks about global climate issues and environmentalism. They tied that theme into it based on the White Witch's attempts to basically create an ice age on earth. The sets are really rich and interesting and it's cool to see objects and costumes. The interactives are interesting as well. I didn't take any photos of the inside of the exhibit but I took this picture of a Giant outside the ticketing office:
Our department didn't help set this exhibit up. Because this is a private company's exhibit and because the objects are mostly props, they didn't need museum professionals to do the installation. I've worked with this company before to install an exhibit and it's very different from working with a museum exhibit. No white gloves on this one. :)
So there you have it! That's my update, for now. I have other things I want to blog about but Roxanne is here for the last time until the end of summer. Hope everyone is having a groovy holiday!Tschus!
Despite attempts at living a normal, healthy life, we've been hit with a couple fun ailments. I spent a week pissing blood and the next week Ron threw his back out completely. Since it happened at work, he's home and doing the workman's comp thing. He has an MRI scheduled this week and hopefully they can figure out how to help him. He's in an incredible amount of pain. We're only in our early 30's and we haven't even had kids yet. But we're both walking around like old people. This does not bode well. Maybe they can outfit a stroller to also be a walker? Seriously, I think another year of working on my health and having time to spend with Ron by myself is a good thing. I still think we'll have to adopt and maybe that is a good thing to start working on next year.
Work has been filled lately with helping researchers, fighting with the IT department to fix computer issues so I can scan images and assessing the condition of wax phonographs from the late 1890's. One of the things I love about my job is the variety of work I do. I can sit at a computer all day and the next day find myself pulling old mattresses out of a really old train car.
The big hoopla at work lately has been the opening of The Chronicles of Narnia exhibit. www.unionistation.org It has a lot of props and costumes from the Narnia movies and it also talks about global climate issues and environmentalism. They tied that theme into it based on the White Witch's attempts to basically create an ice age on earth. The sets are really rich and interesting and it's cool to see objects and costumes. The interactives are interesting as well. I didn't take any photos of the inside of the exhibit but I took this picture of a Giant outside the ticketing office:
Our department didn't help set this exhibit up. Because this is a private company's exhibit and because the objects are mostly props, they didn't need museum professionals to do the installation. I've worked with this company before to install an exhibit and it's very different from working with a museum exhibit. No white gloves on this one. :)
So there you have it! That's my update, for now. I have other things I want to blog about but Roxanne is here for the last time until the end of summer. Hope everyone is having a groovy holiday!Tschus!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Star Trek, and why couples should get out more
Our weekend went pretty well. Ron and I came to the conclusion that we weren't getting out and doing anything fun anymore. In an effort to save money, and due to laziness, we've been staying home most weekends. But we've grown lethargic, cranky and bored. My health problems have compounded the issue and we quit communicating. I have to say that when a spouse has a chronic illness, the marriage is really affected. It's stressful on both people and it just wears everyone out. Also the outside pressure we, or I, feel to have a baby is getting to be too much. If it's going to happen, it will. I am so tired of hearing about it. Anyways, we were able to recognize the issues and talk about it.
So in an effort to get out and have a good time together, we went to Fork & a Screen at the AMC Theatre. Basically you can watch a movie, have a beer and have table side food service. We saw Star Trek and it was awesome. I was really worried that the movie would suck, as a lot of prequels do. However the plot was interesting and the actors were spot on with their characters. I was really surprised how well Zachary Quinto did as Spock. Simon Pegg was a great Scottie too. I recommend the movie even if you aren't sci fi geeks like we are. Here's one of the trailers. Have a good Monday!
So in an effort to get out and have a good time together, we went to Fork & a Screen at the AMC Theatre. Basically you can watch a movie, have a beer and have table side food service. We saw Star Trek and it was awesome. I was really worried that the movie would suck, as a lot of prequels do. However the plot was interesting and the actors were spot on with their characters. I was really surprised how well Zachary Quinto did as Spock. Simon Pegg was a great Scottie too. I recommend the movie even if you aren't sci fi geeks like we are. Here's one of the trailers. Have a good Monday!
Monday, May 4, 2009
General update
Ron's mom left on Friday; she stayed about a week. The day after, my ex's daughter came over for the night. So we had one night of lounging around in our underwear before we had another guest. I took her to see Aliens vs Monsters which was pretty cute. Ten dollars a piece though for admission which is nuts. This is why I don't normally go to movies.
Since I've been so cooped up in the house, I convinced R and Ron to take the dogs to the park with me. It's just a small arboretum and fishing pond/lake. There's a huge playground of course but I don't take the mutts through that part. It was so nice to get out! I was surprised that Rowdy was able to make it around the lake. He was so happy to get out that I decided to take him out again today. I'm always afraid to walk him too much because of his hips but I think a little exercise is really good for him.
Since I've been so cooped up in the house, I convinced R and Ron to take the dogs to the park with me. It's just a small arboretum and fishing pond/lake. There's a huge playground of course but I don't take the mutts through that part. It was so nice to get out! I was surprised that Rowdy was able to make it around the lake. He was so happy to get out that I decided to take him out again today. I'm always afraid to walk him too much because of his hips but I think a little exercise is really good for him.
Of course, Sadie took a dip in the lake. She was nice and rank for the ride home.
My health is ok. I saw the rheumatologist today and they said to keep up the 'roids. Goodie! (/sarcasm) Since there doesn't appear to be any bone damage yet, I don't need any of the major drugs you see on television commercials. Thank. God. So that's good news. Also, I'm still healing from the surgery. The bruises had all turned a nice sickly yellow but then I wore my jeans for half a day. Sad to say they were/are too tight. I ended up bruising myself all over again just from putting compression on the swelling. Kinda sick actually. I guess I'll have to wear my "fat" pants for a while.
(Holy shit, is that ice cream truck just PARKED outside my house? Ice cream truck music is reaaaaally annoying.)
I'm actually kind of looking forward to work tomorrow. Weird! Part of me wants more time to rest and part of me just wants out of the house. I have done some work from home and kept up on my work email. Things are starting to pile up so I really want to get back and start taking care of some research requests. Maybe I just want to feel useful and keep my job.
Since I've had time off, I've been trying to take part in more photo theme days on Flickr. I'm not very creative but I'm having fun trying! The first was a "robot" theme and the second was "The Big Lebowski."
Rat vs Robot
"Jesus"
Happy freakin' Monday!
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