Here are some things I've been thinking about lately:
-Mickey Rourke 's persona in Iron Man and The Expendables. I can't decide if he's a actually a good actor, but I sure like his face. He seems so cool with his pipe and tattoos and little glasses.
-I've been wondering if most people's thoughts are somewhat structured or just totally random....Do you have to practice to get a more organized mind? And does everyone get creative thoughts when they lay down at night? It seems like as I lay trying to go to sleep is when I have all these thoughts of things I want to do or write or think about or weird little phrases I think are clever.
-Is art just an expression of neurosis? I heard one artist say that and I still wonder about that. I guess people have different reasons for why they paint or make music or act or whatever. It just seems like as a culture since we have more time for leisure we will naturally have more art and music and it gets complicated (to me) to figure out whether to spend energy taking in/enjoying the things other people have created or spending more time trying to create things myself.

And here are some good things I've been enjoying that you might like too:
-Martin Puryear's art
-new Futurama episodes online
-This kind of High Fructose isn't bad for you.
-Julie Morstad's drawings
-"The Girl who kicked the hornet's nest" It's not one of my all time favorites, but these books have been pretty interesting so far.
-Window shopping
-This site, Artessen, that has lots of pretty pictures

Thanks for reading and if I could reach through the computer I'd give you a grilled cheese sandwich, a glass of iced tea and a hug, just because. Aww.

While August yet wears her golden crown

It's probably the hottest month here in Texas and it's the time of year I start to look forward to fall days that are crisp and cool.

Here are some things I've been thinking about/enjoying:
1. Recycling. I've been organizing my parents' house for them while I'm job hunting, and there is a pile of stuff I need to get rid of, but I don't want to just throw away. I had to hunt around on the internet to find out how to recycle some stuff, so I thought I'd share what I found.
Earth911, Consumer Recycling Guide, and the TX Commission on Environmental Quality were all good sites that you can get more info about how to recycle lots of stuff. You can take lots of stuff to Goodwill of course but they want things that are in working order and just throw away stuff that isn't working. Things that don't work can be recycled too though. I called a vacuum repair shop to ask if they wanted my old non-working vacuum for parts and he said to bring it by. You can drop off lots of old electronics at repair shops or even Best Buy. Home Depot takes old flourescent bulbs. The only thing I couldn't figure out how to recycle was an old porcelain toilet my parents replaced. My Dad wanted to use it as a planter but I said no!

2. I went to see "The Expendables" and I enjoyed it. It had some dumb lines, but it was action packed and had Jason Statham kicking bad guy butt so it was fun. I also went to see "The Other Guys" with Will Ferrell and I think I laughed a lot but it kind of wore me out. It was manic humor and that gets old. I would like to read more about humor and why certain things are funny to certain people. It just seems like what we laugh at is a reflection of ourselves and who we will like to hang out with. On random dates I've been on, or in friendships, I've noticed that if I have a really different sense of humor than the other person, we just don't connect as well. I don't know if it's fair to judge like this, but I think you can tell a lot about someone by what they laugh at, and movies can be a big part of that. If you can laugh at a lot of the same things, friendships are so much easier!
3. I've been reading a great book that I found randomly at Half Price Books. It's "Gentlemen of the Road" by Michael Chabon. If you like adventure and swashbuckling, you'll probably like this.
4. Did anyone see that new Levi's commercial? You can find it and some thoughts about it here.
5. I can't wait for my brain to see some action! I want to take basic accounting, chemistry, Spanish, and metal working but I guess I need a job first so I can pay for it all. :(

Take it easy friends.