this little life of mine: Atascadero, CA

February 2012

Reading

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29

Beth Revis: A Million Suns
2/8: Started. I loved Across the Universe and have been very excited to start the second book in the series!
Lisa T. Bergren: Waterfall: A Novel (River of Time Series)
2/7: Finsihed. A very good little time-travel romance. I almost set it aside, because it was so obviously a romance and I really don't like those - at least not the traditional ones where the guy just falls in love with the girl immediately and simply canNOT live without her; I read the heck out of that genre back in the 90s - but this had some pretty interesting characters and situations and I'm actually contemplating reading the other two books in the trilogy just to see what happens to the sisters!
1/31: Started. Here's yet another book for the Off The Shelf challenge this year. I might actually accomplish this one! (***)
Ludmilla Petrushevskaya: There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales
1/30: Finished. It's been a while since I've read a collection of short stories, so I was a little apprehensive about reading this book. However, once I got into the stories, I loved every minute of it. The stories are strange and creepy and weird and wonderful! Some of them I got from the beginning, and others really surprised me. This writer has a great imagination!
1/25: Started. This is another one for the Off the Shelf Challenge. (***)
Larry Watson: Montana 1948: A Novel
1/24: Finished. Wow, what a quick read, but so good, too. One of those brief moment of time stories, a short summer in the life of one family. Kinda like Dandelion Wine, but while this guy's a good writer, but he's no Ray Bradberry.
1/23: Started. An actual book this time, not on my nook! (Amazing how much lighter my purse is now!) (***)
Marissa Meyer: Cinder: Book One in the Lunar Chronicles
1/20: Finished. Wow! What an amazing start to this series! It's basically the retelling of the Cinderella fairy tail - but set in the future with cyborgs and moon people and a horrible plague - so you basically know they story, but there are some great twists and turns thrown in as well. The one big twist I figured out pretty quickly (not sure if it was meant to be that obvious or not), but it didn't really distract from the story. I'm anxiously awaiting the next book in this series!
1/10: Started. I've been so excited to read this one! Really looking forward to it! (***)

2012 Reading Challenges

"Fun size" level = 20 books
1. Bumped by Megan McCafferty
2. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
3. Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren
~~1. Cinder~~ ~~by Marissa Meyer~~
2. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
3. Above by Leah Bobet
4. Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard
5. Storybound by Marissa Burt
6. The Cabinet of Earths by Anne Nesbet
7. The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers
8. Unbound by Emily Goodwin
9. Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown
10. May B. by Caroline Starr Rose
11. The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long
12. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Tempted level = 5 books (+1 more I really want to get off my shelf!)

~~1. Montana 1948~~ ~~by Larry Watson~~
2. Mariel of Redwall by Brian Jacques
3. 5th Avenue, 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson
4. ~~There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbour's Baby - Scary Fairy Tales~~ ~~by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya~~
5. Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren
*Bonus* 6. Hunter Brown and the Consuming Fire by The Miller Brothers

February 05, 2012

Day 5: 10:00 a.m. #febphotoaday #instagram

Posted at 10:00 in #febphotoaday, 2012 Photographic Projects, Atascadero, CA, Food & Drink, Instagram, NaBloPoMo February 2012, Photo a Day - February 2012, Photography | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

January 30, 2012

New Art Wall Display

I finally got around to printing up some new pictures for my Art Wall. There are shots here from the Coppola Winery from last year's Rehab 2011 Napa Valley Wine Tour, Atascadero Lake and my own backyard. The shots were enhanced in Instagram, dumpr.net and picnik.com. Enjoy!

Posted at 06:59 in Art, Atascadero, CA, dumpr, Flowers & Gardens, In the Garden, Instagram, NaBloPoMo January 2012, Photography, picnik, Rehab 2011, Travel, Travelogue, Waterscapes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

January 08, 2012

This is What a Police State Looks Like

I'm sure you're wondering why I posted a photo of a boring old house. Well, this is the house where the gentleman who refused to come out back in December lived. It's still being worked on and I'm not sure when it will be habitable again, but the interesting part is that someone wrote a little message on the side of the house. I know it's hard to read, and I tried to blow it up here:

If you still can't make it out, it reads:

This is what a police state looks like.

Apparently someone is unhappy with the way the entire situation was handled.

Posted at 14:25 in Atascadero, CA, Holidailies 2011, NaBloPoMo January 2012, News & Current Events, Photography | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

January 04, 2012

Sepia Scenes: Ducks at the Lake #hoildailies

Posted at 07:51 in Animals, Atascadero, CA, Holidailies 2011, NaBloPoMo January 2012, Photography, Sepia Scenes | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

January 02, 2012

Atascadero Lake Walk #holidailies

This morning after watching the Rose Parade, mom and I went down to the Atascadero Lake for a walk. It was brisk and cloudy, but not too cold. There were a few birds out - mostly coots, geese and ducks, but there were also some egrets and herons. The two swans were there, too, but they were always on the opposite side of the lake, so I couldn' get a shot of them. We haven't had any rain for along time and the water level was really low, and kinda stinky on the back side of the lake, but it was nice to get out and get some fresh air and exercise anyway.

Posted at 12:33 in Atascadero, CA, Holidailies 2011, NaBloPoMo January 2012, Photography | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

January 01, 2012

Top 10 Photos of 2011 #holidailies #youcapture #top10picsof2011

For this week's You Capture I present my Top Ten Photos for 2011 (in no particular order):

1. Perfect Shell 1, Avila Beach, CA, June 2011

2. Atascadero Lake Sunset, Atascadero, CA, June 2011.

3. Dolly Portrait in Sepia, Atascadero, CA, July, 2011.

4. Monorail, Seattle, WA, August 2011.

5. Wolves, Seattle, WA, August 2011.

6. Old Boots, Seattle, WA, August 2011.

7. Morro Bay Sunset, Morro Bay, CA, September 2011.

8. Perfect Shell 2, Avila Beach, CA, June 2011.

9. Sepia Sailboat, Morro Bay, CA, September 2011.

10. Under the Pier, Avila Beach, CA, June 2011.

Posted at 12:18 in Antiques, Atascadero, CA, Avila Beach, CA, Holidailies 2011, NaBloPoMo December 2011, Photography, picnik, Seattle 2011 Vacation, Seattle, WA, Sepia Scenes, Still Life, Top 10 Photos of 2011, You Capture | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

December 22, 2011

Leaf #31photosin31days #holidailies

It may look like this oak leaf is lying on cracked ice or maybe even a bed of diamonds, but it's not. It's lying on a pile of broken glass. Some knucklehead kicked in the side of the bus stop, shattering the safety glass and making a huge, annoying mess! Still, I got an interesting shot out of it, so .... a little good from the bad.

Posted at 07:33 in 31 Photos in 31 Days, Atascadero, CA, Holidailies 2011, NaBloPoMo December 2011, Photography, sh1ft.org photographic projects | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

December 16, 2011

Lunch at Colby Jack's #31photosin31days #holidailies

For some Furlough Friday fun my mom and I went to lunch at the new Colby Jack's location in the Carlton Hotel in Atascadero. We had been to the old Colby Jack's location by the Post Office, but we'd never eaten IN the Carlton Hotel before, so even though it was the same restaurant, we considered it a "new" dining experience. The place is gorgeous - of course it was built and designed to be an uber fancy-pants restaurant - and the food was fantastic! I had the grilled portobello sandwich (pictured above) with the split pea soup - both of which were amazingly delicious! - and my mom had the stacked turkey sandwich also with the soup. The meal came with a cute little dessert muffin that was also quite yummy! Oh, and they had the BEST iced tea either of us has ever had!

Posted at 16:47 in 31 Photos in 31 Days, Atascadero, CA, Food & Drink, Holidailies 2011, NaBloPoMo December 2011, Photography | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

December 10, 2011

Peppermint Mocha @brucoffeehouse #31photosin31days #holidailies

31 Photos in 31 Days: today mom and I decided to try one of the holiday coffee selections at our favourite coffeeshop Bru - the Peppermint Mocha. It was really good and so festive!

Posted at 13:55 in 31 Photos in 31 Days, Atascadero, CA, Food & Drink, Holidailies 2011, NaBloPoMo December 2011, Photography, sh1ft.org photographic projects | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 01, 2011

Under Siege #31photosin31days

I was home sick with a sore throat today, so I got to experience the excitment that happened near my neighbourhood (not IN it as the number of police vehicles would imply!). Thankfully it ended with the peaceful surrender of the suspect. Unfortunately we had to evacuate my grandpa, who lives nearby, for most of the day. I just hope he doesn't catch my cold!