Tell us about the last thing you got excited about.
I’m traveling this week. The last time I left my surroundings was 3 years ago in 2021. I gifted myself a trip to the East Coast to celebrate the fact that I made it through a 24 week program through UT Austin on machine learning, which as discussed a few weeks ago, required me to learn Python.
I started out my week in NYC. Was my first time there. I will share more of my experience there in a future post but I moved on to Philadelphia. So far this trip has allowed me to spend time with a few different friends that I had not seen in awhile which in itself is exciting and amazing.
The last thing I got excited about among a week of excitement was experiencing downtown Philadelphia. I took a train from NYC to Philly, which gave me the opportunity to take in the sights between the cities. I snapped some photos from my seat, including this one of the Delaware River.
Crossing the Delaware
Once in Philadelphia, after a nice leisurely lunch at Reading Terminal Market with my friend who lives in the area, we spent some time in a park. Coming from the Southwest, the foliage here was different and amazing.
Just another municipal park in Philly.
The park had squirrels everywhere. Yes there are squirrels where I live as well, just not in my current neighborhood. I have to visit a local preserve to see them back home.
Squirrel enjoying a peanut.
While in downtown, we walked over to Independence Hall.
Independence Hall
Then viewed the Liberty Bell. We went at the right time- there were no lines to view the bell.
Liberty Bell – no lines to get here!
This is just a smattering of things I saw yesterday. This whole week has been an exciting experience in many ways. Even sitting in the park just people watching on a summer afternoon without melting away from heat exhaustion was exciting!
That’s all for now. I hope you all are enjoying your latest slice of life the excitement that accompanies it.
During a recent walk through my local convention center I looked upward and noticed faux bird and clouds/sky hanging throughout the expanse of the food court.
I *think* I get what the vision was here, but the size of each piece seems rather small; the sky/cloud pieces especially should be larger in my opinion.
I’m curious if whomever came up with the idea- if the execution was as intended.
I’m curious if it’s weird to eat your meals under a fake sky with fake birds.
Lastly, I’m curious if when this food court is open and hopping, if convention attendees even notice the fake birds and sky adorning the ceiling?!
Sidenote: The “featured image” you may have saw in the WP Reader was WP’s AI generated image.
While the “sky” and “clouds” are more noticeable, this looks like bird wings hanging from the ceiling, instead of the representation of a full bird. Verdict, this is even creepier than the actual installation.
Do you have any public spaces in your area with *curious* adornments? Drop a note in the comments below.
HOUSEKEEPING
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I recently posted these photos and zine as four separate posts on a different blog…
Sound confusing? Well it is.
Since the beginning of this year, I’ve wanted to start fresh with a new site and be more intentional vs my initial go round blogging from 2011-2014. So in June I did start fresh and built a new site where I was going to be more serious. And I started posting things.
In digging through my WordPress account, I found this blog that you’re reading now.
I forgot I had this blog. And reading back through the contents, I was like – this is my true voice. Actually I created this blog as a complement to my main one back in 2012 because the main blog was focused on sharing the interesting and weird stuff I photographed in my area, in addition to sharing snippets of writing I was working on at the time. This blog was my sarcastic side- the “let me make fun of the absurd.”
The reality is, my true voice is somewhere between my two original blogs. But there’s no reason I can’t do it all in one spot. So I’m going with this one.
However, I already posted some cool photos on the other blog so rather than a simple reblog of those posts, I’m making ONE BIG POST mashing together the photos I posted on the other blog and now all my current content is in one place because I can. :-p
So here goes…
The ZINE
You can download a PDF copy here or from the DOWNLOADS page.
Below is the Digital Edition…
Garden 1: Japanese Friendship Garden/Rohohen: Phoenix, AZ
So now that you’ve seen the ZINE, below are some photos of the Japanese Friendship Garden, also known as Rohohen. Prior to November 2021, I’d never visited the gardens. I ended up here after registering for a weekend writing class through the Phoenix Arts Center. The class was focused on using nature and meditiation to generate written work. Having been to various writing workshops and conferences over the years, this was by far my favorite workshop.
The entire workshop was conducted at the garden over two morning sessions (9am-noon). Both days, we were given time to wander the garden on our own, encouraged to sit and observe, meditate.
After a specified amount of time, the class of 10 plus the instructor would converge on the lawn where we’d discuss our observations, read short pieces on nature and then write based on prompts given to us by the instructor.
We’d then share pieces of our writing to the class. It was a very positive experience!
One drawback is that our class did not stay in touch. One of our classmates did send out a group email after class to see if anyone would like to have regular meet ups at the garden for future writing sprints. Although some of us responded, nothing ever came of it.
I have found it hard to locate a writer’s group – either in person or virutally- but in the meantime I’ve continued to find smaller events/opportunities such as this workshop to keep me motivated and inspired – to move forward with my craft.
I did generate many pieces of writing during this workshop. Last year, I began to sift through my scribblings from this weekend. As a result, I created the zine referenced above to highlight some of my writing from this weekend.
One thing I reference in the zine is an apartment complex that overlooks the garden, as seen in the photo above.
If you are ever in the Phoenix area, I’d encourage you to visit this spot! Despite a nearby festival intruding upon the serenity of the garden on the second day, the garden is truly a hidden treasure in the city.
Garden 2: Vizcaya Gardens, Miami FL
Taken March 2015 at Vizcaya Gardens, Miami Florida overlooking Biscayne Bay. It’s a historic estate that was owned by some bigwhig from the 1800s but has many antiques as well as actual gardens. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the Miami area.
QUESTIONS:
Questions for you!!!
Do you have a favorite spot in your area that provides serenity from the din of city?
Do you have a community around one of your hobbies or creative pursuits? If so, how did you find your community?
Security or Adventure? To be or not to be? Those are questions that have plagued humans since the dawn of time. IDK if that’s true it just sounded good. So to answer the prompt- well duh I want both security AND adventure.
Seriously WordPress, this is a formula failure of epic proportions. Instead of an OR statement this is an AND statement.
I need security to, oh I don’t know, pay my bills, take care of family or have any sense of responsibility. It might sound boring but geez we can’t be all bungee jumping all over the place 24/7 and expect to not have a crap ton of health bills because of broken bones have any type of rest or relaxation or inner peace. All adventure all the time is tiring. I know. Because I’ve gone through pockets of time where I overscheduled too much adventure and after awhile it sucks.
At the same time, adventure is needed to break up monotony of the day to day and expand our experiences. Adventure doesn’t have to be some expensive vacation, like a safari trip or scaling the side of a tall building. You can actually sprinkle adventure through your day.
Like for example, the building I work in was recently bought by a private financial services firm that wanted to move into the building and they thought “huh- let’s just buy the building – how hard can it be to run a building? (idiots).” But whatever- so I’d been hearing stories about the new building owner who sounded like quite a character. I got a tip the owner was outside smoking away while taking a cell phone call with his lawyer after parking his car on a public sidewalk experiencing some parking issues. So I’m like- I’ve got, GOT, to check this out. I nonchalantly walked outside and pretended to be looking at my phone when I reality I was eavesdropping (wasn’t hard- the dude was talking LOUDLY) and taking surveillance photos. I won’t post those here even though it’d be hilarious as the dude was basically wearing sweats while chain smoking and demanding answers on several things from his lawyer.
After a few minutes of playing spy, I decided to take a circuitous route to get back to the building entrance by ducking into another business. What do you know, the building owner went the opposite direction and ended up in the same area without any awareness that he’d been observed for the past 10 minutes. I did nothing with the information I gathered, but it was a fun adventure pretending to live out my real dream job of being a private investigator.
But see, adventure is only special if it’s on occasion or in small doses. Like everything, adventure is best experienced in moderation.
No adventure = no fun.
Too much adventure = fun then no fun.
Some adventure = fun.
Let me know if you agree or disagree in the comments below. If you’re a PI, convince me I should switch careers.
Any vacation is memorable as long as you are not working or checking in with work or thinking about work. ‘Nuff said.
I also advocate for taking at least a lunch break during the working day, which can be thought of as mini vacations. Taking a walk or even stepping outside your home or office for a few minutes can do wonders.
If you work in office, try to find green spaces nearby to walk around or even just sit for a few minutes and enjoy the quiet.
Here are some of my mini vacations when working at the office. These were all taken within the past two weeks.
So I know some of you are thinking -” uh isn’t it hot in Phoenix right now”. Yes! So your next question might be “how are you outside walking around taking photos?!” Well- because when I am in the office, the air conditioning is set much lower than I’m used to so I need to dethaw by mid-day and it takes a good 10-15 minute jaunt around the area to do that!
Ok so for me the motivation to get out and take a break is two fold- mental AND physical health/comfort. Because feeling like a popsicle all day is completely unproductive.
Also notice – we still have greenery in the dead of summer!
Heritage Square Downtown Phoenix Arizona Center Downtown Phoenix Virginia G. Piper Plaza Downtown Phoenix
unfrazzled analyst 