Inspiration is where you find it, which is easy on the 'net.

I have been obsessed with decor ever since I was a little girl. I played with my doll house and constantly rearranged the furniture to suit my dolls' ever-changing needs. As I got older, my decorating progressed from the doll house and into the Sims. It was the Sims and the custom content that was available that got me hooked on mid-century modern designs. The works of Eames, Eero Saarinen, Herman Miller, and countless others became part of my digital world and I swore when I had a house of my own, I would try to incorporate some of their design aesthetics into my own space. Unfortunately I haven't won the lotto yet, so my office isn't the Eames office suite of my dreams, but in time I think I can make it a shrine to my "furniture/design gods."

A screen shot from one my Sims 3 houses.

There was time time where I would pour over my Martha Stewart Living months after they came out dog-earring pages for that one day.  I still get MSL but add to that various blogs devoted to style, crafts, and food.  A few of my favorites are Apartment Therapy, Eddie Ross, Antique Home (while I love mid-century, our house is a Cape Cod, and the hubby would like to incorporate that into our decor), Our Humble A{Bowe}d, Not Martha, ljcfyi, Nicodemus Green (he's witty plus I own one of his "Bacon is Like a Little Hug from God" prints), and last but not least Welcome to Deluxeville.  I could easily spend hours reading and bookmarking pages for future reference.  Now if only those darn lottery tickets would pay off... mommy needs an Eames recliner and a Mirra chair for her office!

So yeah...

Honestly, I did start out with good intentions.  Maybe all this gratitude stuff isn't me, perhaps I'm just a crabby geek who wants a new graphics card and more RAM for her computer.  Well, some to think of it, NVIDIA did just come out with a new card on Tuesday and I do have 4 more slots for memory on my mother board....

It's not that I have nothing to be thankful for.  Time gets in the way, I started feeling that I needed to write Pulitzer Prize worthy material for each topic, and honestly, I every time wrote about something I was grateful for, I had to wade through a swamp before getting to the puppy dogs and rainbows.  No one wants to write a blog entry with a big ol' storm cloud over their head, or at least I don't.

So I guess I'll cease and desist with the gratitude thing and get back to something I know...
 

Geek Decor

My office, while a lovely shade of teal, is lacking in the wall decor area and decided that I needed to do something about it. I've become smitten with typographic posters and have always loved the neighborhood posters at Ork Posters but because they didn't have a Detroit one and I wanted something a little closer to home than Chicago, I just admired them from afar.

All that changed however, when I discovered that Jenny did a print of the Great Lakes.  I opted for the brown screen print and now my walls will be sporting Magical Mitten State pride.  I can't wait to hang it up!

 

While I was at it, I decided to pick one out for the hubby's office.  I figured with his boring white walls he could use a little color.  Now I just need to take both of them to the frame shop down the street from his office so we can both enjoy them!

30 Days of Gratitude - Day Nine

A Good Friend

Wow, this one is a toughie. Several people come to mind and I can't narrow it down to just one person.  Through recent events I came to discover just what great friends I do have.  I've also found out what it's like to find out someone isn't as good of a friend as they seemed to be, a wolf in friend's clothing seems an appropriate description.

I am lucky to have people in my life to remind me that I am better than a person who constantly talks about you and others behind your back in an effort to make them feel better about them.  Finding out someone isn't the "bestie" that you thought they were can be a crushing experience. I know I felt like an asshat for thinking this girl was my friend when she never truly was.  Though I could have fired off an nasty missive back at this person attacking her for her lack of character, loyalty, and clear breach of trust, I decided against it, mainly after having my friends talk me down from it. 

When my friends make me laugh, cry, smile, or all three if I'm laughing hard enough, I am glad they decided to trust me enough to let me into their life.

Confessions of a Gadget Whore

I love gadgets!  Whether it's the latest and greatest kitchen tool, graphics card for my desktop, mp3 player, or smart phone, I gotta have it.  I've managed to cool off my consumption and not buy anything major in six months, which is a huge milestone for me. Sad, I know.  I'm up for my biyearly upgrade of my cellphone and I'm left to wonder, which phone should I get?

I currently have a Blackberry Storm, which has served me well the past 18 months.  The Storm and I have grown a lot together.  This was the first phone I've hacked the operating system for, bought apps for, and learned to love browsing the interwebs whenever I wanted.  Blackberry is way behind in the cellphone race, so I decided earlier this year to go 'droid.  "Amy," you say, "why not go with an iPhone? Why 'droid?"  I'll tell you.  I decided a long time ago never to get combination anything.  No television/dvd players, no microwave built into my exhaust vent over my stove, and lastly, I'll keep my music in an iPod, that way if anything goes wrong with it, I still have a phone and vice versa.  Some people would think I'm crazy for wanting to carry around extra baggage.  Oh well!

So here's where things get a little more complicated...  I have my eye on three phones, the Droid X, the Samsung Fascinate, and the Droid R2D2.  The geek in me says to go R2D2, and then the gadget whore in me gets all kerfluffled...

30 Days of Gratitude - Day Eight

A Part of Your Body

I have had corrected vision for the majority of my life.  I remember as a child I resented my eyes, hating the fact that I was called a "four-eyed freak" for wearing glasses, and waiting for the day I could get contact lenses.  I didn't truly appreciate the fact that I had my vision, all I could focus on was having to rely on the glasses to see everything the way people with 20/20 vision would.

Point Iroquois Light on Lake Superior

I'm older and wiser now, and I've gotten past the fact that I need to wear glasses or contacts.  Heck, some people wear fake glasses as an accessory now, so I guess I was ahead of the curve style-wise.  I've been some pretty cool places, like Tahquanemon Falls, the Grand Canyon, the various lighthouses of the Great Lakes, and the Saguaro Desert.  I can't imagine not being able to take in all that beauty that surrounded me.   Vivid colors, the landscape, the wildlife, all things that I delight in so much.  Life would be so dull not to be able travel and have the ability to take photographs of what I've seen.  Just seeing those pictures bring me back to when I first visited those places and enjoy those memories all over again.

Without my eyes I wouldn't be able to appreciate even the daily things that I take for granted.  I wouldn't be able to see the plants I've grown flower, see my cats play with their toy mice, or even my husband smile and shake his head when I make an off-color joke.  I've even come to love the person I've grown in to. Instead of loathing the girl with the glasses looking back at me in the mirror, I see her freckles, dimples, and even slight wrinkles, and I am grateful to be her and to have traveled this life's journey.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day Seven

What are you grateful for right now?

I am grateful that I have a network of supportive friends and family.  I recently went through what I could only describe as a roller coaster of emotions.  Imagine being on the highest of highs only to have everything come crashing down around you days later.  I won't go into details of what happened, what I will tell you is that the love and support I felt from my spouse, friends, and family is what is getting me through.

My hubby brought me one of my favorite comfort food meals of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese in an effort to cheer me up.  He also made me hash browns later that night.  It wasn't just the food that comforted me, it was his presence.   He understood I needed time to myself, yet when I needed him, he was available.

My friends have been nothing more than amazing too.  I have had such an outpouring of support, it's like a robe keeping me warm.  They've listened to me pour my heart out and made me laugh when I didn't think it was possible.

The family has been great too.  They understand I am down at the moment, but in time I will bounce back to the same ol' perky, geeky Amy that they've always known.

So that's what I am grateful for at the moment.  I know I missed a few days of gratitude in between with everything going on, but I think picking it back up with this one makes up for it. :-)

30 Days of Gratitude - Day Two

Today's topic is Governing Principles.

The official poster for the Rally

I attended the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on October 30th.  It was an amazing sight to see so many people gathered together in one place, even if it was for two comedians and not for any real political reason in particular.   The event really made me think about the First Amendment, in particular the freedom to assemble peaceably.  There we were, 250 thousand people, all on the National Mall, some of us holding signs, others in wacky costumes, most of us there for spectacle of it all. The best part to me wasn't that I got to see Sam Waterston read a poem, hear Yussuf Islam & Ozzy on the same stage, or even the fact that I got to see Jon Stewart (whom I've had a crush on since I was 17, I might add), it was the fact there we were on the Mall, crowded together, and yet everyone kept their cool, peaceably assembled.  I feel very fortunate to live in a country where freedom of expression is the rule and not the exception.  In the words of Yakov Smirnoff, "What a country!"

30 Days of Gratitude - Day One

I decided to jump on the bandwagon and do the 30 Days of Gratitude. How awesome is that, thirty days of positive thoughts?!? 

Day One's topic is "Where I Live."  I am grateful that I live in a country where there are no barriers to the information superhighway (well yet anyway.)  Unlike Iran, China, and various other countries, we do not have to worry about the government censoring our web searches or website access to places like Twitter and Facebook.  I can blog about anything and not have to worry about being killed for what I say.  Information is of any sort is available with a few keystrokes and a high speed internet connection.

This freedom is something I think a lot of people take for granted,  I know at times I do.  It scares me that without net neutrality that internet providers could limit my access to sites I go to.  I want to end this still on a positive note and I would like to encourage people to get educated on net neutrality.  Two sites that I recommend are the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Save the Internet.