Day 3: Compare your dog to a fish. {wbthirty}

Okay, so if you haven't guessed, that wasn't the "correct" topic of today's blog post. It was supposed to be "a song that makes you cry", but I don't think I have enough room to list every song that's ever been made. Seriously, if you get me thinking about how every singer/songwriter was once a kid who probably dreamed of nothing but being famous, I can produce tears. It's a gift.

So, I went to the next logical blog topic: comparing my dog to a fish.

Ike makes this distinct face when he's scratching himself. Because Y and I feel a need to give everything a name, we fondly call it his Scratchy-Face.

When we visited the National Aquarium in DC --sidenote, just because it has a "national" in front of it, does NOT make it worth visiting -- Y pulled me away from the cast of Finding Nemo to show me a fish that "looked exactly like Ike's scratchy face".

favorite song + i made you something! {wbthirty}

[what is wbthirty?]

I do not have good taste in music. You've been warned.

There's a handful of songs that, when they show up on iTunes, I listen to the entire way through. I have song ADD, so, that's a big deal.

Most of them come from soundtracks. One of the first jobs I remember "wanting to do when I grew up" (right after vet; right before MTV VJ) was the very important position of Person Who Decides What Songs Go Where In Movies. I still completely appreciate that person; the right song during the right moment of a movie is one of life's simple pleasures.

Anyway. Favorite songs:

A few of my favorite songs are from Better Than Ezra. If you read my post yesterday about my "inspirational word art", there is one quote that is not inspirational in the least, but I love it so much I couldn't resist creating some word art and featuring it on my "wall of quotes". It's from a fairly recent Better Than Ezra song, and the chorus lyrics are:

Gulf breeze on the porch

me and my honey rocking back and forth

light it up again with my kin and friends underneath the yellow moon

Sweet dream, New Orleans

Mississippi river running over me

Pretty mama come and take me by the hand

Don't mock what you don't understand it's a southern thing

The song is about fugitives or something, but shhhh. I love the chorus.

And, voila:

I thought I would offer this out to anyone who might want it -- since I know at least one of my friends also loves that quote -- in case anyone else wants to print it out and hang it up in their office, or carry it in their wallet and pull it out anytime they get mocked for saying "y'all". (It is a totally legitimate word!!)

So if you are a proud Southerner who may or may not have a rocking chair on your porch and a soft spot in your heart for the Mississippi River, leave me a comment or e-mail me at werejustdandy@gmail.com and I'll send you the file.

blogging to you live from.... {wbthirty}

{What is wbthirty?}

Maybe I'm alone in this, but I always think it's fun to see pictures of other people's desks. This may have something to do with my weird obsession with office supplies and desk organization (I could spend hours in The Container Store. True story.).

In case anyone else shares my voyeuristic nature, this is where I blog (And do homework. And eat breakfast. And straighten my hair. And show Ike Youtube videos of dogs barking):

{If not, here's the Ikeskidoodles video for your viewing pleasure.}

When I made my "new year's roshalution" to be more creative, I decided I needed to be surrounded by inspiration...in the form of word art. My original plan was to create a "wall of quotes" but I was a little too ambitious with that goal. What I ended up with was 5 framed quotes.

"To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make the soul grow. So do it." -Kurt Vonnegut


+ some more temporary quotes to the right of me.

"In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock." --Thomas Jefferson (Who knew he was so fashion forward?)

The big bulletin board (framed with something I found at a thrift store and spray painted) is a mish-mash of things that make me happy and some more inspiration: a map and postcards from Portland, OR; a vintage postcard of Tiger Stadium; a picture of my dad finishing a marathon; a picture of some of my best friends and I at my wedding; Saints cupcake flags.



It may sound crazy, but I think being surrounded by this stuff really has helped my productivity/creativity.

Where do you blog?

baaaa.

Okay, I'm caving.

I need something to jump start my blogging. You may have seen the "30 day blog challenge" floating around, and I'm going to be honest -- I think it's kind of boring.

But I'm still going to do it.

Mine will be different, I swear! For me, the challenge won't just be writing every day, but trying to make it relatively interesting. Feel free to let me know if I fail miserably.

Plus, I made a graphic. And gave it a name: The Writer's Block Thirty.

See? Exciting already!

The list below is what you can expect. I changed some of the topics to try to make the whole thing slightly more interesting. They still might change...especially the bold ones. Any suggestions?

If anyone wants to embark on this slightly boring/potentially entertaining journey with me, feel free.

Day 1 - blogging to you live from...

Day 2 - favorite song

Day 3 - a song that makes me cry (or nearly)

Day 4 - a post on books
Day 5 - much love monday - as seen at Much Love

Day 6 - a favorite quote

Day 7 - a few of my favorite things

Day 8 - a photo taken over ten years ago of me

Day 9 - If I had a million dollars

Day 10 - a wanderlist

Day 11 -a house tour

Day 12 - my top 5 blogs
Day 13 - a week of outfits {because I secretly wish I were a fashion blogger}

Day 14 - today I believe as seen at a diary of little things and curiosities

Day 15 - fill in the blank friday -- as seen at The Little Things We Do

Day 16 - something quirky about you

Day 17 - my wedding

Day 18 - my day in great detail

Day 19 - a talent of mine {Other than my Shakira impression, which I'm not willing to post on the internet, my talents are limited}

Day 20 - a picture from a year ago; a picture from today
Day 21 - a recipe

Day 22 - the weirdest thing I own

Day 23 - favorite movie

Day 24 - where I live {region, state, city, house, wherever}
Day 25 - my day, in great detail

Day 26 - a collection

Day 27 - my worst habit

Day 28 - whats in my purse

Day 29 - hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 - a dream for the future

Scholarly Ike says, "I am approximately 105% more interesting than this."

Well, Scholarly Ike, you're probably right. So fear not, Mr. Puppy Pants. I will still alert the world to any interesting Ike/Dandy happenings while this little experiment is taking place. Don't get your collar in a twist.

just like the movies

You know that cliche, oh-so-hilarious moment that happens in just about every movie ever; where someone is sleeping and is lured awake by a dog licking them? And while it's happening, of course the lickee thinks that their lovaaa is the one licking them? Hilarious.

That totally happened to me the other morning. Sort of.

You see, I woke up to some incredibly passionate puppy kisses. But unlike every character that this has ever fictionally happened to, I knew it was Ike. So I started hitting* him repeatedly. It didn't stop. I started hitting him harder.

But nothing worked. The licking continued. And that, my friends, was the moment I realized I was beating up my husband.

don't mess with us.

*When I say "hitting", I don't mean in an animal cruelty type of way. I mean in a half asleep, shoving, attempt to get him off of me way. And anyway, as you would have seen had you made it to the end of the story, it doesn't matter anyway.

my vicarious med school training is paying off/Chicago

As the wife of a med student, I am totally qualified to diagnose people.

So I'm diagnosing myself with Seasonal Affective Disorder -- the summer version.

I wouldn't say I get clinically depressed or anything, but this quote -- from someone who actually claims to have the disorder -- describes me perfectly. Not to be dramatic or anything...

''I actually feel kind of attacked by the sun. I feel like it's piercing into me, and I start to feel more and more desperate to escape it. I have a hard time organizing and managing daily life. By August, I'm barely able to function and don't really recover until autumn. October is reliably a good month. I feel like I'm being released from my summer, what I would call, jail cell.''

I used to think I hated summer because I was always The Pale Girl in a sea of tans or because my frizzy hair just did not cooperate. Now that pale is in and I have my hands on some frizz products that actually work I'm not in high school and don't care as much about fitting in, I'm positive it has something to do with the heat.

This picture just looks cold and it makes me happy.

All this to say that my trip to Chicago -- a plunge into fall, rather than Louisiana's gradual, 1 degree at a time version -- was the perfect medicine.

Wearing a scarf in September in Louisiana is almost unheard of

Red velvet pancakes from The Bongo Room and spending quality time with friends who don't mind laying on the ground for a photo op didn't hurt either. And the trip ended the way any good trip (or any day, really) should, with some very successful internet stalking detective work.

And I'm happy to say I wore the skirt that was subject to a drive by fashion critique with no negative comments. Success!

But a girl can only be away from home and live on donuts and pancakes for so long -- it was good to get home to these guys, just in time for blissful October.

happy october!