Tuesday’s treadmill tracks…. and more

I love my iPod. Love. Love. LOVE. I know I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating. I love my iPod like it’s my child. My short, squat, shiny, teal-colored child who gets lost in my purse and sings kickbutt songs in my ears, making my workouts freakin’ joyous, okay?

*le sigh*

When I’m on my walks, I put my iPod on shuffle. I like surprises. I like not knowing which song might pop up next. Right now there are over 800 songs on there, so there’s really no way to guess what I’ll be hearing. Here’s what my iPod served up for me during my 7 mile walk yesterday. (Just clicky the linky to catch each song on Youtube if that’s your thing.)


1. “Rock and Roll Music” – Mental As Anything

2. “Cool” – Gwen Stefani

3. “Hungry Town” – Big Pig

4. “Suddenly Mary” – The Posies (Sorry, I could only find a cruddy live version of the song on YouTube. *sniff*)

5. “Female Of The Species” – Space

6. “Eleanor” – Low Millions

7. “Can’t Buy Me Love” – The Beatles

8. “Where The Streets Have No Name (Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You)” – Pet Shop Boys

9. “Never Enough” – The Cure

10. “Out There” – Disney’s The Hunchback Of Notre Dame

11. “Way Back Into Love” – Hugh Grant and Haley Bennett (from the Music and Lyrics soundtrack)

12. “Accio Hagrid” – Harry and the Potters (Again, sorry for the sub-par live version link!)

13. “Statue” – Low Millions



14. “Summer Of Love” (Summer Party Remix) – The B-52’s

15. “Eight Days A Week” – The Beatles

16. “Hella Good” – No Doubt

17. “Being Boring” – Pet Shop Boys



18. “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” – Queen

19. “No Spill Blood” – Oingo Boingo

20. “Heartbreak On Vinyl” – Blake Lewis



21. “Get Down” – The Squirrels (Sorry, no link for this one. Booooooo.)

22. “Whataya Want From Me?” – Adam Lambert

23. “Ex-Girlfriend” – No Doubt



24. “Beds Are Burning” – Midnight Oil

25. “Bohemian Rhapsody” – Queen

26. “Tell Me When Did Things Go So Wrong?” – The Smithereens (Jeeeeez. Couldn’t find a link for this gem either. Whattheheck, Youtube????)

27. “Flood” – Jars Of Clay

28. “Fresh” – Kool & The Gang

29. “Angel In The Snow” – A-ha

30. “Barbarella” – The Bongos

31. “Channel Z” – The B-52’s

32. “Hollaback Girl” – Gwen Stefani

33. “Black Horse & The Cherry Tree” – KT Tunstall

34. “Dressed In Black” – Depeche Mode

35. “Wild Wild Life” – Talking Heads

36. “Friday I’ll Be Over You” – Allison Iraheta

37. “Something’s Always Wrong” – Toad The Wet Sprocket

38. “Let’s Just Fall In Love Again” – Jason Castro


Ohhhhh, iPod, how I love thee!

Anyway….


Here’s the latest update on my Project 365:


Day 28 (2012-01-28) ~ My hubba hubba hubby, Scope, tried to write my name with a flashlight in the dark! Awwwwwwwwwwwwww. :-)




Day 29 (2012-01-29) ~ I was playing around with oil pastels, a macro lens and Picnik's gooify editing tool. I think I kind of like the way it turned out!




Day 30 (2012-01-30) ~ And, well, I guess I figured it was time for a self portrait.




Upon further inspection, it may also be time for a haircut.

© Coracabana

The one where Froot Loops and feelings fly!

Hiya, Blogaritaville!

I have a few more pictures to share with you from my second attempt at Project 365. First though, I must admit I am enjoying the project a whole lot more this time around. Maybe it’s because I have a better camera now. Or maybe it’s all the fancy lenses my new camera has. Or maybe I’m just feeling a little more adventurous with my picture taking. I dunno. Whatever the reason, I’m finding that this time Project 365 is much more fun. So, wheeeeeeee!


Day 24 (2012-01-24) ~ Hey, looky! A levitating Froot Loop! Sa-weet!




Day 25 (2012-01-25) ~ **description has been censored through no control of my own: sorry**




Day 26 (2012-01-26) ~ Strawberry Shortcake was my favorite toy when I was a kid. I had dozens of Strawberry Shortcake Dolls and my room smelled just like a bakery. Mmmmmmm! When I was 17, I sold them all in a garage sale and regretted it ever since. (Perhaps that's why the Jessie being given away to the Goodwill scene in Toy Story 2 KILLS me every time I see it. *sniffle*) The past few years I have slowly been rebuilding my old collection on eBay. The collection is almost complete again!




Day 27 (2012-01-27) ~ **description and picture have been censored through no control of my own: sorry**

© Coracabana

A cuppa hot bokeh

Day 20 (2012-01-20) ~ Space: The final frontier! I wanted to try my hand again at yesterday's experiment with water, oil and food coloring. I love how this one turned out, all dark and Sci-Fi-looking!




Day 21 (2012-01-21) ~ How icicles form in the windy city.




Day 22 (2012-01-22) ~ I was out walking around the alleyways taking more pictures of icicles today when I noticed this tangle of barbed wire silhouetted against the cloudy white sky. What would you think this barbed wire mess is protecting, hmm?.... A bank?.... A gun shop?.... A jail?.... Nope. It's protecting a BAKERY, of all places! Ha!




Day 23 (2012-01-23) ~ This was a tricky attempt at the bokeh effect which didn't turn out quite as I was hoping for. I couldn't get the lighting on the cup quite the way I wanted it and I don't think I had the cup as far away from the string of lights in the background as I should have. I tried to adjust the poor lighting in Photo Shop, but still wasn't liking any of the results.... until I inverted the image. Wow! I actually gasped when I saw it like this! I still want to re-shoot the original setup in another location where I can better control the lighting, but until then this will do juuuuuuust fine. :-)




More will be served up sooooooooooon!

© Coracabana

And so it begins…. (Again.)

I attempted Project 365 once a couple years ago, but I heartlessly abandoned it when life got too chaotic to care about taking a picture every day. This year I am trying it again—only differently.

I am adjusting the rules a little bit, making it more user-friendly. This time, if I screw it up and forget to take a picture for a day or two will the whole project be dead to me and ditched like a dirty diaper because it’s hopelessly ruined? Heck no! This time if life gets in the way and I forget to do a photo—*light bulb moment*—I’ll just take two the next day.

(I don’t know why I didn’t think of that last time—duh.)

(And, please, I’ve already had to bend the rules twice in the last 19 days, so I think I can say with confidence that making it user-friendly is a nifty plan.)

(Clearly.)

(Ahem.)

And, hey, it’s not like the Project 365 Fairies are going to go postal if I contort the rules a wee little bit, right? I mean, really, I’m pretty sure they have bigger things to worry about…. like the fact that there are 366 days this year, not 365. (D’oh!)

Anyway, here is what I have accomplished in this year’s Project 365 so far.


DAY 1 (2012-01-01) ~ Visiting Seattle for the holidays. I had forgotten how thick the moss is out there. The trees all looked like Oscar the Grouch!




DAY 2 (2012-01-02) ~ My friend Callista's uber-cute dog.




DAY 3 (2012-01-03) ~ I found this on a wall near the Pike Place Market in Seattle. Bizarre. I have no words.




DAY 4 (2012-01-04) ~ Okay. Fine. I cheated, okay? I forgot to take a picture on January 4 because I was busy with family stuff (Bad Cora! Bad!) So, I'm posting a second picture from January 3 to make up for it. It's the Gum Wall in Seattle.




DAY 5 (2012-01-05) ~ Taking a walk around Gene Coulon Park in Renton, WA.




DAY 6 (2012-01-06) ~ Again, call me a cheater. I was too busy to do a picture on Januray 6 (read: family stuff) so I'm posting a second picture from the 5th in its place. This was taken on my walk around Gene Coulon Park in Renton, WA.




DAY 7 (2012-01-07) ~ Flying home to Chicago. This was the view of Washington from above. Soooooooooo beautiful!




DAY 8 (2012-01-08) ~ A strange, wavy building in Chicago.




DAY 9 (2012-01-09) ~ The sunrise at Welles Park in Chicago.




DAY 10 (2012-01-10) ~ Mmmmmmmmm.




DAY 11 (2012-01-11) ~ My first bokeh attempt using Christmas tree lights. I'm not sure if it qualifies as good bokeh or not, but I kind of like it.




DAY 12 (2012-01-12) ~ Winter has FINALLY arrived in Chicago!




DAY 13 (2012-01-13) ~ A snowy day in the garden.




DAY 14 (2012-01-14) ~ Snow, snow, snow.




DAY 15 (2012-01-15) ~ Another bokeh attempt with Christmas tree lights.




DAY 16 (2012-01-16) ~ An adorable little birdhouse in the snow.




DAY 17 (2012-01-17) ~ My precious.




DAY 18 (2012-01-18) ~ Painting with an LED flashlight.




DAY 19 (2012-01-19) ~ What it looks like when you combine oil, water and food coloring all in one bowl. CooOOooOOool!




And that is what I have so far. Now that we are all caught up, I (hopefully!) will be posting my Project 365 pictures on a more regular basis in smaller posts. I will be using different cameras and trying different things. Some will be good, some won’t, but I hope you enjoy the journey with me.

© Coracabana

Like a bewildered, cranky groundhog being yanked from its den, I am emerging from The Holidaze. Hi, how ya doin’?

Alrighty, let’s just jump right in here. Our Christmases were fantastic, yet mind-bogglingly busy and time-sucking. Frankly, I’m still disoriented and wandering ditzily around in a blind, stupid stupor from it all. I’m going to assume you are too.

And, yes, I said Christmases.

Christmas #1 was spent with Scope’s parents in Kewanee, IL, where we channeled our inner Guy Fieri and played Minute To Win It (Scope’s sister’s idea) and, among other impossible hijinks, attempted to migrate Oreo’s from our foreheads into our mouths using only our facial muscles.



(Not easy, people. Not. Easy.)

(That’s Scope’s sister and nephew pictured above, by the way. *snicker*)

Christmas #2 was just the three of us in our home in Chicago, where my hubby gave me a fragment of Voldemort’s soul (aka a horcrux locket) that I had been eyeing for many a moon (wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!) and Santa visited and noshed himself into an uncomfortable food coma on all the candy-ified cookies we baked for him.



And Christmas #3 was with my family back in Seattle, where we visited the Pike Place Market, left our grody mark on the Gum Wall, hung out with Callista, and celebrated New Year’s Eve AND Christmas all in one night. *whew!*




Of course, Fernando Von Bakonstein was with us the entire time and he enjoyed himself, having lunch with Wednesday and my nephew….



….and having a mondo throw down with Simon from The Chipmunks….



….and hobnobbing with other porcine folk he met in the Pike Place Market….



….and slurping hot chocolate at Seattle’s Best Coffee….



….and, most especially, making faces with Wednesday at poor Scope as he slept on the flight back home.



(Tee hee hee.)

So far 2012 has been little more than a blur, honestly. (It’s the 19th already?! Really?!) I went whole hog and made several resolutions, instead of just one, which I intend to keep this year. My resolutions?:

1. To Eat Healthier Foods. So far so good on that effort! In fact, in the past 19 days I have not only tolerated oatmeal every morning (which I have utterly loathed my entire existence) but I have actually grown to love the stuff. I know! Me liking mushy slop?! No way! But—taa-daa!—it’s happened.

2. To Build Muscle Mass. I have been trying and failing to lose weight since moving to Chicago a year and a half ago. After beating myself up over it all this time, I finally realized what the problem probably is: loss of muscle mass. Back in Seattle I was a nanny, hoisting hefty kids around every day. Sure, it was murder on my back, but it was great for my rear! So, this year, I vow to get strong again. In fact, I filled a suitcase full of hardback books which I have been working out with and toting around almost daily. *whew!* A stronger Cora is in the making! (And hopefully a stronger Cora will fit back into all of Nanny Cora’s cute, teeny former clothes. *fingers crossed*)

3. To Speak The Truth And Not Sugar Coat Things In A Misguided Effort To Try To Keep The Jerks Of The World Calm. This doormat is done playing nicely now. *pounding my fist into my hand*

4. To Take A Picture Each And Every Day In My Second Attempt At Project 365. You may recall I attempted Project 365 back in 2009/2010, but I abandoned it because life got too crazy what with my tonsillectomy, the wedding, and the cross-country move. With everything that was going on, taking a daily picture just fell right off of my list of priorities. I kind of regret that though. I wish I had kept the project up because I would love to have photos documenting my old Seattle house going from bustling home to bare rooms filled with packing boxes, but the sad fact is that I didn’t do it. I felt like I didn’t have time to take a picture every day. (But, really, how much time would it have taken?) Of course, there will be days I screw up and forget to do a picture, inevitably, but when that happens this time I won’t just drop the whole project and walk away, I’ll just take two pictures the next day to even it all out. (See? Thinking!) So far it’s been going splendiferously! I will be posting the project’s pictures here starting with my next post. I hope you guys enjoy seeing them as much as I’m loving taking them.

5. To Get My Bloggy Groove Back And Blog More Often. I figure Project 365 will help with that, right? :-)

So, anyway, Happy New Year!



Up next: Project 365. Stay tuned!

© Coracabana