Creating
My website: Chelleart.net! I spent the entire weekend working on it and I just completed some final touches. It's finally up and running. The image is actually one of my line drawings, which I scanned and colored in Adobe Photoshop. I'm in the process of putting together a design template for the Portfolio section of the website, which will exhibit both my art and writing. I'm also working on a new design for this blog, but I like the look and feel of it right now, so it's not high on the priority list.

Reading
The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor. I'm reading one short story a day. I always get disappointed after finishing a great book, because I know when I open it up again, I won't be reading it as something new, unknown. So, I'm treasuring these stories, slowly making my way from one page to the next, and frankly I'm enjoying it more! It gives me more time to reflect on the piece, and while I'm anxious to move on to the next tale, I remind myself that certain literary treats are more captivating in moderation.

I just finished a story called Wildcat about a frail man who is having a difficult time accepting the condition of old age, while his community is vexed by a loose wildcat. He wants to help with the hunt, but he is reminded of his incompetence by the younger men, who tell him to stay with the women so he will be safe. I'm slightly reading it as a feminist piece, interpreting the man's shame at being associated with the women as gender bias - but the imagery surrounding the wildcat also reminds me of the harbinger of Death. The man smells this cat as though he smells Death. He fears it, and in the end, accepts it as his fate. I think I'm falling in love with Flannery O'Connor's words more and more each day.

Liz Elayne's blog archives. I always tell people that the best way to get to know me is to read what I've written. I think that should be a fairly universal approach.

Listening
The Fray's How to Save a Life over and over again. It has been my theme song since the premiere of this season's Grey's Anatomy. Like so many other things, it reminds me of the relationship H & I share. I still wish, I still think I can save his life - and this song is helping me come to terms with the things I cannot change.

Anticipating
Montclair State University's High School Band Festival. I will watch my 14 year old brother perform with the band for the first time. I reminded my parents to bring along blankets and a thermos full of hot chocolate, as the performance is held outdoors and runs for a few hours in the afternoon til late in the evening. All these years, I thought I was the only one doing any "growing up" in the house - but I seemed to have forgotten my brother. One day, he is collecting Pokemon cards, and the next, he's asking me to drive him to his crush's house to give her a hug. I wasn't a very good sister when he was young, but I've made it a priority to change that. Cool Big Sis Status, here I come! <<<- I think that little outburst just placed me in the uncool category. Oh well, it's a work in progress.

Caresse's soon-to-be employee discount at Barnes and Noble!

Trick or treating.

Seeing these movies:


Missing
Fathima. Med school has kidnapped my best friend and I desperately want her back. Her next batch of exams are in November, therefore I am taking some initiative and scheduling a Best Friend day with her after the fact. It is so odd to "schedule" an outing with this person, whose part in my life is that of a big sister. Even though her time is limited, she somehow makes just enough time for me when I'm in the middle of a crisis. You know that one person in your life that you thought you were so lucky to have found? Well for me, that person is Fathima - and I beam with pride that she is my friend. Treasure the time you spend with your best friends! You don't know if they'll be taken hostage by a labcoat and Biochem textbooks in the future!

Tamara. I could not have made a better friend in college. And to think, we began as strangers, as a pair of roommates involuntarily assigned to live together. Residence Life really knew what is was doing when they paired up the both of us. No one complements me as well as she, down to the neurotic behavior, the love of photography, and the unabashed love for pulpy paperback fiction by V.C. Andrews. I haven't seen her in weeks, but her birthday is coming up in November so I will definitely be treating her to a fun day of Broadway and crepes in NYC.

Jona. I wish her law school was not so far, far away. This girl keeps me insane, in a good way.

Summer and all its hot, lazy days.

Eating
A delicious breaded chicken and bacon wrap with a side of onion rings - soon followed by a couple of breath mints.

Drinking
A cup of Hazelnut coffee brewed by the swanky coffee machine at KPMG.

Thinking
I should call Melissa and Raeleen before they think I've crossed them out of my life. I think another reunion with those people called my friends (lol) is way past due. They are also missed, as are sushi.

Enjoying
Downtime in the office.

Teasing my little brother about his current love interest.

My room's progress. The closet shelves and bifold doors need to be attached, but after that I can finally move in and design my space! My dad could be a contractor after all, even though it's taking him over three years to finish the house. Pictures coming soon.

This post was inspired by Liz Elayne's Good Morning/Evening Monday posts. I am currently delving into her archives like it is a Jane Austen novel. And I think I will follow in her footsteps and make Tuesday Tidings a weekly event.

Labels: Weekly Tidings