the laanba blog

Portraits

laanba — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:45:47 -0600

I don't change easily. Chalk it up to my Taurus tendencies, my shyness, my social anxiety. Whatever reason, change is hard. I've had my avatar icon since November 2010. A year and three months. I felt it was time to change, but I will admit to some anxiety in the process.

First off, let's not kid ourselves. I'm not a portrait photographer and certainly no where in the league of Slight Clutter who took my last photograph. Also I'm not comfortable with the subject matter (i.e. me!). Depending on my mood in April I may take a new portrait for my 40th birthday. But for now, a new face.

Revival

laanba — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:11:33 -0600

I've let musicals slide by me the past few years. I've seen some, but not nearly as many as I used to. It is a combination of lack of money, diverted attention and just not feeling it for some of the titles coming into town. Well that won't be the case next year. Theater Under the Stars and Broadway Across America have announced their season line ups for 2012-2013 and I can assure you that it will be a big musical year for me.

On Theater Under the Stars list I want to see:
Camelot - Never seen it but it is one of those classics that I want to check off.

Flashdance - You just know this one is going to be all kinds of fun.

Man of La Mancha - I saw a college production once but I want to see a full staged production.

Spamalot - This show sits at the top of my all time favorites list in the Musical Comedy category (along with Will Rogers Follies). I would never miss a chance to see it.

Broadway Across America's line up is just as fantastic:

Catch Me If You Can - I've heard some of the music. It is (please pardon me) quite catchy and it should be a visually beautiful production.

Sister Act - It is a story about a choir. I think as a choir director I'm legally obligated to go.

Jersey Boys - Saw it already and absolutely loved it. I was on a high for days afterwards.

Wicked - This is an event any time it is in town. It is an amazing production with great sets, effects and music. If you haven't seen it you should next time you have the chance. This will be time #3 for me (pretty sure it's #3 and not #4.... I'm getting old!!).

Beauty and the Beast - I saw this once a very long time ago. It was one of the first things I saw when I moved to Houston. I sat in crappy seats way on the side of the mezzanine. I was moved to tears and I have longed to see it again. It was a stunningly beautiful production. I am very happy it is coming back and I will definitely be in better seats this time (yes, I'm a seat snob).

Les Miserables - My most favorite musical of all time. I think this will be time #7. I've heard they are doing a movie and I am wary, but I will never tire of seeing Les Mis live in person.

I feel like I've been drifting and a little unlike myself without my musical fix every month or so. So glad to be back.

Whitney

laanba — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:34:58 -0600

The epitome of an '80s song and video. In other words the epitome of my childhood. I hope that she and those who loved her will eventually find peace.

Designs and Plans

laanba — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:59:54 -0600

I've done a design update on my photoblog and I'm quite happy with the results. I haven't done a major design overhaul since I first started at Pixyblog in 2008. It feels good to have a fresh look to my photos and I'm quite happy with the finished product. Make sure to click around to see the appearing and disappearing photo information and take a peek at my new about page photo (well not new.. but new to the about page).

As for plans, hey guess what? I'm going to Disney World! And Harry Potter World! And NASA World! Err... that last one may be known as Kennedy Space Center. I booked my airplane ticket today to go see my cousin in Orlando during Spring Break. It will be my first visit to Florida and my first time at a Disney property. I'm not sure my inner child, who grew up on Disney, is going to be able to handle it. Thirty-six days and counting!

January Resolution Check In

laanba — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:57:22 -0600

I want to do a progress report on my resolutions. Before I go into details I want to say I am very happy with the way I've approached them this year. Having lots of small concrete steps is definitely much better for me than having some vague overall goal. Even if I fail at half of them I am still making progress forward. And that is what this is all about right? Progress forward in my life. So here's how I did in January along with some changes I'm making.

Photography
1.) 52 week mirror project - I did two of five. Oh well. I'll keep trying

2.) Instagram Color Wheel - I rapidly dropped the color wheel part because I wanted to take photos of other things and I found it silly to ignore photo opportunities. I have changed this one now to Instagram 3x a week. I hope to use it to develop my iPhone photography which is something that is fun for me. I have already gotten into the habit of checking Instagram every day. Now I just need to find some other inspiring iPhone photographers to follow.

3.) Everyday App - I did pretty well with this one. I didn't take a photo everyday in January but almost. I have a video of the January photos here.

4.) Photowalk Twice a Month - I attended a meet-up at the zoo and that was fun, but I did not go out on any individual photowalks. I'm leaving this one here though because I definitely want to do this.

Food & Drink
1.) Make a Weekly Meal Plan - I'm getting better at this one. It will be necessary to tie into my next step. My eventual hope is that if I know I have food at home I won't be tempted to pick something up on the way home from work.

2.) Vegetable Dish Once a Week - I'm dumping this one. I kept having images of overcooked vegetables swimming in a sauce. Not that the dishes I made would have to be like that but it just wasn't appealing. There were times this month when I just wanted a salad but that wouldn't have fit the definition so that goal is out. In its place I am putting Fresh Cooking 3x a week. This means finding recipes or cooking with fresh ingredients and avoiding recipes that use over processed ingredients. So things like Hamburger Helper does not count as fresh cooking (my comfort food... don't judge). I think cutting out processed foods and sticking with fresh foods will benefit me the most in the long run. I will also be working on incorporating these meals into my work lunches to extend the benefits because right now lunch is usually take out, something from the cafeteria or frozen lunches which are highly processed.

3.) Bake Twice a Month - The idea was to bake twice a month and then in between times not snack on sweets. I did make something twice this month, but that didn't stop my sugar tooth in between. I'll keep working on it. I also wanted to bake from scratch but one of the times I used the mix. Small steps. I'll get there. The bigger hurdle for this one is cutting down the sweet snacking in between.

4.) Drink More Water and Tea - Didn't do so great on this one. Will keep plugging away at it.

Personal Improvement
1.) Track Spending - Slow start. I was doing so great at this in the fall and I've just fallen out of the habit. I'll get it back.

2.) Get Involved with a Charity - Not yet, but I knew this one would evolve over time.

3.) Put Things Away - I was doing fabulously with this one for about the first half of the month and then I fell off the wagon. I am tempted to blame it on work, but I want to do these habits whether work is hard or not because work is always hard.

4.) Make the Thought Count - I passed on a gift card that I didn't want to someone that I knew could use it. Other than that not much happening here but I definitely have had some ideas. It is executing the ideas that needs the work.

Feel Good/Look Good
1.) One Piece of Clothing Each Month - I did this! In fact I found two new shirts, one of them for conducting concerts. Now I need to remove things from my closet to balance them out.

2.) One Girlie Magazine Every Other Month - I dumped this one. I wrote earlier about how the magazines skeeved me out. I'll explain what I replaced it with in item 4.

3.) Look Best Each Time I Go Out - This one has completely changed my morning routine. I still haven't gotten into the habit of night showers and there have been a few days where I went back to the old way, but I can definitely see progress in this task.

4.) Walk/Ride Fives Times a Week - I'm splitting this goal up into two goals (one replacing the girlie magazine). One goal is the 10,000 steps a day which I blogged about here. It will probably take me all year to get there, but it is a worthy goal. The other goal is to bike once a week. On the days that I ride my bike I am dropping my step goal (or lowering it, I don't know yet). The overall idea is to become more generally active.

Free Time
1.) 15 Books in 2012 - As of this morning I've read 4 books. I am trying to slowly turn my down time to reading time instead of hanging out on the computer. I've decided to bump this goal up to 20 books in 2012. Definitely doable.

2.) Reduce Screen Time - Thanks to my reading kick this has seen some progress. I still feel some withdrawal symptoms so I know I am still addicted to the screen. It will get better over time.

3.) Weekly Fun List - I didn't do this at all because I don't think it ever really made sense to me. I'm changing it to a Weekly To Do List. This can include tings like laundry, or paying a bill but it should also include events or lectures around town and things I want to see or do. Things to keep me active. Hopefully this wording change will get this one going.

4.) Blog Four Times a Week- I haven't been keeping count, but I know I have been blogging a lot more consistently than I have in a long time. That's a good thing and makes me happy.

So here we go with month #2 of 2012. Incremental progress ahead!

Everyday January 2012

laanba — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:03:02 -0600

Well mostly everyday. One of my goals for the year was to take a no fuss self portrait with the Everyday app. I made it 21 out of 31 days in January. Here is the video.

Theft of Swords

laanba — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:52:39 -0600

The last time I remember looking Goodreads did not have a generic html review option. You could export your review to Wordpress and Tumblr I think, but not Typepad and no generic option. In fact I submitted it as a support ticket as a suggestion. I'm going to pretend I am the reason they have it today. I wrote a review of this book (something I don't normally do) and saw the blog html on the side. So yay! I guess that means I will be writing more reviews.

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a slow reader. It isn't often I read a book in 2 days, but that is exactly what happened with Theft of Swords. I stumbled across it on Amazon purely by happenstance and I'm so glad I bought it. It isn't high fantasy or deep thought provoking fantasy and most definitely not the grim fantasy that is in fashion. It is just pure fun with two main characters that have quickly moved towards the top of my "people I would like to hang out with" list. I love the banter (man I love witty dialogue...), the story and even though I could sometimes see plot points coming from a mile away it didn't bother me. Instead of saying "that was obvious" I instead was saying "I knew it!" and couldn't wait to see how the other characters reacted.

I have always been drawn to these kind of light reads starting with my first foray into fantasy with the Myth Adventures and carrying into The Belgariad and Harry Potter. I am glad to find this type of fun read out there because it is few and far between. People always try to point me to satires but they just aren't the same for me. A good story, with fun and smart characters that sweeps me away is always a pleasure. I need to slow down though because there are only two more books and it will be over far too soon.

HB to WAM

laanba — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:24:48 -0600

Happy Birthday to the greatest of them all. His music is so popular it is almost cliche, but he was my first love in classical and will always be my favorite.

10,000

laanba — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:53:38 -0600

I bought a pedometer (a new gadget, yay!) I haven't really been walking like I want to but I bought one anyway. I want to be able to track my walks (when I actually do them) and the popular Run Keeper app wasn't working for me. It would track my walk sort of but it massively overinflated the distance I traveled. I guess the GPS had a hard time tracking me.

I decided to instead track my steps with a pedometer. The number that is all over the internet is that you are supposed to walk 10,000 steps a day. Today was my first day with the pedometer and I clocked in 5910. That is actually better than I thought it ws going to be. I really thought it would be 2 or 3,000. Being a music teacher helps since I am constantly on my feet. And now I have a goal in front of me. Get to 10,000. I'm going to get there a little at a time. Goal #1 is to get to 6,000 on a consistent basis. That should be easy. Or easier on weekedays that is.

Walk, walk, walk.

Peterson

laanba — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:21:47 -0600

I pay my respects here every time I am in Glenwood. When I met Martha Peterson she was the co-chair of the GHPA walking tours. She was always so nice to me and encouraging of my photography at Glenwood.

She worked with me the first time I brought photographers for a meet-up there and she would always stop and talk to me if I ran into her while shooting there. Martha is the reason that my photo is on the Glenwood Cemetery website, something I am very proud of. She was a wonderful lady.

You can see more photos from this roll of film (yes film!) here in the photoblog cemetery gallery (the first 7).