See Ya Later 2009!

My 2009 has, like many others', been full of ups and downs.

Certainly on paper it looks like its been a lot of downs, including the whole lack of job situation, the ever present thoughts in my head (wtf am I doing with my life? where is my career going? do I even have a career? and (possibly my most thought question) how much would selling all of my stuff get me, and what far away country can I move to and wait this whole "recession" out in?) certainly seem to back up that this year has been crappy and stressful and downright depressing at times. I am so glad that 2009 is on its way out the door - if only because its the year I got dumped by my 2 year old career, and its the year I learned the ins and outs of COBRA and the ever so difficult unemployment office.

However, it hasn't been all bad, this year numbered 2009. In some ways it has been one of the best years of my life. I know that I've only seen 24 years, but this one certainly takes the cake in a TON of ways.

I got laid off on a Friday, and even though it was the absolute worst thing that has happened to me in a long while I had three things to guide me through the first weekend, and then the next 10 months, that have helped me make this the best year of my life:

Hi Ho Hi Ho

I found this image in an old e-mail today from my friend D. Its from a collection of WWII propoganda posters and it makes me giggle. I am clearly easily amused.

Santa's takes a break from toys

to rescue some beach goers in Australia. Also, apparently, Santa is only 15. Who knew? Maybe its like the whole Dread Pirate Roberts deal, where its the name that counts, not the person. Because who would be excited to get a chimney visit from Mr. Wesley Kringle?

Here is the link.

Colbert, you make me laugh...

For those who haven't yet seen the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, here is a photo from the cover shoot ( I think this is the one they used for the cover).

 I'm sure there is a great article in there talking about how and why he's sponsoring the US Speedskating team for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, but the cover is really all I need to know that I'm rooting for the Colbert Nation in Vancouver.

Mad Libs

While waiting in line to see Avatar, Taylore and I were playing MadLibs on her iPhone (seriously, what the hell did I do while waiting in line for movies before my iPhone???). The following is our favorite one:

VACATIONSA vacation is when you take a trip to some bountiful
ADJECTIVE place with your sweaty
ADJECTIVE family. Usually you go to some place that is near a/an oozie
NOUN or up on a/an line in the sand
NOUN. A good vacation place is one where you can ride pangolin
ANIMAL (PLURAL) or play twister
GAME or go hunting for bingo cards
PLURAL NOUN. I like to spend my time massacuring
VERB ENDING IN 'ING' or festering
VERB ENDING IN 'ING'. When parents go on a vacation, they spend their time eating three burrotos
FOOD (PLURAL) a day, and fathers play golf, and mothers sit around mating
VERB ENDING IN 'ING'. Last summer, my little brother fell in a/an cow
NOUN and got poison daisy
PLANT all over his elbow
PART OF THE BODY. My family is going to go to hell
PLACE, and I will practice wearing
VERB ENDING IN 'ING'. Parents need vacations more than kids because parents are always very flashy
ADJECTIVE and because they have to work 42
NUMBER hours every day all year making enough soldiers
PLURAL NOUN to pay for the vacation.


More on Avatar later...

Shelled Octopi

Here is an amusing article (with AWESOME video) of octopi and coconut shells:

Octopi Running with Shells

Happy Friday, and holiday break!

One in Seven

Did you know that one in seven people on this planet live in slum settlements?

Designers around the world are coming together to help provide underprivileged people with homes with roofs, schools for their children, and clean water systems, but at this rate, by 2020 it is estimated that one in three people in this world will live in slums.

I feel like now is a perfect time to highlight one of my favorite non-profits (and the one I'd most like to work for): Architecture for Humanity.

Check out their website: www.architectureforhumanity.org

Their book, Design Like You Give a Damn, is sort of my bible for design. Of all of the books in my bookcase its the one I find most inspiring (thank you Lindz), the one that pushes me to think that design really can change the world, and that I can be a part of that.

Please check out Architecture for Humanity, and if you're on twitter follow them @archforhumanity for loads of updates, lecture links, and a whole ton of other things.

I'm back! *cough cough*

ninacathedral
Originally uploaded by az.lynn

Back from our family cruise to Mexico (a birthday celebration for my Grandma's 80th)! Other than getting bronchitis - as Taylore says, "What kind of cruise were you on?" - it was a fun 8.5 days, with loads of photos and some card playing and wine drinking.

Slowly I'll get through these photos, although not too slowly, I'm making a dvd of our trip for everyone, and you'll see them start to show up on my flickr page...

Oh NPH!

NPH and Frosty the Snowman.

A totally inappropriate mash up of NPH and Frosty the Snowman.

Thank you CBS for making my day.

Things related to the XX persuasion...

For some reason today I'm feeling like some crazed woman concerned with the well being of women around the world (actually, that is sort of my every day mode now that I think about it). I think its just the overwhelming number of feminist posts on Jezebel today - and considering its a site for women it seemed to be a heavier day than most.

So here's what has been on my mind today, with the links that caught my eye:

1. The best way to fight climate change/global warming is population control. DUH! I've always been a firm believer that people need to get better about that whole pesky birth control thing, and that trying to control the human population is the best measure we as a species can take for salvaging this world we live on. Its nice to see mainstream media starting to talk about the negative effects population growth has on many of our environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability issues at home and abroad. Here's an article from today's Telegraph describing the organization POP Offset's family planning and carbon offset program.
   
2. The UN Foundation and Nike Foundation have teamed up to work in Ethiopian villages to educate families against child marriages. On average, girls in Ethiopia are 15 when they are married off - preventing them from any educational opportunities that may be available to them and furthering the spread of HIV/AIDs. Check out The Daily Beast's article on this exciting and already successful program!
3. Here's a question for you, why does Forbes Magazine measure a woman's worth in terms of influence instead of financial terms as they do with men? Here's an interesting article from Jezebel today. I actually think that a list of influential women is more interesting than a list of women's salaries and investment portfolios, but that's because I care more about what people do, than how much they are fiscally worth. I also agree that Forbes magazine probably doesn't want to get involved in the Men/Women pay gap issue and that that is most likely the main reason for measuring a woman's worth in terms of her influence over her finances.
   
4. Apparently the reason Americans (and other crazed fans abroad too) are so in love with the Twilight story and Edward and Bella's relationship is because its abusive. Not surprising, I guess. As a society we dig abusive relationships in our fairy tales, and furthermore I think we have trouble counting fictional relationships (and then actual relationships) as romantic if they don't have an edge of abuse to them - and I find that thought incredibly terrifying. Isn't it wrong that some of our favorite stories are based off of abusive relationships? I mean Beauty & the Beast (he locked her up in a building and threatened to kill her if she left), Peter Pan & Wendy didn't exactly have the sanest relationship either (especially in Hook - that whole you're old so I'm moving on to your grand daughter bit is bizarre), and now Edward & Bella (I can't live without, but I'll probably kill you, and then I'm going to go off myself) - its totally WACK! This LJ post goes through some of the criteria of an abusive relationship, as defined by the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and finds that 15, I argue 14, of the NDVH's criteria for abusive relationships are met in Edward and Bella's relationship. And this is now the most accepted and known relationship example for teenagers in our country - I am seriously concerned.

With that I wish you a good night, and encourage all of my independent and strong willed girl friends to keep up the good work and to stay away from over bearing vampire boyfriends ;)

Urban parks need help!

And you can help out by going onto the American Society of Landscape Architect's page here:

ASLA Advocacy for Urban Parks

Thanks!