New Puppy!

We got our new puppy today!

She is 4 months old and weighs 8 pounds. We adopted her from an organization called Pooches On The Move. She was abandoned in a park in Tennessee. She had a long journey to get her but she is home now! She is the most sociable pup I have ever met. When we took her to PetSmart she had to go visit every person she saw. She is so small that when her tail wags her whole body wags. We actually ad to put her in the shopping cart because she was so easily distracted. She slept in my lap on the whole way home.

Then came the tricky part, introducing her to Bandit. They met outside on “neutral territory” so Bandit wouldn’t feel threatened in his own home. Bandit was indifferent to her, but she was constantly trying to keep up with him. She hasn’t quite got the hang of a leash yet but at least she doesn’t know how to get out of the collar like Bandit kept doing when we first got him. Things went alright when they got inside. Bandit keeps doing his typical protecting act. She keeps licking him, trying desperately to make friends, but Bandit just bares his teeth. I have faith though, it hasn’t even been one day yet. I know Bandit will come around. I keep trying to reinforce to him that he is top dog and always will be.

I am very nervous about how big she is going to get/what breed she is. She was listed as a dachshund/basset mix on the website however I can tell you there is absolutely no Basset hound in her. All of her papers say that she is a beagle cross which basically means she is a mutt but identifies most with the beagle breed. What made me nervous that when we took her in to PetSmart they asked if she was a Rotweiler puppy. Funny they said that because I had a dream earlier this week that when we went to pick her up she was a full grown 100 lb Rotweiler. So if anyone has any light on what she looks like or could be please let me know!

Like I told Tyler after we first picked her up – This could be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, or the absolute best thing. If her and Bandit become best friends which I am going to pray for every day, I don’t care how big she gets. (although there is a 60 lb limit on dogs that can live in our apartment complex) I will continue to chronicle our adventures with her regularly.

Time for an update

My good friend Tina Ross suggested I update and I figured it was time for an update. I have been at the new job for two weeks now, going into my third, and it has been great. The people are great, and it is such a creative environment. It reminds me of organizations and the community at home both in Mint Hill and Charlotte. The only negative comment is that I wish I were more connected to the area. Only a few people that work there grew up around the area, but I have such a hard time with change I feel it will be a challenge to establish myself in the community like my mother did for us in Mint Hill.

Moving on – We are moving into a two bedroom apartment in about three weeks. I am so excited because the kitchen is huge, there are two bathrooms, AND we have a deck! What could be better? I can finally begin a semi-garden. I am going to try not to think of the brutally cold months when we will not be able to use the deck, but hey, that’s what space heaters are for right!? Another development – and I don’t know how thought out or set in stone this is – but we may be adding another canine to the family! I found a basset hound/dachshund mix online and fell in love with her. It started as an innocent search to try and find a friend for Bandit while Tyler and I are at work during the day, but I came across this little dog and just have to have her. She looks very similar to Bandit and I just know they will be great friends. I will be hearing from the adoption center within the next 48 hours. Fingers Crossed! Oh, don’t tell my mom about this because she will be insanely against it. But you know, she was against me getting a dog in the first place and look what a blessing and angel Bandit turned out to be.

Speaking of Bandit and his latest antics. He actually ran up to the t.v. and put his paws on it while barking. Also, tonight Tyler was handing me an oreo and Bandit intercepted and put the whole cookie in his mouth. Don’t worry, we got it back but neither of us ate it. We also have an ant problem. They keep crawling into his bowl. We know they are there when he starts barking. He’s actually really smart in that he knows not to eat them. I am going to get him a raised bowl type apparatus but other wise I am at a loss. He doesn’t eat all at one time but goes and comes when he pleases. Maybe I should put him on a set schedule. I would be happy to hear any other suggestions anyone has. Our new apartment will be on the second floor so hopefully that won’t be a problem.

That’s all for now folks. No quote tonight because it’s my bedtime.

Rainy Day in New England

The title really doesn’t have anything to do with the post, only that I am in New England and it is rainy and cold out. This fact enrages me because it is the latter part of April and according to my North Carolinian roots it SHOULD NOT BE 47 DEGREES at the end of April. But really, there is nothing I can do about the weather and pissing and moaning is not going to change it, no matter how hard I moan. So there.

I have new respect for the words said by Tom Petty, “waiting in the hardest part.” I am waiting to hear about a job. It’s been a while since the interview, and normally I would wait and wait and wait, but I have some important things that needed to be done last week that I can’t do because well they involve commitments and money. If I get this job I will have to break said commitments and lose a lot of money. I’m hoping to hear something by tomorrow though. I think the rain is making me even more stir crazy because I can’t get out and comfortably walk Bandit and enjoy the sunshine. Speaking of sunshine…why does the sun’s warmth always put me in a good mood? The weather effects me more than anything else (beside prescription anxiety meds) and has the most profound effect on my mood. I’m very nervous that I may not make it out alive out here when it becomes cold again. (Even though according to me it already is cold, but I’m talking about the New England winters when you have to stomp through 3 feet of snow and yet are still expected to go into work) Man I really need a job, then maybe I will have something else to obsess over besides the weather.

In other news. I was able to drag myself to the gym today. First I should tell you the back story. T and I were with some friends (few and far between up here) and I was informed that running is the cool sport up here. You aren’t trendy unless you run. I proceeded to declare that I couldn’t eve run a mile without stopping. Yesterday I put myself to the test to see if I could really run a mile without stopping. SURPRISE! I ran one, and without dying! Today I was sore and really didn’t feel like walking to the gym in the cold rain, but I did. I challenged myself to run .05 miles further and I made to 1.10 miles! I am setting the goal to try and add .10 miles a day until next Monday and then just run as far as I can and add to that. Maybe I will be able to do the 5K in June. (T is going to do it and I was going to watch but maybe I’ll be able to stay with him) On a second note when I got home I found that Bandit had gotten into the trash and taken out the bag of old bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. There were only 4 or 5 left but it scared me none the less. He was fine though, over the past two years Bandit has built up an immunity to chocolate.

I am going to leave you with an inspirational thought from my “One” book. This was said by Tom Hanks, arguably the most talented and successful actor of the generation, and a role model to many.

“Help publicly. Help privately. Help in your actions by recycling and conserving and protecting, but help also in your attitude. Help make sense where sense has gone missing. Help bring reason and respect to discourse and debate. Help science to solve and faith to soothe. Help law bring justice, until justice is commonplace. Help and you will abolish apathy- the void that is so quickly filled by ignorance and evil.”

I’m Back!

Hey Everyone! I’m back in the blogging world!

I have moved to Massachusetts and am currently unemployed. Writing has always scared me but I find that even though my life is boring, I do have some interesting stories to tell. Maybe my trials and experiences will help you to become more thankful for your life, or just realize that everyone really experiences similar situations.

I’ll just do a quick update to catch you up from my last blog post. I ended up adopting a dog from PETS Inc when my multimedia piece was finished. His name is Bandit and he is a dachshund/chihuahua mix (nobody really knows what he is). He quickly became my best friend! Aside from being fearful of strangers, he has the best personality you could hope for in a dog. He’s smart, he has many expressions, and he’s also a comedian! Oh yeah, and he has a weakness for chocolate. One October night he ate 13 candy bars. Below are a few of my favorite photos of Bandit.

As you can see, he is quite the catch. I think he knows I’m writing about him because he’s staring at me right now with an annoyed expression on his face.

Well enough about him (I swear I’m not obsessed). New England is beautiful in the Spring, but not as beautiful as the Carolinas. However, one advantage about being here in Spring is the lack of pollen. It has been very windy and still chilly, but no green powder covering everything. My brother should move here, the poor thing has severe allergies this time of year.  Anyway, I graduated the University of South Carolina this past December with a degree in Visual Communications. I graduated a semester early and severely regret it. I miss college, I miss the Journalism school, I miss my roommates. However, to put a positive spin on the situation, I’m looking at it as I had the time to get adjusted to reality and hopefully I’ll won’t have the “now what?” feeling infiltrating my mind for a long time. Because of the economy, college grads are having the worst time finding a job. When I think about it, it is so unfair that we(newly grads) are the ones that experiencing job struggles. We aren’t the ones who ran the economy into the ground. We have been working our butts off for 17 plus years in educational institutions and when we finally earn that coveted degree, there is nothing for us to do! It feels really good to get that off my chest. I promise my posts won’t be chock full of complaints. I just accidentally stumbled upon my soapbox.

A positive note- My sister gave me the book, “One” for graduation. It is so inspiring and really makes me look at life differently. I will leave you with a thought from the book.

“One song can spark a moment

One flower can wake the dream

One tree can start a forest

One bird can herald spring

One smile begins a friendship

One handclasp lifts a soul

One star can guide a ship at sea

One word can frame the goal

On vote can change a nation

One sunbeam lights a room

One candle wipes out darkness

One laugh will conquer gloom

One step must start each journey

One word must start a prayer

One hope will raise our spirits

One touch can show you care

One voice can speak with wisdom

One heart can know what’s true

One life can make a difference

That difference starts with you”

-Unknown

Pets INC Take Two

Tell me what you think.

The lighting is really tricky to do well in Pets INC because indoors the walls are yellow, the floor is bright red, and the ceiling is off white with flourescent lights. When I go back I am going to use more of a bounce flash with a white card behind it to get more of a natural lighting setting. I also need to get more interactions with the people that volunteer and work there daily.

 

 

 

I commented on Jessica Huggins and Katie Mikos’ blogs. They are doing some great work!

Pets INC

We are in the process of doing our final project, a multimedia story. I chose to cover Pets INC., a non-profit pet adoption center. They focus on rescuing, adopting, and training programs for dogs and cats. The also sell pet goods for 100% non-profit. As I have been spending a lot of time there lately and getting to know the staff and animals! Most of the pets that get adopted, and all of the attention are the puppies and kittens. However, there are some sad cases of abused adult dogs that need to be adopted as well. One particular rescue is Lazarus, a black lab. He came from Florence, when they found him he was only 30 lbs. This is a dog that should be 120-150 lbs. It was an animal cruelty case. Most shelters would simply put these cases down because in a lot of cases it is more expensive and time consuming to nurse them back to health. Here are some shots of Lazarus, who is by the way recovering quite nicely. 

These photos were taken 8 days ago. I saw him Monday afternoon and he looked like a completely different dog. 

 

Donations are always accepted. Please help, even the smallest donation will help. To learn more or to adopt or foster a pet visit http://www.petsinc.com

An Ode to a Photographer I admire.

I was lucky enough to know this amazing girl for four years in high school. Freshmen year we got to be good friends. I would always go to her house and look at her art projects and scrapbooks. I knew she had talent. As high school does to people we grew apart because we never seemed to end up in the same classes and we both had different extra curricular activities. In her sophomore or junior year she took photography. The good photography students got their work displayed throughout the school. Carly’s work was everywhere! It wasn’t until college that she found her true calling. She originally planned to be a teacher, she’s even a teaching fellows scholar at UNC Chapel Hill!

This talented girl has her own photography business now. Through simply looking at her websites I can see she has traveled all over the world. She spent a summer in Singapore and a semester in Ghana, where she taught young children basic photography skills. She is also part of Project Polaroid. Words can’t describe her talent.

Carly is so talented. Please visit her site to look at her pictures.

http://www.carlybrantmeyer.com

 

 

Jen Stevens blog is pretty cool too, check it out! http://www.jmstevens.wordpress.com

April

April always puts me in a gleeful mood. School is nearing an end and summer is fast approaching. You can also pretty much kiss the cold days away! This month I look forward to going outside to new places with my camera and taking advantage of the natural light. I find nature one of my favorite subjects to photograph, especially nature that is not man made. One of the reasons why I like this photo so much is because these flowers were growing out of weeds beside a railroad track. Grass didn’t even grow there. I captured beauty beside a rickety old train track. I only wish I would have stopped to think about the composition more so I could bring some juxtaposition in the picture; I would have captured part of the track and the flower. However, the mood of the photo would change because I would have to have a large depth of field. (This was one of my first experiments with different apertures and was pleased to see such drastic results) 

Yay April!

Photoseries

This past assignment was a photo series. This was my first photo series, and I actually found it very challenging. The challenging task was to come up with what I wanted to shoot as my series. It only took three attempts. My first try was an elderly aerobic class. That did not go well. My two biggest challenges was building rapport with my subjects (they did NOT want to be photographed) and the lighting. I could use my strobe because most everyone would recoil and compromise their exercise when the flash went off. They also preferred exercising with the lights dimmed so all I had to use was the light coming from the window. I got no photos that I even wanted to show anyone let alone turn in for a grade. 

 

So the next attempt was photographing different pairs of shoes. I wanted to show the different aspects of a girls life by shooting the various shoes I wear, heels, sneakers, flip flops, etc. I made a makeshift white backdrop and everything. I found that these photos were just not that interesting. However I did get some I liked. 

 

These flip flops are very worn. These are my day to day shoes that I wear almost everywhere.

 

These are my fun shoes. I like to wear them when I want a little kick in my step.

 

These are my running shoes. These things have seen many miles in many different places.

 

 

 

 

 

 
I finally settled on photographing different gravestones in First Presbyterian’s Cemetery. I found this a significant series because the markers in the cemetery spanned over three centuries. One of my favorite pictures was the gravestones of two young sisters laid side by side and a small wildflower is growing between the too. It is a bittersweet picture, the fact that the wildflower happened to grow where the little girls rest is sweet, but the fact that they were so young when they passed away is sad. While shooting I walked through the graveyard in awe and respect.I felt like I was honoring the passed in a way.

Nassau, Bahamas

This was my first time at the Bahamas. I had and ocean view room and the view, as you can see, is breathtaking. I did not bring the SLR camera because I couldn’t fit it in my luggage but I did bring my handy point and shoot.

As with many tropical places, storms come and go. I happened to catch this beautiful rainbow at dusk. Rainbows have always amazed me. It has been a while since I have seen such a long rainbow.