Getting Tired. (It's a good thing).

Today is "Green and Thrifty Thursday."

And I found my thoughts turning to recycling/upcycling/reusing/repurposing/all-those-other-terms-that-get-thrown-around-these-days.

And I thought about THESE in particular:

(source)

...and how they pile up.

not. cool.

Because something tells me those things aren't exactly biodegradable...
Besides, would we even WANT that stuff
seeping into the ground?

Blech.

And so after a lovely little google image search, 

I came across THESE:

(source source source source source source)

 And, my personal favorite:

(source)

But for the rest of us who don't make elephant sculptures 

in our spare time,

there are always options like these:

(source source source source)

How nice.

Are you tired of your same old planters? ...ha.
Monica.

Giants DO exist.

Today is "On a Whim, On a Wednesday."

And today my whimsy is elated.. Here's why:

For a really big chunk of my childhood, I was solidly determined that I would become a marinebiologist.

As in... I really really believed it with all my heart. 

Even into my teenage years.

So, naturally, I was a big fan of things like the DISCOVERY CHANNEL and ANIMAL PLANET and NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.

The occasional documentaries centered on the SEARCH FOR THE GIANT SQUID were basically my Superbowl.

It was well known to me at a young age that the Giant Squid had NEVER BEFORE BEEN RECORDED IN ITS NATURAL HABITAT.

There was the occasional washed up carcass.
And sometimes they would even be found
moments before death.
And that was enough to know bits and pieces about their existence.

But to my adventurous little heart, 
that was all just sushi to me.

I wanted to SEE it.

Alive and free and beautiful.

(yes... yes, I realize I was a strange child.)

And then... on September 27th, 2005,

THIS photo (among many others in a series) was released:

(source)

First photographs EVER taken of the beast in its natural habitat!!!

Thank you, National Science Museum of Japan.

But seriously... couldn't you have invited me along?

Ah well.

Oh, and to give you a little bit of perspective, one of its tentacles got hooked on the line (sorry, buddy) and was roped into the boat along with the camera. The tentacle was 18 feet long.

Eventually, my excitement over the event overcame my grudge that I was not a part of the discovery team.

And for nearly a decade, that was it.


Until....

(source)

Well hello there, Mr. Squid.

Isn't he beautiful???

The Discovery Channel will be broadcasting the full documentary on January, 27th.

Which happens to be the two-year anniversary of our wedding.

And as proof that my husband was fully aware of the strangeness of this girl he got himself hitched to......

....he agreed without opposition to watch it with me.

(source: me!)

Happy Anniversary and Squid Day!
Monica.

All Aboard the Spotify Train.

Today is "Tuning in to Tuesday."

Thus marking the one-week anniversary 

of The Music Catastrophe of 2013.

Also known as that one time I accidentally deleted my entire iTunes library.

oops.

But never-mind-you-that.

Because I decided that this was a good opportunity to take the next step in my attempts to be savvy about the gizmos and gadgets of this modern day.

(spoken like a true 21 year old...?)

As stubborn as I have been at times when it comes to the digital conversion of EVERYTHING, I gotta say:

Technology really is a pretty cool thing.

And, no, embracing it does NOT mean that I will become an uncultured, touch-screen-addicted zombie.

(probably)

Technology DOES mean that there are beautiful things like THIS:

I've meant for some time now to try out this raved about, seemingly too-good-to-be-true piece of modern tech.

And after my first week of dipping my toes, 

I am quite pleased.

 Because making playlists is pretty much my favorite thing ever.

(along with regularly saying the phrase, "pretty much my favorite thing ever.")

And NOW I can have a pretty much unlimited supply of music just WAITING to be meticulously sorted into playlists for my every fleeting mood and whim....

Ooooh, the possibilities.

Let's just say that I may or may not have a dinosaur themed playlist entitled "Songosaurus."

Monica.

Superstition Mountain = HOME.

Today is "Mountains, Trees, and Mondays."

And rather than my usual post regarding the
figurative mountains of life,

I'd like to take a moment to reflect on my good friend,

The Superstition Mountain

Photo shout out goes to Gordon Wolford.

Just came across this photo in a search engine and was led to some of the most 

beautiful photography I've ever seen.

Seriously... CHECK IT OUT.

Nothing says "home" to me more than that red, rocky beauty right there.

Now for some Superstition Mountain fun facts:

This mountain and surrounding area are the home base for the legend of the Lost Dutchman's gold mine 

(hence the mountain's name). 

Apparently, some German man named Jacob Waitz stumbled upon a mother lode of gold. He revealed its location on his deathbed to a boarding house owner.

And no one has seen it since..... 

(cue dramatic music).

Also, it is believed by some that the entrance to the "lower world" is located in this mountain, and that the winds blowing up from it cause the severe dust storms of this area.

And finally, did you know that the saguaro cactus

ONLY GROWS IN THE SONORAN DESERT??? 

As in, Arizona, a small portion of Northern Mexico, and an even SMALLER portion of California.

Which really, isn't a Superstition Mountain fact.

But it is a fact that makes me happy.

(source)

Because this is home.

Mountains make good friends.

Monica.

Earthy Words of Wisdom

Today is "Green and Thrifty Thursday."

And I'm feeling simple.


So here we go.
Some simple, feel-good, "green" quotes.

"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to 

have my senses put in order."

John Burroughs

"Wilderness is not a luxury but a 

necessity of the human spirit, 

as vital to our lives as water and good bread."

Edward Abbey

"All I want is to stand in a field 

and to smell green, to taste air, to feel the earth want me, 

without all this concrete hating me."

Phillip Pulfrey

(source)

"Never does nature say one thing, 

and wisdom another."

Juvenal

"He that plants trees loves others, beside himself."

Thomas Fuller

I found these quotes in this lovely collection,

along with many more gems.

"To feel the earth want me."

Monica.

Just a Wee Whim

Today is "On a Whim, On a Wednesday."

And my whim of choice is a simple one.

And here it is:

I initially felt unsure about it.

But after giggling to myself about "Harold" 

the rest of the day, I decided it was genius.

(not to mention the charming artistry of a 

"Heather Mattoon").

Best part: there is a whole 2013 calendar full of these beauties.

I found it here.

"Part time science fiction writer."

Monica.

On Losses and Fresh Starts (or that one time I accidentally deleted over 3000 songs from my computer)

Today is "Tuning in to Tuesday."

Which has proven to be a sick, SICK irony.

Because in my "new year, new life" mentality, 

I have been organizing my computer like a boss.

Thus the tragic unfolding of these events:

While perusing my neglected computer files, 

I came across a folder labeled, "music."

Upon opening the folder, 

I discovered sub-folders featuring all my customized, 

alphabetized genres from way back in the high school days. 

Back when I didn't own an iPod. 

Back when Windows Media Player was my 

music listening program of choice.

And I thought to myself,

"Awwww... nostalgia."

And then I remembered way back 

to when I was first setting up my iTunes account, 

and how I duplicated all of my music files 

into my iTunes. 

Back when I said, 

"Sayonara, Windows Media Player."

Aaaaaand since I am determined to 

turn myself into an efficient, 

savvy, minimalist

 super-woman, 

I thought to myself,

"These folders aren't really serving any purpose. 

I never use them. I only use my iTunes."

"Sayonara, old duplicate music folders."

....and then my hand hesitated... 

what if these WEREN'T duplicates? 

What if deleting these would make them 

disappear from my iTunes, as well?

"Hold it. Not so fast, old 

(debatebly) duplicate music folders."

A minimal-loss test run was in order.

Which came in the form of deleting the folder with my 

Alison Krauss album.

Because that would be easy enough to 

burn back onto my computer, should it be lost.

Delete it I did.

Checked my iTunes, I did.

And there it was. Right where I left it.

Hello, Alison.

And so I decided to follow through with my computer file purge.

"Sayonara, old (definitely) duplicate 

music folders."

And then I did something REALLY stupid.

Because upon deleting the "definitely duplicate" music folders, 

a little window popped up.

That little window tried to warn me, bless its heart.

It said to me, "These files are too big for the recycle bin. Deleting them will be permanent. Do you wish to continue?"

....The End.

And THAT'S the story of how I lost my entire iTunes library.

(Notice how I couldn't bring myself to actually write out the very end. But I think we all understand what happened next. Apparently, it takes a bit of time for iTunes to get the memo that its music file sources have been permanently deleted).

And - for the record - I have indeed searched the 

digital nooks and crannies of my computer. 

I even did a system restore.

 All of the FOLDERS 

restored themselves... 

...just none of the music that was IN them.

ALSO for the record, I am well aware that you can log in to your iTunes account and still have access to all of your purchases music. But for me, that meant, like... 

1 soundtrack and 

a small handful of Italian Restaurant atmosphere music.

For those moments in your life when you want 

the atmosphere of an Italian Restaurant.

But I've come to peace with this debacle. 

Because, funny thing is, this has turned into 

a fresh start in and of itself.

Albeit, a much FRESHER start than I would have preferred.

But fresh, nonetheless.

Time to break out all the CDs and start new!

Sayonara, digital music collection of my life.

Monica.