an ode to pichincha

1. these mountains. 

2. these mountain-side succulents. or seemingly?

3. this horse's face.

4. jessie. new friend.

5. this feast!

6. these.

7. and this girl.

8. because i have never seen a horse lie so peacefully.

easy crafts for camp

crafts for the kids this summer

1) BANNERS

-use nat. geo books and make a banner of all the animals/insects you saw today while hiking
-write an inspirational message to a new friend
-make a banner with pictures of you favorite foods



2) letters to pets at home

dear valentine, i wish you were here to bark at all of the annoying grown ups for me.

3) WREATHS & DREAM CATCHERS

4) HAIR WRAPS

5) LETTERS OF APPRECIATION TO FELLOW CAMPERS

6) GROW YOUR OWN SPROUTS

to be continued.

good bad

5 yr old kid with glasses at table 4, completely my brother at age 5. aspires to play the french horn this year. promising.

co-worker's boyfriend a no show on the "come visit me at work" scene. lame.

crushin.' promising.

roomie rearranged her room. beauty in a bottle. (fresh flowers) promising.

clothes on floor. promising.

this girl's background music to her tumblr currently listening. promising.

humidity dwindling. promising.

not bringing phone to work. promising.

not being able to skate tonight at work. negative.

taking skate test at 10 am tomorrow. promising.

news- NEWS BREAKING NEWS!! all 5 hours of work: girl missing in aruba. michael jackson's death figured out. obama not mentioning the word "republican". OHH DEAR!!!!!!

7:22 am monday morning thoughts

monday mornings are lovely, especially after a couple rainy/overcast day.

if i keep my windows open wide enough in the wee hours of the morning the birds bring me back to the age of 6 or close to it- if i imagine my grandmas bed and her pool and her squirty cheese & crackers. and summer mornings where i couldn't remember the time. also in order to make it feel like 6 you have to squeeze together your whole universe, leave some black around the edges. lots of black, lots of comfort in your parents. don't worry, it feels natural.

this morning i didn't feel crazy, just human. i think humans are bound to feel crazy but get that feeling mixed up for just being human.

i want a hammock for my porch.

sundays that feel like sundays are lovely.

dreaming about drawing everything in sight is lovely. the perfect shadows, the perfect curves.. everything in perfect form.

i wish i had this shirt to wear today!! going to columbus after class today with kara and ethan to meet up with carley and sell my morning jacket tickets.. i hope we find some good thrift stores!!!

places itd be weird to run into you at

the side stairs going from the 6th to 7th floor of aldy

in the bookstore in ys

as i am typing my password into a school computer

the bike path

mcdonalds

an elevator [we'd both be embarrassed]

a small gathering

a big gathering

a rave

a music festival

311

i kind of fantasize about running into you in places that'd be weird. mostly the side stairs.

ATLEAST I HAVE.......

A list of "At least I haves....."

mouthwash. feels great.

a baby SPIDER PLANT

legs that aren't afraid to walk

$14 in tips

water

iced coffee

friends who make me mixed cds

a job

a house

friends

caring family

some extra bucks for food, drinks, and spontaneity

no shame (mostly)

clothes to get dirty

feet that don't mind getting dirty

must take place before summer runs dry!

1) Go to yellow springs and take pictures/frolic within the sunflower field. the picture above is of my friend Vincent Valentino. (far right.) I am not sure if this was in yellow springs or not. Wanna join?

2) Hike the Appalachian trail, starting in West Virginia possibly.. and heading north eastern!! end up in Maine.. if time permits? this one will happen around august 25th, mos def. The picture below was taken last summer when my friends Kara, Michael, John, Paige, and Nick hiked some of the Appalachian Trail.. Tis a beaut!!!

3) My closest cousin Shelby will give birth to her baby boy Jasper in early September!!! I hope I can be there when it happens.

4) Bike to Nelsonville again and hang out in town. I have never been to Stuart's Opera House but I'd like to check the place out. Oh, and I guess on Tuesdays (?) Swimming at the indoor pool is free!

5) Finish One Hundred Years of Solitude. (and enjoy doing so.)

6) Successfully grow my three sunflowers. But this one is out of my hands. They will grow if they want to. (come on lil' boogers!!!!!)

7) Make tea from sumac buds.

More later.

what i'd do

my room is the room in the front of the house and the windows face the street and early in the morning i hear motorcycles trying to outrace their buddies up the hill and at night when i get out of the shower cars are hustling& bustling by and if anything, it makes me feel... alone. & disconnected from whoever is in those cars. but if i could turn all of those cars into people i miss:

my mom
my pops
sissy
bro
granan
aunt rachel
jack
kelsea
valentine
kel
andy
maddie

everyone i have ever met

if i could do that, that's what i would do.

let's see

it's saturday.
i need to make an hour long contour drawing of something outside.
& buy some groceries.
i need paper towels because i have nowhere to wipe this bacon grease off.
(yes, bacon.)

this is what happened last night

obeying my body

maddie just left for home. (chardon.) twas a fun week that felt like a weekend. now, today is one of those days that my stomach whispers to me "stay in bed longer!!" and sometimes, (not always) it is very wise to listen to your stomach. so here i am. here's the meal we made last night. weird combo, perhaps. delicious? YES!

toasted english muffin
1 side melted mozzarella + baked acorn squash
2nd side avocado + spinach
side of fried portobello mushrooms + couscous

some aesthetic pleasure for a sunny day

one day i went to a beach. these are my friends shaina (shuh-nay-nay) jessica (messica) and michelle (meeee-shell.) and they are being photographed by yours truly on Edisto Beach, South Carolina. It's a nice public beach similar to Headlands in Mentor, which you might be familiar with. Much like Mentor, drinking is prohibited. We soon got kicked out after causing some harmless chaos in the bathroom. (John+girls bathroom= cops on four wheelers don't approve.) We still love Edisto anyway. (spring break '11)

one day my friends bobbie (pictured above) harold, madeline and i witnessed a secret convention taking place in good ol' nelson dining hall. (only the ballroom side) i think it was a fellow hunters meeting. either way, the couches plus the lighting in the lobby were way too enjoyable to not stay a few and lounge on. bobbie may look upset hence smothering her face with this pillow, but i assure you she is an aesthetic creature and the pillow just felt nice on her face. (spring '11)

one day i was going into my favorite place on campus (alden) and i ran into these two cuties. they were just finishing up a hoola session. not only were they quite talented, the sun was at its finest hour (7:30 pm) and it let me photograph these beauties with just the right amount of highlighting hitting their cute faces. thanks sun. (spring '11)

one night my three good friends had a party at their home. i didn't realize the punch was so strong and passed out in my friend's bed. i had a crush on this girl at the time and she came to meet me and rescued me from my dreamless stupor and then we went on an adventure in the rain where i proceeded to wipe out and dropped all of my spanish books in the rain. (they're still in the rain.) then afterward, we went to someone's house on Congress and people were wearing lots of flannel, hats, and drinking some blue substance. the photo above documents a night full of firsts. (winter 11')

wicked wednesday

tonight a doc is in the making.... possible topic ideas include:

1] something you think you'll never accomplish
2] describe the person who makes you feel the best (but don't say their name)
3] talk about your favorite person (but don't say their name)

TO THE PERSON READING THIS:
if you feel so inclined, you should comment by picking one of the prompts below and scribbling down a few words. i'd love to read it. or if you're too shy, i dare you to make a journal entry using of the questions. GO!~

sometimes you just have to take an old globe off its hinge and hang it from the ceiling using a piece of old hemp... to gain some inspiration.

next time on the blog of barefoot wanderings:
the perfect meal.
(complete with pictures.)
most likely will include eggs, basil, tomatoes, and cheese.. oh,
and of course avocado

things that feel good

plums after bike rides
curling up in the library all day when its 100 degrees outside
hugging a really tall friend
sitting in mcdonalds journaling
waking up early and sitting on the porch
when i can tell a friend is listening
soft bellies
twirling others hair
forgetting which ways up and down while under water
swimming farther than you think you can
not having to say anything
when someone notices you're not that mysterious
bacon in my mouth
tomatoes+salt
the smell of basil
dirt between my toes
sweating so much it feels natural
focusing on something for so long that you could do it it for another 3 hours and it would be fine
sprinting
walking with kelley mack late at night

it's all happening

It's the 84 year old man who lets you type in his words onto the computer and the young Chinese professor who tells you to remember he is 84 and you must treat him like he is your grandpa i've never had a grandpa before and now your face makes me tickle and your anthropology professor who buys you a beer and is eager to laugh when you're not funny and who makes pop culture references he wants to be listened to in class and it's your friend who runs across the street brings back a jelly jar of wine and an ice cream container for you and your dearest friend who lets you sob in her lap and it's your best friend who brings in your speakers so you can watch a movie while drunkenly falling asleep and your friend from out of town who lays with you all night its everyone eager to love love love and once you know heartbreak it feels like no one should ever let anybody close yet here we are its here and now and we're doing it because what else can we do

list of missing things

within the past week, i have lost the following:

-my student id
-$20
-my friend's bike
-my favorite white tank top
-my love letter envelope (might be the most devastating)
-my voice

possible reasons for the constant losing:

-inability to complete one thought without getting excited about the next one
-constantly rush rush rushing
-i fall/trip a lot
-i don't place any value on "things" which in this case, is a bad thing

solutions:

-slow down.
-breathe before anything.
-have complete thoughts
-text carley and tell her where i leave my bike before leaving it in a random place & then forgetting.

inspired by a gal named kelz

today, starting at 2 am

rollerbladed down a hill drunk
(had no doubt i would wipe out
at any given moment)

dazed off in espanol
ran through a field,
jamming to some old
comfy tunes

became internationally informed
for two straight hours (thanks scarcelli)
i swear he can cram more words
into one minute
than i can in an hour

made coffee
french
pressing'

work now
goalie later
planting baby seeds
even later

tomorrow's about to
blow my heart
out of its socket

love makes me sick.
i'm too young for love.
i'm too old for love.
love makes me sick.
cheesy words make me cringe.
my stomach gets all mushy when thinking of letting myself become so......
vulnerable?
plus cheesy words make me cringe.

bleh.

what would I love to do..... (and get payed for doing so)

talk to people like the guy who digs up ohio university's archives and puts them on display. (currently vintage posters from around campus) and other awesomely interesting people. get payed to asked them questions. maybe snap a few shots.

host a class on feelings. design a button to press and invoke feelings on my class so that we could all be feeling the exact same way. through this, talk about them, different situations we've found ourselves in, maybe paint/play piano after. lol

travel to different countries and gather people's favorite native words and compose a book of them.

publish a book over the span of 5 years with just a single sentence from each day.

collect bits of awesome trash from dumpsters and put them in a basket and call it a campus memoir.

get payed to examine/contemplate feelings.

get payed to ask questions.

gather rain water in small tin cans and put different color dye in them and make a rainwater mural.

think of different phrases for making love.

get payed to be silent for 2 weeks.

climb high trees and attach ropes from the highest points

run different color ribbons throughout a forest. spice up winter for the birds.

cover someone's body in clay. or paint.

paint walls white.

sing in the most echoey places.

get payed to snowboard. get payed to run marathons. and play soccer. i'd play all night.

publish a book of things that make me excited.

publish a book of what runs through my friend's minds each hour of the day.

try to make sense of how others make sense.

record drunken thoughts.

record drunken thoughts while kissing.