MUSIC HALL!!!!!!!

Check out the Music Hall tonight from 5-7 pm!!! Come out and support some of the best photographers in the region- Just so happens to include my brother Jamie's work!!!!! :)
Ya know what is amazing?? In Chopra's book, seven laws of success- he asks, If money was no concern and you had all of the time and money in the world, what would you be doing? And if you would still be doing what you currently do, then you are in dharma (purpose of life), because you have passion for what you do- you are expressing your unique talent. One of the things that I admire most about my brother Jamie is that I am 100% sure that if he asked himself that question, he would be doing exactly what he would be doing if money was no concern. He has so much passion for photography and he is fully in dharma- he has found his unique talent and passion to spread to humanity. He has discovered his divinity, and i could not be more envious! :)

Silly School

At school today from 8 am to 9 pm- i am dead tired and am coming to the realization that the next couple of weeks are going to be exactly the same.
There are many lights flashing at the end of the tunnel, however-- the return of my license in the near future (that makes it sound like i lost my license, which i didn't, i just lost the physical, actual license) anyway, ashies birthday slash reunion of some of my good girlyfriends. Umm some more lights include school being over, moving down to nantucket, gardening for the summer, oh and so many many many more :)
see, life is never so bad even after rough days, there are still good things to think about!

8 AM-Wednesday-April 28th.

*Oh bubbles*

*Half of my self-portrait*



*Bubble- picture is cut off*

*Window in Steph's Brooklyn Apartment*


*Jackson Hole, WY*


*Self portrait or crazy woman?*

Is it at all weird that I sat in silence for about 20 total minutes, spacing out and all that i could think about was how I wished it was 8 am on Wednesday April 28th? Why, you might ask? That's when my photography class is (Monday and Wednesdays) and I literally am itching to get there. I've never felt this way about anything- i don't recall the last time i've felt this much passion for something. I want to be in photography class all of the time, developing film, printing negatives, learning new techniques. I cannot even describe the excitement that I get just thinking about it. Some days it is truly hard for me to pull myself away. Many days I stay after my 3 hour class to continue on- I rarely get sick of it. At times it can be frustrating but it doesn't last very long. I am so glad that I took this class because it has opened me up to a world that I never thought would interest me this much. It's an amazing feeling discovering a new love.

ACK!

*photo taken by Ashley Kretschmar*

*Photo taken by Ashley Kretschmar*

Awesome photos, huh?
Agh, I love this time of year when everything starts to get settled with Nantucket and it is no longer on my list of To Do:
I recently got hired for a gardening crew for this summer and could not be more excited!! I am really looking forward to many aspects of gardening such as being outside, working long hard hours, routine, hourly pay (haha), working with other people and many other reasons! I am SIKED. Although I have my place here in narragansett until the end of May, chances are Nantucket's forceful power with get me there much sooner than that. Not only do I have a thrilling job lined up, but we are also getting housing all worked out. The family that Ashley nannies for is hooking us up with an awesome place this summer and if all goes according to plan, ashley, janie, erin and I will be living in a cozy, warm, bug-less (sorry paul) house with two dogs (bailey and petri) how exciting is THAT- i know, i know. I am very excited to live with ashley and erin this summer as well as I love them both to death- jane you know i love you too. Shall be fun :) I am really looking forward to this summer. It is going to be a much more low-key summer. My focus and priorities are on work and saving money and having down time, unlike every other summer that I've grazed nantucket. We really wanted to live somewhere this summer that encouraged nights in and chill time- and this seems to be a fitting aboad! Hopefully we'll get a lot of visitors, we love visitors :)

Bronica

*Bronica open- when taking the picture you look down into that little box and it shows you the image*

My mom let me borrow her old Bronica camera to test it out and take some photos with it. its a medium format camera and it holds 120 or 220 film. Currently I have 120 loaded in there so it exposes 12 images- the 220 exposes 24. Since this will be my first roll with this camera I think it's better to start off with less to see how I do. I am not sure how I will be developing this kind of film yet because I have only used kodak 400 tx- my photography teacher knows how though so she will be showing me how. I am wicked excited to take a roll of film with this camera because it takes very crisp, sharp images. My mom actually took my highschool senior photos with this camera. She also used to shoot weddings with this back in the day- crazy huh? Luckily the Bronica has a back up, back so that you can just remove the back and load on another back that has the film preloaded so that she didnt have to waste time loading more film. I think its so amazing that cameras like this not only are still around but work just great! This camera actually seems to be a primitive form of a digital camera because as you can see, the part the pops up on the top, you look down into that and it shows you the image that you are focusing on- its VERY neat. My mom also ha a variety of lenses and filters that go with this camera so I can't wait to try them all out.
On another note, yesterday the brakes in my car gave out while I was driving. Luckily I was not driving terribly fast but it was pretty scary. My foot was pressing the brakes all the way down and i was gliding- ehhh. anyway, I was right near the nissan dealership and was able to make it over there to drop off my car so it is in the shop now. I am currently rocking a rental car- i hope my baby is ok. *baby=car. I love my car so much but its been making really weird noises and shaking so I hope they can fix her up!

Chopra's Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

*Again, I realize this is backwards*
Just returned from another run/meditation at the beach- ahh, again, so rejuvenating.
I have a feeling this book that I am reading could really be life changing. I am reading one law per day and attempting to practice it the next day. The first law of pure (self) potentiality challenged me to go through a day with no judgment. I generally have lived my life trying not to judge people but wow, this was a very difficult task. I did not realize that my internal voice was so loud and filled with some thoughts that i am not proud of. It was hard to not judge anyone or anything throughout the day but I think by the end of the day I started getting better at it, which means that by the end of the week i'll improve and hopefully rid my mind of negative thoughts. I think that it can really improve my life without those types of thoughts. The second law of success that I moved on to was the law of giving- this law challenged me to give something to everyone I came in contact with throughout the day. Not necessarily something materialistic but giving someone something like a compliment, a flower or even a prayer/blessing in your head. This was also difficult. I wondered how people would react to me giving them something and to be honest, i felt a little uncomfortable. So for the most part, I practiced giving people prayers/blessings in my head but I am going to try harder tomorrow to give people more!
Point is, this is an amazing book and I think I have a lot to learn from it!

Student Exhibition!

Perhaps it's beginners luck, who knows, but I entered three of my photographs into my FIRST art show last week and one of them got picked to be in the show. I got an 'honorable mention' award, shown above. :) I got really giddy when I saw my name on the list because i by no means was expecting any of my images to be chosen to be apart of the show. I browsed and observed the art in the show today and there were some outstanding pieces in it- really amazing and inspiring.
I chatted with my brother Jamie for a while today and he pointed something out to me that for some reason, I hadn't noticed. He said that he has not seen me this excited about something as he has seen me about photography. Continuously discussing photography, trying to learn from him, enjoying the developing and printing process and just the love and enjoyment of photography overall. As he says, I'm not running to the sewing lab to sew on my free time as I do going to the darkroom- ehkk- ?? Although I realized that i really liked my class, I never really thought about it in terms of something that I could potentially REALLY get into. I have been studying design all 4 (6) years of college and it's just always been that because I have always wanted to be a designer. I still want to be a designer but i don't want to take the love that i have for photography lightly. You can't let these things pass you by, life is way to short for that. Something to THINK about, fo sho- Jamie is such an amazing photographer and I have learned so much from him and can't wait to learn so much more. It's fun to chat about (well anything) but specifically photography with him because he has an excellent grasp on it.
I took a nice run to the scarborough beach today and meditated on the sand for about 15 minutes. it was very peaceful and serene, then i ran back to my house, showered and currently feel very rejuvenated. Narragansett is a nice place to run around. I love running, it just takes me a while to take that first run to get back into it. perhaps I was inspired by marathon monday- I would LOVE to run a marathon, but that takes a lot of skill and training. Maybe one day- anybody want to join?

Black and White

I set up a scene for my self-portrait for my photography class final and this is one of the digital photos from it. Although I am working with film this semester, jamie and I were figuring out how to sync the strobe light from his camera to mine so we got some digital photos of the shoot. so here is one of them! :) what'd you think?

Antique Necklace

This is my great grandmothers necklace that my mom is letting me wear for the time being. I think it is one of the most beautiful necklaces I have ever seen- a picture doesn't do it justice. I always wear faux diamonds and cheap jewelry, well besides that I can't afford real diamonds, I am always too afraid to wear them in fear that I might lose it- I have constantly been checking to make sure this necklace is secured around my neck. I just adore it.
I have been wicked bad at updating my blog recently because of how much has been going on! I had to come home this weekend to get a new cell phone and license but unfortunately am leaving for rhode island with neither. The good news is my cell phone will be arriving at my place in rhode island on monday and once i deal with massachusettes then I will be able to get my license. argh- the obstacles life throws at ya, i'm telling you!
So I am heading back to rhode island today, my dad is letting me take his cell phone with him until i get mine- what a great dad, huh? :)

Life is a GIFT

SORRY about the delay. Although I had an excellent friday night (at first) it ended just dreadfully. TO make a long story short, my purse got stolen that had my cell phone, car keys, USB key, wallet and my makeup. I know makeup isnt a big deal but its expensive! haha. It's a hassle. My parents having to cancel the credit cards and order new ones, me having to find different ways of communication rather than through a phone until I find a cheap enough phone, getting a new license, etc. the list goes on. Anyway- it was a pretty dreadful end to a good night which led me to a big reflection day the next day. I've lived most of my life with the mentality that I can't miss out on things otherwise i'll regret it. I've lived most of my life thinking I am invincible and nothing can happen to me. I am unsure why it never occurs to me that I am in fact, not invincible. I think it its a young persons mentality, or perhaps many people share that mentality. It's not a good way to think. I've always thought very free flowing and loosely, thinking, what happens will happen and i can't do anything to change it. But it's actually the quite opposite of that. The decisions that you make are a direct reflection of how your life will be lived. If you don't make realistic decisions then there is a good chance you won't find yourself in predicaments. It's not a happy way to live, figuring your way out of bad situations. My goal is to constantly remind myself that my life is a gift. My life is not something that I just have a right to, it is a gift that I truly have to protect and care for. That probably sounds PRETTY cliche, but I don't even care because at the end of my day of reflection, it's how i truly felt and how i plan to always feel.

Bathingsuits on campus?

*The top Jane begs me every 4th of july to wear*


*I've had these sandals FOREVER- they are so comfortable and excellent summer sandals*
Hi ALL-
If you are in the new england area, HOW NICE IS IT TODAY!!!!! oh man, amazing! unfortunately i was in class all day so i had little time to enjoy the nice weather but it's still so nice having this weather come our way. I wish I could enjoy it more but as the semester is coming to a close I find myself bogged down with a gross amount of schoolwork- all while trying to figure out my nantucket plans! ideas? help? anyone?
I had class at 8 am this morning so I put on pants but boy did i regret that decision! This bright, springy top was fitting for the day however, as were the sandals.
There were girls in their bathingsuits on campus, does that seem weird to anyone else? I can't imagine lying there as my professors whisk by me- hmph.

Easter Weekend

*Tommy landing at the house. photo by Jamie Wade*

*My brother kyle on easter 2010. phot by Jamie Wade*

*Oh just me eating. Photo by Jamie Wade*

*My beautiful mom and wonderful uncle tommy. Photo by Jamie Wade*

*Me outside on easter-photo by Jamie Wade*

*An amazing photo of my dad on easter! photo by Jamie Wade*

*Camera on Camera. Photo by Jamie Wade*

*Cool photoshopped photo by Jamie Wade*

Easter was an amazing day! Gorgeous weather, wonderful family and good food. Easter this year was one of the best gatherings. We spent most of our time outside and gathered together inside for a delicious meal that my mom made. My uncle flew in on his helicopter which was a cool opportunity for me to snap some photos for my photography class. Jamie got some great shots of it and many other things as well.
I also had a great weekend. I got to see a bunch of my highschool friends which was awesome! Gorgeous weather all weekend where I sat by Franz's side and basked in the suns rays- good 'ol downtown
I drove back to school today before my 8 a.m., rough- so early! Oh well, what can ya do. I developed 5 rolls of film today and got a tiny bit of printing done but only about 2 keepers. These next few weeks of school are going to be straight up, Hell. I am really dreading it- i have so much work to get done- so let's hope I can pull it all off! :)

HOME!

Hello all- I made it home to NH safe and sound. 95 was completely shut down in rhode island but my trusty GPS got me home another way. Crazzzy highway shutdown. I was SUPER excited to wear a short sleeve shirt and flip flops yesterday because it was beautiful out! its really nice out again today and is supposed to be 80 degrees tomorrow!!! I got these sunglasses at Accentuate, a boutique that Janie works at in Jackson. And I made this scarf that I am wearing. woohoo.
Um so yeah, yesterday i met my sister for a beer and chicken fingers at river house in portsmouth. we sat outside and it was LOVELY. my sister is the BEST. i love her to death, she is amazing. i love her upbeat, positive, humorous outlook on life.
i went out last night with ashie and steph and we had a really fun time. we went to uh libbys and ballards!
anywho, i was pretty productive today, helped clean the house for easter. now im dead tired and wicked hot. time to rest.