Haiku

Life felt like winter

Till he showed me spring

Now I ache for the summer

~vjs

Mothers on a Park Bench

Six mothers - old and young

Sitting on one park bench

Huddled close for love, for warmth

They twitter and chatter

Watching their two sons

Playing in the grass

"Noah don't push your baby brother!"

The child stops and stumbles back

"See? Now God is pushing you"

They twitter and chatter

Karma is balanced again

~vjs

Rain in Los Angeles

I walk outside and today

The world is beautiful and harsh

A mother beating her children

And crying

Because she loves them

Because she has to

~vjs

Michael

I took these pictures the last time I saw him.. we were having lunch with my family at Liberty Market where my sister works. The pictures themselves didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped.. but its the look in his eyes that I can't get enough of. I'm so surprised that I could capture those looks in some photos.

The Angel

She's with the Angel

Laying in his arms

Finding rapture in his scent

And praying for deliverance

Waiting on his words

She looks up to the heavens

And his eyes paralyze her

Her heart freezes

As his lips drip smoke

Swirling down to her ears

Clouding up her mind

She thinks, he thinks

"Heaven is not too far off now"

~ vjs

A Girl's Best Friend?

Just looking through Allure magazine and found some pictures of engagement rings.. so I decided to mess around and look some up myself.. just to see what i like. Personally i'm not a huge diamond person. I share the belief that diamonds look tacky on women under 40 (Breakfast at Tiffany's) but I understand and respect my culture's tradition for diamond engagement rings. So this is what I came up with. 

I love the simplicity of the solitaire ring on the bottom, but I also like the detail and sparkle of the one above. And the very top ring I like because the stones aren't too big, but there are a lot. I think the ring is a bit more antique looking and detailed. Diamonds are freaking expensive. I feel bad for guys. haha but it does give the woman a sense of worth and value I suppose. 

Michael and The Desert

Michael sitting on the dock at Canyon Lake. Smoking.
Canyon Lake! a lake in the middle of a canyon in the middle of the desert in the middle of the world! or something like that..
Michael driving through the desert. And smoking.
The desert!
Saguaro Cactus! 
Driving to the lake.. and smoking. haha
Me and Michael at the Ghost Town! we went and took a tour of a *fake* gold mine shaft... and we watched a super realistic and scary gun fight between the townspeople that through some warp of time, are trapped in the 1800s. it was sooo awesome!!

Oh Bloody Hell!

...Literally. My throat is raw and red and bleeding (on the inside). I think I may have gotten it from my little darling, Olivia, up in Glendale when I was visiting last weekend. Either way, I can't risk going to see them this weekend. Sadness.. 

The doctor says its not streptococcus, but its still a serious throat infection. So she gave me a bottle of anti-biotic pills and sent me on my way with a brochure on Eating Vegetarian. Got back to my place and the pills are bloody red and smell like sulfur. A lot. So of course I have to take them like.. 4 times a day. Yuck. Oh well.. anything to be able to speak without being in pain. Pray that I'll be healed before next weekend. <3

Scraping the Sky

This is my favorite sky-scraper in Los Angeles. Its just beautiful. All sky-scrapers should be made like this one.. reflecting the beauty of the sky and clouds.. That right there is amazing architecture. 

Solitude..

I decided to take a 3 hour bus ride of solitude into Los Angeles and through town to Glendale. It was a very spiritual experience that taught me so much about myself, God, and the truths of this world. I feel that I've grown spiritually and that this was a really good idea. I plan on doing it again a few times a month or as often as I can. I went into some of the slum parts of town and passed through abandoned and forgotten areas of L.A.

Some pretty buildings in Los Angeles..

Finally in Glendale! A very nice part of Los Angeles and a place I am now dreaming of living in. haha This picture includes (from left to right) Ahmi Rose, Olivia Jane (my sweet little sugar plum fairy), myself, and a not so photogenic baby Johnny (named after Cash).
A perfect, cozy little living room and window seat in my aunt Angie's home built in the 1930's.
My uncle, Doug TenNapel, working on his latest graphic novel and making a face for the camera. haha he's such a goof. Here's some of his stuff.
At the playground with Johnny. Once he figured out that my phone was a camera, he was fascinated by it and always wanted to hold it and play with it. haha so cute. :] 

I don't have a picture of Edward, my dearest little man of the bunch, but I'll try to get one up here next time. I've been smitten by that little boy ever since I saw his blue eyes and curly hair. But he is a little dreamer that was too busy to have his picture taken.

Halloween!

Its fall! And you know what that means.. Halloween and Thanksgiving! and the changing of the leaves, which I absolutely love. None of the trees up in the Los Angeles area are getting the hint that its time to change colors, so I had to have my mom send me pictures of the fall leaves in the Arizona mountains. 
My sister decided to make a domo jack-o-lantern for Halloween. Isn't it just too cute?

Me and my Turkish friend, Matt, decided to go as zombies for halloween! We freaked out a bunch of people and the fake blood that Matt made was super realistic and scary.
Another friend, Nolan, in his Joker costume. 
A zombie bride close-up! I should be a hollywood make-up artist... haha
Second costume of the night when my friends and I decided to go clubbing/partying/out for ice-cream. I can also make a pretty convincing Emo Panda, eh?
Three hole punch Jim! A classic from The Office. :] And he actually looks somewhat like Jim!

Hanoi Jane

Get Over Yourself

Life sucks sometimes. I mean, sometimes it really just trips you and then jams a knife between your shoulder blades. 

Current Playlist:

"Hot & Cold" - Katy Perry

"Lost" - Katy Perry

"It Ends Tonight" - The All-American Rejects

"This Temporary Life" - Death Cab For Cutie

"Dickhead" - Kate Nash

Adie Loves Polly

I found this adorable website called Adie Loves Polly. Its a visual blog of this 4 year old girl that takes pictures of things with her polaroid camera, Polly. I'm not kidding. This stuff is adorable and more than that its good to see a little girl that doesn't follow the norm, that doesn't take the beaten path but follows her heart into the forest and forges her own trail. Does that make sense? I hope it does.. 

Anyways, its a really cool site and I think its worth checking out.

Gruyere Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I had this AMAZING sandwich for lunch today! It was a grilled cheese sandwich made with sourdough slices, gruyere cheese and cheddar cheese. It was the best grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had. And I plan on making it as often as I can during the holidays.

My Treehouse

I am going to build a tree house and live there in the summer. Its going to be in Oregon or Washington, and it is going to be the coolest tree house ever. This, I have decided.

Spray Paint!

This is amazing. My roommate was making a t-shirt for the Social Justice Ministry on campus and I decided to tag along and seize the opportunity to not only get out of the room, but also to do something artistic with a medium I have never explored before. Spray paint! I love the stuff now! I seriously want to go out and buy some plain v-neck Tshirts, some cans of spray paint, and then cut out some cool stencils and just go crazy! This is exactly the sort of artistic thing I love doing. I think I should do this over Christmas break with Chris. He'd enjoy it.

Find out more about human trafficking and how to stop it here.

Stamped Tea Towels

Whoa! I just discovered this while gazing through Design*Sponge - a cool modern design blog. But its such a great idea! So I think I'm going to make these for Christmas presents for the women in my family. When you're as poor as me, this idea sounds GREAT because 100% cotton hand towels only cost about $3 each. 
These towels are not all 100% cotton (tisk tisk), but they only cost $25 for three each of three different types of towel fabric at Target. 
I thought these ones were probably the best buy out of all the ones I found. Like the Target ones, 9 of them only cost $25 and they're 100% cotton "floursack" material ( I love it! Floursack reminds me of my grandma's house and baking cookies). But the best part is, you can mix and match with different colors like the ones below. I found these at Amazon by the way.

These ones are nice too. A bit cheaper, 6 for $15, and they're unbleached so the cotton really comes through and it also adds a nice vintage look to it. Check them out at The Towel Place. 

Now I just need to figure out how to make my own stamps or find some that are cheap but still look amazing and hand-carved. Oh the dilemma.. At least I have till Christmas.