SUMMIT OF AWESOME!

This weekend the Summit of Awesome comes to DC! It's a 3-day summit filled with crafting workshops and business seminars for those who are trying to break into the handcrafting for a living realm! There will also be a screening of the craft documentary, Handmade Nation. The home-base for the Summit of Awesome is at Miss Pixie's near 14th and U... one of my newer favorite places to visit on the weekend anyway!

I couldn't have been more excited when I found out about this and I will definitely be attending the activities on Saturday. You can find complete details and a listing of all of the seminars scheduled for each day here. I suggest any of you out there interested in crafting go!

Not In MY Neighborhood!

Every once in awhile something happens that reminds you that you are just as susceptible to crime as anyone else, no matter where you live or how safe you feel.

This morning I had one of those moments. I walked outside around 8:00 a.m., as usual, to walk the dog. I walked right out the front door and turned right to do our tyical loop around the block. As I was coming back around the block towards the house again, I noticed that there were a bunch of pieces of shiny metal lying around underneath my roommate's car. At first I thought they were bottle caps... or something similar. Then I realized, his car was on blocks! His tires and rims were gone and his car was jacked up, resting on a cinder block and a piece of wood on one side and rock on the other side. I was astonished! Immediately, "Not in THIS neighborhood, NOT where I live!" flashed through my brain. I thought to myself that it had to be a prank - but after a few seconds I decided that would be way too elaborate a plan for any of our friends to try to execute.

I went inside to tell everyone but Brett had already seen his car and was equally as astonished as the rest of us. He just got new tires this week and was pretty upset that he was out that money as well as whatever deductible he would have to pay his insurance company. He called the cops - when the cop arrived he said, "I have to be honest with you, we probably aren't going to catch whoever did this." Comforting. What none of us could really understand, however, was who would do such a thing in our quiet little neighborhood. We live in a very nice area of Arlington in a neighborhood comprised of families with young children and older folks. I think we are the youngest people on the street. It seems like such an odd place for someone to come to rip off a car - and no one heard or noticed a thing!

I can't even tell you how often I leave my car unlocked or a window open - even the front door sometimes! Maybe it's that I grew up on a farm with the nearest neighbors miles away (was I worried a deer or a mountain lion might break into my room a time or two? maybe so, but i was probably six at the time). Maybe I have some sort of unquestioning trust of man-kind (it's probably not that). Maybe I am just comfortable and feel safe enough that I shouldn't have to always shut my windows before I go to work. Or maybe I'm just lazy! Who knows? All I know is that now, I will think twice about leaving anything unlocked or open.

Shows, shows, shows!

I have been to a lot of concerts over the past year and have taken a ton of pictures that have never seen the light of day! I finally dumped my old memory card and realized that I had managed to capture a few good shots at various shows, so I thought I would share them here. (I'm sure all of you guys who actually went to some of these shows with me will be interested to finally see the pictures I promised!)


First up:
Delta Spirit & Dr. Dog -Iota Club and Cafe - Arlington, VA - September 5, 2008

First two are Delta Spirit... it took me pretty much there entire set to get the settings right on the camera so I didn't get many pictures of them.

































And now on to Dr. Dog.


























































I got to meet the lead vocalist of Dr. Dog, Scott McMicken, although in this photo he doesn't look too interested in meeting me!



































Next up: My Morning Jacket - Charlottesville Pavilion - Charlottesville, VA - September 4, 2008

Here's what I looked like throughout a lot of the show: beer in hand, camera at the ready! Trevor and I took the two pics below at the exact same time.





































Some of us were representing some other music/bands at the show...












































We waited for awhile for the show to start...but once it did, it was amazing!

And finally: The Pine Hill Haints & Th' Legendary Shack Shakers - Rock and Roll Hotel - Washington, DC - October 14, 2008

First set of pictures is The Pine Hill Haints... for some reason I had a much harder time getting good shots at this show.

Duda + Photoshop Makes My Doodles More Awesome

I can do four or five VERY, VERY basic things in Photoshop... but my friend John Duda is apparently pretty masterful with it (*he is responsible for my banner on the blog - my concept/his execution).

He took the little doodle I did yesterday and turned it into this:

I love it! Very graphic! (Although now mine looks kinda grade school in comparison.) To read Duda's full post about his take on my doodles click here. He has a fun blog called Scissors and a Glue Stick - check it out if you get a chance. He promises that more posts will be forthcoming.

Staff Meeting = Doodles

I hate our weekly staff meetings. They are endless and tiresome. Today, I took the opportunity to get a little creative while my co-workers droned on and on.

Here are the results:













I think I might take this approach every Thursday morning...
And yes, I do keep a box of crayola markers close at hand during these meetings. So far, no one has said anything to me.