words

translation

0

atender

This word means “to take care of.”

It is easy to confuse yesterday’s word, “asistir” with today’s word. The way I remember this is that they are exactly opposite of one another. Asistir is to attend. Atender is to assist or take care of.

translation

0

asistir

At first glance, you might think this Spanish verb means “to assist.” However, it really means “to attend,” as in attending a class, a function, or an event.

translation

0

My Spanish instructor recommended, since I love words so much, that I write in my blog about Spanish words that look like they mean one thing but they actually mean another.

I loved the idea and it will improve my Spanish, as well. I’ll try to do this daily but we’ll see how it goes.

Today’s word:

embarazada

Looks like embarrassed, right? However, if you used it as embarrassed in a sentence, you would definitely be embarrassed!

Embarazada means “pregnant.”

inspiration

0

I’ve just come back from devouring Photoblog Magazine. If you haven’t stopped by there yet, I recommend that you run, don’t walk, to it. The images are stunning. The words are moving. The format is like a magazine online.

I’m inspired by the contributors. They make me want to become a better photographer and to be able to put my words to those photographs in a beautifully, lyrical way that the images deserve. I’m a poet in my soul and I know I have the words…it’s just a matter of finding a way to merge the two experiences for me.

I need to find my voice in both photography and writing that will link them together in that way that makes them seem they were born together and of one another.

I want to create beauty out of the most mundane or most ugly things.

What is my vision?
What is my voice?

Where do I go from here?

growth

0

I’ve been photo crazy lately, I think. I see photographs in everything. I’m seeing the world through the lens of my camera. I tilt my head to and fro, looking at things as I would through the lens.

I’ve had over 5000 visitors to my photoblog. Wow! 5000. That’s a lot of people. I’m sure a lot just click on links to see what I contributed to a meme or are passing through from comments on another site but it just strikes me as a lot of visitors.

I wish more people would give feedback. I want to become a better photographer and anything that is shared is so welcomed. I can read all I want but it isn’t the same as direct feedback. Real people looking at my photos give me an invaluable insight into how to better myself.

Today I was talking to someone at work about my photography and his wood-working. He said that it’s so much easier to do when you have a muse. He said, though, that because his muse is his wife, his work becomes so personal, so much a part of his life, his relationship.

I understand that.

I’ve had a relationship with cameras my whole life. I was always the one taking the pictures of the family and there are very few pictures of me with my family because of this. I’m not sure it was expected. I think I just liked being the one to take the pictures.

It started with an old Kodak Instamatic 110. It grew from there.

I would like to think my images have improved over time. And over the years, I’m not sure I’ve had a muse. I’ve taken photographs for the pure love of it, for the pure beauty of what I see before me.

I was saying to my co-worker that my photography has recently taken a turn. I know a lot of it is that I’m a bit more serious about it. A lot of it is that I’m given good feedback from the people who do take the time to comment on it with great constructive criticism.

Some of it, though, is because I think about what Jonathan would say. He would tease me that I’ve centered it or taken another macro or maybe he would think that I just hadn’t taken the time and care with a shot that it deserved. He pushes me to be a better photographer. He pushes me to push my photographic boundaries and to see something in a different way.

I think his support and his feedback has been invaluable. I am seeing the world through a new lens that is more vivid and more dimensional.

list 0f 3′s

0

I don’t know why I do these things but they do make me think about my life sometimes.

Three screen names you have had:
- branwyn
- gwenyfyar
- geekgirl

Three things you hate about yourself:
- my insecurities
- my insecurities
- my insecurities

Three parts of your heritage:
- Irish
- English
- German

Three things that scare you:
- people
- dogs
- guns

Three of your everyday essentials:
- nuzzle from Dakota
- shower
- food

Three new things you want to try in the next twelve months:
- grad school
- using Spanish in “real” situations
- sea kayaking

Three things you want in a relationship (Love is a given)
- growth
- communication
- time

Two truths and a lie:
- I enjoy traveling
- I love school
- I enjoy my job

Three things about the opposite sex that appeal to you:
- they are men
- they are men
- they are men

Three things you just can’t do:
- lie well
- avoid caring about people
- avoid being sensitive

Three of your favorite hobbies:
- photography
- writing
- making jewelry

Three things you want to do very badly right now:
- fly to Vancouver
- see my Willow
- finish school

Three careers you are considering:
- web-based copy-writer/editor
- travel writer
- science writer

Three places you want to go on vacation:
- Spain
- British Isles
- Africa

Three kids’ names:
- Willow
- Justice
- Kooper

Three things you want to do before you die:
- be in love
- graduate from school
- feel safe

can you hear me?

0

I fell asleep. I’d been up since 4 a.m. and by 10:30 p.m., I was exhausted. Rain was pattering against the roof and that tends to make me more sleepy. My bedroom reading lamp was still on. The latest edition of Smithsonian was resting on my chest. I was off in dreamland.

The phone rings.

Hello
Can you hear me?
Am I gettin’ through to you?

Hello
Is it late there?

A voice. A deep, soft soft voice. I’m shaken. I was sleeping hard..harder than I should have been for being out only 20 minutes.

My voice is higher pitched than normal because of being woken. I think I sound like a little girl.

Why don’t you
Why don’t you
Go outside
Go outside

Kiss the rain
Whenever you need me
Kiss the rain
Whenever I’m gone, too long.

If your lips
Feel lonely and thirsty
Kiss the rain
And wait for the dawn.

Keep in mind
We’re under the same sky
And the nights
as empty for me, as for you
If you feel
You can’t wait till morning
Kiss the rain
Kiss the rain
Kiss the rain

That voice. I heard it for mere seconds but it’s still ringing in my head. It was late, I was asleep. He didn’t want to disturb me. He told me to go back to sleep.

Hello
Do you miss me?

What’s new?
How’s the weather?
Is it stormy where you are?
You sound so close but it feels
like you’re so far
Oh would it mean anything
If you knew
What I’m left imagining
In my mind
In my mind
Would you go
Would you go
Kiss the rain

And you’d fall over me
Think of me
Think of me
Think of me
Only me
Kiss the rain
Whenever you need me
Kiss the rain
Whenever I’m gone too long
If your lips
Feel lonely and tempted
Kiss the rain
and wait for the dawn

Keep in mind
We’re under the same sky
And the nights
As empty for me, as for you

If you feel
You can’t wait till morning

Kiss the rain
Kiss the rain

Hello
Can you hear me?

I didn’t want to hang up, as tired as I was. I wonder if he knew. I would have rather have heard his voice more.

I couldn’t fall back asleep. His voice reverberated through my head. Finally, when I drifted off, he was there, in my dreams, talking to me.

He once told me he’d come to me in my dreams.

I wonder if he knew how touched I’d be when he did.

Thanks to Billie Meyers for the edited “Kiss the Rain” lyrics.

luscious

0

It’s funny. I chose one of my San Francisco Peaks sunset images for my Photo Friday submission for “Luscious.” It’s not what I wanted to enter. I was going to try a photo shoot of some semi-nudes or I’d love to have an image of a kiss. But this is what I submitted.

And now I’m happy with it. I love that picture. It’s beautiful and stunning in all of its natural glory.

Jonathan was giving me ideas for “luscious” last night. He reminded me of the Grand Marnier kisses we shared on New Year’s Eve.

On New Year’s Eve, I was still recovering from dealing with the flu. I wanted to go out but just wasn’t up to it physically. There is no way I would have survived an hour out on the town.

Jonathan surprised me with something.

He brought out a bottle of Grand Marnier. He took a drink. He leaned in to kiss me, passing the liquid from his mouth to my own. It was smooth and rich. It felt like liquid gold on my palate. It was beautiful and passionate and intense.

It was, in a word, luscious.

He kissed me like this for a while. I became a little tipsy from the effects of the alcohol but even more so from the power of those kisses.

They were better than good. They were delicious. They were incredible.

I love kisses like that.

I’m not sure I’ve ever had such luscious kisses before.

It reminded me of something I wrote a long time ago:

His voice touches me like a fine cognac: smooth and gracious. It washes over me in waves, leaving me slightly intoxicated. I am giddy when I hear his soft growl of articulation in my ear. Whether it is his sleepy or wide-awake voice, the inflections and tones wreak delicious havoc on my system. He brings me to the brink of my world, then takes me over and beyond, into his own. That is where I am most at peace. His world is full of sunlight and laughter, fast cars and world travel, lazy mornings and lovemaking.

I long for his world. I desire to be a part of it every waking moment. He says it will come in time. Until then, he gives me glimpses of what it would be like to live in his world. Sometimes, though, this is not enough. My body aches to actually be in his world. My mind is constantly there. My heart has been there since the beginning.

I think of him every moment of every day. When I fear that I’m obsessing, I think of him even more. It isn’t dangerous. It isn’t malicious. It is a need to have him consume me in reality as his words, thoughts, and expressions do in my every waking moment and even into my dreams.

His words caress me like soft silks: intimate and sensual. They drape over me in protective layers, making me feel sophisticated and rich. I feel as if the world is a step away and I will be safe in anything I endeavor. I am more relaxed because of the power, the safety, and the strength he gives to me. I feel like the world is at my feet and I can do whatever I wish.

This is a gift. Not everyone is able to deliver such a gift and be able to make sure that it withstands time and emotional turmoil. He can. He is an honourable man who is able to deliver what he promises. This is all-too-often a rare trait. He only promises that which he is able to deliver, never more, but that is always the perfect amount. He knows exactly what I need and is able to give it to me every single time.

He has entered my soul and owns my heart. I didn’t let him in. He was intuitive and able to find a way in to my darkest corners. I threw up walls at every turn and he still came back, willingly, to climb over them, bulldoze them, or simply walk through them as if by magic. I test him. I probably will until the day I die. I need to make sure that I’m worthy of him and testing him does that, I suppose. I tell him how horrible I am. He returns every time. I get moody and angry. He continues to return. Gentle words and an openness that I’m not accustomed to are a part of his way of dealing with me. They work so much better than silence or anger. They allow me to open up to him more than I would because I know he will receive what I share with an open heart and mind.

He has given me his heart as well. This I hold dear to me. I’ve wrapped it within the folds of my own so that no harm can come to it. No matter what happens, his is always protected from whatever may come our way. It is precious to me. It is the most precious gift I’ve ever been given. I would guard it with my life. I want for nothing else because of it.

All of this and I have never touched the man. So many will ask how this can be. My answer is that the heart knows of no boundaries. The mind is able to fill in the spaces. One does not need to actually feel another to feel love. It has happened this way for centuries and it will continue to happen for eons. The human capacity to love is greater than the confines that we humans wish to put around it. It is often misunderstood and confused with so many other things. There are some things that we will never be able to understand. Love is one of these things.

just a few things…

0

Borrowed from Perpetual Karma

  • Name the last four things you have bought:  blue turtleneck, black pants, veggie burrito meal from Del Taco, black boots
  • Name four drinks you regularly drink: Water, milk, Coke, tea
  • Last time you cried? last night
  • What’s in your CD player? Women & Song
  • What’s under your bed? A bed frame…and under that?  Carpeting.
  • What time did you wake up today? 6:25 am.
  • Current hair? Curly and growing out.
  • Current clothes? blue jeans, white t-shirt, and a cardigan
  • Current desktop picture? A picture of Vancouver that I took while there.
  • Current worry? School…and my heart.
  • Current hate? That I can’t be there physically for someone I care about.
  • Favorite places to be? In bed…preferably with someone I care about.
  • Least favorite place? Lately it’s work.
  • If you could play an instrument? Classical guitar
  • Favorite color(s)? Dark purple and greens
  • How tall are you? 5’10″
  • Favorite expression?  Hmmmm…
  • One person from your past you wish you could talk to: Grandpa
  • Favorite day(s)? Friday
  • Where would you like to go? Vancouver…and Spain and Scotland and Germany and New Zealand and…
  • Where do you want to live when you get married? I try not to plan things around marriage.
  • Favorite food? I love most food but I guess it would be Mexican.
  • Color of most clothes you own: All colors
  • Number of pillows you sleep w/? I currently have 5 pillows on my bed but only one of them gets slept on.
  • What do you wear when you go to sleep: usually a t-shirt or night shirt
  • What were you doing 12 am last night: Watching Whipped on the Sundance Channel
  • How old will you be in 10 yrs: 47
  • What do you think you’ll be doing in 10 years: Living
  • Do you have braces? NO!!!  I got them off last year (almost a year ago, the day after my birthday!!!  Whee!)
  • Are you paranoid?! About some things.
  • Do you burn or tan? Burn…I’m a redhead.
  • What is the brand of your wallet? Hmmmm…I got it at Target because Willow thought it was cool.
  • First piercing/tattoo? I got my ears pierced the first time when I was 12.  I got my first tattoo when I was 25.
  • First enemy? I’m not sure I have an enemy…unless you count the cancer.  Yup.
  • Last person you yelled at? ack.  Jonathan…and I’m embarrassed about it.
  • Last crush? Oh, Nicholas Cage is my ongoing crush.
  • Last thing you ate? veggie burrito from Del Taco
  • The last time you had sex it was…? Wonderful.

This was taken this week in a co-worker’s office.  It’s my Picture of the Week for last week.  I’ll post the new picture tomorrow.

miscommunication

0

I hate miscommunication. I hate it even more when I jump to a conclusion and make an assumption that may not be correct.

I can read what someone writes, take their words exactly as they write them, and still get it wrong because I don’t understand the intent behind the words.

I can hear someone talk to me, run it through my head, and still come out with the wrong message.

I wonder if my filtering mechanisms are screwed up. I wonder if I overthink things (okay, I know I do this but I wonder if I do it even more than I think I do…oy…this could be a vicious cycle!). I wonder if I allow past circumstances to cloud my ability to comprehend.

What I hate the most is making a decision or a statement based on miscommunication and then having it come back and make me realize that I really made an ass of myself.

I hate that.

There is no wonder why I often am silent. It’s way too easy to make mistakes where people are concerned.

Go to Top