4000

this is my 4000th picture on flickr. i just put it up. that number seems crazy. like too many. or not enough. i can't decide. but what i do find interesting is what other people like. do you have one favorite picture of mine? if you had to choose one, which would it be? i know, i know, the dreaded favorite question. it's so hard for people isn't it?

howdy

our good friends kevin and kristen have gone and done something great. they've started an etsy shop! it's called howdy, mates! and it is full of their fantastic designs. kevin and kristen make up two of the three crazy talented people of threehouse. i mean if you can create totally awesome illustrations, i guess it follows that you can do some damage to a silk screen too. let's not talk about how they are a cute newly wed couple. it kinda makes you hate them a little bit, they are so talented. luckily they are super nice too, making it pretty much impossible to hate them. so hop on over, take a look, and get yourself something.

who are you?

did you ever have a pen pal when you were a kid? i'm talking about an honest to goodness pen pal. i'm talking pencils and lined notebook paper. pre-erasable ball point pen even. you remember that time? we were all still reeling from the invention of velcro sneakers, and cool ranch doritos were just a happy, blurry figment of our imaginations. i had a pen pal. her name was carolina and she lived in bogotá. she was the daughter of my aunt's then boyfriend, and we were nearly the same age, so it followed that we should be pen pals. i remember filling pages and pages of hello kitty notepad paper with really important information to tell her. and then waiting. oh the waiting. so much agony. after i sent a letter, not a day would go by that i didn't think about carolina getting my letter. what she would think about all my important information, and better yet, what important information did she have to tell me?? then there was always that day. the one when i kicked my way down the driveway, walking home from school, slouched into the kitchen to find an envelope sitting there for me. bam! i'd grab it, and tear it open as i was racing up the stairs to my room, fling myself onto my bed, and read like a blind man given sight. what a feeling. but where am i going with all this? i'll tell you. recently i read a really interesting essay on social media detox that my friend shari pointed me to. even more interesting, and ironic is that we then entered into a discussion of the article on twitter. i guess my point is this. i don't know how to be anyone else than myself, especially online. don't get me wrong i have a need for privacy. this is no reality tv show over here at huffmania. i have my moments. i get cranky like everyone else, we have lots of stress like everyone else. and guess what? i even have lots of ugly pictures. shocking, right? it's true. the key is healthy boundaries. boundaries about what you do and do not share online. boundaries on how much time you spend in your online world and your real world. and if you are lucky, having the opportunity to mix those two worlds a bit. i've had the sincere and great pleasure of meeting many of my online friends in person. they are flesh and blood people. and they are themselves. to me it's like having a pen pal without all the space of waiting. yes. i know space is a good thing. and yes, i think letters are wonderful. but our life moves at a faster pace these days. pulling yourself out now and then is good. but i also think being able to move with the flow is good too. if i didn't, i would have missed out on having some really wonderful people in my life. i would have sat alone on easter sunday in some crummy hotel room. instead i spent the whole day with a wonderful family. sure, i'd never met tracy before. but we had already exchanged lots of really important information. and i knew her. better yet, i know myself. and what i am comfortable with. i'm not naive. i know there are lots and lots of strange people and things on the internet. and i know you can get thrown a curve ball. but for the most part, my online community, my social media has been so very positive that i couldn't give it up. i'm not all that interested in expanding it. it's at a good place, a good size and takes up an amount of time that i am ok with. it works for me. and i know me pretty well. of course now i'm wondering if i can find carolina on facebook...

actually

i have a really thoughtful post brewing about online identity, but i got distracted by shoes. go figure, right? here is the cool part. my beloved habitat is having their annual sale! starting today! if you are here in kc, get thyself to the store tonight for a shopping party. i have it on good authority that there will be sangria tonight. if you are not here in kc, well i have news for you too. the sale is going on online too. today you can get 25% off regular priced items with the code spring25 and friday through sunday you can get 20% off regular priced items with the code spring20
see how great that is!? i went by the store yesterday to say hello to kristen and walked out with these grey camper oxfords. i can assure you it made my day. so treat yourself this weekend. yes?

be nice to yourself

do you ever find that the person you are the hardest on is yourself? maybe not the hardest, but maybe the one you never think to be nice to? or that might just be me. anyway, this week has had a series of highs and lows that left me feeling grumpy and doing come cursing out loud on the streets. thank goodness molly was so understanding (thank you molly!). i treated myself to some flowers on wednesday and couldn't help but smile every time i looked at them. time to be nice to myself. it's friday for pete's sake.

on a totally unrelated note, a person that never fails to make me proud is david. he had the opportunity to work with a very good friend of ours on a video that you can now watch on patagonia's website. go take a look. it's called border country, and it's lovely. hope you all have a wonderful weekend, enjoying easter, passover or some nice sunshine. or maybe all three? whatever floats your boat. just be nice.