My Photo A Day Challenge Photos

At the end of the Photo-A-Day Challenge (which can been explained at viewed at kandncraziness.blogspot.com) I planned to put all of my photos on my blog just because I'm proud of them lol But, that never happened so now that I have a moment, here they are :)

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Not all of them are spectacular but I have my favorites (the rainbow clouds, rainy night, and spider) and they did what was expected, got me to look at the world around me in a different perspective. Now, months later I still see something and think about what angle I would take a picture at to make it look the best. I enjoyed it and I hope everybody following along did too :)

Petreedccione

First, to explain the title, it is simply Alex's future solution to the problem of both of us wanting to keep our last names.
And Now, on to the post: A fews days ago Alex and I celebrated our one year anniversary. I love that boy more than I even thought was possible and suddenly I feel more free and stuck at the same time.
Free because I know I'll never have to worry about finding love again.
Stuck because all the good feelings make me want more.
For the first time in my life the concept of moving out and growing up doesn't seem so scary. With Alex by my side it sounds exciting. Maybe I'm ready maybe I'm not, it doesn't really matter, I want to find out. I want a job I want a degree I want my own place so bad it hurts. It doesn't help that I have more than 10 people in my life that are either freshly married or engaged. Not that even getting married is at the top of my to do list right at this moment, it just speaks to people's ability to take a step forward in life. An ability I don't currently have.
This last year has transformed me into a shade of the woman I want to be. Alex is the man I always hoped to find and more I've loved every minute spent exploring his personality and discovering how well we work together all through ups and downs. Our eccentricities fit together like two puzzle pieces. It seems that every good quality we each have is designed to deal with the faults of the other. So I guess really what I'm trying to say is that despite my feeling stuck, this has been an absolutely amazing year and I can waitto see what the coming years bring :]

Fire-y Explosion

The original photo I took 7/4/10 out in a random field in Tangent

And the Final photo that started out as a simple GIMP tutorial and turned into an all day passion.

Nicole's Random Pieces Of Information

I have a lot of thoughts bouncing around in my head...a lot.

But usually I either ignore them or ponder them in solitude, rarely do I share them when I don't think they're worth listening to. Tonight one of those random thoughts popped into my head and then another one followed: "Nicole, why DON'T you share these thoughts? Someone might be entertained by them other than you..." and I had no answer for myself. So without further ado, straight from the mind of Stripes, comes some

1) The Sizzler in Albany used to have brown brick in their bathroom and in the far stall in the ladies room there was a cartoon frog drawn on the wall in sharpie. It was drawn very well and all through my child-hood I traced that frog with my finger every time we went to Sizzler, promising myself I would go home and draw it because I liked it so much. I never did and since then they've remodeled their bathrooms and alas the frog is gone. I still think of it every time I go there but I can't remember for the life of me what it looked like anymore.

2) When I'm really bored I think about how strange words are...Most every word sounds weird. Think about sounds, now pick a word, any word, and examine how sounds connect and intertwine to make that word. I especially enjoy the word "fandango" ffff-like a tire going flat. aaaannn-like a defeated scream ddd-like a unbalanced lawn mower idling above a rock aaaannn- also like a defeated scream ggg-like pepsi flowing begrudgingly from its bottle and ooo-like a fan's eternal monologue. Now put them together...a screaming lawn mower with a flat tire and over-cooled engine covered in pepsi.

Now that is definitely not the Spanish dance that is actually defined by the word "fandango"

3) A few years ago, I was opening a DVD case while standing in the bathroom (don't ask me why, I don't know) and I surprisingly managed to get that top sticker off in one piece. So to document my accomplishment I felt the need to place the sticker somewhere... One of my drawers (that holds brushes, q-tips, and so on)  is now labeled "Security Device Enclosed" but apparently my randomness has become the norm because none of my friends have ever commented...

4) Blame my mother. That is all

Demon Sperm Wind Sock

This last week I was at the coast and as everyone that has ever been to the coast knows, it is windy 99.999% of the time. Quite windy.

So because of this fact, wind socks are quite popular there, lining many shop fronts and neighborhoods with their colorful, fluttering. These widely accepted decorations come in many joyful shapes and sizes...and some not so joyful.

Most of these shapes being happy or entertaining things, always appropriate for all ages, and it is because of this standard known in the wind sock world, that I ask you this: What is this wind sock pictured below supposed to be?!

When I was asked this very question by my dear friend Alex one thing and one thing only immediately came to mind; Demon sperm...now you can blame that on a filthy mind cultured from years of crazy friends but you can not deny that that is definitely what it appears to be.

Note: Upon finding a package of this wind sock in the store, it title was simply "Spike Ball"

If you have any other suggestions for what this might be, please feel free to let me know.

A Letter

You've done more for me than you'll ever know.
No doubt God brought us together for a reason and I hope you realize how thankful I am for that.
Every time I look into your eyes, I see how much you care.
You make me laugh like I've never laughed before and the person I become whenever we're together is the person I've been trying to be my whole life.
Suddenly I've found myself closer to you than I ever dreamed, and now I can only hope to come closer.
You are a miracle in the shape of a friendship and that friendship will hold me up when I can't stand on my own.
Thank you for coming along, and thank you for being you. 
I truly love you and everything you do.
Sincerely,
A Friend

Matthew's Story

Despair, thats the only word I can think to describe it. Complete and total despair consumes me and I'm not ashamed to say I laid in bed for days just to cry. When she went missing I never dreamed she wouldn't turn up. I always assumed I would open my front door to find her standing there with those sparkling eyes and an extravagant story of explanation. My mind continually folded over the fears, convincing me the worst was impossible until the worst was all there was. I guess theres a part of my heart that still doesn't believe it.

***

Today, the gloom will clear, if only for a little while.

****

She always talked about getting out of the city. So even though I was never able to bring her, I know she would have loved these woods. When I come here I can almost pretend shes still alive, can almost hear her voice...

Pop Experiment

Katelyn and I have challenged ourselves! And we're documenting our misery for your entertainment! Be sure to check it out at KandNCraziness.blogspot.com

Hope you enjoy! :)

Jamie's Story Part 2

So far, death is surprisingly relaxing, the only thing I'm not loving is the cold. I guess that BS they teach you in school about body heat and all that isn't such BS after all. Now that my heart's been still for a couple hours my nice warm life-blood has started to feel more like day old cream of chicken soup...I can't hear much and I wish I could sit and watch the forest life. Seems almost sad that I finally get out of the city for a day and I can't enjoy it much....

***

I've been down here for at least a day, but I'm not sure maybe its only been a couple hours. Somewhere I can almost hear a mocking voice convincing me its only been a few minutes and the allusion of death is clouding my time perception. If that's true I don't know if I'll make it to my moment of discovery. On second thought, where else can I go? What else can I do? If I go insane down here what happens then? Some sort of cosmic asylum in the sky? As I'm pondering these horrors I hear a voice. Not the drippy invisible voice of my mind, but a real one. A voice so real it seems I could reach out and touch it. Now, footsteps, they're so close I can feel the dirt shift around me. My need consumes me so completely that I see red, until suddenly I hear the voice again and I recognize it as a child's. My fear of never being found is completely drowned out by the fear of being found by this little boy. I can imagine the terrors of finding a dead body and I'm sure finding my beaten skin would be that much more horrific. If my lungs would work I would be sure that I smell too, maybe that will be enough to keep the boy and his father away but not so much to make them curious. I want to be found, maybe then all this will finally end but not at the cost of a child's nightmares.

*****

Jamie's Story Part 1

Death isn't all that bad really. I always imagined it to feel confining, like I was trapped but actually its quite a freeing sensation. Now that I'm dead I'm finally free from this crazy world that we, well you, live in...Free from the drama, free from the stress, free from the violence and finally free from the crime.

***

Lying here dead I can't help but wonder who will be at my funeral. Nothing better to think about I guess, but the image of a shining casket surrounded by flowers is practically ingrained in me as I watch the dirt fall. By this time you're probably wondering how I died huh? Well that'll come later for now I'm too distracted by watching my murderer fill in my shallow grave. He can't seem to work fast enough as my eyes are still open and I'm trying my hardest to burn right through his soul with a stare as strong as God Almighty Himself...

*****

...Now that hes finished I can get back to my story, I never was one for violence but when you grow up where I did you don't really have much of a choice. But even with the life I had I never dreamed of ending up like this, buried in some forgotten forest some 20 miles off the highway, waiting for someone to find my limp shell. I only hope that happens soon, I'm getting tired of the eerie darkness left behind by a life abruptly ended. Excuse me, I just realized I never introduced myself, my name is Jamie and I was killed today.