Dreams vs. Excuses [Quote]

By nicole.pierce.photography ♥

"If you really want something you’ll find a way to do it. If you don’t want it that bad, you’ll come up with excuses for why it can’t be done." Brittany Castanos

 via Quit Your Day Job: Daughters of Simone | The Etsy Blog

This is clever:

see more Set Phasers To Lol

Downton Abbey Paper Dolls - Adorable & Funny!

I found these paper dolls by Kyle Hilton via Jane Austen's World. I just love the "assortment of emotions" for the Dowager Countess:

Jane Austen's World has gathered links to the paper dolls of other characters (Mary & Matthew, Lady Sybil, and Thomas & O'Brien) here: Downton Abbey Season 2 Finale: Tonight You’re Mine Completely. I think I'll be printing all of these out & having a good ol' time playing paper dolls (no, I have not outgrown that. I don't think I ever will.)

Just an hour and a bit until the season finale!

The Dog Outwits the Kidnapper

Here's an adorable film from 1908, courtesy of the British Film Institute. I wonder if I could teach my dog this trick...

Happy Valentine's Day...from Valentine!

I found a special treat in the mail yesterday: My parents sent us all valentines postmarked in Valentine, NE!

There's even a special image stamped on the back of the envelope:

This is so cool! Thanks, Mom & Dad!

(If you want to do this for your valentine next year, here's how.)

Life moves pretty fast...

Ferris Bueller's Day Off  is one of my favorite movies, so I was super excited to see this commercial. Part of me wishes it was a whole movie, but in a way, this is enough and having more might ruin it.

I would ABSOLUTELY watch this show

DORK TOWER, Tuesday, January 24, 2012 
(Click through to see the full-size cartoon)

True, I'm waaaay behind on Dr. Who and I haven't even started Sherlock yet (I hear it's great and I intend to start on season one soon)...but a show like this would be just mind-blowingly awesome (England, will you still let me in?)

Flickr Favorite: Paris

Just like birds on a wire, I'm a sucker for pictures of the Eiffel Tower against a sunset. This one is by Flickr user  [phil h].

No need to panic, the mystery's been solved:

see more Set Phasers To Lol

Some days the dragon wins

When I read this post last night just before bed, I immediately emailed myself the link with the note "OMG YES!"

The whole thing is short and worth reading in its entirety for the full message, but this is the part that really hit me:

"Your manuscript was not written. Your miles were not run. Your dream was not dreamed. But, and this is an awful big but, that was just today. Tomorrow is a new day."

I have a tendency to fall into the trap of "I didn't achieve my goal today, so I'm never going to." I'm slowly learning to climb out of that hole and keep moving forward, brushing off the dirt of self-doubt and negative self-talk that clings to me afterward.


The dragon definitely won most of the last week. And I think the last couple days, I barely stood up to fight it. I'm back to fighting today, sword and shield in hand, partially thanks to this post.

photo via Library of Congress

I think I'm going to create a prominent "Having a bad day?" bookmark on my computer which links to that post so I can read it whenever I need to.

There Be Dragons by Jon Acuff

Does the movie of your life need a new writer?

Photo By Hal Dick

An interesting read:

"If they made a movie about your life, would it be titled, It’s a Won­der­ful Life? Or would Speed, You've Got Mail, or Nightmare on Elm Street be more fitting? Unfor­tu­nately, too many peo­ple are liv­ing lives like those movies that come out every sum­mer. You know, the over­hyped ones with big bud­gets, lots of action — and tired sto­ries with thin plots. Just because a movie costs a lot of money and has a lot of things going on doesn’t mean it’s a very good story. The same is true of your life...If you’re less than thrilled with the direction of your story, it is time to hire a new writer: YOU."

Check out the whole post here: How To Live A Better Story | Jungle of Life

Making yourself miserable?

Here's an interesting list by Keri Smith. I've seen it floating around a bit lately and find it eye-opening every time I come across it. I do several things on this list on a regular basis. I won't say which I do, but I know all creative people probably do at least a couple at any given time - we're all human. We all fall into these traps. But being aware of them helps us climb out of the holes we dig for ourselves and hopefully avoid falling back into them in the future.

 via Rachelle Gardner

The chair of my dreams

I don't pay much attention to the TV show Revenge, which is probably why I never noticed this chair until last night (according to my husband, it shows up quite often), but now that I've seen it...WANT!!!

So, now I just need to come up with $1,859 so I can buy it....um, yeah....

Revenge Home Décor: Where to Find Victoria Grayson’s French Script Armchair - Revenge

Come to the bark side...we have biscuits.

After last year's Super Bowl commercial, Volkswagen apparently thought they'd keep going with the Star Wars theme. I'm not complaining.

(Best commercial that had nothing to do with the product ever)

The peril of naming characters [Cartoon]

Pearls Before Swine Comic Strip, October 02, 2011

I've definitely had that problem before...maybe not quite so bad as "Bean Dip"....

I do tend to end up with a lot of people with the name Something or Somethingelse.

How about you?

Lady Grantham's Greatest Hits + White Feathers

A friend posted this on Facebook earlier today. If you like Downton Abbey, you'll get a kick out of this. I just love the Dowager Countess of Grantham, and I don't think anyone but Maggie Smith could have played her.



I watched the first episode of Season Two last night and loved it! If you'd like to read more about the symbolism of the white feathers involved in one scene, check out this post at Jane Austen's World. I was kind of glad I'd read it ahead of time.

This made me giggle...

Potential: 

via XKCD

2012 - Week 1

I'm trying to check in and keep track of what I did over the last week, so I have something to look at when I start to beat myself up for not being Superwoman. So many times I get to the end of Sunday and I feel like I didn't accomplish anything through the week, when really I did. So, these are the things I DID ACCOMPLISH last week, to counter the hundreds of things the unhealthy voices keep telling me I didn't do:

• Did at least 30 minutes on the Wii Fit every day, including Saturday and Sunday (bonus points there - I usually slack off on the weekend). I did 1 hour one day, but I hurt A LOT afterward, so that's definitely something I need to work up to as I go.
• I did all my scheduled breaks for stairs at work (I noticed they were a bit easier this morning - I think doing the Wii over the weekend helped with that). 
• I went to church - I think I've figured out my key to getting there regularly: I prefer to go on Saturday evening and if I tell hubby on Saturday morning that I am going, it not only solidifies it in my head that I'm going, he'll give me a nudge out the door as well (even though he rarely goes along). Really, for me, the hardest part about getting to church is getting out the door; the rest is gravy.
• I finished reading one book: The Book of Ancient Bastards: 101 of the Worst Miscreants and Misdeeds from Ancient Sumer to the Enlightenment.
• LilGirl and I caught up on the dishes (you'd be shocked at how often this doesn't happen).
• I saw a movie and didn't get a soda (it helps that this theater had self-serve fountain drinks, which include water, so you're not paying $6 for a small bottle - definitely a reason to continue going there).
• No new pages written, but I did make a bunch of notes for my WIP.
• Took a load of stuff to Goodwill (and threw away several things not worth taking there).

I used to do this...

Unfortunately, "Staring out the window" seems to have been replaced by a circle marked "Staring at a screen" and the intersection does not often result in inspiration. I need to remember to start staring out the window (or just into space) again.

From Indexed

Happy New Year!

"It is reasonable that a man should be something worthier 

at the end of the year than he was at the beginning."

— Henry David Thoreau

May we all be successful as we strive towards "worthiness" this year, 

though that means something different for each of us.
Have a happy & prosperous 2012!