Always a Work in Progress

Oh, what a beautiful mess this is

[irisscribbles-blog]

Why We Fall in Love: The Paradoxical Psychology of Romance and Why Frustration Is Necessary for Satisfaction

“All love stories are frustration stories… To fall in love is to be reminded of a frustration that you didn’t know you had.” Share ArticlePocket

[irisscribbles-blog]

Royal Palace, Madrid

[odditymall]

The BalKonzept is a German designed desk for your balcony. Just place it over the railing on your balcony and you have a desk to work at, a table to set your drinks on, or a place to put some flowers.

http://odditymall.com/balkonzept-a-balcony-desk-and-flower-box

[irisscribbles-blog]

And just like that, she left. It was the most beautiful gift she could give him. A lasting, unchanging memory of her in her fullest being; red lips, dark hair, spinning in the moonlight.

[artchipel]

Richard Tuschman (USA) - Hopper Meditation (2013)

Richard Tuschman creates poetic photographic images for book covers, magazines, advertising and gallery exhibition. He began experimenting with digital imaging in the early 1990’s, developing the signature  style that synthesized his interests in graphic design, photography, painting and assemblage. This digital work found a wide audience in the commercial sector, and his work has since been featured on the pages of magazines, annual reports, book jackets, and catalogs for reknown clients. The importance of Tuschman’s work has been recognized by numerous awards. He has lectured widely on his artistic technique and creative process, and has taught at several insitutions.

Drawing inspiration from the paintings of Edward Hopper, Tuschman’s series Hopper Meditations evokes the moody color palettes, cityscape backdrops, and solitary female characters that are signature elements in Hopper’s paintings. Tuschman explains, “I wanted to do a series of staged figurative narratives, somehow connected to past art, but also something I could take ownership of. The sets are all painted dollhouse size dioramas that I built and photographed in my studio. A lot of the furniture is standard dollhouse furniture, but some I made myself. I photographed the models against a plain backdrop, and then made the digital composites in Photoshop. This method gives me a great deal of control over every aspect of the process, and I can do it all in my small studio”. (text by Canbra Hodsdon)

[more Richard Tuschman | artist found at Juxtapoz]

[howtotalktogirlsatparties]

[irisscribbles-blog]

I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity and her flaming self respect. And it’s these things I’d believe in even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she wasn’t all she should be.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

[neimanmarcus]

[irisscribbles-blog]

"Story and data need each other. Data without story is mythology, and story without data is propaganda"

John McRoy (http://readcontentmag.com/content/huge-insights)

[irisscribbles-blog]

Some Improvements

1) More face time, less screen time

No phone use when hanging out with friends, especially during meals. I started feeling like the time I spent with my friends went by more and more quickly, when in reality, I was probably just getting distracted and paying less and less attention. The world can do without another picture of my chicken salad and I can do with more memories of my friends and family.

2) Stop thinking in straight lines

I’ve been known to be pragmatic to a fault. Always planning the next three steps and staying on the right path. This past year I’ve learned that even when you follow the plan, check off all the boxes and get what you planned for, what you want can change. And that’s okay. Careers aren’t linear. Relationships aren’t linear. Steady steps ahead make for a strong march, but a few side steps make for a dance. 

3) Find flow

I recently read Drive by Daniel Pink which talks about human motivation, particularly as it applies to business and career choices. In it, Pink talks about the idea of “flow”, which can be described as the feeling a person gets when they are completely and totally absorbed in a task they enjoy. The task, or work itself is a reward. Sadly I haven’t felt this way in a long time, probably because I haven’t been pursuing the right career. I’m taking active steps to change this and will hopefully be going in the right direction this year. 

4) Give more

This year, I had the opportunity to volunteer with two different programs in education, an issue near and dear to me. The first aimed to teach local community college students leadership skills and encouraged them to pursue 4-year bachelor’s degrees after graduation.The other was at a local low-income high school designed for young women returning to their educations after having children. Both programs taught me not only to better appreciate the opportunities that I have been blessed with, but that there are more ways to give than just donations. 

5) Judge less

In general, I’d like to be more open minded. At 24, there’s still so much I don’t know, so much that I haven’t experienced, so much that I have yet to learn. I want to be more open to adventure. I want to be more open to things that are unfamiliar. Most of all, I want to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. 

Cheers!

[irisscribbles-blog]

Work for a company that does something you can't live without

[esteldin]

Sutro Selfie by tobyharriman on Flickr.

[agrarian-deactivated20140520]

A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.

John Augustus Shedd (via agrarian)

[onlinecounsellingcollege]

You discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable. First, restlessness. The second symptom, absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an illness - monotomy, boredom, and death. Millions live like this, or die like this, without knowing.

Anaia Nin (via onlinecounsellingcollege)

[irisscribbles-blog]

Statements that are not pick-up lines:

Whenever I wonder what it would be like to be single and looking for love/like/distraction in NY again, I look back on these to remember how tiring rolling your eyes all night at stupid guys can be.

1) Yo. Just don’t even continue speaking.

2) Hi-I work in private equity/ hedge funds/ investment banking. There should at least be 1-2 fluffier sentences and maybe a breath in there before you try to show off so I have time to muster up a fake smile to cover up my wild disinterest.

3) You look exactly like my ex-girlfriend. Where do you really think this is going to go?

4) I have a bottle. This might work if you want me to take your drinks and then excuse myself to the bathroom for the rest of the night.

5) So why are you with your boyfriend? Again, where do you think this is going to go?

And my personal favorite:

6) Are you American? 6a) I studied abroad in China for XX years. 6b) Can you speak mandarin? Omg me too. No, I don’t want an impromptu Chinese test at a bar. I also forgot to bring my passport to confirm my citizenship. Oops. Get out of my face, or go spend some more years living in China.

[instagram]

Miami’s Art Deco Lifeguard Towers

To view more of the famous lifeguard towers, visit the South Beach location page.

Miami, Florida, is famous for its Art Deco flavor and white sandy beaches, and the lifeguard towers along its coastline bring those two worlds together. South Beach and Miami Beach are both home to 29 colorful and quirky lifeguard stands that have become photo destinations for visitors to the city.

After Hurricane Andrew destroyed many of Miami’s towers in 1992, the City of Miami decided to rebuild them with flair. Architect William Lane designed and constructed the first towers and many more followed as a result of design competitions or commissions by local entrepreneurs.

[loweo]