Shauna's blog

Vroom, vroom

I've always had a secret desire to be a race car driver. Although anyone that's been a passenger in my car probably won't be surprised by that statement. Hey, I just like to make driving fun!

I was doing some clean up on my Bookmarks today and I came across this link:

http://bhendrix.com/wall/Gmaps_GVideo_Mashup_Rendezvous.html

The cool thing about that link is that someone had the clever idea to line it up with Google maps, so you can follow along his course on the map. If you are a poor, hapless soul like me and have never been to Paris, the map may not mean so much to you. Here is a link to just the video. It's much larger on this one, and easier to watch:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ssM-xjp--rg

About 4 minutes in, he gets into the heart of the city, with narrow streets and increased traffic. I find myself holding my breath and on seats edge as he cuts through the cobblestone paths, wheels screeching.

That's also why learning how to drive stick made it on the list. No respectable sports car is worth driving if it isn't manual :)

Ever since I posted my...

Ever since I posted my 1 month update, I haven't done anything on my list. It's stressing me out a little because I gotta say, it's an ambitious list. But I've decided that there are 2 things I can tackle over the long weekend and that will get me caught up on my 1 per week schedule.

In SL news, things are going really well! We've got nearly every store rented in the cove. We have had a ton of traffic come in through the classes we've been teaching. And overall, people just love our cove. When we created the cove, we really didn't do it to make money (and we still aren't, trust me), but rather to make a nice place where people would want to be. To build a community piece, really. And I think we've accomplished that.

SLingle

SL is down, and I feel restless. I have a million things on my mind that I need to take care of (work on a store, terraform Arcana) and can't do anything about it. So I've been trolling the fashion blogs, making a list of all sorts of things to check out, and just being amazed by all the stuff people come up with. The great thing about SL is that it's sort of like visiting an art gallery, every time you log in. Since all the content is created by the residents, everything you see was born from the brain of average people. Some of it good, some of it bad....and some of it great and some of it very, very bad! Nonetheless, I appreciate the creative outlet that it provides people, me included. I hope that it will lead to more creative output, and hopefully I'll tap into some well of talent buried deep in the recesses of my brain. And this downtime has given my brain time to wander. Maybe because it's nearly Valentines Day, that meandering has lead me to think about my state of singleness.

Don't get me wrong - I love being single. Love, love, love it. I don't have to call anyone to see what the plan is for dinner. I can make decisions on a moments notice and not worry about it affecting anyone else. I'm not responsible for anyone else, and that's how I like it. But I have to admit; sometimes it would be really nice to have that person to lie on the couch with while watching The Daily Show. Or to have someone to bring a bowl of cereal to while climbing back into bed on a Saturday morning. I am so fortunate to have really great roommates that include me on so much of what they do. But when I was invited to have Valentines Day dinner with them, I felt a bit like a sad sack.

So where does that leave me? The answer is, I don't know. I'm really not willing to give up my freedom and independence, yet I also know that I can't go on being alone forever. Or next thing I know, I'll be 62, living with my cat and spying on my neighbors.

There have been a lot of studies lately about the relationship state of women. That for the first time, there are more women unmarried than married. Within my age group, 28-34, the percentage of women that are married has dropped about 30% in the last 20 years. Granted that includes women who are cohabiting with their significant others. But it makes me wonder if I want to live with someone again. I certainly always liked living with exes, for a variety of reasons. But something about having my own space is appealing. Hell, if I want to decorate with flowers and potpourri, I'll do it! Okay, I totally wouldn't, but still, the option would be nice. Then again, I haven't lived alone since the 90's, so I could very well hate it.

*sigh*

That’s the constant internal struggle I have - my head and my heart in a deadlock. And I find it terribly ironic that it's my head that would favor a relationship and my heart that wants autonomy.

1 month update

We now have the first month of 2007 under our belt, so I thought it would be a good time to do a progress check on The List. Here's what I have completed:

7. Do the Master Cleanse for the full 10 days - I completed the 10 days without much trouble. I fully plan on doing this again in May, probably for at least 2 weeks.
17. Go Wine Tasting - I actually signed up for a 4 week class and I went to the first session. I missed the second one. The jury is still out on whether or not I will return for the last 2.
24. Go to the Getty Villa - I went last weekend with Keith, Jaime and Anton. The reconstruction is quite nice, but I only made it through the first floor before I got sick (I'm pretty sure it was my sinuses). So I'll need to go back.
32. Learn how to create an alpha texture in PhotoShop - I completed this one without even really trying to cross it off my list. And the fact that it was even on my list is a total joke since it was so ridiculously easy. Next time, I'll aim higher :)
39. Open a savings account and have money go directly in there - I just did this one today. Yay, savings!

And that's it for now. I have a few things in the works for other items (skydiving possibly next weekend, going to the Disney Concert Hall on 3/10) but clearly I can't mark them off before I actually do them. But so far, I'm quite happy that I made this list. I always have something going on. And that's good :)

P-town

*sigh*

Back at work after a nice long weekend in Portland. I was visiting my friend Sarah (thanks again for put up with me, er putting me up!) and being the great hostess she is, dragged my ass all over the city. I went to an amazing exhibit on Egypt at the Portland Art Museum, out to see some live music, ate some yummy food and of course went shopping. And I bought an art piece from a local artist, Kendra Binney, which I absolutely love.

It was pretty chilly (high 20's and low 30's) and I saw snow fall, but it didn't stick. And of course, they got a good amount the day after I left! Oh well. As a born and raised So Cal girl, you'd think that I would abhor the cold, but I really like it. Of course, I never had to deal with more than 2 months of it, so maybe I'd change my mind.

I said what?

Okay, so maybe it'll take more than a sim. I just don't feel excited about SL again. I'm supposed to start managing the rentals on the island, and I want to do it, to do my part. But that's going to require that I am on a fair amount, so I can field inquiries.

Maybe time away will do the trick. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder.

But it can also make it forgetful.

Lemony Goodness

I'm on day 5 of my cleanse (list item #7) and so far it's going really well. If you don't know what The Master Cleanse (aka The Lemonade Diet) is, basically you drink this mixture of lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper for 10 days and it cleans out your system. I tried doing it last summer, and never made it past the second day. I was so hungry and weak and I couldn't stomach the drink. I swore I would never do it again. Well, after a particularly gluttonous holiday season, I thought I'd give it another try. It's been super easy this round. Maybe the planets had to align, and it only happened because Pluto was downgraded.

Whatever the reason, I feel really good. I have a ton of energy, I've lost weight and I can fit into smaller clothes...what other incentive does a girl need? I'd be lying to say I love every minute of it. The Salt Water Flush you have to do may be one of the worst things I've put myself through. It's the ingesting part that's the worst (1 quart of salt water) although the elimination isn't exactly a holiday either. But for that small part of my day that takes up, it's really been worth it. The drink is really tasty (limes are the key) and I really don't crave food at all. And I've been around a lot of food this week. Although I will say, smells make it harder. I can see food and talk about food...no problem. But when I get hit with the aroma of something tasty, my mouth starts to water.

Other things that have been slight annoyances: My tongue is coated in this white 'fuzz' (which apparently are toxins being released from my body and will clear), my teeth feel really gunky from the syrup, and I get cold easier. But all of these things are easily fixed, and really don't diminish the overall good feeling I have.

It took a sim

Huzzah! I think I'm finally over my burnout. Logging on had felt like a chore for so long and now it doesn't again. What changed? We got a sister for Mischief. And I guess the prospect of developing something new is exciting for me. Too bad it has to be something that is such a costly endeavor.

I am looking forward to developing Arcana, and I hope that I finally get a house set up. I really love my old house, but I think it'll be fun to make my own this time around. Let's hope I can stay on task!

New Day, New Year

I've decided to skip the regular tradition of making resolutions for the new year. Instead, I made a list of things that I've been putting off for years but I really want to accomplish. Okay, so really I made this list of things to do during my 30th year, but I never started it. Taking control of my procrastination is clearly not a priority. So without further ado, here is said list:

52 things in 52 weeks

1.Be at goal weight by my birthday
2. Clean out my grandparent's storage
3. Clean out my mom's storage
4. Climb Half Dome in Yosemite
5. Do an anonymous kind act for a friend
6. Do an anonymous kind act for a stranger
7. Do The Master Cleanse for the full 10 days
8. Eat Vegetarian for 1 month
9. Learn how to solve a Rubik's Cube
10. Get my car detailed
11. Go ice skating
12. Go on a sunset horseback ride
13. Go out Salsa Dancing
14. Go sailing
15. Go skydiving
16. Go surfing
17. Go to a wine tasting
18. Go to Burning Man
19. Go to the Griffith Park Observatory
20. Go to LA Tar Pits
21. Go to LACMA
22. Go to MOMA
23. Go to Roscoe's Waffles and Chicken
24. Go to the Getty Villa
25. Go to the Huntington Gardens
26. Go to the Long Beach Aquarium
27. Go to the on Temple Garden on Sunset
28. Go to WeHo for Halloween
29. Hang out with Marisa at least once a week for a month
30. Have a picnic at the Bowl
31. Learn 10 chords on the guitar
32. Learn how to create an alpha texture in PhotoShop
33. Learn the 11 rules in Elements of style
34. Learn how to drive stick
35. Make a 30 minute DJ set
36. Make an electronic track
37. Make an outfit in Second Life
38. Make cinnamon rolls
39. Open a savings account and have money go directly in there
40. Read Atlas Shrugged
41. Read Bel Canto
42. Read The Fountainhead
43. Run a 5k
44. Run a 10k
45. See something at Disney Concert Hall
46. Take a cooking class
47. Take a swing class
48. Take an art class
49. Volunteer one weekend for something
50. Watch Citizen Kane
51. Watch The Godfather
52. Watch Titanic

I'm not doing these items in the order. I just made them alphabetical because my brain needs some sort of organization. But I'm really excited about this. I'm hoping that I'll gain some new interests as well as some good habits. And if nothing else, I'll have something to blog about! And I can't do it alone - if you can help me with some of these things, please let me know. Even if it's just going to a museum with me, that's great. Most things in life are better shared.