Tuesday Tunes v.4 | Josh Garrels

photo source: one // two

 

Close your eyes and think of the words inspiration, raw, hope and think of driving with the windows down, taking the back roads with the one you love most by your side.

That is how Josh Garrels makes me feel.

I've just recently stumbled upon this genius of a musician. I introduce to you Josh Garrels. I truly can't believe I've survived without his music for so long, but better late than never right? His latest album "Love & War & The Sea in Between" was released last year with the single "Farther Along" which made me first fall in love with his music. Just listen for yourself. I could probably talk your ear off about how inspiring I have found his music, but I don't want to bore you.

If you like the album, he even has it as a FREE download here.

So come on, go download it. Let his raw and inspirational music flood your ears, get into your veins and thoughts and let him change your music collection forever.

Also, check out this blog post I've stumbled upon where Josh and his [very cute] family are interviewed and photograph. A genius musician and a family man? Just. Can't. Beat. It.

*I'm linking up with Danielle of Tongue Tied in Awe. Go check out her blog, write up your Tuesday Tunes post, share some music and link-up! Danielle and I would love to see the music everyone is listening to!

laugh list v.2

 

I'm back with my laugh lists. Check out the first one here.

Since the beginning of the semester is right around the corner (and by corner I mean TUESday), I decided I needed to start this semester off with a few laughs because, let's face it, it's the only thing that's going to keep me sane. Along with coffee, some inspiration and a few road trips to surrounding cities to escape (because for some reason I like to do that).

Well, let's begin!

1 >> Karla, from Casual Bedlam referred to this photo in her blog post and I couldn't help from laughing. Hard. This is basically foreshadow for my final (yes final) semester for my undergrad. I know you college studs can relate ;)

2 >> I literally ran across this video while I was writing this laugh post. Fate?

"Hey can I borrow your Nickelback cd?"

"I completely understand my taxes."

"Hey does anyone know how to make Papyrus my default font." (My favorite)

Okay, I'll stop ruining it for you now. Watch the video!

3 >> One of my best friends, Catherine (who is also known as my Soul mate) left me this beautiful note on my typewriter (okay, cue the Hipster jokes. I know, I own a typewriter). Loved how she included that little "that's what she said" joke. I am surely immature when it comes to that joke (apologies) so I appreciated it.

 4 >> I saw this the top photo from tumblr and realized I had definitely done this a few weeks ago. Yup kids. I stuffed myself in a dryer. I used to do this a lot time to time as a little nugget, so it definitely felt a lot more snug than I'm used to. Regardless, it was nice little trip down memory lane. Just don't let your friends close the door and press the start button even for a second. Yup, my wonderfully kind and passionate friends did that to me. Ouch, right? You might have seen me tweet this photo if you follow me Twitter ;)

5 >> Last but not least, I found this "little gem" on my car window after I left Wal-Mart late one evening. Flattering? Maybe... Classy? Not one bit. Above everything else, it made me laugh. I think he got me at Eskimo.
(I apologize for everyone who saw the post earlier where the picture didn't work! Here it is!)

  
He's a keeper isn't it?
So great, I didn't even feel the need to blur out the name or number...

What made you laugh this week?

Rainy days + used book stores

 

This past Wednesday I felt it was about time I took a trip to our local Ed Mckay's and spent some store credit I had built up from selling them some old books. I had a lovely $24 to spend and at first I had about *seven books in my hand and realized what I really wanted to buy was just one, To Kill a Mockingbird. Hands down, one of my favorite books and now I finally own it. Then I wanted to build up my record collection so I bought four. Yup, all for $24.

I'd say that day was successfully wonderful. Wouldn't you?

Ps - Isn't my mom cute? :) Her and my little sister were so patient while I walked up and down the endless aisles of books + records for (what felt like) hours.

*The reason I didn't go through with buying seven books is because as much as I love owning books, I only want to own books I actually love. I'm trying to step away from my hoarding tendencies and become a little more minimalistic. So instead, I wrote down all the book titles, hopefully find them in my local library and potentially buy them if I feel they belong to my bookshelf.

DIY: Pencil Holder

Inspired by this pin, I borrowed a drill from a guy friend of mine and attempted to create my own pencil holder a few weeks ago (in the midst of finals). At first, I stared at the drill for about a good 10 minutes trying to figuring out how it worked. I even made a phone call to another guy friend of mine, but really, how could he help over the phone? Then I proceeded to give it a shot (by putting a lot of pressure) and broke a 9/64 drill bit (it's one of the tiniest ones). Why did I try to drill this into this big block of wood? Don't ask and don't worry, I replaced it :]

After getting the hang of putting the right amount of pressure and angling the drill the right way, I finally was able to drill some holes using the 3/32 drill bit. After the wood chips all over my living room floor, I decided to move my project OUTside and thus, success! It was time consuming and my hand cramped up a bit, but overall, it was a successful DIY! I found the piece of wood while shooting my friend's save the date photos and therefore (without the cost of replacing the drill bit, which was $1.94), the project would've cost nothing!

I plan on using the pencil holder for some new art pens I've had my eyes on :)
Did you do any DIY projects recently?

Contact Sheets || B&W Film

I miss you.
I have spent nearly all my afternoons and evening with you two years ago.
It was hard not to fall in love with you.
You inspired me.
You made me feel passion.
You made look at things through a new perspective.
You made me feel like a true artist.
I made mistakes with you, but they were beautiful mistakes.
There was no such words like perfection in your vocabulary.
You helped me understand what it truly felt to take a photo.
Not a snapshot, but a photograph.

You made me believe that photography is truly painting the world with light.

Thank you for being my light.
I miss you.
I miss you, film.

From an earlier post, you may not have noticed that I took a black and white photography class two years ago and it truly was the best experience I ever had. These are a few of the contact sheets I have from class. What are contact sheets? After you develop the film (and let them dry), you cut them into slips of five and insert them into a page protector. You then transfer it to photo paper in the dark room like you would for any photo. This way you can see all your pictures on that roll of film at once and decide which photos you want to develop individually. This also helps see which shots were overexposed or underexposed. I think these contact sheets are a work of art in itself. Tells somewhat of a story doesn't it?

I hope to continue to use film more. As far as developing goes, I have no access to a dark room, but maybe one day, yes, one day, I will have one of my own. I guess I should add that to my bucket list, huh?