23; a little shinyness, a little bit on work, a little on writing China

Yes, I admit it. There is no 22. Yesterday was certainly not the best of days. It wasn't the worst ever, but I've definitely had better. Needless to say, I was not in the mood for photography. Bad Jessica, I know, but I picked myself up today and this is what I came up with:

23: 3 Things About Me. The "inspiration" [if that's what we're gonna call it] for this photo was that shiny apple there on the right. "Dear me, that is an awfully shiny apple," you say. Yes, I quite agree, and judging from the amount of wax that came off when I held it under running water and scrubbed a bit, it is quite a good idea I decided to wash it. When everyone at work tells you to wash the darn apple, you know that is one shiny apple. So anyways. The shininess inspired a typical Jessica thought, "Yes, let us photograph this apple." I repeat, I am the queen of random.

So. 3 Things About Me.

1. I like shiny things. Pretty, shiny, colorful and vibrant, texture, contrast, interesting lines. Also, I am kind of random. Occasionally quirky. Unconventional. The beaten path, for whatever reason, has seldom held appeal for me at any point in my life. Sometimes that's a lot of fun and sometimes it makes life hard on myself, but you can't change who you are.

2. I am kind of a health nut. Kind of a big health nut, at times. There was a period of time where I used to track the foods I ate - not in a CalorieCounting kinda way, cuz life's just too short for that, but in a "more foods you eat, the more likely you are to get all the vitamins you need" kinda way. Let's see ... today ... wheat bread, banana, peanut butter, milk; carrots, shiny green apple, white bread, turkey, swiss cheese, cucumber, water; orange; white rice, beef, red bell peppers, broccoli, celery, zucchini, sesame seeds, soy sauce. Hurrah, that makes 20. Not bad, not bad at all.

3. The sheet in the background is directly related to the work that I do. No, it isn't a flyer for our organization, rather it is an org I hope to invite in as a guest speaker sometime soon.

And look, some nice foliage from the noontime walk! I guess this makes up for the lost 22. I slightly saturated the color, but for the most part left the photo untouched, other than a bit of cropping. I swear my camera is brilliant at capturing color ... or perhaps a little too brilliant, sometimes things look better in the photos than they do in real life. Oh, real life. Oh, cameras. Cameras, memory, real life. The new Bermuda Triangle of my life?

[That probably doesn't make sense, but I'm not much in the mood to sort out the thoughts.]

This morning I wrote on the train. Wrote and wrote and wrote. 'Tis not often that the words flow so freely and so gushingly, but flow they did this morning, and I was quite happy for it. Chengde, China, Summer 2000. I've written about my vendor/Great Wall experience from that trip, but this story has taken years longer to come out. Sometimes it works like that. Sometimes memory works like that. Sometimes it takes your brain that long to chew over an idea, spit it out and take it back up again [kinda like cud, eh?], mull and mull and mull. And sometimes you grow, change, mature, and gain new life experiences, and suddenly you can understand your past that much better.