The Simple Joys...

It's been a while since I've written anything for this blog.

So, I'm going to skip ahead and yet backtrack to a few days ago when I was watching a kid.

I've spent many days with him and his siblings, watching them play and argue, complete their homework, go to the dentist. In that time there is always something that catches me off guard.
Usually something spoken or done that you can't explain in full. Well, I'm going to try to capture this moment, even though it's difficult.

I call the youngest a monster, even though they all are. He is just such a joy to be around, although hyper-active most of the time and full of energy. Some days his spirit is what I need. I was watching him one day after school and I was reading a comment on FaceBook. It was in Italian, and I was reading out loud. We had been talking about languages for a few minutes, so it seemed appropriate. He asked me which language it was, thinking it was Spanish as he had guessed a few times before I answered. I told him it was Italian. He then looked at me with a completely serious look in his eye and said, "Wait, I thought Italians spoke English."

His parents and siblings and I shared a laugh at this after they got home and he was sleeping. In hindsight it makes me wonder what out there some kids aren't able to learn.. What languages people take for granted. The fact that language is taken for granted by most people, hardly anybody thinks about it today.

What if all we had left was body language and gestures? Would we communicate the same? I think the abundance of words has helped us grow into a beautiful being. Although sometimes misused, it has helped grow towards each other. I think I'd be too lazy to signal everything I wanted to say through hand gestures and body language.

Photography

My inspiration for today.. the today before the midnight hour.. was in my photography class. It's a course on color photography. Our instructor split our class into groups and gave us a challenge. Go out onto campus and find a picture of each of the four types of color groups she had just defined.

1. Primary

2. Complementary 

Complementary

3. Analogous

3. Analogous 

4. Monochromatic 

Monochromatic

Monochromatic

Monochromatic

Monochromatic

Monochromatic

Monochromatic

She gave us a half an hour to take these photos; first group back to the classroom won (and received a prize). Oddly enough, my group won. What made it awesome was that we had more than one photo for the different types of color groups. 

It was a nice experience—even though it was our first class assignment on the first day of school. It allowed me to open my eyes to little things in life that are truly inspirational, even the simple things. One of my favorite things to look at for inspiration or even just to think and be mesmerized is shadow. I love how they move with the lighting or stay still if the lighting is fixed. They form the strangest lines. What makes them most interesting to me is that they have no color of their own, they are simply a darker shade of whatever they fall on. This project let me look at color for itself and think deeply about what colors represent today.

Lastly, a question for thought. How would you describe color to a blind person (color blind counts)?

Park Playdate

Today's inspiration came after work, naturally. I spent all day in a gray cubicle dealing with personal and work problems. Part of work includes problem solving for my boss, which today was a nice relief. After work I went to a park on the way home and met up with a friend. He has an adorable son who I met for the first time today.

He was having a blast running around the playground when I arrived. He waddled around the playground speaking his own language and pointing.

When it was time to say goodbye, his dad asks if he could give a kiss goodbye. Of course he got bashful, and said no, which was already super cute. But then he puckered his lips and leaned towards me. He kissed my cheek :) So I blew him a kiss and asked if he could blow me a kiss back. He just stared at me and then decided to kiss my hand—which was still extended from blowing the kiss. It's the small moments in life.

As always, I will try to include photos. This one is due to his waddle around the playground.

New to this..

The last week of my freedom—yes, summer—probably wasn't the best time to choose to start a blog. But I guess it's better late than never. With school starting soon, the posts will likely be spread apart. Hopefully I can keep this interesting. I am a designer.. a graphic designer. But! This blog will have posts about all the different things that inspire me as the days go on — some will be past inspiration while others may be new based on what I encounter in my life.

Just a heads up: I'm very random. My train of thought may seem to drift or I may post a picture that isn't quite what I'm saying. Read between the lines or comment. I'm always interested to hear what people have to say.

Here are a few photos to reminisce the summer of 2012, in honor of all the hangouts, bonfires, BBQs and more.