A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch; Backlog - Sept. 30

Sunday afternoons are perhaps the best part of the week. I always find myself relaxing with a good book, preparing for the week ahead, or like this past Sunday spending some quality time with my family. This weekend we all decided to head up to Joe Huber’s Family Farm and Winery for some home-cooking, wine-tasting, pumpkin-picking good times.

Apparently, the rest of Kentuckiana had the same idea in mind for their Sunday afternoon as well! When we got there were bombarded by the cacophony of children running around looking for their perfect pumpkin for Halloween carving, parents chasing said kids, and people generally enjoying the wonderful weather, albeit a little on the warm side.

For those kids who were looking for that perfect pumpkin the choices were endless! There were painted pumpkins big and small, “Freaky” pumpkins which looked as if they had peanuts growing on their skins, gourds of every imaginable variety, and those classic “Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin” pumpkins that every kid dreams about. Pumpkins were everywhere, on tractor beds, in bushel bins, in the market, and people were picking them in the fields. There was surely a pumpkin for anyone and everyone.

Beyond the pumpkin patches there was still more fun to be had. Huber’s Winery is set aside a large lake stocked with Koi, Catfish, Blue Gills, Snapping Turtles, Swans, and a wide variety of Ducks all paitently waiting to be fed by you. So that was our next stop.

I have an affinity for turtles so I spent the majority of my pellets attempting to get out far enough fo them. The only problem was the turtle I was aiming for was significantly slower than the fish or fowl… So it became a team effort! My boyfriend distracted the fish and feathered fiends with his food and I fed the turtle. All the while I’m cheering on this silly reptile, saying things like “Go Turtle, don’t let the Swan get it!” and “You can do it Turtle, just a little farther!”
I’m pretty sure one of the other families on the wharf thought I was a nutcase. In the end, the fish still got more than the turtle but I felt a sense of accomplishment for the what I was able to get to him.

Our last stop of the excursion was Huber’s Winery. If you’ve never had their Spiced Apple Wine, believe me, you are missing out. The wine is the turning point in the year for me. I know summer is over when Huber’s has their Spiced Apple Wine again. They also have a TON of other varieties there, and not just wines, they also have a huge selection of brandys as well. We had a fruit and cheese tray (all of which was made or grown right there at Huber’s) and shared a bottle of the Vignoles, a semi-sweet white wine. It was a great ending to a great day.




Until next time!

Writer's Block; Backlog - Sept. 24

So I'm trying to come up with my next blog for my "Weekends" beat and I have no clue what to write about. I mean, gah, I could write about last weekend but all I did was go to a small town festival full of politicians and strollers... I hate strollers by the way... their respective drivers always seem to find my ankles... grrrrr.

This blog is technically supposed to be written in an editorial/newsy/catchy way. This is not a problem for me any other time. It seems that blogging for a grade has turned my creative blogger machine off. Le sigh.

All I know is I better come up with something soon or I face the wrath of my editor. Not my number one choice.
HELP! I need my muses back!! Please?!

"OMG! There's no POWER...!

...What ever will we do with out TV and internet and electronic entertainment?????? Human interaction?!? GASP! NOOOOOOOOOO!"

This has been the general reaction to the power outage that has ravaged our city today. Somewhere around 230,000 households in the Kentuckiana area are without power this evening due to a wind storm that had gusts upwards of 75 mph. It was what Ike had left for us. Gee...thanks Ike, this is what I always wanted.

So now, left to their own devices, people don't know what they're supposed to do. I, of course, have no room to talk. I came to the university so I could write a paper for my online class which is due at 11:59p... because certainly online professors have no pity for people without power. In which case I am not losing 50 points, and if this particular prof. is the exception to the rule, I suppose I've just earned some brownie points. With the necessity of that paper being completed I am here, with power and that happy internet menagerie to keep me entertained. But for those people who didn't venture out on the debris laiden streets the scene is much more dark (literally!)

Maybe when I leave my haven and venture home I will be one of the fortunate few whose power has returned and I won't have to figure out a way to entertain myself in the dark. If I'm not so lucky then it'll either be boardgames or reading, either will be by candle light!

Nicholas Cage? Really?!?!? :shrug:

I had the weirdest dream last night. It would seem that somewhere in my subconscious mind I have decided that Nicholas Cage is desireable... who knew...

I will spare you some of the details but the main storyline consisted of me running through a city that was unfamiliar to me, at night. I wasn't running away from anyone, I was actually running, I should clarify that this was a playful run, alongside of some parade-esk event. From here I ended up in a hotel room with Cage... I remember I made a comment about locking the chain so that no one could intrude even if they had a key. Odd.

Skip ahead again, this time we are in a house in a valley of some sort. It's my wedding day and might I add the dress was freaking gorgeous!!! But the weird part is the wedding is very small, maybe 10 people total and though Cage is at the alter he's not the person I'm marrying. I can't quite make out the groom's face but Cage is the best man.

So I'm walking to the alter and before I even get there Cage says he can't just stand there and watch as I marry someone else (what?!?!) and he starts towards the door but collapses before he gets there. I run to him in a state that clearly says: I care very deeply for this person. Everyone is staring at me because this was, it would seem, an announcement no one was expecting.

A little time goes by, I'm no longer in my wedding dress but I'm still in a corsetted dress, it's almost a peasant style I would say. It's a steel-blue color, almost like a rain cloud. I go upstairs to the main floor only to find that Cage is packing to leave, clearly his collapse had no erased his feelings of being a jilted lover... except I have this overwhleming feeling of not wanting him to leave, but I don't want to say it inside the house... so I go outside and try to get up this steep embankment that I have decided (in my dream) is the way to leave.

I'm guessing the plan was to stop him before he left, and perhaps even leave with him... but the hill was too steep. I kept grabbing at the trees and foliage on the hillside but I couldn't even get a little headway. I pause for a moment to see Cage and my intended groom walk out talking to one another... Then I woke up... !!

I hate that; when dreams end before they conclude...
All I wanted was to go back to sleep and hope it would start up again but my cat had other plans for me.

Oh well...Sorry Nick! :giggle:

And so it begins...

The onslaught of homework that is. The beauty of being a senior comm. major... there is none. All I get to do this semester is write, write, and then write some more. Blah...Granted, I like writing but research papers blow! Sigh...

On the list for this weekend:
1) A critique of an Event Feature, 1-2 pages
2) A profile of an important advertising figure, 3-5 pages
3) An analysis of comm.research cross-tabs, 2-3 pages
4) A "beat" blog, 400-500 words
5) LOTS of reading for sociology...

Doesn't look like I'll be having much fun this weekend...
The things we do for a piece of paper to hang on the wall...

I suppose I should get back to it. I just thought I would take a small respite to vent a little (through writing, how ironic...) and share my pain!

I wonder...

Why is it that some people are destined to remain in your heart no matter how much time goes by...?
There should be a statute of limitations on this... seriously.

It does serve as a reminder though; I am truely happier in my life than I ever was before. So maybe it's fate's way of poking a reminder...

Something to think about.

Early Morning Solitude

I love that time of morning just before the rest of the world wakes up. When everything is still covered in dew and the sun is barely stretching out of his slumber. There is such a peace at that time. Birds, animals, and people are all breathing in the first breaths of the new day to come.

I'm not sure which I like better: the early morning that I've just described, or the moment, just after the sun goes to sleep, when the sky is painted in oranges, reds, and purples of the passing day...Tough call.

What I do know is it's the most perfect parts of my day. A time of calm, reflection, and perfect happiness...

:)

The Wicked Witch?

If you asked the majority of the people in my Magazine and Feature Writing class on Monday night, that's how they would have described our "editor". I say editor because that's how our professo would prefer we acknowledge her. We will be publishing our own legitimate online magazine this semester so we may list on our resume's that we are published writers. (How cool is that!!)

Within the first five minutes of class not only had about 17 people walked out of the room, Prof. Laidman had also professed that she had not given out ANY 'A's last semester. Not promising.

You see, in order to enroll in the class at all you are supposed to have taken Newswriting. This makes complete sense because you have to have a solid foundation in that are to really succeed at writing a good feature piece. So when she stated that if you hadn't had newswriting you would "fail her class" you can imagine the suprise and shock of those people who hadn't had the prerequisite class and were still able to enroll.

Having had newswriting, I stayed back and endured the first class well, I even recieved some accolades on our first in-class free write. (YAY!) It was funny though, as we left the class I overheard a couple of my remaining classmates refer to as "our own personal wicked witch"... I don't know though. She is certainly intimidating, blunt, and straight forward, but in my opinion that is the embodiment of a good editor. I'm excited to see how far she can push my writing skills and what the rest of the semester holds!

Once our mag. is up and running I'll post a link on my profile to anyone who's interested. :) We'll also have our own "beat" blogs so you can check that out as well!

Here's to an awesome semester!

Back Log: 8/17/08 - "Buppkiss..."

That's what I got at the State Fair as far as my photos went. :tears: Oh well, it was my first year and the first time the committee had a "themed" judging standard. I just hope that when I pick up my photos they will give me the judges comments as well. It's always helpful to know what they did or didn't like. In other news, I am looking forward to next year already. As it turns out there is also a category for scrapbooking pages which is a HUGE passtime of mine so I may enter that as well as the photography category.

I have 8 days of summer bliss left and then it's back to the grind of college and classwork... I am happy though, I won't be working full-time and going to school full-time at the same time this year. I made the decision after my unfortunate job-loss to not put myself through that horrible existence again. Believe me it's completely not worth the stress and hardship. This way I can really focus on getting my schoolwork done to the best of my ability. I can't wait. Especially since this will be my last year and then I'm DONE!! WOOOOOT! No senioritis for me though; five classes this semester and six next!!! AGH!! I can do it though, I have faith! :clap:
Well that's about it for now!

Oh and GO PHELPS!!! 8 freakin' GOLD medals! You deserve every bit of the glory you've earned!! :highfive:

Back Log: 7/29/08

If you've been keeping up with my journal, you will recall I was planning on entering four photos in the State Fair this year. Well, I have finally decided which four!! Here they are:

Let me know what you think! Hope you enjoy!

Here I am to save the day!!

Well, not really, but it sounded good!
I wanted to move some of my blogs over to a place where more of my friends will have access so here I am. If you follow me on dA don't be suprised to see duplicates. :)
Having said that I am thus far pretty impressed with this place... I love that I can create my own header image, so awesome.
Anywho, I'll be posting some backlogs just to bring people up to speed and we'll be off!

Until Next Time!
LorriAnne