Heh. As I've mentioned, I'm a bit of a tomboy. I absolutely love video games. I've never been good at playing video games but I appreciate them for what they are and have to offer. They are interactive stories, like a movie you are apart of. Mostly I like to watch other people play video games and I give input on how to solve a puzzle, which way to turn or tell you there's a bogey on your tail. One of the best kind of days is one spent with friends passing around the game controller, playing a good game together.

Harvest Moon, the game shown, is my favorite video game. I own many games of the series and have beaten most of them. It's one of the games I am actually decent at playing and that is probably part of the reason I like it. It combines so many of my interests: animals (horses!), food, care-taking, routine, and harvesting (strange interest, I know, but I like the idea of growing something and being able to pluck it off the plant, a finished product). Yay for virtual farming!

Rain, like a cool breeze, is endlessly refreshing. On a muggy summer's day, rain is the relief I seek. Water to wash away the sweat and heaviness of the air and to water the dried grass and flowers. On top of that, the sound of rain as it hits the ground is rhythmic and relaxing. Yes, after a week of straight rain it does get less exciting and pleasurable but, on average, rain is something I enjoy and look forward to.

I've been riding for about 10 years (which, for my age, is not much since most kids start at ages 5 or 6) and I absolutely love it. My mom tried for years to find a sport that I would like and eventually, with one summer camp, I found it. Horses are incredible creatures--graceful, noble, kind and intelligent. They forgive you most of your mistakes, look out for you when you make them, and have the miraculous ability to make all your troubles in the world go away by just touching them. I cannot properly articulate how they make me feel--it's akin to a first love that never ends: inspired, alive, breathless.

Ahh. What more can I say? They are refreshing and invigorating. Both relief and inspiration. When I am dragged down by the muggy humidity of the East Coast on a summer day, a cool breeze is my favorite thing in the world. It gives me hope that I will be cool once more (sometimes it feels like that will never happen!) and it makes me want to run and open my arms and go--go live, go travel--just go.

I'm a pretty uptight person most of the time but I do like adventures. I like the idea of throwing plans out the window and being spontaneous--doing something special and crazy and fun. This particular entry was inspired by my decision to travel to Alaska for the summer. I decided that it was a place I'd like to go with many possibilities and beautiful sights so I made it happen and found a place to live and a job to make it possible. Everyone thinks I'm crazy but I really just want to live with as few regrets as possible so, if I can make it happen, I want to make my wishes come true. Who wouldn't?

Mmm. One of the many smells that makes me nostalgic for a) my childhood and b) spring/summer. The smell just elicits such great memories of growing up in a neighborhood where fathers mowed their lawns almost daily. It makes me think of laying in gray, the soft, wet blades folding over to serve as my mattress. The smell of spring and summer when the grass would grow long and I would be outside for most of the day, lavishing in the new warmth. I don't really think there is any way one could hate the smell!

I like to dress up. I didn't always--I was (and still am) a tomboy when I was younger and only very recently began wearing things like dresses and skirts and shorts (and sweaters for some reason). Dresses are pretty, fun and flowy and make me feel special. I love spring because of dresses (well, and flowers)--the weather is getting warmer and I get so excited that I wear a dress (usually on a day that turns out to be too cool for a dress. Oh well!) to celebrate.

In the image above, I'm pretty sure my favorite dress is the second from the left on the top row--the vintage-inspired red dress. I love the cut (though it wouldn't really look good on me) and the body of the skirt.

Basically dresses rule because they are a little different than a usual outfit and make you feel special!

Not only are they prettily decorated but they are also delicious! They are simply sweet, not cloyingly so and they have just the right amount of cake and doughy resistance (Dunkin' Donuts do, at least). Basically I like everything about donuts. However, I am picky about both brand and flavor. I prefer Dunkin' Donuts over all other types and I prefer plain glazed over all other flavors (though I can occasionally go for a frosted donut).

Yum. Now I want a donut!

Fonts and typefaces have always interested me. I am a very aesthetically-minded person and so the way a word looks is very important to me. Font have the ability to change a word in simple, subtle ways that allow the word to fit its purpose and placement better. Using the same letters, one can change a word to have many different purposes by just changing the font.

I watched Helvetica, a documentary on the font and its creation and importance, in art class a couple of semesters ago and was totally fascinated--the creation of one font had a significant impact on the whole field of advertising. Also, I got to see the font creation process and learned that there are people out there that are just as strict about their fonts as I am (NO Comic Sans, Kristin, or Papyrus--ugh!).

Pay attention to the fonts you use--they all have unique looks and are appropriate for unique situations.