Sleeping in Santa Monica

This is one of my new favorite pinholes, Sleeping in Santa Monica at The Pacific Sands Motel. I love my sleeping series and this is a welcomed addition. I love the matchbook on the night stand, the way the lamp curves on the right hand side and the light on the curtains. I bet this pinhole photograph will look gorgeous 30×30. My sleeping series is an ongoing pinhole documentary of the places I find myself sleeping… hotels, living rooms, friends houses… It’s such a fun way to document my travels.

So my parents are in town. I’ve enjoyed spending time with them. They are house hunting so I spent the weekend looking a homes in Maricopa, Surprise, and Litchfield Park. We found a gorgeous house yesterday in Litchfield Park, it’s the only one with my vote so far. I’m pretty excited for their move to the Phoenix area, it will be nice to see them every few weeks instead of every few years.

Although the process of house hunting is fun because they are looking for one to buy, it’s also a very sad experience. So many of the houses are short sales or bank owned or foreclosures and you can tell that the families had to get out of there as soon as possible. Many of the houses were dirty and had items left behind from the frantic move. I find it a little sad that so many homes are for sale and in this condition. Can you image how happy the families were to purchase their own home and start creating memories and a life together. You don’t really image being kicked out a few years later. I think the state of our country is a sad one sometimes. It appears that getting ahead for some people is impossible.

I completely feel that your destiny is up to you and that you make your own happiness but not everyone follows that philosophy and when they purchase that home and think everything is going swell, they find themselves in a bad loan and then out on the streets. I think certain operations are too greedy and they should think less about themselves and more about others. If families could purchase their own home and afford to make the payments then everyone would be happy… but NOOOOO… someone had to be mean and greedy and sign them up for a bad loan that they knew would be impossible for them to keep up with in the upcoming years. So now everyone looses. The banks can’t sell the properties and the families are out of a home. Totally blows my mind.

Speaking of happiness! I am SO HAPPY when I read The Ringing Cedars Series! I’m on book 3 right now and cannot wait to get home to read some more. Before I went to bed last night I read a chapter on ‘creating your own happiness’ and like I’ve said in other blog posts I truly believe in doing that. If you can’t make yourself happy, how can you expect anyone else to?

These books are so incredible I think everyone should read them. I feel so much happier and at peace while I am reading them and then definitely after. I also LOVE the way cedar smells. My cedar pendant, which I wear all the time now, smells divine! Periodically throughout the day, I’ll stop and just smell the pendant and a peaceful sensation overcomes my body. It’s a wonderful feeling.

I’ve been trying to do more meditating and more intending lately. I think at the end of each blog I will start intending.

Today I intend to answer all my email.
Today I intend to enjoy a wonderful dinner with my family at Olive and Ivy in Scottsdale.
Today I intend to get a lot of work done at work on the Iowa project.
I intend to make my living from photography.
I intend to show work in Germany this summer for their photography festival.
I intend to get a solo show at a prominent gallery in 2008.