behind

I am so behind in getting things done. I have photos I want to post online but I have a need to post it all in chronological order and needless to say, I am behind. I'm currently posting photos from September in November. Nothing like it being Christmas time and I am over here posting Jack-O-Lanterns. It's not like there are a lot of photos either. I rarely take any now. I don't even want to talk about my 2017 daily 1-second a day video project. I barely started choosing my daily snippets for April, last week. I think I need to choose just one thing and get it all caught up before I work on something else.

What do you do when you have a ton of stuff you want to get done? Any tips or tricks you can share with me?

Posting September photos in November

100 days ago

I find it hard to believe that it has been 100 days since I have been here. Time sure does pass by quickly when I am off doing nothing. I figured it was time that I tried out this blogging thing again.

I guess when the laptop hasn't been turned on for a while, the battery dies. Oops. I also only seem to have 20 MB of free space available on this thing. I really don't think I can put off getting a new computer any longer. If only I could decide on just what kind to get. I keep flip-flopping between a laptop or a desktop.

Nothing much has really been going on around here. Back in July, I did chop off my hair. So that's something. I went from having hair halfway down my back to above my shoulders. The last time I had my hair this short was 30-years ago. I have to admit though, I do like it. I may even cut it again. The natural silver white highlights are a bonus.

So, tell me... What have you been up to for the past 100 days? What's been happening in your neck of the woods?

sometimes

Sometimes I wish that I had kept my blog more annonymous. Back at the beginning it was all about sharing with family and sharing with others. The goal was to get people to read whatever I posted. I really wanted to have people that knew me, read my blog. But now... now I am hesitant to write.

Sometimes I toy with the idea of creating a new private blog. I would love to just write in a simple journal but my fear of people reading said journal has kept me from writing. It's not like I have tons of personal stuff to write, or maybe I do, but to have the option to write whatever I want without it getting back to say... my Mother, would be great.

Sometimes I just stop blogging. I haven't turned on the computer since I did my taxes back in April. My Dad is sick and he is not going to get better.

F is for Failing

I really seem to be failing in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge this year. I don't know, it just doesn't seem to be as much fun as it has been in previous years. There's a whole different vibe to it this year.

Am I the only one that feels this way?

E is for Everyday

I don't know what it is about daily challenges that intrigues me, but I always feel the need to do them.

I find that for most of the daily projects that I take on, I actually complete. Although, there are some that never really had the chance. Like creating an index-card-a-day and working in my mini moleskine art journal. The time to work on them daily just isn't there. So, I just do what I can, when I can.

Then there are the photo-a-day challenges, where I take everyday photos every day for a year. I do pretty well on taking a photo each day but when it comes sharing the photo with others or online, it can take me years.

(click photo to go to each project's album)

My most recent daily project has been to take a one second video of each day. At the end of the year, I mash all the video snippets together to make a yearly video. I recently posted a blog post with my video for 2016 but I will post it again below. I really look forward to creating a 2017 yearly video of the everyday every day.

D is for Disqus

Talk to me about Disqus.

Do you use Disqus for comments on your blog?

I have thought about using Disqus, but I always change my mind. It's not like I get a ton of comments, but I wonder if Disqus would just be better/easier than using Blogger's native commenting system. I think I worry most about the comments not being linked to the blog anymore and disappearing if I ever stop using Disqus. I believe that has been an issue in the past. Is it still an issue today?

So, tell  me... What do I need to know?

C is for Computer

This is so not the C post that I had planned to post.

My Computer Crashed and since I am Currently Composing this post on my Cell phone, it will have to do.

I really need a new Computer. Any recommendations?

B is for Blogging

When I first started blogging back in 2004, it was so very different than it is today.

Back then, I was coming from a Geocities website where I posted pictures and updates for family. Geocities ended, so I created a blog to post those same type of updates and also to use as an online journal for me to remember things.

I wrote about anything and basically just threw my thoughts out there into the World Wide Web. I posted whenever I wanted to. Even multiple times a day. I complained a lot. I had conversations through the comments. I joined Blog Exchanges, where you visit blogs for a set time to earn views for your own blog. I liked the exchanges. I found a lot of different kinds of blogs to read and some of them are still around.

I didn't really worry about what I posted. No one got offended back then. But also, not that many people who actually knew me were reading my blog, so I felt I was "safe" when it came to what I posted.

Over the years my posts became less chit chat, less complaining and more posting of just stuff. Stuff that wasn't as personal as it once was. Stuff that was "safe". Some days, I wish I had kept my blog anonymous so that I could just post what I was really feeling that day.

Below is a screenshot of my very first blog post.

When did you first start blogging?

A is for Absent

Some days I'm just absent.

No Internet. No blog. No phone. No apps. No Instagram. No Facebook. No news.

Just Me.

Saturday was exactly that kind of day.

One Second Everyday 2016

It only takes a second to remember.

I did something different in 2016. Instead of a daily photo project, I did a 366 daily video project.

I have no videos from my childhood. So, I am starting now. I don't want to forget the things that photos just can't show... Like the way someone or something moves and how they sound. I purposely didn't use any music in the video so that I could preserve that.

In 2016, I adopted 2 kittens so you have been warned. And just like with my photos, be prepared for lots of cats, clouds and sunsets.

And to those humans that appear in the video. Thank you, for being part of my life this past year.

Thank you for watching.

Blogging from A to Z 2017: Theme Reveal

I've debated on whether or not I should do the Blogging from A to Z challenge this year. Every year I have this same conversation with myself and every year I end up doing it.

The most fun that I have had with this challenge was during my very first year way back in 2011. Back then I had no theme and just posted about anything.

Over the years, I have found that not having a theme for the challenge is a lot less stressful for me.

So... My theme for this year will be No Theme. I'm just gonna do some A to Z blogging.

March is kind of looking up

March didn't start out all that well for me.

The last week of February, I took a couple of days off from work. When I got back to work, the network folder that I am supposed to use for all my documents was missing. There was 9-years worth of stuff in that folder, which also included all the manuals I use for my job and the 2 work-lists that I was working on. Calling the help desk every day didn't help as all they are allowed to do is give out ticket numbers. After 2 weeks of hearing nothing from IT and another email to the boss about how I would have to redo 3 months of work, my complaint finally got to the IT director. That day, IT called and another one came to my desk. They confirmed that my folder was indeed missing, deleted from the network. It took another week and an email from me to the IT director to finally hear back from them. It took 3 weeks for them to find my folder on a network backup and get me back to where I could do my job. The backup was a week old so I had to redo a week's worth of work but I am okay with that. I am sure that if it weren't for the IT director getting involved, I would probably still be waiting to hear back from the IT department.

While all of this was going on, some IT contractors were trying to setup a new computer for me. Finally after about a week, the new computer was installed. But it took me showing the IT contractors and the hospital IT department how to open a program from a mapped drive to get my main program to work. I cannot believe that 3 IT guys had no idea what I was talking about when I said the program needed to be opened from a mapped drive. I seriously should have gotten paid!

During this time, I also got sick. Covered in hives from head to toe. I have never had that happen before. I also ended up having my first Emergency Room visit.

Add to all of this the fact that we are currently a one income household and I will tell you I was ready for March to be over.

So, how is March treating you so far?

Goodbye, February

February is usually a pretty busy month for me.

My birthday is in February and so is my Mom's. This year, I took a couple of days off from work and then promptly got sick once I returned back to work. So, between that and the stress at work of not being able to access my personal backup drive that has EVERYTHING I need for me to do my work, I got behind in even realizing that February had ended. And if this past week is any indication, I have a feeling that March is going to end up being the same way.

I made another monthly video. Here are the very very few photos and a couple of video snippets that I took for the month of February.

Goodbye, February . • February 2017 • 🎶 Mr Little Jeans - Oh Sailor 🎶

A post shared by dreamsofnyssa (@dreamsofnyssa) on Mar 7, 2017 at 6:58am PST

Holy Mini Moley

At the beginning of the year I bought myself a mini Moleskine diary to use as a mini art journal. I really wouldn't call myself an art journaler but I am having fun creating tiny pages. For now, I'm playing along with a bunch of others on Instagram and using daily prompts provided by Tori Weyers (#DrawRiotDaily).

For reasons out of my control I haven't been able to create every day, but I am working on it. Here are a few pages I have created so far.

Goodbye, January

And just like that... January is over.

Since I had so much fun doing this last year.... Here's a little video of all my January photos. Not so many "real" photos this month though. Just lots of photos of my mini Moleskine art journal pages.

And thanks to my nerdy obsession with tracking all the music that I listen to aka Last.Fm I can also include my most played song for the month.

And just like that... January is over. . • January 2017 • 🎶 Ezra Vine - Celeste 🎶

A video posted by dreamsofnyssa (@dreamsofnyssa) on Feb 1, 2017 at 7:15pm PST

January so far

Well I just disappeared there for a bit didn't I?

I have wanted to post for awhile but I have a 2016 video that I wanted to post first before I posted anything else on the blog. But, being the huge procrastinator that I am, I am still working on the video.

So, I am just going to go with it. When I get to finishing the video I will post it, but for now lets talk about how fast January is going. I cannot believe that the month is already halfway over!

• This month, I bought a mini Moleskine diary with the intention of using it as a daily mini art journal of sorts. Having never done art journaling before, it's all so very new for me. I don't know how to sketch or draw so the small page size is just what I need. I am looking forward to filling up all the little pages this year.

• The weather has been quite nice here in the desert. Other than a very wet Winter storm last weekend and another that will be here this weekend, it has been business as usual around here. The leaves just started changing color on the trees this month too.



• All has been well with the kitties this month too. I cannot believe that next month it will be a year that we have had Olive!



How's January going for you so far?

2016: A Year in Photos

I have always posted my year in review posts after the year has ended. I don't like posting them in December because the year is not yet over. Who knows what will happen during the last month of the year.

Instead of my usual year-end photo in review post, this year I made a video showing most of the photos I shared online in 2016 and I also included my most played song for each month.

In January, there was the new Star Wars and we got mountain snow. I got to play with my new Keurig and FitBit One.

In February, I celebrated my birthday by getting a new kitten. She ended up being more of a shaved, young cat. But, she was still adorable! I had a super green thumb and visited what I think is the largest book store I have ever seen.

In March, I started coloring my first coloring book page since I don't know when. There was a lot of new kitty time too.

April brought a new kitty friend for Olive. Now there are two!

The month of May was filled with lots and lots of new kitty time. The newest cat was very sick and most of my time was spent dealing with that.

I spent June creating Index Cards and getting to know the new cats.

July was filled with lots and lots of rain. Oh and cats.

In August, I said goodbye to my high school drama teacher (he was one of my favorites). I got to go see Silversun Pickups in concert and took a lot of photos for The August Break project.

September was all work and rain and my wedding anniversary. Oh and cats.

In October, I colored some more and I voted. Not that it did any good.

November was filled with a lot of outdoor time and by outdoor time, I mean weeding. November had some awesome clouds. Oh and cats.

In December, I got new glasses. I do NOT like them. I didn't even share a photo of them, but I really needed to get that out there. They are not good. The World's largest Santa moved in next door and this year we decided to put up a Christmas tree. It didn't last very long at all.

Thanks for watching.





January: "The Way it Ends" by Landon Pigg

February: "Monkey Tree (UK Mix)" by Mother Mother

March: "Holes in the Sky" by M83

April: "Good to Sea" by Pinback

May: "Lucifer's Eyes" by T.O.L.D.

June: "Nightlight" by Silversun Pickups

July: "Night of the Hunter" by 30 Seconds to Mars

August: "Closer to the Edge" by 30 Seconds to Mars

September: "Each Coming Night" by Iron & Wine

October: "Let Me In" by Snowmine

November: "Wolf Gang" by Lions in Cages

December: "Dead Air" by CHVRCHES

Happy New Year!

Here's to a wonderful 2017! Happy New Year everyone!