My 10 life Goals

I'm always getting inspired by SOMETHING. Whether it be a book, a quotation, a recipe, a tv program. And today, home sick from work, looking for something to do, I've decided to write out ten things I want to do/goals I want to accomplish. Please feel free to share your ten goals.

1. Open a cafe/art gallery.
2. Go on a photography trip to different countries
3. Write a cook book
4. Live in a loft in a large city
5. Sell at least one photo of mine
6. Go on a missions trip to a 3rd world country
7. Never work a conventional job (NO retail, cubical jobs. I will die if I do, I swear.)
8. Go on a rock climbing/hiking trip in Colorado, California AND North Carolina
9. Spend a summer in Paris
10. Grow my own vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

If only I had the money to actually accomplish any of these.

Up close and personal

I love my Pentax x70's 1cm zoom. By zooming in, I can often photograph things which are invisible to the human eye. These are a few of my best close ups. Some are macro, some are just close ups, either way, enjoy.

A seashell on a mirror I made with shells I've collected on previous vacations.
The darker pink is actually the center of the flower, which looks black. Turns out, it's hot pink when examined closely.

I was photographing the flower, initially, when a pollen-covered bee flew in.
Same flowers
A pig apparently exhausted from his hard day's work at the Iowa State fair.

Conclusions....

I've come to a conclusion.
We lose intelligence as we grow older.
Don't agree? Keep reading.


I remember it like it was yesterday. I was 11, sitting in our big conversion van, on the way home from a trip to North Carolina. I sat at the truck stop, waiting for my mom and god mom to come out. I was flipping through a popular teen magazine, and a certain article caught my attention. It was abut kids who were 'Straight Edge.' You know, no smoking, no drinking, no drugs. I guess I was so intrigued by the piece because I had always been against all of that in the first place: I watched my brother's (and other family members') downfall from drugs and drinking and I promised myself at an early age to never touch any of it, especially cigarettes (which had taken my grandpa before I had ever met him.) I'm sure I read the article three times over, and like I always do, got super inspired, and decided to live my life 'Straight Edge.' By the time we had pulled away from the truck stop, I had drawn black X's on my hands like the kids in the magazine had so they would be denied alcohol upon entering a club. I was also determined to have the X's tattooed on my hands as soon as I could, just like the kid in the magazine.

I managed to stay away from drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes all throughout middle school, but as soon as I hit high school, everything changed. Immediately, I got in the wrong group of kids, and by the third week of school, I was drunk for the first time. Yup, my first time getting drunk was at the homecoming game. I wish I could remember it better. I managed to stay out of trouble until that summer, when I smoked weed for the first time. By sophomore year, I was smoking out of an apple in my bedroom before school, and by May of sophomore year, I was smoking cigarettes. It was one thing after another.. I wouldn't say I did it to fit in, but instead, I saw my friends having the time of their lives, and I was sick as hell of being this sheltered Christian girl..So I let loose.

The three things I vowed to stay away from since a little girl, and I was doing all three regularly. By the summer before junior year, I was drinking beer with my pancake breakfasts, high all day, and smoking up to a pack of Newports a day. That summer, last summer, were my self titled 'glory days.' I lived with my best friend for two weeks, and those two weeks were the best 14 days of my life. Drinking, smoking, listening to Free Ride and Stranglehold over and over, doing whatever the hell we wanted. And the rest of the summer continued the same: Our parents had no idea what we were doing, and frankly, we didn't care if they did. We were idiots, and loving every minute of it.

I won't go into too much detail, but my downfall came the first week of Junior year, when I got expelled. Pills were involved, and I was humiliatingly arrested in the middle of school. All of my charges were dropped, but our glory days came to an abrupt end, and I, as well as my group of friends got a harsh reality check. Harsh.

In the past months, since being home schooled, I've looked back on the choices I've made, and I ask myself 'Who have I become?' The little girl with badly drawn X's on her hands in honor of her brother, had morphed into this: A girl who cared more about getting cigarettes, getting weed, and getting drunk, more than herself, her health, her family.

About a week ago, I sat down on my computer, and found a pamphlet lying on the keyboard. It was hand drawn by me, when I was ten or so. It had a big cigarette with a red line through it on the front. The next page had a horribly drawn red lung and a horribly drawn black lung.'Your lung if you don't smoke. Your lung if you smoke.' The next page featured a stick figure with X's over his eyes with 'Every cigarette you smoke takes a minute from your life' scribbled above. My mom walked in behind me, and saw me flipping through the folded piece of computer paper which she had come across and left for me. 'A minute doesn't seem like a lot until you have kids. Then you'll want to live every minute you can.' She said, and walked out. I flipped through the pamphlet titled 'Smoking Kills' once more, and pushed it away.

So last night, I sat outside the back door of our basement, smoking a cigarette, and thought about my decision to be straight edge so long ago. My promise to my mother and father that I'd never smoke, never drink and I wondered this:

Why hadn't I followed my own advice, and never started any of it in the first place? I was so much smarter then, it seems. I knew the facts back then: Smoking causes cancer. Drinking can turn into a dependency, and nothing good comes from drugs. But as soon as I hit high school, and went wild, the facts didn't matter anymore, all that mattered was having fun, no matter the cost.
If only I had followed my own advice, I wouldn't be this: Seventeen, with a slight beer belly, kicked out of school and regularly drug tested at home, with a cigarette addiction.


I was smarter then, when all that mattered was facts. When peer pressure wasn't issue. When I was oblivious to what really surrounded me. If only I had kept those values, those morals, I had as a sheltered girl, I wouldn't be in this mess.

So I guess I somewhat disagree with my own conclusion: Maybe we don't lose intelligence as we age, maybe we just don't give a shit about the facts anymore. Maybe we just become stupid.

That's all she wrote....

We have this wonderful cabin up in Hayward Wisconsin, which we visit as often as possible. The view over our Callahan lake is stunning, and every time I'm there, I can't help but be inspired by the sights, the sounds (or lack thereof), the smells and the atmosphere as a whole. With those senses in mind, I wrote this...piece. Not really a poem, not really a paragraph.

The Cabin


So far away, from who you’re supposed to be.
Re-creation of one’s self, be who, be what you want.
And one’s mind is free to imagine, explore, or simply be quiet.
Inspiration is inevitable, and one will surely find one’s self.


The water is still, like a mirror to the sky
Catching the picture of an ever flying bird.
The silence is deafening, it echoes in your ear,
The fragrance of nothing fills the nose, and it is
stronger than the strongest of scents.

The wind is soft, and dances across the face
And twists one’s hair playfully,
The fish swim lazily in the shadows of the brush.
In the lake which color’s are that of an artist’s canvas.

A grown man is to turn to childhood here,
Exploring, seeking, finding.
Endless days of swimming and fishing,
Without one care elsewhere.

And this place, far away,
Hidden from society,
Is where I’ve spent many a summer,
Just simply taking in the sights.


Keaton Buster
Aug 26 09

Some of my photos

At this point, I'm quite discouraged if anyone is reading this at all. Is this more of a journal to myself, or is anyone actually enjoying my writing? I really have nothing to write today, so it's time to share my photos. Comment, critique, criticize, enjoy?

The beauty of tea. This is my favorite shot, hands down.

The Sears Tower. 'Willis' Tower. I refuse to call it by it's new name, ever again.

The walking path at our Wisconsin cabin. I miss this place.

Bear, the dog with the biggest personality, out of any dog I've ever encountered.

Bear's eye. Such a scary eye for such a gentle dog.

15 Things my mother has taught me

My mother always says, that her job is to prepare me for adulthood. I haven't always taken her advice to heart, more often I put the information she shares in the back of my head with the rest of the "Mom's nagging" pile. But as I get older, and closer to being on my own, I've taught myself to take these little pieces of information and put them to use. Thank you mom, for instilling these qualities and life lessons in me, as much as it has annoyed me over the past years.


Whatever you do, do it right the first time.

If you've made a commitment, you must follow through, no matter how hard it may be.

It's okay to nap during the day if you need it.

Never turn your tires when you're in the middle of the street waiting to turn on yellow. If you get hit from behind, you'll veer into the wrong lane of traffic.

Put meat tenderizer on a bee sting.

If you tell the truth in the first place, the punishment will be less severe than if you'd lied.

One wrong decision can change the rest of your life.

When things are looking bad, things can only get better.

If you've made your soup too salty, put in a slice of potato.

No matter what you've done, your family will always love you and support you.

Your picture's don't have to be in perfect focus for it to be a good photograph.

Learn from your mistakes.

Pray before every single meal.

You can never take back your virginity once it's gone, so save it for the right person. ( I wish I had listened to this one.)

Your mother is not your friend, but a teacher, a confidant, a supporter, and a nurturer.




Thank you mom, for all you do. For everything I've messed up, you've been there to pick up the pieces. And I know that through the hardtimes and goodtimes you will always be there to back me up.

Roasted tomato and yellow pepper soup

This soup is delicious, flavorful, filling, and low calorie!


5 Medium tomatoes
5 Onion slices/rings - chopped
1 clove garlic - finely chopped
1 small yellow pepper -sliced
1 cup No fat beef broth
Olive oil
Bay leaf
Thyme
Pepper
Salt
Rosemary
Balsamic vinegar


Slice the tomatoes into half inch slices, and spread tomatoes, garlic, onion, and pepper on a baking sheet. Drizzle (or spray if you have it in an aerosol can) olive oil to very lightly coat all of the vegetables on all sides. Sprinkle salt, pepper and rosemary on top. Pop in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes. When the vegetables are out of the oven, use a wooden spoon to mash the tomatoes in a bowl. Chop the yellow peppers and onions into bite sized pieces, and add with the garlic, to the tomatoes.

Add 1 cup of beef broth, and add salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary to taste. Blend in a blender until slightly pureed, still leaving a few bites of veggies. Pour back in the bowl and add one whole bay leaf. Cover with foil and place the soup into the fridge for 1 hour or up to over night. The longer the flavors marry, the richer the soup will taste.

When ready to eat, take the bay leaf out and bring the soup to a low boil for 4-5 minutes. Add 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar, stir and Voila! Serve with english muffins toasted with olive oil, rosemary and salt.