Ultimate Annoyance (please ignore spelling errors)

There are few things in this world that can irritate the majority of people. Especially when today's society harbors an anything goes attitude. People are far more accepting of outrageous or uncommonly accepted things now, but there is one thing that i know not only irritates me, but the majority of people. Obnoxious know-it-alls.

Yes that guy in class who insist on starting a debate on even the smallest subject, or the person who comments on your facebook status telling you that you spelled a word wrong. That person is who most people would not miss if they happened to hop on a bus and never come back. When i come into contact with people like this my first reaction is to just ignore them and hope they get the point that i don't care about what they think. But lately i have noticed what other people do while in the mist of the all knowing. Such as the "eye-roller" who simply brushes them off there shoulder but visibly rejects them. Then there is the person who argues with them, but no matter what there is no winning against the know-it-all, and ultimately there challenger fails. My personal favorite though, is the know-it-all on know-it-all battles, because there is no end to the arguments, and its obvious that both parties don't know that they are just as obnoxious as the person they are challenging.

Either way nobody wins when there is a know-it-all in the room, because the collective groan of a room cant even silence the smartest of the know-it-alls. Therefore they must not be as smart as they think.

Changes

Every morning i ever remember I sing. I wake up singing, wailing my lungs out not caring if I sound like a dying whale. In my life I have found just a few true loves God, music, and photography. My first love was music, ever since I picked up a guitar I knew I would be playing and singing till the day I die,but relationships change people. They say it can be in good or bad ways, but is that the truth? If a relationship is going to change you doesn't that go against every belief the human race has about love as of today? Take me for instance, I found a guy. He was amazing everything I ever wanted, he was sweet, kind, smart. I was in love with him, but everyday I grew closer to him something was changing in me. At first glance I thought it was good, I believed I was becoming a better person because of this one man that had entered my life. I followed him around and made googley eyes at him, I let my life be changed by him. Did my life need to be changed though? One day while blow drying my hair I realized something, I wasn't even singing. This was odd for me because this was the best time for me to belt out a few notes. Slowly I began noticing other things too, I realized I had not picked up my guitar in days, and I barely turned my iPod on anymore. I thought about this, but pushed it into the back of my mind. I told myself I was busy, but busy with what? A few months later Mr. Notsoperfect and I decided to take a break. While shuffling sadly around the house I found myself singing Adele songs to myself. Maybe they were sad songs but music is music, I picked up my guitar and played my feelings. I realized that my boyfriend had changed me in a way I couldn't even fathom. He took away music, not intentionally of course but because of his lack of musical ability I pushed mine to the side. I let the thing I had swore to love my whole life slip to the back burners for a boy.
So yes relationships can change us. But if someone truly loves us and if we love them we won't be afraid to be ourselves. We will be assured they will love us no matter what, even if it means putting up with the flaws we may even hide from ourselves. Love doesn't change a person, but the wrong relationship sure can.

Chasing Shadows

As I pulled my car around the circle drive I gauge the position of the sun. Not too high, not too low. I hope. It's always incredibly difficult to know if the sun is in the perfect spot for exactly the kind of photo you want. I step out of the car grabbing my camera bag, being careful not to bump it as I lift it over the center console. The camera is my baby, a Canon Rebel. Ever since I first held one I knew I had to have it, photography is the love of my life, and I am basically married to my Rebel. The photos we make together, sometimes horrible, sometimes magical, are like our babies. So today I am on a high speed chase, and shadows are what I'm pursuing.
A shadow is not an easy thing to catch. Though they seem so slow shadows move very fast, they also weaken, darken and change with the movement of the sun. Today I want a dark shadow, one that catches your eye and moves it along it's curve. I walk to the playground of the elementary school, looking at the brightly colored jungle gyms for a good subject. The monkey bars have a nice edge to them, but the shadow is too long taking the focal point away. I wonder the place for 30 min taking photos that I like but don't love. Often this happens, I will find concepts that spark my interest but never give way to flame. The flame is what I need to create a photo that I will love and cherish. After wondering almost aimlessly I see a glimmer of hope, a piece of metal. It is curved and sticking out of the ground, with a small slab of concrete around it. The shadow cast dark, but not back, almost menacing. The curve of the object give the shadow a need ending feeling, but it arches high in the sun. Time is running out though, the sun is still moving and I need this photo. I take my camera and remove the lens cap, I adjust the zoom and focus. *Click*. No that's not what I want, I shift slightly changing the angle. *Click*. No, still no. What am I missing? Then I realize, I must get a good angle. So I squat down and position the camera in my hands. Playing with the focus and lens. Perfect. *Click*

Beautiful Memories

It was a cool night in the Colorado Rockies. I had been riding in the car for hours, maybe taking a month long trip across the western United States wasn't such a good idea after all, but it sure sounded good at the time. So there I was, sore butt and all, looking out the widow as we roll down a windy road in the middle of July. You wouldn't know that by the 60 degree weather or the hoddie I had on. We were headed to Pagosa Springs Colorado. I had never heard of it, but I was looking forward to it. I have always been a lover of nature. I could look for hours at the sky and never get bored, I can still watch a spider create a web for hours and be completely mesmerized. The car ride took forever, or what seemed like forever, especially when every 5min a large 18-wheel threatened to knock your car off the 200 foot canyon. And when we finally got to the cabin I could think of nothing more than laying down and passing out. Which I did. But when I woke I could not have imagined what was awaiting me outside those double paned sliding doors, and cheap curtains. When I slid them back I was awestruck. The mountains looming in the distance made everything around them look tiny. The huge lake glistened in the morning sun, and as I stepped outside and took a breath I realized the air was pure. I loved it. I soaked it up and put it away, locking it into a place inside me that can never be lost. Later that day we went hiking and I was struck again when the almost vertical trail lead to the most beautiful waterfall. And I stood in the mist, and watched as a rainbow streaked the water falling into the creek flowing steady and strong. It's memories like these that I always go back to when I need something to help me though the day. And memories like this that I always strive to make, dont we all try to make memories? Ones that will last forever.

Ghost (Not To Be Forgotten)

There are a lot of things that go through your mind when you realize someone is gone from your life forever. It doesn't matter if you were close to them or not, it still feels wrong. Like a large hole is just opened inside you, and though the hole may be filled, you can still feel the pain when you think back.

That is what I felt, pain. When I got that phone call from my mom, I was out of town visiting friends. We were sitting around the campfire laughing and having a good time. I would never have expected what I heard when I answered that phone. My mom's voice was thick and shaky, I immediately knew something was wrong, because my mom doesn't just cry. And when I asked what was wrong I realized my voice must have reflected the same shaky quality because everyone around me fell silent and looked at me with concern. My uncle had committed suicide, at first I was confused, I didn't believe it, but then it all registered. He was gone. My cousins, one was out of town. The other found him. It was devastating for both of them, and though there relationship was rocky at the time, you don't just get over your father leaving you on this earth alone. It has been a year since his death. And though it should be easier I still feel there is a dark cloud over our family. It has never been the same, and I don't know what is worst. Knowing that it can never go back to how it was, or wondering what we could have done different, to save his life. And so a year later I find myself thinking about my own father, and how I may have treated him in the past. I know all children and parents have there spats, but I still can't help but feel guilty for it. I never want to live with that guilt. So in all, it doesn't matter if you are close to someone. If someone is gone from your life it effects you. I thought I was invincible but I find everyday that I am more vulnerable then ever. That is why we should all strive to give all the love we can to everyone and not take people for granted. Because you never know, they may be gone tomorrow.

That Song

We all have that song. The song that no matter where you are or what you are doing, every time you hear it or even think about the lyrics or melody, it takes you back. That one song has the power to take you to that once place in time where you felt simply, amazing. You were on top of the world. Well I have that one song also, here's the story.

"I can feel the rain fall down when were together" OK, I'll admit, when i hear that song the person i was dating at the time, was a thousand miles away, and we hadn't even held hands yet. But still, the steady beat of the cool rain on the sickly green leaves of the California palms added a nice note of remembrance. At one point i stood in the downpour, just stood there. trying to escape the boredom in the big California mansion that we visit each and every year. Don't get me wrong there is plenty to do in the 16 mountain acers in the beautiful Malibu mountains. Though in a rainstorm the 10,000 square feet of narrow hallways and twisting staircases, and untouchable, not to mention breakable, pieces of art that filled the house we were in offered little refuge from the long hours of nothingness accompanied with a long rainstorm in California. However when my boyfriend and i would be on the phone, talking of absolutely nothing. That rain wasn't so bad, and in that rain a friendship grew to something more, and when the rain falls, or that one song plays on the radio, i am back in that mansion, sitting in the downpour. When i hear that song i too am on top of the world because the feelings that are connected to that lyric and melody, they remind me of falling. It reminds me that not only the rain was falling that night, but i was too.

~Chey~

Inspiration (A New Hope)

What amazes me, is the unity of a crowd gathered to watch a single person. People who have chosen to stand in a crowd hot and rubbing elbows with about a hundred other people, so they can stand and be inspired.
Two hours of inspiration is sometimes all a person needs, to go to the next day, month, or year. And while I was standing among a crowd of about 15 Tweens, I realized that I too had been consumed by the desire for just a touch or approving look from a person who not too long ago had been among us. Average, looking for someone to stand up and be the next thing in our lives that can give us a glimpse of joy. Yes and though I was being suffocated by the 15 mini-people pressing up against me, and the girl beside me kept whipping her ponytail across my cheek, I too felt that moment of pure joy when my hand was grasped by the very person the 13,000 people around me had came just to catch a glimpse of. And I was inspired. Not only by the music, or the artist. But by the crowd, all going crazy for one single person. And if a crowd of 13,000 people can all join in the love of a single person then maybe the human race hasn't been lost, maybe somewhere deep in the hate and crime is a capacity to love beyond what we ever imagined. And this hope, this unity, now that is truly inspiring.