Clearly I should have worn the layered button down blouse with my over-sized handbag and above the knee skirt.  What was I thinking?!  In this overly pulled together skirt suit and classic bag I screamed standard, safe…predictable.  I didn’t stand a chance under the black and white lense.  It wasn’t my fault, exactly.  No one told me that there would be a geometric overlay.  In two colors no less.  My shoes were adventurous but how would you ever know?  And it’s not like his shoes were anything exciting.  But they were visible and that’s something, I guess.  Next time I’d know better.  I’d loose the understated but eternally classic double button jacket.  I’d shorten my skirt.  And I’d inevitably second guess the change when I spotted her looking just like I do today.

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As If It Were A Dream is an ongoing series in which I will pair an image with some of my own writings. Previous installments: 1 / 2 / 3

Image via here

I’ve been thinking lately, now that she’s back and settled, I really miss following Farrell’s travels through her posts here.  There were a lot of things about her travel posts that I liked, one of which was her Noteworthy series, a kind-of collections of lessons learned on the road.  I had a bit of an adventure away from home last weekend so I thought I’d revive the idea.

(Typewriter by Matthew Logelin

~Read the paper, start with the Arts section.

~You don’t have to go far to feel like you’ve gotten away.

~Accept invitations.

~Keep band-aids on hand for the transition from winter to summer shoes.

~Whatever you’re feeling right now is okay.

Earlier in the week I went to a really interesting talk about Africa.  It was wonderful for many reasons, one of which includes the illustration that was shown (above) to convey the size of the African continent in relation to other – more familiar – places in the world.

I remember reaching the point in life in which I realized that my global education had been incredibly European-focused.  What that meant to me at the time was that ‘they’ had largely ignored teaching me about Asia.  While I wouldn’t say that I was completely clueless about Africa before this talk, it was still reminiscent of that first realization of how much I didn’t know.  It was also a strong reminder of how gratifying it is to take advantage of the resources that surround you, something I plan to do more of.

(The True Size of Africa via Information is Beautiful)