Not updated as much as I’d like (but I’ll try to be better about it!)

I recently started taking a Photo of the Day – you know, because y’all are so curious as to what I’m wearing and how my hair looks first thing in the morning. (Admit it, you are…)

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Here’s a few of my all-time faves from other awesome photographers (though I really, REALLY wish you could ‘favorite’ your own photos…Flickr, get ON IT!

Not enough? Ok, fine. You can see all my Flickr photos here and on the older Typepad photo gallery.
 

If you know anything about me, you know that music plays an integral role in my life. Actually, in my very state of ‘being’ would be greatly altered if it wasn’t for the Soundtrack of my Life (still a work in progress, but contributed by the many bands and songs you’ll see below.)

For your listening pleasure, here is my Vox audio library – songs are added almost daily.

You can also see what songs I’m listening to (courtesy of Last.fm) with the widget below; I must warn you, there’s always a chance you’ll catch me on a Barbra Streisand sort of day.

Should you want to catch a show with my friends and me, check out where we’ll be rockin’ out at next with my SonicLiving calendar.

When you grow up with a family (read: father) obsessed with taking photographs, it’s only normal to assume that you’re going to be a bit judgmental with photos of yourself. After all, you have to deal with pictures like this
   
   
   

   

       

   
            

       
               
       
            

            

               

moi, circa 1979

            

   
       

   

and this

   

       

   
            

       
               
       
            

            

               

May 1982: Sea World

            

   
       

   

and this
   
   
   
   
   
   

   

       

   
            

       
               
       
            

            

               

1991: Eighth Grade

            

   
       

   

as evidence to your awkward years. As such, I find myself being the harshest of critics, rarely liking a photo of myself. And then I see Flickr streams from friends and I just find them all so beautiful. Gorgeous. Like, have you seen Heather lately? Stunning. And HelenJane? Can you GET any prettier? And then, cross-continental beauty abounds with Sarah "I am ridiculously photogenic, and hot to boot" Brown sporting her sassy self in NYC and other awesome locales.  Don’t mean to exclude my guys from this tribute, as they’re as hunky as ever. Especially when: they’re (looking) out of their element. Or when they are completely IN their element. Which makes me wonder: are THEY this hard on themselves? Do they see pictures and wonder how the went out LOOKING LIKE THAT? Because really, I see these photos of my friends, near and far, and am rendered speechless by how amazing they are, both inside and out.

Perhaps I’m being a wee bit too hard on myself. Maybe I should remember that each photo is a snapshot in time and that every expression is fleeting. Or realize that there is beauty to be found in every situation, in every person, including myself.

Originally posted on aubs.vox.com

Really? REALLY? Who knew? Anne Frank? Jane Goodall? And – the best yet – Ian Thorpe? Kate Hudson (or hell, Beyonce!) as my sister, Ian Thorpe as my brother. Who knew I was that bizarre looking?

Originally posted on aubs.vox.com

04 The Funeral

Band of Horses

Originally posted on aubs.vox.com

Dear Reader,

Have I told you lately that I love you? I mean, I do. Love. With an "o" and an "e", certainly not with a "u" because really, that would be SO fourth grade. (Then again, I’m quoting Rod Stewart here so perhaps fourth grade is where I should stay.) Anyway. You’re awesome. To quote Daisy’s favorite line, "Thanks for all that you do." (This should not be confused with MY favorite line, "Wanna Makeout?", which reminds me, I really DO need to add an asterisk that says "If you don’t secretly LIVE WITH YOUR GIRLRIEND". I mean, I thought it went without saying, but apparently not.)

Anyway. Back to you. You’re the best.

And now, to me.

So after having my website tag line for a few years be "Everything your mother warned you about…and more", I just recently realized that it was not only self-deprecating, but also pretty inaccurate. I mean, really…mothers love me. Especially Southern ones. I even unknowingly adopt their accent! Also, the tagline makes me sound slutty. Which I’m not (ignore that whole "Wanna Makeout" discussion above. I was just kidding. Really.) So, alas, I need to come up with a new tagline and I’m looking to you, genius reader, to help me in this pursuit. I’ll show you the ones that I’m considering just to emphasize the fact that I desperately need your insights. They are:

Unemployed Cougar Seeks Irrational Hookups
I have a menagerie, of COURSE I’m single
Not nearly as snarky as I wish I was
One time, at band camp…

and my favorite:

I’m Just Not That Into Me Either

So, can you help? Please? Pretty please? I’ll be all "Jane came up with this tagline, she ROCKS" and put a photo on the site and, I don’t know, other stuff. Seriously. Assistez-moi, sil vous plait! My eternal gratitude is at stake.

So that’s my beseeching for the day. (In other news, I’m seriously considering having my friends all suggest boys for me to date and then letting America vote. You know, making myself my own bachelorette. But I’ll save that story for another time. Today is all about taglines…) Simply leave a comment with your suggestion or email me and, golly gee, that would just be the bestest.

And with that, I leave you,
Very truly yours,

Aubs

Awesomeness ensues below (in no particular order…)

Que Sera Sera
Oopsie Daisy
Dooce
HelenJane
A Girl and a Boy
LeahPeah
Electrolicious
Willotoons
JenAndTonic
The (mis)adventures of spangley in the city
Geese Aplenty
The Battlefield Where the Girls Say I Love You
Self-Aggrandizement

I’ve found myself with a lot of time on my hands lately. While there are a few key things that I don’t currently have, time is certainly not in short supply. In fact, I’ve got loads of time. Tons. Bushels. And in finding myself with all of this time, I’ve been contemplating just exactly what to do with it. And by “contemplating”, I actually mean “slowly, quietly pondering” this fact. I find myself taking my time trying to figure out what to DO with all this time I have. Efficient, I suppose.

I’ve long wondered what I would find myself doing should I have the amount of time on my hands that I do these days. If the past is any indication, I figured I would fill my days the way I would an empty wine glass: quickly and fully. And yet this isn’t the case in actuality. I’m weighing my options, reviewing a proverbial wine list carefully, meticulously. Would I prefer the Fume Blanc over the traditional Chardonnay? Do I even want white wine? I know I enjoy a hearty red, but a Cabernet? Syrah? Perhaps a Bordeaux? Or – wow. There’s also some soju cocktails and, yum, Poppy Jasper. Choices, choices. Not to be made in haste.

So that’s what I’m doing. I’m being prudent. I’m slowly assessing my options, thinking a lot, writing even more. Making lists and checking them thrice. Swirling my glass, taking a hearty sniff of the aroma of my life. Remembering, and learning, what I want. Because every wine has its time. And right now, that’s what I’ve got.

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Sweetwater Blue, originally uploaded by Aubs.

While waiting in the Atlanta airport, en route to Chapel Hill for
homecoming.

I deserve this trip. And I DEFINITELY deserve this beer.

Thank God it’s November, as October nearly did me in.