she dreams of wandering

Moving not so very far away!

2010-03-16T17:01:00.000-05:00

Moving the blog over to WordPress. http://outsideandrea.wordpress.com/please come on by!

kentuck

2010-01-13T16:36:00.002-06:00

stuck in the middle

2010-01-13T16:03:00.003-06:00

monday night during a thai dinner with friends, i found myself in a situation that i last specifically remember from seventh grade.the long table held at least 11 people. i sat in the very middle, with a few people to either side and a few across the way. now, to understand me, you have to be aware that many times i choose not to participate in conversation when more than one other person is

Remembering you.

2009-12-17T11:17:00.002-06:00

This song makes me cry like a baby.We all lose friends and loves and family, whether to death or growing up, growing apart or moving on. It's so comforting yet painful to remember times with those people in those old places. People who have changed my life never seem to lose their details.

Birds? Bats?

2009-09-22T11:09:00.002-05:00

23 August 2009The Alabama grass buzzes with the hum of Alabama bugs, soft, sweet and reassuring. It’s never silent here.Sensing the last thread of gold sunset peeking over the trees, I glance up from my paperback to observe the best moments of the day while noticing the muffled conversation of the three white twenty-somethings sitting behind me.As a black couple in loud yet unobtrusive

cafe con letras

2009-07-20T14:15:00.001-05:00

One year ago I began the day with a percolator full of coffee—a real rarity in Chile—and a cramped 20-minute microbus ride to Valparaiso, across the harbor from Vina del Mar. My aquamarine Converse tread down the stairs and out the front gate of my apartment complex, down Calle 8 Norte and a couple blocks south on Libertad, paused at the bus stop and vaulted me up the few steep stairs onto the

una pausita

2009-06-22T00:44:00.001-05:00

how is it possible that it has been more than a month since my last post?how can it be that this year is nearly half over? it's incredible how quickly time goes by as we're just doing our thing.since my last post, i have moved, graduated, been to spain, been to tuscaloosa, devoured a few books, vacationed, gotten asthma and made beet-blueberry pancakes. things are going well.perhaps sometime soon

the lovely lady camper

2009-05-14T11:09:00.000-05:00

i drove Pea Soup Green last weekend. my first stick ever! and we popped up the camper top to check it out...the pancake tour is going to be spectacular!

A Change of Heart--or, a bit of myself

2009-05-12T22:32:00.000-05:00

A few weeks into the quarter, I mentioned something about home to my Spanish class partner at Western Washington University. Stunned with disbelief, he cocked his head and squinted his eyes. “You’re from Alabama?” he asked. Yes Jon, I explained, I thought you knew that. His reply: “But you don’t have a Southern accent. You’re really from Alabama?”If only Jon had known that my father eats fried

jerry grimaldi

2009-04-21T13:05:00.000-05:00

"good and bad," my mom started, and i instinctively got the same vibe as when i came home the night after exams finished 2 years ago. that night, my dad was in the hospital for a heart condition; my family had chosen not to tell me, so as to not distract me from my studies."your dad and i went to the golf course this morning, jerry was there with all his old fart friends," she continued. i didn't

22 January 2009

2009-04-08T16:17:00.000-05:00

"One day in particular stands out to me as a very productive day on the quad, which has absolutely nothing to do with being a productive academic student. It was this past October. My senior year had recently begun and my mind was full of plans for after May, graduation, and for tonight, but the sun was shining beautiful and I had to be in class in five minutes. I had put

to experience france: watch people live

2009-03-23T19:19:00.000-05:00

last week was spectacularly busy. i have passed out while editing pictures and on floors more times than i care to mention.but the whole process of being in france, though at times it's been stressful and dramatic, has so far left me feeling more peaceful and in tune with myself than i can remember. suddenly it's not so scary that i'll be graduating soon (though please don't mention numbers of

The 80's are in sight!

2009-03-04T10:24:00.000-06:00

the ten-day weather forecast gets me all the way to next friday--and also to france.with this next trip coming up, i kind of wish i was staying for more than two weeks. shouldn't i just stay a while longer? yeah.. probably. at least another international trip is in sight. spain! it's hard to believe that so many fantastic opportunities come to me without me having to look at all. and what makes

mass --------

2009-02-18T21:04:00.000-06:00

an hour into every media ethics class, i am always convinced that the world is coming to an end, in some twisted way. today i made a list. this is maybe vague at some points, but here's what i thought of in response to john latta's lecture tonight.The world is coming to an endon all sidesnews will disappearanimals will disappearno none will know about anythingthe government will survey all the

crazy bus driver chases yellow waterspouts

2009-02-04T19:37:00.000-06:00

[lunch one day last spring]last night i had the kind of mind-blowing god experience that i've only heard tale of in stories about acid trips. (is that how the saying goes?) mine, however, happened when i was 7/8 asleep.i decided to watch the middle third of i heart huckabee's last night instead of reading for class. after all, julia cameron says i'm not supposed to be reading this week. that's

again? soon he comes.

2009-01-29T09:23:00.000-06:00

one of my favorite songs:water from the well - ray lamontagne

El Paraíso También Puede Ser Repugnante

2009-01-28T16:26:00.000-06:00

i wrote this in the fall for the web site i interned with this summer. if you feel like practicing your español, look here. my translation here is pretty awkward, but you'll get the idea.elzocalo.clParadise can also be disgustingBy Andrea Mabry - USA1 September 2008To me it seems that wherever you look in Valparaíso, there is some kind of art, whether its' a mural, graffiti, handmade clothing or

thinking about tahini sauce

2009-01-23T09:27:00.000-06:00

a black man with a beautiful voice sang a song as he walked under my window just now. he will never know i heard him, but i am very glad that i did...

mr. president, mr. president

2009-01-23T00:58:00.001-06:00

january 20 was, for me, a high and a low.i regret not having written about this sooner, while it was freshest in my mind, but not having a personal computer and the presence of several pairs of over-shoulder eyes are a pretty strong deterrent for me. rob, micah and i woke up tuesday later than we'd planned. left fairfax (finally) at 10 and arrived at the national mall at 11:15, just in time to

who sells bathing suits in january?

2009-01-17T01:11:00.000-06:00

i dream of the day when my laptop's hard drive is large enough to hold a few of my pictures! they all live on an external right now, it's a little bit frustrating. everything takes longer.in a few hours i'm leaving with rob and a few others (maybe a few, maybe one.. a surprise for the morning) por D.C.! the magnitude of what this inauguration will be is something my mind just can't fathom. how

can a cat come on a date? please?

2009-01-11T18:08:00.000-06:00

what an interesting day.i began by finishing the first chapter of The Artist's Way, a book i'm reading for a class. neat stuff. it's all about unblocking your creative side and discovering new outlets for creativity. hey, we could all use some of that. i'm especially hopeful about this, as it might be a kind of guiding voice to motivate me while i'm trying to really get back into photo like i

keys to your place

2009-01-04T23:57:00.000-06:00

the rain is coming down hard tonight, cat's going nutty because of the thunder and lightning.

tiny little ants

2008-12-07T11:16:00.000-06:00

my cat wears a chicken hat

2008-10-02T17:07:00.000-05:00

man, this all seems so much more serious now that i'm back in the states. should it? i don't know, but i suppose it shouldn't matter, not one bit.anyway, i'm jumping back on that horse.i'm not sure if it's just senior year melancholy or life events that have taken place since school started, but i have been down in the dumps, for a little bit. after reading the first chapter of Zen and the Art of

something simple, something true

2008-07-17T14:32:00.000-05:00

life is really fantastic. that is all. i like it.

la raja!

2008-07-11T15:26:00.000-05:00

shit. we are leaving for peru in 8 days!!!i have a new roommate: amanda from texas. the poor girl has been going pretty much nonstop since she got here because i think now brett and i are in exploring mode. it's almost time to leave the country. and really, it doesn't seem like i've been here for six weeks.last night a few of us chilled at cafe con letras, a cute cafe that is also a book store--

observation

2008-07-07T14:13:00.000-05:00

funny story:brett and i have decided to go to peru! that's not the funny part though. this afternoon i took the micro to lider mall to buy the lonely planet guide to peru. an easy enough goal. i find the book store, make a beeline for the travel section and fish past a row of spanish books to the lonely planet. check for prices... the only one listed is the one in USD that's printed on the back.

sr. alvaro reyes

2008-07-03T00:22:00.000-05:00

so i am super super cold! my poor toes.just want to recount a couple things...one night last week a couple neighbor kids came over to the house. my roommate answered the door and called me downstairs, saying that they wanted to ask us some questions for a school project. there was one, sebastian, and another who was a couple years younger. sebastian did all the talking and the little kid

defeating the purse snatchers

2008-06-28T02:14:00.000-05:00

well, since i've been royally slacking with writing in the blog and i now have something else to avoid doing, this seems like the perfect time to update.last night i shot my first gig in chile--a blues/rock show at a venue called La Piedra Feliz--The Happy Rock. that name really made me happy. i had no idea what to expect, really, in regard to the show itself or the exact nature of what my

me gustas tu

2008-06-06T01:22:00.000-05:00

yeah? yeah. yeah.it's late. so i will just leave you with some pictures for now.[me and the pacific ocean][the boardwalk of viña with lights of valparaíso in the background.][lots of cute little kids live in chile. no kidding! this is one of them.]

failure

2008-06-02T23:10:00.000-05:00

so i tried to make a post earlier but the internet at my apartment sucks. it even had pictures!

viviendo en chile

2008-06-02T01:08:00.000-05:00

if you're anything like me, and your mind is oftentimes not exactly where it 'should' be (i.e. you're with a bunch of people and instead of contributing to conversation you just watch and listen to those around you), you'll understand this. maybe you will even if that made absolutely no sense.i feel like i'm in the U.S.for the most part, viña del mar looks like it could be bellingham, or

the magic city

2008-05-26T17:02:00.001-05:00

[downtown birmingham]

cripple creek

2008-05-24T01:21:00.000-05:00

[my grandmother cooking breakfast thursday, mm-mm good]pretty much ready for this here trip. clothes are laid out, one of my books has come in the mail and more are on the way, all's left is to put everything in a bag and say syonara to the South for a while.oops, i still have a whole week until takeoff. guess i'll have to occupy myself somehow.why not take silly pictures of myself all the

the first ever, the last ever, what's the difference?

2008-05-21T00:36:00.000-05:00

[whitney at pevine falls today]i saw the coolest lizard today. okay, maybe not the coolest, but he definitely looked like a tiny dinosaur. but when i pulled my camera out of my bag, the lenscap caught on the edge and sprung off and almost hit the little guy.since i've been home, i feel like i've been spending a good bit of time lying on the floor just staring at the shadow of fan blades moving