I Le'a! I Ola!

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To Joy!  To Life!

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“I do it for the joy it brings
Because I’m a joyful girl
Because the world owes me nothing
And we owe each other the world”
— Ani DiFranco

It's the seventh day of the new year.  Sweet Sixteen.

What kind of blogger would I be if I didn't talk about how I plan to move forward this year?

I'm currently sitting on my couch, with my feet on the ottoman.  The upstairs is rented out on Airbnb and I'm living downstairs.  The guests woke up at 4am and tromped all around making breakfast before leaving the house for what I'm assuming was some kind of sunrise tour.  My house is pretty messy but, it's also clean thanks to my friend Danielle.  I've got big boxes of crap to go through.  Whatever.  I've worked out 9 days in a row - which is like nothing - but I'm super irritated I haven't lost any weight.  I've done nothing of consequence today.  I've puttered around the house and dabbled in this and that.  I just started painting the legs for this desk that I want to put together.  Two out of four are painted on the lanai the other two are laying in my hallway.  I don't have a menu plan for the week but the fridge is full of food.  My little dining room table is covered in paperwork but seriously, whatever.

All this?  It's how I plan to move forward.

I don't have goals right now.  Not real ones.  Not tangible ones with action plans.  I don't have one little word to focus on.

This is life.  Find the joy.  

 

in case you're wondering about those Ani lyrics you can listen the song Joyful Girl here.  It's an oldie but a goodie.

Sunday + Father's Day + Summer Solstice

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Let's make Sunday Soulful:

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Via

 

A dedication to my Father:

“I will take the sun in my mouth
and leap into the ripe air
Alive
with closed eyes
to dash against darkness”
”
— ― E.E. Cummings, Poems, 1923-1954
 

What is Summer Solstice?

Via

Via

 

Might I suggest that you spend this Sunday well, remember your Father, enjoy the Light & Long Day, and prepare for a new week ahead? 

Reader Survey Success!

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Thank you for taking the time to respond to the Reader Survey - quite a few of you took the time and it really meant a lot.  

This blog is a strange little niche of wonderful in my life however; there are a couple of unfortunate realities.  Real Talk.  This blog costs me a fair amount of money every year.  I pay to keep my domain name, I pay to host with Squarespace (which I don't regret) and at times I've paid to have a custom designed blog.  Secondly, this blog takes up more time than I care to admit.  If I was working a traditional job, had children or sheesh, even more of a social life, I'd struggle to find the time.

Second dose of Real Talk:  considering the financial output and the amount of time I spend on the blog I'm sometimes really disappointed in myself for not working on growing my audience.  This is an issue that I'm personally divided right down the middle on.  This blog doesn't help me sell anything, market anything or support any part of a business.  This blog doesn't inherently appeal to a large group of people.  This blog is casual - there is no posting schedule, no content geared toward SEO (search engine optimization), no carefully curated Pinterest boards designed to generate traffic - you get the idea.  If I wanted to increase my readership I'd need to do these things.  When I really think about what I personally love about this blog it is the fact that it's organic.  I write what feels good when it feels good.  I try not to worry about it when I get overly busy or preoccupied.  There you have it...the right down the middle...work on growing or just let it be.

The Reader Survey was really interesting so I thought I'd share my findings!  I had 18 Survey takers.  I'll admit I wished I got more takers but, those who took it were a super diverse bunch!  

Question One confirmed what I already knew.  Most of you have been reading for a long time.  I love that you've all seen the ups and the downs.  You've also seen five different vessels!  It also confirmed that I could try a little harder to spread the Nautie word.  

You are a loyal bunch!  I can't tell you how many blogs I read that I don't bother with for every post.  If I get behind sometimes I just 'mark them all as read' and start fresh.  Thanks for taking the time to keep up!  Smooches.

This told me something I didn't know.  A fair amount of you are using Facebook.  I'll try harder to update Facebook more frequently when blog posting might be a little slower.  

Many of you took the time to drop me a note letting me know you do comment!  I have to confess I'm a big blog reader but am not a big commenter.  Most times I don't comment because I don't feel I have anything relevant to say.  This question was part of a survey that I modeled mine after. I thought it was a good one because, ideally, commenting helps build a community.  I love the idea of community in the interwebz.  So many of us spend a fair amount of time surfing the web.  If we are going to preserve the concept of interpersonal relationships community building is essential.  

The responses to this question blew my mind.  I thought 'raw, real and personal' was gonna get the cold shoulder.  It was the winner!  I am usually mortified when I hit publish on posts where I talk about crying at the bar, meowing, or not being able to find a job.  I whim and wah and general question myself when I put it all out there - apparently you guys really like that - good to know.  The answers to this question also told me that there's is a little something for everyone here.  The answers were pretty well divided.

Thank you for spending time with me here in this lovely little corner of the Internet!

 

To the owner of Jasper, you will soon get a little somethin' somethin' in your mailbox!

The Reader Survey is now closed.  Thank you all for participating!

 

The ever elusive dolphin...

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Nothing gets me fired up to blog quicker then getting a great shot of a marine mammal.

I've posted quite a few throughout the years here.  Most recently it was of a fin whale.  My archives are a mess from transferring my blog a few times and so seeing older dolphins is nigh impossible.  

The thing is 9 times out of 10 I don't get the shot.  Of all the photos I take of dolphins and whales its very rare for me to get a gem.

They almost all look like this:

dolphin splash

I've been trying for a little transparency on the photography front so I figured I'd share a dolphin splash.

For the record, I'll photograph dolphin splashes all day long if it means I might get a gem!

Instagram Confessions

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Confession:  I'm kinda one of those people who pick only the best parts of their day on instagram aaaannnddd, I'll take this one step further to say I sometimes semi-pose things to make sure they're 'instagram worthy'.  

Now, I know I'm not the only person doing this but, one thing I really appreciate in life is a little transparency.  I don't totally have my shit together - and I don't expect you to either!  Win-Win!

In an effort to provide a little transparency (especially since the blog has been light and my instagram feed has been heavy of late) I'm gonna tell all.

....annnd now.....for the rest of the storrrryyyy....

I went out to take this photo - because really I don't have too much to photo at sea.  White caps and Coffee.  The highlights of my day.  As soon as I went out to snap a photo the wind whipped all the froth off my coffee and straight onto my jacket.  I was a total flipping mess!

I took the photo on the left - and then decided my leg looked fat and white - so I took the photo on the right.  Then, I didn't post either one because I was scared someone would ask me about FitMermate and my exercise intentions.  I'm like an ostrich with my head in the sand....no one can see me not exercising out here if I don't post it on instagram!

I may have mentioned that I never went ashore in Japan....I slept instead.  That being said, I posted this photo of our approach to Yokohama with pretty clouds.  In actuality I was bundled up on the bow because it was raining and I was semi miserable.  I docked the ship, got off watch, ate and slept.  Total false advertising.

Alright, I know I already posted a coffee photo but, this photo took me about 6 tries.  I had to take many, many photos individually and then pick two that I wanted to marry.  Then I tried many, many times to get just the right border with my A Beautiful Mess app.  Time consuming would be an understatement in this case.  Incidentally, if you want to get more followers on instagram hashtag #aeropress.  No lie.  Coffee Lovers Unite!

I've got more where these came from.  I'm thinking I'll save them for later.  I mean, we should be honest more than just once in a while, right?

In the meantime, you can find me on Instagram:  @nautiemermate  - Instagram has become something I love - a source of inspiration, aspirations and what ifs.  Find me so I can find you!