Hey Everyone,
Happy Halloween! I hope you all had/have great days/evenings tonight and last night. For my part, everything was tons of fun. We went over to Traci's and carved pumpkins, then went out for Thai food at Esan Thai, SOOO good. yummy. Traci's friend Greg joined us as well, so the five of us went to dinner and then came back to the dorms to have some fun. We changed into costume (those of us who had them) and socialized, till going downtown. Traci and Greg headed home, cause Trac had been up until 5 am working on her paper, so I totally didn't blame her for going home. Greg seemed like a very nice guy too. Tom, Tanya and I hit the bar scene, for some dancing and fun. It was a great evening overall. Came back home around 2 am, and watched episodes of Family Guy on DVD and ate pad thai leftovers until we all pretty much crashed. Tons of fun. Happy 21st Birthday to Heathersissy as well! yay!
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Saturday, October 30, 2004
All Hallows Pre-Eve
So, I'm excited for today's festivities. Heading over to Traci's around 2:30 to carve pumpkins...hooray! and then out on the town to wander around in costume and join in the festivities of the evening, wherever that happens to land us! :) Tom is on his way down from South Bend as well, yay for guy friends that are making the trip to see me, and as he says 'the main IU campus', since he has his comp sci degree from IU South Bend...haha. Yesterday I spent most of the day reading and finishing the book I mentioned the other day. Was very funny. I stayed in last night and watched t.v. and read, a good way to spend a night before crazy activites commence. Anyways, short entry today...and those of you with blogs that haven't updated in awhile, shame shame! you know who you are :)
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Listening to: Beatles ONE
Okay, so yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble and was dismayed to discover that they do not carry David Sedaris' early work on AudioCD. I was looking forward to purchasing Barrel Fever or Naked on AudioCD to pass the time on my drive home to Iowa City over Thanksgiving Break. Mostly this is in anticipation of his visit to IU in April. I will have read everything by then, I hope. So, after browsing the Essay section, I settled upon the print copy of Holidays on Ice, and later, got the promise from a friend to borrow Barrel Fever from her in exchange for Dress Your Family. I will turn to Amazon.com for the AudioCD of Naked though. And also for Sedaris' play that he cowrote with his sister Amy. But, back to the story at hand. So, while I'm at Barnes and Noble, because, well, let's face it, I LOVE books, I can't help but scan the other stacks looking for new works and authors to read. I did stumble on a new little gem so far. It's titled How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theater. The guy, Marc Acito, has a quality and style similar to Sedaris actually. It's a very funny novel, and I've already found myself laughing outloud and I'm only 100 pages in. So I recommend it based on the first 100 pages, and will give you my full report. Until then, I will have to close this journal, cause I'm going out to hit the town for some karaoke action! woo hoo!
Okay, so yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble and was dismayed to discover that they do not carry David Sedaris' early work on AudioCD. I was looking forward to purchasing Barrel Fever or Naked on AudioCD to pass the time on my drive home to Iowa City over Thanksgiving Break. Mostly this is in anticipation of his visit to IU in April. I will have read everything by then, I hope. So, after browsing the Essay section, I settled upon the print copy of Holidays on Ice, and later, got the promise from a friend to borrow Barrel Fever from her in exchange for Dress Your Family. I will turn to Amazon.com for the AudioCD of Naked though. And also for Sedaris' play that he cowrote with his sister Amy. But, back to the story at hand. So, while I'm at Barnes and Noble, because, well, let's face it, I LOVE books, I can't help but scan the other stacks looking for new works and authors to read. I did stumble on a new little gem so far. It's titled How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theater. The guy, Marc Acito, has a quality and style similar to Sedaris actually. It's a very funny novel, and I've already found myself laughing outloud and I'm only 100 pages in. So I recommend it based on the first 100 pages, and will give you my full report. Until then, I will have to close this journal, cause I'm going out to hit the town for some karaoke action! woo hoo!
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Okay, so instead of doing some shameless self-promotion, because well, I'm not really doing anything all that interesting with my own life. (This is not really by choice though, as I'm currently attending graduate school, which serves as a legit excuse as to WHY I don't have stuff of my own to promote) INSTEAD, I'll promote shamelessly for my friends and family. Because some of them ARE doing great and fabulous things (well they all are doing great and fabulous things, some of them just have websites to easily add here)
My cousin Adam is in a movie called Straight Jacket...check out the trailer and site here:
http://www.straightjacket-themovie.com/trailer.html
One of my great friends in IC "Christysissy" has acted, produced, and edited for her boyfriend and his friend. They are great filmmakers, and I anxiously await snagging a copy of the latest production when I'm back over Thanksgiving.
http://www.blueboxlimited.com
there are others, but not the time right now to shamelessly plug everybody, so hopefully this satisfies those of you that wanna know!
oh, and on the related note of promoting famous folks I like or something. I really dig a band called Guster, many of you may have heard of them. They have a kick ass feature on their site where you can take a look into their fridges on the road.
http://www.guster.com
My cousin Adam is in a movie called Straight Jacket...check out the trailer and site here:
http://www.straightjacket-themovie.com/trailer.html
One of my great friends in IC "Christysissy" has acted, produced, and edited for her boyfriend and his friend. They are great filmmakers, and I anxiously await snagging a copy of the latest production when I'm back over Thanksgiving.
http://www.blueboxlimited.com
there are others, but not the time right now to shamelessly plug everybody, so hopefully this satisfies those of you that wanna know!
oh, and on the related note of promoting famous folks I like or something. I really dig a band called Guster, many of you may have heard of them. They have a kick ass feature on their site where you can take a look into their fridges on the road.
http://www.guster.com
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Kevin Smith and Me
So, another journal entry is required. Because I've been so good about writing every day for awhole week, how can I stop now?
Saw Kevin Smith's latest film on Hooiser t.v. the other night. Sadly disappointed. Though, from the previews, I knew it was not one I would see in the theaters, based on my expectation level of Smith's writing abilities with characters such as Jay and Silent Bob. It was not horrible, but it was not great, it had something of a "reaching outside the boundries of my here to fore known style" for the self proclaimed master of dick and fart jokes. It was sweet, and at points, funny, but few and far between. At least, people embraced Chasing Amy, well SOME people did. The gay and lesbian groups had problems with the film because it cast a negative light on a woman who supposedly falls in love with a straight man, though she's a lesbian, perhaps that suggested to the gay and lesbian groups that she wasn't truly a lesbian? I'm not sure, I didn't follow enough of the press on that one to claim knowledge of the argument on either side. However, for my part, I thought that was a great Kevin Smith film, though also "outside the boundries" of his normal fun comedy flicks, it had a message and it had great writing. The scene in the car in which Ben Afleck's character confesses that he is falling for Joley Adam's character is refreshing in both the way it is written and acted. It isn't overdone, (which is so easy to do I think) but genuine.
Smith caught flack for Dogma too. Again, a film with great writing and a great philosophy about the way in which we all view religion, our own and otherwise. A film in which an open mind is required, and a good sense of humor is expected. Dogma is probably my favorite Smith film to date, with Jay and Silent Bob a very close second. I tend to quote both quite often in my daily life, seeing it as a challenge to pay homage to a great director and writer when I get the chance. Mallrats deserves respect as the genre of runamuck characters really gets to be explored, and Clerks, well, Clerks started it all, low-budget black and white film. Who doesn't imagine the lives of these characters as being entirely close to home? There are worthy quotes from both.
There aren't any particularly quoteworthly lines from Jersey Girl. None that I can remember. There were of course, cameos by some of Smith's favorite friends and fellow actors, which I always admire about his films. He's always willing to give work to his friends. Those friends are always willing to lend themsevles to his work. I just didn't feel that Jersey Girl was up to his standard. I'm sure he got paid quite a bit of money from Mirimax to make the film, but as Matt Damon reminds Ben Afleck in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, in "Hunting Season" you have to do the surefire blockbuster hit, before you go and make the artsy pieces. Perhaps, Jersey Girl has to be counted in that category. Jay and Silent Bob, the block buster...Jersey Girl the artsy. Though, if that's the case, I still feel it lacked something of the quality I expect from Kevin Smith. I'm sure movie making isn't easy though, so I probably should keep my opinion to myself, because I don't do it. It's probably like Loki says in Dogma "mass genocide is probably the most exhausting endurance trial one can engage in, next to soccer" - perhaps that's movie making too.
Saw Kevin Smith's latest film on Hooiser t.v. the other night. Sadly disappointed. Though, from the previews, I knew it was not one I would see in the theaters, based on my expectation level of Smith's writing abilities with characters such as Jay and Silent Bob. It was not horrible, but it was not great, it had something of a "reaching outside the boundries of my here to fore known style" for the self proclaimed master of dick and fart jokes. It was sweet, and at points, funny, but few and far between. At least, people embraced Chasing Amy, well SOME people did. The gay and lesbian groups had problems with the film because it cast a negative light on a woman who supposedly falls in love with a straight man, though she's a lesbian, perhaps that suggested to the gay and lesbian groups that she wasn't truly a lesbian? I'm not sure, I didn't follow enough of the press on that one to claim knowledge of the argument on either side. However, for my part, I thought that was a great Kevin Smith film, though also "outside the boundries" of his normal fun comedy flicks, it had a message and it had great writing. The scene in the car in which Ben Afleck's character confesses that he is falling for Joley Adam's character is refreshing in both the way it is written and acted. It isn't overdone, (which is so easy to do I think) but genuine.
Smith caught flack for Dogma too. Again, a film with great writing and a great philosophy about the way in which we all view religion, our own and otherwise. A film in which an open mind is required, and a good sense of humor is expected. Dogma is probably my favorite Smith film to date, with Jay and Silent Bob a very close second. I tend to quote both quite often in my daily life, seeing it as a challenge to pay homage to a great director and writer when I get the chance. Mallrats deserves respect as the genre of runamuck characters really gets to be explored, and Clerks, well, Clerks started it all, low-budget black and white film. Who doesn't imagine the lives of these characters as being entirely close to home? There are worthy quotes from both.
There aren't any particularly quoteworthly lines from Jersey Girl. None that I can remember. There were of course, cameos by some of Smith's favorite friends and fellow actors, which I always admire about his films. He's always willing to give work to his friends. Those friends are always willing to lend themsevles to his work. I just didn't feel that Jersey Girl was up to his standard. I'm sure he got paid quite a bit of money from Mirimax to make the film, but as Matt Damon reminds Ben Afleck in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, in "Hunting Season" you have to do the surefire blockbuster hit, before you go and make the artsy pieces. Perhaps, Jersey Girl has to be counted in that category. Jay and Silent Bob, the block buster...Jersey Girl the artsy. Though, if that's the case, I still feel it lacked something of the quality I expect from Kevin Smith. I'm sure movie making isn't easy though, so I probably should keep my opinion to myself, because I don't do it. It's probably like Loki says in Dogma "mass genocide is probably the most exhausting endurance trial one can engage in, next to soccer" - perhaps that's movie making too.
Monday, October 25, 2004
A Small Hopeful Prayer
I am not, by nature, a very religious person in my day to day life. I am not, by nature, one who believes that organized religion is the path that is right for her. I do not however disregard how much strength of character and will some of my friends and family gain from attending church on a regular basis and worshiping in the ways that they see fit. I will not try to push my views on others and I will not try to make other people believe what I believe. Tonight, though, I would like to have anyone that reads this journal and does believe in praying to read my words and send your own as well.
I offer a simple but hopefully strong message when I want to pray for all of the families and friends that have been affected by this war, fought not on our own soil, but with the lives of our loved ones. I pray for our loved ones in Iraq and all around the globe that have dedicated a portion and perhaps their entire lives to serving our country. I pray for the loved ones that are left behind. I wish for all of them that their friends and families serving overseas will return home soon and can find peace and comfort with their families again. I want everyone to return safely, healthy and happy. My normal prayers are usually for those specific friends and family members that are going through rough spots of their own, and I always add that I pray for the rest of those who have touched my life in so many ways, that they are also happy, healthy and safe. For my personal part, I have not been directly affected by the war in Iraq in the sense that a family member is there. However, I do have friends in the military that will hopefully not, but possibly soon, find themselves in a position of active duty serving in a war zone. I pray that they do not have to go. I pray especially for a friend I knew in highschool, that I don't talk to on a regular basis anymore, but through other friends I know that she is facing probably the roughest nine months of her life, as her husband of just over a year will soon be heading to the Middle East. I pray for her husband as well. I pray for my friend back in Iowa City who has another good friend in the military who has been serving in Iraq for almost the whole time I have known her. I pray for the victims in Iraq and those on the soil in which this war is being fought. I pray that this war will cease to be an event affecting all our lives, in the small or large ways, that it has affected each and every one of us.
I offer a simple but hopefully strong message when I want to pray for all of the families and friends that have been affected by this war, fought not on our own soil, but with the lives of our loved ones. I pray for our loved ones in Iraq and all around the globe that have dedicated a portion and perhaps their entire lives to serving our country. I pray for the loved ones that are left behind. I wish for all of them that their friends and families serving overseas will return home soon and can find peace and comfort with their families again. I want everyone to return safely, healthy and happy. My normal prayers are usually for those specific friends and family members that are going through rough spots of their own, and I always add that I pray for the rest of those who have touched my life in so many ways, that they are also happy, healthy and safe. For my personal part, I have not been directly affected by the war in Iraq in the sense that a family member is there. However, I do have friends in the military that will hopefully not, but possibly soon, find themselves in a position of active duty serving in a war zone. I pray that they do not have to go. I pray especially for a friend I knew in highschool, that I don't talk to on a regular basis anymore, but through other friends I know that she is facing probably the roughest nine months of her life, as her husband of just over a year will soon be heading to the Middle East. I pray for her husband as well. I pray for my friend back in Iowa City who has another good friend in the military who has been serving in Iraq for almost the whole time I have known her. I pray for the victims in Iraq and those on the soil in which this war is being fought. I pray that this war will cease to be an event affecting all our lives, in the small or large ways, that it has affected each and every one of us.
Monday Mornings
First off, have to wish a Happy 24th Birthday to Misa! Wow. You aren't a youngin any more are you? One year away from being a quarter of a century old huh? That being said, I hope you have a blast tonight. I'm there in spirit and via phone call, since this is the first one I will have missed in like six years of friendship!
Not much else to write today, just another manic monday. Very excited for Halloween weekend. Karaoke on Thursday night, pumpkins, parties, and possibly a visit from an out of town friend! Hooray! ;) Have great days ya'll!
Not much else to write today, just another manic monday. Very excited for Halloween weekend. Karaoke on Thursday night, pumpkins, parties, and possibly a visit from an out of town friend! Hooray! ;) Have great days ya'll!
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Listening to: Ben Harper - Strawberry Fields (Beatles Cover), Hepburn - I Quit, Hoobostank - Running Away,
No idea what to write about today. Guess the muse has amusingly decided to vacate my head. Yesterday was a pretty chill and rainy day, we spent it at the library doing homework. I came back here, watched part of a musical, then helped Christa find her Halloween costume (quite fun) But, alas, a normal ordinary type of day. Actually I appreciate the normal ordinary days too, because, it makes me realize how special a day of just chilling and relaxing can be. This morning was great. Tanya had the idea that we should try the Runcible Spoon, because she'd never been, and I'm a newbie to IU anyway, so it presents a good excuse to get good food at some local places and soak up some local atmosphere. It's a fun little place. A converted house, was very crowded, populated with interesting folks to people watch. It's also full of fun bookshelves with many mismatched volumes of various old binding varieties. Including "Peter the Great" next to a book on gardening. Such fun. A real treat for the visualist like me. We had to wait almost 45 minutes for our food, but I did get to catch up with Tanya. I haven't seen much of her this past week because of her midterms, and she's also been feeling under the weather lately. The food was great. I've been craving some good french toast for some time now, since I live off of cereal almost everyday for breakfast, it was well deserved and needed! It was the perfect way to start the day. I think Tanya and I will venture to a place on Thursday night to try our hand (or rather lend our voices) at karoake. What fun that will be! ;) And perhaps will go see BatBoy the musical on Friday night, and then Sat, we'll carve pumpkins and get out the costumes and attend a party ;) SO, I just have to keep my head in the game for the rest of this week and get all of my school stuff done...
No idea what to write about today. Guess the muse has amusingly decided to vacate my head. Yesterday was a pretty chill and rainy day, we spent it at the library doing homework. I came back here, watched part of a musical, then helped Christa find her Halloween costume (quite fun) But, alas, a normal ordinary type of day. Actually I appreciate the normal ordinary days too, because, it makes me realize how special a day of just chilling and relaxing can be. This morning was great. Tanya had the idea that we should try the Runcible Spoon, because she'd never been, and I'm a newbie to IU anyway, so it presents a good excuse to get good food at some local places and soak up some local atmosphere. It's a fun little place. A converted house, was very crowded, populated with interesting folks to people watch. It's also full of fun bookshelves with many mismatched volumes of various old binding varieties. Including "Peter the Great" next to a book on gardening. Such fun. A real treat for the visualist like me. We had to wait almost 45 minutes for our food, but I did get to catch up with Tanya. I haven't seen much of her this past week because of her midterms, and she's also been feeling under the weather lately. The food was great. I've been craving some good french toast for some time now, since I live off of cereal almost everyday for breakfast, it was well deserved and needed! It was the perfect way to start the day. I think Tanya and I will venture to a place on Thursday night to try our hand (or rather lend our voices) at karoake. What fun that will be! ;) And perhaps will go see BatBoy the musical on Friday night, and then Sat, we'll carve pumpkins and get out the costumes and attend a party ;) SO, I just have to keep my head in the game for the rest of this week and get all of my school stuff done...
Saturday, October 23, 2004
The opera last night was fabulous. I love spending the evening letting myself get lost in a story played out before me by people playing the part. I love how fast it seems that characters can fall in love, that they can sing so beautifully and with such eloquence about that love. How wonderful would it be to get to fall in love every night you preform? Though, for the principle characters last night, such love was not to be found. The stage manager, who did the pre-show talk, told us the main emphasis was upon Fate, and how Tchaikovsky was using Puskin's poem (as a huge romantic sentiment) to basically suggest that Fate and Destiny mock the true love of the characters. The costumes and set design were awesome, because that is more my area of expertise with the art history and costume background anyway, I was truly transported...the dancing was well done and Emily did a great job in the ensemb. The only weakness was very slight, in the voice of the mez0-soprano playing Olga, the sister. However, given IU"s ability to produce and cultivate a great vocal music program, it was just that, slight. I must also say how much I miss playing the french horn, but on the same token, how much I enjoy listening to people that can play it well. There were some gorgeous horn solos in this opera. I love how easily the horn can blend with a string section. Some really great moments when you can get caught up in the thoughts and feelings of the characters as they lament, or follow the social decorum of the day, are echoed wonderfully in the accompanying orchestrations. I can imagine it is extremly hard to sing opera in English. The number of consonants in our language, and the factor of not having nearly as many gorgeous long true vowel sounds, as they do in Italian or say, french. I wonder what the opera would have sounded like in Russian. Regardless, it was a lovely and entertaining evening, and I had a great time getting transported to the world of the Russian countryside, and St. Petersburg. Once transported, I had a wonderful time letting the opera take hold and effectively got lost in the genuine love of characters expressed with such purity of voice.
Today is rainy. The type of rain, that when you wake up to it, you simply want to stay in bed all day, wrapped in your warm comforter and go back to sleep and dream more of princes and love in the countryside. Alas, for me, princes aren't in the cards, instead it's off to the library for 524 encyclopedia work, but perhaps we'll go and get our pumpkins today, though it's not as much fun to pick them in the rain....
Today is rainy. The type of rain, that when you wake up to it, you simply want to stay in bed all day, wrapped in your warm comforter and go back to sleep and dream more of princes and love in the countryside. Alas, for me, princes aren't in the cards, instead it's off to the library for 524 encyclopedia work, but perhaps we'll go and get our pumpkins today, though it's not as much fun to pick them in the rain....
Friday, October 22, 2004
Listening to: MP3 Oldies List (which means great tunes from the 50's, 60's, 70's)
All registered for my classes for next semester. Yay. I'm a big dork, I'm excited for them. Well, mostly...maybe not so much for cataloging, but it's something I need to learn, and it's required, so here we go!
So there is a coffee commercial out right now, for Foldgers, that includes my theme song. I can't believe how awesome it was to hear the EVERLY BROTHERS live in concert with Simon and Garfunkel this summer. I still can't get over how stoaked I was, I felt like they were singing directly to me, even though that Qwest Center was probably sold out. I love how I went to a concert with my parents. How many people get to say that their parents have good taste in music and that you agree with those tastes? I had a really great exposure at an early age to the music of my parents' generation, though they tell me they were on the "tame" side, weren't protesting, didn't do woodstock, etc. They listened to folks like Peter, Paul and Mary and the Carpenters. All great stuff if you ask me. I remember many roadtrips to Okoboji, before Steve and I were old enough to drive up by ourselves, in which I would get to listen to the Beatles and numerous other one-hit wonders, and also the music from their childhoods, like early Motown, and stuff like "Leader of the Pack".
Nowadays, when I roadtrip my music tastes are so entirely vast it's hard to pinpoint WHAT I listen to, but I know what I like. Now that I've got the Ipod, and itunes, I can roll out with just about anything and mix it up constantly. Last night I was doing homework to the RANDOM setting, it was great fun. Going from stuff like Dave Mathews to Ice Cube to Sugar Shack to Ave Maria to Pour Some Sugar On Me. Granted, I have my lists too, if I'm feeling like a particular kind a music, say "jazz" then I can turn to Etta and Sinatra. Or power females I've got Alanis and Janis and Liz to keep me company. But sometimes it's fun to just mesh it all together. Especially when some things really fit one after the other. Anyways, you are probably asking what the point of this random mussing is...well there ISN"T really one in particular. So hah!
I'm excited for the opera tonight!
All registered for my classes for next semester. Yay. I'm a big dork, I'm excited for them. Well, mostly...maybe not so much for cataloging, but it's something I need to learn, and it's required, so here we go!
So there is a coffee commercial out right now, for Foldgers, that includes my theme song. I can't believe how awesome it was to hear the EVERLY BROTHERS live in concert with Simon and Garfunkel this summer. I still can't get over how stoaked I was, I felt like they were singing directly to me, even though that Qwest Center was probably sold out. I love how I went to a concert with my parents. How many people get to say that their parents have good taste in music and that you agree with those tastes? I had a really great exposure at an early age to the music of my parents' generation, though they tell me they were on the "tame" side, weren't protesting, didn't do woodstock, etc. They listened to folks like Peter, Paul and Mary and the Carpenters. All great stuff if you ask me. I remember many roadtrips to Okoboji, before Steve and I were old enough to drive up by ourselves, in which I would get to listen to the Beatles and numerous other one-hit wonders, and also the music from their childhoods, like early Motown, and stuff like "Leader of the Pack".
Nowadays, when I roadtrip my music tastes are so entirely vast it's hard to pinpoint WHAT I listen to, but I know what I like. Now that I've got the Ipod, and itunes, I can roll out with just about anything and mix it up constantly. Last night I was doing homework to the RANDOM setting, it was great fun. Going from stuff like Dave Mathews to Ice Cube to Sugar Shack to Ave Maria to Pour Some Sugar On Me. Granted, I have my lists too, if I'm feeling like a particular kind a music, say "jazz" then I can turn to Etta and Sinatra. Or power females I've got Alanis and Janis and Liz to keep me company. But sometimes it's fun to just mesh it all together. Especially when some things really fit one after the other. Anyways, you are probably asking what the point of this random mussing is...well there ISN"T really one in particular. So hah!
I'm excited for the opera tonight!
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Tom Forsythe and Me
Listening to - Leroy - New World - Ten Things I Hate About You Soundtrack
Watching - Home Improvement with the sound 0ff - very counterintuitive I know...
So, the thursday trend of sleeping in continues. I didn't get up until 11:30 today. woo hoo. I was a VERY good girl though. *Remember When I Told ya'll I had that HALO?* hehe. I got all of my reading done for tomorrow morning's class, even caught up on the reading for it last week (which I'd skipped). I got all the immunization things taken care of, so I can register. I worked on the 524 lab. I squared away the contact information for my internship for the summer. I went running, did abs, AND even lifted a bit. I also finally finished putting up some new decorations around the room (no halloween ones yet, I'll put something on my door soon though) but, I bought that whacky sticky tacky stuff this weekend (because I have NO masking tape around here), so my walls won't seem so bare. There's a hilarious artist that I discovered in Art News a few weeks back when Traci and I were high on caffeine and doing our 401 at B&N. He was being sued by Mattel for his "representations of Barbie dolls." Well, having taken Art, Law and Ethics last sem at Iowa and finding copyright law fascinating, my curiosity was piqued. I "googled" for his website (and man, do I LOVE google).
http://creativefreedomdefense.org/index2.htm is Tom Forsythe's homepage...read and look and laugh and enjoy.
How this pertains to me: well, I've put up a few thumbnail images above the computer. I'm particularly fond of "fondue a la Barbie" and "Oster Dive" as well as "Missionary Barbie". As the disclaimer says, "it's derivative work" so it's freedom of expression. I often think, if I wasn't going to be a librarian, a professional writer, professonial photographer, or museum professional, I'd add lawyer to the mix and defend artists. :)
Now I am going to be a further good girl and work on some other assignments, because tomorrow night I'm going to the opera with Christa - yay! I'll get to hear people that actually know how to sing! and it's Tchaikovsky, and IU so should be fabulous! So exciting!
Watching - Home Improvement with the sound 0ff - very counterintuitive I know...
So, the thursday trend of sleeping in continues. I didn't get up until 11:30 today. woo hoo. I was a VERY good girl though. *Remember When I Told ya'll I had that HALO?* hehe. I got all of my reading done for tomorrow morning's class, even caught up on the reading for it last week (which I'd skipped). I got all the immunization things taken care of, so I can register. I worked on the 524 lab. I squared away the contact information for my internship for the summer. I went running, did abs, AND even lifted a bit. I also finally finished putting up some new decorations around the room (no halloween ones yet, I'll put something on my door soon though) but, I bought that whacky sticky tacky stuff this weekend (because I have NO masking tape around here), so my walls won't seem so bare. There's a hilarious artist that I discovered in Art News a few weeks back when Traci and I were high on caffeine and doing our 401 at B&N. He was being sued by Mattel for his "representations of Barbie dolls." Well, having taken Art, Law and Ethics last sem at Iowa and finding copyright law fascinating, my curiosity was piqued. I "googled" for his website (and man, do I LOVE google).
http://creativefreedomdefense.org/index2.htm is Tom Forsythe's homepage...read and look and laugh and enjoy.
How this pertains to me: well, I've put up a few thumbnail images above the computer. I'm particularly fond of "fondue a la Barbie" and "Oster Dive" as well as "Missionary Barbie". As the disclaimer says, "it's derivative work" so it's freedom of expression. I often think, if I wasn't going to be a librarian, a professional writer, professonial photographer, or museum professional, I'd add lawyer to the mix and defend artists. :)
Now I am going to be a further good girl and work on some other assignments, because tomorrow night I'm going to the opera with Christa - yay! I'll get to hear people that actually know how to sing! and it's Tchaikovsky, and IU so should be fabulous! So exciting!
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Listening to: Otis Redding - Sitting on the Dock of the Bay, Etta James - At Last, Wallflowers - One Headlight,
I thank God for the miracles of modern medicine sometimes. I'm lucky that usually after taking a simple little pill, and crashing with the lights off, perhaps sometimes with a cool compress, I can be revived a meer four hours later and feel refreshed, with no lingering migraine. (this does not always work, but tonight, hooray that it did) So, I was compelled to come back to the blog and write a few more lines...
The level of productivity after my nap has been quite astonishing, given my latent tendencies towards watching t.v., listening to music, reading for fun, playing 5 chord guitar concerts for myself, and generally just saying "but, gee, I don't wanna" (to borrow a line from Will) about doing all this reading. It's piling up...there's a larger project looming on the horizon that I haven't really done much with yet...and I'm going to register for classes amidst this feeling that I'm totally forgetting all the stuff I really need to get done tomorrow. Why do I make myself lists when I promptly manage to loose those? I think the hand is the greatest tool most of us have at our disposal, and tonight, I've written everything I need to do tomorrow, in blue ink across my hand ;) that way I won't forget. It works alot better than a string for me, because I'd probably forget what the string stood for...and a string can't really stand for that many things at once anyways. I have an assignment notebook, I use it to write down assignments. I just don't really USE it, it's in the room somewhere...probably under the pile of textbooks in the papa-sahn. My system works. So long as I remember not to scrub really hard when I wash my hand in the morning, or the ink doesn't dry fast enough, and I wind up with my daily list across my forehead.
I thank God for the miracles of modern medicine sometimes. I'm lucky that usually after taking a simple little pill, and crashing with the lights off, perhaps sometimes with a cool compress, I can be revived a meer four hours later and feel refreshed, with no lingering migraine. (this does not always work, but tonight, hooray that it did) So, I was compelled to come back to the blog and write a few more lines...
The level of productivity after my nap has been quite astonishing, given my latent tendencies towards watching t.v., listening to music, reading for fun, playing 5 chord guitar concerts for myself, and generally just saying "but, gee, I don't wanna" (to borrow a line from Will) about doing all this reading. It's piling up...there's a larger project looming on the horizon that I haven't really done much with yet...and I'm going to register for classes amidst this feeling that I'm totally forgetting all the stuff I really need to get done tomorrow. Why do I make myself lists when I promptly manage to loose those? I think the hand is the greatest tool most of us have at our disposal, and tonight, I've written everything I need to do tomorrow, in blue ink across my hand ;) that way I won't forget. It works alot better than a string for me, because I'd probably forget what the string stood for...and a string can't really stand for that many things at once anyways. I have an assignment notebook, I use it to write down assignments. I just don't really USE it, it's in the room somewhere...probably under the pile of textbooks in the papa-sahn. My system works. So long as I remember not to scrub really hard when I wash my hand in the morning, or the ink doesn't dry fast enough, and I wind up with my daily list across my forehead.
Short and Sweet
Sorry kids. For the fans of the long entry, too bad. For the fans of the short entry, here ya go.
I have a nasty headache now, swiftly forming itself into one of those migraines I love ever so much. So, my plan for the evening is to go to bed. yes, that's right. bed is my option, as my eyes start to get sensitive to the light, which means I take the drugs and they zonk me out anyways, so so much for being productive tonight...sigh...okay, well I'm not often productive in the early evening anyways. Hope you've all had good days and will have good evenings. I'm outtie.
I have a nasty headache now, swiftly forming itself into one of those migraines I love ever so much. So, my plan for the evening is to go to bed. yes, that's right. bed is my option, as my eyes start to get sensitive to the light, which means I take the drugs and they zonk me out anyways, so so much for being productive tonight...sigh...okay, well I'm not often productive in the early evening anyways. Hope you've all had good days and will have good evenings. I'm outtie.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Failure and Findings
I may have defeated the purpose of this blog by actually telling people about it. whoops. Not that it's a bad thing, but again, now I feel I have an audience, and with that, comes the responsibility to either say something profound or tell them something great about myself (like they'd really wanna hear that or something). Or so I figure. Well sorry folks, you'll probably be disappointed. I'm not really that profound, and whatever is great about me - well, I'm not sure what IS great about me, and what ISN"T really great about me, so that's the murky water I tread in everyday anyways. So I guess if you are willing to read these digressions into daily boring moments, or moments of self analyzation or self realization or generally just angry rants about my life, then woo hoo and happy to have you aboard. But don't expect too much. I've lived my life, outside of elementry and junior high, with the motto of: Low expectations, pleasant surprises. I try not to expect too much out of other people, I try not to rely on other people for the things I want for myself.
Perhaps I've just become defensive about it, I'm not really sure. I follow the same theory with my own performance as well though. I can study for an entire day for a test the next morning, and I will still go into the test with the thought that, "well, if I at least don't flunk the thing, I'll be happy." It's sort of that false sense of reassurance that you know you don't actually believe, but you HAVE to tell yourself this anyway, because, you aren't sure what really truly WOULD happen if you didn't do well. Especially for me, because so much of my academic life, I have attempted to "be the best I can be", whatever that REALLY means, and achieve this sense of personal satisifaction when my hard work pays off. And what happens when my hard work doesn't pay off? When I don't get the grade I really expected I would get(even though I've said, as long as I don't flunk)? Well, I'm disappointed of course. But, life still continues, the world keeps on turning, and ya know what? there will inevitably be another test.
Perhaps I've just become defensive about it, I'm not really sure. I follow the same theory with my own performance as well though. I can study for an entire day for a test the next morning, and I will still go into the test with the thought that, "well, if I at least don't flunk the thing, I'll be happy." It's sort of that false sense of reassurance that you know you don't actually believe, but you HAVE to tell yourself this anyway, because, you aren't sure what really truly WOULD happen if you didn't do well. Especially for me, because so much of my academic life, I have attempted to "be the best I can be", whatever that REALLY means, and achieve this sense of personal satisifaction when my hard work pays off. And what happens when my hard work doesn't pay off? When I don't get the grade I really expected I would get(even though I've said, as long as I don't flunk)? Well, I'm disappointed of course. But, life still continues, the world keeps on turning, and ya know what? there will inevitably be another test.
Monday, October 18, 2004
Downpours and Droplets
I resemble a drowned rat currently. It's another very wet day in Bloomington. Sadly, it's a very wet Monday, and my car, which is back at the stadium lot as of Sunday night, contains an oft used product to defend against the onslaught of drops and buckets of H2O. Umbrella. grrr. I feel like writing an ode to you, because you are not here, and I need you. I am otherwise equiped with a nice fitting rain jacket, which does a miracle job of pooling the rain into droplets which I can then brush away from the coat itself...however, this does not help my backpack, which now looks at me sadly, almost like the puppy that has just had the bath and is cold and ready to be dried off. I am wearing the really great and tall puddle jumping platforms, a good three inches of shoe sole to wade through those gushing rivers flowing across the cement. However, I failed to realize the new jeans I bought on Thurs, are quite long, and truly, even with the extra height gained by the tall shoes, they are right at the bottom of shoe level. SO, the dampness, in a strange process of defying the laws of gravity and physics has traveled from that base, all the way to mid-calf level. Additionally, there are significantly large spots all over because my jacket, ya, it's not that long heh. My hair, which I didn't put up before the sojurn to main to finish the assignment (yes that same one I was avoiding last night), is now soaked and extremly curly. But, ya know what I want to do? Make the best of a wet situation, and chalk it all up to already being wet and go puddle jumping! However, I happen to have class in about 20 minutes, and that is not nearly enough time to dry off, and I'd rather not sit for another hour or so as a drowned rat. Course, as I bring this entry to a close, the rain has now stopped. Thank goodness. After class, I can walk to get my umbrella.
doing: 524 homework and watching The Skulls for mindless entertainment value of watching Paul Walker - who really sorta can't always act, but makes up for it with his gorgeous eyes...
*sigh* I need a break from the homework at this hour of the morning, so surprise, another thing stolen from Trac...
Name: Sus
Birthplace:Coralville IA
Current Location: Bloomington, IN
Eye Color: blue
Hair Color: blond
Height: 5'4'"
Righty or Lefty: right - but i can write my name in a first grade like manner with my left
Zodiac Sign: Roar! I'm Leo the lion baby
Your Heritage: Your average Euro mutt. Irish, Welsh, German and Dutch
The Shoes You Wore Today: adidas sneakers, nike running shoes, shower sandals,
Your Weakness: there are a few weaknesses.
Your Fears: public speaking, that dream where you show up to class naked, that my friends will forget me, I'll wind up alone,
Your Perfect Pizza: sausage
One Thing You'll Achieve: I've achieved a good deal already I think, but master's degree, and hopefully, eventually write a book of some kind. I'm already crossing off living outside of Iowa for ayear :) thank goodness
What is your most overused phrase?: just about anything that I say is hyperactive overusage
Your first thoughts waking up: usually, wow...I hope the alarm isn't so loud it woke up tanya next door.
The first feature you notice in the opposite sex: eyes
Your Best Physical Features: probably my eyes, and my smile
Your Bedtime: oh that varies by the night, and if I can fall asleep right away or if i have thoughts on my mind
Greatest Fear: Did we cover this one already? or is this like relevancy ranking? (can anyone else tell I'm trying to avoid the homework here?) probably that everyone will forget about me
Your Most Missed Memory: so many great memories to choose from. Probably the old cottage at Okoboji.
Pepsi or Coke: neither, I'm an uncola gal...pass the sprite.
McDonalds or Burger King: neither
Single or Group Dates: depends on the context
Adidas or Nike: both - earlier answer proves that
Chocolate or Vanilla: both please
Cappucino or Coffee: I like the cheesecake latte at house of aromas, or starbucks cafe vanilla - I hate the taste of regular coffee
Boxers or Briefs: boxers
Do you smoke?: no, I'm allergic
Cuss: ya, probably too much
Sing Well?: well, I sing. high school choir etc, nothing to write home about though. (I do enjoy it)
Do you think you've been in love?: yes, cases of too early in life though.
Want to go to college? I think I'm destined to be a professional student at this rate...and not because I want to.
Liked High school? it had its ups and downs but overall yea
Want to get married: perhaps
Type with fingers on the right keys?: as opposed to my feet?
Get motion sickness?: not yet. altitude sickness at Mt. Rushmore though.
Think you're attractive?: didn't this question come up already? I have my good points and my bad like everyone else
Health freak?: I work out, I eat junk food...does that put me in the middle?
Get along with parents?: yes, I love them very much
Like Thunderstorms?: if I'm not driving or photographing lightning then yes I love em (esp on Okoboji)
In The Past Month, have you?:
Consumed alcohol?: yes, beer is nasty. it smells bad- blech!
Had sex: nope
Made out: nope
Gone on a date: does my next door neighbor who is straight woman and is engagged to a man in FL count. She was my dancing date on Sat night ;)
Gone to the mall: yes, found my halloween costume yay!
Dyed your hair: no, though i thought about dying it red the other day while at the grocery store...yes Cas, that was a weird twin moment.
Stolen anything? not in the last month, and not ever tha i can remember...haha, oh wait...I stole this survey from Traci...scratch that.
Age you hope to be married?: You want an age? jeesh, demanding, I can't even tell you if I WANT to get married
Number and names of Children?: I'm undecided. but I like the names Catalina and Sonora
Describe your dream wedding: yikes...many questions about my future here. As long as the families and friends are there, that's dream enough
How do you want to die?: after a long and healthy life
What college?: UI and IU - I realize now that dyslexia is a descriptor for reading disorders..thanks 524, that i"m trying to avoid.
Career: future (ART) Librarian, right now, SLIS student
Most like to visit?: Eastern Europe, Austrailia/New Zealand, Western Europe, South America, Africa, pretty much anywhere someone is either willing to go with me to, will meet me there, or will let me come visit them at.
What are you doing right now: avoiding homework as usual
What was the last thing you did: yawned like a second ago
What is right next to you?: a martini glasss full of marbles to remind me of the Hardin crew, and a corkboard of pics of people who matter.
If you were a toy, what would you be?: The Top Hat baby - tanya knows what im talking about!
Where do you want to go on your honeymoon?: see answer to where to travel
Who do you want to spend the rest of your life with?: someone that wants to spend theirs with me
Last person on phone with?: Tom
Last person that IMed you?: Traci (remember Unix is Sexy)
Last person you IMed?: Traci (remember Unix is Sexy)
What's your ring tone?: The Muppet Show
Do you wear contacts?: no, I have glasses for seeing far away though, (ie. slides in art history classes and movies, and driving at night)
School? Indiana University
Vehicle? 2004 Honda Civic Bessie
Ever won a special award?: all awards are special...I've gotten a few
Last film you saw at the cinema?: Garden State - very good show
Did you actually watch it?: yup
Are you too shy to ask anyone out: always depends on the timing
If you could change your name to anything, what would it be: eh. I'm happy with it.
Scary or funny movies?: both
Christmas or Easter?: they are both important
Lust or Love?: again, depends on the timing
Kisses or Hugs?: yes please :)
What color is your toothbrush?: um....I dont usually pay attention to the color, I'll raincheck that one.
Roller Coaster: Scary or exciting?: Both. I'm weird. I get nervous before new ones and I scream the whole way through with my eyes closed and my hands clenched. But the second time through I scream and let go and love them
How many times do you let the phone ring before you answer it?: depends on its location relative to me...
If you could meet one person dead or alive, who would it be?: just one?
Day or night?: both, depending on my mood
Summer or Winter: neither - Fall
Silver or Gold: I like white gold best
Diamonds or pearls: probl diamonds
Sunrise of Sunet? both can be beautiful
Have you ever broken a bone?: collarbone
Who do you hate?: hate's a strong word, can i use the descriptor loathe? I'd still say no one.
*sigh* I need a break from the homework at this hour of the morning, so surprise, another thing stolen from Trac...
Name: Sus
Birthplace:Coralville IA
Current Location: Bloomington, IN
Eye Color: blue
Hair Color: blond
Height: 5'4'"
Righty or Lefty: right - but i can write my name in a first grade like manner with my left
Zodiac Sign: Roar! I'm Leo the lion baby
Your Heritage: Your average Euro mutt. Irish, Welsh, German and Dutch
The Shoes You Wore Today: adidas sneakers, nike running shoes, shower sandals,
Your Weakness: there are a few weaknesses.
Your Fears: public speaking, that dream where you show up to class naked, that my friends will forget me, I'll wind up alone,
Your Perfect Pizza: sausage
One Thing You'll Achieve: I've achieved a good deal already I think, but master's degree, and hopefully, eventually write a book of some kind. I'm already crossing off living outside of Iowa for ayear :) thank goodness
What is your most overused phrase?: just about anything that I say is hyperactive overusage
Your first thoughts waking up: usually, wow...I hope the alarm isn't so loud it woke up tanya next door.
The first feature you notice in the opposite sex: eyes
Your Best Physical Features: probably my eyes, and my smile
Your Bedtime: oh that varies by the night, and if I can fall asleep right away or if i have thoughts on my mind
Greatest Fear: Did we cover this one already? or is this like relevancy ranking? (can anyone else tell I'm trying to avoid the homework here?) probably that everyone will forget about me
Your Most Missed Memory: so many great memories to choose from. Probably the old cottage at Okoboji.
Pepsi or Coke: neither, I'm an uncola gal...pass the sprite.
McDonalds or Burger King: neither
Single or Group Dates: depends on the context
Adidas or Nike: both - earlier answer proves that
Chocolate or Vanilla: both please
Cappucino or Coffee: I like the cheesecake latte at house of aromas, or starbucks cafe vanilla - I hate the taste of regular coffee
Boxers or Briefs: boxers
Do you smoke?: no, I'm allergic
Cuss: ya, probably too much
Sing Well?: well, I sing. high school choir etc, nothing to write home about though. (I do enjoy it)
Do you think you've been in love?: yes, cases of too early in life though.
Want to go to college? I think I'm destined to be a professional student at this rate...and not because I want to.
Liked High school? it had its ups and downs but overall yea
Want to get married: perhaps
Type with fingers on the right keys?: as opposed to my feet?
Get motion sickness?: not yet. altitude sickness at Mt. Rushmore though.
Think you're attractive?: didn't this question come up already? I have my good points and my bad like everyone else
Health freak?: I work out, I eat junk food...does that put me in the middle?
Get along with parents?: yes, I love them very much
Like Thunderstorms?: if I'm not driving or photographing lightning then yes I love em (esp on Okoboji)
In The Past Month, have you?:
Consumed alcohol?: yes, beer is nasty. it smells bad- blech!
Had sex: nope
Made out: nope
Gone on a date: does my next door neighbor who is straight woman and is engagged to a man in FL count. She was my dancing date on Sat night ;)
Gone to the mall: yes, found my halloween costume yay!
Dyed your hair: no, though i thought about dying it red the other day while at the grocery store...yes Cas, that was a weird twin moment.
Stolen anything? not in the last month, and not ever tha i can remember...haha, oh wait...I stole this survey from Traci...scratch that.
Age you hope to be married?: You want an age? jeesh, demanding, I can't even tell you if I WANT to get married
Number and names of Children?: I'm undecided. but I like the names Catalina and Sonora
Describe your dream wedding: yikes...many questions about my future here. As long as the families and friends are there, that's dream enough
How do you want to die?: after a long and healthy life
What college?: UI and IU - I realize now that dyslexia is a descriptor for reading disorders..thanks 524, that i"m trying to avoid.
Career: future (ART) Librarian, right now, SLIS student
Most like to visit?: Eastern Europe, Austrailia/New Zealand, Western Europe, South America, Africa, pretty much anywhere someone is either willing to go with me to, will meet me there, or will let me come visit them at.
What are you doing right now: avoiding homework as usual
What was the last thing you did: yawned like a second ago
What is right next to you?: a martini glasss full of marbles to remind me of the Hardin crew, and a corkboard of pics of people who matter.
If you were a toy, what would you be?: The Top Hat baby - tanya knows what im talking about!
Where do you want to go on your honeymoon?: see answer to where to travel
Who do you want to spend the rest of your life with?: someone that wants to spend theirs with me
Last person on phone with?: Tom
Last person that IMed you?: Traci (remember Unix is Sexy)
Last person you IMed?: Traci (remember Unix is Sexy)
What's your ring tone?: The Muppet Show
Do you wear contacts?: no, I have glasses for seeing far away though, (ie. slides in art history classes and movies, and driving at night)
School? Indiana University
Vehicle? 2004 Honda Civic Bessie
Ever won a special award?: all awards are special...I've gotten a few
Last film you saw at the cinema?: Garden State - very good show
Did you actually watch it?: yup
Are you too shy to ask anyone out: always depends on the timing
If you could change your name to anything, what would it be: eh. I'm happy with it.
Scary or funny movies?: both
Christmas or Easter?: they are both important
Lust or Love?: again, depends on the timing
Kisses or Hugs?: yes please :)
What color is your toothbrush?: um....I dont usually pay attention to the color, I'll raincheck that one.
Roller Coaster: Scary or exciting?: Both. I'm weird. I get nervous before new ones and I scream the whole way through with my eyes closed and my hands clenched. But the second time through I scream and let go and love them
How many times do you let the phone ring before you answer it?: depends on its location relative to me...
If you could meet one person dead or alive, who would it be?: just one?
Day or night?: both, depending on my mood
Summer or Winter: neither - Fall
Silver or Gold: I like white gold best
Diamonds or pearls: probl diamonds
Sunrise of Sunet? both can be beautiful
Have you ever broken a bone?: collarbone
Who do you hate?: hate's a strong word, can i use the descriptor loathe? I'd still say no one.
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Dancin in the House
Doing: typing at the keyboard, lit by the monitor, in an otherwise dark room.
I like when I can make people's days or evenings better by showing up and saying hello. I hope I was able to do that for Dick. He totally sounded like he needed a hug. Poor guy. His computer crashed, and snowball effect after that. So I went down to give him a hug and say hello. Then I subjected my costume to his approval, and he got the idea right away. He also plays the guitar and noticed I'd brought mine back from IC, (I didn't get to play it enough this summer, after the initial purchase, I learned 5 chords, and then realized I had three jobs, a precarious social life involving lots of long evenings spent catching up with folks, or dding for the bar, three really good novels to read, and the general helping around the house, the poor guitar did not get much use) So I like that the boys who know how to play can give the strings a work out every now and again when they wanna.
Tanya and I hit the bars tonight, totally rawking out. It was an awesome time. The DJ spinning at Bullwinkle's did a great job. I probably shouldn't have worn the new shoes, though they look totally hot, because by the time we come back here to the dorm (like 3:15 am) my feet are wrecked. I had a blast though. It was great fun. Tanya and I just cut loose and danced the night away. And at various points through out the evening many of the guys came up to tell us how hot we were and how we were working it on the dance floor and such, straight and gay boys. We met this hilarious gay boy named Mathew who had nothing but gushing compliments for us..and other guys were inviting us to parties because we "dance so great and are so fly", funny stuff. I think I danced pretty much the whole time too. Was remembering all those nights spent at the raves....all the times I danced from 11pm to 6 am and walked outside to the sun being up. (that was partly due to the dj's best friend, who was dancing the night away also, though for him, he had a lill help from an "e" friend hah) How many times I was so satisfied just grooving to the beats of a good house mix. Talking to all these random people, brought together by the music. Some of them high, some of them rolling, some of them just crazy weird and dressed up in funky costumes, candy flashing, glowsticks whirling, lights strobing to the beats. Some of them with car washing mits, which surprisingly felt SOOO good. I miss the all out endurance test of dancing all night to jungle and techno. I miss closing my eyes and just letting the music move through me and getting that sense of euphoric, nobody else cares how I dance, so long as I"m out there dancing and enjoying the music. That was nice. Few times when I dance am I ever self conscious. I love the fact that I don't mind getting up in a bar full of people, and being one of two on the dance floor - and ya, call me crazy but I do this sober! I was sober the ENTIRE time tonight, and it was fabulous...we were the first two on the dance floor, but by 12:30 the place was bumping and packed, but in a good packed way, where you could still move your body and not hit other people. So I'll just say how much I love to dance and free my body to the music and good night, because my feet want to rest!
I like when I can make people's days or evenings better by showing up and saying hello. I hope I was able to do that for Dick. He totally sounded like he needed a hug. Poor guy. His computer crashed, and snowball effect after that. So I went down to give him a hug and say hello. Then I subjected my costume to his approval, and he got the idea right away. He also plays the guitar and noticed I'd brought mine back from IC, (I didn't get to play it enough this summer, after the initial purchase, I learned 5 chords, and then realized I had three jobs, a precarious social life involving lots of long evenings spent catching up with folks, or dding for the bar, three really good novels to read, and the general helping around the house, the poor guitar did not get much use) So I like that the boys who know how to play can give the strings a work out every now and again when they wanna.
Tanya and I hit the bars tonight, totally rawking out. It was an awesome time. The DJ spinning at Bullwinkle's did a great job. I probably shouldn't have worn the new shoes, though they look totally hot, because by the time we come back here to the dorm (like 3:15 am) my feet are wrecked. I had a blast though. It was great fun. Tanya and I just cut loose and danced the night away. And at various points through out the evening many of the guys came up to tell us how hot we were and how we were working it on the dance floor and such, straight and gay boys. We met this hilarious gay boy named Mathew who had nothing but gushing compliments for us..and other guys were inviting us to parties because we "dance so great and are so fly", funny stuff. I think I danced pretty much the whole time too. Was remembering all those nights spent at the raves....all the times I danced from 11pm to 6 am and walked outside to the sun being up. (that was partly due to the dj's best friend, who was dancing the night away also, though for him, he had a lill help from an "e" friend hah) How many times I was so satisfied just grooving to the beats of a good house mix. Talking to all these random people, brought together by the music. Some of them high, some of them rolling, some of them just crazy weird and dressed up in funky costumes, candy flashing, glowsticks whirling, lights strobing to the beats. Some of them with car washing mits, which surprisingly felt SOOO good. I miss the all out endurance test of dancing all night to jungle and techno. I miss closing my eyes and just letting the music move through me and getting that sense of euphoric, nobody else cares how I dance, so long as I"m out there dancing and enjoying the music. That was nice. Few times when I dance am I ever self conscious. I love the fact that I don't mind getting up in a bar full of people, and being one of two on the dance floor - and ya, call me crazy but I do this sober! I was sober the ENTIRE time tonight, and it was fabulous...we were the first two on the dance floor, but by 12:30 the place was bumping and packed, but in a good packed way, where you could still move your body and not hit other people. So I'll just say how much I love to dance and free my body to the music and good night, because my feet want to rest!
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Halloween Happenings
Shopping today. Played with a cute puppy at the petstore, and named him "Tuggers", which the woman at the petstore decided to call him since he didn't have a name yet. Funny. Screamed in the Spencers for ten seconds. That was pretty fun. I haven't had a good scream in awhile. :) Tanya got her devil ears to match the red dress, so she will be going as the "devil in the red dress" - instead of the "blue" dress. I got my costume to. Considering I'd started out with the whole "Rainbow Brite" idea, and found that I would have to MAKE that costume, and I don't really know how to sew beyond buttons and hems, that idea was out. Then, I was totally about going as the Bride from Kill Bill, not in the yellow jumpsuit - though it was comforting to know at least the manufacturers thought girls my size could pull it off. It wasn't original enough...so I figured I'd go as the pregnant Bride from the Two Pines Massacure...alas, no maternity bride dresses to be found at Goodwill in IC or places I'd looked around Bloomington. I still don't even know WHAT we are doing for halloween here, besides a few of us dressing up at SOME point, and hopefully carving pumpkins. So yay for carving pumpkins and dressing up!
Even if I have nowhere to GO to wear the costume, I'll still wear it to celebrate the Halloween spirit. It will not be something to wear to class though. Actually, what am I saying, it is TOTALLY something to wear to class, haha, as long as the people in my program didn't get totally offended by the mocking nature of my gist. It's totally the stereotypical librarian garb. It was a thrown together idea, mostly because I didn't really have to purchase much else to go along w. the parts of the costume I already owned. So yay for Halloween and Librarians!
Different than last year's "Gothic Angel" where I actually purchased the black gloves, and the make-up (I did already have the skirt from the previous year's outfit as the black cat - Meow!) And the leather tube top was from the year before that, when I went as the not so high priced call girl, hehe. Now THAT was a fun night. Halloween three years ago. Firstly, I dyed my hair red, secondly, I got dressed in my hooker gear. Thirdly, I strapped on the bookbag and went to take a 7pm journalism test. Oh yea, that was fun. It's really hard to take a professor seriously, as he passes out papers and he's wearing a red clown nose. I don't care what his official title of PHD means, that's just funny.
The BEST part about that night though, and I love ya Mees, but this totally takes the cake. Before leaving for that test, we agreed to meet at the chemistry building (where my test happened to be, since it was the biggest lecture hall on campus). Ihelped to improvse her costume though, because I didn't wanna be the only one of us strutting around as the call girl that night, so I roped her into it. Well, I will NEVER forget the fun I had that night when I got to pop her boobs. Yup. My improvisation was a hit. I never figured bubble wrap was much good for anything, beyond wrapping up your breakables and the occasional Mexican Hat Dance across the floor with sound effects. But actually, it worked quite a bit better than kleenex. I have to say, had I had balloons on hand, I would have prefered to fill a few with water and use those (for the consistancy factor if nothing else). Yay for Halloween and fake boobs!
Oh, of course there were other moments of fun, and some GREAT costumes out that night. Becks went as your standard kitty, Salena, the standard bunny, so we were all in great spirits. The best outfit had to be the guy who came dressed as the "One Night Stand" now THAT was hilarious. He literally had fashioned a night stand table to slip over his body, complete with a lamp, alarm clock and a drawer. I'm not sure WHAT exactly was inside the drawer, but it was rumored to be functional and contain a box of condoms. I hope he won one of the contest prizes that night. Props also go out to Tom for his costume last year, which I found very clever, especially for the "play on words". He went as an "Orgasm Donor" instead of an "Organ Donor". Nice work.
Should I have been celebrating Halloween in Iowa City this year, there was talk of going as "Troop 69" in which all of the girls would be dressed as girlscounts, and of course, one of the guys would dress up as our "den mother" - my contribution to the idea -- the belief that our merit badges should reflect our traditional girlscount talents -- sexual positions. So Yay for Halloween and the Troop 69 Girlscouts!
I think Christa will do Mary Poppins, her costume was at home in Michigan, where she is this weekend, and perhaps I can convince Traci into dressing up with the other gals for the festivities ;) (especially if she reads this haha) Even if all we do on actual Halloween night is sit around and play poker or watch movies, I don't care, so long as people are happy to be involved and enjoy themselves. Yay for enjoying ourselves!
Even if I have nowhere to GO to wear the costume, I'll still wear it to celebrate the Halloween spirit. It will not be something to wear to class though. Actually, what am I saying, it is TOTALLY something to wear to class, haha, as long as the people in my program didn't get totally offended by the mocking nature of my gist. It's totally the stereotypical librarian garb. It was a thrown together idea, mostly because I didn't really have to purchase much else to go along w. the parts of the costume I already owned. So yay for Halloween and Librarians!
Different than last year's "Gothic Angel" where I actually purchased the black gloves, and the make-up (I did already have the skirt from the previous year's outfit as the black cat - Meow!) And the leather tube top was from the year before that, when I went as the not so high priced call girl, hehe. Now THAT was a fun night. Halloween three years ago. Firstly, I dyed my hair red, secondly, I got dressed in my hooker gear. Thirdly, I strapped on the bookbag and went to take a 7pm journalism test. Oh yea, that was fun. It's really hard to take a professor seriously, as he passes out papers and he's wearing a red clown nose. I don't care what his official title of PHD means, that's just funny.
The BEST part about that night though, and I love ya Mees, but this totally takes the cake. Before leaving for that test, we agreed to meet at the chemistry building (where my test happened to be, since it was the biggest lecture hall on campus). Ihelped to improvse her costume though, because I didn't wanna be the only one of us strutting around as the call girl that night, so I roped her into it. Well, I will NEVER forget the fun I had that night when I got to pop her boobs. Yup. My improvisation was a hit. I never figured bubble wrap was much good for anything, beyond wrapping up your breakables and the occasional Mexican Hat Dance across the floor with sound effects. But actually, it worked quite a bit better than kleenex. I have to say, had I had balloons on hand, I would have prefered to fill a few with water and use those (for the consistancy factor if nothing else). Yay for Halloween and fake boobs!
Oh, of course there were other moments of fun, and some GREAT costumes out that night. Becks went as your standard kitty, Salena, the standard bunny, so we were all in great spirits. The best outfit had to be the guy who came dressed as the "One Night Stand" now THAT was hilarious. He literally had fashioned a night stand table to slip over his body, complete with a lamp, alarm clock and a drawer. I'm not sure WHAT exactly was inside the drawer, but it was rumored to be functional and contain a box of condoms. I hope he won one of the contest prizes that night. Props also go out to Tom for his costume last year, which I found very clever, especially for the "play on words". He went as an "Orgasm Donor" instead of an "Organ Donor". Nice work.
Should I have been celebrating Halloween in Iowa City this year, there was talk of going as "Troop 69" in which all of the girls would be dressed as girlscounts, and of course, one of the guys would dress up as our "den mother" - my contribution to the idea -- the belief that our merit badges should reflect our traditional girlscount talents -- sexual positions. So Yay for Halloween and the Troop 69 Girlscouts!
I think Christa will do Mary Poppins, her costume was at home in Michigan, where she is this weekend, and perhaps I can convince Traci into dressing up with the other gals for the festivities ;) (especially if she reads this haha) Even if all we do on actual Halloween night is sit around and play poker or watch movies, I don't care, so long as people are happy to be involved and enjoy themselves. Yay for enjoying ourselves!
Friday, October 15, 2004
Writing What I Want The Way I Want
Doing: watching Late Night and muting the really awful band performing tonight...
I'm really impressed with myself for actually writing in this thing for 5 days straight. My paper journal doesn't see this much action in probably a 20 day span. Though I guess I usually only write in that journal when I'm inspired, or need to do the hashing out of self-analyzation, or can't sleep. It's alot easier it seems to type away on the keys about the frivolous day to day activities one goes through, the mundane moments of existence and still expect that no one will read about it. Odd, that I'd decide to include the really boring details of my life in an online journal, where there is potential that other people will see it, people I know in fact. (well that's provided they've decided it was worth glancing at SOME point in time - though they'd probably not last long with my stream of consciousness randomness) I sometimes forget, journal (more like personal essay) writing is alot like writing papers for my English classes, they always work better with a main point, body, and concluding statement. Oh, and probably breaking up the mussings into paragraphs! Course, I don't write in my "written" journal with the intent to have other people understand it, I write in it when I feel the need to, and when the mood strikes me. I"m not sure I could really get totally into the online process here, of typing away, instead of writing things out by hand.
I was always that weird kid in study hall that was scribbling away in her notebook. I was the one that would read the beginnings of countless pieces of fiction (composed over the brief 20 minutes at lunch) to any of my friends who didn't get out of the library fast enough, or probably see me coming (poor guys, thank you btw and yes Jaime, when I DO finally publish my first book, I will dedicate it to you for all your diligent readership). I subjected my mother to so many 5 page beginnings without middles and ends that she can take it no longer, and simply will not listen "unless it has an end." I've written three complete short stories in my lifetime, one that was for high school creative writing class, and therefore HAD to have an end, (and we know I'm at least academically motivated enough to end something) one for the young writer's conference (I'm particularly fond of that one, if I do say so) and one that I wrote, then ended up using for a class assignment a year later. So I have piles upon piles of old notebooks, now packed away in storage, that contain random smatterings of dialouge between highly underdeveloped characters in the most mundane or unusual situations and for the life of me I can't part with them.
I still write any rough draft of a term paper on notebook paper first. Isn't that absurd? Truly, I agree that it is, especially in this age of technology and the fastpaced advantages of a word proccessor. It's not that I can't type, or that I"m slow, or afraid of technology- far from it, as I type at a good clip, I compose emails on screen, and can chat away with friends and family. I think maybe I find comfort in the personal nature of my own handwriting - well for some reason that sounded vain. Perhaps it's just the feel of a good piece of three hole punched college rule sitting in front of me, and the flow of ink from a nice pen. I'm not sure. I guess I can call myself old-fashioned for that statement afterall.
I have typed and formatted many of my poems which were first written on notebook paper of course. A few of them have since been published (nothing to brag about though) and while they seem official and neat in the "I've been published" sort of way, I still miss the copies with the scrawls and scratched out words and the tea stains in the corners. Last year I found myself taking all these typed poems, and transfering the "finished versions" into a leather bound 200 or so blank page book. Yes, I rewrote each poem by hand. Yes, they have a polished feel about them now, to be in a leather bound book, fancy indeed, but more importantly they are distinguishable as mine. My thoughts, my expressive energy, poured forth on to the page. Simply noted in the strange combination of print and cursive that I use daily.
Perhaps I'm just looking for a sense of nostalga. Reaching back to the time before I knew how to type, when I used to scribble away for hours writing epic tales of young girls and their horses until my hand would cramp up and I'd simply have to take a break. The time when the thoughts of characters and the descriptions of their settings were so vivid in my mind's eye that I couldn't transcribe them fast enough. A time when I wasn't writing/creating for other people, I was writing simply because I was compelled to do so. It was fun. It was a hobby. It was a daily thing.
So I guess I return, in some sense to the childhood ways I had, of writing on a regular basis, though this time in a different format, a strange augmentation of personal and impersonal at the same time. As well as a new genre of more personal essay style writing. Well, perhaps I can't abandon my dabbling in fiction and poetry completely and will have to post a few "smatterings" also.
I'm really impressed with myself for actually writing in this thing for 5 days straight. My paper journal doesn't see this much action in probably a 20 day span. Though I guess I usually only write in that journal when I'm inspired, or need to do the hashing out of self-analyzation, or can't sleep. It's alot easier it seems to type away on the keys about the frivolous day to day activities one goes through, the mundane moments of existence and still expect that no one will read about it. Odd, that I'd decide to include the really boring details of my life in an online journal, where there is potential that other people will see it, people I know in fact. (well that's provided they've decided it was worth glancing at SOME point in time - though they'd probably not last long with my stream of consciousness randomness) I sometimes forget, journal (more like personal essay) writing is alot like writing papers for my English classes, they always work better with a main point, body, and concluding statement. Oh, and probably breaking up the mussings into paragraphs! Course, I don't write in my "written" journal with the intent to have other people understand it, I write in it when I feel the need to, and when the mood strikes me. I"m not sure I could really get totally into the online process here, of typing away, instead of writing things out by hand.
I was always that weird kid in study hall that was scribbling away in her notebook. I was the one that would read the beginnings of countless pieces of fiction (composed over the brief 20 minutes at lunch) to any of my friends who didn't get out of the library fast enough, or probably see me coming (poor guys, thank you btw and yes Jaime, when I DO finally publish my first book, I will dedicate it to you for all your diligent readership). I subjected my mother to so many 5 page beginnings without middles and ends that she can take it no longer, and simply will not listen "unless it has an end." I've written three complete short stories in my lifetime, one that was for high school creative writing class, and therefore HAD to have an end, (and we know I'm at least academically motivated enough to end something) one for the young writer's conference (I'm particularly fond of that one, if I do say so) and one that I wrote, then ended up using for a class assignment a year later. So I have piles upon piles of old notebooks, now packed away in storage, that contain random smatterings of dialouge between highly underdeveloped characters in the most mundane or unusual situations and for the life of me I can't part with them.
I still write any rough draft of a term paper on notebook paper first. Isn't that absurd? Truly, I agree that it is, especially in this age of technology and the fastpaced advantages of a word proccessor. It's not that I can't type, or that I"m slow, or afraid of technology- far from it, as I type at a good clip, I compose emails on screen, and can chat away with friends and family. I think maybe I find comfort in the personal nature of my own handwriting - well for some reason that sounded vain. Perhaps it's just the feel of a good piece of three hole punched college rule sitting in front of me, and the flow of ink from a nice pen. I'm not sure. I guess I can call myself old-fashioned for that statement afterall.
I have typed and formatted many of my poems which were first written on notebook paper of course. A few of them have since been published (nothing to brag about though) and while they seem official and neat in the "I've been published" sort of way, I still miss the copies with the scrawls and scratched out words and the tea stains in the corners. Last year I found myself taking all these typed poems, and transfering the "finished versions" into a leather bound 200 or so blank page book. Yes, I rewrote each poem by hand. Yes, they have a polished feel about them now, to be in a leather bound book, fancy indeed, but more importantly they are distinguishable as mine. My thoughts, my expressive energy, poured forth on to the page. Simply noted in the strange combination of print and cursive that I use daily.
Perhaps I'm just looking for a sense of nostalga. Reaching back to the time before I knew how to type, when I used to scribble away for hours writing epic tales of young girls and their horses until my hand would cramp up and I'd simply have to take a break. The time when the thoughts of characters and the descriptions of their settings were so vivid in my mind's eye that I couldn't transcribe them fast enough. A time when I wasn't writing/creating for other people, I was writing simply because I was compelled to do so. It was fun. It was a hobby. It was a daily thing.
So I guess I return, in some sense to the childhood ways I had, of writing on a regular basis, though this time in a different format, a strange augmentation of personal and impersonal at the same time. As well as a new genre of more personal essay style writing. Well, perhaps I can't abandon my dabbling in fiction and poetry completely and will have to post a few "smatterings" also.
Mechanism to Cope over the Summer
Listening to: Dare You To Move (acoustic)- Switchfoot
Looking forward to tonight. The two girl revolution. Traci and I will eventually change the world, I promise. And, if we don't, then at least we dare to dream big.
I was trying to figure out my classes for Spring semester, and decide which of the electives I can take and should take (12 hours total, with core and electives). That's the funny thing about "electives" because when you are paying out of state tuition, you really want to make sure that they are relevant towards your career path. Well, I wonder what sort of career path I'm truly on these days anyways. My former boss was able to help me possibly score an internship this summer in the Art Library back on UI's campus (because this way, I can make money at a random job, do the internship and also live for free in the basement at my parent's again), and I think that is what I really want to do with my life. Work in an art library.
Regardless, even though I really don't want to be back in Iowa City this summer, because I've just finally gotten OUT of that town, the fact of the matter remains, sometimes you have to take what seems like a step backward in order to leap ahead. At least I've never felt like I needed to rebel against my parents, in fact I consider my relationship with my folks to be quite a lucky one. I think of my mom as a wealth of advice given in the kind and generous manner she has about her. I think of her as my "older" best friend even. There are few things I won't tell her and few things I would want to keep from her, so I cherish the bond we have. My dad and I bond over traveling, tech savy new toys (he's always got SOMETHING new it seems) and our passion for watching t.v. in the downtime. So, another summer spent at home to save money isn't so horrible, plus the experience at the library will make it worthwhile I think. I'll get to spend more time with my boys and gals in IC too, as they continue to grow up and make their own life decisions. (Hard to believe the younger set are finally turning 21 this year!) And, I must keep in mind, that some of the friends from Bloomington won't be far away...Trac will be in Quincy, IL doing her own internship and I'd LOVE to introduce her to the crazy IC folks. Oh ya, Roadtrips baby!
And perhaps I"ll go out to Cali and visit Steve at some point to, when the scenary of Iowa City gets to be hum drum as it often does. And when I get an actual job, it'll be farther from home, in a great city where all of the friends will want to come and visit ME instead of me always visiting them, and I can pay them back with hospitality and a fun city full of cultural treats to explore.
ya, that would be cool. I can see it now. Dreaming big is a valuable coping mechanism.
Looking forward to tonight. The two girl revolution. Traci and I will eventually change the world, I promise. And, if we don't, then at least we dare to dream big.
I was trying to figure out my classes for Spring semester, and decide which of the electives I can take and should take (12 hours total, with core and electives). That's the funny thing about "electives" because when you are paying out of state tuition, you really want to make sure that they are relevant towards your career path. Well, I wonder what sort of career path I'm truly on these days anyways. My former boss was able to help me possibly score an internship this summer in the Art Library back on UI's campus (because this way, I can make money at a random job, do the internship and also live for free in the basement at my parent's again), and I think that is what I really want to do with my life. Work in an art library.
Regardless, even though I really don't want to be back in Iowa City this summer, because I've just finally gotten OUT of that town, the fact of the matter remains, sometimes you have to take what seems like a step backward in order to leap ahead. At least I've never felt like I needed to rebel against my parents, in fact I consider my relationship with my folks to be quite a lucky one. I think of my mom as a wealth of advice given in the kind and generous manner she has about her. I think of her as my "older" best friend even. There are few things I won't tell her and few things I would want to keep from her, so I cherish the bond we have. My dad and I bond over traveling, tech savy new toys (he's always got SOMETHING new it seems) and our passion for watching t.v. in the downtime. So, another summer spent at home to save money isn't so horrible, plus the experience at the library will make it worthwhile I think. I'll get to spend more time with my boys and gals in IC too, as they continue to grow up and make their own life decisions. (Hard to believe the younger set are finally turning 21 this year!) And, I must keep in mind, that some of the friends from Bloomington won't be far away...Trac will be in Quincy, IL doing her own internship and I'd LOVE to introduce her to the crazy IC folks. Oh ya, Roadtrips baby!
And perhaps I"ll go out to Cali and visit Steve at some point to, when the scenary of Iowa City gets to be hum drum as it often does. And when I get an actual job, it'll be farther from home, in a great city where all of the friends will want to come and visit ME instead of me always visiting them, and I can pay them back with hospitality and a fun city full of cultural treats to explore.
ya, that would be cool. I can see it now. Dreaming big is a valuable coping mechanism.
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Stars in the Streetlight
Listening to: Stars in the Streetlight by Chamberlain
Today was boring. Nothing interesting to report. Didn't get up until about 10:45 am, I LOVE sleeping in on Thursdays. Ran some errands, did some shopping, and now back here. Dinner shortly, laundry and reading homework after that. Oh. heh, the one fun thing I did today. I bought a shirt online...following Trac's lead, which says "Unix is Sexy" so we can be twins. Kinda a whim purchase, but after discussing the sex appeal of women that know how to use UNIX programming with Tom, and his link to a website with shirts that say "chicks dig unix" right across the chest, I thought why not. Even better was the response of "boobs and unix *drool*" which followed my gasp of "gee, you want my boobs to advertise don't ya?" and the follow up comment by Andrew of "Boobs and Unix" making a great band name. So in the interest of science, of a computer variety even, I'm doing the "geek is sexy" thing. :)
Today was boring. Nothing interesting to report. Didn't get up until about 10:45 am, I LOVE sleeping in on Thursdays. Ran some errands, did some shopping, and now back here. Dinner shortly, laundry and reading homework after that. Oh. heh, the one fun thing I did today. I bought a shirt online...following Trac's lead, which says "Unix is Sexy" so we can be twins. Kinda a whim purchase, but after discussing the sex appeal of women that know how to use UNIX programming with Tom, and his link to a website with shirts that say "chicks dig unix" right across the chest, I thought why not. Even better was the response of "boobs and unix *drool*" which followed my gasp of "gee, you want my boobs to advertise don't ya?" and the follow up comment by Andrew of "Boobs and Unix" making a great band name. So in the interest of science, of a computer variety even, I'm doing the "geek is sexy" thing. :)
It's 3:30 in the morning, I'm still up...and I've stolen this from Traci, enjoyed her answers, and filled in my own.
If I were a month I would be: October, because that is the month that Fall sets in and Halloween parties take place, and you can pretend to be someone you’re not.
If I were a day of the week I would be: Thursdays because I get to sleep in and stay out later and good shows and Mug club at Brothers
If I were a time of day I would be: very early morning hours (near dawn) when everything is peaceful, and yet, just about to get started
If I were a planet I would be: Venus, cause apparently that’s where women are from
If I were an animal I would be: a cat, generous, nice and loving when I want to be, but also in need of my alone time.
If I were a direction I would be: West – because I haven’t been out far enough in that direction yet.
If I were a piece of furniture I would be: my coffee table back home, that thing has been through craft projects, leapfrog games, table dancing, and still remains sturdy and strong – I wish I could say I’m like that. If I were a sin I would be: lust – because if I’m going to be a sin, I might as well pick one that’s fun for me and everyone else – see I’m really very giving. So not greed.
If I were a historical figure I would be: how about a historical/mythological figure – in that case I’d pick Athena (Greek Goddess of Wisdom) cause it would be so nice to be able to give good advice to my friends
If I were a liquid I would be: kool aid (the sugar free kind, so kids can add as much sugar as they want to defeat the purpose of my nutritional value)
If I were a tree I would be: an oak tree
If I were a flower/plant I would be: lilacs
If I were a kind of weather I would be: an early morning rainstorm that makes you want to stay in bed and cuddle under the sheets with your loved one and NEVER get up.
If I were a musical instrument I would be: voice
If I were an emotion I would be: calm (because I’m not often)
If I were a color I would be: royal blue – because my eyes look good in it (oh, a hint of deadly sin: vanity)
If I were a vegetable I would be: carrot
If I were a sound I would be: laughter
If I were an element I would be: I’d be an alloy actually
If I were a car I would be: my 2004 Honda Civic Bessie
If I were a song I would be: not sure, I’ve got so many favorite songs that tell the soundtrack to my life
If I were a movie I would be directed by: again, not sure
If I were a book I would be written by: David Sedaris – at least he could make my life seem funny to others
If I were a food I would be: fettuccini Alfredo
If I were a place I would be: Okoboji
If I were a material I would be: warm fuzzy sweater
If I were a taste I would be: sweet
If I were a scent I would be: lilacs
If I were a word I would be: kissIf I were an object I would be: a painting
If I were a body part I would be: eyes
If I were a facial expression I would be: a smile
If I were a cartoon character I would be: Rainbow Brite
If I were a shape I would be a: rhombus (cause I like the way it sounds)
If I were a number I would be: 27, cause it is my fav!
If I were a month I would be: October, because that is the month that Fall sets in and Halloween parties take place, and you can pretend to be someone you’re not.
If I were a day of the week I would be: Thursdays because I get to sleep in and stay out later and good shows and Mug club at Brothers
If I were a time of day I would be: very early morning hours (near dawn) when everything is peaceful, and yet, just about to get started
If I were a planet I would be: Venus, cause apparently that’s where women are from
If I were an animal I would be: a cat, generous, nice and loving when I want to be, but also in need of my alone time.
If I were a direction I would be: West – because I haven’t been out far enough in that direction yet.
If I were a piece of furniture I would be: my coffee table back home, that thing has been through craft projects, leapfrog games, table dancing, and still remains sturdy and strong – I wish I could say I’m like that. If I were a sin I would be: lust – because if I’m going to be a sin, I might as well pick one that’s fun for me and everyone else – see I’m really very giving. So not greed.
If I were a historical figure I would be: how about a historical/mythological figure – in that case I’d pick Athena (Greek Goddess of Wisdom) cause it would be so nice to be able to give good advice to my friends
If I were a liquid I would be: kool aid (the sugar free kind, so kids can add as much sugar as they want to defeat the purpose of my nutritional value)
If I were a tree I would be: an oak tree
If I were a flower/plant I would be: lilacs
If I were a kind of weather I would be: an early morning rainstorm that makes you want to stay in bed and cuddle under the sheets with your loved one and NEVER get up.
If I were a musical instrument I would be: voice
If I were an emotion I would be: calm (because I’m not often)
If I were a color I would be: royal blue – because my eyes look good in it (oh, a hint of deadly sin: vanity)
If I were a vegetable I would be: carrot
If I were a sound I would be: laughter
If I were an element I would be: I’d be an alloy actually
If I were a car I would be: my 2004 Honda Civic Bessie
If I were a song I would be: not sure, I’ve got so many favorite songs that tell the soundtrack to my life
If I were a movie I would be directed by: again, not sure
If I were a book I would be written by: David Sedaris – at least he could make my life seem funny to others
If I were a food I would be: fettuccini Alfredo
If I were a place I would be: Okoboji
If I were a material I would be: warm fuzzy sweater
If I were a taste I would be: sweet
If I were a scent I would be: lilacs
If I were a word I would be: kissIf I were an object I would be: a painting
If I were a body part I would be: eyes
If I were a facial expression I would be: a smile
If I were a cartoon character I would be: Rainbow Brite
If I were a shape I would be a: rhombus (cause I like the way it sounds)
If I were a number I would be: 27, cause it is my fav!
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
How much I love Fall
Doing: sitting with the lights off but can't sleep
It's drizzling and cold outside. The ground is slick and covered with wet leaves. It's Fall, and I love it. The best season out of the year is the one where you can start to put on your sweatshirts and your woolen socks and watch highschool football games and start to see your breath in the air. When you can take long rides along the Cedar River on Becky or Gordon, and listen to the fallen leaves crunch under their hooves. It's the time when I get to be crazy and rope people into Halloween parties and socialize. When I get to subject my friends to late night walks by the Iowa City River to talk about life and love and loneliness. It's cold enough we need to wear gloves. My friends celebrate their October birthdays in various ways, but usually it includes a good night out at the bars for dancing and fun. You can just tell the new crop of freshman girls in their "barwhore" wear, oftentimes consisting of short skirts and even shorter tops, with the plunging neckline to compliment. They stumble their way through downtown looking for the bar of choice for the evening, and the guys watch and call. I show up, in a sweatshirt and jeans, with my kick ass M.U.D.D. boots (which many a guy has commented on) and I feel really good about it. Because I realize, it was only three years ago, that I was one of them. And now, I know that I don't need to rely on showing skin to impress a guy. For that matter I've realized guys worth impressing aren't the ones paying attention to these types of girls. And my Falls are better spent in the jeans and sweatshirts hanging out with the people who really matter, rather than trying to impress the random ones. It's still drizzling, it's still cold outside, but I'm a different me.
It's drizzling and cold outside. The ground is slick and covered with wet leaves. It's Fall, and I love it. The best season out of the year is the one where you can start to put on your sweatshirts and your woolen socks and watch highschool football games and start to see your breath in the air. When you can take long rides along the Cedar River on Becky or Gordon, and listen to the fallen leaves crunch under their hooves. It's the time when I get to be crazy and rope people into Halloween parties and socialize. When I get to subject my friends to late night walks by the Iowa City River to talk about life and love and loneliness. It's cold enough we need to wear gloves. My friends celebrate their October birthdays in various ways, but usually it includes a good night out at the bars for dancing and fun. You can just tell the new crop of freshman girls in their "barwhore" wear, oftentimes consisting of short skirts and even shorter tops, with the plunging neckline to compliment. They stumble their way through downtown looking for the bar of choice for the evening, and the guys watch and call. I show up, in a sweatshirt and jeans, with my kick ass M.U.D.D. boots (which many a guy has commented on) and I feel really good about it. Because I realize, it was only three years ago, that I was one of them. And now, I know that I don't need to rely on showing skin to impress a guy. For that matter I've realized guys worth impressing aren't the ones paying attention to these types of girls. And my Falls are better spent in the jeans and sweatshirts hanging out with the people who really matter, rather than trying to impress the random ones. It's still drizzling, it's still cold outside, but I'm a different me.
Partners
Watching: Angel
So, today was pretty hum drum in the sense that I had class from 8 am -12;15, thank goodness I have fun people to keep it interesting. I was really annoyed though because we couldn't execute a proper search online in the database we were attempting to use, and I always feel stupid when I miss something that should be so easy, like, say, finding out how to use a limiter, such as, oh I don't know....language! At least when I give up finding things on my own, I know to ask for help. I think that's a really valuable tool, perhaps even more valuable than being able to locate an answer for yourself, is knowing when to give up and just ask somebody who might have a bit more knowledge about the subject or search strategy than you do. That's why I dig library science school so far, the collaborative efforts help me quite a bit. I've been so used to doing the "art history/english" undergrad thing, primarily reading, absorbing and sheer memorization, and then writing 12 -25 page papers on my own research, that I've forgotten how nice it is to work in pairs on homework assignments. Divide and Conquer. Has a nice ring to it. :)
So, today was pretty hum drum in the sense that I had class from 8 am -12;15, thank goodness I have fun people to keep it interesting. I was really annoyed though because we couldn't execute a proper search online in the database we were attempting to use, and I always feel stupid when I miss something that should be so easy, like, say, finding out how to use a limiter, such as, oh I don't know....language! At least when I give up finding things on my own, I know to ask for help. I think that's a really valuable tool, perhaps even more valuable than being able to locate an answer for yourself, is knowing when to give up and just ask somebody who might have a bit more knowledge about the subject or search strategy than you do. That's why I dig library science school so far, the collaborative efforts help me quite a bit. I've been so used to doing the "art history/english" undergrad thing, primarily reading, absorbing and sheer memorization, and then writing 12 -25 page papers on my own research, that I've forgotten how nice it is to work in pairs on homework assignments. Divide and Conquer. Has a nice ring to it. :)
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Groovin' in B-town
Listening to: Big Fat VooDoo Daddy
So, after moving out here from Iowa for the whole "higher higher" education thing, I figured there would be some sort of epihany in my soul or my mind where I'd realize that I never want to live in Iowa City again, that I'm destined to travel the world doing interesting things and will never again settle down and live in one place for a long time. That isn't exactly the case though. As I start to look for possible internships for this summer, the possibilities are endless, Washington, D.C. Foldger Shakespeare Library, Chicago Art Institute, hell I could even go out to California, IF I didn't need money. Reality has this way of crushing dreams huh? 97% or so of library internships aren't paid positons and don't offer housing or living stipends either. I'd really like to be in Chicago this summer. I guess I'm still a Midwestern gal at heart in that respect. I could imagine waking up every day and being excited to go to work in a library situated in the Art Institute, take the subway down, or walk past galleries and shops to get there. Then get to enter through the "staff" doors and to walk past famous glorious works of art EVERYDAY! How wonderful would that be? Then, get to sit at a reference desk and answer patron questions about different artists, works of art, or where to find information on a certain architect. I think that would be a perfect fit for me. Actually, collection development and management would be a perfect fit for me too (perhaps this is because I did this at the health sciences lib at the U I for 5 years, and that I'm taking classes in both reference librarianship and collection development this semester) but either way, the setting and environment would be great. Heck, I'd even subject myself to cataloging all day (sorry Christa- it's your cup of tea, not mine) in order to be there. So, that whole, needing to make money to afford my education does rear its ugly head. Perhaps though, I can figure something out.
I guess I still haven't lost that belief that if I try hard enough something good will come my way and be right for me...I already know that is the case for the move to Bloomington. It has definately been the right move for me to make in my life. As nervous as I was to come here and start out again, after 22 years in the same town I grew up in, with the same core group of friends I've had since highschool and even elementary and then adding to that core...I've had to branch out and meet new people that I knew nothing about before saying "hello" I think there is something to be said for that philosophy of "throwing yourself into a new and exciting situation, where you are forced to bond with people over the smallest of things, like, a love of popcorn, or many other commonalities you discover through small talk, until you realize that these people are great. I already feel lucky that, even if I haven't met the entire human composition of my graduate program , I have met, those that I believe are some of the best elements it has to offer. As for the rest of the IU population, I've got a few from the dorm that are also steller girls that I already consider friends.
I worry some that the folks back in IA will forget about me...I feel like if I'm always the one that calls to see how they are doing, they will get annoyed and stop answering the phone when my name comes up, figuring that, as far away as I am (only six hrs) I'm still far enough away that they'll get tired of my pesky questions. When I went home the other weekend I was comforted to know that not much has changed in that town in the six weeks since I left. One of the restaurants changed names, apparently there's a starbucks in the mall now, and my friends, well, they remain the fabulous IC folks I remember them to be. So I guess if I have to be at home this summer, making money instead of in Chicago doing the internship it won't be entirely bad, I'll still have great people to spend the after hours with!
So, after moving out here from Iowa for the whole "higher higher" education thing, I figured there would be some sort of epihany in my soul or my mind where I'd realize that I never want to live in Iowa City again, that I'm destined to travel the world doing interesting things and will never again settle down and live in one place for a long time. That isn't exactly the case though. As I start to look for possible internships for this summer, the possibilities are endless, Washington, D.C. Foldger Shakespeare Library, Chicago Art Institute, hell I could even go out to California, IF I didn't need money. Reality has this way of crushing dreams huh? 97% or so of library internships aren't paid positons and don't offer housing or living stipends either. I'd really like to be in Chicago this summer. I guess I'm still a Midwestern gal at heart in that respect. I could imagine waking up every day and being excited to go to work in a library situated in the Art Institute, take the subway down, or walk past galleries and shops to get there. Then get to enter through the "staff" doors and to walk past famous glorious works of art EVERYDAY! How wonderful would that be? Then, get to sit at a reference desk and answer patron questions about different artists, works of art, or where to find information on a certain architect. I think that would be a perfect fit for me. Actually, collection development and management would be a perfect fit for me too (perhaps this is because I did this at the health sciences lib at the U I for 5 years, and that I'm taking classes in both reference librarianship and collection development this semester) but either way, the setting and environment would be great. Heck, I'd even subject myself to cataloging all day (sorry Christa- it's your cup of tea, not mine) in order to be there. So, that whole, needing to make money to afford my education does rear its ugly head. Perhaps though, I can figure something out.
I guess I still haven't lost that belief that if I try hard enough something good will come my way and be right for me...I already know that is the case for the move to Bloomington. It has definately been the right move for me to make in my life. As nervous as I was to come here and start out again, after 22 years in the same town I grew up in, with the same core group of friends I've had since highschool and even elementary and then adding to that core...I've had to branch out and meet new people that I knew nothing about before saying "hello" I think there is something to be said for that philosophy of "throwing yourself into a new and exciting situation, where you are forced to bond with people over the smallest of things, like, a love of popcorn, or many other commonalities you discover through small talk, until you realize that these people are great. I already feel lucky that, even if I haven't met the entire human composition of my graduate program , I have met, those that I believe are some of the best elements it has to offer. As for the rest of the IU population, I've got a few from the dorm that are also steller girls that I already consider friends.
I worry some that the folks back in IA will forget about me...I feel like if I'm always the one that calls to see how they are doing, they will get annoyed and stop answering the phone when my name comes up, figuring that, as far away as I am (only six hrs) I'm still far enough away that they'll get tired of my pesky questions. When I went home the other weekend I was comforted to know that not much has changed in that town in the six weeks since I left. One of the restaurants changed names, apparently there's a starbucks in the mall now, and my friends, well, they remain the fabulous IC folks I remember them to be. So I guess if I have to be at home this summer, making money instead of in Chicago doing the internship it won't be entirely bad, I'll still have great people to spend the after hours with!
Monday, October 11, 2004
Welcome to My Blog
So I'm finally tech savy enough to have created a "blog"...or more aptly described - this generous and free hosting company has created a blog for me. Since I journal on a regular basis in print, I figured why not transfer my words to the webworld. In case anyone cares to read it, and if not, oh well, at least I know where to find it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
