Pictures of Others

Here are some photos I found in a box with an old Polaroid Swinger camera. I finally located one of the rolls of film I dug up last summer from Goodwill and I'll have it developed in a few hours (hopefully something is on it). If not, oh well, I think searching for old photos is one of my new favorite things :) I could stare at them for hours and think about their lives..

On The Move.

So in case no one has quite noticed yet...I can't stay in one place. If you hadn't, it's alright because I just now noticed it myself--as in, committed a full thought to it for more than a fleeting moment. I feel the need "to move", almost always. It's almost like I only like the process of traveling or moving because, without fail, my feelings of wanting to move recycle as soon as I land. Maybe I can travel in my job when I get older...I don't know, but for now I'm here for three years and it's my doing. That should yield an interesting result.

First Real Week of School

The buzz word is: Soil. Yeah, soil is my life now. Thanks UTK. I've been living the dream over on the Ag campus, and I have to say it's completely bizarre. Bizarre to the point that when I see girls more like me I end up practically stalking them--safety in numbers, you know. The other half of my time is spent hiking up the Hill which is equally lovely. Park>bus>Ag>bus>Hill>bus>Ag>bus...all day, every day. I have to say, at least the men on the Ag campus know they aren't cool; I think if I see another man wearing chino shorts, loafers and a pastel colored shirt when I'm on main campus I'm liable to throw soil at him.

Post Sunflower Field Excursion

I searched for hours for the sunflower field only to find that they had already bloomed and were gone. I was expecting that they had already bloomed but not that they would leave so quickly. I still got some satisfaction from at least finding the field because it was no easy task, at least not for me.

Sunflower Field

I have located it and I am going tomorrow :)

Photo Collections

Yesterday I decided it had been much too long since I had watched a French film. They are, after all, one of the main reasons I love cinema. Since I hadn't watched one in awhile, I was unsure where to turn to so I turned to Agnes Varda. In Prague, I met two French men that I ended up going for tea with and talking a little about the French New Wave since we didn't have much else in common. I mentioned the filmmakers that I liked and they mentioned theirs and I asked, "Well, what about Agnes Varda?" Blank stares. What a shame! I don't like to be a film snob but if you're going to say you like French New Wave then you very well must know who she is. She practically inspired the whole thing that led men like Godard and Truffaut to churn out films at the rate of Hollywood productions. She is also the only woman in the movement which solicits my respect for obvious reasons...Anyway, I watched her CinePhotoVarda yesterday.

The entire film is composed of photographs (with the exception of some moving images in the first and second vignette of the film). At first I thought, "what a drag" an hour and a half of still images being flashed before me, but it was much more than that. Varda makes us explore our relationship with the still images by arranging them in ways that give them life and meaning. If only I could be half as brilliant as her or give half as much thought to the objects I surround myself with.

The film reminded me that last Spring I spent quite a few days rummaging through photo bins at thrift stores in search for film that had been left undeveloped. My plan was to develop the unknown film (scary as that may be) and to see what shows up on them. I have 2 rolls of film sitting in my closet that I searched for like a mad person for 3 days. I think I'll make a point to develop them sometime this week, and if anything good shows up, post them on here. I wouldn't mind going out and looking for some more as well. Hopefully the second hand stores have been able to recover from me since last Spring.

Last Day in Prague

I had a really lovely day today. I revisited the Castle in the morning and then ate lunch on the Vltava river with Denise, a woman from the workshop that is still around. I walked around Charles' Bridge numerous times and ducked into some tacky souvenir shops (everything was deplorable). Afterwards, I saw my directing teacher and we ate cheap snacks in the park and got tea. I took some evening pictures over the river and of Old Town square before dipping into a small jazz cafe for dinner.

Jazz Cafe

I especially liked walking by the statue on my way back and seeing groups of people about my age sitting around it. The weather was perfect for it.

End of workshop party

Shaya and I laughing over our ice cream.

Roommates: a brit a german and an american

The depths of the bar we went to after the school party.

Shaya and I :)

Almost Home

The workshop is finished and most people left to go back home this morning. It's really odd to be here without them and I actually grew to really like and get to know everyone just this past week. That being said, I don't really know what to do with myself. I'm rather homesick, especially with nothing to distract me like school, and I didn't manage to do any sightseeing today because it was raining and I've lost my umbrella hah. I'm currently staying at one of the actresses apartment's in Old Town on her couch which is lovely of her but I'm starting to think I want some personal space so I may get a hotel for the remaining days. Some of the girls and I got the most lovely ice cream yesterday after our evaluations. I got the most amazing mint ice cream with a scoop of cookie ice cream and it was heaven. The mint ice cream had real mint leaves in it :)

Borders

I just got an email that all Borders stores are officially closing. I am so sad :( I can't even go enjoy it while it's still open because I am here :( ugh, so so sad.

Awkward conversations in Czech

I ran around all day looking for empty white pill bottles for my film. No one could understand why I would want such a thing and thought I was very strange. It turns out, that the pharmacies here are anti-bottles. They even sell generic pain killers in boxes and little white boxes are just not gonna do it for me. Anyway, I located a few clear ones and I bought some fizzle tabs that came in a white bottle and I'm going to try and print "labels" for them and glue them to the bottles tomorrow morning. I start filming tomorrow evening so wish me luck! *falls with exhaustion*

Happenings

I think my life has been looping for the past two days. I'll explain:

1. Yesterday, I saw some of my friends from the film school at a tram stop as they were walking home. I took the tram home, dropped some things off at my apartment and then went to get thai food in the neighborhood. As I'm walking to get food, I see them waiting for a tram to go to Old Town. Lucas looks at me from across the street and says, "no freaking way." Haha.

2. That same day I got off at the wrong tram stop when I was trying to find a photography store so I am waiting at some weird tram stop and a man walks by with his pitbull. Naturally, I notice that right away. I get on the tram and literally as I am stepping off of the tram, this man has walked the same root and we run right into each other.

3. The weirdest one of all (and I literally can't understand this one) happened this afternoon as I was heading towards the school. I got on the number 10 tram heading west. At the next stop, a man got on the tram and was standing across from me. I get off 3 stops later to transfer to a tram that heads northwest. I wait at the stop for about 5 minutes and then get on the number 22 tram. As I step onto the tram, there is the man I just left on the last tram. How on earth had he managed to head in the wrong direction on the number 10 tram and then SOMEHOW end up on the number 22 tram before me. 

Food Abuse

I can't eat anything here. Last week, I almost ate ham that came in my dish that I didn't know about. Yesterday, I think there was meat in my "vegetarian" black bean nacho dish and 30 minutes ago I dug into my vegetable risotto under the vegetarian options menu and found huge chunks of chicken in it. The restaurant also charged me for eating pistachios that were sitting in the middle of the table on a plate. My check even said vegetable risotto on it...F the service people here. They are the worst.

Photos

View from my bedroom window.

This is a couple streets away from my school. I ate lunch outside at a cafe and took this on my way back to school.

Yes, of course I found a dog. So pudgyyyy.

Kava

There is not nearly enough coffee in Prague to fulfill my needs this week. 

Hmm what to say about Prague. Well, I could tell you a lot about the school because that's where I spend all of my time. Yesterday we were all there from 9:30 am to 10:30 pm. I went grocery shopping a few days ago and a czech woman was actually really kind to me since my arm was in a cast. She scolded me for carrying a basket, unloaded and then bagged everything for me all the while I'm saying, "nerozumin" uhhh "dekuje" uhhhmmm, meaning I don't understand you, thank you, I don't understand, and on and on haha.

On Sidewalks

So long story short, I fell on the sidewalk in a really extreme way Friday evening and now my right arm is in a cast. I missed shooting a short film on Saturday to go to the doctor (which was highly terrifying as you can imagine..). The kicker is, my left elbow is also hurt so I am unable to move either of my arms to the point where I can't brush my hair, wash my face, take my contacts, or get dressed in less than 10 minutes. We'll see what happens with this film workshop :/ I'm so behind now and it takes me like 2 hours to "get ready" every morning.

On a side note, I've been trying to take a few more pictures recently so maybe a few will go up soon when I have sufficient internet. Ciao.

Dobry den, hello hello

I am safely in Prague. It's much different than I imagined. My flight went pretty well (although I can't say that having to be still on a plane for almost 10 hours is enjoyable in the least). There was a lot of turbulence and at one point the flight attendant woke me up in cesky (czech) yelling for me to move my feet so she could sit down haha. I was the only lucky person that had an open seat next to me, I couldn't believe my luck. I didn't sleep at all on the plane and I didn't sleep the night before, so if you do that math correctly I didn't sleep for more than an hour or two at a time for 78 hours. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of and I woke up this morning in Prague (monday) without even knowing where I was.

The flat they have given us is interesting--old building, really high ceilings, interesting little balconies, etc. I have two roommates, one from the UK and one from Germany. The one from the UK has nicknamed me "olive", so I suppose I'm olive now. I really like most of the people here! Getting around and having my basic needs met is still a challenge (i.e. eating, bathing, getting to the school). I left my plug adapters at home in another suitcase so blowdrying my hair and plugging things in is out of the question until I can locate someplace that has them.

I will try to update but it is not easy here. Once I get more comfortable with my surroundings I may bring my camera places with me. Until then, wish me luck.

It's almost time to say "Na shledanou".

This week brought about some unexpected and time consuming endeavors that have made packing very difficult! My birthday was nice (but hectic!). I think all of my friends looked cuter than me on my own birthday! (especially since they're all beautiful :) ). I got my big girl license in the morning and spent most of the day sweating it out at UTK scheduling classes before running home to go to the Melting Pot with my family and then rushing home for cake and a low-key evening out with some friends. Here are some photos, there wasn't time for many photos as is fairly obvious:

artichokes, tofu, mushrooms, and ravioli ready for dipping

making a wishhh

cutting the cake Annie made for me and Paige's cupcakes are on the right :) 

Count Down

My flight is officially a week away, and to prepare, I'm going to tackle 1 or more things on my "to-do" list everyday before take off.

This is the Vltava River viewed from Mala Strana. I want to film the swans here.

Cake

I am currently trying to justify making a red velvet cake after skipping my run this evening. To be fair, I thought it was going to rain...

I can't wait to see what baked goodies I get from my friends on my birthday, *cough* Paige. Haha.

Karlovy Vary

The 46th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is happening while I'm going to be in Prague! It's probably the most important film festival of Central and Eastern Europe and it falls perfectly in line with my schedule. Tickets per film are only about 4 USD so hopefully some people in my program will want to work extra hard with me during the week so that we have time during Saturday to go to the last screenings.

Ticket to Ride

Fresh from the post: Passport! (replacement for unexplainable loss of old one)

The photo booth on my new computer is grainy...questionable.

Why do I enjoy this so much?

I'm not one to really like spoofy rap videos but I kind of love this...This man raps truth, Whole Foods parking lots are really like this, lol.

Disarray

So far I haven't managed to leave my house much in two days. The garage is packed with my belongings (which should now be neatly organized in my room). I feel so odd. I feel weird moving forward. I'm missing someone terribly and it's really putting a damper on the joy of coming home. I haven't seen any of my friends yet (because of circumstantial details I won't bore anyone with) and when I tried to go for a bike ride this evening my keys were suddenly missing (still to be found). I should stop being a baby. Yes,  I should do that next. Reasons I should be happy right now:

1. The weather has been nice.
2. Tessa is downstairs.
3. There isn't a bar next door to me.

My poor little blog

I have been neglecting it so. I will get back to you someday..

Currently:

Finished finals..barely.
Anticipating a big move in a week.
Figuring out how to pack a truckload of belongings into my car.
Looking for a new computer.
Scrambling to say bye to people here and to go to my favorite places before I leave.
Planning for Prague in ohhhh you know, 3 WEEKS. AH.
Sort of not really thinking about my 21st birthday in 2.5 weeks. (How can I be this old already? Is it acceptable that I don't really care about this milestone birthday?)
Starting to realize I have no classes scheduled for UT in the fall, nor do I have any idea what I will be taking.

But most currently of all:
Living it up in Columbus with some very special people.

Computer Woes

When most people spill water on their laptops, it dries out. When I spill the tiniest bit on it, it fries the entire thing and leaves me computer-less for 10 days (and counting). It is finals week and I've been hauling myself to the library to wait in line for computers--not efficient. These finals are just going to be super duper. RIP perfect Macbook.

Prague

I can't control my excitement. I probably shouldn't blog about this yet because it's not entirely certain, but I am planning to travel to Prague for the month of July to attend a film workshop! Since I heard back from them this morning I have been making lists and plans and trying to decide if it's a good choice. Anyway, just a heads up for my friends that I might not be around for July.

Lucky Duck

Cold Cave is coming to the Wexner Center in two weeks! Right after Twin Shadow no less. Twin Shadow was great by the way (but the venue was terrible). If I were to converse with George it would go something like:

"Your jean jacket, white mesh shirt and bun was everything I had hoped. Your 80's revival-synth-rock brought me nostalgically back to a decade I never experienced. Soon everyone will love you since you are playing at Bonnaroo but I know that we will always have something special." --Leah

I'm also confirming that Spring is definitely here. It was very warm today. It feels so nice...

Spring, Maybe.

Today was officially the first day that I could walk outside in a t-shirt and jeans and not be cold and the caterpillars are also blooming so I think it might finally be Spring in Columbus. The caterpillars here are odd and they hang from all of the trees on their (caterpillar matter?) so it looks like they are floating in the air. Sound creepy? It is! I've walked right into them before and I had a nice little caterpillar on my shoulder when I got to class. Work was nice today. I got to hand draw and make buttons to give out at our event this Saturday, at which I will be chasing after kids making sock puppets. Buttons drawn include; a pig face with 50% of the button being nose, a film camera, an 80's boombox, a bird, and a handful of designs. I'm sort of wondering who in the world is going to pick up some of the things I drew. Oh, and I got a free cupcake from the cafe--score. Afterwards, I ate dinner at Kitzingers in German Village. I really love German Village. I will miss all of the little "villages" that Columbus has, they are neat to explore...I had to milk the day since it's going to be raining for the next week (literally).

Always cheers me right up

Small Black is the bomb. Also, going to see Twin Shadow tonight, very very excited :)

Hmmm

Sometimes I meet people and wonder, "how did you get into this school?" I know Ohio State isn't Yale or Harvard, but like, man--it's like walking around at the state fair sometimes.

Fall 2011

Warning: Excessively long post.

I have decided to go back to Tennessee and go to UTK next fall. It was really hard for me to make this choice which seems inexplicable to me considering all Columbus has put me through and how difficult it seems to be for me to function here. My dad told me that, "I can tell you don't want to let it go because I know how much you've put into Ohio State," and it's true, I have tried my best every single day here for two years and it still doesn't feel right. I'm holding onto OSU by a stubborn string. In my mind I am well aware of the reasons that I want to stay here:

1. My job at the Wexner Center, and the Wexner Center in general
2. Being closer to my Dad.
3. One or two really close friends that I will miss.
4. The nightlife, restaurants, museums, shopping (the fact that you can go to a party here and people don't just stare at you, but actually introduce themselves).
5. The amazing buildings (i.e. our library), etc.

But I've come to realize that all of these things are not able to make me happy. I left Knoxville for the sole purpose of getting out of Knoxville and it is difficult for me to objectively accept that Knoxville is in many ways good for me. Film has become very important to me and I think it will be easier to be creative and productive in a climate where I am comfortable and not dealing with extraneous problems all of the time. I want to go to graduate school for Film it and I need to start getting ready as soon as I can.

Coming back will be really strange; maybe it will feel like a time warp, maybe it will feel like I'm going back to high school. I will probably live with my mother and my dog to save money so I can go abroad and participate in film workshops. I'm trying to make mature decisions. Trying to be an adult is tough. I will have to overcome the things that I ran away from in Knoxville, and I will have to let myself let go of this feeling of "failure" that I am harboring. I am trying to accept that "failure" is actually a much more appropriate description for someone who does not try to make themselves happy.

I hope I can adjust when I come back. Columbus feels like my own separate little world now--something that is all mine, and it has changed me. If I hadn't left, I would still be utterly naive about, well, most everything. 

I have felt stressed and unsure about this decision since I made it 24 hours ago. I am scared/confused/disappointed/happy?/relieved?....crazy?< jk.

Heart-breakers

The dogs at the humane society are breaking my heart. They are all so amazing. How could anyone ever buy a dog from a breeder? It's just entirely superficial..I think people that buy dogs should have to watch another one be put down because that is exactly what they are enabling. It's like people just don't want to think about the consequences their actions have--they don't want to be responsible for what they eat, or what they buy because it's usually inconvenient. I sat in a cage with a dog for like 15 minutes while it fell asleep in my arms. I don't know how often I'll be able to go because I hate leaving.

On the flip side, I finally found a recycling center. I had to mapquest my way there. How lame is that, lol.

Advice Column III

If you think you have a sinus infection, go to the doctor--it will not go away on its own. Who would think this you ask? Moi. I have been sick since February 1st and my brand spankin' new medication will last until May 12th. Final sick days tally when I'm through with it all? Approximately 105 days.

Pups

I started volunteering at one of the humane societies in Columbus :) I went to orientation last Saturday morning and I have to go to a second orientation tomorrow morning. After that I get to play with dogs--whenever I want. Best. Idea. Ever. The only thing that breaks my heart is the amount of pit bulls they receive that they have to put right to sleep. Our speaker said that since Ohio has breed specific laws it makes it more difficult or impossible for many people to own the breed and the humane society doesn't have the capacity to house all of them until adoption. :( It's really unfortunate that the habitual actions of many pit bull owners in the past has led them to be banned/restricted from many apartment buildings and in some cases, entire cities. I can't understand the logic in completely banning a breed because there is simply no way a city has the ability to regulate them and it only leads to their demise in the pound. It would be so much nicer to put more effort into outreach and education because they are just like any other dog! And obviously, the bad stigma that surrounds their name needs to be combatted as well. I think the more people that understand what is happening the more likely it is that this type of legislation will slowly disappear. It's not just pit bulls, lists include shar pei's, akita's, certain types of terriers, you name it. Anything that looks scary is a "no-no".

dolls.

Applications

I just applied to UT Knoxville. How crazy would it be if I just came home? Last year I felt like coming back to Knoxville was "giving up" and that Knoxville would seem boring and suffocating. Now I realize that it takes a lot more guts to admit to yourself what actually does make you happy, which is warm weather, open space, and a nice view of the mountains (oh yeah, and my amazing friends ;). I'm trying to be really honest with myself--"what is it that will make me happy?" Even if I did come home, I don't regret coming to OSU. I learned SO much here by the shear fact that life really had it ready for me when I arrived and I had to adjust, and quickly. I don't think I could have gotten that from Knoxville. I feel like I've paid my "life experience" dues and that it would be okay for me to come back now if I decided to. We'llllll see.

1. The Rules of The Game-Jean Renoir

The first French film I chose to watch this quarter was, The Rules of The Game. I chose it for the simple reason that it is a French classic (made in 1939) and I felt slightly obligated. The one thing I have to credit the film for is not for its witty comedy of manners (which was used often during this period in French filmmaking in order to make fun of class distinctions/the bourgeoisie) or the character types (which are, to be honest, sort of archetypal) but rather, the amazing fluidity of the camera the entirety of the second half of the film. I couldn't help but feel that this is what made the film
really great. It sweeps and circles from room to room and face to face as we witness the complete breakdown--comical as it may be--of various marriages and affairs that are being revealed to us at the party.
             It's not worth boring anyone with details of the film, or me trying to think of something profound to say after one viewing (because it usually takes three views to be able to pull much from it) but I will say that one scene I found interesting was the hunting scene. The guests all set out onto M. La Chesnaye's land to hunt rabbits and pheasants and we see probably about 3-5 minutes of rabbits and pheasants actually being shot and killed. I could hardly stand watching it; however, because I found it so hard to watch these poor little animals being shot it made me wonder, "why am I being shown this?". At the end (or maybe it was at the beginning) of the scene, one of the men asks a woman ( I think Madame La Chesnaye) if she enjoys hunting and she responds with something to the likes of "it's alright..". We get a sense that she is just doing it because people of her rank do it. Shot after shot of pointless and anticlimactic killing of rabbits and we start to feel the same way--that it is boring, pointless, a formality--all of which are perhaps social criticisms coming from Renoir.
             The French writers and poets I studied in French literature this fall all possessed a dislike for the bourgeoisie and the same can certainly be said for French filmmakers during this period (and following periods). I guess the only people that like the bourgeoisie are the bourgeoisie. A good film that I saw last year in class that reminds me of this sort of farcical display of class distinctions is Boudu Saved From Drowning (also by Renoir). Oh how I love it when filmmakers make sense. I read an interview of Renoir last year in which he stated something to the extent of, "Filmmakers really only have a desire to communicate one common theme and this same theme or idea takes different forms in different films--but still remains fundamentally the same.." or something like that. I'd have to agree with that, at least for he and his auteur contemporaries in France.

Favorite things

We danced to this song in my modern dance class this week. I can't wait to go again tomorrow. My little two credit hour class is like the best thing to happen to me my sophomore year here <3 All of my friends went to a Mansion dj party tonight but I'm so sick of all of that and I am home with tea and madeleine cookies so I can wake up at 8:30 for this :)

It's Snowing on March 30th

You're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding. It's not even flurries, it is actual snow.

I made a pro's and con's list today in between classes--the three categories being OSU, UT, and UNCW. It turns out, that these sorts of lists are much more complicated than their visual simplicity makes them out to be. The fact that 1 weightier pro can defeat 3 cons or visa versa makes it very difficult to make sense of anything. My paper is filled with categories linked or crossed out and ranked on an arbitrary scale of importance. Confusing? Yeah. Helpful? Not especially. How do people ultimately make decisions? In my case, when decision time is up and there is simply no time left for excessive consideration. I want all of the information-I want to know how it will probably turn out-I want to know exactly how much it will cost and what classes will transfer and how long it will take me to graduate and if I will make new friends-and etc. etc. and I have to decide without all of these things. It's difficult. I don't think college students get enough credit for all of the inputs we are having to process daily. How do you make decisions that you know will effect the rest of your life? Maybe another list will help.

My boo

I'll miss my boo when I go back to Columbus tomorrow (among other things). Looking forward to helping my sister move in to her new apartment tomorrow morning and getting Panera for all of us :) Not looking forward to potential snow once I get to Ohio State though..

Such an old picture! Love it.

plus francais, s'il vous plait!

I haven't been keeping up with my French films lately and that is simply not alright with me. As a result, I've decided to electronically commit myself to watching and reviewing five films I've chosen. I'll keep them a surprise (since I know that will really keep you on edge, lol). I don't expect them to be read, but as a courtesy (in case anyone does want to read them) I will keep them short and unpretentious. I'm hoping that my blog commitment will guilt me into sticking to this. It's not that I don't want to do this, in fact, I would love nothing more than to do this all the time, but chemistry and calculus are rather obligating..Alsoooo, by the end of this quarter I would like to have a summer film project organized and ready to pursue! Looks like I'll be busy! Au revoirrrr.

P.S. My title headings have decided to become red and not green. I cannot fix it. I'm so tech savvy it kills me sometimes,

Live Oaks

Seabrook Island is filled with them! They are really pretty and a nice touch of scenery to my jogs at the beach. Can I move these to Ohio?

                    

Internet Brats

Roommate: "I just googled Bing."

For those of you that missed the humor in that, she used a search engine to get to another search engine. Sometimes I feel like our lives are too infiltrated with technology. I am literally on my computer all day for all sorts of things. I wonder what it was like 20 years ago in college when people didn't have facebook or email. Was it more fun? Sometimes I feel like my computer is an evil trickster that makes me think I am actually living, when in fact, 6 hours a day I am staring at a box.

The Wild's of Upper Arlington

I pulled into my grandparents house tonight and my headlights flashed onto three of these babes staring right back at me from their neighbor's front yard. I have never seen deer this close or for this long before, let alone THREE of them. I stopped halfway up their driveway and rolled down my window to look at them before they walked away. I feel lucky. How could you ever hunt one of these things? I don't feel entitled to even be looking at them.

V-Day

My roommate's guy friends are the biggest sweethearts, this on the front porch made my day. 

Piano

I wanted to take a fun 2-hour class Spring quarter but my class of choice has 31 people on the waitlist. Guess who's number 31 for beginning piano....lol. I'm really still holding out hope for it though. I signed up for modern dance as a backup.

Sidenote: currently 7 cop-cars and a helicopter outside my house..I need explanations for these things hah.

70's Revival

This is the built-in armoire in my room. They get larger if you click on them (larger is better).

Home

The funny thing about how popular Warpaint is now is that I watched this video ages ago and thought, "I really liked that" and then never downloaded any of their music. This video reminds me of going home.

"I wanted to stay home but i went running running running running from the troubles "

"Femullet"

This term is real. It's short for female mullet. Where is this going you ask? I am bringing it back. My hair....ohhh my hair. I wish I had time to take care of this situation, haha. You know how everyone is always partaking in gimmicky hair holidays, like: "No Shave November" and well...I know there are more so shout them out if you recall; regardless, I have a new monthly hair related holiday, "Femullet February". Impressed? Yeah, I go to college...it's no big deal.

This will be me

So I have the flu :( but on the bright side I have been watching Great Dane videos on Youtube.

Never Gets Old

I went on a scholarship visit today and the kids were totally bonkers (kindergarten), but they say the funniest things and it never gets old.

Columbus isn't always the greatest but I know it will get better. Having hope that something exciting and important is going to happen here never gets old.

Listening to my old music when I'm not feeling like myself, and being content with the music I have, (aka not having to compete in the Knoxville race to ultimate cool) never gets old:

Irony

I left my house this morning and heard screaming behind my house (obviously not until after I walked out the front door) so I started walking an alternate route to avoid whatever was happening (someone dying?, two crazy people having a yelling contest?). It turned out to be a drunk man on a bike--in the snow (no one is surprised) and he is riding towards me in order to shout hateful things about women. Now, I'm not exactly sure how many terrible things a woman would have to do to you for you to get to this point..which means he was just a typical crazy on a bike; however, this is not how I like starting my day. He caught up to me and screamed and then went on his wobbly way. I shed a tear or two and turned around to go a different way again and--here's the ironic part--the boy next door that I hate had been watching him through his window and rushed outside to see if I was okay. Who would have thought?

Snow.

There is so much of it.

I thought it was just me that always thought this, but I heard a guy walking past me today say, "No matter which way you're walking it is always blowing right in your face." Brilliant. I have proposed this theory to a lot of people and they just think I'm bitter. A moment later I saw a puppy on campus and that never happens...God must have liked me this afternoon or something.  

I worked tonight and got to videotape an artist lecture. Basically, I was propped up in the back and managed to miss the beginning of the lecture when he was introduced because I didn't know what he looked like. I hurriedly turned the camera on and fidgeted with the tilt (which didn't really work) and the zoom and tried to maneuver the tripod they gave me so that it would pan. I would frame it and then the tripod head would come to life and move off-center. So many terrible noises will be on that tape. Points for Leah. Afterwards, I put everything away and went into the back where I exchanged several awkward moments with the artist. After listening to his comments and watching slides of his work I have developed a few more opinions about art (I'm not sure what my previous opinions were):

1. I like art a lot more when the artist is explaining it to me rather than me trying to make something up on my own or pull meaning out of the title. This being said, I think art is in a monogamous relationship with its creator--meaning--best understood by them and possibly never fully understood by others.

2. Art exhibits are much more enjoyable at night when it's quiet, empty, and I don't have to worry that the pace of my meandering is being judged by the "real" artists around me.

3. Art seems more significant during the doldrums of winter.

4. Sometimes the most unlikely of people are artists--it gives me comfort to look at a normal-looking Joe who has created something amazing.

Emptiness

The pictures I post are getting taken away...I give credit and everything...why must someone make my day sad? I parked at a parking meter tonight and complained to my friend that the meters at starbucks are twice as much as city meters and a man walking past me said, "No they're not." Like I asked you. Shut up. Ugh.

Do you ever...

... have those nights where you wonder, "Where did everyone go?"

photo by: Cole Rise

I feel separated and unproductive. I feel like there isn't anyone who really gets me anymore. I know it's an angsty statement. On the bright side, I like my job a lot even though I'm just the office copy machine brat. I'm trying to make friends with people in the Wex. Most of them must be interesting, but I don't think I'm off to a running start. For example:

Cafe conversation #1:

Me: "Hi (smiles), may I have a 12 oz bumblebee?"

Barista Man: (previously occupied) "Oh, hey yeah, it'll just be a minute." 

*waiting*

Me: "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you closed at 4...and it's 4...

Barista Man: Nah, it's fine."

*gives me drink, hands me receipt to sign. I sign the receipt and slide it towards him and it slips in between a crack in the glass and falls into the counter*

Me: "Oh...now you must really hate me." 

First day of work

Supervisor: Can you make labels for the new books we just bought? You know how to make labels in Word, right?

Me: Yeah, of course.

Me (thoughts): Not at all.

Winter Quarter '11

Dear Calculus II,

I have been avoiding you for 3 full quarters since Calculus I, but this winter quarter--it is happening--and I am scared of you.

L