We live in the city of dreams

I can't say that this week was all that busy, but it flew by really quick. I didn't have classes two days in a row, so that was probably what did it. In contrast, I'm about to have practically my whole life worth's of assignments due next week. That should be fun.

The first day of no classes was advising day. I did have to get up earlier for my art department meeting at 8:30 than I would have for actual class, but it was alright, because it's not like I had to do anything. Then I had another first year multimedia design meeting with out advisor. So then I started thinking about my classes for next semester. There are too many classes that I want to take, I may have to do WinTerm at some point. But NOT this year. So I gotta register on December 2nd. I better start planning out what exactly I want. Then meetings were over and I had to take a Psychology exam in the student psych center because I was gonna have to miss it the next day in class. So I was proud of myself for finding the place to go, and taking the test, and everything. Then I watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince cause it was showing in Applied Arts 210!!!! Holla!

Wednesday was kind of a magnificent day. I had a field trip to Minneapolis for drawing class. Oh me, oh my. We took a coach bus to the cities, and I slept for about 45 minutes on the way there. I can't describe the happiness when I woke up and looked out the window to be greeted by the skyline of downtown St. Paul. We went to MCAD first, but we were running late, so we didn't get to see a whole lot of anything. Then we just went over to the MIA. Ah, how I love the MIA. It's just such a classic establishment in my life. So I walked around there with Maddi from my drawing class, and we get along really well, and she's so into fashion and art. Oh, culture. Then we took our bus to Nicollet Mall for lunch. Nicollet Mall! Could my professor not have picked a better place for me? That's my old hood! I went to Jimmy Johns for lunch with Maddi, and then we went to Barnes and Noble where she spent 60$ on magazines. I thought I was bad. Then we just sat in the little Barnes and Noble cafe, and I saw my old boss Mike run across the street. If I weren't inside, I would have called out to him. It was weird, I haven't seen him probably since my last day of work at Piper Jaffray. Ah, it was just so comforting to be there, and it was so gloomy out too. My perfect Minneapolis. Then we went to the Walker, and I was hoping I would see cousin Owen working. But I guess he wasn't. Then we had to go back at 4....It was sad coming back. But I wish I could take more little one day field trips to Minneapolis like that more often. It would really tide me over, and help me stay here for longer periods of time. Then coming back, Out@Stout meeting and Women's Bible study were really awesome too. I just was euphoric after my little trip.

New thing I did yesterday at college:

Did my Laundry in my dorm.

You're probably thinking to yourself: seriously? What is it, October 23rd, and she hasn't done her laundry yet? But other's will not be phased by this. 3 loads is pretty standard for me. Plus, I brought my laundry home with me, so it hasn't been this ENTIRE time, but let's be honest, I was out of practically everything until yesterday. I didn't have to re-wear anything ever, but I figure at this point....It's gotta get done.

I think I'll go home and lie very still

Well my lack of posting this week has been due to the fact that literally every waking hour this week (apart from eating and class) has been devoted to working on my 2D Design project. It was due today; so thankful that it's finally done. Which segues nicely into my new thing that I did yesterday/last night/today:

I pulled an all-nighter to finish a project.

Some of you will probably be angry about this, because all-nighters usually means you didn't spend enough time on the project to begin with (we call this procrastination, folks). But I hope that some people with be proud of me because of my fortitude. I mean I stayed up all night. Working on a project, no less! Two things I am not often known to do. There was so much cutting involved, and the use of my amazing utility knife.... I also sorely regret not investing in a hole punch for one component, though...

I don't know if people really now what my project was, but I had to literally construct a book on the principles of design. Like cut the covers, and cover them with paper and bind the book (which I screwed up, broke my needle and everything) and cut the pages and all sorts of stuff. It's probably the most involved project I have ever had to do for school. But just one sappy side note: It made me realize how happy I am that I'm an art student. The process of creating something that I know I couldn't have created before, and the fact that I can craft something that is comparable to something store-bought makes me feel so accomplished. Not to mention that Penco has become my sanctuary. But anyways, I digress.

So I've been working on this all week. On Monday night I spent hours (not sure how many, I measured it by one disc of 21 Jumpstreet) cutting out segments from close to 30 Diet Coke cans, and then cutting my coverboard. And then Tuesday I spent cutting my pages and inside covers. And then last night I had to do everything else. That means cutting paper for every single page, mounting text, gluing materials really cleanly (which...didn't always turn out so clean. Dang contact cement). I spent so many hours on it, and I could have spent 10 more hours on it and it still wouldn't have been perfect. I was working in the lounge most of the night, along with my next door neighbor Krista who had 2D this morning at 8. Poor child. I wasn't finished at 6:45, but went back into my room right when my roommate's alarm went off. So I took a shower and went to breakfast. Then I crashed on the futon, and woke up to finish my book. Still wasn't as great as I hoped it would be, but it's better than I thought it would be.

Front Cover:

Inside Cover w/Table of Contents:

My page on Economy and my elaboration. The text boxes are so wonky because they were too long, and I decided it looked like a recycling symbol this way anyway. But I got a little beat up for it.

My page on balance. I used plastic bags to extend the image in the elaboration.

Variety page. Those battery shapes were a pain to cut.

Page on Rhythm. The circle were even more of a pain to cut. This is where I wish I would have used a hole punch. But in the end, I like the handmade quality of it.

Page for Repetition. This was my favorite page conceptually. This is the one where I used all of the Diet Coke can cut-outs. The shape worked nicely, and the repetition of the phrase "Please Recycle." This is where the glue tripped me up because I had to use something a little more heavy duty than my gluestick. So contact cement had to do the trick, but it was messy.

Page for Emphasis. This is the elaboration that I was least pleased with, just because it wasn't very creative, and the image wasn't very good to expanding. I wish I could have done something to do with the recycling bins, but nothing jumped out at me.

Credits page. Clearly I didn't branch out a whole lot..

Back inside cover. You can tell that I had some binding tape issues. It was supposed to cover up another mistake I made, but it made it look even crappier.

Back Cover:

eh. I'm satisfied I suppose.

A rhythmic ceremonial ritual

New thing I did today:

Baked a cake in my dorm basement kitchen.

So much more of a challenge than I had anticipated. First of all, because you have to rent everything, like a mixing bowl, and mixing spoon, a pan, a spatula, oven mitts (which we only had one of, it wasn't ideal...). Plus, there were a bunch of yahoos in there, being obnoxious. I mean, I could have only expected as much, it's a sunday afternoon, which is when the basement tends to be most hoppin'. Mia and I made the cake for Liz, who's birthday it was today. And she was totally sassy about it too. Even after all of the love we put into it, and errthing...

Ugh, I'm already so sick of school. I just can't wait for Thanksgiving, I can't wait to go home for more than a weekend. I'm especially excited for Christmas. It's gonna be such a nice looong break..

By the way, the cake didn't work out very well. We had to eat the center ourselves because it didn't bake well.

Everybody knows it sucks to grow up

New thing I did today:

I brushed my teeth in the shower.

As I was running especially short on time, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. It was almost to the point where I wasn't going to have time to take a shower, but since I hadn't since tuesday, that would have been downright embarrassing...I got up and worked on my project for 2D design, but wasn't completely finished by 10:30, and still needed to go to the bookstore and the print lab before class at 11:15. I didn't make it to the bookstore, and went to the print lab, and everything ended up being fine in class, but lesson in time management, kids: Do the exact opposite of Addie Royce.

IT IS YOUR BIRTHDAY.

New thing that I did yesterday:

Did dishes in a dorm hall sink. I really wish I hadn't let it get so far. I only did them because I didn't have enough dishes to eat lunch in my room, which I needed to do because I was running short on time, but I spent my whole morning break doing my dishes. All my silverware, and a bowl, two plates and 4 cups. And it was disgusting. I had to make two trips, and I didn't have a bin, so I need to get one of those. I'm..kind of a snob when it comes to dishes, and I will often be a little more resistant to use dishes that I washed myself, because I don't trust myself. So, I might bring some dishes home to do in the dishwasher.

Rushmore

199. May 9: I went to Prom.

As I didn't get to go last year, because I was watching Emily graduate again. We all know what the dress looked like, and I went in a group of myself, Tianna, Lizzie, Jane, Mari, Abby, Stella, Rachel, Molly, and Lura. We went to Ghandi Mahal for dinner, which was Indian food. I had never been there before. Then we went off to Prom which was at the Radisson by the U. It was really fun, but really hot, and sweaty, and I was wearing 4 inch heels...Bad choice. But the only choice I had. Then we all slept over at Molly's dad's house afterwards, and Jane and I could not stop laughing for some reason. Mostly I think because we were talking about Smokey so much, and we got some good quotes out of that. Specifically: "Smokey is just so beautiful" "Yeah, Smokey is luxurious and beautiful, but he can be such a big butt head sometimes." and "You guys. I HONESTLY think, that my cat Smokey-- is GAY." I don't know why I used so much emphasis when I said that, but that was the beauty of it. Anyways, that was prom. It was fun. Not that great of music. And it was really hot, as I said. But yeah.

Half past 12

198. May 8: I laid out an article for newspaper.

This is the last newspaper related new thing, I swear. We put a May Day article on the back page, which is my "section" so I laid it out.

Cabin 19

197. May 7: I ate at Stella's fish Cafe.

It was Caroline's birthday wish. I was thinking about getting muscles, but was advised against it, since I had expressed how hungry I was, and let's be honest, we have no idea if I was going to like them. So that was my new thing that day. I did, however, get the most amazing Alfredo pasta with Chicken and Sausage. Because, you see I'm not very into fish.. But it was very very good.

Photo Booth

196. May 6: I officially made the switch over to the morning shower.

And I've never looked back. It was a fantastic choice. It get's me up earlier, (in a good way) and it keeps me feeling fresher the whole day. Although, I don't like going to school with wet hair, that's something I don't have to worry about now (because by the time I'm writing this, I'm already out of school...). But, anyways. Yeah, this was a good one.

Do the Right Thing

No one can deny that this has gotten absolutely ridonkulous. I was not cut out for regular blogging, and it shows.

195. May. 5: I saw Elton John in concert.

a.k.a. Sir Reg, Reggie, Reginald Dwight, Reggie D, Sir Elton, the list goes on.

He and Billy Joel were on tour together again, but I've already seen Billy Joel before, so that couldn't be my something new. It was such a great concert. They were both really good. But I'd have to say that Mr. Joel was better, because he just seriously was. Reg was a little winded, I could tell. I'm told it's because he kicked the sauce. Either way, it was a great concert, and I got a awesome concert t-shirt out of it. Concert t-shirts are crack to me. There one of the best parts of a concert, I'd say. They played mostly all of my favorite songs. They played for a little while in the beginning, and then Reg came out by his self, and played for about an hour, and then Mr. Joel came out and did the same, and then they came back together. But there was this intense fight going on a couple rows ahead of us. There was this annoying drunk woman sitting down there, and she was dancing really abnoxiously and getting in this one guys way, and he yelled at her, and then he complained to her, I swear, like 2 ft. tall boyfriend, and he got all antsy and offended, and he threw down a fist a cuffs. Long story short, the boyfriend got the complainer guy kicked out. I wanted to set the stupid 2 ft. boyfriend on fire, I mean really. Who get's in a drunken fight in the upper deck of a Billy Joel concert? Even I think that's lame.

Teen Wolf Too

194. I made crepes. (As well as had a complete French, and American desserts alike baking day.)

For a french project, we had to do a french cooking video, so we call chose desserts. There were four of us, Meera made chocolate truffles, Maya made Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, Tianna made Chocolate Mousse, and I made crepes. I chose the easiest recipe possible, because let's be honest, I'm not a hard worker in the kitchen. Everything went really smoothly, except for a little burnt chocolate scare in the microwave. But we aired everything out. Completely in my kitchen, so I should have been freaking out about the mess, but it wasn't so bad. I finally found friends who respectthe kitchen rules, and kind of already know them on a sub-concious level! Perfect. Although, if I didn't have a dishwasher, I don't know what I'd do. There was more caked on chocolate than my kitchen has ever seen, remodeled, or otherwise. And everything turned out really delicious, too. Even though I don't like crepes, they tasted pretty standard, and I stuffed them with some good fruit and other foods.

The Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Chocolate Truffles

The Crepes

The Chocolate Mousse in tumblers

Eating our meal

The sink after it was all done, which I got to clean up! So...enjoyable..

I'm just really proud of my hard work, I need to display it.

Angry Young Man

193. May 3: I attended a baby shower.

This one is kind of a cop-out, since it was at my house for my cousin, but it still counts. I've only ever been to bridal shower, in terms of showers. If I've ever been to a baby shower, I wouldn't know it, and I don't remember. It was nice and quaint, and dainty, I suppose. Just ladies. I didn't exactly excel at the games like I thought I might. So...that was disappointing. There were good desserts though. Anyway, there's not a whole lot to say about that. I think I prefer bridal showers. They're more exciting.

ALL IN ZE BOX

192. May 2: I had my last piano recital.

This is also not what I wanted to do for this day, but I got busy later on, and it slipped my mind to do anything more legit. Emily had suggested this one when we were originally making my list, but I figured I'd just do something else this day. Oh well. I played Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, sans the Ballad of Brenda and Eddie. It was still nine pages though, don't worry. I didn't end up using the music though, which was a risky choice, but it was impossible to read that far across. I hated the piano I had to play on, it was not broken in enough, unlike the one at home you can just pound on. So it sounded a little muffled, and it was too fast, and I was too nervous, but I think it could have been worse, so I'll be thankful for that. Now, I need to learn the whole songs, plus my favorites from that book.


And SPEAKING of Billy Joel, I finally got Billy Joel and Elton John tickets! Tuesday, May 5th, at the Excel. I'm so excited, especially since it will be after my AP Stat Exam, I'll just be able to unwind. Too bad this is production week for newspaper, I would really be able to enjoy myself. I'm so very very excited. I'm not sure who I'm more excited about, because Billy Joel is my favorite ever, and of the two as well, but I love me some Reg, and I've never seen him before in concert. I'm beside myself. They had better have great concert t-shirts.

The Entertainer

191. May 1: I ate Le Cordon Bleu.

Obv not the one in France...the one out here in the suburbs. We had a french field trip out there for a three-course meal. It was so delicious. I think I was the only one at our table of eight to clean my plate thoroughly after each course. Although, let's be honest I was with some pretty picky eaters. For the first course we has a spinach salad with oil dressing over sauteed onions, diced tomatos, bleu cheese, and thick crispy bacon bits. It all went so well together, it was great, even though I don't like onions or tomatos, I thought I'd give it a shot, the chef knows what he's doing putting all these ingredients together. The second course was mediterranean herbed roasted chicken over polenta, ratatouille, and a butter herb sauce. It was so good, I wiped my plate clean. Then we had chocolate peanut butter mousse with citrus coulis for dessert. And we had little petit fours in between. There was a little baclava, lemon bar, cookie, trifle of sorts, and a couple of other things. I highly suggest anyone who likes french food to go there, it was so good. I think they just take people, or groups. At least there was this woman by herself, so I think it's kind of an open restaurant type thing.


This is the day that we installed our new iMac as well. It's soooo nice, I love it. I'm used to having a pc, but I'll get used to this very quickly. I hate to brag, but we've never had the best of anything in terms of technology, so this is the one and only time I get to brag about something we have. The keyboard is tiny, so it's taken some adjusting to, especially since it's similar to laptop keyboards, which I'm not fond of, but it's very fun to type on now. It's also finally really great to watch Lost on, which was absolute crap before. Something got screwed up with my iTunes, but I'll probably be able to figure that out.

The Final Countdown

190. Apr. 29: I watched the HBO documentary, "Thin" about anorexia.

I just happened to watch this when our newspaper meeting went south. Believe me, this wasn't what I wanted for my new thing. I tried to balance a book on my chin, but let me tell you, that is a lot harder than you think! So, I'm gonna work hard on that, and save it for a rainy day. But anyway, this documentary was educational, even though I'd say I already know a fair bit about anorexia and eating disorders alike. But you never realize how much of an illness these things are, until you hear first hand what these women have to say. Because they think it's so attractive, they don't see how unhealthy it is. I can't imagine that being me. I love eating too much to ever get to that level. I'd much rather be healthy than super thin.

You could distinguish Miles from Coltrane

189. I explained the mechanics of 'that's what she said' to someone.

That someone was none other than Ms. Matera. We were talking about assigning editors in passing, and she quietly said "This is gonna be so hard" and I said "That's what she said." Well, Kayla and Molly thought it was pretty funny, but Ms. Matera had never really heard that joke before (I know, how is that possible?) We had to explain why it made sense, and why technically as females we shouldn't be able to use it, but we do anyway. It was a whole culture education session. I'm so happy to spread the love on the that's what she said front.

Bodies are where you find them

As I was Hula Hooping in front of the television, with Dudesie sitting there, I asked him how many push-ups he thought I could do. Like, non-girly man push-ups. He rolled his eyes and said 5, and I said I could do more, and then he challenged me to do ten. So I said I could do more than ten, and:

188. Apr. 27: I did more than ten real official push-ups.

More than ten meaning, 11, which still counts. What classifies as a real official push-up? Probably anything BUT the push-ups I did for my fitness test in gym Sophomore year, of which I think I did 24. I have little to no upper body strength, and I was very red afterward. Anybody who is not in shape, like myself, I challenge you to try it, because they are not easy at all.

So then I told Dudesie that after my 12-week plan is over, I'll do over 30 real push-ups. He doesn't really think i can do it, though. We'll see.

Inside Wants Out

187. Apr. 26: I am officially embarking on a "12-week plan"

Some of you, meaning probably only Emily, if even, might remember that I had this 12-week plan that I was going to do starting in the fall, and we can all guess how that panned out. I never mapped it out, and I kept putting it off for "another week." What is a 12-week plan you ask? I want to be in shape, and improve my quality of life. By my definition, getting in shape means I can run more than a mile at a time (at least) and have much better endurance overall. Quality of life to me means that I make better choices health wise, and I feel better all the time. I first started thinking about initiating this for myself when I was coming to the realization that I would probably collapse of exhaustion if I even attempted a 5k, or would not be able to complete my swim across and back the lake this year at the cabin. That was the fitness portion of my realization. Then I also realized my eating habits need to shape up after having 3 days of indulging in ice cream treats in a row (cone at Ben & Jerry's, medium Heath blizzard at DQ, Like it Cake Batter Ice Cream with Heath at Coldstone...). This, of course, was preceded by an equally indulgent weekend of terribly greasy foods: Chicken Strips and Fries at a Bar at Stout, Fried Chicken Bacon Swiss sandwich and Curly Fries at Arby's, Bacon Cheeseburger, Fries, and a whole Heath Malt at the Malt Shop, and an appetizer platter, steak, potatoes, and carrot cake at the Chanhassen. Take comfort in the fact that I'm sure your weekend didn't resemble mine, in any sense.

So, I'll reiterate, I don't think I'm fat by any stretch of the imagination, but being healthier would be much better for me, I'm sure. And c'mon, I'm a teenage girl, if I lose a few pounds, I won't complain.

In my Merlin Sleep

186. Apr. 25: I tried Tab soda.

Which is like the exact same thing as Coke, let me tell you. It has a little bit of a weirder flavor, so I don't think I would ever make the switch over, but it's a fair substitute. I like the can, too.

The Gentle Art of Listening

Much like yesterday, I don't like this one, and it's similar to one I've done before:

185. Apr. 24: I was the only person to show up to class.

Government. Nobody showed up to Government. It was just me and the Bergie Berr hanging out for awhile, and then I had to take a stupid pop quiz even though I was the ONLY one there. Such a cheap rip-off. I know for a fact 3 people were skipping class, and Mari was in Chicago, so she had a good excuse, but seriously people. No wonder everyone in that class is a lame excuse for a high school student. Seriously, I'm talking idiots.