knowledge comes with death's release

Well, sorry my friends, for being so absent these past couple of weeks. I wish I could say it was just because I was being so busy and popular, but my instant queue history will tell you otherwise.

I didn't update the monday after thanksgiving because I was busy working on my 2D design project, which, by the way, I did NOT stay up all night to finish. It was as done as it was going to get. (By the way, Thanksgiving was awesome. Too awesome, I think, I was depressed and had terrible anxiety my first night back. Ugh, coming back from Winter break is going to be murder.)

I didn't get the greatest critique on my painting (my 2D project), which I guess I was okay with. I wasn't completely satisfied with it. I think what we all agreed on was the craftsmanship wasn't the problem, the composition was wrong. Which I didn't feel good about in the first place, because I felt like my teacher made me do something I didn't really like that much, but she didn't really like the final project anyway. So I've reworked it for the final, because it's the sameexact project, we just have to do it using color harmonies.

It's supposed to be an abstract of a fruit or vegetable form, and mine was a squash. Which you can't really tell. It looks more like Watermelon, or like a Pepper or something. The composition for this project is better, at least I hope so.

Other than all that stuffs, not much else is new. I had a good weekend last weekend; I baked cookies with my floor (a.k.a., the, like, 7 people who showed up. But that just meant I got more for myself.) And then we went to Applebee's because it was my RA's birthday, and my neighbor Beth's as well. After that, Beth, Krista, Tegan, and I went to the Econo Lodge and paid them 4 dollars to let us use their pool and hot tub. Then we came back and watched Up, and I finished off the night with some Mighty Boosh.

This weekend I mostly stayed up late, and slept a bunch, and ate a lot of food, and watched the entire first season of 30 Rock on instant stream on saturday. That was productive. But I did get some good work on my drawing project done while watching Goblet of Fire. That is what we call multi-tasking.

I'm really only posting because I'm procrastinating writing my persuasive speech right now. My speech on the Office went pretty well. I don't know if I mentioned that at all. I didn't get to make my character map like I wanted to. But the topic I chose for my persuasive was recycling. I've been itching to give this speech for a while....I just haven't gotten around to writing it yet. And I have to give it tomorrow. But I have good ideas, and I already have info that I used for my design book. I'm thinking of doing some demonstrations, as well. I can't tell you how many people I've seen throw away plastic bottles in that room. I'd better not see anyone do it after my speech tomorrow.

And BY THE WAY, just incase people aren't aware, I got a snow day last wednesday. Holla! The last time I had a snow day was in elementary school. Although, I think that was considered a "cold day".

Have they been in love before?

New Poll!

Rhythm Mastrs

I'll keep this brief, because believe it or not, folks, I'm going to bed at 9:30!! It's only because I fell asleep at my desk watching Office UK on my laptop. Roommate and I decided it would be best if I called it a day.

Weekend was good, Friday night was the Gay 90's. Mia, Marty and I drove down at around 9, had a lot of fun, saw the drag show, I met up with Krista and met her gays, and we all danced till about 1:30, and we got back here to Stout at around 3:00. Marty and I both got McDonald's and we parked and ate it. Then, as I was sleeping over in Mia's room, we went back there, and we had had plans to make brownies, so we did that, but since they were the Ghirardelli, they took an hour to make. So I sat by the TV in the basement, and I kept falling asleep. But then they were done, and we both had literally one bite, and we went to sleep at 5:00.

That made my sleep schedule all wonkish for the next night. I stayed up until 5:00 then too. I was all disoriented. I also took a nap that evening at around 6- on and off until-8, so I ate at 10, and missed SNL, because midnight was feeling like 8 at night for me.

So then I couldn't get to sleep last night, so I stayed up until 3 doing homework, and finally went to bed, woke up at seven, and THAT is probably why I fell asleep at my desk watching UK Office at 8:30 on a monday evening.

Are you afraid of the dark?????? episode of the WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!:

I loved this one, but I think we can all agree that Johnny needs a haircut.

Good Day, Sunshine.

This is a long entry with little pay-off. Make use of that precursor as you will.

My hectic week got a little less hectic. My 2D design project that was supposed to be due tomorrow, is now not due until december 1st. She had been talking about maybe making it due this tuesday, the 24th, which I would have been fine with, but let's be honest, hearing that yesterday, and knowing that I had a full two weeks to work on it, and not just two days, made me considerably less stressed out. And as soon as I knew it wasn't due thursday, I wondered how I would have ever gotten it done. Before that I was confident that I could make it work, but in all honesty, I would have had so much work to do still. I guess I instill a certain confidence in myself when I know that I have to get it done within such a short period of time. I guess this means I get a lot more time to work on my speech, which is good because for informative you have to have sources and visual aids. If my speech ends up going anywhere near as good as I imagine it will in my head, I'll do great. My speech is on The Office, so let's hope.

I stayed up until a little after 2:30 last night working on my Drawing project that was due today. And then I took a shower. It was a very wise choice, I felt so much better afterwards. (And I tried out the No More Tangles- still can't say whether the scent is the same) But then I got up into bed, and I couldn't fall asleep for the longest time, for some reason. So I'm running on little sleep right now, but at least I don't have to pull and all-nighter again tonight, so I can get to bed at a reasonable hour. The project turned out okay. If I had been willing to stay up all night for it, I would have, and it probably would have been quite satisfactory. I don't know what it is, but I'm not willing to stay up all night for that class. I was just so sick of working on it. I had to do two 20x22 drawings, and two 10x9 drawings, and the two bigger ones had to be identical to the smaller ones, so there were two sets. My first set I had to draw a painted striped flag of sorts, and a box in the background, and a cylinder in the foreground. Then for the second one we just had to do 4-6 objects. I (stupidly) chose to use the inclass still-life of the large cardboard animals. So I was doing the large cardboard horse, the snail and the cats legs. Even though I've done the horse a million times, I still had trouble with it, and I think it ended up looking really bad. We had to use our Sumi brush, Reed pens, and ink washes to do it, so a lot of it all bled together, and got really water-logged. Again, if I would have stayed up all night, I could have made it look a lot better.

Man I was mean but I'm changing my scene.

I'm so so so so so excited for Thanksgiving. Like for the break, and the day. I can't wait to just be able to be home for more than a weekend, and if I think about it this way, I only have like 2 weeks of classes after that, and then finals week (for which I have to stay the whole week. ugh.) Then I get to come home for a month! It will literally be the worlds greatest.

Much like a couple of weeks ago, I have a lot of things going on this week. Pretty much the exact same. Drawing project due wednesday, 2D Design project due thursday, Speech thursday. I am really determined not to pull an all-nighter. Krista predicts that she won't have to, so it would be a lonely all-nighter if I did end up doing that again, too. Let's just hope that I can budget my time wisely.

I found No More Tangles at the store today!! I was so excited. I was talking about it, and how I loved using it as a child, and how I've been looking for it for a long time, and I literally turnedaround and there it was. Cosmic, and stellar, yes.

It doesn't look like this anymore. They literally just changed their packaging, apparently. I can't tell you guys how excited I am to shower tomorrow morning.

Are you afraid of the dark?????? episode of the week!!!!!!!!:

I LOVE this episode. Such a classic.

I just want to walk away

Edit!

I checked, and Stout takes their garbage to a composting facility. You're safe this time, Stout. You're safe this time.

Citing artistic differences the band broke up in May, and in June re-formed without me

I wish Stout would read this article.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/compostable-and-biodegradable-plastics-false-security.php

I was at the Pawn last night, and Mia got a bag for all of her things. I was offended that she got a plastic bag, but she needed it to carry everything. I said "well at least it's biodegradable." Then the guy behind the counter started to say stuff like "oh yeah, well all of our cups and utensils and stuff is biodegradable, too, so it's great, and you have nothing to worry about." I didn't want to get into a whole thing, because I really wanted to get my pint of Ben and Jerry's home and eat it, but doesn't he realize that effectively Stout's "green" initiatives aren't really doing anything at least in the dorms? I mean sure, they encourage people to use less energy, and turn off the lights and stuff, but when it comes down to it, they haven't made things like composting campus wide. If they're gonna be all into composting, they could at least do it right. If they were smart, they'd get a compost pile, and provide the dorms with biodegradable bags.

And then I woke up.

I got an A+ on my Art History Midterm! Holla! I was worried that I had gotten too cocky, and didn't do as well as I assumed I did. 103%, that's the highest score I've probably ever gotten on anything, and good thing I put it towards good use. People fail Art History all the time.

I don't usually brag, but this is epic.

She was into the Stones when I was into the Roses

I had a highly productive weekend. In my opinion. Highly productive=watching 6 movies with the aid of Netflix, AND doing all my homework. This unfortunately meant that I had little social life to speak of this weekend, apart from hanging out with Pang at acoustic cafe. Psh, whatevs, I don't even care. It was worth it. Of course, this did entail me staying up until 5 on saturday night/sunday morning. I don't know why I do that to myself. I wish I could afford to do that every weekend. I'm such a homebody when it comes down to it.

Nothing much else of note right now, other than I can't wait to be home for Thanksgiving. I mostly really want to be home for winter break, but I'll settle for Thanksgiving for now. I am so suffocated in Menomonie. It's not a place I can see myself thriving in.

Are you afraid of the dark? episode of the week:

My favorite episode ever.

Everything is Vanity

Oh weekend. You will be far too short, I'm afraid.

Last night was both enjoyable and ridiculously long. Mia wanted to watch Milk, so she came over and we watched in my room with Krista before Project Runway. Then since we all (sans Mia, but plus one other girl) had so much art project stuff we moved down to the basement where we watched in one of the TV rooms. Such comfy chairs down there. But I did have to still work on my homework. We went back upstairs eventually, but then Krista and I moved back down to the basement, because we were cramped in my room, and we worked down there until about 1:30. All the while we watched "Because I Said So" on my laptop. Eh, it was alright, completely predictable, but had attractive faces to look at. I was not aware that Tom Everett Scott was in that movie, so that was a pleasant surprise. Still convinced that Mandy Moore will never be a decent actress. But after getting to bed at 2, I was so tired waking up. I will probably end up going to bed early tonight, like a lame-o, but I'll have nothing else to do. Roommate and roommate's boyfriend will be on the futon, so no staying up late for me.

Spoiler Alert!!

SO glad they finally were able to shake off Christopher last night from Project Runway. He really does suck. I hate to say it, too, because he's from Minnesota, but my goodness, I haven't seen someone cry so much since Ricky from season 4. And I'm glad that Carol Hannah made it through, as well, she's my favorite. Since I can't have Logan anymore as a favorite.

Currently obsessed with Netflix. I must have added like 20 titles to my queue in the past three days. I'm gonna burn through my instant queue this weekend.

I'm curious. I am curious.

Also, Also:

Netflix clearly has my best interests in mind right now. Categories of movies to browse:

-Movies starring Kate Winslet

-Violent Movies to watch instantly

-Visually Striking Thriller movies from the 1980's

-Gory British Movies

It's like....they live in my head.... Well done, Netflix.

Who's the fairest of them all?

Also:

My sister was published in vita.mn today. Check it out.

All you ever wanted was love

Ugh, Yankees.

I'm currently watching Top Chef season 6 online, because I can't watch it on wednesday nights anymore. I almost prefer getting it off of Amazon and watching it at my leisure. I like giving myself something to look forward to. I know this seems like a pretty generic "I'm currently..." but I want to highlight the all-star reunion show that took place last night. If anybody gets the chance to watch this episode who is a fan of the whole series, it's worthwhile. I downloaded it this morning, and of all the all-star/reunion shows, this is one of the best assemblages I've seen yet. Well done, Bravo. No wait! Bravo, Bravo! LAME.

By the way, I didn't do as horribly on my speech as I thought I did- 42/50, and extremely positive written feedback from my professor and "peer evaluators." Surprising? I think that goes without saying.

The long way home

Microwaves are the secret to life. Seriously.

He bet a vulgar quid that we would see the "the ghost in black" and sure enough, we did.

I went home this weekend, and it was delightful. I hung out with Tianna on friday night. We ate dinner at her house and then we watched Away We Go. I was only tentative about that movie because I thought it might be a little too cute and a little to indie. But I loved it, I thought it was so perfect. John Krasinski was absolute perfection.

Then on saturday I went shopping at Southdale with Jessica, where I got a dress for $20 marked down from $130! Holla. It was a great deal. Then I went to the Mall with Caroline later and we went to Chipotle. Biggest mistake ever. Ever. Don't ever go to the Mall on Halloween. Please.

Later on Jessica picked me up and we went to Biga to pick up Lizzie and sleepover at her house. We basically just sat in her backyard around the fire pit and talked. Then we turned in early because we were all tired.

It was just a nice relaxing weekend.

Are you afraid of the dark?????? episode of the week:

This is a pretty classic episode, featuring a one Tatyana Ali. Also fun fact: The main kid, Aaron is the brother of the kid who plays Frank in the Midnight Society. Which is why he may look familiar.

These are O.R. scrubs. Oh, ARE they?

So, as I mentioned, my life has been swamped this week with art related homework and projects. As you saw, I got covered head to toe with Char-Kole. Wednesday was just the busiest day I could imagine. First of all, I had an Art History Midterm, which I can safely say I passed with flying colors. I got 20/20 on the online portion, which isn't necessarily an easy 20 points. Just sayin....I wrote really long detailed answers for everything, and I was the last person in the classroom because I took so long writing all of my answers and such. I know that I mixed up some of the periods, and dates, and rarely did I know an artist, but I gave really good historical and cultural contexts for everything, and I got all of the extra credit points for sure. Hopefully this will pay off, and I'm not just giving myself false hope. That test, by normal standards, is a hard test. My studying just payed off.

Then I had to come back to my dorm to write my Self-Informative speech that I had to give on thursday (don't ask me, I can write speeches, but I sure can't deliver them; or make adequate note cards.) Once that was done, I had to start working on my 2d design project, which, YES, for all you people wondering out there, I HAD started on it before the night before it was due, but I just had the majority of the hard work to do. The project was a ink text self portrait, and I hadn't done any of the text, just the gridding and outlining. So after I was finished skyping with Jessica helping her memorize the Jimmy John's menu for her interview the next day, and my roommate was ready to go to sleep, I gathered my things and moved to the lounge, where I was shortly joined by Krista once again, and my RA, Sara, who had a paper to do. Although, I don't think she ever finished it, she kept falling asleep. Krista and I were kind of in the same boat, we weren't very far yet on either of our projects. So we listened to music, and talked. At one point we put Mamma Mia on in the background, which made the time more enjoyable. We made a pact however that we would both start on this next project sooner so we didn't end up working until the very end. But we're already planning on there being another all-nighter, so we don't expect much of ourselves. It turned out to be alright looking. I thought it looked pretty good, until I got to class, and I was so horribly embarassed, I thought mine looked awful next to everyone else's, but I got a really positive critique, and my teacher said she loved how I did the shirt in my picture. Holla! She also is giving us a chance to take our drawings home and work on them over the weekend to make improvements without being downgraded if we were prepared for class on Thursday.

The original picture, which was cropped.

The sketch, which I think looked more like me than the final product.

And the aforementioned, final product. I don't think it looks like me, and I need to add more shade in the face and fix the awkward neck, and the hair a little bit, too. But I agree with my teacher, I think the shirt turned out really well. Which makes me happy, because I really like that shirt in real life.

I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science

This week the art department got together and decided how they could ruin my life.

I spent a good solid 5 hours on my drawing project last night, and got extremely messy in the process. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product of all my drawings, but they weren't that great. I have a tendency to wipe them out with paper towel too many times, and draw with my erasers.

It got quite a bit worse than this. I made my roommate take this picture when she was on a break from making fun of me.

I've also decided it's a good thing I'm not a studio art major, because I don't have a natural talent for drawing. Design is what I am much better suited towards.

It would, of course, have to look like an accident.

This weekend was pretty spectacular. Unfortunately, I was not as productive as I could have been on certain school work, I deserved a break, I've been working hard. (For TRUE.)

My roommate was home this weekend, so I mostly watched videos on YouTube, episodes of Top Chef I have in my Amazon library, caught up on the Office, watched friends...ate a lot of food. On saturday afternoon I met my friend Pang at Acoustic Cafe for late lunch, and I found out they have delicious pita sandwiches. We talked for a couple of hours about how we hate being in the minority of liberals here at Stout. She's from Menomonie, too, so she's always had this problem. Then we went to the consignment store, and I bought some shoes and a jacket. Then we went to Mabel Tainter because she has fall season tickets. It wasn't exactly a work of art: The Missoula Children's Theater was touring and they cast local kids in their production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Cute, but I think we all would have preferred a real play....Plus we were the only college students there- mostly parents and their wee ones.

And how cool am I? On a saturday night, when there was a Halloween party going on in the student center, mind you, I turned in at a tremendous 8:30, and ate dinner consisting of cup of noodles, pizza rolls, diet coke, betty crocker warm delight, and chai tea. Then I polished off a disc of Friends. All the caffeine however, kept me up until 4 am. And I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Speaking of Friends, my roommate and I are currently obsessed. She just bought season 8, so we've been staying up much later than we should watching episode after episode. We are now talking about setting a bedtime for ourselves.

Aaaand, as promised: the Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode of the week:

This one was always a stellar episode. I think I used to have a crush on the kid who plays Marshall. Bad taste, right? I think it must have been his profuse yelling of Olly Olly Oxen Free that stole my heart.

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.

So light is her footfall

Apparently the universe wants me to look like an absolute dork today, so I fell up the stairs THREE times today. This morning coming back from drawing, I was walking up the stairs outside to get into my building, and I was concentrating on not dropping my drawing board, which I never ever do anyway, and then I caught my toes and fell really hard on my knee in front of people. How cool did I look? I tried to play it off, but my goodness, it still hurts 12 hours later. And then I was running late to English so I booked it up the stairs and then I caught my toes two times in a row. Ugh...awesome...

On a different note, I have been planning on doing this "segment" for awhile, but I feel like starting it today.

Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode of the week!!!!!

Remember, kids, this is in 3 parts, so don't forget to keep going. You'll wanna see what kind of shenanigans Melissa Joan Hart gets into.

This is for me, yes?

Did you guys know that there are ACTUALLY 32 calories in Diet Coke?! That's ALL I drink. I found this out today during speech class while we were talking about the ethics of statistics and misrepresentation. I am so. disheartened. Apparently they'd make more money stating on their cans that there are 0 calories and pay the fine for misrepresentation than putting the 32 calories on the can and selling fewer cans because it's not as appealing. I feel so used..

Goodbye Love

I'm currently listening to: Caroline's New Wave mix. Track of note: "Oh! You Pretty Things"- David Bowie

So, it's my birthday! For those of you keeping score at home, that would also mean it's 365's birthday too. I wish I could post today and say something like "whew, that year of things was really great and I learned a lot, and had a ton of fun!" but, since I chose to fail at my project, I can't. Someday, someday.

All of that aside, I'm having a really great birthday. I was super bummed out when I figured out it would be on a tuesday, and I wouldn't be able to be home for it. I mean, I was home this weekend, but it's not the same. But then Tianna informs me that she and Lizzie and Jessica were going to come visit me today at school, and I was SUPER excited, because they've never been here before, and I didn't get to see any of them when I was home this weekend. So already, I was gonna have a great birthday. And then I woke up to find an awesome card on my desk from my two floormates Raelene and Sarah. And then when I went to shower I saw that Mia had made a birthday collage for me and the card from the girls on my floor. And then there were just birthday wishes all day. Mia and I also went to Legacy Chocolates over by Penco to get my FREE birthday truffle which is always exciting to get free things on your birthday. But then I texted Tianna and Jessica (texting Lizzie is always a lost cause) to see when they were coming, and Tianna responded by saying that Lizzie was sick and she didn't they were going to be able to come..So then I really pissed off, and really disappointed, too. Mia was hanging out in my room because she was helping me crush my cans and was just like "How sick can Lizzie be?? I mean, I can't believe they said they were going to come and get my hopes up, and then not show up!" So then Mia said that we could just go to dinner together, and I was like, alright....

So then we walk downstairs and as soon as I walked out the door to outside I see the three of them strolling up with an ice cream cake and a card, and I was so surprised, because I was seriously believing that they weren't going to come. And it's a good thing we had perfect timing because I would have walked to the commons and probably gotten dinner, and then there visit would have been ruined. So then Mia went off to have dinner (I felt bad, she could have eaten with us, but she had a thing pretty soon after that) and I showed the posse up to my cozy little room, which they all agreed they liked a lot, and then we headed off to Perkins for dinner. Exotic, I know. So then we just came back and hung out in my room, and my roommate wasn't there so we just loud and obnoxious and we laughed a lot. It was awesome. Totally the best birthday surprise evs. Way better than the "surprise" party they threw me freshman year in high school. So, all in all, a good day. I don't think I could ever get sick of hanging out with them. It'll make me sad next year if Jessica ends up going to St. Kate's and they can all hang out together all the time, and I won't hardly ever get to see them. I guess that just makes me awesomer?

All you gotta do is watch me

Spoilers.

Not only was this weeks Office spectacular because it was the Jim and Pam wedding episode, it was so completely funny. It hasn't been this good for awhile. Like, the silliness of it all was just reminiscent of season 2, which in my opinion is the best season ever and will never be topped. I love how they did the "Forever" wedding dance down the aisle as well, because I actually always really liked that video. The whole last 5 minutes were really great. And then the fact that yes, it was finally Jim and Pam's wedding, which I kind of always had mixed feelings about, but now I'm satisfied with how it worked out. I figured they could never get together, certainly never get engaged, god forbid they have a baby, and of course never get married. But I suppose you can't really go 6 seasons and play off their flirty relationship.

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.

let's see you dance, sucka, you got nothing on me

the reason i'm still up:

http://mylifeisaverage.com/

i appreciate all the harry potter references

Come, sorrow is so peculiar.

Update! I got a new roommate. She seems quite nice, I think it'll work out. And she has a futon. How I've been wanting a couch. Oh, you don't even know.

I'm currently watching SNL, weekend update to be exact, and I just want to know, why in the world, if they insist on using Darrell Hammond in a ton of segments anyway, don't they just have him still be part of the regular cast? Ugh.... Someday, when I'm running things over there, they won't have such weird willy nilly casting decisions..

Father, my life is over

Still sick. I feel worse. I think it might be a sinus infection. Ew, right? Agreed. It doesn't help that this weather is just the absolute worst. I also spent like over an hour and a half cleaning my room yesterday, so...maybe I wasn't doing myself any favors with my grody living conditions. Trash is out, dishes are done, FLOOR IS VACUUMED (!), recycling is rinsed, and I've been febreezing like a madman. That's probably what's aggravating my sinuses, to be honest...

So, I was super bummed out about the fact that I was not feeling well enough to participate in the 24 hour couch-a-thon for homecoming. It seemed like fun times. But tonight Mia and I helped Marty decorate the float for tomorrow's parade. The theme is "Cirque Du Stout", and we chose our theme to be Britney Spears circus. Pretty much the whole thing is banners, and a big piece of cardboard with a harlequin pattern and a FABULOUS drawing of BS. Mia and I made the banners, and they look pretty smashing. Then we went to El Patio for dinner. Soo delicious. The burritos are insanely huge. Marty and I ate our entire burritos and kept eating chips and salsa, and bean dip a ton afterwards. Mia made us look fat because she eats like a bird. Loser.

Augustine just woke up with a broken heart

I bookmarked this: http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/

It's another time waster. The game is rewarding, though.

I'm feeling pretty sick right now. I'm not sure what's wrong with me. For the past couple of nights, I've felt feverish, but I've been fine during the daytime. Today, I just started feeling pretty weak during speech class. I ate today, too. Not very much. But a TON of fiber. And I got Orange Juice and Milk at the store, so I'm glad I have something a little healthier to eat. I hate feeling extremely unwell. Which I suppose is more of what I feel like, not so much "sick".

In other news, I got out of drawing early yesterday, and then I decided to take a shower, and then I found out that Psychology was cancelled, so I got to eat an actual lunch (!!) with Mia in the commons, and go to the library. It was a good day to have a 3 hour morning break. And then my Art History quiz was a lot easier than I thought. Even though some trick questions..tricked me. But it's a quiz, so I'm not too concerned. All in all, it ended up being a pretty good day, as we also tracked down a grocery store that's waaaayyyy closer than MarketPlace foods. And cheaper than the co-op, and more selection too. That's not to say I'm finished with the co-op. But it's good to know I can get things like..cereal...or turkey, and not for 5 bucks.

2D Design is planning on consuming my whole weekend (and debit card) and I'm actually okay with it. Maybe not so much when I'm buying materials, actually...but otherwise..

He went out, not knowing where he was going

Yesterday as I was updating my queue, I actually caught myself thinking "I wish there was something like Netflix for books.."

I've been having a problem eating breakfast lately. I didn't eat today until 3:45. And that's including liquids. And I'm starting to get used to it too. It's bad news, you guys. I guess what I'm really trying to accomplish here is for people to give me a slap in the face and tell me to make time for breakfast. I almost fainted the other day in drawing. I hate saying "I almost fainted" it makes me seem so dramatic, but thank God I didn't. At first I thought I was just going to be sick, which wouldn't have been good. As I pointed out to Tianna, who hounds me to eat breakfast, depending on how you look at it, it's either a good thing I didn't eat breakfast yesterday, or, I should have eaten breakfast yesterday.

I just want to give a quick critique of this Saturday's premiere of Saturday Night Live (35! Holla)

-Darrell Hammond finally gone off the show. Although..he really did nothing in the past couple of years, save for fleeting appearances as Bill Clinton, John McCain, or Donald Trump. He was the longest running member of SNL, and I'm sad to see him go. He was lovable enough.

-New girl swore. Rookie mistake, CLEARLY. Although, I might F things up too if I was in a stupid skit where I had to say fricken' literally every five seconds. And if it was my first show. But would I do it if it meant that Seth Meyers would hug me at the end of the show? Yes.

-What the heck Lorne Michaels? Firing two women, and hiring two different women is not a step in any direction.

-They better shape up. Seriously, last years premiere with Michael Phelps was so hilarious. More episodes like that one, and the John Malkovich episode would be much appreciated.

You take much more than I'd ever ask for

So I got a printer this weekend, since the printers here suck:

fml.

By the way I didn't do this. It came like this.

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.

The American Dream

aaaaaand, because this is my blog....

Tom Colicchio. Holla.

The Kiel Hawkins Surge machine!

Obscure website of the day:

www.savesurge.org

I hope tomorrow is like today

So you guys remember stirrups? Emily bought me a pair tonight when she and Melissa visited me at Stout.

Drawing from observation

I'm currently watching: The Office: Season 2. Watch this episode: The Christmas Party (you can add it to your instant queue on Netflix)

Stealing the idea from Entertainment Weekly, I'm creating a Must List. Theme: Online Videos. Now, if you really want to be a stickler, you're gonna call me out on this, because they're not all originally "online" videos. But, whatevs. This is what I've collected for you, to enrich your internet boredom:

1. Demetri Martin: "If I" 1-6

This is a comedy special he did on BBC a couple of years ago. It has 6 parts, so after the first one, just keep going with the next 5. If you've never seen or heard of Demetri Martin, you're missing out. His show Important Things with Demetri Martin on Comedy Central is okay, but his stand-up is awesome. Also check out "Some Jokes" which you can search on YouTube, and listen to the whole track. I encourage you to watch "If I" several times if you enjoy it, it gets better every time.

2. John Mayer Has a TV Show

I've loved John Mayer for I don't know how long. This show is probably not so good if you don't love him, it might come off as obnoxious and unnecessary to some people, which is understandable. It's better that there's only one episode, and parts of it are like "John Mayer is a douche" but other parts are really funny.

3. Big Fat Quiz of the Year- 2007

This will make one person in particular very happy that this is on the list. Featuring Russell Brand and Lily Allen to name a few, it covers international and british pop culture from the year 2007 in the form of a team quiz show. It also has several parts, so keep watching after the first part is finished.

4. Tom Hanks on The Colbert Report

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Tom Hanks Care Package
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Protests

This is Tom Hanks with Steven Colbert making care packages for the troops. Hilarity ensues, including puppies and ice cream.

5. Wizard People, Dear Reader

This was sent to me by my friend Jane, who also loves Harry Potter. It's the Sorcerer's Stone narrated by some guy with a super awkward voice. That's not the best advertisement, but seriously, it's hilarious. Strong language, so if you get annoyed by it after awhile, don't feel bad, it gets to be a bit much. The whole movie is up on YouTube with the narration, but "The Cribbage Match" is the best.

6. So You Cat Wants a Massage?

Lizzie sent this to me, it's just like something that Kristen Wiig would do on SNL, it's great.

7. Aaron Carter getting wasted

The title makes it sound really trashy, but it's hilarious, I think I've probably talked about this video on here before. It's a clip from House of Carters.

8. Andy Jams the Vote

I've posted this on here before, but I love this video, it has to be on this list. It starts two minutes in.

9. Star Wars re-told by someone who's never seen it

Caroline posted this on her movie blog a long time ago, and I think the editing is so great, it makes it even more hilarious.

10. The Landlord

This is from Funny or Die, and Junior year it was all the rage among my friends. Starring Will Ferrell and a baby. Also, check out "Good Cop, Baby Cop" if you like this one.

Wheel

I'm currently listening to: MIKA- Life in Cartoon Motion. You should download: Track 8, "Billy Brown".

Does anyone have an idea for an art project possibility using 14 empty Diet Coke cans? It's just that I have all those cans, and I figured I should think of something creative to do with them before I recycle them all. I have no ideas, really, but someone might. I think there's a recyclable art competition here, that I'm not going to enter regardless, but that gave me the idea. If no one has any ideas, I'll recycle them instead.

I'm really excited, I went to the Menomonie Market Co-op today, which I had been to before, but never bought anything. I got some hummus, greek yogurt, turkey, mustard, tortillas, and biodegradable garbage bags (!!). I'm supes excited about the garbage bags because a.) my trash was just getting ridiculous and it was time to take it out, but I misplaced the plastic bags I got from MarketPlace foods (I forgot my reusable bags) and therefor couldn't take out my garbage. And it was gross, I'm never letting it get this bad ever ever again, and b.) they're biodegradable. Maybe it's making up for not going to Greensense, but I'm super into eco-friendly right now. As we all should be...., and, c.) not to mention my room kind of smells now (because of the trash...), so I'm going to get some Febreeze asap. That's probably a little too much information, but, along with other folks, I appreciate candor. So needless to say, I had a wrap for lunch, along with hummus and pita chips, and a banana. I'm trying to eat up the produce I got a week ago at Kwik Trip so I can get some organic fruits. If any of you saw my status on Facebook, Kwik Trip apples are nothing to write home about. I've also been trying to eat up a lot of the food I got at MarketPlace foods last week that was super un-healthy. It's probably not a good idea to eat it all up in one week, but I feel guilty and I wanted to get rid of it, and never make that mistake again. If I MUST eat in my room, I want to eat healthier. Plus Cup O Noodles only keeps you full for so long. Ideally, I'll start eating in the commons more often, but lately I've been an idiot about time management, so I haven't really given myself a chance to eat in there much.

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.

Feeeeel the Swayze

I first started loving Patrick Swayze when I watched the mini-series North and South five years ago (which is, to date, my favorite mini-series EVER). He played Orry Main, and he had a terrible mullet. He was an amazing novelty among my friends and I, and he became a legend. One such scenario I made up is that I had him locked in shackles in my closet, and had to take away his food and shower tokens, because he was abusing them, and that he wouldn't stop tap dancing, and that he was being really devious and talking to my friends and saying ridiculous things. Oh, poor Patrick. I abused him so in my scenarios, but he was still awesome.

Still not convinced? Track down his E! True Hollywood Story. Emily and I can both tell you it was absolutely awesome.

The unexamined life is not worth living, man.

Well, here's another first if you could call it that: My roommate withdrew from college, so I'm now roommateless for awhile. Just when I was getting excited about living with another person, it's back to being a lonesome dove, once again.

Pros and Cons:

Pro: I can do whatever I want.

Con: I'll probably end up staying up too late because I don't have to worry about disturbing anyone.

Pro: I can leave homework to the last minute and stay up doing it, because it's my room, and I don't have to worry about disturbing anyone.

Con: I can leave homework to the last minute and stay up doing it, because it's my room, and I don't have to worry about disturbing anyone.

Pro: I don't have to worry about what TV shows I watch

Con: She took her nice TV, enter the one from my room at home

Pro: I can be as messy as I want

Con: I can be as messy as I want.

As you can see, it's bittersweet, but I'll survive. As soon as the room freeze is over, I may get a new roommate, but I may not. More likely I will, but I don't really care anyway it works out, just as long as I never have to move rooms, which Emily assures me won't happen.

I'm debating about whether or not to go to the first greensense meeting tonight. I was planning on joining, but now that I think about it, I mean, really think about it, I don't want to take too much on my plate this very second. I still have shaz loads of homework coming at me from all angles, but we'll see. It also helps if I can get someone to go with me. I may try and sucker someone into going with me, just soes I can scope it out.

More later.

p.s. Art History: blandest subject alive.

Look down upon me Jesus, you gotta help me make a stand

Well, in the end, I turned out to be the worst blogger ever. And we all know it, so getting that out of the way, I will explain myself a little.

I think everyone has noticed that I have not updated for a really long time, and, more importantly, have not kept an updated list of my new things. So I think it's time to finally admit I failed. I'm willing to admit it, but I'm not happy about it. It was an ambitious goal, and I've thought about it and decided that I will try again in four years once I've graduated college (provided I graduate in four years). I made it, eight months I think, something around there. Not to say that all this time I haven't been updating I haven't been doing new things, I have, for the most part. At a certain point I thought, who am I kidding? and stopped making a conscious effort.

That being said, I will be posting a list of most of the interesting things I did during my blogging hiatus, and hopefully that will satisfy a few of you a little bit. I'm actually lucky that on this first attempt at a year of new things, I didn't really do anything too awesome. In other words, there should still be some great things for me two do, come round two.

However, I will keep blogging, (Now that I don't have to have a precedent for blogging, the task will seem less daunting). I plan to blog about anything I want, with a tentative lean towards pop culture and my college life. I plan to blog about any new things that crop up while I'm here at college, and so everyone can feel informed about how I'm doing. The pop culture bit is because anyone who knows me knows that I love pop culture, and if I feel like I want to write about it, I don't want it to come as a surprise to anybody.

So here's a list of the new things I've done so far in college:

-Moved in to college

-Went to a college class

-Went to the bottoms in dunn county

-Went to Campus Crusade

-Went to Out at Stout (the gsa group-- call me crazy, but I miss diversity here, and I needed a fix)

-Other college-y things. You know...ate cup o noodles for dinner, took a shower in a dorm hall, etc.

Nothing too out of the ordinary there.

I'll post later about some highlights about my time here. They were few and far between at first, but now I'm really starting to enjoy myself.

Cafe Imperial

Updating in Prague! More posts later. I know....

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.

Chewing Gum

This seems cheap, I know, but I will update tomorrow when I have time to fit it all in. And by tomorrow, I guess I mean Friday. Okay, Friday, everything will be updated. So so so so so sorry for the delay.

Jim, take New Year's away from Stanley

New Poll!

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink

Emily wants me to post a picture of my prom dress which I purchase tonight. It was super difficult, I was being so indecisive. It was between this one and another super flattering one, but I felt like this one was a little less common, and certainly not glitzy, which is what I definitely did not want:



And yes, that is a slit on the side. I also compromised on the price. This one was $100 more expensive than the other one, but I'm going to pay for half, because I really felt like I had to have it. I absolutely love it, I think it's so elegant. And since it's not season specific, hopefully I can wear it to any other formals I might go to. Plus, my mother points out that it's pretty timeless, and it would be cute at a cocktail length too, if I would ever want to shorten it. Everybody has to weigh in on their opinion. In the dressing room I took pictures of it on my phone and sent them off to Jessica, because I trust her opinion the most.

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.